Sr. Detective Gebhardt has been a Robbery and Homicide Detective for over 13 years in the Fremont Police Crimes Against Persons unit. Gebhardt is dedicated to providing justice and closure to victims of crime in Fremont. He is passionate about his work and seeks innovative ways to improve Fremont Police’s ability to investigate and charge serious cases.
Most recently, Sr. Detective Gebhardt investigated two unique cases that warrant this recognition and demonstrate his dedication to justice and the community.
On August 16, 2022, John Fannin (a 46-year-old construction worker from Ohio) was inside Kirby’s bar when he was approached by Ian Parrish (a male whom he had never met). Parrish offered to sell Fannin Percocet pills to help with pain he experienced after a major industrial back injury in 2003. At the time of the injury, doctors told Fannin he needed surgery, but he declined so he could continue to financially provide for his family. Fannin “self-medicated” with painkillers, but all evidence showed he never used Fentanyl and was extremely afraid of it. Fannin asked Parrish if the pills were “real” as he feared counterfeit pills might contain Fentanyl. Parrish told Fannin multiple times that the pills were real. Fannin agreed to purchase two Perc 30 pills. Fannin took the pills to his vehicle (likely to crush/snort one of the Perc 30 pills) and returned to the bar. Parrish left shortly afterwards. Fannin collapsed and died on the bar floor within the next twenty minutes. The entire incident was captured on Kirby’s video surveillance. Lab results showed the pills contained Fentanyl. The coroner ultimately ruled Fannin’s death was caused by Fentanyl.
Sr. Detective Gebhardt was assigned to investigate the case. At the time of this incident, there had never been a Fentanyl overdose case charged as a homicide in Alameda County. Gebhardt sought specific training regarding charging fentanyl-related deaths as murders and attended a class on the topic. Gebhardt investigated Fannin’s death and presented the case to multiple Alameda County Assistant District Attorneys. The Assistant District Attorneys explained that charging such a case at the state level was difficult and unlikely to be successful. Gebhardt disagreed with their assessment and began to pursue federal charging.
Gebhardt secured a meeting with the Deputy Chief of the Oakland Branch of the United States Attorney’s Office to discuss the case. Gebhardt presented the entire investigation, including an edited video that strung together the incident from Fannin’s purchase of the pills to his death on the floor of Kirby’s. The Deputy Chief agreed to adopt the case and charge it Federally as a fentanyl-murder. It would be the first fentanyl-murder charged out of the Oakland AUSA office. Gebhardt coordinated the remainder of the investigation and the apprehension of Parrish with the FBI. Ultimately, Parrish was arrested and now faces 20 years to life in federal prison.
During the investigation, Gebhardt remained in contact with Fannin’s family, who all live in Ohio. The family expressed their gratitude and appreciation for Gebhardt’s extraordinary service.
As the above investigation and charging was happening, Gebhardt was assigned another case that exemplifies his excellent skills as an investigator and supports this nomination.
On February 23, 2023, a shooting/attempted murder occurred in front of a residence on Torrington Ct. Patrol officers responded and located approximately 20 shell casings from at least two different caliber firearms. Officers located a potential suspect vehicle which fled from them. Officers spoke with the intended shooting victim and gathered surveillance footage of the incident. The victim did not appear to be forthcoming and physical evidence at the scene suggested his version of events was not completely truthful.
Gebhardt responded to the scene where he reviewed video surveillance and re-interviewed the victim and his girlfriend to clear up inconsistencies in their stories. Red-light camera evidence of the suspect vehicle helped to identify the suspect as Misael Arroyo. The vehicle was located abandoned and seized for evidence. Gebhardt authored multiple search warrants, one being for the vehicle’s event data recorder. That search revealed the vehicle’s presence at the Fremont shooting and several locations related to other criminal investigations. Another search warrant for Arroyo’s cell records confirmed he was at the Fremont shooting location. Gebhardt invited Arroyo to the police department and obtained a full confession. Gebhardt presented the case to the Deputy District Attorney and secured attempted murder charges with several enhancements against Arroyo.
During the investigation, Gebhardt learned the Fremont shooting “victim” was involved in several other violent crimes in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Gebhardt coordinated a multi-county agency workgroup that included members of five (5) local police agencies as well as members of the FBI, ATF, Santa Clara DA’s, and San Mateo DA’s offices. Based on the information uncovered during Arroyo’s confession, the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office charged the “victim” in FPD’s case (as well as a second suspect) with an armed home invasion in San Jose. The workgroup continues to collaborate, and additional suspects related to numerous murders and other violent crimes have been identified and arrested.
The above cases exemplify Sr. Detective Gebhardt’s high level of investigative skill, his passion for serving the community, and his drive to continually find new ways to investigate cases beyond where traditional investigative work would end.
I recommend Sr. Detective Gebhardt for Employee of the Month for the reasons outlined above.
-Sgt. Shawn Decker