By Antioch Police Department

Sunday morning, March 1, 2020, Antioch Police dispatch received a complaint regarding a vehicle driving recklessly in the area of McFarlan Ranch Drive and Leitrim Way. When officers arrived in the area, they located a similar vehicle, parked, with four subjects associated with it. Further investigation of the incident led to the vehicle being searched and three loaded firearms being found inside. All four subjects with the vehicle were juveniles, were all arrested, and were all sent to Juvenile Hall.

While we are very happy to have three more guns off the street, we are also very appreciative of the call itself. What began as a call that was not necessarily an “emergency,” it is another example of the active members of our community making us aware of issues that affected them that we may not have otherwise been aware of. Please never think your call is not worthy, or that you’re “bothering” us. Every call is important to the person affected, and some turn into successful cases that make us all safer!

The first report will be released at 8:00 pm on election night, March 3, and posted to the Elections website www.cocovote.us immediately afterward. The initial posted results will be Vote by Mail ballots that are returned through Monday March 2.

The second report, with results from the polls, will be issued at 9:30 pm with subsequent updates approximately every half hour until all precincts have reported. The final election night report is expected to be issued by 1:00 am.

The first interim report will be posted by 5:00 pm on Friday March 6 and will contain results from Vote by Mail ballots received on and after Election Day. Additional results will be posted each Friday afternoon up to certification which is expected to be March 31.

The availability of updated reports will be communicated via Twitter and Facebook, using the hashtag #cocovote. Changes to the reporting schedule, if any, will also be communicated on these social media sites.

The Contra Costa Elections Division social media pages are:

https://www.Twitter.com/CoCoElections

https://www.facebook.com/EngageContraCosta/

https://www.facebook.com/ContraCostaElections/

Local election results will also be available throughout election night on Contra Costa Television (CCTV) beginning at 9:00 pm on Comcast channel 27, Astound channel 32 and AT&T U-Verse channel 99.

Multiple slip and falls at different employers

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

Martinez, Calif. – The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office charged Maria Mendoza (52-years-old) with numerous counts of insurance fraud and investigators with the DA’s Office arrested her this past Friday. The investigation originated after reports of a staged slip and fall in October 2017 at an Olive Garden restaurant located in Pittsburg. The suspect’s insurance claims history revealed a pattern of short stints of employment followed by claims against the employer. The charges allege four specific instances of workers compensation fraud against four different employers, and two additional instances of auto insurance fraud.

The first workers’ compensation fraud charge relates to Mendoza’s employment at Pronto Cleaning Services in early 2014. The charge alleges that Mendoza’s employment terminated after only three months of work. She hired a workers’ compensation attorney to file multiple workers compensation claims, including an allegation that her three months of cleaning resulted in cumulative trauma to her hands, wrists, and knees. She and her attorney litigated the claim throughout 2016 and 2017.

The complaint further alleges that Mendoza obtained employment at Architectural Glass & Aluminum Company and worked in a factory setting in late 2014. Her employment terminated there after two months and again a workers’ compensation claim followed. The complaint alleges that she told medical professionals evaluating her that she made no prior claims and is not a party to any civil litigation.

The third workers compensation fraud charged relates to employment at Olive Garden. Olive Garden hired Mendoza for work in 2017, but after approximately five months several employees and a manager reported that Mendoza faked a slip and fall on her way to a scheduled disciplinary hearing. She again hired an attorney to file and litigate a workers’ compensation insurance claim for injuries to her knees and ankles from the fall.

The final workers’ compensation fraud charged relates to yet another slip and fall claim at Claim Jumper in 2018. After approximately one month at Claim Jumper Restaurant, Mendoza visited a doctor to report a new slip and fall at work. The complaint again alleges that she falsely told the doctor evaluating her that she never previously filed a workers’ compensation insurance claim.

She is also charged with filing an auto insurance claim alleging an accident in April of 2014. Mendoza claimed the same injuries that she pursued in her workers’ compensation claim against Pronto Cleaning, as well as filing a 2018 auto insurance claim for damage to the same vehicle that her attorney claimed was totaled in the 2014 accident.

False insurance claims hurt small business owners with massive rate increases and the general public as the costs of those frauds are passed on to the consumer. The District Attorney’s Office reminds those considering fraud that reporting a fake injury at work to get money or other benefits is insurance fraud punishable by up to five years state prison and an additional fine of up to $50,000.

Anyone with information about possible insurance fraud can report that information to the District Attorney’s Office via email at DA-ReportFraud@contracostada.org.

Case information: People v. Maria Mendoza, Docket Number 04-199121-5.

 

Expected to be located in Fitzuren Road lot; will serve as residence for eight months

By Allen Payton

Five of the state’s 100 FEMA trailers left over from the Camp Fire, were delivered to Antioch on Saturday, as part of the governor’s response to the homeless crisis in California. They will be used as temporary, transitional housing for homeless residents in the city to move them out of encampments, provide better access to services, and ultimately into permanent housing. (See related article)

Mayor Sean Wright and all four Antioch City Council members were in attendance for the arrival of the trailers at the city’s maintenance yard, as well as City Manager Ron Bernal, Lavonna Martin, the Director of Health, Housing and Homeless Services for Contra Costa County, a representative of Senator Steve Glazer’s office, and Jo Bruno a homeless resident in Antioch. They each took turns looking inside the three of the trailers.

Each trailer can house between six and eight people.

Who will occupy the trailers and where they will be located have been the main questions from Antioch residents. In addition, officials in attendance were asked when they will be occupied.

According to Antioch Councilman Lama Thorpe, who was one of the two members of the council’s ad hoc committee on homeless encampments, “the state has criteria for who gets to live in the trailers. Today marks the beginning of the timeline. Plus, the property needs to be found. I think the state’s focus is for those currently living in encampments.”

Asked if they would go to families with children who are currently living in cars, Martin responded, “we have individuals sleeping outside without any protection. It’s very difficult to provide services to them when they’re moving around. Families with children aren’t typically outside sleeping without protections.”

“Many encampment dwellers have already been living together for a number of years. That’s their family of choice,” she continued. “How do we work with them to help them into permanent housing?”

“Right now, we are working to push out a request for qualifications for a non-profit organization to be a provider of services. Our CORE teams are already out in the community identifying individuals living outside,” Martin shared. “The governor has not mentioned a timeline. It’s no longer an eight-month program. These are now being supplied to the cities so we can work with them as long as it takes to move them into their permanent residence. Then that opens it up for another encampment.”

Asked where the trailers will be located, City Manager Ron Bernal responded, “we will be going through the planning commission and city council approval process for the location. This is for emergency housing for homeless. The property on Fitzuren Road is in the process of being transferred from the county to the city. It’s our primary location we’re considering. It has electricity there, it has sewer and water close by, it has gravel down. The fire department has determined it can serve that location.”

The planning commission is expected to vote on a recommendation at one of their meetings, this month and then the council will make the final decision in April, Bernal explained.