Sheriff’s Department Reflects On Saturday’s Standoff

Sonora, CA — Now that the gun bearing criminal who forced local law enforcement to participate in a four hour stand off is in jail, Tuolumne County Sheriff´s Department Sgt. Matt Zelinsky can reflect on the situation.

The lead negotiator along with countless deputies and other officers spent hours in triple digit temperatures Saturday as they tried to coax 45 year old Scott Wales out of a shed on Longeway Road.

Zelisnky says his main goal was to try to get Wales out safely, since he was suicidal and armed. Zelinsky says his team did everything they were trained to do and in this case everything turned out well and no one got hurt.

He believes he would not have gotten anywhere with Wales by ordering him out because he was scared of law enforcement and afraid of being shot by the officers.

Zelisnky says patience plays a large role in standoff situations due to the mental imbalance of the subjects. Wales was eventually transported to Tuolumne General Hospital for treatment and then booked into the County Jail.

Written by Sabrina Sabbagh