Coroner’s inquest jury finds 2018 death of El Sobrante man was an accident following police pursuit
![](http://contracostaherald.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Fatal-car-chase-in-San-Pablo-1024x530.jpg)
Screenshot of an ABC7 News report shows the suspect’s vehicle following the collision which resulted in his death in San Pablo, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018.
By Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff
Sheriff-Coroner David O. Livingston announces that a Coroner’s Jury has reached a finding in the November 27, 2018 death of 29-year-old Narayan Raymond Sanwal of El Sobrante. The finding of the jury is that the death is an accident.
The Coroner’s Jury reached a 12-0 verdict after hearing the testimony of witnesses called by the hearing officer, Matthew Guichard.
Sanwal fled from police and crashed his car in San Pablo following a pursuit. (See related article)
A Coroner’s Inquest, which Sheriff-Coroner Livingston convenes in all fatal incidents involving police officers, is a public hearing, during which a jury rules on the manner of a person’s death. Jury members can choose from the following four options when making their finding: accident, suicide, natural causes or at the hands of another person, other than by accident.
The month following his death, Sanwal’s family formed “The Narayan R. Sanwal Charitable Giving Fund which will be making charitable contributions to organizations who help young people in under-served communities in the areas of sports, fitness and educational programs in the Bay Area and beyond.”
Allen Payton contributed to this report.
Murder case from 1996 in Crockett still unsolved
Candle lighting service and prayer to be held Saturday night
By Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff
Priscilla Ann Lewis was murdered on September 24, 1996, in Crockett. The 21-year-old, who lived in Vallejo, worked as a waitress at Four Corners Pizza located at 628 2nd Avenue in Crockett. The cook at the restaurant called 9-1-1 shortly before 10:30 pm after finding Priscilla’s body in the basement bathroom. The cause of death was asphyxia due to strangulation.
The men’s and women’s bathrooms were located in the basement of the Valona Square Mall that consisted of four businesses at that time.
Detectives interviewed dozens of people during this investigation and examined numerous pieces of evidence. The case remains unsolved.
A candle-lighting service and prayer in her memory will be held Saturday, September 21, 2019, 5 PM—9 PM, at 628 2nd Avenue in Crockett.
The case remains open. Anyone with information regarding Priscilla’s murder is encouraged to contact the Office of the Sheriff Homicide Unit at 925-313-2630. For any tips, please email: tips@so.cccounty.us or call 866-846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message.
Detectives seek additional victims in case of alleged sexual abuse of a minor by Rodeo man
By Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff
Allegations of molestation and sexual abuse were brought last week to the attention of the Stockton Police Department. Officers later arrested the suspect, 69-year-old Lonnie Wright. He was then booked into the Martinez Detention Facility (MDF).
As the alleged crimes occurred in the unincorporated town of Rodeo in Contra Costa County, Detectives from the Office of the Sheriff followed up on the investigation. On Tuesday, September 17, 2019, Detectives presented the case to the Contra Costa D.A.’s Office, which charged Wright for 10 felonies that include sexual intercourse and oral copulation with a child 10 years old or younger and forcible lewd acts upon a child.
Wright, a Rodeo resident, is currently being held at the MDF. His bail is set at $5,500,000.
Wright has reportedly cared for numerous children. Detectives believe there may be additional victims and would like to talk to anyone who was cared for by Wright.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Special Victim’s Unit of the Investigation Division at (925) 313-2625. For any tips, please email: tips@so.cccounty.us or call 866-846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message.
San Pablo man charged with sexual abuse of 3-year-old girl
By Captain Brian Bubar, San Pablo Police Department & Scott Alonso, Public Information Officer, Contra Costa County District Attorney
San Pablo Police received information of sexual abuse of a 3-year-old child after the victim reported the conduct to a family member. In turn, San Pablo Police Detectives were called and an investigation ensued. Subsequently Detectives arrested Adalberto Guardado, a 65-year-old resident of San Pablo, on Saturday, September 14th, at his home where the alleged attack occurred.
The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office charged defendant Guardado with two felonies, including the alleged sexual abuse of a minor, Jane Doe. The enhancements allege the defendant assaulted a three-year-old minor girl and befriended her before the alleged assault.
Guardado is set to be arraigned this afternoon at 1:30 p.m. in the Contra Costa County Superior Court in Richmond. The defendant is in custody at the Martinez Detention Facility and is being held without bail.
We will not release how a victim may know a defendant in a sexual assault case as well as the name of a victim to protect their confidentiality.
The investigation is ongoing and active. We are hoping the public may have additional information about the case or defendant. Members of the public with information about the case should call the San Pablo Police Department at 510-215-3150.
The case is assigned to Deputy District Attorney Bryan Tierney with our Office’s Sexual Assault Unit.
Case information: People v. Adalberto Guardado, Docket Number 02-330741-0
Contra Costa Animal Services offering discounted adoptions in Back to School Special until Sept 30
Contra Costa Animal Services (CCAS) is offering reduced cost adoptions for dogs and cats between now and September 30th to help find forever homes for the hundreds of animals at the County’s shelters. During this period, the adoption fee for dogs over 25lbs and black cats/kittens, or partially black cats/kittens, will be reduced to $20. Interested adopters can take advantage of this adoption promotion by visiting CCAS’ Martinez and Pinole adoption centers to meet animals and adopt their new family member.
“Typical adoption costs range from $86-$264 at CCAS, depending on the animal, which makes this promotion a huge incentive for potential adopters,” says CCAS spokesperson, Steve Burdo. “Our hope is that the community will take advantage of this great opportunity and help us find forever homes for the animals in our care.”
The reduced cost adoption fee includes the cost of adoption, spay/neuter surgery, microchip and vaccinations. The discounted adoption fee does not include licensing or any refundable deposits that may be required for spay/neuter surgery.
To view animals available for adoption, visit www.ccasd.org.
CCAS Adoption Locations
Martinez Adoption Center – 4800 Imhoff Pl., Martinez, CA 94553
Pinole Adoption Center – 910 San Pablo Ave., Pinole, CA 94564
For more information, contact Contra Costa County Animal Services’ Media and Community Relations Manager Steve Burdo at 925-393-6836, or by email at steve.burdo@asd.cccounty.us.
County’s CASE Team arrests Rodeo man on drug, gun charges following investigation
By Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff
Earlier this month, the CASE Team started an investigation into a person who allegedly possessed a handgun through an illegal transfer. The CASE Team later obtained a search warrant for the suspect and his home.
On August 16, 2019, the CASE Team executed the search warrant at a residence on the 300 block of California Street in Rodeo. The suspect was detained and later arrested without incident at this home. He is identified as 32-year-old James Runkle of Rodeo. The following were recovered at his residence: 9mm semi-automatic pistol, approximately two pounds of methamphetamine, approximately three pounds of marijuana, heroin and U.S. currency.
Runkle was later booked at the Martinez Detention Facility on the following charges: illegal transfer of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance while armed, possession of methamphetamine for sales, possession of heroin for sales, possession of marijuana for sales, and child endangerment. Runkle remains in custody in lieu of $385,000 bail. The investigation will be forwarded to the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
CASE (Contra Costa County Anti-Violence Support Effort) is a joint effort by the Office of the Sheriff, California Department of Justice, California Highway Patrol, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Pittsburg Police Department, and Probation Officers from the Contra Costa County Probation Department. CASE was created in November 2011 as a collaborative effort to reduce violent crimes in Contra Costa, especially those related to illegal firearms.
OPINION: Contra Costa College president, interim VP’s being placed on administrative leave in May called “racist public lynching” by staff
![](http://contracostaherald.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Dr.-Katrina-VanderWoude-in-her-new-Contra-Costa-College-office-0818-by-Denis-Perez-The-Advocate.jpg)
Dr. Katrina-VanderWoude in her new Contra Costa College office in August, 2018. Photo by Denis Perez The Advocate
By the African American Staff Association (AASA) of Contra Costa College
District Chancellor Fred E. Wood has spearheaded a brazen “racist public lynching” of Dr. Katrina VanderWoude. On May 28, 2019, Chancellor Wood placed Dr. VanderWoude, president of Contra Costa College (CCC), and two interim vice presidents, Susan Kincade and Carsbia Anderson, on administrative leave pending investigations concerning a suspicious complaint.
Chancellor Wood and his Contra Costa Community College District (4CD) office advisors violated district and state policies in pursuit of their campaign to remove the last two Black upper level managers at CCC. The chancellor has sought to make a public example of President VanderWoude for not going along with the continued racial gentrification of the college, which began a new phase in 2017. He assumed that VanderWoude, who is African American, would simply be window dressing to placate the AASA, which had raised concerns about the complete omission of new Black hires, among other issues.
![](http://contracostaherald.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Interim-CCC-VPs-Susan-Kincade-and-Carsbia-Anderson.jpg)
Contra Costa College interim Vice President of Academic Affairs Susan Kincade and interim Vice President of Student Services Carsbia Anderson.
Here is a timeline of events:
During the 2017-2018 academic year, the AASA began documenting and reporting on the systematic actions to reduce Black faculty and shrink the class offerings in their departments, particularly the social sciences and ethnic studies departments. AASA also raised issues about the new alarming direction of racial gentrification, with the CCC administration hiring 28 people, none of whom were Black.
On Jan. 30, 2018, the AASA and Black community leaders met with then President Mojdeh Medizadeh to address “Six Areas of Concerns” facing Black people at CCC. Instead of addressing these issues, Chancellor Wood removed Mehdizadeh in the middle of the semester and appointed an interim president. Wood’s reckless decision spun the campus into turmoil, while the nationwide search for a new president was underway.
On April 11, 2018, the AASA presented the six concerns directly to Chancellor Wood and identified managers who openly talked about introducing a “culture change” at CCC and were responsible for new gentrification policies, specifically detrimental to Black employees and students. Wood made promises but did very little to address these concerns.
On May 31, 2018, Chancellor Wood said in a press release that new President “Dr. VanderWoude’s … dedication to diversity, inclusion and equity prepare her very well for this important leadership role.”
In Fall 2018, President VanderWoude began her tenure with bringing back shared governance, instituting a more reasonable student-focused enrollment management plan, addressing the low campus morale issue and promoting racial equity in hiring. CCC was moving in the right direction.
In October-November 2018, the racist public flogging of Dr. VanderWoude began when it was learned that four of the five finalists for the vice president of student services (VPSS) position were African American. The credibility of two of the candidates was attacked by campus employees who used Google searches to find unvetted internet materials, dating back to 1997, to condemn these Black men without a trial.
These employees criticized VanderWoude for the hiring controversy, although she was barely two months on the job and was following district hiring procedures. Meanwhile, Wood remained silent and never explained that the district Human Resources Department (HR), headed by Diogenes Shipp, approved this entire hiring process. The misplacement of blame gave this small employee group an angle to criticize VanderWoude’s leadership of the college.
In March 2019, a trumped-up employee complaint was filed, charging VanderWoude with reverse racism, age discrimination and retaliation. There was no effort by Wood to address these allegations and resolve the concerns, as required by California Code of Regulations, Title 5.
On May 2, 2019, Chancellor Wood emailed an evaluation survey to various constituency groups as per the Management Manual (Section 6.2), and this two-week survey was to close on May 16th. However, there was a tiny group of VanderWoude’s opponents who complained about not being included in the survey, and therefore Wood obliged them.
On May 14, 2019, Chancellor Wood publicly joined the campaign to attack VanderWoude by emailing a second evaluation survey campus-wide to manufacture the written evidence to justify firing her. This was an open violation of 4CD HR Procedure 2030.13 and was a rogue action to allow the protest group to attack VanderWoude with the final written assault.
Wood’s deviation from the evaluation procedures is inherently biased and unjustified. The two overlapping active surveys is a completely unique process and has not been done for any other 4CD college president.
On May 28, 2019, Chancellor Wood executed the public political lynching of President VanderWoude by putting her and the two interim vice presidents on administrative leave without any prior effort to resolve the alleged issues in the March complaint. The interim vice president for student services removed by Wood is an African American man, and in Wood’s administration “diversity, inclusion and equity” evidently do not include top management positions for African Americans at CCC.
Wood’s goal is to fire VanderWoude, but there is now an unexpected public standoff with her supporters.
On July 17, 2019, amid the racial turmoil at CCC, Chancellor Wood made the sudden announcement that he will retire in March 2020. In reality, Wood is being pushed out because of, as he stated, “my belief that the district is ready for new leadership.”
A failed administrator
It is well documented that Chancellor Fred Wood is a failed administrator, who was a central member of the administrative team responsible for the infamous pepper spraying of students incident at UC Davis on Nov. 18, 2011, when he was the vice chancellor of student affairs. He then wrote an article, “Weary of Blame,” in the college newspaper California Aggie (Nov. 29, 2011) to deflect from his justly earned criticism for the shocking violation of these students. In May 2019, he has again earned well-deserved blame for the reckless removal of CCC administrators, with disastrous affects that are unmatched in the college’s history.
Finally, the public silence of Chancellor Wood in the midst of multiple incidences of racist hate graffiti at our sister campus, Diablo Valley College (DVC), in Spring 2019 gives some insight into how he and his district office cohorts view Black lives.
On March 6, 2019, in the men’s bathroom of the Engineering Technology Building, someone scrawled on the wall a racist threat of a noose with a hanging stick figure, along with the words, “No niggers working in trades.” When AASA President Manu Ampim called on Wood to be consistent and issue a district office statement to show a commitment to support Black students, as was done with other students, his response was simply, “If I say something I get criticized, and if I don’t say anything I get criticized.” This type of weak leadership is unacceptable and demonstrates Wood’s inability to lead a racially diverse college district.
Resolutions presented to the Contra Costa Community College District in July:
- Reverse the premature administrative leave action on May 28, 2019, which has crippled the college, and restore President VanderWoude and the two interim vice presidents to their positions.
- Immediately reassign to another campus the senior dean who has been in the center of conflict since she was hired in 2017 and began implementing a toxic “culture change” based on gentrification.
When reached for comment, Michele Jackson of the AASA said, “There’s no diversity at Contra Costa College in a very diverse community” and that “Wood and all of the district leadership need to go. They have no ties to the community.”
When reminded that Wood has announced he will retire next year, she responded, “We were instrumental in that.”
The African American Staff Association (AASA) of Contra Costa College, 2600 Mission Bell Drive, San Pablo, CA 94806, can be reached at AAStaffAssociation@gmail.com or 510-688-8806.
Allen Payton contributed to this report.
Under investigation Contra Costa College President VanderWoude resigns
By Tim Leong, Director, Communications and Community Relations
The Governing Board of the Contra Costa Community College District (District) and Dr. Katrina VanderWoude have agreed that she will resign as Contra Costa College (CCC) President effective on August 14, 2019. A resignation agreement was approved by the Board at a special meeting on August 14, 2019.
A committee of constituent leaders from CCC will be appointed to participate in a process to select an Interim President, and Mariles Magalong will continue as the college’s Acting President in the near term.
“We want to thank Dr. VanderWoude for her leadership and contributions to the District,” said Chancellor Fred Wood. “We wish her well in her future endeavors.”
No additional information was provided by the district regarding her resignation. However, a news release by the African American Staff Association of Contra Costa College stated, VanderWoude and the college’s interim Vice President of Academic Affairs Susan Kincade and interim Vice President of Student Services Carsbia Anderson, were all placed on administrative leave on May 28, 2019 “pending investigations concerning a suspicious complaint.” Another news report claims the investigations “arose out of separate complaints filed by college employees.” A June article published on the website of The Advocate, the college’s student newspaper, stated the investigation of VanderWoude was “a personnel matter”, and that the two vice presidents were under “a separate investigation.” According to another article by The Advocate, VanderWoude was the college’s twelfth president and has been in her position just over a year. The two interim vice presidents were hired in January, this year.
The Contra Costa Community College District (CCCCD) is one of the largest multi-college community college districts in California. The CCCCD serves a population of 1,019,640 people, and its boundaries encompass all but 48 of the 734-square-mile land area of Contra Costa County. The District is home to Contra Costa College in San Pablo, Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, as well as educational centers in Brentwood and San Ramon. The District headquarters is located in downtown Martinez.
Allen Payton contributed to this report.
Three shot in Rodeo Wednesday morning, Deputy Sheriffs search for shooter
By Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff
Wednesday morning, Aug. 14, 2019 at about 1:05 a.m., Contra Costa Sheriff dispatch received multiple calls of a shooting on the 1200 block of Mariposa Street in Rodeo.
Deputy Sheriffs arrived on scene finding two gunshot victims. They were taken to a local hospital, one by ambulance and another by helicopter. Another shooting victim went to the hospital on his own.
The gunshot victims are a 41-year-old woman, a 54-year-old woman, and a 23-year-old man. They are said to be in stable condition.
The investigation is ongoing. Suspect descriptions are not available at this time.
Anyone with any information on this case is asked to contact the Office of the Sheriff at (925) 646-2441 or Investigation Division at (925) 313-2600. For any tips, email: tips@so.cccounty.us or call (866) 846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message.
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