Man sentenced in police standoff

A Ramona man who was involved in a 7-1/2 hour standoff with sheriff’s deputies has been sentenced to eight days in jail, which he has already served, with 172 days suspended on terms of three years probation.

Lawrence Steven Monterastelli, 42, was fined $1,814 and will not have to serve a 172-day jail term as long as he abides by probation conditions that follow an Oct. 11, 2009, incident at his home on Luelf Street in the Holly Oaks development. His girlfriend, 38, called sheriff’s deputies saying he had threatened her and her two children.

El Cajon Superior Court Judge Peter Deddeh did not lift the restraining order against Monterastelli that bars him from having contact with his former girlfriend. Deputy District Attorney Timothy Campen said the victim “doesn’t want to modify the order,” so the judge left it in place.

Monterastelli pleaded guilty to inflicting corporal injury to a cohabitant, which was the only charge another judge left standing after a preliminary hearing in which other counts were dismissed.

Former District Attorney Paul Pfingst, who represents Monterastelli, said the victim had taken pain killer medication following surgery and also drank alcohol, and she could not recall much of the incident. She had told deputies that Monterastelli had threatened to harm her and her children, but when she testified she said she could not remember saying that.

She escaped by running to a neighbor’s house, and deputies surrounded the home. At 4 a.m. on Oct. 12, her children came outside. They had not been harmed. Pfingst said deputies learned his client was no longer in the house, but asleep in a motor home nearby. At 6 a.m., they fired tear gas into the vehicle, and Monterastelli came outside and was arrested.