Two charged with manslaughter in death of San Miguel man
Two correctional officers charged in bar fight death
Travis Woolf
Update Sept. 19, 2014: San Luis Sheriff’s Detectives obtained arrest warrants for two correctional officers who are implicated in the death of a San Miguel man. Thursday the detectives set out to arrest the suspects.
The suspects are Sergio Aranda, 35, of Salinas and Travis Woolf, 36 of San Miguel. They are charged in connection with the death of 54-year-old Alvaro Jaramillo Medrano of San Miguel. Medrano died during a fight with the suspects on Sept. 7 outside the Elk Horn Bar in San Miguel. The suspects in this case are employed as correctional officers at Salinas Valley State Prison in Monterey County.
Detectives responded to the Salinas area and Woolf was arrested at his place of employment without incident. While attempting to arrest Aranda, the Sheriff’s Office was notified that an attorney was posting bail for the arrest warrant.
Both are being charged with voluntary manslaughter. According to sheriff’s spokesman Tony Cipolla, this investigation was lengthy, complicated by the number of individuals involved, and by conflicting statements from some of those individuals. Additional information discovered during the investigation resulted in obtaining the arrest warrants for Aranda and Woolf.
A dark and blurry scene on Mission Street in San Miguel at 4 a.m. Monday morning. Detectives closed the street to investigate a brawl late Sunday night that lead to one man’s death.
Update Sept. 11, 2014: The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office declined Wednesday to name the individuals who fought Sunday night in San Miguel with 54-year-old Alvaro Jaramillo Medrano. Medrano died shortly after the fight.
Two unconfirmed reports say those involved in Medrano’s death were correctional officers. “Are sheriff’s deputies protecting the correctional officers responsible for killing a man?” asked Juliana Espinosa in a letter to the editor.
Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Cipolla responded to the question, saying, “At this time we do not have any suspects in custody. As such, we do not release the names of those involved unless they have been arrested and taken into custody. The investigation into this incident is continuing.”
Coroner identifies man who died after fight in San Miguel
Update Sept. 9, 2014: The Coroner’s Unit of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office has identified the male victim who died during a fight in San Miguel on Sept. 7. He is identified as 54-year-old Alvaro Jaramillo Medrano of San Miguel.
Next of kin have been notified. An autopsy is planned for Wednesday. The results of that autopsy will be pending toxicology results which are expected to take six to eight weeks. This is believed to be an isolated incident and there are no outstanding suspects. Investigators continue to question those involved in the fight. This investigation remains open and active.
Update Sept. 8, 2014: The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office has not yet identified the man who died following a bar fight in San Miguel late Sunday night. The sheriff’s office has not released his name pending notification of next of kin. An autopsy is planned Wednesday to determine cause of death.
There are no suspects in death of man outside of the Elkhorn bar
Original report: On Sunday at 10:44 p.m. San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a report of a fight in progress between two groups of people that began in front of the Elkhorn Bar in San Miguel.
When Deputies arrived, they found a male victim of the fight unconscious. Deputies began CPR. The victim was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
At this time, those involved in the fight are being questioned. No suspects are currently in custody. This investigation is active and on-going. As a result, no further details are being released at this time.
The Elkhorn Bar, originally founded in 1853, has been in the news for violence before. Back in March of 2011 a man was shot in the leg in front of the bar, according to reports. He survived.
Are you.kidding me? Why is a toxicology necessary? He was beaten to death by a racist. If that punk walks away from this with out repercussion I.will.have no faith in slo county law enforcement.
In 2014, since when do men put their faith in OTHER men? I do not put faith in myself let alone others. It's the age of decay, bud…..no way around it.
Why is it racist?
So your telling me that the sheriff's office never talks about suspects at large that are not in custody??? come on Tony. obvious favortism going on.The guy was 54 these punks beat up an old man and should be named.
People have been talking saying the men who did this crime are guards from solidad prison and it's a cover up. If this is true….I have no faith in the officers of slo county. That's just wrong.
Soledad prison *
Good old boy slo county. Anywhere else in the country would have people up on arms. Not releasing the names of the people that are involved in a death? Unbelievable and directly because they are law enforcement.
This is gonna be ugly.
I wonder why, I have NO respect for cops?
I would very much like to protest against this injustice.
Sad to hear that my cousins lost their father…and hope they bring in the people responsible for his death…
Mae Ellis Show me a man or woman who is TRULY respectable let alone a "cop"? NONE. Not you. Not me. Even I have been infected by the toxic poison of this society. As we sleepwalk, giggle & chuckle our way through each day, America is in a nosedive into the abyss. History is repeating itself while every man swears to his own INNOCENCE & PURITY.
Legally, the Sheriff's Dept. has to wait until the official cause of death is determined before anyone is publically identified or arrested. The fight may or may not have been the cause of death. If it was, then you still have the question of who started the fight (threw the first punch). Was it self-defense or aggravated assault on the part of the separate participants.
Condolences to the family of Mr. Medrano. Very sad. May God be with you.
This sounds like a hate crime to me – three bigger white correctional officers (maybe) beat and killed a 54 yo Hispanic man only because he was Hispanic. Come on sheriff do your job
Mr. Zelinski, with all due respect, were you a witness or are you a mind reader? I heard about this fight from a San Miguel resident who lives down the street from the Elkhorn and only knew a few facts, but he was at the scene after the fight. Who did you get your information from? La Raza?
Why are people saying it's race? Has nothing to do with it. Until we get facts straight then we shall comment. So ill wait on facts.
how about an update this story…man has been arrested and charged
it's my understanding 1 person has been arrested and charged, but I can't find his name anywhere.
Maybe u should check your facts.
Gary watch your mouth about san miguel
U r so clueless bro damn!!! I feel bad for ignorant people like u
Betito, don't call me.ignorant. what I posted is what I heard from witnesses.
Why don't show the other mother f*****
So sorry for the victims family 1st! Why would corrections officers be at the Elk if not to be looking for trouble, or a defiant intent? Correctional Officers get paid all the time to help out the Familia.. I know for a fact, my brother did 40yrs. Pelican Bay, San Quentin died at CMC, he was high up on the chain got anything he wanted… Also have to dear friends, that are Correctional officers, shared many stories of bad Officers.. Just saying looks to me they went there for One reason to profile this Man!!!
Sounds like I got facts pretty close
Well put G.
How is it racist? Because the guy was white beating his ass? Its not racist its just a fight get your head out of your ass and realize that
Lowell John Zelinski How so? Two people were arrested, not three. One person arrested was Hispanic and one was white. The victim was Hispanic. All three are of the same race. What makes this a hate crime?
a corrections officer beating someone…..wow shocker….!
I've dealt with that man before travis Woolf. He cut me off one day in the town of San miguel and flagged me down saying he will arrest me. I asked for his badge and displayed a correctional officer badge which has no authority outside the prison and he became violent. We ended up fighting and i handled myself well and he claim he wa going call the police on me.
You would think that correctional officers would have some common sense and not get involved in brawls.
Because he had a lawyer post bond before they had a chance to arrest him. Don't worry, his mugshot will be posted soon enough once he gets indicted.
Manslaughter is a slap
in the face. I'll ask this again…do you expect the family and the fine people in this area to believe that this charge of manslaughter is not only an insult.. it is a direct slap in the face. Why not just lie and try to convince everyone they were trying to save him from choking..? Too bad you couldnt beat the witnesses to death as well. I say before you reduce any charges to nothing more than a misdemeanor…. get those autopsy results and let's see what kind of brutality it takes to
murder someone nearly 20 years older than these yellow cowards. My other point…are you protecting them…or what they represent? Are you sure you want to protect someone who has such an obvious lack of regard for not only themselves but also for what they represent…they are dragging all of you thru the mud with them…honestly did you work this long and hard for the likes of these two? Isn't your personal credibility and professional honor deserving of better? Manslaughter… this is not acceptable. I think maybe we need some impartiality in this matter…from the beginning it was treated like an attempt to not keep it quiet but a cover up. .Maybe your regard to Protect and To
Serve only covers those wearing badges, certain city officials, a few well placed people with well known names.
..the regular people are all suspect ..even though we are among the majority that comprise your salaries. Manslaughter: absolutely no way. I'll bet you never did a check on either of these two at their jobs or in private to see if there have been prior incidents.
Now the facts show that Mr. Medrano and four friends waited outside the bar to fight or jump the correctional officers when they came out. Five against three. The fight is 95% Medrano's fault. He left the bar and he could have gone home. No one was stopping him. Instead, he got 4 guys to wait outside the bar with him for the purpose of a fight. http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2014/10/02/3276169/travis-woolf-sergio-montalvo-aranda.html?sp=/99/177/183/
The family is not going to be able to sue anyone–not the bar, not State Corrections, not the Sheriff's Department–no one. The fight happened because Medrano and his buds waited outside for these officers.
Were these four people inside the bar with Medrano or did he call them to come down for a fight?
Friends and relatives of Medrano first cried racism, but one of the correction officers is Hispanic. Then they cried "hate crime". Absurd. Now they claim Mr. Medrano was bullied inside the bar. So what? This happens in bars all the time. It doesn't mean that you are forced to start a fight. You ignore it or go home.
Now they claim that the correctional officers should have been able to avoid the fight after being confronted with 5 people ( who may have been carrying weapons. How did they know? ) Well, Mr Madrano had the best opportunity to avoid the fight by going home. He stayed to confront these guys, and his group outnumbered the officers.
The final argument is that the correctional officers were better fighters and shouldn't have hit Madrano when he wouldn't give up (and stood back up after the first punch). I'm sure the officers regret that now, but who put them in that situation where they were supposed to judge in a split second the extent of the injuries–Mr. Madrano. Usually when people get up after being hit, it means they are still in the fight.
As someone else commented, this was a bar fight outside the Elkhorn with people who were all drinking. Things happen. Why didn't Mr. Madrano's four "friends" talk him out of this stupid fight? That's the real question.
The article you linked says absolutely nothing about what you're describing here. Actually, it makes these two people you're defending look like violent thugs.
Jim Reddick, you absolutely do not have the correct information here…. it was more like 7 vs 3….. Where the correctional officers were the 3..
Absolutely ridiculous…
You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about..
Lowell John Zelinski, you have no facts right…
Thank you so much for this post……..
Are you.kidding me? Why is a toxicology necessary? He was beaten to death by a racist. If that punk walks away from this with out repercussion I.will.have no faith in slo county law enforcement.
In 2014, since when do men put their faith in OTHER men? I do not put faith in myself let alone others. It's the age of decay, bud…..no way around it.
Why is it racist?
So your telling me that the sheriff's office never talks about suspects at large that are not in custody??? come on Tony. obvious favortism going on.The guy was 54 these punks beat up an old man and should be named.
People have been talking saying the men who did this crime are guards from solidad prison and it's a cover up. If this is true….I have no faith in the officers of slo county. That's just wrong.
Soledad prison *
Good old boy slo county. Anywhere else in the country would have people up on arms. Not releasing the names of the people that are involved in a death? Unbelievable and directly because they are law enforcement.
This is gonna be ugly.
I wonder why, I have NO respect for cops?
I would very much like to protest against this injustice.
Sad to hear that my cousins lost their father…and hope they bring in the people responsible for his death…
Mae Ellis Show me a man or woman who is TRULY respectable let alone a "cop"? NONE. Not you. Not me. Even I have been infected by the toxic poison of this society. As we sleepwalk, giggle & chuckle our way through each day, America is in a nosedive into the abyss. History is repeating itself while every man swears to his own INNOCENCE & PURITY.
Legally, the Sheriff's Dept. has to wait until the official cause of death is determined before anyone is publically identified or arrested. The fight may or may not have been the cause of death. If it was, then you still have the question of who started the fight (threw the first punch). Was it self-defense or aggravated assault on the part of the separate participants.
Condolences to the family of Mr. Medrano. Very sad. May God be with you.
This sounds like a hate crime to me – three bigger white correctional officers (maybe) beat and killed a 54 yo Hispanic man only because he was Hispanic. Come on sheriff do your job
Mr. Zelinski, with all due respect, were you a witness or are you a mind reader? I heard about this fight from a San Miguel resident who lives down the street from the Elkhorn and only knew a few facts, but he was at the scene after the fight. Who did you get your information from? La Raza?
Why are people saying it's race? Has nothing to do with it. Until we get facts straight then we shall comment. So ill wait on facts.
how about an update this story…man has been arrested and charged
it's my understanding 1 person has been arrested and charged, but I can't find his name anywhere.
Maybe u should check your facts.
Gary watch your mouth about san miguel
U r so clueless bro damn!!! I feel bad for ignorant people like u
Betito, don't call me.ignorant. what I posted is what I heard from witnesses.
Why don't show the other mother f*****
So sorry for the victims family 1st! Why would corrections officers be at the Elk if not to be looking for trouble, or a defiant intent? Correctional Officers get paid all the time to help out the Familia.. I know for a fact, my brother did 40yrs. Pelican Bay, San Quentin died at CMC, he was high up on the chain got anything he wanted… Also have to dear friends, that are Correctional officers, shared many stories of bad Officers.. Just saying looks to me they went there for One reason to profile this Man!!!
Sounds like I got facts pretty close
Well put G.
How is it racist? Because the guy was white beating his ass? Its not racist its just a fight get your head out of your ass and realize that
Lowell John Zelinski How so? Two people were arrested, not three. One person arrested was Hispanic and one was white. The victim was Hispanic. All three are of the same race. What makes this a hate crime?
a corrections officer beating someone…..wow shocker….!
I've dealt with that man before travis Woolf. He cut me off one day in the town of San miguel and flagged me down saying he will arrest me. I asked for his badge and displayed a correctional officer badge which has no authority outside the prison and he became violent. We ended up fighting and i handled myself well and he claim he wa going call the police on me.
You would think that correctional officers would have some common sense and not get involved in brawls.
Because he had a lawyer post bond before they had a chance to arrest him. Don't worry, his mugshot will be posted soon enough once he gets indicted.
Manslaughter is a slap
in the face. I'll ask this again…do you expect the family and the fine people in this area to believe that this charge of manslaughter is not only an insult.. it is a direct slap in the face. Why not just lie and try to convince everyone they were trying to save him from choking..? Too bad you couldnt beat the witnesses to death as well. I say before you reduce any charges to nothing more than a misdemeanor…. get those autopsy results and let's see what kind of brutality it takes to
murder someone nearly 20 years older than these yellow cowards. My other point…are you protecting them…or what they represent? Are you sure you want to protect someone who has such an obvious lack of regard for not only themselves but also for what they represent…they are dragging all of you thru the mud with them…honestly did you work this long and hard for the likes of these two? Isn't your personal credibility and professional honor deserving of better? Manslaughter… this is not acceptable. I think maybe we need some impartiality in this matter…from the beginning it was treated like an attempt to not keep it quiet but a cover up. .Maybe your regard to Protect and To
Serve only covers those wearing badges, certain city officials, a few well placed people with well known names.
..the regular people are all suspect ..even though we are among the majority that comprise your salaries. Manslaughter: absolutely no way. I'll bet you never did a check on either of these two at their jobs or in private to see if there have been prior incidents.
Now the facts show that Mr. Medrano and four friends waited outside the bar to fight or jump the correctional officers when they came out. Five against three. The fight is 95% Medrano's fault. He left the bar and he could have gone home. No one was stopping him. Instead, he got 4 guys to wait outside the bar with him for the purpose of a fight. http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2014/10/02/3276169/travis-woolf-sergio-montalvo-aranda.html?sp=/99/177/183/
The family is not going to be able to sue anyone–not the bar, not State Corrections, not the Sheriff's Department–no one. The fight happened because Medrano and his buds waited outside for these officers.
Were these four people inside the bar with Medrano or did he call them to come down for a fight?
Friends and relatives of Medrano first cried racism, but one of the correction officers is Hispanic. Then they cried "hate crime". Absurd. Now they claim Mr. Medrano was bullied inside the bar. So what? This happens in bars all the time. It doesn't mean that you are forced to start a fight. You ignore it or go home.
Now they claim that the correctional officers should have been able to avoid the fight after being confronted with 5 people ( who may have been carrying weapons. How did they know? ) Well, Mr Madrano had the best opportunity to avoid the fight by going home. He stayed to confront these guys, and his group outnumbered the officers.
The final argument is that the correctional officers were better fighters and shouldn't have hit Madrano when he wouldn't give up (and stood back up after the first punch). I'm sure the officers regret that now, but who put them in that situation where they were supposed to judge in a split second the extent of the injuries–Mr. Madrano. Usually when people get up after being hit, it means they are still in the fight.
As someone else commented, this was a bar fight outside the Elkhorn with people who were all drinking. Things happen. Why didn't Mr. Madrano's four "friends" talk him out of this stupid fight? That's the real question.
The article you linked says absolutely nothing about what you're describing here. Actually, it makes these two people you're defending look like violent thugs.
Jim Reddick, you absolutely do not have the correct information here…. it was more like 7 vs 3….. Where the correctional officers were the 3..
Absolutely ridiculous…
You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about..
Lowell John Zelinski, you have no facts right…
Thank you so much for this post……..