People v. Rojas CA1/1

I. BACKGROUND

In November 2022, the Napa County Sheriff’s Department received calls reporting a red truck “spinning donuts.” At the scene, the responding officer noticed a purple truck parked near the reported area and investigated. When the officer parked behind the truck and walked toward it, Rojas started it up and drove away. The officer returned to his car, activated the emergency lights, and pursued Rojas, who drove erratically. Eventually, the officer blocked Rojas’s truck from leaving a dead-end street. The officer exited his car, told Rojas to turn off the truck and put his hands up. Rojas turned off the truck but would not raise his hands, even after several commands to do so. Additional officers arrived on the scene and formed a plan to arrest Rojas after he continued to ignore officers’ verbal commands. The officers eventually removed Rojas from the truck and placed him face down on the ground. When the initial responding officer grabbed Rojas’s left arm to place him in handcuffs, he felt Rojas tense up and try to pull away from him. In an amended information filed March 2023, Rojas was charged with three felonies: evading an officer while driving against traffic…