The Contra Costa County Probation Department is the recipient of a one-year, $389,700 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) to monitor high-risk, repeat DUI Probation clients.  Currently, the Probation Department is supervising 202 DUI probation clients.

Grant funding will be used to make sure DUI probation clients are following the court ordered terms of their probation, including home, work and office visits, alcohol testing and warrant service operations.

In addition, funding will be used to develop the Habitual Offender Tally, also known as “HOT Sheets,” that identify repeat DUI probation clients to local law enforcement agencies.  The funds will also be utilized to assist Probation in working with Court officials to establish probation orders for the DUI clients being placed on probation.

This grant is aimed at reducing the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol-related collisions as well as lower DUI recidivism rates.

“Prevention and treatment are valuable tools in reducing DUI recidivism rates,” OTS Director Barbara Rooney said. “Monitoring programs are intended to steer probationers in the right direction.”

The ongoing partnership between the Contra Costa County Probation Department and the Office of Traffic Safety has spanned more than 15 years.

“The support and assistance provided by OTS, coupled with strong working relationships with state and local law enforcement agencies, have allowed the Probation Department to closely monitor and rehabilitate our clients,” said Chief Probation Officer, Esa Ehmen-Krause. “Reducing the traumatic impact that impaired driving causes across our community contributes to improving public safety.”

The grant will fund Probation Department personnel to monitor drivers on Probation for felony DUI or multiple misdemeanor DUI convictions, including conducting unannounced fourth amendment waiver home searches, random alcohol and drug testing and ensuring those on probation are attending court-ordered DUI education and treatment programs.  It will also fund the continued training of the Probation Department personnel in an effort to keep up with current trends and equipment use.

While alcohol remains the worst offender for DUI crashes, Contra Costa County Probation supports OTS in its statement, “DUI just doesn’t mean booze.”  Prescription medications and marijuana can be impairing by themselves, but also in combination with alcohol, and can result in a DUI arrest.

The grant program runs through September 2022.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Use bats and hammers for smash and grab robbery in Fairfield store; similar to jewelry store robbery at Sun Valley mall in Concord, Monday

By Fairfield Police Department

Fairfield Police Department’s Investigations Division Recovers $50,000 worth of stolen jewelry. On Wednesday, November 17, 2021, around 2:10 pm, Fairfield Police Department Dispatch received calls regarding individuals entering a jewelry store at the Solano Town Center Mall and using bats and hammers to break the glass counter tops to steal jewelry. The suspects then fled the area. No one was injured during the incident.

Fairfield Police Department’s Investigation Division responded and took over the case. Through outstanding investigative work, the suspect vehicle was located in Antioch, California. 19-year-old, Dominick Desouza from Antioch was arrested and booked into the Solano County Jail on robbery charges. A 16-year-old male and 17-year-old male were also booked into Solano County Juvenile Hall. Investigations was able to recover $50,000 worth of stolen jewelry.

This case is still under investigation and no other information is being released at this time.

The robbery was similar to a smash and grab robbery of a Concord jewelry store at the Sun Valley Shopping Center on Monday, Nov. 15. Calls to the Fairfield Police Department asking if some of the recovered jewelry was from the Concord robbery were not responded to prior to publication time.  (See related article)

Please check back later for any updates to this report.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors is seeking applicants who are interested in serving on its 20-member Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council (JJCC). The JJCC currently has the following five (5) vacancies:

• At-Large Representative (3)
• Community Based Organization Representative (2)

The Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council is a multiagency advisory body that informs the development and implementation of a countywide juvenile justice plan composed of several critical parts, including, but not limited to an assessment of existing law enforcement, probation, education, mental health, health, social services, drug and alcohol and youth services resources, which specifically target both at-promise as well as system-involved youth, and their families.

The JJCC will also coordinate on a countywide basis the work of those governmental and non-governmental organizations engaged in activities designed to reduce the incidence of juvenile crime and delinquency in the greater community, develop information and intelligence-sharing systems to ensure that county actions are fully coordinated, and provide data and appropriate outcome measures.

The Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council is composed of the following 20 members:

Ten (10) Ex‐Officio Members: 

• Chief Probation Officer, as Chair
• District Attorney’s Office representative
• Public Defender’s Office representative
• Sheriff’s Office representative
• Board of Supervisors’ representative
• Employment and Human Services Department representative
• Behavioral Health Services representative
• Alcohol and Other Drugs Division representative
• Public Health representative
• Juvenile Justice Commission Chair

Ten (10) Additional Members, appointed by the Board of Supervisors, as follows: 

• City Police Department representative
• County Office of Education or a School District representative
• Four (4) At-Large members, residing or working within County of Contra Costa
• Two (2) Community-Based Organization representatives
• Two (2) At-Large youth, fourteen to twenty-five years old and residing or working within County of Contra Costa

Appointments to the Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council will be for a term of two years. The JJCC meets monthly October through April, and bi-monthly the remainder of the year. Members have the option to serve on two (2) subcommittees that each currently meet on a monthly basis.

Applications will be due by 5 p.m. on December 3, 2021, and all timely applicants will be invited to the public interview process conducted by the Board of Supervisors’ Public Protection Committee:  Supervisors Candace Andersen, District II, and Federal Glover, District V. This committee will then recommend a selection of applicants for Board of Supervisors to appoint to the Racial Justice Oversight Body.

Below is a complete timeline of this recruitment process to fill the five (5) vacant JJCC seats: 

• December 3: Final Day of the Application Period, due by 5:00 p.m.
• December 16: Public Protection Committee Meeting: Interviews
• January 11: Board of Supervisors Appointments

Application forms can be obtained from the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors by calling (925) 655-2000 or by visiting the County webpage at www.contracosta.ca.gov/3418/. Completed applications should be emailed to ClerkoftheBoard@cob.cccounty.us. Applications can also be mailed to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors Office at 1025 Escobar Street, 1st Floor, Martinez, CA 94553.

Victims: teenage male, adult female and male

By Corporal James Colley #4705, Antioch Police Field Services Division

On November 14, 2021, at approximately 5:40 pm, APD Officers responded to the 1300 block of Larkspur Drive on a report of multiple people shot. Upon officers’ arrival, they learned the victims had been attending a peaceful vigil, when the large crowd began taking gunfire by unknown suspects.

The victims were identified as a 17-year-old juvenile, a 23-year-old male, and a 20-year-old female. All victims were transported to local Bay Area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. No suspects or suspect vehicles have been identified at this time.

Anyone with information is asked to call 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.

By Sergeant James Stenger #3604, Antioch Police Investigations Bureau

On Saturday, November 13, 2021, at about 10:40 pm, Antioch Police Dispatch started receiving calls about gunshots in the area of Travesio Way. Officers arrived on scene and located a 36-year-old male on the sidewalk in the 5200 block of Travesio Way suffering from fatal gunshot wounds.

The Antioch Police Department Investigations Bureau and CSI team responded and took over this investigation. This investigation is in the early stages and there is no further information to release at this time. There are no suspect descriptions, and no one is in custody.

Additional inquiries or information can be directed to Antioch Police Detective John Cox at (925) 779-6866 or by emailing jcox@antiochca.gov. Anonymous tips or information about this – or any other incident – can be sent via text to 274637 (CRIMES) with the keyword ANTIOCH.

Yellow markers indicate the locations of bullet casings at the Sinclair Gas Station following the shooting Wed. morning Nov. 10, 2021. Photo courtesy of Mike Burkholder.

Police block lanes on Lone Tree Way near Sutter Delta backing up traffic

By Sergeant Brian Rose #4309, Antioch Police Department, Field Services Bureau

An Antioch Police Officer places bullet casing markers at the Sinclair Gas Station following the shooting, Wed. morning, Nov. 10, 2021. Photo courtesy of Mike Burkholder.

On Wednesday, Nov. 10 at 10:50 a.m., Antioch Police officers responded to the report of shots fired at the Sinclair Gas Station located at 3720 Lone Tree Way. Moments later, a local hospital called APD dispatch and stated two shooting victims, both adult males, arrived at the emergency room. One of victims was suffering from a gunshot wound to the abdomen and the other sustained a gunshot wound to his head.

At the time of this writing, one of the victims is in grave condition and the other is in critical condition. The suspects are still outstanding. Investigators are actively following up on suspect leads.

Multiple bullet casings could be seen between the door to the gas station convenience store and closest set of pumps. In addition, police had some of the lanes on Lone Tree Way near Sutter Delta Medical Center blocked off backing up traffic.

Police block lanes on Lone Tree Way backing up traffic near Sutter Delta Medical Center following the shooting, Wed. morning. Photos of traffic by Antioch resident who chose not to be identified.

Information can be directed to Antioch Police Detective Whitaker at (925) 779-6890 or by emailing wwhitaker@antiochca.gov. Anonymous tips or information about this – or any other incident – can be sent via text to 274637 (CRIMES) with the keyword ANTIOCH.

Antioch Police cars block lanes on Lone Tree Way near Ridgerock Drive and James Donlon Blvd. Wed. morning Nov. 10, 2021.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

Source: APD

Robbed 25 businesses, their employees and customers

By Detective Thomas Smith, Antioch Police Department

In August of 2021, the cities of Antioch, Pittsburg, Concord, Brentwood, Bay Point, and Clayton began experiencing a rash of armed robberies. Over approximately 90 days, an estimated twenty-five robberies occurred throughout the county. The responsible subjects were described as Hispanic males in their late teens or early twenties, with masks covering their faces. It was determined by investigators from each agency that the robberies were related, and they were able to establish several viable leads to identify the responsible parties.

On November 3, 2021, an armed robbery occurred in the city of Concord. Investigators from the Concord Police Department notified the other involved agencies, and the suspect vehicle was located and stopped in Bay Point. All three occupants were residents of Pittsburg, CA, and were suspected of being responsible for the series of robberies in Contra Costa County. Evidence of the robbery(ies) was located inside the vehicle, and all three suspects were taken into custody.

Following their apprehension, investigators from the Antioch, Pittsburg and Concord Police Departments served several residential search warrants in the city of Pittsburg. During the searches, evidence linking the suspects to the robberies was located. On Friday, November 5th the cases were presented to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office. The District Attorney’s Office reviewed the cases and filed felony charges with enhancements, on 18-year-old Samuel Banales-Melena, 20-year-old Jonathan Medina-Flores, and 18-year-old Rogelio Medina-Flores for their participation in the robberies.

This case was successful due to the collaboration of the law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation. This investigation weighed heavily on the implementation and use of technology, to include license plate reading cameras in the City of Antioch and other technological surveillance efforts. The Antioch Police Department would like to thank the Pittsburg Police Department for taking lead on the investigation, as well as the Concord Police Department for their diligent efforts in apprehending the suspects in these cases, bringing a violent crime spree to an end. As always, the investigation is on-going. If you have any information regarding these robberies, please contact the Antioch Police Department at your earliest convenience.

Anonymous tips or information about this – or any other incident – can be sent via text to 274637 (CRIMES) with the keyword ANTIOCH.

The Antioch Police Department is located at 300 L Street at the corner of W. 2nd Street in historic, downtown Rivertown.