Crime

Family of latest DR victim fears ‘wrongful death’

DEFENDER NEWS NETWORK — Loved ones of the latest American tourist to be found dead in the Dominican Republic were demanding answers for what could be a “wrongful death.” A recent string of suspicious incidents have left dozens of people violently ill and caused nearly 10 lives to be lost on the Caribbean island nation in recent months.

Published

5 years ago

June 29, 2019

Oakland Post

By Defender News Service

Loved ones of the latest American tourist to be found dead in the Dominican Republic were demanding answers for what could be a “wrongful death.” A recent string of suspicious incidents have left dozens of people violently ill and caused nearly 10 lives to be lost on the Caribbean island nation in recent months.

Joseph (Joe) Allen III’s death last week came after he had recently gotten a clean bill of health from his doctor, Allen’s brother wrote in a letter on Monday. That fact only added to the mystery that caused the 55-year-old New Jersey man to die, a close friend told NewsOne.

“There’s something strange going on that needs to be investigated,” Tabari Sturdivant said in a phone conversation Tuesday morning.

Sturdivant, a 45-year-old filmmaker who lives in Atlanta and was not on the trip, said he was notified of Allen’s death from friends. He said he was sad for his friend’s family and was now unsure about his own pending travel plans to the Dominican Republic, where Allen reportedly regularly visited.

“I don’t believe in any conspiracy theories but there have got to be some answers,” he said. “We just need answers.”

Sturdivant’s concerns mirrored those of Allen’s brother, who told NewsOne in an email that he and his family “are afraid that my brother was a victim of a wrongful death.”

Allen arrived on June 9 to celebrate a friend’s birthday while staying at a hotel in Sosúa, a coastal town known for its beaches. He told friends he wasn’t feeling well Wednesday night and ended up staying in his room Wednesday night, His brother, Joe Allen, said. After his friends couldn’t reach him the following morning, the hotel opened his room door to find Allen dead.

“The maid opened the door, screamed, slammed the door,” Jason told NBC New York. “My brother is on the floor dead between his room and the bathroom.”

Jason went on to express his frustration with not being able to get many answers from Dominican and American authorities. Aside from not being able “to get anyone in the US Embassy to help us out,” Jason also said that Dominican laws were complicating Joe’s timely return to the United States.

“I was informed on Thursday that DR law mandates that all person from another country who die on Dominican soil must be autopsied immediately after his/her death,” Jason wrote in an email.

Joe’s son, Amir, traveled to the Dominican Republic on the day his father was found dead, Jason said. The two were supposed to be celebrating Father’s Day together. Instead, Amir was “pressured to sign a document authorizing my brother’s body to be embalmed in the Dominican Republic,” Jason wrote, adding that “Joe’s body would not be allowed to travel back to the States without undergoing the embalming process.”

Sturdivant said the cost to transport the remains from the Dominican Republic to the U.S. could be tens of thousands of dollars.

Allen’s family has “concerns about the Dominican government agencies involved and their willingness and/or capacity to investigate this situation properly,” Jason said in his email.

He was the ninth American tourist to die in the Dominican Republic in the past year and the eighth in recent months. Of those nine deaths, his was at least the fifth one for a Black person. Dozens of other tourists on vacation have reported becoming violently ill on their own trips. Coupled with separate reports of violence, including the attempted murder of Major League baseball legend David Ortiz, there seemed to be a bona fide crisis in the Dominican Republic — it just was unclear what to attribute it to.

Nearly all of the people who have suffered illnesses or died — many have called them victims — reportedly drank from the minibars where they stayed, which at first were mostly at hotels and resorts along the country’s east coast. In many of the cases, the common denominator seemed to be the Grand Bahia Principe resort in La Romana. But Allen’s death seemed to be the first that was reported to have happened in the northern part of the country.

Jason said he was at peace with that fact that his brother died, no matter how suddenly it was. However, it was the absence of answers that he couldn’t ignore, he told NBC New York.

“We want some closure to figure out what’s going on and why this is happening. And we don’t want anyone to feel how we’re feeling right now,” he said. “I don’t know who to blame. I’d rather not guess because you will drive yourself crazy with that but I do think something is off and I think it needs to be investigated no matter how much money or how much time it is.”

This article originally appeared in the Defender News Network.

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Alameda County Judge Blasts Defendants Over Delay in West Oakland Fire Trial

Judge Kimberly Lowell excoriated the RadiusRecycling/SchnitzerSteel defendants in court for causing delays in prosecuting this case. Since the defendants first appeared in court on July 23, they have obtained three extensions of the arraignment date.

Published

1 day ago

November 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Criminal charges announced this week are related to the August 2023 scrap metal fire at Radius Recycling Inc., formerly Schnitzer Steel. Photo courtesy of Oaklandside.

Special to The Post

District Attorney Pamela Price announced that a hearing was held on October 30 in the criminal prosecution of the Radius Recycling/Schnitzer Steel involving a fire at the West Oakland facility on Aug. 9-10, 2023.

The Alameda County criminal Grand Jury indicted radius Recycling and two of its corporate managers in June 2024.

The court clarified that the defendants will not receive more extensions on their arraignment and plea.

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price agreed with the court that defendants should not get preferential treatment. Price and her team appreciated the court for clarifying that future delays by Radius will not be tolerated.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s (BAAQMD) public data shows that during and after the fire, the smoke plume traveled across Alameda County with high levels of PM 2.5 (Particulate Matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter) detected around Laney College in Oakland, Livermore, Pleasanton, and West Oakland.

PM2.5 is particularly harmful to infants and children, the elderly, and people with asthma or heart disease.

“This fire posed a great health hazard to the people of Alameda County,” said Price. “High, short-term exposures to a toxic smoke plume have been shown to cause significant danger to human health.

“Additionally, in this case, Oakland firefighters battled the blaze under extremely dangerous conditions for 15 hours with assistance from a San Francisco Fire Department fireboat and a fireboat from the City of Alameda Fire Department,” Price observed.

The team prosecuting the case from the DA’s Consumer Justice Bureau looks forward to resolving any future motions and having the defendants arraigned in court on Dec. 9.

The media relations office of the Alameda County District Attorney’s office is the source of this report.

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Alameda County

D.A. Price Charges Coliseum Flea Market Vendors in Organized Retail Theft Case

The charges against Octavio Ambriz Valle, 52, Devora Ambriz Valle, 49, and Felipe Del Toro Trejo, 54, include multiple felony counts of possessing stolen property and organized retail theft in concert. It is alleged that the trio of vendors possessed stolen property valued at $348,466 from nine different retailers, including Kohl’s, Macy’s, PetSmart, Sephora, Sunglass Hut, TJX, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart.

Published

1 day ago

November 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Alameda County courthouse. Courtesy photo.

Alameda County Courthouse File photo.

Special to The Post

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price announced today that her office charged three people in connection with multiple organized retail theft crimes stemming from a sophisticated criminal enterprise operating at the Oakland Coliseum Flea Market from March 26, 2023, through April 17, 2024.

It is alleged that the trio of vendors possessed stolen property valued at $348,466 from nine different retailers, including Kohl’s, Macy’s, PetSmart, Sephora, Sunglass Hut, TJX, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart.

Last year, the District Attorney’s Office successfully competed and received a $2 million grant from the California Department of Justice to combat organized retail theft. Price added another $2 million to bolster the Organized Retail Crime Alameda (ORCA) unit which is fully operational and collaborating with numerous law enforcement agencies.

“For over a year, this enterprise supported criminal networks by requesting and buying specific products from brazen boosters who repeatedly terrorized retailers,” said Price. “I want to acknowledge our Organized Retail Crime Alameda (ORCA) Vertical Prosecution Unit for its great work and the role they played in this multi-jurisdiction investigation, which included the California Highway Patrol Golden Gate Division Organized Retail Crime Task Force, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, and San Ramon Police Department.”

If convicted and sentenced on all charges, Octavio Ambriz Valle faces a maximum sentence of nine years in County jail; Devora Ambriz Valle faces a maximum sentence of five years in County jail; and Felipe Del Toro Trejo faces a maximum sentence of three years and eight months in County jail.

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Activism

Fights Narrowly Break Out at Business Strike Press Conference at Oakland City Hall

Recall supporters called for a one-day business strike for the second year in a row to demand that the city do more to ensure public safety is a priority and that business owners are not plagued by the ongoing retail crime. Less than five minutes into the press conference, opponents of the recall began yelling at the recall supporters. This caused many recall volunteers to become upset with the “hecklers.”

Published

1 day ago

November 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Supporters of the recalls against Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, along with local political candidates and business owners, at a press conference outside Oakland City Hall. Speakers called for a city-wide, one-day business strike to protest against threats to public safety. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

By Magaly Muñoz

What was intended to be a press conference for a planned city-wide business strike turned into two separate altercations between supporters and opponents of the recall of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda District Attorney Pamela Price in front of Oakland City Hall.

Less than five minutes into the press conference, opponents of the recall began yelling at the recall supporters. This caused many recall volunteers to become upset with the “hecklers.”

One recall volunteer confronted the Thao supporters and attempted to physically intimidate them while also screaming obscenities in their faces. After several moments, the volunteer was pulled away from the Thao supporters and returned to the conference.

Soon after that incident, Ray Bobbitt, founder of the African American Sports and Entertainment Group (AASEG) that now owns the Oakland Coliseum, walked up to the rally and attempted to take the microphone from Seneca Scott, leader of the Thao recall efforts. The situation soon escalated as Scott pushed Bobbitt away.

Scott has made several comments at press conferences and on social media that the Coliseum sale deal is a fraud and that AASEG will not provide the city with the promised multi-million dollar funds. Bobbitt told the Post that he is tired of Scott “being a bully” and only wanted to talk through whatever issues Scott had with AASEG.

When Bobbitt asked Scott to talk privately, Scott responded with a threatening remark. Bobbitt soon left the scene after several people talked him down.

“We really need to abandon the toxicity. I’m here to bring our community together, not divide it,” Bobbitt told the Post.

Back with the recall group and business owners, speakers said that businesses are scared to file police reports because Oakland officers “don’t care anymore” and are scared that their insurance rates will increase.

“We’re here today because the last blood of our city is leaking out with no tourniquet. Cities run on commerce. The only reason for a city is commerce. Failure to protect commerce leads to a dying city,” Scott said.

Several businesses in the last year have closed down, such as In-N-Out Burger and Denny’s on the Hegenberger corridor, citing public safety concerns. Local businesses have also left because of break-ins, homelessness, and overall lack of security.

At the time of last year’s business strike, crime was up 26% from the year before, according to Oakland police data. Rumors of a Thao recall were also building around this event.

Crime today is down 37%, according to the same data. This point has been used heavily in Thao’s attempt to rally support against the recall against her.

Speakers at the Tuesday press conference said some owners were sleeping at their businesses for fear of people breaking in to steal from them or vandalize their locations.

“The only things that are not locked up in the stores are criminals,” one speaker said.

Rally organizers claimed that over 200 businesses were participating in the strike. But when the Post asked recall organizers if they could provide a list of all the participants, the request was denied.

“This is an example of the sort of chaos the recall campaign seeks to create in Oakland. This is the last minute last ditch stunt of a coal investor funded campaign that has realized that Oakland residents are going to say NO to the $10 million price tag, the chaos and the division their campaign represents,” a Thao supporter spokesperson said ahead of the business strike.