UPDATE: Carrillo Charged With Misdemeanor "Peeking"

UPDATE: 11 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013

By Bay City News Service

 The state Attorney General's Office today charged Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo with one misdemeanor count of "peeking."

Carrillo is scheduled to be arraigned on the charge in Sonoma County Superior Court at 8:30 a.m. Friday.
          

The complaint alleges that Carrillo, 32, "unlawfully, while loitering, prowling and wandering upon the private property of another, Jane Doe, did peek in the door and window of an inhabited building and structure located thereon without visible and lawful business with the owner and occupant thereof."
          

Santa Rosa police arrested Carrillo on July 13 on suspicion of prowling and attempted burglary at 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.

The attorney general's office is prosecuting the case, rather than the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office, 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 whether charges would be filed by the state has been postponed three times since Carrillo's arrest.

 PREVIOUSLY: 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013

By Bay City News

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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