SAN JACINTO, Calif. (AP) - The tribal chairman's message to his members in the hours after deputies killed two suspects in a running gunbattle on the Soboba Indian Reservation was clear: Don't trust the sheriff's department.
"They've got the SWAT team out here," chairman Robert Salgado told television stations late Monday as he warned tribal members to stay indoors. "They're probably going to shoot first and ask questions later."
Salgado's words were the latest indication of growing tension between the tribe and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, whose deputies have killed three people on the reservation in less than a week.
One of the dead from Monday's shootout was identified as Joseph Arres, 36, of San Jacinto; the second person, a woman, was not identified.
Officials said the two were armed with assault rifles and were fatally shot in the reservation's hilly interior after an hour-long chase and shootout with deputies who responded to reports of shots fired at the reservation's main entrance.
Two sons of a former tribal chairwoman have also been killed by deputies in recent years, including one who was shot Thursday after firing at deputies with an assault rifle. Another reservation resident was killed by a deputy in December at a traffic checkpoint in nearby Hemet.
Salgado complained after last week's shooting and again Tuesday that the sheriff was slow to share information and didn't treat him as the leader of a sovereign nation. He declined an interview with The Associated Press through a tribal police lieutenant, and other council members didn't return calls or declined comment.
Sheriff's deputies said they were required to respond to 911 calls from the reservation, although the tribe abruptly terminated its patrol agreement with the county two years ago because of the expense. The reservation is tucked into the grassy foothills of the San Jacinto Mountains, about 85 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
Sheriff's spokesman Dennis Gutierrez said the ongoing investigation prevented deputies from releasing all the information to the tribe. But he also pointed out that tribal officials skipped a special briefing Tuesday with top officials.
"The whole contention is that (Salgado) has been saying to the media that we haven't been giving updates," Gutierrez said. "But the Soboba tribe declined the meeting."
Although extreme, the conflict between the tribe and the sheriff's department isn't unique in California, where state and local authorities have criminal jurisdiction over tribal lands, said Carole Goldberg, a UCLA law professor and expert on American Indian affairs.
Tribes often complain that law enforcement responses are either lax or excessive, she said.
"One question should be, `What is the appropriate police response when a situation does not, obviously, implicate the members of the tribe?'" said Goldberg, who was advising the Soboba tribe Tuesday. "To what extent should the reservation as a whole be treated as a crime scene or danger zone?"
Goldberg declined to discuss Monday's specifics.
Officials with the tribe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as well as local congressional leaders, will meet Friday, said James Fletcher, superintendent for the BIA's Southern California agency.
Fletcher said tension between the sheriff's department and the tribe had been growing for at least six months, "and that concerns the BIA a whole bunch."
Arres and the unidentified woman approached two tribal security guards at a guard station at the reservation's entrance and opened fire Monday. Tapes of 911 calls made during the attack indicated confusion about whether the guards were hit. Both were later found unharmed.
The confusion, according to Gutierrez, contributed to the large department response, which included a helicopter, five deputies and four SWAT members.
They pursued the suspects seven miles into the reservation and shot them after a standoff, Gutierrez said.
The deputies involved were placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigation.
Bullets shattered patrol car windows and left a hole in an armored SWAT vehicle, Gutierrez said. He showed reporters a videotape of people he said were tribal members shouting obscenities at deputies at a checkpoint.
The tribal Web site says the Soboba tribe has about 900 members, but many live outside the reservation.
Calls to a listing for a Joseph Arres were not immediately returned.
Associated Press writer Allison Hoffman in San Diego contributed to this report. |