Shackled and wearing a green jail jumpsuit indicating he has been isolated from the general population at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, Christopher Bingham appeared before Judge Colin Bilash in San Bernardino Superior Court.

Bingham, 45, is charged with 10 felony counts, including grand theft of a Remington 870 shotgun — reportedly stolen from the Sheriff’s Department — and possession of a machine gun, a short-barreled AR-15 assault rifle, two explosive devices and four gun silencers. He is being held on $240,000 bail and was ordered to return to court April 18 for a preliminary hearing.

Each charge against Bingham includes a gang enhancement alleging the crimes were committed “for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in association with a criminal street gang,” in this case, the Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang.

Bingham, an 18-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, was arrested on Thursday, April 4, at his home in Twentynine Palms, where a March 23 raid by sheriff’s investigators yielded 160 firearms, explosive devices and Mongols paraphernalia, including a fully-patched leather vest, according to the Sheriff’s Department and sources close to the investigation.

Clutching a white motorcycle helmet as he left the San Bernardino Justice Center following Tuesday’s proceedings, Bingham’s attorney, Jeff G. Moore, declined to comment, other than to say, “The preliminary hearing should be interesting.”

Asked to elaborate, Moore, a former Riverside County prosecutor, said, “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

Background checks

The criminal case against Bingham isn’t his first brush with trouble from his own department.

In late 2019 or early 2020, Bingham came under suspicion for improperly using the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, or CLETS, to conduct criminal background checks. The Sheriff’s Department referred the case to the District Attorney’s Office to potential charges, but county prosecutors turned the case down in January 2020 due to insufficient evidence, district attorney’s spokesperson Jacquelyn Rodriguez said Tuesday.

Rodriguez could not confirm whether Bingham had allegedly misused the CLETS database to conduct criminal background checks on customers at his former gun shop in Twentynine Palms, O’Three Tactical.

O’Three Tactical gun shop

Bingham, a former Marine, operated O’Three Tactical from 2015 through 2021 near the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, on Twentynine Palms Highway, east of Adobe Road.

With its proximity to the military base, O’Three Tactical was popular with Marines and law enforcement officers from as far away as Downey and Newport Beach, according to a former employee who asked to not be identified.

The employee, who described Bingham as a dirt bike enthusiast who rode a Kawasaki motorcycle and drove a Jeep, said the gun shop sold firearms and magazines to and did repairs for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department as well as other agencies.

“Everything we did was legit,” the employee said. “It was really by the book. … (Bingham) was teaching us the right way. Everything was certified.”

Bingham would kick people out of the shop for wearing the “colors” of an illegal motorcycle gang or smelling like weed, and also participated in fund-raisers with the Sheriff’s Department and conducted gun raffles, said the former employee, who left in 2017 and described Bingham’s arrest as “off-putting.”

Bingham shuttered O’Three Tactical on June 23, 2021.

“After being unable to maintain any kind of inventory and hemmoraging (sic) my own personal finances over the last year trying to keep our doors open, O’Three Tactical will be permanently closing its doors,” Bingham said earlier that June in a post on the gun shop’s Facebook page.

Origins of raid

The March 23 raid on Bingham’s home stemmed from an ongoing sheriff’s investigation into his activities that began in January and culminated with his arrest earlier that day on the westbound 10 Freeway in Beaumont. A source close to the investigation said Bingham and another man were riding Harley-Davidsons when a California Highway Patrol officer pulled them over for speeding.

The man Bingham was riding with was wearing a black leather vest with Mongols patches, according to the source.

The CHP officer, according to the source, seized from Bingham an unregistered Glock 9 mm handgun he had in his possession, and Bingham identified himself as law enforcement. A sheriff’s deputy who had followed Bingham and his friend from Yucca Valley arrested Bingham and booked him on suspicion of being a gang member carrying a loaded firearm. Bingham subsequently was released from custody.

A Sheriff’s Department news release said Bingham was riding with two other “outlaw motorcycle gang” members — not one — at the time of his first arrest.

Outlaw motorcycle gangs

The U.S. Department of Justice lists the Mongols among a group of outlaw motorcycle gangs, or OMGs, “whose members use their motorcycle clubs as conduits for criminal enterprises.” The Justice Department characterizes them as “highly structured criminal organizations whose members engage in criminal activities such as violent crime, weapons trafficking, and drug trafficking.”

The United States is home to more than 300 active outlaw motorcycle gangs ranging in size from single chapters with five or six members to hundreds of chapters with thousands of members, according to the Justice Department.

And the outlaw motorcycle gangs often clash, typically triggering law enforcement investigations.

Last month, authorities in Stanislaus County arrested four men and seized drugs, guns and bomb-making materials as part of a months-long investigation into outlaw motorcycle clubs. The investigation began last year amid violent altercations between dozens of members of the Hells Angels, Mongols and Salida Nomads.

Also Friday, authorities shed little new light on how Aaron escaped the transfer from Desert Valley Hospital, where he had been treated three days before his death after he cut himself, to a mental health facility.

Aaron was being transported “by EMS,” said hospital spokeswoman Andrea Bell, referring to emergency medical services.

“Beyond this, we cannot share more information due to patient privacy laws. Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the family and all involved in this tragic event,” Bell wrote in an email.

Bell did not respond to additional written and phone messages seeking a more specific description of what EMS she was referencing — for instance a private ambulance company — as well as when, where and how the escape happened.

The Sheriff’s Department did not provide such information either on Friday. Sheriff Shannon Dicus said Wednesday that the hospital immediately notified the department when Aaron vanished.

At around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, the teen, a foster youth who lives in Hesperia, showed up at the home on Forest Hills Drive in Victorville where his sisters live in foster care, Dicus said. A person at the home called deputies to come detain Aaron, Dicus said, because he had caused trouble there before.

Aaron, who had a knife, locked himself in the bathroom, and deputies tried for about 30 minutes to get him to come out.

But when Aaron threatened to harm himself, deputies kicked down the door and tried to apprehend him, Dicus said. A video and still images of the encounter showed him holding a knife. Deputies pepper-sprayed him, and one deputy’s hand was sliced by the knife.

Aaron was pushed or fell into a bathtub, where he was shot. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Dicus called on the county to provide more mental health services for parents so they don’t have to rely on law enforcement when their children act out.

Election officials in San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties have finished processing ballots in the March 5 primary election. Now the California secretary of state must certify the results by April 12.

The top two vote-getters in races for federal and state office advance to the Nov. 5 general election. Likewise, in local races where candidates do not receive a majority of the votes cast, the top two finishers advance to the November election.

Here’s a look at how candidates in select races fared.

Congress

23rd District

Includes Adelanto, Apple Valley, Barstow, Big Bear Lake, Hesperia, Twentynine Palms, Victorville, Yucca Valley and Yucaipa and parts of Colton, Highland Loma Linda, Redlands and San Bernardino

• Derek Marshall (D): 36.6%
• Jay Obernotle (R, incumbent): 63.4%

25th District

Includes Banning, Beaumont, Blythe, Cathedral City, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, Indio, Needles, San Jacinto and part of Hemet

• Ryan Dean Burkett (No party preference): 1.1%
• Miguel Chapa (R): 5.7%
• Oscar Ortiz (D): 10.0%
• Raul Ruiz (D, incumbent): 45.1%
• Ceci “Cecilia” Truman (R): 17.5%
• Ian M. Weeks (R): 20.6%

28th District

Includes Alhambra, Arcadia, Claremont, La Cañada Flintridge, Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Gabriel, San Marino, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena, Temple City and parts of Glendora, Los Angeles, Monrovia, Pasadena, Rancho Cucamonga and Upland

• Jose Castaneda (Libertarian): 2.0%
• Judy Chu (D, incumbent): 62.7%
• William Patterson (Peace and Freedom): 2.2%
• April Verlato (R): 33.1%

33rd District

Includes Grand Terrace, Rialto and parts of Colton, Fontana, Highland, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands and San Bernardino

• Pete Aguilar (D, incumbent): 57.1%
• Tom Herman (R): 42.9%

35th District

Includes Chino, Montclair and Ontario and parts of Chino Hills, Eastvale, Fontana, Pomona, Rancho Cucamonga and Upland

• Vijal Suthar (R): 4.3%
• Melissa May (D): 7.9%
• Mark Cargile (R): 39.6%
• Norma Torres (D, incumbent): 48.2%

40th District

Includes Aliso Viejo, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Tustin, Villa Park and parts of Anaheim, Brea, Chino Hills, Corona, Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, Orange and Yorba Linda

• Allyson Muñiz Damikolas (D): 18.0%
• Joe Kerr (D): 25.6%
• Young Kim (R, incumbent): 56.4%

California Senate

19th District

Includes Apple Valley, Banning, Barstow, Beaumont, Big Bear Lake, Calimesa, Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Twentynine Palms, Yucaipa, Yucca Valley and parts of Colton, Grand Terrace, Hemet, Highland, Loma Linda and Redlands

• Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh (R, incumbent): 53.8%
• Lisa Middleton (D): 46.2%

23rd District

Includes Adelanto, Hesperia, Lancaster, Palmdale and Victorville

• Blanca Azucena Gomez (D): 9.2%
• James “DJ” Hamburger (R): 23.8%
• Ollie McCaulley (D): 4.8%
• Kipp Mueller (D): 29.4%
• Suzette Martinez Valladares (R): 32.8%

25th District

Includes Alhambra, Arcadia, Claremont, Glendale, Glendora, La Cañada Flintridge, Monrovia, Monterey Park, Pasadena, Rosemead, San Gabriel, San Marino, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena, and Temple City and parts of Rancho Cucamonga and Upland

• Elizabeth Wong Ahlers (R): 35.7%
• Sandra Armenta (D): 9.5%
• Teddy Choi (D): 4.3%
• Sasha Renee Perez (D): 32.9%
• Yvonne Yiu (D): 17.5%

29th District

Includes Rialto, San Bernardino and parts of Colton, Fontana, Grand Terrace, Highland, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands and Upland

• Carlos Garcia (R): 32.0%
• Eloise Gomez Reyes (D): 45.0%
• Kathleen Torres Hazelton (R): 13.0%
• Jason O’Brien (D): 10.0%

California Assembly

34th District

Includes Apple Valley, Barstow, Big Bear Lake, Twentynine Palms and parts of Hesperia, Highland, Lancaster, Palmdale and Victorville

• Tom Lackey (R, incumbent): 66.1%
• Ricardo Ortega (D): 33.9%

39th District

Includes Adelanto, Hesperia, Lancaster, Palmdale and Victorville

• Juan Carrillo Ventura (D, incumbent): 53.3%
• Paul Andre Marsh (R): 46.7%

41st District

Includes Claremont, La Cañada Flintridge, La Verne, Pasadena, San Dimas, Sierra Madre and parts of Hesperia, Monrovia, Rancho Cucamonga and Upland

• John Harabedian (D): 29.7%
• Jed Leano (D): 15.0%
• Michelle Del Rosario Martinez (R): 39.8%
• Phlunte Riddle (D): 15.5%

45th District

Includes Fontana, Highland, Rialto, Redlands, San Bernardino

• James Ramos (D, incumbent): 100%

47th District

Includes Banning, Beaumont, Calimesa, Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Yucaipa, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, and Rancho Mirage, Yucca Valley and parts of Redlands, Highland, and San Jacinto

• Christy Holstege (D): 46.4%
• Jamie Swain (D): 5.1%
• Greg Wallis (R, incumbent): 48.6%

50th District

Includes Colton, Loma Linda, parts of Fontana, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Rialto and San Bernardino

• Robert Garcia (D): 42.3%
• Adam Perez (D): 29.3%
• DeJonae Marie Shaw (D): 28.4%

53rd District

Includes Montclair, Pomona and parts of Chino, Ontario and Upland

• Carlos Goytia (D): 4.4%
• Javier Hernandez (D): 15.7%
• Michelle Rodriguez (D): 20.2%
• Robert Torres (D): 16.6%
• Nick Wilson (R): 43.0%

58th District

Includes Grand Terrace, Jurupa Valley and parts of Corona, Eastvale and Riverside

• Leticia Castillo (R): 48.6%
• Clarissa Cervantes (D): 25.9%
• Ronaldo Fierro (D): 25.5%

59th District

Includes Brea, Chino Hills, Placentia, Villa Park, Yorba Linda and parts of Anaheim, Chino, Fullerton and Orange

• Dave Obrand (D): 36.2%
• Phillip Chen (R, incumbent): 63.8%

San Bernardino County

Board of Supervisors

District 1

Includes much of the High Desert, including Adelanto, Apple Valley, Hesperia, Victorville and Wrightwood

• Paul Cook (incumbent): 63.86%
• Marcus Hernandez: 15.83%
• Clifton Harris: 11.74%
• Rafael Porras: 8.57%

District 3

Includes mountain and Mojave communities to the eastern border with Arizona, including Barstow, Big Bear Lake, Crestline, Devore, Grand Terrace, Highland, Joshua Tree, Loma Linda, Needles, Redlands, Running Springs, Twentynine Palms, Yucaipa and Yucca Valley

• Dawn Rowe (incumbent): 58.67%
• Graham Smith: 11.93%
• Chris Carrillo: 21.40%
• Robert Block: 7.99%

District 5

Includes Bloomington, Colton, Rialto and San Bernardino

• Joe Baca Jr. (incumbent): 100.00%

Chaffey Community College District Governing Board

Area 3

Includes the city of Fontana

• Lee Charles McDougal (incumbent): 60.39%
• Jennifer Cardenas: 39.61%

Area 4

Includes all but the southernmost portions of the city of Ontario

• Gary Ovitt (incumbent): 100%

Area 5

Includes Chino, Chino Valley and southern Ontario

• Gloria Negrete McLeod (incumbent): 100%

Loma Linda City Council

District 1

• Bhavin Jindal (incumbent): 49.33%
• Ovidiu “Ovi” Popescu: 50.67%

District 4

• Rhonda K. Spencer-Hwang: 64.34%
• John Lenart (incumbent): 35.66%

District 5

• Juan Carlos “JC” Belliard: 41.91%
• Rhodes Rigsby (incumbent): 58.09%

San Bernardino City Council

Ward 3

• Christian T. Shaughnessy: 46.76%
• Juan Figueroa (incumbent): 53.24%

Ward 5

• Ben Reynoso (incumbent): 20.94%
• Chas Kelley: 12.64%
• Henry Nickel: 25.12%
• Kim Knaus: 37.13%
• Rose Ward: 4.18%

Ward 6

• Bessine Littlefield Richard: 32.55%
• Mario Flores: 52.25%
• Kimberly Calvin (write-in): 15.19%

Ward 7

• Damon Alexander (incumbent): 29.84%
• James “Jim” Penman: 31.12%
• Treasure Ortiz: 39.04%

Los Angeles County

Board of Supervisors

District 5

Includes Claremont, Glendora, La Verne and San Dimas

• Konstantine Anthony: 11.42%
• Kathryn Barger (incumbent): 56.81%
• Perry Goldberg: 7.63%
• Chris Holden: 21.92%
• Marlon Marroquin: 2.23%

District Attorney

• Debra Archuleta: 8.52%
• Jeff Chemerinsky: 7.89%
• George Gascon (incumbent): 25.19%
• Jonathan Hatami: 13.23%
• Nathan Hochman: 15.94%
• Dan Kapelovitz: 1.20%
• Lloyd “Bobcat” Mason: 1.99%
• John McKinney: 5.97%
• David S. Milton: 4.28%
• Craig J. Mitchell: 3.01%
• Maria Ramirez: 7.89%
• Eric Siddall: 5.64%

Pomona City Council

Mayor

• Veronica Cabrera: 11.51%
• Gustavo Ramirez: 7.78%
• Freddie Rodriguez: 28.0%
• Tim Sandoval (incumbent): 52.71%

City Council

District 1

• Luis Cano: 8.52%
• Debra Martin: 40.50%
• John Mendoza: 15.12%
• John Nolte (incumbent): 35.86%

District 4

• Guillermo Gonzalez: 36.47%
• Elizabeth Ontiveros-Cole (incumbent): 34.84%
• Chara Swodeck: 28.69%

District 6

• Glenda Barillas: 28.59%
• Lorraine Canales: 37.09%
• Miranda Sheffield: 34.32%

San Dimas City Council

Mayor

• Emmett G. Badar: 100%

District 1

• Eric Weber (incumbent): 68.70%
• James P. Shirley: 31.30%

District 3

• Rachel Bratakos: 67.67%
• Julia Panasiti: 32.33%

In a claim seeking financial compensation for damages, Steve Carrigan alleges the city of Salinas, where he worked as city manager, fired him after San Bernardino intentionally interfered with his employment there. Carrigan also claims San Bernardino officials discriminated against him due to his race and violated California’s open meetings law, the Brown Act.

He seeks $2.2 million in damages, including $731,250 that he would have earned during the remainder of his contract in Salinas, $500,000 for damages to his reputation and $1 million from loss of future employment opportunities.

The claim, filed about a month after the San Bernardino City Council hired Charles Montoya as city manager, is typical of those filed as a first step in a legal process that may lead to a lawsuit.

The council discussed the claim behind closed doors at its meeting Wednesday, April 3.

“The City Council met in closed session to discuss a claim filed by Steve Carrigan against the city in relation to the city manager recruitment process,” City Attorney Sonia Carvalho said after the council returned from behind closed doors.

“The city initiated an investigation of the claim,” Carvalho said, “and has voted 4-2 to release portions of the report. Councilmembers (Theodore) Sanchez, (Sandra) Ibarra, (Juan) Figueroa, and Mayor Pro Tem (Fred) Shorett voted yes, and Councilmembers (Damon) Alexander and (Kimberly) Calvin voted no, Councilmember (Ben) Reynoso was absent.”

As of Friday morning, there was no firm estimate for when parts of the city’s investigation would be released.

Carrigan could not be reached for additional comment. The firm representing him, Irvine-based Executive Law Group, did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Alleged sabotage

According to Carrigan’s claim, filed Nov. 30, 2023, the San Bernardino council extended him a job offer at its Sept. 6, 2023 meeting. The council wanted him to replace Rob Field, the city manager who had resigned earlier that year. The council kept Carrigan’s name private — as allowed under the state’s open meetings law, the Ralph M. Brown Act — but, according to the claim, word soon leaked to Salinas officials that Carrigan was the finalist for the job in San Bernardino.

There is “a pattern of unprivileged conduct designed to destroy the employment prospects” of city manager candidates who are not favored by the mayor or council members, the claim reads in part.

“Council members leak the candidacy of those who are disfavored to the city council where the candidate then works,” the claim continues. “The wrongful intent and purpose of the city in this effort is to undermine a candidate’s current employment, so that the disfavored candidate becomes insecure and withdraws his candidacy.”

Another candidate for San Bernardino city manager withdrew from the process in the fall of 2023 after word got back to that candidate’s employer, according to the claim.

The Monterey County Weekly newspaper reported Carrigan emailed Salinas city staff on Sept. 28 to tell them he intended to stay there rather than take the San Bernardino offer.

“Over the past few weeks I have had time to think about what’s important to me from a personal and a professional standpoint and I have decided that Salinas is the best place for me,” Carrigan’s email reads in part. “I cannot see myself working anywhere else.”

But the Salinas City Council had other ideas. On Oct. 3, the council fired Carrigan.

“The city (of San Bernardino), without (legal) privilege or justification, intentionally interfered with the existing employment agreement between Carrigan and the City of Salinas,” Carrigan’s claim reads in part. “That interference resulted in the City of Salinas terminating Carrigan’s employment agreement.”

Salinas is not the only city to have fired Carrigan. The Merced City Council fired him in 2020. Though no reason was given for his termination in Merced, Carrigan had been sharply criticized by the mayor in public meetings.

Alleged discrimination

In the claim against San Bernardino, Carrigan alleges the city didn’t hire him because he’s White. If true, that’s illegal, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

According to the claim, Carrigan interviewed for the San Bernardino job in August.

“After Carrigan’s possible appointment as city manager of San Bernardino was considered in a closed session of the San Bernardino City Council, (the recruiter) informed Carrigan that three of the council members wanted a different candidate,” the claim reads in part. “Pressed for information, (the recruiter) told Carrigan ‘this is about race.’ Carrigan is White. Two of the three council members who did not vote to extend an employment offer to Carrigan are African American and they wanted the other candidate, who is African American.”

Councilmembers Alexander and Calvin, who voted Wednesday against releasing parts of the investigation into Carrigan’s allegations, are both Black, as is Reynoso, who was not present for the closed session.

“I cannot speak to any decisions the City of Salinas has made on behalf of their constituents,” Calvin wrote in an emailed statement Thursday. She did not address Carrigan’s accusations that she, or other council members, had leaked information about the city manager hiring process to anyone in Salinas.

In a text message Friday, Reynoso denied Carrigan’s claims.

“Couldn’t be further from the truth,” he wrote.

Alexander declined to comment when reached Thursday.

The claim also alleges San Bernardino city officials had “orchestrated” the members of the public who spoke against Carrigan’s possible appointment at the council’s Aug. 28 special closed session meeting. Seven of the 10 speakers who spoke against Carrigan, the claim notes, are Black.

Alleged career impacts

According to the claim, San Bernardino officials’ alleged behavior also damaged Carrigan’s future job prospects.

On Oct. 6, 2023, three days after he was fired by the Salinas council, Carrigan was reportedly called by San Bernardino’s then-director of human resources, Suzie Soren. According to the claim, Soren reportedly told Carrigan about the San Bernardino council’s Oct. 5 closed session, saying “there was a lot of talk last night about you and there was a lot of talk about how we cost you your job.”

Soren was named deputy city manager in February.

The next day, Carrigan was reportedly approached by a recruiter, asking if he would be interested in serving as the interim city manager for Pacific Grove.

“(The recruiter) said Carrigan was a good candidate because he knows the issues in Monterey County, has 10 years experience as a city manager, and lives 30 minutes from Pacific Grove,” the claim reads in part.

But the next week, the recruiter called Carrigan and said he was out of the running in Pacific Grove.

“(The recruiter) explained to Carrigan that the Pacific Grove City Council said that they knew of Carrigan and they think he is a good guy, but there were unwilling to move forward with Carrigan because his circumstances were ‘too political,’” the claim reads in part.

By that, they meant everything that happened in San Bernardino, according to the claim.

More on San Bernardino’s city manager search

• San Bernardino picks new city manager but withholds name for now
• San Bernardino restarts search for city manager after top candidate drops out
• San Bernardino residents tell council: ‘Find the right candidate’ for city manager
• San Bernardino announces it has a new city manager for second time in a month
• San Bernardino hires Charles Montoya as city manager

This year, fans can expect to see changes including new team owners, a new Hall of Fame and stadium upgrades. Local teams are also continuing the tradition of entertaining promotions, which will range from jersey giveaways and wrestling to an “Awful Nite.”

“Minor League Baseball is all about affordable family entertainment,” Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Vice President Grant Riddle said Wednesday, April 3.

The Inland Empire 66ers, the Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, welcomed the community back to San Manuel Stadium with a Fan Fest on Tuesday, April 2, where fans could get autographs, food and take part in raffles.

For the San Bernardino-based team, the new season will come with new owners.

After more than 30 years of ownership by the Elmore Sports Group, an agreement to sell the team to Diamond Baseball Holdings was announced last week. The organization now owns 30 Minor League Baseball teams, according to its website.

“Our family is deeply grateful to the Inland Empire community and 66ers fans for helping us build something truly special here,” D.G. Elmore, chairman of Elmore Sports Group, said in a news release.

He added that he’s proud of the group’s impact, and that “the 66ers are in great hands” with its new owners. The sale will be official following final approvals and agreements.

The 66ers’ opening weekend includes three home games against the Visalia Rawhide.

Meanwhile, fans of the Lake Elsinore Storm, the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, took part in the annual Storm Player Welcome Dinner on Wednesday. The event also raised money for Thunder Cares, a part of the Inland Empire Community Foundation.

The Storm is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, “and we’re starting a Storm Hall of Fame,” Multimedia Manager Justin Jett Pickard said Wednesday.

Wade LeBLanc, who started his career with the Padres and retired in 2022, will become its first inductee on April 19, Pickard said.

The stadium’s Diamond Taproom is back this season, he said, and will start offering Sunday brunch before 1 p.m. games. Fans can also reserve a private speakeasy suite above the brewery.

Also, the bullpens have been relocated to the home side, both for players’ safety and to provide a better view for fans, Pickard said.

Opening weekend at The Diamond stadium will see three back-to-back games between the Storm and the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, with post-game fireworks planned for Friday, April 5, and Saturday, April 6.

The Quakes’ first home game at LoanMart Field will follow soon after, on Tuesday, April 9. The team is the Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The field will debut new lights, which Riddle said “will be a big improvement,” and this will be the stadium’s first full season with a new scoreboard.

The teams’ first home games are:

• 66ers: Friday, April 5, 6:35 p.m. vs. Visalia Rawhide at San Manuel Stadium. Buy tickets here.
• Storm: Friday, April 5, 6:45 p.m. vs. Quakes at The Diamond stadium. Buy tickets here.
• Quakes: Tuesday, April 9, 6:30 p.m. vs. Stockton Ports at LoanMart Field. Buy tickets here.

KEY PROMOTIONS

Minor league teams are known for their promotions. Here are some highlights for the 2024 season.

Inland Empire 66ers

May 4: A Pachuco bobblehead – depicting two skeletons in a lowrider – will be given away during Pachuco weekend as the team dons custom Pachucos uniforms.

July 10: Nothing Night is billed as “just a night of baseball; pure and simple.” Fans get free entry and can bring their own food.

July 13: The 66ers will wear special uniforms celebrating the city of Redlands as part of Redlands Weekend.

Aug. 23: Star Wars Night offers the chance to take photos with characters attending the game.

Lake Elsinore Storm

May 26: Wrestling Day will feature post-game wrestling matches and mid-inning breaks with pro wrestlers.

May 31: Prom Night will include limousines and a red carpet at the front gate, a photo booth, dancing and an elected Storm king and queen. Wearing prom attire earns fans a “buy one, get one card” for a future game.

June 28: Halfway to Halloween invites fans to wear costumes, enjoy Halloween music, games and trick-or-treating at concession stands.

Aug. 30: Awful Nite will be a “very bad day,” complete with a failing public-address system and bad fireworks. Fans can design ugly uniforms.

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes

May 18: Star Wars Night will include photo opportunities and crafts.

June 21: “Friends” Night is dedicated to the popular TV sitcom and includes free “Friends” mugs, photo opportunities and an auction for a jersey themed to the show.

July 19: Joe Kelly Bobblehead Night will celebrate the popular Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher.

Sept. 7: Marvel Super Hero Night will see the Quakes wear special super hero jerseys while fans enjoy photo opportunities.

Officers received a report of a shooting involving juveniles near 13th Street and Acacia Avenue at approximately 3:29 p.m. the day of the shooting, the news release said.

A juvenile victim died after being taken to a medical facility following a gunshot wound, according to the news release.

Information on the motive and a suspect was not immediately available and San Bernardino Police spokesman Sgt. Christopher Gray said the investigation was continuing.

“The San Bernardino Police Department is urging anyone with information related to this incident to come forward. The cooperation of the community is essential,” police said in the news release issued Wednesday, April 3.

While police did not identify the victim, family members said he was Ayden Rodriguez, 14, of San Bernardino, and coroner officials confirmed Rodriguez was a homicide victim.

Rodriguez’s family is raising funds “during a time of need,” a GoFundMe organizer wrote on the fundraising page.

“Rodriguez was an avid baseball player and fan of the game, loved the Dodgers, and watched every game he could,” reads the fundraising appeal.

Rodriguez played baseball for the Park View Little League, where his uncle is a coach, for two years, the league said in a Facebook post.

The fundraiser by Wednesday had raised more than $12,000.

Anyone with information related to the shooting can contact Homicide Detective T. Montez at (909) 384-5762 or Homicide Sergeant J. Plummer at (909) 384-5613.

A bill introduced this year by Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes, D-San Bernardino, aims to do just that. Dubbed the High School Voter Registration Act, the legislation would ensure all high school students in California, starting with the 2026-27 school year, receive the opportunity and resources necessary to pre-register to vote at least once by the end of their 11th grade year.

“Unfortunately, millions of Californians pass up on the opportunity to exercise their democratic right to vote at every election,” said Reyes. “Currently only 11% of 16- and 17-year-olds in California are actually pre-registered to vote. By focusing on our youth and bringing the resources to them at their high schools, we can ensure more Californians, especially young Californians, are voting and developing the habit of doing so at an early age.”

According to Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, California youth voter turnout was 22.1% in the 2022 midterm elections, an 8.2% decrease from 2018 and lower than the national average at 23%. In California, according to the Public Policy Institute,  young adults makes up the small percentage of likely voters.

The goal of the legislation is to get a variety of resources into students’ hands, including information on whether and when they’re eligible to vote, what kind of services they could receive from the county elections office and about the secretary of state’s online voter registration tool at registertovote.ca.gov.

Students would also be introduced to the Student Poll Worker program, which allows high schoolers age 16 and older who are U.S. citizens and maintain a 2.5 grade point average to earn a stipend working at the polls on Election Day.

And if a student or their parent or guardian asks for a paper copy of a voter registration card, schools would be required to provide it.

The legislation would largely leave it up to schools and education boards to decide how to provide these resources to students, but suggests engagement could be done in class or through family information sessions and school counselors.

The state already has several measures in place that provide access to young Californians to register to vote. High School Voter Education Weeks, for example, occur over the last two full weeks in April and in September and allow county elections officials to register students and school personnel on any high school campus.

Then there’s the California Motor Voter program launched in 2018, which automatically registers eligible Californians completing a driver’s license, state identification or change of address transaction through the DMV, unless they choose to opt-out.

Reyes said her legislation would provide comprehensive voter education within the school setting, engaging students before they reach the voting age.

“We need to find a better way to get our young people registered to vote. Get them engaged in a nonpartisan way, in a safe place in their high school where they can have dialogue,” she said.

Under the legislation, schools and education boards would also be allowed to contract with a third-party nonprofit with “demonstrated experience providing nonpartisan youth civic engagement” to implement the law.

The legislation is currently awaiting review in the Assembly Elections Committee.

The use of force occurred on March 26 after 36-year-old Christian Cardenas Alonso from Adelanto was pulled over for a traffic stop. Alonso was identified as a suspect in an armed robbery, the Sheriff’s Department said in a news release. Alonso refused to leave his car and resisted arrest, the department said. He was struck while face-down on the pavement.

“We are looking at it through a criminal lens and an administrative lens whether that subject had actually been handcuffed,” Dicus said. “We’re putting the public’s video with the body-worn camera videos and we’re going to take a look at those and I can reassure you we will take the correct and appropriate processes, whether it’s submitting something to the (District Attorney’s Office) criminally and doing an administrative investigation.”

If the internal findings determine the deputies were at fault, they could face discipline up to termination, the sheriff said.

Dicus, after briefing reporters Wednesday on the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old mentally ill boy the previous day, addressed several headline-making uses of force by his department.

He noted the videos released last week in the September 2022 fatal shooting of unarmed Fontana kidnap victim Savannah Graziano during a gun battle in Hesperia that also killed her father. The shootings are under investigation by the state Department of Justice.

“I implore the public to let the DOJ do their review and work through the system,” Dicus said.

He was asked what his reaction was when he saw his deputies shoot the 15-year-old as she appeared to be surrendering.

“One of my reactions was seeing the deputy sheriffs that were involved in that case and they realized she was shot and killed, and if you saw their distraught faces, you’d understand why I want to make sure that the legal process of this (investigation) is transmitted to the public as well as the videos and things I’m required to release based on the time frame,” Dicus said.

The Sheriff’s Department is taking the lead in investigating recent shootings by Fontana police officers. The Southern California News Group reported that Fontana has withheld most details, including body-worn camera videos, of those shootings.

“Chief (Dorsey) would be legally errant in releasing information on both the suspect and the officers involved in the shooting,” Dicus said, referencing a case that is in the courts. “I can reassure everyone that there will be transparency.”

Deputies had taken the 17-year-old boy to Desert Valley Hospital in Victorville three days earlier after he had cut himself. He was being transferred Tuesday from the hospital to a mental health facility when he escaped, Dicus said at a news conference at sheriff’s headquarters in San Bernardino.

At around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, the teen, a foster youth who lives in Hesperia, showed up at the home in the 17100 block of Forest Hills Drive in Victorville where his sisters live in foster care, Dicus said. A person at the home called deputies to come detain him, Dicus said, because he had caused trouble there before.

The teen, who had a knife, locked himself in the bathroom, and deputies tried for about a half hour to get him to come out.

But when the boy, who was not identified by the sheriff, threatened to harm himself, deputies kicked down the door and tried to apprehend him, Dicus said. A video and still images of the encounter presented at the news conference showed the teen holding a knife. Deputies pepper-sprayed him, and one deputy’s hand was sliced by the knife.

The teen was backed into a bathtub, where he was shot. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

“Our hearts go out to the families involved in this case. This is a tragedy,” Dicus said.

This is one of two video clips provided by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department of them trying to detain a 17-year-old threatening himself with a knife on April 2 in Victorville. They wound up shooting and killing him. Warning: Disturbing images. pic.twitter.com/C9ShPm3KDy

— Brian Rokos (@BrianRokos) April 3, 2024

Dicus said that had deputies waited for a mental health worker to arrive, the teen could have harmed himself with the knife. And the teen would have first had to be safely detained before a mental health worker could talk to him, the sheriff said.

Dicus said deputies successfully had detained the teen “many” times before.

Such was also the case with 15-year-old Ryan Gainer, the autistic teen who was shot to death outside his Victorville home on March 9 as he chased a deputy while wielding a hoe. Deputies were called to the home after Gainer threatened family members and damaged the home, the Sheriff’s Department said.

Dicus said the difference, on the days when Gainer and the 17-year-old were killed, is that deputies were met with violence.

As he did after Gainer died, Dicus said parents need more mental health options for their children.

“Obviously, we have had a number of these situations occur here,” Dicus said. “The corrections environment and our public environment have been challenged a number of times where the only mental health resource we have in our community is law enforcement, and that’s the only 24/7 resource that we have.”

Dicus was asked what he’d like to be different about the system.

“What I would change is that parents would have the ability that when their children are in crisis to have a place to be able to go 24/7 so they don’t have to involve law enforcement. Unfortunately, when these kids degrade to the point where they become violent toward the family members, they have to call us. If they’re able to interact before because they know their children, perhaps we can get them on medication and have a professional take a look at them, and certainly have better outcomes than we are having right now,” Dicus said.

A request for comment on Dicus’ statements was made to county mental health officials Wednesday.

However, its owners have a plan for the restaurant.

The eatery, 1725 W. Northpark Blvd., Suite A4, is being transformed into University Ave Pizzeria.

If the owners are smart, they’ll make it a quick-serve pizza restaurant, a la MOD Pizza, Pieology and Blaze Pizza, since there are none of those types of pizza restaurants in San Bernardino.

Shrimp Shack locations in Haven City Market in Rancho Cucamonga and the Riverside Food Lab remain open.

Now open in San Bernardino

Next door to the former Shrimp Shack, Mita’s Mexican Food has opened at 1725 W. Northpark Blvd., Suite A3.

The location was previously home to another Haven City Market restaurant, Ibasa.

Mita’s offers typical Mexican food options including tacos, enchiladas, flautas and burritos, including footlong, three-foot and six-foot varieties.

The restaurant also hosts a burrito challenge, where diners attempt to eat a whole three-foot burrito in 25 minutes.

Salads are also available.

Mita’s is open 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday though Friday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday.

New in Eastvale

Ice cream and drinks shop Nobibi has expanded into Eastvale.

The shop, which offers soft-serve ice cream treats and boba drinks opened recently in the Cravings by 99 Ranch food hall at 4296 Hamner Ave., Suite 103.

Hours are noon-8 p.m. Sunday, 3-9 p.m. Monday, noon-9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and noon-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

The chain’s other Inland Empire locations are in Pomona, Claremont and Chino Hills.

Now open in Murrieta

Chipotle Mexican Grill’s second Murrieta location opened last week at 27970 Clinton Keith Road, Suite 100.

The new location includes a Chipotlane for quick pickup of digital orders.

The restaurant is open 10:45 a.m.-10 p.m. daily.

Coming to Colton

While driving through Colton recently, I noticed paper tacked up in the window of Pizza Q, 1231 E. Washington St., Suite C.

Turns out the combination pizzeria and barbecue joint, which opened in 2016, closed at the end of last year.

Signage is up at the restaurant indicating it will become Tacos El Callejón.

For updates, visit the Instagram page: @tacos_elcallejon.

3 Iron turns nine

3 Iron Brewing Company in Colton is celebrating its ninth anniversary Saturday, April 6.

The brewery’s club members can kick off the party at noon.

There’s not a lot of detail available at the time of writing, but based on previous anniversary celebrations, there will likely be live music, food vendors, and plenty of beer, including several new releases.

3 Iron is at 898 S. Vía Lata, Suite A.

Mochinut returns

The Ontario Mochinut, which has been temporarily closed for the last several months, has reopened.

The donut and Korean corn dog shop is at 960 Ontario Mills Drive, Unit C.

Hours are 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

Brewery Kickstarter

Congratulations to Metabolic Brewing Co. on its successful Kickstarter campaign!

The future Ontario brewery raised $16,458, topping its goal of $15,000.

The retro sci-fi horror-themed brewery is preparing to open at 1609 S. Grove Ave., Unit 109, the former home to Chino Valley Brewery.

Sorry, we’re closed

The Riverside Hooters, which was at 6225 Valley Springs Parkway, Suite 15, has closed.

The chain’s sole Inland Empire location remains open at 725 N. Milliken Ave., Ontario.