Top San Francisco Area Local News Stories
Source: MedleyStory
A group of students in Solano County is giving something back to those who gave everything.
It's a place for military families to find comfort, as well as to honor the nation's fallen heroes.
The memorial park will be named after 35-year-old Sergeant Isaac Lawson who was killed in Iraq, he was a member of the 45th Military Police Brigade.
"It was a started as a service project for our 4-H club," explained one of the students.
The park will be built next to the Armory in Fairfield, where an empty lot will be transformed to include a memorial plaza.
The friends of Lawson had his helmet and boots bronzed and they think of him often.
"Your lives are dependent on what the guy next to you is doing. You develop a bond that is even closer than your family sometimes. To lose someone from that bond is devastating," said Sgt. Major Ben Jandreau of the California Army National Guard.
Students received a donation on Friday that will help pay for the sprinkler system. The donor, a Vietnam War veteran.
"You have to have remembrance of them, they're protecting our freedom," explained Paul Wireman.
The students said they want to provide a place of solace for military families.
Lawson's helmet and boots will be the centerpiece of the memorial park.
The students still need to raise $300,000 for the project and hope to break ground in April.
To help contribute to the construction of the park send donations to: Solano County 4-H, 501 Texas Street, Fairfield, CA 94533.
Published: Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:55:42 -0800
The young man from Palo Alto has become an overnight sensation, taking the NBA by storm and some are calling it "Lin-sanity".
Jeremy Lin's name is among the most-searched on Yahoo.
And Friday night he had his biggest game yet playing for the New York Knicks.
Six years ago he led the Palo Alto High School basketball team to the California State Championship. He then went on to Harvard University
At Madison Square Garden in New York City, Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin dropped in 38 points, even outscoring Laker star Kobe Bryant.
In the Dutch Goose Bar in Menlo Park, Lin's high school coach and two of his high school teammates gathered to watch the 23-year-old sensation.
"He's incredibly confident in his ability and he's fearless. He'll go at it and go for it every chance he gets," said his former coach Peter Diepenbrock.
Friday night's game was Lin's fourth straight start as a NBA pro, and since he started the Knicks are undefeated.
"He's never going to get caught up in this Lin-Sanity thing," said high school teammate Kevin Trimble. "He's just taking it as an average Joe and that's the best part about Jeremy."
Friends said he is also deeply religious, in high school it was church and basketball.
"He's really just about making a difference in as many people's lives as he can, in a positive way," said another teammate Kheaton Scott.
Lin is the first American of Chinese-Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA and only the fourth Asian-American in the history of the league.
On the Knicks website it is now all Jeremy Lin.
"It definitely eliminates a lot of negative stereotypes and brings to light the human qualities of the Asian-American stereotype," said Stanford student Kevin Mo.
Jeremy Lin was undrafted out of Harvard. The Golden State Warriors were the only team to give him a chance, but cut him last year. He went to New York and Lin-sanity arrived.
Published: Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:05:01 -0800
A Bay Area bass player's most prized possession was stolen Friday by thieves who may have known he was on the road with his multi-platinum band Evanescence.
Burglars broke into Tim McCord's second-story apartment through a bathroom window and ransacked the apartment, taking the musician's most prized possession: a bass guitar given to him by his father.
It's also the instrument used to compose songs in McCord's band Evanescense.
McCord said the sentimental value of his 1970s-era bass guitar is priceless.
"I'm a professional musician. I was taught to play guitar by my Dad," McCord said during a phone interview.
McCord's father gave his son the instrument before dying of cancer 12 years ago.
"I love my dad," McCord said. "This is something I had to remember him by."
McCord is currently on tour in Japan with Evanescense.
Just a month ago, he brought his prized guitar home to keep it from getting banged up on the road.
McCord and his girlfriend Ashley Dunlop said they never thought it would be coveted by thieves. Burglars took the instrument, computers and electronics. Dunlop wonders why her apartment was targeted.
"I would say it's the single most important possession that he has," Dunlop said. "It could have been a former maintenance worker, a former tenant, someone who knew the building. At the very least someone who'd been watching the apartment for a little while."
Dunlop said she has seen no sign of the guitar on Craigslist or eBay yet.
San Francisco police are investigating.
"We have one lead that I'm working on at this point, whether that pans out for us, I don't know, but it's a good lead," said San Francisco police inspector Jim Kelley.
"At this point it's not about catching somebody, or imprisoning anyone," Dunlop said. "It's not about getting revenge, it's just about getting it back."
Dunlop's posted reward signs in the neighborhood. She said the guitar's case was also stolen and had a very distinctive yellow sticker with the letters "NFG" written on it.
She said she hopes someone will turn it over to police.
Published: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:27:40 -0800
A flare-up fueled by a broken window caused the deaths of two firefighters in a Diamond Heights house fire last year, and not procedural errors, San Francisco fire officials said Friday.
An internal safety investigation on the June 2, 2011 fire at 133 Berkeley Way released Friday indicates that firefighters Lt. Vincent A. Perez and Firefighter Paramedic Anthony M. Valerio were killed by extremely high temperatures of up to 700 degrees caused by a sudden flare up, known as a flashover.
The intense fire event, which lasted several minutes, was caused when a window shattered in the room where the fire started, sending a rush of oxygen to the flames, according to the report. The heat was drawn up a stairwell from a below ground-level floor, where the fire began, to the ground-level floor where Valerio and Perez were standing.
"They were caught in a chimney," said Assistant Chief David Franklin, who worked on the team that prepared the report.
The report describes a number of errors and communication problems at the scene and makes recommendations for how the handling of future incidents can be improved. But fire officials said the flashover was not something that could have easily been prevented or predicted.
"What Vincent and Tony did is exactly what all of us would have done," said Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, noting that it is standard practice in the department to make an aggressive attack and try to get water on a fire as quickly as possible. "The key factor was something that we really had no control over."
Valerio and Perez, whose Engine 26 was the first to arrive on scene after the fire was reported at 10:45 a.m., were trying to reach the seemingly small, routine fire through the front door of the four-story wood-framed home, which was built into a hillside with floors both above and below ground level. They conferred with other firefighters arriving on the scene on the ground floor at 10:53 a.m., and agreed that the fire was below them, the report said.
A short time later, around 10:58 a.m., the flashover occurred and drove back other firefighters who were attempting to enter the building through the garage.
Firefighters were ultimately able to put out the fire through a lower-level entrance on the side of the building. Perez and Valerio were discovered on the ground floor at the top of the stairwell somewhere around 11:04 a.m. or 11:05 a.m., after failing to respond to several radio calls, officials said.
At no time did the two firefighters send out any distress calls or trigger their emergency alarms, officials said. The last radio transmission from Engine 26 came at 10:52 a.m., when they said "we're still looking for it, zero visibility, more to follow," the report said.
The two men suffered internal and external burns to 40 percent of their bodies, and died of "thermal injuries," according to the San Francisco Medical Examiner. Perez died at the hospital later the same day, and Valerio died two days later.
Two other firefighters were also treated and released for injuries incurred in the fire.
Hayes-White said the department is developing a risk assessment policy to help determine how to approach fires, particularly in difficult situations such as that presented by the multi-level home.
While fire protection gear worn by the firefighters appears to have functioned as designed during the flashover, their radios were severely damaged by the intense heat. Hayes-White said the department has since learned that there are no national standards for the radios.
"We're very concerned about it and believe this will be a national issue," Hayes-White said.
The state Division of Occupational Safety and Health issued several citations to the department in November with fines of up to $21,000 for violations related to the June 2 fire. The violations included a failure to maintain sufficient contact and communication among employees.
However, Hayes-White said today that none of the Cal-OSHA violations were related to the deaths of Perez and Valerio. She said the department has appealed the citations and believes they will be reduced.
The report also found that the response to the fire, caused by an electrical short, was delayed by an attempt by the residents to put it out themselves. Hayes-White urged residents to call 911 right away so that professionals can respond promptly.
Published: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:22:54 -0800
San Jose police found a cache of guns and marijuana among other items just one mile from a school Friday during a raid
San Jose's metro unit confiscated drugs, money, handguns and shotguns, after a huge bust early in Friday morning in the east part of the city.
Police told KTVU the amount of the marijuana found could be sold for thousands of dollars on the street.
Officers also found a scale, small bags to distribute the drugs, a sawed-off shotgun and a loaded stolen gun from inside the Toyon Avenue home.
That's when officers surrounded it and demanded everyone evacuate the house.
Police arrested one man and took a woman into custody. That woman and her child were later released.
Six pit bulls were also brought from the home and taken to Animal Care and Services in San Jose and they were later taken to a shelter, said San Jose police officer Tony Diet.
KTVU tried to speak with the neighbors who suspected problems at the home, but because of the nature of the bust they declined to make a statement.
Published: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:38:33 -0800
Police thought they had as many as six robbery suspects surrounded in a Vallejo home Friday evening, but by the time the house went up in flames they were gone.
Police surrounded the home in a standoff late Friday afternoon following the alleged armed robbery.
Police said the robbery occurred around 1:15 p.m. when a man was allegedly attacked by six men with handguns and was beat up in a Craigslist-related robbery on North Camino Alto in Vallejo.
Officers then tracked the suspects to the home on Castlewood Drive and Springs Road.
When police thought they heard gunshots coming from inside the home in the middle of the standoff, Vallejo police hurried to push on-lookers back and take cover.
At a news conference hours after the incident, police said the suspects somehow got away and other than the tear gas officers launched into the home, no gunshots were ever fired.
“We ruled that out, due to the fact there was nobody found in the residence,” said Vallejo police Lt. Kenny Park.
Park said police don’t know exactly what started the fire, but they were confident the fire was not started by their non-incendiary devices, which were flameless.
Firefighters were able to put out the fire at around 6 p.m. and the police standoff ended just before 7 p.m.
Darnay Thompson lives next door, but wasn't home. He rushed to the scene to see if his house was affected after seeing his neighborhood on the news.
“I just want to know what the hell is going on and can I get in my house to make sure my house is OK,” Thompson said.
Neighbors, including Thompson have since been allowed back into their homes.
Police said they don't know if the people living in the house had any connection to the suspects.
One of the resident’s two dogs was killed in the fire.
Published: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:48:59 -0800
A 65-year-old man was killed in a tree trimming accident in San Jose Friday late afternoon.
The incident happened near Hillmont and Ocala avenues east of the Reed Hillview Airport and the Capitol Expressway.
Investigators said the man was on a ladder using a chainsaw to cut branches when he fell.
Authorities told KTVU the victim lived in the home where the accident occurred.
Published: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:03:12 -0800
Burlingame High School was briefly locked down Friday afternoon because of a threatening email purported to be from a student saying he had a gun and a bomb, a police spokesman said.
The school, located at 1 Mangini Way in Burlingame, was locked down shortly after 2 p.m. because of the threat, which was sent to school administrators, according to San Mateo Union High School District officials.
The administrators confirmed the student who allegedly sent the email was in attendance and called police. Officers arrived and located the student in a classroom and detained him, police spokesman Capt. Mike Matteucci said.
The rest of the school was evacuated while police searched the student, his backpack and locker. No evidence of a threat was found by officers or a bomb-sniffing K-9 unit, Matteucci said.
The student, a juvenile male, cooperated with investigators, who are still trying to determine if there was a credible threat or if it was a hoax.
"He claims he doesn't know anything about it," Matteucci said.
No arrests have been made and no injuries were reported during the incident, he said.
Other students were released to their parents at the school's football field after the lockdown was lifted shortly after 2:30 p.m., school district officials said.
Published: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:09:09 -0800
Joseph Naso, the Reno man accused of killing four women in Northern California between 1977 and 1994, this morning adamantly asserted his right to represent himself at his trial.
Naso, 78, told Marin County Superior Court Judge Andrew Sweet he does not want the county public defender's office involved in his case.
"I will say it loud and clear so everyone hears. I don't want the public defender replacing me," Naso said.
Naso was held over for trial last month on charges of killing Roxene Roggasch, 18, of Oakland in Marin County in 1977; Carmen Colon, 22, in Port Costa in Contra Costa County in 1978; Pamela Parsons, 38, and Tracy Tafoya in Yuba County in 1993 and 1994, respectively.
Testimony during Naso's preliminary hearing indicated the women, who worked as prostitutes, were strangled and dumped along rural roads.
Naso has been representing himself in court and did not re-enter pleas to the charges and the special circumstance of committing multiple murders that subjects him to the death penalty.
Sweet asked Naso last week to fill out a questionnaire regarding his intention to continue representing himself.
"The court has to make sure you are aware of your right to counsel and that your waiver of that right is voluntary," Sweet said.
Naso told the judge he misplaced the questionnaire.
"I'd like to take a rain check on that," Naso said. He told the judge he has been secretly trying to obtain advisory counsel.
Sweet said he is prepared to appoint a public defender to represent Naso. He said whether Naso would have to pay for one would be determined after the trial.
Naso has claimed he cannot afford an attorney. The Marin County District Attorney's Office has argued Naso has $1 million in liquid assets.
Naso told Sweet he "wouldn't spend one nickel on this kind of representation.
"If I had the three best attorneys in the county and it didn't cost a nickel, I'd still have to think about it," Naso said.
"Attorneys like to age cases," he said. "I'm thinking of not waiving my time and to get on with the trial."
Naso also said there is no privacy in jail regarding communications with an attorney.
"We can't shake hands and exchange papers," Naso said.
Naso then said he didn't care to fill out the questionnaire.
"I may not grant you the right to represent yourself if you don't fill it out," Sweet replied.
"If I fill it out, it will be under duress," Naso said.
He also said he didn't want the questionnaire to become a public document.
Sweet said he would seal the questionnaire. "No one will see it but you and me," the judge said.
Naso is scheduled to return to court Wednesday morning with the questionnaire.
Published: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:48:34 -0800
The city by the Bay attracts people from around the world to its sites, but one draw you won't find advertised is the illegal drug trade found in San Francisco's Tenderloin district.
More and more these days, the drugs in question require a prescription. KTVU recently went on a ride-along with San Francisco Police Department undercover unit who was looking for prescription drugs.
"The individual walked by me and just said 'Roxys.' So, I said 'Yeah, I'll take one.' He gave me a 30 milligram Roxy for 20 bucks," said one undercover officer, whose identity KTVU is not revealing for his safety.
"Roxys" or Roxicodone is a powerful pain killer. Officers moved in quickly to arrest the alleged seller.
"The Tenderloin is heavily populated with families of all types from all different backgrounds," said Officer Murray Daggs. "There are schools and daycares all over the place. A lot of people may be poor, but they shouldn't have to watch drug deals and step over needles."
With the officers, we focused on a small part of the Tenderloin bordered by Jones, Hyde, Eddy and McAllister streets. Police emphasize part of their motivation is all the kids who live in the area.
There are 3,500 kids that live in the neighborhood, 73 of whom attend San Francisco City Academy. School director Marie-France Ladine said she often sees some unsavory people staring at the children like they are prey.
"A lot of our kids learn to cope by keeping their heads down when they're walking. By trying not to get involved in what's going on the street," said Ladine.
But avoiding what's going on is difficult, and becoming more so when it comes to the illegal prescription drug trade. Vicodin, Oxycodone, and Hydrocodone are available in the Tenderloin all the time, according to the police.
Last year, officers patroling the Tenderloin made 1100 felony arrests for narcotics. About 25 percent of those involved prescription medications.
"A lot of times, they'll buy it wholesale off of somebody else. They'll steal them from somebody else" said Sgt. Mark Obrochta. "A lot of times, a friend has a legitimate prescription, and they're not taking them, so they'll just sell them. They can sell it for just the same amount of money as heroin or crack or any other type of narcotics."
Police added that perscription-drug buyers are not just typical drug addicts. In fact, they said about one college student they busted who came to the neighborhood to stock up on prescription meds to take back and sell at school.
And there is no shortage of medications. Some of which, officers say, comes from doctors who should know better.
Officers arrested Cleve Chapman for trying to sell precription drugs.
"This doctor prescribed this guy 180 of them, which is a lot," said Officer Mike Montero. "On the 30th (of this month), the same doctor gives him the 30 milligrams. And three days before he gives him 5 milligrams. 90 of them."
The officers counted all of the drugs found on Chapman. Out of the 270 pills he was prescribed in the previous two weeks, 65 were already gone.
Chapman talked with KTVU reporter John Sasaki in his holding cell. We asked him why he was selling his prescription drugs.
"I don't know. Just stupid," said Chapman. "I've got a lot of medication, but they're mine. I don't take them down and sell them like that," said Chapman.
When asked if he normally sells his prescribed medication, Chapman vehemently insisted he did not. He later admited he has done this before over two years ago. He is on probation for the same crime.
Officers made three busts in about 45 minutes. Two of which were for prescription meds. They said if they didn't have to stop to process all the suspects, they would have made a lot more.
To learn more about the dangers of prescription drug abuse and addiction, visit the National Institutes of Health web page on the subject.
Published: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:49:16 -0800
Occupy Cal protesters have set up seven tents on Sproul Plaza on the University of California at Berkeley campus, according to a spokesman for the group.
Navid Shaghaghi, a senior who is majoring in electrical engineering and computer science, said protesters returned to Sproul Plaza on Thursday to mark the three-month anniversary of a large demonstration on Nov. 9 that resulted in about 40 people being arrested.
"We're here to re-establish the occupation of our space and to display to the campus community that we haven't gone away," Shaghaghi said.
UC Berkeley spokeswoman Claire Holmes said campus police have issued repeated warnings to the protesters that it is a violation of university policy to have tents on campus.
Holmes said police "are continuing to monitor the situation" but haven't made any arrests or confiscated any tents so far.
In addition to marking the anniversary of the Nov. 9 arrests, Shaghaghi said protesters are back at Sproul Plaza because "not much has changed since last time."
He said although the UC Board of Regents has postponed tuition increases, students are still worried that tuition will be increased in the near future.
"There's still a lot of stuff to be worked through," Shaghaghi said.
He said protesters are in the process of deciding whether to continue their encampment at Sproul Plaza over the weekend or to disband and then return on Monday.
Shaghaghi said about 30 people slept at Sproul Plaza Thursday night.
He said they've participated in a variety of activities, including dancing and playing Frisbee, soccer and chess.
"It's been very exciting and a great community-building event," Shaghaghi said.
He said Occupy Cal protesters and activists at other campuses across the state will stage large protests the first week of March to ask for more funding for education.
Holmes said university officials understand the protesters' concerns about tuition costs and are trying to communicate with protesters that they're working hard to keep tuition costs affordable and point out that about 65 percent of students receive at least some financial aid.
About 40 percent of students have all of their costs paid by financial aid, Holmes said.
Published: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:29:11 -0800
State Highway 129 in unincorporated Santa Cruz County near Watsonville is closed Friday afternoon following a fatal crash involving a big-rig and red Honda earlier in the day, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The crash was reported at about 10:40 a.m. on Highway 129, also known as Riverside Drive, at the intersection with Carlton Road, a CHP dispatcher said.
The highway will be closed for the duration of the investigation. Eastbound traffic is being diverted to Thompson Road and westbound traffic is being diverted to Carlton Road, according to the CHP.
Published: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:02:49 -0800
After she consulted with her attorney from the public defender's office before the arraignment, Cisneros put her head in her hands (sted hands in her head). A woman accused of causing a drug-related explosion that injured her and a 12-year-old boy at a home in San Francisco's Ingleside neighborhood on Tuesday made a tearful initial appearance in court Thursday.
Angelic Cisneros, 33, pleaded not guilty to charges related to the blast reported at 8:50 p.m. Tuesday at 1228 Capitol Ave. near Ocean Avenue.
After a fire was quickly extinguished at the home, investigators determined that a butane tank exploded as drugs were allegedly being manufactured, according to police.
Following the explosion, Cisneros and the boy went to a hospital for treatment of burn injuries. As of Wednesday night, the boy remained hospitalized with injuries that are not life-threatening.
Police have not said what Cisneros' relationship was to the injured boy.
Cisneros, whose face was red and splotchy from apparent burn wounds, began openly crying when she was led into the courtroom at the San Francisco Hall of Justice Thursday afternoon.
After she consulted with her attorney from the public defender's office before the arraignment, Cisneros put her hands in her head.
Prosecutors have charged Cisneros with six felonies -- recklessly causing a fire causing bodily injury, causing a fire to a structure, child endangerment, attempting to manufacture a controlled substance, possession of drugs for sale, and having a house used for drug sales and manufacture, according to the district attorney's office.
She was also charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
Cisneros pleaded not guilty to all charges and bail was set at $350,000 before she exited the courtroom in tears.
She is set to appear in court again later this month.
Published: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:14:13 -0800
Eight school district employees were placed on leave during an investigation of their handling of allegations that a special education teacher kicked and slapped students.
Alexia Bogdis, the special education teacher, is facing nine misdemeanor battery and child cruelty charges.
She is accused of slapping and kicking the stomach of one 4-year-old student, and twisting the wrist, kicking the chair and withholding food and drink from another student between December and January. Neither child was seriously injured.
The students were part of a special education preschool class at Roosevelt Elementary School in Northern California. At least one of them has autism, The San Mateo County Times reported.
The Redwood City School District is looking into whether the employees who handled the allegations followed procedure.
The employees' names and their positions were not disclosed. Calls to the district by The Associated Press were not immediately returned.
"Our internal investigation raised questions for which we need answers in order to ensure the safety of our students, which is our top priority at all times," Superintendent Jan Christensen said Thursday in a prepared statement. "We need more information to determine exactly what happened."
The district said an aide reported the suspected abuse to a deputy superintendent on Feb. 1 and was instructed to call authorities.
Bogdis, 43, was placed on administrative leave that day and turned herself into police on Feb. 4. She is free on $15,000 bail. She did not immediately return a phone message left by the AP seeking comment.
Bogdis is scheduled to appear in San Mateo County Superior Court on March 1 for arraignment.
Published: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:20:09 -0800
Oakland officials plan to ask a court Friday to shut down two local hotels that have allegedly been hubs of prostitution for several years.
Trial proceedings were set to begin Friday morning in the city’s efforts to shut down the National Lodge at 1711 International Boulevard. A week later, the city was set to go to court get a similar order for the Economy Inn at 122 E. 12th Street.
"Both hotels have long records of allowing and profiting from a criminal industry where horrific abuse of women and girls is routine," Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker said in a prepared statement. "We cannot accept, and we will not allow, businesses to make a living from the abuse and exploitation of women and girls in our community."
Oakland city officials declared the Economy Inn a public nuisance in 2005 based on years of complaints about drug and prostitution activity.
However, prostitution and related crimes continued unabated at the hotel, officials said.
In recent years, officials said, there have been numerous incidents of rape, kidnapping and violence - many involving victims as young as 14 who were forced to work as prostitutes at the Economy Inn.
Using California's Red Light Abatement Act, Oakland officials were able to get the court to issue preliminary injunctions against both hotels. The injunctions require the owners to make some improvements to security, including the installation of video cameras that allow police to monitor the properties.
But prostitution and crime has continued, according to police and neighbors.
City officials now want both businesses closed for at least one year.
"Closing these businesses for a year is a drastic step, but a necessary one," Parker said. "We hope the owners will use that time to come up with a business plan that doesn't rely on prostitution as a major source of revenue."
Published: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:30:09 -0800
Firefighters quickly controled a two-alarm fire at a San Rafael building supply center and lumber yard early Thursday morning, limiting the amount of damage done to the structure, authorities said.
Firefighters received a call just after 2:45 a.m. about a fire burning at Rafael Lumber and Building Supply at 930 Andersen Drive, fire Chief Chris Gray said.
Thirty-five firefighters aggressively attacked the fire that was burning a large amount of construction material stored outside of the main building and had spread into an office and display area attached to the main building, Gray said.
The fire was contained within an hour, he said. A fire sprinkler system helped quell the flames.
Crews are investigating the cause of the blaze and as of 5 a.m. firefighters were conducting salvage and overhaul operations.
Gray said no civilian or firefighter injuries were reported. No one was at the supply center when the fire started.
Gray likened the lumber and building supply center to a small Home Depot store in terms of layout and building organization.
No damage estimate was immediately available.
Published: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:09:20 -0800
A police officer was struck in the head by large chunks of concrete and rocks thrown at him from a railroad overcrossing in Livermore early Friday, police said.
The officer was traveling north on North P Street at 2:28 a.m. when he reported seeing debris in the roadway underneath the railroad overpass just north of Railroad Avenue, according to police.
The officer activated his emergency lights and notified police dispatch that he was going to clear the debris from the roadway.
But moments after getting out of his police vehicle, the officer requested emergency assistance because three or four people were throwing rocks and chunks of concrete at him from the overpass.
The suspects, who remain outstanding, were last seen running away west on the railroad tracks, police said.
The officer was struck in the head in the attack and suffered moderate injuries. He was taken to ValleyCare Medical Center to be treated for his injuries and has since been released, police spokesman Officer Steve Goard said.
The officer, whose identity is being withheld, has been placed on medical leave due to his injuries, police said.
Investigators determined the chunks of concrete used in the attack were between 8 and 14 inches in size, while the rocks thrown were pieces of granite that line the railroad tracks and are about 3 inches in diameter, according to police.
Police believe the suspects planned the attack and intended to injure the officer.
Anyone with information about the suspects in the attack is urged to call Livermore police at (925) 294-7531.
Published: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:57:02 -0800
A man said he was beaten by nine San Francisco Sheriff's deputies and he has the video to prove it.
It happen a little more than a year ago at the jail intake when Darrell Hunter was being booked into jail, Hunter said.
He was seated and answering questions when all of a sudden he was punched in the side of the face out of nowhere, Hunter said.
You can see several deputies in a circle on the video and Hunter said one of got in his face and shouted "this is our house, do what we tell you to do."
Hunter said the attack appeared premeditated because on the video he pointed out one of the deputies checked the doors in the intake first before Hunter was suddenly punched.
Hunter said he landed on the floor and was kicked and punched before being handcuffed."They all on cue and boom, punched on the side of the face, and no resistance whatsoever," he said.
Other cameras would show more he said, but he thinks the video had been altered with some angles withheld.
Deputies can be seen dragging Hunter to a cell on the video, but a few hours later some different deputies booked and released him.
Hunter said law enforcement knows him through previous complaints and said his claim of excessive force is being denied by the city.
He thinks the video and his willingness to purse the case will help him in a federal trial. "I'm the only one who did something, and that's why you're looking at footage right now," he said,
The city attorney's office did not comment on the lawsuit.
Hunter was arrested for making a threat, but the charges were dismissed.
Hunter was released from prison in 2008 after serving seven years for a murder conviction.
It was overturned and in a new trial he was acquitted on all charges.
Published: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:33:32 -0800
San Jose's elected officials are being accused of exaggerating projected retirement costs in an ethics complaint filed by three unions Thursday.
The complaint, filed with the city's elections commission, alleges that Mayor Chuck Reed, the city's retirement services director Russell Crosby, and former retirement services employee Michael Moehle misled the public about the five-year projections for employee contributions to retirement plans.
The three are accused of propagating to the city council and the public "knowingly false, misleading and deceptive fiscal year 2015-2016 city pension contribution cost of $650 million," according to the complaint.
It was an estimate that Crosby conjured off-handedly at a Feb. 14, 2011 budget meeting and one that Reed ran with despite being informed that the figure was not actuarially accurate, alleges the complaint.
Last year, the council considered declaring a fiscal emergency and in December, voted to place a pension reform measure on the June ballot on the premise that skyrocketing retirement costs are resulting in service reductions and layoffs of hundreds of workers, including police officers and firefighters.
The three unions -- the San Jose Police Officers' Association, San Jose Firefighters Local 230, and the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 21 -- held a news conference this afternoon to discuss the complaint, which is based on an NBC Bay Area investigative piece that aired on Wednesday night.
Firefighters union president Robert Sapien and Jim Unland, president of the police union, said they want an independent investigation into the complaint.
"We have members who have lost homes, got laid off... to think that any of this was driven by misinformation is frightening," Sapien said.
Sam Liccardo, one of six council members who voted in favor of the controversial ballot measure, denied that the city has relied on the $650 million dollar estimate and dismissed the claim as a "straw man" argument.
"The $650 million figure was never a basis of decision-making by anybody on this council, and to my knowledge never formed the basis of any offer at the negotiating table with the unions," Liccardo said.
San Jose has billions of dollars in unfunded liabilities for retirement benefits. The city's annual retirement costs have increased from $63 million in 2000 to $250 million this year.
Reed's proposal calls for setting limits on retirement benefits for new employees and retirees, but the ballot measure would not reduce payments to current retirees or cut accrued benefits that employees have earned for the past five years of service.
The latest version of the ballot measure includes reforms such as placing new employees into a lower-cost, hybrid retirement plan and giving current employees the option to either keep their current retirement plan by paying a larger share of the cost or switching to a lower-cost plan.
Published: Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:24:48 -0800
Stephen Curry scored a season-best 36 points and the Golden State Warriors handed the fading Denver Nuggets their fifth straight loss, 109-101 on Thursday night.
It is the longest losing streak in five seasons for the Nuggets, who have dropped seven of eight games overall and also have lost five in a row at home.
Klay Thompson added 19 points, Dorrell Wright had 15 and Monta Ellis 14 for the Warriors, who snapped a two-game skid and posted just their third win in nine road games.
The Warriors, one of just two sub.-500 teams the Nuggets will see the rest of February, used a 37-20 third quarter to put this one away.
Trailing 51-47 at the half, the Golden State opened the third quarter with a 14-2 run sparked by three jumpers from Curry and a fadeaway basket by Ellis that made it 61-53.
A 3-pointer by Arron Afflalo, who led the Nuggets with 26 points, stopped the run. But the Warriors scored the next 10 points, capped by a 3-pointer from Curry, who did a shoulder-shake dance back downcourt in front of the scorer's table.
The Warriors made 14 of 20 shots in the decisive third quarter, taking an 84-71 lead, and they led by 20 points in the fourth quarter.
Golden State was 13 of 25 from behind the arc, including Curry's 6-for-9 performance.
The Nuggets look nothing like the team that started out 14-5 and was the feel-good story of the NBA for the first six weeks of the season following the long lockout.
Without starters Danilo Gallinari, their leading scorer, and Timofey Mozgov, who are both sidelined by sprained ankles, the rest of the roster isn't nearly as effective as it was before.
Forward Corey Brewer will get the majority of Gallinari's minutes during the month he's expected to be out, but Brewer missed his third straight game Thursday night following the death of his father. He's expected to rejoin the team at Indiana this weekend.
And the team will resign restricted free agent Wilson Chandler when his season with Zhejiang Guangsha in the Chinese league ends. The Nuggets could sure use his 14-point sAcoring average as soon as possible.
After the Nuggets' 10-point loss to Dallas a night earlier, coach George Karl suggested playing in Lithuania during the NBA lockout might have caught up to speedy point guard Ty Lawson, saying, "He might be thinking he's in the 50th or 60th game in the season rather than the 26th. Ty needs to be on his `A' game."
Lawson missed a few more baskets Thursday night when his open, short shots rimmed out or bounced off the iron.
Overall, his said his team hadn't recovered from three games in three nights last week, suggesting before the game Thursday night that there was a residual effect both mentally and physically on his team.
Every team will go through funks during this compressed season, and this is just the Nuggets' turn to endure the quirks of the busy schedule, Karl said.
Published: Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:25:03 -0800
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