Both shooter and another passenger flee scene, arrested for illegal firearm possession

By Lieutenant D. Bittner #3252, Watch Commander, Antioch Police Community Policing Bureau

On Monday, April 19, 2021, at approximately 1:44 PM, an Antioch police officer was flagged down by a citizen near the intersection of W. 18th Street and L Street regarding a shooting that just occurred. The officer located a 21-year-old female gunshot victim nearby sitting in the driver seat of a vehicle stopped in the south parking lot of Antioch High School at 700 W. 18th Street. The female gunshot victim initially told the officer that she was robbed and shot by an unknown person. The officer was quickly able to determine that the female was being dishonest and was accidently shot by an adult male acquaintance. The male acquaintance was a passenger in the vehicle and fled on foot with another male passenger just before the officer was flagged down.

An assisting Antioch police officer located both males at the intersection of L Street and W. 10th Street. One of the males was in possession of a handgun. A second handgun believed to be the handgun used in the shooting was located by a police service canine near the scene. The female gunshot victim was transported to a local hospital by paramedics and is in stable condition. At this time the shooting appears to be an accident. Both males, ages 18 and 22, were arrested for illegal possession of firearms.

The shooting occurred inside the female victim’s vehicle as it was travelling north on L Street near William Reed Drive. The female victim stopped her vehicle in the Antioch High School parking lot, however the involved subjects do not have any current association to the school.

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.

“It was an extremely chaotic scene” – Antioch Police Lt. Donleavy

APD calls for backup from other agencies; at least two arrested for resisting, delaying, obstructing, or assaulting public safety officers.

By Lieutenant John Fortner, Antioch Police Investigations Bureau

On Saturday, April 17, 20201, at approximately 6:03 PM, Antioch police officers were called a residence in the 4500 block of Shannondale Drive on the report of someone who had been shot.

Numerous officers responded to the scene. There was a large gathering, of mostly young adults and juveniles, at the residence. When officers arrived, they had to contend with an uncooperative and growing crowd of over twenty people. As the officers tried to make their way to an open garage where the victim was located, several subjects in the crowd started to assault the officers. Antioch officers called for emergency mutual aid from the surrounding jurisdictions to get the crowd under control. At least two people were arrested for resisting, delaying, obstructing, or assaulting public safety officers.

Once officers entered the garage, they located a 16-year-old victim, down on the floor, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The victim, described in an interview by Lt. Donleavy as a black male, was pronounced deceased at the scene. Officers learned that two suspects entered the garage, and at least one of them began shooting at the victim. Afterwards, both suspects fled on-foot in an unknown direction. The identities of both suspects are unknown.

4/19/21 UPDATE: According to Lt. John Fortner, “I’ve communicated with the CCC Office of the Sheriff, Coroner’s Office, and they are aware the next of kin was notified.  The decedent in Saturday’s shooting homicide was 16-year-old Rasaan Scypion of Pittsburg.”

Donleavy also stated, “It was an extremely chaotic scene with lots of people. At one point there was a physical fight by those on scene. We were told that there were multiple suspects and that they ran into an unknown direction and probably got into a car. They were in the house.”

4/21/20 UPDATE: A man claiming to have been at the scene and a witness posted comments on the Herald Facebook page. “They did not confront the police, his mother was trying to calm him , then the police got involved, to calm him down,” wrote LeVic Bassett.”

Asked “calm who down, the victim? Were you there and a witness?” Bassett wrote another comment, “I watch the whole thing, an(d) was beside the press when he walk up thats not what happened, this is a lie, I have it on camera, they was upset about the dude getting killed in the garage.”

Asked to speak directly to the Herald, Bassett declined writing, “I was told not to talk to you.”

Antioch Police Department’s Crime Scene Investigators and detectives with the Violent Crimes and Special Operations Units responded to the scene and took over the investigation.  Currently, detectives are working to identify any suspects or persons-of-interest. The investigation is still active, and evidence is being collected and evaluated.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Antioch Police Department non-emergency line at (925) 778-2441 or Detective Bledsoe at (925) 779-6884. You may also text-a-tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

Investment in lifesaving work will help save more pet lives in Antioch, CA

Antioch Animal Services announced Friday, April 16, 2021, a $10,000 grant investment from the newly named, Petco Love, to support their lifesaving work for animals in Antioch, California.

Petco Love is a nonprofit leading change for pets nationally by harnessing the power of love to make communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since their founding in 1999 as the Petco Foundation, they’ve empowered organizations with nearly $300 million invested to date in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. They’ve also h elped find loving homes for more than 6.5 million pets in partnership with Petco and more than 4,000 organizations, like ours, nationwide.

“Today Petco Love announces an investment in Antioch Animal Services and hundreds of other organizations as part of our commitment to create a future in which no pet is unnecessary euthanized,” said Susanne Kogut, President of Petco Love. “Our local investments are only one component. This month, we will also launch the first of our national tools to empower all animal lovers to drive lifesaving change right alongside us.”

“We have worked diligently to improve the lives of pets in our community and are very excited to receive this grant from Petco Love to help support us in our efforts to return lost pets to their homes, and also help shelter pets find new loving homes,” said George Harding, Animal Services Manager at Antioch Animal Services.

For more information about Antioch Animal Services, visit antiochca.gov/police/animal-services, and click here to learn more about Petco Love.

About Antioch Animal Services

Antioch Animal Services is responsible for the enforcement of Local and State Laws relating to the care, control, and protection of the pets and citizens of Antioch, California. The Animal Shelter also provides pet adoption services, volunteer opportunities, dog licensing and various educational programs.

About Petco Love (Formerly Petco Foundation)

Petco Love is a non-profit, changing lives by making communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since our founding in 1999 as the Petco Foundation, we’ve empowered animal welfare organizations by investing nearly $300 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. We’ve helped find loving homes for more than 6.5 million pets in partnership with Petco and organizations nationwide. Today, our love for pets drives us to lead with innovation, creating tools animal lovers need to reunite lost pets, and lead with passion, inspiring and mobilizing communities and our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners to drive lifesaving change alongside us. Is love calling you? Join us. Visit petcolove.org to be part of the lifesaving work we’re leading every day.

By Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff

Contra Costa County Sheriff-Coroner David Livingston announced that a Coroner’s Jury on Friday, April 16, 2021 reached a finding in the July 18, 2019 death of 21-year-old Omar Jalal Harb of Brentwood. The finding of the jury is that the death is an accident.  (See related article)

The Coroner’s Jury, which heard two inquests today, also reached a finding the October 16, 2019 death of 72-year-old Enrique Camberos Pina of Walnut Creek. The finding of the jury is that the death is a suicide.  (See related article)

The Coroner’s Jury reached the verdicts in both inquests after hearing the testimony of witnesses called by the hearing officer, Matthew Guichard.

A Coroner’s Inquest, which Sheriff-Coroner David Livingston convenes in fatal incidents involving peace officers, is a public hearing during which a jury rules on the manner of a person’s death. Jury members can choose from the following four options when making their finding:  accident;  suicide; natural causes or at the hands of another person, other than by accident.

Family, principal and Antioch school district staff celebrate during Thursday ceremony

By Antioch Unified School District

It’s not often a high school student is a presented with a $200,000 check but that’s exactly what happened to Emma Crandell. On Thursday, April 15, 2021 the Deer Valley High senior received the Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (NROTC) scholarship.

During an outdoor ceremony at the school, Petty Officer Byung Jung, of the Antioch U.S. Navy Recruiting Station, presented Emma with the impressive award while a small group of staff and family cheered her on.  They were joined by her family, Deer Valley Principal Bukky Oyebade and Antioch Unified School District staff. She was selected through a rigorous process from among thousands of students across the state and nation.

Emma plans to attend the University of San Diego and be a part of the Midshipmen, which are one of the “largest uniformed bodies of students in the nation that provides hands-on leadership experience and enhances a world-class education,” according to a press release.

“We are very excited that Emma was selected from thousands of students who applied for the scholarship,” said Oyebade.

Jung said the scholarship will “pave the way for Emma to get commissioned as an Officer in the Navy.”

He added that in a typical school year, all over the country, “nearly 4,000 high school seniors apply for the scholarship. Receiving (this) is a miraculous achievement that only selects 30 percent of its applicants.”

Naval ROTC programs educate and train qualified young men and women for service as commissioned officers in the Navy’s unrestricted line, the Navy Nurse Corps and the Marine Corps. They receive 100 percent full tuition, books, fees and other financial benefits at many of the leading colleges and universities. Upon graduation, midshipmen are commissioned as officers in the US Navy or Marine Corps. #WeAreAUSD

Would eliminate Antioch mayor’s job; Board President challenges Frazier whose district doesn’t include most of the healthcare district

By Serina Hartinger, Media & Communications, Office of Assemblymember Jim Frazier

SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, Friday, April 16, 2021, Assemblymember Jim Frazier (D-Fairfield) passed AB 903 the Assembly Local Government Committee on a unanimous vote of 8-0 to dissolve the Los Medanos Community Healthcare District. The bill will now be sent to the Committee on Appropriations. If it passes there it will head to the floor for a vote by the full Assembly. Should it pass there, it still needs both State Senate approval and the governor’s signature before becoming law.

The Los Medanos Hospital closed in 1994 but the district, covering Pittsburg and Bay Point, has continued to exist, collecting property tax dollars and using the funds to pay for staff and provide grants to local organizations, direct service programs including a community garden and district sponsored programs including REading ADvantage for early literacy. The district’s 2020-21 Fiscal Year budget projects $1.13 million in tax revenue and $1.3 million in expenses.

“As all of you know, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed critical shortfalls in healthcare and health services funding across the state. Communities of color have been especially impacted by the emergency,” said Frazier. “Now more than ever, we have seen the life-changing impacts of devoting every possible dollar to serving those we represent. AB 903 is a district bill that takes strides towards addressing this issue. The bill effectively creates hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding for badly needed healthcare services in the region.”

AB 903 will dissolve the Los Medanos Community Healthcare District and require the County of Contra Costa to be the successor of all rights and responsibilities of the district. AB 903 will also require the county to complete a property tax transfer process to ensure the transfer of the district’s health-related ad valorem property tax revenues to the county in order to operate the Los Medanos Area Health Plan Grant Program.

The Contra Costa Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) has approved of the dissolution of the existing healthcare district, and Contra Costa County already serves the communities within district boundaries.

The bill was co-sponsored by Assemblymember Tim Grayson, (D-Concord).

The Los Medanos Community Healthcare District (LMCHD) was formed in 1948 to operate the Los Medanos Community Hospital. In rural communities, such districts were created to provide for hospitals that otherwise would not exist. LMCHD operated the hospital until 1994 when the hospital closed due to bankruptcy. Since then, LMCHD has not provided any hospital, physician, or emergency medical services. Instead of providing direct services, LMCHD funds third-party agencies that provide health-related programs.

“This bill effectively creates hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding for badly needed healthcare services in the region. A lot of this funding comes from the savings on LMCHD’s extremely high administrative expenses, which topped 60% in some years,” said Frazier. “That is simply unconscionable.”

“Comparable programs in the county average at about 15% admin cost, and a nearby healthcare district runs at a maximum of 20% in admin costs. Rather than lose over half the funding to wasteful administrative expenses, AB 903 dedicates those dollars to the community,” he added.

Some of those administrative expenses include the salary and benefits for Executive Director Lamar Thorpe who is the mayor of Antioch, whose job would be eliminated if the bill becomes law.

UPDATE: In response to efforts to reach him and Board President Patt Young, Thorpe provided the following letter from Young to Frazier.

“Dear Assemblymember Frazier:

On behalf of the Los Medanos Community Healthcare District, I am writing to you in response to your introduction of AB 903.

Given that 98 percent of our healthcare district does not fall within your assembly district, or the fact that you have never attempted to build a relationship with our board or programs, I am quite perplexed as to why you would introduce this legislation without attempting to understand how we serve eastern Contra Costa County.

This letter is not intended to be interpreted as an attempt to appeal to your reason or logic, as we are well aware of the fact that you are taking political orders from your top political advisor in an effort to turn our district into a political slush fund for one of your top allies on the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors.

Let me be clear in stating that, although to you this is simply a political game, to our healthcare district, you are jeopardizing a critical healthcare prevention lifeline for many in our community. From free reading glasses for children to HIV/AIDS prevention efforts, many of the community members we serve participate in our programs because they do not feel that they have their needs met via Contra Costa’s public healthcare system.

Lastly, I have to state for the record that the manner by which you introduced this legislation has been interpreted to be highly disrespectful by both my board and community. I suspect that, if the makeup of our board were more in line with the makeup of the Oakley City Council, you would not have been as disrespectful as you have been to date.

Neither my board, nor my community will stand idly and accept to be treated in any manner less than the respect we deserve.

Sincerely,

Patt Young

President

Los Medanos Community Healthcare District”

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

 

Officer involved critical incident protocol initiated

By Lieutenant John Fortner, Antioch Police Investigations Bureau

On Friday, April 16, 2021, at approximately 12:50 AM, Antioch police officers were dispatched to an apartment in the 200 block of W. 3rd Street for a 9-1-1 call. The caller reported that a family member was having a mental health crisis, and he was feeling suicidal.

Two officers responded to the call. When the officers arrived, they made their way to the second-story unit. As the officers entered the unit, a male subject emerged from the kitchen holding a knife stating that he wanted to die. As the male subject approached the officers, they started talking to the subject asking him to drop the knife. At the same time, the officers backed away from subject and out of the unit onto the second-story landing. The subject followed the officers outside brandishing the knife, while the officers gave him commands to drop it. The subject turned around, went back into the apartment and closed the front door.

The officers created time and distance by moving away from the apartment in accordance with their training. The male suddenly exited the apartment and charged at them with the knife still in his hand. The subject did not comply with the officers’ commands to drop the knife or stop, and he continued to charge at them. One officer used his Taser, but it was not effective, and the subject continued to charge at the officers. The second officer fired his department issued pistol two times striking the subject twice.

The subject fell on the landing and dropped the knife. Afterwards, the officers called for emergency medical personnel to respond as they administered first aid to the subject. The subject was transported to a local area hospital and is currently in stable condition.

Due to the circumstances surrounding this incident, the countywide Law Enforcement Involved Fatal Incident (LEIFI) protocol was initiated. Antioch Police Department’s Crime Scene Investigators and Detectives with the Investigations Bureau, along with a team of Deputy District Attorneys and Inspectors from the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office and the Office of the Sheriff’s Crime Scene Investigators responded to the scene and took over the investigation.

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.

Over 15,000 miles were logged during the 12-day competition

By Allen Payton

Members of the Kiwanis Club of the Delta-Antioch presented checks of $500 each to three schools in Antioch, this week, rewarding them for their participation in the service organization’s annual Holiday Run and Walk for Health. This year, the competition was held virtually and required participants to run or walk and log their own miles during a 12-day period. The top Antioch schools that formed teams and participated in each category were Deer Valley High, Antioch Middle and Carmen Dragon Elementary. Checks were presented to the schools, this week with two done by club members on Thursday, April 15.

The students could recruit whomever they wanted to run for their team and Prospects High School, with one of the smaller teams, recruited some ultra-marathoners and almost beat Deer Valley. Both teams logged over 2,000 miles.

Paul Schorr, who has led the organizing of the event in previous years, said the club has held the competition for the past 43 years. This was their 44th year.

“Katie Young stepped up and coordinated the event, this year,” he shared.

“Close to 600 participants signed up,” Young said. “They logged their miles they walked or ran over a 12-day period. A total of about 15,000 miles were logged. A couple teams recruited ultra-marathoners.”

“And 2,000 miles were from our school,” said Antioch Middle School Principal Lindsay Wisely.

“I think you did a heck of a job coordinating,” she said to Young.

“On behalf of the faculty staff and students we are grateful for the support from the Kiwanis Club,” Wisely stated. “We have a running club on campus and plan to use the funds for equipment and prizes associated with our club.”

During the presentation to Carmen Dragon Elementary, Principal Mark Hemauer said, “we had 31 participants who completed 1,837 miles.”

Asked how he planned to spend the money Hemauer replied, “I’d like to use it for our PE program because it was a physical activity and competition for when the students come back, hopefully fully next year.”

“I really appreciate the Kiwanis Club organizing this, I’ve been a runner in past years. But continuing it this year during the pandemic and having them give back to us is really special,” he added.

Deer Valley teacher Michael Green, the school’s head coach for both the cross country and track teams, received the check on March 31, during the Delta-Antioch Rotary Club meeting.

“The funds will be used to take those same runners who helped us earn that money to multi-school invitational cross-country races,” he said.

“Thank you to the Kiwanis Club for doing these great events and I encourage others to join their club and other service clubs to serve our community,” Green said.

Club President and Antioch Unified School District Board of Trustees Vice President, Dr. Clyde Lewis shared thoughts from both of his positions.

“This is an example of community and schools working together. Our goal as a Kiwanis Club is to engage, encourage and promote collaborative opportunities,” he said. “As a school district this approach mirrors the support and relationship building that we hope to promote in our young leaders.”