Police and Crime Clips
Police kill 16-year-old after shooting, robbery
Police investigating officer-involved shooting
Mark Abramson / Daily News Staff Writer
Burlingame Daily News
December 24, 2006
Officers shot and killed a 16-year-old boy in East Palo Alto late Friday night shortly after he robbed and shot a man in the neck, officials said.
In a separate incident earlier that evening, a pregnant woman was shot in the abdomen and her husband was shot in the throat, making this one of the most violent weeks in the city this year.
The officer-involved shooting took place shortly after 11:20 p.m. when San Mateo County Sheriff’s deputies and Menlo Park police responded to a report that two men had robbed and shot someone on the 900 block of Newbridge Street. According to the Sheriff’s Office, the men fled eastbound toward the intersection of Alberni Street and Westminster Avenue.
A Sheriff’s sergeant and a Menlo Park police officer spotted Maikeli Longi and Kilipeni Pahulu, both of East Palo Alto, running and confronted them at the intersection. Witnesses at the scene said they heard officers yell “he’s got a gun.” The sergeant shot Longi at that point, Sheriff’s Capt. Don O’Keefe said Saturday.
“They confronted him and they saw he had a gun, and he was trying to take something out of his waistband,” O’Keefe said.
Longi was pronounced dead at the scene and a handgun was found nearby, O’Keefe said. Pahulu, 18, was arrested without incident on robbery charges. He is being held in San Mateo County jail on $100,000 bail.
One man was shot in the neck during the robbery, which occurred in front of a residence on the 900 block of Newbridge Street, O’Keefe said. The man underwent surgery at Stanford Medical Center, O’Keefe said. It remained unclear Saturday what condition he was in.
Officers from as far away as San Carlos swarmed the area and blocked parts of Newbridge Street near Saratoga Avenue following the shootings.
“They weren’t letting anyone in here,” said resident Julio Deras, who was turned away by police when he returned home at 3 a.m.
His mother, Lidia Deras, said she heard at least one gunshot at about 10:40 p.m.
Two hours before the robbery and the officer-involved shooting, a husband and wife were shot during a home invasion robbery on the 1800 block of West Bayshore Road in EastPalo Alto.
The 23-year-old pregnant woman was shot in the abdomen and leg, and the 29-year-old man was shot in the throat, East Palo Alto police Lt. Tom Alipio said. The woman was in stable condition Saturday morning but the status of the fetus was unknown. The man was listed in critical condition. Both are expected to survive despite their injuries.
“I know there are some strong investigative leads, so we are happy about that,” East Palo Alto Police Chief Ron Davis said.
Friday night’s shootings in East Palo Alto occurred two days after Doctor’s Sports Bar and Grill owner John Farmer was shot in the chest and killed at his bar on University Avenue. Two 17-year-olds were shot a few hours later by unknown assailants who pulled up behind their car and opened fire. One of the teenagers was shot in the right calf and the other was shot in the right arm.
The East Palo Alto Police Department, San Mateo Sheriff’s Office and the San Mateo District Attorney’s Office are conducting a joint investigation into the officer-involved shooting, O’Keefe said. The identities of the Sheriff’s sergeant and the Menlo Park officer involved in the shooting have not been released. They have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Anyone with more information about the two shooting victims is asked to call the East Palo Alto Police Department at 650-853-3144, or the department’s anonymous tip line at 650-853-8477. Anyone with more information about the officer-involved shooting is asked to call East Palo Alto Police Detective Jeff Liu at 650-853-3131.
E-mail Mark Abramson at mabramson@dailynewsgroup.com.
Infamous boat shipping out
Peterson was convicted in November 2004 of killing his pregnant wife Laci and their unborn child. After his trial was moved from Stanislaus County to Redwood City, the small fishing boat that prosecutors contend was used by Peterson to dump his wife’s body into San Francisco Bay around Christmas 2002 was brought to San Mateo County to be used as evidence.
Now, at the request of San Mateo County officials, the two counties are working on arrangements to move it back to the Central Valley. The boat could still be used inPeterson’s appeals.
It is unclear if any financial arrangements have been made to move the boat and how much it has cost San Mateo County to store it. Officials from the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office could not be reached for comment.
“We are working with the courts to move the evidence back to Modesto, but the date and details have not been determined,” said Modesto police Sgt. Scott Gundlach.
Even once the details of the move are worked out, they will not be released to the public, Gundlach said.
“It is a capital case. It is a very important case and we want to do everything we can to maintain the security of the evidence and the integrity of the evidence,” Gundlach said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
E-mail Mark Abramson at mabramson@dailynewsgroup.com.
Bystander also shot at mental health center
The events were touched off about 10:49 a.m. Friday, when two men robbed the Fiesta Latina Market at 1424 Cary Ave., police said. At least one of them was armed with a gun, and witnesses reported seeing the other suspect jumping fences on the first block of Patricia Avenue to escape. The man seen carrying a gun drove off in a white SUV.
Police said officers spotted the SUV and followed it southbound on Highway 101 and then eastbound on Hillsdale Boulevard to the Central County Mental Health Center at 3080 La Selva St.
About 11:30 a.m., the armed suspect managed to get inside the mental health center, where police said he shot Sean Moran, 35, of San Mateo, in the left side of his torso. Moran’s mother, Marilyn Metcalfe, said her son was taken to Stanford Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The armed man was then killed near the entryway or inside of the mental health center during a shootout with officers, police said. The San Mateo County Coroner’s Office on Friday evening identified the man as Adam Ramirez, 43, of Hayward.
Officers cordoned off the entire building with yellow caution tape and investigated the scene most of the day.
“The names of the involved officers are not being released at this point,” San Mateo policeLt. Mike Brunicardi said in a prepared
statement. “Both involved officers were placed on administrative leave.”
It is standard police practice to put officers involved in shootings on leave pending the results of an investigation.
“I think he would have shot (Moran) more than once if the police had not stopped him,” said Metcalfe, of San Mateo. “It was a horrible thing, I’ve never been around violence.”
Moran was at the center for an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, waiting to see a doctor when he was shot, Metcalfe said.
Tony Stowell, who lives in an apartment across the street from the mental health center, was walking around the block when he said he heard four gunshots.
“I heard the shots and jumped into those bushes,” he said pointing to nearby shrubs. “I didn’t know what was going on. I decided to stay put. It happened real quick.”
The neighborhood is relatively peaceful and there have not been any shootings in at least a year, he said.
A swarm of police cars descended on the area within minutes, Stowell said.
Investigators from the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office and Sheriff’s Department also went to the scene, as police examined the SUV, a late-model GMC Yukon. Officers placed at least 13 numbered plastic markers next to evidence at the scene.
The other alleged robber was captured about 11:09 a.m. when a sergeant spotted him ducking into a yard in the 800 block of North Bayshore Road, police said. That suspect is a male juvenile, and police would not release his age and name Friday.
A woman who asked not to be identified said she was doing laundry at a Laundromat when she saw two men in ski masks go inside the nearby Fiesta Latina Market and come out with a bag that appeared fuller than when they went inside.
“It’s weird, because they looked like they wanted to be caught, they looked suspicious,” she said. “They were hanging out in ski masks in the daylight.”
MediaNews Staff Writer Rachelle Gines contributed to this report.
E-mail Mark Abramson at mabramson@dailynewsgroup.com.
Car chase kills teen on 19th birthday
Hayward suspect on probation for auto theft
The Daily Review
November 28, 2001
Mark Abramson STAFF WRITER
HAYWARD — A San Lorenzo woman died on her 19th birthday Tuesday after a stolen van being chased by police ran into her car on A Street near Interstate 880, officers say.
Karen Gordin, who was on her way to work as a lifeguard and swim instructor at the Hayward Plunge, was pronounced dead at 6:29 a.m. at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, hospital spokeswoman Cassandra Phelps said.
“The thing that is really sad about the whole thing is she got killed today, and today is her 19th birthday. The whole situation is unbelievable,” said Gordin’s grandfather, Gil Gordin.
The van’s driver, Melissa Diamond, 22, of Hayward, suffered two broken ankles in the accident and was reported in fair condition at Eden. Diamond, who is on probation for auto theft, was arrested on suspicion of auto theft and vehicular manslaughter in connection with the accident, Hayward police Lt. Bob Palermini said. Other charges could be forthcoming, he added.
Another driver, Francisco Ortega, 32, of Hayward, suffered minor cuts to his face in the three-vehicle collision and was treated at St. Rose Hospital and released.
The chase started when Diamond fled from Alameda County sheriff’s deputies, who spotted her driving a stolen white Chevrolet Astro van near East 14th Street and 150th Avenue in the San Leandro area, Palermini said. The van had been stolen from a donut store parking lot at 5:20 a.m. in the 430 block of Winton Avenue in Hayward, he said.
Police were chasing Diamond westbound on A Street when the van crossed the center divide into the eastbound lanes and struck the Geo Prizm sedan Gordin was driving head-on, Palermini said. Ortega was in a Dodge Ram pickup truck, which sustained little damage.
Hayward police are handling the accident investigation because the crash happened in the department’s jurisdiction, Palermini said.
According to one eyewitness, rescue crews had to cut the roof off of the Prizm to get to Gordin, and the car’s frame was bent in half.
“It was low-speed,” Alameda County sheriff’s Lt. Jim Knudsen said about the chase.
Conditions were safe, with light traffic that early in the morning, and two supervisors agreed that it wasn’t dangerous to pursue Diamond, he said. The chase involved two sheriff’s cars, and deputies Howard Jacobson and Joseph Rivera were given the day off on paid administrative leave to help them cope with the tragedy, he said.
Both deputies have 12 to 13 years experience and have been involved in a lot of pursuits, Knudsen said.
Gordin, who aspired to be a director or producer in broadcast journalism and was doing an internship at KTVU Television Channel 2 in Oakland, touched the lives of everyone she worked with, said Robin Toussaint, the aquatics coordinator at the Plunge.
On Tuesday, employees at the Plunge were setting up a memorial in honor of Gordin, who had worked there for four years.
She was a major person in our life, Toussaint said. She was just unique, and she’s going to be missed.
Boy’s body missed in first search
Cops found Hayward victim at neighbor’s the next day
The Daily Review
June 13, 2002
By Mark Abramson
HAYWARD — Police searched David Genong’s one-bedroom apartment last Saturday without finding 6-year-old Alexis-Fernando Martinez. The boy’s body wasn’t discovered until police returned the next day.
“You don’t expect that soon after (Alex was reported missing), to be looking for a body,” Hayward police Sgt. Rick Camara said.
Genong, 28, may be arraigned in Hayward as early as today, police said. Late Wednesday afternoon, Hayward police inspectors George Torres and Kendell Won were driving to Alameda County with Genong, who was arrested in northern Nevada on Monday on suspicion of murder in connection with the child’s slaying.
Prosecutors say they have a strong case.
The boy, known by playmates as Alex, was last seen alive by his mother at 5 p.m. Saturday, when he returned from a friend’s birth- day party near his own home in the Summerwood Apartments complex on Foothill Boulevard to get a pedal car, court records indicated.
By 7:30 p.m., his mother, Maria Elvia Vera, was looking for him, and police were called an hour later, court documents show.
A swarm of police and volunteers from three counties descended on the complex and surrounding area, checking nearby gas stations, trying to reach the 26 registered sex offenders who live nearby, and investigating reports that a boy was seen near a freeway on-ramp, court records state.
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Police contacted the principal at Burbank Elementary School, where Alex went, to seek leads on where he might be, the police report states.
“After a while, you start to expect the worst,” Camara said.
Court records indicate that Genong gave police permission to search his cluttered apartment on Saturday night, and he didn’t seem nervous as they searched the bathroom and then the bedroom.
Police said the first search was a brief one, partly because they were searching for a boy they thought was still alive.
Nearby hospitals were also contacted to see if a boy fitting Alex’s description had turned up, records show.
The grisly discovery of Alex’s body was made the next morning as officers searched Genong’s apartment with a consent warrant from his roommates, records state. The records indicated that a Hayward police officer spotted something wrapped several times in a brown, tan and white blanket, bound with clear tape, and the officer felt what he thought — correctly — to be feet in the blanket.
Police said they are unsure if Alex was killed in the apartment, but think he was. Authorities also said they are baffled as to why no one saw the child go into Genong’s residence, or something suspicious.
A friend of Genong’s, Ignatius Giltug, told police that Genong was acting nervous when the two returned to the apartment Saturday night, and kept him out of the bedroom, saying he had personal items there. Genong went in the room for 15 minutes, and Giltug told police he heard what sounded like tape being unrolled.
After Genong came out of the bedroom, Giltug told police, he grabbed something from the refrigerator and returned to the bedroom. Giltug said he then heard thumping noises.
A police report stated Genong borrowed Giltug’s car and that about four hours later, Genong called to say he was in Reno and on his way to his aunt’s house in Utah. Giltug agreed to take a bus to pick up his car in Ogden, Utah, the police report stated.
Court documents indicate that Genong told his brother, Walt Themfen, 38, that he didn’t want to turn himself in because he didn’t want to return to jail. Genong had been arrested at least four times since 1995, but not for anything violent. In 1997, he was convicted of drunken driving in Utah, according to that state’s Department of Corrections.
One reason prosecutors believe they have a strong case is that Genong told his cousin that he had done something serious, said Alameda County Senior District Attorney Norbert Chu.
“The way in which he fled is not exactly a small fact,” Chu added.
Mark Abramson covers police and public safety. To reach him, call (510) 293-2469, or send e-mail to mabramson@angnewspapers.com.
Station worker rewarded for stalling killing suspect
The Daily Review
June 21, 2002
By Mark Abramson
HAYWARD — A license plate number written on her hand and some clever stall tactics helped Roxanne Bagley lead police to a suspect in the killing of a 6-year-old Hayward boy.
Bagley was working the night shift at the Chevron gas station in Lovelock, Nev., along a rural stretch of Interstate 80 when David Genong pulled in to get gas about 1:15 a.m. on June 10. She was in her second week on the job.
Bagley, 22, didn’t have much information. Lovelock police Officer Brian Hardy had dropped off a flier advising people to be on the lookout for the car Genong was driving.
The flier described the car and gave the license number, but didn’t have a picture or description of Genong. Moreover, it didn’t say why police were looking for the car.
Reward, NEWS-15
Nonetheless, Bagley said, “I just had that feeling he was going to show up.”
Bagley said that when she spotted a 1999 Honda Civic matching the description, she went outside to check the license plate. It matched.
Bagley went back inside to call police. She quickly told the customers what was happening. Genong soon was in line to pay for his gas.
“I was scared. I was shaking,” she said.
Bagley said she stalled Genong by ringing people up slowly, and the customers ahead of him in line helped by asking to have things bagged.
Within a few minutes, police arrived. Genong looked nervous when Hardy walked in, she said. Hardy arrested him.
“He was like, ‘What did I do?'” Bagley said about Genong’s reaction.
Bagley was rewarded on Thursday with a $1,000 check from Hayward Area Crimestoppers for helping police. Crimestoppers flew her in for the day from Reno to give her the money.
She said she plans to use the money to pay some bills.
Genong, 28, was wanted in connection with the strangling death of Alexis-Fernando Martinez, whose body was found the previous day in the Summerwood Apartments complex in the 21700 block of Foothill Boulevard. According to police, Genong and Alexis were neighbors.
Steve Rubiolo, vice president of Hayward Area Crimestoppers, said Crimestoppers is an international organization that helps law enforcement worldwide catch crime suspects by offering rewards to people who call with anonymous tips that lead to an arrest.
Rubiolo helped start the local chapter about eight years ago in Hayward, and it has since expanded to include San Leandro, Union City and surrounding unincorporated areas.
The caller gives police a code name or number that he or she creates to anonymously pick up the cash reward at a local bank.
“We can’t do our job without people helping us out,” Hayward Police Chief Craig Calhoun said. “This does bring some closure to the case.”
Calhoun said he plans to write a letter of commendation to Hardy and may drop it off at the Lovelock Police Department when he drives to Wyoming for a vacation this week.
Bagley said her friends and family are proud of what she did. As the mother of a 4-year-old girl, she said she was shocked to hear about the crime Genong is accused of. Bagley said she didn’t know what Genong was wanted for until after he was arrested.
“I kept thinking that could have been my daughter,” Bagley said.
Mark Abramson covers police and public safety. To reach him, call (510) 293-2469 or send an e-mail tomabramson@angnewspapers.com.
Gunfire erupts in normally quiet condo complex, leading to Hayward’s ninth and 10th homicide victims in 2002
Two killed in battle in ‘nice neighborhood’
At least four people taken from Hayward complex for questioning as homicide count hits 10
The Daily Review
August 21, 2002
By Mark Abramson
HAYWARD — An apparent shootout in the usually peaceful Prospect Hills condominium complex left two men dead Tuesday — the second and third slayings in the city in three days.
One man was dead at the scene and two were shot and found in the unit at 1012 Imperial Place, said police Capt. Raul Valdivia. All were in their 20s or 30s, police said.
The two men who initially survived the shooting were taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley. One died in surgery at 6:23 p.m., said Eden spokeswoman Cassandra Phelps, adding that he had multiple gunshot wounds.
“There might have been some shooting back and forth,” Valdivia said. “I think we have all of the parties involved.”
No suspects have been identi-
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fied, he added.
Valdivia said police were called to the beige condos, off Main Street, at 3:51 p.m. Apparently an unidentified man approached three women washing an SUV outside the condominium. He asked to speak to one of the condo’s residents and called for that person by a nickname before the shooting started, Valdivia said.
According to police, all three men were shot in their midsections, and some automatic handguns were found.
The man found dead at the scene was near one of the stair landings, Valdivia said. The other two men were found in the garage of the same condominium, he added.
Valdivia said police questioned about seven people who were home in the 28-unit complex, which was built in 1984.
At least four people were put in police cars at the scene and reportedly taken to the police department for questioning.
A 12-year-old boy who was in one of the nearby three-story condominiums said he heard screams followed by two gunshots as he walked his dogs just outside the complex. He also said he heard tires screeching.
People in the area reported seeing an older model Mercury Cougar or Ford Mustang spinning donuts and a California Highway Patrol car high-tailing it down Main Street toward Prospect Hills.
Amateur filmmaker Nicholas Terry, 23, said he captured police arriving at the scene on camera.
Two men bled profusely as they were taken to an ambulance and another man sat up on a gurney as he was taken away by medical personnel, he said.
Drops of blood could be seen in the driveway leading to the complex’s two-car garages.
Police and residents were shocked by what happened.
“This is a very nice neighborhood — I’ve never seen this before,” said Rosa Moran, an 11-year Prospect Hills resident.
One patrol officer who has been working in the area for 12 years said he has had only one domestic violence call in the complex.
As many as three young men, one woman and at least one child lived in the unit where police found the body, neighbors said. The men often lifted weights in their garage, the neighbors added.
Condominium manager Kelly New said the people living where the body was found owned the unit. He said he was notified about the shooting by a resident via e-mail.
“It’s a quiet neighborhood … the worst thing we have is somebody parked in a red zone,” said Walter Butler, 51.
Valdivia said it doesn’t appear that Tuesday’s shootings were related to the slaying of 24-year-old Hayward resident Damion Allen on Sunday.
Allen’s body was found in the 27000 block of Del Norte Corte near Mt. Eden High School. He died from a gunshot wound to his head, police Lt. Darryl McAllister said. Police have not found the handgun used in the slaying, he said.
Tuesday’s shoot-out brings the homicide total in Hayward this year to 10.
Officers Mark Neely Jr., 29, and Eric Richholt, 35, were cited and released Thursday afternoon while they were on duty, San Leandro police Lt. Steve Pricco said.
Their arrests left Oakland Chief of Police Richard Word livid and vowing to take immediate disciplinary action. Word also said he is temporarily disbanding Oakland’s narcotics unit until they can rethink their practices and how officers are selected. The decision was made partly because of Thursday’s arrests, but also because of al-
leged misconduct by other members of the unit in the past year.
Neely and Richholt have already been placed on administrative leave.
“There is no excuse for this behavior,” Word said. “It was selfish. This happened on duty. We have a narcotics problem in this city, and they are out doing that. Rest assured, we are going to move quickly in our internal investigation.
“We offer these guys a lot of flexibility and autonomy, and when they violate that trust, it’s a serious matter.”
Pricco said the two Oakland officers were arrested after San Leandro police and sheriff’s officials arrested five prostitutes Thursday afternoon at Courture Fashion Consultants in the 500 block of Estudillo Avenue.
After arresting the prostitutes, San Leandro police continued to operate the business with decoys — three Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies.
One of the Oakland officers called to make an appointment at the business and said he and a friend would be there in a short time. They arrived just before 4 p.m., and each Oakland officer negotiated a price of $160, authorities said. San Leandro vice officers reportedly moved in and arrested the Oakland officers after the women left the rooms, under the guise that they had to give the money to their manager.
Authorities said they searched Richholt and Neely’s truck, which was rented by theOakland Police Department, and found heroin, cocaine and several hundred dollars.
The drugs were reportedly seized by Richholt and Neely when they were arresting officers in a similar prostitution sting operation Wednesday night in East Oakland, authorities said. Richholt and Neely had not turned the drugs in to the department yet.
Neely allegedly tried to get out of the situation by telling San Leandro police that they were investigating the business themselves. Richholt and Neely’s supervisor denied that they were there on police business.
Richholt has a history of making major busts. Richholt reportedly arrested a major drug dealer in February 2001 and found $300,000 worth of cocaine and $34,000 in cash in his car parked outside his Hayward apartment.
And in November 2001, Neely and another undercover officer reportedly were shot at on a stakeout in the 2200 block of East 15th Street in Oakland.
Richholt and Neely are scheduled to appear in court at the Hayward Hall of Justice on Oct. 28.
Word said the arrests — the second and third Oakland officers to be nabbed by SanLeandro police on sex-related cases this month — as well as other negative events surrounding the department are the main reasons he and other senior commanders will be convening special forums next week to talk to all officers.
“This is enough. We will remind them that everyone in the department has a responsibility to protect the reputation and integrity of this department — not only yourself, but if another officer is doing wrong, you step in.
“The men and women of this department, if they can’t abide by our rules and regulations and the constitutional limits placed on police behavior, then I want them off the force.”
Scam suspects may face federal counts, deportation
Irish aliens nabbed in East Bay accused of stealing $405,000
from Home Depot stores
The Daily Review
July 10, 2002
By Mark Abramson
SAN LEANDRO — Three illegal Irish aliens, who were busted in San Leandro last month on suspicion of bilking Home Depot home improvement stores nationwide of at least $405,000, may face federal charges and deportation as a U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI investigation continues.
According to San Leandro police detective Kathy Pickard, the three illegal aliens were traveling around the country in a van and 26-foot trailer they paid cash for, going into Home Depots and replacing the stores’ bar codes, used to ring up merchandise on cash registers, with forged ones that made an item appear cheaper than it really was.
The three would then return those items for the actual price and get a cash refund — up until January, when Home Depot started giving gift cards for store merchandise for returns, Pickard said. They sold the gift cards, she added. One person in Dallas apparently bought $80,000 worth of gift cards, but probably paid about a third of that, Pickard said.
“It’s a brilliant scam, but the big thing about it is that they made that money in seven months,” Pickard said. “They just got really big, fast.”
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, some of the bar codes were forged at various printing stores after one of the men involved had a hard time printing the fake ones out on a computer.
The case has been turned over to the FBI, and as of last week federal officials were still tallying how much money was lost by Home Depot, Pickard said. The Home Depots in San Leandro, Emeryville, Livermore, Pleasanton, Hayward and Union City lost $10,000 total in the scam, and Home Depots in Contra Costa County lost$8,000, she added.
Authorities estimate that Home Depots throughout California were bilked out of $90,000.
Federal officials allege that Home Depots in Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Arizona were also affected by the scam.
The FBI declined to comment on the case, and Home Depot did not return phone calls about the matter.
Police arrested John Hay, 55; Linda Broderick, 48, who is also known as Julie Carter; and Anthony Davenport, 46, who is also known as Andrew Baguley, in connection with the scam.
According to police, Hay was also arrested in Las Vegas in 1993 for trafficking 2.2 pounds of cocaine and spent six years in prison before being deported, only to return to the United States in May 2001.
Federal officials haven’t filed charges yet, but according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the feds seized some of their money from Affinity Bank in San Francisco last week. The amount seized was not clear and was not included in an affidavit filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Police said a total of $750,000 was seized in accounts of the three in U.S. and Canadian banks, but more money may be involved.
“They sent $300,000 to a bank in Ireland the day they were arrested,” Pickard said.
The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office has filed criminal charges against the three — six counts of forgery and five counts of burglary.
Some of the forgery charges stem from the trio’s creating fake identities, complete with authentic driver’s licenses and Social Security cards, Pickard said. They also got passports over the Internet under fake names, she added.
Police said they think the scam has been going on at least since October 2001, and that they were shocked to learn that video surveillance at the various Home Depots point to the three being the only people involved in the con job.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office believes the three have been involved in illegal activities in the country since May 2001.
Mark Abramson covers police and public safety. To reach him, call (510) 293-2469, or send e-mail to mabramson@angnewspapers.com.
San Leandro woman stabbed to death at home
The Daily Review
July 27, 2002
By Mark Abramson
SAN LEANDRO — Ambulance sirens shattered the silence of a usually peaceful neighborhood Friday morning after a 37-year-old woman was stabbed to death and her mother was wounded in the attack.
Police say the alleged attacker, the woman’s husband, then stabbed himself.
Zinaidi Quyo was stabbed after she and her husband, Edielberto Quyo, got into an argument, police Lt. Steve Pricco said.
He said he did not know what the fight was about.
Zinaidi Quyo called police at 8:14 a.m. and told them that she had been stabbed, Pricco said. Officers arrived at the stabbing home at 15211 Farnsworth St. within minutes, he added.
Zinaidi Quyo was found in the kitchen, and Edielberto Quyo was found bleeding in the living room of the home, Pricco said. Zinaidi Quyo was taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where she was pronounced dead at 8:54 a.m., Pricco said.
According to police, Zinaidi’s mother, Isidra Llanes, 65, lived with the couple and tried to stop Edielberto from stabbing her daughter and was stabbed herself before her son-in-law used the weapon against himself.
“He tried to commit suicide, I think,” Pricco said. “His wrists were slit.”
Pricco said that Llanes’ injuries weren’t life threatening, and she and Edielberto were taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley for treatment of their injuries.
Edielberto, 50, has a prior conviction for domestic violence against his wife in April 1998, according to court records. He was sentenced to the yearlong Alameda County Batterers Treatment Program, to probation, and to 13 days in county jail.
After being treated at the hospital, Edielberto was arrested Friday afternoon on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, Pricco said.
Next-door neighbor Ralph Reed, 70, said he was surprised when he saw police swarm the Quyos’ house because he knew them well and thought of them as “very nice people.”
He said he and his wife had dinner at the home of the Quyos, whom the neighbors knew as “Eddie” and “Zenny,” several times, and didn’t think the family of five, including a son and two younger daughters, had problems.
Pricco said he believes the children are between ages 2 and 9, and they are being cared for by relatives.
Reed said there has never been a murder in the neighborhood in the 40 years that he’s lived there.
Neighbors also said they saw Edielberto Quyo lying injured on the front lawn of the family’s one-story, blue-and-white home being treated by ambulance crews, who had to give him oxygen.
An ambulance crew pumped Zinaidi Quyo’s chest and gave her CPR to try to revive her before they headed to the hospital, Reed added.
According to police, the slaying is the fourth homicide in San Leandro this year and the second involving a family dispute. Two remain unsolved.
“It certainly is a sad thing, especially for the kids,” Reed said.
Mark Abramson covers police and public safety. To reach him, call (510) 293-2469, or send e-mail to mabramson@angnewspapers.com.
Disaster alert system is a blast from the past San Leandro among cities
that will hear warning sirens if an emergency occurs
The Daily Review
October 23, 2002
By Mark Abramson
OAKLAND — A newly unveiled alert system in San Leandro, Alameda, Oakland and at the University of California, Berkeley, sounds like something out of the 1950s and’60s.
It uses blaring air raid sirens to alert as many as 585,000 people in the three cities and at UC Berkeley during a disaster or in a major emergency. Officals released details about it at a news conference on Tuesday.
The network of 44 siren sites in the three cities and on the campus, dubbed the “Corridor of Safety,” will be operated by the local and university police departments.
The university already has the sirens but has decided to join the cities’ program, said Tom Klatt, the director of emergency services at UC Berkeley.
“This is an old idea, taking Civil Defense sirens of the’50s and’60s and adding a new twist,” said Paul Jacks, the deputy director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
“In the shadows of 9-11, the Corridor of Safety promotes the need for improved communication (during emergencies and disasters).”
He said he wants to see the system expanded to more cities in the state.
The new twist is that the sirens are a cue for people to get on their city’s Internet site, or tune in to their city’s radio or television station to find out what the commotion is about and how they can stay safe. Each city also has a telephone system that can dial thousands of phone numbers an hour with a recorded message.
The university is still finalizing its plans to broadcast instructions on the campus radio station, KALX 90.7 FM, once the sirens ring, Klatt said. People can already call (800) 705-9998 or go to http://www.emergency.berkeley.edu when the sirens are activated at UC Berkeley, he said.
San Leandro Mayor Shelia Young said the sirens are needed because being prepared for emergencies and disasters starts at the local level.
Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente called the system “a great step for the future protection of our citizens.”
The alerts will save time during an evacuation, said Alameda County Fire Department Capt. Dave Wheeler. It will be a lot quicker than sending police officers door-to-door to tell people to get out, he said.
The 40 sirens in the three cities, however, won’t be operating until Feb. 5. People need to learn first how the system works, said San Leandro Emergency Services Manager Dan Lunsford.
The cities plan to educate the public by sending out informational fliers to students at local schools and mailers to residents, and from newspaper adver-
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tisements, Lunsford said.
There will also be public service announcements on local television and radio stations, and workshops in each city, he added.
The sirens will be tested regularly by being activated briefly at noon on the first Wednesday of every month, Lunsford said.
During an actual disaster or emergency, the sirens will ring longer, Lunsford said.
One of the first steps that people in Oakland, Alameda, San Leandro and at the university will be taught is to seek shelter once a siren sounds.
The next step is to shut off ventilation, close windows and lock doors to create a seal to keep dangerous chemicals, gases or other toxins out.
The third step is to watch television, listen to the radio or log on to the Internet for instructions.
Officials from all three cities and the university tout the siren system as being a standardized and relatively inexpensive way to save lives.
According to officials from the three cities, San Leandro is spending $280,000, Oakland is spending $1.5 million and Alameda is spending $175,000.
UC Berkeley is spending in excess of $250,000 on it, Klatt said.
“It’s an investment that will get a huge return,” Lunsford said.
Call Mark Abramson at (510) 293-2469 or send e-mail to mabramson@angnewspapers.com.
Mark Abramson -- Journalist and Writer 
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