Man Charged With Killing Local Deputy Pleads Not Guilty: Report

DUBLIN, CA — The man accused of fatally shooting a Santa Cruz County Sheriff's sergeant June 6 pleaded not guilty Friday to 19 charges, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported.

Steven Carrillo, 32, of Ben Lomond is accused of killing Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, 38, and injuring two other law enforcement officers ambush-style as they approached his home, responding to a call of a suspicious van with bomb-making devices inside, the sheriff's office said. A resident later tackled Carrillo, swatting away a bomb and gun until law enforcement could arrive to arrest him.

He faces the death penalty and 19 charges, including murder and premeditated attempted murder, the Santa Cruz County District Attorney's Office previously said.

The hearing was held in an Alameda County courtroom as space in Santa Cruz County was limited amid the CZU August Lightning Complex fires, the Sentinel reported. Carrillo's counsel, public defender Larry Biggam, has defended clients in at least four other death penalty trials, the paper reported.

Carrillo, who served as a U.S. Air Force sergeant, is also accused of assassinating a federal security officer in a drive-by shooting outside an Oakland courthouse last month, as part of what authorities allege was a plot associated with the "Boogaloo" right-wing extremist movement that aims to start a civil war.

Read: Alleged Killer Of Santa Cruz Deputy Accused Of Oakland Cop Murder

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office has not seen an officer killed in the line of duty since Deputy Michael Gray's death in 1983.

See more:

• Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller: A Man 'Too Beautiful To Describe'
  
• Vigil Mourns Damon Gutzwiller, Santa Cruz Deputy Killed In Ambush
• Accused Attacker Charged In Ambush On Santa Cruz Deputies
• Santa Cruz Co. Deputy Killed In Ben Lomond Shooting, Explosions
• Deputy Injured In Shooting Honored Upon Release From Hospital

Read more at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.