A crowd gathered around the mostly residential neighborhood in Seaside where Joe Cubbage shared a home with his ex-wife on a chilly Monday evening, Feb. 24. They watched as police attempted to get Cubbage to surrender with announcements from the air—helicopters were deployed—and from the street. As a SWAT team prepared to enter around 7:30pm, Cubbage surrendered.
He was charged with a felony for threatening to kill his ex-wife, a misdemeanor for elder abuse due to her age (over 65), and a misdemeanor for obstructing or delaying a police officer. While Seaside police said Cubbage had also issued threats against a current and former elected officialhe was never charged with any crime in connection to those statements.
On April 30, Cubbage entered a guilty plea. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 28 to three years of probation.
Cubbage remains in custody at Monterey County Jail, and those days can be credited toward probation. The maximum sentence if convicted for these crimes was four years, and per Cubbage’s plea agreement, the court will sentence him to four years in prison if he violates the terms of probation.
Those terms will include an order that he cannot return to the Seaside home owned by his ex-wife where he had been living. In early March, just a little over a week after Cubbage’s arrest, she filed a request with the court for a restraining order prohibiting him from contacting her, approaching her or her pets—two chihuahua mixes and three cats—or coming to the home they had shared.
While a judge signed a temporary restraining order, nobody appeared in court for a hearing date, so no longer-term order was signed. Assistant District Attorney Matthew L’Heureux says the terms of probation will include orders that Cubbage stay away from the victim.
In the papers she filed in civil court, his ex-wife laid out in detail her account of what happened leading up to the police standoff.
“I was sleeping. He came into my bedroom some time around 4am. He woke me up: His face was about 5 or 6 inches away from mine (he was leaning over me),” she wrote. “He said: ‘I am going to kill you. Had better schedule that lie detector test, or else.’ He has been accusing me of having different affairs. I told him previously that I have not + would not take a lie detector test.”
She added, “He threatened to kill me once before.”
Court records show Cubbage was reluctant to cooperate with justice system officials even after his arrest. According to an April 2 court order,“The court is informed that the defendant refused to be transported to court this morning. If the defendant refuses to appear for the next court hearing, or any hearing set by the court, the court authorizes the defendant extracted from his cell, pursuant to standard Monterey County Sheriff’s Department operating procedures.”
Cubbage’s attorney from the Monterey County Public Defender’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.
