Contra Costa Herald

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

Shrader, Baca, Foulger, Davis share Antioch Speedway spotlight

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Kenny Shrader #188 rebounded from mechanical gremlins to win the IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. Photo by Katrina Kniss

By Candice Martin, DCRR Racing Media 

Antioch, CA…April 22…Kenny Shrader of Pacheco won the 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event Saturday night at Antioch Speedway. Last year’s Bill Bowers Memorial winner had led several laps a week ago before mechanical gremlins sent him to the sidelines.

2019 champion Tommy Fraser of Antioch took the early lead ahead of Shrader, but Shrader moved into the lead on a Lap 4 restart ahead of Jason Ryan Jr of Oakley. However, Fraser went around the outside of Ryan to take second on Lap 5. Ryan hit the wall after relinquishing third to Mark Garner of Antioch on Lap 15. Shrader drove a flawless race and scored the victory ahead of Fraser. Reigning champion Fred Ryland of Brentwood made a late move to finish third ahead of Garner and Trevor Clymens of Brentwood.

Grayson Baca #31 served notice that he’s a title contender with his Hobby Stock Main Event triumph. Photo by Katrina Kniss

Grayson Baca of Brentwood won the 20 lap Pacific Coast General Engineering Hobby Stock Main Event. Aidan Ponciano of Oakley took the early lead ahead of Taylor DeCarlo of Martinez, but Baca and Danny Wagner of Bay Point moved into second and third on Lap 6. Baca slipped past Ponciano for the lead on Lap 8 before a yellow flag waved for a spin in Turn 4.

Baca led the restart as Wagner got around Ponciano for second. However, Wagner made contact with a slower car in Turn 4 as he attempted to get around Baca for the lead. This resulted in a flat tire as Baca regained the lead. Ponciano was back in second, but he spun in turn 4, handing second to Michaela Taylor of Oakley. Baca Led the rest of the way for the win ahead of Taylor, Ken Johns of Antioch, Jared Baugh of Pittsburg and DeCarlo.

Troy Foulger #49 was tuning up his IMCA Stock Car with a win ahead of the Central California Clash on May 3rd. Photo by Katrina Kniss

Five-time IMCA Modified champion Troy Foulger of Martinez won the 20 lap IMCA Stock Car Main Event. Reigning champion Travis Dutra of Concord set the early pace ahead of Jason Robles of Rio Vista and Raymond Noland of Porterville. However, Noland got sideways in Turn 4, resulting in Robles spinning to avoid contact for a yellow flag on Lap 5. Dutra found himself in a serious challenge for the lead on the restart, and a three-wide run going through Turns 3 and 4 resulted in Foulger using the middle line to take the lead. Noland motored his way into second at that point. Brentwood’s Fred Ryland made a Turn 2 pass on Dutra for third on Lap 11. Foulger built a straightaway advantage over the remaining laps to win ahead of Noland, Ryland, Dutra and Robles.

Troy Foulger #49 was tuning up his IMCA Stock Car with a win ahead of the Central California Clash on May 3rd. Photo by Katrina Kniss

Tom Davis of Los Molinos won the 20 lap Print Club Mini Stock Main Event. Santa Rosa’s Tom Brown raced into the early lead ahead of Davis, but Davis used an outside frontstretch pass on Lap 6 to take the lead. Pittsburg’s Don Abitz was running a close third, but he got slowed up in traffic and fell behind the leaders. A low move in Turn 2 on Lap 8 put Brown back into the lead, but he again surrendered the point to Davis in Turn 4 two laps later. Davis led the rest of the way to win ahead of Brown, Abitz, Patrick Kelley of Clovis and David Carson of Antioch.

Racing continues next week with the NARC Fujitsu Winged 410 Sprint Cars in action for their lone appearance of the season. The IMCA Modifieds kick off their championship season along with a NorCal/Delta Dwarf Car shootout and IMCA Stock Cars. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.

Unofficial Race Results

Antioch Speedway April 22

IMCA Sport Modifieds

Heat winners (8 laps)-Kenny Shrader, Kelly Campanile. Main Event (20 laps)-Kenny Shrader, Tommy Fraser, Fred Ryland, Mark Garner, Trevor Clymens, Jacob Mallet Jr, Joseph Pato, Kelly Campanile, Matt Pitts, Jason Ryan Jr.

Pacific Coast General Engineering Hobby Stocks

Heat Winners (8 laps)-Kevin Brown, Danny Wagner, Grayson Baca. Main Event (20 laps)-Grayson Baca. Michaela Taylor, Ken Johns, Jared Baugh, Taylor DeCarlo, Jess Paladino, Aidan Ponciano, Kevin Brown, James Graessle, Colten Haney.

IMCA Stock Car 

Heat Winner (8 laps)-Raymond Noland. Main Event (20 laps)-Troy Foulger, Raymond Noland, Fred Ryland, Travis Dutra, Jason Robles, Kenneth Robles, Jeff Bentancourt.

Print Club Mini Stocks 

Heat Winner (8 laps)-Tom Davis. Main Event (20 laps)-Tom Davis, Tom Brown, Don Abitz, Patrick Kelley, David Carson. Tony Quinonez DNS.

 

Tech firm relocates to Antioch completes $1 million CA Digital Innovation Challenge global competition

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Dalet Access Labs is going into the most underserved areas and building “infrastructure grid of the future” from the bottom up

By Allen D. Payton

A locally minority-owned tech firm in Antioch, CA was the only company to complete the requirements of the $1 Million Dollar State of California Innovation Challenge by deploying a system in Fairhaven, CA near Eureka in Humboldt County. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced the global competition in early 2021, to award “up to $1 million to the boldest, most revolutionary proposals to eliminate the digital divide and expand high-speed internet access to all Californians.” After they entered the competition in August 2021, Dalet Access Labs was assigned that community by the California Department of Education (CDE) to deploy their innovative network fabric

The CDE estimates that nearly a half-million students still lack either a device to attend school online, network access to their classroom, or both.

The rules of the challenge stipulated that competitors had to test their innovation with students experiencing a lack of connectivity either due to barriers of affordability or infrastructure. The solution had to be at a cost of no more than $15/month per household, include 100 megabits synchronous upload and download speed with no data caps, and have fully deployable implementation within a year.

The competition was the result of a partnership with Genentech and the Genentech Foundation, General Motors and Dr. Gary K. Michelson, Founder and Co-Chair of Michelson Philanthropies and the Michelson 20MM Foundation – and Dalet Access Labs was in it to win it.

On July 1, of 2022 the company successfully deployed broadband connectivity services to the Fairhaven community with upload and download speeds that exceeded the competition requirements. It was tested with students who came to visit the site and learn as part of the Technology Exploration Summer Institute (TESI) program sponsored by Humboldt County Office of Education (HCOE).

In October of 2022, HCOE sponsored a ribbon cutting ceremony to showcase the success of the broadband deployment in the Fairhaven community by inviting the leadership from CDE and other government officials to come tour the site with hopes of a winner being declared at this event.

Fairhaven Fire station is where Dalet has their lab, Ariel view of Fairhaven community leveraging data from vexceldata.com. Source: Dalet Access Labs

According to the October 6, 2022 CDE press release, they celebrated the launch of the new high-speed digital internet system in Fairhaven. The newly installed broadband network is a model in an effort to reduce rural California’s internet “digital divide,” and is a collaboration between the HCOE, the Samoa Peninsula Fire District in Samoa, CA and Dalet. The fire district’s Fairhaven fire station was chosen as the base of operations due to its proximity to all the homes in the community. “The Fairhaven model surpassed the minimum requirements for the Innovation Challenge by providing download speeds of around 100 megabits. Dalet Access Labs led the project with HCOE to create the broadband system under guidelines set forth in the CDE competition. The group worked with Cogent Communications and AT&T to launch a live fiber optic line to the Fairhaven firehouse structure and through the system’s optimized sensor-networking software, the system was enabled, providing low latency, and high-speed internet coverage to families in Fairhaven. The infrastructure for high-quality distance learning was in place as a result,” the press release reads.

Edehomon claims the actual speeds were around 700 megabits.

Although Dalet Access Labs is a small tech start-up, this is big news for them and the City of Antioch, as the opportunities for this technology are endless. According to their website, the company was “founded in 2019 and has become one of the world’s premier disruptive innovation partners that is praised by customers and vendors as we forge strategic partnerships and create new opportunities for our clients and vendors. We are known for getting stuff done. We pride ourselves on working efficiently, on time and within budget.”

“We were one of the four finalists for the high-speed broadband for the underserved,” CEO Odion “Odie” Edehomon shared. “COVID exposed the poor state of infrastructure in our country. The California Dept of Education invited companies to innovate. We were one of the 48 companies to participate. They narrowed it down to seven, then to four companies. We were the only company to deploy our intelligent network fabric.”

“We have the corporate office, here in Antioch. The lab is in Fairhaven,” he shared. Damon Owens, known in the community as the head pastor of Genesis Church on E. 18th Street is Vice President of Community Development.

Dalet spent over $700,000 to prove their solution would work. They were able to successfully deploy its innovative Network as a Service (NaaS) network platform that provides broadband connectivity services that met and exceeded all competition requirement, as was stated by the CDE representative, Chief Deputy Superintendent Mary Nicely, during the official ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by HCOE. Edehomon and Owens said they were told that Dalet was the only remaining participants who had completed the challenge, which gave them hope that they would be declared the winner of the competition and be awarded the $1 million prize.

“We knew from the beginning we were going to win,” Edehomon said with a laugh.

Asked how he said, “We are vendor-neutral. I’m from the dev-test industry. We are the equal system behind any technology development. Our knowledge of where infrastructure is going to be in 10 years, we knew we were going to build something that will transform.”

However, none of the competitors won, according to a recent San Francisco Chronicle article which reads, “a Chronicle investigation has found that state officials misled contestants about the contest, then proceeded to ignore their urgent emails and calls for months at a time. State officials said they and the prize’s funders, who later judged the competition, hoped someone, maybe at academic heavyweights like MIT or CalTech, was sitting on an invention that would provide universal, fast and very cheap internet access — within a year’s time.”

But the result was practical solutions from Edehomon’s work and a very pleased Humboldt County community.

The platform deployed by Dalet Access is a “Public Infrastructure Network Node (PINN) compliant network.  This is a model that enables the full functionality of Fourth Industrial Revolution 4.0 technology of the future like, autonomous vehicles, robotics, and drone technology through the implementation of an intelligent grid platform,” he explained.

“It is the standard for an infrastructure grid of the future,” Edehomon said. “It is software driven. It’s a single platform, whether it’s 5G or 6G, satellite or fiber. Smart cities will be plugging into it, driverless cars and buses. B2B (business to business), car to car, ultrawide band. Smart Dot, Smart Pavement, Smart Vault.”

“Autonomy Institute is taking the lead on it. They’re based in Texas,” Edehomon continued. “We’re looking at things five to ten years ahead. We’re building this intelligent transformation platform on a broadband network. Everything has to do with latency for the applications.”

Gas stations will still be there, but they will be converting to charging stations,” he stated. “Digital transformation is being brought to consumers. It’s what we call the shared economy, a heavy amount of data will be generated.”

They will use “distribution or smart nodes. The intelligence will be in the software, no longer in the hardware as it used to be,” Edehomon stated.

“They don’t build things that are available to poor people. They always develop from the top down. That’s what created the digital divide,” he continued. “We do things the other way around. We choose to go into the most underserved areas and build from the bottom up.”

Asked if the company is for profit or non-profit Edehomon said, “We are for profit. We are a Network as a Service (NaaS) provider.”

Asked who are their customers he shared “As a NaaS provider to all, our service is ubiquitous, and we are an early adopter OpenRoaming offers affordable access and connectivity to small and mid-size businesses, residential, enterprise and government customers through the platform. Just like you take your mobile phone or your laptop and can get service anywhere, but you can’t do that everywhere you go with services from most existing providers. The goal is to provide seamless connectivity to all our customers by leveraging the PINN-compliant platform. For customers the key is to provide them with seamless connectivity.”

“We are filling in the gaps,” Edehomon explained. “They sometime call it the last mile. But there’s a misconception as a minimum point of entry from the home to the business. We build from the edge to the last mile.”

“We have an infrastructure in which we are expanding the fabric into the entire city of Eureka,” he shared. “We use MmWave nodes that transform, and the optimization takes place in the software, not the hardware. You eventually get to 100 gig. The nodes are about half the size of a laptop and can be on existing infrastructure on the side of buildings, on light posts. Some of the unique advantages of the way the self-organizing nodes work, is like a flock of birds that fly in synchronized form, they operate together but as individual devices.”

“We are starting in a more rural area, but it’s designed it more for high-density areas,” Edehomon shared.

Asked how we get this application to come to Antioch he responded, “We need money, and we need the city to buy into it. We need a few fiber hubs. We actually had a meeting with the mayor, last year because we wanted to start in Antioch, first. But not everyone sees the need. We also had a meeting with Brentwood. We want to do an intelligent corridor from the Brentwood Blvd. exit all the way to Pittsburg. But they don’t see the way we see how infrastructure can work.”

“We want to bring industry to Antioch and East County, that’s the goal,” Owens added.

In spite of the outcome of the competition, the company has moved on and they are focusing their efforts in other communities.

“We already signed off on the U.S. 30 Project which is a smart corridor in Ohio. It’s similar to what we want to do with Highway 4 east,” Edehomon stated. “It includes LIDAR (laser imaging, detection, and ranging) Data and smart cameras. You must build the infrastructure to be compliant. We want to help the knowledge transfer. It takes a visionary.”

Antioch teens win MLF High School Fishing Open on the California Delta

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Antioch residents Noah Nguyen and Tyler Petersen with their championship plaques. Photo by MLF

Presented by Tackle Warehouse

OAKLEY, Calif. (April 24, 2023) – The Liberty/Heritage High School Team of Noah Nguyen and Tyler Petersen, both of Antioch, California, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 17 pounds, 12 ounces, to win the second, and final, MLF High School Fishing Presented by Favorite Fishing Open on the California Delta Presented by Tackle Warehouse event of the year in Oakley, California.

A field of 33 teams competed in the no-entry fee tournament, which launched from Russo’s Marina in Bethel Island. In MLF High School Fishing competition, the top 10% of teams competing advance to the High School Fishing National Championship.

The top three teams that qualified for the 2023 High School Fishing National Championship are:

1st: Liberty/Heritage High School – Noah Nguyen and Tyler Peterson, both of Antioch, Calif., five bass, 17-12

2nd: Casa Roble Fundamental – Ian Peatross and Preston Schweiger, both of Citrus Heights, Calif., four bass, 17-5

3rd: Lake County High School Fishing Club – Tyler Bryant and Joey Gentle, both of Kelseyville, Calif., five bass, 16-9

Rounding out the top 10 teams were:

4th: Lake County High School Fishing Club – Payton Lyndall, Kelseyville, Calif., and Kaine Navarro, Glendora, Calif., five bass, 16-6

5th: Hughson High School – Logan Dekleva and Landon Mason, both of Hughson, Calif., five bass, 14-8

6th: Delta Saints Bass Team – Jax Soto, Courtland, Calif., and Nathan Tritt, West Sacramento, Calif., five bass, 14-1

7th: Delta Saints Bass Team – Zachary Carli, Ryde, Calif., and Jake Feldheim, West Sacramento, Calif., five bass, 13-11

8th: Liberty High School – J.D. Farage, Discovery Bay, Calif., and Fisher Perkins, Rocklin, Calif., five bass, 13-7

9th: Hughson High School – Hunter Cook, Hickman, Calif., and Cooper Scarbrough, Hughson, Calif., five bass, 13-4

10th: Oakdale High School – Troy Cox and Zane Ravalin, both of Oakdale, Calif., five bass, 11-12

Complete results from the event can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com

MLF High School Fishing Presented by Favorite Fishing tournaments are free, two-person (team) events for students in grades 7-12 and are open to any MLF and TBF Student Angler Federation-affiliated high school club. The top 10% of teams at each Open event, along with the TBF High School Fishing state championships, will advance to the 2023 High School Fishing National Championship. The 2023 MLF High School Fishing National Championship will be held on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin, June 20-24, and is hosted by Explore La Crosse.

The High School Fishing National Champions will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship to the school of their choice and advance to the 2023 MLF Toyota Series Championship to compete as co-anglers.

Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF High School Fishing Presented by Favorite Fishing include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Black Rifle Coffee Company, E3, Favorite Fishing, Fox Rent a Car, General Tire, Grundens, Lawless Lures, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Wiley X and YETI.

For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com

. For regular High School Fishing updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

About Major League Fishing

Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, the Discovery Channel, the Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, the World Fishing Network and on-demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 13 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.

Major League Fishing – WE ARE Bass Fishing™

Federal lawsuit filed against six Antioch Police officers in racist text scandal, three chiefs, City

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The parties to the lawsuit from pages 1 and 2.

Seeks damages, department practice and policy changes, court monitoring; labels officers’ actions a “conspiracy”

By Allen D. Payton

Oakland civil rights attorney John Burris and associates filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for Northern California on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, against five current Antioch Police officers and one former officer, for their racist and other offensive texts and mistreatment of citizens, plus, three current and past police chiefs, the City of Antioch and Does 1-100. (See related articles here and here)

The texts sent and received by multiple officers on their personal cell phones mentioned at least one Antioch resident, as well as suspects in crimes being investigated by some of the officers.

The suit includes defendants Sgt. Josh Evans, Officers Eric Rombough, Morteza Amiri, Scott Duggar, John Ramirez and Timothy Manly Williams, who left the department in 2021. The lawsuit also includes former Police Chief Tammany Brooks who left in October 2021, former Interim Police Chief and current Captain Tony Morefield, and current Chief Steve Ford, in spite of the fact he didn’t start as interim chief until late April 2022, at the end of the timeframe of the texts between December 2019 and April 2022. Ford was given his permanent position on October 23, 2022. Morefield served as interim chief from Oct. 10, 2021 through April 2022.

The plaintiffs include Antioch resident Shagoofa Khan, the 2017 Youth of the Year who was one of the lead protesters in the city in 2020, was arrested a few times including once for felony arson in January 2021 and at Brooks’ farewell party later that year, and was the subject of one of the vile texts; Adam Carpenter, Joshua Butler, Trent Allen, who is one of the suspects in the murder case that resulted in the release of the texts; plus, Diego Zavala, the son of Guadalupe Zavala, who was unarmed when he was shot and killed by police in 2021 after a seven-hour stand-off with police. (Their last name is listed as Savala in the lawsuit).

The suit describes what occurred between the named Antioch Police officers and the plaintiffs as a “conspiracy and/or conspiracies” and claims they were “the failure and/or refusal of Defendants Brooks, Morefield, Ford and Evans…to prevent or aid in preventing” them from occurring. The suit further claims the four department leaders “maintained customs, policies, and/or practices which encouraged, authorized, condoned, ratified, failed to prevent, and/or failed to aid in the prevention of wrongs conspired to be done by” the named officers.

The suit seeks multiple forms of damages including “past, present and/or future wage loss, income and support, medical expenses”; special damages, any and all permissible statutory damages, and attorneys’ fees. The lawsuit, Case #4:23-cv-01895-TSH, from the firm of Burris, Nissenbaum, Curry and Lacy also seeks department policy and practice changes and Court Monitoring. Burris previously represented the family of Angelo Quinto who died in 2021 in the hospital while not in police custody, three days after an interaction with Antioch Police who were called to their home to stop him from attacking them.

According to Antioch Police Officers’ Association attorney Mike Raines the officers don’t have to obtain their own legal counsel as they are entitled to representation by the City Attorney or a designated, outside law firm.

Antioch Police union’s attorney shares concerns about release of officers’ names in text scandal

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“some of the text communications between a relatively small number of officers reflected attitudes or beliefs which are not shared by the vast majority of APOA members.” – Statement from RLS Principal Attorney Mike Rains

On Wednesday, April 19, 2023, Mike Rains, the attorney for the Antioch Police Officers’ Association, of the Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver law firm, issued the following statement in response to the release of names of officers in the scandal involving racist and other offensive texts. (See related articles here and here)

“This Office serves as General Counsel to the Antioch Police Officers’ Association (APOA) and its individual members.  We represent many, but not all, of the officers whose names were released by a Superior Court Judge as having involvement in text messaging which she criticized and declared “unworthy of (legal) protection.” As we will discuss below, we have serious concerns about the manner in which both the names of the officers and two separate reports prepared by an Inspector in the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office came to be public records before the law in California, codified in Penal Code section 832.7, declared them to be subject to public disclosure.  We also have serious concerns as to whether the text messages themselves, which were originally obtained by authorities in connection with a criminal investigation of only a portion of the Officers who were named by the judge, and which do not constitute criminal conduct, formed the basis of an administrative investigation, in potential violation of California’s Electronic Communications and Privacy Act (Penal Code section 1546).

“We are hopeful that the investigation will be thorough and objective and will determine culpability where it is deserved.”

 We understand the public scrutiny of police officers throughout the nation and acknowledge that revelations of text messaging such as that reported in this case can provoke emotional and even sometimes hateful responses. Nevertheless, police officers, even when accused of potential misconduct, should be afforded basic and fundamental rights of due process. We insist such rights be provided, even to persons who have committed the most grotesque and horrific crimes imaginable — why shouldn’t police also be afforded constitutional rights? Such rights ensure that investigators, prosecutors, and judges abide by existing laws before adjudicating anyone as “guilty,” and pronouncing judgment and sentence before a response from the “accused” is sought or considered. 

“We also hope the investigation will not disparage each officer and seek to end their career as a law enforcement officer, simply because they became the uninvited recipient of texts sent by others or responded with sarcasm.”

With those observations as a backdrop, we can say, on behalf of the entirety of the APOA membership, that some of the text communications between a relatively small number of officers reflected attitudes or beliefs which are not shared by the vast majority of APOA members.  Those officers, and many whose names were recited by the judge, have now suffered the injustice and indignity of condemnation simply because they work at the same agency as those whose communications were offensive.  Since our office represents thousands of police officers in the State of California, we understand the impact messaging of the type engaged in by a relatively small number of these officers can have on the public’s perceptions of law enforcement officers everywhere, even though we are reminded constantly by our clients everywhere that they do not support the rhetoric, and do not share the apparent mindset of those responsible for the rhetoric.

We are aware that the police chief has retained an “outside” investigator to interview each and every officer whose name appeared in any of the text messages in question.  Those officers have been named as subjects, whether the officer was simply one of numerous recipients of a “group text” and did not respond, or whether the officer took an active role in the messaging.  We are hopeful that the investigation will be thorough and objective and will determine culpability where it is deserved. We also hope the investigation will not disparage each officer and seek to end their career as a law enforcement officer, simply because they became the uninvited recipient of texts sent by others or responded with sarcasm.

 

“César Chávez: Honoring a Legacy” Awards ceremony at Los Medanos College Friday night

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College board president, Brentwood non-profit leader, Antioch and Brentwood educators to be honored

By Juliet V. Casey, Direct of Marketing, Los Medanos College

Los Medanos College (LMC) is proud to announce the return of its annual awards to honor the legacy of César Chávez. The event had been on hiatus to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and will be in person once again.

This community event celebrates the life of the labor leader and human rights activist. The celebration also recognizes East Contra Costa County community members who embody Chávez’s great tradition of voluntary service, civic activism, and non-violent social change.

The festivities, which are free and open to the public, will be from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, April 21 in the Student Union Conference Center, Pittsburg Campus, 2700 E. Leland Road in Pittsburg.

This year’s honorees:

César Chávez Award for Exemplary Community Service Recipient

Fernando Sandoval, Contra Costa Community College District Governing Board president, for work as president of Latino Voices of East Contra Costa County Chapter; community activist and education advocate; author; veteran; and Pittsburg resident.

East County Educator Award Recipient

Violeta Orozco, Jack London Elementary school counselor, for her work as head counselor at Antioch High School (AHS); and leadership for Puente at Antioch High School.

Chávez Spirit Award Co-Recipients

Diana Hidalgo for volunteer work at One Day at a Time (ODAT) and as president of ODAT Leadership Council.

Norma Guadalupe Zamora Arreguin, a human trafficking case specialist and certified investigator, for work as a paraprofessional at Garin Elementary School special education program (Brentwood); her own afterschool program for children with special needs; and as a part-time student at LMC.

The César Chávez Award for Exemplary Community Service, established in 1995, is presented to local residents who represent the core values modeled by César Chávez: “Service to Others, Sacrifice, A Preference to Help the Most Needy, Determination, Non-Violence, Acceptance of All People, Respect for Life and the Environment, Celebrating Community, Knowledge, and Innovation.”

The East County Educator Award honors members of the educational community who demonstrate a commitment to student success and equity, particularly for students of color and those from low-income families.

The Chávez Spirit Award recognizes up-and-coming leaders who have made a difference in the local community through advocacy and social justice.

For more information about all of LMC’s activities celebrating César Chávez, visit www.losmedanos.edu/chavez/events.  Questions about the events or awards may be directed to Jennifer Adams at jadams@losmedanos.edu or (925) 473-7302.

About Los Medanos College (LMC): LMC is one of three colleges in the Contra Costa Community College District, serving the East Contra Costa County community. Established in 1974, LMC has earned federal designations as a Minority-Serving and Hispanic-Serving institution. It offers award-winning transfer and career-technical programs support services, and diverse academic opportunities in an inclusive learning environment. With exceptional educators, innovative curriculum, growing degree and certificate offerings, and state-of-the-art facilities, the college prepares students to succeed in their educational pursuits, in the workforce, and beyond. LMC’s Pittsburg Campus is located on 120 acres bordering Antioch, with an additional education center in Brentwood.

 

Contra Costa DA Becton meets with Public Defender, others on Antioch cops’ racist texts, will work to ID compromised cases

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By Allen D. Payton

In response to the letter from the Contra Costa Public Defender Ellen McDonnell to DA Diana Becton on Friday, requesting all cases brought by the Antioch Police Department be dropped and all inmates be released, due to the racist text scandal, a meeting was held Monday afternoon to discuss the matter. (See related articles here, here and here)

DA’s Office PIO Ted Asregadoo sent the following statement “about the meeting that happened at 1 pm today at the DA’s Office”:

“Today, District Attorney Diana Becton, Public Defender Ellen McDonnell, Betty Barker from the Alternate Defender Office, and the Director of the Contra Costa Conflict Program, Oksana Tsykova met to discuss the creation of a process to address cases affected by the disclosure of cruel, racially insulting, and hostile text messages written or received by members of the Antioch Police Department.

The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office is working to identify cases that are potentially compromised by the text messages. Once we’ve identified those cases – and any overlapping conflicts — we will initiate a detailed review process for potential dismissal, resentencing, or the preservation of convictions.

The DA’s Office is working to ensure that public safety and serving the interest of justice are priorities in this process.”

The scandal involves as many as 45 Antioch cops, focusing on 14 and one in particular, with many of them on paid leave during the police department’s own investigation.

McDonnell was asked if she had any comments about the meeting but did not respond prior to publication time.

Please check back later for any updates to this report.

Exclusive: Contra Costa DA’s Office under fire for releasing report revealing phone numbers of Antioch cops in text scandal, names of Antioch, Pittsburg cops, alleged crimes in FBI investigation

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Possible violation of officers’ rights, could undermine investigation; officers’ attorney considering “massive” lawsuit against DA’s Office

By Allen D. Payton

In the initial redacted version of the 21-page report dated March 27, 2023, on the racist and other offensive texts by Antioch Police Officers by the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office revealed those officers’ cell phone numbers and the names of the Antioch and Pittsburg Police Officers under investigation by the FBI since March 2022, plus the list of their alleged “crimes of moral turpitude” that are supposed to be under court protective order. That version was leaked and posted by someone on social media Thursday morning, April 13, 2023. The result has been a firestorm because it violated the court order and possibly the police officers’ rights and could undermine the investigation. It could also result in a “massive class action lawsuit” against the DA’s Office according to the attorney for the Antioch Police Officers Association (APOA). (See related article)

The DA’s office incorrectly redacted the document before releasing it because the leaked redacted version of the report allows for copying of the information beneath the black blocks revealing the sensitive information. NOTE: The PDF of that version was not shared by the Herald. Only the PDF of the further redacted version by the DA’s Office.

It was the Herald that revealed the mistake to the CCDA’s Public Information Officer Ted Asregadoo on Thursday, who said it was an Adobe software issue. He said the information was under court protective order, thanked this reporter and said the office would be changing how they create PDF’s which they did for the final redacted copy the office issued that afternoon.

Officers Receiving Angry Calls

When asked about the matter, Mike Rains, the APOA’s attorney said, “We’re aware of it. Some of the officers have been getting angry calls.”

Asked if the DA’s Office violated the officers’ rights and if it could undermine the FBI’s and DA’s investigation of those officers, Rains said, “I think it does. I believe it will result in a massive class action lawsuit. The DA’s Office f-ed up.”

He also shared that the officers were obtaining new cell phone numbers.

“It was Deputy DA Simon O’Connell who did the redacting,” Rains stated. “I called Becton and told her they screwed up.”

Questions were sent to DA Becton, O’Connell and Asregadoo, Thursday night asking if it was O’Connell who redacted the initial version of the report and if so, will there be some form of discipline of him for doing so. They were also asked if the revelation of the phone numbers of the 14 officers on the list of those accused of sending the offensive texts and more importantly, the officers names, phone numbers and information from the investigation by the DA’s Office and the FBI, undermine that investigation and does it violate those officers’ rights.

Asregadoo responded Friday morning, copying Becton and O’Connell, “The joint CCCDAO and FBI investigation is ongoing, so we really don’t have anything to comment on at this time.”

Becton later responded simply, “Ok, thanks for the update.”

Pages from the initial redacted PDF version of the 21-page report by the Contra Costa DA’s Office on the racist texts by Antioch Police Officers with the phone numbers of the officers and the sections about the FBI investigation that were supposed to be unreadable.

Revealed Information About FBI Investigation

The information now in the public domain, some of which was previously reported by the East Bay Times, includes the names of the Antioch and Pittsburg Officers under investigation by the FBI and DA’s Office, plus the alleged crimes they committed. They were described as “crimes of moral turpitude” which is defined as “conduct that shocks the public conscience, or which does not fall within the moral standards held by the community” for buying and selling controlled substances believed to be steroids among themselves. (See related articles here and here)

The portion of the report that was supposed to be redacted and out of public view reads as follows:

“The FBI is currently investigating the police officers for violations of the following federal offenses; Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(A), distribution, and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance; Section 843(b) illegal use of the mail in furtherance of narcotic trafficking; Title 18, USC, 1503 Obstruction of Justice; Section 846, attempt and conspiracy to commit the foregoing offenses; Section 241, Conspiracy for two or more persons to agree to injure, threaten, or intimidate a person in the United States in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege; and Section 242, a crime for a person acting under color of any law to willfully deprive a person of a right or privilege protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States. The CCCDAO is investigating these officers for assault under the color of authority, bribery, embezzlement, possession of controlled substances (steroids) for sale, knowing or offering any false or forged instruments, possession, and sales of assault weapons, and attempt and conspiracy to commit the foregoing offenses. The CCCDAO is also reviewing whether any of the above listed individuals have violated Penal Code (PC) section 745, the Racial Justice Act, which prohibits the use of race, ethnicity, or national origin by a law enforcement officer in pursuit of a conviction or sentence.

On 03/22/2022, the Honorable Presiding Judge Rebecca C. Hardie, Judge of the Superior Court of California, Contra Costa County, signed a search warrant under seal authored by CCCDAO Senior Inspector Larry J. Wallace for the seizure and search of the following cellular telephones: Pittsburg Police Officer Willie Glasper, (redacted phone number); Pittsburg Police Officer Brauli Rodriguez Jalapa, (redacted phone number); Pittsburg Police Officer Ernesto Juan Mejia-Orozco, (redacted phone number); Pittsburg Police Officer James Robert Anderson, (redacted phone number); Antioch Police Officer Ben C. Padilla, (redacted phone number); Antioch Police Officer Eric Rombough, (redacted phone number); Antioch Police Officer Devon Wenger, (redacted phone number); and Antioch Police Officer Andrea Rodriguez, (redacted phone number). The search warrants and affidavits were signed under seal and filed with the Martinez Superior Court.

On 03/22/22, the Honorable Laurel Beeler, United States Magistrate, Northern District of California, signed a federal search warrant under seal authored by FBI Special Agent (SA) Thuy Zoback for the seizure of the following cellular telephones: Pittsburg Police Officer Armando Montalvo; Pittsburg Police Officer Patrick Berhan; Antioch Police Officer Timothy Manly Williams; Antioch Police Officer Morteza Amiri, Antioch Police Officer Nicholas Shipilov; Antioch Police Officer Eric Rombough; Antioch Police Officer Daniel Harris; and Antioch Police Officer Calvin Prieto. The purpose of the search warrants were to seize electronic communications; such as, but not limited to the following: records and communications indicating the possession, use, purchase, sale, distribution, transfer, theft, and/or concealment of controlled substances, including books, receipts, notes, ledgers, pay and owe sheets, correspondence, records noting price, quantity, date and times when controlled substances were purchased, possessed, transferred, distributed, sold or concealed.

On 03/23/2022, sworn law enforcement members of the CCCDAO and the FBI retrieved the above listed cellular telephones from the above listed sworn law enforcement members of the Pittsburg and Antioch Police Departments. Law enforcement members from the CCCDAO and the FBI downloaded/extracted electronic cellular data communications from the above listed cellular telephones. A thorough review of the electronic cellular data communications took place for the past year.”

Rains Exploring Legal Options

“I am exploring legal options including a possible lawsuit related to our grave concerns about the way in which this report was ordered released by the court to begin with, when I was supposed to be given the opportunity on behalf of the officers to seek a protective order,” Rains stated on Monday. “Plus, the release by the DA’s Office when they told me, the judge told me to tell Chief Assistant DA Simon O’Connell to not release the report until I had the opportunity to be heard. We tried to set up dates with the defense attorneys on Monday, after the morning appearance I made. Then I received an email from O’Connell on Tuesday that the judge ordered the report released. I feel betrayed by both the judge and by the DA’s Office.”

“I’m exploring the damages done to the officers due to the actions by the DA’s Office,” he added.

 

 

 

Following standoff, Oakley man arrested for stabbing father

By Leave a Comment

Multi-agency effort including Sheriff and Brentwood, Antioch Police Departments

By Chief Paul Beard, Oakley Police Department

On Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 9:15AM the Oakley Police Department was called to the 30 block of Stony Hill Court on the report of Bobby Dolton (30, Oakley) actively stabbing his father. Oakley officers arrived at the location and found the victim suffering from life threatening injuries. Oakley officers applied a torniquet to the victim and carried him down the street to a position of safety while other officers secured the perimeter of the house. Oakley officers continued to provide the victim with medical care until firefighters and paramedics arrived on scene.

It was confirmed by family members, Dolton was inside the house by himself, and no other persons were in danger because of him. The Oakley Police Department called in their crisis negotiators and many off duty personnel to start doing all of the tasks involved in a high-risk situation such as this one. Oakley officers called Dolton via phone and established contact with him, but he refused to exit the house and at a certain point he terminated all contact with us. Oakley officers broke windows to the locked house and utilized public address announcements in an effort to maintain contact with Dolton and gain his compliance. Dolton was uncooperative with every request made of us.

Dolton’s level of resistance, coupled with the degree of violence of his crime, dictated that we do everything we could to take him into custody. To that end Oakley officers broke through a doorway to the home and began searching it. The entire home was searched, without finding Dolton, except for a bedroom behind a locked door. That locked door was breached, and Dolton was found inside the room armed with two knives. Oakley officers ordered Dolton to drop the knives, but he refused to do so. Oakley officers developed a plan to deal with Dolton and take him into custody with the minimal amount, yet necessary amount, of force required given these particular set of circumstances.

Due to Dolton being armed with knives, refusing to drop the knives and obviously showing a propensity to use deadly force the threat to our officers was legitimate and heightened. Oakley officers developed a plan to use an electronic weapon (TASER) on Dolton while also deploying other tactics and tools that would overcome him with physical force. Oakley officers executed the plan and took Dolton into custody with nobody else being harmed.

Dolton was transported to a local hospital where he received treatment before being booked into the MDF (jail). Dolton was booked for attempted homicide and assault with a deadly weapon.

Mental health issues played a role in this case. I do not believe mental health is ever a complete excuse for criminal activity, but I do acknowledge mental health breakdowns can sometimes lead to criminal activity. If you, or somebody you care for, experience a mental health crisis episode please call the Contra Costa County Health Services crisis services phone number at 1-888-678-7277. You can always call your local police department as well because police officers are trained to identify mental health issues and mitigate them in the least obtrusive way possible.

This investigation was handled by exercising all of our training as it relates to de-escalation and utilizing tactics that are safer for all concerned. The advancement of police equipment, tools, tactics and expectations played a major role in how every aspect of the investigation was handled in order to save lives. I feel it is my responsibility to state the actions of some people may not always allow for the utilization of all of the “safer” tactics that were used today. We will however, always maintain de-escalation at the forefront of what we do and utilize these types of tactics whenever the situations allow for it.

Today’s case makes me proud, once again, to be the chief of a police department where sworn and non-sworn employees know when it is time to set aside their personal lives and respond to the call of duty for situations where specialized training, specialized equipment and a presence of a larger than normal amount of officers is required in order to maintain and restore order. Several employees of the Oakley Police Department responded in from their day off in order to provide their services during this investigation. Command level officers responded to manage logistics and handle coordination with other entities, supervisors set the tone and developed good plans and tactics for this situation and non-sworn personnel responded to lend their expertise in support roles that enhanced the abilities of the sworn officers to do their jobs.

Today serves as a reminder to me the personnel of the Oakley Police Department are dedicated to the police department, the organization of the City of Oakley and the community of Oakley as a whole and all of the efforts that have gone into building a police department by making the best appointments and promotions possible continue to pay dividends time and time again- I appreciate everyone who wears the Oakley Police patch.

I hope the victim in this case is able to recover as much as possible and move on with a healthy life. I also call for appropriate accountability and treatment for the suspect so it becomes very unlikely he will harm anybody ever again.

The Antioch Police Department, Brentwood Police Department and the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff all assisted us today. I appreciate all of these departments for helping us and pooling resources together when it is necessary.

As of Monday, April 17, Dolton is being held in the West County Detention Facility in Richmond on $30,000 bail.

Contra Costa DA: no one in office leaked second redacted report on Antioch Officers’ racist texts

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Won’t say who sent the report or to whom; issues further redacted second report

By Allen D. Payton

After a second, 14-page investigative report on Antioch Police Officers’ racist texts was leaked and posted on social media on Saturday, April 15, questions were sent to DA’s Office PIO Ted Asregadoo that day asking to whom the report was sent, why it was prepared separately from the 21-page report, why it wasn’t sent to the media and was it intended to be shared with the media. He was also asked how the East Bay Times obtained it earlier in the week, was it leaked by someone in the DA’s Office and if so, who. Finally, Asregadoo was asked if there is an investigation in the DA’s Office to determine who leaked the 21-page report and this other, 14-page report.

Asregadoo responded Monday morning, “Our inspectors have investigated the matter and determined someone outside of our organization disclosed the reports to the public and press.”

He was then asked again, to whom were the redacted reports sent from the DA’s Office and who sent them.

Asregadoo also sent out the following press release about the matter, and provided a further redacted copy:

“The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office has made a second investigative report available to the public. Like the previous report, this one also details texts and images sent and received by certain members of the Antioch Police Department in March 2021.

On April 7, 2023, the court ordered the DA’s Office to disclose redacted investigative reports to defense attorneys representing clients in a felony criminal case. The judge issuing the order reminded defense counsel about the sensitive nature of the content of the reports and urged caution in its distribution beyond the parties involved in the criminal case. The District Attorney’s Office agreed with the court advisory — as the documents contained explicit words and images that are hurtful, offensive, and inflammatory.

Media interest in accessing the second report increased over the weekend when a copy of it was leaked to the press and public by an individual or group outside of the DA’s Office.

Like the 21-page report that the DA’s Office made available on April 13, 2023, a redacted copy of a 14-page investigative report is available to view. The DA’s Office added further redactions to balance public interest with the sensitive nature of what is contained in the report.

To view or download the redacted report, click here.”