WEBVTT - 5150 0:00:08.245 --> 0:00:13.925 School of Humans. Hi, I'm trying to reach Charon Cummings. 0:00:15.125 --> 0:00:18.645 Let's call it. My name is Catherine Townsend, and I'm 0:00:18.685 --> 0:00:24.805 actually working on a podcast for iHeartMedia and we're covering Well, 0:00:25.325 --> 0:00:32.085 there you have it. Okay, we called Charon Cummings. She 0:00:32.285 --> 0:00:34.485 was the jailer who was working the night that My 0:00:34.605 --> 0:00:39.005 Trese went missing. Obviously, she doesn't want to talk about 0:00:39.005 --> 0:00:41.805 My Trees these days, but at the time when My 0:00:41.885 --> 0:00:46.245 Trees went missing, she did give several interviews. She told 0:00:46.285 --> 0:00:49.045 the Los Angeles Times that after my Trease was released, 0:00:49.405 --> 0:00:54.245 she was given a phone and made several calls. Cummings 0:00:54.285 --> 0:00:56.165 told the paper that she did not listen to My 0:00:56.245 --> 0:01:00.045 Teresa's conversations, but she said she did have discussions with 0:01:00.085 --> 0:01:05.485 her about topics including gospel music and karma. Steve Whitmore, 0:01:06.045 --> 0:01:10.285 the LASD Community Information Officer, talked about coming statement in 0:01:10.325 --> 0:01:13.965 a press conference. Cummings said that she encouraged my Trees 0:01:14.005 --> 0:01:16.365 to stay the night and told her that she could 0:01:16.365 --> 0:01:19.285 have breakfast in the morning. Before leaving. She said that 0:01:19.325 --> 0:01:22.005 My Trees seemed to waver for a moment and said 0:01:22.325 --> 0:01:27.445 maybe I'll stay, But then My Trees told Cummings that 0:01:27.525 --> 0:01:32.165 she had changed her mind. She wanted to leave, Cummings 0:01:32.165 --> 0:01:34.605 told Eyewitness News in a two thousand and nine interview. 0:01:35.285 --> 0:01:37.605 When I found out she didn't have a ride, I 0:01:37.685 --> 0:01:40.605 asked her, why don't you stay? It's kind of dark 0:01:40.685 --> 0:01:44.245 and a bit cool. You don't have a jacket. I 0:01:44.365 --> 0:01:46.965 knew she lived out in la and didn't know the area, 0:01:47.725 --> 0:01:49.445 but she said she didn't want to spend the night 0:01:49.485 --> 0:01:51.845 in jail, and she was hooking up with some friends. 0:01:52.885 --> 0:01:55.165 So my Treece walked out the side door of the 0:01:55.165 --> 0:01:59.725 police station. One of the main criticisms that has been 0:01:59.805 --> 0:02:02.445 leveled at the Lost Hill Sheriff's station is the fact 0:02:02.485 --> 0:02:05.085 that the officers should have recognized that my Treece was 0:02:05.085 --> 0:02:08.405 in a fragile mental state. My Teres's family believed that 0:02:08.485 --> 0:02:11.005 all evidence points to the fact that she should have 0:02:11.005 --> 0:02:14.685 been taken to a hospital, not a jail cell, But 0:02:15.005 --> 0:02:18.725 in later depositions, the officers denied that my Terce was 0:02:18.765 --> 0:02:22.125 behaving strangely. They said that my trees passed a field 0:02:22.125 --> 0:02:25.205 sobriety test and that she seemed to be absolutely fine, 0:02:25.805 --> 0:02:27.885 so their decision to release her in the middle of 0:02:27.925 --> 0:02:31.685 the night was the right call. So is it possible 0:02:31.765 --> 0:02:34.165 that the officers did not realize that my Teres was 0:02:34.205 --> 0:02:38.365 having some sort of mental breakdown. I'm Catherine Townsend. This 0:02:38.805 --> 0:03:19.285 is hell and gone. Almost everyone who encountered my Trees 0:03:19.325 --> 0:03:21.965 in the twenty four hour period before she disappeared agreed 0:03:22.565 --> 0:03:26.485 something was wrong with her. This included her mother, her 0:03:26.525 --> 0:03:31.245 aunt Ronda, her former professor, and her boss. It also 0:03:31.285 --> 0:03:34.005 included the Geoffrey staff and the diners at the restaurant 0:03:34.045 --> 0:03:37.165 who interacted with my Trees and then later gave their 0:03:37.205 --> 0:03:40.845 statements to police. Police officers who were put in a 0:03:40.885 --> 0:03:44.645 position of determining someone's mental health and deciding whether to 0:03:44.685 --> 0:03:48.285 hold someone against their will without violating their civil rights 0:03:48.925 --> 0:03:52.565 or in a tough position, so we wanted to know 0:03:53.085 --> 0:03:57.965 what were the police officer's options at that point. In 0:03:58.005 --> 0:04:01.525 the state of California, arrested individuals who were considered to 0:04:01.565 --> 0:04:04.405 be a danger to themselves or others due to signs 0:04:04.405 --> 0:04:08.845 of mental illness can be subject to involuntary psychiatric evaluation 0:04:09.245 --> 0:04:12.845 and commitment for up to seventy two hours. This is 0:04:12.885 --> 0:04:16.765 called a fifty one fifty hold, and my Teresa's family 0:04:16.845 --> 0:04:19.525 is adamant that a fifty one to fifty hold is 0:04:19.605 --> 0:04:24.085 exactly what should have happened prior to her arrest. My 0:04:24.245 --> 0:04:27.845 Trees did not have an official mental health diagnosis, but 0:04:28.205 --> 0:04:30.765 based on the way that she was acting, people close 0:04:30.845 --> 0:04:33.965 to her believed she was undiagnosed by polar and could 0:04:34.045 --> 0:04:37.765 be experiencing some type of manic episode. Now, making an 0:04:37.805 --> 0:04:42.925 armchair diagnosis, especially in hindsight, can be dicey. We know 0:04:43.045 --> 0:04:49.205 that my Trees was exhibiting symptoms, including possible hallucinations because 0:04:49.205 --> 0:04:51.685 we know that she told one of the diners that 0:04:51.765 --> 0:04:53.965 a character on a soap opera had been talking to her. 0:04:54.765 --> 0:04:58.285 Also delusional thinking based on a lot of the comments 0:04:58.285 --> 0:05:02.525 that she made, and potentially hypersexuality when she offered to 0:05:02.565 --> 0:05:05.565 settle her bill for sex if she was experienced sing 0:05:05.645 --> 0:05:09.165 a bipolar episode. My Trese was in a very vulnerable position. 0:05:09.685 --> 0:05:13.325 Early on, police speculated that my Tries could have died 0:05:13.365 --> 0:05:16.885 of suicide, particularly because she appeared to be suffering some 0:05:16.965 --> 0:05:19.925 type of mental distress, but they also said in their 0:05:19.925 --> 0:05:23.005 depositions that she did not exhibit behavior that they believe 0:05:23.085 --> 0:05:25.485 qualified her for a fifty to one to fifty hold. 0:05:25.965 --> 0:05:29.645 They insisted that having made that determination, they had no 0:05:29.805 --> 0:05:32.885 legal reason to hold her and were correct in their 0:05:32.885 --> 0:05:36.845 decision to release her after midnight. So police have stated 0:05:36.845 --> 0:05:39.645 both that my Trees was in such mental distress that 0:05:39.725 --> 0:05:41.565 she could have run off a cliff and plunged to 0:05:41.605 --> 0:05:45.005 her death, and that she seemed to be absolutely fine. 0:05:45.805 --> 0:05:49.885 So which is it. To get answers, we have to 0:05:49.925 --> 0:05:52.245 dive into the hard evidence that we do have from 0:05:52.245 --> 0:05:55.245 the night that my Terse went missing, including the messages 0:05:55.285 --> 0:06:02.725 sent between the officers and their radio communication records. First, 0:06:02.765 --> 0:06:06.605 there's the arresting officer, Armando Lurero. He said in a 0:06:06.685 --> 0:06:10.085 deposition that when he went to Joffrey's, he was responding 0:06:10.125 --> 0:06:13.205 to a possible three ninety, which is the code that 0:06:13.205 --> 0:06:16.885 would indicate a drunk person for a black female unable 0:06:16.925 --> 0:06:20.565 to pay her bill. But the defrauding and innkeeper charge 0:06:20.645 --> 0:06:22.845 and the small amount of pot that my Trees had 0:06:22.885 --> 0:06:27.165 on her were misdemeanor citations, and his fellow officer on 0:06:27.205 --> 0:06:30.645 the scene, Frank Brower, testified that my Trees passed a 0:06:30.645 --> 0:06:34.645 field sobriety test. So if she wasn't under the influence 0:06:34.725 --> 0:06:37.845 and he believed that she was fine, why did Lurero 0:06:37.965 --> 0:06:41.365 make the decision to impound my Trees's car, hard book her, 0:06:41.525 --> 0:06:45.565 and take her into custody. After Lurero and his fellow 0:06:45.605 --> 0:06:49.165 officers were finished at Joffrey's, he transported my Trees to 0:06:49.165 --> 0:06:52.565 the station in his cruiser. This was around eight forty 0:06:52.605 --> 0:06:56.965 five p m. In a later deposition, Lorero said that 0:06:57.005 --> 0:06:58.805 he believed that he arrived with my Trees at the 0:06:58.805 --> 0:07:05.165 station at around nine fifty p m. Once they arrived, 0:07:05.685 --> 0:07:09.725 Jaylor Charon Cummings fingerprinted my trees and took her photograph 0:07:10.005 --> 0:07:14.165 to assist in the booking process. Lorero said he never 0:07:14.285 --> 0:07:18.325 discussed any concerns with my Teres's mental state, either to 0:07:18.445 --> 0:07:21.645 Charon or to his watch sergeant when he went in 0:07:21.685 --> 0:07:24.925 to discuss the probable cause statement, basically laying out the 0:07:24.925 --> 0:07:29.285 reasons for the arrest. He said in a deposition that 0:07:29.325 --> 0:07:32.445 he had observed my Trees for any potential signs of 0:07:32.485 --> 0:07:34.685 her needing to be detained for a fifty one to 0:07:34.685 --> 0:07:39.565 fifty mental health evaluation, and apparently he determined that this 0:07:39.725 --> 0:07:46.245 was not necessary. But an email mentioned in that deposition 0:07:46.525 --> 0:07:50.605 could provide some clues to his motive. The email, which 0:07:50.645 --> 0:07:54.285 Mike Kessler quoted in his Los Angeles Magazine story, was 0:07:54.285 --> 0:07:57.765 from one of Lorero's Lost Hills colleagues. Lieutenant Scott two 0:07:58.725 --> 0:08:03.005 Kessler wrote, quote, deputies had considered letting Richardson go with 0:08:03.045 --> 0:08:06.965 a citation, but decided to arrest her in part because 0:08:07.045 --> 0:08:11.805 witnesses had said she'd been acting strangely end quote. Chu 0:08:11.965 --> 0:08:14.845 said in the email that Lorero told him that he'd 0:08:14.845 --> 0:08:17.085 made the decision to hard book my trees at the 0:08:17.125 --> 0:08:20.925 station because she was acting in a bizarre manner, and 0:08:20.965 --> 0:08:23.685 he said that he wanted to quote make sure that 0:08:23.725 --> 0:08:29.925 she was all right end quote. Now this was in 0:08:30.005 --> 0:08:35.085 direct contradiction to Lorero's testimony, and many people also questioned 0:08:35.605 --> 0:08:39.565 what was transmitted over the police messaging system. It later 0:08:39.645 --> 0:08:42.965 emerged that Lorero and John McKay were assigned to take 0:08:43.005 --> 0:08:47.605 the call, but Brower had assigned himself after seeing the details. 0:08:48.405 --> 0:08:51.125 Why did they need three officers to respond to a 0:08:51.165 --> 0:08:53.925 call of a young woman who couldn't pay a restaurant tab. 0:08:56.565 --> 0:08:59.765 John McKay, one of the officers on the scene, said 0:08:59.805 --> 0:09:02.885 that at ten thirteen pm, he sent a message to 0:09:02.925 --> 0:09:07.565 another officer that read citizens arrest. He got a message 0:09:07.605 --> 0:09:12.125 back that read why didn't you help a sister out? 0:09:13.565 --> 0:09:17.085 So officially, the police's line was that they never believed 0:09:17.125 --> 0:09:21.405 that my terse was showing signs of mental instability. Remember 0:09:21.485 --> 0:09:25.405 Kenneth the valet. He was the first person who encountered 0:09:25.405 --> 0:09:28.605 my terse at Jeffrey's that night, and the first one 0:09:28.645 --> 0:09:31.925 to notice that she seemed to be acting off. He 0:09:32.005 --> 0:09:35.565 spoke to the deputies who came to Jeffrey's, and afterwards 0:09:35.885 --> 0:09:39.085 they provided him with a written statement summarizing what he said. 0:09:40.085 --> 0:09:42.885 But when he took a closer look, he noticed that 0:09:42.925 --> 0:09:45.605 some of the descriptions in the statement didn't match what 0:09:45.685 --> 0:09:49.445 he said, so he corrected those statements, crossing some of 0:09:49.445 --> 0:09:53.845 it out and making additions in his own handwriting. The 0:09:53.965 --> 0:09:58.965 details and the rewritten statement are jarring. For example, the 0:09:59.005 --> 0:10:02.125 typewritten statement reads, at no time on the night of 0:10:02.165 --> 0:10:06.565 September sixteenth, or during the early morning hours September seventeenth, 0:10:06.645 --> 0:10:09.285 two thousand and nine, did I ever speak to any 0:10:09.325 --> 0:10:12.765 of the LASD deputies that arrived or any other law 0:10:12.805 --> 0:10:18.165 enforcement personnel. But Kenneth crossed that part out. He wrote, 0:10:19.325 --> 0:10:21.685 I spoke to two of the LASD deputies who were 0:10:21.725 --> 0:10:25.245 on the scene. I asked what happened and or what's 0:10:25.245 --> 0:10:30.245 wrong with her? One deputy replied, she's a ding. I 0:10:30.325 --> 0:10:32.685 told the other deputy that it seemed like she was 0:10:32.725 --> 0:10:40.965 off her medication or had too much medication. Doctor Ronda 0:10:40.965 --> 0:10:45.605 Hampton spent years reading and obsessing over every single minute 0:10:45.605 --> 0:10:50.485 detail of the communications among these officers. Many times she 0:10:50.565 --> 0:10:53.245 saw that the police made reference to my trese as 0:10:53.285 --> 0:10:57.325 a ding and that Kenneth the valet also said he'd 0:10:57.325 --> 0:11:01.085 overheard the police officers calling her a ding. At first, 0:11:01.285 --> 0:11:04.245 she said, she didn't realize the significance of this information. 0:11:05.125 --> 0:11:07.845 I'll be she thought it was short for a dingbat, 0:11:08.565 --> 0:11:11.725 but she later learned that in law enforcement circles, it's 0:11:11.765 --> 0:11:14.565 shorthand for someone who probably needs a fifty one to 0:11:14.605 --> 0:11:19.405 fifty psychiatric evaluation. And she discovered that by happenstance, my 0:11:19.525 --> 0:11:21.325 dumb ass didn't even know what a ding was. I 0:11:21.765 --> 0:11:23.405 just thought, oh, I mean a ding that well, I 0:11:23.445 --> 0:11:25.525 knew it meant somebody was dinghy right, Yeah, but I 0:11:25.525 --> 0:11:27.845 didn't realize it was like an official thing that they 0:11:27.885 --> 0:11:30.125 called people who had were fifty one to fifty from 0:11:30.125 --> 0:11:32.165 the shriff of herm right, So me and mind her. 0:11:32.845 --> 0:11:36.005 I'm taking a crochet class at Michael's Right. The person 0:11:36.005 --> 0:11:39.845 who was giving the class was a sheriff, and I 0:11:39.885 --> 0:11:44.845 don't know she sent something about either giving Croeschek houses 0:11:45.005 --> 0:11:47.445 and it's somehow she used the word ding and while 0:11:47.485 --> 0:11:49.405 she was telling us about this crochet thing, and I 0:11:49.485 --> 0:11:51.165 was like Dan, I was like, why you said ding? 0:11:51.565 --> 0:11:53.165 And then she goes, oh, that's what we call people 0:11:53.205 --> 0:11:54.805 who need to be on a fifty one fifty. And 0:11:55.085 --> 0:11:58.245 then we have a Dan Ward that's in the jail. Wow. Yeah, 0:11:58.245 --> 0:12:00.005 so that's how I found that out. Wow. I'm like, 0:12:00.045 --> 0:12:01.805 so when they said ding, they know damn well that 0:12:01.805 --> 0:12:03.765 that's an official Well, they're not supposed to say it, 0:12:03.805 --> 0:12:05.445 but you called some high a ding. Then you know 0:12:05.565 --> 0:12:07.125 they asked me to be a fifty one fifty. So 0:12:07.205 --> 0:12:11.085 who I mean, they get back to the station, they decide, 0:12:11.085 --> 0:12:14.685 for whatever reason not to not to fifty one fifty 0:12:14.725 --> 0:12:16.805 or her And why did they They ever tell you 0:12:16.845 --> 0:12:19.205 why they did that. Well, what they will tell you 0:12:19.525 --> 0:12:22.885 is that she was acting perfectly normal. So you've got 0:12:22.885 --> 0:12:24.925 somebody at the scene who passes to feel sobriety test 0:12:25.205 --> 0:12:28.605 who talk about she's from Mars reading people's palms, crazy 0:12:28.645 --> 0:12:30.485 as fuck, and you call her a dank and then 0:12:30.485 --> 0:12:32.525 you send your email to your captain say she did 0:12:32.605 --> 0:12:35.685 see but she was perfectly fine. Make no damn sense. 0:12:40.845 --> 0:12:44.205 Once police found out that my Trees had no outstanding warrants, 0:12:44.445 --> 0:12:47.965 and crucially, having apparently made the determination that she was 0:12:48.045 --> 0:12:51.405 not a fifty one to fifty risk, my Trees was released. 0:12:53.005 --> 0:12:55.925 Cummings said that jailers are trained to contact their watch 0:12:55.965 --> 0:12:59.565 sergeant or watch commander if the detainees show signs of 0:12:59.605 --> 0:13:04.165 mental instability, but she said that my Trice was calm, 0:13:04.205 --> 0:13:08.005 so this didn't happen. And one of the biggest challenges 0:13:08.045 --> 0:13:11.285 of diagnosing mental health issues is the fact that someone 0:13:11.365 --> 0:13:14.685 experiencing an episode can seem lucid one minute and unstable 0:13:14.725 --> 0:13:18.045 the next. And if the arresting officers did not tell 0:13:18.045 --> 0:13:21.605 Cummings about my Terce's bizarre behavior, she may not have 0:13:21.645 --> 0:13:25.525 known that there could be potential mental health issues. Reading 0:13:25.565 --> 0:13:28.125 between the lines of the comments she's made in interviews, 0:13:28.765 --> 0:13:31.445 it does seem that Cummings was nervous about letting my 0:13:31.485 --> 0:13:34.685 Trees leave in the middle of the night, but she 0:13:34.805 --> 0:13:36.525 seemed to think that there was nothing more that she 0:13:36.525 --> 0:13:40.885 could do. Once again, it seems that at every turn, 0:13:41.485 --> 0:13:53.245 My Trees slipped through the cracks. So much joint down 0:13:53.325 --> 0:13:56.925 right now, okay, Weta Reservation put three for a thousand. 0:13:57.325 --> 0:14:01.885 Ye all, we're back at Jeffrey's, the restaurant where My 0:14:01.965 --> 0:14:05.725 Trees's Night began on the night she disappeared, and this 0:14:05.845 --> 0:14:09.605 time were with reporter Cec Woods. I've got my mole, 0:14:10.365 --> 0:14:12.525 which I still don't even know who my mole is, 0:14:13.285 --> 0:14:15.805 but my mole, actually I don't. I have no idea, 0:14:15.885 --> 0:14:18.565 but I do have to tell you. So he's like, 0:14:18.685 --> 0:14:20.445 just show them that picture of you in the bikini 0:14:20.525 --> 0:14:28.005 on Instagram. That'll man, that'll work. In twenty fourteen, Cec 0:14:28.205 --> 0:14:31.485 started the local Malibu. She's currently editor in chief of 0:14:31.525 --> 0:14:35.765 that publication. She also founded the magazine Malibu nine oh 0:14:35.805 --> 0:14:39.845 two sixty five. She describes herself as an activist and reporter. 0:14:40.125 --> 0:14:42.005 They treat me like I'm a nobody, and I really 0:14:42.085 --> 0:14:46.085 don't care. It's okay, because guess what, I have multiple 0:14:46.125 --> 0:14:49.325 projects going on that are all national, global, whatever you 0:14:49.365 --> 0:14:51.965 want them to be, and they're all involving you. And 0:14:52.045 --> 0:14:55.125 yet they think I'm just this little blondie for Malibu, 0:14:55.245 --> 0:14:57.765 which is okay, go ahead, I'll give fuck. She's in 0:14:57.805 --> 0:15:01.445 your face and sometimes says outrageous things, but she is 0:15:01.485 --> 0:15:05.405 getting taken seriously and she's broken some huge stories. Yeah, 0:15:05.605 --> 0:15:09.845 I love being underestimated. I fucking love it. And that's 0:15:09.885 --> 0:15:11.965 what happened with the Malbury Creek State Park shootings. I 0:15:12.045 --> 0:15:16.045 was underestimated. I was this little blonde Malibu barbie to them, 0:15:16.645 --> 0:15:20.005 and blahbery blah blah blah whatever. I don't give fuck. 0:15:20.685 --> 0:15:23.325 Over the years, she has developed a tight knit working 0:15:23.365 --> 0:15:27.045 relationship with the Lost Hills Sheriff's Department. She has a 0:15:27.045 --> 0:15:30.125 close relationship with a lot of the officers, but she's 0:15:30.125 --> 0:15:32.885 not afraid to hold them accountable, so much so that 0:15:32.965 --> 0:15:35.245 she says her reputation is on the line if they 0:15:35.285 --> 0:15:39.405 ever pull any bullshit. I'm like, my reputation is tied 0:15:39.445 --> 0:15:43.405 to you guys. Don't you ever motherfucking do this shit 0:15:43.445 --> 0:15:48.045 on my watch? Okay, whatever they did, and I mean 0:15:48.125 --> 0:15:51.005 that like I'm willing to lose my life over this shit. 0:15:51.685 --> 0:15:55.445 Like my kids can take care of themselves, but you're 0:15:55.445 --> 0:15:58.205 not doing this on my watch in my community with 0:15:58.325 --> 0:16:03.125 me supporting you guys. Fuck that shit. I don't want 0:16:03.165 --> 0:16:07.885 this shit happening in my community. That's like number one. 0:16:09.445 --> 0:16:14.005 And knowing that there's a bunch of fucking rogue cops 0:16:14.525 --> 0:16:18.765 getting away with abuse of power at my local station 0:16:19.805 --> 0:16:26.085 like nothing makes me angrier. She's also on a first 0:16:26.165 --> 0:16:29.925 named basis with the Sheriff of Los Angeles County, Alex Villanueva. 0:16:30.765 --> 0:16:33.885 He's the most powerful law enforcement official in the largest 0:16:33.885 --> 0:16:37.725 county in the country, but CEC's texts always get priority, 0:16:38.805 --> 0:16:41.965 despite an atmosphere that can make it challenging for law 0:16:42.045 --> 0:16:46.285 enforcement to have relationships with journalists. CEC has several sources 0:16:46.285 --> 0:16:50.205 inside the department. During our meeting, she gets a call 0:16:50.285 --> 0:16:55.565 from one of them. It's true, I love you. I 0:16:55.565 --> 0:16:57.885 always say that in this job, a lot of the 0:16:57.885 --> 0:17:01.805 most productive information comes out at happy hour, and she 0:17:01.965 --> 0:17:08.685 clearly believes in the power of building relationships that is. 0:17:08.725 --> 0:17:11.125 Ceci's also seen the dark side of the Sheriff's station 0:17:11.765 --> 0:17:15.085 and exposed a lot of their dirty laundry, including in 0:17:15.125 --> 0:17:17.405 one of the biggest cases that she's worked on so far, 0:17:18.245 --> 0:17:22.525 the Malibu Creek State Park shootings. Cec said that crime 0:17:22.645 --> 0:17:26.325 was never her area of expertise until true crime came 0:17:26.365 --> 0:17:29.725 to her neighborhood. She said she was terrified when her 0:17:29.765 --> 0:17:34.005 neighbors started talking about multiple shootings in Malibu and a 0:17:34.085 --> 0:17:37.325 possible serial killer on the loose, one that, she says 0:17:37.445 --> 0:17:40.645 the police were not warning the public about I exposed 0:17:40.845 --> 0:17:46.285 the Malibu Creek State Park shootings, and that was by accident. 0:17:46.925 --> 0:17:50.205 I was just in public safety reporting doing my thing, 0:17:51.125 --> 0:17:54.645 and then all of a sudden, this shooting happens, and 0:17:55.005 --> 0:17:59.365 I'm like, Wow, what the fuck? There's a murder happening. 0:18:00.085 --> 0:18:02.845 And I don't even know how to deal with the 0:18:02.925 --> 0:18:06.805 murder because murder's not my wheelhouse. But I don't do 0:18:06.845 --> 0:18:10.765 that shit. It was just instinctual, like people just started 0:18:10.805 --> 0:18:14.285 emailing me and sending me information. I'm like, Okay, I 0:18:14.285 --> 0:18:15.605 guess I have to write about this. How am I 0:18:15.645 --> 0:18:17.205 going to write about this? I had to sit down 0:18:17.205 --> 0:18:19.245 and think about how I'm going to write about murder, 0:18:19.925 --> 0:18:22.365 and so I sat down and I kind of figured 0:18:22.405 --> 0:18:24.005 it out. And in the beginning I was a real 0:18:24.125 --> 0:18:26.365 smart ass, and I kind of want to go back 0:18:26.365 --> 0:18:28.725 to being smart ass. I have to tell you, because 0:18:28.765 --> 0:18:31.565 you know what, I like smartass. Alex would say, tell 0:18:31.605 --> 0:18:34.885 Ussy to write an article. I need a laugh, okay, 0:18:34.965 --> 0:18:37.165 because I would just make fun of the homicide. I 0:18:37.165 --> 0:18:43.365 would make fun of everybody. When thirty two year old 0:18:43.405 --> 0:18:46.405 father of two Tristan Boudette was found shot to death 0:18:46.445 --> 0:18:50.125 in his tent on June twenty second, twenty eighteen, the 0:18:50.205 --> 0:18:56.045 case made international headlines. Then in October twenty eighteen, a 0:18:56.125 --> 0:18:59.245 drifter named Anthony Rauda was arrested for a parole violation. 0:19:00.165 --> 0:19:03.845 According to the local Malibu he was arrested for possession 0:19:03.885 --> 0:19:06.765 of a weapon authority says can assistant with and or 0:19:06.805 --> 0:19:11.565 a matching the murder weapon that killed Tristan Bodett. But 0:19:11.645 --> 0:19:14.685 Ceci says she doesn't believe that Rauda is responsible for 0:19:14.725 --> 0:19:17.885 all of the shootings, and she says that there's been 0:19:17.925 --> 0:19:21.085 a law enforcement cover up dating back to twenty sixteen. 0:19:22.525 --> 0:19:25.365 She reported in the paper that several shootings took place 0:19:25.405 --> 0:19:29.125 before a Bodett was shot, and that quote the shootings 0:19:29.125 --> 0:19:32.565 were purposely hidden from the public by state parks officials 0:19:32.685 --> 0:19:35.245 and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, under the direction of 0:19:35.285 --> 0:19:38.045 former Sheriff MacDonnell, who was complicit in the cover up 0:19:38.245 --> 0:19:43.005 end quote. Eventually, Rauda was charged with Bodet's murder and 0:19:43.125 --> 0:19:45.805 with ten other counts of attempted murder and five counts 0:19:45.805 --> 0:19:49.725 of burglary. But cec continues to question every piece of 0:19:49.725 --> 0:19:53.205 information that's released by the Sheriff's department. She says that 0:19:53.245 --> 0:19:55.805 her sources tell her there's no ballistics match to the 0:19:55.805 --> 0:19:59.565 alleged murder weapon. She says that there continues to be 0:19:59.645 --> 0:20:03.405 unexplained gunfire in Malibu Creek State Park and that she 0:20:03.565 --> 0:20:09.525 believes a killer may still be out there. Cecy found 0:20:09.525 --> 0:20:12.085 out about my Teresa's case after one of her readers 0:20:12.125 --> 0:20:15.325 saw Ronda and Chip's documentary and forwarded it to Cec. 0:20:16.365 --> 0:20:19.645 Then she met Ronda, and working together, they started to 0:20:19.645 --> 0:20:23.765 dig deeper into my Teresa's case. After all of the 0:20:23.805 --> 0:20:28.365 investigating that I've done and the hundreds of thousands of 0:20:28.445 --> 0:20:33.005 man hours that I've logged in with Ronda at four o'clock, 0:20:33.045 --> 0:20:35.165 three o'clock in the morning, five o'clock in the morning, 0:20:35.285 --> 0:20:38.725 like we get up and we call each other. It 0:20:38.765 --> 0:20:41.925 doesn't matter what time it is, Like that's the reality. 0:20:42.405 --> 0:20:46.045 Her and I are like on the same speed. She 0:20:46.205 --> 0:20:50.525 is a cyberstalker in extraordinary and what she does is 0:20:50.565 --> 0:20:53.165 she just goes and digs shit and she sends it 0:20:53.245 --> 0:20:54.525 right to me, and I'm like, Okay, what do you 0:20:54.525 --> 0:20:56.245 want to do with it? Do we write about it? 0:20:56.645 --> 0:21:00.445 Do we sit on it? What do we do? And 0:21:00.685 --> 0:21:07.365 So what I believe happened was that as we sit 0:21:07.485 --> 0:21:09.445 at Draffrey's right now, and as I talk to the 0:21:09.485 --> 0:21:11.845 owner of Draffrees not too long ago, probably about a 0:21:11.885 --> 0:21:21.245 week ago, they felt that she was in the best 0:21:21.285 --> 0:21:27.605 hands for public safety. When the cops came, they should 0:21:27.605 --> 0:21:30.645 have called the MET team, which is the mental evaluation team. 0:21:30.685 --> 0:21:35.405 They did not. The police have admitted that mistakes were 0:21:35.405 --> 0:21:38.085 made on the night that my Terse went missing, but 0:21:38.165 --> 0:21:41.965 through their investigation, CC and Ronda began to believe that 0:21:42.125 --> 0:21:44.885 something much more sinister than just a miscall and a 0:21:44.885 --> 0:21:49.085 mental health evaluation went on at the station. CC has 0:21:49.085 --> 0:21:52.605 written several expose as on alleged law enforcement cover ups. 0:21:53.325 --> 0:21:56.285 Earlier this year, CC broke the story of a young 0:21:56.325 --> 0:22:00.445 woman who was sexually assaulted at a Malibu condominium in 0:22:00.485 --> 0:22:04.205 the early morning hours of February eighth. A transient walked 0:22:04.205 --> 0:22:07.845 in an unlocked door and allegedly fondled the victim, but 0:22:07.885 --> 0:22:11.765 when the incident was reported to police, officers reportedly took 0:22:11.845 --> 0:22:15.085 forty five minutes to arrive at the scene and basically 0:22:15.125 --> 0:22:17.885 concluded that the alleged victim may have had too much 0:22:17.925 --> 0:22:22.045 to drink. CECI heard about the story, she helped the 0:22:22.125 --> 0:22:25.765 victim track down surveillance footage which clearly showed a man 0:22:26.005 --> 0:22:30.165 entering her home. A few days later, thirty four year 0:22:30.165 --> 0:22:33.565 old Matthew Fairchild was arrested and charged with intent to 0:22:33.565 --> 0:22:37.205 commit a sex crime. According to the Malibu Times quote, 0:22:37.805 --> 0:22:41.045 the matter was festering until a Malibu tabloid publisher, CEC 0:22:41.165 --> 0:22:44.605 Woods reportedly sent the photos and a complaint to Sheriff 0:22:44.645 --> 0:22:47.765 Alex Villanueva, who has been known to frequently consult with 0:22:47.805 --> 0:22:52.885 Woods on Malibu issues end quote. After CEC's article came out, 0:22:53.125 --> 0:22:56.845 the Times received complaints from residents who were outraged that 0:22:56.925 --> 0:23:00.125 police did not immediately warn them of potential danger or 0:23:00.365 --> 0:23:04.685 try to track down the suspect, and then Lost Hills 0:23:04.685 --> 0:23:08.685 Captain Matthew Vanderhork was demoted and relieved a duty when 0:23:09.165 --> 0:23:13.405 this sexual predator happened. When I got the captain because 0:23:13.405 --> 0:23:18.045 he fucked up, I literally texted the captain and I said, 0:23:18.085 --> 0:23:20.805 I want to know who those motherfucking deputies are. I 0:23:20.845 --> 0:23:23.125 want to come into your station. I want to look 0:23:23.165 --> 0:23:25.805 them in the motherfucking face, and I want to let 0:23:25.805 --> 0:23:27.925 them fucking know you will never do this in my 0:23:27.965 --> 0:23:33.885 community again. And I am not kidding. I was so angry. 0:23:33.925 --> 0:23:37.165 I was ready to take the bar alloh yank it 0:23:37.285 --> 0:23:40.445 and throw it against the wall when the community member 0:23:40.485 --> 0:23:44.365 came to me and told me what had happened. CEC 0:23:44.525 --> 0:23:47.525 has also written an expose about former Lost Hills Captain 0:23:47.645 --> 0:23:52.605 Tom Martin. Martin was accused of sexual assault and the 0:23:52.645 --> 0:23:56.085 alleged victim says that the incident took place just months 0:23:56.125 --> 0:23:59.925 before my trees ended up at Lost Hill Station. In 0:23:59.965 --> 0:24:03.485 no way does CEC's experience prove that something more sinister 0:24:03.565 --> 0:24:06.365 happened to my trees at the Lost Hill Station, but 0:24:06.445 --> 0:24:09.085 it does paint a compelling picture of the Sheriff's department 0:24:09.085 --> 0:24:12.965 at the time. Basically, CC labels the era at the 0:24:13.005 --> 0:24:18.125 Lost Hill Station before Sheriff Llanueva took office the wild West, 0:24:19.285 --> 0:24:24.045 and she describes the environment there zero oversight, populated with 0:24:24.645 --> 0:24:27.325 rogue cops. She talked about this when we talked on 0:24:27.365 --> 0:24:30.005 the phone with her a few weeks before in person meeting. 0:24:30.805 --> 0:24:34.245 It's a station that has been known for a rogue 0:24:34.485 --> 0:24:39.085 pop behavior, and I am very happy to report that 0:24:39.125 --> 0:24:43.885 since we had a change in captain, which I was 0:24:44.405 --> 0:24:50.485 instrumental in exposing some of the things this captain was 0:24:50.525 --> 0:24:55.805 not taken care of, which allows these cops to get 0:24:55.805 --> 0:24:59.765 in that rogue cops way, and you know, if you 0:24:59.765 --> 0:25:02.845 don't have the right leadership, they're just gonna see what 0:25:02.925 --> 0:25:06.485 they want. Now they know that they especially now after 0:25:06.525 --> 0:25:10.125 this whole George Floyd and the civil uprising, but even 0:25:10.165 --> 0:25:17.205 before this happened, being able to expose this behavior on 0:25:17.245 --> 0:25:22.245 social media and the relationships that I've been able to 0:25:23.485 --> 0:25:28.325 nurture with a sheriff's department and with the sheriff has 0:25:28.485 --> 0:25:34.125 really made a serious difference in our community and at 0:25:34.125 --> 0:25:39.925 the station. Now, some of this may sound like a 0:25:39.965 --> 0:25:44.325 movie plot, but the LASD has been involved in scandals 0:25:44.645 --> 0:25:47.685 to make the movie LA Confidential look like a documentary. 0:25:48.645 --> 0:25:53.645