Surprises in the world of soccer never cease to amaze and one of the most recent cases is that of Jesús Vallejo his future seemed to be outside Real Madrid the situation has changed drastically in recent days Vallejo has a new opportunity with the white team Real Madrid is going through a difficult time in defense With the absences of Éder Militão and David Alaba coach Carlo Ancelotti has found himself in trouble finding a solution Madrid's defense has been reinforced with players like Aurélien Tchouaméni and even Valverde who have had to adapt to unusual positions The Situation of Jesús Vallejo at Madrid | Getty ImagesAmid this scenario the name of Jesús Vallejo has come back into consideration could be a viable option to fill the gaps left by the injuries Jesús Vallejo's contract with Real Madrid expires on June 30 which creates uncertainty about his future at the club the situation with his teammates' injuries has led Madrid's management to reconsider his departure held between mid-December and early January If Real Madrid continues to advance in the tournament it would be difficult for the club to let him go just when they need him the most That's why the club has started considering the possibility of renewing him for two more weeks until the conclusion of the Club World Cup The idea that Real Madrid is considering is to extend Vallejo's contract for those additional two weeks This short period could be crucial for the center-back to stay with the club and finish his participation in the Club World Cup with the team Vallejo wouldn't leave the club in the middle of the tournament a gesture that Madrid considers inappropriate given the circumstances this temporary contract extension would allow Vallejo the opportunity to gain more playing time something that has eluded him so far this season Everything will depend on the evolution of the injuries in defense and Ancelotti's tactical decisions ➡️ Real Madrid FAIRFIELD — The Solano County supervisors are scheduled to receive a presentation on vacant positions and recruitment and retention in the Department of Health & Social Services The board also will receive information on the Sheriff's Office ability to provide patrol services in Vallejo The county had 3,279 allocated positions and an overall vacancy rate of 11.4% – or 373.70 vacancies – as of Feb there were 302.1 full-time employee terminations – 96.5 retirements 177.6 resignations and 28 "involuntary terminations." Additionally demotions and rehires," the staff report states adding that the hires reduced the vacancy rate to 8.4% for requisited positions in the first-floor chamber in the government building "Solano County’s current approach to recruitment and retention include implementation of new (Human Resources) tools for recruitment and onboarding The new recruitment system has broadened the county’s reach to applicants while the onboarding tool provides a streamlined method for processing new hire documentation," the report states approved $11.2 million for the Sheriff's Office to assist in patrols for about half the city The Sheriff's Office also will have to purchase cars and other equipment the funding for which would likely come from the first year's funding Vallejo is divided into eight beat sections Ferrara said his deputies would cover four beats in the eastern half: 12-hour shifts "The sheriff is now requesting direction from the Board of Supervisors regarding whether to proceed with those negotiations," the staff report to the board states "Should the board authorize moving forward a contract would need to be presented for board approval no later than June 24 .. If a contract is not approved by this date the sheriff will not have adequate time to hire the necessary staff and procure all equipment in order to deliver a one-year service contract prior to the sunset of SB 1379 on Jan Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Account processing issue - the email address may already exist Have the latest local news delivered every afternoon so you don't miss out on updates Receive occasional local offers from our website and its advertisers summary of the weather details and news of any severe weather We'll send breaking news and news alerts to you as they happen  Receive our newspaper electronically with the e-Edition email Invalid password or account does not exist Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account Jesús Vallejo arrived at Madrid with the label of a great promise but circumstances haven't been favorable for him the center-back hasn't achieved the desired prominence The passing years have shown that he hasn't been able to earn the coach's trust even with the absences in defense due to injuries Ancelotti opted for other players before Vallejo The player has expressed several times his desire to have more playing minutes whether through a loan or a permanent transfer The situation is unsustainable for both parties Madrid has made the decision to seek an exit for him aware that they can't continue with a player who doesn't contribute what is necessary for their ambitious goals The Uncertain Future of Jesús Vallejo | Getty ImagesThe Need for a High-Profile SigningReal Madrid is very aware that they need to strengthen their defense the defense has been one of the weak points especially with the absences due to injuries Although Alaba and Rüdiger have fulfilled their roles the lack of a central defender with hierarchy has been a concern for Ancelotti That's why the club is in search of a high-profile signing The option that most attracts Madrid is William Saliba Arsenal's defender and one of the most outstanding in the Premier League in recent years Real Madrid Wants William Saliba | Getty ImagesAt only 22 years old and his arrival at Madrid would be a great reinforcement for Ancelotti's scheme the London club has a clear condition for negotiation nor a sum of money that could be considered minor the arrival of Aurélien Tchouaméni to the team who arrived at Madrid with great expectations last summer has earned the admiration of several clubs The enticing offer from the English club makes it clear that if Real Madrid wants the young French center-back where Madrid not only strengthens in defense but also decides to make sacrifices in other positions to secure a quality signing it will be one of the most important moves of this market The views expressed here are the author's own An Evening of Deadhead Poetry @ Alibi Bookshop You're Dead Forever Paperbackby Hercules Publishing (Author) a global cadre of deadhead poets send us on spiritual Deadheads from around the world are included in these pages whether they fell in love with a few albums or dedicated their life to being die-hard loyal fans trekking across the country in a nomadic musical pilgrimage letting the experience transform them again and again and Asia as well as from over two dozen states in the United States are all included in these pages showcasing the wide reach of the Dead’s music...' LangOver 80 poets from around the world explore their personal histories and connections with the psychedelic rock and roll band Grateful Dead through the decades and all of the band's many incarnations Special event featuring poetry by California contributors: Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event Please support Alibi Bookshop.Order online here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/p... https://www.facebook.com/event... Saturday, 8:00 amNapa Valley, CA VALLEJO — The man suspected to be the shooter in a June 2024 attempted murder case in Vallejo has been arrested who police said was identified by the shooting victim was arrested in the Contra County jail on April 29 after having been detained in Mexico and brought back to the U.S Officers responded to reports of gunshots on the 900 block of Amador Street at about 1:50 p.m "Witnesses directed officers to a nearby yard on the 1300 block of Alabama Street where they located an adult female suffering from at least one gunshot wound," the police said in a statement released on Friday "The victim identified the suspect who shot her as Hector Placencia-Gazmuri before being transported to a local hospital for emergency care Multiple witnesses also reported seeing the victim exiting a moving vehicle moments after shots were fired from inside," the Police Department reported Placencia-Gazmuri will eventually be returned to Solano County where he will be booked in jail on suspicion of attempted murder and kidnapping Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to email Officer Zach Horton at zach.horton@cityofvallejo.net you can get a great deal to attend a Toastmasters conference being held online and in Vallejo Diane has been a franchise consultant for over 17 years You do not have to be a Toastmaster to attend Register using the QR code in the picture or at https://d57tm.org/event/new-beginnings-district-57-2025-annual-conference Join us for this momentous day at the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo or in the comfort of your own home you don’t want to miss this.We begin with the District Evaluation Contest and end with the District International Speech Contest In between is an experience packed day of recognition of clubs and of networking with other District members and leaders This high energy event also has a silent auction This is a once-a-year opportunity to see old friends and learn/experience great toastmasters’ education.--Location: California Maritime Academy--200 Maritime Academy Drive--Vallejo ### Lunch Options for in-person attendance On Sale Online attendance early bird price=$25.It may go up to $50 Open Vallejo The family of a man found shot dead Monday morning is demanding answers from the Vallejo Police Department about an emergency call placed more than three hours before his body was discovered Police found 35-year-old Giordano Cerletti dead in a gutter on the 1300 block of North Camino Alto But police records place his homicide at 2:53 a.m — the same time that someone called 911 about hearing gunshots near a nearby apartment complex’s pool say they are left with “haunting questions” about what happened to their son “What I don’t understand is why nobody responded,” Robert Cerletti said in an interview with Open Vallejo on Tuesday The police response to Cerletti’s homicide was marked by confusion and delay A 911 operator informed officers that someone had called in just after 6 a.m Officers arrived on scene within four minutes But the dispatcher also told police that a shots-fired call had come in at 4:02 a.m. then noted the earlier shots-fired call at 2:53 a.m The Vallejo Police Department’s daily incident log includes a homicide at that time but contains no entry for the 6 a.m making it appear as though the police responded to the scene three hours earlier Vallejo City Manager Andrew Murray declined to comment on the case referring questions to police spokesperson Sgt call was logged in the 2:53 call for service.”  Subscribe to our free newsletterGet our award-winning journalism delivered straight to your inbox Open Vallejo filed a public records request for basic information about the incident Monday morning The department disclosed two pages of heavily redacted dispatch records Monday afternoon The city responded that the request will take at least 10 days to fulfill Cerletti was “a compassionate soul known for his kind heart and deep love for animals and family,” according to a written statement from his family.   Cerletti’s family called on Vallejo city leaders and county officials to “thoroughly review emergency response protocols and ensure greater accountability and equity in how resources are deployed across all neighborhoods.”  “We should care for every individual in our city not just those that have a better life,” said Esther Cerletti Vallejo Mayor Andrea Sorce offered her condolences to Cerletti’s family “My heart goes out to them because we’re trying to reduce violence in our city and any number of homicides above zero is too many and any loss of life is tragic,” Sorce said “We’ll do our part as city leaders to make sure our police department is responsive to the community and builds trust with the community as much as possible.” A previous version of this story reported that Giordano Cerlettie was 36 years old when he died according to the Solano County Coroner’s Office which partially lifted an investigative hold on the case on May 1 Open Vallejo is the city’s only nonprofit newsroom Your support allows us to provide accurate and impactful reporting in the public interest Sarah Hopkins is an investigative reporter with Open Vallejo Geoffrey King is the executive editor of Open Vallejo Geoffrey worked as an attorney and journalist focused on free expression A generous gift in any amount helps us continue to bring you this service nonpartisan newsroom serving the public interest We are a project of the Informed California Foundation wire service and press association that produces and supports impactful local accountability journalism in communities across the state Open Vallejo is a project of the Informed California Foundation,a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Our Tax ID is 84-4618329.All donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law the controversial head of the Vallejo Police Officers Association retired from the department in April and left his position in union leadership according to two sources with knowledge of Nichelini’s departure Nichelini had been with the department for nearly two decades after being hired by his father former Vallejo police Chief Robert Nichelini Nichelini often butted heads with city leadership was accused by a former captain of timecard fraud and was fired for over a year but won his job back in arbitration Nichelini remained in his union leadership position and was harshly critical of department leadership and an obstacle to the city’s reform efforts While union members worked to undermine the department’s recruitment efforts Nichelini publicly blamed then-police Chief Shawny Williams for an exodus of officers.  Nichelini sued the city in federal court for $10 million but Nichelini filed a similar suit in state court last year As of Friday, the VPOA’s website lists Sgt VPOA leadership did not respond to a request for comment Nichelini joined the Vallejo Police Department in 2006 after a decade in the Oakland Police Department who was employed by the Oakland Police Department since 1971 and left to be Vallejo’s chief in 1995 Michael Nichelini was subject to several excessive force allegations in Oakland including a 2004 internal affairs investigation that questioned his fitness for duty In December 1999, Nichelini fractured a woman’s shoulder while he was arresting her husband, according to records obtained by the Vallejo Sun through a public records request The man had allegedly committed an assault he said that the man’s wife approached him yelling at Nichelini to let the man go Nichelini alleged that he yelled at her to step back The woman denied that she had swung at Nichelini and said that he grabbed her by the shoulder and the wrist and spun her around to the police vehicle Later, Oakland’s Citizens Police Review Board recommended that Nichelini be suspended for two days and reprimanded orally for a May 2, 2004, incident when he used profanity while ordering a teen out of his truck after citing him for a suspended license, according to the Oakland Tribune The board also found Nichelini used his knees to hit the teen’s head against the pavement Then an internal affairs investigation sustained two policy violations for an incident when Nichelini responded to a sideshow on Nov and recommended that he be placed in a position with minimal citizen contact and that his fitness for duty be evaluated The officers had stopped a Buick that they said had been blocking traffic they got into a struggle and Nichelini pepper sprayed him and arrested him the man told medical personnel that he had a separated shoulder that was re-aggravated during his arrest He said they had been stuck in traffic while the sideshow was happening.  when Nichelini’s father hired his son in Vallejo he claimed that he had faced no discipline during his time in Oakland “There was no discipline from either case,” Robert Nichelini told the Vallejo Times-Herald in 2006 Former Vallejo police Capt. John Whitney testified in a deposition in a wrongful termination lawsuit that city officials gathered evidence that Nichelini may have committed time card fraud worth tens of thousands of dollars in the spring and summer of 2018 but then-police Chief Andrew Bidou refused to investigate the allegations further.  Whitney had alleged that Vallejo police had a pattern of not investigating issues within the department, including use of force and alleged misconduct by officers, such as allegations that officers had bent the tips of their badges to mark shootings Nichelini became the head of the VPOA in early 2019 when longtime VPOA President Det. Mat Mustard suddenly resigned from the position In early March 2021, Nichelini sued the city alleging he was subjected to harassment retaliation and intimidation by top-ranking Vallejo city officials and Nichelini amended the complaint seeking $10 million and his job back Nichelini’s attorney Michael Rains said that Williams attempted to fire Nichelini for two reasons: sending an email to VPOA members that contained an image of a Vallejo police badge with what appeared to be a swastika from 1906 and for sending a threatening email to a San Francisco Chronicle columnist A month after Williams was fired, an arbitrator ordered the department to reinstate Nichelini Rains had argued that sharing the image of a swastika did not have racist intent and was an accident and that the email to the Chronicle columnist wasn’t threatening He also argued that both instances were protected speech in his role as the union head Rains said the arbitrator also overturned a separate 40-hour suspension against Nichelini for allegedly harassing civil rights attorney Melissa Nold by recording her with his personal cellphone during a city council meeting It’s unclear how large of a role Nichelini played in the department following his return. When the VPOA defied a subpoena in a lawsuit over the 2020 fatal shooting of Sean Monterrosa, a process server attempted to serve Nichelini at a condo he owns in Reno The Monterossa family’s attorneys alleged that Nichelini answered the door at the Reno address but lied and said he wasn’t Nichelini.  Nichelini’s lawsuit against the city was dismissed after a federal judge found Nichelini had not adequately shown that his rights were violated or that city officials had retaliated against him. Nichelini then filed a similar lawsuit in state court last year Editor's note: This story has been updated after the VPOA's website updated its president It’s expensive to produce the kind of high-quality journalism we do at the Vallejo Sun And we rely on reader support so we can keep publishing chip in so we can keep doing this work and bringing you the journalism you rely on The Vallejo Sun is an independent news publication owned and operated by journalists illuminating Solano County About the Vallejo Sun Our mission & FAQ Contact the Vallejo Sun Privacy policy Editorial policies © 2025 The Vallejo Sun - All rights reserved The remodeling initiative that includes nearly five dozen locations in Solano Sonoma and other California counties is part of a broader $800 million investment Walmart has made in Golden State store upgrades over the past five years Walmart plans to remodel four of its North Bay locations as part of upgrades to 57 stores across California this year The updates are scheduled for these local stores: Rohnert Park and Vacaville stores are Walmart Neighborhood Market smaller-sized locations typically having 40,000 to 50,000 square feet The grocery-focused format has a deli and bakery plus household staples such as pharmacy items The Windsor location on Hembree Lane is a larger-format Walmart that includes general merchandise in addition to grocery items Construction is expected to begin between early summer and early fall and be completed between fall and January 2026 A spokesperson said this was part of the Arkansas-based retail giant’s ongoing efforts to modernize its over 4,700 stores and clubs nationwide “We remodel several hundred stores every year to keep stores up to date on technology and customer needs we plan to remodel more than 650 stores,” Anne Hatfield wrote in an email For example, last year the retail giant renovated its other Rohnert Park store one of its Supercenter large-format locations with a grocery emphasis The remodeling initiative is part of a broader $800 million investment Walmart has made in California store upgrades over the past five years Enhancements in this year’s remodels will include bold new signage improvements to pharmacy areas — such as wider aisles and privacy features — and better support for online pickup and delivery services San Francisco Bay Area locations set to get upgrades this year are in Richmond Walmart executives for the past few years have been talking about changing consumer behavior reflecting economic pressures and evolving shopping patterns “You can see that the money runs out before the month is gone, you can see that people are buying smaller pack sizes at the end of the month,” CEO Doug McMillon said at the Economic Club of Chicago on Feb. 27, according to Forbes Walmart highlighted its commitment to maintaining strong community ties and improving both customer and associate experiences “Our stores often serve as the heartbeat of the communities we operate in and these remodels are a testament to our dedication to enhancing that role,” said Jay Cordray Reach him at jquackenbush@busjrnl.com or 707-521-4256 Vallejo police found a man fatally shot on the 1300 block of North Camino Alto Monday morning marking the city’s fourth homicide this year Police and firefighters responded to a report of an unresponsive individual shortly after 6 a.m. according to Vallejo police spokesperson Sgt Officers arrived at the scene to discover a man suffering from at least one gunshot wound Firefighters pronounced him dead at the scene The Vallejo Police Department’s response to the killing appears to have been marked by confusion and delay A 911 operator who dispatched officers just after 6 a.m told them that a caller initially reported the incident as a shots-fired call around 4:02 a.m. according to the Vallejo Police Department’s daily incident log The log does not include an entry for the 6 a.m making it appear as if police responded promptly to the scene and not more than two hours after the shooting occurred “The circumstances regarding this shooting are being investigated as we speak,” Hollis told Open Vallejo In response to a public records request by this newsroom the Vallejo Police Department disclosed a heavily redacted dispatch report in which the agency blacked out incident times and other details Basic incident information is generally subject to disclosure under California transparency laws A request to reopen the request went unanswered as of Tuesday afternoon.  The Vallejo Police Department and the Solano County Coroner’s Office declined to release the name of the victim This article has been updated with additional information about the Vallejo Police Department’s delayed response to this homicide VALLEJO – The iconic square-rigged tall ship Balclutha a three-masted cargo vessel from the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is set to arrive Wednesday evening at its new home on Mare Island where it will remain for the foreseeable future The ship’s relocation is funded through a $102 million renovation initiative funded by the Great American Outdoors Act Legacy Restoration Fund The project involves relocating five historic ships from San Francisco’s Hyde Street Pier to Mare Island while the aging piers undergo major repairs The Balclutha will be the third vessel to arrive in Vallejo followed by the steam-powered tug Eppleton Hall on April 9 Both can currently be seen moored outside the historic Coal Sheds on Mare Island Two additional ships are expected in the coming months: the steam ferry Eureka the largest of the fleet at nearly 300 feet All ships except Eppleton Hall are designated National Historic Landmarks The Balclutha crew faces a 6–10 hour journey, depending on tide and weather, before arriving at Mare Island. Its voyage can be tracked in real time via the MarineTraffic website or app Towing duties will once again fall to local company Lind Marine previously towed Eppleton Hall and will now escort Balclutha through the bay waters Kent Fortner, co-founder of the Mare Island Brewing Company, calls Balclutha “the belle of the ball.” His brewery, located near the dock, is planning a “pop-up welcome” in collaboration with the Vallejo Yacht Club “It’s just a call to the community to come down to the waterfront and watch that majestic ship come in,” Fortner said A more formal celebration is also in the works and the singing of appropriate sea shanties Fortner says there’s already been an uptick in visitors: “It’s going to be amazing seeing that tall ship coming down the strait and docking at Mare Island.” The National Park Service has opened a new workshop in the Coal Sheds to support ship maintenance while they remain docked at Mare Island have already been extensively renovated at Bay Ship and Yacht in Alameda.  required a specialist crew flown in from Alaska one of the few regions where hot rivet construction remains in use The Eureka’s renovation will be the largest of all While Hercules and Eureka will arrive in the coming month Eureka and Eppleton Hall will then leave again for their respective restorations the details of which are yet to be finalized the National Park Service plans to reopen the ships to the public while they’re docked in Vallejo That next phase will involve installing gangways and potentially organizing guided tours along the waterfront.  local businesses are eager to embrace the historic ships as part of Mare Island’s economic and cultural revival “All the food and beverage folks are super eager,” Fortner said “It adds another stop to the eating and drinking lap of the island.” nicknamed the “Wet Mile,” features stops like Redwood Empire Distillery (formerly Savage & Cooke) “I’ve been through so many Mare Island initiatives that ended in disappointment that I’m sort of conditioned to not get to excited,” Fortner said “But what a treasure to have these ships grace our shores and help bring a spotlight to this incredible Island and town.” The 2024-2025 season isn't exactly easy for Real Madrid Real Madrid faces difficulties affecting their performance and title chances The problems go beyond soccer: injuries have been a constant and have left the club with a reduced squad and Militão have suffered serious injuries From meniscus tears to anterior cruciate ligament tears Real Madrid has been forced to deal with a large number of absences These losses have diminished the team's competitive capacity directly affecting performance both in the league and in international competitions Injuries Are Affecting Madrid | LaLigaCarlo Ancelotti's ChallengeWith so many absences coach Carlo Ancelotti has found himself in a difficult situation The accumulation of key player absences leaves the coach with few options to maintain the level of play that Real Madrid demands Ancelotti will have to resort to less common alternatives Although Vallejo hasn't been a regular in the starting eleven during recent seasons his name is starting to gain attention in this final stretch of the season and the young defender could be the piece that fits into the puzzle given that injuries have left a void in the center of the defense who has had a difficult path at Real Madrid due to the few opportunities he has received knows this is his last chance to prove his worth With the absence of key players like Militão and Rüdiger Vallejo will have more minutes on the field The player has the opportunity to redeem himself and show Ancelotti and the fans that he can be a reliable alternative in defense Key Opportunity for Jesús Vallejo | Getty ImagesVallejo's commitment to the team is evident the footballer has made it clear that he is willing to fight for his position and contribute to the team as much as he can he has shown confidence in his abilities and told Ancelotti that he is "his only option." With a determined mindset and high motivation Vallejo faces this challenge with the determination to seize the opportunity The efforts of players like Vallejo could be key to maintaining the team's aspirations Although Vallejo has had little continuity his ability to adapt to difficult situations will be tested in these key moments If Vallejo performs well in the upcoming matches he will earn Ancelotti's respect and could be crucial for the club and Vallejo is willing to take advantage of it A man police initially suspected to be the third homicide victim of the year died of an overdose according to a Solano County Coroner’s Office death investigation disclosed Monday Vallejo police found 37-year-old Phillip Boursiquot unconscious with a “large amount” of blood on the left side of his face at the Wardlaw Dog Park in northeast Vallejo according to a death investigation report by Solano County Deputy Coroner Anthony Miller in response to a public records request filed by this newsroom on March 3 Boursiquot was partially out the driver’s side door of a gray Ford Mustang and had a laceration above his left eyebrow First responders also found what appeared to be a small sandwich bag of methamphetamine on the floorboard of the driver’s side with some of the substance found on Boursiquot’s face and pants He was pronounced dead at the scene at 5:35 a.m First responders were concerned “that the decedent may have been shot and the bullet did not exit,” Miller wrote in his report Miller took X-rays of Boursiquot’s body but did not find any projectiles or skull fractures Nor did an autopsy show signs of traumatic injury or a struggle Boursiquot’s toxicology results reached Miller at around 10 a.m Arnold Josselson ruled that Boursiquot died of acute methamphetamine and alcohol intoxication Boursiquot likely sustained the head wound when he collapsed Rashad Hollis declined to comment on the case at the time He was not immediately available for comment for this article Matthew Brown is an investigative reporter at Open Vallejo A Vallejo police officer arrested last year on felony domestic violence-related charges that were soon dropped has been terminated from the agency.  Officers received a brief department-wide email Thursday informing them that Ronald Maurice Dupree had been released from the department sources with knowledge of the matter told Open Vallejo The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal personnel matters Dupree did not respond to a request for comment Oakland police arrested Dupree on Feb He was booked into Santa Rita Jail on charges of inflicting corporal injury on a current or former romantic partner authorities released Dupree without charges the day after his arrest The alleged victim, Dupree’s ex-girlfriend, told Oakland police that she reported his conduct to Vallejo police, who told her they would “look into it,” according to the East Bay Times She later received a text message from a burner application stating “I hope calling Ronnie job finally ran him away from you” and “you should have died a long time ago,” the newspaper reported Dupree joined the Vallejo Police Department in October 2020 left briefly to join the Napa Police Department Rashad Hollis declined to comment on Dupree’s termination who was fired after he forwarded five emails to Whitney when he was no longer with the department All three officers were terminated in 2021 The city did not state a reason for Dupree’s termination he enjoyed fewer protections than officers who have earned a permanent position with the department An apparent robbery turned shooting left one man injured near downtown Vallejo Tuesday afternoon At approximately 4:27 p.m., police received a report of shots fired and a robbery in progress on the 1000 block of Napa Street. The caller told police they saw two masked individuals taking items from a crashed white BMW before driving off, according to dispatch audio. Vallejo police arrived approximately three minutes later surveillance footage obtained by Open Vallejo shows A witness told Open Vallejo on Wednesday that they heard a car crash outside their home The witness said they went outside and found a young man with gunshot wounds to his face trying to exit a vehicle that had collided with a parked car The witness spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern for their safety and the kid thought he was going to die,” the witness said.  The victim told the witness he was driving in the neighborhood when two individuals intercepted and robbed him The suspects fled the scene before police arrived Rashad Hollis did not respond to a request for comment The victim’s condition is currently unknown a local homelessness advocate went to an encampment clearing on Sereno Drive and Sonoma Boulevard allegedly stood in front of a tow truck to protest the sweep and had a heart attack in the back of a police car.  Police issued José Carrizales a citation for obstruction Although prosecutors declined to file charges in the case Carrizales still keeps the yellow slip of paper in his wallet He says it was the only documentation of alleged wrongdoing he had received related to his activism — until now Two of the alleged incidents appear to lack an underlying police report from an officer on scene Only one report accuses Carrizales of using offensive words And while the statute requires the use of language “inherently likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction,” body camera footage of incidents in which Carrizales was charged shows him criticizing police and chiding workers for participating in encampment cleanups and sweeps bring it on,” said Carrizales’ criminal defense attorney Daniel Russo Open Vallejo reached out individually to each officer and deputy named in this story all of whom either declined to comment or did not respond Spokespeople for the Solano County District Attorney’s Office and the Solano County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to requests for comment who often appears at encampments to assist homeless residents and protest sweeps police and contractors facilitating the clearings He does not deny that his temper can sometimes get the better of him the issue of homelessness is personal.  For nearly three years he slept outside Vallejo’s John F Like many other unhoused residents of the city he would walk to the nearby waterfront to wash himself and find food through local resources He says the experience propelled him to activism and started my negative interactions with not only the local police but the local government,” Carrizales told Open Vallejo an encounter with an old friend helped Carrizales get back on his feet The man got him a job at a car dealership he managed in Sacramento Carrizales slept in his friend’s office while working at the dealership and showered at a local gym and began volunteering at homeless encampments in 2022 both on his own and through a local homeless outreach organization the Vallejo City Council appointed Carrizales to the city’s housing commission.  According to the county’s most recent Point-in-Time Count which occurs once every two years and is often seen as an undercount more than 700 homeless individuals lived in Vallejo as of 2024.  the city has faced a severe lack of shelter space to accommodate what has become the largest homeless population in Solano County temporarily paused such cleanups until the city could implement a “humane” approach to the city’s unsheltered community City councilmembers voted April 1 to continue sweeps later this month, while directing staff to identify locations for designated camping, according to the Vallejo Times-Herald as previous councils have voted down similar camping proposals multiple times in the last five years.  Carrizales was vehemently opposed to the council’s denial of designated camping areas Emails obtained by Open Vallejo detail years of polemics to councilmembers including one instance where he suggested he would move to former Vice Mayor Mina Loera-Diaz’s district to run against her.  While Carrizales’ approach has left some officials feeling aggrieved even his toughest critics concede they value his advocacy “You don’t want to put out his fire,” Solano County Sheriff’s Office Homeless Outreach Coordinator Deputy Dale Matsuoka said to a homeless outreach team on March 7 “I’d rather have his fire than have him lose his steam.” The U.S. Constitution provides broad protections for speech, and simply displaying or saying something offensive in public is not enough to convict someone of a crime, according to Eugene Volokh In 1968, California resident Paul Robert Cohen was arrested and convicted of disturbing the peace, after wearing a jacket in a courthouse that had the phrase, “Fuck the Draft” on the back. Three years later, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the conviction in a landmark decision “one man’s vulgarity is another’s lyric.”  a jury would have to determine whether his speech included “fighting words,” or personalized statements or insults inherently likely to provoke a violent reaction “The charge is harder to make stick when it’s a police officer,” Volokh said California jury instructions require jurors to take into account whether the words were said to a law enforcement officer “But you could imagine someone ranting enough at the police officer that even the local police officer the worry is they might snap and start a fight,” Volokh said In 1942, the Supreme Court upheld the fighting words conviction of a man who called a police officer a “damned racketeer” and “a damned fascist.” However Volokh said standards of decorum change over time and that this would likely not be enough to reach a conviction today It remains unclear what offensive words prosecutors deemed criminal in all but one of the 2024 incidents in which Carrizales is charged according to body camera footage and incident reports disclosed to Carrizales and obtained by Open Vallejo.  On Aug. 21, Vallejo police Lt. Jodi Brown and Ofc Jaime Escalante arrested Carrizales during a sweep of an encampment at Lemon and Derr Streets Carrizales approached the officers and asked them for their names and badge numbers Brown stopped Carrizales from passing three police cars being used to block off the scene telling him repeatedly to not cross the barricade before physically pushing him back and warning that he would go to jail Brown then placed Carrizales under arrest for obstruction as he backed away from the officers.  At no point does the body camera footage depict Carrizales using threatening or offensive language toward officers and none of the three officers involved in the arrest mentioned any use of offensive language in their reports Assistant to the City Manager Natalie Peterson wrote in an email to Brown later that day that Carrizales had yelled at her from the back of a police car but did not mention any offensive language Carrizales later alleged that the Solano County Sheriff’s Office retaliated against him after Matsouka towed his car Brown wrote in her police report that the Solano County Sheriff’s Office towed the car because it was in a “high crime area” and because she believed he was living out of it at the time Carrizales told Open Vallejo he was not living in his car The incident marked Carrizales’ only arrest in 2024. On other occasions, officers filed police reports but did not arrest Carrizales or give him a citation onsite — including during a controversial incident last July that led to his resignation from the Vallejo Housing Commission “He thinks I’m racist,” Matsuoka continues people are allowed to think how they want to think.” After Matsuoka instructed Carrizales to stay clear of the construction zone during the July 10 incident the activist began yelling at a public works employee “Carrizales feigns advocacy for the unhoused in order to come clean up areas and promote resistance to the government and encourage breaking laws,” Matsuoka later wrote in a police report documenting the incident Vallejo city council members are not routinely briefed on individual law enforcement investigations and Bregenzer has not publicly disclosed how he came to view the video He did not respond to a request for comment.  Of the six incidents in which Carrizales is charged the July 10 encounter is the most specific and well-documented case as it pertains to California’s offensive language statute said Carrizales’ conduct likely did not meet the legal threshold “I think that’s the kind of thing that probably wouldn’t qualify,” Volokh said there is even less documentation that a crime had been committed.  7 encampment cleanup off Sereno Drive and Sonoma Boulevard Carrizales allegedly did not move away from the scene when asked but later removed himself without incident He was ultimately charged with obstruction and using offensive language But the only documentation of the Aug. 7 interaction was an overview of 2024 incidents involving Carrizales written by Vallejo Police Det. Stephanie McDonough The report notes that “All incidents and interactions” were captured on body camera but no footage from that day appears to have been produced to Carrizales by prosecutors Nor does it appear that McDonough was present at the sweep.  McDonough’s summary makes no reference to offensive words in relation to the Aug prosecutors provided no contemporaneous police report or body camera footage of an alleged incident on July 28 McDonough’s summary does not allege that Carrizales obstructed law enforcement or used offensive words — only that he “arrived on scene and started to demand the names and badge numbers” of officers Carrizales was charged with obstruction and using offensive words In a May 20 incident also cited in his criminal complaint Carrizales was not the subject of the police report turned over by prosecutors Matsuoka’s body camera footage shows that another man yelled at officers for what he called an illegal sweep off Lewis Brown Drive in north Vallejo Matsuoka alleged that the man’s actions left workers on scene “uncomfortable and feeling threatened,” in likely violation of the offensive words and unreasonable noise provisions of California’s disturbing the peace statute Matsuoka also wrote in his report that Carrizales had encouraged the man’s behavior the document does not mention Carrizales himself using offensive language and only names him as an “investigative lead.” Although Carrizales was charged in this incident Open Vallejo analyzed 10 years of criminal charging data from all nine Bay Area counties to determine which district attorney offices have prosecuted individuals under the state’s offensive words statute it typically appeared as a bargaining chip Solano County prosecutors have charged defendants with at least one count of using offensive words 34 times in the last decade It appears that no charge of offensive words has ever made it to a jury trial during that timeframe The charge was dismissed in 11 of these cases.  Public records reviewed by Open Vallejo show several cases in which felony charges were pleaded down to a single charge of offensive words in a public place.  a man was charged with three counts of felony sexual assault on a minor which allegedly occurred in a Burger King restaurant in Vacaville in 2017 The case was set to go to trial in August 2022 a fourth count of offensive words in a public place was penciled in at the bottom of the complaint and Judge Jeffrey Kauffman dismissed the three felony sexual assault charges in a hearing later that day The defendant’s plea deal included 29 days in jail one year of probation and a no-contact order to stay away from the victim He was not required to register as a sex offender Other cases reviewed by Open Vallejo include charges of child molestation domestic violence and felony threats to terrorize — all pled down to offensive words “It is very common nationwide for state prosecutors to use ‘disturbing the peace’ type charges as lesser included offenses as a target in plea bargaining,” said Ken White founding partner of Brown White & Osborn LLP and a former federal prosecutor “They’re rarely challenged although they are of dubious First Amendment validity as used.” Carizales filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him arguing that they violate the First Amendment The prosecution filed its opposition on April 8 A hearing on the motion is scheduled for April 14 the relative rarity of offensive words prosecutions raises suspicions about the charges against his client “What logical conclusion do you draw from that they want him to shut the fuck up and stay the fuck away from the homeless,” Russo told Open Vallejo “You don’t have to be a fucking paranoid to think that people are after you when they are.” VALLEJO – Former Vallejo High School principal Sheila Quintana pleaded guilty last Tuesday in a conspiracy defrauding congregations of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and private lenders Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California Quintana, 71, of Vallejo, and co-defendant Staccato Powell, 65, of Wake Forest, N.C., were indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2022 for conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud was accused of leading the conspiracy.  Prosecutors said that Powell and Quintana acquired 13 properties and took out loans encumbering congregations in San Jose all at the detriment of their constituents and despite their protests Quintana is scheduled to appear in court on July 15 for a status hearing She faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine lowered from a previous 20-year potential sentence She agreed to cooperate with prosecutors while Powell’s case is pending An attorney for Powell did not respond to request for comment As part of her guilty plea Quintana admitted to having helped Powell mislead church leaders into signing over their property deeds as well as forging documents to falsely show that local congregations had approved loans secured against their church’s property they allegedly obtained fraudulent mortgages on churches across California The first documented case of fraud in the litigation occurred in Vallejo in 2017 Quintana obtained a $500,000 mortgage using Kyles Temple in Vallejo and Greater Cooper in Oakland as collateral to help purchase a $1.5 million residence in Granite Bay intended as an episcopal home for Powell Quintana forged documents stating that Kyles Temple’s board members had met The loan was signed in March 2017 even though the temple’s pastor and members eventually found out and objected said in an interview that  “those issues have since been resolved,” and “the church dealt with” Powell and that a new bishop has taken his place “we are praying for her” and declined further comment.  Powell founded a nonprofit called Western Episcopal District Inc naming himself CEO and appointing Quintana as CFO in 2017 The two allegedly used WED to take control of church properties by re-deeding them under WED’s name so as to take out high-interest loans without the need to prove the church’s consent in the matter As the bishop overseeing the Western region of the U.S. Powell had the authority to fire or remove local pastors at will using his influence to pressure the church into submission and deceive pastors into signing over the property deeds Quintana signed three checks totaling $67,500 from WED’s bank account to her spouse She states in her plea that Powell instructed her to remunerate herself in recognition for her service to that amount She admitted she concealed the payments from everyone except Powell with property assets valued at $26.3 million and $12.5 million in debt a parsonage and Powell’s official residence VALLEJO – The Vallejo City Council unanimously approved $11.2 million for one year of law enforcement support from the Solano Sheriff’s Office at a meeting Tuesday in preparation for further contract negotiations with the county and the sheriff’s office The county had requested the initial commitment of funds from the city before proceeding with negotiations on a proposal by the sheriff’s office to address low staffing levels in the Vallejo Police Department The sheriff’s proposal would provide an autonomous service of 17 full-time employees to cover half of Vallejo’s policing beats from 12 p.m The sheriff’s office developed the proposal in coordination with Vallejo Police Department leadership and delivered the terms to city staff in December placing the city and county on a tight timeline to negotiate the contract.  Mayor Andrea Sorce and other councilmembers said during the meeting that there was an urgent need to address public safety in Vallejo.  “We owe it to our community to do everything we can to make this happen,” Sorce said this should have been the number one priority for the city The fact that that term sheet came in mid-December and sat there…I would love to have those three months back right now.” Councilmember Charles Palmares said that the potential for the Sheriff’s assistance to increase the response times to calls for service is at the forefront of his mind he said that what really drove his decision to support the temporary solution is his concern that officers will leave for other agencies or make a mistake because they are exhausted and overworked Vallejo Police Chief Jason Ta presented a timeline at the meeting which allowed for a month of negotiation before bringing a contract to the county Board of Supervisors Ta said that the next step would be for the sheriff’s office and the city to meet and confer with their respective bargaining units He expects that process to take one to two months may be an obstacle to proceeding with the plan said in an email that the union is 100% against the sheriff’s office proposal.  Nichelini said that officer morale is at a record low and rejected the notion that the sheriff’s proposal would improve it “How would you like it if your boss paid a bunch of money to someone else to do your job?” he said.  the sheriff’s office needs six months to staff up and train deputies before they begin patrolling Vallejo streets The sheriff’s office will also order and build-out new vehicles for the sheriff’s deputies over six to nine months This would place the sheriff’s office start date somewhere between January and March 2026 potentially leaving less than a year available under the state legislation the sheriff’s deputies would operate under their own policies and not those of the city of Vallejo the city would largely take on liability for actions of sheriff’s deputies working in Vallejo The county would be liable in cases of willful misconduct but the city would be required to indemnify incidents of negligent misconduct Investigations of misconduct would be performed by the sheriff’s office internal affairs and the District Attorney’s Major Crimes Task force.  The sheriff’s office also is requiring that the deputies would not be subject to a Vallejo Police Department reform agreement with the state Department of Justice City staff said that discussions with the DOJ on this topic are still ongoing.  The $11.2 million cost for the assistance will be spread across two fiscal years with $5.6 million coming from this year and the following year But it’s not clear where the funds will come from Councilmember Diosdado “JR” Matulac asked how the $11.2 million expenditure would affect the city’s reserves. He said his concern is that if the reserve fund is depleted it will affect the city’s credit rating at a time when the city needs to secure a favorable interest rate on a bond market in order to build a new police station. City Manager Andrew Murray said that there are a number of factors used to determine the city’s credit rating but an $11 million expenditure would bring the city’s reserve fund below the recommended balance of two months of operating expenses.  Sorce said that she would like to negotiate with the sheriff on some of the administrative costs outlined in the terms of the proposal but otherwise she feels that the offer is comparable to what the city is already paying for law enforcement.  Sorce said that she would like to use a combination of sales tax funds from Measure P and Police Department salary savings to pay for the sheriff’s support.  City Finance Director Rekha Nayar said that in the 2022-23 fiscal year there was $7.3 million in salary savings the bulk of which was set aside for costs related to the DOJ agreement a cost of living adjustment for VPOA members and a VPOA recruitment and retention program The remaining $3 million from the 2022-23 year and $4.1 million from the 2023-24 year were used to balance the budget “Let's balance the budget by cutting elsewhere and put that funding into the sheriff [support],” Sorce said We've already gone bankrupt once we're in a really good position with our reserves An unhoused man killed on Christmas Eve was seen alive just hours before being crushed to death by a Vallejo Public Works backhoe and was surrounded by personal effects when he died according to newly-released records obtained by Open Vallejo through a public records request.  To date, the city of Vallejo has spoken only in vague terms about the circumstances surrounding the death of James Oakley II who city officials have thus far declined to name But a coroner’s investigation released Monday sheds new light on Oakley’s killing and reveals apparent contradictions between what city workers told police and what investigators discovered upon arriving at the scene Oakley had been lying atop a mattress under blankets and several items of clothing when a city employee pressed down on him with the bucket of the city-owned backhoe The backhoe operator then scooped up a pile of debris and began moving it toward a dump truck Another member of the work crew then spotted Oakley’s leg dangling from the bucket of the backhoe The Solano County Coroner’s Office found on Jan 21 that Oakley died of blunt force injuries inflicted by the machine City workers who reported the incident to Vallejo police told investigators they found a mattress covered by what they described as a large tarp Solano County Sheriff’s Deputy Jessica Dew Crewmembers kicked the mattress and shouted to ask if anyone was inside the backhoe operator then pressed down on the pile The crew had unloaded Oakley from the backhoe by the time Dew arrived including “a deep indentation” in his back along with multiple abrasions and contusions; his “left leg was turned inward awkwardly and appeared broken.”  Dew also noted blood inside the bucket of the backhoe Dew determined that Oakley was on the mattress and under the blankets when the crew began removing the trash pile. A Recology waste management crew also told Vallejo police at the scene they had planned to clear the same pile earlier that morning but saw a person alive with the items and decided to leave according to the death investigation report The Solano County District Attorney’s Office declined to press charges citing insufficient evidence, following a Vallejo police investigation that found no evidence of intent to cause injury or death. In a press release on Feb. 24, City Manager Andrew Murray called Oakley’s death a “tragic incident.” Open Vallejo filed a public records request on March 3 for the Vallejo police investigation and other city records related to Oakley’s death City spokesperson Sharon Lund did not immediately respond to comment Vallejo police spokesperson Rashad Hollis was not immediately available for comment.  Oakley’s death has sparked concern and outrage among homeless advocates with some calling for a moratorium on all encampment sweeps organizers with the Vallejo Homeless Union mixedkollective and POOR Magazine held an emergency prayer ceremony and press conference at the steps of City Hall.  Oakley was once a star athlete at Vintage High School in Napa During his athletic career he earned numerous accolades including being named to the all-Napa County and all-Monticello Empire league teams in 1982 and 1983 and the all-county baseball team in 1984.  The once record-breaking athlete’s life began to unravel when he was arrested in 1989 for the killing of a 19-year-old Benicia man for which he was convicted of manslaughter Oakley had been working as a drug informant and obtained the shotgun used in the killing from a Napa County Sheriff’s deputy the county denied that he was working as an informant at the time of the killing.  an organization called Low-Income Residents of Vallejo said they have been in contact with Murray to discuss feedback on future homelessness policies calling the incident “horrifying and unacceptable,” according to a Facebook post by the group “We can’t allow another situation like this to ever happen again and the general public — which includes our unhoused residents — deserves transparency,” the group wrote in its email to the city A city of Vallejo public works crew discovered a dead man during a Christmas Eve cleanup at an alleged illegal dumping site prompting police to shut down the area for several hours City workers were using a backhoe to clear the site in the 2300 block of Broadway Street around 9 a.m Tuesday when they came across what appeared to be a human limb sticking out from bags of construction debris according to public records and sources with knowledge of the matter The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation Investigators soon uncovered the body of an unidentified man whose death Vallejo firefighters confirmed about 30 minutes after the initial discovery Vallejo police later towed the backhoe as evidence.  “The City of Vallejo is investigating this matter, and more information will be released as it develops,” Vallejo City Manager Andrew Murray wrote in a statement to Open Vallejo Friday “The City employees have been provided with support services as a result of the incident.” The Solano County Coroner’s Office is also investigating the man’s death Rashad Hollis did not immediately respond to a request for comment Former Vallejo police union president Mathew Mustard has left the Vallejo Police Department The documentary placed an international spotlight on the embattled detective who leaves behind a legacy in Vallejo steeped in controversy Mustard did not respond to requests for comment Vallejo police responded to a report that a woman had fallen in her motel room after choking on food first responders found Jessica Brastow lying unconscious on the floor in her own vomit had injuries to her wrists which first responders believed were from being tied up First responders also found a sock with blood and saliva in a trash can told police she had only been down for two minutes before he called 911 but first responders noted she was cold to the touch The case would ultimately prompt the California State Bar to suspend the lead prosecutor’s law license for misconduct While Mustard was not the subject of the investigation a State Bar Court ruling would find that Mustard pushed for Daniels’ conviction for murder even when a county forensic pathologist could not confidently rule Brastow’s death a homicide and the next day attended Brastow’s autopsy a forensic pathologist with the Solano County Coroner’s Office The detective was adamant that Daniels had murdered Brastow theorizing that Daniels had tied up Brastow and shoved a sock down her throat Brastow’s injuries were not consistent with strangulation While Hogan opined the cause of death to be asphyxia she did not believe there was enough evidence to conclude that it was a homicide The coroner’s office later ruled the manner of death undetermined “What will it take for you to call this a homicide?” Mustard allegedly said as Hogan was concluding the autopsy.  Hogan’s audio notes captured during the autopsy reveal the doctor’s frustration.  and there is no way I could call this at this point and I’m not going to be pushed into it The Solano County District Attorney’s Office charged Daniels with murder on Aug But without a final autopsy report at the time and with Hogan’s preliminary finding that the manner of death was undetermined 2013 meeting with former Solano County prosecutors Andrew Ganz and Eric Charm James O’Connell and two coroner sheriff’s deputies Mustard again pressed the case for his sock-down-the-throat theory Hogan responded with a detailed scientific rebuttal state bar records show; she recalled that Mustard and Ganz glared at her throughout the meeting.  But Ganz and Mustard agreed that the case should still move forward even though it would largely rely on Hogan’s findings “My opinion is that if we do nothing else he gets away with murder and he knows what he did and becomes empowered and another victim of his violence is just a matter of time,” Mustard wrote in a Sept “I think that we have done cases that have more obstacles than this one and we need to throw it against the wall and see what sticks.” Ganz and O’Connell did not respond to a request for comment District Attorney spokesperson Monica Martinez declined to comment noting that Ganz was no longer with the agency and Charm did not litigate the case.  puzzling the public defender assigned to the case Ganz did not disclose Hogan’s reservations nor the fact that the January meeting took place Neither Hogan nor Mustard mentioned the meeting in trial testimony 2013 preliminary hearing that she planned to retire the following week But in January 2014 she revealed to the district attorney’s office that she was instead fired in December 2013 The January meeting and Ganz and Mustard’s issues with Hogan were revealed after Daniels’ attorney subpoenaed her personnel file in January 2014.  but allowed him to serve two years of probation and a 90-day suspension instead Ganz is now a partner at Rains Lucia Stern St which for years counted the Vallejo Police Officers’ Association as a client It is unclear whether Mustard was ever disciplined in connection with the case Vallejo resident Aaron Quinn called Vallejo police to report that his girlfriend had been kidnapped from his Mare Island home in the middle of the night Quinn told police that multiple individuals had woken the couple up Quinn says he was threatened not to call police and that the invaders had set up a camera to ensure his compliance he was given jail clothes to wear and was taken to an interrogation room Mustard and other detectives grilled Quinn about the incident for nearly 18 hours during which Mustard repeatedly accused Quinn of murdering Huskins.  And I put a lot of puzzles together,” Mustard told Quinn during questioning “So now I get out my puzzle pieces and I start figuring out how do I make it so you look like a monster?” Police missed key evidence that could have pointed them to Huskins’ location sooner Huskins and Quinn subsequently alleged in a lawsuit Quinn told police that the kidnappers would attempt to contact him police had placed Quinn’s phone on airplane mode while he was being interrogated.  Mustard at one point tried to convince Quinn’s brother to pressure him to admit to murdering Huskins Mustard’s theory began to shift after a proof-of-life recording was emailed to the San Francisco Chronicle the next day Huskins’ mother said in an interview that Mustard asked for details of her daughter’s dating history and at one point suggested that women who are survivors of sexual assault often attempt to recreate the experience to relive the “thrill” of it.  Two days after being kidnapped, Huskins turned up alive 400 miles away, wandering her father’s neighborhood in Huntington Beach. This only ramped up false claims against the couple by the Vallejo Police Department. At a press conference on the evening of Huskins’ release, police spokesperson Lt. Kenny Park accused the couple of draining resources from the city.  who is now a lieutenant with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Quinn and Huskins settled a defamation lawsuit against Vallejo for $2.5 million in 2018. Vallejo police did not publicly apologize for the incident until 2021 “What happened to Ms. Huskins and Mr. Quinn is horrific and evil,” said then-Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams “Although I was not chief in 2015 when this incident occurred I would like to extend my deepest apology to Ms Quinn for how they were treated during this ordeal.” Mustard was never reprimanded for his bungling of the Huskins investigation. Instead, his colleagues presented him with the 2015 Officer of the Year Award But the promotion did not come without its own controversy.  Whitney declined to comment for this article Whitney claimed that Mustard initially failed a written portion of the sergeant promotional exam and approached Bidou to change the exam — a move that Whitney and former police captain Lee Horton strongly opposed.  Bidou and Horton did not respond to requests for comment Whitney testified in a deposition that the changes watered down the exam particularly by changing the weight of the written portion of the test and removing a provision requiring a passing score of 70% or higher to advance in the promotion process.  “Several officers in the department came to me and wanted to discuss it They were upset that the process had been changed and believed that it was changed to benefit Mat Mustard,” Whitney testified As a sergeant detective, Mustard’s alleged behavior drew more controversy after a 2020 independent investigation found he made a racist joke on at least one occasion and twice addressed Det Mustard described the town as “dark as Coley’s ass,” according to a confidential report by outside investigator Dorothy Le of the firm Ellis & Makus LLP which the city of Vallejo hired to investigate Scott’s claims Witnesses told the investigator the phrase referred to a joke Mustard’s grandfather would tell about the only Black man who lived in an elder relative’s neighborhood; Scott alleged that Mustard looked directly at him as he made the comment Mustard said “Coley” referred to his grandfather’s black dog The investigator instead determined that the phrase was a “widely known comment about a black person.” Scott also alleged that Mustard had been tougher on him because he was Black Mustard reprimanded Scott in front of his colleagues for not finishing a search warrant as instructed Mustard then barred Scott from eating pizza that Scott brought back for a team of detectives working late until he finished his task The investigative report found that although Mustard denied Scott pizza and spoke “sternly and angrily” to him the incident — as well as others alleged by Scott — could not be attributed to racial bias.  From the start of Mustard’s tenure as detective sergeant there were claims that he had an issue with Scott When Mustard was promoted he allegedly asked Whitney to move Scott back to patrol according to Whitney’s deposition in his whistleblower lawsuit Whitney testified that he told Mustard to help Scott adjust to his relatively new assignment as a detective Mustard also told the former captain that he believed Scott was lazy It is unclear whether Mustard was ever reprimanded in relation to Scott’s allegations Rashad Hollis did not respond to requests for comment Scott left the Vallejo Police Department in September 2021 after nearly 16 years in the city He is now a criminal investigator with the Solano County District Attorney’s Office Mustard also initiated the illegal destruction of Vallejo police shooting records in 2021 On Jan. 8, 2021, amid an ongoing investigation into Vallejo police by the California Department of Justice, Mustard emailed Assistant City Attorney Katelyn Knight regarding five police shooting files he located while “doing research on OIS cases.” or destroy any of this Evidence we wanted to clear this with the City Attorney’s Office,” Mustard wrote copying two other members of the Vallejo police command staff “These are all ok to release or destroy per the retention schedule,” Knight responded despite Open Vallejo’s public records requests for the same files Mustard was a lead investigator in all of these cases and was at the scene during one of them, according to a review of the case files by Open Vallejo. He also conducted interviews of shooting officers in each case, which means videotapes of his own interviews were destroyed at his initiative. All of the shootings involved at least one officer linked to Vallejo’s badge-bending scandal The disclosed records included footage of Mustard interviewing former officers Sean Kenney and Dustin Joseph, who mortally wounded Mario Romero in 2012, shooting him 30 times; and Lt. Steve Darden, who shot and killed Mohammed Naas in 2013 and did not provide affidavits from either officer Knight did not respond to a request for comment A spokesperson for the city of Vallejo declined to comment for this story Mustard will earn $182,497.44 annually from his public employee pension according to a spokesperson for the state retirement agency Mustard’s quiet departure is fitting.  He told Open Vallejo in an interview Friday that Mustard never apologized for his conduct in the 2015 kidnapping investigations.  Huskins and Quinn have traveled the country giving speeches at law enforcement events to share their story Quinn said they want police to learn from their experience to prevent a repeat of what happened to them Among the changes they have advocated is a shift from outdated interrogation tactics to science-based interview approaches “It’s unfortunate taxpayers will have to pay his retirement benefits as he’s in our personal experience tried to put innocent people away due to his lack of investigative integrity,” Quinn said Mike Nisperos, a longtime champion of police reform in Vallejo, resigned Monday from the Police Oversight and Accountability Commission hours before a special meeting which he said the city scheduled in violation of a 2022 ordinance.  But more than two years after the board was created, the commission has been unable to begin work, despite a settlement agreement with the California Department of Justice which requires that Vallejo police work with the commission to strengthen community engagement The commission has stalled because the Vallejo City Attorney’s Office has so far provided less than half of the required training Nisperos wrote in his resignation letter.  The ordinance states that members should complete their training within nine months of their appointment to the board; that deadline passed in November as the city failed to provide the training One commissioner’s term expired in February although his name was still listed on the March meeting agenda.  Vice Mayor Peter Bregenzer and Councilmembers Alexander Matias Helen-Marie Gordon and Tonia Lediju were not immediately available for comment The city scheduled a special meeting of the commission at 6 p.m Monday to review and discuss proposed changes to the Police Oversight and Accountability Ordinance the commission would be tasked with giving “opinions” to the police chief rather than “recommendations,” which police reform advocates have said will weaken the commission’s power.  The Vallejo City Council will also discuss the amended ordinance at a special meeting scheduled for 6 p.m which provides civil service protections to officers.  Both are “the very essential information you would need in order to conduct a meaningful discussion about an amendment to an ordinance that you’re unfamiliar with,” he said Nisperos, a former California State Bar prosecutor who served as a founding member of the Oakland Police Commission in 2017 has been involved with a years-long process to establish civilian police oversight in Vallejo He said the experience has been long and frustrating due to the city’s mismanagement but that he remains available as an informal resource to commissioners and city council members.  “I’m not withdrawing from participating or being engaged,” Nisperos said “It’s just that I’m not going to participate in something that’s turning out to be a folly.” Anna Bauman is a former investigative reporter with Open Vallejo Vallejo police rescued a toddler hours after she was kidnapped during an alleged carjacking Friday afternoon in Vallejo Officers responded to a report of a carjacking near Santa Clara and Maine Streets at around 3:38 p.m. The vehicle’s owner sustained minor injuries in the robbery took off in the blue Honda Pilot with the owner’s young child still inside A friend of the victim pursued the stolen vehicle and alerted the police a witness called in to report that a blue vehicle with front-end damage had hit a light pole Steve Darden radioed to report that the vehicle was heavily damaged and likely did not get far an officer broadcast over the radio that he believed he had found the vehicle near Kissell Alley and Sacramento Street.  Detectives Jaleesa Bradshaw and Jordon Patzer soon arrived At the time of the alleged carjacking, Vallejo police were thin on officers because several units were in Oakland after getting into a pursuit from north Vallejo that reached speeds of 110 mph Officers lost the suspect vehicle after it pulled into a parking structure near Oakland’s Jack London Square made it back in time to participate in the rescue officers delivered the girl to her father and a team of paramedics who waited on the street for their arrival The girl’s father took his child in his arms as he openly wept with relief VALLEJO - Vallejo will lose two Walgreens stores later this month as the pharmacy retail company shutters branches across California The chain plans to close its stores at both 1050 Redwood St and 2647 Springs Road before the end of February.  The Redwood Street location buzzed with activity Wednesday afternoon as customers arrived at the pharmacy Edin Rivas was one of those approaching the store accompanying a family member to pick up her prescription.  While he was surprised to learn of the notice posted on the store’s door of the coming closure on Feb I get my own prescriptions at CVS,” he said Signs posted at Walgreens' two Vallejo locations announcing upcoming closures Photos by Natalie Hanson and Isidra Mencos The notice on Walgreens’ Redwood Street location notifies customers that all prescription files will be transferred to the CVS pharmacy store location at 3678 Sonoma Blvd. 26. The Springs Road location will close on Feb 27 and patients are directed to pick up their prescriptions at the CVS at 2100 Columbus Parkway in Benicia The Vallejo closures are among those which Walgreens announced in October. The company said in a statement that it will close 1,200 stores with 500 scheduled to be shut down this year Many of those closures affect locations throughout cities in the Bay Area.  The company said that it is unable to cover losses from several factors, including rising operating costs, and reported a $3 billion net loss in the year’s fourth quarter “Increased regulatory and reimbursement pressures are impacting our ability to cover the costs associated with rent staffing and supply needs,” Walgreen said in its statement “We know that our stores are important to the communities that we serve and therefore do everything possible to improve the store performance.” rising costs and declining drug reimbursement rates ignoring signs of a public health crisis.  The U.S. Justice Department also this year accused Walgreens of filling millions of unlawful prescriptions over the last decade including for dangerous amounts of opioids and pressuring pharmacists to fill prescriptions without confirming their validity An Oxford-trained computer scientist could face the death penalty for allegedly killing an 82-year-old Vallejo landlord to prevent him from testifying in a murder case against his former tenants according to the Solano County District Attorney’s Office.  He is being held without bail at the Solano County Jail in Fairfield Although California’s death penalty has been dormant since Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order pausing state-ordered killings in March of 2019 prosecutors may still pursue capital punishment under the law “The defendant is death eligible at this point,” District Attorney Krishna Abrams wrote in an email to Open Vallejo Tuesday adding that she will make a final decision after Snyder’s preliminary hearing.  Public records show that Snyder applied for a marriage license in November in Washington with 21-year-old Teresa Youngblut, who federal authorities charged last week in connection with the Jan 20 fatal shooting of Border Patrol Agent David Maland in Vermont.  and interviews conducted by Open Vallejo with people familiar with the ideology and its adherents Snyder and Youngblut both attended Lakeside School Snyder studied computer science at the University of Oxford and in 2023 won $11,000 in an artificial intelligence research competition Youngblut described herself on social media as a computer science student at the University of Washington.  In his first court appearance,  Snyder wore a striped jail uniform and shackles He glanced at a group of journalists documenting the hearing before sitting down beside his lawyer a Napa-based criminal defense attorney.  Trombetta told Judge Jeffrey Kauffman that he was appearing in court for another attorney Kauffman postponed Snyder’s arraignment until next Thursday when Bevins will be back in town Bevins did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  In April, Lind was scheduled to testify against a group of young tenants who allegedly stabbed him in November 2022 two days before they were set to be evicted from his property for failing to pay rent who was living among friends in box trucks on the property allegedly asked Lind to help with a water leak on the morning of Nov impaled Lind with a sword through the chest Court records show that Leatham and Dao have since been charged with the murder of their friend along with an aggravated mayhem charge.  Posts on the online forum LessWrong.com allege that the three people involved in the 2022 stabbing are associated with Jack LaSota who goes by Ziz and appears to be the inspiration for the fringe ideology built on a shared affinity for veganism and artificial intelligence theory Documents obtained by Open Vallejo indicate that LaSota lived on the Vallejo property with Leatham and Borhanian Autumn Russell, who describes herself as a member of the broader Rationalist community, said in an interview Monday that she befriended Felix Bauckholt, who she knew as Ophelia, through their shared interest in rationalism.  Russell said Bauckholt, who worked in financial algorithmic trading in New York City, had expressed an idle, philosophical interest in the Zizian ideology before she abruptly disappeared, cutting off contact with friends and going dark online in the fall of 2023. Bauckholt was killed in the Vermont Border Patrol shootout last week in which Snyder’s partner, Youngblut, has been charged.  Russell said she never met Snyder in person but that he contacted several of her friends in an apparent attempt to recruit them into the ideology. In online posts, Snyder appeared to embrace Zizian ideas and beliefs, Russell said, noting he seemed obsessive and analytical.  “My initial reaction to him was very negative,” Russell said. “I never got anything else to contradict that.” Open Vallejo is the city’s only nonprofit newsroom. Your support allows us to provide accurate, ethical, and impactful reporting in the public interest. Become a sustaining subscriber today. Anna Bauman is a former investigative reporter with Open Vallejo. We depend on your support. A generous gift in any amount helps us continue to bring you this service. Open Vallejo is an award-winning, independent, nonpartisan newsroom serving the public interest. We are a project of the Informed California Foundation, a periodical publication, wire service and press association that produces and supports impactful, responsive, local accountability journalism in communities across the state. Open Vallejo is a project of the Informed California Foundation,a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our Tax ID is 84-4618329.All donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. The 29-year-old Vallejo native will provide some depth in the outfield for the Sacramento River Cats in Triple-A and will give the Giants a potential call-up The SF Giants have signed outfielder Daniel Johnson to a minor league contract Johnson has seen time in the major leagues before He played for Cleveland in 2020 and 2021 and last season he had one at-bat with the Baltimore Orioles He has 18 hits in 90 at-bats with four home runs in his MLB career Drafted by Washington Nationals in the fifth round of the 2016 MLB Draft San Francisco is the sixth MLB organization Johnson has been part of If he is able to get promoted to the Giants this season it would be a cool moment for him to get to play for a team he grew up so close to He was swinging a hot bat in the Mexican League which likely caught the attention of the Giants In ten games this season in Mexico he slashed .429/.512/.943 with five home runs and twelve runs batted in Last season the Giants signed Jerar Encarnacion after he tore it up in the Mexican League so maybe they are hoping they can replicate that success with Encarnacion currently on the shelf due to a hand fracture Johnson will join other outfielders in Sacramento like Grant McCray He may not be the most likely to receive a call-up from that group but if he continues to swing a hot bat he could be the next man up if there is an injury Johnson bats left-handed so he could be a guy who gets called up if either Mike Yastrzemski or Jung Hoo Lee is forced to go on the IL but it gives the Giants some extra depth to draw upon in Triple-A It could also set up a feel good story if Johnson can make his debut with the Giants and play for his hometown team at some point in 2025 © 2025 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only Betting and gambling content is intended for individuals 21+ and is based on individual commentators' opinions and not that of Minute Media or its affiliates and related brands All picks and predictions are suggestions only and not a guarantee of success or profit If you or someone you know has a gambling problem crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER He was swinging a hot bat in the Mexican League which likely caught the attention of the Giants Last season the Giants signed Jerar Encarnacion after he tore it up in the Mexican League so maybe they are hoping they can replicate that success with Encarnacion currently on the shelf due to a hand fracture Johnson will join other outfielders in Sacramento like Grant McCray Police are investigating what may be the city’s third homicide of the year after a body was found Saturday morning at the Wardlaw Dog Park in Northeast Vallejo At approximately 5:25 a.m., police responded to a report of a man lying on the ground next to a silver Mustang, according to public records. Officers arrived within five minutes and found the man with a large head wound Medical personnel pronounced the man dead at 5:36 a.m. and officers asked dispatch to call the coroner Vallejo police listed the death as only a “suspicious circumstance” in the agency’s daily incident log But a source with knowledge of the matter told Open Vallejo authorities suspect the man was shot in the head The source also said that the scene appeared inconsistent with a suicide and that police did not find a firearm near the man’s body.  The source spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation The Solano County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as 37-year-old Phillip Boursiquot Twelve officers responded to the call, including Det. Wesley Pittman, Lt. Herman Robinson and Ofc. Jaime Escalante Rashad Hollis declined to say whether police believe Boursiquot’s death was a homicide until they receive a report from the coroner Hollis said the incident was listed as a suspicious circumstance for the same reason Although first responders initially suspected that Phillip Boursiquot had been shot, he died of an overdose according to a Solano County Coroner’s Office investigation disclosed on April 14 VALLEJO – A former city of Vallejo spokesperson sued the city this week alleging that she was harassed and bullied out of her job after she reported potentially illegal and unethical conduct by top city management who demanded her “loyalty.” Christina Lee, who was Vallejo’s spokesperson from 2020 until she resigned last year, filed the lawsuit in Solano County Superior Court on Thursday.  It alleges that city officials including former City Manager Mike Malone current Assistant City Manager Gillian Haen and former Assistant City Manager Terrance Davis failed to investigate her reports of inappropriate and unethical behavior and instead effectively demoted her and made working there increasingly intolerable the lawsuit alleges that Haen ordered a subordinate to delete text messages relating to housing and homelessness in violation of the California Public Records Act and to submit falsified documents to the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development.  “The City takes all claims of employee misconduct seriously and takes appropriate follow up action,” City Manager Andrew Murray said in a statement “The City is committed to providing efficient and effective services and conducting work in a professional manner.” Lee is represented by Randall Strauss of the law firm Gwilliam Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli & Brewer, which also represented three fired Vallejo employees who alleged they were terminated for reporting unethical conduct by city officials. That suit was settled with the city paying nearly $3 million between the three plaintiffs. According to the lawsuit, when Lee was hired she reported directly to then-City Manager Greg Nyhoff and worked long, irregular hours because of numerous scandals surrounding the city at the time, including the revelations that police officers had bent the tips of their badges to mark shootings. After Nyhoff abruptly resigned in 2021, Malone was eventually appointed city manager was promoted to assistant city manager in 2022 Haen then moved the public information officer position to report directly to her Lee alleged that she became aware of potentially illegal and unethical conduct by Haen The lawsuit alleges that Haen ordered then-interim assistant to the city manager Natalie Peterson to delete text messages relating to housing and homelessness in violation of the California Public Records Act.  Peterson had expressed an interest in applying for a “generalist” assistant to the city manager position but the lawsuit alleges Haen discouraged her from doing that and threatened that she could lose her interim position if she did Haen also interfered with Malone’s attempts to control messaging from the Vallejo Police Department Malone had been working with senior communications analyst Allison Mattioli on issues relating to the city’s liability Malone had instructed her not to share login credentials for the Vallejo Police Department’s social media accounts with the Vallejo police analyst which then-police Chief Shawny Williams was unhappy about Haen allegedly interfered and tried to force Mattioli to provide the credentials in defiance of Malone and threatened her job if she didn’t comply Lee met with Malone in October 2022 and reported Haen’s behavior directly to him Lee requested that their conversation remain confidential and Malone said he would only share it with Davis Malone told Lee she would report directly to him again but Lee alleges that he joined Haen in retaliating against her The lawsuit alleges that it became clear that Malone had disclosed Lee’s complaint to Haen as Haen refused to interact with Lee at all after that Davis and Haen also refused to promote her into a new position that had been created for her Despite that the city had created a new community engagement manager position to promote Lee Malone told her she would have to apply for the job Haen and Davis interrogated her about her “loyalty to the city” and said that they need to hire someone they can “trust.”  Eventually the city hired Sharon Lund for the new position and Lee alleges that Haen tainted her relationship with Lund from the beginning as Lund refused to even have coffee with Lee unless it was “necessary.” The lawsuit alleges that text messages released by the city confirm Haen was actively obstructing Lee from being promoted The stress of her job had caused Lee mounting health issues and she took a medical leave of absence from July through December 2023 Lee complained about the behavior of city leadership to City Attorney Veronica Nebb who told her to stop talking when Lee disclosed Haen’s alleged attempts to destroy records saying that otherwise she would “have to do something about it,” the lawsuit alleges Peterson told her that Haen had demanded she submit falsely backdated records to the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development Lee alleges that she became aware in June of last year that an application had been submitted with falsified documentation.  By the time Lee returned, Malone had announced his retirement from the city and the lawsuit alleges that she improperly tried to get information about the other candidates from the city’s human resources department but she had by then “already worked under two corrupt city managers who engaged in Lee once again reported her complaints to city personnel analyst Patrice Miller Lee alleges that Nebb then contacted her and told her that an outside investigator had been assigned to investigate her complaints nearly two years after she made her first complaint to Malone Lee is not the first city employee to claim that she had been harassed by Haen. In 2023, former housing manager Judy Shepard-Hall sued the city among other things alleging that Haen (who was then Gillian Hayes) had harassed and bullied her including yelling at her in front of a colleague.  Lee’s lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages for lost wages and opportunities and punitive damages to deter future misconduct The Vallejo Vignettes are reader-submitted stories of something fun, quirky or inspiring that happened to them in Vallejo. If you'd like to submit a Vignette for publication, please email your submission to vallejovignettes@vallejosun.com the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Vallejo is ospreys I was first introduced to them on my former commute which took me to and from Benicia to Petaluma via Mare Island every day.  While inching my way toward the Highway 37 onramp one morning (as so many of us do!) I heard a loud screech above my car and saw a small tornado of feathers out my window I looked up and saw an osprey chasing a pair of crows away from a giant pile of sticks that was perched atop a telephone pole The osprey returned and started preening delicately on an adjacent pole This immediately became my most thrilling commute yet!  I pulled over and took a closer look at everything I had seen that morning The pile of sticks was clearly an osprey nest and the camera was pointing directly at it Someone must be monitoring our local osprey population I started bringing my camera with me on commute days and began searching the rest of Mare Island for osprey nests Once I started paying more attention to the skies and ponds around me and every Spring I get excited to watch their fledglings grow up and eventually leave their nests I typically see them hunting along the Napa River and the nearby wetlands or perched on cranes and other shipyard infrastructure I’m often greeted by their chirps while enjoying a Hydraulic Sandwich at the Mare Island Brewing Co and I cheer audibly when I see them successfully catch a fish.   the ospreys have opened my eyes to all the other amazing birds that call Vallejo home We are blessed with an amazing diversity and abundance of birds that many of our neighbors don’t get to enjoy up close.  My favorite places for birding in Vallejo are Glen Cove These are the places I go to get my nature fix I decided to sell my Berkeley condo and buy an old Victorian wooden farmhouse in Vallejo I wanted to use it as an artist residency as well as my home Vallejo was midway between a close friend in Suisun Valley and my daughter’s family in Albany.   I spent every September-April in rural New Zealand with Vallejo’s climate and friendly people Every year I also went history-hunting in the registrar’s office in Fairfield One puzzle was that my cottage and shed seemed to appear on an 1871 drawing of Vallejo but just down the hill from where the Good Templar’s Home for Orphans used to be Could this be “the old Curtis place” I had found mentioned as sold in 1861 Maybe Vallejo High School records could help me In the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum I searched through school yearbooks As I turned the pages of the 1938 yearbook suddenly I found a photo of a tennis team showing a corner of “my” house Left: Blueprints of Kay Flavell's Vallejo home Right: Yearbook tennis team photos showing a corner of the home The next day I visited the VUSD office and asked them if they could help They provided copies of deeds showing the school’s purchase of the house and even a blueprint showing how it was to be moved.  My next step took me to the library of the California Historical Society on Mission Street in San Francisco I opened a typescript by artist Mary Curtis Richardson (1848-1931) On the last page I read ‘Father had land a mile or so out of town and built a house.’  We were living in the Old Curtis Place!  Kay’s house has been on the Historic Homes tour of Vallejo the last two years.  Send us your best Vallejo stories! They should be between 50 and 800 words, and tell something fun, quirky or inspiring that has happened to you in Vallejo. Email your submission to vallejovignettes@vallejosun.com An editor will contact you if your story is being considered for publication I was born and raised in this little lovely city of Vallejo it’s been riddled with various crimes and overshadowed with negative dialogue.  This is why I’m always eager to share nice stories like something I witnessed while I was at the park with my family and grandchildren.  A young lady sometimes hands out healthy snacks to the children at the park One time she gave the kids boxes of apple juice bags with little carrots and pizza Lunchables.  Another day a different young lady who frequents the park with her children gathered all the kids Talk about nostalgia! All you could hear was the children laughing — and a few grunts These acts of kindness and parents creating a fun safe space for the children warm my heart.  I mentioned to my daughter that maybe we should look into providing outdoor games for the kids during the summer at the park but there are plenty of good things going on. Let’s all get involved Take the babies to a park for some fresh air and be proactive My entire life I moved around the country and parts of the Americas due to my parents’ profession and later my own The Bay Area was somewhere I had been but never lived I can’t see myself anywhere else and Vallejo is a major reason for that.  My move to Vallejo was a hard reset in life The support this place has for its own is unwavering I can see the connections people have with each other Those connections run just as deep as Vallejo’s battle scars Community is built to lend a hand to each other I can see the effort and care people have for each other I am not sure how long I will live in Vallejo No matter how long it is I know this was the right move for me a couple of years ago This town is unlike any other in the Bay Area I wanted to write this as a “thank you” to the city and Solano County is hosting a groundbreaking event for the State Route 37 (SR 37)/Fairgrounds Drive Interchange Improvement Project $25 million project to create roadway improvements along portions of Fairgrounds Drive and Redwood Parkway/Redwood Street as well as several nearby intersections and interchanges within the city of Vallejo This Project will widen and improve 1.5 miles of Fairgrounds Drive extending from the State Route 37 interchange to the Redwood Parkway/Interstate 80 Interchange The Project will implement a Diverging Diamond Interchange design that will significantly improve traffic flow and safety while reducing congestion and greenhouse gas emissions.  Once the Project is completed a larger countywide economic development to revitalize the area and encourage economic growth and development This includes a mobility hub at the Fairgrounds site which is funded by One Bay Area Grant Cycle 3 (OBAG-3) and various grants provided by the STA to the County—the project sponsor Improvements will also be made to a number of intersections and interchanges including Redwood Street/Parkway and Interstate 80 This Project will relieve congestion and improve traffic flow on local streets improve the existing interchange and intersection operations and increase capacity of the local roadway network to support future growth Rendered images of projected result of State Route 37 (SR 37)/Fairgrounds Drive Interchange Improvement Project For more information visit the State Route 37/Fairgrounds Drive Project webpage: https://sta.ca.gov/project/redwood-parkway-fairgrounds-dr-improvement-project/ Leer en español VALLEJO —Inside the VIDAS office in Vallejo the immigrant community is deeply woven into the city’s identity many live with the constant uncertainty that their legal status could unravel everything they have built At the heart of the city’s immigrant advocacy is VIDAS (Vital Immigrant Defense Advocacy and Services) a nonprofit organization that offers low-cost and pro bono legal representation to those who would otherwise be left to navigate the system alone VIDAS has provided thousands of immigrants with the legal support necessary to stay with their families The need for these services is greater than ever. Across the United States, only 30% of individuals facing deportation have legal representation, as reported in 2016 by the American Immigration Council VIDAS is the only option standing between them and an uncertain future understands firsthand the trauma of being forced to flee home she was deeply involved in community activism But as civil war spread across the country she witnessed a wave of violence that claimed the lives of close friends and fellow organizers When she and others were ambushed on the road one night where she was granted asylum with the help of a church network in Arizona and the safety of a new community that allowed her to start over she dedicated herself to ensuring other immigrants had the same chance along with two undocumented women from Mexico a nonprofit dedicated to offering affordable immigration legal services and on the campuses of Santa Rosa Junior College and Napa Valley College to provide free legal services for students Despite Vallejo’s central location in the Bay Area and expanding population VIDAS highlighted that the struggle to provide adequate legal services for the city’s immigrant residents are significant: VIDAS Executive Director Monica Julian has seen how these barriers create fear and uncertainty “Our phones are ringing constantly,” Julian said “People are not just calling about themselves They’re calling about their family members There is a deep sense of vulnerability right now.” the challenges they face extend far beyond legal concerns They are also carrying the weight of past trauma VIDAS integrates mental health and wellness support into its work people who have experienced deep trauma,” Ordoñez said but so is emotional and psychological healing.” VIDAS ensures that both clients and staff have access to the resources needed to navigate these difficult situations hosting Know Your Rights workshops and free legal clinics in Vallejo and surrounding areas to inform immigrants about their options These sessions provide critical information to help individuals understand their legal rights and navigate the complexities of the immigration system The next Know Your Rights session will take place in March at the VIDAS Vallejo office This workshop will focus on rights when interacting with ICE and will include an orientation for individuals who have arrived within the past year and are considering applying for asylum so those interested in participating should contact VIDAS directly to register VIDAS welcomes opportunities to collaborate with local organizations to host Know Your Rights sessions in larger community spaces Organizations interested in partnering to expand access to these essential resources are encouraged to reach out to VIDAS to coordinate future events legal status is not just a matter of paperwork it is the difference between stability and uncertainty but because of the resilience of the people VIDAS serves “What gives me hope is the way our community is showing up for each other,” she said “People who have never thought much about immigration law before are now asking What can I do?’ That’s what keeps us going.” the most rewarding moments come when a long legal battle ends in success “I remember a woman who fled an abusive relationship in her home country only to be shot during a robbery here in the U.S.,” she recalled when someone who has suffered so much finally gains security and protection In a city as diverse and dynamic as Vallejo organizations like VIDAS remain at the forefront of immigrant advocacy has access to the legal resources and support they deserve For more information, visit VIDAS’ website or contact their Vallejo office VALLEJO – Former Vallejo police Chief Shawny Williams received verbal and written threats that pushed him to resign from his post in November 2022 according to allegations made in a new civil rights lawsuit against the Vallejo Police Department.  the city’s first and only Black police chief was hired in 2019 in an effort to reform the troubled department He frequently faced opposition from the Vallejo Police Officers Association who took a vote of no confidence in his leadership Williams began receiving racially targeted threats Civil rights attorney Melissa Nold made the allegations in a complaint filed in federal court on Wednesday on behalf of a couple who claimed Vallejo police officers injured them while forcing them out of a crashed vehicle two years ago Nold included the allegations about Williams in arguing that the couple’s case existed in a long history of excessive force complaints against the Vallejo Police Department and failure to discipline officers.  allege that Vallejo  police officers wrongfully arrested and injured them after they were involved in a car crash on March 19 They were in the backseat when the vehicle crashed on Curtola Parkway police dragged the unconscious Romero out of the vehicle by her hair and slammed her body to the ground as she screamed in pain and vomited.  Romero Hernandez vocally opposed the officers’ treatment of his wife and when he began recording the incident on his cellphone officers knocked the phone out of his hands as he backed away and choked him and slammed his face into the concrete His cellphone video shows an unnamed officer with his hands on Romero Hernandez’s throat The incident left Romero with injuries to an existing herniated disk trauma to her sciatic nerve and multiple handprint bruises on her arms and body and permanent scarring on his face and forehead and pain throughout his body The suit names Officers Rosendo Mesa and Pablo Lopez as two of multiple Vallejo officers involved the Solano County District Attorney’s Office later dismissed all of the charges against the couple Vallejo police did not respond to questions from the Vallejo Sun about the incident but the department posted a notice on Facebook about an auto accident that took place on March 19 near the intersection of Lemon Street and Curtola Parkway which alleged that the three passengers in the vehicle were under the influence of alcohol.  The post did not describe how the woman exited the vehicle but alleged that she was belligerent and that the officer had to remove her hand from the weapon The post also states that a male passenger was arrested for obstruction of justice because he refused to back away from officers as they arrested the woman The lawsuit argues that the couple’s case is part of a pattern of the city’s failure to properly train officers and “deliberate indifference” to officers violating people’s constitutional rights which included allowing Williams to be pressured into leaving and taking steps to obscure the reasons he left “All of this is being done in hopes of finally obtaining a federal monitor and direct judicial oversight of a department that is rapidly backsliding and cannot be trusted to operate lawfully,” Nold said “I’ve already completed multiple depositions and/or collected indisputable evidence in support of each and every one of these issues.”  Among other things, Williams took steps to reform the department’s recruitment practices but faced opposition from senior members of the command staff such as current Deputy Chief Robert Knight blamed Williams for a failure to recruit and retain officers The VPOA took a vote of no confidence in Williams’ leadership in July 2022 and announced the results in a press conference But when Williams did not leave after that he began receiving targeted verbal and written threats Nold argues that the city has continued to hide wrongdoing by officers She said she discovered an undisclosed database of internal affairs complaints last year which contained numerous incidents that had been withheld from plaintiffs and defendants.  Nold previously told the Vallejo Sun that former Assistant Vallejo City Attorney Kelly Trujillo ordered the destruction of records in 2019 which were subject to preservation of evidence rules in multiple pending excessive force cases. The concealed evidence affected the outcomes of several civil rights cases, she claimed, as she sought to depose Trujillo who is now a Solano County Superior Court judge.  The complaint alleges that since Williams’ departure, Chief Jason Ta has been more permissive with officers and undertaken less transparent practices, such as by terminating a body camera auditing policy. Department data shows that use of force incidents by Vallejo police officers have increased since Williams’ departure.  The police department routinely fails to discipline officers accused of excessive force and disregard for human life,” the Romeros’ lawsuit alleges.  who has long sought oversight of the department by a federal judge told the Vallejo Sun she approached the lawsuit with broad allegations about the city because “the city bound my hands by continuing to engage in corruption even after they entered into a reform agreement with the Department of Justice regarding their long history of misconduct.” Vallejo police arrested a Fairfield man Tuesday in connection with an October 2024 homicide Officers arrested 38-year-old Daniel Joseph William Robins in a joint operation between U.S who was arrested at the 2200 block of Woolner Avenue in Fairfield is accused of murder in connection with an early morning shooting that left one man dead in the Hillcrest neighborhood in October.  police responded to a Flock Safety gunshot detector alert at the 500 block of Daniels Avenue just after 1:30 a.m Officers found 23-year-old Vallejo resident Kamahn Smith dead in the roadway with a gunshot wound to the head Robins is being held without bail at the Solano County Jail He is represented by the Solano County Public Defender’s Office A person who answered the phone at the agency said the office has not yet assigned a specific attorney to Robins’ case A message left with Chief Deputy Public Defender Dan Messner was not immediately returned VALLEJO - The Vallejo City Council placed a freeze on all encampment sweeps for two weeks on Tuesday as they mull a plan to craft a comprehensive strategy for managing homelessness more effectively.  The City Council delayed taking action on approving hiring a contractor to strategize managing homelessness by unanimous agreement on Tuesday after listening to public comment for more than two hours. The council will further discuss the $175,000 strategy during a special meeting on April 1 – and until then no encampment sweeps can take place.  The council allocated the $175,000 last week to hire a consultant to craft a plan for managing homelessness That consultant will develop recommendations for how the city should transition unhoused people into stable housing The number of unhoused people has grown in Vallejo more than anywhere in Solano County. According to the January 2024 count of homeless people there were 1,725 unhoused people in the county City officials argued Tuesday that  aggressive enforcement is necessary after having spent millions of dollars on resources But homeless residents say those resources have scarcely aided them in their search for stable housing Vallejo’s assistant to the city manager Natalie Peterson presented a report Tuesday finding that different programs designed to address homelessness have made “little progress.” She said the current available federal funds through the Department of Housing and Urban Development are not enough for the county and nonprofit organizations to meet the needs of all unhoused people Peterson pointed to the city’s efforts to build affordable housing facilities, including the 74-unit permanent supportive facility Blue Oak Landing and the long-delayed 47-unit project on Broadway that was found to be mismanaged by city staff and is still under construction.  The city has also struggled to build a navigation center at 1937 Broadway that will offer 125 emergency shelter beds and case management Peterson said the city is working on a contract with an anticipated operator Peterson added that the city council has previously rejected other alternatives such as safe parking and camping sites and tiny homes or pallet shelters That leaves many unhoused people camped in vehicles or makeshift structures lacking potable water which violates the city’s municipal code outlawing camping and storage of personal property on public property When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year in Grants Pass v. Johnson that enforcement of anti-camping ordinances does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment Peterson said Vallejo and other cities began removing more encampments from public spaces The city currently has over 50 reports of tent encampments and more than 80 reports of vehicle encampments Peterson said that city staff try to provide more than 72 hours of notice before removing encampments and that staff provide a list of services available in Vallejo and the larger Solano County area “As many cities are now enforcing their public camping ordinances there is a fear that any city that does not aggressively enforce its ordinance will become a safe haven and magnet for unhoused individuals,” Peterson said.  the city has conducted four to five encampment removals each month the city did not open warming shelters for people living outside on some stormy days that She said city staff is currently drafting a new policy to improve when shelters are opened during storms.  Mayor Andrea Sorce decided to continue the item to let the council and staff reflect on all the options before them although she said that the city must do better to handle the situation.  “We have a situation that has come about that maybe the people up here would have [handled] differently and we need to assess our steps going forward,” Sorce said She added that staff must be prudent in avoiding sweeps while the council considers its options make some massive sweep tomorrow right in the middle of this with our conversation pending Councilmember Tonia Lediju agreed that taking swift action is needed to remain transparent with the public.  “It’s very unfair to the public because they are expecting some type of direction to go forward,” Lediju said.  noticing how many people arrived at City Hall to comment asked residents to avoid blaming city officials the divisions between residents who commented grew more pronounced as some people criticized homeless neighbors and blamed them for fires and crime.  Some demanded that the city remove unhoused people who are near them for good and accused nonprofits of misusing state funds for homelessness programs Resident Paula Conley said that the city must take responsibility for the large number of encampments in the downtown and waterfront areas.  said she lives a block away from the railroad by Florida Street and sees a constant flow of people being removed and then later returning to the area She said that unhoused people have caused fires in the area “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Others accused the city of ruthlessly removing people without considering the toll on people who don’t have stable shelter Members of Common Ground joined the Vallejo Homeless Union Vallejo Together and other organizations demanding that the city stop evicting people from their camps and suggested that staff consider new policies such as a just cause eviction ordinance rent stabilization and a community land trust Others said that Vallejo has endangered the lives of unhoused people through recklessness. Eli Smith, an organizer with the homeless union, described how 58-year-old James Oakley was found dead on Dec 24 when city workers tasked with cleaning up an illegal dump site on the 2300 block of Broadway Street noticed his body among construction debris that they were moving with a hydraulic loader The Solano County Coroner’s office autopsy determined that his death was caused by “blunt force trauma likely sustained accidentally by heavy equipment.”  Kathryn Salm, who’s been unhoused in Vallejo for decades also accused city staff of running over her kittens while removing her encampment We’re the ones out here and may have some surprises for you as to how to solve these situations.” Kathy McNeil said that as an elderly and disabled person her options for getting to shelter are limited She said she’s spent more than a year waiting for help from a Solano County case worker “Nobody from the city has ever talked to me - I’ve only had police talk to me,” McNeil said “Volunteers are the only ones who’ve helped me but you took it and now I live in a pickup truck Ahead of the April 1 meeting, Sorce said the council will hold a closed session to discuss litigation related to homelessness. She said that includes a case involving suing private property owners “over sweeps” and another involving the city’s attempts to remove the encampment of an unhoused woman, Evelyn “Brown Sugar” Alfred. Vallejo police are investigating the first homicide of 2025 after a man was stabbed in the neck in South Vallejo Friday afternoon police received a report of a stabbing in the 300 block of Lemon Street and transported them to Kaiser Permanente Vallejo Medical Center The victim was pronounced dead at the hospital Police contacted the Solano County Coroner at around 3:00 p.m. The California Highway Patrol sent a helicopter to assist in the search The suspect was last seen heading southbound on Porter Street The gravity of the incident became clear as the call began to unfold, when Lt. Steve Darden expressed concern that police were dealing with a homicide and emphasized the need to restrict access Four Vallejo police detectives and three investigators from the Solano County District Attorney’s Office were present at the scene including supervisors Chief District Attorney Investigator Mason Mineni and Vallejo Police Det Vallejo has seen 20 or more homicides each of the past four years. The last homicide in Vallejo occurred on New Year’s Eve, closing out one of the city’s deadliest years in decades with 25 homicides OAKLAND – Facing calls for the California Highway Patrol to bolster the depleted Vallejo Police Department Gavin Newsom said last week that support would be limited and suggested that the city continue to seek support from the Solano County Sheriff's Office.  you are not getting the CHP to do the work of local law enforcement,” Newsom said during a news conference on Friday “They think the state's going to come in and provide the support for free,” Newsom said they're hoping to get the state to do it for free But while the CHP has been providing some support in Vallejo Newsom said that the city would not receive the same level of support as Oakland “We have considered those requests,” CHP Deputy Commissioner Ezery Beauchamp said on Friday “I believe it is important for everyone to note we don't have infinite resources as the California Highway Patrol to go in and take over police responsibilities.” He added that the CHP itself currently has a 14% vacancy rate.  we do recognize we need to assist the city of Vallejo and since July as they're working their beats out of our Fairfield office and they've made over 600 traffic enforcement stops,” Beauchamp said and they've assisted the Vallejo Police Department on over 40 active incidents.” Since February, the CHP has deployed 120 officers to work in partnership with local law enforcement agencies in Oakland. Then in July, Newsom increased the support by quadrupling the number of CHP officer shifts in Oakland.   In a statement released after Friday’s news conference Newsom’s office said that “the CHP is helping to bolster police presence” in Vallejo.  “Units from the CHP’s Solano Area office are being directed to support city streets when available reinforcing local efforts,” the governor’s statement said the CHP is coordinating with the Vallejo Police Department to provide assistance for upcoming operations and surges united approach to keeping the community safe.” News outlets widely reported that Newsom is expanding the CHP surges to Vallejo But Vallejo City Manager Andrew Murray released his own statement Friday saying that those reports were inaccurate “The Governor has not committed to a CHP ‘surge’ for the City of Vallejo,” Murray wrote “CHP has been providing additional enforcement in Vallejo when their officers have free patrol time the CHP continues to provide mutual aid assistance to Vallejo during sideshows or other major crime events as do other allied police agencies.”  Andrew Barclay said in an interview that there are basically two pathways for a local law enforcement agency to receive state support The first involves contracting with the county sheriff’s office for additional law enforcement personnel If the sheriff's office does not have sufficient staffing to offer additional support they can petition the California Office of Emergency Services for support.  The second pathway for the governor to directly order the CHP to provide assistance the CHP Golden Gate Division has been providing additional support to Vallejo since July and currently there are three units that will go off the Highways to patrol city streets when they do not have other calls or duties Barclay said that CHP also coordinates with the Vallejo Police Department to support law enforcement actions that require additional technology or manpower such as interrupting sideshows.  But he said that the current efforts are essentially what the CHP provides to any allied jurisdiction in need of assistance and it does not represent an additional mobilization of forces directed by the governor’s office Vallejo police Deputy Chief Bob Knight presented a report on police staffing to the City Council in which he briefly discussed the status of Vallejo’s request for assistance from the sheriff’s office “We're just kind of waiting for a final proposal of what it is they're asking for and what it is we can come to some type of agreement to Knight said that over the past year the department hired three new officers Eight officers who were on leave for injuries have returned to full duty bringing the city’s number of total sworn officers to 76.  Knight said that the increase in officers has allowed for 38 officers to be on patrol although 48 officers are needed to fully staff all patrol teams He said the modest gains will allow the department to reopen the collapsed traffic division in January by assigning one full-time officer to focus on traffic enforcement A Vallejo man surrendered to police early Wednesday following a 16-hour standoff with officers who bombarded his residence with flashbangs and less-lethal ammunition late into the night.  Tuesday to a report of gunfire on the 200 block of Viewmont Avenue where a woman reported that her son grabbed a gun in their house according to a Vallejo Police Department press release The woman told police that she heard a gunshot from within the home as she and her adult daughter fled the house for their safety It was an unusual scene for the otherwise quiet Vallejo neighborhood Police data shows no reported incidents in the last 30 days within Tuesday’s police perimeter.  nearby residents received an emergency message warning them to shelter in place Vallejo police established a command center on Claremont Avenue and taped off large swaths of the neighborhood Residents who tried to return home on Viewmont Avenue were turned away Vallejo police deployed a sharpshooter on the roof of a building behind Harrison’s home and placed other SWAT officers in neighboring backyards and across the street from the house Please exit the house with your hands open Nearly 20 minutes after the first announcement residents got a preview of what they could expect to hear for the rest of the night A loud blast rang out from the side of the house as police deployed a flashbang grenade The operation remained restrained even as police began to deploy less-lethal munitions Officers contacted Harrison over the phone and indicated that they may have struck an agreement with him you will be given directions when you step out of the house But communication between Harrison and police soon slowed with officers repeatedly asking Harrison to answer their calls deploying more frequent rounds of less-lethal munitions and using a loudspeaker to declare that they believed Harrison was armed police repeatedly fired less-lethal ammunition into the windows along the back and sides of the house Officers deployed multiple rounds of tear gas, which billowed out of the 1930s-era home and wafted across a nearby park toward nearly a dozen neighbors watching the standoff. Throughout the night several neighbors stopped by Fairmont Park Police also flew drones through the shattered windows in an effort to locate Harrison officers broke open the front door before immediately retreating Police then positioned patrol cars to face the house using the headlights to shine more light down a hall made visible by the breach Harrison surrendered peacefully around 3:30 a.m Wednesday following additional rounds of tear gas On Friday, prosecutors charged Harrison with two counts of assault with a firearm As he entered a Fairfield courtroom to be arraigned later that afternoon requiring deputies to redirect him after he took a wrong turn down a hallway Solano County Deputy District Attorney Douglass Pharr said Harrison had no known mental health history but that he had been “acting strange” on the day of the standoff Harrison pleaded not guilty through his attorney Judge Bryan Kim ordered Harrison to stay away from his mother and sister and set bail at $65,000 He remains in custody as of Saturday afternoon The family home where the standoff occurred remains uninhabitable As workers arrived to board up the house a few hours after Harrison’s surrender, a relative who identified herself only as Renee commended Vallejo police on their restraint SWAT handled it very well,” she told Open Vallejo.  the firm hired to evaluate the Vallejo Police Department’s compliance with state-ordered reforms will host a community meeting on Monday to provide a status update and gather input from residents.  “We invite the Vallejo community to participate in a listening session to share their perspectives regarding the Vallejo Police Department,” an event flyer reads “We would also like to hear about your experiences with VPD and the outcomes you would like to see under the reform work.”  The first year of mandatory reforms is focused on improving the use of force by officers and handling of personnel complaints “as they have the most direct impact on community safety and the quality of police community interactions,” according to the year-one work plan.  At the first listening session hosted by Jensen Hughes last August, dozens of Vallejoans voiced concerns about the police department’s low staffing and slow response times to emergency calls Several attendees called for cultural change and community engagement from the department.  In December, City Manager Andrew Murray selected Jason Ta, a former deputy police chief who served as interim chief for more than two years to lead the Vallejo department on a permanent basis.  The community meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 27, in the Vallejo Room at City Hall, 555 Santa Clara Street. It will be accessible for Spanish and Tagalog speakers, according to Jensen Hughes. The firm will post meeting notes on the Vallejo Evaluator website following the event.  the ACLU of Northern California encouraged Vallejoans to attend Monday’s meeting and provide feedback to the evaluation team noting that “it’s crucial for them to hear your voice.” KQED Live EventsPRX Podcast Garage EventsEvents Around the Bay AreaMember Benefits with KQED LiveVideos from KQED LiveWatch recordings of recent KQED Live events FeaturedThat's My WordAn ongoing exploration of Bay Area hip-hop history See Senior Director of TV Programming Meredith Speight’s recommendations from this month’s KQED 9 Watch recordings of recent KQED Live events Support KQED by using your donor-advised fund to make a charitable gift Shawn O'Malley (left) and Kathryn Salm (right) hold up a banner in support of their friend James Oakley, who was killed during a sweep in Vallejo, on March 11, 2025. (Aryk Copley for KQED)An unhoused man was seen alive on the morning he was crushed to death during a city-run trash cleanup in Vallejo on Christmas Eve according to a death investigation report released to KQED The Solano County Coroner’s Office late last month identified the man as 58-year-old James Edward Oakley II, originally of American Canyon. Local advocates for unhoused residents said they knew him as a longtime member of the homeless community who had for some time lived in the area bordering Vallejo and American Canyon New details revealed by the death investigation report shed light on what happened that day and raise questions about how city workers handled the cleanup “It just shows more and more the ineptitude of the city how they just botched the whole thing,” said Sean O’Malley an unhoused Vallejo resident who was a friend of Oakley’s Vallejo City Manager Andrew Murray said the city is “deeply saddened by this tragic accident” and is in the process of reviewing its policies and procedures The mayor and council members did not respond to KQED’s requests for comment but at a Tuesday meeting of the City Council Mayor Andrea Sorce called for a special session on homelessness According to the report prepared by Solano County Sheriff’s Deputy Jessica Dew waste collection workers with the company Recology told police they had approached the site to pick up trash earlier that morning but opted against it when they saw a man among the items City officials described the area as an “illegal dumping” site People who knew Oakley said he was living there after being asked to leave a nearby shed When a Vallejo public works crew arrived to clear the trash later that morning they reported seeing a mattress covered with a “tarp,” along with several tote bags Workers reported kicking the mattress and calling out they started clearing the items without lifting the “tarp” covering the mattress Dew clarified in her report that she did not see a tarp but noted that blankets and clothing were piled on the mattress The backhoe operator then used the machine’s front bucket to crush the mattress before scooping it up As the driver moved it toward a nearby dump truck another worker spotted a human leg hanging from the bucket Oakley’s body had been taken out of the backhoe bucket and Dew noted blood inside Oakley and the mattress were both in the roadway Dew noted the trash pile “appeared to have a void where the mattress was previously sitting.” Dew wrote in her report that she found a wallet next to Oakley containing his California ID card An autopsy and death investigation by the coroner’s office determined that Oakley died from multiple blunt force injuries caused by the backhoe crushing the mattress he was lying on The toxicology report showed Oakley had methamphetamine but no alcohol in his system As a high school student in the ’80s He later served prison sentences for manslaughter and drug charges and struggled with drug addiction according to court records and articles in the Napa Valley Register O’Malley first met Oakley a couple of years ago when his car broke down I didn’t even know him,” he said describing Oakley as “a gentle giant.” The two went on to play dice together regularly “He said my dice were loaded because he always lost,” O’Malley said According to the death investigation report The Vallejo Police Department investigated the death and found no indication of “intent to cause harm bodily injury or death,” city officials said and the district attorney’s office found there wasn’t enough evidence to file criminal charges Vallejo officials said only that a dead body had been discovered during a cleanup at an illegal dumping site the city acknowledged Oakley had been crushed by city workers calling it a “tragic accident.” At a vigil for Oakley outside Vallejo City Hall on Tuesday O’Malley and other activists called on the city to reconsider its approach to clearing homeless encampments “We’re out here saying James should never have died,” said Tiny Gray-Garcia “We have to change [this] policy of hate because more of us are going to die.” She suspects similar deaths often go unreported “The case of James is just one that we saw and they can’t deny it,” she said O’Malley said he and other advocates are working on a slate of guidelines to give the city around handling encampment removals and debris cleanups The recommendations include providing dumpsters so garbage doesn’t pile up and offering services before clearing camps it’ll be them changing their policies,” O’Malley said “How many more people need to die?” To learn more about how we use your information, please read our privacy policy.