Fairfield police make several arrests during council meeting
Protesters assembled to voice their concern over the hiring of an ex-Vallejo cop who was involved in two fatal shootings and a badge-bending scandal.
(A Fairfield city council meeting as televised in October 2020. Photo courtesy City of Fairfield, Graphic by Solano News Update)
Fairfield police arrested nine people after a city council meeting went off the rails Tuesday evening.
The arrests happened after the city’s mayor, Harry Price, announced a portion of time set aside during the meeting for public comments would be moved to the end of the session. The public comments period is typically held at the beginning of meetings.
The move upset more than a dozen citizens who were in attendance to make comments about a police officer who was recently hired in Fairfield despite his involvement in two fatal shootings during his time with Vallejo’s law enforcement agency.
The officer, Dustin Joseph, was one of two involved in the shooting death of 23-year-old Mario Romero in 2012. One year later, he was connected to the fatal shooting of burglary suspect William Heinze.
Joseph’s involvement in those shootings resurfaced earlier this year when his photo was used in an Open Vallejo report that exposed a secret fraternity of Vallejo officers who ritualistically bent the tips of their badges after they killed criminal suspects. His name was not mentioned in the report, but a photo depicting the officer showed him wearing a badge that appeared to have at least two bends.
(Former Vallejo Police Officer Dustin Joseph appears in an undated photograph. Graphic by Solano News Update)
On Tuesday, more than a dozen individuals showed up to voice their concern about Joseph’s hiring by the Fairfield police department at the regularly-scheduled city council meeting. After the mayor moved the public comments portion to the end of the meeting, the activists began chanting in the council’s chambers.
Price called for a short recess, hoping to restore order so that the council meeting could continue. When activists continued chanting, Stefan Chatwin, Fairfield’s city manager, ordered officers to arrest them and clear the room, according to a Fairfield city official who spoke with Solano News Update on background Tuesday evening.
Amateur video uploaded to Facebook showed Fairfield officers arresting several individuals with hand restraints. A total of nine people were detained, including a minor, according to a second city official.
Police later confirmed the number of arrested, noting all but one were Fairfield residents (one resides in nearby Suisun City). Solano News Update is not naming the indivuduals arrested because it is not clear if they have been formally charged with a crime.
The Fairfield council meetings are typically aired on local cable and streamed on YouTube, but Tuesday’s meeting was not available on YouTube when Solano News Update attempted to locate it late in the evening.
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