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Posted on 02/18/2004 2:57:35 PM PST by Jagdgewehr
CHULA VISTA – Two former supermarket union members were sentenced yesterday for aiding in an attack last fall on a replacement worker who was hit in the face with a bat.
The man who actually struck the worker has not been arrested.
"The case is still open and is still under investigation," prosecutor Claudine Ruiz said after yesterday's hearing.
Authorities have talked with the man they now believe struck the worker, but say they need more witnesses to come forward before they make an arrest, she said.
Many of the pickets who saw the confrontation that led to the attack have not cooperated with authorities.
Two Chula Vista roommates were arrested several hours after the beating.
Members of the United Food and Commercial Workers union went on strike against Vons supermarkets Oct. 11. Albertsons and Ralphs responded by locking out their workers.
Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Fraser sentenced Charles Olvera, 28, to 180 days in jail and three years' probation. Olvera admitted driving the car that chased replacement worker Armando Vazquez, 27, from a Ralphs parking lot in Chula Vista shortly after 1 a.m. Oct. 17.
Olvera used his car to cut off Vazquez's car, Ruiz said. He has been in jail since his arrest that day and is expected to be released in about a week.
The judge sentenced Simon Thompson, 33, to three years' probation and 30 days of public work, and gave him credit for the month he spent in jail after his arrest.
Thompson said he wasn't involved, but wouldn't tell police who was, Ruiz said. He has said he won't testify against the man authorities now believe swung the bat at Vazquez.
"You're helping those people responsible," Judge Fraser told Thompson. "You lied to the police."
The judge told Thompson helping the investigation is "the right thing to do," and suspended a 180-day jail sentence. He said he would consider reducing the case to a misdemeanor in a year.
Vazquez identified Thompson as the man who hit him, and prosecutors charged him with assault with a deadly weapon, vandalism, and false imprisonment. Those charges were dismissed Jan. 16 when Thompson pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact.
A witness saw him with the bat when he returned home with Olvera after the beating, according to court records.
"He did not report what happened to the bat," defense lawyer Gretchen von Helms said in court yesterday. "He did not report the crime."
And that's why he pleaded guilty to felony accessory after the fact, she said.
Olvera's involvement was more serious, but the judge said he was remorseful.
Olvera recently told a probation officer he was surprised when his passenger jumped out of the car and started beating up Vazquez with the bat.
Vazquez told the probation officer that the incident caused $7,600 damage to his car and resulted in $1,800 in medical expenses. He said he lost his job stocking shelves after the beating.
Olvera and Thompson had worked for the grocery chain for years. They also lost their jobs.
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