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Mike Aldax

San Francisco DA George Gascón unhappy with cellphone industry approach to thefts

With cellphone robberies plaguing San Francisco streets, local law enforcement officials are calling on manufacturers and carriers to beef up security protocols. District Attorney George Gascón, who recently met with major service providers and is now trying to secure a meeting with smartphone manufacturers, said he believes it’s about the bottom line. “I get this thing stolen and now I’ve got to buy another one,” Gascón said. The telecommunications industry is “making a ton of money,” he said. Read More

Woman attacked in CCSF locker room shower

Police are hunting for a vicious creep who tried to sexually assault a woman last weekend as she was showering in a City College of San Francisco locker room. An alert was issued Monday about the 12:15 p.m. attack Saturday at the Ocean Avenue Campus’ Wellness Center, which is located at 50 Phelan Ave. The suspect was reportedly hiding in an adjacent shower stall, then crawled underneath and grabbed the woman, police said. Though he reportedly tried to cover her mouth, she screamed and struggled, scaring off the suspect. Read More

Sophisticated surveillance helped thwart robbery at SF marijuana grow

A high-tech alarm and surveillance system helped police swiftly respond last week to an armed robbery at a Bayview district marijuana growing operation. More details were released about the botched heist at Wallace Avenue and Jennings Street that led to a six-hour standoff but also the arrest of four suspects and the safe rescue of four hostages. Read More

Man pleads guilty to stabbing at baptismal party in Redwood City

A thug has been christened. The man who stabbed another guest at a baptismal party in Redwood City last fall pleaded guilty Friday to a felony charge, prosecutors said Monday, and was sentenced to a year in County Jail and three years of supervised probation. Read More

Man crushed to death by BART elevator

BART,
Investigators are determining how a man who was crushed to death in an elevator shaft at Montgomery station Sunday night got in there in the first place.A person riding the elevator from the Muni level up to the concourse level said he heard a crunching sound and then a scream, according to BART police.At about 9:35 p.m., station managers were notified that a person was stuck in the elevator.Fire personnel found a man dead on top of the elevator. Foul play is not suspected, according to BART. Read More

San Francisco police increase trunk safety on unmarked vehicles following rifle theft

Trunks on unmarked San Francisco police cars can no longer be opened from the inside following the recent theft of a semi-automatic rifle from one of the vehicles. Police Chief Greg Suhr told the Police Commission last week that all the trunk releases have been disabled on unmarked vehicles since the March 2 burglary that temporarily robbed the department of an AR-15 assault rifle. “It was a window-smash, and we believe they accessed the trunk release,” Suhr told the commission Wednesday. Read More

'Bath salts' fueled armed standoff in SF, police say

A 21-year-old woman who held off police with a shotgun and hatchet on March 3 in Cow Hollow was high on so-called bath salts, police said. At the Police Commission meeting Wednesday, Police Chief Greg Suhr offered more details about the more than two-hour ordeal. Read More

San Francisco cyclist Chris Bucchere accused of felony manslaughter was bike safety instructor

Chris Bucchere has been cycling all his life and even taught classes in bicycle safety. That’s why, his defense attorney said Thursday, Bucchere would not have violated any road rules last year when he struck and killed a pedestrian in the Castro district. But prosecutors countered that the San Franciscan’s extensive cycling history — along with a callous act right after the collision in which he mourned his helmet in an Internet forum — is further proof the 36-year-old software engineer should face a felony charge for the death of 71-year-old Sutchi Hui. Read More

Suspects named in San Francisco marijuana grow hostage standoff

The man accused of holding four hostages during a six-hour standoff in the Bayview district Wednesday morning following a botched robbery has been identified as William Carter, 22, of San Francisco. Carter and three accomplices — Damien Thomas, 33; Joseph Hall, 30; and Daniel Contreras, 40 — were booked on multiple charges related to the armed heist at a permitted marijuana-growing operation in the 2100 block of Jennings Street, police said. Read More

Police arrest suspect in theft of diaper bag at San Francisco's Hall of Justice

UPDATE:  Police announced Friday that suspect Daniel Ripper was arrested in this case. An investigation by Police Inspector John Keane of the special victims unit led to the bust at the Kean Hotel at Sixth and Mission streets. Keane called the arrest a team effort by SFPD. --- In only the first few months of his life, a San Francisco infant was abandoned on a rain-soaked street after birth and born with cocaine in his system -- and now is the victim of a theft. Read More

Two early-morning stabbings in San Francisco’s Mission district

Police are investigating two separate stabbings in the Mission district early Thursday. At 2:19 a.m., officers were called to a fight in the street in the 2100 block of Mission Street, between 17th and 18th streets, where they found a 32-year-old man with stab wounds, police said. The victim was transported to a hospital with injuries that are not life threatening, police said. Just over an hour later, two suspects reportedly stabbed a 30-year-old man before fleeing. That victim is also expected to survive the attack. Read More

Attempted San Francisco marijuana heist ends with four suspects in custody

It took less than a double-dog dare Wednesday morning to end a six-hour standoff with a burglary suspect in the Bayview district. Despite a massive deployment of police resources that included a SWAT team and crisis negotiators, it was the threat of a police canine that caused a man to surrender following a botched armed robbery in which hostages were taken. Read More

Fleeing BMW leads to officer-involved shooting in San Francisco’s Hunters Point

Police shot an 18-year-old man in Hunters Point Tuesday after the teenager allegedly knocked an officer down while fleeing in a stolen BMW. The suspect is expected to survive the shooting in George Court, the cul-de-sac where he found himself trapped by police at about 7 p.m. Earlier, according to police, four officers who were patrolling the housing development spotted a BMW they believed had been recently carjacked. Read More

San Francisco man successfully distracts robbers to save family from potential harm

A man’s split-second decision to protect his family helped deter shotgun-toting robbers in the Sunset district Monday afternoon. Just before 3 p.m., the 36-year-old man was reportedly washing a vehicle in his driveway in the 1600 block of 33rd Avenue when he was approached from behind by a teenager with a short-barrel shotgun and another suspect. The teen pointed the shotgun at the man and ordered him to stand up and lead them into his home, Officer Gordon Shyy said. Read More

SFPD reviewing protocol for firearms in vehicles after stolen rifle recovered in Oakland

The Police Department is investigating its policy of locking weapons in unattended vehicles after Saturday’s swiping of a semi-automatic rifle from an unmarked car. Read More
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