Steven Acosta, July booking photo
Suspect Fought With Officers Before Being Taken Into Custody
SALINAS—On Friday evening, at a time when most people were thinking about their plans for the Halloween weekend, the Salinas Police were busy trying to get a wanted felon into custody. Police blocked off a portion of West Street just before the downtown commute got started. They were attempting capture a felon who was wanted for an incident that had occurred on Wednesday night, October 28.
Detectives with the Salinas Police Department investigating the Wednesday incident observed their suspect, 29-year-old Steven James Acosta, at a residence on West Street near Park Street. Acosta was wanted by the Salinas Police because of an incident that occurred just a few block away from where he was seen. He is accused of kidnapping and torture, along with vehicle theft and battery. He reportedly accosted a woman in her own car, assaulted and even burned her, before forcing her out and taking the car.
This neighborhood was subject to a SWAT team standoff the night before Halloween.
At about quarter to five, Salinas Police cordoned off a portion of West Street in old town Salinas, snarling an already horrendous commute. Additional officers arrived and surrounded the area around the house that Acosta had been seen in. Two elderly people reportedly got out of the house safely.
Officers and negotiators attempted to convince Acosta to come out, but he refused. He was holed up in the house until Salinas’ Special Weapons and Tactical Team (SWAT) arrived. When SWAT arrived they immediately deployed chemical agents into the house.
Acosta, not able to handle the chemical assault, came out of the house through the backyard. When officers attempt to take him into custody he fought with them. Eventually Acosta was arrested and booked into the Monterey County Jail for assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, and false imprisonment by violence.
This is the same Steven Acosta who was arrested just a few months prior for similar charges. In that case, he had demanded that a woman he knew drive him from his Greenfield home to her Salinas home to hide out. When he fell asleep, she escaped to a Jack-In-The-Box restroom and called for help. Acosta woke up and fled, invading a stranger’s home. Police caught up with him hiding in a closet in that home. He was arrested then for kidnapping, false imprisonment, breaking and entering, and resisting arrest.
Read More: CrimeVoice
