Stalker in Burlingame

I received an e-mail on Thursday from a friend forwarded from her friend with the subject line there is a stalker in Burlingame...please be aware?. I waited for the next three days to get information. I checked the newspapers and looked at the television hoping to see something. I checked this blog several times a day. Surely someone would have SOMETHING to say about this. I am posting the e-mails here but omitting the senders' names:

Hello Ladies,

My sister-in-law's kids go to St. Catherine's and just this morning a man in a car followed some 6th grade gals walking to school and tried to get them into his car. They refused his offers and continued to school as quickly as possible once they got closer to the school a parent noticed what was going on and approached him and he speed off. The police came and were given some sort of description which we have not heard yet. My sister is hoping something will come home today in her Wednesday envelope.>

Obviously, this was a situation that ended up ok for these ladies but I am just warning as many people as I can that there is a man out there obviously wanting to do something bad. Please stay on the alert and let as many people know as you can. God Bless,

Then another e-mail followed:

Hi Again,

Okay, I'm home and here's the scoop....

A man followed (on foot I believe) the girls onto the school campus. Once the kids identified him, BPD knew who he was and where he lived (on Burlingame Ave above Sephora). The man was arrested and charged with annoying a minor. The only good news is that he is now in the database and they can more easily track him, etc.

Sorry if I freaked you out w/the earlier note. I was at work, read it and wanted to pass it along asap.

The next day the following article appeared in the Daily Journal:

Man Arrested For Trying To Pick Up Girls
Daily Journal staff report

A man attempting to give young girls a ride in his Mercedes was arrested by Burlingame police when a passing motorist noticed the suspicious circumstances.

At approximately 7:40 a.m., two girls were walking to school on the 200 block of Primrose Road. A man, identified as Burlingame resident James Richard Evans, 50, was standing nearby and asked the girls if they wanted to go for a ride, according to police. He tried to sweeten the deal by offering that he had a Mercedes. The girls were frightened and began to run from the man, according to police. A passing motorist saw the two girls running with terrified looks on their faces? as the man followed them. The driver made a U-turn and pulled up to the girls who had just entered the St. Catherine de Sienna school parking lot. The driver asked the girls if they needed help and borrowed a cell phone from one of the girls to call police, according to police. The driver followed the man as he walked toward Lorton Avenue and flagged down two police officers in the area. Evans was arrested after he tried to run away, according to police.

The e-mails spread quickly. The newspaper article was tucked away neatly on page 5 between the Government Watch and the 2006 Election Journal. Ironically on page 1 of the same newspaper is an article titled SPEIER LAW TOUGH ON SEX CRIMES. It would almost be laughable if it didn't make me sick to my stomach.

WAKE UP BURLINGAME!!! This man was hunting!!! He woke up early in the morning. He got dressed and went hunting. And he was looking for just the right prey. Our children. He knew what he wanted. He tried to lure them into his car. When they said no he tried to convince them he had an expensive car. When they tried to run he went after them. He was arrested. He was charged with annoying a minor?. Is he released? I don't know. Allegedly he lives in the Burlingame hotel above Sephora. That is very convenient. That is within walking distance from his hunting ground. He has at least 7 or 8 hunting grounds to choose from. Actually if you take into account the girls that walk into Sephora it is like a lion who waits at the watering hole for the animals to drink and then takes them down. I wonder am I the only person that thinks of these things. Why am I spitting angry? Why am I angry that there is so much talk about so much crap on these blogs but not about these kinds of things? Why not get rid of the garbage that is living in these hotels. Not the legitimate low income folks. God Bless them that is a great place for them. But I mean those that want to fight and drink and make a problem. Those that want to stand naked at the windows. Those that want to think they can come to my town do these things to my towns' children. Why is this man still here? Why hasn't his picture been circulated to all the schools and all the parents and all the storefronts in the entire town? Why is the Daily Journal the ONLY paper that carried this story? Why not the 5 o'clock, 6 o'clock, 11o'clock news? Barry Bonds took steroids and we heard about it on every news station and every newspaper and every newsmagazine for months. WHO CARES? I don't care if he takes birth control pills. But if you come after my kid you better keep moving because I will not sleep until you are gone. As far as I am concerned this man JAMES RICHARD EVANS is no longer welcomed in Burlingame. He doesn't get a second chance. No help. No rehabilitation. NOPE. GONE. Because the next time we might not be so lucky. Remember Richard Allen Davis. He lived amongst us in San Mateo. We got lucky that time. Then he moved on and hunted somewhere else. Please don't just read this and then take a sip of coffee and then go on to the next thing you are doing. Ask yourself. What if? What if they that passing motorist didn't see those girls? What if he caught them? What if they said yes? What if he does it again? What if they were your girls? How close does it have to come?
Jeriann

- Written by coachezwife

Comments

Somebody posted this report (From the Journal) here on this Blog, October 6th. I was pretty amazed that someone would have the nerve or impulse to go after two girls. That's a little unusual. It is frightening because we give kids the impression that they will be safe in groups, but here is an example where it wasn't true. About 10 years ago, a kid (maybe about 9-10) was being followed by someone in a car as he walked home from school. Fortunately I saw it and went after him in my car, blocking him from getting closer to the frantic kid. Of course, he got away, but I felt like maybe I helped keep his poor kid safe. He's probably been scared for life. There are a lot of creeps around. That's for sure.

[Carole]

Please print the megan's law list for 94010. At least half are near Mckinley and BHS. I thought that was against the law too.

I've seen that, too. They are in a bunch of apts. on Oak Grove.....I was told if they've served their time, it doesn't matter if they are near parks or schools..(?) seems strange to me, too.

if you will remember the homeless, sex offender who died on a bench 20 feet from a tot playground. People made Al Koch a local hero. They made his bench a shrine and it is now located at the Burlingame Park Dept.
It was removed because of the attenction it was getting.
A lot of comment was spent at this site regarding Al Kock.
Obviously no one cares.
Al Kock and his tribe were living in that parking lot for years.

[Joanne]

Al Koch also lived at the Burlingame Hotel (above Sephora) before he decided to "live under the stars." So we have a street-level store (Sephora) that attracts young girls, with sex offenders living above.

Here are some notes I made in October/November 2002 about the Burlingame Hotel -

"After being told by a City official that the Burlingame Hotel had 200 police visits during one year, I decided to find out why? The Burlingame Hotel has 40+ rooms for long and short-term residents.

My research started with Mr. Joe Karp he is the owner but the Patel family manages the Hotel. I asked him why there were so many police calls and whether these calls were serious as in sex offenders, pedophiles or drug pushers. He told me that they could not ask prospective residents about their pasts. Interestingly Mr. Karp told me that when he was managing the Hotel in l987 he refused a reservation for Mr. Lawrence Singleton. Remember him? He spent only eight years in prison for raping a fifteen year old and chopping off her arms with an axe plus the 1997 murder of a prostitute. It goes without saying that communities refused Singleton and, luckily for Burlingame, Mr. Karp refused him accommodation at the Hotel.

Other perhaps lucky news for Burlingame, Mr. Karp told me that he is working with the California Teachers Association and the City to renovate the hotel as affordable housing for teachers and firemen.

I next visited the Burlingame Hotel and chatted with the manageress and two residents who were decorating the lobby for Halloween. They referred to Burlingame as Mayberry?!

On leaving the Hotel, I bumped into? Mr. Karp (hardly a coincidence) who expressed his anger that I had visited the Hotel lobby without his permission. This seemed a little strange and I could not understand why he was being so defensive. After all it is a hotel.

Interestingly Mr. Karp consoled me with there are mobsters hanging around outside Starbucks who may have more dubious pasts than the Hotel residents"! I told him that we all have pasts but I would like to think that the Hotel residents' pasts do not include anything that could harm the hundreds of children, teenagers and young people who hang out on Burlingame Avenue."
That was the Burlingame Hotel in 2002 and dealing with the property owner was not pleasant - to put it very mildly. Perhaps one of our investigative reporters or investigative residents should do some more digging starting with calling the Police Department and asking about the number of police calls to the Hotel and the reasons why they were called? Are there sex offenders/pedophiles/drug pushers as residents? What steps are the police department taking to check on any residents with serious criminal records?

Re sex offender Mr. Koch, I don't think anyone was calling him a HERO. In the homeless underbelly of the Burlingame community, he was considered a friendly face, people liked him, he was kind and they were sorry to see him die. Thats all.

Jeriann,

I too saw the article on page 5. This should of been on the front page alerting parents.

I would hope that the schools sent out a notice too to all the parents.

I have been told by BPD that the he is still in custody. I am going tomorrow to pick up a report on the Burlingame hotel. I will let you know what I find out.
Jeriann

[Cari]

I cannot understand how the "Burlingame Hotel" (great name for a seedy place more fit for Folsom St. in S.F.) fits on the avenue. Can't the city do something? If any of the stuff in the posting above is true, we are just waiting for something terrible to happen. For a city that prides itself in fine hotels--this place makes no sense.

I have spoken to both Sgt Nakiso and Chief Van Etten. They have assured me that they are well acquainted with James Evans. They do not feel that he is a threat to children. They have arrested him for drunkenness in public before but that is the extent of his crimes. At this point he has been released. Although he has been charged he has not been found guilty. They will keep a careful watch on him.

I just wanted to be sure to post this article from the Daily Journal. I want to be clear that it is in no way related to the man who was charged with the Burlingame incident. These are two completely different men who approached little girls in San Mateo. Still too close for comfort. Please talk to your children. Make sure that they know what to do.
Children should be taught they should not go with a stranger because the stranger needs help. Teach a child that no one has the right to touch his or her body, especially in areas which a bathing suit would cover up. If an adult does touch a child in these areas, the child should be taught to seek help and tell. Teach the child that it is acceptable to tell an adult no? if the adult wants them to do something they do not feel is right. Instruct the child to go immediately to someone they trust and to tell about what happened. Children should be taught that if a stranger tries to take them somewhere, they should kick, hit and scream for help. Children should be taught to yell something that alerts everyone. This could be Help! I'm being kidnapped!? or Help! I don't know this person!? THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR THEM TO BE THE POLITE CHILDREN WE KNOW THEY ARE!!! When children are playing outside and a stranger calls to him or her, the child should run inside immediately and alert a caregiver. When answering the phone, a child should never tell someone he or she is alone. A child should not be allowed to answer the door if he or she is home alone.
If a car drives beside a child while the child is walking somewhere, the child should be instructed to move away from the car and go to a public area, or a safe place, and ask for help. Children should be taught to never get into a car with someone they do not know, unless the stranger knows the code word? the child and parent have decided upon for emergencies.
It is up to ALL of us to keep ALL of our children safe. It really does take a village to raise a child. This is our village. We can work together to keep our children safe. If you are driving look around. If you see a situation involving a child that does not look right stop. Ask questions. So what if you look stupid, nosy, bossy. That may have been the one time that saved a child's life. Come on people we are in a different world here. There are people out there wanting our children. THEY CAN'T HAVE THEM.
THE ARTICLE READS:
Two Girls Report Strange Man
Daily Journal staff report
Police are investigating two separate incidents in San Mateo where young girls reported to police nearly identical incidents in which a man tried to coax them into a car Friday afternoon.
At approximately 10:50 a.m., a 13-year-old girl was waiting at a bus stop in the 300 block of North Delaware Street when a newer model light brown Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck approached her. The driver motioned with his hands for the girl to approach the truck. The girl fled the area and the truck drove away. Police could not locate the truck and it is unclear what his motive was, according to a statement released by the San Mateo Police Department.
The man is described as Hispanic, 50 years old and was wearing a white striped shirt, according to the statement.
At approximately 1:40 p.m., a 6-year-old girl was riding her bike in the 300 block of East Bellevue Avenue. She saw a car parked on the opposite side of the street and then saw a man get out. The man called for her to come to him, but she ran away instead and told her father. The man got back into the car and left the area. Police were not able to locate the man and it is unclear what his motive was, according to the statement.
The man in the second incident is described as Hispanic, between 20 and 30 years old, 5 feet 11 inches tall, 300 pounds with dark hair. He was wearing a black T-shirt. The car is described as a 1980s two-door turquoise Ford Thunderbird with peeling paint on the trunk, according to the statement.
Police are investigating both cases and reminds children and parents to be aware of their surroundings and to immediately report any suspicious activity or person to the police.
Anyone with information about the incidents should call the San Mateo Police Department at 522-7650 or the secret witness line at 522-7676.

Wow-- what smart little girls--thanks for posting this.