By Aska Fujimori-Smith
A preliminary hearing regarding Mr. C occurred. Three witnesses on behalf of the People appeared before the judge.
The first witness testified that his house was broken into by Mr. C. The witness had recently spent money remodeling his property.
On the morning of June 14, 2018, the witness heard banging sounds and the sound of breaking glass in his home. He came downstairs to confront the person who had broken the window. He said Mr. C was the man who had broken the window.
Bricks were used to break the window panes. The floors and wooden window blinds were also damaged. The witness caught Mr. C crawling through the window and told him to get out of the house. Mr. C proceeded to back out through the window.
The broken glass had injured Mr. C and there was some blood around the window. After the incident, Mr. C went to the hospital to treat the cut on his left wrist. Woodland Police Officer Richard Wright was with Mr. C at the hospital.
An officer had asked Mr. C why he broke into the home of the witness, and in response he stated that he was a schizophrenic.
The second witness was Officer Wright. He testified that on the morning of June 13, 2018 (the day before Mr. C allegedly broke into the house of the first witness) at 6:30 a.m. there was a vehicle that was vandalized.
A man was borrowing his boss’ vehicle because his own vehicle was vandalized beyond use. The man found Mr. C sleeping in the front passenger seat and the driver’s side window was broken into.
The man photographed the man sleeping in the car and sent it to the officer. The man had yelled at Mr. C to get out of the car and Mr. C exited the car and left the scene. No property was missing from the vehicle.
The third witness was Woodland Police Department’s Community Services Officer John Perez. On the morning of June 14, around 8:00 a.m., there was a reported burglary at a church. The glass at one of the doors was smashed with a rock.
There were muddy shoe prints in the Baptismal Bath. Officer Perez, knowing that there was an investigation of a potential residential burglary, contacted the police officer who had taken over the shift at the hospital with Mr. C to take a picture of the suspect’s shoe to see how similar the bottom shoe tread was to the muddy footprints at the church.
The Pastor had closed the church the previous night around 9:30 p.m. and the damage to the window was not there the night before.
There was a candle that had been moved to the ledge of the Baptismal Bath and the prints from the candle are currently at the Department of Justice. Mr. C was found to be in violation of misdemeanor probation and he is to be evaluated in mental health court.