A Solano County Superior Court judge granted bail and a pretrial services contract for a 40-year-old Richmond man alleged to have shot an injured a man on a Vallejo freeway last month.
During proceedings Friday morning in Department 8 in Fairfield, Judge Wendy Getty, after hearing statements from attorneys, ordered Mohammad Ahmed Rafiq Ali to remain in the Stanton Correctional Facility until he posted bail of $250,000.
She also spelled out for the defendant what the pretrial services contract entailed: house arrest, prohibitions against having firearms or ammunition, subject to search and seizure, the wearing of an ankle monitor, and a protective order that required Ali to stay at least 900 feet away from the Valero gas station where he worked.
Court records showed that Ali, seated at the defense table, shackled at the waist, clad in a green-striped jail jumpsuit, his head shaved, had previously surrendered his passport.
Getty also set an 8:30 a.m. Nov. 8 readiness conference, with a motion to continue, at the request of Deputy District Attorney Christine De Leo, noting the unavailability of officers. In the meantime, however, a 10 a.m. Dec. 9 preliminary hearing in the Justice Center remains scheduled.
At the outset of the Friday hearing, De Leo argued against the release of Ali, saying there was “no assurance” that Ali was not a danger to the community.
She said evidence indicated Ali “mistook” the victim for someone who had burglarized his business, the Valero station, and that the victim had suffered five gunshot wounds.
Getty noted that Ali has no prior criminal history, and, looking out at the crowded public gallery, filled with several dozen Ali supporters, understood that he was “well-respected” within the community and she had received some 25 letters praising his character.
But De Leo also said evidence from a Flock camera — license plate reader cameras — places Ali at the shooting scene, saying it showed the defendant “pull up alongside” victim’s vehicle.
Ali’s attorney, Eric M. Safire of San Francisco, said his client “never had a gun in his home and never had a gun at the store,” adding that for Ali to be accused of attempted murder, assault with a firearm on a person, and shooting into an inhabited vehicle, all felonies, was “completely out of character” and characterized him as “law-abiding.”
But Getty said “the facts and evidence are very strong” and included “a level of premeditation.”
“Good people can make a bad decision,” she added. “I see it every day.”
Ali pleaded not guilty last month to all the counts and allegations. At his client’s arraignment, Safire noted Ali as the father of five and a former union member.
Court records show that officers assigned to the CHP’s Solano area office in Vallejo were dispatched at about 5:30 a.m. Oct. 5 on a report of a shooting that occurred on eastbound Interstate 780 east of Glen Cove Road.
Following the shooting, the driver of the victim vehicle pulled to the right shoulder of the freeway and called 911, according to information posted on a CHP-Solano social media page.
Before officers arrived on scene, the victim was transported to a local hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds and was later released, according to information provided by an official in the CHP’s Golden Gate Division in Vallejo.
Detectives assigned to the division responded to the scene and assumed the lead role in the investigation. During their investigation, detectives were given a description of the suspect vehicle, which was then located using a Flock camera in the area. With that information, detectives identified Ali as the primary suspect.
At approximately 5 p.m., detectives, with the help of the division’s Warrant Service Team, found Ali at his home in Richmond, in the 600 block of South 37th Street, and took him into custody without incident.
Ali was booked into Solano County Jail later that night on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and firing a weapon at an occupied vehicle.
At press time Friday, jail records indicated Ali remained in custody and had not posted bail and released.
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