Dear Abby: Why do they imply my husband is a freak? 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. 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. All Rights Reserved. The victim parked his vehicle and as soon as he exited, he said two men emerged from an alley with guns drawn. The incident marks the 13th homicide in the city. state, and local issue that our lawmakers and citizens must address together. The Vallejo Police Department responded to a Tuesday afternoon shooting near Vallejo High School, apparently between two moving vehicles.. Six weeks after Monterrosas killing, the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training began, at the request of Potts and Williams, a study of Vallejo polices evidence and property unit. Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams previously told I-Team reporter Melanie Woodrow her office would not investigate allegations of badge bending. Vallejo police have released footage of the killing of Willie McCoy at a Taco Bell, showing six officers shooting the 20-year-old who was sleeping in his car. Check out Bay Area safety tracker, Tracking the drought: Map shows conditions across SF Bay Area, Bay Area Life; Sundays at 6:30 p.m. on ABC7, Vallejo police release body cam video of controversial shooting at Taco Bell, former Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams fired McMahon, Vallejo police chief abruptly resigns months after police union's vote of no confidence, Solano County District Attorney did not file criminal charges against McMahon, wrongful termination lawsuit filed in 2020 by former Vallejo PD Captain John Whitney, Bay Area DA explains why she refused to probe fatal police shootings, Former Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams. Suspect posing with AR assault rifle and hand gun. 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. Kenney and Joseph did not respond to requests for comment. On Dec. 11, 2018, the Vallejo City Council changed the retention schedule through its consent calendar, a process generally reserved for non-controversial issues which allows city councils to pass multiple items at once. Once again, gun violence hit a Vallejo school. At least 26 killed in fiery train crash in Greece, McCarthy defends giving Fox thousands of hours of J6 video, Antioch: Homicide suspect arrested in Brentwood home. A Vallejo restaurant held 'Breakfast for Bob' to honor the man who died stepping in to help one of their servers from a robbery. Mathew Mustard emailed Knight about five of the now-destroyed cases, which he said were located while doing research on police shootings. We are a project of the Informed California Foundation, a periodical publication, wire service and press association that produces and supports impactful, responsive, local accountability journalism in communities across the state. Open Vallejo is an award-winning, independent, nonpartisan newsroom serving the public interest. (It remains unknown whether any supervising official prompted or approved the destruction of the sixth killing, that of Marshall Tobin, which records show Mustard did not investigate.). George Simpson told him the supervisors were watching Netflix, but when Whitney asked Bidou to investigate whether anyone was logged into Netflix that night, Bidou refused. The city of Vallejo is opening an investigation into its city attorney's office destroying records in several police killings. Police have yet to find a suspect in that incident as well. 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. I think we have a city council today that might look at things differently than the City Council of years past, he said. Nyhoff told Whitney he wanted to schedule a meeting the next day with him, then-City Attorney Claudia Quintana and then-Mayor Bob Sampayan to review the video of when Jenkins was stopped. In an emailed statement to the I-Team, the Broadmoor Police Department writes in part: "A thorough investigation of Officer McMahon's background for the Broadmoor Police Department was completed by a background investigator with more than 20 years of civilian and high-level military law enforcement and background investigations experience. SEE ALSO: 'Lady in the fridge' cold case victim identified as mom with Bay Area ties. VALLEJO, Calif. (KRON) Vallejos first homicide happened Tuesday evening when officers found a man suffering from gunshot wounds on the 100 block of Richardson Drive, according to the Vallejo Police Department. The detective conducted interviews of shooting officers in each case, meaning he likely appeared in several of the videotaped interviews that were destroyed at his direction. Vallejo City Unified School District Public Information Officer Celina Baguiao said there wasnt a discussion about possibly canceling school on Wednesday, but that added security was felt on campus. ), California DOJ officials would not confirm whether they sought the specific records that the city discarded; the agency denied a public records request by Open Vallejo for the other two subpoenas and other documents, citing a legal exemption for records relating to an investigation into potential violations of law.. 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. Around 7:10 a.m., police In January 2021, officials for the city of Vallejo intentionally and with approval from a senior attorney for the city destroyed key evidence in multiple police Knight, the lead attorney defending Vallejo in the public records lawsuit, later disputed the words of the citys witness. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Detective Division at (707) 648-4524. Copyright 2023 KGO-TV. Aside from the photographs stored on computers, Vallejo does not have a backup of the destroyed audiovisual records, Brown testified. The files also show that the January 2021 purge violated city policy and potentially Vallejos agreement with the California Department of Justice. In the interview Friday, City Attorney Nebb said that Knights email was not an official approval because the policy requiring written signatures had not been obtained. Officials said the suspect car reached speeds of up to 120 mph. 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 In May 2019, Iacono and Ramsay approached Whitney to collect his phone as part of an internal affairs investigation. Ryan McMahon was one of six Vallejo cops who shot Willie McCoy more than 50 times in a Taco Bell drive-thru in 2019, killing him. Detective Mustard, who between 2010 and 2019 was also Vallejos police union president, was a lead investigator in all of the five cases he prompted to have destroyed and was at the scene during one of them, according to a review of the case files by Open Vallejo. 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The city appointed former Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano to conduct the investigation. Leon Arreguin was allegedly firing at a passing car but hit the girl instead. Open Vallejo also sought the subpoenas in the course of its litigation with the city, but received no response. And we rely mainly on reader support so we can keep publishing. Unfortunately, we now live in a society where gun violence is common, Baguiao said This is a national, Anyone with information about this shooting is asked to contact the Vallejo Police Department Detective Division at 707-648-4524. Although no firearm was found, Kenney claimed that he retrieved a pellet gun near the floor behind Romeros seat following the shooting. The D.A. By then McCarthy had been involved in three shootings as a Vallejo police officer. VIDEO: Vallejo police release body cam video of controversial shooting at Taco Bell. Joseph later told investigators that Romero had grabbed the butt of a handgun before he was shot. 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.. Whitney had been using his cell phone for both his duties for the city and as a personal device, and testified that Bidou had told him to delete his text messages and emails because they were stored on a city server. 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. 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. CHP tried to make a traffic stop, but the stolen vehicle pulled away. In court papers, the city stated that the subpoenas did not seek the records that were purged. The same is true for nonfatal shootings. Their new baby girl was delivered during the final Niners' win of the season against the Dallas Cowboys. Officers responded at 10:11 p.m. to the shooting reported in the 1000 block of Caldwell Avenue and arrived to find a 27-year-old woman, 18-year-old man and 16-year Joshua Coleman shot him in the groin after he likely mistook a can of beer for a firearm. The shooting victim said as soon as he asked if he was being set up that two men wearing ski masks shot him in the back. D.A. When the drone was transferred to Sgt. We ask for any witnesses to cooperate and provide information to help us solve this senseless crime.. The incident stemmed from a carjacking in Vallejo on Feb. 22. Officers responded to reports of a shooting around 7:29 p.m. Tuesday. Vallejo school district facing $5M in budget cuts, Former Vallejo police chief ignored badge bending for years, testimony alleges, Vallejo City Council asked to approve purchase of two closed schools. Brown has since left Vallejo to join the Napa Police Department. Lawyers for Open Vallejo alerted the state attorney general to the destruction of evidence, and have asked Judge Gizzi to consider a criminal referral for the destruction of public records, a rare occurrence. Taylor and a boy in that vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene. A football coach at Vallejo High School in the San Francisco Bay Area was shot Tuesday afternoon after breaking up a fight, California authorities say. An independent special prosecutor hired by Solano County determined the officers felt their lives were threatened and acted in self-defense. He never made it home. Whitney declined Giordanos request for an interview because he did not think investigation would be done properly. 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