MARTINEZ — The mother of a former Pittsburg police detective who held police, SWAT and FBI members at bay and shut down a Pleasant Hill neighborhood during two tense standoffs over a 36-hour period last month thanked police Thursday for “saving my son’s life.”
“I can’t tell you how grateful I am to the law officers,” Muehaw Saelee said outside the A.F. Bray Courthouse building, where her son, Chunliam “Nai” Saechao pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him at his arraignment inside the A.F. Bray Courthouse. “I cannot thank you enough for what you did.
“There are so many officers who put their life on the line and who risked their own happiness and that of their families to help my son.”
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Prosecutors have charged Saechao, 40, with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer and six counts of assault with a firearm on a police officer for the events beginning the evening of Dec. 7 in the Sherman Acres neighborhood. They accuse Saechao of barricading himself inside his home on Cleopatra Lane, then putting police through two standoffs before surrendering about 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 9.
In between the two incidents, police disengaged from the scene for several hours and appeared to leave the neighborhood alone. Pleasant Hill police Chief Scott Vermillion has defended the department’s decision, saying that the department continued closely monitoring Saechao and watching the neighborhood for signs of trouble during the break.
Saechao’s attorneys have said the case will be used to illustrate the mental health difficulties officers may face after leaving the the life of law enforcement. They have pointed to traumatic effects from his law enforcement work and his service in the U.S. Marines as possible causes of the behavior that led to his arrest.
“We wanted to express gratitude to law enforcement who was on the ground during this standoff,” attorney Tyler Smith said. “We wanted to recognize their professionalism, because this could’ve gone terribly wrong. They could’ve taken Nai’s life, so we wanted to recognize their patience and their professionalism.”
Vermillion, the Pleasant Hill police chief, could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.
“All of the officers, I see you as my son and my own,” the suspect’s mother, Saelee, said outside the courthouse Thursday. “I pray for you happy, healthy, long lives. May God look down over you, and may you never ever have to go through what my son Nai went thru. I cannot thank you enough for saving my son’s life.”
Another of Saechao’s attorneys, Curtis Briggs, said they will defend Saechao vigorously and will use the case to bring attention to the potential mental distress police officers and members of the military may face due to trauma witnessed or experienced on the job.
Saechao retired from the Pittsburg Police Department in 2022, at age 39, Briggs said. The retirement came after several incidents that Saechao’s attorneys said could be interpreted as traumatic, including one in which somebody stuck a gun into Saechao’s face and pulled the trigger. The gun did not go off.
“I’ve had several officers reach out to share their experience of what it’s like to go through PTSD retirement,” Briggs said, adding that the process of fighting for financial benefits, the isolation of their new life and the lack of support leaves them “without an identity.”
On Thursday, Saechao’s lawyers also petitioned the court to do away with a temporary restraining order restricting the defendant from contacting his wife, with whom he had shared the Pleasant Hill home. He is accused of shooting his wife with a shotgun as she attempted to enter a side door after being locked out of the house. She was treated for injuries to her leg.
Saechao’s father and several family members and supporters attended the arraignment and held signs of encouragement, including one that said “Justice for Nai.”
“There’s a lot of support for him,” Briggs said. “He doesn’t get to see many people in the jail. For him, it’s important that he sees all the support.”
Saechao entered a plea of not guilty at the arraignment Thursday. He continues to be held without bail.
