By Steve Johnson
Not bad when a simple parole search of 2 suspects, who should know better, ends up with the recovery of a revolver, a shotgun, and a whole lot of narcotics which is exactly what took place when Officer Michael Ellis and Officer Dave Nastari were invited to assist several parole agents checking on a residence on Oakdale.
There was a swarm of street robberies taking place in the Ingleside District nearby Balboa BART Station, City College, and the Church Street/San Jose corridors between Randall and Cesar Chavez. Sergeant Aaron Lozada, Officer Miguel Gonzalez, Officer Oscar Abucay, and Officer Michael Blume decided to do something about these felony abuses. They waited until another robbery took place in the Taraval District nearby and then set up on the route they thought the robbery suspects would take. Sure enough, the felons drove right by a checkpoint the officers established and, after a picture-perfect felony stop, all suspects and property were in custody.
There was a fight involving several people reported at 3rd and Palou so Officer Ken Koenig and Officer Andy Castro of the Violence Reduction Detail took the call. When they arrived they found a large crowd circling a shooting victim. They also saw a young man running from the area with a handgun. The officers caught him a block away and also located a sawed-off shotgun someone else had abandoned in the area. The officers originally thought that this suspect was responsible for the shooting but they found out later that another armed suspect who had been taken into custody by Officer Ramon Reynoso and Officer Ricardo Santiago was actually responsible for the assault. Way too many players . . .
Officer Josh Hinds and Officer Mat Neves were patrolling the South of Market neighborhood when they noticed that the car that just pulled in front of them was the same one reportedly involved in an auto burglary the day before. The officers stopped the vehicle with 3 on board to check it out. As Officer Hinds and Officer Neves were conducting their investigation, Dispatch broadcast a description of a vehicle and suspects that were responsible for a robbery that just took place 3 blocks away . . . yep, same car and same suspects that Josh and Matt already had in custody.
A broken tail light gave Officer Omar Alvarenga and Officer Meighan Lyons the opportunity to stop and warn the driver of the BMW of the violation. However, a further check revealed that the plate on the BMW didn’t match - it actually belonged on a Subaru. Further investigation revealed the registration was way overdue so a decision was made to impound the car. All 4 occupants were asked to step out at which time Officer Alvarenga and Officer Lyons observed the fully-loaded, 9mm semi-automatic weapon on the front passenger seat.
Officer Mary Godfrey was patrolling the Union Square shopping district when she saw a man running down the street with a knife while being chased by several other people. Mary was able to maneuver ahead of the armed suspect and managed to detain him. Turned out he had just robbed an unconscious person of his wallet and pulled a knife on the witnesses who had been chasing him.
Officers in the Bayview District responded to a call where a suspect had threatened to shoot several of his neighbors. The suspect’s family said that he had been acting very ‘unstable’ recently. Sergeant Chris Creed set up where he thought the suspect might drive and, sure enough, the car showed up. Sgt. Creed, along with other Bayview units, conducted a traffic stop on the suspect and found the he was in possession of a full-loaded, .380 semi-automatic weapon with an additional 50 rounds of ammunition.
Officer Rachel Murphy and Officer Aaron Fischer were determined to find the domestic violence suspect who had kicked his wife in the face and the ribs, breaking several. The officers knew the suspect from prior contacts and, after a prolonged search of all the Mission District hotels, they found the felon and had him in custody within 24-hours of the assault.
A stabbing took place at the Balboa BART Station at 6:00 a.m. and Officer Jude Rand and Officer Tracy Turner responded to the call. They located the stabbing victim who was bleeding profusely and rendered aid until the paramedics arrived. They also put out a description of the suspect. Once the BART police officers arrived Jude and Tracy left to go back on patrol. They then received a call of a suspicious individual a few blocks away who, it later turned out, was the suspect from the BART assault. The suspect was over 6’4” tall and weighed in at 250 plus. In addition, he was armed with not one, but two large knives and had no intention of going to jail. Jude and Tracy managed to get him in custody before he could do any more damage.
Stolen autos are always a risky stop because you never know what you’re going to be dealing with. But there are also some interesting stories, based on the reasons why our suspects ’borrow’ the cars. Officer Phil Gordon and Officer Matt Sullivan stopped one suspect who, when confronted with the fact that he was driving a vehicle not his own admitted that he just needed transportation from Rohnert Park to SF . . . And then we have the individual playing the radio on his ‘borrowed’ steed a little too loud which attracted the attention of Officer Daniel Guzman and Officer Joe Gummo - once stopped the felon explained he was simply “test driving” the car for a possible purchase . . .
But this month the ‘What Was I Thinking’ award goes to the suspect who grabbed the cell phone from his victim and ran. There was a trace placed on the phone by Officer Terri Kerlegan and Officer Alexander Lentz which resulted in the suspect being detained by Officer Ryan Crosby and Officer Daniel Rosaia at Golden Gate and Jones. Officer Kerlegan told the other officers that she would be dialing the victim’s number and that it should play the (former) theme song ring tone to Monday Night Football - sure enough, that was the tune being amplified from the suspect’s pocket . . .
And, speaking of mistakes being made . . . We reported last month in our column that the OCC was investigating an officer because they couldn’t locate the acknowledgement to appear form he faxed back to them - even though the officer showed up for the interview it was still an issue?
But actually, what happened, it wasn’t the acknowledgement form that was the cause of the belabored investigation. It was the fact that the OCC couldn’t locate the Member Response Form that the officer said he sent in.
So, while we made a mistake on exactly what form the OCC was looking for, it still boggles the mind as to why they still need to conduct a full-blown investigation for a missing form when the officer actually showed up for his scheduled interview and cooperated entirely.
Our pencils at the POA still have erasers.
