Police captain in Richmond wins job back

A Richmond police captain who was fired after being accused of leaking a police report to a television news reporter has successfully appealed his case and will be reinstated to his job.

Capt. Mark Gagan, a 23-year department veteran and its former spokesman, was fired the day before Thanksgiving amid a misconduct investigation spurred by a Richmond city councilman’s complaint over a KGO-TV report that questioned his sobriety after being robbed at gunpoint in 2016.

The segment by reporter Melanie Woodrow cited a Richmond supplemental police report that suggested Councilman Eduardo Martinez may have been under the influence of alcohol when he left the scene of the robbery in a city vehicle and drove to a nearby motel to call police.

An internal probe found that Gagan had leaked the police report and then lied about it when questioned by investigators.

But this week, Richmond City Manager Bill Lindsay found the department didn’t have cause to terminate Gagan.

In a letter to Gagan’s attorney, Paul Bird, Lindsay wrote there was insufficient evidence that Gagan was “intentionally dishonest” during his administrative interviews, or that he “was responsible for the unauthorized release” of the report.

Gagan will be reinstated to his former position “as soon as reasonably possible,” Lindsay wrote.

“I’m relieved that this situation was able to be resolved at the first and lowest level of appeal,” Gagan said in an interview Friday. “It’s been a very difficult process and to be able to resolve it quickly is my hope.”

It was not immediately clear when Gagan would return to the department.

Reached by telephone on Friday, Richmond Police Chief Allwyn Brown said he could not comment on the case, citing it as a personnel matter.

Brown sat down with Gagan and his attorney on Nov. 7 to hear their side, but determined that “termination of employment is appropriate,” according to Gagan’s termination letter obtained by The Chronicle.

The episode stemmed from the night of Oct. 26, 2016, when Martinez was robbed of his cell phone and wallet at gunpoint outside a wine bar on Richmond’s waterfront.

Martinez then drove to nearby motel to call police. Sgt. Timothy Gard, who responded to the incident, and wrote that he “could smell the strong odor of

alcohol” on Martinez and that “he was probably under the influence of alcohol.”

Gard’s statements came in a second police report to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s office and were made public in the KGO-TV report.

Martinez denied being drunk in the report. He did not immediately return phone calls to The Chronicle on Friday.

Gagan, meanwhile, said he’s ready to get on with his life.

“This experience has been one of the most challenging things I’ve ever gone through, but the outpouring of support from the community in Richmond has made me feel incredibly loved,” he said.