But in an interview five days before the city filed that motion, Brown said that a lawyer for the city told her and others not to destroy police records during a meeting about the DOJ agreement. - Knowledge is power. The shooter has not been caught by VPD. School officials tell us their students' safety remains their top priority. Click here to become a sustaining member of our newsroom. Police arrested a suspect in Vallejo where someone is accused of shining a laser at a CHP helicopter. Weeks before that deadline, between January 11 and 20, the records in five of the shootings were destroyed. Maybe now is the time to make these changes.. To prevent the city from destroying public records in the future, this newsroom is seeking a court order requiring Vallejo to implement additional policies and training, and declaring that the city violated the publics rights under the California Public Records Act. After he met with Quinana, Whitney testified that Sampayan called him into his office. Whitney also alleged that when McMahon surrendered his badge during an internal investigation into the matter, two points on his badge were bent, signifying the shootings of Foster and McCoy. An investigation into one of those officers finally led to the department taking action to stop badge bending, but the department still conducted no investigation into its extent. He said that he and Quintana worked on a press release regarding the Jenkins stop for several hours that day. That shooting, at 9:30 a.m. on July 21, caused a lockdown with more than 400 summer school students and 12 teachers for nearly two hours. The shooting did not occur on campus but nearby. FAIRFIELD, Calif. - Solano County District Attorney's Office on Tuesday gave an update to a high-speed car crash and police chase where three people were killed last week. The shooting victim was able to tell officers that he felt like he was being set up by the girl. Ned Hamson Expand search. OAKLAND, Calif. Phil Norawong went out to dinner with two friends in Oaklands Chinatown. Prior to founding Open Vallejo, Geoffrey worked as an attorney and journalist focused on free expression, open government, press freedom and privacy. A bystander recorded the events on a cell phone. Sgt. A French bulldog that was stolen from its owners arms is safely back at home in Richmond. The purge violated a city policy that requires written approval from the city attorney and clerks offices, according to Brown, who testified that the proper form and signatures were never obtained. Authorization to purge would have required additional steps which were not taken, Nebb said. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Detective Division at (707) 648-4524. 's office said that shooting victim is paralyzed and remains in the hospital. By clicking Sign Up, I confirmthat I have read and agreeto the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. Bidou left Vallejo police in June 2019. Lee Horton. Attorneys representing victims' families and attorneys representing Vallejo Police Officers both want the findings of that investigation publicly released. Now, Open Vallejo has asked the Solano County judge overseeing the lawsuit, Stephen Gizzi, to order that Vallejo implement measures to prevent improper purges, and to consider referring the matter for criminal prosecution. During that time, videos of Vallejo police had been released to the media, including the shooting of McCoy. WebTimes-Herald: Local News, Local Sports and more for Vallejo At the time of the incident, police say there was a college fair going on, three classes in session and approximately 200 student-athletes on campus. At the time of the crash none of the victims were identified. Knight also told Mustard that an outdated litigation hold prevented the destruction of the Romero case file. Skip to main content LinkedIn. Leon Arreguin was allegedly firing at a passing car but hit the girl instead. Greg Nyhoff, Vallejos city manager at the time, called Whitney to his office to demand to know what was going on in the department. In a motion filed on behalf of the city, Knight stated that the review by the California DOJ did not change the citys timeline for destroying records, and that the DOJ had not requested the now-purged evidence. Whitney testified that McMahon turned in his badge to then-Sgt. A female minor, who was also a passenger, died while being transported to the hospital, the D.A. Authorities say the shooting victim is currently paralyzed and is still in the ICU. Some autopsy and crime scene photographs had been stored on computers, but more than 280 other pieces of evidence were destroyed, including from highly controversial cases. A separate administrative investigation recommended one officer for discipline, but a subsequent hearing found he should receive corrective action instead, public records show. The city disclosed evidence logs containing additional details more than three months later. Whitney testified that he told then-Mayor Bob Sampayan a retired Vallejo police sergeant that the review of the McCoy shooting had been superficial and that the departments response did not serve the community. Kenney and Joseph did not respond to requests for comment. Taylor and a boy in that vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene. But Knight did not mention that she authorized Vallejo police staff to proceed with the destruction. Obtained by Open Vallejo through a California Public Records Act request, Were in a collaborative agreement with DOJ, she said at a May 5 deposition. Knight and a spokesperson for the City of Vallejo did not respond to requests for comment. Tribble said he was confused because he was wearing his lieutenants badge, which wasnt bent at the time, but understood Horton was talking about badge bending. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection. I felt like by not getting investigated, we're not keeping our promise to the community to be transparent and to do the right thing and hold ourselves accountable, Whitney testified And that was touted at community engagement meetings and yet, behind closed doors we weren't doing that.. Unfortunately, we now live in a society where gun violence is common, Baguiao said This is a national, It is unclear whether authorities criminally investigated the destruction of the drone evidence. Ramsay went to Bidous office and Whitney was present, and Ramsay said, Hey, he bent his badge for the two shootings he was in, according to Whitney. Detective interviews with Coleman, radio traffic recordings and two beer cans were destroyed in the case. Laurence Du Sault is Open Vallejos senior writer and editor focused on technical publications and investigations. He said that Horton later confronted him a second time, telling him the practice needed to stop. The adult son of one of KTVU's master control operators has been missing since early January and his family is hoping for his safe return. 's office said. We did not have a specific meeting with students or parents this morning. Although no firearm was found, Kenney claimed that he retrieved a pellet gun near the floor behind Romeros seat following the shooting. A federal judge ruled Tuesday that a lawsuit filed on behalf of Willie McCoy, a young rapper fatally shot by police in Vallejo, California, in 2019 can proceed on its claim He grew up in Boston, moved to Seattle when he was 10 and then attended the University of San Francisco where he earned a BA degree in politics with a minor in journalism. How safe is your neighborhood? About that stop, Whitney testified that Jenkins verbally protesting being pulled over made the officers angry enough to put her on her stomach and shoot her in the back with a Taser when she was not physically resisting arrest or resisting their commands.. Vallejo police have arrested a man for spray-painting threatening messages towards President Biden and President Obamaon various structures across the city. All Rights Reserved. The victim said he had met up with the minor female, who would later be killed in the crash, in the city of Fairfield. Instead of following the departments usual protocol by booking the device into evidence, Capt. Based on the timeline Dailey provided in her deposition, it appears that Vallejo destroyed hundreds, if not thousands, of additional pieces of evidence between the change in its retention schedule and when the police transparency law took effect 21 days later. In 2019, Vallejo claimed it did not possess audiovisual records of the shooting, but later disclosed body camera footage. As part of the review, the state DOJ served multiple investigative subpoenas commanding Vallejo to produce police records, including materials related to police shootings, such as body camera footage and reports by the departments review board, public records show. To uncover how the evidence came to be destroyed by a department already under investigation by the state attorney general over the number and nature of its police shootings, Open Vallejo amended its public records lawsuit, deposed multiple city employees, and prompted the release of hundreds of pages of logs, reports, and internal communications. Among the items to have been spared from the purge were a few hundred dollars kept for departmental use from the victims, including $132.30 that belonged to Romero. Once there, police said officers found a 31-year-old from Vallejo and a 27-year-old from Albany with at least one gunshot wound each. A 19-year-old man has been arrested for the brutal killing of a 78-year-old woman in Vallejo last year, police announced Thursday after a year-long investigation. Vallejo police said officers arrested Darryl Grooms, 55, on Tuesday on an outstanding warrant for the homicide of a 35-year-old man who was found shot dead on "They just send them from one town to the other to go do more mayhem and killing. Dailey herself collected evidence in five of the destroyed cases while also bearing responsibility for storing evidence dual roles that do not coincide with best practices, according to a draft evidence study completed in Vallejo in 2020 by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. After the shooting, the school was immediately placed on lockdown. He didn't want his badge fixed because he said it was a badge of honor, and the bends represented the shootings he had been in, Whitney testified. VALLEJO, Calif. - Sheriff's deputies in Vallejo have fatally shot a person who they say was armed with a sharp object who was also possibly involved in a traffic accident. Whitney said that he had known Sampayan from when he was a sergeant in the police department and that he was visibly upset. December 9, 2022 Jeremy Huff that they needed to tell others that badge bending was over in the department. One judge who read parts of the report says it has no value and Giordanos investigation was "not designed to bring some light" into badge bending. Instead, he ordered them returned to the officers. The Vallejo Police Department Detective Division is investigating the motive and circumstances of the shooting. Bidou told Horton to Take care of this, Whitney testified, according to a transcript of the deposition obtained by the Vallejo Sun. Whitney testified that Bidou asked for his opinion. Pastrana has since been released from a hospital and is in stable condition at home with his family while he begins rehab. The Vallejo Police Department previously told the I-Team the hold up was with the city attorney's office. In April 2019, Whitney was acting chief of police while Bidou was out of the state. Open Vallejo has sought Vallejo police records, including many of the now-destroyed files, repeatedly since 2019. Prior to handing it over, Whitney told Iacono he needed to call his wife to tell her not to call or text him, but then erased the phones contents by resetting it to factory settings. McCarthy and Officer Jason Bauer shot and killed 53-year-old Peter Mestler on May 24, 2012, after he allegedly pulled out a BB gun when the officers confronted him. "For someone to make a decision and find that it was okay to put this man back in that same position of power I think is disgraceful I think it's irresponsible," said McCoy. Officials said the suspect car reached speeds of up to 120 mph. That investigation was concluded in September 2021. The D.A. The city also agreed to produce some audio and video records it previously claimed did not exist for a price. Before we return, dispose, or destroy any of this Evidence we wanted to clear this with the City Attorneys Office, Mustard wrote, copying two other members of the Vallejo police command staff. A sixth case was also purged, although details surrounding its destruction remain unclear. I had told her that there's a lot of things going on that shouldn't be. Assistant City Attorney Knight stated in court filings that the destruction happened inadvertently and that the evidence should have been retained due to Open Vallejos pending public records requests. If you're on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live, Here's what the end of COVID -19 emergency means in San Francisco, Recent grads not 'emotionally' ready for workforce, study shows, Elizabeth Holmes has 2nd child as she tries to avoid prison. The devastating earthquakes that rocked Turkey and Syria on Monday have caused the deaths of over 23,000 people and the destruction of over 5,600 buildings and left the region a disaster area, but a company based out of Vallejo may have saved more lives from being lost. Crime and Public Safety | Encarnacion declined to comment for this story. Kevin Rose hours later, Rose found some problem with the SD card that prevented him from viewing the files; a subsequent examination by the U.S. Secret Service revealed that the footage had been overwritten with zeros. A lawsuit alleges that Vallejo officers Colin Eaton and Jordan Patzer both officers who had killed McCoy held her at gunpoint, dragged her out of the car, threw her on the ground and Tased her. Documents indicate that some of the destroyed recordings had captured the victims words or actions in the minutes before their deaths, as in the case of 43-year-old Marshall Tobin, where surveillance footage from a business captured the killing. The individual died after being treated at a nearby hospital. Crime and Public Safety | As for Tony Ridgeway, records indicate Ofc. Our Tax ID is 84-4618329.All donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Open Vallejo has new details on fatal crash in stolen car that killed minors following CHP chase, Vallejo opens investigation into destruction of records in police killings, 3 dead, including minor, following Vallejo carjacking, police chase: CHP, Suspect arrested in Vallejo for allegedly shining laser at CHP helicopter, The Vallejo engineering firm that saved lives in Turkey quake, Thieves causes thousands in damage to family-run Vallejo deli just to steal $50, Burglars cause thousands of dollars in damage to business, only to get away with $50, Suspect arrested in shooting of 15-year-old girl near Vallejo high school, police say, Homicide victim found in Vallejo marsh was Richmond woman, 15-year-old girl injured in Vallejo shooting near high school, police say, Die-hard 49ers fans deliver baby at home during Niners' final season win, Stolen French bulldog returned to Richmond owner, 'High-risk' sex offender and Vallejo man arrested in Fairfield for attempted kidnapping, Son of KTVU employee reported missing from Vallejo, Man accidentally shoots himself with ghost gun: Vallejo police, Man arrested for spray-painting threatening messages toward President Biden, Obama, Breakfast for Bob: Honoring hero who died saving Vallejo waitress, Vallejo couple ending community holiday lights display honoring daughter after 23 years, Marine veteran shot dead hailed as hero for defending Vallejo restaurant server from robber, Arrest in killing of elderly woman in Vallejo ends fears surrounding her death, Blizzard conditions force highway closures in the Sierra Nevada, Tree falls into home, severs gas line in the North Bay, Family's rental SUV burglarized while in Bay Area for memorial, Eviction ban debate: Alameda County discusses future of moratorium, Biden: Putin made 'big mistake' by suspending US arms treaty, Watch: Rescuers save small dog trapped in rubble following earthquake in Turkey, South Carolina woman killed in Kroger parking lot spit at suspect prior to shooting: police, Son arrested in Santa Rosa after mother assaulted with hammer, Georgia woman who lost toe after pedicure says she's now 'a walking PSA': What you need to know now. After his promotion, Horton confronted him about badge bending, asking him Whats wrong with your badge? and saying, I know what that is and I dont want to see it, Tribble testified. Copyright 2023 KGO-TV. WebA 19-year-old man has been arrested for the brutal killing of a 78-year-old woman in Vallejo last year, police announced Thursday after a year-long investigation. VALLEJO Top Vallejo police officials including former police Chief Andrew Bidou were alerted that officers were bending their badges to mark shootings Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact the Vallejo police detective division at (707) 648-4524. A Vallejo family had an unexpected guest arrive at their San Francisco 49ers watch party. Norawong, 44, was leaving the restaurant Three days following Knights email, Encarnacion began purging the files and with them, records of Mustards own involvement in the investigations. 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