Former San Leandro official urges city to release video of confrontation involving councilmember

'I’ve seen the video many times. It’s pretty terrible and I think the public needs to know,' says former San Leandro CM Lopez. Meanwhile, 'Dro officials may be poised to hold Azevedo accountable

CITY NEWS

SAN LEANDRO

—RELEASE THE TAPE!—Former San Leandro Councilmember Corina Lopez was an unfortunate bystander in the violent confrontation on Sept. 7 between Councilmember Bryan Azevedo, and another former councilmember, Lee Thomas.

—Lopez told the San Leandro City Council Rules Committee on Wednesday morning that she has viewed the security camera footage of the confrontation multiple times.

—She urged the city to release the video to the public, but not before previewing some key points in the video.

—“There’s been some clear violations that are very current. I hope you pull up the video and let everybody see it for themselves,” Lopez said.

—“I’ve seen the video many times. It’s pretty terrible and I think the public needs to know,” she added.

—Lopez said Azevedo and Thomas collided with each other at roughly at the same time. She does not believe any criminal charges will be made. But, she added, “It wasn’t because they didn’t do anything wrong.”

—“There were people that day—children, people who are invalent, people who were just coming out the bathroom minding their business—and people got hurt in the process,” said Lopez, who injured her forearm during the confrontation.

—Lopez said the council should respond quickly and “not hide behind a closed door in the name of process.”

—An investigation of the incident is expected to be completed this week. The San Leandro Police Department, due to potential conflicts of interest in the case, passed the investigation to the Alameda Police Department.

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