Man suspected of taking SLO police chief’s gun charged with drug possession
A San Luis Obispo man who was the subject of a controversial search after detectives suspected him of taking the city police chief’s missing gun has been charged with multiple drug possession crimes in a new case.
The charges come as Cheyne Orndoff and his wife appear to be gearing up to sue the city of San Luis Obispo based on alleged civil rights violations.
Orndoff, 34, was arrested Feb. 26 by the Morro Bay Police Department on suspicion of four misdemeanor drug-related offenses — possession of methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and drug paraphernalia. Orndoff has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Ordnoff and his wife, Vanessa Bedroni, have received an offer from the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office to plead guilty to drug charges with a dismissal of a felony child endangerment charge related to the search of their San Luis Obispo home in the summer of 2019.
But Orndoff’s defense attorney said the offer is being rejected, adding it doesn’t administer justice and would effectively block a future civil right lawsuit against the city.
Search for SLO police chief’s missing gun
In July 2019, San Luis Obispo Police Chief Deanna Cantrell left her firearm in a bathroom of an El Pollo Loco restaurant in San Luis Obispo. When she returned to the restaurant to retrieve the gun, it was gone.
The restaurant’s surveillance system recorded a restaurant patron walking out of the restroom. Authorities originally believed the person to be Orndoff based on his past contacts with the Morro Bay Police Department.
Officers with the San Luis Obispo Police Department searched Orndoff’s home and allegedly found methamphetamine and needles, resulting in a felony child endangerment case against the couple.
However, they searched the home without a warrant, believing Orndoff was on probation. In fact, it was his brother, Cole Orndoff, who was on probation for a drug conviction; the confusion stemmed from a clerical error in the law enforcement record-keeping database.
Cheyne Ordnoff and his wife were offered a plea deal on May 18 in the child endangerment case, which expires June 2, in exchange for accepting guilty pleas on drug charges.
“My client’s constitutional rights were violated,” said Jason Dufurrena, Orndoff’s defense attorney. “The inclusion of this type of plea offer is not in the interest of justice. My client and his wife were the victims of inaccurate information that he had made several attempts to correct and no action was taken by law enforcement.”
San Luis Obispo city attorney Christine Dietrick, however, argues that the search was still legal.
“Our position is wholly defensible and we’re absolutely able to defend the conduct,” she said.
Dietrick has repeatedly said that case precedent has backed law enforcement searches when officers act in good faith on information that’s turns out to be incorrect in official court-maintained, computer-generated search databases.
Assistant district attorney Eric Dobroth wrote in an email that “there were negotiations and the defendants have, to this point, declined our recommendation (which did include jail time). I do not believe that a guilty plea by Mr. Orndoff or Ms. Bedroni, to any of the charged counts, would preclude a civil suit.”
A new drug charge
In February, Morro Bay Police Officer Luke Riddering was dispatched to a report of possible petty theft near the Rite Aid on Quintana Road about 8:30 p.m.
According to the report, Colleen Alperin, who was known to the officer for past arrests, flagged down Riddering to describe a man and woman arguing over a stolen wallet and cell phone in the parking lot.
After talking to passers-by, Riddering learned that the man and woman arguing apparently resolved the issue and had left the area, the officer wrote in the report.
But as Orndoff and Alperin walked past Riddering and headed inside of an Albertson’s grocery store for food, the officer said he overheard Orndoff saying he’d give Alperin a ride to Lila Keiser Park, which he described as a “high crime area associated with illegal activity.”
While Orndoff and Alperin were inside, Riddering inspected the vehicle they had been in, a 2000 Lexus RX300 that he identified as registered to Orndoff, and discovered tin foil and a dark, tar-like substance consistent with heroin use.
“Based on my training and experience, I knew heroin users frequently place heroin on top of a piece of tin foil and then heat the bottom of the foil causing the drug to smoke,” Riddering wrote in the report.
Riddering maintained observation of the Lexus until Orndoff and Alperin came out and returned to the vehicle. The officer then approached the vehicle and arrested Alperin on her outstanding warrant related to drug charges.
As Alperin opened the passenger door of the Lexus, Riddering stated that he observed scattered pieces of foil and tar-like residue throughout Orndoff’s vehicle.
“Orndoff was honest about his recent drug use and admitted he was addicted to opiates,” the police report states. “Orndoff gave specific information regarding his drug ingestion, stating he injects or smokes about one to two grams of heroin each day...Ornoff further made several admissions that there were other illegal drug activity inside his vehicle.”
SLO couple offered plea deal over child endangerment
The plea deal offered by deputy district attorney Ben Blumenthal to Bedroni and Orndoff would require the couple to plead guilty to misdemeanor drug charges in exchange for dropping the felony child endangerment case.
Orndoff’s plea offer includes the charges in the new drug case, while Bedroni’s charges relate to the original case.
The penalty offered would include three years of formal probation, 60 days in San Luis Obispo County Jail, completing a one-year parenting class, participating in a drug program and submitting to a search and seizure and drug testing.
Bedroni was offered the same terms with a plea to drug charges related to the original case. Her attorney, Pete Depew, declined to comment on the offer. No lawsuit has been filed yet in relation to the city’s search.
A preliminary hearing has yet to be held in the child endangerment case at which time defense attorneys are expected to argue a motion to suppress the evidence based on the legality of the search, and the prosecution is expected to present its evidence to further the case to trial.
Dufurrena, Orndoff’s attorney, said that a civil suit separately could be filed, but a guilty plea would act as a “prophylactic” to the success of the case versus a no contest plea.
A no contest plea by a criminal defendant is not an admission of guilt, but accepts certain terms of punishment and is recorded as a conviction on a defendant’s record.
“There’s no reason for them to include (a guilty) plea except as a prophylactic to a civil right’s case,” Dufurrena said.
The missing gun was turned in by another man, Skeeter Carlos Mangan, of Los Osos, a day after it was reported missing.
Mangan wasn’t charged in the incident by the District Attorney’s Office, though the San Luis Obispo Police Department recommended a case.
Cantrell, San Luis Obispo’s police chief, acknowledged in a 2019 video after the incident that her actions were “irresponsible and careless,” adding she had “no excuses for my actions.”
“I talk about transparency, and therefore want to be as transparent as possible when we do things right as well as when we do not,” Cantrell said in the video. “I believe in our relationships being built on trust, and hope that this furthers that goal. I inadvertently left my firearm in a public restroom and it has not been recovered.”
This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 2:27 PM.
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