A Carlsbad man accused of beating up his girlfriend and then holing up in their residence, triggering a SWAT standoff, pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of inflicting corporal injury, battery with serious bodily injury and resisting arrest.
Gabriel Navarro, 37, was ordered held on $150,000 bail.
The standoff began July 1 about 7:30 p.m. in the 100 block of Juniper Avenue between Carlsbad Boulevard and Garfield Street.
Navarro, who was believed to be armed with a shotgun, did not respond to several attempts by the Carlsbad police SWAT team and crisis negotiators to contact him through a bullhorn and telephone calls, said Carlsbad police Sgt. Travis Lambert.
Navarro’s girlfriend had escaped to a neighbor’s house with a cut on her forehead, which she alleged Navarro caused by slamming her head against a hardwood floor in their home. She was treated at a local hospital and released, Lambert said.
Hours later, police searched the home, where a police dog found Navarro hiding in the attic.
A readiness conference is scheduled July 18 and a preliminary hearing is set for July 21.
Navarro faces nine years in state prison if convicted, said Deputy District Attorney Ben Barlow.
–City News Service