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By JAKOB RODGERS | jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group and HARRY HARRIS | hharris@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group PUBLISHED: December 29, 2023 at 7:51 a.m. | UPDATED: December 29, 2023 at 5:36 p.m. OAKLAND — A plainclothes Oakland police officer died Friday after he was shot while responding to a burglary at a cannabis business along the city’s waterfront, leaving city and police leaders in shock at the first officer slain on duty in Oakland in 14 years. The undercover officer, identified by police as Tuan Le, was driven by fellow officers to Highland Hospital where he died from his wounds. A manhunt for the gunman continued hours later. No suspect was in custody as of Friday afternoon. “The dangers and the demands of this profession are real and come with significant sacrifice,” Oakland Police Department Interim Chief Darren Allison said. “Sadly, today one of our officers paid the ultimate sacrifice.” Le’s death marked the 54th time an Oakland cop has died in the line of duty, dating back to the 1860s, and it touched off a wave of mourning across the city for what the mayor called a “heart-wrenching” death of a member of OPD’s burglary suppression unit. It comes at a time of unprecedented burglary levels in the city. As of last week, there were more than 17,000 burglaries reported citywide this year, an increase of 24 percent compared to last year and several thousand more than during any year since at least 2008. Of those, roughly 1,600 were commercial burglaries. The deadly encounter happened during officers’ second pre-dawn trip to a “cannabis-related business” near the city’s Fifth Avenue Marina. Police first responded at about 1 a.m. to a cannabis-related business on the 400 block of Embarcadero near 5th Avenue for a burglary in progress but found nothing, Allison said. Officers took a report, secured the area and left. At 4:33 a.m., a team of plainclothes and uniformed officers responded to a second call about the same business. When they arrived, multiple suspects were seen fleeing. One of them fired multiple shots at Le, who was driving with his partner at the time, the chief said. No officers fired their weapons, Allison said. “Throw and go. Throw and go,” another officer replied, suggesting the officer personally drive the wounded officer to a hospital. Within a few minutes, someone on the radio suggested that the gunman had been in a black vehicle that fled toward Interstate 880. A white pickup truck, which had at least one bullet hole and shattered windows, remained behind the police tape after it apparently crashed into another truck. Police did not announce any arrests Friday afternoon, nor did they release any suspect description. They urged anyone with information to call police. Sgt. Barry Donelan, the president of the Oakland Police Officers’ Association, said the officer died at 8:44 a.m. with his family and fellow officers by his side. In a statement, the police department called Le “a dedicated public servant, loving husband and a cherished member of the Oakland community.” Le, 36, was born in Saigon and later moved to Oakland and gained his citizenship on Sept. 11, 2001, OPD said. He had been on the force for four years and over the past two years served as a community resource officer in West Oakland. Before Friday, the most recent on-duty deaths happened on March 21, 2009, when four officers — Mark Dunakin, John Hege, Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai — were fatally shot by Lovelle Mixon. At the time, it was the nation’s largest single-day loss of life for officers since Sept. 11, 2001. “Our members are devastated by this unwarranted attack and the loss of one of our family. I am proud of the officers who responded this morning and carried their brother to the hospital on their shoulders,” Donelan said. “As we mourn, rest assured that we are also determined to bring this cop killer to justice.” Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao urged Oaklanders to unite in solidarity after the “heart-wrenching” killing. She was seen personally visiting the hospital Friday morning, where she conferred with police commanders and leaders. “I am deeply devastated by this heartbreaking news, and I know the entire Oakland community feels the profound impact of this loss,” said Thao, adding that “this senseless act of violence against a member of our police force, the guardians of our City, will not go unanswered.” Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price said her office “is standing by to assist in any way we can and to support the Town in this critical time” and that she told Donelan she “stands ready to prosecute whoever is responsible and hold them accountable for killing this officer.” Officers and investigators from Oakland, the California Highway Patrol and the Alameda County Sheriff’s swarmed Embarcadero after the shooting — closing both directions from Oak Street to 16th Avenue, along with multiple on-ramps to Interstate 880. Across town, Highland Hospital became a site of mourning as scores of officers — including at least 50 from the Oakland Police Department and more than 25 from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office — gathered and exchanged hugs. Officers from the California Highway Patrol lined up along 14th Avenue for a procession to ferry Le’s body away from the hospital to the coroner’s office. “It’s devastating,” said Sgt. Ramon Jacobo of the Oakland Housing Authority Police Department. Other officers from Piedmont, Richmond, Berkeley and Dublin also offered their condolences. “It’s a family — we’re close knit,” added BART police Deputy Chief Joshua Patzer, whose eyes began to well up while walking outside the hospital. Jeff Ng, an officer with the California Highway Patrol, was on a morning walk with his dog outside of the hospital when he came across the Oakland officers lined up in honor of their fallen colleague. The sight left him in shock. “You realize it happens, but it’s different when it’s this close to home,” Ng said. “It’s sort of a reminder that it’s very real — we put ourselves in harms way.”

OAKLAND — Suzane Loi has been perched behind the cash register at The Coffee Mill in Oakland, Calif., for 27 years, watching the daily thrum of Grand Avenue through the cafe’s huge windows. Lately, she has been unnerved by the view. Thieves have broken into cars at the gas station across the street as their owners stood in disbelief at the pumps, she said. Several times a week, masked burglars have smashed the windows of vehicles parked near her shop. The Coffee Mill itself has been robbed three times in the last six months, so frequently that her annual insurance premiums have doubled to $12,000. “When I park my car, I leave my windows open this much,” Ms. Loi said with a note of resignation, holding her hands apart several inches, wide enough to let someone reach into her vehicle without shattering glass. The surge in crime — in such brazen waves that some community groups have publicly suggested that the National Guard was needed — has shaken even the most loyal residents of Oakland, a city of 420,000 that has long seen itself as California’s scrappy answer to San Francisco. Across the bay, San Francisco has become a national poster child for pandemic woes, its downtown suffering from vacant storefronts, public drug use and absent workers. But beyond the spotlight, Oakland has had worse problems with crime and homelessness since Covid-19 began, blunting the momentum that had made the city a more desirable — and affordable — alternative for artists and young professionals.

Contact: Oakland Police Officers' Association Phone: (510) 834-9670 policeofficers@opoa.org December 15, 2023 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Video Unveiled: Armed Suspect Fires at Oakland Police Sergeant; Witness the Sergeant's Swift and Courageous Response OAKLAND – Today, the Oakland Police Department released a remarkable video documenting the courageous response of Sergeant Hamilton during an ambush at city hall in the early hours of November 7, 2023. In this riveting footage, viewers witness Sergeant Hamilton's unmarked car approach its destination. Suddenly, an armed suspect emerges from behind the vehicle, brandishing a firearm and threatening our unsuspecting sergeant. However, in a remarkable display of bravery and resilience, Sergeant Hamilton swiftly turns the tables on his assailant, putting an end to the attack in a decisive exchange of gunfire. The video can be watched and downloaded via the following link: https://oaklandca.nextrequest.com/documents/27099088/download After watching the video, Oakland Police Officers' Association President Barry Donelan said, “Sergeant Hamilton demonstrated great courage, tactics, and professionalism while under fire in this life-threatening situation. His actions illustrate what Oakland Police officers are made of. We are all thankful and relieved that our colleague went home safe following this unprovoked attack.” ###

Whether it was the mayor, a city department, or someone else who dropped the ball, the auditor hopes to have an answer in February The head of the Oakland Police Union is fired up after a new report in the online publication The Oaklandside uncovered emails of city staffers questioning OPD’s role in the city’s failure to submit for a state retail theft prevention grant. And the OPOA thinks Mayor Sheng Thao is now trying to pin it on the police. “We’re seeing an anti-police campaign smearing the police officers, who did their duty trying to point the finger at those who actually come to work every day and serve this community,” said Barry Donelan, Oakland Police Officers’ Association president. “What we’re seeing now, her administration is pushing out emails suggesting it’s the police department’s fault when in fact, it has nothing to do with us. It’s her administration‘s fault.” The Mayor has publicly taken responsibility for the misstep, most recently during the State of the City address. And her staff says nothing has changed.

OAKLAND — An Oakland police sergeant fatally shot a man Tuesday morning near City Hall after the man confronted him with a pistol and they exchanged gunfire, according to the sergeant’s attorney. On Friday, the police department identified the man killed as Lloyd Dillard but did not provide an age or place of residence for him. The sergeant’s name has still not been released. The shooting happened about 4 a.m. Tuesday near the intersection of 16th Street and San Pablo Avenue. The sergeant, who works in the Internal Affairs Division, which has its office nearby, had just parked his unmarked police car. The sergeant’s attorney, Harry Stern, of Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, a law firm that frequently represents law enforcement officers, said the sergeant told him the man began pounding on the trunk of the car. Stern declined to identify the sergeant, but said he got out of the car to investigate and the other man “for no apparent reason pointed a pistol at him.” The sergeant ducked back inside the car to try and get away but “was forced to engage in a close quarters gunfight with the suspect who fired at least two shots at him,” Stern said. The sergeant, who eventually got out of the car, fired more than one shot at the man, Stern said. Dillard was pronounced dead at the scene. The sergeant was not injured. The gun the man had was recovered at the scene. Stern said, “It’s clear the sergeant had no other choice but to defend himself when he was attacked. It was one of the most harrowing incidents I’ve seen, even in the context of the out-of-control crime in the city of Oakland.” The sergeant, who has more than 20 years on the force, is on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated. Those conducting investigations include the police department, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office and the Community Police Review Agency. The investigations will include review of video surveillance of the shooting. Except for minimum details released the day of the shooting, neither the police department or city officials have released any additional information. Responding to a request Thursday for more information, Mayor Sheng Thao’s office referred the request to the police department. The only new information released was the dead man’s name.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Would-be thieves used a backhoe to bust through the front of an Oakland, California store, causing some $70,000 of damage in a failed attempt to steal an ATM.

An Oakland police sergeant was defending himself when he shot and killed a man who targeted him just steps away from the plaza at City Hall, an officer with the police union said. Velena Jones said.

By JAKOB RODGERS | jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group PUBLISHED: August 13, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. | UPDATED: August 13, 2023 at 3:04 p.m. OAKLAND — The office of Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price hired her boyfriend for a six-figure salary, despite a past that includes allegations he extorted Richmond business owners for tens of thousands of dollars — a claim that drew the attention of the FBI. Antwon Cloird joined Price’s team at the beginning of her administration, occupying an office at her headquarters as a “senior program specialist” whose responsibilities the county declined to detail. Good government groups have long criticized Alameda County for not having a clear nepotism policy, and the lack of rules surrounding the hiring of a romantic partner seems to have benefited Price and Cloird. County officials told this news organization they could not find any documents showing Price voluntarily notified them of the potential conflict of interest. The couple’s relationship has been an open secret at work, raising the eyebrows of colleagues. And his time in Richmond has brought its own concerns. Emails obtained by this news organization highlight those concerns. They show that in 2015, Richmond’s mayor, city manager and police chief suspected Cloird, at the time a politically connected nonprofit executive, of shaking down businesses to the tune of $5,000 to $20,000. Around that time, the FBI began investigating Cloird’s dealings in the city, according to emails and a sworn affidavit filed by an attorney claiming to be an FBI informant in a lawsuit that quoted Cloird as saying “you gots to pay to play” in Richmond. Cloird ultimately was not charged. Since her historic victory in November, Price has faced heightened scrutiny — and now a budding recall effort — for seeking to recast how justice is dispensed across the East Bay. Now, the hiring of Cloird has brought questions about her workplace ethics. “I see so many problems with it. I see problems with conflict of interest. I see a problem with nepotism. I see a problem with lack of transparency. It’s problematic in every way I look at it,” said retired Santa Clara County Judge and former San Jose Independent Police Auditor LaDoris Cordell. “In public government, you don’t do this. There’s no way in my view to justify this.” From the start, at least one member of Price’s top administration worried about the optics of Price hiring Cloird. “I begged not for it to happen, only from a communications standpoint,” said Ryan LaLonde, Price’s top spokesperson until he resigned barely two months into her tenure. “I was like: How do I stand steadfast with someone having their significant other working in the office, and we’re talking about wanting to clean up the office from past improprieties?” But LaLonde added that if the pair “weren’t dating, he’d be qualified enough to have the job.” Cloird publicly acknowledged their relationship at his birthday celebration earlier this year at the Richmond Country Club, calling Price “the love of my life,” while she clutched his arm and said, “I’m blushing.” “It takes a strong woman to deal with a strong man, and a strong man to deal with a strong woman,” said Cloird, in a video posted to YouTube. “I ain’t weak now. I’ll tell you, Pamela has stood for me through everything I’d done on my journey, and I’ve stood with her.” Price’s office on Friday did not address specific questions about Cloird’s hiring or their relationship but called him “a valued member of the team whose distinguished work and accomplishments in communities throughout the Bay Area are well documented.” “Cloird, who has overcome so much adversity in his own life, is a testament to what an individual can achieve and contribute to the health and well-being of fellow community members,” said a statement sent by Price’s spokesperson, Patti Lee. Cloird did not respond to a list of questions sent to him. Alameda County, which came under fire in a 2013 Civil Grand Jury report for lacking nepotism policies, continues to lack such ethics rules a decade later. The issue has arisen before: Price’s predecessor, Nancy O’Malley, also employed relatives. O’Malley’s sister worked as a senior program specialist in her administration, while her nephew worked as a prosecutor, under both O’Malley and Price, staff rosters show. The human resources department said there’s no record that Price or Cloird notified the department of their relationship, nor is there any policy requiring them to do so. When asked to provide a description of his job, the agency offered a generic job listing for a county senior program specialist but it included no details specific to work within the district attorney’s office. The agency declined to provide his resume, CV or job application, claiming they were confidential. But the county HR agency did confirm Cloird’s base pay: $115,502 a year, just shy of the top end of what someone in that position can make. As of Dec. 31, there were five senior program specialist positions in the DA’s office. What is known about Cloird’s work over the past seven months is that it is centered in the field of re-entry for incarcerated people. Former Alameda County Assistant District Attorney Erin Loback, who worked closely with Cloird until recently joining the San Francisco DA’s office, said he helped identify candidates for early release and assess their readiness to rejoin society. Cloird presented her with lists of people he wanted to see let out of prison, an unorthodox practice that broke from the unit’s traditional process, Loback said. “I was afraid to speak up about anything,” said Loback, who said she grew suspicious of names on Cloird’s list because he offered vague explanations when pressed about where they came from. “There was no one I could go to, to say, ‘What is this?’ I couldn’t question it, because of his relationship with her.” Price’s office said a team of lawyers makes resentencing and re-entry decisions, not Cloird. The mission of the units is to reduce recidivism, the statement said. Before joining the DA’s office, Cloird worked as Price’s campaign manager after spending years as a street-level activist in Richmond. He was a regular presence at City Council meetings, organized job fairs, ran Thanksgiving turkey drives and community softball games, and helped the city’s homeless population. His redemption as an ex-offender who turned his life around from the days he was known as “29 Seconds” — a nickname he earned on the streets for getting whatever you needed within that time — was chronicled in this newspaper more than a decade ago, as part of a “Hometown Heroes” profile series. Cloird started a nonprofit called Men and Women of Purpose that helped convicts readjust to society outside of prison, and he sat on Contra Costa County’s Alcohol and Other Drugs Advisory Board. His supporters say he’s no stranger to the task that Price has assigned him. “You need someone who has lived that experience and who has come out of that experience,” said Rev. Andre Shumake, who has known Cloird for more than 50 years and worked together on prison re-entry issues. “So Antwon, in essence, is a symbol of hope.” By 2015, however, his reputation took a turn. Concerns arose of a possible “shakedown” by Cloird of a company that was moving to a new location in the city of Richmond, according to obtained city emails. For a $5,000 fee, Cloird allegedly told the Golden Gate Meat Company’s owner that he could “expedite” permits sought by the meat packing company, according to an email then-Mayor Tom Butt sent to then-City Manager Bill Lindsay. A few months later, the owner of a Peruvian restaurant relayed to Butt that Cloird had asked for $20,000 to “facilitate” a conditional use permit to open the new eatery with a liquor license in the Pacific East Mall, another city email shows. Attempts to reach the restaurant owner were not successful and the meat company owner declined to comment for this story. The restaurant owner appeared resigned to paying Cloird, telling Butt that “otherwise he will bring a bunch of people to speak against it,” the email said. “I don’t know if this is illegal or not, but it doesn’t make our city look good when businesses feel they have to pay someone off to get a permit,” Butt wrote to the city manager, police chief and planning and development manager. To Butt’s eyes, “essentially, he is paying protection money,” another of the emails said. “I will be following up with the FBI about this,” added then-Chief Chris Magnus, in another message. It remains unclear what became of that inquiry, but one email shows that an FBI agent requested a meeting with Butt and Magnus. Magnus, now Washington D.C.’s deputy auditor for public safety, declined to comment for this story. Reached by this news organization, Butt lamented the reported shakedowns, saying that it “diminishes the confidence that people have in doing business in the city.” A year later, in 2016, three businesses – all marijuana dispensaries – became the subject of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit alleging that they hired Cloird and other Richmond influencers to drum up opposition to an incoming fourth dispensary. The alleged conspirators’ goal: monopolize the marijuana market to keep prices fixed abnormally high, the lawsuit alleged. The lawsuit by Richmond Compassionate Care Collective included bombshell allegations that Cloird sought to pay off Richmond City Council members for their votes on the proposed dispensary. In the process, Cloird was said to have leaned on the collective’s attorney for payoffs, the lawsuit said, while other court documents show he allegedly said that “you gots to pay to play” in Richmond. The attorney suing those other dispensaries claimed in a court filing sworn under penalty of perjury to have been an FBI informant at a time when federal investigators were looking into corruption on Richmond’s City Council. Cloird and another community member were also subjects of that investigation, the attorney claimed. In 2022, a nearly-$20 million judgment was entered against multiple defendants in that lawsuit, although by then Cloird successfully argued to have his name removed as a defendant in the lawsuit, after arguing the lawsuit failed to prove a conspiracy between Cloird and the other defendants under the state’s Cartwright Act, which prohibits agreements to restrain competition or fix prices. By that time, Cloird had moved on to other ventures. Around 2018, Cloird appears to have stepped away from his nonprofit, federal tax records show. He took a position that year to help Price run her first campaign for district attorney. That same year, Price listed income between $10,001 and $100,000 for work at Cloird’s nonprofit, according to state financial records she filed that year. The pair are now working out of an East Oakland branch of the DA’s office, where Price moved her administration months after taking office. “Lawyers are bound to uphold professional responsibilities — uphold the rule of law — and one of the core responsibilities that lawyers have is avoiding conflicts of interest,” said Scott Cummings, a UCLA law professor specializing in ethics. Another ethics scholar called the top prosecutor’s hiring of her boyfriend “surprising,” because it raises the question of whether a public official is “feathering their own friends or family members’ financial situation.” “It has the high potential to raise these questions about the appearance of something improper happening,” said John Pelissero, senior scholar on government ethics at Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. “And when that is perceived by the public, it undermines their trust — not only in the district attorney, but also in the county government itself.” Contact Jakob Rodgers at 510-390-2351 or jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.