by Lauren Hepler and Robert Lewis, Cal Matters | Posted June 25, 2025
A Scannable LivingTag QR code on Joseph Ramirez’s headstone in Eternal Valley Memorial Park in Newhall, on June 17, 2025. Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters
A CalMatters investigation found that courts didn’t report hundreds of vehicular manslaughter convictions to the DMV, prompting officials to belatedly take many drivers’ licenses.
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.
California courts have failed to report hundreds of vehicular manslaughter convictions to the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles over the past five years, allowing roadway killers to improperly keep their driver’s licenses, a CalMatters investigation has found.
Marvin Salazar was convicted in May 2023 for killing his 18-year-old friend Joseph Ramirez, who was in the passenger seat when Salazar gunned his car, lost control and slammed into a tree, court records show. Under California law, the state should have taken away Salazar’s driving privileges for at least three years.read more
The City Council majority voted at its June 3 meeting to staff Fire Engine 1, but the panel was divided over where to find the funding.
The 4-3 vote to cut the road repair fund — instead of cutting unoccupied positions at Chico Police Department or elsewhere in the budget — elicited sighs from some members of the audience. The road repair fund comes from Measure H sales tax revenue.
“I’m not going to lose sleep if we delay some road projects,” said Councilmember Mike O’Brien. “If we lose a neighborhood because our fire department is not adequately staffed, I will lose sleep over that.”read more
Chico’s Margaret Swick spoke at the April 15 City Council meeting, suggesting that the money allocated for military equipment could go elsewhere.
The City Council voted 4–3 to approve the Chico Police Department’s proposed purchase of more than half a million dollars in additional military equipment.
The acquisitions will include three drones, four remote-controlled cars, a launcher that can fire projectiles, two sniper rifles to replace two old ones, 15 police patrol rifles, and three incident command vehicles that can provide a mobile on-site platform for command, control and communications during major incidents.
The total estimated cost is $562,955, not including maintenance fees, according to Chico PD’s military equipment policy.
“Your continued approval will ensure that the community’s police department stands ready to protect them while also keeping your police officers safe,” Police Chief Billy Aldridge told councilmembers prior to the vote.
“The purpose of those,” Aldridge said, “is they have multiple options for sensors on those – bomb detection, chemical detection, camera systems, audio systems – [so] you can put them into places where you wouldn’t necessarily want to put a human.
“And it’s a robot,” he said, “so no danger to a human in what they’re doing.”
Several members of the community expressed their concern about the City’s purchase of military equipment during the public comment session.
“The goal of AB 481 is for elected officials to curb and regulate the militarizing of our police,” said Chico resident Margaret Swick. “It is not to celebrate the growth of a military-style arsenal,” she said.
Assembly Bill 481 was passed by the California Legislature and signed into law in 2021, in part to “give strong consideration to the public’s welfare, safety, civil rights, and civil liberties” the text states. The law calls for “meaningful public input” prior to the purchase of what it defines as military equipment, and requires California law enforcement agencies to obtain approval from their governing body for the funding, acquisition, or use of that equipment.
“Chico has plenty of issues we could solve by redirecting money to perhaps painting and improving crosswalks so that children, bicycles, and pedestrians are safe,” Swick added.
Diane Suzuki-Brobeck, a member of Concerned Community for Justice, voiced concern about the potential use of the equipment on peaceful protesters. She asked Aldridge to make a public statement “reassuring us that Chico PD will follow the law, … which restricts law enforcement’s use of less-lethal munitions to disperse protests, and also increases the frequency of mandatory use-of-force reporting.”
Councilmember Bryce Goldstein echoed her sentiment. “I’m also concerned in our current political climate about the potential for military equipment being used against people exercising their First Amendment rights,” she said.
Goldstein added that she supports public safety but wants to “make sure that we’re investing our taxpayer dollars into proactive public safety measures.”
Councilmember Tom van Overbeek expressed support for the purchase of the equipment: “My take on this … is that almost every one of those items, it protects … the police officers, and it protects citizens, because it gives you (the police) more non-lethal options when you’re dealing with a difficult situation.”
Councilmember and former Chico Police Chief Mike O’Brien said this equipment “mostly is defensive in nature and designed to save lives.”
After O’Brien motioned to approve all the items requested by Aldridge, Councilmember Katie Hawley introduced a substitute motion to remove several items from the acquisition list.
They included one of the three incident command vehicles, the police patrol rifles that “were only used once in 2024,” and the Boston Dynamics robot.
“Boston Dynamics is a $75,000 piece of equipment,” Hawley told ChicoSol on March 20. “Even if that is awarded with grant funds, upkeep and maintenance of that would be extremely expensive and specialized. It is an erroneous spending allowance in my opinion.”
Hawley’s substitute motion failed 3–4, and O’Brien’s motion passed 4–3. Mayor Kasey Reynolds, Vice Mayor Dale Bennett and van Overbeek voted in favor of O’Brien’s motion.
During the March 31 community forum held by Chico PD to collect public opinions about the military equipment purchases, Aldridge said, “I disagree with the terminology that they use in this law (AB 481), because nothing that we have in our inventory is truly military equipment. It makes it sound like you went to the military and said, ‘Hey, can I buy your tank?’ But that’s not the case.”
According to Chico PD, most of the “military equipment” in their possession is commercially available and made for civilian or law enforcement use.
AB 481 designates in its text a dozen categories of items as “military equipment,” including any firearm or firearm accessory designed to launch explosive projectiles, “Flashbang” grenades and Humvees.
Aldridge specifically addressed concerns over the use of drones — one of the items mentioned in the law that Chico PD utilizes.
Anytime they’re launched, their flights are logged into so-called “air data,” which is posted on the police department’s website.
“Typically, they’ll do a report on why they flew that drone,” Aldridge said. “Then it goes through a review process for that supervisor, and then a manager who will review it, [and] say this was in policy or not in policy.
“Obviously, if we find someone out of policy,” Adridge said, “then we start the investigation into why they violated that policy.”
Yucheng Tang is a California Local News Fellow reporting for ChicoSol.
Two SWAT sergeants were involved in previous fatal incidents
by Dave Waddell | Posted March 22, 2025
photo by Leslie Layton
Chico Police Chief Billy Aldridge called the shooting that killed Michael Oxley a “traumatic incident.”
While few details have been disclosed about the fatal shooting March 2 by Chico police of 43-year-old Michael Oxley, quite a lot is known about two SWAT team sergeants who fired their assault rifles.
The sergeants, Alex Fliehr and Nick Bauer, were each involved in a previous fatal shooting incident, while Fliehr’s unorthodox use of a taser in yet another case led to a civil rights trial in federal court.
Police say Oxley was killed after four SWAT team members returned his fire. In addition to Fliehr and Bauer, officers Tyler Hernandez and Gabe Durney shot at Oxley, said Chico Police Chief Billy Aldridge.
The police were attempting to arrest Oxley for allegedly shooting George Ramirez III, 43, a well-known downtown barber. Ramirez was shot in the neck, head and shoulder after getting into his car in a downtown parking lot about 6 p.m. Feb. 28. Ramirez was soon after air-lifted in critical condition to an out-of-area hospital, but is “making an amazing recovery and talking about returning to work in a few weeks,” said Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey.
Oxley is thought to have been living for at least a month as an Airbnb resident at The Post on Nord, a large apartment complex of mostly college students at 1200 Nord Ave. When the SWAT team attempted to arrest Oxley as he was leaving his apartment about 6 p.m. March 1, “he evaded police by retreating back into the building and his apartment,” Ramsey said.
That prompted a lockdown affecting other residents.
Chico PD, in a press release, said the fact that Oxley was armed “necessitated the use of distractionary devices by search teams. These devices, when deployed, emit very loud noises which sound like explosions or gunshots.”
The booming sounds prompted false social media claims of an active shooter, creating additional fear, according to Chico State’s police department.
Oxley eventually fled to the building’s parking structure, where he was contained on a ramp connecting the fourth and fifth floors. Police negotiated his surrender for a couple of hours before Oxley stood from a crouch and fired at officers using “a pistol with an extended magazine,” Ramsey said.
Aldridge said the incident resulted in the “tragic death of a community member and [is] a traumatic incident for the involved officers, their families, the community, and the organization.”
Ramsey said he hoped to provide more information about the shooting before the end of March.
On St. Patrick’s Day 2017, Fliehr had been a Chico cop for just a couple of years when he and Jeremy Gagnebin, an officer with even less experience, shot and killed Desmond Phillips, a 25-year-old Black man in mental crisis.
Phillips was tasered to the floor of his living room but was able to get up. Within a few seconds, the two officers fired 16 times, with two rounds going into an adjoining apartment and another nearly hitting officers near the front door. Phillips was hit by 11 bullets. Fliehr was the first to fire and shot nine times.
Just three months later, with other officers, Fliehr tasered Tyler Rushing in the back after he lay motionless in his own blood. Before the tasering, Rushing, who was in mental crisis, had been shot a total of three times by a private security guard and a police sergeant.
A police practices expert providing court testimony, Roger Clark, said Fliehr showed “imaginary fear” in considering the prone Rushing a threat.
After the federal court trial in October, a jury ruled Fliehr did not use excessive force in the tasering of Rushing.
After the Rushing incident, Fliehr was reportedly reassigned from patrol to the department’s TARGET team. Aldridge promoted him to sergeant in 2024, a few months before the Rushing trial.
Bauer, an investigator
A 19-year law enforcement veteran, Bauer was promoted to sergeant in 2018 by then-Police Chief Mike O’Brien, who is currently a member of the Chico City Council.
Sgt. Bauer was involved in a previous fatal shooting incident, the October 2020 killing of 30-year-old Stephen Vest. Bauer was commanding sergeant when he and officer Tyler Johnson shot Vest, who appeared to be in psychosis and holding a knife.
At the time, bean-bag shotguns were standard equipment in the sergeants’ patrol SUVs. But Bauer’s regular vehicle, on the day Vest died, was in the shop. When the sergeant went to grab the beanbag shotgun, to his surprise there was only a regular shotgun in his replacement vehicle, Ramsey said.
That left officers with just one “less-lethal” option — a taser blast was deployed by another officer. The deployment, however, had little noticeable effect on Vest, who reacted by slightly changing direction and walking toward Johnson.
Johnson was the primary shooter, firing nine rounds, including into Vest’s back multiple times after he had been shot to the ground. Bauer joined the shooting and his two rounds hit Vest, though neither was fatal, according to Ramsey.
Bauer did not turn on his body-worn camera until after Vest was shot.
Before his promotion to sergeant, Bauer, while a Chico PD detective, participated in multiple officer-involved shooting investigations under Ramsey’s direction, including the Rushing case. After Bauer shot Vest, Ramsey brushed off conflict-of-interest concerns raised by the police reform group Concerned Community for Justice (CC4J).
CC4J argued, to no avail, that a state attorney general’s office investigation into the shooting would be more impartial than Butte County’s standard process.
Dave Waddell writes about law enforcement in Butte County.
Cal State Parks asks that people who have photos or video related to the Mansion fire scan the QR code to submit information to the CAL FIRE Evidence Submission Portal.
A Chico man, Kevin Alexander Carlson, 30, was jailed Jan. 2 in connection with the fire that virtually destroyed the city’s Bidwell Mansion. Carlson faces arraignment on what are likely to be felony arson charges at 3 p.m. Jan. 6.
A California State Parks press release issued today said Carlson was arrested Jan. 2. “CAL FIRE investigators found clear indicators pointing to an intentional act and on Dec. 17, determined the cause to be arson,” the statement says in reference to the Dec. 11 early morning fire.
No other information on Carlson was provided, but the press release notes that Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park remains closed to the public, and the 26-room Mansion, which was completed in 1868, was undergoing renovation.
Sheriff Kory Honea identifies Glenn Litton (shown on screen on left) as the suspect in the Palermo school shooting.
Roman Mendez, aged 6, sustained two gunshot wounds resulting in internal injuries when a gunman entered his school yard Dec. 4 and opened fire. Elias Wolford, 5, was shot one time in the abdomen, also resulting in internal injuries.
The two kindergarten students who attended Feather River Adventist School in Palermo remained in critical condition today. In the pictures shown at a press briefing earlier today, smiling Roman wore a red sweater and Elias cupped his chin in his hands.
“They have a very long road ahead of them in terms of recovery,” said Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea. “It’s very likely that they are going to have to have a number of surgeries going forward.”
Authorities say the gunman killed himself after injuring the kindergarteners. The shooting was reported to the California High Patrol at 1:08 p.m. Dec. 4.
Honea identified the suspect as Glenn Litton, who he said can be “best described as being homeless.”
“He spends time between Sacramento and the Chico area,” Honea said. “He has a lengthy criminal history and history of mental health issues.”
Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsey said a search of 56-year-old Litton’s computer in 2002 showed “his curiosity or searching of a number of websites involved with looking for guns, looking for explosives. Notes in the computer to himself were fairly significant in terms of planning some sort of mass incident involving explosives.”
Litton was listed as a suspect in a Chico PD case last month when he failed to return a rented vehicle, and was arrested by the South San Francisco Police Department.
On Dec. 4, Litton went to the school for an appointment he had made with the school administrator to “explore the possibility of enrolling a family member as a student at school.”
After that meeting, the sheriff said Litton walked to the parking lot and then made a turn and started to walk back through the breezeway that leads to the playground. The children at the school were finishing up their noon break and in the process of heading back to the classroom. Law enforcement officials say that Litton opened fire.
Honea said the appointment appeared to be a ruse to gain access to the campus. Authorities believe the gunman targeted the school because of its religious affiliation.
Honea indicated there are some writings that “we believe came from him (the suspect).”
“Countermeasures involving child executions has now been imposed at the Seventh Day Adventist school in California, United States by The International Alliance. I, Lieutenant Glenn Litton of the Alliance carried out countermeasure in necessitated response to Americas involvement with Genocide and Oppression of Palestinians along with attacks towards Yemen.”
Honea didn’t reveal more details about those writings and how they were found. He said: “At this particular point, we’ve been working not only with local law enforcement, but federal law enforcement … we have not been able to find any organization that calls themselves the International Alliance.”
“It appears that he pulled information from various sources and all came together in his mind to form a reality that perhaps is false or different than ours,” Honea added.
Feather River Adventist School is a Seventh-day Adventist school, with an enrollment of about 30 children in kindergarten through 8th grade. On the school website, the “About Us” says: “…teaching (is) much easier with students like ours who are respectful, friendly, and play hard at recess!”
North Valley Community Foundation has opened a victims’ assistance fund, promising that no administrative fees will be charged.
A fundraising event will be held at 5:30 pm Dec. 9 at the Southside Community Center in Oroville, organized by local churches and community leaders.
Yucheng Tang is a California Local News Fellow reporting for ChicoSol.
