Deputy Kills Man in Domestic Dispute

A Rosemead man who allegedly threatened to kill his 18-month-old son was shot to death by a sheriff’s deputy after the man tried to grab a gun from another deputy’s holster, authorities said Friday.

Robert Paiz, 39, was shot several times Thursday night after deputies responded to a 911 call from Paiz’s wife, who said her estranged husband had beat her and then told her he was going to kill their son.

“The woman said that her husband was at the residence in violation of a domestic violence restraining order, and that he was threatening to push their child, who was in a stroller, into traffic,” Deputy Debra Glafkides said.

On Friday, a bruised Maryann Paiz stood with relatives on front porch steps that were stained with her husband’s blood. Some family members questioned the use of deadly force to stop Robert Paiz.

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But Maryann Paiz, who did not witness the shooting because she was inside the house with her son, said her husband was intoxicated, and whether the shooting was justified depends on her husband’s actions.

“If he didn’t have the gun, I don’t think it’s fair. If he had the gun, I think it would be justified,” she said. “I loved my husband very much. I will love him to the day I die,” she added, collapsing into tears.

When deputies arrived at the house in the 7500 block of Columbia Street shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday, they found Robert Paiz standing in the front yard with a child in one hand and the stroller in the other, authorities said. A deputy grabbed the infant and handed him to the mother, but Paiz then “lunged at the deputy, grabbing his gun,” Glafkides said. The deputy struggled with Paiz, but was unable to subdue him or loosen his grip on the weapon, which was still in the holster, authorities said.

“The deputy’s partner then fired several times at the suspect, wounding him in the upper body,” Glafkides said. “The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.”

Maryann Paiz said she “heard [a deputy] say, ‘He’s got my gun. He’s got my gun.’ And then a popping sound.”

Paiz said her husband had been drinking all day and began beating her while they were outside, farther down the block. She escaped, ran into the house and slammed the door, leaving her son outside, she said. Her husband began yelling that he was going to kill the boy, so she called police.

Paiz said she obtained a restraining order against her husband a month ago. Deputies had previously arrested him at her former residence, an apartment in Temple City, she said.

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Sheriff’s officials refused to identify the deputies involved in the shooting. They said both will be assigned to desk work pending the outcome of an investigation.

The shooting was the second within 24 hours involving sheriff’s deputies.

In the remote desert town of Littlerock, south of Palmdale, a deputy was confronted by a man with a shotgun Friday in what began as a truck theft investigation. The deputy struggled briefly with the man, and then fatally shot him, authorities said.

The dead man, whose identity was not released, had pointed a 12-gauge shotgun at the deputy, who approached a camper parked near some Joshua trees, authorities said.

The deputy, whose name was not released, grabbed the gun barrel and after a short struggle, succeeded in pointing it away from his face.

Still holding the barrel of the struggling man’s shotgun, the deputy drew his pistol with his free hand and fired several shots at the man, killing him, Killeen said. It was not immediately known whether the shotgun was loaded.