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SLO City inspector placed on leave after assault conviction

April 17, 2019

Chris Olcott’s victim unconscious on the cement floor

By KAREN VELIE

Amid public outrage over a San Luis Obispo City inspector’s unprovoked assault on a woman and a man at a local nightclub, on Tuesday city administrators placed Chris Olcott on paid administrative leave. [Cal Coast Times]

More than a year ago, city administrators discovered that Olcott had been arrested on felony and misdemeanor battery charges. Even so, Community Development Director Michael Codron recently awarded Olcott a promotion and a raise.

On Monday, Cal Coast Times published an article about Olcott’s battery conviction, along with a video of the assault, which prompted a barrage of emails and calls to city staff and officials from concerned citizens.

Before noon on Tuesday, City Manager Derek Johnson announced Olcott would be placed on leave while the city conducts an investigation.

On May 28, 2016, Olcott was drinking at Mr. Rick’s in Avila Beach when he purposely bumped into Camile Chavez, a special education teacher at Righetti High School. After he pushed her a second time, Chavez pushed back.

Within seconds, Olcott hit Chavez in the temple with his elbow, which knocked her unconscious.

Olcott then punched Chavez’s companion, Isaac McCormack, in the back of the head three times. Both Chavez and McCormack suffered concussions during the assault.

After Olcott pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge in exchange for a dismissal of the felony charge, San Luis Obispo County Superior Court Judge Jacquelyn Duffy sentenced Olcott to 60 days in jail with a three-year suspended sentence. He is scheduled to begin his jail sentence on May 20.


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He keeps his job, great. That way he can pay the civil lawsuit coming his way.


23

With this City Council he will probably get the use of the city attorney’s choice of defense lawyer for him (Dietrick can’t find her way out of a coatroom much less into a courtroom) at taxpayer’s expense of course. Seems like the council can use city legal services so why not a disgraced employee? He should be fired immediately.


21

He cannot be fired without cause as defined by an MOU (memorandum of understanding) between an employer and a union either by the City as an employer or by General Motors or Exxon/Mobil as an employer with an MOU with a union. The City, General Motors or Exxon/Mobil cannot fire employees represented by a union for criminal conduct unless as spelled out in the MOU. You would have to read the MOU with the City. There is typically language involving criminal conduct as to not reflect negatively on the employer as well as what unplanned leave is allowable. New baby, family illness, death in the family, lots of protected leave either by law or negotiated in the MOU. 60 days in County Jail, probably discretionary on the part of the employer.


2

How about “moral turpitude”?


1

Sucker punch a woman and a guy from behind and get a paid vacation?…where else would this happen but guberment…if I were one of this cowards victims I would sue the city after I got finished with the sucker puncher…..


34

Paid leave is a joke. Someone pulls a heinous crime, gets convicted, then gets to stop doing their job while still getting paid. More of an award than a punishment.


34

djohnson@slocity.org; tell his boss what you think…


29

Plea deal Dan Dow has a long sloth like history of turning a

blind eye to” boys will be boys” crime. In his most recent failure to act, Dow refused to press charges against a Paso Robles Police sergeant accused of rape and several other sexual assaults while on duty.


Paso Robles police sergeant was accused of forcibly raping a sexual assault victim in her home, having multiple on-duty sexual encounters with another woman in his patrol car and ordering at least one woman he arrested to expose herself to him or face repercussions, a Sheriff’s Office detective found in his investigation.


Details of alleged crimes committed by former Sgt. Christopher Scott McGuire, who was allowed to resign while under investigation in October, were reported by a sheriff’s detective, who recommended in August that the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office file charges of forcible rape, attempted forcible rape and assault and battery against the officer.


But despite the detective finding that DNA, GPS and roughly a dozen witnesses corroborated the allegations, county District Attorney Dan Dow announced at a Nov. 1 press conference that not only did his office not have enough evidence to prosecute McGuire, but that “no reasonable and objective jury could find Mr. McGuire guilty of the alleged crimes.”


Part of the Sheriff’s Office’s investigative report, written by Detective Gower Slane, was provided to The Tribune on a condition of anonymity for the source.


Officials have not publicly disclosed specific allegations against the officer and have attempted to block the court from releasing his personnel information in ongoing criminal cases McGuire worked on.


County officials have denied nearly all of The Tribune’s public records requests for information about the investigation, citing laws that protect peace officers’ confidentiality.


Dow — who penned an op-ed in September saying he “stands by victims of sexual assault” and has said his office “started by believing” at least one victim in McGuire’s case — said Thursday he “unequivocally” stands by his decision not to charge McGuire.


McGuire’s alleged rape victim said through her attorney that she is considering her legal options now that local criminal charges are off the table.


McGuire, who refused to be interviewed by the Sheriff’s Office, did not respond to requests for comment for this article.Since he began his law enforcement career, McGuire has attracted controversy, including rumors of an inappropriate relationship with a minor and the fatal shooting of an unarmed man.


McGuire started his career at the Porterville Police Department in 2000, but failed to make it out of his probationary period and was let go in 2001, according to the Sheriff’s Office report.


He was then hired by the Farmersville Police Department in 2003 before being re-hired in Porterville in 2007, leaving that job in 2012 for Paso Robles.


But a retired Porterville police sergeant told a Paso Robles police commander that “it was common knowledge” that McGuire resigned from his first stint in Porterville following a rumor he had an “inappropriate relationship” with a 15-year-old police explorer, according to the report.


After sexual assault allegations against McGuire surfaced in May, he was placed on paid administrative leave the from Paso Robles Police Department pending the Sheriff’s Office’s investigation, which concluded in August.


He was paid a total of $40,900 while on leave, according to the city.


The sheriff’s report was forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office, which was about a month into its investigation when McGuire resigned on Oct. 1. About a month later, the DA’s Office declined to press charges in the case.


Dow needs to be removed next election and replaced with a DA that will do more than collect a fat paycheck.


Read more here: https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/crime/article223368495.html#storylink=cpy


33

The video looks pretty conclusive, I wonder what the defense could throw into the mix to get a lighter sentence. And suspended with pay! Sweet deal for the guy while the victims suffer, Law and Order!


35

I remember a local fire fighter/paramedic beat someone half dead in Mr. Rick’s a few years ago. He was temporarily suspended from being a fire fighter/paramedic and then got his job back, probably with back pay, etc.


I see no reason why this city employee won’t be treated the same way.


Everyone always assumes equal protection under the law and equal application of the law. What they forget is that people who work for the government have better rights than those who pay their salaries. If the worker wears a uniform, drives a city/county vehicle and has a badge they have even more rights than Olcott.


His Union will insure that everything works out in his favor. Plus, it was only a couple of concussions….it’s not like he blew second hand smoke or said something racist or anything bad.


42

True but that civil suit will wipe that smile off his face.


23

I believe it was at Pappy McGregor’s on Monterey Street in SLO at a gathering of “friends” related to a wedding, and resulted from an ongoing personal dispute. Mr. Rick’s, Harry’s in Pismo, and the former Alex’s in Shell Beach are where you go get in drunken fights with strangers.


3

Hmm, paid leave by chance?


21

The other issue we have heard over and over is in many of the union contract these public employees enjoy there are clauses about timely actions on disciplinary issues and if they can drag them out and hide issues long enough before the public finds out the cause says nothing can be done since it took so long.


20

Yep , it appears I was correct Olcotts’ attorney drug the case out for 3 years meanwhile Olcotts boss gave him a pay raise and job promotion so when he is placed on leave and / or fired so he would leave with the best possible retirement or severance. I believe the city retirement based on last 3 years pay as a schedule for how much retirement payout is calculated As I also stated before he will probably get home detention not in custody time


33

The city has to keep him for another year to qualify him for CALPERS vestment, matching contributions to the pension.


23

Let me guess the paid leave will take about a year to investigate………..


21

Then they better not drag out their “investigation” .


Free advice on how to conduct this investigation:


1.Look at the video.

2.Look at it several more times.

3.Confirm that there were no edits to the video

4.Fire the POS.


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