Suspect’s wife recalls moments before Calaveras deputy shot, husband killed

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    SAN ANDREAS, California (KCRA) — The Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office has identified the man accused of shooting a deputy, taking a 75-year-old woman as a hostage and pointing a gun at his wife.

Mark Aitulagi Lavea of Modesto, 47, had a lengthy criminal history dating back to 1989, which includes child abuse, domestic violence and burglary convictions, according to investigators.

His wife, Melissa, said he had been flawed, but he had been trying to turn his life around.

“He gets a hold of drugs, and he’s a whole different person,” Melissa said.

Melissa recalled the events that led to her husband pointing a gun at her at the Sierra Inn Motel in San Andreas.

“He put a cigarette out on the back of my neck, put it out like a cigarette, and then he ripped me by the hair, and stuck a gun to my head, right here, underneath the cameras,” Melissa said.

Melissa said neighbors tried to intervene and called 911. After the initial confrontation Thursday night, she drove to the Diamond Place Apartments. It was at this complex that Calaveras County Sheriff’s Deputy Jonathan Brown, who had been with the department for 14 months, would interview her.

The sheriff’s office in a release said moments later, Mark ambushed them from a dark area and shot Brown. Melissa was not harmed. Neither deputy nor victim saw where the shots came from because of how the ambush happened.

“Sheriff got hit in the arm, and it like lifted him up, and he was gone in a sprint. Like, gone, screaming on his radio, ‘I’ve been shot, I’ve been shot,'” Melissa said.

Melissa added that’s when neighbors at the apartment complex took her in. Investigators said Mark then went into a nearby apartment and took a 75-year-old disabled woman hostage. Melissa watched as Mark came out of the apartment, with the hostage and her walker. Deputies said Mark was using her as a human shield.

The sheriff’s office said Mark was trying to force the hostage up a concrete stairway.

Melissa said deputies asked him to let the hostage go. Mark begged her to say “I love you. I love you. Don’t ever forget that.” He then told Melissa, “Tell me ‘I love you. Don’t do it, please.’ As soon as I told him I loved him, he let the woman go and they dumped on him.”

After Mark was shot, the sheriff’s office said he got up multiple times, getting shot each time. The first time he got up, he tried shooting at the deputies before he was shot again. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators said deputies feared for the hostage, the residents and themselves. At the complex, holes were seen Monday where bullets had ricocheted and fragmented, which deputies said, appeared to have injured the 75-year-old woman, but at this time, evidence is still being analyzed.

It is also unknown if Mark had shot the woman he held hostage after he was shot by law enforcement.

As for Melissa, she’s now a single mother, her emotions conflicted.

“I haven’t processed it yet. And, yes, I know we had our problems, but that was still my husband. That’s still the father of my two babies,” Melissa said.

The other deputies involved have been identified as Deputy Michael Jericoff (2 years of service), Deputy Nicholas Riviera (2 years of service), Deputy Mark Silvia (1.5 years of service), Deputy Brandon Buie (14 months of service), and an officer from the Angels Camp Police Department. Per protocol, the deputies have been placed on paid administrative leave.

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