Ukiah Man Suspected of Attempted Murder in Recent Drive-by Shooting Has Been Arrested Multiple Times

Multiple booking photos of Bryan Montiel Sanchez.

20-year-old Ukiah man Bryan Montiel Sanchez has been booked into the Mendocino County Jail and charged with attempted murder for his alleged role in the nighttime, drive-by shooting that took place this Tuesday.

Within the last year and a half before the drive-by shooting, Sanchez has spent a minimum of 112 days in county prison. He has been allegedly involved in multiple criminal circumstances involving firearms, drugs, high-speed pursuits, and burglary. Sanchez has been arrested on multiple occasions over the last year. In most of those incidents, law enforcement says Sanchez’s crimes were committed in the company of male juveniles.

Around 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24, 2022, the quiet of Ukiah’s Ford Street was broken when a subject hung out the window of a vehicle and fired multiple shots in the neighborhood. The following day the Ukiah Police Department would tell the public that the shooting was not random, but had an intended target–an adult woman.

Sanchez is currently booked in the Mendocino County Jail awaiting official charges.

The earliest documented criminal exploit of Sanchez’s occurred on January 5, 2021. Sanchez and Ervin James Barnett burglarized a home on the 1000 block of Ukiah’s Alice Avenue.

Barnett would plead guilty to burglary, serve 116 days of a 300-day jail sentence, and be assigned formal-supervised probation until August 2024.

We know Sanchez was released from custody after his initial arrest. ​​An arrest warrant for Sanchez was issued on January 11, 2021.

As per an MCSO press release, on February 22, 2021, a deputy conducted a traffic stop due to a traffic violation and arrested Sanchez for the outstanding warrant where he was booked in the Mendocino County Jail.

Sanchez would also plead guilty to felony burglary and serve 82 days of 240 in the Mendocino County Jail. He would be sentenced to formal-supervised probation for 36 months lasting until June 2024.

On March 15, 2021, Sanchez would be charged with felony battery with serious bodily injury against a 14-year-old. A criminal protective order would be invoked and then later rescinded after April 2, 2021, when the case would be dismissed. He was never found guilty of this crime.

On June 6, 2021, Sanchez and a 17-year-old juvenile were allegedly parked at Lake Mendocino’s South Boat Ramp when deputies approached and found multiple canisters of nitrous oxide. Both Sanchez and the juvenile provided officers with false names. After sorting out their identities, a search of the pair’s clothing and the vehicle was conducted during which the deputy found a half ounce of cocaine. Less than a gram of suspected heroin was found in the 17-year-old’s pocket. In the glovebox was a loaded semi-automatic handgun.

Sanchez was charged with presenting false information to law enforcement and the illicit use of nitrous oxide. The 17-year-old would face charges for heroin, cocaine, and firearm.

Later that summer on August 24, 2021, a vehicle pursuit took place on the dangerous roads of Mendocino’s North County along State Route 162, Highway 101, and Poonkinney Road. The suspect vehicle would exceed speeds of 100 miles/hour and pursuers would lose sight of the vehicle throughout the chase. CHP eventually caught up with the vehicle and found a 17-year-old was the driver and Bryan Sanchez sat in the passenger seat during the pursuit.

Sanchez was placed under arrest at the scene for delaying/obstructing/resisting a police officer and violation of his probation. He would plead guilty to misdemeanor charges of resisting/obstruction and serve 30 days in jail.

On September 9, 2021, MCSO deputies were conducting a probation search at a Covelo residence where they found cocaine, ammunition, and drug paraphernalia. They discovered Sanchez hiding in the bathroom and deputies arrested him on a felony arrest warrant for burglary.

And now, approximately ten months later, Sanchez is suspected of being the gunman during a drive-by shooting on the 200 block of Ford Street in Ukiah on the evening of May 24, 2022. The driver was a juvenile.

UPD identified Sanchez as the shooter on May 25 and he was placed under arrest around 4:00 p.m. that day.

The male juvenile suspected of driving the vehicle would turn himself in to the Ukiah Police on May 25 and was booked into juvenile hall.

The Ukiah Police’s investigation into the shooting is ongoing and they are still looking for the vehicle driven at the time of the shooting and the firearm. UPD asks that anyone with information on the incident, the vehicle’s location, or anything else contact UPD Detectives at (707) 463-6262.

With due respect to the victim of these crimes unless noted, not all of the crimes Sanchez stands accused of have been adjudicated. In accordance with legal principles, he should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.