By Joe Nelson
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Calif.
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson announced Monday that 10 felony charges have been filed against a man who allegedly shot and killed sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Nunez, including special circumstance allegations making him eligible for the death penalty.
Angelo Jose Saldivar, 47, of San Bernardino was charged with one count of first-degree murder in the death of Nunez and one count of attempted kidnapping of his ex-wife, Veronica Garcia Saldivar, last week in Rancho Cucamonga, according to the criminal complaint.
Saldivar also is charged with four counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and one count each of discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, evading an officer with willful disregard, false imprisonment by violence, and battery on a spouse or child’s parent, according to the complaint filed Monday.
The complaint also includes the special circumstance allegations that Saldivar killed a peace officer in the performance of his duty and to escape lawful arrest and personal and intentional discharge of a firearm.
During a news conference Monday, Nov. 3, in the Rancho Cucamonga Civic Center courtyard, Anderson noted it was the second time since March that he and Sheriff Shannon Dicus had gathered in the same location announcing criminal charges relating to the deaths of deputies who died in the line of duty.
In March, Anderson and Dicus hosted a news conference announcing murder and auto theft charges against Ryan Dwayne Turner Jr. in connection with the death of Deputy Hector Cuevas Jr., who was killed during a high-speed chase. Cuevas collided with another vehicle during the pursuit, struck a pole and was killed.
“The death of any law enforcement officer, even one, is far too many, but to have two in the span of eight months in our county is horrendous,” Anderson said. He said the support by the community, especially to Nunez’s family, has been “tremendous.”
“It will be one of my missions, between now and when this case is final, to get this case pushed to trial,” Anderson said. He later said it was too soon to determine whether his office will seek the death penalty against Saldivar.
Dicus thanked Anderson and his office for “never wavering,” and said filing the criminal complaint against Saldivar on Monday “marked the first portion of the healing process” for Nunez’s family.
“I want all of you to know that our primary concern from this point forward is to assist the prosecution with our investigators and to make sure that that family is well taken care of,” said Dicus, who also thanked the community of Rancho Cucamonga and city officials, as well as the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors .
During its Tuesday, Nov. 4 meeting, the Board of Supervisors will consider a recommendation to approve a $50,000 donation to the Sheriff’s Employee Assistance Team Inc., a nonprofit charitable organization that provides services to support the well-being of Sheriff’s Department employees and their families.
“What’s different about San Bernardino County is when something like this happens, we don’t stand separately as law enforcement, we stand together as a community, because all of us are traumatized when a public servant is killed,” Dicus said.
Saldivar hopped on his motorcycle and led deputies on a pursuit along the 210 Freeway, reaching speeds of more than 150 mph, shortly after he allegedly fatally shot Nunez as he responded to a domestic disturbance call at a condominium complex on Hollyhock Drive near Victoria Gardens, just after 12:30 p.m. Oct. 27.
At one point, the suspect was seen on TV footage holding what appeared to be a handgun and attempting to position it in one hand while not holding the handlebars.
The pursuit ended near the Campus Avenue exit of the eastbound 210 when an off-duty narcotics deputy used his car to intervene to nudge Saldivar on the motorcycle, sending him toppling over the hood of the detective’s car.
Anderson’s office will conduct a parallel investigation with the Sheriff’s Department into the intervention by the unidentified deputy that put an end to the pursuit and aided in the apprehension of Saldivar, who remains hospitalized.
A source close to the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity said Saldivar was attempting to force his ex-wife into a car at gunpoint outside her condominium. Sheriff’s dispatchers fielded multiple calls from residents at the complex reported yelling and screaming and shots fired.
Veronica Garcia Saldivar, according to the source, was “hugging a tree” to prevent her ex-husband from pulling her into the car.
It was unclear whose car Angelo Saldivar was allegedly trying to force his ex-wife into, given he arrived at her residence on his motorcycle, Anderson said Monday. He declined to comment further.
Court records show Saldivar and his wife separated in September 2024 and that his wife then filed for divorce, which was granted on July 30, 2025. The couple had been married for 18 years.
Angelo Saldivar’s brother-in-law, Jose Zaragoza, said in a telephone interview Monday that his sister and brother-in-law had been having problems for years, and recently separated. He said Angelo Saldivar had recently lost his job as a blackjack dealer at Yaamava Casino, and that his sister is a correctional sergeant at the California Institution for Woman in Corona .
He said he helped his sister move from San Bernardino to her new residence in Rancho Cucamonga in February, and her estranged husband helped in the move. Zaragoza said he spoke to his sister a couple of days after the shooting, and said she was shook up.
“She said she was sad, and that it was traumatic, and that her life has been upside down for a long time and she tried to fix the marriage,” Zaragoza said, noting that the couple have three children, including a 17-year-old daughter who still resides with her mother, and two grown children who share an apartment in San Bernardino .
He said he always believed his brother-in-law was a “good guy,” and never thought he was capable of such violence.
“I’m thinking about my nieces and nephews. I feel bad for them. He was a pretty good dude, he was just going through a lot,” Zaragoza said. “I never expected him to blow up like that.”
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