Firefighter tried for felony vandalism

A former Santa Rosa Fire Department engineer was held over for trial in Sonoma County Superior Court on Monday for allegedly vandalizing his girlfriend’s home last April.

Brian Patrick Campbell, 42, who no longer works for the department, allegedly vandalized his girlfriend’s Burlington Street home in east Santa Rosa after the couple argued about Campbell’s intoxication on April 9, 2015, according to testimony at a preliminary hearing.

The vandalism included broken appliances, artwork, furniture and electronics, spilled bleach on laundry and holes in the interior walls, according to testimony by “Jane Doe,” who identified herself as a photographer.

Doe said the vandalism caused nearly $20,000 in damage at the home she and Campbell shared after he moved in along with his two daughters three months earlier. She testified Campbell threatened to murder and “ruin her.”

Campbell was briefly interviewed by police at a Santa Rosa Fire Department station on April 10, police Officer Joshua Kertianis testified.

Campbell said he left Doe’s house at 4 p.m. on April 10 and “adamantly denied” vandalizing Doe’s home, saying there was no damage at that time other than what Doe herself had caused the night before, Kertianis said.

In a separate interview, Doe told the officer Campbell never made a threat and that there wasn’t a physical confrontation, Kertianis said.

Officer Jesse Ludikhuize testified he spoke to both parties when he responded to a disturbance at the home on April 9. He said Doe left and Campbell remained at the house.

A neighbor said on April 10 that Campbell told her the house was broken into and vandalized, Ludikhuize said.

The neighbor said she told Campbell she believed the vandalism was “an inside job,” but Campbell dismissed it and didn’t respond, Ludikhuize testified.

Another neighbor said Campbell appeared nervous and “on some type of substance” on April 10, Ludikhuize said.

“He said he believed Jane Doe was setting him up,” Ludikhuize said.

Campbell’s attorney Amy Chapman argued against holding the former firefighter to answer to the felony vandalism charge. She said Campbell was not arrested in April, Doe did not report the vandalism to police from her home, but rather from another location, and alleged that Doe lied under oath.

“Her entire testimony is in question and she is willing to set him up,” Chapman said.

Deputy District Attorney Tom Gotshall acknowledged the evidence in the case is circumstantial. Gotshall said Campbell was the only one left in the house on April 10 who had a key and he damaged only Doe’s and her sons’

possessions.

“Why would she do that to her own items? He wanted to get back at her,” Gotshall said.

Judge Peter Ottenweller ruled Doe might not have told the truth when she told police Campbell threatened to murder her, but it doesn’t discount all of Doe’s testimony.

“All the damaged items were hers. There is clear substantial evidence to hold him to a felony vandalism charge,” Ottenweller said.

Campbell also has two pending misdemeanor DUI charges for an incident on July 3, in which he allegedly had a blood-alcohol content of at least .20, according to court records. He was arrested and charged on Sept.

29.

Campbell was arrested and charged with felony vandalism on Oct. 8.

He pleaded not guilty on Oct. 13 and will re-enter a plea Friday to vandalism in excess of $400.

Campbell’s employment with the Santa Rosa Fire Department “was terminated” on Aug. 6, said Paul Carroll in the Santa Rosa Human Resources Department. He worked for the fire department for eight years.

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