Solano NewsNet confirms identity of man involved in I-80 standoff

Mario Territo, III shot himself at the end of a police pursuit and standoff in Cordelia. It was not his first police chase.

Mario Territo, III. (Photo via social media)

Solano NewsNet has confirmed the identity of a Rohnert Park man who led police on a multi-county pursuit that turned into an hours-long standoff on Interstate 80 near Fairfield last week.

The incident unfolded on May 3 after police identified 40-year-old Mario Territo, III as the suspected gunman who was involved in a shooting on a stretch of freeway in Sonoma County earlier in the day.

About an hour after the shooting, a California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer later discovered Territo’s sedan parked in a shopping center in Rohnert Park. Thinking Territo was armed with a high-caliber rifle and possibly other weapons, the CHP officer surveilled Territo for about 15 minutes while backup officers from the CHP and Rohnert Park Police Department assembled at a nearby drug store.

Police attempted to engage Territo in a high-risk felony traffic stop a short time later, triggering a pursuit that spanned several counties before ending on eastbound Interstate 80 near the Interstate 680 interchange in Cordelia.

The CHP shut down both directions of Interstate 80 near the standoff, resulting in a miles-long traffic jam that stretched to Vallejo along the eastbound lanes and wound through Fairfield and parts of rural Vacaville on the westbound lanes.

The standoff ended around 6:30 p.m. when Territo shot himself in the head, according to two law enforcement sources who confirmed Territo’s identity and who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to disclose information about the case to the media.

A CHP spokesperson initially told media outlets that Territo was pronounced dead after being taken to a local hospital. Late Friday evening, the agency clarified that Territo had been revived by medical personnel at the hospital and was listed in critical condition.

Territo is not expected to survive his self-inflicted injury, a law enforcement source said. Even in the unlikely that he does survive, Territo is expected to be medically incapacitated, which could complicate efforts to bring a criminal case against him, the source said.

A spokesperson for the Solano County District Attorney’s Office said the local Major Crimes Task Force responded to the scene of the standoff “to conduct an independent investigation into the incident” pursuant to a state law that requires a probe of that nature whenever there is a fatal law enforcement encounter.

Friday’s incident was not Territo’s first encounter with the police: Last July, he was arrested after stealing a taxi and leading officers on a 40-mile chase. The incident happen when Territo redeemed a voucher for a taxi ride after being released from a hospital in the North Bay. When the cab driver briefly left the vehicle, Territo moved into the driver’s seat and took off in the taxi, according to Santa Rosa police.

The chase ended in Corte Madera when police were able to disable the cab by using a police intervention technique (PIT) maneuver. Territo exited the taxi cab while holding a knife, and appeared “agitated,” according to a police spokesperson.

“After several minutes, Territo dropped the knife and was taken into custody,” a police spokesperson said last year. He was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation, then booked into custody on charges of auto theft and felony evasion of a police officer.