RPD Makes Progress...

Gang suspect charged in attempted murder

Contra Costa Times By Karl Fischer June 21, 2006

"Hopefully, we're getting to the point where it's a question of when, not if, people who are creating violence in our community will be brought to justice."

Prosecutors charged a North Richmond gang suspect with attempted murder Tuesday after police arrested him and an associate in the aftermath of a drive-by shooting.

Brian Jones, 21, faces three counts of attempted murder and enhancements in Contra Costa Superior Court for being a gang member and using a firearm, police said.

Detectives will meet with federal authorities today to discuss the possibility of prosecuting Jones under federal 'trigger lock' statutes.

'I just think it's a great example of officers knowing the problem spots and knowing who to look for,' Police Chief Chris Magnus said. 'Hopefully, we're getting to the point where it's a question of when, not if, people who are creating violence in our community will be brought to justice.'

Someone shooting at Jones as he drove with his girlfriend, 17-year-old Laquisha Turner, near Hilltop Mall on May 22 left Turner comatose and started a chain of retaliatory shootings that left two dead and several injured across Richmond that evening.

An earlier shooting targeting Jones also killed his previous girlfriend, Alexis Fields, in December 2004.

But about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, police say Jones was the aggressor in a drive-by shooting that targeted three bicyclists in the 300 block of Harbour Way.

'A patrol officer was so close that he actually heard the gunfire and reported the incident himself,' Detective Steve Harris said. 'As he drove into the area, he was flagged down by some bicyclists.'

The three men said someone in a black Toyota Camry shot at them, but they were not hurt. Officer Dedrick Riley quickly relayed the information to dispatchers. Soon after, Officer David Funk saw a car matching the description and tried to stop it.

A chase through south Richmond ensued, ending when the Toyota crashed on the entrance ramp to Interstate 580 on South 23rd Street. Two men ran from the crash onto Foothill Avenue and into the Easter Hill housing project, where they were arrested.

Officers identified the driver as Jones, Harris said, and the passenger, 26-year-old Curtis Morris, was a parolee. Police found a firearm in the car and other evidence linking Jones to the shooting, Harris added.

Both men were booked into County Jail. Morris was not charged, but police have asked the state Department of Corrections to revoke his parole.

Several West Contra Costa police agencies publicly identified Jones as a North Richmond gang member and shooting suspect in December 2004, the same month a gunman on Richmond Parkway fired on a car Jones frequently drove, killing Fields.

Jones eluded arrest until February 2005 and later accepted a plea agreement in connection with a San Pablo shooting case. But street factions in the region gunned for him with some regularity since his release, police say, in retaliation for earlier shootings.

Copyright © 2006 Contra Costa Times, All Rights Reserved.

An Open Letter To The Mayor...

This letter speaks volumes about the anger and frustration that is destined to boil over as the summer continues:
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An open letter to the current Mayor of Richmond, are we still living in a Democracy?

This question arises, when one attends/watches our City Council meetings for quite some time and witness you "gableling down" everybody, who tries to express a different opinion then yours, whether it is a citizen or one of the council members.

Democracy means, the supreme power of government is vested in the people, not in the mayor, and not the mayor’s son, who attacked one of our most outspoken community leaders, who speaks for us, the people.

Things like that cannot and should not be swept under the rug, and I trust, that our new Chief of Police will do the right thing by having this incident investigated to the fullest.

Inge Oliver
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TAZER NOTE: Inge brings up something interesting here: It does seem that Irma lacks the ability to allow some to speak. Granted, being the mayor does mean keeping the basic flow of a meeting going, but the spirit of her doing it appears to have some VERY nasty overtones, almost totalitarian or dictorial in nature. The Tazer wonders, is this something that the Chief can act on? Your comments are welcome.

Get yer programs! Can't tell the players without 'em!

Good Tuesday to the Tazer faithful!

The agenda for this evening's meeting can be found: here. Lots of interesting items up for discussion -- especially in closed session and after open session -- and we're always interested in the off-camber, DEEP leftfield angles that can't help but crop up.

For now, there's one item of interest in particular to contrast against the Tazer...

From the bottom of Page 2: "The City Council’s adopted Rules of Procedure recognize that debate on policy is healthy; debate on personalities is not. The Chairperson has the right and obligation to cut off discussion that is too personal, too loud, or too crude."

And now a weepy bleat from Tazer's past: "At the rate comments seem to be degrading here, the Tazer is beginning to sound mighty beligerent [sic] and uninformed. Or is it that this page is mostly about bashing the mayor and/or any attempts at maintaining control over meetings? What has this blog accomplished besides decent [sic] within our community?"

You weren't cut off for being too "personal," "loud," or "crude," were you, little buddy? Of course you weren't! That's because we here at the Tazer don't flinch. When we say "that debate on policy is healthy" we actually mean it.

A few words from those who knew him...

Some excerpts from The Contra Costa Times article "Police have no suspects in 14-year-old's shooting death" by Karl Fischer about the killing of Camaron Walker(6/16/2006)...

Inside, the boy's mother, Robbie Luckey sat on a sofa, hands over her face, scarcely shackling her agony. Wednesday night, her son was walking home from playing basketball at the nearby Monterey Pines public housing project.

Then suddenly, he wasn't.

"We need people to help find who did this to my baby. He was a good kid. Please help us!" Luckey said, her sobs punctuating each sentence. "This is not fair! This is not fair! This is not fair!"

[....]

"Something inside me just told me it would be one of our kids," [Lovonya Dejean Middle School Principal Antoinette] Evans said. "We try to get the heart of each child, to give them a different view of life. Sometimes you just feel it's not enough. And sometimes, something like this happens...it's hard to believe. But so is the loss of any child. When you lose a child, there's really nothing left to say.

[Camaron Walker had just graduated 8th grade, and was a straight A honor student.]

[....]

"When you are living in Richmond, California, you kind of come to expect it. I'm just being real with you," said the Rev. Carlos Smith, a youth pastor at Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church, which is located down the street from Walker's home.

In particular, Smith added, he didn't expect it to be Camaron Walker, a gregarious boy who talked about pursuing a career in stand-up comedy, part of a pack of kids who would hang around in front of the church. Walker was a little boy when they met, said Smith, who was a teenager growing up in the neighborhood.

The killing was Richmond's 16th of the year. Last year at this time, police had investigated 13 homicides.

Not all of these killings are of thugs and drug dealers. Some are kids like Camaron who are trying to be better than that.