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Close Encounters

February 1, 2016
SFPOA

It’s only 9:40 a.m. but that’s still never too early for a crime to be committed in San Francisco. Officer Jeffrey Fortuno, Officer Leo Bernstein, Officer John Lucchetti, and Officer Ian Mikulas were directed to the area of 25th and Dakota Streets by Dispatch with information that there was an individual there who was carrying a gun. The description of the suspect left no doubt that the individual they had detained was the subject in question. The person detained did not want to cooperate with the officers during their investigation and he had, from a criminal’s perspective, a good reason for not doing so - he was carrying a fully-loaded, semi-automatic weapon . . . Once in custody the officers conducted a criminal history and learned that he had been involved in other shootings in the past.

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New Year’s Eve in San Francisco should be a place where people can come to enjoy the festivities. This was not the case for two young men visiting from Sacramento. They were downtown when they were approached by an individual who attempted to sell them narcotics. They both declined the offer and moved on. It was only a matter of minutes before the “salesman” reappeared, this time he brought a few buddies along. And he wasn’t asking if our visitors wanted to purchase anything - instead, he had a gun pointed at both of them demanding their wallets. The victims had no choice but to comply with his demands. They called 9-1-1 shortly after and Officer Michael Cunnie and Officer Steven Orengo responded. The officers managed to find a video of the robbery as it went down and gave Dispatch a perfect description of the suspects. And, within 45 minutes of the crime, Officer Cunnie and Officer Orengo had all of the suspects in custody along with the fully-loaded, 9 mm semi-automatic equipped with an extended clip. The officers also managed to recover all of the property taken from the visitors from Sacramento.

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The subject walking through the Tenderloin District didn’t have a care in the world - at least he thought he didn’t . . . Unbeknownst to him, Sergeant Steven Spagnuolo, Central Station, had solved a burglary case and had issued a Crime Alert listing our stroller as the prime suspect with an outstanding warrant for his arrest. It was quite apparent that this individual liked to take things that did not belong to him and he went about it by committing burglaries. Enter Officer Jared Harris and Officer Daniel Solorzano. Both officers had seen the Crime Alert and committed the suspect’s photo to memory. So when they saw the burglar walking on Turk near Larkin they conducted a brief investigation which led to his arrest and then a complimentary escort to county jail. (Credit to Sergeant Rachel Murphy for bringing this outstanding police work to our attention.)

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The suspects broke into the garage on the 300 block of Octavia in The City and ransacked through 4 vehicles, eventually taking one of them as a getaway car. Officer Glenn Juco, Crime Scene Investigations, reviewed a video of the break-in and then conducted a physical evidence search of the area locating, lifting, and documenting a usable print from one of the suspects. The individual in question was currently on probation in San Mateo County for committing the exact same crime. A crime info bulletin was put out with his description and Officer Patrick Gerrans and Officer Gary Kunnaboot from Park Station knew immediately where they could find the suspect - and they did.

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December was just about closing out 2015, when Officer Robert Gilson and Officer Wayne Lok observed a car double-parked at 43rd Avenue and Sloat Boulevard. The officers approached the 2 occupants to warn them of the danger of fast-approaching vehicles from behind. When the driver lowered his window as requested by the officers a small cloud of warm air with an odor very similar to that of someone smoking marijuana emanated. The officers then conducted a preliminary investigation which revealed that the man behind the wheel and his woman passenger were both convicted felons with numerous prior offenses and that the driver also had consented to a search condition as related to his current probationary status. The officers then searched the vehicle under his control and found a loaded, .45 caliber handgun in the center console. Need to file this one under “what were you thinking?”

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The last 5 documented incidents involved what used to be known as criminal recidivism. The same people doing the same crime(s) day in and day out. And, if any of these incidents had involved the officers having to use force in subduing the offending parties, then their family, friends, and defense counsel would automatically claim that they were just at the point of “turning their lives around.” Really?!! Maybe their lives should be turned around at the point of their first offense with a jail term.

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The young woman had locked herself in her bedroom and sent a text to her best friend saying that she was going to kill herself. Family members had also called Dispatch begging for help. Sergeant David Parry, Officer Matthew O’Leary, Officer Claudia Valle, and Officer Blake Cunningham responded to the residence. There was a tense stand-off but the officers managed to continue a dialogue with the distressed subject. At one point they thought they had convinced her to come out but, instead, they could hear her trying to open the back window of her bedroom which led to the 3rd floor balcony outside. Since the only person on the balcony was Sergeant Parry the officers in the hallway forced entry to the room and, once inside, they found Sergeant Parry wrestling with the subject who was intent on critically injuring herself by jumping from the 3rd floor of the residence. They soon managed to calm her and arranged for her to obtain the necessary medical care so desperately needed.

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Gangsters coming to The City with the intent of conducting a criminal enterprise should be aware that we have a larger more equipped organization than they do . . . Such was the case when a certain individual set up shop in the Haight/Ashbury neighborhood. He immediately preyed on those who had little to lose, robbing young transients housing themselves in Golden Gate Park, among others. He was rumored to always be carrying a gun and was a named suspect in a shooting just a few days earlier. Officer Stanislav Bratchikov and Officer Aaron Bjorkquist were well-acquainted with the history of this individual and knew that there was an outstanding no-bail probation warrant for his arrest. And then a 9-1-1 caller gave sufficient information to Dispatch about the location of this suspect and officers from Park Station immediately searched the area designated but it was to no avail. Officer Bratchikov and Officer Bjorkquist, however, remained behind in the neighborhood until their hunch paid off. A block away they found the suspect and immediately placed him in custody.

Sergeant Alan Callaway later submitted a Commendation for the outstanding job the officers performed citing: “Due to the persistence, attention to duty, and keen observation skills of Officers Bratchikov and Bjorkquist, a dangerous methamphetamine-addicted criminal was removed from the streets. This individual has been a menace to both the transient population of Golden Gate Park, as well as the residents and visitors to Haight Street for several months. Any time he spends in custody is a relief for our citizens. I recommend that Officers Bratchikov and Bjorkquist be commended for their actions in this incident.” So do we!

There should be no need to track down an individual who was armed with a machine gun and threatened to kill his stepfather on, of all days, Christmas Eve. But it happened. The scenario started at his stepfather’s house in the Bayview where illegal but extremely legitimate threats were made by the suspect when he actually pointed a machine gun at his stepdad. The suspect then fled but Officer Kevin Adams, Officer Kyle Wren, Officer Blake Cunningham, Officer Matthew O’Leary, and Officer Jason Nord tracked him down to a residence in the Richmond District of The City. Additional officers responded and, after a brief standoff, the suspect was taken into custody without further problems. Sergeant Sean Frost later prepared a Commendation for all of the officers involved with his last paragraph being entirely on point: “As a result of this arrest, the suspect’s family was able to sleep soundly on the one night of the year when not a creature should be stirring.”

Stay safe.