Politics & Government

Supervisor Carrillo Enters Rehab After Arrest Saturday

Arraignment may be held Thursday for Carrillo's latest charges of burglary.

By Bay City News Service

The California Attorney General's Office will oversee the prosecution of Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo if he is charged with allegedly prowling and burglarizing a female neighbor's home early Saturday morning.

Carrillo, 32, is scheduled to appear in Sonoma County Superior Court Thursday, said Lynda Gledhill, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office.

A Napa County prosecutor will handle the prosecution instead of the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office, and the attorney general's office will oversee the case, Gledhill said.

Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch said her office cannot handle the prosecution because it has a close working relationship with the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, which determines her office's budget.

"Our prosecutors are in the process of negotiating a comprehensive benefits package with them," Ravitch said.

Ravitch said the state Attorney General's Office will supervise the Napa County District Attorney's Office's prosecution.

Carrillo was arrested Saturday, posted $40,000 bail and entered a rehabilitation facility.

"I realize that my behavior was embarrassing. It involved alcohol and I'm taking immediate steps to seek professional help," he said in a statement this morning.

Santa Rosa police officers were dispatched to a home near Stony Point Road and West Third Street around 3:40 a.m. after a woman reported someone was trying to enter her bedroom window, police said.

En route to the scene, the woman called again to report that the suspect had knocked on her front door, said he was a neighbor and ran away, according to police.

Police said as officers arrived on the scene, they saw a man walking toward them wearing only underwear and socks and carrying a cellphone.

Officers detained the man, who was identified as Carrillo, police said.

While checking the home, police found the woman's bedroom window screen torn open enough so that someone from the outside could reach through and partially open the window, police said.

The woman told police the sound of her window blinds being moved woke her up, police said.

She told a detective that she knew Carrillo only informally after seeing him around the neighborhood on several separate occasions more than a month ago, according to police.

"Due to the nature of the offense, a detective from the Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Investigations Team was called out to assist," police Sgt. Terry Anderson said.

Carrillo's attorney Chris Andrian said this afternoon he disagrees with inferences Carrillo intended to burglarize the home and intended to force the woman to have sex.

"He took a couple of beers with him. That might not be appropriate but I don't think it was his intention to break in and force her to have sex. I'm not seeing that," Andrian said.

Andrian said he has known Carrillo for several years.

"That's not who he is. I'm not saying he is without blame, but he probably went over the line and got a little crazy," Andrian said.

Last September, Carrillo was arrested on suspicion of battery and disturbing the peace after a fight with another man outside of a San Diego nightclub.

Carrillo later released a statement saying that he only got into the fight after attempting to defend female friends who were being harassed by the man.

Prosecutors ultimately decided not to file charges in the case due to insufficient evidence and conflicting accounts of the incident, according to the San Diego City Attorney's Office.

Carrillo was elected supervisor in the Fifth District in 2008 and re-elected in 2012. The district includes the Sonoma Coast, lower Russian River area and west and southwest Santa Rosa.


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