Gilroy Police Department Officer Noel Lemus, who was allegedly drunk when he barricaded himself in a bedroom and then resisted arrest at a home in Merced County on March 8, is scheduled for arraignment July 10 in the Merced County Courthouse.
Officer Lemus, 45, will plead guilty or not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest stemming from his run-in with Merced County Sheriff’s deputies, who responded to a shots-fired call at the home of Lemus’ father, Adolfo on the 2200 block of East Reilly Road, just south of Merced.
On the night in question, Officer Lemus had allegedly been drinking with family and friends before allegedly firing a Glock .45-caliber handgun. It was during Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Barile’s subsequent search of the house that he encountered an uncooperative Officer Lemus, according to the Merced County Sheriff’s report of the incident. When Officer Lemus tried to exit the bedroom he had been hiding in, Deputy Barile forced him to the ground.
After subsequent questioning, Officer Lemus lead Deputy Barile to where the handgun had been hidden a bedroom dresser, according to the report.
The Merced County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that Deputy DA Sara Rosenthal has been assigned to the case. The DA’s Office stated that if Officer Lemus pleads guilty July 10, the judge will deliver a verdict that day and the Merced DA will have no further involvement in the case.
Officer Lemus is scheduled to enter a plea at 8:15 a.m. in Courtroom Four of the Merced County Courthouse located at 2260 N-Street in Merced. If convicted, he faces up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
At the time of the incident in Merced County, Officer Lemus was on medical leave and also facing two separate GPD internal affairs investigations. Lemus has not returned calls for comment.
