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Questions Continue: Little Is Known about the Last Hour Spent in Custody by Mitrice Richardson

• Lost Hills Jailer Who May Have Been Her Final Contact Declines Local Press Interview


BY ANNE SOBLE

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s chief spokesperson and other LASD officials ask, “What does the family’s criticism [of us] do to help find Mitrice Richardson?” But the drumbeat of criticism grows louder and more specific as there has been no word from the 24-year-old Cal State Fullerton honors graduate in nine weeks.
Given a powerful push by Richardson’s photo appearing on the cover of People magazine and an intensive drive in the politically active gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, the saga of the young woman who was “acting crazy” in Geoffrey’s restaurant on Sept. 16 and allegedly unable to pay a dinner bill of $89.51 at the establishment despite having several thousand dollars in a bank account is achieving national status.
The GLBT community has expressed concern that the young African-American woman preparing to become a teacher and begin doctoral studies in psychology may have encountered not only race and gender bias, but also sexual identity issues because she is a lesbian.
Geoffrey’s manager performed a citizen’s arrest and signed paperwork requiring the remanding of Richardson to custody for transport to the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station where she was booked on two misdemeanor counts—defrauding an innkeeper and possession in her vehicle of less than an ounce of marijuana (normally a field citation).
Richardson was then ostensibly released alone after midnight on Sept. 17 without money, her cell phone (reportedly still being kept by the authorities) and without transportation (her car was towed from Geoffrey’s lot and impounded).
Family members criticize how Richardson was handled by the arresting deputies—they name two of them on a family blog, Armando Loureiro and Frank Brower—and contend that anyone described as saying she was from Mars and speaking gibberish should have been placed on a 72-hour hold under professional medical care, instead of being let out the side entrance of an isolated building in a dark industrial area she did not know.
Excluding the possibility that Richardson’s behavior at the restaurant was a carefully rehearsed act that she then dropped with sheriff’s deputies, family members say the woman was demonstrating a state of mental crisis that might be related to bipolarity or schizophrenia.
In the supplemental report—written by Brower a week after the initial arrest report—describing the field sobriety test, which the woman passed, he notes that Richardson was “cooperative and polite” and “seemed a little embarrassed about the entire incident.”
To complete the booking process, Richardson was handed over to a jailer, or custody assistant, named Sharon Cummings. Jailers are not sworn deputies but are classified as professional staff. As they are not peace officers, they are not armed. It is their job to run the jails in the Los Angeles County system.
According to the operations lieutenant at Lost Hills, Steve Smith, “[Cummings] started county service in May of 1997, working a county jail facility. She arrived at Malibu/Lost Hills in April of 1998.”
Smith said, “She is identified as our administrative jailer, which means she trains other jailers and is responsible for administrative paperwork that is required.”
The sheriff’s department’s chief spokesperson, Steve Whitmore, speaking at a rally in October outside the Lost Hills Station, told the gathering of placard carriers that the “African American jailer [Cummings] said she engaged [Richardson] in ‘lucid’ conversation...at great length.” Whitmore indicated that the jailer said they “talked about music... jazz [which Richardson] liked. [and] gospel [which] she didn’t.”
Whitmore said the jailer offered to let Richardson stay overnight in a cell with a bed. He indicated that the cell would not be locked, but Captain Tom Martin, the commander at Lost Hills, had earlier told the Malibu Surfside News that station policy requires all occupied cells be kept locked, but Richardson “could have asked to be let out at any time.”
Cummings now declines to be interviewed by the media or allow a personnel file photo or other photograph of her to be made public by the sheriff’s department.
Responding to an email inquiry from The News, Lieut. Smith said: “As I am sure you can imagine, an employee who infrequently interacts with members of the press can feel a high level of stress speaking to the press.”
Smith added, “Specifically, an employee is always fearful that they could be misquoted, sound/say something ‘stupid,’ answer a question incorrectly, and probably most common, when they read what was written, feel that the written words were not what they meant to say to the reporter.”
Smith noted that Cummings did one brief off-camera interview with a broadcast outlet a week after Richardson disappeared that the jailer considered stressful. Smith said, “I believe Ms. Cummings feels that..she did not need the added stress of another interview.” He added that “Ms. Cummings is a very professional and gentle woman, who takes great pride in her duties and responsibilities to those who she is entrusted to care for when they are in her custody.”
The only quote attributed to Cummings in the off-camera interview was similar to paraphrasing offered by Whitmore at the Lost Hills rally. Cummings said, “When I found out [Richardson] didn’t have a ride, I asked her why don’t you stay. It’s kind of dark and a bit cool, you don’t have a jacket. I knew she lived out in L.A. and didn’t know the area. But she said she didn’t want to spend the night in jail, and she was hooking up with some friends.”
Cummings then reportedly walked Richardson to a side exit door and up to the walk-through gate at the entrance to the side of the sheriff’s station. She may have been the last person to converse with the young woman before she disappeared.
Among conjectures voiced by family members is that Richardson encountered foul play at Lost Hills. The woman’s father, Michael Richardson, adamantly states, “I believe that someone at [Lost Hills] had something to do with my daughter’s disappearance.” Family members point to changes in versions of arrest circumstances given to them by Lost Hills and redacted reports as proof of a “cover-up.”
Some family members also ask whether Richardson might have been given a ride from the station and then, for some reason, either got out of the vehicle or was let out seven miles from Lost Hills, where she appears to have been sighted by a Cold Canyon area resident at about 6 a.m. Family members doubt that she could have walked that far in the dark alone. The report of this possible sighting was allegedly not responded to by deputies for several hours.
The family continues to request a meeting with Sheriff Lee Baca and has responded negatively to a report he presented to the county board of supervisors last week, outlining the department’s stance that Mitrice Richardson’s release was handled in accord with all applicable laws and practices.
The family is also keeping track of the Los Angeles Office of Independent Review’s oversight of the department’s review of Malibu Station personnel’s interactions with Richardson.
The OIR is a civilian oversight panel that monitors the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and investigates allegations of officer misconduct.
LASD RESPONSE
Sheriff’s department spokesperson Steve Whitmore says family members’ ongoing criticism of the LASD, especially espousal of conspiracy or wrongdoing theories, “doesn’t achieve the goal of finding the missing woman.”
Whitmore said he “can’t stress enough that there is no cover-up [because] there is no wrong-doing...there is no conspiracy.”
However, most observers say there can’t be anyone in the department who doesn’t expect a day of reckoning, no matter how the case turns out, which is why LASD officials hope the woman is found soon. They know that if she has befallen an ill fate, fingers will point at them.
PETITION DRIVE
An online activist group—change.org—has collected 2569 signatures toward its goal of 5000 signatures on a petition urging state and federal officials to initiate a federal investigation into the Mitrice Richardson case. The text of the petition can be found at the website: www.change.org
Although the tight-knit circle around the missing woman maintains an upbeat attitude and speaks out to her daily, as evident at a recent prayer service attended by her mother and other family and friends, signs of the ongoing stress show on many of their faces.
Anyone with information related to the Richardson case can go to www.findmitrice.info or contact Ronda Hampton at 951-660-8031, Michael Richardson at 310-283-4717, or LAPD Detective Chuck Knolls (Homicide-Robbery) at 213-485-2531.

Sheriff Baca Says Department Handled Mitrice Richardson by the Book

• 24-Year-Old Who Has Been Missing for Almost Nine Weeks Has a Nov. 16 Court Date

BY ANNE SOBLE

Sheriff Lee Baca reported to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Monday that although the Mitrice Richardson missing person’s case is in his words “unusual and unfortunate...the [sheriff’s] department’s release policy and procedures are consistent with state law, and our investigation revealed all applicable laws, policies and procedures were followed.”
Richardson mysteriously disappeared after release from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station on Sept. 17 and has not been heard from for close to nine weeks, despite extensive field searches and a concerted effort by her family to keep the missing 24-year-old’s story in the public eye.
Baca’s four-page report was requested by the board last month when the supervisors announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to Richardson’s whereabouts. He concludes that “the department did not identify any areas requiring modification.”
The head of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said the LASD processes approximately 180,000 prisoners each year for release and “over-detention [carries] tremendous liability, as well as risk to the public’s safety and a deprivation of civil rights.”
His report includes a cursory outline of the department’s assessment of the circumstances under which the Cal State Fullerton honors graduate was placed under citizen’s arrest by the manager of Geoffrey’s restaurant for allegedly being unable to pay an $89.51 dinner tab and possessing less than an ounce of marijuana in her vehicle, then transported by deputies to Lost Hills for booking on two misdemeanor counts related to the allegations.
As Baca describes it, after Richardson’s 92-year-old great grandmother, the matriarch on her mother’s side, was unable to drive to the restaurant to pay the bill, her mother Latice Sutton spoke to the manager and she “opted not to assist her daughter with the payment.”
Although Geoffrey’s staffers had described the young woman’s behavior as “crazy,” she reportedly passed a field sobriety test and Baca said “her interaction with the deputies was coherent and rational” and “deputies described her as cooperative and polite.”
He said Richardson signed an Arrestee Medical Screening Form stating she has no medical issues or psychological problems.
Richardson, who was garbed in a T-shirt and jeans, and whose only possessions reportedly were a hat, a belt and her California driver license, left the station through a side entrance at 12:25 a.m. with no money, cell phone, or means of transportation; and ostensibly without making her plans known to anyone. Telephone calls to the great-grandmother are listed on the booking report, but no further information about them has been made available.
Regarding the timing of Richardson’s release, Baca said, “It is the policy of the department to release misdemeanor prisoners as soon as such persons may be reasonably and safely released.”
Baca said this policy “is no different than any other time of day,” adding that the procedures emphasize “prompt and safe release once there is no justification to deprive the arrestee of their freedom.” He said “it is not practical or legal for the department to hold people until someone is available to pick them up” and “altering this procedure would subject the department to potential litigation.”
The sheriff reiterated that Richardson was offered the option of being placed in a cell and being “free to leave at any time.” Baca stressed that there was “no legal basis to hold Ms. Richardson and she was released on her written promise to appear in Malibu Court on Nov. 16. Following her release from the station’s jail area, her movements were no longer monitored.”
PARENTS’ REACTION
Richardson’s mother Latice Sutton said she is “very upset by the report” and told the Malibu Surfside News: “It is unfortunate that the LASD deemed releasing anyone from their facility knowing that they had no transportation, form of communication or money as ‘prudent, reasonable and safe,’ particularly someone who they knew was behaving in a manner that warranted an evaluation by a qualified professional. Further the amount of time and manpower that it took to generate their erroneous report takes away valuable time in the search for my daughter.”
Richardson’s father, who maintains his own website concerning his missing daughter, as does the mother, (the couple separated when their daughter was very young), posted a similar comment to the mother’s statement on that site, adding:
“This is ridiculous and my daughter is still missing and really it’s the sheriff's who were the last verified people to see her. If I follow the sheriff’s department’s own logic, it’s clear they acted inappropriately. The initial call regarding my daughter from Geoffrey’s to the sheriff’s was that she was “acting crazy.” Crazy. Crazy as in mental problems, as in you don’t release her on her own in the middle of the night without money, her cell phone, or transportation. You call her parents and or hold her overnight.”
Michael Richardson added, “Now I'm no rocket scientist, but if a woman says she’s from Mars and is here to avenge Michael Jackson's death...chances are she’s in need of some help. My question is, who did they call or who was on duty that night that had the training and background to make the assessment on whether Mitrice Richardson was stable or not?
“If the sheriff’s handling my daughter would have used a little common sense or even put themselves in our shoes as parents and thought twice before just letting Mitrice out into the middle of the night, my daughter would not be missing. But because they didn’t, she is and they refuse to accept responsibility or even act as though they played a role in her disappearance or that they even care.”
The father concludes, “We are tired [of] being lied to and misled by the sheriff's department. I believe that someone at the Malibu-Lost Hills sheriff’s department had something to do with my daughter’s disappearance and this report only confirms it for me.”
Richardson’s last statement is being echoed on dozens of blog posts related to the missing woman on websites across Southern California, as well as blogs in other parts of the country.
OIR REVIEW
Lost Hills personnel’s position that the matter has already been reviewed notwithstanding, the Los Angeles Office of Independent Review indicates that it is still looking at the Richardson matter.
Deputy Chief Attorney Benjamin Jones told The News on Monday, “The Office of Independent Review has not completed its monitoring of the department’s review of the Malibu Station personnel’s conduct in their interactions with Ms. Richardson.” This stance was subsequently reiterated by OIR Chief Attorney Michael Gennaco.
The OIR is a civilian oversight group that was created by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in 2001 to “monitor the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and provide legal advice to ensure that allegations of officer misconduct involving the LASD are investigated in thorough, fair, and effective ways.”
OIR consists of six attorneys with backgrounds in criminal law and civil rights issues who “work with LASD, but not for LASD.” OIR contends that it “has the freedom to arrive at its own conclusions and, if necessary, to challenge the department with regard to specific practices or incidents.”
LAPD STATUS
Repeated efforts to obtain updates from the Los Angeles Police Department detectives assigned to the Richardson case have been unsuccessful.
The LAPD is the lead agency because the missing woman resided in Los Angeles with her great-grandmother. There have no formal briefings on whether there have been any recent sightings or exactly what is now being done by the LAPD to try to locate Richardson. Family members have expressed interest in trying to take up the case with new LAPD Chief Charlie Beck.
FEDS PETITION
An online activist group whose concerns include criminal justice—change.org—has collected 2022 signatures toward its goal of 5000 signatures on a petition urging state and federal elected and appointed officials to initiate a federal investigation of the Mitrice Richardson case.
In addition to an effort to “help find Richardson,” the group wants “to ensure that this does not happen to additional persons.” The petition is at the group’s website: www.change.org
PRAYER SERVICE
Family and friends gathered last Saturday for a prayer service to “pray for the safe return of Mitrice Richardson” at the New Testament Church in Los Angeles, a church where the missing woman has worshiped in the past.

Mitrice Richardson’s Family Continues to Ask for Videotapes that Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station Captain Says Do Not Exist

• City Approves $15,000 Reward for Arrest and Conviction of Those Responsible for 24-Year-Old’s Disappearance

BY ANNE SOBLE

Tensions are rapidly mounting in what has become volleys of charges and accusations by family and friends of Mitrice Richardson, the 24-year-old woman who disappeared after being released without money, cell phone or means of transportation from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station at 12.25 a.m. on Sept. 17.
Richardson was placed under citizen’s arrest by the manager of Geoffrey’s restaurant after not paying an $89.51 dinner tab. When Lost Hills deputies arrived to transport her to the station for booking, they asked if they could search her car and found less than an ounce of marijuana.
She was then booked at Lost Hills on the misdemeanor counts of defrauding an innkeeper and “possession” and was released on her own recognizance. Because staff at the restaurant described Richardson’s actions as “crazy,” the family says the deputies were remiss in not ordering that she be placed on a “5150,” or medical hold, and taken to a hospital for psychological evaluation.
The intensity of family criticism has crescendoed in recent weeks with the woman’s father, Michael Richardson, blasting the sheriff’s department; the Los Angeles Police Department, the lead investigative agency; the City of Malibu; and Malibu elected officials, with a laundry list of alleged shortcomings.
This criticism, even when made to non-mainstream media, becomes instant online fodder and reverberates around the Web. Some other family members are concerned that the attacks could impede rather than help the investigation.
Simultaneously, scenarios running the gamut from “Richardson never left the sheriff’s station at all (or alive)” to the theory that her “disappearance is a carefully crafted hoax that was planned weeks in advance” whirl indiscriminately in a cacophony bordering on the frenetic. The only universal thread in the rumor mill is disbelief that someone could disappear completely.
All wings of the family of the Cal State Fullerton honors grad who planned on completing a doctorate in psychology are vocal in their determination to keep the public spotlight on the missing woman.
Gatherings in South Los Angeles and Malibu on Sunday included family members, friends and total strangers who say they have been touched by the media coverage.
In Malibu, Richardson’s mother Latice Sutton, her aunt Lauren Sutton and her college mentor clinical psychologist Ronda Hampton reiterated the family’s ongoing call for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to get involved in the case.
Latice Sutton asked why when a white student disappeared in Virginia last week under comparable circumstances, the FBI was called right in. As the lead agency in the investigation, it is up to the Los Angeles Police Department to issue a request for FBI involvement. According to Detective Chuck Knolls, who is heading up the LAPD efforts, the FBI has not been asked to become involved because “there is no evidence of criminality.”
Richardson’s mother replies that “if a young woman who may be in a troubled mental state and has been missing for seven weeks is not criminality, it’s difficult to understand what is.”
VIDEOTAPES
Latice Sutton reiterated the allegation being made extensively in print and broadcast media that the sheriff’s department is withholding videotapes they have of Mitrice Richardson from the family.
But Capt. Tom Martin, the commander at Lost Hills, told the Malibu Surfside News this week:
“First, I can’t imagine how videotapes from the station, if they existed, would help find the missing person. The family asked for perimeter videotapes of the station that would show Mitrice leaving after being released from jail. We have no such tapes. We have cameras mounted at strategic points around the station which feed to monitors at the desk; however, they are live feed and don’t videotape.”
Martin is aware that Lost Hills is being slammed repeatedly by family members, especially Richardson’s father, and this is being picked up on blogs, talk radio and, increasingly, mainstream media.
The Lost Hills commander said, “We have reviewed our policy and procedures to ensure that we followed them appropriately in the release of Mitrice Richardson. The Office of Independent Review (OIR) has reviewed the arrest and release of Mitrice Richardson to ensure we followed policy.”
Martin added that “sheriff’s department executives have reviewed the case to ensure we followed appropriate procedures. The Board of Supervisors will be reviewing the release of Mitrice Richardson to ensure we acted appropriately.”
That review was requested by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors last month, when it posted a $10,000 reward for “information leading to [Mitrice Richardson’s] whereabouts”—broader wording than allowed under City of Malibu law related to rewards.
Capt. Martin added, “My focus is and has always been finding Mitrice Richardson and bringing her home safely, in addition to ensuring that my personnel completed their jobs appropriately,” and he voiced criticism of news coverage that he said appeared to “smear” the sheriff’s department.
FEDERAL INVESTIGATION
But the drumbeat of criticism is not expected to let up. An online activist group whose concerns include criminal justice—change.org—has posted a petition urging California officials, including the governor, the state attorney general, a cross-section of legislators, as well as the U.S. attorney general and dozens of other officials to initiate a federal investigation of the Richardson case.
At press time, there were 1649 signatures toward a goal of 5000 to urge the Feds to “help find Richardson” and “to ensure that this does not happen to additional persons.” The petition is at the group’s website: www.change.org
GLBT OUTREACH
Yet another push of family members and friends includes increased outreach to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in Los Angeles.
Richardson is openly gay and concern has been voiced that this, in addition to race and gender, are possible components in her alleged negligent treatment and the perceived tenor of the law enforcement investigation.
Richardson’s partner of two years, Tessa Moon, also a CSF graduate, is now embarked on a major media blitz, issuing appeals for assistance from GLBT organizations and the population at large to help find the missing woman.
Information about Richardson can be directed to www.findmitrice.info or to: Michael Richardson at 310-283-4717, Dr. Ronda Hampton at 951-660-8031, or LAPD Detective Chuck Knolls at 213-485-2531.