SFPD Richmond District Police Station Update
02-26-2016
From Captain Simon Silverman
An announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services:
Community Listening Sessions
The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) wants to hear your perspectives, concerns, and suggestions regarding the SFPD and its interaction with the San Francisco community. They are holding community listening sessions to hear from you. Your participation in these open forums will help guide their efforts to advance the operations, staff, policies, procedures, accountability systems, and training of the SFPD.
Please feel free to attend the session most convenient for you. Further, they would welcome your assistance in spreading the word to members of your community.
Recent incidents from the Richmond Police District:
ARREST: DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL
02/19/2016 12:29 AM
Anza & 4th Ave
Officers on patrol saw a Buick race up to a stop sign, slam on the brakes and skid to a stop in the middle of the intersection. The officers stopped the car and found that the driver was under the influence of alcohol.
Captain’s Note: Drivers are required to stop behind the painted line. Stopping in the middle of the intersection misses the point of the stop sign (and hopefully misses hitting someone).
ARREST: POSSESSION OF BURGLARY TOOLS
02/19/2016 9:48 PM
Lake & 2nd Ave
Officers responded to a report of a suspicious person peering into vehicles. They detained the suspect who had 5 screwdrivers, 2 pairs of pliers, 2 flashlights, a box cutter, and a folding knife (all of use when breaking into cars). The suspect is already on probation for burglary.
Captain’s Note: The DA’s Office dismissed the charge against this suspect. In the past three years, this same suspect has been arrested several times for (among other things) possession of burglary tools, vehicle tampering, and burglary.
ARREST: DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DRUGS
02/20/2016 4:07 PM
JFK & West of Transverse (Golden Gate Park)
A family was enjoying the park when they saw the suspect (who was unsuccessfully trying to back into a parking space) smash into their parked pick-up truck. The truck owner went over to talk to the suspect and found that he had a “thousand yard stare.” Instead of giving his information to the victim, the suspect drove off, but not before the victim took a photo of him and memorized his license plate. Officers went to the address of the suspect vehicle’s registered owner and the owner realized that the suspect was the boyfriend of her daughter. Officers went to the suspect’s house where they found him with the damaged car. The suspect appeared to be under the influence of drugs, but refused to give the officers a blood sample. They obtained a search warrant for his blood and a certified phlebotomist drew the sample.
Captain’s Note: Since none of us are doctors (much to our parents’ disappointment), the SFPD contracts with a medical services company that provides trained professionals for forensic blood draws.
THEFT
02/21/2016 10:58 AM
Geary & Masonic
The victim was shopping at a grocery store when she saw the suspect “pacing around” in the produce section. The victim felt that this was suspicious enough that she zipped up her purse. However, she stepped away from her cart briefly, leaving the purse behind. She returned to find her purse unzipped, with her wallet (and the suspect) gone. A short time later, the victim began receiving alerts from her credit card companies that someone was trying to charges purchases to her cards at the nearby Target store.
Suspect: White female, 25-35 years old, heavy set, wearing a black and green plaid shirt, dark blue jeans and dark sunglasses
Captain’s Note: In recent months, I have commented a few times that the grocery store in question does not have video surveillance (unlike nearly every large retailer in San Francisco). Although the grocery store has not adopted this widely accepted security measure, Target has. Target provided pictures of the suspect trying to use the stolen credit cards.
ARREST: FIREARMS VIOLATIONS / DRUG VIOLATIONS / TRAFFIC WARRANTS
02/21/2016 4:40 PM
Anza & Parker
An officer on patrol saw a Jaguar with no registration tabs on the license plate. The plate was supposed to be on a Nissan. Car thieves sometimes steal a front plate (which has no registration tabs on it) from another car and put it on a stolen car. The officer stopped the driver who was very nervous and could not explain who the car belonged to. The suspect had several traffic warrants. Upon arrest, officers found an unregistered, loaded revolver concealed in the car along with heroin and methamphetamine in the suspect’s possession. The suspect is a convicted felon with previous firearms charges. The status of the car remains under investigation. It was last registered in Texas and we are trying to determine the rightful owner.
THEFT
02/21/2016 5:30 PM to 02/22/2016 7:00 AM
Balboa & 6th Ave
A resident locked his bike to a rail in front of his house overnight. In the morning the cable lock was cut and the bike was gone. The bike is a distinctive olive green cargo bike model made by Surly Inc. called the “Big Dummy” (for a stock photo see http://surlybikes.com/bikes/big_dummy).
Captain’s Note: The resident e-mailed me to ask that I put this item in this week’s edition as a reminder that cable locks are not effective because any cable can be quickly and easily cut. He also pointed out that having the serial number is just about the only way to get the bike back (he has his, so his bike serial number is now listed as stolen nationwide). For tips on registering and locking your bike visit www.safebikes.org
ARREST: SHOPLIFTING TURNED ROBBERY / FELON POSSESS PEPPER SPRAY / VIOLATION OF PROBATION
02/21/2016 9:40 PM
Cabrillo & 7th Ave
Store employees saw the suspect walk out of the store without paying for a bottle of wine. They confronted him and asked him to return it at which point he pepper sprayed an employee and ran off. Officers spotted the suspect a short distance away, urinating between two parked cars (Hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go). They detained him and asked him his name to which he replied, “You’re the police, figure it out.”
Captain’s Note: He was easily identified since he was on probation for theft with priors and had a California arrest record. In fact, his record was so extensive that when the officers tried to run his criminal history on their computer they received an error message that it was too big to be sent electronically and had to be mailed to the station.
ARREST: STOLEN CAR
02/24/2016 8:30 AM
El Camino Del Mar & 25th Ave
The victim parked his Prius in front of his house at Diamond & 18th Street and went to bed. The next morning, he received notification from an app that his car had been driven around over night. He tracked the car to El Camino Del Mar & 25th Ave and called the SFPD. The responding officer found the suspect asleep in the car and arrested him.
Captain’s Note: The stereotypical car thief is often caught taking the stolen car on a wild ride, hence the popular bumper sticker “Drive it like you stole it.” It would appear however, that Prius thieves, like their car of choice, are a more sedate sort… or maybe not… please read on.
The DA’s Office dismissed the charges against this suspect and instead filed a motion to revoke his probation. In June 2013, the suspect was placed on 3 years probation for possession of stolen property. He has been arrested over a dozen times since being placed on that probation. He has an extensive arrest record dating back to 1987 with charges including grand theft, robbery, burglary, vehicle tampering, and lewd & lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age.
ARREST: ARMED ROBBERY OF A BANK
02/24/2016 11:58 AM
Geary & 19th Ave
The suspect came into the bank and inquired about opening an account. He then took out a semi-automatic pistol, pointed it at the employees and threatened to shoot if they did not put money in a bag for him. One of the tellers triggered the silent hold up alarm and another gave the suspect a wad of bills with a tracking device embedded. This tracker alerted an officer (who was on a traffic stop nearby) just as the suspect left the bank. Officers caught the suspect two blocks away.
ARREST: BURGLARY OF 2 OCCUPIED HOMES / RESISTING ARREST / PROBATION VIOLATION
02/25/2016 2:08 AM
McAllister & Stanyan
A resident in the first home burglarized awoke to find the suspect sitting on the end of his bed and drinking from a vodka bottle. The victim is disabled and called out for help from his wife who escorted the suspect out of the house (but did not call the SFPD). A short time later, the next door neighbor awoke to find the same suspect standing in his room. He yelled at the suspect to get out and called 911. He kept an eye on the suspect and pointed him out to arriving officers. The suspect threatened the officers with a broom handle but gave up after they ordered him to drop it. It appears that the suspect entered the first home through an unlocked door but smashed open the door of the second home.
Captain’s Note: In January 2016, this same suspect was arrested for attempting to break into a home in the Marina while the family inside was asleep. He plead guilty to a misdemeanor and was placed on probation. Did I mention that he’s a registered sex offender?
ATTEMPTED ARMED ROBBERY OF A STORE
02-25-2016 5:17 AM
Fulton & La Playa
The suspects approached a store employee on the loading dock, pointed a gun at her and demanded the keys to the safe. She truthfully told them that no one on site could get into the safe. The suspects then went into the back of the store, encountered another employee, ordered him to get down and pistol whipped him as he lay on the ground causing significant injuries. The suspects proceeded to the front of the store where they pointed a gun at yet another employee and demanded the keys to the safe. This employee also told them that no one in the store could open the safe. At this point one suspect fired his gun in the air. The suspects then fled.
Suspect #1: Latino male, over 6 feet tall, wearing a white mask, gray hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, black sneakers, black gloves
Suspect #2: Latino male, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and white and black shoes.
Captain’s Note to Suspects: Usually the employees who work the night shift in a large retail operation cannot access the safe, but I guess you know that now.
TRAFFIC COLLISION WITH INJURIES
Fulton & 46th Ave
02/25/2016 2:07 PM
A car ran up onto the sidewalk and struck a pedestrian (resulting in significant injuries) before colliding with a building. The cause of the collision remains under investigation.
MENTAL HEALTH CASE
Fulton & 18th Ave
02/25/2016 10:40 PM
A woman called 911 saying that she was suicidal and was going to cut her wrists. Officers took her to the hospital for mental health care.
Captain’s Note: This same person has been taken to the hospital for mental health care under similar circumstances a total of 53 times since 2012. “The definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting a different result” is a quote often attributed to Einstein (although he may not be the source). Using that definition, who’s the insane party in this case?
Contact us:
Richmond Station
461 6th Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94118
415-666-8000
E-mail: SFPDRichmondStation@sfgov.org
Capt. Silverman and all officers at the Richmond Station. Thanks for trying to do your jobs. It’s disheartening that you see so many repeat offenders.
@4thgenrichmond
I agree, we can all thank gascon and the other morons in city hall. Sooo much more important to tax sugary drinks and promote days of remembrance for stabbers.
DEREK you got the non sequitur of the week award – I guess it’s prosecutions or trying to address the diabetes epidemic and never the twain shall meet.
The driver at Anza and 4th – sometimes those stop signs just sneak up on you. You could do what I’ve seen others do (especially on Lake!) and stop at EVERY corner, whether there’s a stop sign or not. Sometimes it can be a very long street.
“…his record was so extensive that when the officers tried to run his criminal history on their computer they received an error message that it was too big to be sent electronically and had to be mailed to the station.”
I love Captain Silverman’s sense of humor, but this was the funniest thing I’ve read on here in a while. Where you guys trying to download the file onto an etch-a-sketch?
@4thgenrichmond–Agreed. SF residents, a small percent of whom bother to read up on the candidates and issues and actually VOTE, do not seem to understand (care?) that as long as the incumbent DA keeps getting re-elected, we will get more of the same: cops arrest, DA office releases, cops arrest, DA releases. I understand that if the DA doesn’t feel the charges will stick, they release, but some of this revolving door activity doesn’t fit the scenario. The DA’s office knows it, the cops know it, and so should anyone who’s paying attention.
@Renee, My Jury Duty summons history over more than four decades attest to what you describe. Back in the old days when it was two weeks service every two years I got summonsed every two years and proportionally when the one week/year took effect. Since Kayo retired I have been summonsed once, not at all when the US Senate aspirant was in office.
They got a good catch at Lake & 2nd only to have a known criminal dismissed. That sucks. It’s putting all the burden on us to basically assume our property will be violated and nothing much will be done.
And 9:48 pm…not even that late at night?!