SFPD Richmond District Police Station
Weekly Update 03-27-2015
From Captain Simon Silverman
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon runs through the north western part of the Richmond Police District on Sunday, March 29, 2015. Their website has a course map, road closure information, and alternative access routes.
Here are some of the 675 incidents handled by officers in the Richmond Police District this past week:
ARREST: DUI / RESISTING ARREST / POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA WITH THE INTENT TO SELL / POSSESSION OF STOLEN PROPERTY
Geary & Stanyan
03-20-2015 2:41 AM
Officers on patrol stopped a vehicle for speeding and found that the driver was under the influence of marijuana. The officers recognized him from previous arrests for assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, possession of stolen property and resisting arrest. He refused to get out of the car despite repeated orders and the officers had to forcibly remove him. There were three separate packages of marijuana in the vehicle, three scales and over $640 in small bills in the car. This is all consistent with sales of marijuana. The officers also recovered over $3000 worth of photography equipment that had been stolen out of a car in December. During booking, the suspect told officers that he was wearing a $500 belt and taunted them, “You couldn’t afford this belt!”
Captain’s Note: Since inmates can’t wear belts in jail it seems that the $500 was not money well spent.
ARREST: BURGLARY / CONSPIRACY
Geary & Lyon
03-20-2015 4:57 PM
An employee came into his office and discovered a suspect stealing computers. He chased the suspect who put the computers down and continued running. Although this suspect eluded capture, his getaway driver was later found sleeping in the (stolen) getaway car nearby and was arrested for conspiring in the burglary.
TRAFFIC COLLISION WITH INJURIES
Fulton & 39th Ave
03-20-2015 6:00 PM
A driver was traveling south on 39th Ave and stopped at the stop sign at Fulton. She then proceeded to turn onto eastbound Fulton but collided with a car that was coming west on Fulton (there is no stop sign for Fulton in this area). This collision resulted in moderate injuries to the driver who made the unsafe turn.
SHOOTING
Golden Gate & Willard North
03-21-2015 1:05 PM
The victim was shot in front of his residence and is in stable condition.
Captain’s Note: This is one of those instances where making more information public might jeopardize the investigation. I can say that this was not a random occurrence. The victim knows the suspect and the motive for the shooting.
ARREST: DEFRAUDING AN INNKEEPER
Clement & 9th Ave
03-31-2015 7:00 PM
The two suspects ordered $54 worth of food at a restaurant, but when the bill came they left just $32 and ran out the door. A waitress pursued them while the manager called 911. Officers detained the pair and they admitted to knowingly ordering more than they could pay for.
Captain’s Note: In modern parlance this is called a “dine and dash.” The penal code retains the more quaint title of “defrauding an innkeeper.”
MENTAL HEALTH CALL
Geary & 17th Ave
03-21-2015 11:55 PM
Officers responded to a report of a person on the street screaming and swinging his arms at people. The victim was experiencing a psychotic episode and was transported to the hospital.
ARREST: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Sutter & Scott
03-22-2015 1:32 AM
A witness heard a woman on the street screaming for help and called 911. Officers arrived and arrested the suspect / boyfriend who was shoving his girlfriend.
ARREST: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Geary & 29th Ave
03-22-2015 2:09 AM
Bystanders called 911 when they saw the suspect / boyfriend pull his girlfriend out of a taxi by her hair. One bystander tried to intervene and the suspect punched him.
ARREST: DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE / HIT & RUN / UNLICENSED DRIVER
Geary & 35th Ave
03-22-2015 6:00 AM
A witness called 911 after he saw a driver crash into a parked car then get out and run off. The suspect was detained and found to be under the influence of alcohol. He had never been issued a driver’s license.
ARREST: ATTEMPTED BURGLARY / POSSESSION OF STOLEN PROPERTY
Golden Gate & Tamalpais 03-22-2015 5:56 PM
Undercover officers saw a suspect trying to break into a house and a car. They detained him and found that he had property taken in recent several burglaries, robberies and thefts in his possession.
Captain’s Note: People sometimes tell me, “I didn’t know that Richmond Station had undercover officers. I’ve never seen them.” That’s because they’re undercover. Shhh…
ARREST: PUBLIC INTOXICATION / POSSESSION OF FALSE ID
Geary & 5th Ave
03-22-2015 8:15 PM
An officer was writing a traffic ticket when an intoxicated young man approached, stood in the street and began yelling at the officer. The officer told the suspect that if he wanted to talk he should stop interfering and wait on the sidewalk until the officer was done with the citation. The suspect continued to interfere and shouted, “Arrest me! Arrest me!” Back-up officers arrived and fulfilled his request. The intoxicated young man was a 20 year old USF student with a fake Alberta driver’s license that would have made him 24 years old. USF Public Safety officers also responded.
Captain’s Note: USF is very responsive to the SFPD on the very rare occasions when we have problems with a USF student. In addition to any criminal case, USF students may face university sanctions for misconduct.
TRAFFIC COLLISION WITH INJURIES
Cornwall & 4th Ave
03-23-2015 8:32 AM
A Honda was northbound on 4th Ave when a Toyota that was eastbound on Cornwall entered the intersection and broadsided the Honda. This resulted in minor injuries to the driver of the Toyota (who was cited at the scene).
TRAFFIC COLLISION WITH INJURIES
Lake & 9th Ave
03-23-2015 9:50 AM
A driver was eastbound on Lake when she failed to yield to a pedestrian who was crossing 9th Ave in the crosswalk. This resulted in moderate injuries to the pedestrian and a citation for the driver.
TRAFFIC COLLISION WITH INJURIES
Cabrillo & 42nd Ave
03-23-2015 12:09 PM
A Ford was driving south on 42nd Ave. The driver stopped at the stop sign but proceeded into the intersection when it was unsafe to do so. He collided with a Toyota that was eastbound on Cabrillo (where there is no stop sign) forcing the Toyota to collide with a building. This resulted in minor injuries to both drivers, damage to the building and a citation for the driver of the Ford.
ARREST: DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
Balboa & 4th Ave
03-23-2015 10:50 PM
Officers responded to a report of a car blocking traffic and detained the intoxicated driver. An officer had him put his hands on his head in order to conduct a pat down search for weapons. As the officer did this, the suspect suddenly reached into a pocket. After handcuffing the suspect, the officer found a 7” knife in that pocket. The suspect refused blood alcohol testing and the officers obtained a search warrant to take a non-consensual blood sample. A records check revealed that the suspect was on probation for DUI. The conditions of the suspect’s probation included that he could not refuse a blood alcohol test and that he could not drive a vehicle with any alcohol in his blood.
ATTEMPTED THEFT FROM A VEHICLE / ROBBERY
Anza & 37th Ave
03-24-2015 8:58 PM
A resident saw a suspect trying to open the door handles on parked cars and confronted him. The suspect became angry and told the resident to mind his own business. The resident continued to follow the suspect and the suspect turned and punched him in the face so hard that he fell to the ground and briefly lost consciousness. A witness saw the suspect steal the victim’s wallet as the victim lay on the ground. The suspect then ran to a car and drove off.
Suspect: Black male 30-35 years old, 5’10”, wearing a dark grey hat and dark jacket.
Vehicle: Blue 2 or 4 door sedan with a bike rack on the top. The license plate included the letters ZD and the numbers 950.
Captain’s Note: Although I applaud the victim for keeping watch over the neighborhood, I wish he had called 911 instead of confronting the suspect.
MENTAL HEALTH CALL
Clement & 18th Ave
03-25-2015 9:25 AM
A woman called the SFPD to report that she was having a mental health crisis and was about to burn down her house. She was transported to the hospital.
TRAFFIC COLLISION WITH INJURY
Fulton & 33rd Ave
03-25-2015 8:34 AM
A Toyota was driving west on Fulton when he pulled around and passed other cars that had stopped for a pedestrian who was crossing in the crosswalk. The Toyota then struck the pedestrian causing moderate injuries. The driver was cited at the scene.
Captain’s Note: This driver may even have noticed the officer who was already at Fulton & 36th writing a citation to a driver for failing to yield to a pedestrian.
THEFT FROM A VEHICLE / ROBBERY
Point Lobos & Balboa
03-25-2015 10:10 AM
The victim saw the suspect break the window of his car, reach in and steal a bag from the front seat. The victim ran over and confronted the suspect who shoved him. The victim then called 911 and the suspect fled the scene in a silver Honda.
Suspect: Black male, 30-40 years old, 5’9” 170 lbs, wearing a black baseball cap, black shirt and black pants.
Captain’s Note: The use of force against the victim in the furtherance of this theft turned it into a robbery. As above, I wish the victim had not confronted the suspect.
TRAFFIC COLLISION WITH INJURY
Arguello & California
03-25-2015 11:56 AM
A truck was stopped in traffic facing north on Arguello when a driver who was going too fast crashed into the back of the truck causing himself moderate injuries. He was cited for unsafe speed.
ARREST: WANTED PAROLEE
Lake & Funston (Mountain Lake Park)
03-26-2015 8:45 AM
A Rec & Park employee reported a person who was behaving aggressively in Mountain Lake Park. The suspect turned out to be a wanted parolee.
NEXT COMMUNITY MEETING:
Tuesday 04-21-2015 @ 7:00 PM
Richmond Station Community Room
461 6th Ave.
CONTACT US:
Call 911 for emergencies
Call 415-553-0123 for non-emergency police service
Richmond Station
461 6th Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94118
415-666-8000
E-mail: SFPDRichmondStation@sfgov.org
Follow us on Twitter: @SFPDRichmond
I love the Richmond Police Blotter – especially since the Captain began writing and/or editing it. Keep up the good work, both in print and on the street. Thx!
The accident on 3/23 was on 19th, not 9th — and it was the second accident in less than a week on the same block — once at California and then at Lake. Both involving pedestrians hit by cars! When will we see a more concerted effort by SFPD to make these 4-way stop intersections safer?
Some drivers really need to chill the heck out. Like that guy who tried to go around the cars waiting for the pedestrian. I’ve had multiple incidents where I stop for a pedestrian on streets like Geary and people behind me start honking and giving me the bird. Once I was turning left onto Balboa from Arguello and waiting for a pedestrian to finish crossing, when this lady behind me started flipping out. She started honking, then pulled around me, screaming all the while, and barely missed the ped in the crosswalk.
I grew up in the Richmond and remember riding my bike by myself around in the 80’s when I was a kid. But no way I’d let my kids do that nowadays. Too many inconsiderate drivers, rude bicyclists, and oblivious pedestrians about.
@Mike: I completely agree. I also grew up in the Richmond and it has always been a calm neighborhood. I don’t suffer these people easily, but they are everywhere. We can’t even turn into (or pull out of) our own driveway, due to the impatience of drivers who must all be in labor or attending to some emergency. It never used to be like this (though bad drivers have always been around the neighborhood). The incident you describe happens way too often, these days. Not sure how we can deal with it, but we all set the pace, so at the very least, we shouldn’t let these people take over. I think we need to encourage Mar on his efforts to lower speed limits, too. I don’t see much downside to this, especially since most drivers already push the limit by 5-10mph, as a matter of habit.
@mike: Couldn’t agree with you more! You must live on my street. In the past 6 months or so, the reckless jerks in their SUVs have figured out that my street is one with a signal that makes it easy to criss Geary. I have been nearly t-boned several time by people sppeding to the corner as I inch my way slooowly out of my driveway. Then, driving into my driveway coming home, I have been tailgated, flipped off, and honked at more time than I can remember by idiots who are SO impatient that, even with my signal on, I am still infuriating the hell out of them. These are transplants. They and their crappy driving have moved here and are making a formerly easy-driving part of the city a nightmare. There still needs to be WAY more chips on patrol.
….way more cops on patrol.
SF Police – Next time you have a marathon on 35th Avenue, please give us some warning, instead of finding out I can’t leave my home with my car because of the thousands of runners on 35th Ave for 2 hours….
Mike, Clara, and Renee- totally agree with you. Though I am discovering that combating speeding and impatient driving is difficult. Last spring me and my neighbors applied for traffic calming on our block, and we just received our denial letter. We apparently don’t have a high enough percentage of drivers speeding on our street (though it feels like we do and we also have a signal on Geary). Trying to figure out what else we can do besides re-applying for next year.
Cheryl – my wife had the same response, except she was told it (her request for painted crosswalks) would be based on injury statistics. So I guess more folks will need to be injured before you get an adequate reply.
…or instead of traffic calming measures like neon flashing ped signs/slinky-ing speed limits/wide painted crosswalks/oversized stop signs, etc., maybe we can ask SFPD to aggressively enforce the existing rules of the road.
Otherwise, it’s just mass punishment. Along Geary from Masonic to Park Presidio, drivers pretty much hit every light en route. Morning commutes on the 31AX used to be about 30 minutes, and now hits 50+.
Lives are of upmost importance, of course. At the same time, the people breaking the law and not observing existing traffic codes aren’t the ones who’ll pay attention to another fancy sign on the street.
An aggressive traffic enforcement campaign, however, can get these jerks off the road, or at least provide some negative reinforcement to their negligent operations of a motor vehicle.
takes a fatality plus two years to get s f city traffic engineering to install lights, stop sign, speed bump, etc. at any given intersection.
the bastards.