Contra Costa Herald

A fire burns at Sims Metal Management in Richmond, CA Tuesday night, Jan. 20, 2017. Screenshot of video by ABC7 News.

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

The mission of the Community Warning System (CWS) is to ensure the public gets emergency alerts as quickly and completely as possible once we receive the proper information from the requesting agency. CWS is not an internal notification system for a city or affected jurisdictions.

In regards to yesterday’s fire at Sims Metal Management shop located at 604 S. 4th Street in Richmond, CWS received all of the necessary information from Richmond Fire for an alert at 5:55 PM. There was no request to activate the sirens. The first alert was sent at 6:08 PM through the Telephone Emergency Notification Sys-tem (TENS), which includes phone, text, and email alerts. It is also posted on social media and websites. (See the ABC7 News story about and video of the fire, here).

As the fire continued to burn and produce smoke, and due to a shift in winds, the shelter-in-place needed to be expanded. CWS worked to get updates to additional shelter-in-place areas as they were requested by Richmond Fire and Contra Costa Hazardous Materials Program.

The second alert went out at 6:44 PM, the third alert went out at 7:57 PM, and the last one went out at 8:50 PM. These alerts went to expanded areas at the request of Richmond Fire and the Contra Costa Hazardous Materials Program.

After the situation became somewhat stabilized and it was believed no additional shelter-in-place areas would be needed, a comprehensive map was created that included all affected are-as and was posted in on our website and Facebook page and sent directly to the media.

“In yesterday’s incident, the CWS worked as designed — alerts were sent once all the information was received from the requesting agency,” said Assistant Sheriff Mark Williams. “Mayor Butt’s statement that it took an hour to get out the first alert after receiving the necessary information from Richmond Fire is totally inaccurate, misleading, and presumptuous.”

CWS continually reviews it system and procedures in an effort to improve delivery of alerts. CWS encourages all county residents to receive alerts by registering at http://www.cococws.us and to follow CWS on Twitter and Facebook at CoCoCWS.

At the corner of happy, healthy and higher prices? Violations attributed to human error.

The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office announced on Tuesday that its Consumer Protection Unit joined with the District Attorneys of Santa Clara, San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties in a civil law enforcement action against Walgreen Co., the operator of more than 600 Walgreens stores in California. Walgreens, a nationwide corporation, has its headquarters in Deerfield, Illinois.

The civil action was based in part upon scanner inspections conducted by local Weights and Measures offices, including the office of Contra Costa County Department of Agriculture Division of Weights & Measures, Humberto Izquierdo Director. The District Attorneys alleged that Walgreens violated state law by charging customers more than the lowest posted or advertised price for items.

The alleged violations also included Walgreens’ failure to comply with laws prohibiting selling or offering to sell infant formula or baby food after the “use by” date and over-the-counter drugs after the expiration date has passed. These violations were discovered as a result of inspections by the County Environmental Health Services Divisions and District Attorney Investigation Units. The Santa Clara County Superior Court approved the Modified Stipulated Judgment on January 29, 2018.

“It seems that Walgreen’s couldn’t get their act together here, more than other counties,” said Deputy District Attorney Gary E. Koeppel of the Consumer Protection Unit. He was the lead Deputy DA from Contra Costa County, prepared much of the documentation and was the main contact for negotiations with Walgreens’ law firm in San Francisco. “We were having probably a larger problem here in Contra Costa.”

Without admitting wrongdoing, Walgreens agreed to pay $2,250,000 in civil penalties and costs. The judgment also prohibits violating applicable laws and requires Walgreens to institute a compliance program. That program includes procedures to ensure the removal of infant formula, baby food and over-the counter drugs prior to the “use by” or “expiration” dates. The program also requires procedures to ensure that consumers are charged accurate prices, such as removal of shelf tags from store shelves prior to expiration and adjusting charges at point of sale to reflect the lowest advertised, posted or quoted price on the sales floor for in-store purchases.

The present Modified Stipulated Final Judgment “superseded” or replaced a 2013 pricing violations judgment against Walgreens, by adding new injunctive, compliance and civil penalty and costs provisions to address the new pricing and expired product violations. Walgreens cooperated with prosecutors during the investigation and the resolution of this case.

District Attorneys work with Departments of Weights & Measures to protect consumers from pricing errors and with Environmental Health Divisions to enforce laws prohibiting the sale of certain expired products. Consumers should always check receipts to verify that they are charged the correct price and make sure that the products they purchase are not beyond their expiration dates.

“If there’s a tag on the shelf that indicates a price and when scanned it indicates a higher price, it’s a violation,” Koeppel said. “The provisions in the state Business and Professions Code are clear. You have to sell it at the lowest, advertised price, even if it has expired. If it’s still on the shelf at the lower price with a tag in black and white, they have to sell at the expired price.”

“The County Agriculture Department’s County Weights and Measures are responsible for this, including gas stations,” he added.

“During the course of our negotiations over the scanner violations we did an undercover operation with our health departments throughout the state and we came up with about 33% of the stores that came back with over the counter pain medication and baby formula that had expired dates,” he stated.

Part of the injunction includes the requirement that at least 90 days before the expiration on pain medication and 30 days for baby formula Walgreens must remove those items from the shelves,” Koeppel explained, “Then other requirements such as posting of conspicuous signs.”

“Regarding the scanner violations, we’ve had this term placed in other injunctions with other big box stores, requiring managers have to walk through the aisles once a week and pull expired tags,” he continued. “Plus, they’re required to keep records whenever customers complain any time prices are higher and enter that data into a system that keeps track of scanner price modifications, when the shelf price was lower than the scanned price.”

Asked if the stores are required to provide a periodic report, Koeppel replied, “No. But, Weights & Measures has the right to go in any time and request a copy of the report.”

He wanted to point out that “Walgreens has been very cooperative and primarily blame the violations on human error,” due to “the turnover in employees and difficulty training them. Nothing constitutes an intentional violation. For clarity, they’re not alone. I’m not going to name other stores. But, scanner violations are very common in big box situations. It’s been pretty rampant, over the years. Unintentionally, for the most part.”

Asked about the liability the stores face, Koeppel responded, “It’s a big, potential liability issue with the baby formula and pain medication if someone got sick. But, from our discussions with experts, the best would be weaker potency, not greater health risks.”

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

On Friday, January 26th, 2018, Viktor Nikolaevich Kabaniaev, a 54-year old ballet instructor who has worked in Contra Costa and San Mateo County was arrested at his San Mateo home on a warrant for 16 counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14 for events that occurred in Contra Costa County.

At the time of his arrest Viktor Kabaniaev was working at the Westlake School for the Performing Arts in Daly City.

“The victim was various courageous to come forward,” said Senior Deputy District Attorney Paul Graves. “It reminds us that when teachers and coaches are instructing our children, when they violate that trust we need to take it very seriously. Parents need to remain vigilant when their children are being instructed by other adults.”

“We hope there aren’t any other victims, but if there are we hope they too can find their voice,” he added.

When asked where the incidents occurred in the county, Graves said he would not share that information for the protection of the victim.

Anyone with information about this case can call the hotline at 925-256-3541.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

Suspect Trevor Michael Berryman and the Mercedes police say he was driving. Photos by San Ramon Police

By San Ramon Police Department

On January 18th, 2018, the San Ramon Police Department responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle parked on Minerva Way.  Upon arrival, Officers located a vehicle with apparent bullet holes, as well as a blood trail leading away from the area.

During the subsequent investigation, Detectives learned that the driver of the vehicle had been shot earlier in the evening in San Ramon and received medical attention at a local hospital.  During the course of the investigation, the subject alleged to be responsible for the shooting was identified as a 21-year-old San Leandro resident, Trevor Michael Berryman.  Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Mr. Berryman for: 664/187PC – Attempted Murder and 182PC – Conspiracy.

The vehicle that was used during the commission of the crime is a black, four-door, 2009 Mercedes-Benz, license number: CA 6UWK467.

If anybody has any information related to this case or knows the whereabouts of Mr. Berryman and or his vehicle, please contact the San Ramon Police Department at (925) 973-2779.

In a post on Facebook on Thursday, Jan. 25 by Matthew Sherman, who claims to be the suspect’s brother, he wrote:

Some of you have seen the recent report about my brother and this terrible situation. Our family has been receiving calls, texts and messages regarding the situation with questions, so allow me to clear some things up. Yes, this is my brother and yes he is a suspect in this crime. He is still innocent until proven guilty. Our family is cooperating with San Ramon police to help in any way we can. Trevor is still missing so if you see him, please tell him to call me, his sister, his dad, any of us. We’re doing all we can to help come to a peaceful resolution. Please respect our families [sic] privacy in (t)his issue and keep judgment to yourself. The comments I’ve seen on the multiple news outlet reports is sickening. I never thought I’d be on the side of a report like this proclaiming “he’s a good kid from a good family”, however, that’s the God’s honest truth. Our family is now, and always will be, supportive of all law enforcement and we will do all we can to help get to the bottom of the truth.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

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

Martinez Dentention Facility. Photo by Harry H. on Foursquare

At about 12:47 AM today, a Deputy Sheriff was doing a room check at the Martinez Detention Facility (MDF) when he noticed an inmate was unresponsive in his bunk. The Deputy immediately called for medical assistance and started CPR.

Medical staff at MDF continued life-saving measures. An ambulance and the fire department responded to MDF. The inmate was later pronounced deceased. The inmate is identified as 45-year-old James Darryl Cooper of Vallejo. On January 18, 2018, he was booked into MDF on a warrant for domestic violence. He also had three arrest warrants from Solano County. His death appears to be medically related. An autopsy will be conducted to try to determine the cause of death.

The officer-involved protocol was initiated. Investigators from the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff and the DA’s Office are conducting an investigation into the death.

Approve purchase of five new fire trucks for Con-Fire

By Daniel Borsuk

Without a whimper of a protest from a non-franchised solid waste hauler, Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to make it costly to operate a business in the county.

At the request of District 1 Supervisor John Gioia, supervisors agreed to raise the performance bond to $50,000 from $20,000 even though at one point the supervisor from Richmond attempted to press on the need to lift up the performance bond as much as $100,000.

In addition to paying for the annual performance bond, anyone conducting business as a non-franchise waste hauler in the county would have to pay $229 for an annual permit per vehicle and meet other rules the Contra Costa County Health Services Department has developed.

Independent trash hauling operators would also be subject to annual inspections and would have to adhere to other rules county supervisors established in an ordinance passed last November.

The non-franchised waste haulers ordinance is set to go be enforced in March.  County officials are uncertain how many non-franchise trash haulers there are in the county because they work undercover in warehouses and illegally dump loads usually under the cloak of darkness and in out-of-the-way unincorporated parts of the county.

“I’ve been working on this issue in North Richmond for 20 years, and if they (i.e. homeowners) can hire someone to haul their trash for $20 versus $70 they’ll do it for $20,” said Gioia.  “The question is whether we are setting the bar too low.”

The supervisor contends his District 1 in West county and District 5 in East County represented by supervisor Federal Glover tend to be hit the hardest by non-franchised solid waste haulers who illegally dump trash in unincorporated areas thereby forcing the county to spend thousands of dollars to clean up sites.

“If you make it too expensive, “warned Supervisor Candace Andersen, whose District 2 gets perhaps the least amount of trash illegally dumped by non-franchised haulers, “there will be more of a need for haulers to resort to the black market.”

District 3 Supervisor Diane Burgis, who has observed hundreds of paint cans litter Marsh Creek Road, commented, “These people can do a lot of damage with one load.  Twenty thousand dollars for a performance bond is nothing.  I’d like to set it higher. “

At the suggestion of Board Chair and District 4 Supervisor Karen Mitchoff, Gioia and other supervisors agreed the $50,000 performance bond would be a good start to assess independent trash haulers not affiliated with either of the two major trash haulers, Republic Services and Mt. Diablo Resource Recovery.  Both companies played key roles in compelling the supervisors to approve the ordinance last year.

District 5 Supervisor Federal Glover of Pittsburg said the problem of trash dumped by non-franchised haulers on vacant lots is a countywide problem, not mainly an East and West county issue.  While he supports raising the performance bond to $50,000, he said the board of supervisors needs to be proactive and needs to monitor how the non-franchised trash haulers respond to the new ordinance.

Board chairperson Mitchoff requested that Marilyn Underwood of the Contra Costa Health Services Department, the department enforcing the ordinance, to give the board a progress report in March once the ordinance becomes enforced.

Fire District to Acquire 5 New Trucks

The Contra Costa Fire Protection District will add sorely needed new fire equipment with the supervisors 5-0 consent action approval to buy five new fire engines from Golden State Fire Apparatus Inc. at a price tag not to exceed $4.6 million.  The new vehicles will be delivered to the CCFPD in January 2019.

Supervisors voted to acquire four Type I fire engines and one 100-foot aerial ladder truck from Golden State Fire Apparatus to help alleviate an aging fleet of 35 Type I engines with an average age of 9.3 years per vehicle.  All engines that are more than 10 years old, Fire Chief Jeff Carman reported, have more than 100,000 miles.  Four Type I engines targeted for replacement each have more than 125,000 miles.  One engine sustained a catastrophic motor failure while responding to a state mutual aid response in Southern California this fall.

The new aerial apparatus truck will be the fire district’s 10th ladder truck.

The county has arranged a 10-year lease agreement through PNC Equipment Financial LLC worth an amount not to exceed $4.6 million with annual payments of $460,000 at an annual interest rate of 3.5 percent.

Two of the three cars involved in the fatal accident on Deer Valley Road near Empire Mine Road, Thursday morning, Jan. 25, 2018. Photos by East Contra Costa Fire Protection District

By CHP-Contra Costa

Today, Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018 at about 7:01 am, Contra Costa CHP was advised of a three-vehicle traffic collision on Deer Valley Road, just north of Empire Mine Road. Upon CHP and emergency personnel arrival, it was determined that a Honda Civic collided with a Honda Accord, and then into a Toyota Camry. The male driver of the Honda Civic was pronounced deceased at the scene. The other two drivers only suffered minor injuries and complaints of pain.

At 7:50 am, East Contra Costa Fire units responded, according to Interim Battalion Chief-Public Information Officer Ross Macumber. He also stated that Antioch Police personnel responded to the scene, as well. According to the report by Interim Battalion Chief for Operations Craig Auzeene, there was major damage to two of the vehicles but only minor damage to the third and that Deer Valley Road was closed from Balfour Road to the Kaiser hospital.

In the initial investigation, it appears that the solo male driver (38-year-old from Brentwood) of the Honda Civic was traveling northbound on Deer Valley Road and for unknown reasons, he veered across the solid double yellow lines and into oncoming southbound traffic on Deer Valley Road, directly into the path of the oncoming Honda Accord and collided with the Accord. Then the Civic spun out of control, continuing in the southbound lane and collided with the oncoming Toyota.

The solo female driver from the Accord was transported to a local hospital for minor injuries only and the solo female driver from the Toyota was privately taken to a local hospital for only minor complaints of pain only.

Tragically the 38-year-old male driver of the Honda Civic was pronounced deceased at the scene. The Contra Costa County Coroner was dispatched to the scene to identify the deceased male and recover his body. The Coroner’s office will be the lead agency regarding the release of the deceased male identity.

It is unknown at this time if alcohol or drugs are a factor in this collision. This collision is still under investigation and if anyone witnessed it or the events leading up to it, please contact Contra Costa CHP in Martinez, (925) 646-4980.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

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

On Monday at about 9:30 PM, Deputy Sheriffs responded to a report of a shooting on the 500 block of Market Street in North Richmond that may have been preceded by a verbal dispute.

When Deputies arrived, they found three male gunshot victims. All of them were transported to a hospital where they remain

The suspect is outstanding.

Anyone with any information on this incident or the identity of the suspect is asked to contact the Office of the Sheriff Investigation Division at (925) 313-2600. For any tips, please email: tips@so.cccounty.us or call 866-846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message.

By ECCFPD Fire Chief Brian Helmick

I would first like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope your holiday season was enjoyable while allowing you a chance to reset before the busy year ahead.

In April of 2017, I was named the Interim Fire Chief for the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District and was appointed by the Board of Directors as the permanent Fire Chief in October. As I worked on getting up to speed with all the functions of the Fire Chief position, I found that the year was really about working to stabilize our service level and establishing a solid foundation upon which to build future service improvements.

When I started in April of 2017, it was apparent that there were many systems and processes that needed to be improved. Initially, my primary objectives were addressing the District’s retention challenges and assuring that the District operated as efficiently as possible with the revenues available. This required transitioning the District to a three-station operation model (although the current District Mater plan calls for 9 stations to adequately serve the District).

The District has a long road ahead in its effort to improve service to our customers. I believe the District’s staff has made good strides and begun to build a solid foundation for future growth. I am a firm believer in working as a team. What we have done over the past nine (9) months within the District internally is give our line-personnel additional responsibility and a voice in the future of the District. Specifically, we created several line staff committees where decisions can quickly move up the chain of command to accomplish tasks much faster. Some of the District’s internal committees include: operations committee, technology committee, public relations / information (PIO) committee to name a few. These committees not only improve communications but ultimately improve the level of service the District provides to the communities the District serves.

Here is a summary of some of our 2017 accomplishments:

• Internal Audit Discovers Additional Funding: as the new Fire Chief, one of the first priorities was to understand the District’s financial processes and assure the District was operating as efficiently as possible with the revenue that is provided to the District. After many countless hours, meetings, and seeking professional assistance, $6.2 million in one-time funding was identified from the past three budget cycles. These monies will be used on one-time expenses in the near future, including facility improvements and equipment replacements. As of this notice, the District has not utilized any of the $6.2 million one-time funds and we will not do so until all external District audits are complete. In addition to identifying these onetime funds, the District has established a balanced budget that is sustainable for at least the next ten (10) years.

• Improved Capital Replacement Funding: We have established a facility and equipment based capital reserve funding program and are in the process of replacing worn equipment and refurbishing our long-neglected facilities. In the near future I will begin to share how antiquated the District’s infrastructure (stations, equipment, engines) is and what challenges the District will have as we work to increase services.
• Restructured the Organization: We have successfully transitioned to a three-station operation model and increased administrative staffing. This has provided a strong financial base to build future improvements on and assures adequate personnel to guide the District on its path to improved service levels. The addition of administrative staff will assure we complete budgeting and auditing functions in a timely manner, move forward on developing a service improvement plan, and stabilize our current service level.
• Improved Communications: in 2017, as a District, we began to take control of our own messages and sharing our story with the citizens we serve. We invested heavily in re-launching our own website (www.eccfpd.specialdistrict.org) where citizens can now live stream board meetings and obtain relevant and up to date information on the District. In addition, we have launched several new and updated social media pages on behalf of the District. The Social Media channels now available for citizens to get relevant and up to date information about the District are:

o Facebook https://www.facebook.com/EastContraCostaFireProtectionDistrict

o Instagram https://www.instagram.com/east_contra_costa_fire/

o YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUo1LReabUPEcz5BL0Awn5g

o Twitter https://twitter.com/eccfpd

o Nextdoor

• Partnered with California Fire Foundation to supply aid to victims: ECCFPD, in cooperation with International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1230 and the California Fire Foundation, can now provide emergency financial assistance to fire and natural disaster victims. The goal is to provide immediate short-term support in the aftermath of a fire or other natural disaster which displaces victims.
• Public Outreach: Our firefighters have begun visiting schools, preschools and attended many community events as well as hosted a series of our own events such as fire station open houses, Santa visits, and health and safety fairs. This was aimed at becoming more visible to the public. 2017 was just the start; in 2018 we have a calendar full of events we will be participating in.
• Station 53 Name Change: To better reflect a District identity, we changed the identifying number of Station 93 to Station 53 to ensure all stations in Battalion 5 were in the same numeric sequence. Upon additional station growth, those stations will also be in the 50 series.
• Strike Teams Established: For the first time in more than a decade, our District was able to assist other fire districts on major fire calls. In a period of two months, our District sent an engine in October to the Napa/Sonoma County Fires. In December, we sent an engine to Southern California to the Creek Fire in Los Angeles County and the Thomas Fire in Ventura/ Santa Barbara counties. The crews worked to save the Wildlife Way Station north-east of Los Angeles and protected several hundred exotic animals.
• New Turnouts: You may have noticed a new look to our firefighters as they recently switched to black turnouts (Protective uniform clothing). Our old turnouts are at the point of not meeting safety requirements. As of this release, all personnel’s turnouts are being replaced as part of the new capital replacement funding program. Traditionally, we have worn tan turnouts, but the black ones were something our line personnel wanted, plus the color change was a cost neutral decision.
• Firefighter Retention: Late in 2017, our fire board approved a new union contract which includes a pay raise that more fairly compensates our firefighters for the lifesaving work they perform. Although we are still the lowest paid, among other surrounding fire districts across the Bay Area, the gap has significantly closed which should help with our retention issues. The new contract also includes a 50%-50% sharing of future health care costs for active and retired fire fighters. This will significantly reduce the cost of our healthcare liability.
• Critical Incident Management: Firefighting is a demanding profession and it can take a toll on our firefighters. In 2017 the District worked to improve the Districts Critical Incident Management and Peer Support team and brought on a Voluntary Fire Chaplain and mental health professionals to provide support to our members•
• Planning for the Future: The District is well on its way to developing a strategic implementation plan for improving the level of fires service within the District. We have retained a legislative consultant to establish a relationship with the state legislature, are in the process of retaining a strategic planning consultant, and will be developing a long-term funding and implementation plan to increase fire district services in the future.

These are just some of the highlights and achievements the District accomplished in 2017 and we look forward to improving the District in 2018. In 2018, we have many initiatives on our plate which include potentially moving to a five-member elected fire

board, developing a strategic plan to increase service levels, and improving the District’s infrastructure so we can build upon it when / if additional revenue becomes available.

As a District, we are always seeking public comments and participation. I encourage and recommend that all ECCFPD’s citizens and business owners become engaged with and learn about ECCFPD’s current service level restrictions and organizational challenges. This can be accomplished by becoming familiar with ECCFPD’s: website, Master Plan, social media channels and attending District meetings.

I look forward to a productive 2018 and continuing to push this District forward towards a higher level of service.

ABOUT THE EAST CONTRA COSTA FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT: The East Contra Costa Fire Protection District is a rural-funded fire district that protects approximately 249 square miles and over 114,000 residents. The District provides firefighting personnel and emergency medical services (basic life support) to the residents and businesses of the Cities of Brentwood and Oakley, the Township of Discovery Bay, and the communities of Bethel Island, Knightsen, Byron, Marsh Creek, and Morgan Territory.

As of July 1, 2017, ECCFPD has three (3) fire stations staffed by three (3) firefighters, for total district staffing of nine (9) firefighters per day. The district responds to over 6,900 calls a year that depend on approximately 9,000 fire engine responses. ECCFPD’s Master Plan calls for nine (9) stations to adequately provide coverage to the District’s citizens and businesses.

You can visit us on the Districts website, www.eccfpd.org or through our social media pages on Facebook (East Contra Costa Fire Protection District), Instagram (@east_contra_costa_fire) , Twitter ( @ECCFPD ), Nextdoor and our YouTube channel (East Contra Costa Fire Protection District) for more information on the Fire District.