Capt. Sandra Tong: Police Beat

I hope that you and yours had a wonderful and safe holiday season. Now, on to a healthy New Year.
Believe it or not on Geary Boulevard A church in the Richmond District has been the victim of a series of burglaries. The burglar stole from the Donation Box and the Poor Boxes. The burglar was identified through video surveillance, a mug photo and fingerprints taken at the scene. A warrant had been issued for his arrest.

One day the suspect entered a senior center in the district and asked the executive director of the center his name. He stated that a priest from the church had referred him to the director for a monetary handout. The man claimed to be hungry and asked for $24 to buy four days worth of food.

Unbeknownst to the suspect, the quick-thinking director was also a warden at the church. Thinking quickly, the director asked the suspect for his name and when the man replied, it confirmed his identity as the elusive burglar. Keeping his cool, the director devised a plan of action. He told the man that he would have to call his wife to approve the gift but called, instead, a fellow board member who happens to work at the Richmond Station.

When she answered, the director said, "Honey, my friend (the suspect) is here at the center and wants to borrow some money. (pause) I can? OK, great. I'll give him my lunch money." The director kept the suspect occupied with conversation while troops at Richmond Station were mobilized. When the director handed the suspect the money, police officers moved in and arrested the suspect.

A search of suspect revealed he was in possession of burglary tools. The suspect was arrested for the burglaries and additional out-of-town warrants.

Goodbye "Billie D"
Thank you officer William Decarsky for your many years of service. You will be missed. Since Feb. 28, 1971, "Billie D" has been working in the Richmond District, with his busy sector car covering all of the areas bounded by Arguello and Park Presidio boulevards and Lake Street and Lincoln Way.

On Clement Street
A suspect first used a credit card to buy Lottery scratchers, Super Lotto tickets and Hot Spot Keno tickets with other merchandise. When the suspect returned to the store later to buy more of the same, his credit card was declined. The suspect said there was credit left on the card and went outside and used a pay phone for a few minutes. When he came back inside, the suspect told the store's owner that he spoke to the credit card company and they had given him instructions on how to punch the proper code into the processing unit to make good on the transaction. When the store owner did as the suspect said, the transaction was approved.

The suspect left the store with the merchandise and returned 30 more times, each time using the same method, to accumulate $5,103 in purchases. The store owner didn't realize, however, that when he was punching the suspect's code numbers into the credit card processing unit he was reversing the credit amounts, resulting in the suspect's credit card being credited to the suspects account instead of charging it.

When the suspect came back for some more Lottery scratchers, his credit card was declined again and he left the store. The owner became suspicious and called the credit card company, who notified him that the credit card did not have sufficient credit to cover any of the charges. After interviewing the victim, officer William Decarsky called the security officer for the credit card company, who advised Decarsky that the bank that issued the card was investigating the case. The security officer said the credit card had a $500 limit and that $4,854 had been credited to the account over several weeks.

The bank put a hold on the credited amount and notified Decarsky that the merchant would not be held responsible for that amount. The suspect, it turned out, had used his father's credit card, unbeknownst to him. The father, who said his son did not have permission to use it, cancelled the credit card.

Upcoming Community Meeting
Remember, the monthly Community/Police Forum will be held Tuesday, Jan. 21, at 7 p.m. It will be held at the Richmond Station's community meeting room, 461 Sixth Ave. and parking is available across the street at Kaiser's French Campus. The guest speaker will be talking about burglary prevention.

Capt. Sandra Tong is the commanding officer at the Richmond Police Station. The Richmond Station's "tip line" is 668-7387.