Noe Valley Voice October 2010
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REPORT FROM MISSION STATION

The Noe Valley Voice thanks 24th Street Beat Officer Lorraine Lombardo for providing this tally of incidents reported in the half of Noe Valley covered by the Mission Police District. The log includes some but not all incidents occurring Aug. 10 to Sept. 10, 2010, in the area bordered by Grand View, 21st, Guerrero, and Cesar Chavez streets. To contact Officer Lom­­­bardo, call Mission Station at 558-5400.

 

Aug. 10, 9:30 a.m., 4700 block of 25th, Theft of Flowers and Plants: Officer Chow received suspect and vehicle information from a victim who witnessed a man stealing flowers and plants in front of his house at 4 a.m. The license plate came back to a Daly City man confirmed by police. Later, the suspect showed up at Mission Station asking why police were looking for him. He denied involvement in the theft and claimed some unknown person might have taken his car. Chow asked who else had access to his car and he said his wife did. The suspect and vehicle description matched the man and his vehicle. When asked where he worked, the suspect responded, “The San Francisco Flower Mart and a local mortuary.” The vehicle was described as a two-door green 1993 Toyota Tercel.

 

Aug. 11, 9:30 p.m., to Aug. 12, 10 a.m., 4400 block of 25th, Vandalism to Vehicles: Officer Johnson responded to an auto break-in on 25th Street. The victim told him that he parked his vehicle on the street overnight. When he returned he found the front passenger window smashed and the glove box rifled through with its contents strewn onto the front passenger seat. The victim pointed out several other vehicles that were also broken into. While at the scene, Officer Johnson was approached by three other victims, who all described similar vandalism to their vehicles.

 

Aug. 14, 2 p.m., 1000 block of Sanchez, Malicious Mischief, Vandalism to Vehicle: Officer Lewis responded to a call of vandalism to a vehicle. The victim told her that he had parked his vehicle on the street. When he returned three days later, he found the the car’s windows smashed and both exhaust pipes filled with foam. Neighbors told the victim a note had been left on his vehicle a day prior, telling him to move it. (Victim could not locate the note to show the officer.) The victim reported $2,500 worth of damage to the pipes, $2,200 for the broken windshield, and $1,000 for other broken windows.

 

Aug. 15, 7 p.m., 3900 block of 24th, Embezzlement: Officer Lombardo responded to a call about a series of thefts in a local store. Cash deposits were taken from an unsecured location in the store over a period of 10 months. An investigation pointed to an employee, now in drug rehab, as the possible suspect. Closer observations of the store’s deposit procedures are now in place to prevent further thefts.

 

Aug. 16, 10 p.m. to midnight, 700 block of Douglass, Grand Theft: Victim made an online police report of a grand theft. He wrote that his $6,000 black Anasazi road bike (model black matte carbon) was stolen from his garage. He added, “It would appear the thieves know the garage combination code, as there is no sign of forceful entry.”

 

Aug. 20, 8 p.m., 1600 block of Church, Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol: While picking up his dinner at a local restaurant, off-duty Inspector Levine helped police catch a hit-and-run drunk driver. The inspector saw a man exiting the driver’s side of a silver two-door sports car with major front-end damage. Levine called police dispatch, saying the damage appeared “fresh” and might stem from a recent collision. Meanwhile, the police received numerous calls of a hit-and-run driver at the wheel of a similar sports car. Police arrived and placed the man under arrest after he failed field sobriety tests. During the tests, the man admitted to drinking and said, “I am so f- - - - d.”

 

Aug. 24, 12:25 a.m., 4000 block of 24th, Burglary of a Store: A citizen called 911 and reported seeing a suspect break a window and enter a business on 24th Street. Officers Smith and Orge arrived and found shattered glass and a brick on the floor near the front counter. They also noted blood on a glass display case, and shelves that had been cleared of their contents. The suspect and citizen were nowhere in sight. Police made contact with the owner, who later reported that $15,000 in watches and jewelry had been stolen from the display case. The store had no surveillance cameras.

 

Aug. 31, 10 p.m., to Sept. 1, 7 a.m., 3900 block of 26th, Vandalism of a Tree: A property owner reported that someone vandalized his tree during the night. He discovered the tree in front of his home had a third of its limbs severed and piled on the ground near its base. After questioning neighbors about the incident, he found a witness. Officer Lombardo interviewed the witness, who saw the suspect standing next to the tree with a hacksaw in hand. Police later found the suspect, a neighbor, who admitted cutting the tree (he said he thought it was a weed) to clear the sidewalk for the handicapped to have easier access.

 

Sept. 4, 12:01 a.m., 21st and Church, Found Keys: A man found a set of keys on a fire hydrant and took them to Mission Station. Booked for safekeeping were a Subaru car key, automatic/button key, and four house keys.

 

 

REPORT FROM INGLESIDE STATION

 

The following police blotter covers incidents reported Aug. 11 to Sept. 10, in Upper Noe Valley—the area roughly bounded by Cesar Chavez, Guerrero, 30th, and Diamond streets. Incidents were culled from newsletters produced by Capt. Louis Cassanego of Ingleside Police Station. The log may not include all crimes reported during the period.

 

Aug. 13, 7:25 a.m., 400 block of 29th, Vandalism/Graffiti: Officer Hopkins responded to a business at the request of the business owner, due to graffiti damage to the property. The business owner reported that an unknown person had written graffiti on the business door. The officer located the same graffiti on a USPS mailbox. Both were documented in an incident report.

 

Aug. 13, 7:45 p.m., 700 block of San Jose Ave., Graffiti: Shortly after a group of “light-skinned” teenagers were seen congregating near the side of a business, the business owner found the wall had been “tagged.” Officer Hopkins took photos of the damage and prepared a report.

 

Aug. 16, 9:06 p.m., first block of 28th, Child, Inflicting Pain/Resisting: Officers Hurwitz and Daggett were conducting surveillance of an area regarding reported criminal activity, when a man holding hands with a 4-year-old girl walked up. The man fit the physical description of a person described to the officers. The man approached and opened the door to a vehicle that was described as being involved in criminal activity. Officer Daggett approached the man and identified herself as a police officer. Officer Daggett asked the man if she could talk to him. The man suddenly ran from the officer leaving his young daughter behind. A witness stayed with the child as the officers chased the possibly armed man. The officers were able to take the suspect into custody several blocks away with the assistance of Officers Stephens and Fung. A search of the man and the vehicle did not reveal weapons or narcotics. The little girl was released to her                    mother, and the man was taken to Ingleside Station and later booked.

 

Aug. 20, 6 a.m., 1500 block of Church, Graffiti:  A restaurant was marked with graffiti of a hate crime nature. The restaurant owner believed that the menu at the business generates particular crimes. Officer Hopkins took a report and documented the incident.

 

Aug. 20, 9 a.m., 600 block of 28th, Stolen Auto

 

Aug. 20, 8 a.m., 28th/Castro area, Theft from Locked Vehicles: Numerous vehicles were damaged and property stolen in this area overnight. Many incidents were reported both online and to officers.

 

Aug. 22, 3 a.m., 2100 block of Castro, Vandalism to Vehicle: A man reported to Officer Ma that his vehicle had been egged, damaging the painted exterior. The man suspected his son’s ex-girlfriend.

 

Aug. 22, 10 a.m., 100 block of 27th, Burglary: Officers Hopkins and Pigford responded to a residence where the victim stated her bicycle had been stolen from the garage. The officers did not locate any marks on any entry points indicating a forced entry.

 

Aug. 25, 6 p.m., 1700 block of Church, Attempted Theft of Coin Machine: A lock was damaged by an unknown suspect who tried to gain entrance to a laundromat coin changer. Officers Lundy and Ma prepared the report.

 

Aug. 26, 9:30 a.m., 1600 block of Diamond, Vandalism: Officer Henry-Garcia and Officer Morgante responded to the report of vandalism inside a building which was under construction. The wood floors inside the building had been damaged by someone who etched into them. The reportees suspected an employee who had been reprimanded for poor work a couple of weeks earlier had done the damage.

 

Sept. 2, 1:03 p.m., 400 block of Valley, Burglary: Officer Reyes and Officer Altamirano responded to the report of a burglary. They met with a witness, the landlord of an apartment building, who said that he had gone to his building to do some repairs. As he arrived, he saw one apartment door forced open and heard noises from inside. A suspect whom the witness did not recognize then emerged from the apartment carrying a computer monitor. The witness told the man to stop and tried to hold him, but the suspect took a swing at him and ran out of the building. The suspect was described as a Hispanic male (5-foot-4, 160 pounds, age 24 to 26) wearing a black jacket and black pants.

 

Sept. 7, 6:34 a.m., 200 block of 28th, Theft from Vehicle: Officer Muro responded to the report of an attempted auto boosting. The victim said she was awakened by the sound of her car alarm. She looked outside and saw that her car had a broken window and the interior had been rummaged through. Nothing was stolen from the vehicle. Officer Muro also took two additional reports for vehicle break-ins in the area, one in which a GPS system and a computer case had been stolen. No suspects had been seen.

 

Sept. 7, 9:30 a.m., 300 block of 30th, Stolen Auto

 

This month’s Police Beat was edited by Sally Smith and Jan Goben.

 

 

Police Borders

Noe Valley is split between two San Francisco police jurisdictions—Mission Police District and Ingleside Police District—with Cesar Chavez Street as the dividing line. Mission Station covers the northern half of the neighborhood, while Ingleside patrols the southern half. Both districts invite citizens to attend police community meetings, held monthly. Mission Police District holds meetings on the last Tuesday of the month, 6 p.m., at Mission Station, 630 Valencia Street near 17th Street. Ingleside’s community meetings take place on the third Tuesday of the month, 7 p.m., at Ingleside Station, 1 Sgt. John V. Young Lane.

Police Contacts

Mission Station: 558-5400

Anonymous Tip Line: 552-4558

Newsletter: sfpd.mission.station@sfgov.org

Capt. Greg Corrales: 558-5455

Gregory.Corrales@sfgov.org

Ingleside Station: 404-4000

Anonymous Tip Line: 587-8984

Newsletter: sfpd.ingleside.station@sfgov.org

Capt. Louis Cassanego: 404-4030

Louis.Cassanego@sfgov.org

To file a police report, go to any local station or file online at www.sfgov.org.

To report a crime in progress, call 911. Cell phone users can dial Police Dispatch directly: 415-553-8090.