A dispute outside a Barstow business turned into gunfire this weekend, and police say the two men involved didn't get far before license-plate-reading cameras helped track down their car. Officers responded to the 100 block of Montara Road on Sunday after reports that an argument had escalated into a physical altercation and, ultimately, a shooting.
According to VVNG, the Barstow Police Department said two Barstow residents were arrested after the physical disturbance turned violent. Witnesses told officers that several people were involved in an argument that escalated into a physical altercation before shots were fired, the outlet reported.
Police identified 24-year-old Barstow resident Doro Griego as the main instigator of the confrontation. Officers said 30-year-old Barstow resident Richard Slocum produced a pistol during the altercation, fired one round into the air, and pointed the firearm at other people on scene, per the same account.
Suspects Fled in Black Honda Civic
Slocum and Griego then fled the area in a black Honda Civic, police said. Officers located the vehicle a short time later on Lenwood Road using Flock Safety technology, the automated license-plate-reading system increasingly used by local departments to track vehicles tied to active investigations.
Barstow’s use of the system predates this incident: an inventory by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Associated Press lists 33 Flock automated license-plate readers operated by the Police Department as of April 2024, with captured data kept for 30 days. The cameras can record passing vehicles’ plates and locations, making their role in this investigation part of a broader local surveillance network—not just a one-time tool used to find the Honda. The Barstow camera inventory documents the count and retention period.
Both men were detained without incident following an investigative stop, the report notes. Slocum was arrested on suspicion of PC 245(a)(2), assault with a firearm, and PC 246.3(a), willful discharge of a firearm. Griego was arrested on suspicion of PC 182(a)(1), conspiracy, under California's conspiracy statute.
California law sets rules for agencies that operate or access automated license-plate-reader systems. The state’s privacy law requires agencies to maintain a written usage and privacy policy, make it publicly available, and use reasonable safeguards to protect the data; state guidance also says policies should address authorized uses, access, sharing and retention. Those requirements provide a framework for public oversight as Barstow police use the technology in investigations. California DOJ’s guidance on ALPR data explains the requirements.
Booked at High Desert Detention Center
Both suspects were booked into the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department High Desert Detention Center in Adelanto. No independently verified court records, bail details, or formal charging decisions were available at the time of the arrests, and the Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino maintains public case records for those seeking updates as the case moves forward.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Officer Simon Sanchez at 760-256-2211 or [email protected].
