Contra Costa County coroner’s jury reaches verdicts in 2019 deaths

MARTINEZ – A Contra Costa County coroner’s jury on Friday reached verdicts in separate cases involving a 21-year-old Brentwood man killed in a police chase and a 72-year-old Walnut Creek man found dead in a cell at the West County Detention Facility.

Omar Jalal Harb died after crashing an allegedly stolen SUV into a tree during the pursuit in Antioch on July 18, 2019. The jury determined Harb’s death was an accident, the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Friday night.

The chase started after Antioch police officers learned a vehicle had been stolen during a burglary in another city and spotted it on Somersville Road, this news organization reported at the time. Public records showed Harb had prior arrests for burglary.

The pursuit went on for about 1½ miles before ending in the crash in the 1100 block of Buchanan Road.

The second case involved Enrique Camberos Pina, who was found hanging from a bunk at the detention facility on Oct. 16, 2019. The sheriff’s office said the jury determined Pina’s death was a suicide.

Pina was arrested on suspicion of child molestation in September 2018 and ultimately charged with 12 counts including forcible oral copulation and forcible sodomy.

This news organization previously reported Pina was suffering from a terminal illness at the time of his death and had been cleared by a county mental health clinician to remain at the detention facility under monitoring.