Police Beat: Capt. Denis O'Leary

Friendship?

A woman came to the Taraval Station on Sept. 16 to report that someone had vandalized her car by scratching the paint job with a key. This occurred at Madrone and 14th avenues.

A witness left a note describing the suspect and his car. Officers Pak, Scott and Guardado tracked down the suspect and his car in front of his house two days later. The suspect's mother denied that he was home and refused to allow the officers entry into her house. Realizing that they had insufficient cause to enter the house, the officers impounded the suspect's car and ordered a tow.

A friend of the suspect arrived and coaxed the suspect out of his house. The officers were able to arrest the suspect and charge him with felony vandalism and a warrant for his arrest from San Mateo County.

Bad Parking Job

On Sept. 19, officers Economus and Cunningham were summoned to the 4200 block of Judah Street on a call of a hit-and-run accident. The two officers soon realized that the suspect had intentionally used his truck in an attempt to back over a man he had been fighting with inside a bar.

Economus and Cunningham were able to identify the suspect at the scene, even though he had fled in his truck.

Seven days later, Guardado was able to make contact with the driver and invited him to tell his side of the story at Taraval Station. The suspect admitted to being at the scene but denied any evil intent. He was booked for felony assault and misdemeanor hit and run.

Put Out the Garbage

On Sept. 27 at 1:30 a.m., a woman alighted from a bus at Ninth Avenue and Moraga Street. She soon realized that two men were following her.

At Ninth and Moraga one of the two desperadoes pushed her to the ground and ripped her purse from her possession. The woman quickly called 911 as the suspects ran away.

Officers Auyoung, Green and Kessor responded to the scene.

Auyoung located the victim and Green and Kessor searched for the suspects. They soon discovered the suspects hiding behind some trash cans in the 1400 block of Ninth Avenue. The woman identified the assailants and her property was recovered nearby.

The main perpetrator was booked at Taraval Station.

Long Arm of the Law

On Sept. 28, a San Jose resident reported to the San Jose police department that she had been assaulted by her boyfriend while staying at his apartment on 48th Avenue in the Taraval District.

Taraval Station was notified and an Emergency Protective Order directing the boyfriend to stay away from the victim was issued. Attempts to serve the order were unsuccessful.

The suspect came to Taraval Station in response to those attempts. Sergeant Martinez interviewed the suspect and arrested him on domestic violence charges based on the San Jose Police Department's report.

Is Nothing Sacred?

During the evening of Oct. 16, officers Pak, Guardado, Lyons and Scott saw a man standing in front of the Safeway at Taraval Street and 17th Avenue. Knowing that he was wanted on a warrant for attempted burglary, the quartet quickly had the man in custody.

At Taraval Station the man admitted earlier he was casing St. Cecilia's Church in order to burglarize it. The man was booked on the warrant for possessing burglary tools and admitted he had burglarized other churches throughout San Francisco. He is now facing six counts of burglary.

Nothing Sacred? Pt. 2

A tow truck driver called 911 to report a fight in progress on Vicente Street, in front of St. Cecilia's Church. The fight was escalating and one of the combatants began waving a gun. The gun malfunctioned when the suspect attempted to fire it.

When the gunman noticed that the police had been summoned, he hid the gun and copious amounts of marijuana in a nearby shrub and walked away.

Officers Nancie Stockwell and Dennis Cravalho responded to the scene and found the suspect near 17th Avenue and Vicente Street. The man was arrested and booked at Taraval Station for possession of an assault weapon and narcotics.

Capt. Denis O'Leary is the commanding officer at the Taraval Police Station.