Suspect in Palo Cedro hit-and-run is in Shasta County Jail on attempted-murder allegation
Dustin Alan Mingarelli, 47, was booked Thursday after an overnight manhunt ended with his arrest in Napa. Carlos Zapata remains hospitalized.
PALO CEDRO — The man accused of intentionally running down a Palo Cedro Rodeo Association member with a pickup is in the Shasta County Jail.
Dustin Alan Mingarelli, 47, identified in local coverage as a Redding driver, was booked Thursday, October 1, on suspicion of attempted murder after deputies said he struck Carlos Zapata at high speed near Palo Cedro Community Park and fled. Jail records show he was released from the Napa County Jail at 10:40 a.m. Thursday and booked into Shasta County later the same day. He had been held in Napa without bail while awaiting extradition.
Sheriff’s deputies were called about 1:56 p.m. Sunday, September 27, to Cedro Lane near Calistoga Way after multiple reports that an adult man had been intentionally hit by a vehicle. Witnesses identified Mingarelli as the driver. He was gone before deputies arrived. The Sheriff’s Office put out a be-on-the-lookout to neighboring agencies and obtained a warrant for attempted murder under Penal Code 664/187 and felony hit-and-run causing injury under Vehicle Code 20001.
Napa police and the Napa County Sheriff’s Office located him Monday morning in Napa and arrested him on the warrant. Sheriff’s spokesman Tim Mapes said a bail enhancement was requested and no bail was granted.
The Palo Cedro Rodeo Association said the suspect had come to the park more than once that afternoon, doing burnouts in the parking lot and antagonizing members who were cleaning up after Saturday’s inaugural CCPRA-certified rodeo. The association said that when members tried to get him to stop, he drove at one of them, struck him, and left. 911 was called immediately.
Zapata, co-founder of Red, White and Blueprint, a Shasta County Realtor and owner (with his son) of Silver Bridge Rodeo, was taken to Mercy Medical Center in Redding. A spokesperson said he was in stable condition in the ICU with broken ribs, a broken scapula, and a punctured lung. Reportedly, Zapata is doing better than expected and recovering well.
Nothing the Sheriff’s Office has released so far describes a prior connection between him and Mingarelli. The public account of the afternoon is the confrontation at the park during rodeo teardown.
Mingarelli is not new to local law enforcement reports. In September 2017, he and his father, John Lenny Mingarelli, were shot by a neighbor during a property-line dispute on Tabitha Court in Cottonwood. The neighbor was arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide. In April 2018, Tehama County deputies said Mingarelli was the aggressor in a roadway fight that left another man unconscious. He later surrendered and was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, mayhem, and assault with great bodily injury.
The Shasta County District Attorney’s Office filed charges Friday morning, Oct. 2, against Mingarelli. He was arraigned that afternoon and remains in the Shasta County Jail on a no-bail hold. The case was continued to Monday, Oct. 5, at 1:30 p.m. in Department 24 of Shasta County Superior Court.
According to the DA’s office and courtroom reporting, the charges are:
Attempted murder
Hit-and-run driving resulting in injury
Four counts of assault with a deadly weapon
Enhancements include infliction of great bodily injury on the attempted-murder count and on one assault count, plus other violent-conduct allegations.
