The family of a man found shot dead Monday morning is demanding answers from the Vallejo Police Department about an emergency call placed more than three hours before his body was discovered.
Police found 36-year-old Giordano Cerletti dead in a gutter on the 1300 block of North Camino Alto, half a mile from the nearest hospital, just after 6 a.m. on April 28, public records show. But police records place his homicide at 2:53 a.m. — the same time that someone called 911 about hearing gunshots near a nearby apartment complex’s pool, according to public records.
Now, Cerletti’s father and stepmother, Robert and Esther Cerletti, say they are left with “haunting questions” about what happened to their son.
“What I don’t understand is why nobody responded,” Robert Cerletti said in an interview with Open Vallejo on Tuesday. “Sutter Hospital is within a block or two. Who knows? Maybe he would have been saved.”
The police response to Cerletti’s homicide was marked by confusion and delay, public records show.
A 911 operator informed officers that someone had called in just after 6 a.m. about a body in the street, according to dispatch audio. Officers arrived on scene within four minutes, records show. But the dispatcher also told police that a shots-fired call had come in at 4:02 a.m., then noted the earlier shots-fired call at 2:53 a.m. The Vallejo Police Department’s daily incident log includes a homicide at that time but contains no entry for the 6 a.m. call, making it appear as though the police responded to the scene three hours earlier.
Vallejo City Manager Andrew Murray declined to comment on the case, referring questions to police spokesperson Sgt. Rashad Hollis. When asked about the disparity, Hollis said, “The 6 a.m. call was logged in the 2:53 call for service.”
Open Vallejo filed a public records request for basic information about the incident Monday morning. The department disclosed two pages of heavily redacted dispatch records Monday afternoon. Most of the information, including the incident times, is blacked out.
Basic incident information is generally subject to disclosure under state and local transparency laws. Open Vallejo asked the city to reopen the request Monday, but had received no response as of Tuesday evening. On Tuesday afternoon, this newsroom filed a second, expedited public records request seeking incident response times, names and badge numbers of emergency personnel, and other information typically subject to immediate disclosure under Vallejo’s sunshine ordinance. The city responded that the request will take at least 10 days to fulfill.
Cerletti was “a compassionate soul known for his kind heart, talent as a hairstylist, and deep love for animals and family,” according to a written statement from his family.
In the statement, Cerletti’s family called on Vallejo city leaders, police, and county officials to “thoroughly review emergency response protocols and ensure greater accountability and equity in how resources are deployed across all neighborhoods.”
“We should care for every individual in our city, not just those that have a better life,” said Esther Cerletti, her voice breaking. “Everyone is important in our city.”
Reached by phone Tuesday, Vallejo Mayor Andrea Sorce offered her condolences to Cerletti’s family.
“My heart goes out to them because we’re trying to reduce violence in our city, and any number of homicides above zero is too many, and any loss of life is tragic,” Sorce said. “We’ll do our part as city leaders to make sure our police department is responsive to the community and builds trust with the community as much as possible.”
