WOODLAND — It was, he said, “a tragic accident.”

“I just figured, I can get away real quick if I make some noise,” Marco Topete said of the June 15, 2008, shooting that claimed the life of Yolo County Sheriff’s Deputy Jose “Tony” Diaz.

“Unfortunately, I hit him.”

Topete’s statements came at the tail end of a six-hour interview video played Thursday in Yolo Superior Court, where Topete is standing trial for Diaz’s murder. Prosecutors allege Topete, a reputed Norteño gang member, deliberately targeted the officer to earn the gang’s respect.

Peppered with expletives, the video was admitted as evidence by Judge Paul Richardson earlier this week over the objections of Topete’s defense attorneys.

For the first five hours, Topete answered certain questions by authorities but not others, saying he first wanted assurance that his infant daughter — who was in Topete’s vehicle during the pursuit and shooting — would be returned to his wife by Child Protective Services.

During the back-and-forth, Topete admitted to drinking alcohol while spending the day before — Father’s Day — with his baby. He later picked up his wife from her Vacaville workplace, only to leave her on the shoulder of Interstate 505 following an argument over his drinking.

About 3 1/2 hours into the interview, Topete asked, “Where’s my lawyer, by the way?” Woodland police Cpl. Ron Cordova replied, “Not sure,” and the interview continued.

As Topete asked repeatedly to speak to his wife, Cordova turned the conversation to Diaz’s own spouse.

“Marco, did you mean to shoot him? His wife’s going to want to know, man,” Cordova said. “Can I tell his wife you’re sorry for what happened?”

At that point, Topete appeared to break under the pressure.

“I’m not a f—— killer, I’m not. That’s not who I am,” Topete said. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like that.”

Topete said he got “spooked” during his initial encounter with Diaz at a Dunnigan truck stop because “I’d been drinking.” A pursuit ensued, with Topete making a couple of U-turns before heading down County Road 5.

He said he had turned onto the dead-end road thinking it led to nearby Interstate 5, but soon realized he was outside a friend’s home. He abandoned his car — the baby still inside — and retrieved an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle he said he happened to have stashed in some nearby bushes.

Back near the house, Diaz searched for a man on the run. Topete recalled the area as being “pitch black,” though video from Diaz’s patrol car showed his headlights were on and emergency lights flashing.

“I thought I was just going to scare him away,” Topete said of the shooting. “I didn’t even see him. I thought he was shooting at me. … I got scared, and I took off.”

Diaz, 37, died about 90 minutes later from a bullet wound to his left chest.

“No matter what I say, it’s not gonna take away your pain, and I’m sorry for that,” Topete told Cordova about the loss of a fellow officer.

“But it helps a little,” Cordova replied.

Topete crossed the freeway and hid in a grove of eucalyptus trees, where he said he heard police and helicopters searching for him throughout the night. He was apprehended the next morning.

The trial resumes next week, with prosecutors expected to rest their case and defense attorneys possibly presenting their opening statement.

— Reach Lauren Keene at [email protected] or (530) 747-8048. Follow her on Twitter @laurenkeene

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