ReportWire

Tag: california crime

  • School officials were raising alarms about safety at Antioch’s Deer Valley High. Then a boy was killed on campus

    ANTIOCH — The Antioch school district has agreed to pay $1.25 million to the family of a 16-year-old student killed in a campus shooting, after officials had raised repeated concerns about safety at Deer Valley High School.

    Court filings in the family’s lawsuit paint a grim picture of conditions at the campus and how it prepared for crosstown rival sporting events known to attract large crowds. The school was in violation of state laws requiring a comprehensive safety plan and certification of security guards, according to the lawsuit. There also were not enough guards assigned to the campus.

    Looking back, one former school board member gave the high school a “D” grade in safety in response to a question during a 2025 deposition. Another testified that top officials became fearful and “were trying to cover their tracks” after 16-year-old Jonathon Parker was killed, because they were aware of serious safety shortcomings.

    “We could do better, and I think the district should have done better,” Ellie Householder, a school board trustee from 2018 to 2022, testified last year. “And I think that Jonathon Parker didn’t have to die.”

    School officials say they have made campuses safer in the years since Parker was killed.

    “The district has taken meaningful steps to strengthen safety measures, refine oversight, work closely with community partners to support secure campuses, and intentionally build a culture of care where every student feels safe, supported, and connected,” said Jag Lathan, AUSD’s board president, in a statement.

    At a Deer Valley High basketball game against Antioch High, Parker was shot and killed in a dark campus parking lot while he, his brother and two friends were attempting to fend off an estimated 25 attackers — a mix of teen boys and adults. Three months earlier, police testified, an estimated 20 students had fought near the campus football stadium.

    Despite the warning signs, when Parker’s 15-year-old killer fired the fatal shot, there were no police officers on campus, no security guards in the area and site safety officers were not trained to handle a school shooting, according to witness testimony.

    Parker’s mother told this news organization that his killers may have been angry that Parker had intervened when they were bullying another student days earlier. He was 6-foot-4 and sometimes served as a “protector” to students who had a harder time defending themselves, she said in 2020.

    Court records show Parker sensed danger the night he was killed and called his brother for help, telling him, “there’s some people up here from an incident that happened before,” his brother testified at a 2022 civil deposition.

    Parker’s brother arrived to take him home, but Parker stopped to chat with friends on his way to the parking lot, including a campus security guard who headed in the opposite direction.

    Moments later, a crowd began to form and appeared confrontational. Parker told his brother to “hurry up” and get to the car, but it was too late. Parker, his brother and two friends were surrounded by more than two dozen people.

    They chose what seemed like the only option, his brother testified. Parker squared off in a one-on-one fight with Daiveon Allison, then 15, of Pittsburg, who later was adjudicated in juvenile court for the killing.

    About a minute into the fight, chaos erupted. The four teens were mobbed by the crowd. Parker’s brother was knocked to the ground and kicked until one of his ribs broke. From the pavement, he heard gunfire and scrambled to help his brother. Parker lost consciousness and died the next day at a hospital.

    “(He) called for my name. That’s the last thing he said,” his brother testified.

    In the aftermath, police described warning signs that violence had been escalating at the high school.

    In 2017, officers responded to five reports of fights. In 2018, there were four, Sgt. Loren Bledsoe testified. By 2019, that number had climbed to 11.

    In 2020, then-Superintendent Stephanie Anello — who was ousted in 2024 amid a staff bullying and harassment scandal — said staffing levels were “adequate” and there was “absolutely no indication that someone was planning to commit such a heinous act.”

    But former AUSD trustee Crystal Sawyer-White testified that safety concerns had been raised before Parker’s death.

    She recounted how a Richmond parent had threatened a Deer Valley vice principal before a sporting event and said lighting concerns had surfaced at that time. During a campus tour, she noticed there were no cameras in the parking lot where Parker was later killed. She testified that the district had “failed” to keep him safe and, when asked, also gave school safety a “D” grade.

    “As far as sporting events, you know, that wasn’t a safe area for John John to be,” she said, using Parker’s nickname.

    Householder agreed. She testified that the district appeared more focused on adopting a safety plan that simply “checks off a box,” adding, “I had this intuition that things were really sketchy, but I was kind of stonewalled with information.”

    Looking back, she said adults never should have allowed such a large crowd to gather without intervention.

    “The lights were dim. The gates were locked. Why were there so many children there?” Householder testified. “To me, it’s not rocket science.”

    Since then, Householder agreed things have changed for the better, but added she doesn’t keep up with the details as well as when she served on the school board. In an email to this news organization, she said AUSD has shown “genuine growth … regarding student safety.” Six months after Parker was slain, the city accepted a $750,000 grant to return police officers to school campuses.

    Authorities say Parker’s death also fueled a cycle of retaliation among teens in Antioch and Pittsburg.

    A letter obtained by this news organization from one of Parker’s teachers, written shortly after his death, described the lasting impact.

    She wrote that several teens were preparing to rob her on BART property until they recognized her as a teacher Parker liked and stopped.

    “Jonathon wouldn’t have liked what we’ve become,” one said, according to the letter.

    Judith Prieve contributed to this report. 

    Nate Gartrell, Hema Sivanandam

    Source link

  • Oakland man, woman charged with animal cruelty after dogs found with numerous broken bones

    OAKLAND — A man and woman were charged with felony animal cruelty after police say they found evidence the defendants were beating two dogs in their Oakland apartment, court records show.

    Semaj Ivey, 30, faces two felony counts, while Keevan Grandy, 53, faces one. Both have also been charged with a misdemeanor abandonment of an animal count, court records show.

    A neighbor who lived in the same apartment complex on Martin Luther King Jr. Way reported the duo to police back in July, alleging that they saw one of the defendants beating their dog. Authorities say they followed up on the tip and that Ivey eventually provided animal control officers a video of her tying a husky up to a door as a form of punishment.

    A husky and a pitbull were found with numerous fractures in various stages healing, police said in court filings. The husky had suffered more than 30 broken bones and the pitbull around 10, authorities allege in records. Police recovered a baseball bat that was allegedly used to beat the husky, according to court records. The pitbull also reportedly had a cut on its face when animal control inspected the apartment.

    Ivey and Grandy have both been released from jail while the case is pending, records show. They pleaded not guilty at a Jan. 5 court date and are due for a preliminary hearing in late February. The charges were filed on New Year’s Eve.

    Nate Gartrell

    Source link

  • Oakland man woke up from a drunken nap, surrounded by child porn investigators, police say

    OAKLAND — A city resident has been charged with secretly taking a nude picture of his girlfriend’s 16-year-old family member while she sat on the toilet, court records show.

    The suspect, 44-year-old Elder Lopez, of Oakland, allegedly drank alcohol then fell asleep on his girlfriend’s couch while listening to music. When he woke up, he was surrounded by Oakland police, who’d been called there by his girlfriend after she allegedly went through his phone and found the picture, according to court records.

    Lopez was subsequently arrested and charged with a felony, child pornography possession, and two misdemeanors: invasion of privacy and sexual exploitation. The girl, a relative of Lopez’s girlfriend, reportedly told police she had no idea how he was able to get the picture, which depicted her inside a bathroom of the girlfriend’s Oakland home, authorities said.

    The officers woke Lopez up from his nap and booked him into Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, court records show. They would have questioned him but he smelled so strongly of alcohol that they didn’t think he could waive his rights, according to court records.

    Lopez pleaded not guilty on Dec. 19 and has since been released from jail after posting $100,00 bail, court records show.

    Nate Gartrell

    Source link

  • While out on bail in kidnapping case, Oakland man charged with child trafficking

    OAKLAND — A man who was arrested on kidnapping charges just seven months ago has been charged again, this time with human trafficking, after two girls were allegedly found in his hotel room, court records show.

    Brandon Johnson, 37, was charged last week with human trafficking of a minor, soliciting a child to prostitute and pandering, court records show. At the time of his arrest on Dec. 19, he was out on bail for pending charges of kidnapping a suspected adult sex worker in front of an undercover cop, court records show.

    Police say a relative of a 14-year-old girl called police and told them the girl was with Johnson at the Bay Breeze Inn in Oakland. Police went there and found not only the girl, but a 15-year-old girl, as well as a replica gun in Johnson’s hotel room, according to court records.

    Authorities allege that Johnson met one of the girl’s when she was at a youth crisis center in San Francisco and had been with her for several weeks. He reportedly gave the girls $500 daily quotas, instructing them to be sexually abused by adult strangers for as long as it took to make that amount, according to court records.

    Johnson was arrested and charged back in May after an undercover officer allegedly saw him throwing a woman in a bikini into his vehicle and driving off, as she screamed for help. He posted $100,000 bail and was released from jail, records show. Johnson’s lawyer refuted the charges by arguing that the woman police identified as the victim denied it, and said she witnessed a different person throwing a different woman in his car.

    Now Johnson is back behind bars at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, with bail set at $670,000, records show. He has pleaded not guilty and is due in court next on Jan. 12.

    Johnson’s arrest was one of two near-identical incidents that occurred in Oakland that week. On Dec. 15, Oakland police rescued two runaway teen girls, aged 14 and 15, and arrested their alleged trafficker, Terrell Williams, who was later charged with rape, statutory rape and crimes related to alleged sex trafficking, court records show.

    Nate Gartrell

    Source link

  • ‘He was already down’: Two agree to 12 years in prison for killing man at Oakland park

    OAKLAND — Two men have agreed to serve 12-year prison terms for beating another man to death at a park in a broad daylight attack, court records show.

    Melvin Espinolobo, 24, and Alexander Garciaamaya, 29, both pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in the May 10, 2020 killing of 28-year-old Jose Mejia-Lemus. They remain at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin with the expectation of being formally sentenced in December.

    The attack was witnessed by passers-by and others at the Josie de la Cruz Park at 1637 Fruitvale Ave. Authorities say a little after 3 p.m., one of the two suspects argued with Mejia-Lemus, then retrieved two bats from a nearby homeless encampment where they lived. One of the suspects was seen with a machete, according to police testimony.

    An eyewitness testified at the 2022 preliminary hearing that Mejia-Lemus pleaded “leave me alone” as he was being killed, but that both men continued to hit him.

    “The worst thing was when he was already down on the ground they just kept beating him,” the man testified. Another witness testified that Mejia-Lemus claimed to have a knife, but others said he was unarmed, according to court records.

    The two men were arrested and charged shortly after the homicide and their case has been pending ever since. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors are dropping murder charges against both men, court records show.

    Nate Gartrell

    Source link

  • Contra Costa cops eliminate protocol that opened public access to police killings

    MARTINEZ — Contra Costa’s police chiefs’ association has quietly done away with a protocol that mandated a public hearing before a jury for all police killings and in-custody deaths, drastically scaling back public oversight that has existed for nearly a half-century.

    A two-page amendment posted to a county website at the start of 2025 says that coroner’s inquest hearings — which for decades have been done for virtually all law enforcement-involved death — will now only occur if certain officials request them. The amendment attributes this change to “advancements in transparency,” implying that the digital age now makes such hearings obsolete.

    The change was made by the county’s police chiefs’ association, which also includes the county Sheriff’s office, Probation Department, and District Attorney, a DA spokesman told this news organization. It was the same organization that, in 1984, implemented the inquest policy to ensure all police-related fatalities would receive a “highly credible and impartial” investigation that would “inform the public” and “address the emotional needs of those involved” about what happened, the now-defunct protocol stated.

    The final inquest was held in October 2024. It dealt with the 2023 police chase near Crockett that killed Giovanni Gomez, a 15-year-old Vallejo boy, during a chase with the California Highway Patrol. It was ruled an accident and officers testified the stolen car Gomez was driving sped away after they terminated the pursuit.

    The amendment cites the proliferation of video evidence that can supplant witness testimony, “including body-worn camera footage from involved officers, bystander mobile phone recordings, and surveillance video from surrounding locations,” and cites recent state transparency laws that allow more public access to such footage. But the laws come with exemptions that are often cited by police departments to delay disclosures for years. This week, the Vallejo Sun news site sued the Vallejo Police Department for the release of records of a police shooting that authorities claim falls under one exemption.

    Matthew Guichard, a defense attorney and former prosecutor who served as the presiding officer for the most recent inquest, said he was never informed of the change and didn’t learn of the amendment until a reporter showed him. He said that in addition to the transparency inquests provided, there was another consequence some may be overlooking.

    “I will say I believe as a result of the inquests, many fewer lawsuits are filed. I cite that as I reviewed all the inquests I had done and a few more right around 2015,” Guichard wrote in an email. “If memory serves of the 59 I reviewed, there were only nine lawsuits resulting from the subject deaths. In most cases, the inquest was the first time the family and the public heard what happened.”

    The inquest jurors were asked simply to pick a manner of death from one of four options — accident, suicide, homicide, or natural causes. The decision carried no criminal nor civil liability. The involved officers and the medical examiner were typically called as witnesses, along with DA inspectors who investigated the incident. While no blame was assigned, the hearings were open to the public and often gave interested parties, including family members of the person killed, their first opportunity for answers.

    Inquests will now be be held “at the discretion of the coroner, or if request by the Attorney General, the DA, sheriff, prosecutor, city attorney, or a chief of police,” the amendment says.

    For Taun Hall, whose son, Miles Hall, was shot and killed by Walnut Creek police while experiencing a mental health episode in 2019, the inquest was an “awful process” that felt “very old fashioned and unnecessary.” Taun Hall said in an interview that when she received notice in the mail informing her about the upcoming inquest, she didn’t want to “relive the trauma” by attending, but felt obligated because she knew details would be made public either way.

    When she attended, she felt the officers’ testimony represented “one side of the story” with no balance.

    “It’s very traumatic, especially in my situation where someone was killed by police and he was a victim. And it’s only their version of what happened,” Hall said. But she added that she still saw one benefit.

    “Everything that they say is on record and they’re under oath. It can actually be beneficial in cases because now attorneys can use it in depositions,” said Hall, whose family received a $4 million lawsuit settlement from the city of Walnut Creek.

    The policy change came on the heels of a calendar year, 2024, that saw fewer police-related deaths than any year since 2011, when the DA’s office started recording the data. The two law enforcement-involved deaths last year were a suicide in the Martinez jail and the fatal police chase of Gomez in West Contra Costa. But 2025 has been a different story.

    This year, seven people have been killed by police or died in police custody, including four police shootings, two police chases that resulted in a crash and the recent death of a 72-year-old woman in Brentwood that has been embroiled in controversy. On Sept. 26, Brentwood officers were arresting Yolanda Ramirez on suspicion of a misdemeanor when she went unresponsive in the back of a police car and died a week in the hospital. A legal claim filed by her family on Monday alleges an officer knocked her head into the police car on the way in.

    Brentwood police didn’t inform the public of Ramirez’s death until after the media publicized it, stating that Ramirez appeared to have a medical episode after being placed in the car and that police “immediately” called paramedics. An attorney retained by her family said she was shocked when police told her an inquest wouldn’t be held.

    For Richmond police union president Benjamin Theriault, the lack of inquests will erase a chance to give families and the public “a clear and consistent accounting of what happened.”

    “When you remove that, you risk leaving families with unanswered questions and opening the door to speculation, more lawsuits, not fewer,” Theriault said. “Any change to a process this important needs to be handled with real care and consistency, because trust is hard to earn and very easy to lose.”

    Nate Gartrell

    Source link

  • After media spotlight, Brentwood police make first public statement on woman’s ‘law enforcement-involved’ death

    BRENTWOOD — The city’s police department has for the first time publicly acknowledged that a 72-year-old woman died after going unresponsive in the back of a patrol car six weeks ago.

    A statement, issued by the Brentwood police department on Tuesday, comes a day after several media outlets publicized the Oct. 3 death of 72-year-old Yolanda Ramirez, whose family has alleged was injured when an officer knocked her head into a patrol vehicle while arresting her on suspicion of a misdemeanor a week before she died. The statement says police immediately called for medical backup when an officer noticed Ramirez “appeared to be having a medical issue” in the back of the car, and that “our thoughts remain with the Ramirez family during this difficult time.”

    “While we cannot comment further on an active investigation or pending claim, we want to assure the public that the Brentwood Police Department is committed to treating all individuals with dignity and respect in every call they respond to, and to following established procedures designed to ensure transparency and accountability,” the statement says, referencing a legal claim — a precursor to a lawsuit — filed Monday by Ramirez’s family.

    The legal claim alleges that the department left out key details surrounding Ramirez’s Sept. 26 arrest and Oct. 3 death, and that the family’s attorney hired a private investigator who interviewed eyewitnesses. Police say Ramirez “was placed under a citizen’s arrest at the request of a family member” during a “family dispute” and that the “approximately 70” year-old woman “attempted to flee the scene.”

    The legal claim says police were called because someone saw Ramirez yelling into the window of her brother’s home on  the 100 block of Broderick Drive in Brentwood, because he failed to answer the door when she arrived to take him to a doctor’s appointment.

    Ramirez was hospitalized the day of her arrest. Her death has prompted the Contra Costa District Attorney’s office to launch its own probe, which is done for all law enforcement-related deaths across Contra Costa, whether or not police caused the death. One law enforcement source said that the DA’s office was told Ramirez suffered a stroke and was being arrested on suspicion of disturbing the peace.

    Brentwood police didn’t inform the public about Ramirez’s death, or publicly acknowledge it until after this news organization reported it. Police are not legally required to announce such incidents, but the omission is abnormal for Contra Costa, where all police-related deaths are subject to third-party investigations as a matter of protocol.

    Six prior police-related deaths this year were all announced by the involved departments in Contra Costa. As a whole, no police agency in the county has failed to publicly announce a law enforcement-involved death since the 2020 death of Angelo Quinto in Antioch, an incident that ultimately cost the city a $7.5 million lawsuit settlement.

    Nate Gartrell

    Source link

  • Union City: Vigilant girl thwarts home invasion robbery

    UNION CITY — A group of would-be home invasion robbers was thwarted when a girl saw them and had her family call police, authorities announced Sunday.

    The incident occurred Friday around 7:45 a.m., in the 30900 block of Tidewater Drive. When the girl saw “several armed suspects” outside her home, she warned family members, who called 911 and scared the suspects off, police said in a news release.

    Police describe the crew as “four males” with masks and hoodies, and say at least two had pistols. They were seen driving away in a white Ford Taurus.

    The incident doesn’t appear to be related to the attempted kidnapping of an 11-year-old girl earlier this week, authorities said.

    Anyone with information can contact Union City police Det. Michael Bedford at 510-675-5266 or michaelb@unioncity.org.

    Originally Published:

    Nate Gartrell

    Source link

  • Hayward: Instagram video of man shooting gun in the air leads to police raid

    HAYWARD — A resident was arrested and charged with drug and gun possession after a police officer noticed a video on the suspect’s Instagram account of a man shooting a gun in the air.

    The 29-year-old Hayward resident was charged with three counts of alleged drug dealing and four counts of possessing a machine gun. He was released from jail on the condition that he not possess weapons and obey all laws, according to court records.

    Police began investigating the man in mid-September, when an officer noticed a video on an Instagram story of a man firing a gun in the air. The gun appeared to be a Glock pistol, modified to shoot fully automatic, authorities said. When police identified the man as the Instagram account holder, they raided his home on Veronica Avenue.

    Authorities say that during the raid, police seized more than 800 Xanax pills, more than an ounce of cocaine, about four grams of MDMA, a 3D printer and equipment used to make pistols fully automatic. The man reportedly told police that modifying pistols was “fun,” and he didn’t know it was against the law.

    Originally Published:

    Nate Gartrell

    Source link

  • Oakland police seize $202K, thousands of cigarettes in raid over Wilma Chan Park tobacco market

    OAKLAND — Police here seized thousands of packs of cigarettes and more than $200,000 in suspected illegal proceeds during the raid of a local residence earlier this month.

    On Oct. 10, police raided a home on the 3100 block of Minna Avenue in Oakland, after identifying as the suspected base of operations for an illegal cigarette business that was operating at Wilma Chan Park. All told, police seized more than $202,000 and 15,000 cigarette packets, most of which were imported from Germany and China, and are believed to have a higher level of nicotine than typical American cigarettes, authorities said.

    The raid came after an anonymous tipster mailed letters to police, stating they saw suspicious activity at Wilma Chan Park. A plainclothes Oakland police surveillance team observed suspected illicit cigarette transactions at the park, and traced the sellers back to the Minna Avenue home, authorities said.

    The suspects weren’t licensed to sell tobacco and the cigarettes were untaxed, according to police.

    Nate Gartrell

    Source link

  • Oakland: ‘Scrappy’ bragged about killing ‘Mini Jug’ before ‘Bubba’ and ‘Frog’ killed him, police say

    OAKLAND — Homicide investigators were on the verge of potentially solving two killings, if only they could figure out everyone’s nickname.

    The 2020 shooting death of 37-year-old Charles “Scrappy” King Jr. had gone unsolved for years, but in 2024 a man facing federal gun charges in Stockton agreed to tell police who had done it. It was “Lil Bubba,” the eyewitness told authorities, who’d shot a belligerent “Scrappy” as the victim was bragging about having killed “Mini Jug” in the same area weeks earlier, according to court records.

    Police soon identified “Lil Bubba” as 47-year-old Ahmad Wyatt, and a second suspect was later identified as Andre “Frog” Heard, 44, court records show. Both were charged in 2024, and have since resolved their cases.

    Heard pleaded no contest to assault with a firearm for a three-year prison term, and Wyatt was sentenced to 11 years after pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter, court records show. Wyatt was transferred to North Kern State Prison on Sept. 18.

    Police were later able to identify “Mini Jug” as 46-year-old Karlin Watts, who was shot and killed on Sept. 19, 2019, while standing on the 1400 block of 85th Avenue in Oakland, authorities said. Five months later, on Feb. 12, 2020, King was shot and killed at the same location, allegedly after bragging about having killed Watts, antagonizing passers-by, and knocking Wyatt down during a confrontation.

    I guess he felt he was big (expletive) because of what he did. He thought people were scared of him,” the witness who came forward after catching a federal gun case testified at the 2024 preliminary hearing. An Oakland detective later testified that it was widely believed around that neighborhood that King had killed Watts.

    After being shot, King allegedly attempted to run away, leaving a blood trail and limping from the area as he yelled, “I’m hit.” Then one of the suspects allegedly fired again, killing him.

    At the preliminary hearing, Judge Rhonda Burgess doubted the defendants fired at King simply to scare him, saying that based on King’s reputation as a killer that would be like “poking the bear.” She also said that King seemed to be going out of his way to anger people.

    “Mr. King has certainly done a lot that evening to make a lot of enemies,” Burgess said.

    Originally Published:

    Nate Gartrell

    Source link

  • A judge released an Oakland man with a pending murder charge. Now he’s a fugitive in a new killing

    OAKLAND — Months after a judge praised an Oakland murder defendant as a “wonderful young man” and released him from jail, police in Stanislaus County have publicly identified him as an “armed and dangerous” fugitive who allegedly killed a man last month.

    Keyante Reed, 19, was released from jail in January by Alameda County Judge Elena Condes, and for the next several months was deemed compliant by Alameda County probation officials who run a pretrial release program. But then came September, when Reed was first wounded in a shootout almost identical to the one that led to his Oakland murder case.

    He was hospitalized and jailed on suspicion of gun possession, then freed from custody, according to court records. Just 10 days later, he allegedly shot and killed a man on Sept. 19 in Riverbank in Stanislaus County, records show.

    On Oct. 18, 2024, Reed was charged with murdering 50-year-old Lamar Payne in a Sept. 7, 2024 shootout outside the Go Go Amigo Market, near 105th Avenue and E Street in East Oakland. Police say Reed and two other men began firing at one another, killing Payne, a bystander, in the process. A second suspected gunman was identified as 21-year-old Michai Adams and charged with murder this year. A third suspect, 22-year-old Tamarkus Killensworth, was arrested on gun charges, court records show.

    After Reed’s arrest, his lawyer argued in court that Reed — who turned 18 just six weeks before the homicide — was the victim of an ambush that day, and stating that he was targeted for violence by Payne’s friends inside Santa Rita Jail. One support letter from an engagement specialist at Laney College, described Reed as “one of the most respectful and considerate” students he had observed. Another letter, from Reed’s mother, said it was “mind boggling” that Reed would end up a murder defendant.

    “My boy is a great kid. He’s smart, he’s a big help in my family. I love the way he interacts with his siblings. No matter what the situation is, you could count on him,” Reed’s mother wrote.

    Judge Condes was at first apprehensive about releasing Reed, noting that it appeared from surveillance footage that he had fired at people who were “retreating” from the shootout. When she eventually signed off on his release to house arrest, Condes cited his enrollment at Laney College and the fact that Reed had been shot twice in Oakland since moving there from Las Vegas at age 16.

    “You sound like a wonderful young man,” Condes told him in court. “I am sure that you are meant for much better things.”

    But almost exactly one year to the day after Payne was gunned down, Reed returned to the same store, allegedly armed with a .40 caliber pistol, and the same thing happened again. This time, at around 11 a.m. last Sept. 9, police responded to a report of a shootout outside the GoGo Amigo market. They discovered two piles of casings, and found Reed, wounded by a 9 mm pistol, hiding with a handgun next to him, authorities said.

    Police say the man who allegedly shot Reed was identified as De’Vonte Lowe, 33, and arrested on gun charges during a Sept. 18 traffic stop.

    At the time of Reed’s arrest last year, Oakland police said he was known to sell marijuana near the store.

    Reed was hospitalized, listed in stable condition, and once cleared by doctors, he was booked into Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of gun possession. At a court appearance the following day, Alameda County prosecutors made no motion to detain him for allegedly possessing a gun, nor did they end up charging him in the Sept. 9 shooting, court records show. He was released from jail within days of his arrest, with a court appearance set for Oct. 1.

    Then, around 4 p.m. on Sept. 19, Stanislaus County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a shooting on the 100 block of Claus Road in Riverbank, where they found Markesse Owens dying from gunshot wounds. He was pronounced deceased later that day. Investigators identified Reed as the suspect, and on Sept. 23, the sheriff’s office issued a public alert to be out on the lookout for Reed.

    Reed did not show up for his Oct. 1 court appearance in Oakland, and so a judge issued a warrant for his arrest there, too.

    Just three months ago, an Alameda County probation officer wrote that Reed appeared to be largely successful on pretrial release, despite not providing proof that he’d enrolled in a GED program.

    “The defendant is a new father and appears to participate in the child’s life and upbringing on a regular basis. He is actively taking classes in parenting” the report says, later quoting a class supervisor who said, “Overall, Mr. Reed has shown commitment and progress in his reunification efforts.”

    Police have described Reed as a Black man with black hair and brown eyes, standing at about 5 feet10 inches tall and weighing about 177 pounds. Police are urging anyone who sees him to call 911, and any witnesses in Owens’ killing to contact Detective Mario Hernandez at 209-525-7075. Anonymous tips can be made by calling Stanislaus Area Crime Stoppers at 866-602-7463.

    Staff writer Harry Harris contributed reporting

    Nate Gartrell

    Source link

  • Oakland man gets probation in gas station shootout that killed two

    OAKLAND — One of the alleged gunman in a wild 2023 double homicide has been sentenced to probation and time he had already served in jail, court records show.

    In a plea deal with prosecutors, Sir Cameron Young, 23, pleaded no contest to an assault weapon possession charge in exchange for the probation sentence. Prosecutors dropped other charges of assault and gun possession as part of the deal, court records show.

    Young was implicated — along with another man who faced similar charges and a third man who didn’t — in a June 2023 shootout at a gas station on 66th Avenue in Oakland, where 23-year-old Idriek Patterson, of Newark, and 25-year-old Anteasa Collins, of Stockton, were killed. Other participants included Damarea Jones, 32, and Dominic Gates, 31, according to police.

    Jones was charged with gun possession and pleaded no contest in October 2023, receiving probation. Gates was never charged, but he was later implicated in a high-profile murder case that fell apart over self-defense claims, court records show.

    Authorities alleged that around 5:30 a.m. on June 4, 2023, Patterson, Jones, and a woman pulled up in a Buick, and were spotted by Gates and Young, who ran up and began shooting. Patterson was killed while attempting to run for cover, and Collins — who allegedly arrived with Young and Gates and had a tattoo that said “Dominic” on her neck — was killed a few moments later.

    While Gates avoided criminal charges in the shooting, he was later charged with failing to register as a sex offender, due to a prior conviction of pimping a girl 16 or younger, court records show. Then, in 2024, Gates and Richard James Romano were both charged with murdering Alliauna Green, a rising Oakland rapper who used the stage name Tan DaGod.

    But much like the June 2023 shootout, Green’s July 2024 killing was fraught with legal issues and self-defense claims. Police testimony revealed that Green actually fired first at Gates and Romano after they allegedly pulled guns, but that the guns were pulled after Green allegedly threatened the men. Defense attorneys argued Green was posturing because her public image was dependent on false claims she’d made, like pretending to have killed an abusive ex-boyfriend in self-defense and pulling a public stunt where she claimed to smoke his ashes in a marijuana cigar.

    As a result of all this, Gates and Romano pleaded no contest to gun charges and were released from jail. Like Young, they were sentenced to time they’d already served behind bars, court records show.

    While Young’s case was pending, he was initially released from jail, but then re-arrested after failing to appear in court. A judge denied a defense motion to release him from jail, which cited Young’s lack of criminal history and said he is the “sole provider” for his growing family.

    “Mr. Young is the sole provider for his infant. Mr. Young’s girlfriend is pregnant. The two of them have struggled to maintain consistent housing throughout the pendency of this case,” defense lawyer Jesse Adams wrote in a declaration filed in court.

    Nate Gartrell

    Source link

  • Walnut Creek double murder suspect’s mistress arrested in alleged crime scene cover up

    WALNUT CREEK — In the latest shocking development over a Sept. 18 double homicide, the suspect’s mistress has now been charged with breaking into the home where the brutal crimes took place in an effort to destroy evidence, court records show.

    Nate Gartrell

    Source link

  • Antioch cashes out ex-chief: City to pay $190K over media leak

    ANTIOCH — In the latest police-related controversy to hit this beleaguered city, officials here have agreed to pay $190,000 to the former chief, who filed a legal claim after details about a then-pending administrative investigation were leaked to the press.

    In the end, officials cleared ex-police Chief Steven Ford of allegations he had an improper relationship with a city staffer, finding them “unfounded,” according to documents the city released Thursday. A legal settlement signed Aug. 25 promised the city would pay Ford $190,000 and, “at a minimum,” inform a specific newspaper reporter about the agreement.

    A statement released by the city says that information about the investigation was “inappropriately revealed to the press” before Ford even learned of it, and that this resulted in “damaging media coverage on or about” the day this news organization published a story on the probe last December.

    “Under California law, investigations regarding peace officers may only be revealed publicly when allegations are sustained. In this matter, the allegation against Chief Ford was found not true,” the statement says. “The city expresses its appreciation to Chief Ford for his previous service as Antioch police chief. It wishes Chief Ford the best for his future law enforcement career.”

    Ford, a longtime veteran of the San Francisco Police Department before coming to Antioch, didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

    Ford’s claims against the city centered on an administrative investigation that was opened in late 2024 — nearly a-year-and-a-half after his departure. It was an initiated by a civilian tipster who accused Ford of having an improper relationship with a staffer, according to an email by City Manager Bessie M. Scott informing Lamar Hernandez Thorpe, Antioch’s then-mayor, about the investigation. The email doesn’t name the tipster but was sent roughly two-weeks after Ford’s estranged wife emailed city officials accusing Ford of “dating someone who worked in Antioch” during his tenure.

    In 2022, Ford took over a department that appeared headed for stormy waters, assuming control after the FBI and Contra Costa District Attorney conducted a series of raids targeting officers who were suspected of crimes. Much of Ford’s tenure was spent crafting reforms, attending community events and promising to win back public trust. He abruptly resigned in July 2023, but tried and failed to get his job back in 2025, which later became a piece of his legal claim.

    The claim accused the city of “defamation,” invasion of privacy, inflicting emotional distress and a “failure to re-hire in retaliation” when Ford sought the chief’s job in 2025.

    He filed the claim last April, after officials announced they’d selected Joseph Vigil, a veteran Antioch officer who’d served as acting chief, for the job. On Feb. 18, Vigil sent Ford a letter stating a third-party investigation had cleared him.

    Ford never stated his reason for leaving the department. His divorce proceedings began around the time of his resignation. After leaving Antioch, he tried and failed to obtain chief jobs in Oakland and at Cal State East Bay.

    In August 2023, a federal grand jury and Contra Costa prosecutors charged a total of 14 ex-Antioch and Pittsburg police officers with various crimes, including three ex-Antioch officers charged with violent civil rights abuses. One was later convicted at trial, a second pleaded guilty to become a government’s witness and the third is set to go before a jury next month.

    By then, details of another related scandal had already been made public, involving Antioch officers who shared racist, sexist and homophobic communications in text groups. These included slurs and disparaging comments about Ford, who is Black, as well as local politicians and other officers.

    In a letter announcing his resignation in July 2023, Ford said he was “proud” of accomplishments during his relatively short tenure.

    “I sincerely hope our engagement with the community will continue and flourish,” he wrote.

    Nate Gartrell

    Source link

  • Oakland: Man charged with killing mechanic in hit-and-run crash

    OAKLAND — The suspect in a May 2023 crash has been charged, more than two years after he was arrested in connection with the alleged crime, court records show.

    Nate Gartrell

    Source link

  • Oakland police say they know who threw suitcase containing human body into Lake Merritt. Now authorities need to prove how the victim died

    Oakland police say they know who threw suitcase containing human body into Lake Merritt. Now authorities need to prove how the victim died

    OAKLAND — Police say they’ve identified the person who threw a suitcase containing the body of a young man into Lake Merritt last year, but they’re still waiting on an autopsy report to determine the victim’s cause of death.

    Police arrested 38-year-old Marice Bronson in connection with the discovery of the body in Halloween 2023, but Bronson was later released without charges. Authorities say that’s because while Bronson allegedly bragged to multiple people that he threw the body into the lake, he also claimed the victim died of a fentanyl overdose.

    Now, homicide investigators are waiting to hear whether the victim died of an overdose, by independent means, or if there is evidence that he was still breathing when he was thrown into the lake. The outcome of the report will determine whether murder charges or less serious counts related to the body disposal will be filed, authorities said.

    The case began with a 911 call on Oct. 31, 2023, when the body of Gabriel Gomez-Raymundo, 23, was found along a section of Lake Merritt near Lakeshore Avenue. Police say they received an anonymous tip days later stating they should investigate Bronson in the case.

    Authorities say they subsequently spoke to numerous people who claimed that Bronson took responsibility for Gomez-Raymundo being in the lake. He allegedly said things like, “I threw somebody in Lake Merritt, didn’t you hear about it?”

    In another instance, he reportedly joked about turning in a person who assisted in the body disposal and collecting a $10,000 reward being offered by police.

    Bronson was arrested on suspicion of murder on Sept. 4, but later released without charges, records show. He also has a pending grand theft case in Alameda County, for allegedly stealing from a TJ Maxx store in Alameda.

    Police say that in addition to the claim about having thrown Gomez-Raymundo in the lake, Bronson also said that the pair spent days together in Bronson’s apartment, and that Gomez-Raymundo died of an apparent fentanyl overdose after sleeping for nearly two days.

    Staff writer Harry Harris contributed to this report.

    Nate Gartrell

    Source link

  • Murder case dismissed against suspect in Oakland Uber driver’s killing during robbery

    Murder case dismissed against suspect in Oakland Uber driver’s killing during robbery

    OAKLAND — Months after a judge tossed the murder case against one of two suspects in the killing of a local Uber driver, prosecutors reached a plea agreement that will result in a two-and-a-half-year prison term, court records show.

    Major Willis, 21, was initially charged with murdering 52-year-old Kon Woo Fung, who was shot and killed during an attempted robbery in Oakland. Last November, Judge Thomas Reardon agreed with a defense motion and dismissed the murder charge, finding that Willis was not legally liable for the alleged actions of his teenaged co-defendant, who is believed to have fired the fatal shots.

    More recently, Willis agreed to plead no contest to attempted carjacking. He is expected to be sentenced on Sept. 19 to 30 months in state prison, court records show.

    Willis’ co-defendant, 18-year-old Tristen Bengco, was charged in juvenile court because he was 17 at the time Fung was killed. Prosecutors say that on the morning of July 17, 2022 the two ran up to Fung’s parked vehicle on East 22nd Street, attempted to force him out of his car and that Bengco killed him during the attempt. The pair abandoned the robbery and fled after the shot rang out.

    But Willis’ lawyer argued that the shooting was accidental and that Willis was powerless to stop him. The defense conceded that Willis knew Bengco had a firearm that day, which prosecutors say he later admitted to the police.

    “Whether Willis was standing next to the shooter Tristen, or a block away, it would have made little difference in stopping an unplanned, impulsive and possibly accidental discharge of Tristen’s gun,” Willis’ lawyer wrote in court filings.

    Prosecutors, in their response motion, argued that Willis and Bengco were “on the same page” about how to carry out the robbery, including the use of the gun. After the killing, Willis and Bengco ran away and ended up ditching their car in San Francisco in an attempt to distance themselves from the suspect vehicle. In doing so, they both made a choice not to help Fung as he lay dying of a gunshot wound, prosecutors argued.

    “This shows a lack of empathy that rises to literal indifference to human life,” Deputy District Attorney Emily Tienken wrote in the failed response to the defense motion to dismiss.

    Willis has been in jail for nearly two years while the case has been pending. With good behavior credits it is unlikely he’ll be in custody for much longer, though a judge still needs to do that arithmetic at his sentencing hearing.

    Originally Published:

    Nate Gartrell

    Source link

  • Alleged Oakland gang leader was on a mission for revenge after brother’s homicide, police say. Now the feds have taken the case

    Alleged Oakland gang leader was on a mission for revenge after brother’s homicide, police say. Now the feds have taken the case

    OAKLAND — A man who allegedly cut off his ankle monitor and absconded from parole just three days after finishing a 17-year prison sentence has been hit with a federal gun charge, court records show.

    Terrance King, 30, was arrested after police received a tip he was coming to the Bay Area from Southern California in search of whoever killed his brother in Oakland, while King was still in prison. When authorities caught up to him in San Leandro, he was allegedly carrying a satchel with an AK-47-style pistol and attempted to evade arrest, prosecutors allege.

    King was initially charged with a probation violation and illegal gun possession, but now he faces a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. In a bid to keep King in jail while the case is pending, prosecutors not only referred to him as an Oakland “gang leader” but also said that ballistics examiners found a “preliminary correlation” between the gun and three prior shootings that occurred before King’s release, including a June 19 mass shooting in Oakland.

    King’s attorney in the state case filed court papers saying he came to the Bay Area to round up his family and leave the area, not for a nefarious purpose.

    A federal magistrate signed off on King’s detention, citing the facts of the case and King’s alleged gang membership.

    King was among 17 alleged members of the Oakland-based Case Gang arrested in 2013. The defendants faced charges ranging from robbery and assault to pimping, and King eventually took a plea deal and a 17-year sentence, records show.

    Last April, King’s 25-year-old brother, Hodari Lyons, was shot and killed on the 6900 block of Hamilton Street in East Oakland. When prison officials and authorities learned that Lyons was King’s brother, a group of law enforcement officials from Oakland police, the California Department Of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and a parole officer met with King in prison to dissuade him from retaliating, according to authorities.

    King paroled into Southern California on June 28. By July 1, police say, he had removed his ankle monitor and was wanted on a so-called parolee-at-large warrant.

     

    Nate Gartrell

    Source link

  • Two charged in Oakland double homicide; police say one victim was armed

    Two charged in Oakland double homicide; police say one victim was armed

    OAKLAND — After being arrested at a Bay Area beach, a man and woman have been charged in connection with a recent quadruple shooting here, court records show.

    DeJuan Pickens, 34, of Concord, was charged Thursday with two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The charges stem from the Aug. 17 Oakland shooting that resulted in two deaths and two injuries.

    On the same criminal complaint, 33-year-old Rebecca Taylor, of Oakland, was charged with helping Pickens escape. She faces a felony count of accessory after the fact.

    Both defendants are being held without bail and were advised of the charges at their first court hearings on Thursday, records show.

    Police say the shooting resulted from an argument between Taylor and three other people, near Taylor’s apartment on the 1600 block of 83rd Avenue in East Oakland. Pickens was there and saw that one of the involved parties — police haven’t said who — had a gun on them, according to court records.

    Pickens then retrieved a gun from a satchel and opened fire at the three people Taylor was arguing with, as well as the fourth armed person, authorities said. After the shooting, the two fled but were eventually arrested at McNears Beach in Marin County on Aug. 19, records show.

    The two homicide victims have been identified in court papers as Waltrice Dilliehunt and Tyrell Bland. Their ages weren’t immediately available.

    After her arrest, Taylor “provided a full confession” to police and admitted to helping Pickens flee, police said in court papers. Pickens refused to talk to authorities and asked for a lawyer.

    The two surviving victims required hospitalization, authorities said.

    Police are expected to announce the charges at a news conference set for noon on Friday.

    Check back for updates

    Originally Published:

    Nate Gartrell, Jakob Rodgers

    Source link