MedleyStory

Surveillance video reportedly shows inmate being beaten by deputies

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:33:32 -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.

Unions accuse SJ Mayor of exaggerating projected retirement costs

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:24:48 -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.

Warriors hand Nuggets 5th straight loss, 109-101

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:25:03 -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.

UCSF will perform kidney transplant on undocumented father

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:08:48 -0800

The University of California of San Francisco did an about-face in a medical case that garnered international attention, and it could now save the life of a Bay Area man.

It could take up to three to six months, but Jesus Navarro was assured Thursday of getting a kidney transplant at UCSF.

Navarro, a 35-year-old undocumented immigrant, has Don Kagan, another kidney transplant recipient, to thank for this change.

Navarro, who has a young daughter, currently does dialysis nine hours a day every day.

"One of my big pushes since I had a transplant is to make sure transplants need to be for everyone, not just those who have money," Kagan said.

When Kagan learned last week that Navarro had been placed on inactive status after six and a half years on UCSF's wait list, the Berkeley tech executive went to work to help Navarro.

Thanks to social media, 140,000 online signatures, $1,000 in donations and international coverage, UCSF said Thursday it was all a misunderstanding.

UCSF medical director Josh Adler said it was never about Navarro's immigration status; it was about the uncertainty of his insurance paying for follow-up care.

"We think he has a reasonable plan for long-term coverage, and he's moving up the list," Adler said. "And perhaps in three to six months, he might be at the top."

Now, Navarro and the hospital are working together to see that he gets a kidney from a deceased donor or possibly his wife.

While the future's brighter for Navarro, only 350 of the 5,200 patients at UCSF on the transplant list will receive kidneys this year, and that many more will die waiting.

Charges filed against man shooting gun near elementary school

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:27:16 -0800

An armed man who was allegedly shooting a gun wildly near a San Pablo school on Tuesday afternoon was charged with three counts of attempted murder Thursday, according to court documents.

Christopher Trinh, 31, was also charged with assaulting a police officer.

Sgt. Brian Bubar said responding officers found Trinh "screaming, ranting, acting aggressive toward the officers," and charged one officer who used a Taser in an attempt to subdue him.

Officers responded to the 5400 block of Glenn Avenue, near Riverside Elementary School at around 2:30 p.m.

Witnesses reported that a man was in the area shooting into the air and attempting to shoot at passersby and cars. One witness reported he might be heading toward the school, prompting police to place the school on lockdown.

Luckily for those nearby, the gun did not go off except when he fired into the air, police said.

"His intent was to shoot at people," Bubar said. Bubar said that for an undetermined reason, "the gun would not fire as he was shooting at people but it would fire while he was shooting in the air."

One officer fired a Taser to subdue the man, but he was wearing ballistic body armor, and the Taser had no effect. The suspect then charged the officer, police said.

After a struggle, officers managed to bring Trinh into custody, police said.

Police said they are still trying to determine what provoked Trinh's rampage and have no indication what his state of mind was or whether or not he was on drugs.

Bubar said police are also unsure why his gun did not go off when he was pointing it at people.

"It was definitely a unique situation, obviously it could have been a much more tragic situation, however we're fortunate that the gun didn't go off,"

But, he said, he is certain that the gun was loaded with real bullets.

"We recovered the live ammunition and the rounds that were in the gun did discharge. There were empty casings in the gun, so we know that the gun did fire, however for whatever reason the gun would not fire as he was pulling the trigger," Bubar said.

Meanwhile, after the fast action of the police, the elementary school, which was only holding after-school functions at the time, reopened after about 15 minutes.

Lengthy prison term for sex assault, kidnapping of pregnant woman

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:48:15 -0800

A Santa Rosa man was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years to life in prison for sexually assaulting a woman who was 37 weeks pregnant, prosecutors said.

The woman was pushing her toddler in a wagon on Hearn Avenue on June 3 when 21-year-old Jack Jose Caratachea grabbed her from behind, pushed her down an embankment and beat and sexually assaulted her in a secluded area, Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch said.

Passersby noticed the assault, chased the attacker and detained him until authorities arrived, Ravitch said.

Caratachea was convicted by a Sonoma County Superior Court jury on Nov. 29 of forcible sexual penetration, assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury and misdemeanor child endangerment, Ravitch said.

The jury also found true a special allegation of kidnapping, Ravitch said.

"Justice has been served by the prison term handed down," Ravitch said. "Yet, we are mindful that while the victim has recovered from the physical harm inflicted by the defendant, she and her family still suffer from the serious emotional trauma he inflicted," Ravitch said.

Jurors said they were impressed by the intervention of the good Samaritans, according to Ravitch.

Two cases of rare brain disorder reported In Marin County

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:27:40 -0800

Marin County health officials confirmed Thursday two human cases of a startlingly rare brain disorder, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disorder, and one could be related to mad cow diseases

The first case of CJD involved a woman who lived in San Rafael.

Family members said 58-year-old Aline Shaw suddenly fell ill last year and suffered from cognitive problems -- a sort of rapid dementia. She died three weeks ago from CJD.

Shaw's ex-husband, Craig McAllister, confirmed the couple lived in England and raised a family during the years when the mad cow scare boomed in the early 90s.

"Without confirmation, I was a little bit upset, confused, ignorant and looking for more information," McAllister said. "We were aware, but obviously kept ourselves away from the areas that were infected."

A variant form of CJD, also known as mad cow disease, comes from a bizarre protein in brains or spinal cords of infected animals, and is spread by poor butchering.

Symptoms typically develop within 10 years, but new reports from England suggest the latency could be much longer -- perhaps 20 years.

Some worry there could be an outbreak in the U.S.

"Right now I feel comfortable for myself, but that's an open issue," McAllister said.

Kelly Norman, a Santa Rosa resident, said she wasn't surprised by this news. She doesn't eat a lot of red meat as a precaution and doesn't feed it to her children.

A County Health officer ruled out the variant form of CJD, or mad cow disease, as the cause of Shaw’s death Thursday.

Health officials said there was no evidence of any public health threat, nor any problem with the food supply.

Mad cow disease has not been ruled out for the other person, but it's still unlikely. That person is still alive.

Health officials said only three human cases of mad cow disease have been reported in the U.S.

Man charged with attempted murder in shooting of federal officer may have been infatuated with his wife

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:06:38 -0800

A Piedmont man was charged Thursday with premeditated attempted murder for allegedly shooting an off-duty federal agent in Newark on Tuesday, a crime that may have stemmed from an attraction to the man's wife.

Dennis Bagwell, 61, was also charged with assault with a firearm and appeared in Alameda County Superior Court Thursday afternoon, according to the district attorney's office.

According to police documents, Bagwell confronted the agent outside of his home on Mayhews Landing Road and Bettencourt Street as he was leaving for work shortly before 6 a.m. Tuesday. The two men had met through the agent's wife, who was a student of Bagwell's at the Bay Area Optical School in Union City several months ago.

The school's owner and director, Daniel Ross, identified the victim as Robert Suplik, 61, a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent stationed at San Francisco International Airport.

Police said that an officer accompanying Suplik in the ambulance away from the scene asked if Suplik knew who had shot him, and he told the officer "Dennis" several times, and also mentioned Bay Area Optical School.

Police said that after telling Suplik's wife that her husband had mentioned "Dennis," she implicated Bagwell in the shooting, telling investigators that the two had an uneasy relationship, and that Bagwell had attempted to initiate a more intimate relationship with her, but she turned him down.

Police said that she maintained a casual relationship with Bagwell, and spoke to him over the phone and through text messages occasionally, but that Bagwell sometimes behaved erratically, and had recently shown up at their home hiding in the bushes.

After that, Suplik had confronted Bagwell about his behavior and told him to leave his wife alone. Bagwell last communicated with the family on Friday, police said.

Ross said that he saw Bagwell at the school on Monday and that Bagwell did not seem distressed or upset, but perfectly normal.

Ross said that he and Bagwell have worked together for seven years and that there are only two teachers at the small school who teach classes of between eight and 14 students, so the teachers got to know their students well.

He said that he had never seen any indication that Bagwell had any inclinations toward Suplik's wife that were beyond simple friendship, and described Bagwell as a friend of the family.

Bagwell was even teaching Suplik's teenage daughter how to drive, Ross said.

After the shooting, Suplik was taken to Eden Medical Center.

While police have not released Suplik's name, police said today that the victim in the shooting remains in very serious and potentially life-threatening condition.

Police said witnesses placed Bagwell at Bay Area Optical School at 7 a.m., about an hour after the shooting. Police took Bagwell into custody during a traffic stop later that morning, and searched Bagwell's home and vehicles as well as the school.

Police said they found guns, ammunition and pictures of Suplik's wife, and that his phone had significant calls and texts between Bagwell and Suplik's wife until Friday, the day she said her husband confronted Bagwell.

Bagwell's daughter told police that she believed her father was obsessed with Suplik's wife, he had fantasized and fabricated an imaginary relationship with her and was trying to drive a wedge between her and her husband, according to court documents.

But Ross said he saw Bagwell with the family and is struggling to understand the motivations behind the crime.

He said that he grew quite close with Bagwell in the time the two taught together, and that he knew Suplik casually as well. He said he was shocked to find out what had happened.

"It just doesn't hold true with knowing him and the type of personality he is. It's shocking, like losing a family member because we had more than a working relationship. He was over at my house a lot," Ross said.

"Dennis was the type of person that if someone needed something done he would help them out," Ross said.

He said that he saw Bagwell the day before the shooting and that he was behaving normally, not stressed or upset. He said that Bagwell doesn't drink, and to his knowledge neither did Suplik.

"I like both of the guys, it's like a death in the family now," Ross said. "I'm upset because I lost a friend, and because there's a federal officer involved, I may never see my friend again," he said.

Bagwell is scheduled to be arraigned in Fremont on Friday at 9 a.m.

Cable failure sparks fire in underground vault

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:12:30 -0800

PG&E officials said some San Francisco customers might experience brief power outages Thursday evening as crews work to repair damaged equipment in an underground vault that sparked a fire Thursday afternoon.

The fire was caused by a failed secondary fuse and not a cable failure as PG&E initially reported, utility spokesman Jason King said.

The cause of the equipment failure is under investigation and King said it was not known at what time repairs would be completed.

The fire occurred at about 2:45 p.m. in an underground vault in the area of Clay and Kearny streets, and firefighters and police officers responded to the scene.

Police had shut down streets in the area, but the streets have since reopened.

Kearny Street was closed between Clay and California streets; Clay Street was closed between Grant and Kearny streets; and the immediate area around Portsmouth Square was also closed.

Big rig driver arrested in Bay Bridge road rage incident

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:01:14 -0800

A road rage incident happened on the Bay Bridge Thursday morning, and police said the driver of one of the vehicles involved is behind bars and facing a felony.

A smashed window is evidence in what the California Highway Patrol called a dangerous road rage incident.

Veterans Affairs van driver Kenneth Malloy said he was attacked simply for minding the speed limit on the lower deck of the Bay Bridge.

Malloy said he's now scared to take the bridge again.

"I believe I was shot at," said Malloy. "Something, gunfire of some sort."

The suspect, who drove a truck, is in custody.

“(The) trucker comes around tailgating me and comes around me and gives me the finger and I go around him, and as I go around him, I heard a shot and a sound and a window shattered," Malloy said.

The CHP told KTVU it wasn't gunfire, but more likely a small metal object thrown by the driver at Malloy's van.

Malloy called 911 and trailed the truck's driver all the way to the port of Oakland.

"Our dispatchers asked him to not follow, of course, for public safety and his safety," said CHP spokesman Mike Ferguson. "We don't want them to get into any more incidents on the freeway, but that's when he saw me and flagged me down."

The CHP arrested the truck's driver, 50-year-old John Jeffrey Cardoza of Walnut Creek, who was taken to San Francisco County Jail and is being charged with a felony.

"Road rage affects a lot of people and it's very dangerous," Ferguson said. "Fortunately, nobody was hurt, no weapons were found. We're very happy that it turned out well."

Malloy said his safe driving habits may have provoked the alleged attack.

"Maybe it wasn't fast enough for him," Malloy said.

The CHP is the lead investigator on this case, even though Department of Veterans Affairs sent out three investigators of its own Thursday afternoon to check out its van.

Officers said they found a powdery substance inside the big rig that could be either cocaine or methamphetamines.

Clusters of cell towers raise concern for Lafayette residents

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:14:26 -0800

Lafayette is known to many as valley of dropped calls.

Complaints from residents and businesses led to a forest of new cell towers such as one on a distributed antenna system that's been growing bigger and bigger in front of Janene Goodman's home.

"This wasn't there when we bought the house," Goodman said. "It's a concern not only visually but also for a health perspective."

Children have reportedly been hurt hitting their heads on equipment jutting over the sidewalk. At another unit a mile away, parents also worry about radio frequency microwaves. There's a school across the street.

"I'm not a scientist. I don't know radio frequency levels. I don't know what's OK, what's not OK," said resident Viva LaFrance

KTVU reporter John Fowler stood about a 100 feet from one of these cellphone towers and about another 100 from another one. He was directly in front of the Happy Valley School with a radio frequency detector. It showed microwave radiation as high as the maximum levels allowed by the federal government.

"What the long-term effects are? We don't know what they are, but why not err on the conservative," said Lafayette resident Angela Lucas.

At least six cell antenna locations trouble people in one Lafayette neighborhood.

Michael Cass oversees cell tower issues for the city of Lafayette. Federal law forbids restrictions based on safety but allows them only for aesthetic reasons.

"Cell phone service does benefit the community as a whole but it shouldn't be done to the detriment of the surrounding property owners," said Cass.

Lafayette just imposed a moratorium on new cell towers. Richmond and El Cerrito have had moratorium for more than a year. Albany forbids any antenna replacement, and six other Bay Area cities have strict hearing requirements.

A wireless industry spokesman told KTVU, cities are circumventing federal law, bowing to health fears.

Lafayette City Councilman Don Tatzin had this to say to wireless executives: "How many of them have these in front of their house and would they want it," said Tatzin.

AT&T told said it will work with the city to improve cell tower installations. Wireless companies insist microwaves are not harmful. And that people have to choose to have faster, better wireless or antenna-free neighborhoods.

But they can't have both.

Necklace flushed down toilet returned months later

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:24:13 -0800

A California woman has her gold necklace back months after she accidentally flushed it down her toilet.

San Rafael sanitation district employees were performing routine cleaning work on a pipeline last month when they came across Ann Aulakh's necklace.

Aulakh's friend had left a message with the district after the chain was lost.

Sewer Maintenance Supervisor Kris Ozaki said workers remembered the message and used it to trace the necklace back to Aulakh. A worker dropped it off at her home.

Aulakh told the Marin Independent Journal the necklace was a gift from her husband on their first Christmas together in 1993. She said she was convinced it was gone for good after she inadvertently flushed it down the toilet in October.

Marin woman dies of mad cow-like brain disease

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:17:46 -0800

Marin County resident recently died of a rare brain illness known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, but it is not the form of the disease commonly called mad cow disease, a county health official said Thursday.

"In the last 24 hours, we received information from a lab analysis of tissue samples from the deceased that rules out mad cow disease," Dr. Craig Lindquist, Marin County's interim public health officer, said Thursday morning.

"It appears to be a rare, one-in-a-million form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. It's not from eating beef. It's not contagious or spread by intimate contact or transmissible by common contact," Lindquist said.

A Marin County physician recently notified the California Department of Public Health of two suspected cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Lindquist said. State public health officials then notified the Marin County Division of Public Health Services on Friday, Lindquist said.

The other Marin County resident with the suspected case is still alive, and a definitive diagnosis is not possible, Lindquist said.

"We have to examine the brain tissue post-mortem," Lindquist said.

He said he cannot identify the two residents or say when the death occurred.

"It was recently," he said.

There are two forms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Classic CJD" is a human prion, or abnormal protein disease. It is rapidly progressive, with death occurring within one year of the outset of the illness, according to the CDCP. There is one case per million people worldwide per year, and there have been known cases since the early 1920s, according to the CDC.

It is caused by the spontaneous transformation of normal prion proteins into abnormal prions, according to the agency.

It is not related to a variant form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease known as "mad cow disease", or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a progressive neurological disorder of cattle that become infected with a transmissible prion in the meat and bone meal they are fed, according to the CDC. Humans, in turn, contract the disease by eating the meat of infected cattle.

BSE spread among cattle in Great Britain and peaked with almost 1,000 cases a week in 1993, according to the CDCP. Through the end of 2010, more than 145,500 cases were confirmed among more than 35,000 herds.

Lindquist said there is no link between the two Creutzfeldt-Jakob cases in Marin County, and it is not clear which form of the disease is afflicting the living victim.

"There is no threat or danger. Beef is very safe to eat," Lindquist said.

Victim's father: Serial killer map leads to skull

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:53:32 -0800

Searchers following a map prepared by a serial killer on California's death row unearthed human remains Thursday that could be one of his victims, the father of the victim said.

Wesley Shermantine was convicted of four murders and sentenced to death in 2001. Investigators believe he and childhood friend Loren Herzog, a pair known as the "Speed Freak Killers," may have been responsible for as many as 15 killings.

Herzog committed suicide last month after serving time for the killing of Cyndi Vanderheiden.

Shermantine recently offered to lead authorities to the burial spots of Vanderheiden and other victims on property once owned by his family.

John,Vanderheiden, the father of the victim, said the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department told him a human skull had been found. He believes it belongs to his daughter, who disappeared in 1998.

"We hope it's her so we can finally bring her home," Vanderheiden said. "If it's not, then it's another of their victims."

San Joaquin Sheriff's Department spokesman Les Garcia said the skull was turned over to the California Department of Justice for identification, and searchers would continue scouring the property for the next several days. Two dogs trained to sniff out human remains made the discovery in a remote area of Calaveras County, Garcia said.

Sacramento bounty hunter Leonard Padilla said Shermantine sketched the map in his Death Row cell after the two spoke on the phone last week. Shermantine wanted assurances that the bounty hunter still intended to pay him $18,000 if he disclosed the location of Vanderheiden's resting place, Padilla said.

Padilla made the offer three weeks ago. But a planned search that would have Shermatine lead the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to the location was called off after San Joaquin County Sheriff Steve Moore objected to being left out of the loop. Moore said he was concerned with safety issues.

Authorities feared Shermantine would stop cooperating because of the delay. But after Padilla guaranteed him last week that his offer was still good, he said Shermantine drew a detailed map that ended up leading searchers to the human remains.

"The map is spot on," Padilla said.

Padilla has also offered Shermantine additional money for leading authorities to other burial sites in the area thought to hold other victims. Padilla said one other site is near the former Shermantine property, and the other is a well once use by cattle ranchers in San Joaquin County.

Garcia said the investigation was ongoing when asked about potential searches elsewhere.

Shermantine and Herzog are suspected of going on a two-decade killing spree during a methamphetamine-fueled spree that began shortly after they graduated from high school and lasted until their arrests in 1999.

Both were convicted of multiple first-degree murders. Shermantine, 45, was sentenced to death, and Herzog received a 78-year sentence, which was reduced to 14 years after an appeals court tossed out his confession as illegally coerced.

Herzog was released on parole in 2010. He committed suicide in Lassen County after the Sacramento bounty hunter called and told him that Shermantine was disclosing locations of missing bodies and implicating him in the murders. Herzog was 46.

Tempers flare at San Quentin; several injured in inmate melee

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:42:02 -0800

Officials say at least four San Quentin State Prison inmates were seriously injured during a riot on an exercise yard.

Prison spokesman Gabe Walters said between 150 and 200 prisoners were involved in the Thursday morning riot. Dozens were slashed and stabbed by fellow prisoners armed with homemade weapons.

Walters says San Quentin guards used chemicals such as pepper spray, projectiles and real bullets to restore order. None of them were injured.

The four most seriously injured inmates were taken to local hospitals. Walters says it's so far unknown if they were hurt by other inmates or by guards.

San Quentin is a maximum security prison that house's California's death row. The exercise yard where the disturbance broke out serves fairly recent arrivals whose security status still is under review.

Do you qualify for the federal mortgage settlement

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:17:05 -0800

After many months of negotiation, 49 state attorneys general and the federal government have reached agreement on a historic joint state-federal settlement with the country’s five largest loan servicers:

Ally/GMAC Bank of America
Citi
JPMorgan Chase
Wells Fargo

The settlement will provide as much as $25 billion in relief to distressed borrowers and direct payments to states and the federal government. It’s the largest multistate settlement since the Tobacco Settlement in 1998.

To see if you qualify -- Click Here

Man sentenced in attack on slow-driving grandmother

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:44:12 -0800

A Half Moon Bay man convicted of brutally attacking his 82-year-old grandmother for driving too slowly is headed to prison.

A judge sentenced 27-year-old Vittorio Vincent Valdez to three years in prison on Wednesday. He pleaded no contest in November to elder abuse and kidnapping.

Authorities say Valdez's grandmother was driving him from Palo Alto to Half Moon Bay on Sept. 24 when he grew angry at the slow speed, tried to push her leg down on the accelerator and punched her several times when she tried to leave the vehicle.

Valdez was getting a ride since his license was suspended.

Valdez's grandmother denied that he had hit her, but authorities say a deputy saw Valdez pull her hair and slam her head against the passenger window before stopping the car.

Teen pleads not guilty to attempted rape of teacher

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:34:17 -0800

A Redwood City high school student accused of trying to rape a teacher in a school parking lot last month has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and kidnapping charges in San Mateo County Superior Court.

David Velasquez, 19, was arrested Jan. 23, hours after a female teacher at Summit Preparatory Charter High School was attacked at knifepoint while walking to her car at about 5:15 p.m.

Prosecutors allege that Velasquez emerged from some bushes near the parking lot and put a knife to the teacher's side, then ordered her to walk to her car and get in.

According to the district attorney's office, he then allegedly threatened to kill her if she did not do what she was told.

The victim recognized Velasquez' voice and intentionally dropped her car keys in order to delay him, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Velasquez then pushed the woman to the ground, got on top of her and tried to pry her legs apart with his elbow.

Another teacher entered the parking lot and screamed at the attacker, causing him to get up and run away.

Velasquez was taken into custody later that day.

On Wednesday, Velasquez entered not-guilty pleas to charges of assault with intent to commit rape, kidnapping with intent to rape, false imprisonment and making criminal threats, according to the district attorney's office.

He remains in custody on $1 million bail and is scheduled to be back in court for a preliminary hearing on March 15.

Mythbusters returns to scene of cannonball mishap

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:22:08 -0800

Two Mythbusters stars plan a return to Dublin this month, nearly two months since an accident caused by the Discovery Channel show's team sent a cannonball careening through a local neighborhood.

Adam Savage and Kari Byron are planning to appear at Dublin High School on Feb. 22 as part of National Engineers Week 2012 to teach students about their passion for engineering and science.

They will hold a moderated panel discussion, taking questions submitted by Dublin students.

The event is free and open to the public, but the advance tickets made available through several area schools were snatched up quickly, and at the moment, no more seating is available.

The last time the Mythbusters stars appeared before Dublin residents Savage and Jamie Hyneman visited the neighborhood where a cannonball damaged several homes after an experiment missed its target on Dec. 6.

Savage and Hyneman toured the neighborhood and apologized to affected residents, saying that they had filmed in the neighborhood and the area for years under the supervision of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office without any major accidents.

Officials from the show appeared at a community meeting on Dec. 17 to address residents' concerns about safety. Many residents were furious that they had not been aware that Mythbusters had been conducting such experiments at a nearby shooting range.

After the accident, the sheriff's office closed the range and the Mythbusters have suspended any filming there.

"The sheriff closed the range until he gets a final report and makes a decision of what he wants to do," Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. J.D. Nelson said Wednesday.

Nelson added that he is unsure whether Mythbusters has been filming elsewhere in Alameda County, but said the show hasn't coordinated anything with the sheriff's office.

California joins federal mortgage crisis settlement with banks

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:07:58 -0800

Attorney General Kamala Harris announced early Thursday that the state has joined a nearly $26 billion federal settlement with five major banks over foreclosure abuses.

Harris said the settlement could bring up to $18 billion into the state to help hundreds of thousands of homeowners hit by the mortgage crisis.

Overall, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial will pay roughly $26 billion to reimburse American homeowners in 49 states.

Bank of America will pay the most to borrowers as part of the deal -- nearly $8.6 billion. Wells Fargo will pay about $4.3 billion, JPMorgan Chase will pay roughly $4.2 billion, Citigroup will pay about $1.8 billion and Ally Financial will pay $200 million. This does not include $5.5 billion in federal and state payments.

The deal also ends a separate investigation into Bank of America and Countrywide for inflating appraisals of loans from 2003 through most of 2009. Bank of America acquired Countrywide in 2008.

"The settlement includes far reaching relief that will help many of our customers and complement our already extensive efforts to improve our borrower assistance efforts and servicing processes," JPMorgan Chase said in a statement.

The banks and U.S. state attorneys general agreed to the deal late Wednesday after 16 months of contentious negotiations. New York and California had been reluctant to come aboard until their states’ share of the settlement was increased late Wednesday.

Last September, California dropped out of the multistate negotiations when the state’s cut of the settlement was a mere $4 billion.

"This outcome is the result of an insistence that California receive a fair deal commensurate with the harm done here,” Harris said in a prepared settlement. “We insisted on homeowner relief for Californians and demanded enforceability so homeowners actually see a benefit that will allow them to stay in their homes, and preserved our ability to investigate banker crime and predatory lending."

As part of the separate California guarantee, banks must enact a minimum of $12 billion in principal reductions for California homeowners, Harris said.

Failure to achieve this minimum level of reductions will result in substantial cash payments of up to $800 million that the banks will have to pay to the state. Unlike the larger multistate agreement, which is enforceable in a federal court in Washington, D.C., this payment provision empowers Harris to summon the banks to California state court.

Harris also announced that to speed investigations and strengthen prosecutions of these mortgage cases, the state was expanding its Mortgage Fraud Strike Force, adding to the more than 42 members already working on the team.

"This is an historic amount of relief for California homeowners, but it is one piece of a broader focus,” she said “We will continue our crackdown on mortgage fraud and quickly move to pass legislation that will simplify, reform and upgrade our broken mortgage system."

The financial benefits of the agreement include:

More than $12 billion is guaranteed to reduce the principal on loans or offer short sales to approximately 250,000 California homeowners who are underwater on their loans and behind or almost behind in their payments.
$849 million is estimated to be dedicated to refinancing the loans of 28,000 homeowners who are current on their payments but underwater on their loans.
$279 million will be dedicated to offering restitution to approximately 140,000 California homeowners who were foreclosed upon between 2008 and December 31, 2011.
$1.1 billion is estimated to be distributed to homeowners for unemployed payment forbearance and transition assistance as well as to communities to repair the blight and devastation left by waves of foreclosures, targeted at 16,000 recent foreclosures.
$3.5 billion will be dedicated to relieving 32,000 homeowners of unpaid balances remaining when their homes are foreclosed.
$430 million in costs, fees and penalty payments.

The settlement ends a painful chapter that emerged from the financial crisis, when home values sank and millions edged toward foreclosure. In addition to the payments and mortgage write-downs, the deal promises to reshape long-standing mortgage lending guidelines. It will make it easier for those at risk of foreclosure to make their payments and keep their homes.

Those who lost their homes to foreclosure are unlikely to get their homes back or benefit much financially from the settlement.

The settlement would apply only to privately held mortgages issued from 2008 through 2011. Banks own about half of all U.S. mortgages — roughly 30 million loans.

Concord police taser high-speed chase suspect

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:39:08 -0800

Police Tasered a 32-year-old man who barricaded himself in his car after a police chase into a Concord apartment complex parking lot Wednesday afternoon, Concord police said.

Around 5 p.m. an officer driving past Willow Pass Road and Sixth Street saw a vehicle blocking an eastbound lane on Willow Pass Road and backing up traffic for several blocks, according to police.

The officer contacted the driver in the car, who appeared to be irrational, hostile and mentally-altered, according to police. The man then threatened to kill the officer and drove away.

The officer drove after the driver, later identified as Concord resident Mitkayem Robinson, who stopped at an apartment complex parking lot in the 3300 block of Willow Pass Road, about 500 feet away, police said.

Officers surrounded the car, but Robinson refused to exit the car and behaved in an allegedly bizarre manner. For 45 minutes officers attempted to negotiate his surrender via cellphone and public address system announcements, police said.

After nearly an hour officers Tasered Robinson and arrested him on suspicion of motor vehicle evasion, threatening a peace officer, resisting arrest, being under the influence of illegal drugs and possession of illegal drug paraphernalia, according to police.

Before he was taken to county jail he was medically cleared at a hospital.

Quan ignores Occupy movement during address

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:43:56 -0800

Mayor Jean Quan said Oakland is a city "on the rise" in a State of the City address Wednesday night that was full of optimism, short on specifics and devoid of any mention of the turmoil caused by the Occupy movement.

Quan didn't mention the Occupy Oakland protests that have brought national and even international attention to her city except to obliquely say that the city has experienced "lots of turns" and "challenges."

Quan also didn't mention the two recall efforts against her or talk about Oakland's crime problem, which includes five homicides in the past week, until the end of her 50-minute speech, which was 20 minutes longer than the 30-minute goal she set in a briefing with reporters earlier in the day.

When she addressed public safety, which she said was one of the top priorities residents talked to her about in the many community meetings she has held since becoming mayor a year ago, Quan said, "We have to reduce homicides and violence in the city."

She also said Oakland's Police Department must comply with reform measures that were mandated in the settlement of a misconduct case nine years ago.

Quan reiterated the goal she first expressed in her inaugural address a year ago of concentrating on reducing crime in the 100 most dangerous blocks in Oakland, where she said 92 percent of the city's shootings and homicides occur.

Quan called on Oakland residents to volunteer in schools and libraries in those areas to mentor youths who could be prone to lives of crime. She said she had asked for 2,000 volunteers last year and about 1,000 people stepped forward so she is now seeking at least another 1,000 volunteers.

She said reducing crime in those 100 blocks may seem impossible to some people but she said, "It's noble, it's doable and it's something we must do."

Quan said, "If we do it we'll change the cycle of violence in this city forever."

The mayor said she thinks Oakland is on the rise "because the economic numbers look better," as 5,000 new jobs were generated in the past year, the unemployment rate has dropped by 2 percent, building permits have increased, sales tax revenue increased by 12.4 percent and hotel tax revenues increased by 11.5 percent.

Quan also said, "Oakland has some of the best weather in the world" and she's excited that the New York Times named it the fifth best place in the world to visit and Newsweek named it the second most "can-do" city in the nation in terms of business development, sustainability, livability, transportation and infrastructure.

Quan added that her city has a thriving restaurant industry and mentioned that the New York Times said it has "the hottest restaurants in the Bay Area."

"We're trying to change the face of Oakland," Quan said. "Oakland is one of the most tolerant and diverse cities in the world and that's not our reputation."

Quan said when she became mayor Oakland had a $58 million deficit and few reserves but it has now balanced its budget and has its largest reserve in a decade.

She thanked city employees for taking a 10 percent pay cut, saying, "We balanced the budget with the sacrifices of city workers."

Quan said that in balancing the budget she and other city leaders reorganized the city's structure, merged departments and eliminated 350 positions.

Quan said that in addition to reducing crime, her goals for the next year include creating more affordable housing, strengthening mortgage and foreclosure laws, bringing in more retailers and keeping all three of Oakland's professional sports franchises.

Taco truck vendors meet to address recent violence

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:42:29 -0800

The rising number of violent incidents has mobile food merchants in Oakland saying enough is enough as they met with police to discuss the problem Wednesday.

Last week there was a shootout at a taco truck. This past December, a five-year-old boy was killed in another shooting.

Those incidents motivated taco truck operators to come to an emergency meeting of the Mobile Merchants Association.

Fear, anger and grief filled the room as some owners told their stories.

"I've been robbed more than 100 times," said taco-truck owner Gabriel Martinez.

But last December, Martinez said gunmen took something much more precious than his money. They shot his five-year-old son Gabriel Jr. outside the family's taco truck. The child died in his father's arms.

"I hope it doesn't happen no more to nobody," said Martinez. Still heartbroken, Gabriel Sr. said he hasn't been back to work since that fateful day. He's not the only one.

"I'm mad because our vendors and our lunch truck owners are being considered ATMs," said Shelly Garza of the Mobile Merchants Association. "Today is the day we stand up and say we're not going to take this any more."

Omar Casillas, with bandages on his bullet wounds, stood up to his robbers last week. He shot it out with them. They survived and are in jail.

Another truck owner said he's also carrying a gun. It's a growing trend authorities are less than pleased about.

"I don't believe they should arm themselves," said Oakland Police Officer Sean Festag.

Those attending agreed to pool money to hire armed security guards and put cameras in trucks.

They left the meeting armed with renewed hope and some armed with much more.

Redwood City teen pleads not guilty in attempted teacher rape

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:55:15 -0800

A 19-year-old high school student has pleaded not guilty to charges that he tried to rape a teacher at his Redwood City charter school.

The San Mateo County Times reports that David Velasquez entered the four felony pleas Wednesday in the alleged Jan. 23 assault at Summit Preparatory High School. He remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail.

Prosecutors say Velasquez approached the teacher from behind, ordered her at knifepoint toward her car and climbed on top of her when she dropped her keys in an effort to slow the alleged attack, which was interrupted when another teacher came upon the scene.

The 29-year-old teacher reportedly recognized Velasquez' voice because had had him as a student several times.

He's due back in court March 15.

Summit Prep was featured in "Waiting for Superman," the 2010 documentary that featured successful charter schools.

Police chief takes the stand in Richmond race-bias trial

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:22:28 -0800

Richmond Police Chief Chris Magnus took the witness stand in Contra Costa County Superior Court Wednesday afternoon in a discrimination trial now in its fourth week against the city of Richmond and two top police officers.

The chief, his former second-in-command Lori Ritter and the city of Richmond are all on trial in a civil race-bias lawsuit brought against the city in 2007 by seven top-ranking Richmond police officers, all of whom are black.

Over the last few weeks, plaintiffs have testified that Magnus and Ritter, who is now retired, created an atmosphere of racial discrimination that pervaded the department.

The plaintiffs allege that both defendants made racist remarks on several occasions since Magnus' hiring in 2006, bypassed black officers for promotions and retaliated against officers who reported the alleged racist behavior.

The lawsuit also alleges that the city did not respond adequately to address the complaints.

Today, Magnus briefly took the witness stand moments after Cmdr. Cleveland Brown, a 34-year veteran of the Police Department, concluded his testimony in support of those allegations.

Stephen Jaffe, an attorney for the plaintiffs, asked the chief to explain a 2006 incident described during the trial in which Magnus posted a photograph inside the Police Department of Ritter bearing the label, "Master of the Universe".

The lawsuit alleges that the move was a racist dig suggestive of a master-slave relationship.

Magnus testified Wednesday that at the time, Ritter's was the only photo posted in the hallway, even after he'd asked officers multiple times to post their own official police photos.

Around April Fools' Day in 2006, he placed about a dozen copies of Ritter's photo in the hallway next to her lone photo and labeled them with different police titles from "Volunteer" and "Cadet" to "Deputy Chief" and "Master of the Universe".

"What it means for me is a joke, albeit one that I regret now," Magnus said. "I think it was an attempt to tease her a little bit that hers was the only photo there."

The "Master of the Universe" label was inspired by a late 1980s movie, he said.

Magnus testified that if any officer had told him the prank offended them, he would've immediately removed the photos and apologized.

Jaffe asked the chief whether the "Deputy Chief" label on one photo was a way of announcing to the department that she would soon be promoted to the position.

Ritter, along with Deputy Chief Ed Medina, were both promoted to Deputy Chief later that month, attorneys said.

The attorney asked Magnus to name other candidates that he'd interviewed for the position, but the chief said he could not remember them offhand.

"The fact is, you didn't talk to anyone else for the role of deputy chief," Jaffe said.

The chief is set to continue testimony on Thursday at 10 a.m.

Attorneys have said they expect the trial to last until April.