Crime
As anniversary vigil nears, remembrances of Cpl. Ronil Singh remain strong in Newman
Though a killer took him from his family, friends and community a year ago, reminders of Ronil Singh are ubiquitous in this city of more than 11,000 people in southern Stanislaus County.
Blue ribbons and bows are fastened to trees, posts and fences well beyond the heart of Newman. They’re dense along Main Street, where the so-called thin-blue-line flags hang in the windows, or fly outside, of many businesses and offices.
Inside the Newman Mini-Mart, where the police corporal was a regular customer, hangs a poster-size collage print, including a photo of him with his K-9 partner, Sam. Across from the West Side Theatre on Main, a community Christmas tree includes blue ornaments and white doves of peace.
And in the Police Department, which, too, is on Main Street, there’s essentially a Ronil Singh room, where resides the hood of his patrol vehicle, signed by law enforcement officers from around the nation who attended his memorial service, as well as signed flags, sculptures, paintings and other pieces of art created in his honor.
Not that his colleagues need any reminders. They carry Singh with them every day.
NPD records clerk Elaine Collison said Tuesday that she’s worked with officers for 16 years and he was one of the very best, both personally and professionally. Nearly every day he worked, he’d stop by the department and always had something nice or funny to share — perhaps a story from his days in his native Fiji.
Though he was 30 years her junior, more the age of a son than a friend, Collison said she really felt a friendship with Singh, who was just 33 when he was gunned down while making a traffic stop of a reported drunk driver early the morning of Dec. 26, 2018. “After he passed away, I realized everybody felt the same way. It wasn’t just me.”
The Police Department has felt his loss deeply, Collison said, adding that he never was one to simply wait for a call, but always was out on the streets looking for ways to be of service to the community.
While he’s never left her mind, the clerk said, she’s felt her emotions rise with the coming of winter.
“I remember it was kind of a dreary day,” she said of the day after Christmas last year, “and this kind of weather has made it so real again. It’s just been so hard to believe it’s been a year already since we lost him.”
Officer Marcus Freeman, who was Singh’s first field trainee, said all the hiring in the world won’t ever really replace his mentor. Since the corporal’s death, “I’m definitely more head-on-a-swivel than I have ever been,” Freeman said Tuesday. He said that when conducting a traffic stop, he usually can quickly gauge if a person is going to be compliant. “But it can change in an instant ... so you have to be on your toes the whole time.”
The community understands the courage and dedication it takes to be someone whose job calls for walking up on the driver of a car you’ve just pulled over in the dead of night, not really knowing what might happen, said Randy Fillpot, superintendent of the Newman-Crows Landing Unified School District, which has a blue-line flag flying outside its Main Street office.
Singh’s death “makes you think of thanking them more often,” said Fillpot, noting that Newman recently was reported to be one of the safest cities in California. Still, “they’re in harm’s way at any given time,” he said.
Freeman said he’s mentally preparing himself for the candlelight vigil to be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 26. It will begin at the downtown plaza across from the West Side Theatre, and then participants will walk the roughly half mile to the corner of Merced Street and Eucalyptus Avenue. That’s where Singh was killed.
“There’s going to be a lot of emotions from us (NPD personnel) and our minds are going to be about the family and, of course, missing Ron,” Freeman said. “When we get out to Merced and Eucalyptus, it’s just going to bring back everything from that night. I mean, it’s still clear as day in my head.”
On the south side of Merced Street at Eucalyptus is a memorial of flowers, blue-line flags of different sizes and a cross made from plastic pipes. Across the street, residents Rodolfo and Julia Haro have added blue accents to the wall in front of their home.
The couple did so about two weeks after officers responding to the report of the shooting found Singh’s body at the corner of the Haro home. The corporal was a good man, whom they got to know when he assisted her husband after a traffic collision, Julia said in Spanish as her niece translated. Painting the wall is their lasting way of honoring him and thanking the police for the help and protection they provide the community, she said.
Across Merced Street from the Haro home, a flagpole has gone up that on Thursday will be dedicated to his fallen colleague, Freeman said. Tuesday, a crew was working on circular framing for a concrete pad around the pole, on which already fly the American flag and, beneath it, a blue-line flag.
One of the blue flags also flies outside the home that Singh shared with his wife, Anamika, and their son, Arnav, who was just 5 months old when his father was killed. And in their northeast Modesto neighborhood, as in Newman, blue bows line the street near the Singh house.
Neighbors even saw the corporal’s police cruiser back in the driveway, there because of a recent cultural observance of the anniversary of his death. The now-retired Sam came running up to the front door on a recent morning, and Anamika courteously said only that the week has been a “tough time” and that the family will be in Newman on Thursday for the vigil.
Suspect Paulo Virgen Mendoza
Paulo Virgen Mendoza is accused of shooting Singh during a Dec. 26 traffic stop in Newman. Authorities say the killing happened shortly after the police corporal pulled Mendoza over near the intersection of Merced and Eucalyptus on suspicion of driving under the influence.
A preliminary hearing to determine whether there’s enough evidence for Mendoza to stand trial has been postponed until March 10. But the hearing in the murder case could be further delayed.
Stephen Foley, Mendoza’s attorney, has entered a not guilty plea on behalf of his client. In late November, the defense attorney told the judge he had received a voluminous amount of discovery evidence from federal authorities, so he needed time to review it and prepare for the hearing.
The evidence was gathered by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in its case against several people, including his brothers and his girlfriend, who have been convicted in federal court. Authorities accused them of helping Mendoza avoid capture during a 55-hour manhunt.
In the early hours of Dec. 26, 2018, Mendoza returned home after the shooting, authorities say. Mendoza’s friends and relatives conspired to help him try to escape to Mexico, according to federal prosecutors.
Two days after the fatal shooting, SWAT team officers went to a home near Bakersfield, after authorities were told Mendoza was there. Mendoza and the others were then taken into custody. One of Mendoza’s brothers later directed investigators to a trash bin where the gun had been dumped.
Mendoza, who remains in custody at the Stanislaus County Jail, returned to court Dec. 10. Chief Deputy District Attorney Jeff Mangar, who is prosecuting Mendoza, said the defendant’s attorney informed the court that he needs more time to prepare for the preliminary hearing. Mangar said the attorneys will return to court Jan. 3, when the judge could decide whether to further delay the March 10 hearing.
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Other pending criminal cases in Stanislaus County involving the deaths of law enforcement officials
- Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Deputy Dennis Wallace: David Machado is accused of killing Wallace three years ago after the deputy spotted a stolen van at Fox Grove Fishing Access near Hughson. Machado’s murder trial is scheduled to begin June 29. Machado also faces charges of carjacking, attempted carjacking and being a felon in possession of a gun. Authorities say Machado stole a car, prompting a statewide manhunt, before he was found in Tulare County about four hours after the shooting.
Modesto police Sgt. Mike Pershall: Matthew David Gibbs is accused of driving drunk and killing Pershall. The police sergeant was off-duty and riding his bicycle in August 2017, when a car Gibbs was driving struck him, according to the California Highway Patrol. A prosecutor has said in court that Gibbs had a blood alcohol content of 0.34, more than four times the legal limit. Gibbs has been charged with murder, vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence while intoxicated and driving with a suspended driver’s license. Gibbs’ trial has been scheduled to begin May 4.
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