DA charges 9 with May looting in Walnut Creek

WALNUT CREEK >> Prosecutors in Contra Costa County have filed looting charges against nine people, accusing them of stealing from stores in downtown Walnut Creek in May.

In one docket, seven people ages 20- 30 were charged with one felony count each of looting the Macy’s department store on Broadway Plaza. In another, a 19-year- old man was charged with looting the nearby Victoria’s Secret, and a 38-year-old woman was charged with a misdemeanor count of looting the eyeglasses store Site for Sore Eyes.

The alleged offenses all occurred May 31, one of the days that several communities in the Bay Area saw a swath of looting and commercial burglaries in the wake of the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. In other parts of the East Bay, some took advantage of law enforcement attention on protests throughout the area, and others were more brazen.

The crime of looting during a state of emergency is known as a “wobbler” offense, meaning it can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony. Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in early March in response to the coronavirus epidemic.

On May 31 in Walnut Creek, dozens of people broke through various storefronts in broad day

light, running out with whatever merchandise they could grab. One person was shot and injured during the pandemonium.

Investigators were aided by the use of surveillance cameras in identifying the suspects, authorities wrote in court records.

Felony looting charges carry a maximum threeyear sentence.

Earlier this year, Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton issued an inter

nal memo outlining when prosecutors should file charges of looting during a state of emergency. That memo — obtained by this news organization and several others — instructed filing attorneys to question if there was an “articulable reason why another statute wouldn’t adequately address the particular incident” and whether the theft was motivated by financial gain or “personal need,” such as stealing food in the wake of a natural disaster.

Before sending out the memo, Becton refiled several cases as commer

cial burglaries, when they originally had been filed as looting counts.

“I think that the job of a prosecutor is to make sure the charges accurately reflect the conduct,” Becton’s second in command, Venus Johnson, said in a September interview about the memo. “The facts are the facts, and if the facts lead to a looting charge, then a looting charge should be added. If the facts lead to another charge, then those charges should be brought.”