San Luis Obispo County repeat offender arrested six times in 55 days

August 16, 2026

Gabriel Canaday

By KAREN VELIE

The San Luis Obispo County man convicted earlier this year of a naked burglary, drunk driving and trespassing – engaged in another one-man crime spree shortly after his release from jail. He has since been arrested six times on nine charges that include burglary, defrauding an innkeeper, methamphetamine possession and trespassing.

Several days after 48-year-old Gabriel Canaday was released from the SLO County Jail following an arrest for trespassing at the San Luis Obispo airport, a naked Canaday walked onto an 88-year-old woman’s property on April 1, disrobed and took a shower.

Deputies arrested Canaday for the third time in three months on April 1. The SLO District Attorney’s Office charged him with felony residential burglary.

Two weeks later, SLO County Superior Court Judge Michael Duffy reduced the felony burglary charge to a misdemeanor, a change that allowed Canaday to avoid supervised probation and a prison sentence. The SLO County District Attorney’s Office strongly objected to the reduced charges.

Several of Canaday’s victims voiced concerns that he would continue to burglarize, harass and trespass. Several county residents, some whom are armed, said they plan to defend themselves if he enters their homes again.

On April 29,  Canaday was sentenced to serve 120 days in the SLO County Jail for the burglary, trespassing and DUI charges.

After spending 49 days in jail, Canaday was released on May 20.

Less than a month later, on June 15, staff at the Paso Robles Inn reported that Canaday unlawfully absconded without paying his bill for food and lodging “by force, menace, and threats,” according to the complaint. Officers released Canaday on a promise to appear.

For more than a decade, Canaday has made questionable claims, including that people have kidnapped his wife and children, someone has stolen his plane, and people are living in homes belonging to him. However, his wife divorced him, he has never owned the latest home he claimed was his, and it does not appear he owns a plane.

Canaday’s repeated trespassing at airports while making claims he is searching for his plane led the Transportation Security Administration to issue an alert for local air fields to be on the lookout for Canaday and his truck.

On July 17, Canaday entered a secure area of the Paso Robles Airport and refused to leave. Paso Robles police officers arrested Canaday for possession of methamphetamine and trespassing and booked him in the SLO County Jail. He was released the next day.

On July 20, during a detention and arrest, Canaday falsely identified himself as a fictitious person in order to evade identification. He was booked into jail on July 20 and released from jail on July 21.

On July 25, Canaday was allegedly prowling on another person’s property. The property owner contacted law enforcement, but Canaday refused to leave. He was subsequently arrested on charges of trespassing and prowling. He was booked into jail and released the same day.

On July 26, Canaday was again arrested for defrauding an innkeeper, this time at Blast and Brew. After one day in jail, Canaday was released on July 27.

On Aug. 9, Canaday allegedly broke into another home occupied by a senior in San Luis Obispo, this time a house on Mill Street, and also an accessory dwelling unit on the same property.

In the middle of the night, the homeowner was awoken by the sound of someone in his home.  The man yelled down the stairs, and heard running. The man chased Canaday outside, and confronted him.

SLO police officers arrested Canaday on two felony charges of residential burglary. Canaday remains in jail with his bail set at $40,000.

During a hearing last week on the seven misdemeanor charges and the two felony counts, a judge ordered a competency evaluation to determine Canaday’s mental capacity to understand court proceedings and to help in his own defense. He returns to court on Sept. 10.

In 2019, for six months Canaday repeatedly trespassed on Tobin James Winery property and harassed and intimidated Tobin James Shumrick, his employees and patrons. Canaday, who lived across the street at the time, accused Shumrick of holding his wife and children hostage and torturing them.

Canaday was trespassing on winery property on a near-daily basis and sometimes at night. At times, he used his car to block employees from leaving the parking lot. Canaday also fired weapons from his property and made vague threats.

On Oct. 2, 2019, Canaday was driving a golf cart on Tobin James Cellars property when Shumrick used a shotgun to shoot out the tires of the golf cart.

Law enforcement arrested Shumrick for felony shooting at an occupied vehicle, misdemeanor vandalism and misdemeanor hit-and-run. Shumrick claims to have acted in self-defense and that his winery was under attack by an out-of-control neighbor with an extensive criminal history.

Shumrick’s charges were eventually reduced to one count of vandalism.

If Canaday had been on supervised probation this summer, he would have been required to check in with a probation officer and to undergo drug and mental health treatment. In addition, the jail would have immediately informed probation about his arrests.

During the past 16 years, law enforcement in San Luis Obispo County has arrested Canaday dozens of times resulting in 58 charges that include assault, burglary, disobeying a restraining order, contempt of court, under the influence of a controlled substance, trespass and felon in possession of a gun and ammunition

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