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Oregon veteran to stand trial

Santa Cruz Sentinel - 9/11/2020

Sep. 11--SANTA CRUZ -- The Oregon veteran accused of an armed carjacking north of Davenport and subsequent car chase ending in the ocean will face trial, a Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday.

Judge Paul Burdick ordered John Kenyanjui, 56, to face 13 charges -- several newly filed by the Santa Cruz County District Attorney's Office this month -- after a preliminary hearing related to the June 30 incident.

Kenyanjui, with close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair, animatedly shook his head alternately in agreement or disagreement as several Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office deputies were called to testify in the hearing Wednesday afternoon. He told law enforcement after his arrest that he served for 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, according to testimony. Wearing dark pants, a light blue shirt and a blue surgical mask, Kenyanjui regularly scrawled notes to his defense attorney on a yellow legal pad, prompting her to ask additional questions of witnesses.

According to deputies' testimony based on witness interviews, Kenyajui stood with what appeared to be a gun in the middle of Highway 1 north of Davenport, between Scott Creek and Waddell Beach, around 3 p.m. There, he stopped passing vehicles and ordered drivers to get out of their cars, telling him he did not want to hurt them. After Kenyanjui reportedly stopped one vehicle and threatened its driver with a gun, the driver's mother exited the passenger side of her vehicle and told her daughter to take her grandson and keep going without her. The grandmother later said, "If someone was going to get shot, she'd rather it be her than one of her other family members," a deputy testified.

A recording from another driver's dashcam revealed Kenyanjui talking to the passenger and saying, "Why did you do that?," according to testimony.

After approaching several other vehicles, Kenyanjui allegedly forced the driver of a Honda Civic, headed southbound, out of her car. The driver told a deputy she heard someone yell to get down, he has a gun. She said she then crouched down while continuing to drive and tried to back up in order to turn around when Kenyanjui approached. He told her that "I don't want to shoot you but get out of your car," Deputy Kristopher Koenig testified.

Kenyanjui reportedly left Lopez on the side of the road after throwing her cell phone out the window, taking her car, purse and laptop, Koenig said. Later, a passing car gave the woman a ride to Davenport.

No one was shot, hit or otherwise injured during the incident, according to testimony. Kenyanjui reportedly told investigators that the gun was a realistic-looking replica, though several witnesses reported hearing gunshots. Neither the gun nor shell casings were recovered by investigators, according to testimony.

Kenyanjui's next hearing is set for Sept. 23.

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