Vallejo police union leader who threatened newspaper columnist is fired
(Graphic by Solano NewsNet)
A Vallejo police officer and the leader of the agency’s union has been fired several months after he was accused of threatening a San Francisco-based newspaper columnist by e-mail.
Lieutenant Michael Nichelini was one of two Vallejo police officers fired this week. The second, Lieutenant Herman Robinson, was accused of sharing sensitive law enforcement information with former officers, according to an attorney.
A third officer, Lieutenant Fabi Rodriguez, was placed on suspension.
Robinson, Rodriguez and Nichelini drew scrutiny last year after they were accused of having a role in the destruction of a windshield that was on a police vehicle used by officers who fatally shot 22-year-old Sean Monterrosa during a period of civil unrest last year.
Monterrosa was shot after officers responded to a Walgreen’s store in Vallejo where anti-police protesters were believed to be looting. It was never clear if Monterrosa was participating in the looting, though he was in possession of a hammer at the time of the incident.
Based on police body camera video released after the shooting, it appeared officers mistook Monterrosa’s hammer for a firearm.
Authorities later confirmed officers had improperly destroyed a windshield, which was considered evidence in the case.
Rodriguez was placed on leave immediately after the windshield incident and was suspended this week. Robinson was accused of improperly providing information to former officers about the case and was placed on indefinite administrative leave until his firing this week.
Nichelini was also placed on leave in connection with the incident. During his time on leave, he continued to represent Vallejo police officers as the leader of their union. In December, he sent a menacing e-mail to a San Francisco Chronicle columnist after learning the writer was leaving the state for a similar job in Georgia.
“Looks like 2021 will be a little bit better not having your biased and uniformed [sic] articles printed in the newspaper that only inflame the public,” the e-mail written by Nichelini said. “You have never looked for truth in any of your writings.”
Nichelini warned the writer that he would “warn our Georgia colleagues of your impending arrival.”
(Graphic by Solano NewsNet)
On March 31, Nichelini received a letter from city officials declaring the termination of his employment.
An attorney representing Nichelini and Robinson said the union would contest the firings.
“[I’ve] never been more confident in my life that both will be reinstated because both of these terminations are a joke,” Michael Rains, the attorney retained in the matter, told the Vallejo Times Herald newspaper. “They are farces and they are a travesty. Both of them.”
A lawsuit filed by Nichelini is pending against the City of Vallejo based on various grievances, the newspaper said.
Robinson is represented by a second attorney, Julia Fox, the newspaper reported. Though he doesn’t represent Robinson, Rains told the newspaper that he felt the officer was fired because of his age.
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