Probes continue in police shootings in Merced County

An investigation continued Wednesday into a police shooting in July that left a kidnapping suspect dead after an extended car chase with Atwater officers.

The officer who shot and killed the 27-year-old man was identified Wednesday as Officer David Walker, who has been an Atwater police officer since 2006, Lt. Samuel Joseph said.

Walker shot David Oliva Sarabia on July 6 on Green Sands Avenue in Atwater. Sarabia was suspected of kidnapping a woman and holding her captive in a vehicle earlier the same day, according to police.

Police said Sarabia led officers on a high-speed chase around Atwater and said he was cutting his body with a knife during the chase. Police said Sarabia later charged at Walker and other officers while brandishing the same knife and was shot to death as a result.

Walker was placed on paid administrative leave after the incident, a standard procedure in all police use-of-force cases. He returned to duty three days later, Joseph said.

The case is under review by the Merced County District Attorney’s Office, which investigates all police shootings in Merced County.

Pat Lunney, chief of investigations for the prosecutor’s office, said autopsy results are pending in the case and said it’s still unclear exactly when those results will be available.

The District Attorney’s Office is still investigating an unrelated police shooting from June 23 in Livingston. CHP Officer Nick Brownfield shot Raul X. Maldonado, 24, after Maldonado slashed the officer’s face with a blade, authorities said.

Maldonado has been charged with attempted murder and assaulting a peace officer.

Lunney said that investigation could wrap up later this week or early next week.

This story was originally published August 12, 2015 at 6:01 PM with the headline "Probes continue in police shootings in Merced County."