Confirmed: Antioch Assistant City Manager informed by acting chief on Dec. 24 of Angelo Quinto incident
But mayor, council members not informed at that time
Antioch Assistant City Manager Rosanna Bayon Moore. Herald file photo.
By Allen Payton
The Herald was informed on Thursday, March 3, by a very reliable source who chose to remain anonymous, that on Dec. 24 Antioch Assistant City Manager Rosanna Bayon Moore received an email, about the incident with Angelo Quinto on Dec. 23, from Captain Trevor Schnitzius who was the acting chief at the time. Because both Chief Brooks and City Manager Ron Bernal were on vacation at the time.
As of Monday, March 15 that was confirmed when through a public records request, the city released a copy of the Dec. 24 email from Schnitzius to Bayon Moore informing her of the incident the night before. (See UPDATE below) Email fr Schnitzius to Bayon Moore re Quinto 122420
Questions were emailed on Thursday to Mayor Lamar Thorpe, City Manager Ron Bernal, City Attorney Thomas Smith, Police Chief T Brooks and Bayon Moore asking to verify that information.
In addition, each of the other four other council members were emailed the following questions about the matter: “Were any of you aware of that? Did she contact any of you, at that time? Were you contacted by any member of city staff about Mr. Quinto’s death on Dec. 26th? Anything else you would like to share about it?”
Mayor Thorpe Not Aware
“This is breaking news, to me,” Thorpe said when asked about the email from APD to Bayon-Moore and the questions to him and city staff about it.
“In the four years that I have been on the city council I have always received a text message from the Chief of Police, whether it was Allan Cantando or Chief Brooks about major incidents,” he stated. “No one told us anything about this incident and there was no press release.”
“Even if he hadn’t texted us I would have seen the press release a few hours later,” Thorpe continued. “Usually, we get a text message and then a few hours later a press release issued.”
He reiterated that he didn’t know about the Quinto case, “Until I heard about it on social media, then during a conversation with Chief Brooks about other matters, I asked him if there had been an in-custody death.”
Like Bernal and Brooks, Thorpe was also on vacation at the time, and there are reports that he was in Mexico on a bicycle trip. While not confirming that he said, “it wouldn’t matter if I was on the moon. Someone should have contacted me and the council.”
“Whoever is in charge, whoever is acting, anything, my policy will clear things up and the council will be informed of major incidents and the policy will also including informing the police,” Thorpe added. “And the media will be in there.”
Ogorchock Responds
In response to the questions sent to her, District 3 Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock responded, “I don’t know the date that we were informed. I’m looking for it.” She had not yet found it in either her texts or emails prior to publication time.
No Responses from Other City Officials, Public Records Act Request Submitted
None of the other three council members responded to the questions emailed to them as of publication time. Since none of the other city officials responded to the emails sent to them on Thursday, March 4 asking for verification of the information, a third email was sent Friday morning, which included the City’s Public Information Officer Rolando Bonilla.
In addition, a records request search was done on the city’s Open Public Records webpage for a copy of the email from Schnitzius to Bayon Moore. Because the search produced no results, on Friday, March 5, 2021 the Herald submitted the following Public Records Act request to the city:
“Please provide a copy of the email on Dec. 24 from Captain Trevor Schnitzius, who was the acting chief at the time, to Antioch Assistant City Manager Rosanna Bayon Moore, regarding the incident with Angelo Quinto on Dec. 23.
In addition, please provide any and all email and other communications between all Antioch Police personnel and other city staff members and council members, as well as between all other city staff members and council members regarding the Dec. 23 incident and Mr. Quinto’s death on Dec. 26. Thank you.”
The City had 10 days to respond to the request for public records. If there is anything in the information requested that is deemed to require additional review, the City can take up to an additional 14 days to release it. However, the aforementioned city staff members could respond to the questions about the alleged email between Schnitzius and Bayon Moore before then.
3/17/21 UPDATE: In response to the public records request, on Monday, March 15, 2021, city staff released a copy of the email from Schnitzius to Bayon Moore and copied to Chief Brooks sent at 7:07 a.m. on Dec. 24, 2020. The subject line reads: Law Enforcement Protocol Event and “Importance: High”.
The Dec. 24 email from Schnitzius to Bayon Moore and Brooks regarding the Angelo Quinto incident on Dec. 23, 2020. Source: City of Antioch
The email reads, “Officers responded to a family disturbance service call where the caller reported the subject was hurting another family member. Upon arrival, officers determined the 30 year old male resident was experiencing a mental episode. The resident was restrained in handcuffs for everyone’s safety due to his non-cooperative behavior and was to be sent for a mental health evaluation pursuant to W/I 5150. An ambulance was summoned to the residence and while awaiting the ambulance’s arrival, the subject lost consciousness.”
the attachments to this post:
Email fr Schnitzius to Bayon Moore re Quinto 122420
Email fr Schnitzius to Bayon Moore re Quinto 122420
Email fr Schnitzius to Bayon Moore re Quinto 122420
APD badge & RBayonMoore
