Richmond Police Department

Former Richmond police officer sues city and Chief Magnus for wrongful termination, sexual harassment

A former Richmond police officer is suing the City of Richmond and Chief of Police Chris Magnus for wrongful termination, claiming that he was discriminated against after he reported to his supervisor that Magnus allegedly made sexual advances towards him. Thomas Hauschild, 44, was a police officer with the city for over eight years. According to a civil suit filed with the U.S. District Court in San Francisco on April 3, Hauschild began duty as an officer in July 2005,…

Mayor highlights Hilltop Mall and Hacienda relocation in State of the City address

Richmond’s new mayor Tom Butt made his first State of the City address on Tuesday night, announcing that “Richmond is open for business” and saying that his office is checking on the Hacienda public housing complex resident relocation every day. Butt started his address by thanking former Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, City Manager Bill Lindsay and all city employees for the “8 great years” when McLaughlin served as the mayor. “Richmond has clearly changed for the better and we want to…

Richmond Confidential looks back on 2014, year for the ages

Long after the billboards come down, the campaign mailers rest in landfills and the New Year’s toasts come and go, 2014 may be remembered as Richmond’s big election year. We are honored to have been in Richmond’s streets and chambers, its homes and schools and everywhere else, helping write the first drafts of history in an important time and place. Chevron Corp. poured an unprecedented $3.1 million into the municipal races only to lose the open mayoral and city council seats to a progressive coalition on every…

Inquest reveals details of Richmond police shooting

Working the graveyard shift that September night, Officer Wallace Jensen pulled his police cruiser over on Stege Avenue and parked out of sight of Uncle Sam’s Liquors. He’d heard reports that locals hung around Uncle Sam’s drinking after dark. His lieutenant had asked him to pass by and disburse crowds. Jensen left his car around the corner to catch potential loiterers off-guard. He never expected what would come next. In the shop, he encountered 24-year-old Richard “Pedie” Perez III, who…

Friends, family mourn Richmond woman killed in Oakland

Things were looking up for Rusamie Ashly Phongphoumy, who had long dreamed of a better life. On the night of Nov. 29, her boyfriend proposed to her. She accepted. The couple made plans for the future. But all that ended the next day, when she was killed in a West Oakland market, allegedly by a jealous ex-boyfriend. The 19-year-old Kennedy High graduate, who answered to her middle name, had been trying for the past few months to end the relationship…