By Frost McGahey, Investigative Journalist

Photo courtesy of councilwoman

On May 8, 2023 at a Bayard City Council work session, councilwoman Frances Gonzales made a public, political statement*describing an attempted break-in at her home the night before and why she chose not to call 911. She didn't call because Bayard did not have 24-hour police protection. (There was an officer on duty.) The council then had to discuss how the Police Department could maximize coverage with the resources it had.

Police Chief Hector Carrillo called one of his officers to City Hall to speak to Gonzales after the council's session ended. Gonzales told the officer she had an appointment and would contact the officer the next day. When she failed to do so, Officers Valerie Barboa and Manuel Galaz went to Gonzales' home two separate times the next afternoon. Gonzales was not home the first time but was able to see them later through her surveillance cameras.

According to the police report during the second visit, Gonzales told them that around 3 a.m. on May 7th, two suspects attempted to break into her home — first through the back door, then through other doors and windows, and banged on each window and door.

When the men attempted to enter through her front door, she opened it and set off the alarm. The suspects jumped off her porch and ran down the street. She said she was unable to see their faces because their hoodies were low, but they were Hispanic and when she looked at their hands, she didn't see any tattoos. Both suspects ran east on Bard St.

The officers walked the perimeter of the front courtyard and did not see any shoe prints. The area is covered with dirt and a small amount of weeds. Gonzales attempted to look for a shoe print. She pointed at what she though was a track, but it turned out to be a canine paw print. Under the windows where Gonzales said the suspects attempted entry was a patch of dirt, and the officers did not observe any foot prints.

The officers asked Gonzales about security cameras that they saw on her property. She told them that the cameras did not capture any video because her internet provider, Comcast, had scheduled outage for maintenance at the time.

Officers Barboa and Galaz checked with both a neighbor and Comcast and were told there had been no outage at the time of the break-in attempt.

Based on the lack of evidence, Officer Valerie Barboa filed an arrest warrant for False Reporting.

To be continued.
*From Gonzales's attorney's Motion to Dismiss Criminal Charge.