By Allen Payton

According to Antioch Police Sgt. Smith, two males entered Ron Jewelers inside Somersville Towne Center at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday night, Dec. 12, pepper sprayed the clerk, smashed the glass display cases and left with an undisclosed amount of jewelry.

This is the second time this year that the jewelry store was a victim of a smash and grab robbery. The previous robbery by four suspects occurred on July 19. (See related article).

Police have video footage of both the crime and suspects, and the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call the Antioch Police non-emergency line at (925) 778-2441.

By Daniel Borsuk

Beginning next month, 6,000 and as many as 12,000 Contra Costa County residents will receive letters from the county that they could be entitled to refunds to be disbursed because the county Probation Department overcharged them fees for Juvenile Cost of Care and Cost of Electronic Surveillance of Minors. (See agenda item,  here.)

County Supervisors initiated the notification process at Tuesday’s board meeting on a 4-0 vote.  Letters printed in English and Spanish will be mailed to up to 6,000 individuals who may be due a refund because they may have been overcharged when they had a juvenile housed at a county juvenile hall facility from 2010 to 2016.  The county ceased assessing the fees in 2016.  The letters will instruct the recipients how to file for a claim.

District 2 Supervisor Candace Andersen of Danville was absent for the vote.

The county estimates parents of juveniles held in county juvenile hall facilities were overcharged $8.8 million dating back to 1990.

The board’s Public Safety Committee will review whether another 6,000 residents living in the county between 1990 and 2010 might be eligible for refunds.  Supervisors would also establish a procedure whereby residents could claim money that was improperly withheld when youths were detained in juvenile hall facilities.  Supervisors will determine if the county improperly overcharged for electronic monitoring fees.

Assistant County Administrator Timothy Ewell told supervisors there are about 12,000 cases that the county has identified from 1990 to 2016 that might be entitled to refund checks averaging $262 per account because of the work by Contra Costa supervisors did, and support from citizen organizations like the Racial Justice Coalition, statewide to make juvenile hall housing fees illegal on racial and financial hardship grounds.

Contra Costa is the first county in the state to begin the procedure of refunding money to parents or guardians of juveniles who were held in juvenile hall facility and were overcharged.

“No one is expecting a mad rush of people to file claims,” said District 1 Supervisor John Gioia of Richmond, who was a key player at the county and state level in igniting the juvenile hall overcharge refund movement.

District 4 Supervisor Karen Mitchoff said it should be up to the claimants to show proof in the form of canceled checks, bank statements or some other proof of payment when filing a claim.

“Family members should never have been penalized,” admonished Willie Mims of the East County Branch of the NAACP.  “You should have the records and not lay that responsibility on the persons who might receive these letters.”

The fiscal impact to the General Fund is projected to be $136,000.

Supervisors OK Bonds for Multi-Family Housing Projects

On a 5-0 vote, supervisors flashed the green light for construction to get underway for a $27 million senior housing project in North Richmond fronting the east side of Fred Jackson Way between Grove Avenue and Chelsey Avenue.  The 42-unit, Heritage Point Senior Apartments will be financed by the county with up to $17 million in Multifamily Housing Revenue Bonds.

It is a project of the Community Housing and Development Corporation of North Richmond (CHDC). According to their website, the organization was “founded in 1990 by local leaders…to eliminate blight, improve housing opportunities for current and future residents, and create better economic conditions.” It has since “added over 200 owner-occupied homes to the Richmond area along with street improvements, public services, senior and family rental housing.”

According to the staff report, there is “No impact to the General Fund. At the closing for the Bonds, the County is reimbursed for costs incurred in the issuance process. Annual expenses for monitoring of Regulatory Agreement provisions ensuring units in the Development will be rented to low income households will be reimbursed through issuer fees established in the documents for the Bonds. The Bonds will be solely secured by and payable from revenues (e.g. Development rents, reserves, etc.) pledged under the Bond documents. No County funds are pledged to secure the Bonds.”

Supervisors were informed that financing for the Heritage Point development is secure.  However, future affordable housing developments might be in jeopardy depending how the 2018 United States budget reform bill shapes up. Contra Costa County could potentially lose $3.5 million in bond financing for the North Richmond project if the budget reform bill is passed by Congress, said Maureen Toms of the Contra Costa County Conservation and Development Department.  Fortunately, the county has enough money in reserves to fill in funding gaps for projects like the Heritage Point development, she added.

“This could be the tip of the iceberg on the potential elimination of public funding for future affordable housing developments,” Gioia warned.

In addition, the board approved converting $1.6 million in taxable bonds into tax-exempt bonds for a 58-unit, multi-family affordable housing apartment project in Walnut Creek. The Riviera Family Apartments will be located on two separate parcels, at 1515 and 1738 Rivera Avenue. The County had previously approved $19.2 million in tax-exempt bonds for the development in May 2016. The developer is Resources for Community Development in Berkeley. According to the staff report, no County funds are pledged to secure the bonds.

Honor 35-Year County Employee

In other action, the board honored Carmen Piña-Delgado who is the Supervising Real Property Agent with the Public Works Department in the Real Estate Division for her 35 years as a county employee. She started her career with the County Administrator’s Office as a Clerk-Experienced Level under the Affirmative Action Officer and due to budget cuts was let go. But, then in October, Piña-Delgado was rehired by the Health Services Department as a Clerk-Experienced Level in the Public Health Division.

In January 1992 she was promoted to the position of Real Property Technical Assistant in the Real Estate Division, where she has worked for the remainder of her career. In May 2001, Piña-Delgado graduated from Los Medanos College completing the Associate of Science Degree in Real Estate in order to qualify for advancement into the Real Property Agent Series. The resolution adopted by the Board recognizing her service states, she “has a great work ethic and has made a difference in the Public Works Department by delivering quality services in each division, County-wide, and with outside agencies/consultants.”

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

 

“Justice for Suzanne” means “Antioch is safer, tonight”

By Allen Payton

At around 5:00 p.m. Monday evening, the family of Suzanne Bombardier whose kidnapping, rape and murder had gone unsolved for 37 years, finally had closure when Antioch police arrested 63-year-old Mitchell Lynn Bacom at his home in Antioch. During a press conference Monday night, Antioch Police Chief Tammany Brooks announced the arrest saying he was “ecstatic” and credited retired Captain Leonard Orman, DNA testing by the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Lab and the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office.

Bacom, an Antioch resident, was arrested without incident in front of his house in the 300 block of West Madill.

“This closes the oldest, open cold case homicide on record with the Antioch Police Department,” Brooks stated, and then thanked “Suzanne Bombardier’s family for not giving up hope,” although “it would not bring Suzanne back.” He further said it was solved through “patience and persistence.”

Orman was brought back to work on the case, earlier this year after the DNA was sent to the crime lab two years ago and got a hit by CODIS, the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, in May. Interim DA Diana Becton gave credit to Paul Holes, her office’s Cold Case Investigator and Chief of Forensic and the Safe Streets Task Force.

“Justice may not have come as swiftly as we would like,” she stated, and said her office will be filing charges against Bacom tomorrow of “murder with use of a deadly weapon and additional charges, as well.”

Bombardier was taken in the middle of the night from her sister’s home at 3421 Hudson Court in Antioch while babysitting. She was missing for approximately five days and eventually found deceased in the San Joaquin River near the Antioch Bridge. Her cause of death was determined to be one stab wound to the chest which penetrated her heart. Evidence at the time indicated she had been sexually assaulted.

Numerous suspects and persons of interest were developed and investigated over the years. Some were eliminated while others remained unresolved until recently. Bacom was one of the original suspects in the case, “the prime suspect” according to former Antioch Detective Greg Glod who worked the case, along with retired Detective Ron Rackley who first took the report that initiated the investigation in 1980.

Two years ago, during the 35th anniversary of the murder, they and retired Antioch Sgt. Larry Hopwood asked then Chief Allan Cantando to reopen the case and offered to serve as a volunteer cold case squad. They launched a media campaign to raise awareness of the cold case. (See related article). Later that year the DNA was sent to the crime lab for testing.

Through that DNA testing, one of the suspects, 63-year-old Mitchell Lynn Bacom of Antioch, has been determined to be responsible for these heinous crimes. He is currently being held on the charges of murder, kidnapping, rape and oral copulation.

“He was never off the suspect list,” Brooks stated, and that “he was known to Suzanne and the family.”

“That’s who we always suspected,” Rackley stated, when reached for comment following the press conference. “We can finally sleep again.”

“I knew this all along,” Glod said when reached at his home in the Washington, D.C. area, where he now works for the U.S. Secret Service as an instructor at their academy. “He was clearly the prime suspect, clearly in my mind, from the beginning.”

Suspect Had History of Violent Crime

In 1973, Bacom was arrested in Mountain View, California for rape, robbery, assault with intent to commit murder and oral copulation. As a result of that investigation, he was convicted in 1974 of first and second-degree burglary, assault with intent to murder and sodomy. He was sentenced to five years to life.

In February of 1981, Bacom was arrested for robbery and rape in Isleton, California. As a result of that case, he was convicted of first degree burglary, robbery, rape and sodomy. He was sentenced to 24 years in prison.

In 2002, Bacom was convicted in Contra Costa County of failing to properly register as a sex offender and sentenced to four years in prison. This conviction was the result of a Pittsburg Police Department investigation.

When the biological evidence was originally collected in this case, DNA testing did not exist as a method of determining guilt in our justice system. Over the years, the Antioch Police Department and the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office have monitored developments in DNA testing in the hopes that advancements would be made allowing this evidence to be processed and a DNA profile developed. In 2015, the decision was made to submit the biological evidence to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Laboratory in an effort to develop a DNA profile. This lab was equipped to conduct some of the most advanced available DNA testing. In early 2017, the department was notified that a CODIS hit was made tentatively identifying Mitchell Lynn Bacom as the perpetrator. Additional testing was required in order to confirm the identification.

Glod spoke about Bacom’s history of crime, saying, “I’m amazed how he got out of prison on the first one” and that “he was on parole when this took place,” referring to the Bombardier murder.

He gave credit to former Antioch Detective Guy Worth, who is currently battling cancer, and “is probably dancing, right now. He was instrumental…he did all he could to keep this case alive, in spite of all he’s going through.”

Glod also thanked the media for their articles and TV news segments in 2015 and 2016.

“I appreciate people like you (referring to the Herald), Henry Lee from KTVU, the Contra Costa Times and Jennifer Gibbbons, the author who wouldn’t let this go,” he stated.

“Although we are ecstatic an arrest has been made in this case it will not bring Suzanne back into her family’s lives,” Brooks said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Suzanne Bombardier’s family and we hope this mystery being solved offers some level of comfort for them.”

“Although in recent years there was some question relative to our commitment regarding this investigation, we never gave up on bringing this case to a resolution,” he shared. “The reality was that science had to make advances in order for a positive identification of the killer to be made. It was through patience, persistence, networking, modern investigative techniques and scientific advances that this case was solved.”

“I’m glad that people didn’t forget, the Antioch Police Department and District Attorney’s Office,” Glod said. “They were instrumental in solving this. It’s a good day for Antioch. Antioch did not forget their citizen. It’s great news for the family and all the friends who have been traumatized by this. We finally got some justice for Suzanne Bombardier.”

“It’s bringing some closure for me in my life,” he added. “This is a great moment for me. I’m glad to see it was him they arrested. This is big news.”

More Work Still To Be Done

When reached for comment, Orman said, “It was good to see it to this point,” knowing that there is still more work to be done following the arrest. “Antioch is safer tonight and that’s what matters,” he added.

“This does not constitute the end,” Brooks confirmed during his first press conference since becoming Chief in May, stating that the department needed to determine if Bacom has been involved in any other crimes.

As such, the Antioch Police Department will be networking with other law enforcement agencies in an effort to determine if Mitchell Lynn Bacom has been involved in other murders and/or sexual assaults. We encourage anyone with information regarding this case to contact the Antioch Police Department. Additionally, we are hoping to hear from any of Mitchell Lynn Bacom’s past victims, including those who may have never made reports to law enforcement.

Anyone wanting to provide information relative to Mitchell Lynn Bacom’s criminal conduct may contact Detective Leonard Orman at (925) 779-6918. Any further information or additional press releases will be provided by the Lt. Tarra Mendes at (925) 779-6946. You may also text a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using key word ANTIOCH.

By John Crowder

At the November 28 meeting of the Antioch City Council, the last item on the agenda was the authorization of an employee referral and recruitment signing bonus/incentives for qualified lateral police officers.

According to Antioch Police Chief Tammany Brooks, since the passage of Measure C was approved by voters in November 2013, Police Department staff has worked with Human Resources to hire 50 sworn officers.  During the same period, Brooks said that 35 officers have separated employment, resulting in a net gain of only fifteen sworn officers.

Brooks stated that the number of sworn staff currently sits at 97, while the City Council has authorized a staffing level of 103. With five more separations anticipated in the near future, he said, “We are having a problem trying to recruit a number of lateral applicants.”  On that point, according to the staff report submitted by Brooks to the Mayor and City Council on this item, “The recruitment of qualified lateral applicants for the position of police officer is becoming increasingly difficult, as the job market is very open and competitive. Recently, the department scheduled interviews for five lateral officers from four different agencies, and none of them showed up.  Additionally, we had two recent lateral hires (from Oakland PD) that quit and returned back to their agency in large part due to financial incentives Oakland offered for them to return.”

In 2013, with 89 sworn officers on the force, the mayor and council members promised the hiring of 22 additional officers, if the voters approved the Measure C half-cent sales tax. That would increase the force to a total of 111 sworn officers.

The only speaker to address the issue from the public was local real estate broker Mark Jordan.  “We’re kind of in a quandary here,” said Jordan, “Yes, we did have this program previously, then about a year ago we gave the police officers a very nice raise that we don’t have the money to pay for, that will be extremely difficult to pay for if Measure C is not renewed…From the general public’s perspective, this is just more and more and more…I understand they’re having a problem.  All the cities are having a problem.”

Jordan went on to say that, while he was not “100% opposed,” it might be better to provide bonuses to officers who choose to reside in Antioch.

Following Jordan’s remarks, Council Member Tony Tiscareno asked Brooks for a comparison of cost savings associated with hiring a lateral transfer as opposed to a new hire from the Police Academy.

Brooks responded, in part, by relating two examples, one a recent hire as a lateral, and the other explaining an offer made for a new hire earlier in the day.

He had addressed the idea of cost saving in the staff report, stating, “When a lateral police officer is hired, the average time it takes for him/her to begin working in a solo officer capacity is generally between two to three months.  When an entry level police trainee is hired, the average time it takes for him/her to begin working in a solo officer capacity is generally between twelve and fourteen months.”

The report continues, “The reduced amount of time it takes a lateral to become a solo officer actually amounts to a cost savings to the City. This is due to the elimination of all costs associated with the police academy, salary for the trainee while attending the police academy, and salary/benefits of the trainee during the lengthened field training program.  In some cases, this can amount to a savings of approximately $60,000.”

Following Brooks’ explanation, Tiscareno expressed that he was in favor of the program.

“I like the fact that they’re incremental payments,” he said, noting that an Officer, in order to get the full bonus, would have to be with the Antioch Police Department for three years.

“I think it makes sense, particularly when we are hiring, we’re gonna hire, we’ve been authorized to hire…I think if we do the laterals you are going to have some kind of cost savings,” Tiscareno added. “I’m very supportive of this.”

Brooks then interjected that he felt that something that a previous City Council had done to encourage recruitment of lateral officers, extending reciprocity for the “three at 50,” helped to bring in many lateral transfers since implementation of Measure C. He was referring to the retirement benefit in which an officer can retire at age 50 with 3% of their highest earned salary, multiplied by the number of years of service.

“We saw an influx of lateral officers at that time,” Brooks stated. He also referenced new pension laws that came into effect in 2013 and resulted in a “less expensive PERS system,” and that many of the officers they would be hiring would fall under that less expensive system. That includes the retirement benefit for new hires, not including laterals, of 2.5% at age 55 approved by the council in 2012.

Council Member Lori Ogorchock commented favorably about the $60,000 cost savings, and added, “plus it puts an officer on the streets a lot quicker by getting the laterals over.”

Mayor Sean Wright stated, “I’ve been very forward with my goal to get to 104 police officers, and I’ve asked the Chief quite a bit what do we need to do make that happen.”

“I like the idea…I’m in favor,” he stated.

Mayor Pro Tem Lamar Thorpe began his comments by asking, “So, we’re still (one of) the top three paid police departments in Contra Costa County?”

“Yes,” Brooks responded.

Thorpe continued by stating that an educational incentive for police officers was approved a year ago that went from $2,500 to 5% of salary.

He then stated, “When I first read this my initial reaction was, before I got to the end, was, I’m not supporting this.  But, I thought you came up with some very reasonable numbers. My own concern is that we’ve hovered at this 95 to 97 number.”

After further explaining that he wanted the public to be aware that everything possible was being done to increase the number of police officers in Antioch, Thorpe said, “I’m all for this.”

Council Member Monica Wilson remarked that she also viewed the incremental aspect of the bonus favorably. She then discussed the 3% at 50 retirement program for laterals, noting she was on the City Council when it was implemented.

“At the time, there were a lot of people in the community very unsure about it,” Wilson explained, sharing that it resulted in a lot of lateral officers being hired. She also stated that she was happy with Brooks’ involvement in hiring each officer, in order to ensure Antioch hired officers who are good and of high quality.

Thorpe made the motion to approve the Referral/Recruitment Signing Bonus, Wilson seconded it, and the motion was approved on a 5-0 vote.

Hiring Incentive Program Details

The details of the program, in the staff report, reads as follows:

Recommended Program Details for the Antioch Police Department Recruitment Bonus Incentive Guidelines (open to all lateral police officers hired after November 25, 2017):

To qualify for the bonus/incentives, the applicant must: 1. Be currently employed as a police officer within a California law enforcement agency. 2. Have two (2) years of experience and have successfully completed a probationary period. 3. Possess a Basic California POST Certificate. 4. If the applicant is a former Antioch officer who wishes to return to the department, his/her separation of employment must be at least eighteen (18) months to qualify.

The bonus/incentives will consist of the following: 1. Applicant will be allowed to carry over up to 200 hours of accrued sick leave from his/her department. 2. Prior law enforcement service seniority will be used to determine vacation accrual rate of the applicant. 3. Automatic credit of 40 hours vacation upon employment. 4. Signing bonus of $10,000 with payments in the following increments: a. $2,500 – upon employment b. $2,500 – upon successful completion of probation c. $5,000 – upon three (3) years of service 5. Any current Antioch employee who recruits a lateral officer will receive his/her choice of $1,000 or 20 hours of Comp Time upon the lateral’s successful completion of the field training program.

The next Antioch Council meeting will be held Tuesday, Dec. 12 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, located at 200 H Street. The meeting can also be viewed on local cable access Channel 24 or via livestream on the City’s website at http://www.ci.antioch.ca.us/CityGov/citycouncilmeetings.htm.

Due to state sanctuary policies; county policy to go into effect next year; response due today

By Daniel Borsuk

With neither Sheriff-Coroner David Livingston nor one of his representatives in attendance at a meeting of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors’ Public Protection Committee on Thursday, there was more concern as to why the sheriff wasn’t in attendance than the topic at hand:  the possibility the county could lose up to $24.7 million in federal assistance.

Representatives from the District Attorney’s Office, Public Defender’s Office, Probation, Employment and Human Services, and County Administrator were present at the committee meeting conducted by Supervisor John Gioia of Richmond and attended by Supervisor Federal Glover of Pittsburg.

Without Livingston or his representative at the committee table, supervisors and citizens serving on the committee could not get a proper read on the status of the sheriff’s policy on the arrest and detention of undocumented immigrants primarily at West County Jail, and how well deputies interface with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and United States Marshals.

Some $19.8 million of the $24.7 million in federal aid that the county receives from the federal government is allocated to the Sheriff-Coroner Office.  Employment and Human Services receives $1.9 million in federal aid, Probation pulls in $1.1 million, the County Administrator draws $983,971, the District Attorney gets $563,848, and the Public Defender collects $180,412.

“I am surprised and disappointed that the sheriff is not here,” said Supervisor Gioia.  “I don’t know if this has ever happened before where the sheriff has not appeared at a Public Protection Committee meeting.”

“I’m shocked and dismayed that no one from the Sheriff’s Office is here,” said Renee Zeimer representing Organizing for Contra Costa Action.  “How is the sheriff held accountable to the public?”

About four other also persons complained that the sheriff or a representative should have been in attendance at the committee meeting.

The fate of federal money that California cities and 58 counties receive will probably be decided in United States District Court on Wednesday, Dec. 13, when U.S. District Judge William Orrick is expected to rule on whether California Senate Bill 54 or “the Sanctuary State Bill” that was recently signed by Gov. Jerry Brown and goes into effect Jan. 1 conflicts with Executive Order 1373 that President Donald J. Trump inked on Jan. 25, 2017.

Executive Order 1373 assigns broad powers to the U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Marshalls to investigate, arrest, and deport undocumented immigrants in order to secure the safety of the interior of the nation.  The executive order also gives the DOJ investigative power to determine if states, cities, and counties are in compliance with Executive Order 1373.

In Sanctuary States like California, Contra Costa County and other counties are aligning policies to conform with SB 54 unaware how Judge Orrick will rule.

When asked if the county has a Plan B should the U.S. District Court strikes down SB 54 and uphold Executive Order 1373, Supervisor Gioia remarked, “That’ll be an issue for the state and every city and county effected by SB54.”

Sheriff Receives DOJ Letter

The Sheriff-Coroner Office received on November 15 a letter from U.S. Department of Justice Acting Assistant Attorney General Alan Hansen inquiring whether the sheriff office is in conflict with Executive Order 1373 if a custody deputy does not inform ICE of the immigration status of inmates. “The department is concerned that this appears to restrict the sending or requesting of information regarding immigration status in violation of section 1373 (a) and (b),” wrote Hansen.

The letter was directed to Mary Jay Robb, the Chief for Management Services in the Sheriff’s Office.

Livingston would not respond to calls from the Herald with questions about the letter. The Sheriff’s Public Information Officer Jimmy Lee instead referred calls to County Administrator David Twa.

One program that wasn’t included in the DOJ inquiry is the Stand Together CoCo program, which the Board of Supervisors approved in September with $500,000 in state AB 109 funds to help launch the program.  The Public Defender’s Office is overseeing the program.

Twa confirmed that the DOJ letter is about the state’s sanctuary policies, not the county’s new policy that will not go into effect until next year.

County Has Until Today to Respond to DOJ

The county needs to respond to the DOJ inquiry by today, Friday, Dec. 8.

The Stand Together program will monitor ICE arrests of undocumented immigrants in the county.  The program that is also funded through private sources will have counselors visiting undocumented immigrants held at West County Jail.  The Stand Together CoCo program expects to counsel up to 180 undocumented immigrants held at the jail during the first six months of the program.  The program gets underway January 1, 2018.

City’s 10th homicide of the year

By Sergeant John Fortner #3264, Antioch Police Investigations Division, Violent Crimes Unit

On Sunday, December 3, 2017 at 2:27 a.m., Antioch Police patrol officers responded to the call of a male subject down on the roadway on Empire Mine Road near Deer Valley Road. When officers arrived, they located a subject on the roadway suffering from injuries consistent with being shot with a firearm. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Antioch Police Investigators were called to the scene and are in the early stages of the investigation. According to the crime statistics on the City’s website this is the 10th homicide of the year in Antioch.

No further information will be released at this time. Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to call Detective Colley with the Antioch Police Department at (925) 779-6922 or 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.

The Antioch Police Department is excited to announce the 86th installment of the Neighborhood Cleanup Program. This is a collaborative community effort which involves active participation from The Antioch Police Department Crime Prevention Commission; Neighborhood Watch Program; Volunteers in Police Service; community volunteers and the Public Works Department.

Collectively, “We”, everyone who works and lives in the City Antioch, can make a difference and improve the quality of life. It’s our community and it’s our chance to make a difference.

The City of Antioch Neighborhood Cleanup program is not just for residential neighborhoods. It is a program that will change venues on a monthly basis and it will include business and commercial areas as well. Neighborhoods that are free of trash and refuse are inviting, and a clean community instills a sense of community pride.

The 86th Neighborhood Cleanup event will occur on Saturday, December 2, 2017 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. We will be cleaning the neighborhood near Williamson Ranch Park from Hillcrest, Lone Tree Way, Furlong Way, Indian Hill Drive and Morgan Way. Volunteers will meet at Williamson Ranch Park and park in the parking lot. (See map).

Volunteers will receive instructions and the equipment necessary to accomplish the goal. The targeted area is within walking distance. Excluding inclement weather, future Neighborhood Cleanup events are scheduled for the first Saturday of every month and the locations will be announced in advance.

Remember, cleaning up your neighborhood can make life better for your family, your neighbors and your community!

From APD Facebook page

On Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 28, 2017 an alert citizen spotted an APD motorcycle officer in the area of Empire Ave. and Neroly Rd. and alerted him to suspicious people seen walking away from a vehicle in the area of Laurel Rd. and the SR-4 Bypass. Ofc. Johnsen saw three people walking on Laurel Rd., now in the City of Oakley, and when he reached the car the citizen was concerned about, he quickly learned it had been reported as stolen to the Antioch Police yesterday afternoon.

Ofc. Johnsen was able to relocate the subjects he had seen moments earlier, and the investigation led to all three (a 35-year-old male from Antioch, a 21-year-old male from Antioch, and a 20-year-old female from Brentwood) being arrested for vehicle theft.

This is another example of an alert and concerned citizen taking the time to report suspicious activity to the police, and it not only led to arrests being made, but also helped the victim of this crime have their vehicle returned to them in just over a day’s time! Thanks to not only this person, but everyone that helps us in our daily responses to calls from the public. We rely on you, and without you, many of these incidents would go undetected!