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Thread: A look at the people killed by Vallejo, CA police since 2010

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    A look at the people killed by Vallejo, CA police since 2010

    https://www.ktvu.com/news/a-look-at-...ice-since-2010

    This is an overview of people that have been killed by Vallejo, CA Police. My Take here is that the reason Vallejo Police Brutality allegations have not gotten much attention But then again thats due to the fact that the reporting about Police Brutality in Northern California tends to put more attention to Allegations in San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento and Oakland in these past years


    VALLEJO, Calif. - Vallejo police have killed 19 people since 2010, renewing calls for criminal justice reform and a request for federal oversight of the department.

    None of the officers have been charged criminally for any of these shootings in the last decade, as each case was deemed justified because officers feared for their lives. Yet, many of their families say that police have acted with excessive force and have given false accounts about why they felt the need to shoot and kill their loved ones are false.

    NAME: Eric Walters, 46

    DATE KILLED: Feb. 8, 2009

    OFFICERS: Greenberg, Jensen, Poyser, Scott and Wylie

    NARRATIVE: Eric Walters called 911 saying he was depressed, heavily armed and wanted to commit suicide. Police say he pointed gun at officers when they arrived. Police phoned Walters and tried to persuade him to surrender peacefully, but he came out of his garage and pointed a rifle at the officers, who responded by opening fire.

    NAME: Michael White, 47

    DATE KILLED: June 15, 2010

    OFFICERS: Barry Boersma, Herman E. Robinson

    NARRATIVE: Police said Michael White assaulted his elderly neighbor. When they tracked White down they said he was delusional and irrational. A struggle ensued. Officers said they tried several control techniques and shot White with Taser guns he continued to charge at them. He ended up dying at the hospital. His family filed a wrongful death lawsuit saying he did not pose a serious threat to the officers and died after an unnecessary and prolonged exposure to being tased.

    NAME: Guy Jarreau Jr., 34

    DATE KILLED: Dec. 11, 2010

    OFFICER: Kent Tribble

    NARRATIVE: Police say they killed Guy Jarreau Jr. because he was brandishing a firearm. His mother, Andrea Jarreau-Griffin, filed a suit against the department, claiming her son?s hands were in the air and he was shot to death making an anti-violence music video. The suit alleges that members of the film crew and friends said the officer was wearing plain clothing at the time and gave no warnings before firing his weapon.

    NAME: Sherman Peacock, 45

    DATE KILLED: Feb. 12, 2011

    OFFICER:

    NARRATIVE: Sherman Peacock was shot and killed after police say he pointed a large-caliber revolver at officers after leading them on a low-speed chase. Police said Peacock refused to exit the vehicle for several minutes and was shot when he suddenly came out of the car with a revolver and pointed it at officers.

    NAME: Peter Mestler, 53

    DATE KILLED: May 24, 2012

    OFFICER:

    NARRATIVE: Police say they shot Peter Mestler because he had pulled what looked like a real gun on a cabbie, his passenger and a woman walking on the street. The officers told Mestler to stop, but he reached into his jacket, pulled out the gun and refused to drop it after they told him to, police said. The officers opened fire, killing Mestler.

    In the end, the weapon was a Beretta Cougar BB pistol.

    NAME: Anton Barrett Sr., 41

    DATE KILLED: May 28, 2012

    OFFICER: Sean Kenney

    NARRATIVE: Two officers assigned to look for drunken drivers saw a driver in a white Lexus driving fast without his lights on and they tried to stop him. It turned out to be Anton Barrett Sr., who led them on a chase. He fled along with his son and another passenger. The chase ended up in between two apartment buildings. Kenney ordered Barrett at gunpoint to stop and put his hands up, but he continued running at the officer, police said.

    Barrett then reached into his pocket and pulled out a dark-colored metal object, which turned out to be a metal wallet. Kenney said he feared for his life and fired his gun. Barrett, who had five previous convictions, died at the hospital. Kenney was criminally cleared and started his own consulting firm.

    NAME: Jared Huey, 17

    DATE KILLED: June 30, 2012

    OFFICERS: Kevin Bartlett, Jeremy Huff

    NARRATIVE: Police believe Jared Huey had robbed a convenience store and chased him. During the chase, Huey?s Jeep crashed through the yard of a house and ran away. Police said he refused orders to show his hands and pointed a handgun at the officers. The officers opened fire, striking Huey multiple times, police said. But Huey's father, Michael Huey, said in his lawsuit that his son had been shot while his hands were in the air. Jared Huey was also yelling, "Don't shoot! No! No!" said the suit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Sacramento. His family settled their wrongful death suit.

    NAME: Marshall Tobin, 44

    DATE KILLED: July 4, 2012

    OFFICERS: Robert Kerr, Joe McCarthy

    NARRATIVE: The officers responded to a domestic violence call but when the arrived, they found that Marshall Tobing had driven to Safeway. Tobin got out of the car with a gun, police said, and he appeared ?distraught.? They said he refused to put his hands on his head, and they stunned him with a Taser. At that point, Tobin grabbed his own gun, and the police killed him.

    NAME: Mario Demeekus Romero, 23

    DATE KILLED: Sept. 2, 2012

    OFFICERS: Sean Kenney, Dustin Joseph

    NARRATIVE: Police on patrol thought they remembered Mario Demeekus Romero from another incident and pulled up on two men parked inside. Police said the driver got out and had a gun in hand. Both officers, Sean Kenney and Dustin Joseph, fired, killing Romero with 30 bullets and injuring his passenger. Kenney found a pellet gun in the car behind the driver?s seat. According to his obituary, everyone called Romero ?Papaya.? He was a self-employed musician. He enjoyed playing football, cooking and was especially fond of Mexican food. The officers were administratively cleared. Joseph now works for the Fairfield police department.

    NAME: Jeremiah Moore, 29

    DATE KILLED: Oct. 21, 2012

    OFFICERS: Sgt. Brett Clark, Ofc. Megan Sheridan, Ofc. Sean Kenney #620

    NARRATIVE: A neighbor saw Jeremiah Moore and a friend, naked and smashing the windows of their own cars, parked in front of their house, which was on fire. Police said Moore then "appeared from the back of the interior of the house with a rifle? and placed the barrel of it on an officer?s stomach. Officer Sean Kenney saw this and fearing for his life and the life of his fellow officer, immediately discharged his firearm Moore. He died and his friend was charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest and battery on a peace officer, but those charges were dropped.

    Jeremiah Moore?s mother said her son's disorder gave him a tendency to follow commands. Kenney was administratively and criminally cleared.

    NAME: William Heinze, 42

    DATE KILLED: March 20, 2013

    OFFICERS: Dustin Joseph, Ritzie Tolentino, Joshua Coleman

    NARRATIVE: William Heinze was wanted on burglary and narcotics warrants and had an extensive criminal history that included convictions for robbery, battery on a custodial officer, domestic violence, narcotics and being a felon in possession of a firearm, police said. Police first arrived that day after receiving reports that a man, believed to be Heinze, was pointing a rifle or shotgun at people on the street. He barricaded himself inside the house and threatened to kill himself and police if his demands weren?t met. Police fired inside the home and killed him. The officers were cleared criminally, Afterward, superiors recommended the officers receive more shooting position training.



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    NAME: Timothy John Walker, 40

    DATE KILLED: June 4, 2013

    OFFICER: Jeff Coburn

    NARRATIVE: Police responded to a verbal disturbance on a boat. When Officer Jeff Coburn arrived, he said Timothy John Walker pointed a weapon at him and he fired in self-defense. The weapon Walker was carrying was a flare gun modified to be a handheld shotgun, according to police. After searching the boat, police found shotgun ammunition and a .22 caliber bolt-action rifle equipped with a silencer, police said.

    Coburn was administratively cleared.

    NAME: Mohammed Naas, 57

    DATE KILLED: June 8, 2013

    OFFICER: Sgt. Steve Darden

    NARRATIVE: Mohammed Naas, who owned a computer store, was suspected of killing his wife. When Sgt. Steve Darden arrived, police said Naas pointed a handgun at the officer, prompting him to fire at Naas in self-defense, police said. Darden was administratively cleared.

    NAME: Ever Ramon Martinez, 29

    DATE KILLED: April 9, 2014

    OFFICERS: Sgt. Steve Darden, Ofc. Joe McCarthy

    NARRATIVE: Ever Ramon Martinez was shot and killed following a high-speed vehicle pursuit that started in North Vallejo and ended about five miles away in the Mi Pueblo Food Center parking lot on Solano Avenue. Police said two officers opened fire on Martinez after he collided with their patrol cars and became locked under the bumper of one of them.

    As Martinez tried to speed away, police said he spun around in such an erratic fashion that he risked hitting a civilian vehicle which contained a father and his children. After Martinez failed to obey the officers” commands to stop, police said the officers used deadly force. One of the officers thought Martinez had a gun so he shot five founds. But Martinez did not have a gun. The officers were administratively cleared.

    NAME: Philip Conley, 37

    DATE KILLED: March 21, 2015

    OFFICER: Jason Bahou

    NARRATIVE: Police said they responded to a call of a man throwing a beer bottle at a car and wielding a knife. When the officer arrived, Philip Conley allegedly had a firearm in his waistband and was ordered to drop the knife but did not comply and advanced on the officer, according to police. The officer fired his gun and killed him. Inside the truck was a letter where Conley “apologized to the police that were forced to end his life,” according to the press release sent out on that day. Police added that the firearm was found to be a replica gun. Bahou received no discipline and was cleared criminally.

    NAME: Angel Ramos, 21

    DATE KILLED: Jan. 23, 2017

    OFFICER: Zachary Jacobsen

    NARRATIVE: Police said Angel Ramos was seen running, drunk, onto a balcony, climbing on top of a person, making stabbing motions. Jacobsen said he felt he had to shoot his weapon to save the man’s life who was about to be stabbed. Ramos’ family and its legal team have argued Ramos wasn’t armed with a knife but was instead punching the person. The Vallejo Police Department cleared Jacobsen of any wrongdoing and he was also cleared by the Solano County DA. The board concluded Jacobsen should have activated his body-worn camera during the incident.The review board also concluded the officers on scene failed “to fully occupy and control the balcony (resulting) in officers queuing on the stairs, presenting a ‘fatal funnel’ due to the lack of cover” after the shooting.

    NAME: Jeffrey Barboa, 45

    DATE KILLED: Aug. 1, 2017

    OFFICERS: Jake Estrada, Zachary Jacobsen, Matthew Komoda, Stephanie McDonough, David McLaughlin

    NARRATIVE: A license plate reader pinged Jeffrey Barboa, linking him to an El Cerrito robbery, which led to a car chase on Interstate 80. He crashed and got out of the car with a sword. Two officers testified at the inquest hearing that Barboa was screaming, “Kill me,” as he walked toward police. Police opened fire and killed him. Officers were criminally cleared but received small administrative penalties for the tactics they used and decision-making failures.
    NAME: Ronnell D. Foster, 33

    DATE KILLED: Feb. 13, 2018

    OFFICER: Ryan McMahon

    NARRATIVE: Police officer Ryan McMahon stopped Ronnell Foster who was riding his bike without a headlamp to “educate the public on the dangers” of bicycling without a light. McMahon said Foster reached for his flashlight, causing him to fear for his life and therefore, he opened fire on Foster, killing him. Foster’s legal team said he grabbed for his flashlight to prevent him from being beaten by the officer. McMahon was ordered to take a three-day safety course and was eventually cleared to return to duty. The Solano County DA said McMahon was justified in shooting Foster. In September, a jury awarded Foster’s family a $5.7 million award in his wrongful death suit.
    NAME: Willie McCoy, 20

    DATE KILLED: Feb. 2, 2019

    OFFICERS: Ryan McMahon, Colin Eaton, Bryan Glick, Anthony Romero-Cano, Jordan Patzer, Mark Thompson

    NARRATIVE: Six officers fired 55 times at Willie McCoy, after he slumped forward in the driver’s seat of his car, where he sat with a pistol in his lap in the drive-thru lane of a Taco Bell. McCoy appeared to be unconscious and did not move until moments before the shooting. When he woke up, police shot him as he did not immediately drop his weapon. The department recommended that Ryan McMahon, the Vallejo officer who fired once as five of his colleagues peppered McCoy with gunfire, was recommended to be fired after an investigation determined he could have accidentally shot his partner. His termination is still pending. None of the officers were criminally charged. A wrongful death suit has been filed in this case, which also asks for federal oversight of the police force.

    NAME: Sean Monterrosa, 22

    DATE KILLED: June 2, 2020

    OFFICER: Jarrett Tonn

    NARRATIVE: During a George Floyd protest outside a Walgreens, police said they thought Monterrosa had gun in his pocket when Officer Jarrett Tonn fatally struck him with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle from the backseat of a police pickup truck.

    The “weapon” turned out to be a hammer. His family is suing Tonn of panicking and killing Monterrosa for not yelling out that he would be using lethal force and without provocation. Oakland civil rights attorney John Burris called Tonn “a trigger-happy officer and potentially a homicidal officer” who is “clearly not a person who should be in a Black and brown community” doing police work.

    https://www.ktvu.com/news/a-look-at-...ice-since-2010

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    https://www.ktvu.com/news/a-decade-o...e-for-officers

    VALLEJO, Calif. - Since 2010, 19 people have been killed by Vallejo police. All but one were shot and killed by officers. But no officers were ever criminally charged in the cases, widening a gap between the department and the community it serves.

    There were six people shot and killed by Vallejo police in 2012 alone.

    In all cases, Solano County prosecutors opted not to file charges against the officers.

    “The troubling part, of course, is that there has been no discipline,” said John Burris, a civil rights attorney who has sued Vallejo numerous times for alleged police misconduct.

    The only action taken by the department: training and tactical recommendations. Burris says that's not enough.

    “Those are relatively minor and do not go to the basic issue of have you evaluated them as to the properness of the shooting itself,” Burris said.

    Vallejo's department is relatively small. Officers who have fired their weapons are being investigated by their own colleagues, some of whom have also shot people themselves.

    “They’ve always been given a pass. There’s been no finding that any of these shootings were below or out of policy,” Burris said.

    Peter Hoffmann is an attorney representing the Vallejo Police Officers Association.

    “With every use of force, you need to step back and look at them in isolation, right, because the facts matter, and each situation is unique,” Hoffmann said.

    Each situation is unique. But the patterns are startling.

    Officer Sean Kenney shot and killed three people in 2012. The Solano County DA declined to charge him in each case, and he continued on to become a detective. Kenney, who retired and now runs a training firm, declined to comment to KTVU. Another officer who has been involved in numerous on-duty shootings also left the department and works with Kenney's firm.

    Anton Barrett Sr. was shot and killed by Kenney in May 2012 after pulling out what turned out to be a metal wallet from his waistband.

    "It was objectively reasonable for Officer Kenney, or to anyone else of reasonable caution, to believe that Mr. Barrett posed a serious risk of physical harm to Officer Kenney or to others around him when he quickly withdrew that dark metal object from his sweatshirt pocket," a prosecutor wrote in his report.

    "Mr. Barrett's death cannot be attributed to any unlawful conduct by the officers," the prosecutor wrote. "Rather, his demise was the result of his own conduct and poor decisions, which involved the commission of several crimes including driving under the influence of alcohol, recklessly evading the police and resisting a lawful detention by the police."

    Officer Ryan McMahon wasn’t charged by the DA for fatally shooting Ronell Foster in 2018.

    He was only criticized for tactical errors like not using the police radio to report that he was chasing Foster for a minor reason -- riding a bike without a light.

    A look at the people killed by Vallejo police since 2010

    Vallejo recently agreed to pay Foster's family $5.7 million to settlement thieir lawsuit, without admitting liability.

    “Instead of disciplining him for opening fire without having any reason, they disciplined him for some safety-related issues,” said civil rights attorney Melissa Nold, who has also sued Vallejo in police-misconduct cases. “It’s bizarre. This is the first season that we’re actually seeing them even pretend to discipline staff.”

    But former interim top cop Joe Allio did recommend that Officer McMahon be fired – not for shooting Ronell Foster, but in connection with another deadly shooting just one year later.

    McMahon was one of six officers who shot and killed Willie McCoy in a Taco Bell drive-thru. McCoy was asleep in a car with a gun in his lap. Allio said McMahon should be terminated for firing a shot while another officer was about to be in the line of fire.

    Police Chief Shawny Williams has since tapped Allio to be his interim assistant chief. Sources say Allio - a former Fairfield police chief - serves as a buffer between the top cop and the rank and file.

    Everyone else in the department, from captain on down, is represented by the powerful Vallejo police union.

    A former union president, Mat Mustard, has investigated shootings by officers.

    Critics say cops shouldn't be investigating their own. But the police union’s attorney says they shouldn’t rush to judge officers’ actions.

    “I think it’s disappointing to assume that the people we task with keeping us safe should be prosecuted for doing their job,” Hoffmann said.

    He pointed to a recent study that analyzed the department's use-of-force data over the past three years. The report said, "While many people view any use of force by police as a negative outcome regardless of how or why the force was used, our data shows that officers cannot do their jobs effectively without using some amount of force in appropriate circumstances. No matter how much deescalation training an offcier receives, there will always be a certain percetnage of arrestees who will resist or flee regardless of what the officer says or does."

    Since Williams has taken over, he has welcomed the state Department of Justice in reviewing the department's policies and practices. And all eyes are on how he will handle the most recent shooting at the hands of the police.

    Detective Jarrett Tonn fired through the windshield of a moving car at Sean Monterrosa, thinking the hammer in his sweatshirt was a gun. Detective Tonn has also been involved in several non-fatal shootings.

    “What I can’t do is change the past,” Williams said. “But what we can do is improve. And so one of the things were are doing as a police department is improving our processes, the organizational structure, our training, and we’re going to continue to do that.”

    Questions are swirling over which agency will review Monterrosa’s shooting.

    Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams has recused her office, and state Attorney General Xavier Becerra has declined to step in to investigate any shootings by police.

    A former San Bernardino County district attorney is investigating the Willie McCoy shooting.

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    I hate driving thru that town. If the police dont kill you one of the gangs will get you.

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    https://fox40.com/news/california-co...reform-police/

    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The city of Vallejo is pondering a public safety emergency declaration that would allow staff to bypass normal channels to push through reforms involving a scandal-ridden department that is reeling from high crime rates, low morale and troubled community relations in the wake of shootings of minorities by police.

    The Vallejo City Council is expected to vote on the declaration at a special meeting Tuesday night. City staff recommended the declaration, which would allow the police chief and city manager to hire command staff and more quickly implement policy changes, although the city could risk litigation in doing so.

    The city of 120,000 people faces “a crisis of legitimacy and trust” that demands emergency action, said Vallejo spokeswoman Christina Lee.

    There have been more than 350 shootings and 22 homicides in the city this year, including an incident in August in which two people were killed and their 1-year-old shot.

    At the same time, police face mounting criticism and fiscal liability over shootings and misconduct by officers. Lee says two dozen federal civil rights cases and more than a dozen tort claims are pending that could cost the city $50 million as well as higher insurance premiums.

    Last month, Vallejo agreed to pay $5.7 million to the family of a man who was shot and killed by an officer after he was pulled over for a minor traffic infraction. In June, 22-year-old Sean Monterrosa was shot and killed by the officer who thought he had a gun when he did not.

    Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, an organization that promotes best practices in policing, says he hasn’t heard of many cities declaring an emergency to address public safety. But it makes sense, he said.

    “When you have something as serious as this, you need to act quickly and I think that’s what the city is saying, there’s a sense of urgency in what they need to do,” he said.

    The Vallejo Police Officers’ Association said an emergency declaration would be illegal and a dangerous power grab by city staff. It said the police department simply needs to hire more officers by offering better wages. Vallejo has a little more than 100 sworn officers, which city staff agree is insufficient for the population.

    Advocates of police reform are not persuaded that an emergency declaration will transform the department that has a longstanding reputation for violence, especially toward Black and Latino people.

    Vallejo native and civil rights attorney Melissa Nold, who represents the families of people killed or harmed by police in Vallejo, said there’s no point in adding more command officers to the ranks if the department isn’t getting rid of bad officers.

    “It’s sort of like putting paint over something that’s dry rotted,” she said. “It doesn’t change the culture of the department.”

    The other item on Tuesday’s agenda is a broader police reform proposal directing the city manager and police chief to beef up community policing, provide options for independent oversight and find ways to improve public trust and transparency.

    Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams, who was hired in 2019, has pledged to make reforms recommended in May by an outside group commissioned by the city.

    The OIR Group found that the 2008 fiscal crisis, which led to the city declaring bankruptcy, devastated the department and equipment remains notoriously old, salaries are below market and the workload demanding.

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    What do you care? Boston Babe 73's Avatar
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    Vallejo police are complete dicks. They have the reputation. I don't understand why they are let to get away with this.
    Quote Originally Posted by Nic B View Post
    That is too pretty to be shoved up an ass.
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    You can take those Fleets and shove them up your ass



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    Quote Originally Posted by Boston Babe 73 View Post
    Vallejo police are complete dicks. They have the reputation. I don't understand why they are let to get away with this.
    Ill say this the only reason Vallejo Police can get away from shit like this is because they are not getting high profile attention on the national news like Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles and San Jose are getting whenever Police Brutality is brought up. One if some of the police officers tried to pull the same shit in these bigger California cities then they would be arrested by the FBI in some cases.

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    https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/20...uncil-meeting/

    FAIRFIELD (CBS SF) — The Fairfield Police Department arrested nine people at a city council meeting Tuesday evening after they forced the council to recess by protesting the department’s hiring of an officer involved in a fatal shooting in 2012.

    In a statement, Fairfield police said the protesters “willfully and without authority” disrupted the meeting to the point it could not continue rather than express their concerns during the council”s public comment section of its agenda.

    Members of the council were escorted from the council chamber and the protesters failed to leave the room, according to Fairfield police.


    “Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of our society and is protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution,” the department said. “However, there are situations in which limits on a person’s First Amendment rights are appropriate, especially where the speech in question unlawfully disturbs or breaks up an assembly or meeting, such as a lawful council meeting.”

    The nine protesters were arrested on suspicion of disturbing a public meeting, according to police. Doing so is considered a misdemeanor under the California Penal Code.

    Fairfield Police Chief Deanna Cantrell also penned an open letter regarding the department’s hiring and continued employment of Dustin Joseph, one of two officers involved in the fatal shooting of Vallejo resident Mario Romero, 23, in the early morning hours of Sept. 2, 2012.

    An investigation by the Solano County District Attorney’s Office concluded that Joseph and Sean Kenney, the other officer involved in the shooting, acted in self-defense.

    Romero was shot and killed when he got out of his car and the two officers believed he was reaching for a gun, which turned out to be a non-lethal pellet gun.

    Cantrell defended the department”s hiring process as “robust” and in line with state standards for law enforcement departments.

    She also noted that Joseph”s potential involvement in Vallejo police officers bending their badges to signify fatal shootings was not known when he was hired in 2018.

    The Vallejo Police Department has launched an independent, third-party investigation into the badge bending practice. The investigation was ongoing.

    “I understand this is concerning to the community,” Cantrell said in the letter, “and I want you to know it is equally concerning to me.”

    Joseph is not working the streets as an officer at this time, Cantrell said.

    Those arrested Tuesday night included:

    Elizabeth Stetson, 23;
    Adrienne Thomas, 20;
    Crystal Ramirez, 24;
    Jimarielle Bowie, 23;
    Andres Rivera-Cruz, 23;
    Dennis Green, 35;
    Kameron Holzendorf, 27;
    Jace Sears, 18;
    and a 17-year-old minor.
    All arrestees are Fairfield residents with the exception of Rivera-Cruz, who is a resident of Suisun City.

    ? Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. and Bay City News Service. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistribute

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    https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/04/...to-mark-kills/

    VALLEJO — In new court filings, attorneys for a Bay Area man who was tackled by a Vallejo officer as he filmed a traffic stop accuse the officer of participating in a “vigilante police gang” that bent the tips of their badges to mark kills on the job.

    The new allegations, filed in court last week by civil rights attorneys Adante Pointer, Melissa Nold, and Patrick Buelna, accuse Vallejo Ofc. David McLaughlin of being one of at least 11 officers in the police department who were part of a so-called “Badge of Honor” gang within the city’s police department. The attorneys represent Adrian Burrell and his cousin, Michael Walton, who sued McLaughlin and the city after McLaughlin tackled Burrell as he filmed Walton being pulled over in 2019.

    The attorneys submitted a proposal to file a new civil complaint that includes the badge bending allegations against McLaughlin. Specifically, they allege that McLaughlin bent the tip of his badge in August 2017, after he and four other officers shot and killed Benicia resident Jeffrey Barboa, as Barboa walked toward the officers with a machete held above his head, after crashing his car during a high-speed police chase into Richmond.

    Barboa was struck 41 times. A coroner’s inquest jury later ruled it a suicide.

    “Plaintiffs are informed and believe and thereon allege that Defendant McLaughlin received a bend in his badge for killing Barboa and was incentivized to draw his firearm and threatened to shoot Plaintiff Walton to acquire another bend in his badge,” the filings say. “Plaintiffs are informed and believe and thereon allege that Defendant McLaughlin became enraged with Plaintiff Burrell because he interrupted his opporunity (sic) to gain another bend in his badge and retaliated against him with excessive force.”

    The city has not responded to the allegations yet, but has denied allegations in previous versions of the lawsuit that accuse McLaughlin of using excessive force and the city’s former police chief, Andrew Bidou, of creating a department culture that allowed misconduct to fester.

    Attorneys for the city also wrote in court records that they lacked information to verify the allegation that McLaughlin was disciplined for tackling Burrell after a video of the incident went viral, but still issued general denials.

    The allegations of badge-bending to mark kills within the department surfaced last year in a story by the independent news site Open Vallejo. Since then, a former Vallejo police captain, John Whitney, has filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging in part that he was fired for trying to make higher-ups in the department aware of what was going on.
    An internal probe of the alleged badge-bending — sparked by the Open Vallejo story — is still pending, but both Chief Shawny Williams and City Manager Greg Nyhoff have publicly stated that preliminary findings indicate that some officers were in fact bending badges to mark on-the-job shootings. Neither Williams nor Nyhoff have named names.

    McLaughlin was placed on leave in February and the department opened an internal-affairs investigation after Burrell, a Bay Area artist and filmmaker, posted a video to his Facebook page in January showing McLaughlin tackling and handcuffing him as he filmed the officer from his porch. The encounter took place Jan. 22, 2019. In May, he returned to work.

    McLaughlin, a former Oakland officer who joined Vallejo police in 2014, is also the defendant in a still-unresolved federal lawsuit over an off-duty incident in Contra Costa County, in which he pulled a gun on a man during a heated argument outside a pizza restaurant.


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