# [ODMP] California Highway Patrol, California ~ November 17, 2005



## Guest (Nov 18, 2005)

A Officer with the California Highway Patrol was killed in the line of duty on November 17, 2005

*http://www.odmp.org/officer.php?oid=17988*


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## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

The Officer Down Memorial Page Remembers . . .





























Officer Andy Stevens 
*California Highway Patrol
California*
End of Watch: Thursday, November 17, 2005

Biographical Info
*Age:* 37
*Tour of Duty:* 13 yrs
*Badge Number:* 13739

Incident Details
*Cause of Death:* Gunfire
*Date of Incident:* Thursday, November 17, 2005
*Weapon Used*: Gun; Unknown type
*Suspect Info:* At large

Officer Andy Stevens was shot and killed during a traffic stop.

Officer Stevens, a commercial vehicle inspector, had made a traffic stop near the intersection of County Road 96 at Highway 16. He approached the vehicle and greeted the driver, when he was shot and instantly killed. Passing motorists who witnessed the incident used Officer Stevens' police radio to call for assistance. The suspect fled the scene and remains at large.

Officer Stevens is survived by his wife.

Agency Contact Information
California Highway Patrol
PO Box 942898
Sacramento, CA 94298

Phone: (916) 657-7261

* _Please contact the agency for funeral information_

*»* View this officer's Reflections*»* Leave a Reflection*»* List all officers from this agency*»* Update this memorial*»* Printer friendly view


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## NH Cop (Aug 27, 2005)

The suspect was caught this morning in a Hotel with his girl friend. The suspect's father had been a Police Officer years back. He was fired while on the job and he then committed suicide. I suppose we will hear that the son is a victim somehow.

Rest in peace Officer Andy Stevens, you will not be forgotten


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## Guest (Nov 20, 2005)

Three arrested in CHP slaying

By BEN ANTONIUS/MediaNews Group

WOODLAND Police arrested three people Friday in connection with the fatal shooting of a CHP officer west of Woodland.

Officer Andy Stevens, 37, was shot and killed during a traffic stop Thursday afternoon. 

Brendt Anthony Volarvich, of Roseville, and Lindsey Jane Montgomery, of Woodland, both 20, were tracked down in Rocklin at 3:05 a.m. Friday morning. 

The arrest of Gregory Fred Zielesch, 47, of Woodland, was announced later in the day. 

Volarvich and Montgomery were arrested after a deputy spotted a vehicle that several witnesses described as the shooter's, said Yolo County Sheriff's Capt. Larry Cecchettini.

Witness accounts suggest Montgomery was not in the car at the time of the shooting, Cecchettini said, adding that investigators are "comfortable" with the arrest. 


"We would not arrest anyone unless we thought in our hearts, This is the person'," Cecchettini said, speaking at news conference in Rocklin on Friday. "This is the very beginning of a very huge investigation."

All three suspects are scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. Monday in Yolo County Superior Court.

Volarvich will be charged with murder of a peace officer, Zielesch will be charged with murder of a peace officer and conspiracy to murder and Montgomery with being an accessory to murder.

The shooting occurred at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday when Stevens allegedly stopped a car near the intersection of county roads 96 and 21, west of Woodland. 

Stevens' job as a commercial truck inspector frequently placed him on rural county roads. 

It was not immediately clear why the traffic stop suddenly turned violent, nor why Stevens pulled over the car in the first place. 

The Yolo County District Attorney's Office took over the investigation for the Sheriff's Department following the arrest and promptly canceled a scheduled 10:30 a.m. press conference. The office said it had no plans to appoint a spokesman, hold any press briefings or release any new information about the incident.

The office would not say where or when Zielesch was arrested or his relationship to the other two suspects, who were apparently dating.

Unconfirmed reports, however, have suggested that shortly after the shooting Volarvich went to Montgomery's home in Woodland where he apparently switched license plates on the vehicle before making the trip to Rocklin with Montgomery.

Woodland police had arrested Volarvich on Monday for possession of methamphetamine and an illegal weapon. 

In February 2004, The Roseville Press-Tribune reported Volarvich had been arrested on charges of burglary and credit card theft. 

Kenny Ragan, 39, said he witnessed much of the CHP officer's shooting from his house across the road, including seeing his boss rush to the fallen officer's aid and call for help on the squad car radio.

Ragan had seen Stevens patrolling the area regularly, and had talked to him recently while fishing on Cache Creek. The sudden and brutal shooting left him stunned.

"It's been devastating," he said Friday. "He was just trying to do his job. It shows you how fast life can turn around."

Stevens, a 13-year veteran of the Highway Patrol, was married but did not have any children. CHP deputy chief Stan Perez called him "one of our best" and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, traveling in Asia, called the death "senseless."

The Woodland CHP office was somber Friday, with some residents stopping by to pay their respects. Officials closed the office to the public and officers did not make themselves available for comment.

Neither Perez nor sheriff's officials discussed the reason Stevens pulled over the sedan, but based on the officer's last radio transmission it appeared Stevens had a conversation with the suspect and been "very polite to him."

"(Stevens) was greeting him and for no reason the suspect took our officer's life," Perez said.

Officials said they knew there was trouble when a witness used Stevens' squad car radio to send a "mayday" message.

On Friday, Woodland resident Angelina Bravo visited a growing memorial of flowers outside the CHP office. She said she met Stevens during her days playing softball and had recently run into him at the supermarket. She described him as "kind and very polite."

Meanwhile, local ministers have placed a guest book at the both the CHP office and the offices of the Woodland Police Department so people can record their thoughts and send messages to Stevens' family. 

"It's a terrible tragedy," Bravo said. "He lost his life for nothing; for a traffic stop. It brought tears to my eyes when I heard."

Services for Stevens will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at his church in Roseville.

Ben Antonius is a writer for the Woodland Daily Democrat. Democrat correspondent Christian Danielsen and The Associated Press contributed to this repor


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## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*

AP Photo/Max Whittaker
Volarvich, 20, of Roseville, Calif., is led out of the Yolo County courthouse in Woodland, Calif., after being arraigned for the murder of CHP Officer Andy Stevens.​*

*Suspects In California Officer's Shooting Appear In Court*

*Story by kcra.com*

Three people charged in connection with the shooting death of a California Highway Patrol officer made their first court appearance Monday afternoon.

A large crowd gathered outside the Yolo County Courthouse to catch a glimpse of the woman and two men. One by one, Brendt Anthony Volarvich (pictured, right), 20, of Roseville; Lindsey Montgomery, 20, of Woodland; and Gregory F. Zielesch, 47, also of Woodland, were escorted from a jail holding cell to the courthouse across the street. All were shackled and wearing bulletproof vests.

Volarvich is accused of shooting and killing Officer Andy Stevens Thursday afternoon after a traffic stop on County Road 96 near Woodland in Yolo County.

Zielesch is accused of hiring Volarvich to execute a contract killing unrelated to this case.

Montgomery, who is Volarvich's girlfriend, is accused of helping hide Volarvich after the shooting.

None of the suspects entered pleas Monday, but Montgomery's attorney released a statement that read in part: "The Montgomery family wishes to extend their deepest and most sincere sympathies to Officer Stevens. The family is now caught in a tragic catch-22, grieving the loss of a committed and heroic officer while fearing for the safety of Lindsey and the rest of her family."

A public defender who represents Montgomery has confirmed that he heard the Yolo County district attorney say that a former Woodland High School student was possibly the intended target of the contract killing. That man is 41-year-old Doug Shamberger.

Sources told KCRA 3 that Zielesch hired Volarvich to kill Shamberger, but he ended up allegedly shooting the CHP officer instead when he got pulled over.

At a news conference Sunday, a family spokesman said he could not answer why Shamberger might have been on a murder hit list.

"It has come to our attention that a member of the family may have been involved as a possible target," family spokesman Gene Hunter said. "I'd hate to speculate on (why). All I know is I'm representing the family and they don't have a whole lot of contact with Doug at all at this time."

Hunter said the family has not heard from Shamberger since the officer was killed. There was no answer at his parent's home on Sunday.

Previous Stories:


November 18, 2005: Source: Suspect In CHP Death Contracted To Kill 
November 17, 2005: CHP Officer Killed; Manhunt Under Way 
Copyright 2005 by KCRA.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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