The Burlingame Voice

Where to Start?

From the San Mateo Daily Journal Police Report:

Theft. A seven-foot replica of King Tutankhamun’s sarcophagus was taken from the corner of Howard Avenue and Victoria Road before 7:40 p.m. Tuesday, June 30.

Was the de Young Museum just too far to drive?

Yeow! ...or, is it meow?

"MOUNTAIN LIONS SIGHTED IN SAN MATEO" as reported by Michael Manekin in tonight's San Mateo County Times: Two mountain lion sightings this week just west of El Camino Real prompted police Wednesday to urge residents to take precautions . . . Shortly after 2 a.m. Wednesday, a motorist saw a mountain lion weighing between 150 and 200 pounds on a driveway in the 200 block of West Poplar Avenue, police said. At about 5:30 a.m., Sunday, police received a report of a mountain lion about one block from the Wednesday sighting . . . The San Mateo Police Department recommends that residents avoid conflict by not leaving pets and small children unattended outside . . . Anyone who spots a mountain lion should immediately call 911.

- Written by Joanne

INFORMATION WANTED

PRESS RELEASE On Tuesday, May 6, at approx. 3:27 pm, the Union Bank of California in Burlingame was robbed by a lone subject. The suspect, described as a white male adult in his mid-40's, entered the bank carrying a black dufne bag; and wearing a black baseball hat, long black wig, dark sunglasses, and a blue collared shirt. The subject waited briefly in line, approached an available teller, simulated a weapon,and demanded cash from the teller drawer. The man then exited the bank with an undisclosed sum of money via the front doors. He was last seen fleeing the area on foot westbound from the bank on Murchison Avenue. It is believed the suspect may be responsible for additional bank robberies in the Bay Area cities of San Mateo, Redwood City, Los Altos, and San Ramon. The Burlingame Police Department is asking that anyone who recognizes the suspect or has any other information regarding this robbery please contact Burlingame Police Inspectors at (650) 777-4100. (photo of suspect on city website)

- Written by Fiona

Public's Assistance for Homicide on 101

Homicide on Sept. 30, 2007, on Highway 101 - Burlingame Police Requesting the Public's Assistance

The Burlingame Police Department is asking for the public assistance in identifying the person(s) responsible for the death of a 25-year-old man shot and killed on Sunday night. On September 30, 2007, at about 11:20 p.m., Londell Wilson, 25, was driving northbound US 101 north of Broadway. The victim was shot and crashed his silver Honda Accord into the east side of the freeway. Wilson was taken to a local hospital where he died from his injuries. The motive of the shooting is unknown. The Burlingame Police Department is interested in talking with the occupants of the following vehicles, which were seen by witnesses driving on the roadway in the vicinity of the victim's vehicle:

Vehicle #1: Dark Turquoise Station Wagon with chrome rims Show Condition

Vehicle #2: White 4 DR sedan with chrome rims Show Condition

Vehicle #3: Red or Burgundy 4 DR sedan with chrome rims (similar in style to a late 60's Chevy Chevelle or Nova) Show Condition

Occupants: African- American or Tongan/Samoan Males in their 20s

The Burlingame Police Department would like to talk with the occupants of these cars.
Anyone who may have information regarding this case is requested to call the Burlingame Police Department at (650) 777-4100. You can also file your tip online by clicking here.

- Written by Fiona

Police - Canine Friend for Niko

Police seek funding for additional K9 (Daily Journal)

The Burlingame Police Department is currently seeking community funding to help with the purchase of a second dog for their K9 program.

The department estimates that the cost for a police service dog, related equipment, training and maintenance would be approximately $10,000. There is insufficient funding in the police budget for the 2007-2008 year to cover this cost. The Burlingame department currently has one dog, a male German Shepherd named Niko, who is used mainly for search and detection purposes. It's not so much a matter of Niko being stretched too thin,? said K9 Sgt. Jeff Downs. It's that Niko works with a handler, and when the handler's shift is done, then there are other shifts without K9 coverage.? Dogs like Niko aid the police in tracking criminals who are fleeing on foot. They can also search vans and residences for narcotics and explosives. When Niko is not on duty, the Burlingame department is without this type of aid. The addition of a second dog would allow the police to have K9 coverage all week. The dogs are really a visual deterrent,? said Downs. People look at Niko and think, That dog could find me.'?

The department is asking the Burlingame community to donate to the Police Department K9 Fund. This money would not only allow the purchase of a second dog but also help plan for the future of [the] canine program,? according to the department. Ideally, we'd like to see more dogs and more interaction with the community,? said Downs. We'd like to diversify the program and diversify the dogs.? At one point, the department had up to four dogs, several of which worked in a more proactive, community-related capacity. The K9 program often gave demonstrations at local events at schools; the dogs' activities included searching lockers to imitate drug investigations.

If it receives sufficient funding for multiple dogs, the department would like to host more of these events. The program would also like a dog trained specifically in the detection of explosives. The options are limitless,? said Downs.

Donations can be made to: Burlingame Police Department K9 Fund, Burlingame Police Department, 1111 Trousdale Drive, Burlingame, Calif., 94010. All donations may be tax deductible.

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I vote for the budget item of $10,000 to paint the old white City Hall cupola be painted by volunteers and those monies be redirected to a friend for Niko!

- Written by Fiona

Our Children's Safety - Update 2

Peninsula Police Search For Men Soliciting Minors (please see CBS5 website ("http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_149140346.html") for suspect drawings)

(BCN) MENLO PARK Police along the Peninsula are on high alert Monday after a suspect or suspects attempted to lure minors into vehicles in San Mateo County during the past two weeks.

The first incident took place in Menlo Park on May 14 when an 11-year-old girl was approached by two men in a white van on her way to school at the intersection of University Drive and Santa Cruz Avenue. The driver of the van exited the vehicle to speak with the girl, but she was able to continue to walk her normal route to school and the van eventually left the area, according to Nicole Acker, Menlo Park police information officer.

A second incident took place in the mid-Peninsula town of Hillsborough on May 22 when a 9-year-old boy was approached by two men in a brown or tan "Ford Explorer-type SUV," according to Hillsborough police Capt. Mark O'Connor. The boy, who was outside his home located on a cul-de-sac near Skyline Boulevard, said the men offered him a ride and some candy when they approached him around 4 p.m. The suspects in this case never exited their vehicle and drove away when the boy refused their offers, O'Connor said. The two suspects in this incident are described as white men in their late 20s. The driver is said to be about 27 years old with blonde, puffy hair and the passenger is described as a white man with brown spiky hair. Both were thought to be wearing gray shirts, O'Connor said. The boy told police "that the back of the SUV was opened as though it had a horizontal, mounted rear window tilted up," O'Connor said. The boy was also able to provide police with a partial license plate, reading 173.

The third incident also took place in Menlo Park on Thursday when a suspicious man approached two minors and asked them to assist him locate his missing pet. The incident took place just after 2 p.m. when a white man driving a blue, mid-sized vehicle near the intersection of Middle Avenue and Windsor Drive approached the youths, according to police.

Detectives in both Hillsborough and Menlo Park are in contact to see if these three cases are connected, although Acker said, "At this point we don't think they're related." The two Menlo Park incidents occurred "not too far from each other" with the first one occurring near the downtown part of Menlo Park, and the second less than a mile away near Arbor Road Park, according to Acker. Neither incident occurred near a school. Menlo Park police have increased patrols around the neighborhoods where the incidents took place as well as around local schools since the first report.

Hillsborough police have also stepped up patrols and have been using both marked and unmarked police units to patrol the town and schools, particularly during drop-off and pick-up periods, O'Connor said. "We have stopped many Explorers in this town this week," O'Connor said. Parents are reminded to teach their children the importance of being aware of their surroundings and urge them to contact police when they see something suspicious or out of the ordinary.

Anyone with information about the Menlo Park incident is asked to contact Menlo Park police at (650) 330-6300.

Anyone with information on the Hillsborough incident is asked to call police dispatch at (650) 375-7470.

- Written by Fiona

Our Children's Safety - Update

Van puts police on alert (Daily Journal)

School officials are police are on alert after two cities had similar reports of two men trying to lure children into a gray van.

The Hillsborough School District sent a letter to parents Thursday alerting them to the two cases in Hillsborough in and Burlingame. On Wednesday, the van was following students on Burlingame Avenue. The second was reported later that day in which a young child reported two men tried to lure him into a van near his Hillsborough home, according to the letter sent by Superintendent Marilyn Loushin-Miller. At this juncture, neither incident has been confirmed by the police department ... We have alerted our schools to remind children about safe practices when approached by strangers,? Loushin-Miller said.

Hillsborough police could not confirm the multiple reports Friday. We're not sure [the van] been seen elsewhere. We've only had once actual sighting,? said Hillsborough Inspector Rob Chinca. At approximately 3:55 p.m. Wednesday, police received a report of two men driving a gray or dull-colored van who made the offer to the boy as he stood front of his home on a cul-de-sac near Interstate 280, according to a statement released yesterday by police. The driver was described as white, approximately 27 years old with blond puffy hair and possibly wearing a gray shirt. The passenger was described as white, unknown age with brown spiked hair and possibly wearing a gray shirt, according to the statement.

The van had three windows. It is unclear where on the van the windows were. The child reported the back doors of the van were open. The van had a partial license plate number of 173 somewhere on it, according to police. The suspects were last seen driving east on Chateau Drive, police said.

The investigation in ongoing. Anyone with information about the case should call the Hillsborough Police Department at 375-7470.

- Written by Fiona

A $1.4 Million Lawsuit

Couple sue, claim Burlingame police mocked grieving woman (Chronicle)

(02-22) 17:24 PST BURLINGAME -- A Lake County woman and her husband have filed a $1.4 million federal civil-rights lawsuit against Burlingame police, accusing an officer of berating and belittling her as she wailed over her brother's death. Officer Jarel Peters shoved Angela Ostini into a chair, yelled at her and threatened to haul her in for a mental evaluation if she didn't stop crying, according to the suit the couple filed last week in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. Peters said something to the effect of, "Listen, b -- , who do you think you are? You are not the only one that ever lost someone close to you! My brother-in-law blew his brains out two weeks ago!" the suit said. "It was the worst experience of my life," Ostini, 54, said today through tears in a phone interview from her home in Nice. "He tortured me. He took away my rights. He used his badge as a weapon against a citizen who did nothing. I just learned my brother died." She said Burlingame Police Chief Jack Van Etten had apologized to her for Peters' "inappropriate conduct" and had said the officer's comments were "insensitive and not condoned" by the department. Officers are trained to "put their own personal feelings aside," Van Etten wrote in a letter to Ostini, she said. Van Etten and Burlingame City Attorney Larry Anderson declined to comment on the suit Thursday. Reached at the department, Peters also declined to discuss the case, saying, "Why would I want to talk to you about it?"

Ostini's lawsuit said the incident happened July 10, 2005, when police were called to her sister-in-law's home on Summer Avenue to investigate a disturbance. Ostini said a neighbor had reported that someone had been stabbed, but Ostini said the only disturbance was her loud weeping at the news she had just received of her brother's death. Ostini's brother, Samuel Giardina, died at age 62 of unknown causes, she said. After officers learned through her husband what had happened, Peters put a hand on her shoulder, repeatedly telling her to calm down, Ostini said. She told him to take his hand off her and that she didn't want to mourn with him, she said. Peters then began berating her and said he had just lost his own brother-in-law, the suit said. As Peters spoke, Sgt. Jeff Downs' mouth was open, "like to catch flies," Ostini said.

"The Burlingame Police Department was aware that Officer Peters was emotionally unstable and was unfit to carry out his duties as a police officer," Ostini's attorney, Ananda Norris, said today. The department "failed to give Officer Peters the time and space to heal and grieve properly and thereby put community members at risk." Ostini said the case has made her distrust law enforcement, even though her husband, Dennis Ostini, 52, is a veteran Lake County sheriff's sergeant. "I was very pro-law enforcement," she said. "This just changed everything. It has changed the way I look at my husband. Who gets treated this way? Everybody gets treated with kid-gloves when somebody dies."

Additional article in Burlingame Daily News. (F)

- Written by Fiona

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

Bombs at Heritage Park

Is anyone else hearing the bombs going off in the middle of the night at Heritage Park? It started a week before Fourth of July which I accepted as kids getting an early start on the holiday. But since then there have been 5 more incidents. I am not talking loud firecrackers but loud bombs. Police are called but I don't know if there is much they can do after the fact. They are already such short staffed.

- Written by coachezwife