A parolee who had a four-hour standoff with Chula Vista police in his car has been ordered to stand trial for assault with a deadly weapon, evading officers with reckless driving, heroin possession and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The standoff began Dec. 1, 2010, around 10 a.m. when Isaac Miranda Ballesteros, 31, refused to yield to a Chula Vista police officer at a traffic stop in the 400 block of Shasta Street and Fourth Avenue.
Ballesteros was driving a black Ford Crown Victoria as he led police on a chase through streets and a freeway before pulling over after he was pinned in by police vehicles at Nacion Avenue and East Moss Street.
Ballesteros remained in his car four hours and displayed a weapon by putting it to his own head. Officers testified May 4 about the standoff in which he declared he would rather die than to go back to prison. It ended after he was given a cell phone and he eventually surrendered at 2:20 p.m.
Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Alvin Green conducted the preliminary hearing and ordered him to appear later in May for setting a trial date.
Ballesteros was also ordered to stand trial for attempted robbery and stabbing a young man on Oct. 1, 2010. Deputy District Attorney David McNees said the defendant pistol whipped the young man at a party held in Chula Vista.
Ballesteros is accused of possession of a firearm as part of a criminal street gang. A charge of dissuading a witness was dismissed. He has a prior record of four auto theft convictions, burglary and evading police, according to court records.
Ballesteros, who has pleaded not guilty, remains in the George Bailey Detention Facility on $250,000 bail.
