No charges against Oakland police sergeant but internal investigation ongoing
on March 2, 2022
A month after the district attorneys in Contra Costa and Solano counties declined to file charges against Oakland police Sgt. Lee French and his wife, Richmond police Chief Bisa French, his status on the Oakland force remains unclear.
The couple was accused in October of assaulting a family member and threatening that person’s boyfriend, in a case that was being investigated in Contra Costa and Solano counties.
Contra Costa district attorney’s assistant Bobbi Mauler confirmed recently that the Frenches would not be facing criminal charges but had no further comment.
The San Jose Mercury News reported that the Solano County district attorney will not file charges.
The Frenches’ attorney, Michael Rains, did not respond to multiple calls for comment.
The strategic communications manager for the Oakland Police Department, Paul Chambers, declined to comment on when or if Lee French had returned to work, saying the department’s internal investigation of the matter is ongoing.
Richmond Police Department public information officer Lt. Matt Stonebraker said he did not know when Bisa French would return.
An 18-year-old relative filed a restraining order against the Frenches on Oct. 7, alleging the couple pushed her, pinned her in a police hold, and twisted her arm and hand during an argument at their residence. The woman also alleged that the Frenches threatened her boyfriend, Joe Goldman.
Goldman, also known as Oho McNair, was charged with pimping, human trafficking, and pandering from an alleged incident in June. He denied the charges. And they were dismissed by an Alameda County judge in December.
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