A Solano County jury has found 59-year-old Oakland resident Jeff Hawkins guilty on ten felony counts stemming from a hostage standoff that unfolded on Del Rio Court in Vacaville back on May 10, culminating in a dramatic second-story ladder rescue of a woman held against her will. Hawkins now remains in custody without bail as he awaits a September court date that will determine how much prison time he ultimately faces.
According to the Vacaville Police Department, officers responded to the apartment complex in the 100 block of Del Rio Court after reports that an armed man was holding a woman against her will. Hawkins barricaded himself in a separate apartment room and refused repeated commands to surrender, according to the department. Court reporting from the Vallejo Times-Herald adds that Hawkins had been staying at his ex-girlfriend’s residence while neighbors were helping her move belongings into the home, a detail that helps explain why he was present before the situation escalated into a multi-hour standoff late on Mother’s Day weekend.
The jury found that Hawkins personally used a firearm during the incident and fired at least one gunshot from inside the residence, per the police department’s account. Vacaville police initially reported in statements released the day after the standoff that Hawkins had fired at least two gunshots inside the residence, and he initially faced booking charges of brandishing a weapon and resisting an officer — charges that preceded the more extensive formal counts prosecutors ultimately filed.
Ladder Rescue Ends Hours-Long Standoff
Hawkins exited the apartment after several hours of negotiations on May 11, and police and fire personnel used a ladder to reach the apartment’s second story and rescue the female victim, according to the department. The 100 block of Del Rio Court sits within two-story multi-family condominium structures built in the early 1970s as part of the El Dorado subdivision near Elmira Road, per Apartments.com — a physical layout that presented the kind of entry and exit challenges tactical teams often face during hostage extractions in multi-unit buildings…