San Mateo County DA Throws Out Charges Against Sheriff's Union President

The San Mateo County District Attorney is declining to pursue charges against the head of the deputy sheriff’s union, announcing on Monday that his office’s investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing.

Carlos Tapia, president of the Deputy Sheriff’s Association (DSA), turned himself into the sheriff’s office on Nov. 12 on charges related to theft and time-card fraud. Shortly after posting bond, he argued that his arrest was retribution for speaking out against Christina Corpus, the county’s embattled sheriff.

In an unusual move, Corpus’ office didn’t consult with the district attorney before making the arrest.

“We have concluded based on the follow-up investigation that no crime was committed by Deputy Carlos Tapia, that the complete investigation showed that there was no basis to believe any violation of law had occurred, and finally that Deputy Tapia should not have been arrested,” San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe said in a statement. “There were clerical errors in the manner in which work hours were coded but nothing showing criminal intent or criminal conduct. Additionally there was no monetary loss to the Sheriff’s Office by the miscoding.”

At a press conference on Monday, Supervisor Ray Mueller apologized to Tapia on behalf of the county and renewed his calls for Corpus to immediately resign.

“Mr. Tapia, today you are vindicated,” he said. “I don’t know if the sheriff or executive or her executive leadership team will ever apologize to you, but on behalf of the County, I want to tell you how incredibly apologetic we are for what happened to you and to your beautiful family. Every reasonable, rational person in this county, I have no doubt, will be outraged when they know the injustice that was done to you.”

Reading from prepared remarks, Tapia thanked the district attorney for his decision and said the DSA is calling for a civil rights investigation into his arrest.

“I love my job, and I’m proud to serve the people of San Mateo County. My fellow deputies and I look forward to the day we can work with a new sheriff who will restore the trust and transparency the public deserves from its sheriff’s office,” he said. “Until then, we will continue to hold ourselves to the highest standards in meeting our most important mission that’s protecting the public of San Mateo.”

In a statement, Corpus said that while the criminal investigation has concluded, there’s still an internal review, which “will be conducted by an independent third-party investigator to ensure it is a fair process.”

Hours after Tapia’s arrest last month, a damning report was released about Corpus and her executive team, detailing multiple instances of “lies, secrecy, intimidation, retaliation, conflicts of interest, and abuses of authority.”

The day after the report’s release, the county Board of Supervisors unanimously cast a vote of no confidence in Corpus and terminated the executive director position held by Corpus’ alleged lover, Victor Aenlle. At that meeting, Corpus appeared briefly before the board, calling the scrutiny of her office “disgusting” and appointing Aenlle to be an assistant sheriff “effective immediately.”

Wagstaffe said the case involving Tapia was first submitted to his office for review on Nov. 13 and that he subsequently learned the sheriff’s office investigation leading to his arrest was conducted entirely by acting Assistant Sheriff Matthew Fox, who has since resigned. He called the probe “extraordinarily limited” and lacking in necessary follow-up.

On Monday, Wagstaffe noted that his office declines to prosecute about 14% of the roughly 20,000 cases it handles every year due to “insufficient evidence.”

“But what is unusual is where our further investigation looks into a case, and we determine even further that no crime was committed,” he said.