Fired Vallejo police lieutenant cleared of wrongdoing

VALLEJO, Calif. - The head of Vallejo’s police union has been cleared of wrongdoing by an arbitrator after he was fired for sending a threatening email to a reporter and other alleged acts of misconduct, according to Open Vallejo.

If reinstated to his job with the city's police, former Lt. Michael Nichelini is likely to be awarded more than a year and a half of back pay totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Nichelini called the decision overturning his discipline "a win for all of us and the process," according to an email obtained by Open Vallejo. 

A spokesperson for the City of Vallejo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Nichelini was fired in April 2021.

Nichelini was accused of threatening a newspaper columnist in an email and intimidating Vallejo civil rights attorney Melissa Nold.

The journalist, Otis Taylor, who received the veiled threat told Open Vallejo that Nichelini's reinstatement "should raise concern from the streets of Vallejo to the attorney general’s office about how seriously the police department is taking reform." 

Nichelini and Lt. Fabio Rodriguez were also accused of playing a part in the destruction of evidence from the 2020 fatal shooting of Sean Monterrosa. The two cops had gotten rid of the police truck windshield that fellow officer Jarrett Tonn shot through when Monterrosa was mortally struck.