Come join Interim Antioch Police Chief Allan Cantando on Saturday, June 18th from 9:00-11:00 A.M. in a casual setting to discuss public safety issues, crime statistics, etc. You will also receive information about youth crime prevention from Mickie Marchetti; the Executive Director of the REACH Project, Inc. Open communication about community issues is encouraged.

The location for this casual Coffee with the Cops workshop will be held in the Antioch Police Department Community Room located at 300 L Street. Members of the Antioch Crime Prevention Commission will be in attendance, and make themselves available to answer questions with a focus on enhancing Neighborhood Watch programs for Antioch residents.

The Coffee with the Cops concept is a pilot program implemented by the Antioch Police Department in an effort to improve communication between the Police Department and the citizens they serve. These meetings will consist of a one-on-one type format with a member of the police command staff and members of the community. The format of these meetings has been designed to be informative.

The Antioch Police Department is dedicated to promoting the quality of life in Antioch in partnership with our community, by proactively reducing crime with integrity and commitment to excellence.

On May 17 just after 10:30 a.m., Antioch police officers responded to a report of suspicious people in the area of Arbol Court in Antioch. As officers arrived on scene, the suspects were seen fleeing in a vehicle down Silverado Drive.

The vehicle was found a short time later abandoned on Grimsby Drive. As officers were searching the neighborhood for the suspicious subjects, it was discovered that the residence at 2436 Silverado Drive had been burglarized. The vehicle that fled the area with the suspects had property from that burglary inside.

An extensive area check was done, and one of the suspects, Rodney Lewis, 25, of Richmond, was found hiding in the backyard of a home in that area and taken into custody by patrol officers. Eric Wilson, 21, of Richmond, was later found trying to leave the area in a vehicle and was stopped by detectives who were also in the area.

Darryl Lewis, 23, of Richmond, was found trying to leave the neighborhood in a vehicle along with Wanisha Hall, 20, and Tashanique Brown, 21, both of Richmond. Those three were also stopped and detained by detectives in the area.

Rodney and Darryl Lewis and Eric Wilson were all positively identified by witnesses as suspects in the burglary, according to police. They were arrested and sent to County Jail on charges of Residential Burglary. Hall and Brown were found to be aiding in the escape of these suspects and were arrested as accessories and sent to County Jail.

Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to call the Antioch Police Department at (925)778-2441.

At approximately 11:45 a.m. on May 11 Antioch Police served a probation search at the residence of Randall Wilson, 21, in the 2300 block of Mandarin Way.

The search was conducted by members of the Antioch Police Department SWAT team and Contra Costa Sheriffs Department personnel.

Mandarin Way is in the Sycamore Drive corridor, which has recently been plagued with shootings and other violent crimes.

Information was developed that the residence was related to several of these incidents.

During the service of the probation search, Wilson, Adam Carpenter, 21, and Leroy Graham, 28, all of Antioch, were found in or near the open garage.

Carpenter brandished a handgun at SWAT officers but was quickly subdued without any officer being injured, according to police.

He was also found to be in possession of rock cocaine for sale.

Marijuana and indicia supporting sales of marijuana were also located. The subjects were booked into the Martinez Detention Facility on the following crimes:

Carpenter: Possession of cocaine for sale, possession of marijuana for sale, possession of controlled substance while armed with firearm, Prohibited possession of concealable firearm, probation violation.

Graham: Possession of cocaine for sale, possession of marijuana for sale.

Wilson: Possession of cocaine for sale, possession of marijuana for sale, probation violation.

Update: Jjuan Sanders was taken into custody without incident on May 11 at a home on Sycamore Drive in Antioch with the assistance of the Antioch Police Department SWAT Team and the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office.
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On March 26 a 51-year-old Antioch resident was parking his car in front of his residence when a vehicle containing Keenan Lawson, 25, of Modesto, and Jjuan Sanders, 30, of Antioch drove by and shot multiple rounds into his car with two different firearms, according to police. The victim was in his car at the time and was uninjured.

Earlier in the evening all three men had been at a local nightclub when they ran into each other unexpectedly. The victim had recently been involved in a bad break-up with a female relative of both Lawson and Sanders, who are cousins, said police. An argument started between the three men, and the victim left.

A short time later as the victim was parking his car when the shooting happened. He recognized the occupants of the car as Lawson and Sanders, according to police. Warrants were issued for their arrest and a search was done at Lawson’s Modesto home on May 9. Lawson was taken into custody during that search and a firearm was found in his vehicle.

Sanders is still wanted. He is believed to be in the Antioch/Pittsburg area. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Santiago Castillo at (925) 779-6933.

Takedown of Contra Costa Gangs Nets 35 Arrests and More Than 135 Pounds of Meth

Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced the successful conclusion of Operation Red Reach, a coordinated law enforcement sweep that shut down a network of local and transnational gangs that dealt in narcotics and firearms, homicide and fraud in western Contra Costa County and nearby areas.

Search warrants were served in San Pablo, Richmond, El Sobrante, Pinole, Antioch, Pittsburg, San Rafael, Vallejo, Fairfield and Sacramento. Those arrested were booked into the San Pablo jail.

“We are fighting transnational gangs from one end of California to another,” Attorney General Harris said. “With the cooperation of local and federal law enforcement agencies, we’re going to outmuscle, outsmart and undo them.”

San Pablo Police Chief Walt Schuld added: “Exceptional collaboration among the California Department of Justice, local law enforcement, and the FBI has resulted in the successful dismantling of this violent street gang involved in high-level drug and gun trafficking. Our community is much safer due to the tireless efforts of the agents and officers.”

Operation Red Reach, which concluded today, resulted in 35 arrests and the seizure of more than 135 pounds of methamphetamine, 26 firearms – including two assault rifles – more than $86,500 in currency and six vehicles. Police are looking into two weapons that may be tied to a homicide.

Those arrested include Joseph Abbate, aka Sherman Fisher or Butch, an identified member of the criminal street gang known as the Nortenos, which has ties to the vicious prison gang Nuestra Familia.

Four of every 10 homicides that occur in California are gang-related, and more than 80 percent of the California cases in which relocation is required for the protection of witnesses involve gang violence.

Operation Red Reach began in February 2009 primarily to investigate the illegal activities of Abbate. As the probe developed, investigators identified his co-conspirators, who include other members of the Nortenos gang, members of local gangs, and members of a Mexican drug trafficking cartel.

The operation is the latest in a series of actions designed to attack gang violence. In February, agents arrested three associates of a Tijuana drug cartel in a murder-for-hire plot in Southern California. Last month, the Attorney General traveled to California’s border with Mexico with law enforcement leaders to underscore the problem of transnational gangs, and earlier this month, the Attorney General announced the creation of the first multi-agency gang task force in Tulare County.

The operation, as well as the arrests and searches over the last several weeks, were conducted, in co-operation with federal agents, by an inter-agency task force known as West-NET (for West Contra Costa County Narcotic Enforcement Team). Besides the Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, other members of West-NET include the Contra Costa County Sheriff; police in San Pablo, Richmond, El Cerrito, and Kensington; and the Contra Costa Probation Office.

“Phillip Garrido to spend the rest of his life in prison”

According to ABC’s affiliate KGO-TV Channel 7 in San Francisco, in a breaking news story just released, both “Phillip and Nancy Garrido, the husband and wife accused of kidnapping Jaycee Dugard, have plead guilty to the crimes.”

Read more by clicking here.

Dugard was held by the Garridos in the unincorporated area, off East 18th Street and Viera Avenue, just outside Antioch’s city limits after being kidnapped on June 10, 1991. The kidnapping was discovered in August, 2009.

On April 25 at 9:35 p.m. a woman called police to report that her ex-boyfriend showed up at her house in the 2200 block of Pinenut Way with a gun. She had escaped the house while her ex-boyfriend began an argument with other residents inside.

She said she could hear shots being fired inside of her house. Her ex-boyfriend then fled the house on foot. Antioch officers arrived to find a 26-year-old man dead from multiple gunshot wounds. The victim is a roommate of the female caller, and was not involved romantically with her, according to police.

Kevin Gunning, a 30-year-old Antioch resident, was taken into custody shortly after 12:30 a.m. at a separate location in Antioch. No other suspects are outstanding.

Detectives are still conducting interviews and further information will follow. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Castillo at 925-779-6933.

By the Office of the Interim Chief of Police Allan Cantando

The City of Antioch has been and is still facing a serious fiscal crisis due to the severe recession that has devastated our state and national economies. The reduction in City services has been dramatic and the Police Department has 27 vacant police officer positions that cannot be filled. The Police Department was also forced to eliminate and lay off 20 Community Service Officers as well as additional support staff from the Police Department.

The City of Antioch and the Antioch Police Department are proud of the work being accomplished by the men and women of the Police Department and are extremely proud of the partnerships that have been forged with members of the community. Despite the doom and gloom of the current economic conditions, during the first quarter of this year we are glad to report a reduction in violent and property crimes!

Violent crime has gone down 18.8%

Excluding arson, property crime has gone down 9.5%

There can be countless reasons for crime reduction, but we can attest to the fact that much of the success in reducing our crime during this first quarter is a direct result of the tireless efforts of the men and women of the Antioch Police Department and the involvement of our citizens at large.

The City of Antioch has been nationally recognized for its exceptional level of partnership between its Police Department and the community, and will continue to work closely with the community to make Antioch a safer community.

PART 1 Violent Crime as reported to the FBI for their Uniform Crime Report.

PART 1 Property Crime as reported to the FBI for their Uniform Crime Report.

Our collective goal at the Antioch Police Department is to work collaboratively with City residents to promote safe, crime-free, environments so residents can live in peace and safely raise their families.

Protecting our City and its residents needs more than just a dedicated police force—it requires a community partnership. We couldn’t have realized the successes we have without caring citizens being willing to take an active role in helping us make a difference in their neighborhoods and City as a whole.