DA’s Office opts not to review allegations
The Solano County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday it did not find enough material to warrant an investigation into allegations made against Dixon Mayor Thom Bogue beyond its courtesy review.
The announcement was made on the Dixon Police Department’s Facebook page regarding an inquiry that was first made in September after Bogue was called on to keep a party with 400 to 600 attendees under control.
At the Sept. 1 City Council meeting, Bogue said he was called by a
friend who owns a property on South Lincoln Street regarding a party hosted at his property through Airbnb. The party was purportedly supposed to be a baby shower with 12 to 13 guests but had soon blossomed to hundreds of people, including many from out of town. The property owner asked Bogue if he could help him in contacting the police.
Bogue said there were eight law enforcement officers when he arrived, including Dixon police and Solano County sheriff’s deputies, and they were concerned about trying to disperse a party of that size with the small number of officers on- site, although they would go in if necessary.
Bogue asked the officers if they would prefer he speak to the person who rented the property and try to come to an arrangement. Reportedly, the officer in charge suggested he speak with the renter. Bogue said the party was relatively mellow at that moment and advised the renter to ensure
partygoers kept it at that level. However, he told the renter if it got out of hand, officers would have to come in and partygoers were advised to obey their orders.
At the Sept. 1 meeting, former Councilman Rick Fuller expressed concerns about a large party being hosted during a pandemic that was never broken up and accused Bogue of trying to intervene in police activity. He also claimed Bogue allowed the owner to negotiate a settlement.
T hese remarks were echoed in a later comment by Paul McIntyre, a retired law enforcement officer, and by Vice Mayor Steve Bird, who also is running against Bogue in the November mayoral election. Bird claimed Bogue was involved in a financial bargaining agreement with the property owner and the person hosting the party, which Bogue denied. Bird called for an investigation, which prompted the Police Department to request the DA’s Office review the allegations as a courtesy and decide if a larger investigation is necessary.
On Tuesday, the Police Department announced that the DA’s Office announced that it had com
pleted its review and did not find grounds to pursue the matter further.
“Their determination merely asserted no further inquiry is warranted at this time,” the department wrote.
Bogue said he was feeling good Wednesday and was not surprised by the outcome. He was initially concerned that the inquiry would not be wrapped up before the election but he was pleased the decision was made sooner.
“Initially, I was a little bit bitter over it that such a ploy would be made during the campaign season but that is what it is,” he said.
Bogue praised those in the community who kept their trust in him and did not believe “that I would do something as preposterous as what I was being charged with.”
“I hope that those who have always had faith in me as a mayor continue to
have faith, and those who had questions in their mind because of this to now have relief in their own mind that their current mayor would never do anything to hurt them,” he said. “T hese things happen, especially during campaign season. I’m just glad the DA worked as quickly and efficiently as they did in getting this matter cleared up.”
Bird told The Reporter the DA’s decision “is what it is” but cautioned against others saying that Bogue was “cleared” on the matter.
“In their minds, at the point in the investigation they are at, they felt there was nothing further they could do to bring forward any charges or support any wrongdoing at this time,” he said.
Bird, who prev iously worked as a police officer, said he had worked on cases where not enough evidence was found to warrant further investigation. However, he said new evidence or information could emerge later to reopen the case, but there was not enough to pursue it further at the moment.
“Where you’re at right now, you’ve exhausted all leads and evidence available,” he said. “The case has kind of stopped. It doesn’t go forward at this time.”
Bird said his call for an investigation was merely following up on concerns that had been brought forth by members of the public.
“I would expect any of us to be investigated if allegations were laid forward whether it was me or any of my counterparts,” he said.
Regarding calls for Bird to apologize, he said he felt he did not have anything to apologize for.
“For simply doing what is requested of us from the public and doing my job as an elected official in this community, I have no apologies for that,” he said. “If apologies are warranted, maybe they can come from another source.”
Bogue was happy to have the community’s support during the review.
“I just love our community,” he said. “I really do on so many levels, but this is one of them. They can see through things and see the truth for what it is. I’m just glad that it all came to light prior to the election.”