Families who lost loved ones to violent crimes in the Capital Region joined supporters of a bail bondsman beaten to death Thursday to criticize Sacramento’s mayor and others for allowing an unsafe environment in downtown and other parts of the city.
Topo Padilla, a colleague of victim Kevin Brace who died in downtown Sacramento, appealed to the mayor Darrel Steinberg to better address the homelessness crisis and refrain from cutting police positions in Sacramento amid a $66 million budget shortfall. Padilla was joined by the families of murder victims Kate Tibbett, who was killed in her Curtis Park home, and Christie Wilson, a woman who was murdered in Lincoln and buried for 15 years before her body was found.
“Darrell Steinberg, you should be ashamed of yourself,” Padilla said, noting that he once called the Sacramento mayor a friend and had lunch with him. “You are not a friend of the people who live in the city and want to enjoy the city.”
Padilla said his employees are afraid to come to work downtown, and that there should be a specialized person — similar to a czar — trying to secure more housing and treatment beds for people suffering from mental illness. Amid a homelessness crisis and the rise of fentanyl, among other drugs, he says, police are under-resourced.
Steinberg expressed his deepest condolences to Brace’s loved ones in a statement and said such a crime should never happen anywhere. He added that the proposed budget does not cut public safety funding.
“We have contributed millions of dollars to maintaining a clean and safe downtown and are meeting our ongoing funding commitments,” the statement said.
City Manager Howard Chan, who proposes and administers the budget subject to City Council approval, has recommended eliminating vacancies across the city, including those in the police department.
Officer Cody Tapley, a spokesman for the Sacramento Police Department, said the suspect charged in Brace’s death was not experiencing homelessness. It’s unclear why suspect Jacob Levi Mandell was walking the streets outside the main downtown jail early Monday when he allegedly struck and killed Brace, who worked the graveyard shift at Padilla Bail Bonds.
The 39-year-old was a client of Greg Padilla Bail Bonds in 2020, Greg and Topo Padilla said. But Brace’s death was not related to Mandell’s previous interactions with the business, nor was the suspect angry when he approached Brace about the call, the owners said.
Mandell worked as the seasonal wrestling coach for El Camino Fundamental High School in Arden Arcade. His contract ran from November to March, said Raj Rai, a spokeswoman for the San Juan Unified School District. Sacramento State officials confirmed Thursday that Mandell had graduated from the school and competed on the wrestling team, but provided no additional comment about his time here.
Police also said Mandell had not been arrested in the weeks before Brace’s death. Court records show he had a misdemeanor case in 2020, but it was not immediately clear what charges he faced or what the outcome of the case was.
“He made the fatal mistake of going too far to help someone,” Padilla said of Brace, calling him a “gentle giant.”
Niece Jordan Brace, 17, remembered her uncle as a kind and funny man who loved to help everyone. On Thursday, she said at the news conference outside City Hall that Mandell “took down my uncle because he was taking these drugs.”
“And our government is watching and allowing it to happen,” Jordan said. “Because they are safe in their gated mansions. That can’t happen to them, can it? So it doesn’t matter, but it does.”
“We must use our voices and unite against crime, against the unfair policies that our government is implementing,” she said.
Mandell pleaded not guilty during an arraignment Wednesday. He is expected to return to court on June 12 and remains held in the main jail without bail.
