[Reprinted from The Richmond Police Station Newsletter of December 4, 2009. To be added to the station’s mailing list, email sfpd.richmond.station@sfgov.org or visit their website.]
CAPTAIN RICHARD CORREIA’S MESSAGE
The Police Department is in the process of re-organizing the Bureau of Inspectors. What this means for Richmond Station is that starting this week our staffing increased by one lieutenant and four police investigators. Redeployment of investigative resources to our station puts investigators closer to crime and to the communities we serve. I am delighted to have additional help with investigating crimes and to see that our arrests are aggressively prosecuted. Lieutenant Mark Mahoney will be leading all plain clothes operations and investigations here at the station.
We held our first community advisory board meeting on December 2, 2009.Twenty two Richmond District residents attended the meeting and committed to rolling up their sleeves and working collaboratively to solve our District’s public safety challenges. We are meeting again on January 6, 2009.
During the past week, there were 17 traffic accidents, 5 involving injuries. There were 4 citations issued for driving without a license or driving on a suspended license. There were 3 arrests for driving under the influence.
NOTEWORTHY ARRESTS
On 11/28/09 at 12:40am officers responded to a call from a male who wanted to report that he had been kicked out of a bar. They arrived and met the caller, who was intoxicated and upset. He told the officers that he had been “kicked out for no reason†and that he wasn’t drunk and had only “had ten drinks.†The male became more agitated and started swearing at the officers. The individual assaulted one of the officers, and was arrested for threatening an officer, battery on an officer causing injury and for being intoxicated in public.
On 11/28/09 at 11:00pm officers were patrolling on Geary and 8th Avenue when they noticed that the vehicle in front of them had a loud and oversized muffler. The officers ran the license plate of the car and determined that it had been reported stolen. A traffic stop was effected and the driver and passenger were detained. The driver, a 23 year old male, told the officers that he had borrowed the car from a friend and didn’t know it was stolen. The male was charged with stolen auto.
On 11/30/09 at 6:00pm a delivery service van was traveling west on Jackson Street approaching Divisadero. A vehicle traveling eastbound on Jackson Street struck the van as it passed, causing the side view mirror of the vehicle to fly off. The driver of the passing vehicle stopped behind the van and the retrieved the mirror. The driver of the delivery van asked the other party to exchange information, but the driver refused to provide his information. When all attempts by the delivery van driver to exchange insurance information failed he called for the police. As the van driver walked over to the other parties’ vehicle to give the dispatcher the license plate, the other driver grabbed him from behind and put him in a chokehold. The delivery driver was able to tell the dispatcher what was going on as well as provide the license plate. During the struggle, the suspect grabbed the delivery driver’s insurance papers out of his hand and the fled in his car. The officers later located the driver at his residence and the 25 year old male was charged with hit and run and robbery.
On 12/01/09 at 6:15pm officers responded to a call of a possibly mentally ill woman on the 1000 block of Great Highway. When officers arrived they were told that a woman had been stalking a member of a band that was playing at the restaurant that evening, but that she had departed prior to the officer’s arrival. Officers located her a short time later and she was screaming in unintelligible tones. The officers summoned an ambulance as she appeared to be in an altered mental state. The officers determined that she had narcotics in her possession and after being cleared by medical personnel the woman was charged her with narcotic violations.
NOTEWORTHY INCIDENTS
Between 11/27/09 at 1200pm and 11/30/09 at 4:00pm a suspect gained entry into a garage on the 600 block of 24th Avenue and took a bike. There were no signs of forced entry.
On 11/28/09 at 2:05am 3 friends had just left a bar on the 5300 block of Geary. They were suddenly approached by 10 males, one of whom was under the impression that the three friends were having an argument. When told that everything was ok, the group of ten attacked one of the victims, punching and kicking him. When one of the victim’s friends jumped in to help, he was assaulted. The manager of the bar came out and saw what was happening and told everyone to stop fighting and leave the area. The suspects complied and the victims called 911. An ambulance was summoned but both victims refused medical treatment.
Between 11/28/09 at 10am and 11/30/09 at 1:30pm on the 2400 block of Post Street, a suspect entered into an apartment by breaking a kitchen window. The suspect took DVD’s and clothing.
On 11/29/09 at 2:10am a victim was walking on the 400 block of 18th Avenue. The victim was approached by four males; one of them asked the victim if he wanted to buy “some weed.†The victim refused and one of the suspects pulled out a handgun and told the victim to give up his money. Fearing for his life, the victim ran away towards Geary, while the suspects fled towards Anza. The suspects were described as males wearing dark clothing. There was no loss.
On 11/29/09 at 2:30pm two men rang the bell to a home of an elderly woman on the 500 block of 20th Avenue. The men told the woman that they would be interested in purchasing her home if it ever came on the market, and in that connection asked for a tour the house. The woman walked them through the entire home, which took about a half hour. When the victim’s son came home later in the day his mother told him what had happened and he discovered his wallet was missing from inside the home.
Between 11/30/09 at 6:30pm and 12/01/09 at 7:30am a suspect gained entry into a business on the 4600 Block of Geary by forcing open a tradesman door,. The suspect was then able to enter the business via an unlocked rear door and accessed an ATM machine inside the business. The suspect took an unknown amount of cash and a laptop.
On 12/01/09 at 1:07am a victim had just arrived at an apartment building on the 400 block of 10th Avenue. The victim saw the four suspects come out from behind a wall and they started attacking him. As the victim tried to flee but one of the suspects grabbed the victims backpack off of his back. The suspects then fled in a light colored mini-van. They were described as males in their late 20’s wearing dark jackets and blue jeans