Walnut Creek man also involved, arrested; victim who shot back not yet arrested

By Captain Walter O’Grodnick, Brentwood Police Department

On Friday, July 14, 2023 around 7:45 PM Brentwood Police officers were dispatched to the 800 block of Marjoram Drive for a shooting that just occurred. A preliminary investigation suggests two males exchanged gunfire, both were hit by gunfire and transported to local hospitals for treatment, one of which sustained serious injuries.

Others were detained on-scene as part of the investigation. This was an isolated incident with no apparent threat to public safety and the motive for the shooting is still under investigation.

While a group of people were leaving a home on Chili Court in Brentwood, two suspects, a 17-year-old male resident of Antioch, and a 20-year-old male resident of Walnut Creek attempted to rob a 21-year-old male resident of Antioch, while all three were armed. All three exchanged gunfire on Marjoram Drive, striking the 17-year-old suspect and 21-year-old victim. The 20-year-old suspect was not injured. Three firearms were recovered at the scene.

The 21-year-old victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries. The 17-year-old was transported to an area hospital in critical condition. The teen later succumbed to his injuries.

The 20-year-old from Walnut Creek has been arrested but not the 21-year-old from Antioch, yet.

All names are being withheld at this time and there remains no threat to public safety. The investigation is ongoing and no additional information is being released at this time. Anyone with information related to this shooting is asked to contact Detective Inerbichler or Detective Goold at 925-809-7911. Callers may remain anonymous.

Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.

24-year-old killed, 21-year-old suffering from multiple gunshot wounds transported to local hospital is in serious, but stable, condition.

By Pittsburg Police Department

On July 14, 2023, at 5:12 pm Pittsburg Police officers responded to the 2100 block of Crestview Lane after dispatch received a call of gunshots heard in the area. As officers were responding, a vehicle entered the Pittsburg Police Department parking lot and the driver summoned officers to his car. The officers stopped and found the driver and one passenger inside the vehicle, both suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Officers rendered medical aid to the two men until paramedics arrived. Unfortunately, the passenger, a 24-year-old male of Antioch, did not survive. UPDATE: He was later identified as Trevon Richardson.

The driver, a 21-year-old male also of Antioch, was transported to a local hospital where he was listed in serious, but stable, condition.

As these officers were tending to the victims in the police department parking lot, more officers responded to the area of Crestview Lane where the original caller heard gunshots. This is where officers located evidence of a shooting. Detectives were called in and are actively working leads.

Due to this being an active investigation, the identities of the victims are being withheld and there will be no further information released at this time.

We ask anyone who has information related to this case to please contact Dispatch at 925-646-2441, or Detective Gutierrez at 925-252-4095

Police previously reported unborn baby did not survive; her mother claimed unborn baby was driver’s; says he forced his way into car, wants him arrested, but TRO may not have been served; she leaves behind a one-year old daughter; services scheduled, GoFundMe page set up.

By Allen D. Payton

7/13/23 UPDATE: In response to the questions sent to Antioch Police on Monday, July 10, 2023, according to APD Public Information Liaison Sgt. Price Kendall, “the young lady was not pregnant. As for your additional questions, they all pertain to the investigation, which is still ongoing.”

In an earlier report, police claimed the unborn baby did not survive.

Asked if the driver had been arrested and about the restraining order, Kendall said, “No. Orders have to be served. What was going on beforehand (inside Fierro’s vehicle) is part of the investigation. All parties have been contacted in the investigation.”

ORIGINAL STORY: The family of the young, pregnant woman who, along with her unborn baby, died during a crash in Antioch, last Thursday, July 6, 2023, want her estranged, ex-boyfriend who was driving the car, arrested.

Fierro’s friend who was a passenger in the car, sustained a broken arm and leg in the crash and was still in the hospital as of Monday morning, Ruiz shared. Sanchez-Salinas “also went to the hospital with a broken arm but is out and wasn’t arrested,” she said.

According to the Antioch Police, the driver of the other vehicle suffered chest pain and was transported to an area hospital for treatment. (See related article)

“My daughter was in the car with her friend and ex-boyfriend who she had a restraining order against,” Ruiz explained. “They were at a park, and he forced himself into the car and pushed her into the passenger side from the driver’s seat so he could drive the car. The friend said both women started hitting him to try and get him out of the car. He said he wasn’t going to stop until he ran out of gas.”

“That’s why Angela wasn’t wearing her seatbelt. She was fighting for her life,” her sister Marisela Madrigal stated.

Asked how they knew that information, Ruiz and Madrigal said they had spoken to the friend who was the other passenger.

Ruiz said she had previously found a tracking device in Fierro’s car which is how they believe Sanchez-Salinas located her.

“Angela told me that she could hear it beeping,” Ruiz stated. That means he was checking for her location.

Fierro’s car was a black Jeep that rolled over onto its top in the collision.

“He caused it for sure. He should have been locked up,” Ruiz stated. “I don’t know why he’s walking around here, free. I have no contact with him.”

A candlelight vigil was held for Fierro and her unborn baby on Friday night, July 7th.

“He had the balls to go to where my daughter’s candlelight vigil was held,” Ruiz exclaimed.

Sanchez-Salinas showed up after everyone had left and tagged the fence and sidewalk with spray paint next to the display writing, “My ride or die forever – Alex” and “LLA Angie’s World”, meaning Long Live Angie, her family friend, Adrianna Osuna shared.

The family was not happy with Sanchez-Salinas doing that.

“He just won’t stop hurting us,” Madrigal added.

“It’s a disgrace. It’s like he’s saying he got away with what he did,” Ruiz stated. “Basically making fun of us.”

“Taunting the family and not letting them mourn in peace,” said another relative who is helping the family but chose to not be identified.

Asked if she had spoken with the police, Ruiz said, “The police have not spoken to me. They were supposed to call me back yesterday at 12 but never did. They spoke to Angela’s father and told him they can release her body today or tomorrow.”

Fierro, who lived with her mother, had been having problems with Sanchez-Salinas for the past four-to-five months, Ruiz stated.

The relative said Ruiz was instructed by her attorney to get a copy of the incident report of how many times police were called to Ruiz’s and Fierro’s home regarding Sanchez-Salinas “who would just show up there randomly. He went there on July 4th and 5th but had been there previously, too. It was several times, but we won’t know how many until we get the report.” That could take up to 10 days.

The EPO was granted automatically by the court due to the multiple times Sanchez-Salinas had shown up at the home after their relationship ended in mid-May. They had been dating for less than a year.

About Angela

Fierro was born on October 18, 2002, at Kaiser Walnut Creek and was raised in Antioch, her mother shared. She graduated from Prospects High School. Fierro “was 20 years old and worked at Walmart handling the online orders,” Ruiz continued. “She was into old cars, fast cars and fashion. She liked to show she was a princess.”

Asked how far along Fierro was in her pregnancy the mother and grandmother said, “She just told me she was pregnant.”

“She wanted to be a veterinarian and was going to start taking classes and asked if I could watch her baby,” Ruiz shared. Sanchez-Salinas is not the father of Fierro’s one-year old daughter who is “now with her father.”

Private family services have been scheduled and a GoFundMe page has been set up to cover funeral costs and to support her baby, which reads, “Angela was a young and beautiful mother expecting her second child, who was unfortunately pronounced dead on the scene alongside her unborn child after a terrible car accident on July 6th 2023. Angela was a loving mother, daughter, and granddaughter who left an empty space in the hearts of all her family and friends. Please help lay her to rest. Any donation helps and will be appreciated.”

Efforts to reach Sanchez-Salinas and Antioch Police Officer Blumberg who is handling the case were unsuccessful prior to publication time. Questions were emailed to Blumberg Monday afternoon asking about the investigation including if Sanchez-Salinas had been arrested and if not, why due to the violation of the protective order. But no response was received. An effort to reach the friend, whose name is being withheld, by phone was also unsuccessful. Please check back for any updates to this report.

Those who merely received the offensive texts need to be protecting us; DA must release all pages of texts

By Allen D. Payton

It’s time the Antioch Police officers caught up in the scandal of racist and other offensive texts who merely received but didn’t send any of the texts got back to work. With 35 sworn officers currently on paid administrative leave in both the FBI and DA investigation from last year and those included in the text scandal this year, that’s more than one-third of the current officers on the force.  The understaffing is putting us all at risk. In addition, for the purpose of transparency, the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office needs to release all pages of the texts so the public can read what was sent and the context.

As of June 12th, there were 98 sworn officers on staff with the department out of 115 authorized in the budget, and 49 on full duty. That’s 0.43 officers per 1,000 on duty. The goal has been 1.2 officers per 1,000 for the past 25 years, which has never been achieved. Minimally we should have 1.0 officers per 1,000 population.

The officers in the text scandal have been on leave for about three months and the investigation has been under way for almost two months – leaving our community less protected and less safe.

Those officers who didn’t send any of the offensive texts, but merely received them and didn’t respond – which is most of them – should have been interviewed, first during the investigation. Unless other information has been discovered during the process, those officers need to be cleared and put back to work protecting Antioch residents and businesses.

For example, as previously reported, on Independence Day, Tuesday, July 4th it took officers an hour to respond to a dangerous sideshow at the intersection of Lone Tree Way and Blue Rock Drive/Golf Course Road because those on duty were dealing with two shootings on the other side of town. In addition, according to a Con Fire spokesman, an ambulance transporting someone to a local hospital had to be diverted around the sideshow. Fortunately, it didn’t have an impact on the patient. But minutes can make a difference in saving someone’s life.

All 35 officers should not be fired, as Mayor Lamar Thorpe twice wrote should happen immediately, first on May 19 then again on June  12, Mayor Pro Tem Tamisha Torres-Walker wrote on May 18 and other members of the public have called for. That’s irresponsible and dangerous for our city with a population of over 115,000 residents. Besides, the council members have no say in which officer will or won’t be fired and it’s out of their area of responsibility to call for such a thing, and merely pandering to the public and grandstanding. Frankly, the council members’ calls for the termination of all officers involved could serve to undermine the effort to terminate some of the officers and give them a legal argument that it was done due to political pressure.

The councilmembers know or at least should know better, and that the City must follow the Skelly Hearing disciplinary process and the investigation must be done in accordance with the California Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act.

As the East Bay Times’ Editorial Board wrote, “they are entitled to due process. Not all of them have equal culpability. And if their rights are not respected, the city risks undermining the ongoing criminal and internal affairs investigations into their behavior, which would set back the quest for racial justice. Which is why City Council members, especially Mayor Lamar Thorpe, need to step back and let investigators do their work — and stop making politically charged comments that could jeopardize the outcome.”

As I wrote in April, those in APD leadership who received the texts, as a form of discipline for not paying attention to what the officers they were in charge of were doing, need to be demoted. But they should still be put back to work, also.

The focus of the council, police department and investigators must be two-fold: one, terminating and/or disciplining the guilty officers, and two, keeping Antioch safe.

DA Must Release All Pages of Texts

It’s also time the DA’s office released all the pages of the texts to clear up the claims that the the two reports by the D.A. Office’s Inspector Wallace were “misleading and distorted” according to the APOA’s attorney, and the texts included were cherry picked and edited, so the public can see the context in which they were all written. (See related articles here and here)

One text message specifically in question is the following: On 04/24/2020, at 5:49 p.m., APD Sgt. Josh Evans text APD Officer Amiri, “I’ll bury that n****r in my fields.” APD Officer Amiri laughed at the above comment.

A Public Records Act request by this news organization was made on April 27 and denied on May 2.

Deputy District Attorney Sophea Nop denied the request claiming “these records are exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act pursuant to GC (Government Code) §7923.6000(a) and §7927.705.”

According to law.justia.com, the first section referenced “does not require the disclosure of records of complaints to, or investigations conducted by, or records of intelligence information or security procedures of, the office of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice, the Office of Emergency Services and any state or local police agency, or any investigatory or security files compiled by any other state or local police agency, or any investigatory or security files compiled by any other state or local agency for correctional, law enforcement, or licensing purposes.” The second section referenced “does not require disclosure of records, the disclosure of which is exempted or prohibited pursuant to federal or state law, including, but not limited to, provisions of the Evidence Code relating to privilege.”

Nop was informed that those close to Sgt. Evans have said that his text was taken out of context and was in response to a joke about another officer being with Evans’ wife in their yard and Evans was referring to that make believe officer who doesn’t actually exist.

She was then asked to at least provide the complete text exchange between Amiri and Evans prior to that message which was included in the first report.

Nop was asked via email, “How can the public know the context of some of the messages – which officers and others are claiming were taken out of context – if the complete text message exchanges are not provided?” She did not respond.

While I don’t believe it will change much regarding the outcome for the five or six officers who sent the offensive texts and are being sued, for the purpose of transparency, all the texts in their original form must be released.

All pages of the texts are expected to be made available to attorneys representing the officers during the discovery phase of the lawsuit. Perhaps at that time they will also be made available to this and other news organizations for the public to read.

19-year-old driver arrested after she and passengers left the scene, police say alcohol is suspected factor; bail set at $100K; victim ID’d

By Allen D. Payton

A car being driven the wrong way on Deer Valley Road struck an off-road all-terrain vehicle (ATV) taking the life of the male driver Saturday night, July 8, 2023. A witness said the car was driving the wrong direction in the fast southbound lane when it struck the ATV. The incident occurred between Wildflower Drive and Carpinteria Drive shortly before 9:30 p.m.

The driver of the ATV, a 51-year-old African American man, was ejected and landed about 100 feet from his vehicle. His body was down in the southbound fast lane. When emergency personnel from Con Fire and the Antioch Police Department arrived, they ran to him and administered CPR.

A police officer later reported that the man was driving without lights or a helmet at the time of the collision and died at the scene.

The driver of the car left the scene, one witness said. She said she and her husband were at the stoplight at the Carpinteria Drive intersection in the inside northbound lane of Deer Valley Road and saw the car turn into the southbound fast lane and driving the wrong way on Deer Valley Road. They witnessed the collision and heard the impact.

At least one passenger was still in the back seat of the car when officers arrived and could be seen speaking with an officer.

Another witness said there were four females in the car and heard them say “we gotta get out of here”. An officer at the scene said one passenger was transported to the hospital and the other three in the car had been detained.

Assistant Chief Chris Bachman confirmed “it was only one person transported to the hospital.”

Members of the deceased man’s family, who live nearby, arrived at the scene soon after, were seeking information about the collision, and learned he had passed.

Con Fire then used a saw to cut the hood of the car and pried it back and smoke could be scene emanating from the engine.

Later, the females from the car and others could be seen speaking with officers in the parking lot of nearby businesses and one of them could be seen and heard crying. Another of the females could be heard asking why she was included and saying, “I didn’t do anything.”

A few minutes later, three of the females, later identified as the driver and two passengers of the car, could be seen getting into the back of two police vehicles which then drove away.

Traffic was blocked on Deer Valley Road in both directions between Carpinteria and Wildflower.

Antioch Police Provide Additional Details, Identify Victim

A press release by Sgt Rob Green of the Antioch Police Field Services Division was issued Sunday morning providing more details:

On July 8th, 2023, at about 9:27 PM, the Antioch Police Department Communications Center received calls of a two-vehicle head on collision in the area of Deer Valley Road and Wildflower Drive. Officers determined a vehicle driven by 19-year-old Tatiana Monet Bartlow (born 10-20-2003) drove the wrong way, northbound in the southbound lane of Deer Valley Road where she collided head on with a quad ATV driven by 51-year-old Jerry Hill.  The impact caused Hill to be ejected from the ATV. Hill succumbed on scene to his injuries.

A 20-year-old female passenger in Bartlow’s vehicle sustained a head injury and was transported to an area hospital for treatment.  Bartlow left the scene with two other passengers from the vehicle and was followed by witnesses who got the attention of arriving officers.  Officers detained Bartlow and the two passengers a short distance away and was later transported to the Antioch Police Station.

APD Major Accident Investigation Team assumed control of the investigation.  Alcohol is a suspected factor in this collision and Bartlow was arrested and sent to county jail.  This investigation is ongoing, and we ask anyone with information to contact Sergeant Rob Green at 925-779-6864 or rgreen@antiochca.gov.  You may also text an anonymous tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the keyword ANTIOCH.

According to the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Inmate Locator, Bartlow’s bail was set at $100,000.

By Lt. Holley Connors, Walnut Creek Police Department

On July 3rd, at 1:21 p.m., a 911 caller reported a vehicle collided with a pedestrian on Ygnacio Valley Road, east of the intersection at Lennon Lane. Officers arrived and found a male pedestrian conscious, but with significant injuries. Preliminary details indicated the driver’s vehicle drifted to the right, hopped the curb, and struck the pedestrian who was doing maintenance work at that location. The driver of the vehicle was uninjured.

Officers and AMR personnel provided medical aid to the pedestrian before he was transported to the hospital. Unfortunately, the pedestrian later succumbed to his injuries. The driver remained on scene and cooperated with responding officers.

According to a report by Bay City News, the victim was identified by the Contra Costa County Coroner’s Office as Cornelio Tovar Sanchez, age 54 of Antioch.

The cause of this accident is under investigation. If you have any information about this case, please contact Walnut Creek PD Dispatch at 925-935-6400.

Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.

More than 11 million arrest and conviction records automatically cleared including old arrests that never turned into charges and provides relief to people who completed all conditions of their sentence

Due to legislation pioneered by Los Angeles DA George Gascón

By Max Szabo, Prosecutors Alliance of California

SACRAMENTO–New data from the California Department of Justice (CAL DOJ) indicates that 11,164,458 records of arrest and conviction were automatically cleared between July 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022 pursuant to Assembly Bill 1076. The historic reform automated a process that individuals were already entitled to but had to seek out through an arduous process. AB 1076 requires CAL DOJ to automatically clear old arrests that never turned into charges and provides relief to people who completed all the conditions of their sentence, thereby expanding education, employment and housing opportunities for countless Californians.

“People who were arrested or convicted of low-level crimes and did what was asked of them are entitled to a second chance under the law, but bureaucratic barriers kept them in a paper prison,” said Cristine DeBerry, Founder and Executive Director of the Prosecutors Alliance of California.  “That wasn’t just unfair, it was unsafe, as a criminal record hangs over people, hampering their access to employment and housing opportunities, primary factors that drive recidivism. The system had taken away hope and opportunity, but commonsense and technology enabled one of the most important reforms in years.” 

The automated record clearance is due to a 2019 law, Assembly Bill 1076, which was authored by Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) and sponsored by then-San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón.  The legislation mandated that the state Department of Justice automatically clear records of arrests that did not result in a conviction after the statute of limitations had passed as well as convictions involving probation and jail once an offender’s sentence was completed. Individuals sentenced to prison and anyone who had to register as a sex offender or who violated their probation is not eligible.  The record clearance largely benefits individuals who had committed drugs or property crimes.

“It’s a vicious cycle, as communities of color are more likely to be arrested, they are therefore more likely to have a record that includes an arrest or conviction, and yet they were less likely to be aware that they were entitled to relief,” said LA County District Attorney George Gascón.  “These were unnecessary barriers that make it more difficult to successfully reenter and break the cycle by limiting access to jobs, education and housing.  Breaking down these barriers makes our system more just and our communities more safe.”

During the appropriations process that bill was limited to prospective arrests and convictions.  However, a subsequent effort in 2021, AB 1038, authored again by Assemblymember Ting, and sponsored by the Prosecutors Alliance of California, made the record clearance provided under AB 1076 retroactive.  That bill took effect July 1, 2023.  The newly released DOJ data indicates that the relief granted thus far was pursuant to AB 1076, the initial authorizing legislation only, suggesting that the expanded eligibility profile now in effect under AB 1038 will result in the clearance of millions of additional records.  

Prior to the automated record clearance, 8 million California residents had criminal convictions on their records that hampered their ability to find work and housing, secure public benefits, or even get admitted to college.  Studies indicate approximately two million of them were eligible for record clearance. Millions more have old arrests on their record that never resulted in a conviction but, remain as obstacles to employment.  

Under the law arrests that didn’t result in a conviction may be cleared. Convictions that carry probation or jail time are also eligible for record clearance after the individual completes all the terms and conditions of their sentence. Prior to AB 1076, however, this required individuals to be aware of their eligibility and to retain an attorney to proactively file the necessary petition.  As a result, millions of Californians have been entitled to relief for years that they never realized because they had to jump through hoops to get it. In fact, nationally, only 6.5% of eligible people have been estimated to obtain record clearance within five years of eligibility. With more affluent communities more able to afford a private attorney, this bureaucracy disproportionately impacted socioeconomically disadvantaged communities and communities of color in particular.

Nearly 90% of employers, 80% of landlords, and 60% of colleges screen applicants’ criminal records.  According to a 2012 study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management, many prospective employees and housing applicants are rejected solely based on having an arrest record on file.  Studies also show people with unsealed arrest records have a substantially increased chance of living in poverty, earning lower wages, with fewer educational opportunities.

The concept for the legislation grew out of DA Gascón’s effort to clear old cannabis convictions that were eligible for clearance pursuant to Proposition 64.  That effort has now been adopted by prosecutors’ offices across the nation.  Notably, the algorithm that enabled automated record clearance pursuant to AB 1076–much like the cannabis clearance effort–would not be possible without the help and support of Code For America. Research by the California Policy Lab of the University of California provided supporting evidence regarding the feasibility of large-scale record clearance automation, as well as its enormous potential impact on the lives of Californians.  Assemblymember Phil Ting has the sincere gratitude of the Prosecutors Alliance for leading the historic initiative and seeing that all eligible and impacted Californians would obtain the relief to which they are entitled.  

The Prosecutors Alliance of California is fiscally sponsored by Tides Advocacy, a social welfare organization. Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton is a founding member. For more information about the Prosecutors Alliance go to www.ProsecutorsAlliance.org and keep up with our work on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. 

Two males shot, one in the neck; woman arrested in separate shooting with cops in line of fire

By Sgt. Price Kendall, PIO, Antioch Police Department

At 11:21 PM, Tuesday, July 4, 2023, Antioch Police officers were dispatched to the area of 700 K Street on the report two males had been shot. One of the males was shot in the neck and life-flighted to John Muir Medical Center. Both persons are expected to survive.

There were also two large sideshows last night. The first one was at the intersection of Gentrytown Drive and Buchanan Road and first reported at 11:34 PM. Due to the shooting, officers were unable to make it to the first sideshow.

At approximately 11:45 PM, officers were dispatched to an assault with bear mace in the 700 Block of J Street. While officers were on scene and after they separated both parties, a shot was fired at the victim’s direction. Officers were also in the line of fire. After the shot, officers confronted the female, she complied and dropped the gun. She was subsequently arrested.

During the call on J Street it was learned the sideshow that had taken place on Gentrytown Drive had moved to the Lone Tree Way and Bluerock Drive/Golf Course Road intersection. The first call came at 12:40 AM. Officers were still on scene at both shootings. Officers were unable to respond to the sideshow until 1:40 AM. Upon arrival, the vehicles dispersed.

The debris from multiple, illegal fireworks, shot off during the sideshow, could be seen in the roadway Wednesday morning and was cleaned up by noon.

ABC7 News Bay Area reported “dozens of people around the intersection as cars do donuts, some people getting very close to those cars. People were also seen standing around a fire on the street. The flames were put out when firefighters arrived.”

According to Mayor Lamar Thorpe, police used drones to capture video of the second sideshow and cars will be impounded.

There were 40 calls for service, most with multiple callers for fireworks, with well over 100 actual calls into dispatch.

As of Wednesday morning, no arrests have been made regarding the first shooting.

Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.