Solano’s Covid-related deaths climb to 318 A3
Vanden hosts Vista del Lago in SJS semifinals B1
friday | November 19, 2021 | $1.00
dailyrepublic.com | Well said. Well read.
DA clears Benicia police officer of criminal wrongdoing in death of pedestrian Todd R. Hansen
thansen@dailyrepublic.net
Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic
Daniel’s Jewelry at the Solano Town Center mall remained closed Thursday after being robbed Wednesday.
Police seek info on crew that robbed jewelry store 3 teens already caught, jailed in connection with brazen smash-and-grab incident at Fairfield mall
Daily Republic Staff
drnews@dailyrepublic.net
FAIRFIELD — A 19-year-old Antioch man and two teenagers who police suspect robbed a jewelry store Wednesday afternoon at the Solano Town Center on Travis Boulevard were arrested Thursday. Police originally said six to seven males entered from the north side of the mall at 1350 Travis Boulevard from two vehicles at 2:10 p.m. Wednesday. The males entered the mall, went into Daniel’s Jewelers, broke the glass counters with hammers and bats and stole various items. They fled the scene and no one was injured. Sgt. John Divine of the Fairfield Police Department said the robbery matched a similar one that occurred Tuesday in Concord. The Fairfield Police Department’s Investigation Division responded and took over the case. A suspect vehicle was located in Antioch. Dominick Desouza, 19, of Antioch, was arrested and booked
The males entered the mall, went into Daniel’s Jewelers, broke the glass counters with hammers and bats and stole various items. They fled the scene and no one was injured. into the Solano County jail on suspicion of robbery and possession of stolen property, both felony allegations. A 16-year-old male and 17 year-old male were also booked into Solano County Juvenile Hall. Their names were not released because of their ages. Desouza is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. Friday in Solano County Superior Court. He was still listed online late Thursday afternoon as an inmate in jail with a bail set at $98,333. Investigators were able to recover $50,000 worth of stolen jewelry, police report. Other participants in the robbery are still considered at-large, police said. The case remains under investigation.
News of the arrests came the same day the Buy Safe America Coalition released a report on amount of merchandise lost to retail thefts prior to the pandemic. The report, “The Impact of Organized Retail Crime and Product Theft in the United States,” details how retail theft ballooned to more than $68 billion in 2019 as organized retail crime spawned massive criminal enterprises online and more brazen attacks in stores, according to a press release to announce the report. California ranked third per capita nationally with the theft of $13.76 billion worth of goods. The Buy Safe America Coalition in the press release estimates that the thefts resulted in more than $19 billion in lost economic activity and some 94,400 jobs that pay more than $6 billion in wages and benefits to workers. Anyone with information about the Daniel’s Jewelers case, who has not already spoken to a detective, is asked to call the Fairfield Police Department’s Investigations Bureau at 707-428-7600.
Fresh look at earliest Covid cases points to live-animal market as most likely source Tribune Content Agency Conspiracy theorists need little more than suspicion, some cherrypicked facts and vibrant imaginations to spin tales about the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. But for the scientists working to establish the facts, the path to the truth is much more plodding. Their search will take them through a trove of medical records whose quotidian details will be important guideposts to the time and circumstances of the coronavirus’s birth as a human pathogen. Patients’ recall of their whereabouts and con-
Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images/TNS file (2020)
Members of staff of the Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team drive their vehicle as they leave the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei, Province, Jan. 11, 2020. tacts will matter too. But even if the Chinese government were willing
SUNDAY
Parade coming this weekend. Look for the insert in the DR.
to open all its patient files to international investigators – it currently is
not – symptom reports and patients’ memories can be fallible and confusing. Researchers need to check every fact as they ferret out the story, piece by piece. University of Arizona evolutionary biologist Michael Worobey offers a down payment on such sleuthing in this week’s edition of the journal Science. Drawn from medical journal articles, the work of World Health Organization investigators, media reports and online accounts, Worobey’s reconstruction leaves many questions unanswered. But it See Covid, Page A8
INDEX Arts B4 | Classifieds B6 | Comics A7, B5 | Crossword A6, B4 Obituaries A4 | Opinion B3 | Sports B1 | TV Daily A7, B5 WEATHER 61 | 47 Mostly cloudy. Five-day forecast on B10.
BENICIA — A former Benicia police officer who struck and killed a pedestrian with his patrol car has been cleared by the Solano County District Attorney’s Office of any criminal wrongdoing. “While the loss of Mr. Hamers’ life is tragic, we find no criminal liability on behalf of Officer (James) Franklin as a result,” states a letter from the District Attorney’s Office to Benicia police Chief Mike Greene. Scott Hamers, 48, of Richmond, was stuck about 2 a.m. on Nov. 11, 2020, on the 1900 block of East Second Street, north of Interstate 780, where the road goes under the overpass, the CHP reported at the time. The yearlong investigation by the Major Task Force Crimes found that Franklin was driving above the speed limit, but that the district attorney could not prove that his “rate of travel
was unreasonable given the overall conditions,” the letter states. The California Highway Patrol’s Golden Division also Gate conducted its own investigation, the findings of which were sent to the District Attorney’s Office as part of the final determination. Franklin, who resigned from the department in October, had turned onto East Second Street from Military East while looking for a vehicle with a reported exhaust violation. The District Attorney’s Office letter states that the street was poorly lit and Hamers, wearing dark clothing, walked into the roadway, against the traffic signal and outside a crosswalk. “As Mr. Hamers approached the center turn lane on East Second Street, he was struck by the front left corner panel of Franklin’s patrol vehicle,” the letter states. It was determined that See Benicia, Page A8
Supervisors agree on look of local districts Hear Travis, Fairfield could shift from congressional district Todd R. Hansen
thansen@dailyrepublic.net
FAIRFIELD — Congressional representation of Travis Air Force Base could be shifted west, along with Vallejo, Benicia and Fairfield if a redistricting proposal is finalized in Sacramento. M ichelle Heppner, the point person for the Solano County adm in ist rat ion on local, state spering and national redistricting issues, informed the Board of Supervisors of the sudden changes in congressional boundaries at a special meeting Wednesday night. “That’s not good,” said Supervisor Erin Hannigan, who suggested there could be an oil refinery
influence at play. The board had already been told of an earlier proposal to push Vallejo and Benicia west out of Rep. Mike Thompson’s 5th Congressional District, and had directed staff to send the county’s opposition to the change. H e p p n e r said because of time constraints, similar comments of opposition were sent related to the expanded shift that would take Travis and Fairfield out of Rep. John Garamendi’s 3rd Congressional District. What that will mean for Solano County is not completely known as Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, could remain the See Districts, Page A8
3VJHS .PYS 2UV^Z 9LHS ,Z[H[L Dr. David P. Simon,
MD, FACS. Eye Physician & Surgeon, Col. (Ret.), USAF Services include:
• Routine Eye Exams • Comprehensive Ophthalmology • Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration Care • Diabetic Eye Exams • Dry Eye Treatment • Cataract Surgery • LASIK Surgery • BOTOX
Now Accepting New Patients! 3260 Beard Rd #5 Napa
707-256-5000 simoneyesmd.com
:HUKYH 9P[JOL` )\[SLY 9,(3;69® +9,
ZHI\[SLY 'NTHPS JVT