Day 6 of Corpus hearing, union president who was arrested testifies

Carlos Tapia, head of the deputies union in the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office and a critic of Sheriff Christina Corpus, testified today about what led up to his arrest on timecard fraud — a case that was later thrown out by the district attorney.

His testimony came during Day 6 in a hearing in which Corpus is appealing her firing by the county Board of Supervisors. The supervisors have allowed her to remain in office while her appeal plays out.

One of the county’s main allegations against Corpus is that she retaliated against her critics. Tapia spoke out against Corpus in his role as union president, and even got a lawsuit threat from the attorney Corpus’ right-hand-man, Victor Aenlle. Then he found himself in jail on charges that would later be thrown out.

Since the public hearing is not being live-streamed, the Post is posting updates from reporter Adriana Hernandez, who is in the courtroom. Check this page throughout the day for Hernandez’s latest.

11 a.m. — The hearing officer, retired Judge James Emerson, had a meeting with lawyers on both sides and decided to start at 8:30 a.m. 

An attorney representing Corpus, Matthew Frauenfeld, began the day’s questioning with Lt. Dan Reynolds, who had been on the witness stand on Friday. After he testified Friday, ​​Reynonds was reassigned to a less desirable assignment in the sheriff’s office, a memo from the sheriff shows.

Reynolds testified on Friday that there is mismanagement in the sheriff’s office due to inaction on internal affairs investigations by Corpus and Undersheriff Dan Perea. Reynolds oversaw internal affairs before requesting to be transferred. 

Frauenfeld asked Reynolds if he was friends with Sgt. Joe Fava and if he knew about him harassing the trainee who left their gun in at Crepevine in Burlingame. 

Reynolds said he was friendly with Fava. Frauenfeld asked Reynolds about two situations where guns were left unattended by deputies and compared the discipline given in both situations. 

Former Assistant Sheriff Jeff Kernan, who was the county’s second witness, testified that he left his gun at a Madza dealership, but he reported it to then Sheriff Carlos Bolanos. Kernan wasn’t fired.

The second instance was when trainee Genesis Serrano left a fanny pack with a gun at Crepevine, a restaurant in Burlingame. Reynolds suggested she be fired. 

Reynolds said that they didn’t compare because the facts were different for each case. 

Reynolds said he was a former supporter of Sheriff Carlos Bolanos and had campaigned for Measure A, the ballot measure that enabled the removal proceedings of Sheriff Corpus.

11:30 a.m. — Former Capt. Rebecca Albin was called to testify next.  

Albin claims Corpus locked her out of the Half Moon Bay Bureau two days before she was scheduled to leave for another police agency, according to the Keker report, a county-commissioned report that was issued as the county’s grounds to remove Corpus on allegations of retaliation and corruption. Albin is now a captain in the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department. The 

Albin said that she was a Public Information Officer for a while when she was moving up the ranks. That was when she learned to manage social media and press releases, Albin said. 

She said the coastside community loved it when she started posting on NextDoor. 

Former Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan encouraged others to use it as a tool, Albin said. 

Albin said she never needed approval when posting. 

Albin said she told Corpus on May 6, 2024, that she had applied for a new position and was going through a background check.  

Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Gretchen Spiker emailed Albin on May 31, 2024, telling her to take the lead in posting about her departure, Albin said. 

Albin put in her two weeks on June 6, 2024, and had already a vacation scheduled during those two weeks, she said. Albin had also told the Half Moon Bay city manager about her departure on June 18, she said. 

Corpus had enough time to speak to the Half Moon Bay city manager about her departure, Albin said. 

Albin announced her departure on NextDoor. On June 18, she received a call from then-Undersheriff Chris Hsiung, asking her who gave her permission to post, she said. Hsiung told Albin that Corpus was very upset. But Albin she said she was confused because she never needed permission before posting in the past. 

Hsiung told her not to go back to her office, and told her she wasn’t going to have access to her email, key card or any county platforms, Albin said. 

Albin had to use her personal email to submit a complaint to HR against Corpus because she was locked out of her email even though she was still a county employee until June 20, she said.

Albin said she was told that if she was to enter, she would need someone to supervise her. 

“I had an unblemished career. Leaving like that was horrible. It had made me feel empty,” Albin said. No one was there on her last day to wish her the best of luck in her new job, Ablin said. 

Albin was asked if she was a Bolanos supporter, to which she said she had no reason not to support him. 

Albin said she also had a conversation with County Executive Mike Callagy after leaving. Albin also spoke with Hsiung because he was also locked out of his email, she said. 

12:30 p.m. — Chief Deputy District Attorney Shin-Mee Chang took the witness stand next. 

Chang said that at around 9:20 a.m. on Nov. 12, she received a text message from former assistant sheriff Matthew Fox asking to meet with her regarding an “urgent matter.” 

Fox brought with him files and binders to show her time cards, where nearly $75,000 could be lost because of Tapia, Chang said. She didn’t closely review the documents and asked him why this investigation wasn’t brought to the District Attorney’s office, Chang said. 

Fox told her there was concern that a DA’s employee who is associated with the deputies’ union would take on the investigation. Chang said the DA’s office always makes sure investigators don’t have any ties to the matters. Fox asked Chang for a warrant to arrest deputy union president Carlos Tapia, but it wasn’t feasible, Chang said.

The sheriff’s office proceeded with Tapia’s arrest a few hours after Fox and Chang’s meeting.

Shortly after Tapia’s arrest, the county released a county commissioned report by retired Judge LaDoris Cordell.

Cordell’s report focused on Corpus and her former chief of staff, Victor Aenlle. The report said the two were more than friends and were running the sheriff’s office through retaliation and intimidation.

Chang said she later told Fox to wait on arresting Tapia. That’s because the DA’s office needed time to review the sheriff’s case and possibly do its own investigation. She told Fox there was no public risk in waiting to arrest Tapia. Chang also said there was no probable cause to arrest him. 

Chang was also questioned about her role during the civil grand jury investigation into whether Corpus should be removed from office. Chang was an advisor to the jury. The jury returned an “accusation” against Corpus for willful or corrupt misconduct. Corpus will stand trial on corruption charges to determine if she should remain in office. Her attorneys are trying to get the DA’s office dismissed from prosecuting the accusation because of the office’s role in the Tapia case and its own ongoing criminal investigation into Corpus. 

1 p.m. — Deputy Carlos Tapia was the next witness to be called by the county. 

Tapia has been on leave since he was arrested on Nov. 12 on allegations of timecard fraud. The DA’s office threw out the allegations in December, but Corpus has kept Tapia on leave pending an internal affairs investigation. 

Tapia has worked in the sheriff’s office for 16 years, he said. When he became the president for the deputies union, he would work three days at the union and one day in the transportation unit. 

Tapia said he voted for Corpus and the Deputy Sheriffs Association union hosted many events during Corpus’s campaign. 

When Corpus took office in January 2023, Corpus and Tapia would talk on the phone every day, he said. 

Tapia said that after a while, many members of the union would bring concerns about Victor Aenlle, who was chief of staff at the time, for wearing a uniform and carrying a gun when he was in a civilian position. 

Tapia brought up the concerns to Hsiung because it was easier to talk to him than Corpus, because she was close to Aenlle. The two have been alleged to be involved in an intimate relationship, but Corpus last week adamantly denied being anything more than friends with Aenlle. Corpus has been in the courtroom every day of the hearings. Aenlle has not been in attendance at all.

When Hsiung left, the union was upset and sent out an email about his resignation and the overtime discussions, Tapia said. Corpus sent him a message saying she was “disappointed,” and Tapia said they had a meeting after. Corpus did not like the tone of the statement and asked Tapia to retract the email. Tapia said he would not.

2 p.m. — Franco Muzzio, an attorney for the county, asked Tapia if there was a specific meeting in the summer of 2024 that he remembered.

Tapia said on Aug. 24, there was a Zoom meeting regarding the mandatory overtime that got very heated between Corpus and Sgt. Jeffery Carr.

That same day, Tapia said he received an email from Connor Santos-Stevenson in the payroll department regarding the code he used on his timecard for when he would do union work.

Tapia said there was a while he felt embarrassed to ask for the special pay union presidents get because he wasn’t doing it for the money. 

Receiving the email from Santos-Stevenson worried him because it was after the heated meeting, Tapia said. 

Tapia later received an email from Van Enriquez, a payroll supervisor for the county, regarding the code he was using on his timecards, he said. 

“I started to feel targeted,” Tapia said after receiving the second email. 

Tapia said he called Enriquez to ask why he was being audited, but Enriquez said he didn’t want to be involved. 

Muzzio asked Tapia about the PERB complaint the DSA submitted. 

A California Public Employment Relations Board, or PERB, complaint was submitted on August 30, 2024, by the union alleging that Corpus and Aenlle had created a toxic work space and retaliated against union members.

Deborah Drooz, an attorney representing Aenlle, sent an email to Tapia and Hector Acosta, the president of the sergeants’ union, asking to retract the union’s statements about Aenlle. 

“I was shocked,” Tapia said, because his comments as union president were protected speech, meaning they weren’t actionable if Aenlle had brought a lawsuit against him. 

Tapia said that he never knew he was under investigation and was never interviewed for the alleged timecard fraud before he was arrested and jailed on Nov. 12. 

His attorney called him to turn himself in at 1 p.m. Tapia said he was scheduled to have a meeting with Corpus about mandatory overtime at 1 p.m. 

Tapia got his fingerprints taken and photo taken and was in a cell for an hour and a half before bailing out, he said. 

Drooz also sent an email to Supervisors Ray Mueller and Noelia Corzo regarding a press conference about the release of the Cordell report. 

“In the context of a press conference, such statements would be unprivileged, false and defamatory,” said Drooz in the email to supervisors. 

Christopher Ulrich, attorney for Corpus, asked Tapia about his weekly hours and presented the contract between the deputies and the county. Tapia said he had a hard time answering questions because of the legal jargon. 

There were questions Ulrich asked Tapia that led Emerson to ask Ulrich what he was trying to prove. 

“How is this witness going to help you?” Emerson said. 

Ulrich switched over to topics such as Tapia’s association with Associate Management Analyst Valerie Barnes. 

Emerson said this was “really obscure” because it was hard to follow what Ulrich was trying to prove. 

Ulrich asked Tapia how many times he had spoken to the county’s counsel, to which Tapia said three times after Measure A proceedings started. 

“You’re not getting to any points,” Emerson said after Ulrich said it would be a good moment to take a break while questioning Tapia, but Emerson asked him to finish. 

3:30 p.m. — The next witness called was Sgt. Jimmy Chan.  

Chan was transferred to the San Francisco Airport per Undersheriff Dan Perea’s request, according to the Keker report. Chan was transferred within hours of participating in a press conference in support of Measure A, the report states.

Next month will be 10 years of working at the sheriff’s office, Chan said. 

There were three investigations that the county’s legal team asked Chan about. For two of those investigations, no discipline or action has been taken since his transfer to the San Francisco Airport, Chan said. 

Chan testified that an employee he interviewed did not pass but was still passed on to continue with a background check because they were a favorite of Deputy Mike Garcia, who works in internal affairs. 

Chan said he strongly felt it was his duty to attend the Measure A press conference. After the meeting, he was called into Reynolds’ office when he was told he was being transferred to work at the airport, Chan said. 

Measure A was placed on the ballot by the Supervisors after the Cordell report. It asked voters to approve an amendment to the county’s charter to remove the sheriff until 2028. The ballot measure was approved by 84% of voters in a special March election. 

Reynolds told Chan it was a decision made by Perea, but Chan knew it was Corpus who made it because only she could make that decision. 

Chan said he wasn’t in favor of the decision because he had already been in that position before and didn’t have anything new to learn. 

“It made me angry,” Chan said. He said he’s woken up in the middle of the night thinking about the move, Chan said. 

Ulrich asked Chan during cross-examination questions about the polices regarding gun safety. Chan oversaw the investigation of trainee Serrano leaving the gun at a restaurant and said the gun was unsafe for not being in a lock box. 

Ulrich also asked if Chan knew about Tapia’s timecards, to which Emerson asked to move on because he wasn’t sure how he would know. 

FINAL 4:45 p.m. — Sgt. Philip Hallworth was the next witness called in by the county. 

Hallworth was a supervisor in the transportation unit. He said Tapia was well-liked, reliable and trustworthy in conducting tasks alone. 

During cross-examination, Ulrich asked Hallworth if he spoke to Lt. Brandon Hensel about his investigation into Tapia. Hallworth said no. Ulrich also asked Hallworth if he knew Barnes. Hallworth said he did and he has heard her make remarks about Corpus but couldn’t remember any specifically. 

The hearing will resume tomorrow at 9 a.m. The county has two more witnesses to call and then Corpus’s legal team will start calling their witnesses.