Every little thing has not been all right for this Rastafarian.
Robert Joseph Simmons, 33, believes he doesn’t need a medical card to possess marijuana because buds are a “core tenet” of his religion. At least, that was the Belmont resident’s claim after he was busted in April 2011 with more than 2½ pounds of pot and 13 pills of hydromorphine, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. Read More
A former Aragon High School water polo coach who admitted to having a sexual relationship with a player collapsed onto the courtroom floor Wednesday after being sentenced to two years in prison.
Joshua Tatro, 25, of El Granada partly ruined his chances of receiving probation following a statement he reportedly made blaming the student for being equally responsible for the inappropriate relationship. Read More
A Hayward woman faces up to a year in County Jail in connection with a sex act in a public park that proved to doctors that she should not have been receiving workers’ compensation benefits. Read More
San Mateo detectives really had this crook’s number.
The case against a California inmate who orchestrated robberies from prison last year while using a smuggled cellphone officially closed Tuesday with the sentencing of his accomplice. Read More
A man wearing a gas mask while driving Monday morning created an alarming scene in downtown San Mateo after officers reportedly found an inactive grenade inside his vehicle.
Just after 9 a.m. on East Fourth Avenue, police said, 29-year-old Gilberto Masias was stopped by officers who said they were alarmed by his apocalyptic-looking headgear. The gas mask might have been part of a Halloween costume, as police said Masias works at a local costume store. Read More
San Mateo police arrested a San Francisco man they say attempted to abduct a 9-year-old girl from an elementary school Friday.
Bradley Mrozek, 25, was arrested Saturday morning after police linked him to the incident at Parkside Elementary School and to two prior incidents at Horrall Elementary and Bayside STEM Academy, San Mateo police Sgt. Dave Norris said Sunday. Read More
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
The San Mateo Police Department is warning residents about a trend of recent burglaries that have targeted the elderly.
The burglaries usually involve one suspect distracting an elderly person at the front door of his or her home while a second suspect enters the residence from another area and steals valuables, police said. Read More
Burglars beware: The San Mateo Police Department will be keeping a watchful eye on residents’ homes during their out-of-town holiday travels. The department is offering vacation home checks that residents can request by submitting a form that is available online. Read More
The Oakland woman accused of a crashing her car into a San Mateo fire station while drunk last summer, injuring her 17-year-old daughter, was set to return to court Tuesday.
Lasheena Cardona is scheduled to appear at a pretrial conference on charges stemming from the July 11 crash in which her blood alcohol level tested at .31 percent, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.
Her blood sample was taken 90 minutes after the car crash, Wagstaffe said. Read More
