By Lauren Smith
SACRAMENTO – There was no love lost between a grandfather and grandson as heard in a preliminary hearing in Sacramento County Superior Court this week.
Defendant Deion Abercrombie, charged with two felonies, one of which is elder abuse, heard multiple Sacramento County Sheriff Deputies testify to the events that led up to his allegedly pushing his grandfather down the stairs.
Deputy Carlos Rodriguez stated that, on Sept. 7, he responded to a dispatch call for a “brother who had pushed his grandfather down the stairs.” When he arrived on the scene, an “elderly black man, adult” indicated that his grandson, who he claimed had pushed him down the stairs, was in a different room. Rodriguez found the defendant playing video games and arrested him.
Deputy Patrick Walker testified to the series of events that occurred. According to a statement the defendant’s grandfather gave to Walker, he stated Abercrombie and his brother got in an argument over doing the laundry. The defendant “had thrown wet clothes out of the dryer so that he could do his laundry.”
As the situation escalated, the grandfather stated he intervened to try and prevent the two brothers from fighting. When he intervened, the defendant “had an altercation with [the grandfather] that resulted in him getting pushed down the stairs.”
According to the grandfather, he felt that the defendant purposely pushed him down the stairs because “he had hit the railing and [the defendant] intentionally pushed him through the railing.”
Deputy Walker stated that the victim was “adamant” about pressing charges and that there “needed to be consequences.” The grandfather also stated that he felt “very unsafe if [the defendant] stayed in the residence.”
Det. Thomas Purser testified that the injuries the victim sustained from the fall included a broken toe and “some scraping around his knees.” Purser stated that he spoke with the defendant’s younger brother and sister as part of his investigation.
According to the sister, Abercrombie and his brother were arguing when “the grandfather came up the stairs to settle things down…words were exchanged and then [the defendant] turned…around and shoved [the grandfather] down the stairs.”
Afterwards, the defendant walked down the stairs and past his grandfather lying on the stairs before going into his room without saying anything.
Purser stated that the brother corroborated his sister’s story of events but added that the victim was pushed up against the wall “striking a picture frame” before the grandfather “tumbl[ed] down the steps.”
In a brief argument before the court, Assistant Public Defender Steven Hirsch stated that “there are some questions raised” due to “inconsistencies in the statements” and about the “volitional purposefulness of this act, whether it was a mutual struggle that resulted in a fall down the stairs or something more malicious than that.”
Despite Hirsch’s argument, Judge Gerrit Wood stated that he would hold Abercrombie responsible for the two felony charges.
In a bail argument, Hirsch stated that bail should be reduced from $50,000 because the defendant has no income and cannot afford it. In addition, he argued that “this is not a case where [the defendant] was predatorily victimizing his grandfather.”
Deputy District Attorney Frederick Gotha vehemently opposed the motion to reduce bail, noting the defendant has two prior domestic violence convictions involving the same victim in each case. He also argued that the defendant “threatened to kill [his grandparents] on previous occasions with a knife” before the pushing incident in question.
Gotha concluded his bail argument, stating, “I think that the safety concerns of the community far outweigh the other arguments that the defense just put forth.”
Judge Wood stated that he would not reduce bail because there was “no observed change of circumstances” and that the court is “sensitive to the public safety considerations.”
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