Court OKs release of info on fired Rio Vista officer

A state appeals court says a Rio Vista police officer who lost his job after illegally arresting and choking a suspected drunken driver can’t sue the city for releasing information about him to the news media, under a new state law making records of police misconduct public.

John Collondrez, a veteran officer in the Solano County community, responded to a report of a hitandrun accident in August 2017 by following the suspected driver into his home, which he entered without a warrant. According to a Police Department investigation, Collondrez arrested the man without legal justification, put him in a choke hold for 20 seconds, failed to summon medical assistance and submitted a false report to justify his actions. The man survived.

Police Chief Dan Dailey then sought to fire Collondrez. City Manager Robert Hickey upheld the dismissal after a hearing, but the officer’s appeal sent the dispute to arbitration, which resulted in a settlement in September 2018. Collondrez agreed to resign and not to seek future employment by the city and was paid $35,000.

Then in January 2019, a state law took effect allowing the public to obtain records of police dishonesty and uses of deadly force. In response to media requests, Rio Vista released records about Collondrez, whose new employer, Uber, promptly fired him. The former officer then sued the city for invasion of privacy and breach of contract, saying the disclosures about him were not authorized by the new law.

Superior Court Judge Michael Mattice refused to dismiss the suit, saying the law allowed release of police records only after a “sustained finding” of dishonesty, and not after a settlement like the one Collondrez reached with the city. But the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco disagreed Tuesday and said City Manager Hickey’s approval of the police chief’s findings of dishonesty, and his proposed firing of Collondrez, made the records public.

The new law was intended to serve “the strong public interest in making serious officer misconduct records accessible,” Justice Ioana Petrou said in the 30 ruling. She said the law did not allow officers to thwart its purpose by settling their cases after findings of dishonesty.

The court also said the public was entitled to learn about Collondrez’s use of excessive force because it was part of the incident, even if it did not directly relate to dishonesty.

Mona Ebrahimi, a lawyer for the city, praised the court for “upholding California’s commitment to transparency in law enforcement.”

Harry Stern, a lawyer for Collondrez, said the former officer may ask the state Supreme Court to review the case.

“The city induced Officer Collondrez to give up his appeal rights by paying him a substantial sum and then broke their agreement with him” by releasing the information, Stern said.