First details emerge about the Salinas Police shooting death of Frank Alvarado.

In the early morning hours Thursday leading up to his shooting death by police, Frank Alvarado broke into his grandfather's house and lit the curtains on fire with a butane torch. The small fire spread to a sofa.

Family members called 911, and Salinas police officers responded. They found Alvarado hiding behind a car, and a deadly encounter ensued, leaving Alvarado dead. 

The first details about the circumstances leading up to the fourth Salinas Police officer-involved shooting of the year emerged Friday afternoon, when District Attorney Dean Flippo spoke to reporters. 

Flippo's bureau of investigations is the lead investigator into the incident, after Salinas Police Chief Kelly McMillin asked the DA to take over early Thursday.

Family members called 911 shortly after 5am Thursday, and told the operator that Alvarado had violated his parole by using meth and had warned the family he wasn’t going back to prison.

"He had stated to others he would not only resist—he would use a cell phone to simulate a weapon," should officers apprehend him for a parole violation, Flippo said. 

Flippo added that police officers were apprised that Alvarado had a prior felony conviction involving attempted murder with a firearm, and that he was on parole and would resist being apprehended.

Police readily found Alvarado hiding behind a car. Flippo said he failed to respond to a police command to surrender and put his hands on his head.

Alvarado then uttered "an expletive, a challenge" and rushed the officers "in a shooting posture, a shooting position, both hands together, and he appeared to have some kind of object in his hands," Flippo said.

That object turns out to have been a cell phone. 

Two officers fired, and Alvarado was transported to Natividad Medical Center, where he died. 

Flippo said he is not aware of any non-lethal attempts to stop Alvarado other than verbal command.

The investigation continues as DA investigators await laboratory and toxicology results, and continue interviewing family members and friends.

Alvarado's grandfather's home had been boarded up early Friday, with a plywood board over the front door. Fruit and partially eaten cake were left on the kitchen counter. 

The sign on the front door reads, "Danger! Structure Unstable do not enter."

The family had filed an insurance claim for vandalism, reporting two entrances were broken into. 

Alvarado had been released about a year ago from serving 10 years of an 11-year prison sentence for attempted murder.