Sonoma County Supervisor To Face Criminal Charges In Prowling Incident
SANTA ROSA (CBS SF) - Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo will face criminal charges for an incident in which he was allegedly found prowling outside a neighbor's home in Santa Rosa in July, a special prosecutor said Thursday.
A criminal complaint will be filed against Carrillo in Sonoma County Superior Court on Friday, and Carrillo will appear before Judge Gary Medvigy at 8:30 a.m.
The special prosecutor, Napa County Deputy District Attorney Cody Hunt, is handling the case for the state Attorney General's Office.
The Sonoma County District Attorney's Office is not prosecuting Carrillo in order to avoid a conflict of interest, District Attorney Jill Ravitch said.
The Board of Supervisors oversees and votes on the district attorney's budget, and Ravitch and Carrillo are political allies.
A decision on whether charges would be filed has been postponed three times since Santa Rosa police arrested Carrillo early the morning of July 13 on suspicion of prowling and attempted burglary. The incident occurred outside a woman's apartment in the area of Stony Point Road and West Third Street in west Santa Rosa.
The woman called police around 3:40 a.m. to report that someone had tried to enter her bedroom window. While officers were on their way, she called back and said someone had knocked on her door and identified himself as a neighbor and then ran away.
Carrillo, 32, the county's 5th District supervisor who lived nearby on Brockhurst Drive at the time, was in his socks and underwear and was carrying a cellphone when he was arrested at the scene.
Santa Rosa police Sgt. Terry Anderson said the screen on the woman's bedroom window had been torn to the extent that it would allow someone to reach through it and a partially open window.
The woman said she was awakened by the sound of window blinds being moved, Anderson said.
After his arrest, Carrillo entered an alcohol treatment center for five weeks. When he unexpectedly returned to the Board of Supervisors at an Aug. 20 meeting, he publicly apologized and disclosed that he is a binge drinker. He said his treatment is continuing.
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