Contra Costa Herald

News Of By and For The People of Contra Costa County, California

Suspect identified in fatal officer involved shooting in Danville Saturday morning as Newark man

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

The investigation into yesterday’s officer involved shooting in Danville continues. Per the county officer-involved protocol, this incident is being jointly investigated by the Danville Police Department, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff, and D.A.’s Office. The findings of the investigation will ultimately be presented at a Coroner’s inquest, a public hearing where a jury determines the manner of death. (See related article)

On Saturday, November 3, 2018, at 11:03 AM, Danville Police Officers responded to a call from a citizen of a suspicious person near Cottage Lane and Laurel Drive in Danville.

The citizen reported seeing a person exit his vehicle, walk toward several homes with bags in his hands, go back to his car and circle the neighborhood.

Officers arrived on scene. The suspect ignored commands to stop and led officers on a pursuit. Twice during the pursuit, the suspect pulled over as if he was going to give up. As officers exited their cars, the suspect fled in his vehicle continuing to lead the officers in a pursuit.

At the intersection of Front Street and Diablo Road, the suspect steered his vehicle toward an officer and accelerated his vehicle. The officer was in immediate fear that he was going to be run over by the suspect’s vehicle and fired his weapon at the driver of the vehicle. The suspect was shot and transported to the San Ramon Regional Medical Center, where he was later pronounced deceased.

The suspect is identified as 33-year-old Laudemer Arboleda of Newark. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.

The officer who discharged his weapon in the officer involved shooting is Deputy Sheriff Andrew Hall. He has been with the Office of the Sheriff for five years. He is currently assigned to the contract city of Danville.

Anyone with any information on this case is asked to contact the 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.

Following pursuit, man shot, killed by Danville Police Saturday morning

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

This morning at about 11:03, Danville Police Officers responded to a report from a citizen of a suspicious person near Cottage Place and Laurel Drive in Danville.

As officers arrived, the suspect fled, leading officers on a pursuit. At the intersection of Front Street and Diablo Road, the suspect attempted to run over an officer, who fired his weapon at the vehicle.

The suspect was shot and transported to a local hospital where he was later pronounced deceased. The suspect is not being identified at this time. The officer sustained a minor injury.

The county officer-involved protocol has been invoked. This incident is being jointly investigated by the Danville Police Department, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff, and D.A.’s Office.

More details are pending

Man found guilty of animal cruelty for dog attack on calves in Contra Loma Regional Park

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By Scott Alonso, Public Information Officer, Contra Costa County Office of the District Attorney

On October 31, a Contra Costa County jury found defendant Vinicio Santos of Antioch guilty of three misdemeanors, including animal cruelty. On December 1, 2017, Santos’ dog attacked the three calves owned by grazer Paul Daysh. The brutal attack left the three calves permanently injured.

Santos now faces a sentence of up to three years in county jail. Sentencing for Santos will occur on November 30 by the Honorable Leonard Marquez in Department 34 at the Contra Costa County Superior Court in Pittsburg. Restitution for Daysh will also be decided on November 30. Contra Costa County Deputy District Attorney Whitnee Goins prosecuted the case on behalf of the People for this misdemeanor jury trial.

“I am grateful the jury held the defendant accountable for his crimes. He ignored repeated orders from East Bay Regional Parks Rangers to control his dog. Consequently, these calves needlessly suffered serious injuries. We will continue to prosecute animal cruelty cases to ensure the public is protected and animals are cared for in a humane manner,” DDA Goins stated.

Santos and his dog were at the Contra Loma Regional Park in Antioch on December 1, 2017. Santos’ dog was not on leash when spotted by park rangers. After rangers saw Santos, they heard animals in distress. When the rangers connected again with Santos they saw the white Husky mix dog viciously attacking one calf, then moving to attack two more calves. Santos was told repeatedly to leash his dog and bring the dog under control. Santos ignored the rangers’ commands.

Santos was found guilty of the following misdemeanor offenses:

·         Animal Cruelty

·         Vandalism Over $400 Damage

·         Resist, Obstruct, Delay of Peace Officer

Case information: People v. Vinicio Arturo Santos, Docket Number 04-193968-5.

Suspect arrested for attempted murder in unincorporated Oakley dies

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

The suspect in an attempted murder/domestic violence incident in unincorporated Oakley early Tuesday morning, October 30, 2018, was pronounced deceased at the hospital yesterday. The 34-year-old Oakley resident is not being identified. An autopsy is scheduled for today.

On Tuesday, at about 3:26 AM, Delta Station Deputy Sheriffs responded to a report of a female screaming for help on the 3500 block of Wells Road in unincorporated Oakley. One person reported seeing a naked man holding an infant. The man was struggling with a female for control of the infant. Additional callers reported the female had passed the infant over to them and they had secured the infant in a nearby condominium.

The female continued to struggle with the male, who was attempting to throw her off of the balcony. Four neighbors arrived and were able to control the male after a struggle. The female fled to safety.

Deputies arrived on scene seeing a person on the ground who was being held down by others. After securing the person in handcuffs, Deputies found that he was unresponsive. Deputies unhandcuffed the person and began CPR. AMR arrived on scene and performed life-saving measures for approximately 10 minutes. The man was transported to a local hospital. The infant was also taken to the hospital as a precaution.

The investigation is ongoing. This case is being investigated as an officer-involved incident. Per the officer-involved protocol, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office and the Office of the Sheriff are jointly investigating this incident.

Anyone with any information on this case is asked to contact the 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.

Attempted murder of woman during domestic dispute in unincorporated Oakley early Tuesday morning

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

Tuesday morning at about 3:26 a.m., Delta Station Deputy Sheriffs responded to a report of a female screaming for help on the 3500 block of Wells Road in unincorporated Oakley.

One person reported seeing a naked man holding an infant. The man was struggling with a female for control of the infant.  Additional callers reported the female had passed the infant over to them and they had secured the infant in a nearby condominium.

The female continued to struggle with the male, who was attempting to throw her off of the balcony. Four neighbors arrived and were able to control the male after a struggle. The female fled to safety.

Deputies arrived on scene seeing a person on the ground who was being held down by others. After securing the person in handcuffs, Deputies found that he was unresponsive. Deputies unhandcuffed the subject and began CPR.  AMR arrived on scene and performed life-saving measures for approximately 10 minutes. The subject was transported to a local hospital.  The infant was also transported to the hospital as a precaution.

The investigation is ongoing. The subject is not being identified at this time. Additional details are pending.

Martinez man charged with child molestation and production, distribution and selling child pornography

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On Thursday October 25, 2018, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office charged 21-year-old Martinez resident Aaron Kurtis Mikkelsen with multiple felony violations including committing lewd acts with a minor under 13, producing child pornography, as well as selling and distributing child sexual abuse material online.

On October 23, 2018, the Contra Costa County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force executed a search warrant in Martinez related to Mikkelsen selling child pornography on social media. During the search, investigators located evidence that Mikkelsen had sexually abused a child under 13 years old. Investigators located a significant amount of child sexual abuse material on his cell phone and in various social media accounts.

Mikkelsen will be arraigned in Martinez at the Contra Costa County Superior Courthouse this morning. Mikkelsen remains in the custody of the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office on $500,000 bail. Deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Kolko is prosecuting the case on behalf of the People.

The investigation was conducted by a multi-agency Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which is managed by the San Jose Police Department. In Contra Costa County, detectives and investigators from the Walnut Creek, Martinez, San Ramon, Concord and Moraga Police Departments, the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, United States Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations, the Contra Costa County Probation Department, and Inspectors from the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office participate in the task force.

Parents are encouraged to discuss online safety with their children, and can visit the website www.kidsmartz.org or our website for further information.

Case information: People v. Mikkelsen, Dockett Number 01-187610-1

Bay Point man arrested near Lafayette school for indecent exposure Tuesday

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

On Tuesday, October 23, 2018, at approximately 12:17 p.m., the Lafayette Police Department received a call of a suspicious subject in the area of School Street and 1st Street, near Lafayette Elementary School. The citizen reported a male adult sitting in a vehicle touching his genitals while staring at children.

The citizen provided a description of the subject and the vehicle as the subject drove away. Officers were able to locate the vehicle on eastbound Highway 24 prior to Pleasant Hill and conducted an enforcement stop. The driver was positively identified as the reported subject and was detained.

Currently, there have been no reports of children seeing the subject and the citizen caller was an adult.

The suspect is identified as 33-year-old Franklin Rivera of Bay Point. He was later booked into the Martinez Detention Facility for indecent exposure. He is being held in lieu of $5,000 bail.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with additional information is encouraged to call Lafayette Police Detective Sergeant Rossberg at (925) 299-3234 or send an email to 94549tip@gmail.com.

Antioch Police Chief shares statistics showing decrease in most major crimes

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Lately, I have had a number of people ask me about crime statistics in Antioch. More specifically, they want to know how our current crime rate compares to the crime rate prior to Measure C being approved by voters back in November 2013. Below is a graph comparing Antioch’s Part I crimes for the first nine months of 2013 to the first nine months of this year. (They can also be viewed on the City’s website at https://www.antiochca.gov/police/crime-statistics/)

Pretty staggering results! Overall, violent crime is down 39.9% and property crime is down 25.5%, resulting in a Total Part I Crime reduction of 28.2%.

This data clearly shows that Antioch is a safer community than it was five years ago. Now, by no means am I saying Antioch is crime-free, or even as safe as we would like it to be. It’s not. However, we have made great strides over the last five years in making our city safer. But like many things that happen over a period of time, the results aren’t as obvious to those of us who live here and are acclimated to the environment we see every day.

I’d like to share a personal story as an analogy to this. About 13 years ago, I weighed 320 pounds. I made some eating and lifestyle changes, and eventually lost over 100 pounds. This was very difficult for me to do and took more than a year to accomplish. The sad part about this was while I was losing weight, I continually felt as though my physical appearance was not changing. I saw myself every day, picking apart every flaw, and continually feeling as though I was making very little (if any) progress. It was not until I saw a picture of myself at my heaviest, and compared it to a more recent picture, that I was able to appreciate the change I had made.

Some people have a preconceived notion about Antioch. And for them, every single incident of crime reported helps justify their opinion. Also known as confirmation bias, this is the mentality of someone who fails to see the forest for the trees. Antioch previously had the unfortunate distinction of being one of the most dangerous cities in California. That is no longer the case. In fact, the most recent list I saw (just published last week) had Antioch down to #51 (https://www.roadsnacks.net/most-dangerous-cities-in-california/). By no means is this perfect or even ideal. But it’s a marked improvement from where we were.

There is still a lot of work needed to make Antioch safer. But the men and women of the Antioch Police Department have been, and are still, committed to doing the best we can with the staffing and resources we have to improve the safety of our community. I believe the funding generated by Measure C has enabled the Antioch Police Department to make a measurable impact on the crime in our city over the past five years. Measure W, on this November’s ballot, is intended to continue providing the Department funding that could be used for programs and staffing to further reduce crime in our community.

As your Chief of Police, and an Antioch resident, I am truly thankful for everything and everyone working to keep our community safer!

Respectfully,

Tammany Brooks III

Antioch Chief of Police

**The increase in Rape crimes was a direct result of the Department of Justice expanding the definition of that crime, which took effect January 2014.

Suspect identified in 1985 Danville rape and murder cold case

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

Homicide Detectives from the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff have identified a suspect in the September 20, 1985 killing of 57-year-old Virginia Vincent. On that day, a concerned neighbor found Vincent’s body in her apartment in Danville and notified police. It was later determined that she was raped and murdered.

All investigative leads were pursued, at the time however, no suspect was identified, and the case went cold for nearly two decades. In April 2002, a DNA profile was created from the evidence found at the crime scene. No match was found, and once again the case went cold for another 15 years. Over the years, there have been technological advances in forensic science that have assisted law enforcement agencies in analyzing evidence from cold cases. One method is known as “familial search.”

In November 2017, the Sheriff’s Office submitted a request to the California Bureau of Forensic Services (BFS) to conduct a familial search using the DNA recovered at the scene.

In June 2018, the Sheriff’s Office was notified of a possible match through the diligent work of the BFS committee. Homicide Detectives later identified Joey Lynn Ford as the likely suspect in the killing of Vincent. Ford died in 1997 at the age of 36 and is buried at a cemetery in Fairfield, California. Ford’s body was later exhumed. The Office of the Sheriff Forensic Services Division Crime Lab confirmed Ford as the suspect after a DNA sample extracted from him matched that found at the crime scene. This is the first successful familial search on a cold case in the Bay Area.

Detectives are still working to determine how the two might be acquainted, but records indicate Ford was arrested for DUI in Danville the day before the killing, just a short distance from the crime scene. At the time of the homicide, Ford was working as a plumber in the area and Vincent was a Real Estate agent. Investigators believe this is the likely connection between them, but that remains unclear.

“The Sheriff’s Office and all of the law enforcement agencies involved were relentless in their handling of this case, they are the true heroes,” said Marianna Wickman, daughter of victim Virginia Vincent. “So many were instrumental in getting us our closure and were sensitive to our needs. I am so very grateful.”

Wickman asked for privacy for herself and the family.

The Sheriff’s Office would like to acknowledge the California Department of Justice Bureau of Forensic Services and Bureau of Investigation for their assistance in this investigation. We would also like to thank Rick Jackson, a retired long-time LAPD homicide detective who now resides in the Bay Area, for his dedication and work on this case.

“Because the suspect Joey Ford is deceased, there will be no prosecution in this case,” said Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston. “However, we hope that the identification of the suspect in the killing of Virginia Vincent brings her family and the community some closure in this painful case.”

East County transient man convicted of felony vehicular manslaughter in 2017 Hwy 4 fatal crash

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Crash in Pittsburg on Oct. 4, 2017 took life of Discovery Bay woman

On October 2, a Contra Costa County jury found defendant Frank J. Newkirk, a 26-year-old transient, guilty of gross vehicular manslaughter. The victim, Theresa Frazer, was killed on October 4, 2017 during the morning commute on Highway 4 in Pittsburg. Newkirk was driving westbound on Highway 4 in a 2004 Chevy Tahoe in the slow lane when the incident occurred.

Newkirk now faces a sentence of up to six years in state prison. According to the D.A.’s Office Public Information Officer Scott Alonso, “Newkirk was a transient and his last known address according to court documents was Discovery Bay. But he lived all over including Bay Point and may have lived in Antioch at the time of the crash.”  Contra Costa County Deputy District Attorney Aron DeFerrari prosecuted the case behalf of the People for this felony jury trial. Sentencing for Newkirk will occur on November 16 by the Honorable Barry Baskin in Department 7 at the Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez.

On the morning of October 4, 2017, Newkirk was driving his girlfriend’s 2004 Chevy Tahoe without a license and careened into Frazer’s Nissan Sentra. Frazer was driving her friend to work when the accident occurred. The impact of the crash spun the Nissan around and crushed the vehicle. In total, five cars were impacted by Newkirk’s crash into Frazer.

California Highway Patrol investigated the crash and found Newkirk was traveling at an unsafe speed between 54 to 61 miles per hour in traffic with cars slowed in front of him due to an unrelated accident. Evidence gathered by CHP showed the vehicle’s brakes were never activated before the crash. Newkirk also did not take his foot off the throttle. Newkirk’s collision led to the unfortunate death of Frazer, a 47-year-old mother of three children. Restitution for this case will be determined at a later date.

Traffic collisions can cause very serious injuries and even result in fatalities. According to the California Office of Traffic Safety, traffic fatalities are increasing, totaling 3,623 in 2016 and serious traffic injuries are on the rise.

Earlier this year our office filed the following counts against Newkirk:

  • Count 1, Vehicular Manslaughter – Felony
  • Count 2, Driving Without a License – Misdemeanor

Case information: People v. Frank J. Newkirk, Docket Number 05-181281-7.