[Reprinted from The Richmond Police Station Newsletter of February 18, 2011. To be added to the station’s mailing list, email sfpd.richmond.station@sfgov.org.]
CAPTAIN RICHARD CORRIEA’S MESSAGE
At about 3:30 on February 16, 2011 I had a brief casual conversation with a young officer and a veteran sergeant at the station as they prepared for their tour of duty. The light hearted nature of our interaction would soon stand as a reminder of how a police officers’ world can quickly change.
At 4:00 PM Officers responded to a call of a disturbance at 17th Avenue and Geary Boulevard. Upon arrival officers learned that several juveniles had been involved in a fist fight and had boarded a 38 Geary bus, which was stopped at that location. The young officer mentioned above entered the bus by the rear door as the sergeant boarded through the front door. A seventeen year old male tried to push past the officer. At that time the sergeant approached the young man from behind. The juvenile turned around and without a moments hesitation punched the sergeant in the face. This first blow caused laceration that bled profusely. The sergeant fell backwards into a group of passengers and, before he could regain his balance, the suspect punched the sergeant several more times in face and body, knocking him to the floor. The suspect was taken into custody very quickly and arrested. The sergeant’s injuries necessitated transportation by ambulance to an emergency hospital for treatment. He was released several hours later and remains off-duty recovering from his injuries. The officer was treated later in the shift for a minor injury. I appreciate the help of several passengers on the bus that remained on the scene and provided statements to investigators. There is more information about this incident in the “noteworthy arrests” section below.
Two weeks ago I reported on an incident that occurred in the area of Spruce and California Streets. A victim, who was driving her mother’s car because her own vehicle had been stolen on 01/25/11, noticed that the car in front of her was her vehicle. She followed it into a parking lot of a medical office. The suspect quickly turned the vehicle around to exit back onto the street. The victim parked her mom’s in the middle of the narrow parking lot to block the suspect from exiting. The victim got out of the vehicle and confronted the suspect saying “That’s my car!” The suspect screamed and revved the engine. Fearing that the suspect was going to run her over the victim moved out of the way. The suspect then drove between the victim’s vehicle and other cars parked in the lot, causing damage to several vehicles in the process.
On February 9, 2011 at 8:00 PM officers from the Daly City Police Department encountered the stolen vehicle in their jurisdiction. The officers arrested a female suspect at the time that they recovered the vehicle. Inspectors from Richmond Station’s investigative team conducted a follow-up investigation and have developed evidence that connects the woman arrested in Daly City with the assault in our district. I anticipate that our case will be presented to the district attorney in the next few days. I will keep you posted on this case.
During the past week in the District there were 26 traffic accidents 1 involving injuries. There were 4 citations issued for driving without a license or driving on a suspended license. There was 1 arrest for driving under the influence.
NOTEWORTHY ARRRESTS
On 02/15/11 at 8:00pm an officer was flagged down on the 5200 block of Geary regarding a shoplifter in a local business. The officer detained the suspect and, although the suspect said she did not have any identification, a passport was located in her backpack. When the officer checked the passport she saw that the name and photo did not match the suspect. The officer also located credit cards and blank checks, all with different names. The officer was finally able to confirm the suspect’s identity and determined that she had an outstanding warrant for her arrest for narcotic violations. The 23 year old female was also charged with false impersonation and forgery.
On 02/16/11 at 3:55pm officers were called to the area of 25th and Geary on a report of 20 juveniles involved in a physical fight. As the officers were responding the caller stated that a fight had broken up and the juveniles had gotten on an inbound 38 Geary MUNI bus line. Officers located and stopped the bus at 17th and Geary Boulevard . One officer boarded the coach via the back door and one officer came through the front. Several juveniles tried to exit the bus from the rear door but the officer told them that they had to wait. One of the juveniles tried to push past the officer to exit and the officer again told the juvenile that he had to wait. He then pushed the officer and made a fist as if to punch her. By this time the officer that had boarded the front made his way to the rear and when he saw the suspect attempting to strike the other officer he grabbed the suspect from behind. The suspect broke away and punched the officer several times in the face, knocking him to the ground and proceeded to kick him. Another officer boarded the bus and the officers were finally able to detain the suspect. The 17 year old male was charged with resisting an officer and causing serious injury.
NOTEWORTHY INCIDENTS
On 02/11/11 at 11:50 pm officers were called to the area of 25th Avenue and Geary Boulevard on a call of juveniles that had just vandalized a MUNI bus and fled the scene. The driver told the officers that the juveniles boarded the bus at 32nd Avenue and Geary and walked towards the rear of the coach. He saw them doing graffiti to the back of the bus and when the bus stopped at 25th and Geary, one of the suspects took his skateboard and broke a window. The suspects then ran off the bus. While the officers were investigating this incident they were approached by another MUNI driver. He told them that when he was at 42nd Avenue and Geary driving back to the yard one of the suspects ran in front of his bus. While he stopped the other suspects broke several of the bus windows from the outside.
On 02/14/11 between 6:50am and 3:40pm on the 300 block of 15th Avenue a suspect entered into a residence and took jewelry, game systems and alcohol.
On 02/16/11 between 8:00am and 3:35pm on the unit block of Blake Street a suspect gained entry into a home by prying open the front gate and kicking open the front door. The suspect took a laptop computer.
On 02/16/11 at 7:45pm a victim was walking in the area of 26th Avenue and Cabrillo when a suspect came from behind him and wrapped his arms around the victim’s chest. The victim was unable to break free and a second suspect grabbed the victim’s computer bag (containing a computer) from his shoulder. Both suspects then fled south on 26th Avenue into Golden Gate Park . They were described as males, 16-18 years of age, one with a muscular build, wearing a black baseball cap and a black sweatshirt.