Transcripts For KNTV NBC Bay Area News Special 20141226

Here is chief Investigative Reporter tony kovaleski. Good evening and thank you for joining us. For the next 30 minutes, we investigate, uncovering issues and Holding Government accountable. We begin tonight with a policy that could put employees at one of the largest Government Agencies in danger. And it may have caused some critical delays in life and death situations. Investigative reporter vicky nguyen explains what she has uncovered at the u. S. Postal service. Reporter time. We seem to Pay Attention to it only when it matters. Like the moment when a father becomes a grandfather. Or the passage of a milestone, 25 years of marriage. They call us the perfect family. Reporter for larnie, time was the only thing that mattered the night her husband sam lay critically injured, waiting for help. Its so sad because i can imagine him fighting for his life. Reporter this was sams second home. The postal processing and Distribution Center in west oakland. Its where he operated a letter sorting machine on the overnight shift. He worked there for 20 years. Very dedicated, very honest. Everybody loved him. Reporter no one saw what happened. But on august 8th, coworkers found sam lying on his back with blood coming from his mouth and ears. Down from an apparent head injury. As weve learned from an internal post office investigation, employees reported finding sam between 3 00 and 3 30 in the morning. But dispatch records show the first 911 call didnt come in until 3 53. Hi, medical, is this an emergency . 1657 7th street, the main post office. We have an employee bleeding from the mouth. Reporter according to the report, when the first employee found sam, he called out to another worker who contacted his supervisor. At the same time, an employee found her supervisor who told her to find a manager. The supervisor assessed sam, waited for other management, and then called the Postal Police and asked them to call 911. That call was made up to 53 minutes after an employee says he first saw sam on the floor, barely conscious. When i asked has anyone call 911 right away, and they started telling me, oh, no, they dont call 911. They have to call their supervisor first. What . Were not supposed to call 911. Reporter two current postal workers agreed to talk to us only if we hid their faces. They told us employees are routinely instructed not to call 911, but to alert a supervisor first. If we see an accident, were just going to step aside. Reporter here in oakland, the policy for medical emergencies is clear. Only the Postal Police are to initiate the 911 procedure. Its there to expedite matters. Reporter Augustine Ruiz is a Communications Manager for the usps. He says the policy exists so paramedics can respond right away. He says Cell Phone Service can be spotty inside the building. But Postal Police call from a land line and can grant access to secure areas. But as youll hear, when the postal officer calls 911, she has trouble relaying Important Information about sam. Tell me exactly what happened . Well, i dont know. I think he. Did he fall . I dont know. There are also radio theys. Is he completely alert . Because the postal officer is nowhere near sam. She is on the first floor. Sam is on the second. He said yeah. Okay. And what part of the body was injured . Do you have a decision on what part of his body was injured . He hit his head. He hit his head. Okay. Some of the employees have said this was like a game of telephone with someones life hanging in the balance. What is your reaction to that . Im not sure you want me what it is you want me to say . Reporter if that had been you or your loved one, is this how you would have wanted the response handled . If it was me, i would want somebody to take care of me right away. Were talk act human life here, and seconds matter. Reporter as the chief of neurosurgery at el camino hospital, dr. James dodi has treated thousands of patients suffering from head trauma. The sooner that person can get to medical attention, the better likelihood that they will have the best outcome. If we have a situation that is life threatening and in this situation it was, of course we have to revisit it. We have to look at our own policies to see if there is a breakdown in that policy. Reporter and knowing what you know about what happened to sam, was there a breakdown . It probably looks like it took a little bit longer than necessary. Reporter what ruiz calls a little bit longer is something dr. Dodi considers much more severe. This is a matter of life and death. Reporter whats more, this is a matter of the Postal Service considered closed. The investigation found that everyone followed the Standard Operating Procedure exactly, and the response was excellent. But after we began asking questions about the delays caused by the policy, ruiz said he would recommend changes to district leaders. How long will it take to find out whether this policy will change . Well, i can tell you that i will be addressing this tomorrow. Reporter any changes will come too late for sam. Paramedics responded just seven minutes after the first call, but more than an hour after he was found, sam would not wake up from his coma. No one can say if his outcome would have been different had 911 been called sooner, but its a question that lingers for his wife and children. I like this picture. Yeah. Its a nice picture. Reporter his family removed sam from life support ten days later, one month shy of his 60th birthday. Dad worked 20 long years with the post office. And just a simple fact how they couldnt call 911 is a slap in the face. It cost his life. Reporter time. We Pay Attention to it, mostly when its gone. Congresswoman barbara lee tells the Investigative Unit she has talked to top usps leaders about our investigation and what it has exposed, saying in a statement my thoughts and prayers are with samuels family. Access to medical treatment is critical, and i have communicated with the usps on this matter. Bay area usps officials tell us they are working on revising that local 911 policy. Coming up after the break, we investigate immigration in the bay area, and we talk to a growing population of refugees, children. Thats next. Weve all heard immigration stories, people and families fleeing dangers in their own country. Tonight Investigative Reporter Stephen Stock talks to a growing group of refugees, children. Many who travel without parents and end up right here in the bay area. The large numbers may have twinled in the last few months, but the lines of refugees making their way to local bus stations have not stopped here in tucson, arizona. We watched as day after day, mothers and infants, fathers and Young Children were dropped off at the local bus station. They all were fleeing violent gangs and death squads in guatemala, el salvador and honduras. Along the way, we discovered an unexpected group of refugees. Translator yes, im scared. Reporter among them, this refugee from guatemala who fears for his life even now. Thats why we wont show you his face, and we will call him jaime. The gangs in guatemala came for jaime when he was 12. Shortly after that, he fled for his life, leaving his mother, his home, his country. Translator if i return to guatemala for sure death will be waiting for me. Reporter jaime is now in school and in hiding, hiding in plane sight among here in the bay area, except for a distant relative whom he barely knows, he is alone. Jaime was 14. Was it worth it to come here . Translator if i didnt have this now, i would be dead today. Translator i couldnt be there anymore, so i came alone. Reporter this girl, whom we will call dariana, fled haurds after gangs told her she must become a prostitute and work for them. Translator there are some that just look at little girls, spying on them so they can kidnap them and rape them. Reporter she was 13. Translator i feel so bad. I was alone and had no one until i got to this detention center. I didnt get to talk to my mother. I didnt know how she was. Reporter these children are not alone. According to the u. S. Border patrol, almost 52,000 unaccompanied children from guatemala, honduras, and el salvador have been picked up along the u. S. Mexican border through september 30th of this year. That does not count children come here with parents. Its just children traveling alone. A number that has more than doubled, up 149 from last year. There is a deportation proceeding that is commenced against illegal migrants, including children. Reporter earlier this year on meet the press, Homeland Security vehicle jeh johnson while insisting Homeland Security policy would be followed, also admitted that these children pose a unique problem to immigration. We are looking at ways to create additional options for dealing with the children in particular consistent with our laws and our values. At least two a day. Reporter two walkin refugees each day who come here to the east bay sanctuary in berkeley, where sister maureen serve as executive director. Many of the children know that their parents are here somewhere, and theyre looking for them. Reporter supported by several local protestant and catholic churches, east bay sanctuary has given legal help to at least 65 unaccompanied minors since june. Its a crisis for them because if they dont have legal representation, theyll probably be deported. The idea of welcoming refugees, welcoming strangers, thats part of who we ra. Reporter reverend ben daniel is pastor in oakland, one of the local churches that supports east bay sanctuary. I get frustrated when i hear people suggesting that children risking their lives to come here 12 years old, 8 years old, whatever, these people, to say that these people are some sort of existential threat to the united states, that frustrated me. Translator they said if you join us, well be friendly and things will be like we have said. Reporter this girl was 17 when she fled her home in guatemala. After gangs told her to join them or die. Translator but if not, they told us they would kill us. Thats why we came here. To save our lives. That was Stephen Stock reporting. Coming up next, we investigate some stealing a Precious Resource from our public parks to grow an illegal business. How lawmakers are taking action, next. Before the storms of this past month, water was a hot commodity, especially for our forest and wildlife. But Investigative Reporter Elise Kirschner found millions of gallons stolen to grow marijuana. And some are going to extreme measures to do it. Reporter theyre heading into henry coe state park near morgan hill. This is video the wildlife officials and game wardens gave us. Theyre following an illegal pipe system that leads to an illegal marijuana grow of 8,000 plants. You can see the chemicals in this water line. Reporter the water was stolen from a ranchers nearby property. So we heard a shot. We didnt know if they were shooting at us or not. It was a high caliber rifle. Reporter he agreed to talk with us if we hid his identity. For my safety of my family. Reporter he bought this seclude ranch last summer on the edge of a park but didnt know about his neighbors. Shortly after moving in, the rancher noticed the water levels in his lake dropped dramatically. He soon discovered hundreds of feet of piping were being used to move the water straight from his lake to till legal grow. Its something you wouldnt even imagine how they would go through rocks, trees. They would divert their plumbing system through all these canyons. We absolutely are seeing more aggressive water stealing by marijuana cultivators than ever before because water is getting much more limited with the drought. Reporter lieutenant john norris heads up the first of its kind Marijuana Enforcement Team with the California Department of fish and wildlife. The team is trained in military tactics thinking way, this way, this way go, go, go, go, go reporter using what they have learned in the last two years, the wardens have seized about a half million plants illegally grown on public land and nourished by stolen water. We call it the black gold for our growers. As long as they have water source in our woods that are hidden and they can get water to their plants, long enough to successfully harvest their plants, theyre going to go ahead and do that. Reporter the total, 1. 2 billion gallons of water stolen from California Public land and parks in just the last two years. And to put 1. 2 billion gallons of water into perspective, thats like filling up 2,000 olympicsized pools like this one. Theyve taken every single drop out of this creek. Reporter norris says just this year, his team found 136 water dams pot farmers built to divert water from its natural path to their crops. Like at this bust near bakersfield. Growers created seven reservoirs, some capable of storing 5,000 gallons. It took away most of the water supply from the nearby tully river American Indian tribe. And from shasta in redding, Law Enforcement discovered nearly 3,000 plants in august. We hiked along for the cleanup and saw the trash, chemicals, and more than eight miles worth of plastic irrigation piping left behind. This water diversion and all this pipe right here was responsible if this grove had not been found by the end of the year for 3. 6 million gallons of water. The risk is that everything that we work so hard to save will unravel. Reporter save the red woods director sam hotter says his organization has fought for years to preserve public land. But the water being siphoned off by illegal grows is drying out the habitat and threatening the wildlife. A mature marijuana plant requires 8 gallons a day. And you have hundreds of thousands of the plants out in our public lands. And theyre all being watered by stolen water. I think setting some stronger penalties in place is part of the solution. Reporter congressman jarrett houghman represents californias most northern district. 60 of the marijuana produced in america comes from his district. Especially this year, the worst drought year california has ever seen, i think its more important than ever to crackdown on water theft. Reporter he has authored the plant act. It increases the criminal penalties against those who steal our resources to illegally grow marijuana. I hope well get prosecutors a new tool that will make a difference. Im losing my water. We love the water here. Reporter as for the people affected by the water loss, for now, all they can hope for is more enforcement and more rain. Once that water is gone, is there any way to make up for it . No. Cross your fingers for a wet year. Reporter that was Investigative Reporter Elise Kirschner with our story. When we return, we investigate pesticide spraying near schools. Why some bay area parents arent being told about it, and the law that says its okay. a which means its time for the volkswagen signthendrive event. For practically just your signature, you could drive home for the holidays in a germanengineered volkswagen. Like the sporty, advanced new jetta. And the 2015 motor trend car of the year allnew golf. If youre wishing for a new volkswagen this season. Just about all you need is a finely tuned. Pen. Get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first months payment on select new volkswagen models. Vineyard, schools, and toxic chemicals, not the combination most parents want near their kids. An Investigative Reporter jenna susko found out some may nevr know if pesticides are sprayed near their homes or kids schools because some farmers dont have to report it. Reporter with more than 100 wineries, vineyards are the heart of livermore. Here youll find new homes and a new Charter School, right next to the rolling hills. When we saw this house, we thought oh, this is livermore. Its wine country. Everybody wants to live next to a vineyard. Reporter but it wasnt long after paula reyes moved in that she says her family became sick. And associate some point it got so bad that my kids were burning. Reporter and she had no idea why. I remember a morning i came out and things were at a breaking point with my family with my sons health especially to the point that he couldnt go to school. And i looked at the vineyard. And i said oh my god, maybe its the vineyard. They must spray something in that vineyard. Reporter so she started researching. Records from Alameda County show pesticides were being sprayed at the vineyard near her home. The first thing i thought when i found this information is oh my god, the Charter School is going to open in a few months. I need to inform the principal. Reporter she sent multiple emails including the pesticide report, but only received this response from the pto, quote, i do find it hard to believe that the vineyards behind our school would use any pesticides. The state would have never allowed them to use pesticides near any school campus. But actually the state does allow it and reyes pointed that out. No one responded. Parents were never told. Records we obtained show pesticides were sprayed months later on days kids were in school. Why didnt you reach out and notify parents of what was happening . Well, the simplest answer to that is, like i said, it was a one time a year process. Reporter but here it was more than one time, though. By the time we were aware of it, they had already completed their spraying cycle for the year. Reporter bill bachelor is the ceo of trivalley learning corporation which includes Livermore Valley Charter School. Do you think that could have been better handled . Do i think that we could have had a Better Process altogether or maybe there should be a Better Process of communication on these types of issues, absolutely. Reporter regardless, schools arent required to tell parents. We werent notified by the county. We werent notified by the vineyard itself. Reporter you see, its up to each county to decide whether or not growers have to inform schools before they spray. And thats difficult in Alameda County, which doesnt know when pesticides are sprayed next to a school until after it happens. Scott paulsen is the agricultural commissioner. I support more information than less information. But i also support the growers right to farm. I think its understand that pesticide is something that occurs. Reporter this is an east bay pediatrician. She contributed to a 2012 report on pesticide exposure in children that found a link between kids exposed to pesticides at an early age and health problems. So in the shortterm, we worry about children having skin and eye irritation. They can have headaches. They can have nausea. Reporter in San Bernardino county, schools sit just feet way from pharmacy where pesticides are sprayed. Its why it created the School Protection act. Pharmacy are required to notify the county at least 24 hours before spraying. Reporting it afterwards doesnt do much except tell us what was used. Reporting ahead of time allows us to look at the safe applications of it and review that. Reporter deputy agricultural commissioner allen lentman oversees Pesticide Use here. We do encourage the grower to contact the school because that tells the school what is happening, when its happening, how its happening. Reporter after we contacted both Alameda County and Livermore Valley Charter School, they sat down to discuss the issue, and now are making changes. Were going to get more proactive about it. And were going to amend the work plan to include further outreach to schools and vineyards. Well obviously notify our families so a, they can make the choice not to send their student to school that day. Our goal is to alleviate spraying happening during the school year. Reporter its exactly what reyes wanted to see happen a year ago. While she cant prove her familys sickness was directly related to the pesticide sprayed at the vineyard, her family moved away. I can tell you, we felt ill when we moved here. We got better when we moved it out. We were seeing doctors on a weekly basis when we were living here. We havent seen a doctor in a year since we moved out. Reporter the Investigative Unit reached out to the vineyard but never heard back. If you have a story call our tip line at 1888996tips or send about email to theunit nbcbayarea. Com. Finally, thank you for watching. And from all of us at nbc bay area, happy holidays. Im tony kovaleski. Good night. Plus 24 month special financing on all beds. Know better sleep with sleep number. With sleep number, now theres an adjustment for that. Only at a sleep number store, find the lowest prices of the season, with the c3 Queen Mattress set only 1199. 98. Plus 24 month special financing on all beds. Know better sleep with sleep number. Grandma oprah. Her plans for the new year revealed. Merry christmas now on extra. Oprah surprise next move revealed. Im not ready to be a real grandmother, but im ready to be that grandmother. Who shes getting set to play and why 2014 was one of her best years ever. Its really exciting. Angelina on her uphill battle breaking career news to extra. Its your future, isnt it . I hope so. Then mario meets his match. My bff eva longoria putting