Skip to Navigation Skip to Content

Steve Wagstaffe

Woman accused of insurance fraud might have blown cover with tryst in park

They say love heals, but in this case it was nothing but a crutch for a Hayward woman whose sex act in a public park was filmed by an insurance fraud investigator. On Monday, 29-year-old Modupe Adunni Martin, a former custodian for the Sequoia Union High School District on the Peninsula, was scheduled to appear in court for a pretrial conference, but her attorney was unavailable at it was pushed back to Oct. 9. Read More

Sentencing delayed for attorney convicted of DUI, bribery

How many lawyers does it take to delay the criminal sentencing of an attorney? A Palo Alto attorney who was convicted last summer of trying to bribe Colma cops out of a DUI arrest was not sentenced as scheduled Thursday, according to prosecutors, after his appointment of a new attorney postponed that outcome until at least November. Read More

Shooting might have been vigilante strike

A Vallejo man facing life in prison for allegedly shooting a Daly City man in the face last month was reportedly reacting to allegations that the victim had been abusing his own niece, according to prosecutors. Read More

Man suspected of groping two girls in San Bruno Target store

A man accused of grabbing the buttocks of young girls at the Target store in San Bruno last month had been wearing a T-shirt at the time that read, “Rub Me For Luck,” prosecutors said Tuesday. UPS deliveryman Glenn Albrecht, 49, faces child molestation charges in connection with two separate alleged groping incidents Aug. 26 at The Shops at Tanforan. Both incidents were captured on the store’s video surveillance cameras, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. Read More

Hells Angel pleads not guilty in San Mateo shooting

A Hells Angels biker has been indicted on charges that he opened fire on a Daly City home last year, nearly striking two children, while hunting a rival gang member. Investigators say 24-year-old Dionicio Rafael Lopez picked the wrong house July 24, 2011, when he fired two shots at it. The bullets came close to hitting two children, ages 6 and 9, who were watching television, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. Read More

DA clears officer who shot South San Francisco teen

The South San Francisco police officer who fatally shot 15-year-old Derrick Gaines in June was justified in the use of lethal force, according to a report from the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office released Wednesday. Read More

Murder charge filed in fatal getaway drive

A driver accused of smoking crack while fleeing police in East Palo Alto before crashing into and killing a 50-year-old motorcyclist has been held to answer charges he faces, prosecutors said. Eric Banford, 47, appeared in court Tuesday to face multiple felony charges, including murder, in the Sept. 28 crash that killed 50-year-old Danny Dixon. Read More

Three suspects accused of robbing Asian sex workers

On top of worrying about violent johns out on the streets, authorities say Asian prostitutes in the Bay Area are now being targeted in their own homes by thieves lusting for cash. A woman and two men are facing multiple felony charges in connection with a July 11 home-invasion robbery in San Mateo that police believe was part of a ring targeting sex workers. Read More

Ex-child psychiatrist with dementia faces sexual abuse charges

Former prominent child psychiatrist William Ayres — to the shock of many — was found competent to be retried on charges that he molested patients, according to a report released Wednesday. Last year, prosecutors suspected that the 80-year-old’s failing mind would only get worse, making it so that he would never again face charges for accusations that date back to the 1990s. But a progress report from doctors at Napa State Hospital stated otherwise. Read More

Veteran going to trial in bulletless shooting

Was he a hero or villain? Or both? A jury will now make that call in the case of embattled Army veteran Ashley Viola, who allegedly whipped out a gun in downtown San Mateo last year — causing quite a scare — in defense of a woman. On Monday, a San Mateo County judge scheduled a trial date of Oct. 15 for the 24-year-old. Prosecutors say Viola went from good Samaritan to crazed gunman when he confronted a man who rudely bumped into a woman on the sidewalk. Read More
URL: http://www.sfexaminer.com/taxonomy/term/19716?page=3