Concord Urges Singleton Be Moved by State

Lawrence Singleton remained secluded in a secret location here Wednesday while city officials urged residents to call on the state to once again send the paroled rapist on his way.

Mindful of the mob that on Monday forced authorities to evacuate Singleton from nearby Rodeo, officials suggested, however, that residents keep their protests to petitions and telephone calls.

“We will take every legal step to see that he is not permanently placed here. At the same time, I certainly am not going to foment a riot,” said Concord Mayor Ron Mullin.

By day’s end, hundreds of people had signed petitions opposing the placement, and more than 500 residents had telephoned City Hall, concerned about Singleton’s possible placement here.

Singleton, who raped and hacked off the forearms of a teen-aged hitchhiker in 1978, was paroled from prison on April 25 after serving eight years of a 14-year term. Since then, he has been moved from town to town, as state Department of Corrections officials attempt to find a place that will accept him. His current stay here is described as temporary, pending his permanent placement, and officials said he would be out of Concord within 24 hours.

“I am growing more and more concerned that we may have a violent confrontation with tragic consequences if the department insists on placing Mr. Singleton in a small town,” state Sen. Daniel E. Boatwright (D-Concord) said Wednesday in a letter to Daniel J. McCarthy, director of the Department of Corrections. Boatwright urged that Singleton be placed in a large metropolitan area.

The Department of Corrections continues to seek a home for Singleton in Contra Costa County because he lived in that county before his arrest in 1978. Prison officials say that a parolee’s ties to an area are important factors in determining whether he returns to a life of crime.

So far, Singleton has been lodged in at least four Contra Costa County communities--Richmond, El Cerrito, Rodeo and Concord, the largest with a population of 107,000. State officials ruled out a fifth city, Antioch, because of public outrage there.

“The parole board is doing nothing but playing musical cities,” said Mullin, adding that no city in the county will accept him.

“People are afraid of Larry Singleton,” he said. “They know the atrocity he committed.”

Gov. George Deukmejian hinted Wednesday that the Department of Corrections may soon find a home for Singleton that would end the controversy. But he would not discuss the solution or where Singleton might be located.

“I hesitate to say it right now because there are some discussions that are going on and until we can, let’s say, tie all the strings together I don’t want to discuss it,” Deukmejian said. “I think we’re moving towards what I think will be a solution that most people will feel--under the conditions that exist--they will feel a little more confident and a little safer.”

Deukmejian made the comments in an interview on television station KGO in San Francisco.