Winters councilman could face felony weapon charges

By Lauren Keene Enterprise staff writer

Yolo County prosecutors are seeking to file felony charges against a Winters city councilman, accusing him of unlawfully possessing two assault rifles.

Richard Thomas Casavecchia initially faced a misdemeanor charge of possessing an unserialized firearm, which police reported finding in his vehicle during an April 2 traffic stop, McNaughton Newspapers previously reported.

Casavecchia, 39, pleaded not guilty to that count at his April 5 arraignment hearing in Yolo Superior Court.

On Friday, the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office filed a motion to amend the initial complaint, with accompanying documents that say officers found the assault rifles in Casavecchia’s home during the course of a domestic violence investigation.

Casavecchia’s attorney, Michael J. Wise of Sacramento, could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon. He previously told The Winters Express that his client “continues to cooperate with law enforcement, and we will address the merits of the misdemeanor matter in court.”

According to the DA’s motion to amend, Casavecchia’s wife arrived at the Winters Police Department at about 12:15 p.m. April 2 to report a domestic violence incident and request an emergency protective order.

“She then told Winters police that defendant has a concealed weapons permit along with other weapons,” the document says. She initially declined to give officers consent to enter her home and remove the firearms, but later reversed that decision. The traffic stop happened about two hours later at Neiman and Main streets in Winters, where an officer asked Casavecchia whether he possessed any firearms, the motion says. Casavecchia confirmed he did, producing three handguns from a case on his truck’s passenger seat.

“One of the handguns did not contain a serial number or any identifying information,” prosecutors wrote. “Based on the officer's training and experience, he opined the handgun was manufactured with several aftermarket parts, none of which contained a serial number.”

Officers went to Casavecchia’s home at about 4:30 p.m. that same day, where they seized three AR-15 style rifles, two ammunition magazines and four ammunition rounds, the motion says. Police later determined two of the firearms were not registered to Casavecchia.

Court documents describe both of those weapons as “semiautomatic, centerfire rifle(s) that did not have a fixed magazine. Further, (they) had a pistol grip that protruded conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon, a telescoping stock, a forward pistol grip and a flash suppressor. Both rifles meet the definition of an assault weapon.”

Judge Sonia Cortés will rule on the motion to amend at a May 17 hearing.

It was unclear Friday whether the pending allegations would affect Casavecchia’s position on the