Christopher Michael Straub biography: 13 things about Templeton, California man

Christopher Michael Straub of Templeton, San Luis Obispo County, California, United States was a member of a white supremacist gang. He was booked 28 times into jails in different counties throughout California including two incarcerations in state prison.

While the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Gang Task Force was investigating Straub, a search warrant was scheduled to be served on his home in the afternoon of September 24, 2020. At around 10:00 a.m. that day, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office deputy Richard “Ted” Lehnhoff, then 34, recognized him and his car near the Templeton Cemetery in Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo County. 

After chasing Straub into the cemetery, Lehnhoff was joined by another sheriff’s deputy from the Templeton substation. Straub hid behind shrubbery, fired at the deputies and hit Lehnhoff in the leg.

The two deputies returned fire but Straub was able to run off. Two more deputies arrived.

Straub was shot and pronounced dead at the scene. In addition to the handgun he used to shoot at deputies, four assault rifles, two handguns, one shotgun and one bolt action hunting rifle were found in his car.

Aside from Templeton, Straub also lived in other parts of California including Paso Robles. Here are 13 more facts about him:

1. In 2007, he was convicted for possessing an altered or fictitious check.
2. In August 2008, he was sentenced in San Luis Obispo County to two years for receiving stolen property and writing checks with insufficient funds.
3. In June 2009, he was paroled.
4. In February 2010, he was admitted to state prison after being sentenced to two years for possession of a firearm by a former felon and a one-year enhancement for having a new offense while out on parole.
5. In March 2011, he was paroled. While on parole, he was sentenced to one year and four months for manufacture, sale and possession of a weapon in San Luis Obispo County.
6. In March 2012, he returned to prison. In October 2012, he was convicted again in Kern County while in jail. He was sentenced to three more years for a charge of assault by a prisoner with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily injury.
7. In April 2014, he was released on parole.
8. In January 2015, he violated his parole for an unlisted offense and spent 22 days in San Luis Obispo County Jail in San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo County.
9. In March 2015, he was arrested for theft of more than $400 from an elderly person and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He pleaded no contest to the former while the latter was dismissed. San Luis Obispo County’s Probation Department ordered him to be on mandatory supervision for eight years. His parole was revoked in April 2015, in May 2015 and in July 2015. He was convicted for conspiracy to commit a crime and spent two months in a county jail state prison.
10. In April 2019, he was charged with possession of a controlled substance. He spent 30 days in jail.
11. In March 2020, he was arrested for driving on a suspended license.
12. On May 18, 2020, he evaded a law enforcement officer in a vehicle so the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office issued a warrant for his arrest in June 2020.
13. He was a wanted felon suspected of illegally manufacturing weapons parts in his residence when he was fatally shot on September 24, 2020. He was 38.