Bay Bridge Standoff Suspect Pleads Guilty
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) -- An Antioch man pleaded guilty Friday to felony charges of child endangerment and making a false bomb threat last November, when he was involved in a police standoff on the Bay Bridge, the San Francisco District Attorney's office said Monday.
The charges for Craig Carlos-Valentino, 52, stem from his actions on Veteran's Day, when he pulled his car over on the bridge's upper deck and called a local radio station explaining that he had two pipe bombs and a gun.
Carlos-Valentino's 16-year-old daughter was with him in his Ford Explorer when he pulled over just past the Treasure Island tunnel around 7 a.m.
San Francisco police negotiators took Carlos-Valentino into custody about an hour later after convincing him to step away from a ledge.
He threatened to kill himself and allegedly brandished a handgun, according to police. Carlos-Valentino then tossed the gun into the Bay before police took him into custody.
No explosives were found in the car, but police recovered a stun gun and a replica handgun.
Carlos-Valentino was allegedly upset in part because he was having marital problems, the California Highway Patrol said at the time of the November standoff.
Despite fewer motorists on the bridge that day due to the holiday, the standoff caused a traffic snarl and prompted an additional 8,000 people crossing into San Francisco to take BART.
A San Francisco judge dismissed felony kidnapping and false imprisonment charges against Carlos-Valentino in December after his daughter's testimony. Prosecutors failed to present evidence that she was being kept against her will.
As part of his plea, Carlos-Valentino will be sentenced to one year in county jail and four years probation, Assistant District Attorney Seth Steward said.
The conditions of his probation include one year of treatment for child abuse, a stay away order, a search condition, a no weapons provision and restitution for the costs incurred by his actions, Steward said.
Carlos-Valentino's sentencing will take place on March 25 at 9 a.m.
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