Minutes before he was scheduled to appear in a San Francisco courtroom on Wednesday, Oliver Barcenas was arrested by federal marshals outside the Hall of Justice.
The night supervisor at the Bayshore Navigation Center was set to make a court appearance and plead not guilty to charges that he helped a gunman accused of shooting a police officer.
Dressed in a suit, Barcenas was detained on the courthouse steps. He never did make it to court.
Barcenas’ lawyer, Gabriel Navarrete, said his client’s arrest was for supposedly violating probation conditions when he allegedly aided Norris Reed III.
Reed, who was fleeing on foot from the San Francisco police on the night of March 31, ran to the homeless shelter where Barcenas was working. That came after Reed allegedly shot and wounded officer Brittney Taylor during a gunfight following a vehicular pursuit.
Barcenas was on probation after serving seven years in prison for a federal gun charge in 2018.
In June 2018, he and a group of friends were approached by a police officer for drinking on the streets of North Beach. Barcenas ran from the officer, throwing a gun into the gutter while he fled. The officer, Joshua Cabillo, shot him in the back. Barcenas was left with life-threatening injuries.
It was the second time Barcenas had been shot by police. Six years prior, Barcenas, who was armed, was shot by future SFPD chief Toney Chaplin three times during a pursuit in the Mission.
Navarrete said that he and Barcenas attempted multiple times to contact Barcenas’ probation officer and the U.S. attorney’s office, asking if he should self-surrender following his recent arrest by the San Francisco Police Department, but never received a response.
It wasn’t until Barcenas was approached by federal marshals on the afternoon of his arraignment that Navarrete said his client knew he had violated his probation for allegedly aiding Reed. At the Hall of Justice on Wednesday, Navarrete appeared in court without his client.
“He was picked up by the federal marshals outside,” Navarrete told Judge Harry Jacobs during his client’s arraignment, when the judge asked for Barcenas’ whereabouts. Navarrete asked the judge to dismiss his client’s charges, without success.
Barcenas and a co-worker, Erika Porter, were on Aug. 24 charged with obstructing a police officer and acting as an accessory for purportedly aiding and concealing Reed.
Steve Good, the CEO of Five Keys, the nonprofit that runs the Navigation Center, said that Reed, who was asked by staff to stay in a gated area outside the shelter, had shown staff two firearms in his waistband, and warned them to not call the police.
The staff, said Good, did its best to placate Reed, evacuate nearly 200 shelter residents from the building and eventually call police.
The district attorney’s office alleges, however, that security camera footage shows Barcenas handing Reed a hat and a jacket to purportedly help him hide his identity.
During his Wednesday appeal to Judge Jacobs, Navarrete alleged that Barcenas felt conflicted about giving Reed the clothing, and had asked his superior what to do. Barcenas’ superior, said Navarrete, instructed him to give Reed the clothing.
“He had no knowledge of what had occurred outside,” said Navarrete regarding the shooting of a police officer. “He was simply acting under the authority of his director.”
Prosecutor Robert Perkins III, who is representing the DA’s office, interjected and said that Navarrete’s narrative was “absolutely incorrect.”
Barcenas is currently being held in a federal facility. A judge will soon determine whether Barcenas is a risk to public safety, and can return to his daily life while he awaits trial.
“He’s just trying to fix this,” said Navarrete, “and move on with his life.”
It’s clear that this prosecution is driven by a desire for blood after reckless chases resulted in a police officer being shot. Prosecutors expect people to disobey gunmen or face prosecution now? Absolutely bonkers.