Ex-con wounded by his parole officer during late-night encounter

BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer

A parole officer in Redwood City shot his parolee when the parolee ran toward the officer holding a dumbbell above his head, a prosecutor said.

The shooting took place on April 22 at 540 Price Ave. in Redwood City, but the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation kept the incident under wraps.

The shooting only became known May 2 when the parolee was charged by the district attorney. (This story was originally printed in the Post on May 3.)

The episode began on April 21 when Parole Officer Marvin Abad heard his parolee, Aaron Dennis Wolmack, 30, yelling in the parking lot of the parole office at 540 Price Ave., in the neighborhood east of Veterans Boulevard where the CHP is located.

Wolmack had been living in the parking lot behind the office, said San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

Abad asked Wolmack what he was yelling about, the two talked, and went their own ways, Wagstaffe said.

Abad became Wolmack’s parole officer after Wolmack got out of prison for a 2016 assault.

The next day, on April 22 at 1:40 a.m., Abad was leaving the office after working late, and heard a banging noise.

The noise was from Wolmack banging on the side of a building with a dumbbell, said Wagstaffe. Wolmack then smashed a glass door with the dumbbell, said Wagstaffe.

At that point, Abad asked Wolmack what he was doing. Wolmack responded by asking Abad what he was doing there at 1:40 in the morning. Wolmack then began approaching Abad with the dumbbell over his head, Wagstaffe said.

Abad yelled at Wolmack to stop, but he kept running, so Abad shot Wolmack twice, in the leg and the groin, Wagstaffe said.

Despite being wounded, Wolmack turned around and ran away.

Redwood City police officers responded to the shooting and had to use Tasers on Wolmack to get him to come with them to the hospital, said Wagstaffe.

Wolmack was taken to the hospital, where he was until May 1. On May 2, Wolmack appeared in court and was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, and two misdemeanors — resisting arrest and vandalism.

Why was the shooting kept from the public?

In California, when a law enforcement officer shoots somebody, the agency that employs the officer is supposed to announce what happened to the public.

However, for reasons that couldn’t be determined, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation did not put out a statement about the April 21 shooting.

The Post found out about this case yesterday from DA Wagstaffe, when his office charged Wolmack.

Wagstaffe’s office is also investigating Abad for the shooting, which is the regular procedure when an officer shoots someone.

Wolmack is in jail on $35,000 bail and will appear in court today to have doctors appointed to evaluate his mental state, Wagstaffe said.