Marin County Sheriff, Suspect Killed In Petaluma Standoff

July 19, 2011 8:38 PM

Off-duty deputy Jim Mathiesen was shot and killed near Petaluma. (Bay City News)

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Heard On, Local, News, Seen On, Syndicated Local

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Crime, Homicide, Murder, Petaluma, Sonoma County

PETALUMA (CBS SF) – Marin County Sheriff Robert Doyle paid tribute Tuesday afternoon to Deputy Jim Mathiesen, who was fatally shot early Tuesday by a friend’s ex-boyfriend near Petaluma.

The ex-boyfriend, Thomas Edwin Halloran, 28, of Marin County, was in turn killed by a man who lived at the residence in the 800 block of Liberty Road in Sonoma County where the fatal shootings occurred.

“This is tragic news. Jim died trying to help others,” Doyle said.

“He was known for his kindness and his helpful nature.”

Mathiesen, 49, of Petaluma, worked as a sheriff’s deputy for nine years. He was assigned to the custodial division that includes the county jail and Marin County Superior Court.

KCBS’ Bob Melrose Reports:

Off Duty Petaluma Deputy Shot Dead

Mathiesen was a close family friend of the woman who had been dating Halloran since March, Assistant Sonoma County Sheriff Lorenzo Duenas said.

When the woman broke off the relationship nine days ago, Halloran made numerous threats to the woman and her family, including one made earlier Monday night, Duenas said.

The woman and her family asked for Mathiesen’s advice and help because he was employed as a sheriff’s deputy, and Mathiesen arrived at the Liberty Road residence between 11:30 p.m. and 11:50 p.m. Monday, Sonoma County sheriff’s Sgt. Carlos Basurto said.

Investigators believe 28-year-old Thomas Edward Halloran shot and killed an off-duty deputy in Petaluma. (DMV)

Halloran showed up at the property about 20 minutes after Mathiesen arrived, and Mathiesen went outside to ask Halloran to leave, he said.

Mathiesen was unarmed when Halloran shot him twice in the upper body.

Halloran then found a woman inside the house and threatened to shoot her if he did not locate his ex-girlfriend. He then forced the woman at gunpoint into a garage and threatened to shoot her, Basurto said.

While Halloran was trying to force the woman into a vehicle, a male resident of the house shot Halloran once in the upper body and once in the lower body, he said.

Halloran and Mathiesen died at the scene. All the weapons were recovered.

Halloran was on active parole for making terrorist threats in the past and had numerous arrests in Marin and Sonoma counties.

Halloran also has possible gang and prison affiliations. On July 23, 2008, Petaluma police arrested Halloran for allegedly vandalizing his ex-girlfriend’s car and sending her death threats via text messages.

Halloran, a Novato resident at the time, allegedly vandalized the car on July 21 and evaded arrest for two days.

The Marin County Sheriff’s Office found Halloran and turned him over to Petaluma police. Halloran was booked at Sonoma County Jail for stalking, criminal threats, felony vandalism and violating probation.

Marin County Sheriff, Suspect Killed In Petaluma Standoff

http://blin90.wordpress.com/2011/07/19/liberty-road/ Liberty Road « Ben's Weblog

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tjlove143

Fix the captian beneath that piece of trash’s photo. He is not the off-duty, UNARMED deputy and should not be mistaken for this fallen hero. He is the murderer!

stmike

THANKS TJLOVE!! I was in the middle of writing to CBS.. It’s disturbing seeing the name of a man, an honorable public servant…….and the picture of someone who took advantage of citizens, abused his life, and was a complete waste of flesh and bone… Deputy Mathiesen gave his life protecting people he cared for and in turn probably saved numerous lives of future vicitms of Halloran.

tjlove143

There was no way I could let that mistake slide. Jim was far too important to my family and so many other families – clearly – to have his memory smudged by a typo in a photo caption. I suppose the only silver lining in this is exactly what you stated…his sacrifice likely saved numerous lives, and he died a hero even out of his uniform.

tjlove143

Thank you for fixing the photo so quickly! That’s the smiling face we all know and love and will forever miss!
Jack

you guys certainly like to use the words “Duenas said” you might want to try expanding youir vocabulary

Winnie

Yeah, I agree with that. The witness stated…A fellow officer said….

“Duenas said” at the end of every paragraph is completely repetitive and annoying. It also takes away from the story and memory of this fallen officer.

Jack, you know what’s up.
Mr. Right

They do this because they are taught in Journalism School to think that everything that the police say is a lie. This makes it look like they are being skeptical but when the suspect’s parents are on camera saying he was a great father(Oscar Grant) who only carried a gun to protect himself from the police they never do this.

Greg Skuxxington

Hutch

tjlove143

Do you know Hutch?

Barry

Hutch
tjlove143

Do you know him?
Scott

Tjlove, yeah we sort of know hutch. Rest in peace.
lauri

hutch is good guy with heart in the right place. thanks for sharing this.
Murphy

a ture hero!! Hutch sent me
Ampersand

Homie shouldn’t have gone running over there. I wonder if his wife knew where he was going… he know better next time around. Stay out of it and tell her to call the police! He wasn’t even armed. How silly was that?

Seriously

Hey Moron, he “don’t” know better next time around, because he’s DEAD. Have some effing respect. The man died trying to prevent the situation from escalating.

hialaska907

KNowing that Halloran is obviously a hardened habitual criminal, the sheriff should never have been confronted him while unarmed and off duty, specially in a boyfriend girlfriend situation like this.

Ampersand

Yes, the Sheriff’s DEPUTY made a huge error in judgment… I’m wondering if there isn’t more to this story, though… his involvement with this woman he foolishly went to defend *look*

hialaska907

I think so too. This may be a love triangle situation.

DM

This is a tragedy and my prayers go out to the family of Deputy Mathieson and and the brothers and sisters of his law enforcement family at the Marin County SO.

I would however like to request that CBS get a grasp of the proper terminology when they post an article for public consumption.

The headline says “Marin County Sheriff killed”. The Marin County Sheriff is Robert Dpyle. The term sheriff refers to the head law enforcement officer of the sheriff’s department. If the sheriff was killed , as the headline says, how can the first sentence in the article include a quote from the sheriff? It was a DEPUTY sheriff who was killed!

If I was a family member of Sheriff Doyle and I saw that headline, I’d be panic-stricken! Please CBS, a little literary accuracy would be appreciated!

Ampersand

Amen! I noticed the same thing… CBS and Yahoo are clearly “bedfellows.” They both make the same simpllistic mistakes. Ridiculous.

B

In a domestic dispute, the last thing the man wants to see is cops in the house asking him to leave.
Any man would feel insulted and provoked.
Law enforcement should attemp to smooth things out in this kind of situation, and not take side of push somebody around.
The sheriff paid the ultimate price for his mistakes.

Ampersand

The Sheriff’s DEPUTY was there in an unofficial role. That too may have played a part in this whole thing. If Halloran had known the deputy WAS a deputy, he may not have shot him. To Halloran, the deputy probably appeared to be yet another man standing in the way of the woman he wanted, perhaps another suitor himself. Who’s to say…? Cops should never get involved in a domestic dispute while off-duty. That is what their comrades are for and why they’re on the dime at the time. The deputy made a serious error in judgment, but I still think something may have been going on between him and this woman. Just a thought…

Kelley

This is a tragic story! The only positive thing I can say, is thank god they had a gun in the household for protection, otherwise, more innocent people would have died!
Ampersand

I hate to say this but I think the true hero in this story is the man who had the gun because as it’s been said, who knows how many others Halloran may have executed before being killed by police who weren’t even there yet… but I know society always wants to give props to law enforcemen and label them heros although nothing heroic was donet, especially when one of them dies, regardless of the error in which they themselves too contributed to their own demise… whatever, though.

DM

Ampersand, you are right on the money!

The citizen who took action very likely saved the lives of others who may have been killed by Halloran in his effeort to find his ex-girfriend.

And “R”, Mathieson wasn’t at the scene as a police officer. He was at the scene as a friend whose presence had been requested by the family of the woman. Yes, they asked him because of his law enforcement experience, but don’t bet for one minute that any other non-police officer who had been in the same situation wouldn’t have done the same thjng for a friend that Mathieson did.

The fact that he was unarmed should show that he came as “friend” not as a cop!

tjlove143

Thank you, DM!
Nobody is taking away from the fact that the young man who killed the MURDERER is a true hero, and lives were likely saved by his actions, but Jim was a hero in his own right. Like you said, he went over as a friend to the MOTHER of the young woman. No love triangle here. He’s known this family for over 30 years! He went over there because he was asked by a friend. How was he to know that he would encounter Halloran? My father would have done the exact same thing, on or off duty, and so would many others in law enforecement. It’s in their blood. It is what they are trained to do, and you can’t just turn it off. Jim made no mistakes that night. Although he wasn’t there as law enforcement, the minute he knew that the suspect was on the property, armed or not, Jim did what any officer would have done, and he intervened to protect an entire family. It is a true loss to the world, and I guarantee he is smiling down with no regrets because his actions started the chain of events that ultimately resulted in the safety of the family

getalife

Read the Pressdemocrat for a better story..although media never gets it right anyway. He was long time friends with the girl’s parents. Tragic for all involved. RIP to a hero.
Sue Smith

Good God. Fix the heading, “Marin sheriff killed in standoff”. The Sheriff wasn’t killed, a deputy sheriff was killed – VERY DIFFERENT!
Hellstar

The deputy was not a hero! He may have been a great guy, a nice guy, a good guy, but he also made a HUGE mistake. The word “hero” has been diminished and thrown around so frivolously that it means nothing these days.

The man who killed the assailant did the right thing, except I would have emptied my entire clip into him. Gun restraint, nice, i don’t have it.
Just Sayin

The reason why the reporter doesn’t know the difference between the Sheriff and a deputy Shefiff is that they are taught in journalism school to detest all law enforcement, military and anyone else who lives by a moral code.

I agree

Not to mention that they don’t learn proper English or how to spell.

Ampersand

Just sayin’! LOL! Couldn’t resist!

Ezekiel

Thanks for fixing the mixed-up caption. Can you please fix the headline now? The man killed was not the Sheriff, but a Sheriff’s Deputy.
James T

Nobody really cares about the difference between a Sheriff and a Sheriff’s Deputy except for them and their families.

Seriously

I did. I live in Marin County and found it pretty shocking that our sheriff was killed, and then confusing when the sheriff was quoted early in the story…Had to go back and figure out myself WHO was killed in an article ABOUT a murder! Because the writer couldn’t be bothered to get it straight.

hialaska907

It looks like we have a very lively discussion here. Everyone is invited to join me at blogcity-com . The site offers monthly prizes for members with high positive ratings and followings.

Seriously

Get out, Troll!

Garvin Williams

Jim was the coolest deputy!! I was always on the opposite side of the law and And everytime I entered the jail, jim would make sure I had food and offered me a job in the kitchen. He used to preach to me about how I was capable of turning my life around and after countless conversations and a few to many trips back to prison, his words finally stuck. I haven’t been in any trouble in 8yrs thanks to a kind officer’s words!! Who would ever believe I would listen to a cop?? Well, rest in peace jim and God Bless you for being a great human being!!

tjlove143

You are inspiring, Garvin! You are exactly the reason why Jim got into law enforcement. He didn’t do it to “catch the bad guys”; he did it so he could use his good to make a difference. Just as much as he inspired you, you inspired him and validated that he made the right choice getting into this profession regardless of his age. All I can ask of you is to keep doing what you are doing…I know he was and will continue to be proud of you, and the best way to honor him is to pay it forward. Thank you so much for sharing!!!