Modesto man faces multiple life sentences for shootout that critically injured police officer
A jury convicted a 45-year-old Modesto man of three counts of attempted murder of police officers and other charges connected with a 2021 shootout that seriously injured a Modesto police officer.
Jesse Brooks, who has a previous conviction for a serious felony, could face multiple life sentences. Brooks was also convicted of three counts of assault with a firearm on a police officer, being a felon in possession of a firearm and a gun enhancement for causing serious injury to a police officer.
The shooting occurred Aug. 14, 2021, when Modesto police officers served a search warrant at an Orangeburg Avenue address. According to facts in the case, Brooks was inside the dwelling and said he would not return to prison but would shoot it out with the officers.
Brooks, who armed himself with a gun, was barricaded in a room. He fired a dozen rounds at officers. Officer Michael Rokaitis suffered a gunshot would in the abdomen and was struck on the upper portion of his bulletproof vest.
As officers returned fire, Brooks was struck by several rounds. Both Rokaitis and Brooks were taken to the hospital. Rokaitis was treated for critical injuries and almost died. One of his legs was amputated because of the severity of his injuries. The officer later was awarded the law enforcement Medal of Honor for his actions.
Rokaitis, who underwent surgeries and learned to use a prosthetic leg, returned to duty in 2022 about 16 months after the shooting.
'Violence against police officers is an attack on the rule of law and public safety,' Stanislaus County District Attorney Jeff Laugero said in a news release. 'Our community will not tolerate such violence, and I have zero tolerance for such acts and will ensure that those who commit such acts are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.'
The conviction could result in sentences totaling 155 years in prison for Brooks. A sentencing date has not been set.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
2 Tacoma officers who saved man from burning car awarded Medal of Valor
Officers Victor Celis and Cory Correia did not think twice before they rescued David Brooks from his burning car two months ago. For that, they've received a prestigious award Thursday. Celis and Correia were dispatched April 29 to the 900 block of South 96th Street for a single-car crash. A car had struck a pole and fence, with its engine compartment fully engulfed in flames, according to the Tacoma Police Department. Brooks had been driving the vehicle and was still inside when the officers arrived. 'The only thing I remember at that point was I came back to senses, or whatever it might have been, noticing that my airbag had deployed, my car's on fire and I pressed my panic alarm,' Brooks told The News Tribune at a ceremony held to honor Celis and Correia. 'The operator comes on and I said, 'My car's on fire, and I don't think I can get up.'' Celis and Correia pulled Brooks out of the car and had to navigate the smoke, flames and downed wires to move him to a safe distance from the fire. 'Once I was basically at safety, the only thing else I heard was, boom. The car had exploded,' Brooks said. The incident left Brooks with a crushed heel and several fractured bones in his body. Brooks said he was in the ICU and eventually taken to a general room at a hospital. Now, he is going through rehabilitation and recovery. Celis told The News Tribune that saving Brooks was just instinct. 'You don't think about what you're doing. You just go in and you get it done,' Celis said, 'You gotta help him, that's the whole point.' For the rescue, Celis and Correia were awarded the Medal of Valor at the police headquarters. This medal is the highest honor given to police officers in the country for acts of bravery and heroism that went beyond what is normally expected. Both officers told The News Tribune they had learned they were being awarded the Medal of Valor once the ceremony began. 'It feels great,' Correia said when he was asked how receiving the honor felt. 'I think the chief made a good point saying that any one of these other officers would do the exact same thing.' Correia has been with TPD since 2019, while Celis joined the department in 2022. Celis has been in law enforcement for 28 years, and will be joining the Fircrest Police Department in July as their newest chief of police. Interim Police Chief Patti Jackson awarded Celis and Correia their medals during the ceremony as members of the department watched. City manager Elizabeth Pauli, family members of the officers, Brooks and his family also were in attendance. 'Despite the spreading fire, both officers put themselves in harm's way to save the driver's life without waiting for assistance from the Fire Department,' Lt. Shawn Mallot said at the ceremony. Brooks' brother, Steven, thanked the officers in his remarks during the ceremony. He said he had written a letter to Jackson in May, which summarized how grateful his family was. 'These officers are a very good example of what being an unselfish hero is all about,' he said.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Two people hospitalized after car crash in Oswego County
HANNIBAL, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Two people with serious injuries are being treated at Upstate Hospital after a car crash in Oswego County on Wednesday night. At 4:41 p.m. on June 4, the Oswego County Sheriff's Office was called to a two-car crash at the corner of State Route 104 and 66 Road in the Town of Hannibal. The sheriff's office says their investigation found, a 2012 Honda Civic was driving west on 104 when it passed a car that was stopped and attempting to make a right turn and hit a 2012 Lincoln MKZ that was driving east on 104 and trying to turn north onto 66 Road. Both drivers were taken to Upstate Hospital with serious injuries. Their conditions are not known. Majority of Onondaga County families approved for child care assistance Two people hospitalized after car crash in Oswego County Got a scam DMV text? How they got your number Westcott Theater plans to reopen after shutting down over safety violations Four more Brooks defendants have hearing in Oneida Co. Court Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
L.A. County to pay $2.7 million to teen assaulted in 'gladiator fight'
Los Angeles County is poised to pay nearly $2.7 million to a teenager whose violent beating at a juvenile hall launched a sprawling criminal investigation into so-called 'gladiator fights' inside the troubled facility. Video of the December 2023 beating, captured on CCTV, showed Jose Rivas Barillas, then 16, being pummeled by six juveniles at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall as probation officers stood idly by. Each youth attacked Rivas Barillas for a few seconds before returning to breakfast. Two officers, later identified as longtime probation officials Taneha Brooks and Shawn Smyles, laughed and shook hands, encouraging the brawl. "What made this unique is the video,' said Rivas Barillas' attorney, Jamal Tooson, who said his client suffered a broken nose and traumatic brain injury. 'The entire world got to witness the brutality that's taking place with our children at the hands of the Los Angeles County Probation Department.' The video, first reported by The Times, prompted a criminal investigation by the state attorney general's office, which later charged 30 probation officers — including Brooks and Smyles — with allowing and encouraging fights among teens inside county juvenile halls. California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta referred to the coordinated brawls as 'gladiator fights' and said his office's CCTV review had turned up 69 such fights during the chaotic first six months after the hall opened in July 2023. On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors will vote on whether to approve the $2.67-million settlement to Rivas Barillas and his mother, Heidi Barillas Lemus. According to a public summary of the 'corrective action plan' that the Probation Department must produce before a large settlement, officials failed to review CCTV video of the fight and waited too long to transport the teen to a hospital and notify his family. CCTV monitors are now 'staffed routinely,' and officials are working on conducting random audits of the recordings, according to the plan. A spokesperson for the Probation Department did not respond to a request for comment. Immediately after Rivas Barillas arrived at the Downey juvenile hall, Brooks demanded to know his gang affiliation, according to the claim filed with the county. Brooks said she had heard that Rivas Barillas, who is Latino, was from the "Canoga" gang and that she "hoped he could fight' before directing the other juveniles, all of whom were Black, to attack him in the day room, the claim stated. After the video made headlines, accounts of teens forced by probation officers to fight have trickled out of Los Padrinos. A teen told The Times in March that officers at Los Padrinos rewarded him with a fast-food 'bounty' — In-N-Out, Jack in the Box, McDonald's — if he beat up kids who misbehaved. The teenager, who had previously been housed in the same unit as Rivas Barillas, said staffers would also organize fights when someone arrived who was thought to be affiliated with a gang that didn't get along with the youths inside. 'We get a new kid, he's from the hood. We have other hoods in here. We're going to get all the fights out of the way,' he said at the time. 'They were just setting it up to control the situation.' Another teenager, identified in court filings as John (Lohjk) Doe, alleged in a lawsuit filed in February that soon after arriving at Los Padrinos in 2024, he was escorted by an officer to the day room. The officer, identified only by the surname Santos, told a youth inside the day room that 'you have eleven (11) seconds' and watched as the youth attacked Doe, according to the lawsuit. On another occasion, the same officer threatened to pepper-spray Doe if he didn't fight another youth for 20 seconds. The teens who fought were rewarded with extra television and more time out of their cells, the suit alleged. After the teen told a female officer about the two coordinated brawls, he was transferred to solitary confinement, the suit alleged. Times staff writer James Queally contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
