Illegal guns confiscated from suspect. Photo by APD

By Lieutenant Powell Meads #3917, Antioch Police Department Field Services

On March 16, 2019 at approximately 6:00 AM, the Antioch Police Department served a search warrant in the 200 block of J Street. The search warrant was related to an investigation into a subject named Terry Ferguson, who was suspected of possessing, manufacturing, and selling illegal firearms from the location. The Antioch Police Department SWAT Team assisted in serving the search warrant due to the nature of the investigation.

During the service of the search warrant, several subjects, including Ferguson were detained at the residence. Detectives conducted a search of the residence and Ferguson’s bedroom, where they located the various firearms pictured below. Detectives located additional evidence indicating Ferguson was manufacturing unregistered, fully automatic handguns and rifles.

Ferguson is a convicted felon, currently on CDC parole for robbery, and on county probation for possession of narcotics while armed with a firearm. Additionally, Ferguson had a felony warrant for his arrest. Ferguson was booked at County Jail for a variety of weapons related charges including being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, possession of prohibited firearms, and illegally manufacturing and selling firearms.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Antioch Police Department non-emergency line at (925) 778-2441. You may also text-a-tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.

Northern California Gateway Rotary Club meets online instead of at weekly sit-down meetings

Rotary International District 5160 Governor Jon Dwyer visited Northern California Gateway Rotary’s Charter reception at the Elks Lodge in Pittsburg, Wednesday March 6, to personally welcome the 25 diverse members of the area’s newest and most novel Rotary Club.

The club’s composition is extraordinary, 12 women and 13 men, with an average age of 42 years, one a former President of a Rotary youth group. The objective of the club is to connect committed, community minded volunteers in the pursuit of service through friendship without the traditional meeting constraints of the past, thus the name Northern California Gateway.

Victor Georgiou, of the Danville Rotary Club, was the Governor’s Representative tasked with guiding new members through the Charter process, over recent years. Joyce Chiu, a former Danville Rotarian, was also active from the beginning. While there are 71 other clubs in the district with over 3,500 members, population growth has outpaced Rotary’s growth, in part because of the culture shift away from the weekly sit-down-meal meeting.

The new club concept embraces engagement over meeting attendance, retaining the network of community-minded friends’ approach that is the core of Rotary. Participation in projects is a large part of attendance. Members may also attend meetings online.

But don’t get the new members wrong: As flexible as the club may be in terms of presence, the focus on joint implementation of social projects is paramount.

Like all new ideas, there was some early resistance to change. That has largely gone away as other clubs are coming to view the new club as an asset to their efforts Northern California Gateway Rotary received its official charter in December 2018. District Governor Jon Dwyer, and his wife Bonnie, congratulated each member of the new club. DG Dwyer also emphasized the club’s status as a role model:

“Rotary club of Northern California Gateway stands for a new generation of Rotary clubs – the kind of clubs I consider necessary so that Rotary can continue to grow,” he said.

In his thanks to Gateway Rotary, new club president Daniel Lopez clarified the future path of the club.

“Together we will interpret the Rotary idea in new ways, design and start new projects and make new friends,” he said. “In this process, we will be guided by our Rotary values and the idea that is expressed in our club name.”

“We all had a great entertaining and humorous evening with good conversations among friends and families,” Lopez continued. “After all the words of praise, it is time now to grow together as a club, to get the first projects off the ground, to get active in the region, and to contribute to the development of the Rotary family – both internally and externally. All in the spirit of the club name: Rotary Club of Northern California Gateway.”

To learn more visit http://gatewayrotary5160.org.

By Scott Alonso, Public Information Officer, Contra Costa County District Attorney

On Tuesday, March 12, 2019, District Attorney Diana Becton and staff attended an event in New York City to announce the end of the backlog of untested sexual assault kits in Contra Costa County. These results come from the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office participation in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Sexual Assault Kit Backlog Elimination Grant Program, a three-year grant program to test sexual assault kits.

Our Office was one of 32 grantees funded, totaling $1,841,535 to test 1,246 kits since 2015. The testing of these kits allowed for DNA evidence to be uploaded to the national DNA databank to assist in investigations and identify offenders.

“We partnered with 24 law enforcement agencies in our community to erase the backlog of sexual assault kits in Contra Costa County,” said Becton. “I want to express my gratitude for our partners working with our office to end the backlog. Testing these kits can help bring closure and justice to sexual assault victims. We are going to continue working on this issue to ensure we never have a backlog in our community again.”

To ease the burden of testing these kits, through this grant our Office collected the untested kits from participating agencies and sent the kits to Sorenson Forensics in Utah. The collaboration between Sorenson Forensics, the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Crime Lab and our Office allowed for a more efficient process of testing these kits.

Due to state law in California, law enforcement agencies have mandated reporting timeframes to test these kits. If an agency chooses not to test, they have to substantiate their reasons to the California Department of Justice. Our Office will continue to monitor the progress of all agencies in Contra Costa County to ensure state law is followed and no kits remain untested.

Overall, the Manhattan District Attorney’s program tested 55,242 kits and resulted in 18,803 DNA profiles uploaded into the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). Locally, the results here for our kits were:

• 1,246 kits DNA tested (1978 to 2016)
• 182 DNA profiles entered into CODIS
• 122 Confirmatory hits
• 51 Offender hits
• 8 Cases reopened for further review by law enforcement agencies
• Full compliance of all participating agencies

Rep. DeSaulnier

Washington, DC – On the House floor today, Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA-11) managed the rule to begin consideration of H.Con.Res. 24, a straightforward Democratic resolution sponsored by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY-10), expressing the sense of Congress that the report by Special Counsel Mueller should be made available to the American public and to Congress.

Highlights of Congressman DeSaulnier’s remarks are included below and video of the full speech is available here.

“When the Justice Department named Robert Mueller to Special Counsel for the Russia investigation, acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said, ‘A special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome. Our nation is grounded on the rule of law, and the public must be assured that government officials administer the law fairly.’

This resolution does not predetermine the outcome of the Mueller investigation. It simply expresses that the report of the Special Counsel should be made available to Congress and to the American people.

The public, including my constituents in Contra Costa, wants to know what happened. Nearly 9 in 10 Americans – in both parties – say the Mueller investigation should produce a full, public report on the findings.

Not only do people want to know, but they deserve to know.

To date, Mueller’s investigation has resulted in:

o   34 people and three companies being criminally charged;

o   Nearly 200 charges filed;

o   Seven guilty pleas;

o   And one conviction following a jury trial.

o   The investigation cost over $25 million, but recovered approximately $48 million in assets from tax evasion.

Eight federal and congressional intelligence and national security groups believe Russia interfered in the election. With the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the F.B.I., and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence concluding that Vladimir Putin personally ‘ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election’ to ‘undermine public faith in the democratic process.’

The last time our country had a Special Counsel operating under the same rules as the Mueller Probe was in 1993 to investigate the Waco siege and allegations of government wrongdoing. Prosecutors posted their final report directly on the Internet with hundreds of pages of exhibits and timelines.

The American public should receive the same transparency when the Mueller report is released.

I encourage my friends across the aisle to support the release of the Mueller report. We have commitments to support it from three House Republican Leaders including the Minority Leader, Minority Whip, and Republican Conference Chair, and I hope all of the Republican Caucus will join Democrats in this vote to ensure we share one of the most important investigations of our time within these halls and with all of America.”

DeSaulnier is also a Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, which is investigating any possible criminal activity related to President Trump or his associates.

DeSaulnier represents portions of Contra Costa County including portions of Antioch.