Grand jury indicts Pittsburg man

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Oct. 17--MARTINEZ -- A Contra Costa County grand jury has indicted a Pittsburg man after he allegedly hired hits on nine witnesses set to testify against him, suggesting they could die in staged car crashes, drug overdoses and robberies "gone bad," prosecutors said Friday.

Charles Waldo, who has been held at the Martinez jail awaiting trial for insurance fraud, was indicted Wednesday on nine counts of solicitation to commit murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder, prosecutors said.

The indictment alleges that Waldo conspired with other inmates to arrange the killing of nine witnesses set to testify against him at his upcoming trial. The 10 new charges will be added to the 50 that he already faces, prosecutors said.

The investigation began when the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office received a tip about a fraudulent insurance claim related to an automobile arson. With help from the Contra Costa County Fire District, the investigation expanded and soon involved alleged fraudulent insurance claims related to the arson and vandalism of five cars during a five-year period. The loss from the fraudulent claims exceeded $100,000, prosecutors said.

The investigation also uncovered a series of crimes that occurred at an unnamed local business where Waldo worked and eventually talked the owner into making him the manager. Once he was in charge of the business, it is alleged that Waldo embezzled more than $100,000 and stole property that included a $38,000 generator, prosecutors said.

As the manager, Waldo reportedly forced out other employees and replaced them with his associates, directing them to commit additional crimes while working for the company, including stealing recyclable metals and an electrical transformer.

He also allegedly had associates who were working for the company help construct a 2,000-square-foot addition to his Pittsburg home.

Investigators from the California Department of Insurance maintain Waldo was also committing workers' compensation insurance fraud and tax code violations. They reportedly learned Waldo claimed unemployment insurance benefits for a year after being fired from the victim business. Waldo claimed these benefits even though he had secured other employment.

The new allegations came to light when a witness was alerted that a "hit" had been put out on him, prosecutors said.

An investigation led to two witnesses and a document that included a hit list with nine names and the order in which they were to be killed and suggested methods by which the murders were to occur, prosecutors said.

The methods included staged car accidents, drug overdoses and robberies that had "gone bad."

Additional crimes on the original case include brandishing a firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm, violating a restraining order and taking police on a high-speed chase through central Contra Costa County. Waldo is also charged with multiple counts of felony vandalism. Prosecutors said that after being fired from his job, Waldo drove to the business and to the homes of several employees, where he punctured the tires of the large commercial trucks that were crucial to the operation of the business.

Waldo is scheduled to be arraigned on the new charges Oct. 27. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 25 years to life in prison.

Contact Natalie Neysa Alund at 510-293-2469. Follow her at Twitter.com/nataliealund.

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