Crime & Safety
'Boogaloo' Pleads Guilty In Santa Cruz Co. Cop Slaying
A member of an anti-government militia group has pleaded guilty to a second murder over an 8-day span in 2020.
SANTA CRUZ, CA —A member of an anti-government militia group has pleaded guilty to a second murder over an 8-day span in 2020, according to an announcement Monday from the Santa Cruz County District Attorney's Office.
Steven Carrillo, 34, of Ben Lomond, pleaded guilty to the murder of Santa Cruz Sheriff's Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller and the attempted murder of four other law enforcement officers and one civilian in Ben Lomond on June 6, 2020.
The plea from Carrillo, a former Air Force sergeant, will result in a sentence of life without the possibility of parole, according to Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeffrey Rosell.
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The plea follows Carrillo's conviction in federal court for a separate killing, for which he was sentenced on June 3 to 41 years in prison after pleading guilty in the shooting death of Federal Protective Services Officer David Patrick Underwood at a federal courthouse in Oakland on May 29, 2020.
In that case, federal prosecutors alleged that Carrillo killed Underwood as part of the "boogaloo" movement that seeks to incite "a violent uprising against perceived government tyranny." Federal prosecutors said that Carrillo "admitted that during the months before the shooting, he aligned himself with an anti-government ideology and wanted to carry out violent acts against federal law enforcement."
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Carrillo also shot and injured a second officer in that same courthouse incident, as a large protest was happening in downtown Oakland following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, federal prosecutors said.
In the Santa Cruz County trial, Carrillo admitted in court that he is a member of the Grizzly Scouts, a paramilitary group known to espouse the boogaloo ideology, according to Rosell's announcement.
The boogaloo movement revolves around the desire for a violent overthrow of the government and starting a second civil war, an ideology that has resulted in violent attacks on law enforcement across the country, according to Rosell's announcement.
"Our hearts go out to all Santa Cruz County law enforcement officers affected by the horrific events on June 6, 2020, in particular the Gutzwiller family," Rosell said in the statement.
"Although nothing can bring Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller back, we hope that today can bring some measure of justice for everyone touched by this tragedy. The plea today, to life in prison without the possibility of parole, will ensure that the defendant will spend the rest of his life in prison where he belongs."
Stationed at Travis Air Force Base at the time of the killings, Carrillo was captured at his Ben Lomond home in Santa Cruz County several days after the second murder.
Rosell described his office's investigation as a collaboration that included the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office, Watsonville Police Department, Santa Cruz Police Department, the California Highway Patrol, the FBI, and ATF as well as many other allied agencies across the state.
Carrillo's sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 26.
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