Jose Lumbreras, 25, has pleaded no contest on two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated for the deaths of 22-year-old UC Berkeley graduate Milanca Lopez and her 6-year-old son, Xavier Chevez. The Alameda County District Attorney’s office is requesting the maximum 12 years in prison, according to Deputy District Attorney Teresa Drenick.

“It is a tremendous relief to know this particular chapter has come to a close without the trauma of what we knew would be a painful trial for her family and friends,” said Rue Mapp, a UC Berkeley graduate and neighbor of Lopez, in an email. “We will continue to celebrate Milanca and Xavier’s lives and remember the beautiful friend and mother she was in our community.”

Paul Wolf, Lumbreras’ defense attorney, disagrees with the prosecution’s pursuit of the maximum sentence. He said Lumbreras has suffered greatly from the accident and that 12 years is too severe for the crime.

“Jose has never denied nor sought to shirk his responsibility for the damage and pain for which he has shared and continues to experience,” Wolf said. “He loved both of them. It’s an accident, and he’s responsible for it.”

Wolf will argue for a lighter penalty during Lumbreras’ sentencing on June 11.

At approximately 1 a.m. on May 18, 2012, Lumbreras drove into a tree in central Berkeley, killing Lopez and seriously injuring Chevez. According to police, his blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit.

Chevez was placed on life support and died from his injuries one week later at Children’s Hospital and Research Center in Oakland.

Prior to her death, Lopez and her son lived in university student housing at University Village in Albany. Lopez began studying at UC Berkeley in 2007 and was planning to begin a master’s program for teaching at UCLA following her graduation.

Lumbreras came to UC Berkeley in 2010 after receiving a degree in sociology from UC Santa Barbara. He received a graduate degree from UC Berkeley’s ethnic studies department not long before the accident.

The couple was allegedly drinking in celebration of their recent graduations prior to the collision, Wolf said.

Lumbreras is currently being held at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, and his bail is set at $200,000, according to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office inmate locator.

“It’s one of the most tragic cases I’ve ever been involved in, and I’ve been a criminal defense lawyer for 37 years,” Wolf said. “It caused nearly intolerable injury and loss to three people and their respective families.”

Andy Nguyen is the lead crime reporter. Contact him at anguyen@dailycal.org
and follow him on Twitter @Andy_Truc.

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A male suspect claimed to be a maintenance worker needing to do plumbing repairs and then asked the victim — a female resident who was at home with her two children — to let him into her apartment around 3:45 p.m., according to a UCPD crime advisory.

The victim let him inside, and the suspect appeared to inspect the apartment. He then asked to use the resident’s restroom, and she agreed. Upon leaving the restroom the suspect allegedly unzipped his pants and exposed himself to the victim. She screamed, and the suspect fled the apartment.

The crime advisory issued Tuesday describes the suspect as a white male, approximately 50 years old, 6 feet tall, with a thin build and thinning grey hair. He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and khaki pants. The suspect has not yet been apprehended.

“He visited three families that we know of and exposed himself to one,” said Assistant Director of University Village Tavie Tipton in an email.

UCPD spokesperson Capt. Margo Bennett confirmed that two additional cases with the similar activity and same suspect description have been reported to UCPD.

In the second reported incident, the suspect entered the victim’s residence with permission, again claiming to be a maintenance worker. However, after looking around, the suspect left the residence and did not expose himself, Bennett said.

The third incident is currently under investigation by UCPD.

“There is not really a whole lot of information we can put out right now,” Bennett said. “But we are aggressively working the case and hope to develop some solid investigative leads.”

Tipton, in an email to residents Monday night, reminded University Village residents that all maintenance staff wear shirts with their names on them and that if residents feel uncomfortable, they can ask to see the worker’s UC Berkeley ID or call the Village office to verify the employee’s status.

According to the staff’s recollection, this is the first time an indecent exposure crime has occurred at University Village, Tipton said in the email.

Contact Megan Messerly at mmesserly@dailycal.org.

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Police said the 6-year-old girl was playing near a soccer field adjacent to the property with her younger brother shortly before 8 p.m. when she was approached and subsequently bitten by two dark brown pitbulls that were not on a leash.

Witnesses nearby then ran over and pulled the dogs off of the girl, who sustained multiple puncture wounds and was taken to Children’s Hospital and Research Center in Oakland for treatment, according to UCPD Captain Stephen Roderick, who said he believes the girl is now in stable condition.

Police are now searching for the owner of the dogs, who they said left the scene of the attack while witnesses were attending to the girl. The suspect is described as a white male with a medium build, about 5 ft. 10 in. and long brown hair who gave the name “Jason” and a cellphone number before leaving the scene. Police are currently following leads to locate the suspect, Roderick said.

“We would certainly recommend that we seize and quarantine the dogs and look into criminal charges for the owner,” said Roderick.

Adelyn Baxter is the city news editor.

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Last Monday, the Albany City Council voted to approve the University Village Mixed Use Project, which entails building a senior housing complex, mixed retail center and Whole Foods Market on UC-owned land in the city.

We are in favor of the council’s decision and frustrated by the uncooperative approach of the protesters.

Originally, we were excited by the occupation of the UC-owned Gill Tract, where community and Occupy members protested the project and advocated for a sustainable local farm. Yes, we were bothered that they disregarded university research on the land, but the occupation seemed to have potential.

Throughout the encampment, the campus attempted to compromise while the protesters remained stagnant and stubborn. The university said it was open to the possibility of a farm, but time and time again, the farmers were not receptive in entering discussions with the campus. After the police’s May 14 raid on the camp — it is, after all, university property — the campus even dropped its lawsuit against 15 of the protesters. And on July 7, Occupy the Farm members broke into the Gill Tract to weed and harvest the crops they planted during their occupation — yet the police, in good faith, did not arrest them.

Still the members of the Occupy the Farm movement won’t even acknowledge the campus’s favorable attitude. The campus has continually extended olive branches to the protesters only to be spurned. Enough is enough.

The protesters are standoffish, and their goals are unclear. The land they had been occupying is not even the land where the University Village Mixed Use Project will be built. If the members had been just a little flexible, just a little willing to talk, or even compromise, maybe they would have had more positive results.

In the end, the protest never evolved. And Occupy the Farm blew its chance.

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The council’s decision approves the University Village Mixed Use Project, which involves the construction of a Whole Foods Market, a senior housing complex and mixed retail center on a portion of land belonging to UC Berkeley’s University Village housing complex.

Campus spokesperson Dan Mogulof said he was pleased with the result of the meeting and called it an important step forward.

“This is an indication that the five-year-long process of collaboration has resulted in a benefit for both the city and the university,” Mogulof said.

Out of the five members of the City Council, Councilmember Robert Lieber was the only member to vote against the agreement between the city and university.

“I’m disappointed that the council approved a project with no benefit for the community,” Lieber said. “The university had an opportunity to step forward and approve the open space.”

Lieber asked for an easement for the land, which would have given the city access to the area in order to maintain open space and agricultural land for the future, but the council did not approve his motion.

Christine Shaff, communications director for the campus’s Facilities Services Department, said the published master plan for the development identifies areas for open space, but Lieber still expressed doubts about preserving the land.

“The open space they have identified is on the creek bank,” Lieber said. “It would have been preserved anyway. It’s not an appropriate outstanding amenity for the community.”

The land proposed for development neighbors campus research land known as the Gill Tract, on which a group of activists known as Occupy the Farm established an encampment in late April. The occupation, which lasted for three weeks before being raided by police, protested the development project and advocated for community agriculture on the tract.

Members of Occupy the Farm broke into the tract on Saturday in order to harvest and weed the rows of crops they had planted during the occupation.

Stefanie Rawlings, an Occupy the Farm spokesperson and campus alumna, said she was disappointed with the decision but was not surprised.

“I wish that (Lieber’s) easement had been approved,” Rawlings said. “But the real seat of power is with the community. We’re going to put our efforts into grassroots action and community organization.”

Rawlings said she was encouraged by how many people came to the meeting to speak in support of the farm.

Shaff said it would take some time before development could begin on the land.

“What we’ll do next is enter into more formal agreements with development companies in addition to working with the city for logistical details,” Shaff said. “The university has a general framework for the project, but we will work with the developers to add details to the plan.”

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