Full Notification

I want to address recent events that have occurred at Leghorns Park.  Following the death of George Floyd,  in Minneapolis while in police custody, several artists and community members came together to post signs, art, and messaging to show support for racial injustice in our country, on the fence surrounding the tennis courts. 

The City has a sign ordinance which prohibits the placement of signs on public facilities, however, as a City, we made the decision to allow the signs to remain up to allow our community to express their concerns and emotions around this important issue.  As this area is not currently a City-sanctioned public forum area, this has made it difficult for our police officers to enforce any potential acts of vandalism. In the interim, our officers have provided extra patrols to help keep the peace while our community is exercising their constitutional rights of free speech. 
Last week, after the signs were put up for public display, they began to be torn down repeatedly.  A group of artists and community members started watching the signs to prevent them from being taken down, often keeping watch throughout the night.

On Saturday, a male subject entered the park on foot and began tearing down the signs.  He was chased away by members of the community.  The same subject later returned on a bicycle and attempted to remove the signs, but the community members blocked him from doing so.  Officers were called and when they arrived on scene, one of the officers led the subject away from the group, which is standard practice to de-escalate the confrontation.  The subject then left the park without speaking to the officer.  Not having a reason to detain him, the officer advised police units in the area to be on the lookout for him.  He then learned that a community member reported being the victim of a battery and another member reported being the victim of criminal threats.  Later, the officer returned again after another confrontation occurred between community members and this subject as he tried to remove more signs.  A criminal investigation was initiated by the officer (Report 20-2040).      

Through the help of alert community members, a suspect was later identified.  On Monday night, June 22, 2020, the suspect was contacted by the investigating officer and was interviewed.  The investigation remains active and anyone with additional information is asked to contact Officer Rafael Cardenas at 707-781-1212 and reference report number 20-2040.  Since the suspect was contacted, there have been no additional disturbances at the park. 

Thank you
Chief of Police-Ken Savano