Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Sheriff's Department IDs Suspect Fatally Shot by Deputies in Yucaipa

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department early Sunday identified a suspect fatally shot by deputies June 29 in a church parking lot and released more detail from law enforcement accounts of what preceded the shooting.

The man named by sheriff's officials, Merlin Factor, 25, was a resident of Yucaipa, according to residents and a woman who identified herself as Factor's mother.

 "That was my son," she wrote in a post on Redlands-Loma Linda Patch early Sunday. "He lived within a block of there with me as he was growing up at his Gramma's."

The Sheriff's Department distributed the following account of the deputy-involved shooting before 7 a.m. Sunday June 30:

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About 3 p.m. Saturday June 29 deputies responded to a vandalism/disturbance call at a residence in the 12900 block of 2nd Street.

"Upon arriving on scene, deputies discovered a subject, Merlin Factor, vandalized a mobile home and was last seen with a female who resided at the location," sheriff's officials said.

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Factor was wanted on unspecified felony arrest warrants, sheriff's officials said. Deputies began checking the area for Factor and the female.

"A short time later, the female called 911 and deputies responded to the area of Yucaipa Blvd. and 3rd Street," sheriff's officials said. "Deputies spotted the female and Factor in a vehicle. Deputies conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle in the area of Yucaipa Blvd. and 3rd Street."

The deputies and Factor were stopped in the parking lot of 1st Baptist Church, 34784 Yucaipa Blvd.

Factor got out of the vehicle and began fighting with deputies, sheriff's officials said.

"Factor attempted to retrieve a weapon during the struggle, forcing a deputy to shoot him," sheriff's officials said. "Paramedics responded to the scene and Factor was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced deceased."

Two deputies involved in the incident sustained scratches and other minor injuries in the struggle that preceded the fatal shooting, Capt. Lee Hamblin of the sheriff's Yucaipa Station told Redlands-Loma Linda Patch at the scene.

Sheriff's homicide detectives are among those assigned to the investigate the deputy involved shooting. The deputies who shot Factor were not identified.

A man named George Misavage was among several people who witnessed the shooting.

"We were coming to Best Hardware here . . . and the officers that did this cut us off and pulled the car over, then pulled the guy out of the car, both officers did," Misavage said in a video interview with Redlands-Loma Linda Patch.

"There was a little bit of a struggle, the guy was knocked to the ground, and . . . then they Tased him," Misavage said. "Then one said 'Don't do it,' he backed up, took his gun out and he fired about six shots into his chest. Then the other cop backed up and took his gun out and fired a couple more shots into him."

Video posted to YouTube by a user named Noe Pascual includes audio of gunshots outside 1st Baptist Church and shows some deputies arriving after the gunfire.

To read Redlands-Loma Linda Patch coverage from Saturday click the following link:

VIDEO: Deputies Shoot Suspect 'Struggling, Reaching for Waistband' in 1st Baptist Church Lot


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