[Reprinted from The Richmond Police Station Newsletter of April 1, 2011. To be added to the station's mailing list, email sfpd.richmond.station@sfgov.org.]

CAPTAIN RICHARD CORRIEA’S MESSAGE
I received the following letter in the US Mail a couple of days ago and thought I would share it with you.

Dear Captain Corriea:
My name is BL and I live in Richmond District. I am writing to you because I think the intersection at Divisidero and Pacific is very dangerous. I think you should put a police officer right by the north-west corner of Pacific. I think it would make the intersection a lot safer to cross for pedestrians and bicyclists because he or she would make the cars stop at the stop sign. – Sincerely, BL, Age 7

I use information such as BL has provided in crafting our traffic strategies and I think that BL would be good addition to our Police Community Advisory Board. I am inspired by this child’s concern for public safety.

On April 30, 2011 between 10:00AM and 2:00 PM we will be participating in the Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Take Back Program. A receptacle will be set up in the lobby at Richmond Station for folks to deposit unwanted prescription medications for environmentally friendly destruction. Please drop off any outdated or unneeded prescriptions that you may have at home.

RICHMOND STATION ON TWITTER
In our station management staff meetings I can’t help but smile when the group, with collectively over 150 years of police experience, discusses Tweeting best practices, Re-tweeting and Followers. But we are finding that Twitter gives us a powerful tool to keep a lot of folks informed about risks to their safety. We are delighted that we currently have 430 followers and reach as many as 8000 people through Re-tweets.

Please follow us at Richmond_SFPD to receive real time crime updates and other public safety information.

Our next Police Community Forum is on April 19, 2011 at 7:00 PM at Richmond Station.

During the past week in the District there were 16 traffic accidents 4 involving injuries. There were 5 citations issued for driving without a license or driving on a suspended license. There was 1 arrest for driving under the influence.

NOTEWORTHY ARRESTS
On 03/24/11 Richmond Station officers learned of a suspect that had been identified in a series of church burglaries. On 03/25/11 officers started to outreach to Richmond District places of worship to provide burglary prevention advice and show a photo of the suspect to the staff. On 03/25/11 at 12:50pm officers received a call from a staffer at a church on the 4400 block of Geary stating that the suspect was standing at the door asking for food. Officers responded and took the suspect into custody on the 300 block of 8th Avenue. The 45 year old male was charged with burglary and a probation violation. The investigation is ongoing.

On 03/25/11 at 10pm an off-duty officer was walking his dog on the 600 block of 14th Avenue. He heard the sound of glass breaking and walked towards the noise. The officer then saw the suspect reaching inside of an SUV that had its window broken out. The officer asked what the suspect was doing. The suspect said that the car belonged to him and told the officer to mind his own business. The off-duty identified himself as a police officer and told the suspect to get onto the ground. The suspect complied and responding officers took him into custody. The 60 year old male, who is on probation for auto burglary, and also had an outstanding warrant for auto burglary, was again charged with burglary.

NOTEWORTHY INCIDENTS
Between 03/24/11 at 8am and 03/30/11 at 6am on the 300 block of 3rd Avenue a suspect gained entry into a garage and took a bicycle. The suspect left behind an old beat-up bike. There were no signs of forced entry.

On 03/28/11 at 4:30pm a victim was walking south on the 600 block of Arguello texting on her I-phone. She was approached from behind by a suspect who was armed with a handgun and demanded the victim’s purse and phone. The suspect then grabbed the purse from the victim’s shoulder and phone from her hand and ran north on Arguello. When the victim turned around to see where the suspect went she saw that he was accompanied by another male. The first suspect was described as a male, 20-30 years of age wearing dark clothing.

Between 03/28/11 at 7pm and 03/29/11 at 6:30pm on the 500 block of Parker a suspect gained entry into an apartment garage and broke into a vehicle parked inside. It is unknown how the suspect got into the garage.

Between 03/28/11 at 11:15pm and 03/29/11 at 7:30am on the 100 block of Stanyan a suspect gained entry into a garage and took 2 bicycles, a gym bag and clothing. There were no signs of forced entry.

On 03/30/11 between 4:45am and 2:30pm on the 200 block of 26th Avenue a suspect gained entry into an
apartment via an unlocked window. The suspect took a laptop, 2 I-pods and a video game console.

On 03/30/11 between 2:30pm and 5:00pm on the 2100 block of Clement Street a suspect gained entry
into an apartment by unknown means. The suspect took cash, 2 purses and a laptop.

Photo by judy h

The Blue Heron watch is back on at Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park. Every year, the magnificent birds come to Stow Lake to court, build nests, mate and lay eggs between January and March.

By April, at least one or more nests, which sit high above the lake in the cypress trees, have chicks in them.

If you’re interested in observing the blue herons, San Francisco Nature Education offers free viewing sessions every Saturday from 10am until 1pm beginning this weekend until May 14, 2011. Naturalists and interns are on hand to help you spot the herons through their scopes.

To find them, go to the Stow Lake Boathouse and follow the signs to observation site. You can also go on a naturalist led walk which begins at 10:30am each Saturday; cost is $10 for adults, free for kids.

Sarah B.

Video courtesy of the Cal Academy of Sciences:

In honor of their company’s 40th anniversary, Starbucks is teaming up with SF Rec & Park and the DPW for a community cleanup day at Ocean Beach this Saturday.

Join us and be a part of the 40th Anniversary Community event as we meet on April 9th, 2011 at Ocean Beach. Come lend a helping hand to clean, paint, plant, repair and help maintain and sustain this amazing beach not only for us, but for future generations.

The event runs from 8am until 1pm and volunteers should meet on the beach across from the Beach Chalet, near Fulton to check in and register. You can also register online in advance at http://sbuxnorcalevent.eventbrite.com.

Sarah B.

It’s baaaaack! This weekend, Sunday Streets returns to Golden Gate Park and the Great Highway from 11am until 4pm.

Come out and walk, ride, dance, hula hoop or just stroll along Sunday Streets longest route, nearly 6 miles of car-free roads through JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park and on the Great Highway from Lincoln to Sloat Boulevards.

In addition to the usual menagerie of exhibitors and events going on at Sunday Streets, I also got word of a special event where the California Outdoor Rollersports Association and the skaters from the Black Rock Roller Disco will attempt to break three different Guinness World Records for skating:

1) The Worlds Longest Chain of Roller Skaters is specifically for four wheel “quad” roller skates. Each skaters will hold on to the other skaters hips as the group moves together a distance of at least 400 meters without breaking the chain.

2) The World’s Longest Chain of Inline Skaters follows the same criteria.

3) The World’s Longest Skating Serpentine is a little different as it is for both inline and regular roller skates. A skating serpentine is a long line of skaters that are linked hand to hand. The leader or “head“ of the serpentine moves forward and the chain of skaters follow. The head makes turns to the left and to the right as it moves forward forming a snake-like motion with the chain of skaters.

Based on the event website, it sounds like they’re looking to get about 600 people involved to break the record. Mayor Ed Lee has been invited to participate and if you’ve got a pair of skates and also want to help with the record-setting venture, head over to the event website to find out how to register, which is required.

There is a $10 fee to participate. Skaters will meet at 10am at Skatin’ Place at 6th Avenue and Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park.

And if you can’t make it out to this week’s Sunday Streets, mark your calendars for Sunday, July 10 when it returns to our neck of town. Other Sunday Streets dates in 2011:

May 8: Mission route, including the popular route along 24th and Valencia Streets;
June 12: Bayview route, 3rd Street from Mission Bay, Dogpatch to the Bayview Opera House;
July 10: Great Highway route #2;
August 14: Civic Center/Tenderloin route;
September 11: Western Addition route, including North of Panhandle, Alamo Square and Fillmore and Japantown
October 23: Mission route #2

Sarah B.

These young entrepreneurs were set up at Clement and 41st Avenue today, selling lemonade, cookies and brownies. They told photographer oceanpoetry that “business has been good!”

I hope everyone was able to enjoy our great weather this weekend. And remember, whenever you see a lemonade stand, it’s your neighborhood duty to stop and spend.

Sarah B.

A gutsy teen decided to try his luck at climbing the cliffs at the north end of Ocean Beach today. End result? Rescue by the SFFD. Youtuber omc411 shot the video above and described the incident:

Teenager tried to scale the cliff with no shoes. Got close to the top then got stuck. Rocks were falling down and he slipped a few times but was able to wait 30 minutes for the fire crew to show up.

Does this story sound familiar? That’s because the exact same thing happened in early January when a man tried scaling the cliff face.

One more time, folks. Ocean Beach cliffs: not made for climbing!

Thanks to RichmondSFBlog reader Mike for sending this in.

Sarah B.

RichmondSFBlog reader Rob sent me these photos he took at Ocean Beach on Wednesday. They show wreckage from an old clipper ship freighter that ran aground way back in 1878.

When the tide is low, you can sometimes see a foot or so of the wood wreckage poking out above the sand near Noriega Street. But this is the first time I’ve seen a picture with so much of it exposed.

Seeing ruins like this conjure up all kinds of questions. Is there buried treasure or ship cargo down there somewhere? What happened to the people that were on the ship? How did it end up running aground?

We don’t have the ship’s logs to refer to but we do have Wikipedia in this day and age. The ship, which was a three-masted clipper ship called King Philip, was built in Maine in 1856.

The ship originally carried cargo, including guano which was used for manure, along a route that required going around Cape Horn. The ship was in service for 22 years and its history included at least two mutinies or sailors’ rebellions, with the ship surviving being set on fire on both of those occasions.

The King Philip met its demise on January 25, 1878 as it left San Francisco Bay, carrying no cargo:

A steam-powered tugboat had towed her out of the Bay, in order to help her maneuver in the dangerous waters. At that exact moment, an accident caused the death of the captain of a ship that was nearby, and the tugboat crew was called upon to help out with that emergency. Left on her own without the tugboat to steer her, the King Philip dropped an anchor, but the anchor did not hold fast, and the clipper drifted with the current towards the breakers of the beach and ran aground in heavy surf, which caused the ship to break apart.

The local Daily Alta California newspaper described the scene: “the gallant craft strikes and strikes the sand as if in anger, but powerless, as the hard, cold beach starts her timbers, tears her rudder out, crushes her keel and mashes her stout timbers in matchwood…”

So what happened to the crew? They all survived the wreck but the clipper ship was deemed a total loss. The ship remnants were bought by a San Francisco businessman for $1,050, who was able to salvage its metal fittings and sails. The rest of the wreck was blown up and abandoned.

So the bit of wood hull we see on Ocean Beach during these low tides is really all that’s left. Sorry all you treasure hunters. You can go put your metal detectors back in the basement.

Sightings of the wreckage are becoming more frequent. It was seen back in 1985, then not again for another 22 years in May, 2007. But then it was seen again in November 2010, and again this week.

Special thanks to Richmond District historian John Freeman for sending me the great old photos from the SFPL.

Sarah B.

UPDATE – This story previously included an old photo from the SFPL archives that was believed to be the King Philip. It was later identified as the vessel the Reporter, which ran aground on Ocean Beach and wrecked on March 13, 1902.

Photograph of the 1878 oil on canvas painting: “Wreck of the King Philip” by
San Francisco artist Gideon Jacques Denny. Courtesy of the SFPL.