City withholds names of Modesto officers involved in deadly shooting

The names of two Modesto police officers involved in a deadly shooting last month are being withheld by city officials, who claim releasing the names could jeopardize the officers’ safety.

The officers, who were assisting members of the Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency, fired at 21-year-old Omar Villagomez after the car he was driving collided with unmarked police cars on June 7. Villagomez was shot and died at the scene, a parking lot in the 2300 block of West Main Street in Turlock.

His passenger, 27-year-old Juan Bulgara, was injured by debris from the collision. He was arrested on suspicion of methamphetamine possession with intent to sell, transportation of methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance while armed, and possession of a loaded and concealed firearm.

In response to a public information request by The Bee, a letter from the Modesto City Attorney’s Office states: “Some of the individuals involved in the shooting are suspected to be connected to gangs and transnational drug operations and have been convicted of violent crimes. The Department has information that leads them to believe that some of these individuals have the capacity to retaliate against officers.”

The city did not specify whether the individuals include Bulgara or if there were other suspects involved in what it described as a “monthlong investigation of suspected narcotics sales.”

No other details about the shooting have been released by the Turlock Police Department, which is investigating the incident, such as whether Villagomez intentionally drove the car into the police cars or if the action threatened to harm the officers who fired or any other officers at the scene.

“The City finds that the disclosure of the officers’ names may jeopardize officer safety by revealing their identities,” reads the response. “While the City has not received any direct threats, the Department is continuing their investigation and monitoring whether any of the parties involved are seeking to retaliate against those involved in the shooting. The investigation is still pending. For these reasons, the City finds that the public interest in not disclosing the names of officers clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure.”

Nikki Moore, attorney for the California Newspaper Publishers Association, said the city’s justification for withholding the officers’ names is insufficient.

“They must give more than speculation,” she said. They “need to show a particularized harm. Their response admits they don’t have one.”

She said the Public Records Act and the case law cited by the city weigh heavily in favor of disclosing the officers’ names and that the city has not met the high bar set for them to prove it is in the public’s best interest to withhold the names.

“In this climate of police secrecy, it is important to assert our rights,” she said. “As we demand more transparency and get more transparency, the public and police see that transparency builds trust and does not lead to the speculative harms that they point to.”

This story was originally published June 30, 2016 at 4:34 PM with the headline "City withholds names of Modesto officers involved in deadly shooting."