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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
01/23/2021 Almena pleads guilty and won't serve any additional time. That's it. The end of this horrid saga of death and destruction. Almena gets away with murder.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/clarissajanlim/ghost-ship-derick-almena-plead-guilty-manslaughter
07172020 Oakland settles civil case for $32M. Owner ofbldg was never charged.
07172020 Oakland settles civil case for $32M. Owner ofbldg was never charged.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oakland-settles-lawsuits-over-deadly-ghost-ship-fire-32-7-n1234132
10/05/2019 Almena will be retried next year.
https://www.npr.org/2019/10/04/767285138/new-trial-set-for-man-charged-in-ghost-ship-warehouse-fire
09/10/2019 Defense casting doubt all over the place is what kept the jury from finding Almena guilty. Even though the landlord wasn't legally responsible defense brought it up enough times to make two jurors doubt. Same with the definition of legal liability. It will be interesting to see who was this juror who basically campaigned, lobbied in favor of Almena.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Ghost-Ship-trial-Jurors-hung-over-landlord-14422005.php
09/05/2019 Max Harris gets to walk free. Almena stays in jail while the court and families decide if he should be retried. 10/12 jurors found him guilty. This all comes down to the Defendants lying and stating they saw arsonists and there not being any physical evidence as to what started the fire. That was the Defendant's only strategy, cast doubt. The fire was so hot it destroyed all evidence. Court should consider another plea deal with Almena to avoid another painful trial.
"No conviction in California warehouse fire stuns families. A jury on Thursday didn't convict two men charged after flames tore through a party at a San Francisco Bay Area warehouse that had been converted into a mazelike artist space, stunning families of the 36 victims who had opposed a deal that would have put the pair behind bars.
Jurors acquitted Max Harris of involuntary manslaughter but said they could not agree on whether to convict or acquit Derick Almena after deliberating over a two-week period.
As the judge declared a mistrial, sobs and gasps erupted from family and friends of the victims who have packed the courtroom for the emotional three-month trial. The men were accused of filling the building in Oakland with so much clutter that it trapped people at an electronic music party nearly three years ago."
08/19/2019 Three jurors dismissed. Hope there are enough to finish deliberations. There is only one alternate juror left. Maybe this is defense strategy. Would hate to see Almena be acquitted due to a mistrial.
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Ghost-Ship-Trial-Judge-Expected-to-Announce-Update-554707101.html
07/20/2019 Case is now in the hands of the jury. Tony Serra is a horrible person. He tried to blame the fire deaths on a woman who was safe outside then ran inside to warn the people on the second floor about the fire. Serra stated that the woman who ultimately died told people to stay upstairs and die as it's the will of some spiritual crap. I predict both defendants will be found criminally guilty for the deaths. It's now just a matter of their sentence. I believe it will be longer that the alleged plea deal which the Judge refused as Almena was not sorry.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/07/19/opinion-crushing-news-ghost-ship-inferno-victims-mom-learned-from-trial/
06/18/2019 Harris takes the stand in his own defense. First he said he took no money to be the creative director. Later he said he collected rent, cleaned in order to lower his rent. Ultimately he lived rent free in exchange for working there. That means he did take money to help out at the bldg.
Harris went on to admit he lied to police when he said no one lived there a few months before the blaze. He said he lied because he feared being homeless if everyone had to leave.
http://www.ktvu.com/news/ktvu-local-news/ghost-ship-trial-harris-says-he-feared-becoming-homeless-if-he-told-the-truth
They will be found guilt. The only question really is the sentence. It will most likely be more than the plea deal.
05/29/2019 The DA read Robert Jacobitz' testimony into the record.
05/28/2019 Because Almena wasn't sorry for what happened, didn't take blame for what happened their plea deal with rescinded. Almena again brought this upon himself and everyone else. I believe they will get more than the nine and six year sentences especially after all they've put these people through with this public trial.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/as-oakland-seeks-justice-in-deadly-ghost-ship-fire-the-soul-of-the-city-is-put-on-trial/2019/05/26/6aa86816-7c93-11e9-8ede-f4abf521ef17_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8950cddc45cf
05/21/2019 There was no evidence of arson. This is obvious as the fire department could never even find the exact site of the beginning of the fire. How then could they find any evidence of arson.
Department of building stated they last inspected the building in 1951.
https://abc7news.com/ghost-ship-trial-disputes-surrounding-permits-for-warehouse
05/07/2019 The coroner testified today that 9/36 victims died of smoke inhalation. What did the rest die from? Maybe they were too badly burned to tell? They were too burned to tell but it appears all died of smoke inhalation.
05/06/2019 Very sad news. Jake Jacobitz collapsed and died in a parking lot last Sunday before he could testify. They deposed him a couple of times so that should be sufficient for the case. They can also use his testimony for the pre-trial. He was a real nice guy. The article is incorrect. He was a licensed electrical contractor starting in Florida working for the power company. The other person who did the actual work was not licensed.
https://ktla.com/2019/05/06/ghost-ship-trial-witness-scheduled-to-testify-about-deadly-oakland-fire-dies-in-car-crash/
I made a memorial for Jake. I left a message for coroner about his body. He told me he wanted to be cremated though he has a family plot in Florida. We talked about this before his last surgery just in case. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/198919372/robert-frank-jacobitz
Bouchard testified he moved out of the warehouse after just a few weeks living there. Nicholas “Nico” Bouchard co-signed the lease. He left as he didn't want to be responsible for the rent or the building. I see no video of the trial only sketch artist drawings.
Today is the first day of testimony in the trial. People who lived, partied or worked there will be testifying. https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Testimony-Ghost-Ship-Trial-509526571.html
Opening statements were last week. This is very interesting. Almena contacted a licensed electrician. That licensed electrician told Almena he needed a fire door plus other things to make the place safe. That licensed electrical contractor was Robert Jake Jacobitz. Almena told him he wanted to do it cheaper so Almena hired someone else. Almena also did a lot of the work himself without permits or inspections.
Almena cut a 20' x 20' hole in the floor of the second story to be able to get pianos and organs onto the second floor. The floor is a fire break. It helps slow the fire from first to second floor or reverse. Having the hole would have allowed the fire to grow very fast with all that extra oxygen.
09/25/2018 Subpoenas were sent out to the witnesses and experts yesterday regarding the criminal trial which will be held next year maybe in San Diego or Bakersfield. This comes after the Judge rejected the plea deal as Almena didn't appear to be sorry. They are both going to get a much, much longer sentence.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Derick-Almena-tells-families-of-Ghost-Ship-13147662.php
First subpoena sent to witnesses.
09/07/2018 They are cutting a plea deal. It looks like Derick may get 20 and his co defendant may get 12.
07/04/2018 07/03/2018 Plea deal. Disposition
Judicial Officer
Jacobson, Morris
36 counts of 501
PC192(b)-F: INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER
Certified Convicted No Contest
17-CR-017349B | The People of the State of California vs. ALMENA, DERICK ION
Plea deal. No trial. "Under the terms of the agreements, Almena could be sentenced to nine years in prison and Harris could receive a six-year sentence. A judge is scheduled to sentence them on August 9 and 10." They will also be on probation. They must serve at least half of their term minus the year they have already spent in jail. Authorities were unable to determine the cause of the fire because the fire destroyed all evidence.
06/16/2018 Possible plea deal for Derick Almena. Let's hope this rumor is true so the families can be spared the trauma of a criminal trial. The civil trials will be bad enough if people don't settle.
06/15/2018 Almena's next hearing is June 25, 2018. His bail is $750,000.
Almena tried to cut a plea deal. He said the prison time offered was too long for him. He'll go to trial. He basically killed 36 people. If he goes to trial and is convicted, he'll get life in prison. If they offered life in prison minus one day, he should have taken it and spared the family of all the victims the trauma of a three to four month trial with gory photos and details.
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/article/NE/20180615/NEWS/180619783
06/07/2018 Trial starts July 16th. It's still a go. State is notifying all the witnesses.
03/23/2018 Jury trial July 16th. Subpoenas were just sent and received.
Earlier this month Almena wrote a 21 page rant, list of excuses where he blames others for the fire. He has the nerve to say that all those gofundmes to raise money for "victims of the fires" should have given some of the money to him. He said the "people donating assumed we would get some of the money." Why would anyone want to give money to the person responsible for the fire and 36 deaths?! That's ludicrous.
Almena states that the landlord had the responsibility of telling building and safety that the new use would be many people working together. He said if they'd done that, they would have had to upgrade the building. That is not the law. Per the contract that was Almena's responsibility. He would have had to notify the city and pay for all upgrades. He never would have been able to afford it. I didn't go past the first three pages as his rant is garbage.
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4402789/Feb-2018-Statement-Almena.pdf
The lead firefighter wrote about the fire here calling the building a death trap.
https://www.firehouse.com/leadership/incident-command/news/20995443/ghost-ship-warehouse-fire-oakland-ca-firefighters
12/15/2017 Judge ruled there is enough evidence to proceed to trial against Almena and Harris. "“I find that that there is sufficient cause to believe that both defendants are legally responsible for what happened on that terrible, terrible night, and are legally responsible for the deaths of 36 individuals,” said Judge Jeffrey Horner on Thursday after a two-week preliminary hearing."
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-fire-marshal-found-no-warning-from-12431571.php
11/09/2017 Preliminary has been postponed. It will be postponed many times due to complex nature of this litigation and many parties. The tentative for the preliminary hearing is 12/04/17. Trust me, it will be delayed and delayed.
11/07/2017 Derick Almena in jail interview. He claims he's innocent. He's in solitary confinement for his own protection. He claims that media has smeared him and his name. He said he made that first Facebook just to let people know that he and his family were safe. He said he didn't know people had died at that point. Almena said CPS saw the GhostShip and said it was great. CPS actually saw the GhostShip and told Almena the children can never live there. Almena claims landlord knew he was living there. He said there was a transformer fire and he had no power for two months so he used generators. He said he asked the landlord to fix things and they didn't. The lease states they Almena must make repairs. Almena then lied and said he made the place safer. He said he put in a back door and that's how some people escaped. There was no back door. He said he removed all the grates on the windows and people jumped out the windows. I don't think so. He said he added the front staircase to make it safer. He said the rear staircase incinerated. Um, the entire bldg incinerated. He said if you look at the photos after the fire only his pallet staircase is left standing. That's false. He said "I built something awesome (pallet staircase). I saved lives." Nope. He said without his staircase, everyone would have died. He said he plugged things into the outlets and "everything fried." Almena said it was the landlord's job to go to the city and tell them what he was doing. It was not. He said the landlords are "deceitful" and "greedy." He said the landlord said he rented it as a storage. It's not zoned for storage. It's zoned for manufacturing. He said he gave the landlord $20,000 to move in. He said there was no water or toilet. He said his landlord rented him an unsafe bldg. He said he started an LLC the yoga studio. He said "because my name is on the lease I'm responsible." All the subtenants created their own worlds and were responsible for it. He said he's being unfairly persecuted. He said he didn't personally kill people with his own two hands. No, he didn't. He's not charged with that. He's charged with manslaughter caused by extreme neglect of duty. He said he and Max are the scapegoats. He said CPS, police, fire dept, PG&E, principals of his kids' schools, landlords...should all be in jail with him sharing the burden. Then he said the landlords should assume all the guilt. He liked the police officers, the fire dept people who were there "all the time." Then he said he doesn't blame anyone. He said the people died because he wasn't there to save them. No, they would have lived if he didn't built a fire trap.
http://www.ktvu.com/news/exclusive-jailhouse-interview-a-collective-blame-ghost-ships-derick-almena-feels-he-should-get-some-but-not-all-of-the-blame
10/22/2017 Derick Almena is showing some of his art in his lawyer's office. Derick draws some dark and twisted pieces in pencil which he draws onto ripped out pieces of the bible.http://sfist.com/2017/10/22/ghost_ship_proprietor_featured_in_s_1.php
10/13/2017 Subpoenas have been sent out for November 13, 2017 pre-trial hearing.
09/13/2017 Judge refuses to dismiss Defendants Almena and Harris. Their attorney Tony Serra argued because there is no exact pin point cause of the fire there's no way they can be proven innocent or guilty. Serra basically threw shit against the wall to see if it would stick. Nope. Sounds like Serra will just use every argument, every tactic legal or not, rational or not, everything and anything he can think of to get the case dismissed. After all that fails he may try for a plea deal, that's my bet.
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/09/13/ghost-ship-fire-attorneys-challenge-manslaughter-charges-in-court/
Judge refuses to dismiss defendant PG&E from civil lawsuit. I personally feel PG&E should have been dismissed. They are only liable for power and equipment that goes to a building. They are not liable for inspecting the electrical inside a building. Almena is the one who should have requested a separate meter and power.
https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-refuses-dismiss-pge-ghost-ship-fire-case/
08/05/2017 Almena bail reduced to $750K. His legal strategy will be to blame PG&E, owner of the building, fire officials and building inspectors. Almena refused to allow building inspectors onto the premises. Almena never filed for a business license which would have mandated inspections. Almena didn't get a permit for any of the parties which would have mandated inspections. Almena never gave people the real address of the building. The real address wasn't written on the building or the curb yet Almena had a hand in painting parts of the building. The people in the building most likely died from smoke inhalation before the fire fighters arrived. Their making holes in the roof after the people died did not cause their deaths.
http://abc7news.com/2276425/
Notice that Defendants' attorney Serra states that keeping Almena in jail makes it impossible for Almena to be deposed for the civil case. No, it doesn't. They can make a motion to compel deposition of Almena. Then the police have to drive Almena to the courthouse to be deposed.
07/07/2017 Plea hearing is continued. Defense attorney has a press conference. He blames everyone except his client. He even blamed the fire fighters. I'm amazed he didn't blame the victims. Shameless.
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/07/07/judge-postpones-ghost-ship-fire-plea-hearing/
UPDATE: 06/28/2017 California building codes and fire sprinklers. Fire sprinklers are mandatory in California for new construction of single family residences, multi-family property, commercial properties and high rise buildings. They are mandatory if there is a large recent addition to older residential structures. They are also mandatory for certain hazardous uses. Most older, smaller industrial warehouses in Oakland, California don't have fire sprinklers. The Fire Marshall mandates fire sprinklers if there is a high risk to human life. There would be many people in homes, multi-family and commercial buildings. The same goes for locations which would house large parties. There could be people in those properties for the first time who don't know where the fire exits, fire doors are located. A regular warehouse used for its normal use it considered lower risk unless they are storing gasoline, oil... There should be only a few people on the property in the day time. They would know where the exits are located. Some warehouse owners have installed fire sprinklers on their own to protect the warehoused items, reduce insurance rates or to get a loan.
If Almena told the city or owner that people would live there, have a big party there, he would have been denied the use. If allowed the use via a CUP, he would have needed fire sprinklers. Almena lied to the city and owners so he would be able to stay there and use the property.
06/16/2017 Just did some research into Nicholas Alexander Bouchard who also signed the lease. He's 25 goes by Nico Bouchard, an artist. His mother is Kitty Wegkamp Bouchard from the Netherlands. His father is Florida lawyer Robert Frederick Bouchard. His field of expertise is insurance litigation. He was probably the lawyer who contacted Ng to say he was no longer liable. This is odd. His dad divorced his mother in 1985 yet he was born in 1992 in Illinois. In 1991 she married Kenneth Flisak. They lived in Illinois from 1991 to 1992. Maybe Nico just took Bouchard's name because he's successful and wealthy. Anyway the kid lives with his mom in Sonoma County, California and by himself in San Francisco. They are well off. I'm sure that's why his name was added. He looks Bohemian with tattoos.
Based on his Facebook he may have met Ion at Burning Man in 2013. I then see him with a bow and arrow in the wood. Probably took a class from Micah. Then there's a photo of them together in 2013 that says "ION" on the bottom left. He was into similar buildings such as the Ghost Ship. I think he got suckered in by Derich and Micah to co-sign.
He's bottom left below. That is of course Derick.
Seems another person was on the lease with Derick and Micah. His name is Nicholas Bouchard. The purpose for use on the lease was "an art collective, to build and create theatrical sets and offer workshops for community outreach. No other use is permitted." They did use the C.A.R. form but a different version.
I got a copy of the lease between landlord and the previous tenant for site next door 1309, 1313 31st. They used the California Association of Realtors Commercial Lease Agreement. This means she probably used this same form for the lease with Derick Almena. Per this form the landlord is not liable for any damages or deaths. The tenant can only use the property for the intended use. Tenant must comply with all zoning, building and safety, licensing...regulations. The tenant must repair anything that breaks. The tenant cannot alter the building. The tenant must remove trash and never leave trash in front of the building. The property cannot be subleased.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxE8KfVPjYF4cmp6ZjliS2tpRTQ/view?usp=sharing
50 page detailed report about the fire from the city, county with witness statements. A tenant went down the rear stairway when they smelled smoke. So it wasn't blocked off though only tenants knew it existed. Seems someone installed a new refrigerator before the fire. Everyone was against it due to electrical issues. The frig caused two power outages that week. When the power went out, they had to wait until morning for the neighboring business to open and reset the fuses. The fire appeared to start where the frig was located. When one smelled smoke he noticed the light bulbs were much hotter than they should be. Then the power shut off. The fire started in the kitchen area of the first floor. The flames went up to the second floor under the DJ area. When the smoke first appeared on the second floor they tried to use the front wooden pallet stairs. It was not possible to exit via those stairs. They were trapped up there with intense smoke. As fire and others heard no screaming, the people on the second floor died before fire fighters arrived. Fire dept was not called until flames were seen. This report is very interesting and disturbing and sad. As a real estate person everything that happened in this case was extremely wrong and illegal. Derick Almena's attorney said the responsible party is the electrical company. Based on this report it is not. The power came in from above yet the fire started from below.
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/report/oak064503.pdf
06/08/2017
Micah doesn't miss an opportunity for media exposure to shove her foot down her throat. They said the fire dept are responsible as they poked holes in the roof which let in more smoke. They seem to feel they should have put ladders to the second floor to help people escape. The people were dead from smoke inhalation before the fire dept got there. Plus, there were metal bars and grates on the windows. No way out. On top of this flames were shooting out of the windows by the time the fire dept got there. Talk about insulting people's intelligence.
Micah said in this article the only reason she wasn't there with her kids is because of the loud concert. That's not the truth. CPS would not allow her kids to live there. That was part of the court order. Micah herself stated this previously.
http://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Wife-of-man-charged-in-Ghost-Ship-fire-breaks-her-11209239.php#photo-12034427
Current list of lawsuits filed against Chor Ng.
RG17845597 NG CHOR NAR SIU 1/13/2017
RG17863850 NG CHOR NAR SIU 6/13/2017
RG17863858 NG CHOR NAR SIU 6/13/2017
RG17863866 NG CHOR NAR SIU 6/13/2017
RG17861609 NG CHOR NAR SUI 5/24/2017
RG17851011 NG CHOR NAR SIU 2/28/2017
2001010052 NG CHOR N 5/3/2001
2001013857 NG CHOR NAR 6/18/2001
RG16843631 NG CHOR NAR SIU 12/23/2016
RG16843633 NG CHOR NAR SIU 12/23/2016
RG16843856 NG CHOR NAR SIU 12/29/2016
RG17848401 NG CHOR NAR SIU 2/6/2017
RG17853077 NG CHOR NAR SIU 3/15/2017
RG17853255 NG CHOR NAR SIU 3/16/2017
RG17854105 NG CHOR NAR SIU 3/23/2017
RG17854328 NG CHOR NAR SIU 3/24/2017
RG17854628 NG CHOR NAR SIU 3/28/2017
RG17860470 NG CHOR NAR SIU 5/16/2017
RG17860682 NG CHOR NAR SIU 5/17/2017
RG17860697 NG CHOR NAR SIU 5/17/2017
RG17860699 NG CHOR NAR SIU 5/17/2017
RG17860700 NG CHOR NAR SIU 5/17/2017
RG17863541 NG CHOR NAR SIU 6/9/2017
WG05247542 NG CHOR NAR SIU 12/21/2005
WG06303911 NG CHOR NAR SIU 12/27/2006
06/06/2017
Derick was just checked into Alameda County jail. Max Harris has not yet arrived. Derick could be bailed out if someone had $1,000,000 bail or bond. I would think there would be no bail at all. If he were convicted and were out on bail, I bet he'd kill himself.
Inmate Locator Sheriff's Office
Inmate Detail Custody Information
Name PFN Sex Race Occupation DOB Eye Color Hair Color Height Weight
ALMENA, DERICK ION BKL034 M WHITE 04/14/1970 BROWN BROWN 5'10" 165
Arrest Arrest Charge(s)
Date Time City
Code Description
PC 192(B) F INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER
06/05/2017 09:00 AM OTHER
Event Police Report Number
7819430 XOXOXO
Booking
Date Time Booking Type
06/05/2017 08:42 PM WARRANT
Holding Facility Housing Unit
SANTA RITA JAIL 01D
Docket Bail Type Bail Amount Next Hearing(s)
Bailable $1,080,000.00
RENE C. DAVIDSON ALAMEDA COUNTY COURTHOUSE
Date Time Dept. Proceeding
06/08/2017 09:00 AM 011 Arraignment
I made a smaller and more legible file of the charging document.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxE8KfVPjYF4TGVoNzB4aGlZY1k/view?usp=sharing
UPDATE: 06/05/2017 Derick was arrested in Lake County, California. Here is his booking information.
Name/Tracking Information
First/Middle/Last
DERICK ION ALMENA
Booking # Inmate ID
67667 287301
Inmate Housing Unit for Visiting Get custody status notification
POD BOOK Visiting hours information
Physical Description
DOB Sex Eyes Hair
4/14/1970 M BRO BRO
Height Weight Race
5' 10" 165lbs W
Personal Information
City State Zip
UPPERLAKE CA 94601
Birthplace Occupation
GLENDALE, CA SET DESIGNER/STAGE BUILD
Arrest Information
Arrested Booked
6/5/2017 09:00 6/5/2017 12:50
Officer Agency
DUNIA LAKE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
Warrants Released
T
Court Information
Next Court Date Docket Number
6/5/2017
Type Offense Count Statute Bond
F ARREST WARRANT FELONY 1 A/W-F 1080000
To figure an inmate's actual bail amount use the following examples as a guide:
When an inmate is booked for multiple felony charges the bail will be the amount from the single highest charge. Example: If booked for 273.5(a) PC (felony) with a $15,000.00 bail and 11377 H&S (felony) with a $10,000.00 bail, the total bail amount would be $15,000.00 (not stacked).
When an inmate is booked for multiple charges including felonies and misdemeanors, the amount will again be the single highest felony bail amount.
Back to Recent Arrests
Booking No.: 5007815 Last Name: HARRIS First Name: MAX Middle Name: CARDIN
Sex: M Race: W Date Of Birth: 12/14/1989 Age: 27 Hair: BRO Eyes: BRO Height: 603 Weight: 170
Charge Level:
ARREST
Arrest Date: 06/05/2017 Arrest Time: 0910 Arrest Agency: 4248 Agency Description: LAPD-FUGITIVES
Date Booked: 06/05/2017 Time Booked: 1223 Booking Location: 4212 Location Description: LAPD - 77TH STREET
BAIL
Total Bail Amount: 0 Total Hold Bail Amount: 0.00 Grand Total: 0.00
HOUSING LOCATION
Housing Location: -
Permanent Housing Assigned Date: 06/08/2017 Assigned Time: 0412 Visitor Status: N
Facility:
Address: City:
Public Visiting Guidelines
For County facility visiting hours, Please call (213) 473-6080 at Inmate Information Center.
COURT
Next Court Code: Next Court Date: Next Court Time: 0000 Next Court Case:
Court Name:
Court Address: Court City:
RELEASE
Actual Release Date: 06/08/2017 Release Time: 0903 Release Reason: CUST Reason Description: CUSTODY RELEASE
Release Agency: OTHR Agency Description:
06/05/2017 Here is the charging document. It's only three pages. I'll try to edit it to make the file smaller.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxE8KfVPjYF4OWdVendMbV9IYjA/view?usp=sharing
Derick Almena arrested for the fire. Very happy to have helped with this investigation giving evidence to the DA. Max Harris the "creative director" who arranged the party that night was also arrested.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-ghost-ship-fire-charges-20170605-story.html
"Derick Almena, the landlord at the Oakland warehouse that went up in flames, killing 36 people, has been arrested for the fire.
Alameda County prosecutors announced Almena's arrest -- along with Max Harris, who was reportedly a tenant at the art commune known as the Ghost Ship.
Both men are being charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter. The District Attorney says they "knowingly created a fire trap." His bond is set at $1,080,000."
http://www.tmz.com/2017/06/05/oakland-ghost-ship-landlord-arrested-derick-almena/
UPDATE: 03/20/2017 Micah and Derick keep begging for money. They are mad that fundraisers raised $3M but they didn't get a penny. They are the ones responsible for the deaths! Why would anyone want to give them money for what they did? They have been admitting that they're guilty. They admit the authorities are after them.
"Micah Allison
March 13 at 2:56am ·
Happy birthday to me.
Thank you for the well wishes..
I am way beyond humility.. for the logical push back against the tide of mass hysteria.... There is so much inner rebuilding to do for all... But it must be fixed to a foundation of sanity.... I would disrespect anyone now in this time by asking them to .... Not be angry with me. It's just ... Slow down maybe.... I have stories to tell... The bitter truth on all accounts.... And it might ease and inform troubled minds..... So many paths crossing in this tragic moment..... And they have run out of town.... the only person able to bridge the madness. I am not afraid of the truth.... Only of dark intentions designed to cause more unneeded suffering.... There are those that literally feed off of pain.... And they have clearly revealed themselves.
We construct a daily illusion of well being and hopefullness for the children to root into.
To be honest... We really need a fundraiser... Barely surviving.
Infamy was never the plan.
Hiding our identities for safety and looking for work is a bit conflicting. We have been denied on all fronts ... And , of the nearly 3 million raised in ghostship aid. NOTHING.
Tragic death and Destruction of so many precious lives... Our life... And it keeps getting worse.
... Being pushed to the fringe of society and told to hide and keep our mouths shut. That is our tactic for getting thru this... To vanish.
Its not worth the energy to describe whats really happening.
People need to .... If they want or care.... Take a moment and drop into thier own imagination.... And meditate on what it would really be like to be us. Right now.
Maybe possible... If they even knew who we really are....
Thanks for listening....
If you would like to help us....
We gladly except prayers and blessings.
.. Micah.
womb.one1@gmail.com
Thru paypal"
From Derick. He doubts how many really died?
"Blessings and protection for all the beautiful ones that passed in my home. Apologies and blame will never settle this debt. If you are a guest in my home.... it is my honor to protect you... terrible sadness shames me.. for I was not present that night.... I did not walk the halls and greet good strangers and old friends .. that night. I am not dead... But truth and accountability definitely is... What's really going on here... How many really passed? Where are Thier families? How did the fire really start ? Funerals and payouts.... It's very hard to see and hear the truth thru the retarded heckle of perverse hatred and deflection of shame.
I have SO much to say... To share.... And so many questions to ask as well..... But my shame compounded by ignorant threats and hysterical madness fed by Illusionist's and trolls.... Have silenced me... And sent me into hiding.
Although I am here with my family in Oakland.... My heart is laying in shadow. Only until I can meet you in truth.... In the light of the sun.... Safe for all to speak clearly... I await this day.... Soon come.
When ? "
03/19/2017 Bob Mule who lived at the Ghost Ship and survived started a gofundme to buy a pinball machine for his new place to cheer him up. He was part of the cause of the fire. He knew it was a fire hazard and did nothing. Another tenant asked him for help getting out of the building. He turned around to grab him then a bike fell on the floor. Bob Mulé left him and the guy died.
https://www.gofundme.com/healingpinball
I just heard that he's building some sort of art sculpture. It's wooden pallets turned into stairs like the ones that caused all those people to die. Disgusting people trying to make a buck off dead people!
03/10/2017 Just read more of the delusional rant by Derick on Micah's FB page.
https://www.facebook.com/micah.allison1 Derick and Micah who are responsible for creating the fire hazard better known as the Ghostship are ranting, raving and wah wah wahing because no one has given them money from any of the Ghostship fundraisers. Derick and Micah who will most likely be found guilty of 36 counts of manslaughter for knowingly creating a massive fire hazard are crying because no one is just handing them wads of cash. They continue to beg for money. They even had the nerve to make a claim for a non-profits offer of compensation for people who lost property in the fire. They are attacking anyone who states they should not be begging for money for a disaster which they created. They state they can't get work and also must stay in hiding due to threats.
Derick has been banned from Facebook either from Facebook or his attorney told him to stop posting because he was just digging his hole deeper with his callous comments. Derick uses his wife's FB account to post, comment and threaten people. Derick continues to state that he and his family are the innocent victims. They had nothing to do with the fire. That of course is a lie. He knew about the many problems and illegal conditions. There had been fires in the bldg previously. If you don't kiss Derick's ass when he spouts out this nonsense he will viciously attack you. Remember, Derick has a criminal record. He also has a very long history of being a drug addict and erratic. That's why CPS took away their children.
03/07/2016 The electrician who worked on the warehouse and warned Derick about the problems was deposed. He told them the truth about the electrical system. The electrician is a licensed electrical contractor who is from Florida. He came here to fix the downed electrical system in Oakland, CA after the bad earthquake.
03/05/2017 LA Times stated all victims died of smoke inhalation.
Witnesses are being deposed for the criminal and civil cases.
02/08/2017 Article about the release of the documents. The documents show that authorities knew people were living there and throwing illegal parties. Turns out the owner has had a business license at that location for 20 years for a warehouse. The fire dept said somehow the address didn't get added to their inspection list. The business license and fire dept computers don't share data.
Based on this new information the owner Ng has less liability. The city knew the bldg was a warehouse business. It should have been on the list to be inspected but wasn't. It's not mandatory to inspect all businesses in California but Oakland was inspecting them. There were also many complaints about Derick and the building being used as a residence. The city should have inspected and shut the place down. That said Derick is still the one who turned it into an unsafe residence.
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/08/oakland-warehouse-fire-city-releases-thousands-of-records/
Fire started on the first floor. The power enters the building from the second floor. That would mean that the fire didn't start where the power enters the building. The narratives start around page 40 of 120 pages of fire dept records.
More public records have been released.
Here is the main page for all released records. Scroll down to see the records.
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/OAK061753
Police records
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/report/oak062781.pdf
Fire dept records
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/report/oak062782.pdf
Building and Planning records
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/report/oak062780.pdf
Public works records
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/report/oak062779.pdf
Redactions
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/memorandum/oak062776.pdf
Mayor's office correspondence
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/report/oak062784.pdf
City administrator
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/report/oak062783.pdf
01/24/2017 Here is the Defendants' report.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4Qu6OH_QJv9TS13eXhDZHpkd1k/view
I just read this weak, flimsy report. My pic above does not show the corner of the adjacent building's roof peeled back. You don't see fire damage there. Maybe the fire dept peeled back the corner in their investigation. These are Google pics not originals taken by experts with time/date/GPS stamps. That's why no one has signed it. I doubt an expert made this.
The report makes conclusions which the facts don't support. We know the fire started in the corner where the electricity comes to the building. We can see the drop. The Ghost Ship had a big techno musical video display with a DJ and party lights. The residents underneath were probably on their computers, watching television or sleeping. The adjacent buildings were closed. They weren't pulling any power beyond security lights.
The Ghost Ship has had previous electrical fires. The power has gone out many times. The residents slept with fire extinguishers for this reason. Derick, Micah and others knew it was an illegal unpermitted residence and a rat trap. Many complained. They also intentionally had an illegal unpermitted party. They went to great lengths to make sure the landlord didn't know it was used as a residence. Derick intentionally didn't get permits for any electrical work he did so as not to raise flags with inspections. The bldg needed fire sprinklers, smoke/fire/CO detectors, fire extinguishers in boxes in a few places on the walls, lighted exit signs with backup power, legal stairs. As it wasn't a warehouse all that trash should not have been there. Derick is not a licensed electrical contractor or contractor of any type. Derick intentionally blocked the only stairs. Derick then built the wood pallet stairs in front. Derick crammed the place full of wooden junk. It was a tight hoarder maze made out of wood crap. That report is such an insult to anyone with half a brain that I won't even respond to the rest. It's insulting that the attorney would present this crap report to try to blame the neighbor and maybe landlord.
_______________________________
Derick Almena's attorney says fire started next door caused by electrical wiring. That doesn't mean much at all. It was the crammed packed tinderbox, real stairs blocked off, front stairs made out of wooden pallets that made it impossible for people to leave. They died upstairs. Even then the next door properties were closed. There was an event at the Ghost Ship. It was most likely caused by the overload from the party and residents. I'm sure all the illegal electrical outlets and extension cords caused the electrical fire. This is speculation on my part. The fact that the corner of the adjacent property got a little burned means nothing. The main fire was the Ghost Ship. Of course adjacent properties will also be damaged.
http://kron4.com/2017/01/23/lawyer-ghost-ship-fire-started-in-adjacent-building/
Micah whining saying she's being treated poorly by the media and others. She is getting everything she deserved. She knew the building was a rat trap. She didn't fix it or report it. She only said she is sorry for what happened. She is not sorry for her participation in the tragedy.
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/01/23/wife-of-ghost-ship-collectives-leader-we-carry-a-really-heavy-weight-on-our-shoulders-now/?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#link_time=1485239151
May 13, 2014 Derick Ion admitted he built the pallet stairs. His brother died December 21, 2013.
"Yo G... I don't see you often , when I do... It's good... We build, we make music , we create and change the world daily... And in that moment it's a better place. At this moment you are an interesting reflection... Because my brother died dead gone forever fucking passed around same time as yours and I been dealing with the same dark wave of grief and the tide of loneliness and despair. Except now I hear you say thank you to so many good friends that care .... And this is where your blade ends and the one in my side continues to rust and fragment... Because I have no friends. I have no fucking passerby's that give a fuck for my or my families well being.... No well wishes or care package or check ins .... After 20 years of building this community and fiercely protecting it..... Doing my best to delay the black pyramid of death.... I have been rejected by those closest. If I mentioned names.... It would be the who's who of the Bay Area scene.... Because I am Derick Ion the baby killer.
And in this moment of self reflection upon Mr Cochino's wall..... I Am done. Undone. Used up. Tired and at the peak of my greatest creation. I'm trapped with a few other soldiers .... Within the walls of the most beautiful temple living tribute tied bound nailed erected and held together with love and blood. It is the center of the universe. And as much as it can be the tender portal of your escape into the revolution of clarity thru the freedom of expression.... It is also an infinite fanged fissure falling in on itself constantly.... Not a club not a cloud 9 not a defunct rec center not a pay to play not strate or gay not a 2 am go away..... A fucking vanguard chalice temple hideout bomb shelter of the soul.... And we are starving to death building it for all of you. So fuck Geno Cochino.... !!!! I ain't dead.... And I and Elijah Sage , and Muad'dib Melange and Derick Ion could really use some fucking help.... Some muscle and laughter... Some food and help to pay the rent.... On this 15,000 sq ft. Satya fucking Yuga next level. I missed my brothers funeral to instead erect the opening gateway and stairs.... While they burnt his body ,,, I broke brick and had the last of my self respect sold out and slaughtered by jealous fools drunk on self hate.
So big up Geno... Call me when you wanna get dirty and be blown the fuck away... Throw down the heavy DUB plates and raise warriors from their graves.
1309 31st ave @ Fruitvale and International.
The true crossroads of culture and revolution in Oakland.
Ion."
01/05/16 As stated previously there is no loan on the property. If there were a loan, the bank would have made fire insurance mandatory. In order to get fire insurance there is generally an inspection. The inspector would not have approved this building as it was pre-fire. It's possible the owner had insurance on her own. You generally have to say the building is up to code when you apply. You would still need an inspection. They probably got insurance years before the current tenant when they were up to code. They could have just paid every yearly renewal with no new inspection. You only have to bring a building up to code upon sale except for some seismic in California. Property had not sold in a while. Owner probably didn't know what "up to code" was. Owner is older Chinese woman who speaks no English. Daughter is not a real estate or building expert. No one had registered as a business at the actual address. If Derick Almena had registered as a business which he was, there would have been inspections. The fire would not have happened.
Still, based on what I know as a real estate appraiser, broker, legal expert witness for over 33 years, the true responsible party is Derick Almena the lessee. He knew what he was doing was illegal and dangerous. Many people even told him this. That is why he didn't register as a business. This is why he never got a permit for a party. He knew it was illegal for people to live or party there. That's why he told the tenants to lie if anyone came around, "don't open the door." That is why he didn't get a permit for any work that he did in the place including adding illegal dangerous electrical outlets. I place 100% of the blame on Derick. I don't feel the owners are to blame because Almena lied to them and the city, county. I feel the owners were not experts in real estate law, building and safety requirements, zoning, planning. They were mom and pop owners who did not speak English. Owner received property through a relative. Owner's daughter is not an expert who tried to manage it. I've had many clients who were similar mom and pop owners of various types of properties acquired through deaths of relatives. Most couldn't read, write or even understand English. Generally they speak Spanish like me which is why they hired me. Because Almena is penniless they will go after the "deep pockets" the owners. If the owners thought the building was dangerous, they would have filed an LLC which they didn't. The property was in the name of the elderly Chinese mother. Sad any way you look at it.
Photos of all 36 victims. Only one victim lived in the building.
List of the victims
Cash Askew, 22, Oakland
Em B (a.k.a. Em Bohlka), 33, Oakland
Jonathan Bernbaum, 34, Oakland
Barrett Clark, 35, Oakland
David Cline, 24, Oakland
Micah Danemayer, 28, Oakland
Billy Dixon, 35, Oakland
Chelsea Dolan, 33, San Francisco
Alex Ghassan, 35, Oakland
Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, Berkeley
Michela Gregory, 20, South San Francisco
Sara Hoda, 30, Walnut Creek
Travis Hough, 35, Oakland
Johnny Igaz, 34, Oakland
Ara Jo, 29, Oakland
Donna Kellogg, 32, Oakland
Amanda Kershaw, 34, San Francisco
Edmond Lapine, 34, Oakland
Griffin Madden, 23, Berkeley
Joseph Matlock, 36, Oakland
Jason McCarty, 36, Oakland
Draven McGill, 17, Dublin
Jennifer Mendiola, 35, Oakland
Jennifer Morris, 21, Foster City
Feral Pines (a.k.a. Riley Fritz), 29, Berkeley
Vanessa Plotkin, 21, Lakewood (Los Angeles County)
Wolfgang Renner, 61, Oakland
Hanna Ruax, 32, Helsinki
Benjamin Runnels, 32, Oakland
Nicole Siegrist, 29, Oakland
Michele Sylvan, 37, Oakland
Jennifer Kiyomi Tanouye, 31, Oakland
Alex Vega, 22, San Bruno
Peter Wadsworth, 38, Oakland (only resident who died)
Nick Walrath, 31, Oakland
Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, Hayward
Photos of the Ghost Ship post fire.
I wonder why Isa Shisha is moving? Evicted? Running from the law? Warrant out for her arrest?
"Doxxing," what it is and what it isn't. It's not a crime or illegal. It's just a new media buzz word to get clicks. The police posted all of this information about Isa Shisha, aka Melissa Ashley Citron on the open internet. None of the info is confidential. Isa doesn't even use that name anymore. I have not posted social security or driver's license numbers. Even then I could post those things. It is only illegal for me to use someone else's SSN to steal money or assets. LAPD cyber crimes detective Andrew Kleinick stated "doxxing is not a crime." It would only be a crime if the info was used "to steal someone’s identity, or infiltrate private emails." I have never done that. Others have done that to me. So odd that Isa Shisha posts that doxxing is illegal yet she's doing it to me. She should report herself to the police. She's now contacted my stalker and her stalker attorney, confirmed. They are both just as crazy though Isa is obviously a major drug addict. I have since filed police reports against Isa Shisha real name Melissa Ashley Citron.
Just found more criminal records for Isa in Wisconsin. She owes the state a criminal $520 judgment. Birth date and name match.
01/01/2017 Isa stated she had friends who died in the fire. Only one tenant and a local DJ died in the fire. The rest were party goers. Makes me wonder if Isa is behind the fake gofundmes to get donations for victims. Isa Shisha real name Melissa Ashley Citron is now attacking the family members of the dead victims! Can you believe this crazy lady?! She states she even knew a few of the victims. How hypocritical is that. This woman Isa Shisha aka Melissa Ashley Citron is beyond unhinged. The people she is attacking have banded together and are reporting her to the DA. Threatening witnesses is a crime. This woman needs a 5150 lockup and some major rehab.
This is all public information I'm posting. People asked me to find Isa Shisha's real name so they could report her to police and FBI. They will probably also be reporting her for welfare fraud, opiate abuse, faking a disability. She belly dances then says she's too disabled to work? Here she is Melissa Ashley Citron, 2 SEPTEMBER 1971, Mecklenburg, North Carolina, United States. Father was Martin David Citron 1933-2003. Isa Shisha is the woman who threatens to harm the witnesses of the Ghost Ship fire. Her doctors have stated she is "chronic." Because of her bad reviews of her doctors I have the names of her doctors. This usually means prescription drug abuse. She actually is only 45. She looks like 60 most likely from 16 years of drug abuse. She appears to be the black sheep of the family. The rest of the family went to college, are successful, live nice lives in NC, SC and Georgia. They all look healthy.
It appears she may have had a kid with someone back in 1992 or so in North Carolina. She may also go by last name Plumley. Her criminal records http://www.courtrecords.org/people/melissa+citron+NC/ 1996 fail to wear seatbelt, 1996 driving while license suspended, 1999 speeding, 1999 driving with expired registration card and tag, 1994 driving while license suspended, 1994 driving without a driver's license. She admits she was pulled over and searched by the police in Berkeley, El Cerritos Hills. She has criminal history in Wisconsin.
This is 2013. http://www.berkeleyside.com/2013/10/11/photos-humans-of-berkeley-and-the-bay-area/
Isa Shisha fake name left me a voicemail. Here it is. This woman stated online that she's been taking opiates for 16 years, since 2000. Here is her own description of herself. "CURRENT MISSION TO TRAMPLE THE WEAK AND HURDLE THE DEAD" "Bellydancing Fire Freaks in a circus enviroment." (sic) She claims to have the following diseases "Ehlers Danlos, MS, pots, dysautonomic shoddy body, EDS GPN (glossopharyngeal neuralgia) also known as vagoglosspharyngeal neuralgia. My EDS first caused occipital neuralgia and now gpn, eagles syndrome" She claims to be on "kratom, opiate, fentanyl patches, oxycontin, methadone foru years, teeth crumbled, foggy brain." (sic) Here she says she has constant organ ruptures. If that were true, she'd be dead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p29b-G905Fg If she is a real witch as she claims, why can't she cure her diseases? Why can't she wave a wand and make her pain disappear? Wouldn't that be better than taking opiates for years? Here's her LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/isa-shisha-08165aa How can she work if she per her own proclamation has no collagen and dislocates her bones all the time? She also is supporting all those gofundmes for alleged Ghost Ship victims "still in the hospital." There is no Ghost Ship victim in the hospital. It's just scammers. Here are some photos of this woman who claims to be a real red head.
Here she is begging for money. https://www.youcaring.com/isa-shisha-517416 and again https://www.youcaring.com/isa-shisha-610422 It looks like she's missing her top teeth? That happens with meth heads. Begging for money again. No one attended. No money was given. https://allevents.in/events/help-isa-get-her-shimmy-back/462365907143699
Here is her wrath. She leaves bad and false reviews for people who don't do her bidding. She was denied alcohol at a bar. I wonder why. She was denied doctor's help after he realized she was "chronic." She states she's an "international belly dancer" then next sentence she is "legally disabled and walks with a cane."
https://plus.google.com/115373288214459052823/reviews
More bad reviews. She gives herself a good review.
https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=Dtd48d04AaMN5-yNzaYa3A
More bad reviews.
https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=EsUAEieSc8ynDy1q5-l5Ww
Here she gives police a bad review.
"Isa S
Albany Police Department
Police Departments
1051 Monroe St
Albany, CA 94706
1.0 star rating 7/26/2016
HORRIBLE and HARASSING! *I* am a 5'1, 100lb female who is legally disabled. I JUST saved up disability money to get a scooter one week ago after being told BY DMV that if it was under 50cc I wouldnt need it registered/insured. I know the previous tag on it says june, so I figured *if* I did get pulled, it wouldnt be *that* big of a deal, right? WRONG! very very wrong. one police pulled me over and immediately called for backup, because obviously im sooo threatening? Proceeds to tell me what I was told was incorrect and laughed, literally, that he impounded THREE other scooters in the past week who were told the same thing!!! He then makes me sit on the ground, in the blazing hot sun, while he searches my backpack. The entire time im being told if i dont comply i could go to jail. He ended up finding a container of weed I got from the club, have a script for...and in the same container i put my pain meds for the day. He made me dump all of it out...even my pain meds saying because they werent in the original bottle...um, so what?!! The cop in the car made some comment about like 'you need THAT strong of medication with you'? Not that its his business, but yes...yes i do, which is why its prescribed to me. Sooo, they end up towing my new scooter I had ridden all of one day...a whopping 15pmh...8miles from home. Left me on the side of the road with no way home...in the sun..I didnt even have my cane with me because I didnt need it with the scooter. I look at my ticket...no information on where it was even taken. This is a joke. Would it have killed him to gave me a 2week notice to get it handled?? No. Did he have the right to search me?? No. Or toss out my medications? NO. Thanks you losers...now a disabled woman has no way to get around el cerrito hills again where there is also no damn bus stops. way to go. hope they fee like shit every night when they go to bed thinking about the people they left standing on the side of the road."
Micah Allison, Derick Almena and their friends such as Isa A Shisha are now attacking any and all witnesses, anyone speaking negatively about Derick or Micah, anyone merely not supporting Micah and Derick. Isa Shisha aka Melissa Citron is even attacking the families of the 36 dead people! They're using various, anonymous FB user names and their own. They are trying to harm the businesses and reputations of witnesses who spoke up about the atrocities in the fatal tinderbox better known as the infamous Ghost Ship. It definitely is a ghost ship now with 36 innocent souls. In fact because these people believe in witches, voodoo and ghosts, I command the 36 innocent souls who lost their lives in the fire to haunt the crap out of Allison, Almena, Shisha and anyone else who dares to interfere with the investigation. Hocus pocus fishbones chokeus, sim sala bim, abra cadabra, ala kazam! (sarcasm)
They are actively tampering with witnesses. These people even said they would use voodoo, witchcraft against the witnesses. I already spoke with DA, police, fire dept and building and safety. I will contact them again with info about Allison, Almena and Shisha attacking, harassing and threatening witnesses. You'd think their lawyer Tony Serra would tell them to stop their criminal behavior. Isa A Shisha (fake witch name) has been posting on the internet that no one should hire the electrician Robert Jacobitz. He works for himself so good luck with that. Plus who would take advice from a crazy "witch" on Facebook anyway. What he told the police and FBI are just the facts. He told Derick about the many hazards and Derick didn't give a shit. He even bought a fire door and installed it to protect Derick who was living upstairs. Then Derick blocked the fire door and stairs. That's why those people died. They were trapped up there with no escape. Thankfully they died of smoke inhalation before burning to death.
12/29/16 Derick and Micah's ad to rent out spots for $500/mo.
Robert Jake Jacobitz is the electrician from Jake's Electric which installed some electrical fixtures at the Ghost Ship years ago. He said he told Almena there were major fire hazards. Almena allegedly blocked the fire door so people could not escape the fire. Almena didn't want people using that door. Looks guilty to me. His FB profile said he worked for the Florida electric company. He lives in Oakland.
A couple of pics from inside the tinderbox. I think that is Micah on the right. Why not do a fire dance in a tinderbox? This is why parties need permits. An inspector would not have allowed this for good reason.
See the blue electrical box on the top? That has to be installed by licensed electrician. It must be firmly mounted in a wall not hung from a ceiling. Look at all these dangling wires? Every outlet has a plug in it. One person had soldering irons to make jewelry. Another had tattoo equipment. All in a tinderbox with no smoke, fire, CO detectors, sprinkler system, fire extinguishers which worked... I'm amazed it didn't burn down earlier.
12/23/2016 First lawsuit filed by parents of one of the victims. Here is the lawyer's press release.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ghost-ship-oakland-warehouse-fire-first-lawsuit-filing-news-conference-today-friday-dec-23-230-pm-with-victims-parents-news-conference-following-filing-by-mary-alexander-300383358.html
12/20/2016 Tony Serra the attorney released the following statement,
"Alameda County’s law enforcement and its District Attorney’s Office have a conflict of interest in pursuing the investigation. Undoubtedly, there will be a civil case by decedents’ representatives who will sue for millions upon millions of dollars. The Alameda sheriff’s office, Fire Department, building code inspectors, and Child Protective Services could be potential defendants in such a civil suit. All of them have repeatedly visited the premises without doing anything...Civil lawyers look for ‘deep pocket’ defendants in such a case. Here, the only ‘deep pockets’ are those of Alameda County and the property owners. It is our fear that improper charges could be brought against Derick and others by Alameda County in order to divert attention away from their own irresponsible agencies. It is our intention, if the need arises, to defend vigorously by showing that the real culprits are the above agencies who didn’t do their jobs." He further stated Almena "committed no conduct amounting to criminal negligence."
I disagree. I believe Derick Ion Almena did commit criminal negligence, 36 causes of manslaughter. Here is the definition of criminal negligence in California.
"To convict someone of an offense in which the requisite mental state is criminal negligence, the prosecutor generally must prove three things: (1) that the defendant acted so recklessly that he/she created a high risk of death or great bodily injury, (2) that the act(s) demonstrated a disregard for human life or indifference to the consequences, and (3) that a reasonable person in a similar situation would have known that the act(s) naturally and probably results in harm to other people."
We know for a fact that Derick lied to the owner about whether or not people lived there. Tenants said Derick told them to hide all evidence of anyone living there when landlord was around. Derick knew the real address yet kept using the address of the vacant lot or the business next door. Derick and his wife had underground parties. An underground party is an illegal party without a permit. Derick and Micah made posts, ads, flyers offering the place to live, have parties, store things. They were running a business from the site. They intentionally did not get any permits. Tenants and an electrician said Derick installed electrical outlets without permits.The tenants slept with fire extinguishers. There had been fires, sparks at the site previously. Derick is the one who blocked off the rear stairs. Derick posted that he himself built the illegal pallet stairs in the front. I saved all copies of their Facebook and other pages with all of these statements. This means Derick knew that in a fire the people on the second floor would be trapped and die. CPS told Derick and Micah they were not allowed to let their kids live there. Tenant and relatives reported Derick to CPS stating the place was not safe. Derick knew the place was not safe and was a tinder box yet he continued to rent it out for parties, living quarters and warehouse. Tony Serra has represented many guilty people.
_______________________________
12/16/2016 Derick Almena hired criminal defense attorney. As Almena is broke I would bet Tony Serra offered to represent him for free for the publicity. Now I'm sure Almena isn't paying Tony as he represents a lot of people for free. Tony even represented guilty ALF people for free. Tony's real name is "Joseph Serra." His father is Antonio "Tony" Serra here. Both of his brothers are artists. Tony and Derick are kinda, sorta similar except Derick likes money, drugs and travel whereas Tony does not. Derick also knew the Ghost Ship was dangerous and didn't care about jeopardizing anyone's health. There had been some fires in the Ghost Ship previously which is why the tenants slept with fire extinguishers.
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/12/16/ghost-ship-fire-shrimp-boy-chows-attorney-representing-derick-almena/
Tony Serra has lost his law license a few times. The first time was for sharing confidential victim information. The second time was because he was found guilty of not paying taxes. Tony Serra does not believe in paying taxes as a principle because some money goes to pay for war. Scroll down.
http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Member/Detail/32639
He went to jail for not paying taxes for two years. He barely made any money because he took a vow of poverty. If he didn't want to pay taxes, he could have made sure he had very little net business profits.
This is from 2014.
12/14/2016 June 2015 Derick Almena started a fundraiser stating they were broke. This would have been during the time they lost their kids to CPS?
https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/9xgf0
Another time they had a fundraiser so they could get enough money to bring the building up to code. I was told they raised funds and Derick just kept the funds.
FTR there are legal live/work artist lofts in Los Angeles and I'm sure Oakland. Here is the biggest one in the US. Because of the Los Angeles passing of the Artist-In-Residence code, artists could rent live/work space in industrially zoned buildings. They just must be safe.
http://www.thebreweryartistlofts.com/brewery_website_002.htm
Here is info on LA's live/work code. I'm sure Oakland has one as well.
http://cityplanning.lacity.org/StaffRpt/InitialRpts/CPC-2009-1771.pdf
I think I see friends of Derick and Micah offering to fundraise for them at events. Why would anyone reward these people for allegedly committing mass manslaughter? I believe their intentional negligence is the main cause of the fire. There had been fires there before. They had electrical issues. You could smell wires burning. They had no smoke, fire, CO detectors. The tenants had their own fire extinguishers. Derick allegedly installed electrical outlets without permits and not to code. I'm sure Derick was behind the wrong property number and intentionally not getting permits. I'm sure he knew he needed party permits which is why they were "underground," "popup," no address until right before the party... Derick, Micah, other people there knew what they were doing was not only illegal but dangerous.
12/13/16 Earlier city was releasing documents about the properties. I thought it odd as it was clearly under investigation. They now state they will not release records while it is under investigation. I'm glad I snagged the docs released to others before today. This is city's reply now.
http://documents.scribd.com.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/6x39odafpc5mhfek.pdf
This fire was deadliest fire in California in over 100 years. ATF concluded their investigation. No cause of fire has yet been determined. List of resources below. ATF gave into to the Fire Dept. Fire will do their investiation then give it to the DA. DA will investigate.
City of Oakland made a page for information on the fire. They made their own map of the real addresses.
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/OAK061753
Q&A with fire chief. How do buildings get into the system? We have no records of 1315 being inspected or of them applying for change of use, permits, change of occupancy. No record of any fire fighter, person with fire dept has ever been in that building. No records of any complaints referred to the fire dept in regard to 1315 (Me: That's the problem. They had wrong address of 1305, 1309). This bldg would not be state mandated facility. We only inspect active business, not vacant bldg. No permits were ever made.
Q: What are you doing to prevent this situation again? Are you happy with this situation?
A: We have requested info from experts NFPA (National Fire Protection Agency) and will make a plan of best practices to prevent this from happening again.
A: There was a fire in the vacant lot. That is only call since 2004. (The home on that lot burned down in 1992).
A: This was a change of use and illegal party. We were notified of 1919 Market St which is similar situation. We shut down that illegal residential use. We worked to find them homes.
A: Popup parties, underground parties that don't get permits. They make a flyer, give 24 hour notice, hundreds of people show up. We are working to prevent that.
A: We don't inspect buildings but businesses. We had no indication this was active business.
11:48 End
"Special Agent in Charge Jill Snyder was expected to speak at 11 a.m. PT at 1605 Martin Luther King Jr. Way about the fire that tore through an East 31st Avenue warehouse nicknamed the "Ghost Ship" on Dec. 2 at 11:30 p.m." NBC will live stream it.
12/12/16 Cause of fire was overloaded electric line in back of bldg. 1315 31st shared power with bldg next door, on the same meter. I'm amazed 1315 didn't have it's own meter. It's a separate 10,000 sf bldg. Article goes on to say Almena installed his own electrical boxes. You must be licensed to do that work unless you are owner/user. Even then you have to know what you're doing. I think Almena didn't finish high school.
"OAKLAND — Federal authorities are expected to say Tuesday that the deadly inferno inside a warehouse art collective that killed 36 people on Dec. 2 was caused by overloaded electrical lines at the rear of the structure where investigators had focused attention, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which has taken a lead role in assisting the Oakland Fire Department in the investigation, is expected to provide details at a news conference Tuesday morning."
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/12/12/oakland-warehouse-fire-overloaded-electrical-system-seen-as-cause/
12/11/2016 There were 14 people living in the Ghost Ship the night of the fire. One of them died 38 year old Peter Wadsworth. It appears he was living there with his cat. I would assume the animals in the building died as well.
https://www.facebook.com/PNWadsworth
It appears that Derick Almena grew pot in Mendocino county. I have this address for him. 33750 Shimmins Ridge Rd, Willits, CA - 95490-9308 After he would sell all his pot he and Micah would go to Bali or India, stay there and do drugs for a few weeks.
In Micah's Facebook page she was always looking for people to watch her kids for her. She'd offer to barter with archery lessons.
Someone stated that a person with a badge picked up Micah's three kids from the hotel. People assume it was child protective services. The last time CPS took the kids they were sent to Derick's sister's home. Derick's sister is a sane, stable person who wants nothing to do with Derick but she did take care of his kids. Derick's mother Lucy also took care of the kids.
The rent for the building was $5,000/mo. Derick always had ten people paying him $500/mo so he didn't have to worry about the rent. I'm amazed he passed a credit check. Maybe he used someone else's name.
Derick rented some space as storage. If someone stored something that that Derick wanted, Derick would just steal it. Derick stole someone's work tools, lots of new work tools. He also allegedly stole music equipment.
It's now being said that Almena had a teacher appreciation party at the site. The mothers who went to the party were alarmed. One called her brother who was a fireman and told him about the building. The bldg was inspected and violations were found. Almena was told to cure the violations but he didn't. Almena also lied and said no one lived there. It was just a work space.
This is the guy that was working the door accepting money to get into the party. He survived. He operated a tattoo parlor in the Ghost Ship. He bragged he was the creative director, the go to person for the space. He said he was the Warlord of Satya Yuga. Then he's also liable. On a news program he said he reported the electrical problems to the owner. Trying to blame the owner now, very low. I doubt they ever asked the owner to fix anything. If they did, the worker would see that the people were living there in an unsafe space. The owner would have evicted them.
https://www.facebook.com/maxharrisart
This is Micah's sister. She had nothing to do with the Ghostship.
https://www.facebook.com/SISTAH.EXODUS
12/10/2016 Previous tenant rented the property for super cheap. It says $500/mo but I don't believe that for almost 10,000 warehouse in Oakland. Derick subleased the place to at least 20 people for $600/mo or $12,000/month, He also rented it for events, parties, rented campsites on the vacant lot next door...for even more. Tenants, family members said he knew the property had major safety concerns, promised to use the money to fix problems but never did. People in the know said the couple used the money for drugs. They may not be legally married as Derick married a woman from the UK who was older than him. They did not divorce.
Micah Allison's father a teacher in Portland, Oregon said Derick Almena was a crazed, mentally ill drug user of meth, crack and other drugs. He said his daughter also got involved in that drug use. Family members of Micah staged an intervention. Micah agreed to go to rehab. Derick convinced her to leave rehab and she did. Michael Allison and many others said Derick had a cult like following, hold on people like his daughter. I can believe that
He was arrested in LA County in 2014. I got this from lasd.org
Booking No.: 4266818 Last Name: ALMENA First Name: DERICK Middle Name: ION
Sex: M Race: W Date Of Birth: 04/14/1970 Age: 44 Hair: BRO Eyes: BRO Height: 510 Weight: 160
Charge Level: M (Misdemeanor)
ARREST
Arrest Date: 03/12/2015 Arrest Time: 2110 Arrest Agency: 1925 Agency Description: GLENDALE PD
Date Booked: 03/12/2015 Time Booked: 2210 Booking Location: 1925 Location Description: PD - GLENDALE
BAIL
Total Bail Amount: 500.00 Total Hold Bail Amount: 0.00 Grand Total: 500.00
HOUSING LOCATION
Housing Location: -
Permanent Housing Assigned Date: 03/12/2015 Assigned Time: 2210 Visitor Status: N
Facility:
Address: City:
Public Visiting Guidelines
For County facility visiting hours, Please call (213) 473-6080 at Inmate Information Center.
COURT
Next Court Code: GLN Next Court Date: 03/16/2015 Next Court Time: 0830 Next Court Case: 9999999999
Court Name: GLENDALE MUNICIPAL COURT
Court Address: 600 E. BROADWAY Court City: GLENDALEUPT
RELEASE
Actual Release Date: 03/13/2015 Release Time: 0042
CASE INFORMATION
Case No. Court Name Court Address Court City Bail Amt. Fine Amt. Court Date Sent. Date Sent. Day(s) Disp Code
99******** 500.00 .00 03/16/2015 0
There is another arrest in Malibu.
ALMENA, DERICK ION 6MA02220 10/25/1996 Malibu Courthouse (Closed) (MAL)
Case Number:
MAL6MA02220-01
Defendant Name: ALMENA, DERICK ION
Violation Date:
September 29, 1996
Filing Date:
October 25, 1996
Courthouse:
Malibu Courthouse (Closed)
Print
Case Information Events Bail Sentencing Information
Count Charge Section Charge Statute Plea Disposition Disposition Date
01 14601.1(A) Vehicle Code Not Guilty Dismissed or Not Prosecuted 03/14/1997
02 22350 Vehicle Code Not Guilty Dismissed or Not Prosecuted 03/14/1997
03 12500(A) Vehicle Code Nolo Contendere Guilty/Convicted 03/14/1997
The charges are
14601.1. (a) No person shall drive a motor vehicle when his or her driving privilege is suspended or revoked for any reason other than those listed in Section 14601, 14601.2, or 14601.5, if the person so driving has knowledge of the suspension or revocation.
Vehicle Code section 22350 provides: “No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.”
California Vehicle Code 12500 VC? Driving without a valid driver's license in California under VC 12500(a) can be charged as either: An infraction, or. A misdemeanor.
BASE FINE/TOTAL FINE: $371.00 BASE FINE/TOTAL FINE: $0.00
(OR) JAIL TERM IN LIEU OF FINE: (OR) JAIL TERM IN LIEU OF FINE:
Additional Terms
PROGRAM: COMMUNITY SERVICE 56 HOUR(S)
Micah Allison's father said Micah and Derick were drug users.
"Honestly, I don't think he is capable of feeling any kind of remorse or guilt," said Allison's father, Michael Allison of Portland, Oregon. "I've never seen him ever really care about anyone else."
He described the couple as users of methamphetamine, heroin and crack and said their three young children were taken away from them by social service authorities for several months beginning last year. The youngsters were found hungry, infested with lice and ill-clothed, he said."
Derick stole his ex-landlord's RV, was caught and charged. Notice the address is wrong. It's not 1309.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7FbwFPl00rqcTE4MFYtb05FTFE/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7FbwFPl00rqaERka2xuTThPMWc/view
Derick also goes by the name Derick Ion. There are a few photos of underground DJs in the LA Times taken by Derick Ion.
Derick and Micah lost their kids for a year. Micah's mother in LA reported them to police. Derick and Micah had to take parenting classes. Derick had to take an anger management class, domestic violence class. They only had supervised visits with their kids.
Derick and Micah said they were "scrappers." Scrappers are people who find and use discarded items in the trash, left on the street. I'm all for people recycling but I don't support dangerous hoarding like this. Plus they left what they didn't want on the street for others to clean. They also offered the space to store items for people. They stored band equipment, cars... other reason why there was so much junk in there. Below is a pic of an RV in the bldg. Derick charged a woman $700/mo for this.
12/09/2016 The fire dept still does not know why the bldg was not in their inspection list. If you look at bldg and safety records the addresses were listed incorrectly for that bldg and the one next to it. I think someone went out there looking for 1315 only saw 1305 and 1309 so they crossed off 1315 as a mistake. They assumed 1305 and 1309 must be on the list already. Bldg and safety also changed the parcel numbers for some reason. I told them all of this in my request for docs. The bldg does not pull up in records for the actual parcel number or the address written on the bldg. It's possible the tenant intentionally painted the wrong number on the bldg for this reason. I've seen people do this many times.
I just figured out the fake addresses. I believe Derick is behind it. First, background. The real legal addresses for the properties on 31st St are 1301 house, 1305 vacant lot, 1315 Death Trap and then 3073 International the bldg on the corner. 1305 the vacant lot, 1315 Ghost Ship and 3073 all owned by Ng. Derick used the address of the vacant lot which used to be a house. That way he'll never be inspected. No need to inspect a vacant lot. Homes also don't get inspected.
I figured out why the other tenants, maybe owner changed the addresses. Each address is one unit so it gets one address. You have to petition to bldg and safety, USPS to get new addresses or break a bldg into multiple units. Ng or the tenants wanted separate addresses for the separate businesses, units in 3073 International Blvd. As the Death Trap was using 1305 addy of vacant lot the glass place chose 1309 even though it was 3073 International. There are more tenants in the corner bldg and they also chose different addresses so they could be found and get mail. They didn't realize that if they did this it was a fire code violation. The fire dept needs the correct addresses on the buildings for safety reasons. They need to inspect and they need to know which bldg is on fire. Bldg and safety sometimes has plans of the buildings. If the fire dept knew which bldg it was, they might have been able to access the rear legal stairs to get people out of the second floor. If Derick hadn't blocked those stairs, they might have been able to escape.
Bldg and Safety, Fire Dept also got the parcel number wrong. They got it wrong in a few different ways. Each county in California has a different numbering system. Alameda county's system is 25-690-10. That is the correct parcel number for 1315 31st. Bldg and Safety instead used these parcel numbers. The vacant lot is 11, warehouse is 10. They never identified the actual building.
025069001100
25-690-11
025-0690-011-00
The Fire Dept has ruled out the refrigerator as the cause of the fire. They also don't believe it was arson. The fire started on the first floor. People on second floor were trapped. It appears that the residents living on the first floor managed to escape. The people on the second floor at the party were trapped as one staircase in the rear was block and the wooden one in front was on fire.
Just checked the info act requests to Oakland. NY Times asked for all docs related to an assault report January 2015. Here's one request for info,
"It's about an incident Jan. 2, 2015 that Officers Mora and Kane responded to. It appears they and Officer Godchaux, through their investigation, knew that there had been a party at the "Ghost Ship" warehouse on Dec. 31, 2014.
Please give me a call at (415) 827-1902 when you can. I'd like to know:
1. Did the officers ever step inside the premises during their assault investigation Jan. 2, 2015? Officer Mora said in his report that he had canvassed the building.
2. If they did, did they report safety hazards or code violations to the appropriate authorities?
3. In general, are officers required to take such steps following an investigation?"
Police Officers are mandatory reporters of any type of abuse or danger to a person. I would think the condition of this building would present an obvious danger to people. That said Officers don't want to report because it's extra paperwork. They also don't know the entire building, safety, planning, zoning codes.
12/08/16 Results of information act requests from Oakland. There were many reports against this property for years. There have been many requests for public information. The State Info Act Request system is completely open. You can see everyone else's requests and the city's replies. I will be dumping everything into this "ghost ship" folder on Google drive. The city already redacted the info of others.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BxE8KfVPjYF4bjJZSmJ3cWtfenM?usp=sharing
10/2014 it was reported as someone building a housing structure in the bldg. The structure was allegedly removed, no violation.
There were repeat violations for trash on sidewalk. Turns out Derick was allegedly running a "recycling" program. People would drop off items to "recycle" on the sidewalk. He would use what he wanted in the bldg and leave the rest. The owner was cited, had to clean it up and was fined.
The artists started using the vacant lot next door owned by the owner of the bldg.They ended up putting a lot of junk on it including cars. The owner was cited. The daughter cleaned up the lot, painted the fence, removed some wood. She asked for two week extension to get the art people to move their cars and shit.
Here's an online link to one complaint. This is the city's file which they put online.
http://documents.scribd.com.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/p2lhcvmv45m4ege.pdf
Here is a list of all the complaints. I rotated the page. I think one of the problems the city had was having the wrong address on the building. The address written on the bldg was 1305 when the legal address per public docs is 1315. The bldg next to that is also mis-numbered. Notice that Derick was running a homeless camp on the vacant lot next door. Landlord should have cracked down on Derick. I'm sure that artists, poor people living in warehouses will be having a tough time after this tragedy. Housing is just so expensive in these areas.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxE8KfVPjYF4d0F0Si1SNDFxcTg/view?usp=sharing
Here is link to city person posting these files.
http://records.oaklandnet.com/staff_card/2895
Here is one open records act request
http://records.oaklandnet.com/request/18460
Person wanted to be anonymous but it's too late now.
"There are records missing. My signed written statement ( taken down by police officer #9326 ) is missing. My email correspondence to/from Jimenez, Hector and Gonzales, Patrick M. is missing. All are regarding Police Incident # RD 15-000320, AKA RD 15-000317. I've emailed the PoC directly with more details and contact info. - Requester"
You can see all open requests here. Search open and closed for "1315 31"and "1305 31."
http://records.oaklandnet.com/requests?is_closed=false&sort_column=id&sort_direction=desc&min_date_received=&max_date_received=&department=All%20departments&page_number=1&search_term=&is_open=true&due_soon=true&overdue=true&mine_as_poc=true&mine_as_helper=true&min_due_date=&max_due_date=&requester_name=
There was a fire there in 1992 which burned down the house next door. The fire dept report and complaint of the fire is here.
http://documents.scribd.com.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/2ttfghi0sg5m4eqn.pdf
This request is from LA Times. They wanted the names of the inspectors but they were redacted in the reply with no legal reason.
http://records.oaklandnet.com/request/18487
The 11/17 and 11/21 inspections, reports were only for trash and junk on the sidewalk. It was not for people illegally living inside even though that is what the complaint was about on 11/13. 11/14 inspector went out there but said he couldn't get in. Inspector says complainant has to give him access. The complaining is a neighbor, doesn't live there. Derick is the cause of the junk on the sidewalk. That is his "recycling" business. People drop it off. He takes what he wants and leaves the rest on the sidewalk. Derick told the owner that other people just dump trash there. What a selfish ahole.
Space was used for Burning Man "decompression" parties. It was considered an "underground" club.
https://www.facebook.com/events/640812382678579/permalink/641274042632413/
The city released a press release saying there is a criminal investigation in progress. They need to arrest Derick and his wife Micah. They both admitted to making the alterations to the building and adding all that junk.
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/pressrelease/oak061757.pdf
This was also Micah Allison's yoga studio. They threw the party and charged admission. It was also a Hookah dome.
A woman said she paid $700/mo to park her RV there and live in it. Derick was illegally using the vacant lot next door to rent out spaces so people could live in their vehicles. One report said Derick was running a homeless camp on the lot. Derick here threatened to evict people. You can't evict illegal tenants. Any tenant that paid a penny to Derick is entitled to get all their money back because it was an illegal rental. Of course he's broke.
RG14741778 ALMENA DERICK 9/24/2014
RG15753631 ALMENA DERICK ION 1/6/2015
RG15753635 ALMENA DERICK ION 1/6/2015
RG15756081 ALMENA DERICK ION 1/26/2015
RG15756943 ALMENA DERICK ION 2/2/2015
Case Number: RG14741778
Title: Collins VS Almena
Case Type: Civil
Complaint Type: Unlawful Detainer (eviction)
Case Subtype: General Civil
Filing Date: 9/24/2014
Filing Location: Rene C. Davidson Alameda County Courthouse
Almena lost
Case Number: RG15753631
Title: Philippe Lewis VS Almena
Case Type: Civil
Complaint Type: CH-100 Request for Orders to Stop Harassment (Civil Harassment)
Case Subtype: General Civil
Filing Date: 1/6/2015
Filing Location: Rene C. Davidson Alameda County Courthouse
Denied
Case Number: RG15753635
Title: Matthew Elvey VS Almena
Case Type: Civil
Complaint Type: CH-100 Request for Orders to Stop Harassment (Civil Harassment)
Case Subtype: General Civil
Filing Date: 1/6/2015
Filing Location: Rene C. Davidson Alameda County Courthouse
Denied
Case Number: RG15756081
Title: Elvey VS Almena
Case Type: Civil
Complaint Type: CH-100 Request for Orders to Stop Harassment (Civil Harassment)
Case Subtype: General Civil
Filing Date: 1/26/2015
Filing Location: Rene C. Davidson Alameda County Courthouse
Denied
Case Number: RG15756943
Title: Almena VS Shelley Porter
Case Type: Civil
Complaint Type: CH-100 Request for Orders to Stop Harassment (Civil Harassment)
Case Subtype: General Civil
Filing Date: 2/2/2015
Filing Location: Rene C. Davidson Alameda County Courthouse
Denied
Cases involving owner. Two evictions against Jose Garcia. Ng won. Chor Ng only speaks Chinese. Her daughter Eva speaks perfect English and translates for her.
WG05247542 NG CHOR NAR SIU 12/21/2005
WG06303911 NG CHOR NAR SIU 12/27/2006
Derick went to Asuza High School. He was supposed to be class of 1988. I think he dropped out after 1987. He wasn't involved in any clubs, sports, groups that I can see.
_______________________-
December 3, 2016 there was a fatal fire at the "Ghost Ship" an illegal, unpermitted artist enclave, living quarters and event site. The address is listed as 1305 31st St but the property documents only pull up under 1315 31st St. The parcel number is 025-0690-010 but it doesn't pull up under that. The owner is Chor Ng address 9405 Tanner, Oakland CA 94603. Chor-Nar Siu Ng is the owners full name. Her maiden name is Siu. Ex-husband was Hoi Man Ng, 12 FEB 1950 • China
She was born December 8, 1954 in China. She became a US citizen in California in 1984. Her daughter is Eva Ng born March 30, 1981 in Alameda, CA. The mother is living in the daughter's house.
Chor Ng bought the property in 1997 for $130,000 from someone who may be related. Chor also owns the vacant lot next door. It used to be covered in junk cars. She owns a few other properties in the area.
Derick Ion Almena was born in Los Angeles, California April 14, 1970. His mother was Santiago. His wife is Micah A Allison born March 11, 1976. She was also born in Los Angeles, California. Her mother is Mann. They have three small children. I see no evidence that they were legally married. I do see that Derick had a previous wife named Olivera Damjanovic. They were married in 1998 in Nevada. I see no divorce.
Derick had a FB profile at Derick Ion. Derick's father was Wilfredo Almena March 21 1947 Puerto Rico, died February 4, 1998 at the age of 50. He grew up in the projects in New York. His mother is Lucy Socorro Santiago Almena August 12, 1946. They married in 1964 and divorced in 1984. She remarried and goes by https://www.facebook.com/bolonik.ionsun Derick had a brother named Alexander Edward Almena 1966-2013. He lived in Oakland. https://www.facebook.com/alex.almena.7 His last posts are pretty depressing. He has a sister Katherine M Almena-Moreno 1965.
Some of Derick's post are in Google cache. In one he says he missed his brother's funeral because he was building the pallet staircase.
Derick Ion Almena acting insane, is insane, trying to look all arty farty.
Just saw the below video. He is a nut and self centered jerk. He likes to say he was the father of the space and people. He built the space and the beauty. He brought beauty and lives together. It's all about him. He feels that because he's an "artist" that brings "beauty," he should be absolved of all culpability and instead worshipped. He actually said "what do you want me to say? I said I was sorry" like that makes everything all okay. He acts like a spoiled little man child. He didn't build beauty. He built a death trap that killed 36 people.
I've met so many just like this guy in the artist district of Los Angeles. I've gotten into some heated debates over gentrification and real estate cycles. Some artists like to take credit for an area improving. Then they get pissed when the rents rise and they can't afford it. Just like this guy they get a bunch of free stuff from craigslist, the trash, freecycle and put it into their older man child, middle age crisis man cave, tree house. If he really wanted to build something, he should have gotten a job, saved his money, bought a house then maybe bought an apartment complex that he could legally rent to artists. Of course no artist can afford to live in a residential unit in that area so he'd have to lose money. He then went on to say the building was not as he was promised, it needed lots of work, he put his children to bed there every night... It sounds like he lived off the illegal subleasing of the units in the building. As I see it the building was a basic warehouse. All they have to provide is a structure that doesn't leak, has basic utilities... All warehouses leases state that the tenants pays for all tenant improvements. The improvements have to be approved by the owner. He was obviously in violation of his lease. I believe the owner turned a blind eye to the situation as he paid the rent for years. This happens all over Oakland, Los Angeles, Riverside...
Below are some of the real estate documents. Article continues below that.
The zone and use is warehouse. It's a 9,880 sf building on a 5,149 sf lot. It was built in 1930 and is listed as one unit, two stories. I'm surprised it was legally two stories. Generally artists will rent or buy a warehouse which is generally tall and one story. They will add a second floor and a staircase. 99% of the time it's done illegally and not to code.
There was a legal staircase at the rear of the building which was blocked off. There was an illegal staircase made out of pallets with no handrail near the front of the building. That is what allegedly caught fire making it impossible for the partygoers who were on the second floor to escape.
Here in LA from 2000 to 2007 many warehouses were converted into "live work" places. The legal ones got a use change so they could be residential living spaces. Others did not.
The Ghost Ship was definitely one of the illegal structures. The use was not changed. There is a damn good reason why you can't live in an industrial building. The old ones are masonry or brick. They don't have heat, insulation, cooling. You will freeze in the winter and bake in the summer. This is not a safe living situation. Warehouses also don't have kitchens or showers. Artists, poor people end up building unsafe kitchens and bathrooms.
Residential buildings must have a front and rear exit from the second floor. The purpose is so people don't get trapped in the second floor during a fire. The smoke kills the people on the second floor.
Residential buildings also have to have releasable window security bars. You must be able to release them from the inside. The reason is so people don't get trapped in a building and die like this.
Anyone who rents a warehouse property would make it mandatory for the lessee to have insurance on the property. The purpose is so the owner of the building would not be liable for what the tenant does. The property is free and clear. There is no loan. If there were a loan, the lender would make insurance mandatory. I would assume the owner had insurance.
In this case I think the lessee and owner could be criminally responsible for the deaths and damage. This is criminal negligence. They would have to show that the owner was aware what was happening in the building. So far the owner who is older stated via her daughter that the building was rented as an artist work space to one person. It was not rented for anyone to live in it.
Below are some pics from Google Earth, current Google street view and other sites which clearly show there were no exits, only one staircase and windows were barred. The photos also show the place looks like a hoarders camp. All those items fueled the fire.
Multiple advertised events, parties. Doubt any were permitted. They use 1305 address.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1073905999369690/
https://www.facebook.com/events/1802570323291351/
Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.
Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary Cummins-Cobb, Mary, Cummins, Cobb, real estate, appraiser, appraisal, instructor, teacher, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Brentwood, Bel Air, California, licensed, permitted, single family, condo, pud, hud, fannie mae, freddie mac, uspap, certified, residential, certified resident, apartment building, multi-family, commercial, industrial, expert witness, civil, criminal, orea, dre, insurance, bonded, experienced, bilingual, spanish, english, form, 1004, 2055, land, raw, acreage, vacant, insurance, cost, income approach, market analysis, comparative, theory, appraisal theory, cost approach, sales, matched pairs, plot, plat, map, diagram, photo, photographs, photography, rear, front, street, subject, comparable, sold, listed, active, pending, expired, cancelled, listing, mls, multiple listing service, claw, themls,
https://www.npr.org/2019/10/04/767285138/new-trial-set-for-man-charged-in-ghost-ship-warehouse-fire
09/10/2019 Defense casting doubt all over the place is what kept the jury from finding Almena guilty. Even though the landlord wasn't legally responsible defense brought it up enough times to make two jurors doubt. Same with the definition of legal liability. It will be interesting to see who was this juror who basically campaigned, lobbied in favor of Almena.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Ghost-Ship-trial-Jurors-hung-over-landlord-14422005.php
09/05/2019 Max Harris gets to walk free. Almena stays in jail while the court and families decide if he should be retried. 10/12 jurors found him guilty. This all comes down to the Defendants lying and stating they saw arsonists and there not being any physical evidence as to what started the fire. That was the Defendant's only strategy, cast doubt. The fire was so hot it destroyed all evidence. Court should consider another plea deal with Almena to avoid another painful trial.
"No conviction in California warehouse fire stuns families. A jury on Thursday didn't convict two men charged after flames tore through a party at a San Francisco Bay Area warehouse that had been converted into a mazelike artist space, stunning families of the 36 victims who had opposed a deal that would have put the pair behind bars.
Jurors acquitted Max Harris of involuntary manslaughter but said they could not agree on whether to convict or acquit Derick Almena after deliberating over a two-week period.
As the judge declared a mistrial, sobs and gasps erupted from family and friends of the victims who have packed the courtroom for the emotional three-month trial. The men were accused of filling the building in Oakland with so much clutter that it trapped people at an electronic music party nearly three years ago."
08/19/2019 Three jurors dismissed. Hope there are enough to finish deliberations. There is only one alternate juror left. Maybe this is defense strategy. Would hate to see Almena be acquitted due to a mistrial.
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Ghost-Ship-Trial-Judge-Expected-to-Announce-Update-554707101.html
07/20/2019 Case is now in the hands of the jury. Tony Serra is a horrible person. He tried to blame the fire deaths on a woman who was safe outside then ran inside to warn the people on the second floor about the fire. Serra stated that the woman who ultimately died told people to stay upstairs and die as it's the will of some spiritual crap. I predict both defendants will be found criminally guilty for the deaths. It's now just a matter of their sentence. I believe it will be longer that the alleged plea deal which the Judge refused as Almena was not sorry.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/07/19/opinion-crushing-news-ghost-ship-inferno-victims-mom-learned-from-trial/
06/18/2019 Harris takes the stand in his own defense. First he said he took no money to be the creative director. Later he said he collected rent, cleaned in order to lower his rent. Ultimately he lived rent free in exchange for working there. That means he did take money to help out at the bldg.
Harris went on to admit he lied to police when he said no one lived there a few months before the blaze. He said he lied because he feared being homeless if everyone had to leave.
http://www.ktvu.com/news/ktvu-local-news/ghost-ship-trial-harris-says-he-feared-becoming-homeless-if-he-told-the-truth
They will be found guilt. The only question really is the sentence. It will most likely be more than the plea deal.
05/29/2019 The DA read Robert Jacobitz' testimony into the record.
05/28/2019 Because Almena wasn't sorry for what happened, didn't take blame for what happened their plea deal with rescinded. Almena again brought this upon himself and everyone else. I believe they will get more than the nine and six year sentences especially after all they've put these people through with this public trial.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/as-oakland-seeks-justice-in-deadly-ghost-ship-fire-the-soul-of-the-city-is-put-on-trial/2019/05/26/6aa86816-7c93-11e9-8ede-f4abf521ef17_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8950cddc45cf
05/21/2019 There was no evidence of arson. This is obvious as the fire department could never even find the exact site of the beginning of the fire. How then could they find any evidence of arson.
Department of building stated they last inspected the building in 1951.
https://abc7news.com/ghost-ship-trial-disputes-surrounding-permits-for-warehouse
05/07/2019 The coroner testified today that 9/36 victims died of smoke inhalation. What did the rest die from? Maybe they were too badly burned to tell? They were too burned to tell but it appears all died of smoke inhalation.
05/06/2019 Very sad news. Jake Jacobitz collapsed and died in a parking lot last Sunday before he could testify. They deposed him a couple of times so that should be sufficient for the case. They can also use his testimony for the pre-trial. He was a real nice guy. The article is incorrect. He was a licensed electrical contractor starting in Florida working for the power company. The other person who did the actual work was not licensed.
https://ktla.com/2019/05/06/ghost-ship-trial-witness-scheduled-to-testify-about-deadly-oakland-fire-dies-in-car-crash/
I made a memorial for Jake. I left a message for coroner about his body. He told me he wanted to be cremated though he has a family plot in Florida. We talked about this before his last surgery just in case. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/198919372/robert-frank-jacobitz
Bouchard testified he moved out of the warehouse after just a few weeks living there. Nicholas “Nico” Bouchard co-signed the lease. He left as he didn't want to be responsible for the rent or the building. I see no video of the trial only sketch artist drawings.
Today is the first day of testimony in the trial. People who lived, partied or worked there will be testifying. https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Testimony-Ghost-Ship-Trial-509526571.html
Opening statements were last week. This is very interesting. Almena contacted a licensed electrician. That licensed electrician told Almena he needed a fire door plus other things to make the place safe. That licensed electrical contractor was Robert Jake Jacobitz. Almena told him he wanted to do it cheaper so Almena hired someone else. Almena also did a lot of the work himself without permits or inspections.
 |
| Robert Jake Jacobitz licensed electrical contractor will take the stand in the GhostShip fire trial. He will tell the Court that he told Almena he needed a fire door besides other upgrades to make the place safe. Instead Almena hired someone else and did a lot of the work himself all without permits. |
09/25/2018 Subpoenas were sent out to the witnesses and experts yesterday regarding the criminal trial which will be held next year maybe in San Diego or Bakersfield. This comes after the Judge rejected the plea deal as Almena didn't appear to be sorry. They are both going to get a much, much longer sentence.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Derick-Almena-tells-families-of-Ghost-Ship-13147662.php
First subpoena sent to witnesses.
09/07/2018 They are cutting a plea deal. It looks like Derick may get 20 and his co defendant may get 12.
07/04/2018 07/03/2018 Plea deal. Disposition
Judicial Officer
Jacobson, Morris
36 counts of 501
PC192(b)-F: INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER
Certified Convicted No Contest
17-CR-017349B | The People of the State of California vs. ALMENA, DERICK ION
Plea deal. No trial. "Under the terms of the agreements, Almena could be sentenced to nine years in prison and Harris could receive a six-year sentence. A judge is scheduled to sentence them on August 9 and 10." They will also be on probation. They must serve at least half of their term minus the year they have already spent in jail. Authorities were unable to determine the cause of the fire because the fire destroyed all evidence.
06/16/2018 Possible plea deal for Derick Almena. Let's hope this rumor is true so the families can be spared the trauma of a criminal trial. The civil trials will be bad enough if people don't settle.
06/15/2018 Almena's next hearing is June 25, 2018. His bail is $750,000.
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
Almena tried to cut a plea deal. He said the prison time offered was too long for him. He'll go to trial. He basically killed 36 people. If he goes to trial and is convicted, he'll get life in prison. If they offered life in prison minus one day, he should have taken it and spared the family of all the victims the trauma of a three to four month trial with gory photos and details.
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/article/NE/20180615/NEWS/180619783
06/07/2018 Trial starts July 16th. It's still a go. State is notifying all the witnesses.
03/23/2018 Jury trial July 16th. Subpoenas were just sent and received.
Earlier this month Almena wrote a 21 page rant, list of excuses where he blames others for the fire. He has the nerve to say that all those gofundmes to raise money for "victims of the fires" should have given some of the money to him. He said the "people donating assumed we would get some of the money." Why would anyone want to give money to the person responsible for the fire and 36 deaths?! That's ludicrous.
Almena states that the landlord had the responsibility of telling building and safety that the new use would be many people working together. He said if they'd done that, they would have had to upgrade the building. That is not the law. Per the contract that was Almena's responsibility. He would have had to notify the city and pay for all upgrades. He never would have been able to afford it. I didn't go past the first three pages as his rant is garbage.
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4402789/Feb-2018-Statement-Almena.pdf
The lead firefighter wrote about the fire here calling the building a death trap.
https://www.firehouse.com/leadership/incident-command/news/20995443/ghost-ship-warehouse-fire-oakland-ca-firefighters
12/15/2017 Judge ruled there is enough evidence to proceed to trial against Almena and Harris. "“I find that that there is sufficient cause to believe that both defendants are legally responsible for what happened on that terrible, terrible night, and are legally responsible for the deaths of 36 individuals,” said Judge Jeffrey Horner on Thursday after a two-week preliminary hearing."
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-fire-marshal-found-no-warning-from-12431571.php
11/09/2017 Preliminary has been postponed. It will be postponed many times due to complex nature of this litigation and many parties. The tentative for the preliminary hearing is 12/04/17. Trust me, it will be delayed and delayed.
11/07/2017 Derick Almena in jail interview. He claims he's innocent. He's in solitary confinement for his own protection. He claims that media has smeared him and his name. He said he made that first Facebook just to let people know that he and his family were safe. He said he didn't know people had died at that point. Almena said CPS saw the GhostShip and said it was great. CPS actually saw the GhostShip and told Almena the children can never live there. Almena claims landlord knew he was living there. He said there was a transformer fire and he had no power for two months so he used generators. He said he asked the landlord to fix things and they didn't. The lease states they Almena must make repairs. Almena then lied and said he made the place safer. He said he put in a back door and that's how some people escaped. There was no back door. He said he removed all the grates on the windows and people jumped out the windows. I don't think so. He said he added the front staircase to make it safer. He said the rear staircase incinerated. Um, the entire bldg incinerated. He said if you look at the photos after the fire only his pallet staircase is left standing. That's false. He said "I built something awesome (pallet staircase). I saved lives." Nope. He said without his staircase, everyone would have died. He said he plugged things into the outlets and "everything fried." Almena said it was the landlord's job to go to the city and tell them what he was doing. It was not. He said the landlords are "deceitful" and "greedy." He said the landlord said he rented it as a storage. It's not zoned for storage. It's zoned for manufacturing. He said he gave the landlord $20,000 to move in. He said there was no water or toilet. He said his landlord rented him an unsafe bldg. He said he started an LLC the yoga studio. He said "because my name is on the lease I'm responsible." All the subtenants created their own worlds and were responsible for it. He said he's being unfairly persecuted. He said he didn't personally kill people with his own two hands. No, he didn't. He's not charged with that. He's charged with manslaughter caused by extreme neglect of duty. He said he and Max are the scapegoats. He said CPS, police, fire dept, PG&E, principals of his kids' schools, landlords...should all be in jail with him sharing the burden. Then he said the landlords should assume all the guilt. He liked the police officers, the fire dept people who were there "all the time." Then he said he doesn't blame anyone. He said the people died because he wasn't there to save them. No, they would have lived if he didn't built a fire trap.
http://www.ktvu.com/news/exclusive-jailhouse-interview-a-collective-blame-ghost-ships-derick-almena-feels-he-should-get-some-but-not-all-of-the-blame
10/22/2017 Derick Almena is showing some of his art in his lawyer's office. Derick draws some dark and twisted pieces in pencil which he draws onto ripped out pieces of the bible.http://sfist.com/2017/10/22/ghost_ship_proprietor_featured_in_s_1.php
10/13/2017 Subpoenas have been sent out for November 13, 2017 pre-trial hearing.
09/13/2017 Judge refuses to dismiss Defendants Almena and Harris. Their attorney Tony Serra argued because there is no exact pin point cause of the fire there's no way they can be proven innocent or guilty. Serra basically threw shit against the wall to see if it would stick. Nope. Sounds like Serra will just use every argument, every tactic legal or not, rational or not, everything and anything he can think of to get the case dismissed. After all that fails he may try for a plea deal, that's my bet.
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/09/13/ghost-ship-fire-attorneys-challenge-manslaughter-charges-in-court/
Judge refuses to dismiss defendant PG&E from civil lawsuit. I personally feel PG&E should have been dismissed. They are only liable for power and equipment that goes to a building. They are not liable for inspecting the electrical inside a building. Almena is the one who should have requested a separate meter and power.
https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-refuses-dismiss-pge-ghost-ship-fire-case/
08/05/2017 Almena bail reduced to $750K. His legal strategy will be to blame PG&E, owner of the building, fire officials and building inspectors. Almena refused to allow building inspectors onto the premises. Almena never filed for a business license which would have mandated inspections. Almena didn't get a permit for any of the parties which would have mandated inspections. Almena never gave people the real address of the building. The real address wasn't written on the building or the curb yet Almena had a hand in painting parts of the building. The people in the building most likely died from smoke inhalation before the fire fighters arrived. Their making holes in the roof after the people died did not cause their deaths.
http://abc7news.com/2276425/
Notice that Defendants' attorney Serra states that keeping Almena in jail makes it impossible for Almena to be deposed for the civil case. No, it doesn't. They can make a motion to compel deposition of Almena. Then the police have to drive Almena to the courthouse to be deposed.
07/07/2017 Plea hearing is continued. Defense attorney has a press conference. He blames everyone except his client. He even blamed the fire fighters. I'm amazed he didn't blame the victims. Shameless.
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/07/07/judge-postpones-ghost-ship-fire-plea-hearing/
UPDATE: 06/28/2017 California building codes and fire sprinklers. Fire sprinklers are mandatory in California for new construction of single family residences, multi-family property, commercial properties and high rise buildings. They are mandatory if there is a large recent addition to older residential structures. They are also mandatory for certain hazardous uses. Most older, smaller industrial warehouses in Oakland, California don't have fire sprinklers. The Fire Marshall mandates fire sprinklers if there is a high risk to human life. There would be many people in homes, multi-family and commercial buildings. The same goes for locations which would house large parties. There could be people in those properties for the first time who don't know where the fire exits, fire doors are located. A regular warehouse used for its normal use it considered lower risk unless they are storing gasoline, oil... There should be only a few people on the property in the day time. They would know where the exits are located. Some warehouse owners have installed fire sprinklers on their own to protect the warehoused items, reduce insurance rates or to get a loan.
If Almena told the city or owner that people would live there, have a big party there, he would have been denied the use. If allowed the use via a CUP, he would have needed fire sprinklers. Almena lied to the city and owners so he would be able to stay there and use the property.
06/16/2017 Just did some research into Nicholas Alexander Bouchard who also signed the lease. He's 25 goes by Nico Bouchard, an artist. His mother is Kitty Wegkamp Bouchard from the Netherlands. His father is Florida lawyer Robert Frederick Bouchard. His field of expertise is insurance litigation. He was probably the lawyer who contacted Ng to say he was no longer liable. This is odd. His dad divorced his mother in 1985 yet he was born in 1992 in Illinois. In 1991 she married Kenneth Flisak. They lived in Illinois from 1991 to 1992. Maybe Nico just took Bouchard's name because he's successful and wealthy. Anyway the kid lives with his mom in Sonoma County, California and by himself in San Francisco. They are well off. I'm sure that's why his name was added. He looks Bohemian with tattoos.
Based on his Facebook he may have met Ion at Burning Man in 2013. I then see him with a bow and arrow in the wood. Probably took a class from Micah. Then there's a photo of them together in 2013 that says "ION" on the bottom left. He was into similar buildings such as the Ghost Ship. I think he got suckered in by Derich and Micah to co-sign.
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate, Nico Bauchard, Nicholas Alexander Bouchard, |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate, Nico Bauchard, Nicholas Alexander Bouchard, |
Seems another person was on the lease with Derick and Micah. His name is Nicholas Bouchard. The purpose for use on the lease was "an art collective, to build and create theatrical sets and offer workshops for community outreach. No other use is permitted." They did use the C.A.R. form but a different version.
I got a copy of the lease between landlord and the previous tenant for site next door 1309, 1313 31st. They used the California Association of Realtors Commercial Lease Agreement. This means she probably used this same form for the lease with Derick Almena. Per this form the landlord is not liable for any damages or deaths. The tenant can only use the property for the intended use. Tenant must comply with all zoning, building and safety, licensing...regulations. The tenant must repair anything that breaks. The tenant cannot alter the building. The tenant must remove trash and never leave trash in front of the building. The property cannot be subleased.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxE8KfVPjYF4cmp6ZjliS2tpRTQ/view?usp=sharing
50 page detailed report about the fire from the city, county with witness statements. A tenant went down the rear stairway when they smelled smoke. So it wasn't blocked off though only tenants knew it existed. Seems someone installed a new refrigerator before the fire. Everyone was against it due to electrical issues. The frig caused two power outages that week. When the power went out, they had to wait until morning for the neighboring business to open and reset the fuses. The fire appeared to start where the frig was located. When one smelled smoke he noticed the light bulbs were much hotter than they should be. Then the power shut off. The fire started in the kitchen area of the first floor. The flames went up to the second floor under the DJ area. When the smoke first appeared on the second floor they tried to use the front wooden pallet stairs. It was not possible to exit via those stairs. They were trapped up there with intense smoke. As fire and others heard no screaming, the people on the second floor died before fire fighters arrived. Fire dept was not called until flames were seen. This report is very interesting and disturbing and sad. As a real estate person everything that happened in this case was extremely wrong and illegal. Derick Almena's attorney said the responsible party is the electrical company. Based on this report it is not. The power came in from above yet the fire started from below.
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/report/oak064503.pdf
06/08/2017
Micah doesn't miss an opportunity for media exposure to shove her foot down her throat. They said the fire dept are responsible as they poked holes in the roof which let in more smoke. They seem to feel they should have put ladders to the second floor to help people escape. The people were dead from smoke inhalation before the fire dept got there. Plus, there were metal bars and grates on the windows. No way out. On top of this flames were shooting out of the windows by the time the fire dept got there. Talk about insulting people's intelligence.
Micah said in this article the only reason she wasn't there with her kids is because of the loud concert. That's not the truth. CPS would not allow her kids to live there. That was part of the court order. Micah herself stated this previously.
http://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Wife-of-man-charged-in-Ghost-Ship-fire-breaks-her-11209239.php#photo-12034427
Current list of lawsuits filed against Chor Ng.
RG17845597 NG CHOR NAR SIU 1/13/2017
RG17863850 NG CHOR NAR SIU 6/13/2017
RG17863858 NG CHOR NAR SIU 6/13/2017
RG17863866 NG CHOR NAR SIU 6/13/2017
RG17861609 NG CHOR NAR SUI 5/24/2017
RG17851011 NG CHOR NAR SIU 2/28/2017
2001010052 NG CHOR N 5/3/2001
2001013857 NG CHOR NAR 6/18/2001
RG16843631 NG CHOR NAR SIU 12/23/2016
RG16843633 NG CHOR NAR SIU 12/23/2016
RG16843856 NG CHOR NAR SIU 12/29/2016
RG17848401 NG CHOR NAR SIU 2/6/2017
RG17853077 NG CHOR NAR SIU 3/15/2017
RG17853255 NG CHOR NAR SIU 3/16/2017
RG17854105 NG CHOR NAR SIU 3/23/2017
RG17854328 NG CHOR NAR SIU 3/24/2017
RG17854628 NG CHOR NAR SIU 3/28/2017
RG17860470 NG CHOR NAR SIU 5/16/2017
RG17860682 NG CHOR NAR SIU 5/17/2017
RG17860697 NG CHOR NAR SIU 5/17/2017
RG17860699 NG CHOR NAR SIU 5/17/2017
RG17860700 NG CHOR NAR SIU 5/17/2017
RG17863541 NG CHOR NAR SIU 6/9/2017
WG05247542 NG CHOR NAR SIU 12/21/2005
WG06303911 NG CHOR NAR SIU 12/27/2006
06/06/2017
Derick was just checked into Alameda County jail. Max Harris has not yet arrived. Derick could be bailed out if someone had $1,000,000 bail or bond. I would think there would be no bail at all. If he were convicted and were out on bail, I bet he'd kill himself.
Inmate Locator Sheriff's Office
Inmate Detail Custody Information
Name PFN Sex Race Occupation DOB Eye Color Hair Color Height Weight
ALMENA, DERICK ION BKL034 M WHITE 04/14/1970 BROWN BROWN 5'10" 165
Arrest Arrest Charge(s)
Date Time City
Code Description
PC 192(B) F INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER
06/05/2017 09:00 AM OTHER
Event Police Report Number
7819430 XOXOXO
Booking
Date Time Booking Type
06/05/2017 08:42 PM WARRANT
Holding Facility Housing Unit
SANTA RITA JAIL 01D
Docket Bail Type Bail Amount Next Hearing(s)
Bailable $1,080,000.00
RENE C. DAVIDSON ALAMEDA COUNTY COURTHOUSE
Date Time Dept. Proceeding
06/08/2017 09:00 AM 011 Arraignment
 | |
| Derick Almena, Derick Ion Almena, ghost ship fire arrested booking photo mugshot lake county california |
I made a smaller and more legible file of the charging document.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxE8KfVPjYF4TGVoNzB4aGlZY1k/view?usp=sharing
UPDATE: 06/05/2017 Derick was arrested in Lake County, California. Here is his booking information.
Name/Tracking Information
First/Middle/Last
DERICK ION ALMENA
Booking # Inmate ID
67667 287301
Inmate Housing Unit for Visiting Get custody status notification
POD BOOK Visiting hours information
Physical Description
DOB Sex Eyes Hair
4/14/1970 M BRO BRO
Height Weight Race
5' 10" 165lbs W
Personal Information
City State Zip
UPPERLAKE CA 94601
Birthplace Occupation
GLENDALE, CA SET DESIGNER/STAGE BUILD
Arrest Information
Arrested Booked
6/5/2017 09:00 6/5/2017 12:50
Officer Agency
DUNIA LAKE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
Warrants Released
T
Court Information
Next Court Date Docket Number
6/5/2017
Type Offense Count Statute Bond
F ARREST WARRANT FELONY 1 A/W-F 1080000
To figure an inmate's actual bail amount use the following examples as a guide:
When an inmate is booked for multiple felony charges the bail will be the amount from the single highest charge. Example: If booked for 273.5(a) PC (felony) with a $15,000.00 bail and 11377 H&S (felony) with a $10,000.00 bail, the total bail amount would be $15,000.00 (not stacked).
When an inmate is booked for multiple charges including felonies and misdemeanors, the amount will again be the single highest felony bail amount.
Back to Recent Arrests
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| Derick Almena, Derick Ion Almena, ghost ship fire arrested booking photo mugshot lake county california |
Sex: M Race: W Date Of Birth: 12/14/1989 Age: 27 Hair: BRO Eyes: BRO Height: 603 Weight: 170
Charge Level:
ARREST
Arrest Date: 06/05/2017 Arrest Time: 0910 Arrest Agency: 4248 Agency Description: LAPD-FUGITIVES
Date Booked: 06/05/2017 Time Booked: 1223 Booking Location: 4212 Location Description: LAPD - 77TH STREET
BAIL
Total Bail Amount: 0 Total Hold Bail Amount: 0.00 Grand Total: 0.00
HOUSING LOCATION
Housing Location: -
Permanent Housing Assigned Date: 06/08/2017 Assigned Time: 0412 Visitor Status: N
Facility:
Address: City:
Public Visiting Guidelines
For County facility visiting hours, Please call (213) 473-6080 at Inmate Information Center.
COURT
Next Court Code: Next Court Date: Next Court Time: 0000 Next Court Case:
Court Name:
Court Address: Court City:
RELEASE
Actual Release Date: 06/08/2017 Release Time: 0903 Release Reason: CUST Reason Description: CUSTODY RELEASE
Release Agency: OTHR Agency Description:
HARRIS, MAX CARDIN BLM855 M WHITE 12/14/1989 HAZEL BROWN 6'03" 170
Arrest Arrest Charge(s)
Date Time City
Code Description
PC 192(B) F INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER
06/08/2017 03:02 PM OTHER
Event Police Report Number
7819785 16FRE083302
Booking
Date Time Booking Type
06/08/2017 04:30 PM WARRANT
Holding Facility Housing Unit
SANTA RITA JAIL 02A
Docket Bail Type Bail Amount Next Hearing(s)
Bailable $1,080,000.00
WILEY W. MANUEL COURTHOUSE
Date Time Dept. Proceeding
06/12/2017 09:00 AM 112 Arraignment
06/05/2017 Here is the charging document. It's only three pages. I'll try to edit it to make the file smaller.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxE8KfVPjYF4OWdVendMbV9IYjA/view?usp=sharing
Derick Almena arrested for the fire. Very happy to have helped with this investigation giving evidence to the DA. Max Harris the "creative director" who arranged the party that night was also arrested.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-ghost-ship-fire-charges-20170605-story.html
"Derick Almena, the landlord at the Oakland warehouse that went up in flames, killing 36 people, has been arrested for the fire.
Alameda County prosecutors announced Almena's arrest -- along with Max Harris, who was reportedly a tenant at the art commune known as the Ghost Ship.
Both men are being charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter. The District Attorney says they "knowingly created a fire trap." His bond is set at $1,080,000."
http://www.tmz.com/2017/06/05/oakland-ghost-ship-landlord-arrested-derick-almena/
UPDATE: 03/20/2017 Micah and Derick keep begging for money. They are mad that fundraisers raised $3M but they didn't get a penny. They are the ones responsible for the deaths! Why would anyone want to give them money for what they did? They have been admitting that they're guilty. They admit the authorities are after them.
"Micah Allison
March 13 at 2:56am ·
Happy birthday to me.
Thank you for the well wishes..
I am way beyond humility.. for the logical push back against the tide of mass hysteria.... There is so much inner rebuilding to do for all... But it must be fixed to a foundation of sanity.... I would disrespect anyone now in this time by asking them to .... Not be angry with me. It's just ... Slow down maybe.... I have stories to tell... The bitter truth on all accounts.... And it might ease and inform troubled minds..... So many paths crossing in this tragic moment..... And they have run out of town.... the only person able to bridge the madness. I am not afraid of the truth.... Only of dark intentions designed to cause more unneeded suffering.... There are those that literally feed off of pain.... And they have clearly revealed themselves.
We construct a daily illusion of well being and hopefullness for the children to root into.
To be honest... We really need a fundraiser... Barely surviving.
Infamy was never the plan.
Hiding our identities for safety and looking for work is a bit conflicting. We have been denied on all fronts ... And , of the nearly 3 million raised in ghostship aid. NOTHING.
Tragic death and Destruction of so many precious lives... Our life... And it keeps getting worse.
... Being pushed to the fringe of society and told to hide and keep our mouths shut. That is our tactic for getting thru this... To vanish.
Its not worth the energy to describe whats really happening.
People need to .... If they want or care.... Take a moment and drop into thier own imagination.... And meditate on what it would really be like to be us. Right now.
Maybe possible... If they even knew who we really are....
Thanks for listening....
If you would like to help us....
We gladly except prayers and blessings.
.. Micah.
womb.one1@gmail.com
Thru paypal"
From Derick. He doubts how many really died?
"Blessings and protection for all the beautiful ones that passed in my home. Apologies and blame will never settle this debt. If you are a guest in my home.... it is my honor to protect you... terrible sadness shames me.. for I was not present that night.... I did not walk the halls and greet good strangers and old friends .. that night. I am not dead... But truth and accountability definitely is... What's really going on here... How many really passed? Where are Thier families? How did the fire really start ? Funerals and payouts.... It's very hard to see and hear the truth thru the retarded heckle of perverse hatred and deflection of shame.
I have SO much to say... To share.... And so many questions to ask as well..... But my shame compounded by ignorant threats and hysterical madness fed by Illusionist's and trolls.... Have silenced me... And sent me into hiding.
Although I am here with my family in Oakland.... My heart is laying in shadow. Only until I can meet you in truth.... In the light of the sun.... Safe for all to speak clearly... I await this day.... Soon come.
When ? "
03/19/2017 Bob Mule who lived at the Ghost Ship and survived started a gofundme to buy a pinball machine for his new place to cheer him up. He was part of the cause of the fire. He knew it was a fire hazard and did nothing. Another tenant asked him for help getting out of the building. He turned around to grab him then a bike fell on the floor. Bob Mulé left him and the guy died.
https://www.gofundme.com/healingpinball
I just heard that he's building some sort of art sculpture. It's wooden pallets turned into stairs like the ones that caused all those people to die. Disgusting people trying to make a buck off dead people!
03/10/2017 Just read more of the delusional rant by Derick on Micah's FB page.
https://www.facebook.com/micah.allison1 Derick and Micah who are responsible for creating the fire hazard better known as the Ghostship are ranting, raving and wah wah wahing because no one has given them money from any of the Ghostship fundraisers. Derick and Micah who will most likely be found guilty of 36 counts of manslaughter for knowingly creating a massive fire hazard are crying because no one is just handing them wads of cash. They continue to beg for money. They even had the nerve to make a claim for a non-profits offer of compensation for people who lost property in the fire. They are attacking anyone who states they should not be begging for money for a disaster which they created. They state they can't get work and also must stay in hiding due to threats.
Derick has been banned from Facebook either from Facebook or his attorney told him to stop posting because he was just digging his hole deeper with his callous comments. Derick uses his wife's FB account to post, comment and threaten people. Derick continues to state that he and his family are the innocent victims. They had nothing to do with the fire. That of course is a lie. He knew about the many problems and illegal conditions. There had been fires in the bldg previously. If you don't kiss Derick's ass when he spouts out this nonsense he will viciously attack you. Remember, Derick has a criminal record. He also has a very long history of being a drug addict and erratic. That's why CPS took away their children.
03/07/2016 The electrician who worked on the warehouse and warned Derick about the problems was deposed. He told them the truth about the electrical system. The electrician is a licensed electrical contractor who is from Florida. He came here to fix the downed electrical system in Oakland, CA after the bad earthquake.
03/05/2017 LA Times stated all victims died of smoke inhalation.
Witnesses are being deposed for the criminal and civil cases.
02/08/2017 Article about the release of the documents. The documents show that authorities knew people were living there and throwing illegal parties. Turns out the owner has had a business license at that location for 20 years for a warehouse. The fire dept said somehow the address didn't get added to their inspection list. The business license and fire dept computers don't share data.
Based on this new information the owner Ng has less liability. The city knew the bldg was a warehouse business. It should have been on the list to be inspected but wasn't. It's not mandatory to inspect all businesses in California but Oakland was inspecting them. There were also many complaints about Derick and the building being used as a residence. The city should have inspected and shut the place down. That said Derick is still the one who turned it into an unsafe residence.
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/08/oakland-warehouse-fire-city-releases-thousands-of-records/
Fire started on the first floor. The power enters the building from the second floor. That would mean that the fire didn't start where the power enters the building. The narratives start around page 40 of 120 pages of fire dept records.
More public records have been released.
Here is the main page for all released records. Scroll down to see the records.
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/OAK061753
Police records
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/report/oak062781.pdf
Fire dept records
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/report/oak062782.pdf
Building and Planning records
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/report/oak062780.pdf
Public works records
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/report/oak062779.pdf
Redactions
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/memorandum/oak062776.pdf
Mayor's office correspondence
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/report/oak062784.pdf
City administrator
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/report/oak062783.pdf
01/24/2017 Here is the Defendants' report.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4Qu6OH_QJv9TS13eXhDZHpkd1k/view
I just read this weak, flimsy report. My pic above does not show the corner of the adjacent building's roof peeled back. You don't see fire damage there. Maybe the fire dept peeled back the corner in their investigation. These are Google pics not originals taken by experts with time/date/GPS stamps. That's why no one has signed it. I doubt an expert made this.
The report makes conclusions which the facts don't support. We know the fire started in the corner where the electricity comes to the building. We can see the drop. The Ghost Ship had a big techno musical video display with a DJ and party lights. The residents underneath were probably on their computers, watching television or sleeping. The adjacent buildings were closed. They weren't pulling any power beyond security lights.
The Ghost Ship has had previous electrical fires. The power has gone out many times. The residents slept with fire extinguishers for this reason. Derick, Micah and others knew it was an illegal unpermitted residence and a rat trap. Many complained. They also intentionally had an illegal unpermitted party. They went to great lengths to make sure the landlord didn't know it was used as a residence. Derick intentionally didn't get permits for any electrical work he did so as not to raise flags with inspections. The bldg needed fire sprinklers, smoke/fire/CO detectors, fire extinguishers in boxes in a few places on the walls, lighted exit signs with backup power, legal stairs. As it wasn't a warehouse all that trash should not have been there. Derick is not a licensed electrical contractor or contractor of any type. Derick intentionally blocked the only stairs. Derick then built the wood pallet stairs in front. Derick crammed the place full of wooden junk. It was a tight hoarder maze made out of wood crap. That report is such an insult to anyone with half a brain that I won't even respond to the rest. It's insulting that the attorney would present this crap report to try to blame the neighbor and maybe landlord.
_______________________________
Derick Almena's attorney says fire started next door caused by electrical wiring. That doesn't mean much at all. It was the crammed packed tinderbox, real stairs blocked off, front stairs made out of wooden pallets that made it impossible for people to leave. They died upstairs. Even then the next door properties were closed. There was an event at the Ghost Ship. It was most likely caused by the overload from the party and residents. I'm sure all the illegal electrical outlets and extension cords caused the electrical fire. This is speculation on my part. The fact that the corner of the adjacent property got a little burned means nothing. The main fire was the Ghost Ship. Of course adjacent properties will also be damaged.
http://kron4.com/2017/01/23/lawyer-ghost-ship-fire-started-in-adjacent-building/
Micah whining saying she's being treated poorly by the media and others. She is getting everything she deserved. She knew the building was a rat trap. She didn't fix it or report it. She only said she is sorry for what happened. She is not sorry for her participation in the tragedy.
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/01/23/wife-of-ghost-ship-collectives-leader-we-carry-a-really-heavy-weight-on-our-shoulders-now/?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#link_time=1485239151
May 13, 2014 Derick Ion admitted he built the pallet stairs. His brother died December 21, 2013.
"Yo G... I don't see you often , when I do... It's good... We build, we make music , we create and change the world daily... And in that moment it's a better place. At this moment you are an interesting reflection... Because my brother died dead gone forever fucking passed around same time as yours and I been dealing with the same dark wave of grief and the tide of loneliness and despair. Except now I hear you say thank you to so many good friends that care .... And this is where your blade ends and the one in my side continues to rust and fragment... Because I have no friends. I have no fucking passerby's that give a fuck for my or my families well being.... No well wishes or care package or check ins .... After 20 years of building this community and fiercely protecting it..... Doing my best to delay the black pyramid of death.... I have been rejected by those closest. If I mentioned names.... It would be the who's who of the Bay Area scene.... Because I am Derick Ion the baby killer.
And in this moment of self reflection upon Mr Cochino's wall..... I Am done. Undone. Used up. Tired and at the peak of my greatest creation. I'm trapped with a few other soldiers .... Within the walls of the most beautiful temple living tribute tied bound nailed erected and held together with love and blood. It is the center of the universe. And as much as it can be the tender portal of your escape into the revolution of clarity thru the freedom of expression.... It is also an infinite fanged fissure falling in on itself constantly.... Not a club not a cloud 9 not a defunct rec center not a pay to play not strate or gay not a 2 am go away..... A fucking vanguard chalice temple hideout bomb shelter of the soul.... And we are starving to death building it for all of you. So fuck Geno Cochino.... !!!! I ain't dead.... And I and Elijah Sage , and Muad'dib Melange and Derick Ion could really use some fucking help.... Some muscle and laughter... Some food and help to pay the rent.... On this 15,000 sq ft. Satya fucking Yuga next level. I missed my brothers funeral to instead erect the opening gateway and stairs.... While they burnt his body ,,, I broke brick and had the last of my self respect sold out and slaughtered by jealous fools drunk on self hate.
So big up Geno... Call me when you wanna get dirty and be blown the fuck away... Throw down the heavy DUB plates and raise warriors from their graves.
1309 31st ave @ Fruitvale and International.
The true crossroads of culture and revolution in Oakland.
Ion."
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| Derick Ion, Derick Ion Almena, Derick Almena, built pallet stairs, ghost ship, 36 killed |
01/05/16 As stated previously there is no loan on the property. If there were a loan, the bank would have made fire insurance mandatory. In order to get fire insurance there is generally an inspection. The inspector would not have approved this building as it was pre-fire. It's possible the owner had insurance on her own. You generally have to say the building is up to code when you apply. You would still need an inspection. They probably got insurance years before the current tenant when they were up to code. They could have just paid every yearly renewal with no new inspection. You only have to bring a building up to code upon sale except for some seismic in California. Property had not sold in a while. Owner probably didn't know what "up to code" was. Owner is older Chinese woman who speaks no English. Daughter is not a real estate or building expert. No one had registered as a business at the actual address. If Derick Almena had registered as a business which he was, there would have been inspections. The fire would not have happened.
Still, based on what I know as a real estate appraiser, broker, legal expert witness for over 33 years, the true responsible party is Derick Almena the lessee. He knew what he was doing was illegal and dangerous. Many people even told him this. That is why he didn't register as a business. This is why he never got a permit for a party. He knew it was illegal for people to live or party there. That's why he told the tenants to lie if anyone came around, "don't open the door." That is why he didn't get a permit for any work that he did in the place including adding illegal dangerous electrical outlets. I place 100% of the blame on Derick. I don't feel the owners are to blame because Almena lied to them and the city, county. I feel the owners were not experts in real estate law, building and safety requirements, zoning, planning. They were mom and pop owners who did not speak English. Owner received property through a relative. Owner's daughter is not an expert who tried to manage it. I've had many clients who were similar mom and pop owners of various types of properties acquired through deaths of relatives. Most couldn't read, write or even understand English. Generally they speak Spanish like me which is why they hired me. Because Almena is penniless they will go after the "deep pockets" the owners. If the owners thought the building was dangerous, they would have filed an LLC which they didn't. The property was in the name of the elderly Chinese mother. Sad any way you look at it.
Photos of all 36 victims. Only one victim lived in the building.
List of the victims
Cash Askew, 22, Oakland
Em B (a.k.a. Em Bohlka), 33, Oakland
Jonathan Bernbaum, 34, Oakland
Barrett Clark, 35, Oakland
David Cline, 24, Oakland
Micah Danemayer, 28, Oakland
Billy Dixon, 35, Oakland
Chelsea Dolan, 33, San Francisco
Alex Ghassan, 35, Oakland
Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, Berkeley
Michela Gregory, 20, South San Francisco
Sara Hoda, 30, Walnut Creek
Travis Hough, 35, Oakland
Johnny Igaz, 34, Oakland
Ara Jo, 29, Oakland
Donna Kellogg, 32, Oakland
Amanda Kershaw, 34, San Francisco
Edmond Lapine, 34, Oakland
Griffin Madden, 23, Berkeley
Joseph Matlock, 36, Oakland
Jason McCarty, 36, Oakland
Draven McGill, 17, Dublin
Jennifer Mendiola, 35, Oakland
Jennifer Morris, 21, Foster City
Feral Pines (a.k.a. Riley Fritz), 29, Berkeley
Vanessa Plotkin, 21, Lakewood (Los Angeles County)
Wolfgang Renner, 61, Oakland
Hanna Ruax, 32, Helsinki
Benjamin Runnels, 32, Oakland
Nicole Siegrist, 29, Oakland
Michele Sylvan, 37, Oakland
Jennifer Kiyomi Tanouye, 31, Oakland
Alex Vega, 22, San Bruno
Peter Wadsworth, 38, Oakland (only resident who died)
Nick Walrath, 31, Oakland
Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, Hayward
Photos of the Ghost Ship post fire.
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| Ghost Ship fire derick ion almena, derick almena micah allison oakland fire california |
I wonder why Isa Shisha is moving? Evicted? Running from the law? Warrant out for her arrest?
"Doxxing," what it is and what it isn't. It's not a crime or illegal. It's just a new media buzz word to get clicks. The police posted all of this information about Isa Shisha, aka Melissa Ashley Citron on the open internet. None of the info is confidential. Isa doesn't even use that name anymore. I have not posted social security or driver's license numbers. Even then I could post those things. It is only illegal for me to use someone else's SSN to steal money or assets. LAPD cyber crimes detective Andrew Kleinick stated "doxxing is not a crime." It would only be a crime if the info was used "to steal someone’s identity, or infiltrate private emails." I have never done that. Others have done that to me. So odd that Isa Shisha posts that doxxing is illegal yet she's doing it to me. She should report herself to the police. She's now contacted my stalker and her stalker attorney, confirmed. They are both just as crazy though Isa is obviously a major drug addict. I have since filed police reports against Isa Shisha real name Melissa Ashley Citron.
Just found more criminal records for Isa in Wisconsin. She owes the state a criminal $520 judgment. Birth date and name match.
01/01/2017 Isa stated she had friends who died in the fire. Only one tenant and a local DJ died in the fire. The rest were party goers. Makes me wonder if Isa is behind the fake gofundmes to get donations for victims. Isa Shisha real name Melissa Ashley Citron is now attacking the family members of the dead victims! Can you believe this crazy lady?! She states she even knew a few of the victims. How hypocritical is that. This woman Isa Shisha aka Melissa Ashley Citron is beyond unhinged. The people she is attacking have banded together and are reporting her to the DA. Threatening witnesses is a crime. This woman needs a 5150 lockup and some major rehab.
This is all public information I'm posting. People asked me to find Isa Shisha's real name so they could report her to police and FBI. They will probably also be reporting her for welfare fraud, opiate abuse, faking a disability. She belly dances then says she's too disabled to work? Here she is Melissa Ashley Citron, 2 SEPTEMBER 1971, Mecklenburg, North Carolina, United States. Father was Martin David Citron 1933-2003. Isa Shisha is the woman who threatens to harm the witnesses of the Ghost Ship fire. Her doctors have stated she is "chronic." Because of her bad reviews of her doctors I have the names of her doctors. This usually means prescription drug abuse. She actually is only 45. She looks like 60 most likely from 16 years of drug abuse. She appears to be the black sheep of the family. The rest of the family went to college, are successful, live nice lives in NC, SC and Georgia. They all look healthy.
It appears she may have had a kid with someone back in 1992 or so in North Carolina. She may also go by last name Plumley. Her criminal records http://www.courtrecords.org/people/melissa+citron+NC/ 1996 fail to wear seatbelt, 1996 driving while license suspended, 1999 speeding, 1999 driving with expired registration card and tag, 1994 driving while license suspended, 1994 driving without a driver's license. She admits she was pulled over and searched by the police in Berkeley, El Cerritos Hills. She has criminal history in Wisconsin.
This is 2013. http://www.berkeleyside.com/2013/10/11/photos-humans-of-berkeley-and-the-bay-area/
Isa Shisha fake name left me a voicemail. Here it is. This woman stated online that she's been taking opiates for 16 years, since 2000. Here is her own description of herself. "CURRENT MISSION TO TRAMPLE THE WEAK AND HURDLE THE DEAD" "Bellydancing Fire Freaks in a circus enviroment." (sic) She claims to have the following diseases "Ehlers Danlos, MS, pots, dysautonomic shoddy body, EDS GPN (glossopharyngeal neuralgia) also known as vagoglosspharyngeal neuralgia. My EDS first caused occipital neuralgia and now gpn, eagles syndrome" She claims to be on "kratom, opiate, fentanyl patches, oxycontin, methadone foru years, teeth crumbled, foggy brain." (sic) Here she says she has constant organ ruptures. If that were true, she'd be dead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p29b-G905Fg If she is a real witch as she claims, why can't she cure her diseases? Why can't she wave a wand and make her pain disappear? Wouldn't that be better than taking opiates for years? Here's her LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/isa-shisha-08165aa How can she work if she per her own proclamation has no collagen and dislocates her bones all the time? She also is supporting all those gofundmes for alleged Ghost Ship victims "still in the hospital." There is no Ghost Ship victim in the hospital. It's just scammers. Here are some photos of this woman who claims to be a real red head.
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| Isa Shisha, tribal bellydance fire eater dancer opiate user melissa ashley citron |
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| Isa Shisha, tribal bellydance fire eater dancer opiate user melissa ashley citron |
Here is her wrath. She leaves bad and false reviews for people who don't do her bidding. She was denied alcohol at a bar. I wonder why. She was denied doctor's help after he realized she was "chronic." She states she's an "international belly dancer" then next sentence she is "legally disabled and walks with a cane."
https://plus.google.com/115373288214459052823/reviews
More bad reviews. She gives herself a good review.
https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=Dtd48d04AaMN5-yNzaYa3A
More bad reviews.
https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=EsUAEieSc8ynDy1q5-l5Ww
Here she gives police a bad review.
"Isa S
Albany Police Department
Police Departments
1051 Monroe St
Albany, CA 94706
1.0 star rating 7/26/2016
HORRIBLE and HARASSING! *I* am a 5'1, 100lb female who is legally disabled. I JUST saved up disability money to get a scooter one week ago after being told BY DMV that if it was under 50cc I wouldnt need it registered/insured. I know the previous tag on it says june, so I figured *if* I did get pulled, it wouldnt be *that* big of a deal, right? WRONG! very very wrong. one police pulled me over and immediately called for backup, because obviously im sooo threatening? Proceeds to tell me what I was told was incorrect and laughed, literally, that he impounded THREE other scooters in the past week who were told the same thing!!! He then makes me sit on the ground, in the blazing hot sun, while he searches my backpack. The entire time im being told if i dont comply i could go to jail. He ended up finding a container of weed I got from the club, have a script for...and in the same container i put my pain meds for the day. He made me dump all of it out...even my pain meds saying because they werent in the original bottle...um, so what?!! The cop in the car made some comment about like 'you need THAT strong of medication with you'? Not that its his business, but yes...yes i do, which is why its prescribed to me. Sooo, they end up towing my new scooter I had ridden all of one day...a whopping 15pmh...8miles from home. Left me on the side of the road with no way home...in the sun..I didnt even have my cane with me because I didnt need it with the scooter. I look at my ticket...no information on where it was even taken. This is a joke. Would it have killed him to gave me a 2week notice to get it handled?? No. Did he have the right to search me?? No. Or toss out my medications? NO. Thanks you losers...now a disabled woman has no way to get around el cerrito hills again where there is also no damn bus stops. way to go. hope they fee like shit every night when they go to bed thinking about the people they left standing on the side of the road."
Micah Allison, Derick Almena and their friends such as Isa A Shisha are now attacking any and all witnesses, anyone speaking negatively about Derick or Micah, anyone merely not supporting Micah and Derick. Isa Shisha aka Melissa Citron is even attacking the families of the 36 dead people! They're using various, anonymous FB user names and their own. They are trying to harm the businesses and reputations of witnesses who spoke up about the atrocities in the fatal tinderbox better known as the infamous Ghost Ship. It definitely is a ghost ship now with 36 innocent souls. In fact because these people believe in witches, voodoo and ghosts, I command the 36 innocent souls who lost their lives in the fire to haunt the crap out of Allison, Almena, Shisha and anyone else who dares to interfere with the investigation. Hocus pocus fishbones chokeus, sim sala bim, abra cadabra, ala kazam! (sarcasm)
They are actively tampering with witnesses. These people even said they would use voodoo, witchcraft against the witnesses. I already spoke with DA, police, fire dept and building and safety. I will contact them again with info about Allison, Almena and Shisha attacking, harassing and threatening witnesses. You'd think their lawyer Tony Serra would tell them to stop their criminal behavior. Isa A Shisha (fake witch name) has been posting on the internet that no one should hire the electrician Robert Jacobitz. He works for himself so good luck with that. Plus who would take advice from a crazy "witch" on Facebook anyway. What he told the police and FBI are just the facts. He told Derick about the many hazards and Derick didn't give a shit. He even bought a fire door and installed it to protect Derick who was living upstairs. Then Derick blocked the fire door and stairs. That's why those people died. They were trapped up there with no escape. Thankfully they died of smoke inhalation before burning to death.
12/29/16 Derick and Micah's ad to rent out spots for $500/mo.
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
Robert Jake Jacobitz is the electrician from Jake's Electric which installed some electrical fixtures at the Ghost Ship years ago. He said he told Almena there were major fire hazards. Almena allegedly blocked the fire door so people could not escape the fire. Almena didn't want people using that door. Looks guilty to me. His FB profile said he worked for the Florida electric company. He lives in Oakland.
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
A couple of pics from inside the tinderbox. I think that is Micah on the right. Why not do a fire dance in a tinderbox? This is why parties need permits. An inspector would not have allowed this for good reason.
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
12/23/2016 First lawsuit filed by parents of one of the victims. Here is the lawyer's press release.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ghost-ship-oakland-warehouse-fire-first-lawsuit-filing-news-conference-today-friday-dec-23-230-pm-with-victims-parents-news-conference-following-filing-by-mary-alexander-300383358.html
12/20/2016 Tony Serra the attorney released the following statement,
"Alameda County’s law enforcement and its District Attorney’s Office have a conflict of interest in pursuing the investigation. Undoubtedly, there will be a civil case by decedents’ representatives who will sue for millions upon millions of dollars. The Alameda sheriff’s office, Fire Department, building code inspectors, and Child Protective Services could be potential defendants in such a civil suit. All of them have repeatedly visited the premises without doing anything...Civil lawyers look for ‘deep pocket’ defendants in such a case. Here, the only ‘deep pockets’ are those of Alameda County and the property owners. It is our fear that improper charges could be brought against Derick and others by Alameda County in order to divert attention away from their own irresponsible agencies. It is our intention, if the need arises, to defend vigorously by showing that the real culprits are the above agencies who didn’t do their jobs." He further stated Almena "committed no conduct amounting to criminal negligence."
I disagree. I believe Derick Ion Almena did commit criminal negligence, 36 causes of manslaughter. Here is the definition of criminal negligence in California.
"To convict someone of an offense in which the requisite mental state is criminal negligence, the prosecutor generally must prove three things: (1) that the defendant acted so recklessly that he/she created a high risk of death or great bodily injury, (2) that the act(s) demonstrated a disregard for human life or indifference to the consequences, and (3) that a reasonable person in a similar situation would have known that the act(s) naturally and probably results in harm to other people."
We know for a fact that Derick lied to the owner about whether or not people lived there. Tenants said Derick told them to hide all evidence of anyone living there when landlord was around. Derick knew the real address yet kept using the address of the vacant lot or the business next door. Derick and his wife had underground parties. An underground party is an illegal party without a permit. Derick and Micah made posts, ads, flyers offering the place to live, have parties, store things. They were running a business from the site. They intentionally did not get any permits. Tenants and an electrician said Derick installed electrical outlets without permits.The tenants slept with fire extinguishers. There had been fires, sparks at the site previously. Derick is the one who blocked off the rear stairs. Derick posted that he himself built the illegal pallet stairs in the front. I saved all copies of their Facebook and other pages with all of these statements. This means Derick knew that in a fire the people on the second floor would be trapped and die. CPS told Derick and Micah they were not allowed to let their kids live there. Tenant and relatives reported Derick to CPS stating the place was not safe. Derick knew the place was not safe and was a tinder box yet he continued to rent it out for parties, living quarters and warehouse. Tony Serra has represented many guilty people.
_______________________________
12/16/2016 Derick Almena hired criminal defense attorney. As Almena is broke I would bet Tony Serra offered to represent him for free for the publicity. Now I'm sure Almena isn't paying Tony as he represents a lot of people for free. Tony even represented guilty ALF people for free. Tony's real name is "Joseph Serra." His father is Antonio "Tony" Serra here. Both of his brothers are artists. Tony and Derick are kinda, sorta similar except Derick likes money, drugs and travel whereas Tony does not. Derick also knew the Ghost Ship was dangerous and didn't care about jeopardizing anyone's health. There had been some fires in the Ghost Ship previously which is why the tenants slept with fire extinguishers.
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/12/16/ghost-ship-fire-shrimp-boy-chows-attorney-representing-derick-almena/
Tony Serra has lost his law license a few times. The first time was for sharing confidential victim information. The second time was because he was found guilty of not paying taxes. Tony Serra does not believe in paying taxes as a principle because some money goes to pay for war. Scroll down.
http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Member/Detail/32639
He went to jail for not paying taxes for two years. He barely made any money because he took a vow of poverty. If he didn't want to pay taxes, he could have made sure he had very little net business profits.
This is from 2014.
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| Tony Serra attorney lawyer san francisco california derick almena |
12/14/2016 June 2015 Derick Almena started a fundraiser stating they were broke. This would have been during the time they lost their kids to CPS?
https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/9xgf0
Another time they had a fundraiser so they could get enough money to bring the building up to code. I was told they raised funds and Derick just kept the funds.
FTR there are legal live/work artist lofts in Los Angeles and I'm sure Oakland. Here is the biggest one in the US. Because of the Los Angeles passing of the Artist-In-Residence code, artists could rent live/work space in industrially zoned buildings. They just must be safe.
http://www.thebreweryartistlofts.com/brewery_website_002.htm
Here is info on LA's live/work code. I'm sure Oakland has one as well.
http://cityplanning.lacity.org/StaffRpt/InitialRpts/CPC-2009-1771.pdf
I think I see friends of Derick and Micah offering to fundraise for them at events. Why would anyone reward these people for allegedly committing mass manslaughter? I believe their intentional negligence is the main cause of the fire. There had been fires there before. They had electrical issues. You could smell wires burning. They had no smoke, fire, CO detectors. The tenants had their own fire extinguishers. Derick allegedly installed electrical outlets without permits and not to code. I'm sure Derick was behind the wrong property number and intentionally not getting permits. I'm sure he knew he needed party permits which is why they were "underground," "popup," no address until right before the party... Derick, Micah, other people there knew what they were doing was not only illegal but dangerous.
12/13/16 Earlier city was releasing documents about the properties. I thought it odd as it was clearly under investigation. They now state they will not release records while it is under investigation. I'm glad I snagged the docs released to others before today. This is city's reply now.
http://documents.scribd.com.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/6x39odafpc5mhfek.pdf
This fire was deadliest fire in California in over 100 years. ATF concluded their investigation. No cause of fire has yet been determined. List of resources below. ATF gave into to the Fire Dept. Fire will do their investiation then give it to the DA. DA will investigate.
City of Oakland made a page for information on the fire. They made their own map of the real addresses.
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/OAK061753
Q: What are you doing to prevent this situation again? Are you happy with this situation?
A: We have requested info from experts NFPA (National Fire Protection Agency) and will make a plan of best practices to prevent this from happening again.
A: There was a fire in the vacant lot. That is only call since 2004. (The home on that lot burned down in 1992).
A: This was a change of use and illegal party. We were notified of 1919 Market St which is similar situation. We shut down that illegal residential use. We worked to find them homes.
A: Popup parties, underground parties that don't get permits. They make a flyer, give 24 hour notice, hundreds of people show up. We are working to prevent that.
A: We don't inspect buildings but businesses. We had no indication this was active business.
11:48 End
"Special Agent in Charge Jill Snyder was expected to speak at 11 a.m. PT at 1605 Martin Luther King Jr. Way about the fire that tore through an East 31st Avenue warehouse nicknamed the "Ghost Ship" on Dec. 2 at 11:30 p.m." NBC will live stream it.
12/12/16 Cause of fire was overloaded electric line in back of bldg. 1315 31st shared power with bldg next door, on the same meter. I'm amazed 1315 didn't have it's own meter. It's a separate 10,000 sf bldg. Article goes on to say Almena installed his own electrical boxes. You must be licensed to do that work unless you are owner/user. Even then you have to know what you're doing. I think Almena didn't finish high school.
"OAKLAND — Federal authorities are expected to say Tuesday that the deadly inferno inside a warehouse art collective that killed 36 people on Dec. 2 was caused by overloaded electrical lines at the rear of the structure where investigators had focused attention, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which has taken a lead role in assisting the Oakland Fire Department in the investigation, is expected to provide details at a news conference Tuesday morning."
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/12/12/oakland-warehouse-fire-overloaded-electrical-system-seen-as-cause/
12/11/2016 There were 14 people living in the Ghost Ship the night of the fire. One of them died 38 year old Peter Wadsworth. It appears he was living there with his cat. I would assume the animals in the building died as well.
https://www.facebook.com/PNWadsworth
It appears that Derick Almena grew pot in Mendocino county. I have this address for him. 33750 Shimmins Ridge Rd, Willits, CA - 95490-9308 After he would sell all his pot he and Micah would go to Bali or India, stay there and do drugs for a few weeks.
In Micah's Facebook page she was always looking for people to watch her kids for her. She'd offer to barter with archery lessons.
Someone stated that a person with a badge picked up Micah's three kids from the hotel. People assume it was child protective services. The last time CPS took the kids they were sent to Derick's sister's home. Derick's sister is a sane, stable person who wants nothing to do with Derick but she did take care of his kids. Derick's mother Lucy also took care of the kids.
The rent for the building was $5,000/mo. Derick always had ten people paying him $500/mo so he didn't have to worry about the rent. I'm amazed he passed a credit check. Maybe he used someone else's name.
Derick rented some space as storage. If someone stored something that that Derick wanted, Derick would just steal it. Derick stole someone's work tools, lots of new work tools. He also allegedly stole music equipment.
It's now being said that Almena had a teacher appreciation party at the site. The mothers who went to the party were alarmed. One called her brother who was a fireman and told him about the building. The bldg was inspected and violations were found. Almena was told to cure the violations but he didn't. Almena also lied and said no one lived there. It was just a work space.
This is the guy that was working the door accepting money to get into the party. He survived. He operated a tattoo parlor in the Ghost Ship. He bragged he was the creative director, the go to person for the space. He said he was the Warlord of Satya Yuga. Then he's also liable. On a news program he said he reported the electrical problems to the owner. Trying to blame the owner now, very low. I doubt they ever asked the owner to fix anything. If they did, the worker would see that the people were living there in an unsafe space. The owner would have evicted them.
https://www.facebook.com/maxharrisart
This is Micah's sister. She had nothing to do with the Ghostship.
https://www.facebook.com/SISTAH.EXODUS
12/10/2016 Previous tenant rented the property for super cheap. It says $500/mo but I don't believe that for almost 10,000 warehouse in Oakland. Derick subleased the place to at least 20 people for $600/mo or $12,000/month, He also rented it for events, parties, rented campsites on the vacant lot next door...for even more. Tenants, family members said he knew the property had major safety concerns, promised to use the money to fix problems but never did. People in the know said the couple used the money for drugs. They may not be legally married as Derick married a woman from the UK who was older than him. They did not divorce.
Micah Allison's father a teacher in Portland, Oregon said Derick Almena was a crazed, mentally ill drug user of meth, crack and other drugs. He said his daughter also got involved in that drug use. Family members of Micah staged an intervention. Micah agreed to go to rehab. Derick convinced her to leave rehab and she did. Michael Allison and many others said Derick had a cult like following, hold on people like his daughter. I can believe that
He was arrested in LA County in 2014. I got this from lasd.org
Booking No.: 4266818 Last Name: ALMENA First Name: DERICK Middle Name: ION
Sex: M Race: W Date Of Birth: 04/14/1970 Age: 44 Hair: BRO Eyes: BRO Height: 510 Weight: 160
Charge Level: M (Misdemeanor)
ARREST
Arrest Date: 03/12/2015 Arrest Time: 2110 Arrest Agency: 1925 Agency Description: GLENDALE PD
Date Booked: 03/12/2015 Time Booked: 2210 Booking Location: 1925 Location Description: PD - GLENDALE
BAIL
Total Bail Amount: 500.00 Total Hold Bail Amount: 0.00 Grand Total: 500.00
HOUSING LOCATION
Housing Location: -
Permanent Housing Assigned Date: 03/12/2015 Assigned Time: 2210 Visitor Status: N
Facility:
Address: City:
Public Visiting Guidelines
For County facility visiting hours, Please call (213) 473-6080 at Inmate Information Center.
COURT
Next Court Code: GLN Next Court Date: 03/16/2015 Next Court Time: 0830 Next Court Case: 9999999999
Court Name: GLENDALE MUNICIPAL COURT
Court Address: 600 E. BROADWAY Court City: GLENDALEUPT
RELEASE
Actual Release Date: 03/13/2015 Release Time: 0042
CASE INFORMATION
Case No. Court Name Court Address Court City Bail Amt. Fine Amt. Court Date Sent. Date Sent. Day(s) Disp Code
99******** 500.00 .00 03/16/2015 0
There is another arrest in Malibu.
ALMENA, DERICK ION 6MA02220 10/25/1996 Malibu Courthouse (Closed) (MAL)
Case Number:
MAL6MA02220-01
Defendant Name: ALMENA, DERICK ION
Violation Date:
September 29, 1996
Filing Date:
October 25, 1996
Courthouse:
Malibu Courthouse (Closed)
Case Information Events Bail Sentencing Information
Count Charge Section Charge Statute Plea Disposition Disposition Date
01 14601.1(A) Vehicle Code Not Guilty Dismissed or Not Prosecuted 03/14/1997
02 22350 Vehicle Code Not Guilty Dismissed or Not Prosecuted 03/14/1997
03 12500(A) Vehicle Code Nolo Contendere Guilty/Convicted 03/14/1997
The charges are
14601.1. (a) No person shall drive a motor vehicle when his or her driving privilege is suspended or revoked for any reason other than those listed in Section 14601, 14601.2, or 14601.5, if the person so driving has knowledge of the suspension or revocation.
Vehicle Code section 22350 provides: “No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.”
California Vehicle Code 12500 VC? Driving without a valid driver's license in California under VC 12500(a) can be charged as either: An infraction, or. A misdemeanor.
BASE FINE/TOTAL FINE: $371.00 BASE FINE/TOTAL FINE: $0.00
(OR) JAIL TERM IN LIEU OF FINE: (OR) JAIL TERM IN LIEU OF FINE:
Additional Terms
PROGRAM: COMMUNITY SERVICE 56 HOUR(S)
Micah Allison's father said Micah and Derick were drug users.
"Honestly, I don't think he is capable of feeling any kind of remorse or guilt," said Allison's father, Michael Allison of Portland, Oregon. "I've never seen him ever really care about anyone else."
He described the couple as users of methamphetamine, heroin and crack and said their three young children were taken away from them by social service authorities for several months beginning last year. The youngsters were found hungry, infested with lice and ill-clothed, he said."
Derick stole his ex-landlord's RV, was caught and charged. Notice the address is wrong. It's not 1309.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7FbwFPl00rqcTE4MFYtb05FTFE/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7FbwFPl00rqaERka2xuTThPMWc/view
Derick also goes by the name Derick Ion. There are a few photos of underground DJs in the LA Times taken by Derick Ion.
Derick and Micah lost their kids for a year. Micah's mother in LA reported them to police. Derick and Micah had to take parenting classes. Derick had to take an anger management class, domestic violence class. They only had supervised visits with their kids.
Derick and Micah said they were "scrappers." Scrappers are people who find and use discarded items in the trash, left on the street. I'm all for people recycling but I don't support dangerous hoarding like this. Plus they left what they didn't want on the street for others to clean. They also offered the space to store items for people. They stored band equipment, cars... other reason why there was so much junk in there. Below is a pic of an RV in the bldg. Derick charged a woman $700/mo for this.
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor Ng lessee Derick Almena Micah Allison artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
12/09/2016 The fire dept still does not know why the bldg was not in their inspection list. If you look at bldg and safety records the addresses were listed incorrectly for that bldg and the one next to it. I think someone went out there looking for 1315 only saw 1305 and 1309 so they crossed off 1315 as a mistake. They assumed 1305 and 1309 must be on the list already. Bldg and safety also changed the parcel numbers for some reason. I told them all of this in my request for docs. The bldg does not pull up in records for the actual parcel number or the address written on the bldg. It's possible the tenant intentionally painted the wrong number on the bldg for this reason. I've seen people do this many times.
I just figured out the fake addresses. I believe Derick is behind it. First, background. The real legal addresses for the properties on 31st St are 1301 house, 1305 vacant lot, 1315 Death Trap and then 3073 International the bldg on the corner. 1305 the vacant lot, 1315 Ghost Ship and 3073 all owned by Ng. Derick used the address of the vacant lot which used to be a house. That way he'll never be inspected. No need to inspect a vacant lot. Homes also don't get inspected.
I figured out why the other tenants, maybe owner changed the addresses. Each address is one unit so it gets one address. You have to petition to bldg and safety, USPS to get new addresses or break a bldg into multiple units. Ng or the tenants wanted separate addresses for the separate businesses, units in 3073 International Blvd. As the Death Trap was using 1305 addy of vacant lot the glass place chose 1309 even though it was 3073 International. There are more tenants in the corner bldg and they also chose different addresses so they could be found and get mail. They didn't realize that if they did this it was a fire code violation. The fire dept needs the correct addresses on the buildings for safety reasons. They need to inspect and they need to know which bldg is on fire. Bldg and safety sometimes has plans of the buildings. If the fire dept knew which bldg it was, they might have been able to access the rear legal stairs to get people out of the second floor. If Derick hadn't blocked those stairs, they might have been able to escape.
 |
| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
025069001100
25-690-11
025-0690-011-00
The Fire Dept has ruled out the refrigerator as the cause of the fire. They also don't believe it was arson. The fire started on the first floor. People on second floor were trapped. It appears that the residents living on the first floor managed to escape. The people on the second floor at the party were trapped as one staircase in the rear was block and the wooden one in front was on fire.
Just checked the info act requests to Oakland. NY Times asked for all docs related to an assault report January 2015. Here's one request for info,
"It's about an incident Jan. 2, 2015 that Officers Mora and Kane responded to. It appears they and Officer Godchaux, through their investigation, knew that there had been a party at the "Ghost Ship" warehouse on Dec. 31, 2014.
Please give me a call at (415) 827-1902 when you can. I'd like to know:
1. Did the officers ever step inside the premises during their assault investigation Jan. 2, 2015? Officer Mora said in his report that he had canvassed the building.
2. If they did, did they report safety hazards or code violations to the appropriate authorities?
3. In general, are officers required to take such steps following an investigation?"
Police Officers are mandatory reporters of any type of abuse or danger to a person. I would think the condition of this building would present an obvious danger to people. That said Officers don't want to report because it's extra paperwork. They also don't know the entire building, safety, planning, zoning codes.
12/08/16 Results of information act requests from Oakland. There were many reports against this property for years. There have been many requests for public information. The State Info Act Request system is completely open. You can see everyone else's requests and the city's replies. I will be dumping everything into this "ghost ship" folder on Google drive. The city already redacted the info of others.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BxE8KfVPjYF4bjJZSmJ3cWtfenM?usp=sharing
10/2014 it was reported as someone building a housing structure in the bldg. The structure was allegedly removed, no violation.
There were repeat violations for trash on sidewalk. Turns out Derick was allegedly running a "recycling" program. People would drop off items to "recycle" on the sidewalk. He would use what he wanted in the bldg and leave the rest. The owner was cited, had to clean it up and was fined.
The artists started using the vacant lot next door owned by the owner of the bldg.They ended up putting a lot of junk on it including cars. The owner was cited. The daughter cleaned up the lot, painted the fence, removed some wood. She asked for two week extension to get the art people to move their cars and shit.
Here's an online link to one complaint. This is the city's file which they put online.
http://documents.scribd.com.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/p2lhcvmv45m4ege.pdf
Here is a list of all the complaints. I rotated the page. I think one of the problems the city had was having the wrong address on the building. The address written on the bldg was 1305 when the legal address per public docs is 1315. The bldg next to that is also mis-numbered. Notice that Derick was running a homeless camp on the vacant lot next door. Landlord should have cracked down on Derick. I'm sure that artists, poor people living in warehouses will be having a tough time after this tragedy. Housing is just so expensive in these areas.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxE8KfVPjYF4d0F0Si1SNDFxcTg/view?usp=sharing
Here is link to city person posting these files.
http://records.oaklandnet.com/staff_card/2895
Here is one open records act request
http://records.oaklandnet.com/request/18460
Person wanted to be anonymous but it's too late now.
"There are records missing. My signed written statement ( taken down by police officer #9326 ) is missing. My email correspondence to/from Jimenez, Hector and Gonzales, Patrick M. is missing. All are regarding Police Incident # RD 15-000320, AKA RD 15-000317. I've emailed the PoC directly with more details and contact info. - Requester"
You can see all open requests here. Search open and closed for "1315 31"and "1305 31."
http://records.oaklandnet.com/requests?is_closed=false&sort_column=id&sort_direction=desc&min_date_received=&max_date_received=&department=All%20departments&page_number=1&search_term=&is_open=true&due_soon=true&overdue=true&mine_as_poc=true&mine_as_helper=true&min_due_date=&max_due_date=&requester_name=
There was a fire there in 1992 which burned down the house next door. The fire dept report and complaint of the fire is here.
http://documents.scribd.com.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/2ttfghi0sg5m4eqn.pdf
This request is from LA Times. They wanted the names of the inspectors but they were redacted in the reply with no legal reason.
http://records.oaklandnet.com/request/18487
The 11/17 and 11/21 inspections, reports were only for trash and junk on the sidewalk. It was not for people illegally living inside even though that is what the complaint was about on 11/13. 11/14 inspector went out there but said he couldn't get in. Inspector says complainant has to give him access. The complaining is a neighbor, doesn't live there. Derick is the cause of the junk on the sidewalk. That is his "recycling" business. People drop it off. He takes what he wants and leaves the rest on the sidewalk. Derick told the owner that other people just dump trash there. What a selfish ahole.
Space was used for Burning Man "decompression" parties. It was considered an "underground" club.
https://www.facebook.com/events/640812382678579/permalink/641274042632413/
The city released a press release saying there is a criminal investigation in progress. They need to arrest Derick and his wife Micah. They both admitted to making the alterations to the building and adding all that junk.
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/pressrelease/oak061757.pdf
This was also Micah Allison's yoga studio. They threw the party and charged admission.
A woman said she paid $700/mo to park her RV there and live in it. Derick was illegally using the vacant lot next door to rent out spaces so people could live in their vehicles. One report said Derick was running a homeless camp on the lot. Derick here threatened to evict people. You can't evict illegal tenants. Any tenant that paid a penny to Derick is entitled to get all their money back because it was an illegal rental. Of course he's broke.
RG14741778 ALMENA DERICK 9/24/2014
RG15753631 ALMENA DERICK ION 1/6/2015
RG15753635 ALMENA DERICK ION 1/6/2015
RG15756081 ALMENA DERICK ION 1/26/2015
RG15756943 ALMENA DERICK ION 2/2/2015
Case Number: RG14741778
Title: Collins VS Almena
Case Type: Civil
Complaint Type: Unlawful Detainer (eviction)
Case Subtype: General Civil
Filing Date: 9/24/2014
Filing Location: Rene C. Davidson Alameda County Courthouse
Almena lost
Case Number: RG15753631
Title: Philippe Lewis VS Almena
Case Type: Civil
Complaint Type: CH-100 Request for Orders to Stop Harassment (Civil Harassment)
Case Subtype: General Civil
Filing Date: 1/6/2015
Filing Location: Rene C. Davidson Alameda County Courthouse
Denied
Case Number: RG15753635
Title: Matthew Elvey VS Almena
Case Type: Civil
Complaint Type: CH-100 Request for Orders to Stop Harassment (Civil Harassment)
Case Subtype: General Civil
Filing Date: 1/6/2015
Filing Location: Rene C. Davidson Alameda County Courthouse
Denied
Case Number: RG15756081
Title: Elvey VS Almena
Case Type: Civil
Complaint Type: CH-100 Request for Orders to Stop Harassment (Civil Harassment)
Case Subtype: General Civil
Filing Date: 1/26/2015
Filing Location: Rene C. Davidson Alameda County Courthouse
Denied
Case Number: RG15756943
Title: Almena VS Shelley Porter
Case Type: Civil
Complaint Type: CH-100 Request for Orders to Stop Harassment (Civil Harassment)
Case Subtype: General Civil
Filing Date: 2/2/2015
Filing Location: Rene C. Davidson Alameda County Courthouse
Denied
Cases involving owner. Two evictions against Jose Garcia. Ng won. Chor Ng only speaks Chinese. Her daughter Eva speaks perfect English and translates for her.
WG05247542 NG CHOR NAR SIU 12/21/2005
WG06303911 NG CHOR NAR SIU 12/27/2006
Derick went to Asuza High School. He was supposed to be class of 1988. I think he dropped out after 1987. He wasn't involved in any clubs, sports, groups that I can see.
 |
| Derick Almena, Derick Ion Almena |
_______________________-
December 3, 2016 there was a fatal fire at the "Ghost Ship" an illegal, unpermitted artist enclave, living quarters and event site. The address is listed as 1305 31st St but the property documents only pull up under 1315 31st St. The parcel number is 025-0690-010 but it doesn't pull up under that. The owner is Chor Ng address 9405 Tanner, Oakland CA 94603. Chor-Nar Siu Ng is the owners full name. Her maiden name is Siu. Ex-husband was Hoi Man Ng, 12 FEB 1950 • China
She was born December 8, 1954 in China. She became a US citizen in California in 1984. Her daughter is Eva Ng born March 30, 1981 in Alameda, CA. The mother is living in the daughter's house.
Chor Ng bought the property in 1997 for $130,000 from someone who may be related. Chor also owns the vacant lot next door. It used to be covered in junk cars. She owns a few other properties in the area.
Derick Ion Almena was born in Los Angeles, California April 14, 1970. His mother was Santiago. His wife is Micah A Allison born March 11, 1976. She was also born in Los Angeles, California. Her mother is Mann. They have three small children. I see no evidence that they were legally married. I do see that Derick had a previous wife named Olivera Damjanovic. They were married in 1998 in Nevada. I see no divorce.
Derick had a FB profile at Derick Ion. Derick's father was Wilfredo Almena March 21 1947 Puerto Rico, died February 4, 1998 at the age of 50. He grew up in the projects in New York. His mother is Lucy Socorro Santiago Almena August 12, 1946. They married in 1964 and divorced in 1984. She remarried and goes by https://www.facebook.com/bolonik.ionsun Derick had a brother named Alexander Edward Almena 1966-2013. He lived in Oakland. https://www.facebook.com/alex.almena.7 His last posts are pretty depressing. He has a sister Katherine M Almena-Moreno 1965.
Some of Derick's post are in Google cache. In one he says he missed his brother's funeral because he was building the pallet staircase.
Just saw the below video. He is a nut and self centered jerk. He likes to say he was the father of the space and people. He built the space and the beauty. He brought beauty and lives together. It's all about him. He feels that because he's an "artist" that brings "beauty," he should be absolved of all culpability and instead worshipped. He actually said "what do you want me to say? I said I was sorry" like that makes everything all okay. He acts like a spoiled little man child. He didn't build beauty. He built a death trap that killed 36 people.
I've met so many just like this guy in the artist district of Los Angeles. I've gotten into some heated debates over gentrification and real estate cycles. Some artists like to take credit for an area improving. Then they get pissed when the rents rise and they can't afford it. Just like this guy they get a bunch of free stuff from craigslist, the trash, freecycle and put it into their older man child, middle age crisis man cave, tree house. If he really wanted to build something, he should have gotten a job, saved his money, bought a house then maybe bought an apartment complex that he could legally rent to artists. Of course no artist can afford to live in a residential unit in that area so he'd have to lose money. He then went on to say the building was not as he was promised, it needed lots of work, he put his children to bed there every night... It sounds like he lived off the illegal subleasing of the units in the building. As I see it the building was a basic warehouse. All they have to provide is a structure that doesn't leak, has basic utilities... All warehouses leases state that the tenants pays for all tenant improvements. The improvements have to be approved by the owner. He was obviously in violation of his lease. I believe the owner turned a blind eye to the situation as he paid the rent for years. This happens all over Oakland, Los Angeles, Riverside...
Below are some of the real estate documents. Article continues below that.
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
The only government agency who seemed to have the correct address and parcel number is the Alameda County Assessor's Office. |
| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
The zone and use is warehouse. It's a 9,880 sf building on a 5,149 sf lot. It was built in 1930 and is listed as one unit, two stories. I'm surprised it was legally two stories. Generally artists will rent or buy a warehouse which is generally tall and one story. They will add a second floor and a staircase. 99% of the time it's done illegally and not to code.
There was a legal staircase at the rear of the building which was blocked off. There was an illegal staircase made out of pallets with no handrail near the front of the building. That is what allegedly caught fire making it impossible for the partygoers who were on the second floor to escape.
Here in LA from 2000 to 2007 many warehouses were converted into "live work" places. The legal ones got a use change so they could be residential living spaces. Others did not.
The Ghost Ship was definitely one of the illegal structures. The use was not changed. There is a damn good reason why you can't live in an industrial building. The old ones are masonry or brick. They don't have heat, insulation, cooling. You will freeze in the winter and bake in the summer. This is not a safe living situation. Warehouses also don't have kitchens or showers. Artists, poor people end up building unsafe kitchens and bathrooms.
Residential buildings must have a front and rear exit from the second floor. The purpose is so people don't get trapped in the second floor during a fire. The smoke kills the people on the second floor.
Residential buildings also have to have releasable window security bars. You must be able to release them from the inside. The reason is so people don't get trapped in a building and die like this.
Anyone who rents a warehouse property would make it mandatory for the lessee to have insurance on the property. The purpose is so the owner of the building would not be liable for what the tenant does. The property is free and clear. There is no loan. If there were a loan, the lender would make insurance mandatory. I would assume the owner had insurance.
In this case I think the lessee and owner could be criminally responsible for the deaths and damage. This is criminal negligence. They would have to show that the owner was aware what was happening in the building. So far the owner who is older stated via her daughter that the building was rented as an artist work space to one person. It was not rented for anyone to live in it.
Below are some pics from Google Earth, current Google street view and other sites which clearly show there were no exits, only one staircase and windows were barred. The photos also show the place looks like a hoarders camp. All those items fueled the fire.
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor lessee Ng Derick Almena artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor Ng lessee Derick Almena Micah Allison artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor Ng lessee Derick Almena Micah Allison artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor Ng lessee Derick Almena Micah Allison artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor Ng lessee Derick Almena Micah Allison artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor Ng lessee Derick Almena Micah Allison artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor Ng lessee Derick Almena Micah Allison artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor Ng lessee Derick Almena Micah Allison artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor Ng lessee Derick Almena Micah Allison artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| bathroom Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor Ng lessee Derick Almena Micah Allison artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate They could have gotten a cheap tankless water heater. |
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| kitchen Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor Ng lessee Derick Almena Micah Allison artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate hot plate on wood cabinet microwave |
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| after Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor Ng lessee Derick Almena Micah Allison artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| max ohr says he's a fashion designer, creative director, go to person, he was the door man at the party Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor Ng lessee Derick Almena Micah Allison artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
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| max ohr, he says he's a fashion designer, tattoo artist, jewelry designer Ghost Ship fire 1305 31st Oakland California owner Chor Ng lessee Derick Almena Micah Allison artist enclave loft dead killed burned smoke inhalation unpermitted 1315 1303 1301 Mary Cummins real estate |
Multiple advertised events, parties. Doubt any were permitted. They use 1305 address.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1073905999369690/
https://www.facebook.com/events/1802570323291351/
Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.
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The onesie shot of Max Ohr--won't get that one out of my mind for a while. Brutal. The other one, Bob Mule, has given so many interviews, he will not stop with the horror story of leaving the fellow who broke his ankle in there. Doing himself no favors, as they both will eventually be in front of a jury telling their tales.
ReplyDeleteThat is the first pic of the kitchen set up I have seen. Microwaves use quite a bit of power. I still don't get where the power was originating from. If it was being patched through from a neighboring business, wouldn't they have noticed a huge increase in their bill? Has no one interviewed the auto shop next door, the warehouse that Derick broke through the wall to get into? What could the purpose of that been? Maybe they're not talking to media, but if anyone knew what was going on at Ghost Ship, it would have to be them, especially if they tangled with Derick over the electricity. It did occur to me that perhaps he was paying them for the diverted power. The building had to have had electricity at some point if it ran a conveyer belt to the loft at one time, so why wouldn't they have simply opened an account with the power company. Incorporating as a non-profit, putting water and power in the name of the non-profit, even if they called themselves a recycling operation as a cover, all of these things could have been done and would have been easier than constantly running game on neighbors and the city.
I did catch a video of American Steel studios, that place is outstanding. Clean, organized, legit. Yet I recall a comment somewhere that they looked down on Am. Steel as being uncool somehow.
So many questions...your blog is outstanding. The mystery of the addresses--the city should have paid you as a consultant, as apparently they were unable to figure it out for all this time.
For some reason there was only one eletrical meter for 1315 and the corner bldg. The landlord would divvy up the utilities bill and they'd pay. There should have been at least one meter per separate bldg.
DeleteThere is a professional artist colony here called The Brewery. It may be largest one in US. Things are basically safe and legal. It's live/work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brewery_Art_Colony
I once lived in a live/work space. It was clean and safe. Some of these "artists" are very into their egos. If they make money selling art, they feel successful. If they don't, they say it's because they're a "real" artist and not a commercial artist. I've met those "artists." They are crazy and pathetic like Derick Almena.
This whole event was staged to implement building codes over warehouses AND To justify more spending on low-income housing. That was obvious when one of the channels was doing an interview with someone, and before the fire is out or before anyone knows how it was started, spits out the agenda way too quickly when he said they were breaking too many codes and they have a history of breaking codes! OOPSIE!
ReplyDeleteNext, you have the weirdo mayor press conference where she was more upset over this ugly abandonned warehouse having some stupid historical role in the city, but anyone around there never even heard of the Ghost Ship including Artists! Oops!
Then you have the liar Bob Dole, Mr. Sunglasses that is smiling and laughing with duping delight claiming he left a neighbor behind because he was more worried about himself and his personal things! Give me a break! Go watch ALL of his interviews! It burned up his coat, arms and back, BUT NOT HIS LONG GREASY HAIR? Surrre!! If you believe that then I have some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you!
Then, go check out the pictures of the 36 Dead! Check out the last guy and see if he looks familiar?!?! His name is "Brandon Chase Wittenauer". Then go look for other pictures of this Brandon character! There is none! They fabricated a 2nd photo from using the same photo, to have 2 photos but they are both photochopped pics of the same photo! Now why would you need to photochop any images of the victims? I'll tell you why! It's the ONLY Reason, they don't exist outside of that photo/name! Now back to him looking familiar! This guy also played the role of survivor too! Have you even seen Sunglasses guy without his sunglasses? The "Brandon" victim is the 20 yr younger version of the "Bob Dole"! That's right folks! Those blue eyes of Brandon would be easy to spot, so Bob keeps those sunglasses on throughout all of his interviews! Go try to find Brandon's family or history and you won't get far! If this was a real event, they wouldn't have standby dummy victims and names ready to go to the press! That was a Fire Drill! That's why the fire never spread to the adjacent building! Bob wouldn't be giving the police his younger photos, with his 1990's man perm, if this event was real.
All of those photos they claimed were the inside of the Ghost Ship were from over 10 yrs ago in my estimate! This was another Sandy Hook Hoax, with old photos of the school (oops, warehouse) with photochopped picture of the dead kids (oops, victims) and smiling survivors and family members like Robbie Parker (oopsie, Bob Dole) going around to every major news outlet giving his story all while nobody else was interviewed.
Swan Vega, a wanna-be actress, saying the fire "it was TRAGEDY, Whore-er-er And TRAGEDY!' and then collecting donations on GoFundMe was another obvious sign that this was staged. Just like Sandy Hoax, everyone involved is connected either to the entertainment industry or marketing hack.
The report was a joke because it was a Hoax! Just like the ridiculous Sandy Hook Final Report that was the biggest piece of garbage ever written, they write it so it doesn't look like a real police report for a reason! They are faking deaths that never happened, and good luck getting death certificates and autopsies! Just like Sandy Hook!
Mary,
ReplyDeleteI recommend comparing the Google and Bing maps over several years. You can clearly see the graffiti all over the burned building, and then go compare that burned building to the photos the media released showing how it looked probably a decade ago. There was stuff piled up everwhere, and it would be hard to have lived in there (much less 50 people). It was closed. Maybe 10 yrs ago they were using it for selling stuff, but it sure wasn't used in the last 5 yrs like the MSM claimed. I would ask the neighbors if they saw anyone going in and out of that building before the fire! One person (artist) on Youtube made a video asking people around there if they ever heard of it and she couldn't find anyone. She said she never heard of the place and she was an artist in the artist community there. If she never heard of this place, and the locals didn't, then it's obviously a total lie. They've been pushing fake stories (mostly school shootings, mall shootings, airport shootings) after Obama started. The last hoax event was Ft Frauderdale shooting, and you can even see the ATF people directing scenes of the crisis actors running when signaled. That was part drill from December (thus the xmas decor and Santa Paul in many clips) and the ramp scene from that day was from innocent victims in that hoax shooting where nobody died. We have to get people to use their brains, and stop believing everything the MSM, police, and politicians claim that makes no sense! They are committing fraud on trusting americans that believe these actors when they claim they were shot and then discharged the next day from the hospital. It's ludicrous to hear some of their stories!
Yolanda, while I agree with you that Sandy hook was a hoax etc... I can without a doubt tell you that these are real people who died in there. I know people who have lost friends there....these people who died were real people they knew... although from what I have gathered from reviewing the facts from this event...I do suspect foul play. As with any official story, there is usually more going on beyond the public eye. My research reveals that often these kinds of tragedies and mass killings are rooted in the occult....often with covert government collusion manufacturing these events as ritual blood sacrifices and in the public eye painting a different story. There does seem to be occult influence here from what I gleen. The dam thing was called the ghostship....hidden in plain sight.... I find it hard to believe that anyone would build such a maze tinderbox w only one exit , no real stairs, no alarms, no sprinklers etc....and not know this will hwpoen. It is too dang obvious. Add the quotes online of ION saying that he can get away w murder....and his Santeria lineage of magic and killing etc... the graffiti on the front depicts the all seeing eye, and a skull....a lot of the symbology of masons....w 33 dead plastered across the news at a times...the cocoanut grove fire in Boston 1942 killed 500 people and the guy who had the event and the owner got arrested right away. Just the fact that no one was arrested and ion wasn't jailed is so shady. There is no denying foul play...but real people definately died....
ReplyDelete