3 Food Inspectors Slain in Sausage Plant; Owner Held

Three government food inspectors were shot to death Wednesday as they visited a sausage factory that had recently reopened after being closed for health violations. Police took the factory’s owner--who had railed against the government--into custody.

A fourth inspector escaped unharmed from the Santos Linguisa factory in San Leandro, about 20 miles southeast of San Francisco, San Leandro Police Lt. Dan Marchetti said.

The bodies of two inspectors for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a state meat inspector were found inside an office in the plant. Each was shot several times. The victims were two men and one woman, ages 30 to 50, but they were not immediately identified.

The inspector who escaped told the police that the owner, 39-year-old Stuart Alexander, opened fire.

Alexander had protested government inspections of the factory, which has been in his family for three generations. A sign outside, signed by Alexander, decried alleged harassment by inspectors.

“To all our great customers, the USDA is coming into our plant harassing my employees and me, making it impossible to make our great product,” the sign reads. “Gee, if all meat plants could be in business for 79 years without one complaint, the meat inspectors would not have jobs. Therefore, we are taking legal action against them.”

Danny Gomes, a friend of Alexander’s who waited outside the police tape at the factory for news, told the Daily Review newspaper of nearby Hayward that Alexander was upset because inspectors wanted him to raise the temperature of his meat while preparing sausage.

“He was a good man, but pressure, pressure--everybody blows up under pressure,” said Michael Smith, another friend of Alexander’s.

Investigators said the inspectors arrived about 2 p.m. and called a supervisor to say that Alexander was not there. Police did not immediately know what happened next. None of the inspectors was armed.

Police found Alexander near the plant and took him into custody, Marchetti said. Police found three guns inside the plant, but did not say if the murder weapon was among them.

Alexander, who ran for mayor of San Leandro in 1998, has had previous run-ins with the law. He was arrested in 1996 on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse and other charges for allegedly attacking a 75-year-old neighbor. The two had argued over garbage on Alexander’s property.

The charges against Alexander were dropped after he paid his neighbor $10,000, according to court records.

Alexander, who owns at least 24 pieces of property in San Leandro, also has been plagued by lawsuits and money problems. He filed for bankruptcy twice, most recently in January, according to court records. Several of the lawsuits claim that Alexander did not repay tens of thousands of dollars in personal loans.