The CEO of FamiliesFirst, Darrell Evora, spoke out on Saturday, telling news crews, “I’m outraged… So I understand the public being outraged. We’d never want that to happen to a child in our care.”
“Very sad, and then shocked, and dismayed,” said Mr. Evora. “We’re doing our best now to shadow kids and keep them in line of sight,” he added.
The immediate incident is shocking enough – an 11-year-old girl held down and raped by two boys ages 13 and 14. The individuals involved were all residents at the FamiliesFirst treatment facility on Fifth Street in Davis.
What was more shocking is that as police investigated this complaint, which occurred two weeks before the girl finally reported the assault on June 4, they found a web of sexual assaults and assaults at the facility.
The Vanguard has learned that on Wednesday, June 5, a 13-year-old male and a 14-year-old male were taken into temporary custody by the Davis Police Department after an 11-year-old female reported that she had been held down and forcibly raped by the boys. Both males were taken to the Yolo County Juvenile Hall.According to a press release from the Davis Police Department, “All three of the minors reside at FamiliesFirst, which is a group home in Davis that houses and supports youth. The sexual assault did not occur on the property of FamiliesFirst. Other youth were reported to be present, although their involvement is still being investigated. Each of the youth had left the FamiliesFirst facility without permission, which they were required to have, and they were not under the supervision of the Families First staff, as they were required to be.”
On May 3, Davis resident Eli Davis recounted his April 19, 2013, encounter with a Davis police officer who demanded identification as he mowed his lawn in front of his west Davis home where the 68-year-old has lived at for nearly 30 years.
Davis police spokesperson, Lt. Glenn Glasgow, explained to the Vanguard this week that a community member flagged down a Davis police officer, explaining that they had possibly interrupted a residential burglary that was occurring.
Last week, longtime Davis resident Eli Davis wrote a letter to the local paper, claiming, at his home near Lake Blvd, he was mowing his front lawn a few weeks ago in the middle of the afternoon when he was approached by a police officer who asked if he lived in the residence.
The Vanguard has learned that Mr. Davis, 68, has lived at his home for nearly 30 years.
On Friday came the story of Eli Davis, who lives somewhere between Village Homes and Lake Blvd. in West Davis. In a letter published on Friday in the Davis Enterprise, he claimed he was mowing his front lawn a few weeks ago in the middle of the afternoon when he was approached by a police officer who asked if he lived in the residence.
Apparently he “fit the description” of someone in the area who had committed a crime, and the officer demanded identification, which, as we reported on Friday, Mr. Davis was under no obligation to provide, but did so anyway.
Letter Writer Claims Racial Prejudice in Police Encounter – In the movie The Hurricane, they flash to a scene where the police pull over the protagonist Rubin “the Hurricane” Carter in a vehicle stop where he’s told they are looking for two black men. “Any two will do?” actor Denzel Washington quips.
But, as we learn, it’s no laughing matter as Mr. Carter is ultimately fingered for the triple homicide and spent most of the next two decades in prison.
It has been a week since the community learned of the brutal stabbing deaths of 87-year-old former defense attorney Oliver Northup and his wife Claudia Maupin, 76, in South Davis, and authorities say that while they are getting help from the state and the federal government investigators, they have few new leads in the case.
“Nothing new really [to report],” Davis Police Lt. Paul Doroshov told the Vanguard on Sunday. “We’re doing it with the assistance of agencies, like the FBI has been a huge help to us. The California Department of Justice has been a big help.”
It will be some time before we get the official police statistics from Picnic Day this year, but I think I can save people the trouble. The record will show that people were ticketed for drinking too much. Some disturbed the peace. I saw a case of resisting arrest, and I saw the aftermath of a fight where a man got his face possibly slashed in front of his young daughter.
But, for the most part, things were calm. People were out there having fun, whether it was on campus, near campus or in the downtown. Some people told me it was an out-of-town group in the downtown. But from what I could see on the ground for nearly 11 hours, there weren’t a lot of problems.
This week, lost in the furor over the Boston Marathon Bombings and the captivating manhunt on Thursday night and Friday, was the fact that Senators caved on simple legislation that nearly 90 percent of the population, including many members of the NRA, support: background checks.
While Senators gave way to cowardice, the city of Davis was torn asunder by a gruesome double-murder of respected citizens. While police seem to have few leads at this time, from the facts that exist, a reasonable theory was that this was a burglary that went bad, that the burglar or burglars broke into the Cowell Blvd residence and were surprised to find the occupants at home, and the burglar then brutally stabbed the occupants.
“In an effort to change the culture of Picnic Day, city and university officials, along with both police departments and community members have been working to prepare for the April 20, 2013 Picnic Day,” a press release from the Davis Police Department reads. The city council has renewed the “Safety Enhancement Zone” for the downtown core area for Picnic Day 2013.
Passed unanimously by council on February 26, “The Safety Enhancement Zone ordinance allows the City Council, through a proclamation, to declare a specified geographical area as a safety zone during a designated time frame. This declaration then doubles the base fine for specified city ordinance violations committed within the declared Safety Enhancement Zone.”
In the wake of the brutal double murder over the weekend, we have little choice but to revisit the question as to whether or not Davis residents should be alarmed. Early this year, in the first month of the year, there were 41 reported residential burglaries in the city of Davis.
To be clear, the latest from police is that they are not sure of the motive for the killing. There were reportedly signs of forced entry, that might lead to a theory that this was a burglary gone bad. But the police also reported that the house did not appear ransacked – and while that doesn’t negate the possibility of the burglary gone bad, it muddies the water a bit.
The police still cannot say much and are officially waiting for the coroner’s report before identifying the body. Early Monday, the Vanguard learned that the victims were 87-year-old former defense attorney Oliver Northup, and his wife Cluadia Maupin, 76.
According to the police’s afternoon press release, they were both victims of stabbings suffered sometime over the weekend. The police made entry into the home around 9:20 pm while conducting a welfare check instituted after family members contacted them, concerned that they had failed to show up to a Sunday afternoon musical performance.
5:30 Update – A local newsstation has identified the victims as Oliver “Chip” Northrup, 88, and 76-year-old Claudia Maupin. Mr. Northrup was a prominent defense attorney. The couple were founding members of the Davis Unitarian Church.
Mayor Joe Krovoza has released a statement, “It’s with great sadness that the City Council and I have received news of the deaths of Claudia Maupin and Chip Northup. Our hearts go out to their families, friends, fellow congregants at the Davis Unitarian Universalist Church, and the many groups in Davis they touched. While Davis achieves a high degree of safety through our police and the watchful eyes of all, we are not imune from terrible acts. Let us all redouble our efforts to protect our fellow citizens and give support to those who have suffered this irreversible loss. Our Council is staying well-informed on the quick and comprehensive response of our police, and our Police Department’s efforts will not cease until the case is brought to closure.”
On Thursday, the Davis Police announced the arrest of Clayton Garzon, a 19-year-old resident who attended Davis High School, with a history of violence and drug problems.
Mr. Garzon has been arrested and booked in the Yolo County Jail charged with Assault causing Great Bodily Injury; Committing a Hate Crime; Assault with a Deadly Weapon; Stalking; Committing a felony while on release from custody; and Inflicting Great Bodily Injury during the commission of a felony.
The crime is stunning – around 3 am on Sunday morning a young man was violently attacked, beaten nearly to death. He suffered a fractured skull, bleeding on his brain, multiple fractured bones in his face and a laceration to his head that left a pool of blood on the lawn where he was beaten.
According to his family, the bruising and swelling around his eyes is so bad he still has not been able to open them, along with having a cut under one eye that went all the way though the lid. The trauma to his ear was so severe it caused his ear to swell three times its normal size and it had to be lanced to release the pressure.
Davis residents have been increasingly alarmed by a string of burglaries this year. A few weeks ago, the Davis Police reported on Sunday, February 10, that four residential burglaries and one attempted residential burglary occurred between 4:30 am and 9:30 pm.
The police at that time reported, “Since January 1, 2013, there are been 41 reported residential burglaries in the City of Davis. The burglaries are taking place citywide and continue to have a pattern of entries being made through unlocked doors, windows, and sliders.”
Vanguard Asks City to Independently Verify PG&Es ClaimsLast week, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) agreed to investigate complaints filed by residents of Stonegate in Davis regarding a large number of gas leaks in west Davis from distribution lines operated by PG&E.
PG&E recently reported that 88 gas leaks have occurred in the distribution lines in the Stonegate subdivision since 2006, up from the 42 leaks reported in November 2011. Because of the severity of the problem, PG&E is conducting twice-monthly gas leak detection surveys in Stonegate.
While these days I am no longer an avid bicycle rider, I have been in the past. In fact, when I first came to Davis, I did so in the spring of 1996 via bicycle as I trekked from San Luis Obispo up to San Francisco and then cut over to Davis.
