A Marin County man was arrested on child pornography allegations after investigators linked him to lewd material online.
Nicholas Cory Richars, 32, was released on bail pending further review by the district attorney’s office. He could not be reached for comment.
The investigation started last month after the Marin County Sheriff’s Office received a tip about someone “soliciting and receiving nude photographs from minors via an online chat group,” the department said. The tip came from the San Francisco Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit.
Investigators traced the transmissions to Richars’ residence on Glen Court in Sausalito. On Wednesday, they executed search warrants at that residence and another associated with him on East Strawberry Drive in Mill Valley.
A preliminary screen of Richars’ devices revealed suspected child porn, and detectives took the equipment for more analysis.
The sheriff’s department does not suspect the alleged minors in the images are from Marin.
A suspected methamphetamine dealer who lives in Novato was arrested in a bust by county drug investigators.
Vincent Robert Butt, 38, was targeted by the Marin County Major Crimes Task Force in response to complaints about drug activity in his neighborhood. He lives on Pastel Lane, part of a quiet nook of homes near Novato High School and several churches.
Investigators obtained search warrants for Butt, his residence and his vehicle. On Oct. 24, the task force and Novato police stopped Butt’s car and executed the searches.
Detectives found about 2.6 ounces of suspected meth in a hidden compartment under the center console of his car, said sheriff’s Sgt. Ryan Petersen, assistant commander of the task force. Investigators also found a scale, two phones, oxycodone pills and a syringe with suspected meth.
At Butt’s home, detectives found more suspected meth, suspected cocaine and packaging material for potential drug sales, Petersen said.
The county Coordination Probation Enforcement team conducted a search on an associated residence next to Butt’s home. The team found more suspected meth and paraphernalia.
Investigators booked Butt into the county jail. He was released on bail pending a review by the district attorney’s office.
On Monday, the prosecution charged him with meth possession for sale and possession of oxycodone. The complaint alleges that Butt has prior convictions in Sonoma and Alameda counties for assault, statutory rape and domestic violence.
Butt is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Marin County Superior Court.
In an interview at his residence Thursday, Butt called the task force allegations “a lie.” He said is an addict but not a drug dealer, and that he has been unable to get the rehabilitation help he needs from the system.
He said he plans to fight the charges.
“I’m presumed innocent until I’m proven guilty, and this is a slap in the face,” he said.
Investigators have also filed reports for potential charges against the owner of the neighboring home.
Overnight solo vehicle fire kept crews busy. While the fire spread very little into the vegetation it reminds of the dangers that exist while dealing with these type of incidents. There were no injuries. The incident took place on N/B 101 at Spencer. pic.twitter.com/43wiT9iqyp
Southern Marin firefighters extinguished a car that caught fire Thursday night on northbound Highway 101 in Sausalito.
Firefighters responded around 8 p.m. to a report that a vehicle near the Spencer Avenue exit was on fire, Southern Marin fire Battalion Chief Scott Barnes said.
When firefighters arrived the car was fully engulfed in flames, Barnes said.
The fire had spread to nearby vegetation, but was quickly contained.
“There was never a threat to any residential property,” Barnes said. “Driver of the vehicle states he began to lose power while driving and while pulling over to the shoulder, he witnessed flames coming from the car.”
The driver was able to escape uninjured.
Mill Valley and Marin County firefighters responded, as well as the California Highway Patrol and Golden Gate Bridge district officials.
Paula Drake, left, was arrested on Oct. 29, 2018, after striking Debra DiBenedetto with her car in Woodacre. (Photos: Marin County Jail; Miller Creek School District)
A judge has ordered a Fairfax woman to stand trial on DUI manslaughter charges for the death of a cyclist in West Marin last year.
Paula Elizabeth Drake, who remains free on bail, is scheduled to return to court Nov. 20 to set further proceedings. Drake, 25, struck and killed Debra Louise DiBenedetto, 63, of San Geronimo.
Judge Geoffrey Howard ruled on Oct. 25 that there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial on five counts. The ruling capped a preliminary hearing that included testimony by two California Highway Patrol officers, a crash witness and a state criminalist who analyzed Drake’s blood test.
The heaviest charge against her, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, carries a potential prison sentence of four to 10 years.
“Ms. Drake is devastated at the tragic loss of life in this incident,” said her public defender, Nadia Iqbal. “She is taking this matter very seriously and it is our hope that this matter can reach a resolution that brings all parties a sense of peace.”
The collision happened at about 5:30 p.m. Oct. 29, 2018, on westbound Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Woodacre. Police allege that Drake veered over the fog line in a Ford Explorer and struck DiBenedetto.
DiBenedetto was thrown from her bike and into a ditch. Medics took her to Marin General Hospital, where she died within an hour.
After a wobbly sobriety test, Drake agreed to take a breath test, according to a prosecution affidavit. Two breath samples registered blood-alcohol levels of 0.066% and 0.067%. The legal limit for driving is 0.08%, but the breath test was administered nearly 90 minutes after the collision.
At nearly 9 p.m., investigators collected a blood sample to send to a state lab. The lab analysis found a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.031%. A criminalist calculated that Drake’s blood-alcohol level was about 0.09% when the collision happened.
Drake’s blood also contained marijuana and Lamotrigine, a medication used for conditions such as epilepsy and bipolar disorder. A state analyst could not reach a conclusion on whether Drake would have been impaired by the marijuana or the medication.
The CHP investigation also included a review of Drake’s phone data. Police determined that she had been sending and receiving texts on her phone in the minutes leading to the collision.
Drake told police she was driving to the Rancho Nicasio bar when she struck the cyclist, according to the affidavit. Before that, Drake said, she had put her 2-year-old daughter to bed and sipped a vodka-and-juice drink for about 45 minutes to an hour.
Police interviewed a witness who had been driving behind Drake. The witness said Drake had veered over the right fog line about five times in the two miles leading up to the collision.
Drake told police her car had been repeatedly pulling to the right for some time prior to that day. She also said she was distracted by the sound of one of her tires popping.
The CHP investigation found no evidence of mechanical problems or blown tires.
Based on computer data from Drake’s car, the CHP estimated that the vehicle hit DiBenedetto at about 59 miles an hour without braking.
DiBenedetto was a teacher in the former Dixie School District in San Rafael.
A 33-year-old San Rafael woman was arrested at her home early Monday in connection with a downtown commercial burglary.
An employee arriving for work at a business on E Street called police at 3:40 a.m. to report that the front door was left open and lights were on, the San Rafael Police Department said.
Police reviewed the surveillance footage and said it appeared the burglar entered the building through the locked front door around 10:30 p.m. Sunday. The burglar emptied the register and left.
Police identified the suspect as Kristin Veronika Farrell. She was booked into Marin County Jail on suspicion of burglary and violation of probation. Her bail was set at $15,000.
A San Rafael man was arrested on suspicion of driving intoxicated in a car he had stolen.
Charles Benjamin Looney, 62, was also booked on suspicion of violating probation and driving with a suspended license for a previous DUI. His bail was set at $25,000.
San Rafael police received a call at 10:47 a.m. Monday from a woman reporting that a former boyfriend had taken her car without permission, police Sgt. Raul Aguilar said. The woman had loaned her car to another person.
Looney recognized the car parked on a street in San Rafael and allegedly approached the driver, claiming that the vehicle belonged to him. Looney had a copy of the car key, which he acquired while he was in a relationship with the victim, Aguilar said.
Looney got behind the wheel and drove away, Aguilar said. Police stopped the car near Fourth Street and Lincoln Avenue, detained Looney and determined he was intoxicated.
A driver arrested after a Mill Valley traffic stop allegedly tried to sneak cocaine into Marin County Jail, the sheriff’s department said.
Miguel Angel Martinez, 22, of Oakland was arrested at 10:10 p.m. Monday on Redwood Highway Frontage Road in Strawberry. The traffic stop was for a lighting violation, but he had outstanding warrants and his license was suspended for a previous DUI case.
Deputies also found a small amount of suspected cocaine and drug paraphernalia in his possession, said sheriff’s Sgt. Brenton Schneider.
During the booking at the jail, the staff found nearly half an ounce of suspected cocaine for alleged sale concealed on Martinez’s person, Schneider said. He declined to elaborate further.
Police have arrested a Marin boy accused of making threats on YouTube and Instagram against San Rafael High School.
The boy was booked into Marin County Juvenile Hall, the San Rafael Police Department said. Police did not release his name and age because he is a minor.
Police learned of the alleged threats Monday afternoon from residents and parents. The threats were made for Nov. 13 and Nov. 25, police said.
Police said the threats were vague and no other school was mentioned. Detectives worked with school officials and contacted the social media platforms to identify the suspect.
Police increased patrols around the school. The department declined to comment on whether the boy is a student there.
Investigators have referred the case to the Marin County District Attorney’s Office for review.
A former youth educator in Marin County was sentenced to three years in prison Wednesday for possessing child pornography.
John Morrison, 73, of San Francisco was ordered to surrender to federal authorities by Jan. 13 to begin his sentence, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Abraham Simmons.
The sentence was set as part of a negotiated plea. The prosecution dropped a charge of receiving child porn, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years.
Until his arrest in March 2017, Morrison was education director for 18 years at the California Film Institute in San Rafael. He taught film classes to youths at the institute and also at local schools and libraries.
Morrison also consulted for the Mill Valley Film Festival Children’s Fest and an international film concern called Kidflix Global. He was also a board member for the Community Media Center of Marin, the nonprofit that provides cable television access and training for residents.
Morrison was targeted by investigators after porn transmissions were linked to his residence. Investigators executed a search warrant there and examined electronic devices.
San Francisco police said Morrison had more than 600 files of child porn on devices at his home. The material included child porn involving “sexual sadism or sexual masochism,” police said.
Morrison admitted to investigators that he used Skype to receive and view child porn, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ross Weingarten.
“He also admitted that he found individuals on Craigslist who would send him child pornography, and that he had been viewing it for five years,” Weingarten wrote.
The prosecution does not allege that Morrison created any images or molested children himself, but said that as a porn consumer he contributed to the exploitation of children.
“The government is very troubled by the fact that while possessing and viewing images depicting the abuse of children, the defendant served as the Director of Education at the California Film Institute in San Rafael, California,” Weingarten wrote. “In other words, the defendant would come into contact with children every day through his employment, and then go home and view images of young children being sexually and physically victimized and abused.”
Morrison was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco.
Morrison’s public defender, Sophia Whiting, objected to the court condition that he be barred from viewing adult porn without prior approval. She called it an “overbroad deprivation of Mr. Morrison’s liberty.”
A man facing trial this month in a Sonoma County shooting case has been arrested in a bust by Marin drug investigators.
Miguel Angel Sanchez-Aleman, 21, of Cloverdale had a cache of Xanax, oxycodone and powdered fentanyl in his car when detectives detained him, according to the Marin County Major Crimes Task Force.
The drug unit opened the investigation in September after learning that someone was advertising Xanax, a prescription sedative, for sale on social media, said sheriff’s Sgt. Ryan Petersen, assistant commander of the task force.
Detectives arranged undercover deals in Mill Valley and Novato and bought Xanax from the poster, whom they identified as Sanchez-Aleman. Investigators made the arrest on Wednesday at 200 Vintage Way in Novato.
In addition to seizing the substances from his car, detectives executed a search warrant at his residence. They found codeine syrup there, Petersen said.
Investigators booked Sanchez-Aleman into the Marin County Jail on suspicion of possessing controlled substances for sale and possessing controlled substances.
Sanchez-Aleman remained in custody Thursday while the Marin County District Attorney’s Office reviewed the case.
The Novato, Mill Valley and Cloverdale police departments assisted in the investigation.
Sanchez-Aleman was also booked on allegations of committing a felony while being free on bail. He is facing gun assault charges for an attack that injured an man last year in Santa Rosa. The trial is set to begin Nov. 22, said Brian Staebell, a prosecutor in Sonoma County.
A codefendant, Thomas Alejandro Martinez, is charged with attempted murder.
Law enforcement personnel, including Contra Costa County sheriff's deputies, execute a search warrant at a residence in Marin City on Thursday. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)
Law enforcement personnel, including Contra Costa County sheriff's deputies, execute a search warrant at a residence in Marin City on Thursday. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)
Law enforcement personnel, including Contra Costa County sheriff's deputies, execute a search warrant at a residence in Marin City on Thursday. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)
Authorities look on during a raid in Marin City on Thursday. (Alan Dep - Marin Independent Journal)
Law enforcement personnel, including Contra Costa County sheriff's deputies, speak with people in front of a residence as they execute a search warrant in Marin City on Thursday. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)
Former Drake High basketball player Jaquez Sweeney (4) is among the people arrested in a Marin City raid related to the Orinda Halloween shooting. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal) 2017
Former Tam High basketball player Jason Iles, center, is among the people arrested in a Marin City raid related to the Orinda Halloween shooting. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal) 2016
ORINDA — Following a series of raids in Vallejo, Antioch, San Mateo and Marin City, authorities announced the arrest of five suspects Thursday in the Halloween shooting here that left five dead and several more injured.
Two of the suspects are Marin City residents.
Announcing the arrests, the Contra Costa County sheriff also suggested that two of the five victims might have had a hand in the shooting. He did not say which ones.
The charges range from murder and conspiracy to accessory. Authorities have still not discussed details of the crime, nor exactly what role each person is alleged to have played.
The suspects have been identified as Lebraun Tyree Wallace, 28, of San Mateo; Jaquez Deshawn Sweeney, 20, of Marin City; Jason D. Iles, 20, of Marin City; Shamron Joshua Mitchell, 30, of Antioch; and Devin Isiah Williamson, 20, of Vallejo.
Williamson was arrested as an accessory, police said. The other four were arrested on suspicion of murder and conspiracy.
“Extraordinary cooperation among multiple law enforcement agencies led to these arrests and a small measure of justice for the true victims,” Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston said. “Additionally, evidence shows two of the deceased persons inside the house were themselves armed, which may have played a role in this tragedy. We look forward to providing more information in the coming days.”
The raid in Marin occurred on the 200 block of Drake Avenue.
“We’re very pleased to hear that there’s movement in this case,” Orinda Mayor Inga Miller said. She praised the multiple law enforcement agencies involved for “investigating and bringing to justice the people involved in what happened on Halloween night.”
The shooting occurred around 10:50 p.m. Oct. 31 at 114 Lucille Way in Orinda. The house had been rented out on Airbnb, and was the site of a large party with more than 100 guests, authorities said.
Law enforcement officials said early on that the investigation included probes into gangs in San Francisco’s Fillmore District and other parts of the Bay Area, including Marin City.
The victims have been identified as Tiyon Farley, 22, of Antioch; Omar Taylor, 24, of Pittsburg; Raymon Hill Jr., 23, of San Francisco/Oakland; Javlin County, 29, of Sausalito/Richmond; and Oshiana Tompkins, 19, of Vallejo/Hercules.
County was identified by friends as a Marin City resident.
A man suspected in an auto burglary in Sausalito was arrested Thursday while investigators continue to hunt for two alleged accomplices.
Jinjoe Kellom, 21, of Vallejo was booked into Marin County Jail on suspicion of burglary, conspiracy to commit a crime, failure to obey police and possession of burglary tools.
The incident occurred around 5:15 p.m. when Sausalito police Detective Davin Rose was conducting surveillance at municipal lot No. 1 near the ferry landing, due to a recent uptick of reported auto burglaries, police Lt. Bill Fraass said.
Three adults in a silver Nissan sedan entered the lot and pulled into a stall. When the suspects exited the vehicle, Rose witnessed them smash a window of a locked, unoccupied parked car and steal a backpack, Fraass said.
Rose, driving an unmarked police car, pulled up to the suspects and attempted to make contact. They jumped back into their car and fled. The driver reversed the Nissan into the unmarked police car to make the escape, Fraass said.
Marin County sheriff’s deputies, Mill Valley and Tiburon police assisted in a neighborhood search.
Police found the Nissan unoccupied and parked near Glen Drive at Glen Court. Neighbors reported seeing the suspects fleeing in different directions.
Kellom was found near Caledonia Street at Lito Street and was arrested.
Two suspects, both described as black males, remain at large. The suspected driver is believed to be in his early 20s, approximately 6-feet tall, and was last seen wearing a red-and-white jacket and stonewashed blue jeans.
The other suspect was described as having a slender build and wearing a red hooded sweatshirt, gray pants and white shoes.
From January through October, there have been 92 reported auto burglaries across the city, Fraass said. There have been a higher concentration of such crimes in restaurant and municipal lots and in the downtown area.
Anyone with information can call Sausalito police at 415- 289-4170.
A woman suspected of stealing nearly $1 million from a San Rafael toy company has been arrested in New York City after a years-long investigation by the San Rafael Police Department.
Shelly Breshears, 53, is being held in a New York jail on fraud allegations, according to San Rafael police Lt. Dan Fink.
Police say Breshears stole the money from Plushy Feely Inc. during the three years she worked for the company as a bookkeeper. The San Rafael Police Department launched an investigation in September 2016 after the company, which makes stuffed toys, reported suspected stealing, according to Fink.
After her employers confronted her, Breshears “changed her name and obtained employment with a painting contractor in Alameda County,” where she allegedly stole another $100,000, Fink said.
The company, Nor Cal Painting, reported the suspected theft to authorities, and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office has filed fraud charges against her, Fink said.
Founders of Plushy Feely Corp., Julian Kwasneski (bottom left) Ellen Pritchard Dodge (bottom middle), Kerri Morshead (bottom right), Nina Rappaport Rowan (top middle) and Susan Schroeder (top left) are photographed at the offices of Plushy Feely Corp., in San Anselmo in 2008. (IJ archive/Jeff Vendsel)
A San Rafael police detective located Breshears in New York City, and U.S. Marshals Service deputies executed a search warrant at her home Nov. 4, Fink said. A property management company she worked for in New York has accused Breshears of stealing more than $40,000, he said.
“Everywhere she’s gone she has left victims in her wake,” Fink said. “She is a serial embezzler and identity thief and it’s just a shame the destruction she’s done to some of these companies.”
Breshears is scheduled to be transported to the Marin County Jail on Monday. A felony embezzlement charge has been filed against her in the Marin County Superior Court.
At least three of the five suspects arrested in connection with a Halloween night party shooting inside an Orinda mansion that left a handful of people dead had criminal records and some of them — as well as two of the slaying victims — may have belonged to gangs, Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston revealed Friday during a news conference.
“It was a bloodbath,” Livingston said. In his 32 years in law enforcement, “I’ve never seen a homicide scene like this, personally,” he added.
Livingston said there were “multiple” shooters that night and that authorities were seeking other people involved. In addition to those killed at the party, which was attended by more than 100 people, three suffered gunshot wounds and others were injured after jumping 30 feet from the balcony to escape the chaotic scene.
The shooting suspects have been identified as Lebraun Tyree Wallace, 28, of San Mateo; Jaquez Deshawn Sweeney, 20, of Marin City; Jason D. Iles, 20, of Marin City; Shamron Joshua Mitchell, 30, of Antioch; and Devin Isiah Williamson, 20, of Vallejo.
The sheriff said Williamson, identified as the party’s promoter, was booked on suspicion of conspiracy and as an accessory. The others were booked on suspicion of murder and conspiracy. Livingston said there is reason to believe Williamson and the others intended to cause harm when they arrived at the party.
Two of the slaying victims — Raymon Hill and Javlin County — also were armed and were associated with gangs in San Francisco and Marin City, Livingston said. He said Hill was associated with the Page Street Mob in San Francisco and County was associated with the Marin City Jungle. Livingston said investigators don’t know whether the shooting was gang-related. The other victims have been identified as Tiyon Farley, 22, of Antioch; Omar Taylor, 24, of Pittsburg; and Oshiana Tompkins, 19, of Vallejo and Hercules.
Police recovered four guns connected with the crime and expect to find more, Livingston said, adding that there were “many” of them at the party. He said it’s believed the shooting started in the kitchen after a fight broke out over someone’s attempt to steal property. He did not elaborate on any specific motives.
“This investigation is still in its early stages,” Livingston said. “We do have people in custody, but there are others we are seeking now.”
The shooting occurred around 10:50 p.m. on Oct. 31 at 114 Lucille Way in Orinda, according to the Sheriff’s Office, in the house that had been rented through Airbnb. In calls to police, partygoers described multiple people lying in pools of blood inside the house and people jumping off balconies and hiding in closets to escape the gunfire, according to police logs.
A suspect has been charged in the slaying of a Marin County woman four decades ago in Nevada, authorities said.
Charles Gary Sullivan, 73, is set to be arraigned Tuesday in Washoe County in connection with the murder of Julia Woodward, 21, of San Rafael.
Investigators cracked the cold case through “advances in DNA technology,” the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office said.
Woodward was last seen alive in California on Feb. 1, 1979, when a friend dropped her off at San Francisco International Airport, authorities said. She was traveling to Reno to look for work there or in the Lake Tahoe area.
Her body was found March 25, 1979, in Hungry Valley, about 15 miles north of Reno, the sheriff’s office said. The cause of death was blunt force trauma. Authorities said she was bound, gagged and struck in the head with a rock, according to news reports.
After a Washoe County sheriff’s detective sought additional DNA analysis recently, prosecutors obtained an indictment against Sullivan in August.
Investigators arrested Sullivan in Yavapai County, Arizona, on Aug. 28. Authorities extradited him to Washoe County on Friday and announced the break in the case late Friday night.
Sullivan had traveled in Nevada in search of employment in the Reno and Lake Tahoe area, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office said more details about the case would be released after Sullivan’s arraignment.
Sullivan is being held without bail. His defense attorney, David Houston, could not be reached for comment Saturday.
Woodward’s homicide was one of dozens of cold cases that Washoe County detectives began reviewing in recent years, hoping that new technology could resolve them.
“It’s like if your child had cancer, you would know everything there is to know about the disease,” Woodward’s mother, Cecily O’Connor of San Rafael, told KGO-TV in 2015. “In this case you just want to know what happened. You want to be there with her in your mind and think about what really happened.”
The Novato Police Department is launching a new online tool this week specifically designed for reporting suspected hate crimes and hateful activity.
The police department’s new online reporting tool will launch on Monday and will be discussed at the Novato Not In Our Town’s United Against Hate discussion that evening. The free event is set to take place from 6-8 p.m. at City Hall, 901 Sherman Ave.
Matthew McCaffrey, the police department’s acting police chief, said the idea for the online reporting tool was made in coordination with the Novato Not In Our Town anti-hate group of which the department is a member. The goal is to make it easier and more comfortable for people to report hateful incidents, he said. The tool is set to appear on the police department’s home page on Monday.
“We saw it as an easy tool for us to provide to the community and it also kind of sends a message out to the community that we’re concerned about this, that we do want to hear from you, that it is a priority for us,” McCaffrey said.
Even if an incident doesn’t rise to the level of a hate crime — such as the anti-Semitic flyers that were discovered in the city earlier this year — the police department is asking for those to be reported as well.
“Part of it also is knowing that there might be more nefarious groups,” McCaffrey said. “This might be a prequel to something else that might happen.”
Novato’s online reporting tool appears to be the first specifically made for hate crimes in Marin County. The Tiburon Police Department has an online form to report anonymous tips, though not specifically for hate crimes. Other local agencies allow online reporting, but for other crimes such as burglary or vandalism. For those incidents, the reporting party is asked to directly contact the department by phone or in person.
Some may feel uncomfortable with a phone call or in-person tip, McCaffrey said, which makes the online tool useful.
Seth Brysk, the Anti-Defamation League’s Central Pacific Regional Director, said one of the persistent concerns with hate crime is underreporting. The league, he said, applauds any initiative that makes it easier for members of a community to report a suspected hate crime and gives law enforcement and policy makers “vital” and more accurate information to respond to.
“In the FBI hate crime report released this week two states and at least 85 cities with a population of 100,000 or more did not report or reported zero hate crimes in 2018,” Brysk wrote in an emailed statement. “Additionally, targets of hate crime may feel intimidated, distrustful of law enforcement, or dubious about their prospects for justice. Yet, accurate data is critical towards understanding the extent of hatred and devising the best methods to address the problem.”
Monday’s event, titled “Take Action to Empower Community to Combat Hate,” will include a Novato student panel along with Mayor Eric Lucan, Marin County District Attorney Lori Frugoli, Novato Unified School District Superintendent Kris Cosca, Novato police Capt. Jim Correa and filmmaker Patrice O’Neill, who began the Not In Our Town movement.
Nancy Weber, chairwoman of Novato Not In Our Town’s general committee, said the event is a continuation on more than a year of work to bring awareness to these incidents. In that time, several partners have joined including Frugoli, North Marin Community Services and the school district, which is working to address bullying. Continuing to discuss and bring awareness is essential to combat hateful acts that are increasing in parts of the country, Weber said.
“We just want to make sure everybody in Novato is safe and that if there is anybody experiencing these types of incidents that they would be able to come forward and hopefully get some support,” she said.
As one way to show support, the group is also launching a “Novato United Against Hate” poster campaign where residents and business owners can hang “United Against Hate” posters in their windows.
More information about the event and Not In Our Town can be found at niot.org/novato.
FRESNO — Four people were killed and six more wounded when “unknown suspects” sneaked into a backyard filled with people at a party in central California and fired into the crowd, police said.
The shooting took place about 6 p.m. on the Fresno’s southeast side, where people were gathered to watch a football game, Fresno Police Lt. Bill Dooley said.
Deputy Chief Michael Reid told the Fresno Bee and the KSEE/KGPE TV stations that a total of 10 people were shot, with three found dead in the backyard. A fourth person died at the hospital. Six others are expected to survive and are recovering at the hospital.
All the victims were Asian men ranging from ages 25 to 35, Reid said.
“What we do know is that this was a gathering, a family and friend gathering in the backyard,” Dooley said. “Everyone was watching football this evening when unknown suspects approached the residence, snuck into the backyard and opened fire.”
The victims were taken to Community Regional Medical Center in critical condition, and some are now stable, the TV stations reported.
About 35 people were at the party when the shooting began, Reid said.
“Thank God that no kids were hurt,” he said.
No one is in custody in connection with the shooting. Police said there was no immediate indication that the victims knew the shooter or shooters.
Police were going door-to-door in search of surveillance video that might help them track down the suspects. The shooting took place about a half-mile from the city’s airport.
Agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives field office in San Francisco were responding to the shooting, the Bee reported.
It was at least the second fatal gun attack Sunday in southeast Fresno, the Bee reported. A man in his 20s was shot to death early Sunday at a home in another part of the city. Police have not said whether the incidents could be connected.
Sunday’s shootings in Fresno also come on the heels of at least two mass shootings in California. On Thursday, a 16-year-old student at a Southern California high school shot and killed two classmates and wounded three other teens before shooting himself in the head. He died the next day. And on Saturday, police in San Diego said a husband shot and killed his wife and three of their sons before killing himself. A fourth son wounded in the shooting was on life support Sunday, family members said.
MARTINEZ — The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office has declined to charge any of the five suspects arrested in connection with the Halloween shooting in an Airbnb-rented Orinda mansion that left five people dead and several more injured.
The suspects had been identified as Lebraun Tyree Wallace, 28, of San Mateo; Jaquez Deshawn Sweeney, 20, of Marin City; Jason D. Iles, 20, of Marin City; Shamron Joshua Mitchell, 30, of Antioch; and Devin Isiah Williamson, 20, of Vallejo. They were arrested last week after authorities served warrants in Marin City, Vallejo, Antioch and San Mateo.
All five people arrested in connection with the shooting are expected to be released from jail. Sweeney, listed as a jail inmate Monday morning, was no longer in custody by Monday afternoon, according to public records. The other four defendants remain jailed as of 6 p.m. Monday.
A sheriff spokesman said Monday that the district attorney “wants more investigation done,” without elaboration. In a statement to the media Monday afternoon, a district attorney spokesman did not explain the decision.
“Today the District Attorney’s Office met with members of the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff to review the Orinda Halloween shooting incident. No criminal charges are being filed at this time against any individual,” office spokesman Scott Alonso said. “The investigation is ongoing.”
Alonso would not comment on whether the defendants had been cleared of criminal wrongdoing and implied the case may come back for filing at a later date. There is no statute of limitations on murder charges.
Jimmy Lee, a spokesman for the sheriff, said in a written statement that the investigation is far from over.
“We stand by our investigation and the arrests were made pursuant to a judge’s order. Although the district attorney may want more investigation done, the persons arrested and responsible for these crimes will ultimately be held to account,” Lee said. “The entire investigation is ongoing as is common in these types of complex cases.”
The district attorney’s decision comes just days after Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston appeared at a press conference, handed out photos of the five men and described them as participants in a conspiracy that resulted in the five killings.
Williamson was arrested as an accessory, police said. The other four were arrested on suspicion of murder and conspiracy.
Multiple law enforcement sources have described the incident as a shootout between multiple groups of people but declined to provide specific details. Police sources said early on that the investigation involved probes of gangs in San Francisco, Marin City and other parts of the Bay Area.
The victims have been identified as Tiyon Farley, 22, of Antioch; Omar Taylor, 24, of Pittsburg; Raymon Hill Jr., 23, of San Francisco/Oakland; Javlin County, 29, of Sausalito/Richmond; and Oshiana Tompkins, 19, of Vallejo/Hercules.
Police have described the shooting and its aftermath as “chaotic” and “a bloodbath,” saying multiple shooters were involved and mass panic broke out after the initial shots. In addition to those killed at the party, attended by more than 100 people, three suffered gunshot wounds and others were injured after jumping 30 feet from the balcony to escape the chaotic scene.
Livingston said Friday that two of the victims — Hill and County — were armed and suggested they may have “played a role” in the shooting.
In calls to police, witnesses described victims lying in pools of blood inside the house. Other callers reported partygoers jumping off balconies and hiding in closets to escape the gunfire, according to police call logs. One woman was badly injured when she jumped off a second-story balcony, police said.
Several witnesses described seeing a man wearing a bright-colored, hooded sweatshirt shooting a Mac 10 or Mac 12-style firearm, according to the call logs. Gunshot victims drove themselves to hospitals in Berkeley, Oakland and Walnut Creek.
Charles Gary Sullivan and Julia Woodward. (Washoe County Sheriff’s Office)
A man charged with murdering a Marin County woman in Nevada four decades ago is suspected of two other homicides, the prosecution said.
Charles Gary Sullivan, 73, was arraigned in a Reno courtroom on Tuesday in the 1979 slaying of Julia Woodward, 20, of San Rafael. Authorities indicted him recently on the basis of DNA evidence.
In a bail motion, the prosecution said Sullivan is a suspect in the murders of two other women in the Reno area in the late 1970s. Sullivan has not been charged in those cases, but the circumstances are similar to the Woodward homicide, the prosecution said.
“All evidence points to defendant being a serial killer, responsible for the murders of Julia Woodward and others,” Michael Kovac, a Washoe County prosecutor, wrote in a bail motion.
Woodward left California on Feb. 1, 1979, when a friend dropped her off at San Francisco International Airport, authorities said. She was traveling to Reno to look for work there or in the Lake Tahoe area.
A motorcyclist found her body on March 25, 1979, in Hungry Valley, about 15 miles north of Reno, authorities said. The cause of death was blunt force trauma. Authorities said she was bound, gagged and struck in the head with a rock.
“One of her shoes had been removed, and holes had been worn through her sock, suggesting that she had been dragged or forced to walk through the rough desert brush,” Kovac wrote.
The case remained unsolved for decades. But in recent years, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office began a review of dozens of cold cases, including Woodward’s.
During that process, investigators matched DNA evidence from Woodward’s clothing to a DNA sample from Sullivan. The sample had been collected in California in 2007, when Sullivan was arrested on suspicion of attacking a hitchhiker in Nevada County, according to the bail motion.
Sullivan bound the hitchhiker at the wrists and ankles and said he planned to detain her for a few days of sex, but she was able to escape and flag down some passersby. Sullivan was convicted of false imprisonment and criminal threats.
In August of this year, Nevada authorities, fortified by the new DNA link, obtained a indictment against Sullivan. Authorities arrested him on Aug. 28 in Yavapai County, Arizona, where he lives.
Authorities extradited him to Washoe County on Friday. After the arraignment Tuesday, Sullivan’s defense attorney questioned the value of the DNA evidence.
“Even if DNA shows he had contact with her, where is the act of murder proved?” the lawyer, David Houston, told the Associated Press.
In the motion to deny bail, the prosecution said Sullivan appears to be behind two other Reno homicides in 1978 and 1979. The victims were Jeannie Smith, a 17-year-old casino worker whose skeleton was found in Hungry Valley, and Linda Taylor, 23, a Reno resident who was reported missing by a roommate.
Police got a tip about a bearded man who had been seen with Taylor two days before her disappearance. They identified him as Sullivan, who had shaved the beard by the time detectives contacted him.
“When questioned by authorities, defendant initially lied and indicated that he had not met Taylor,” Kovac wrote. “Upon further questioning, he admitted that he went on a date with her, but he denied having any knowledge of the circumstances of her disappearance.”
Police found Taylor’s abandoned car at a shopping center a few days later. Taylor remains missing.
Park rangers arrested an East Bay man in an auto burglary investigation in the Point Reyes National Seashore.
The park opened the investigation several weeks ago in response to a series of break-ins. On Saturday, a ranger spotted a man near Olema whose description and vehicle were a potential match to the burglar.
Joseph Harold Wyles, 20, of Antioch was booked into the Marin County Jail on suspicion of burglary, vandalism, possession of burglary tools, credit card fraud, possession of stolen property and a gun-related offense. He remained in custody Tuesday in lieu of $50,000 bail.
