Voters Relieve City's Worry (November 11, 2007) Rialto Relies on Utility Tax to Stay Afloat!!

BS Ranch Perspective:

The only problem is that the Restaurant Deal that was made is falling apart and will not hold! The money for the tax will be all of the money taken in to extend Pepper Ave, and many of the other contracts that will have to be filled with the Labor Union's in the City, I am speaking about the Rialto Police Benefit Assoc. They didn't take the best deal for them the last time, in hopes that this time the city Administrator, and City Council might take a nicer look at them and the hard job that was Created for them by the Vary people that are Responsible for making their job so difficult, by their actions when they wanted the Contract with the Sheriff's Department, However when that Failed the Council and the City Administration they still have not paid the people that have stayed by giving them a Well deserved Contract that will make them happy that they earned their time working through the difficult fight, instead they have fought as if they gave all the TAX money to other City Departments. ??

BS Ranch

Voters relieve city's worry

Rialto relies on utility tax to stay afloat

Jason Pesick, Staff Writer

Article Launched: 11/11/2007 09:21:41 PM PST

RIALTO - Phew!

That was the reaction at City Hall to last week's election, when voters renewed the utility users tax for five more years.

Soon, development projects will come online along the extended 210 Freeway and throughout the city to improve its economy and its finances.

But those who think new projects like the 1,500-acre Renaissance Rialto development will mean the end of the tax are probably thinking wrong.

The new money the projects produce will not even come close to making up for the tax.

The 8-percent add-on to utility bills in the city provides almost a quarter of the money in the city's general fund - more than $12 million a year.

Even when Renaissance is done - the project has yet to be approved - it's only expected to make the city $3 million a year if the tax isn't in place.

"I think five years is enough time for us to put an economic strategic plan out," Councilman Joe Baca Jr. said. He said that since the tax passed, he has received a number of e-mails from residents who say they support the tax but want it spent well, and ultimately reduced.

One resident who voted for the tax said she thinks the 210 development should make the city self-sufficient without the tax.

"I'm surprised they need it again," said Angie Consolo.

The city needs to look at where it can cut costs, starting with its legal costs and the number of outside law firms it hires, she said.

Baca said he thinks the city needs to be more resourceful about accomplishing things at a lower cost and needs to prioritize projects to keep costs down.

But the city's costs will increase in a number of areas over the next five to 10 years. For example, Rialto's public safety employees have lower retirement benefits than their peers at nearby agencies, and those benefits may be increased.

Members of the council also want to improve the level of city services, especially public safety, over the next few years. And grants might run out on state-funded after-school programs, which would mean the city would have to spend millions of dollars to run them itself.

Another upcoming cost is improvements members of the council want to make to facilities, like the police department, city hall, the library and recreation facilities.

In the spring, City Administrator Henry Garcia said a planned Wal-Mart Supercenter would generate about $500,000 in sales tax revenue per year. That means the city would need at least 24 years to make up the money the tax currently provides.

In California, it's difficult for modest bedroom communities like Rialto to have a robust budget, said Economic Development Director Robb Steel.

In wealthier residential areas with higher property values and property tax revenues, there are fewer children and less need for city services and public safety, he said.

Regina Balderrama, who has lived in Rialto since 1978, said she doesn't see the tax going anywhere anytime soon.

"I think when the next five years are up they're going to put it back on the ballot," she said.

The good news for the city's budget is that now that the tax is in place, developers will find it easier to build and sell homes in Rialto, Steel said. The city won't have to charge a very high community facilities district - or annual fee - to residents in new housing developments.

The council also might be ready to increase development impact fees to fund capital improvements in the city, he said.

A number of residents say they want a citizens' oversight commission to make sure the money from the tax is spent properly.

Baca said he would support that kind of commission.

"We're an open-book city," he said.

Salute to an Officer Who Fell in Battle for a Safe Society (Daily Bulletin 10/30/07)

Salute to an officer who fell in battle for a safe society

By Paul Chabot

On Friday, I had the honor of celebrating the life of a fellow officer who was killed in the line of duty.

Officer Sergio Carrera, of the Rialto Police Department, was gunned down during a drug raid by an alleged suspect with a criminal past.

Nothing cuts closer to your heart than to lose one of your own. Officer Carrera was a dedicated and professional officer who helped to better the world around him.

Shortly after joining the police force, he became a member of the California Narcotics Officers Association. One of his passions was taking drug dealers off the streets to help protect our communities.

Officer Carrera leaves behind a wife and two small children. During the funeral his small son, maybe just 2 years of age, reached out to his father's flag-draped coffin, while his little sister was held in the arms of his mother.

The overwhelming feelings for this family and what they have been going through are beyond description. The sacrifice this officer made for each one of us was made even more evident after witnessing such sorrow.

As we drove from the church to the cemetery in a long procession of police cars with emergency lights on, I witnessed the continued strength and brotherhood of all the men and women who serve our communities.

The California Highway Patrol shut down the freeways from Chino Hills to Colton. At every overpass and every on-ramp stood police officers, and at times civilians, standing at

attention, saluting the long procession line. The freeway overpasses were at a standstill as city and county firefighters stood atop their rigs - they, too, standing at attention and saluting.

The procession line was so long it took nearly 30 minutes until all had arrived at the cemetery. Standing side by side, fellow brothers and sisters who wear the uniform solidified the dedication that cops have for one another, especially when one has fallen.

I spoke with officers from around the state and nation who traveled here to celebrate the life of an officer, but also to console the officer's family and the family of police officers who worked with him.

This was not my first funeral for a fellow officer, and sadly won't be my last. From each one I gain continued strength to stand side by side with my brothers and sisters who are continuously in the streets fighting against a criminal element in our society that has become more ruthless, more evil and more dangerous.

As violent crime rises in many cities around our nation, let's never forget those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect us.

Police officers are like the firefighters pushing back against the flames that can bring harm to all of us if not stopped.

Sadly, 2007 has been a very violent year for police officers with a near record being killed. In a few short months, Officer Carrera's name will be forever etched into the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Wall in Washington D.C., as well as our state's memorial in Sacramento.

Our community must continue to place our full support behind the men and women in uniform. They are the sole defenders of a very thin blue line that separates society from anarchy.

Having stood next to America's finest at the funeral, I'm confident that line will hold so long as we continue to have the full support of our communities alongside us.

As I walked through the cemetery back to my car, a deputy sheriff from Contra Costa approached me. We spoke briefly, exchanged a hug and his parting words were, "It was nice to meet you brother. I hope we never meet again like this."

If only that could be true.

Paul Chabot is a reserve deputy for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

He lives in Rancho Cucamonga.

Rialto Police, Slain Officer's Family bid Farewell to a Hero (Press Enterprise Oct 27, 2007)

BS Ranch Perspective

I don't have many words here, my heart is heavy, Carrera was a real nice guy.  I only got to know him slightly as my time at Rialto had passed slightly, I almost died at Rialto, in 1997, and I survived my on duty crash, I sometimes wonder if I was the lucky one that had survived that crash that day. It has not been such a picnic. I wanted to go to the graveside, but I was not able to, because of two people at Chino Hills that forced me to leave the motorcade. by the time that I got back to the Inland Empire It was to late to join them at the Grave side. I would have loved to have gone.

BS Ranch

Rialto police, slain officer's family bid farewell to a hero

		Download story podcast

08:44 AM PDT on Saturday, October 27, 2007

By ADAM C. HARTMANN and MARY BENDER
The Press-Enterprise

Video: Scenes from the funeral

Slideshow: Sergio Carrera Jr. funeral

CHINO HILLS - Just four years and 10 days after Officer Sergio Carrera Jr. first pinned on his Rialto police badge, a bullet felled the SWAT team member.

On Friday, an estimated 2,500 family, friends and fellow police officers paid an emotional tribute to Carrera, killed Oct. 18 while serving a narcotics search warrant.

Officer Lamont Quarker painted a vivid picture of Carrera, his patrol and SWAT partner, during a funeral Mass at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Chino Hills.

Story continues below

Stan Lim / The Press-Enterprise

Sergio Carrera III kisses the casket of his father, Rialto police Officer Sergio Carrera Jr., with the help of his aunt Shirley Magaña at Montecito Memorial Park.

Carrera, a Beaumont resident, was a prankster who needled Quarker with police nicknames from the moment they met -- pretending to be a much senior officer, even though both were fresh out of separate police academies.

"Congratulations, boot. I might be your FTO (field training officer)," Carrera said to the guy who would become his best police friend. He was to be best man at Quarker's wedding next month.

"I didn't know that Sergio had only graduated two days before me, so I said: 'Thank you, sir,' " Quarker recalled.

The ruse continued their first day on the job in Rialto, Oct. 8, 2003. "What's up, rookie?" Carrera said. Quarker caught on when he was sworn in -- and there was Carrera, doing the same.

But he also had a serious side devoted to police work. Quarker told the gathering about a patrol response to a house he had visited many times, with an incorrigible teenager and parents at their wits' end. Carrera spent 45 minutes counseling the boy.

A year later, Quarker saw the 17-year-old working at a Fontana bank. The boy told him Carrera's words that night turned him around.

Fatal Encounter

Carrera was shot at a Rialto apartment shared by Kris Antonio Wiggins; his girlfriend, Nashalla Bell; and the couple's three children. Carrera died shortly thereafter at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center.

The San Bernardino County district attorney's office charged Wiggins, 32, with one count of murder with special allegations. Also known by the alias Jaranard Thomas, Wiggins is wanted in Mississippi on a $100,000 warrant charging him with selling rock cocaine, San Bernardino County sheriff's officials have said.

The only reference to Wiggins came from Rialto Police Chief Mark Kling, who said Carrera had been murdered.

Attendees, many wearing police dress uniforms, lined every available row of the church, the largest in the Diocese of San Bernardino, and the church's overflow rooms. The hush in the sanctuary belied the huge turnout, with the squeak of leather holsters and the trickle of the church's baptismal font audible in quiet moments.

Those attending the ceremony included state Attorney General Jerry Brown; Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto; his son Rialto City Councilman Joe Baca Jr.; and Fontana City Councilman Frank Scialdone, who served as Rialto's interim police chief in 2005 and 2006.

Story continues below

Father, Quipster

Kling said his eulogy would be the hardest speech he's given in his 27-year police career. "Today I have the honor of talking about a hero," Kling said, describing Carrera as a "modern-day warrior."

He told the officer's family -- including widow Louise and their toddlers Sergio III and Izabella -- that he had "no words" to describe the pain of Carrera's death.

"I have officially retired Officer Sergio Carrera's badge. It will never be used or issued again," Kling said, promising to give it to Louise and to honor Carrera and Rialto police Sgt. Gary Wolfley, slain in 1986, on a future police station memorial.

Quarker said the No. 1 goal that he and "Serg" had was to join the SWAT team. "It was all we talked about," Quarker said. "When we got into that SWAT school, we were so proud."

Quarker choked up as he recalled their training in Santa Barbara. The duo had "a beautiful friendship that lasted four years," Quarker said, breaking down when he revealed he had been with Carrera the day he died.

At the foot of the altar, the casket, flanked by two honor guard officers, sat next to a portrait of a beaming Carrera behind the wheel of his Rialto police cruiser, one elbow cocked jauntily out the window.

The picture also appeared on the funeral program, and the ironic smile on Carrera's face seemed to capture the man his colleagues described as one part doting father, one part quipster.

Kling said Carrera could "turn a conversation on you without you even knowing."

"Sergio was a gifted man who left you asking, 'Did I just get cracked?' " Kling said.

Miles-Long Motorcade

Story continues below

As the funeral drew to a close in the early afternoon, the priest wafted incense toward Carrera's casket, which was wheeled from the church as a soloist sang "Amazing Grace."

Mourners then formed a miles-long motorcade of patrol cars, red and blue rooftop lights swirling, that snaked along city streets and three freeways between the Chino Hills church and the Colton cemetery.

A pair of Chino Valley Fire District crews, alongside their yellow rigs, saluted as the procession rolled past their Peyton Drive fire station and again as it turned from Riverside Drive onto Reservoir Street.

In Chino, a cluster of women and children standing on the side of Riverside Drive, and several people on the Pipeline Avenue bridge over Highway 60, waved to and watched the passing motorcade. Drivers, stuck on Interstate 15 and numerous onramps blocked by California Highway Patrol officers, got out of their cars to watch the procession or snap photos.

Fontana police and CHP officers, who patrolled Rialto on Friday so the city' entire force could attend Carrera's funeral, stood at attention on the Riverside Avenue bridge along Interstate 10.

A crew from the Colton Fire Department stood atop their ladder truck in tribute as the motorcade passed under the Mount Vernon Avenue bridge.

American flags placed by cemetery staff in honor of Carrera lined the long entrance to Montecito Memorial Park, where smoke from Southern California's weeklong brush fires obscured the panoramic view at Carrera's hilltop grave site.

Missing Man

Monsignor Thomas Wallace presented crucifixes to the officer's widow and his mother, Aurora. Blue ribbons, tied into small bows, adorned the lapels of Carrera's relatives.

The traditional elements of police funerals reduced Carrera's law enforcement colleagues and loved ones to tears and quiet sobs: a bagpiper's rendition of "Amazing Grace," a firearm salute, the mournful strains of taps by a bugler on a nearby hillside, and the flyover of five helicopters, one of them peeling off to the side in the missing man formation.

A white-gloved Rialto police honor guard, which included Quarker, folded the American flag that covered his casket. Kling and Rep. Baca presented flags to Louise and Aurora Carrera, as the officer's father held his toddler grandson.

As a sign of respect and solidarity, several officers removed black bands fastened to their shoulder epaulets and placed them atop Carrera's dark wooden casket. An aunt lifted up young Izabella to tap on her father's casket.

The 45-minute gathering culminated with the officer's widow, parents, sisters and nieces dropping flowers onto the burial chamber after cemetery workers lowered it to grass level. A relative draped Sergio III across the casket, while his mother urged the boy to kiss it and say goodbye to Daddy.

Reach Adam C. Hartmann at 909-806-3055 or ahartmann@PE.com

Reach Mary Bender at 909-806-3056 or mbender@PE.com

Rialto Utility Tax Extented (SB Sun Nov. 12, 2007)

Rialto utility tax extended

A measure to extend Rialto's utility tax for a five-year period appeared headed for approval early Wednesday.

With 31 of 38 precincts reporting, Measure A had the support of 63.6 percent of voters.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

BS Ranch Perspective

With 31 of the 38 Precincts reporting, and the Measure U showing Support by 63.6% meaning that the Utility Tax has been passed for another Five years, I really HOPE That the Rialto City Council Will do Right this time, and not Waist the Utility Tax Money on things that are not Related to the Business of the of the City. I feel that they used a great deal of that money to fight the Police Department when they wanted the Sheriff's Department to take over the Law Enforcement!! Now with the Water Department looking at this huge money that is going out for this Perchlorate Suit, when they should have gone to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) in the first place then they wouldn't have this law suit that is lining the pockets of Owens.

Owens is the one that wanted this whole Suit to begin with, and the City Council followed him pen and pencil in hand, now they are looking at a $28Million deficit, and most of that Money has gone into Owens' Pocket!!

Now The Promises that they made to the Police Department, and Fire Department a long time ago, should have been filled, which was that if the first Utility Tax was passed they would sign off on the 3% @ 50 Years of Age Retirement Program like the more then 97% of all Law Enforcement Agencies have gone to. The reason that Rialto cannot attract Experienced Law Enforcement Officers to Rialto is because they don't have the 3% @ 50 years of Age Retirement. If they had the 3% @ 50 it would bring a great deal more people of interest to the Department and they would be able to fill the open spots with Experience and not with people that are fresh boots out of the academy!! Without the 3%@50 the Boots that are coming from the academy are sure to leave after a short training time at Rialto, and then they will move on to another Department!!

BS Ranch

Rialto's Utility Tax is UP for RENEWAL (Press Enterprise Nov. 7, 2007) The Utility Tax Established in 2003, It's Considered to be a VITAL Part of Rial

BS Ranch Perspective

During the first passing of the So Called J&K Utility Tax Bill had passed, the City Council, City Administrator, at the total Advice of their Council. Owens (City of Rialto's Council). Let's see the city council took the money from the J&K Utility Tax Money, then they purchased a new T-201 Ladder Truck, E-201 Fire Engine, E-202 Fire Engine, E-203 Fire Engine, MA-201 Ambulance, MA-201A Ambulance, MA-202 Ambulance, BC-201 Battalion Chief's Command Unit, T-201 UT-201 1 Ton Truck w/utility bed, & Utility Trailer w/SCUBA Compressor for Scott Air Pack Bottle Fill, T-203&T204 1 ton trucks for Fire Station Three & Four, The City Council also purchased maintenance Equipment for the Code Enforcement, and the Water Department!

The City Council also gave the Rialto Fire Department, Maintenance Department, Water Department (Everyone but the Police Department) a new contract including a raise) The Police Department was still being held out for a Contract with the County of San Bernardino Sheriff's Department for Law Enforcement Duties. In the mean time The Lawyer's Representing the Citizen's of Rialto, and the RPBA (Rialto Police Benefit Association) had opened a law suit against the City Council and their decision to go to the County of San Bernardino Sheriff's Department for Law Enforcement Duties. The Judge in the case had placed and injunction against the case freezing the City Council from Any Contract with the Sheriff's Department Pending, an outcome of a signature gathering by the people of the city of Rialto and the possible change in laws that might effect the same.

Well, in the mean time the Rialto City Council wanted to force as many people to leave Rialto as they possibly could so they laid off all the new hired people that were still on Probation, almost 12 or 13 people total, was laid off. Not just that they were moving all these people all over the place and it was terrible. Placing a more then 27 person shortage to the Police Department ALONE!!

So all the J&K Utility Tax money that was taken in was spent on mostly all the Rialto Fire Department, and then Maintenance Department. There had to be an equal amount that was spent on chasing the people in the Police Department away, In just Literature, Commercials that ran on the local channel, and late night channels on the lower priced channels regarding Closing the aw enforcement and opening up the Police Department as the Sheriff Department, also they had to pay for Advertisement with local Radio, Not to mention the literature that was passed out with the fire Department, and the two to three times that they did a mailer program that cost the city some $40,000 only covers the cost to mail the envelopes not the cost of printing paper envelops etc etc... that might be another $5000 or so!! they did this mailing program three times so that was at least $120, 000.00 to mail the envelopes alone, that doesn't count for the cost of printing the flier, each flier was different for each mailer. Each of the mailers were Multi colored and were equally expensive in cost, so they had to cost at least $5000-$9000 a batch for a total of $15,000-$27,000 thousand when mailed the cost was a grand total of $135, 000.00 to $147,000.00 These figures are astronomical when you figure that they are using money that should be used to run the city instead they are using these funds to tear down the city!!

The Voters should think long and hard before they vote for this again!! Unless the city council has a change of heart such as a NEW CITY COUNCIL, ALONG WITH A NEW CITY ADMINISTRATION AND CITY LAWYER TO GO ALONG WITH ALL THIS NEWNESS!!!

BS RANCH

Rialto's utility tax up for renewal

		Download story podcast

09:37 AM PST on Wednesday, November 7, 2007

By MARY BENDER
The Press-Enterprise

A city utility tax established four years ago, and now regarded as a vital part of Rialto's public safety budget, had a healthy lead early today in the special election to decide whether to extend the tax until 2013.

At 1 a.m. Wednesday, five hours after the polls closed, ballots from 31 of Rialto's 38 precincts had been tabulated, said Kathy Jackson, executive secretary for the San Bernardino County Registrar's office. Measure D was ahead by a wide margin -- almost two-thirds of the votes at that point favored extending the tax.

Turnout for Tuesday's special election was low, with the utility tax the only matter before Rialto voters.

The 8 percent levy is added to Rialto customers' cable television, water, sewer, telephone, cellular, electricity and natural gas bills.

If voters don't approve a five-year extension, the tax would expire at the end of June. Measure D needs a simple majority to pass, said City Clerk Barbara McGee.

Each year, Rialto collects about $12 million from the utility tax, accounting for 24 percent of the city's General Fund budget. That money helps pay for services including police, fire, parks, public works and code enforcement.

The issue first went before voters in June 2003. The outcome was so close -- 1,649 yes votes to 1,644 no votes -- that the San Bernardino County registrar's office conducted a recount.

On Tuesday, Rialto's 31, 580 registered voters could cast ballots at polling places including seven churches, three public schools, two city fire stations, a country club, the senior center and an American Legion hall.

Since the Utility Users Tax was adopted, the Rialto Fire Department has used money to purchase a fire truck with a 105-foot aerial ladder that can reach the top of a 10-story building and can pump a long spray of water from its attached water cannon.

The department also was able to add nine firefighters/paramedics and reopen Station 204, which had been closed because of Rialto's budget struggles.

People 65 and older are exempt from paying the utility tax, as are families that meet state and federal criteria as very low income. Residents seeking that waiver must complete a form at Rialto City Hall. Currently, 2,015 senior citizens and 67 low-income households receive the tax exemption.

The city was to post election results on its Web site, www.ci.rialto.ca.us, and on KRTO Channel 3, its government access cable channel, throughout the night.

One group monitoring the returns was firefighters at Station 201, the firehouse next to City Hall, and Rialto's busiest.

"We've been watching the local cable channel, but there aren't any results yet," Rialto Fire Capt. Bob Romo said 90 minutes after the polls closed.

Reach Mary Bender at 909-806-3056 or mbender@PE.com

Results

Suspect Denies Killing Rialto Officer (Press Enterprise Oct. 21, 2007) Apartment Manager Held in Connection with death of Officer S. Carrara

BS Ranch Perspective

Any times that there is a SWAT ENTRY there is what is known as an ENTRY TEAM. The entry team makes the announcement that they are the Police, with a loud yell, and the instruction is for everyone to get down on the floor or get shot. The "Apartment Manager" is lucky that the Entry team started to Wrestle with him instead of shoot him to have him lay down on the ground.

But if this is the same kid that was around when I was Patrolling the fine streets of Rialto, his specialty back then was this Passive Aggressive Approach to the Police when it came to following Directions. Now if this was the same person he used to live in some Apartments in the 200 Block of N. Glenwood Ave. before they were purchased by the City and Redeveloped, Well if you would check out a couch to see if there was any weapons in it and ask him to sit down for HIS safety and the safety of the Officers that were in the House. This Suspect would just start to argue as to why he had to sit down. Why do I have to sit down and not the other party, if she as gathering things up to leave we would be keeping the peace, well rather then him sit down and wait for her to leave he would start to address would could and could not be taken, what was his and what was hers. etc etc...

It was all part of that Passive Aggressive Behavior that I was talking about, when the SWAT Officers made Entry into the APARTMENT they most likely ORDERED S-Thomas to the floor, on his stomach, with his hands out to his side. It is in this position where everybody is then Physically SEARCHED for WEAPONS, and HANDCUFFED for their SAFETY, and the SAFETY OF THE OFFICERS ON SCENE!! Once Everyone has been DETAINED in this Fashioned they are then IDENTIFIED by positive Identification, if there is a question of their Identity they are taken for fingerprinting to make sure that they are who they say that they are.

In this case I can see what happened right away. The Suspect (Thomas) was confronted by the SWAT Officers when they entered the door and told to get down on the floor on their stomach, but Suspect (Thomas) Refused, and Rather he get shot, to go down to the ground the SWAT Entrance Team showed a great deal of Restraint, and started to force Suspect (Thomas) onto the floor. However the more that the First SWAT Officer struggled to get SUSPECT (THOMAS) onto the floor, on his stomach, and be handcuffed, the more that he fought with the SWAT Officer (Carrera). It was this time that a Second Officer from the SWAT ENTRY Grabbed a hold of Suspect (Thomas), only after he had slung the AR-15 on his Back. However the more that the two SWAT Officers tried to get Suspect (Thomas) onto the floor the more he fought with his Passive Aggressive behavior, all so that Suspect Thomas didn't have to do what the SWAT Officers were telling him what to do.

It was at this time that one of the two SWAT Officers tripped up Suspect (Thomas) and got him partially down on the Floor, Suspect (Thomas) continued to fight and struggle, the SWAT Officers were rolling on the ground as much as Suspect (Thomas) was at this point, But Suspect (Thomas) Felt or saw an opportunity to get this whole fight to stop, and that IDEA WAS ABOUT TO BE TRIGGERED!! SUSPECT (THOMAS) LAID HIS FINGER IN THE TRIGGER GUARD OF THAT AR-15 and a BURST of TWO ROUNDS went out of the AR-15 ENDING THE FIGHT!! Not just in the Officers But in SUSPECT (THOMAS) BECAUSE HE KNEW WHAT HE HAD DONE!!

SUSPECT (THOMAS) WAS THEN EASILY HANDCUFFED AS SERGIO CARRERA JR. WAS BEING KEPT ALIVE!!!!

Passive Aggressive is something in the Academy that is taught that should be brought under control quickly, and it looks like it was being done so very quickly, but when there is EVIL IN ONE MANS HEART, THEN HE WILL SEEK OUT TO EXPLOIT JUST THAT, EVIL!! In this ALTERCATION that came about because of the PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE EVIL that The SUSPECT (THOMAS) Possessed, boiled to the top that day, and OFFICER SERGIO CARRERA JR. BECAME HIS VICTIM, WHETHER HE WANTED HIM TO BE HIS VICTIM OR NOT THAT IS WHAT HE BECAME. This is what happens when one is Passive Aggressive, It Makes VICTIMS OF PEOPLE or in this case a POLICE OFFICER WHO WAS SIMPLY DOING HIS JOB!!

I GUESS IN THIS WORLD MR. JARANARD THOMAS IT GOES TO SHOW YOU THAT IT IS EASY TO BE A POLICE OFFICER KILLER!! OR A KILLER IN GENERAL!! I personally hope that Chemicals BURN!! when when injected!!

BS Ranch

Suspect denies killing Rialto officer

		Download story podcast

07:43 AM PDT on Sunday, October 21, 2007

By ADAM C. HARTMANN
The Press-Enterprise

Slideshow: More images of shooting aftermath

Video: Video snippet of Sergio Carrera Jr.'s 1996 high school graduation

Video: Flyover of the Rialto neighborhood

Video: Rialto Police release name of officer killed

Video: Rialto officials react to the death of police officer Sergio Carrera Jr.

Video: Capt. Raul Martinez briefs the press

Video: Scenes from the fatal shooting in Rialto

Slideshow: Mourning for officer begins following fatal shooting

Slideshow: Photos from the scene of the officer-involved shooting in Rialto

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - An apartment manager held in connection with the killing of a Rialto SWAT officer during a drug raid last week said in a jailhouse interview Saturday he was too busy defending himself from police Tasers to have shot anyone.

Jaranard Thomas, 32, is being held at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga following the death of Officer Sergio Carrera Jr., 29, of Beaumont. Carrera was shot about 7 a.m. Thursday at the Rialto apartment of Thomas' girlfriend, Nashalla Bell. Carrera, a four-year veteran of the Rialto police force, died later that morning at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton.

Police would not comment on what Thomas said, saying only that the investigation indicated that he was responsible for Carerra's death. They also released new information that Thomas is wanted on a $100,000 warrant out of Mississippi.

Story continues below

Thomas looked on Saturday like he hadn't slept in days. His hair was unkempt, his eyes red. He turned his head to reveal a nickel-sized area of stitches behind his left ear.

Thomas said the fact that he's alive is proof he didn't shoot Carrera. If he had shot a police officer, he would immediately have been killed himself, Thomas said.

"Don't you think they're gonna kill that person?" Thomas asked, eyes widening. "Don't you know I would have been dead? Not right here, dead. At the mortuary. Pancake and eggs, cooked."

He denied having guns or drugs in the apartment, and flatly declared he isn't a gang member, as police have indicated.

Rialto police Capt. Tony Farrar declined to comment on Thomas' statements, referring all questions to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, which is investigating the shooting.

Arden Wiltshire, a Sheriff's Department spokeswoman, said Thomas' real name is Chris Wiggins, and he is wanted on a $100,000 warrant out of Mississippi for the sale of rock cocaine. Identified through fingerprints, his nicknames include "B-Duke" and "Short Dog," Wiltshire said.

"Our investigators have determined he is responsible for Officer Carrera's death," Wiltshire said, declining to respond to Thomas' remarks.

Thomas' mother gave him the nickname "B-Duke" as a young boy, Bell said. He has never gone by the moniker "Short Dog," Bell said.

Bell said she was in the kitchen of the small West Cascade Drive apartment early Thursday morning, preparing food for her 5- and 14-year-old boys, and the couple's 3-year-old son. Thomas became an immediate father figure to the two older children although they weren't his, Bell said Friday. The 5-year-old called him "Daddy" right away.

As Bell hustled to get the children off to school, SWAT teams were on the apartment complex grounds. The search warrant they carried indicated that rock cocaine, drug paraphernalia and weapons might be inside Apartment A. Thomas said he was lying on the couch in a light sleep when he heard a loud noise at the front door. He said he wasn't sure whether Bell was in the house, but all three boys were home. It was Devante's 14th birthday.

"I felt the cool breeze coming away from the door," Thomas said. "All of a sudden I hear, like, gunshots or something, 'pow, pow, pow'," Thomas said.

He did what he said anyone would do -- he ran, into his oldest son Devante's bedroom at the end of the hall on the right.

"If I'd have known it was the police, I would have laid there," Thomas said. "I'm not no violent person."

In Devante's bedroom, Thomas began to get Tasered, he said.

'I Couldn't Hear Nobody'

During Saturday's interview he rose from his stool and pulled up his orange jumpsuit to show what he said were Taser scars on his belly. Thomas then flailed his arms repeatedly to demonstrate how he was trying to fend off the shocks.

"When I got to the room, I couldn't see," Thomas said. Smoke bombs had been set off at the complex, but Thomas said he didn't know whether one had been set off in his apartment.

Bell said in an interview Friday in the couple's home that their 5-year-old son was crying and shouting for officers not to shoot, but Thomas said he couldn't hear that, or much of anything.

"I'm the one doing the shouting," Thomas said. "I'm like, 'ahhh!' I couldn't hear nobody. I'm the one in the room, on the floor, huddling."

While getting Tasered, Thomas said he heard two gunshots, but denied grabbing anyone's gun. It was inaccurate to characterize the scene as a scuffle, since all he was doing was trying to defend himself, he said.

Wiltshire said she didn't know whether Thomas had been Tasered. The San Bernardino County district attorney's office has scheduled an 11 a.m. news conference Monday to talk about the investigation, she said.

Thomas said he was taken from the apartment within five to 10 minutes, and hasn't talked to his children or Bell since. He asked how they were doing, and started to cry.

Reach Adam C. Hartmann at 909-806-3055 or ahartmann@PE.com

Related

Message for officer's kids: Dad died a hero

For SWAT officers, danger is inevitable

Despite rise in crime, neighbors call area near police shooting safe

Information on memorial fund for fallen Rialto officer

Officer dies in drug raid

Friendly fire is denied as cause

Community grieves over loss of Rialto officer

SWAT teams deal in high risk

Rialto Police Department no stranger to turmoil

On the Web

Rialto Police Department

Rialto Police SWAT team

San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department