The second highest ranking member of the Redlands Police Department has accused the city of trying to bury evidence in connection with a fatal train accident and retaliating against him for reporting alleged misconduct to the FBI.
The allegations are contained in a damage claim, typically a precursor to a lawsuit, filed by Deputy Police Chief Travis Martinez. It is the second claim against the city in the past four months alleging top city officials attempted to conceal or destroy evidence in ongoing investigations.
On March 16, Geneva Holzer, a forensic specialist at the police department, filed a claim alleging that now-retired Deputy Chief Mike Reiss and Sgt. Kyle Alexander attempted to destroy physical evidence of possible sexual misconduct involving Reiss.
Fatal train accident
In his claim filed on June 22, Martinez alleges he reviewed security camera footage of a fatal accident in April on Alabama Street, north of Redlands Boulevard, in which the city’s new Metrolink Arrow train collided with a vehicle, killing 47-year-old Heather Woolard-Chiakowsky and her 11-year-old daughter, Presley Chiakowsky.
Martinez, according to the heavily redacted claim obtained by the Southern California News Group, discovered a “dangerous condition” where the accident occurred and reported it to Assistant City Manager Chris Boatman, advising Boatman “that they should contact the responsible public entities.”
“(Martinez) was shut down and told not to bring up this issue at the scheduled meeting with the train consultant and not to discuss any of his findings because the matter was going to be litigated and it was implied that the city did not want to correct this dangerous condition in order to protect itself from the litigation by not expressing the dangerous condition or bringing it to light,” the claim alleges. “(Martinez) was instructed not to provide certain evidence to other authorities.”
Martinez said that on June 11, he heard back from Boatman, who indicated his staff had contacted the California Public Utilities Commission, but Boatman did not indicate when that occurred.
What the “dangerous condition” was at the train crossing, however, was redacted from the claim, which the city maintained was due to an ongoing investigation.
“(Martinez) is concerned that his knowledge about the potential danger … and the city’s refusal to take any steps to potentially protect its citizens would subject all of them, including himself, to potential manslaughter charges if a future accident should occur,” according to the claim.
City spokesman Carl Baker declined to comment.
Six days after the April 4 accident, however, Baker said security video from businesses in the area revealed Woolard-Chiakowsky had stopped over the limit line at a red light on a traffic signal located several feet from the tracks, then apparently panicked and pulled the car forward onto the train tracks. All the signals and traffic lights were working properly, Baker said, citing the videos.
However, Public Utilities Commission spokesperson Terrie Prosper said in an email Friday that its staff has been working with the city of Redlands to confirm various details regarding the traffic signals.
Metrolink spokesman Scott Johnson said in an email Friday that Metrolink has not received any report from either the city of Redlands or the Redlands Police Department regarding the collision.
“Following any collision throughout our service area involving a Metrolink or Arrow train, our System Safety & Compliance team, along with staff from our Signal Systems Maintenance and Track & Structures Maintenance departments, respond to ensure all crossing safety equipment is working properly,” Johnson said. “The analysis involving the incident that occurred on April 4 in Redlands is complete and confirmed all crossing gates and warning systems were working properly.”
He said Metrolink does not determine who is at fault in an accident. “Our role in the after-action report is to determine if all the rail safety crossing equipment was working properly,” Johnson said.
Retaliation cited
Martinez’s claim cites his exemplary service during his nearly three decades as a Redlands police officer. He said he has worked diligently to make Redlands a safer city, pioneered programs that have been replicated nationwide, and presented at numerous national and state conferences as to how technology can be used to address crime trends.
Yet despite his commitment and service, Martinez claims he has been passed over for promotion and singled out for reporting misconduct and not buckling to pressure from his superiors to turn a blind eye.
“Mr. Martinez filed a tort claim with the City where he provided a detailed account of how he tried to correct various problems within the Police department, including discrimination, harassment and dangerous conditions of public property. Because of his actions he was retaliated against,” Martinez’s attorney, Daniel Moussatche, said in an email.
Martinez declined to comment for this article.
Department restructuring
Martinez claims the Police Department restructuring in 2019 was done, in part, to demote him from assistant chief to deputy chief as an act of retaliation by a former elected official.
In May 2016, officers were called to the home of the elected official, who called Martinez and asked him to instruct his officers not to take their spouse into custody. Martinez refused.
“(Martinez) believes this was retaliation spearheaded by the city official because (Martinez) adhered to the law and refused to ignore the official’s request to turn a blind eye to the serious situation,” according to the claim, which did not name the elected official.
Mike Reiss
When the department was restructured in 2019, the assistant chief position was eliminated and two deputy chief positions were created instead. Martinez became one of the deputy chiefs, while Mike Reiss was given the second slot, despite a protest by Martinez, according to the claim.
Martinez had pushed for Rachel Tolber, now the police chief, to serve as deputy chief alongside him. Then-Chief Chris Catren, despite Reiss’s reputation in the department for inappropriate sexual conduct with female employees, went against Martinez’s recommendation and instead appointed Reiss to the position, according to the claim.
Four current and former female employees have since sued the city, alleging the Police Department has long fostered a culture of discrimination against female employees. Three of them allege they were sexually preyed upon by Reiss.
Last month, the city announced it had settled one of the lawsuits, filed by former Officer Laurel Falconieri and crimes-against-children Detective Leslie Martinez, for $1.7 million.
Sexual misconduct
Martinez also alleges he was passed over for the police chief position following Catren’s retirement in March, reportedly due to a back injury. He claims he was passed over in retaliation for reporting evidence of alleged sexual misconduct involving Reiss to the FBI.
In January, a sergeant contacted Martinez advising him he had sensitive information regarding, among other things, a lawsuit filed in August 2022 by former property and evidence technician Julie Alvarado-Salcido.
Among the allegations in Alvarado-Salcido’s lawsuit was that she was coerced into performing oral sex on Reiss in her office in August 2019. The sergeant told Martinez he presented the same information to Councilman Paul Barich, who Martinez claims took no action.
Reached by telephone, Barich declined to comment.
Once the city was served with Alvarado-Salcido’s lawsuit on Dec. 1, 2022, it filed a motion to dismiss the case, without having informed Catren or Martinez or launching an investigation into the allegations, according to the claim.
“This shows a complete intentional failure from the City Manager, and demonstrates how significant allegations of sexual misconduct are treated in a laissez-faire manner and complete lack of diligence within the city,” according to the claim.
Once Martinez notified Catren of what he learned from the sergeant, Catren “seemed astonished,” and arranged to meet with City Manager Charles Duggan to discuss the lawsuit. The city soon thereafter launched its own internal investigation, which is still pending.
“(Martinez) believes that high-ranking members of the city government were aware of the allegations for months and did nothing to investigate or protect other employees,” according to the claim.
Martinez subsequently took the evidence presented by the sergeant to the FBI’s public corruption unit, which launched a federal probe. And while the city’s administrative investigation is ongoing, the FBI investigation was dropped due to lack of evidence, said Alvarado-Salcido’s attorney, Cristal Cabrera.
Two days after Catren abruptly announced on March 2 that he would step down, Reiss retired.
Passed over
Tolber was named interim police chief after Catren stepped down and, on June 1, the city announced it had appointed her to the position on a permanent basis.
Even though he was the second highest ranking member of the department, Martinez claims he was not offered the position nor given the opportunity to compete for it, as has historically been the case.
He claims it was because he went over the heads of city administrators and reported suspected criminal sexual misconduct and attempted evidence destruction allegations to the FBI.
Martinez also alleges Tolber was named chief of police for public relations purposes.
Martinez, the claim alleges, “believes that the City decided to choose a less qualified person like Tolber for the position because the city has had problems with sexual harassment allegations and lawsuits and that hiring a female chief shows they are resolving issues in the Department.”
Source: Orange County Register
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