County One Of Four In The Nation To Receive Federal Grant For Domestic Violence Programs

Contra Costa County is one of just four counties nationwide that will receive federal funding for a new program that aims to identify and stop potentially deadly domestic violence offenders.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced Monday that the East Bay county will be among the four sites to receive part of the $2.6 million in federal grants for programs designed to save domestic violence victims’ lives.

“Domestic violence is a devastating crime that claims far too many lives,” the attorney general said in a video posted on the U.S. Justice Department’s website. “Studies have shown that on average, three women die every day in America at the hands of their partner or ex-partner.

Using the federal funding, Concord-based organization STAND! For Families Free of Violence will partner with the county and local police agencies to launch the new program, with a focus on cases in the cities of Concord, Richmond and Brentwood.

The grant funding will allow police responding to domestic violence cases in those cities to conduct immediate assessments meant to gauge an offender’s likelihood of committing murder and to step in before the violence escalates, STAND CEO Gloria Sandoval said.

Some of the signs include whether the abuser has strangled someone or threatened to kill someone and if they keep a gun in the home, she said.

In addition, the federal funding will help immediately connect victims with local services such as housing to ensure their safety from the offender.

The new, federally funded program will expand on the efforts by STAND and other agencies within Contra Costa County that have long worked to combat domestic violence.

In 2001, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors launched a Zero Tolerance for Domestic Violence initiative – a partnership among public and private agencies on a mission to reduce domestic violence, child and elder abuse and human trafficking within the county.

In 2011, the West Contra Costa Family Justice Center opened, and now serves hundreds of victims annually.

A new, much larger Family Justice Center is set to open in Richmond next year and the county is working to create a Family Justice Center network with additional centers in Concord and East Contra Costa County.

More information about Stand! For Families Free of Violence can be found at www.standagainstdv.org. Help for domestic violence victims can be found by calling their Crises Help Line at (888) 215-5555.

Redwood City: Police Looking For Man Who Punched Victim And Stole His Bike

Redwood City police are searching for a man who punched a victim and stole his bicycle outside a convenience store in July.

The 33-year-old victim was riding his bike through the parking lot of a 7-Eleven store at 400 El Camino Real around 11:30 p.m. on July 21 when the suspect confronted him, police said.

The suspect punched the victim in the face and knocked him off his bicycle, police said.

The suspect then rode off on the victim’s bicycle heading east on Whipple Avenue, according to police.

The suspect is described as a man between the ages of 25 and 30, with a shaved head and a stocky build who was wearing a blue shirt at the time of the crime, police said.

Police urge anyone with information about the crime or suspect to call police Detective Dave Cirina at (650) 780-7607 or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at (800) 222-8477. People who provide information may be eligible for a cash reward from Crime Stoppers, police said.

Two Men Killed, Another Person Injured In Home Shooting

Two people were killed in a shooting in South San Jose on Tuesday night, a police spokeswoman said.

Officers responded to a report of person shot at a home in the 100 block of Rancho Drive shortly before 9 p.m., police Sgt. Heather Randol said.

Arriving officers found two men inside the residence both suffering from at least one gunshot wound, she said.

The men were pronounced dead at the scene, Randol said.

A third shooting victim was found and transported to a hospital for injuries not considered life-threatening, according to Randol.

The killings are the city’s 27th and 28th homicides this year, she said.

No arrests were made and no suspect information was immediately available.

Legislation Proposed Today To Make Preventative Hiv Drugs More Accessible

San Francisco Supervisor David Campos introduced legislation on Tuesday that would allocate about $800,000 to not only assist San Franciscans who can’t afford preventative HIV/AIDS drugs but would also pay health navigators to increase education about the effectiveness of the drug.

“The day has finally arrived that so many of us in the LGBTQ community have been dreaming about,” Campos said Tuesday as he presented the legislation to the Board of Supervisors for consideration.

The pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), often referred to by its brand name Truvada, is the first drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for preventing the spread of HIV.

Truvada was created by Foster City-based Gilead Sciences and was approved by the FDA in 2012.

Campos said that despite studies showing PrEP’s effectiveness in preventing new HIV infection, there are barriers that are limiting the number of people who are prescribed the drug.

He said that PrEP is expensive and without insurance can cost individuals up to $1,800 per month.

Even insured individuals may still not be able to afford the prescription, because PrEP isn’t fully covered by many insurance plans, Campos said.

He also said many physicians remain hesitant to prescribe PrEP due to a lack of familiarity with the treatment.

According to the drug’s website, Truvada is designed for HIV-negative people who want to protect themselves from contracting the disease.

Truvada makes it harder for HIV-1 to multiply by blocking a particular enzyme in the body, thus helping lower the viral load and thereby decreasing the amount of HIV in the blood.

Serious side effects can include excessive amounts of lactic acid in the blood, liver problems, and other issues, according to the Truvada website.

Last week, following a rally by supporters outside San Francisco City Hall, Campos held a hearing of the board’s Neighborhood Services and Safety Committee with Supervisors Eric Mar, Leland Yee and Scott Wiener to learn how San Francisco could become the first city to provide the preventative drugs to HIV-negative residents who can’t otherwise afford them.

Campos said PrEP could be the “game changer” needed get to zero new infections in San Francisco and that the city has the chance to be the first city in the country to make PrEP available to everyone.

At the hearing, Supervisor Wiener said that he is currently taking PrEP. He noted that one of the reasons he chose to take the drug is to increase public awareness around it and to help destigmatize the drug.

Of the roughly 3,000 people who have been prescribed the drug worldwide, about 1,000 of those people are San Francisco residents, according to Wiener.

He said Tuesday that he finds it “perplexing” that a stigma could exist around something that could save lives. Wiener said there is a dramatic decrease in the risk of infection to those who take it daily.

For those concerned about the high cost of providing the drug to every San Franciscan who needs it, Campos said that for every HIV infection prevented, the city saves about $355,000, which would have been spent on providing lifelong HIV care and treatment.

Mayor Lee Pushes For Lease Agreement That Would Provide Housing For Homeless Veterans

More homeless veterans may soon have a roof over their heads in downtown San Francisco by the end of the year if a lease agreement announced by San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee on Tuesday is approved by the Board of Supervisors next week.

Lee announced legislation for the city to lease the privately owned 136-unit building located at 250 Kearny St. in the city’s Financial District. The project is expected to provide shelter as well as health and social services for the city’s homeless veteran population.

The city’s 2013 Point-In-Time Homeless Count and Survey showed that out of the 7,350 unsheltered and sheltered homeless people residing in San Francisco during the count, 716 of those individuals were veterans who had served on active duty in the armed forces of the United States. The count was conducted on Jan. 24, 2013.

According to the 2013 San Francisco Homeless Count, 59 percent of the 716 homeless veterans in San Francisco were unsheltered and living on the streets during the survey.

Lee said the leasing of the property at 250 Kearny St., formerly the Stanford Hotel, would bring the city closer to eliminating chronic veteran homelessness by 2015.

According to Amanda Fried, deputy director of policy of Housing Opportunity, Partnerships and Engagement at the Mayor’s Office, the lease will be considered by the Budget and Finance Committee today and will then go on to be heard by the full Board of Supervisors for approval next week.

Fried said the building’s owners are almost finished with a complete renovation of the site and it will be ready for occupancy by the time the lease is in place, which is expected to be Oct. 1, if approved by the Board of Supervisors.

If the Board approves the legislation, veterans are expected to begin moving in come November.

To fund the leasing project, a variety of federal and local money will be drawn on, including 130 federally funded vouchers, which represents over $1.75 million per year.

Additionally, the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center has committed $500,000 annually in support of services to the site.

The San Francisco Housing Authority also secured an additional 75 project-based Housing and Urban Development Veteran’s Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers to support the veterans at 250 Kearny St.

The remaining $800,000 in costs will come from the city’s general fund, according to the Mayor’s Office.

Mayor Lee also said that short-term rental company Airbnb, which has faced ongoing opposition in the city by critics who say the company further drives up the cost of rents, has pledged volunteers and funds for volunteer projects to get the units at 250 Kearny St. ready for veterans.

According to the mayor’s office, veterans who are deemed the most vulnerable and who have been homeless the longest will be targeted for placement in the building.

San Mateo Police Arrest Two Men In Oakland For Auto Thefts At Two Car Dealerships

San Mateo police on Tuesday arrested two men in Oakland in the three burglaries of two car dealerships on El Camino Real in San Mateo where four vehicles were stolen in the last month, police said.

Officers served a search warrant on Wallace Street in Oakland where they located evidence tying the residents, Marquis Banks, 19, and Moufassa Haulcy, 18, to the three burglaries, police Sgt. Richard Decker said.

Banks and Haulcy were arrested on suspicion of auto thefts at Brand Motors at 4001 S. El Camino Real, where two vehicles were stolen in the early morning hours on Aug. 17, and burglaries at Trax Auto at 4301 S. El Camino Real on Aug. 22 and 23, Decker said.

On Aug. 22 at Trax Auto, the suspects broke in and stole more than 40 sets of car keys overnight and returned early the next morning to drive away in two vehicles, according to police.

San Mateo police are also working with police in Belmont, where in a similar case thieves stole a number of vehicles and a quantity of keys from a dealership early Sunday morning.

In the Belmont burglary, an unknown number of suspects scaled a fence at the Autobahn Motors at 700 Island Parkway, grabbed multiple keys and used them to steal at least nine vehicles, one of which was recovered in the East Bay, according to Belmont police.

Both the San Mateo and Belmont burglaries appear similar to one in San Jose well before dawn on Friday, when a group of six to eight suspects broke into the Formula 1 Motors at 3896 Stevens Creek Blvd., stole more than 40 keys and used them to drive away in five high-end vehicles, according to general sales manager Farzan Vassigh.

San Jose police are investigating the burglary and car thefts at Formula 1, police Officer Albert Morales said.

Hastings Employees Picket Over Contract Negotiation Impasse

Nearly 100 people picketed in front of the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco’s Civic Center neighborhood on Tuesday afternoon to protest the fact that the law school has yet to come to a contract agreement with its employees.

San Francisco supervisors David Campos and Eric Mar joined students, labor activists and members of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Union Local 3299, which represents close to 100 UC Hastings employees, to protest the law school for implementing what they called illegal de facto pay cuts and refusing to budge on wage increases.

“We would like them to bargain in good faith,” union president Kathryn Lybarger said.

The state Public Employment Relations Board, which administers collective bargaining for California public employees, recently declared the law school and the union, which has been without a contract since June of 2013, to be at an impasse.

Union representatives say Hastings employees have done their part by agreeing to Hastings’ terms on 12 out of 28 issues, and that they should be entitled to the same wage increases that other UC employees have recently been afforded, 19.5 percent over four years.

But in a statement, Hastings Chancellor Frank Wu said UC Hastings, which is offering a 4.5 percent wage increase over the term of the contract, doesn’t have the resources of large UC universities since it is a standalone institution.

Jeff Herrera, 46, a budget coordinator in the Hastings law library for more than 18 years, said that with some employees earning as little as $22,000 a year, affording life in the Bay Area is impossible.

Though it’s true that the state has increased funding to UC Hastings by three times more than it has to other UC institutions, the overall dollar allocation is low, according to UC Hastings spokesman Alex Shapiro.

“It is the students who are paying the bills, and it’s only by highly controlling costs have we been able to keep tuition flat for three years,” Shapiro said.

The spokesman noted that the 4.5 percent wage increase being offered to union members is the same rate being offered to all Hastings employees.

In addition to wages, retirement is another volatile topic on the table. Union leaders say UC Hastings acted illegally by increasing the rate of employee contributions to the pension plan last year. But Hastings was only complying with the policies of the UC system’s retirement program, according to Shapiro.

A mediator has been assigned to the negotiation, and both sides will move forward with the mediator in the coming weeks.

Woman Kidnapped, Ordered To Withdraw Money From Bank

A woman was kidnapped at gunpoint from her front yard in Walnut Creek on Tuesday morning and driven to a bank where she was ordered to withdraw cash, police said.

Police received a reported at 11:55 a.m. about the robbery and kidnapping, which began when the female victim was confronted in her yard in the 400 block of Muller Road by a suspect armed with a gun.

The suspect forced the victim to drive to a Bank of America branch in downtown Walnut Creek where she withdrew money. She then drove back to her neighborhood and was released unharmed, police said.

Walnut Creek police are asking anyone who may have witnessed the incident to call them at (925) 256-3518.

Investigators are also looking for possible surveillance video footage from exterior home security cameras in the area of Lakewood Road on Tuesday morning, police said.

Residents Object To Pg&E Proposal To Raise Electric Rates

Low-income Bay Area residents sounded off on a PG&E proposal to lower electric rates for the biggest electric consumers and raise rates for low-income customers.

At a public comment hearing by the California Public Utilities Commission in San Francisco on Tuesday on the proposed rate hikes, many people said they had a hard time paying their electric bill already.

PG&E claims that the company does not stand to make a profit on the hikes but wants to implement them to create equity in the current system where electric rates per kilowatt-hour can vary from 13.2 cents to 36.4 cents.

In addition to adding a $10 per customer service charge, the new proposal would establish two tiers for electric rates, reducing the difference between the top and bottom tiers from 22.3 cents to 3.5 cents by 2018.

Reduced rates for low-income customers enrolled in the California Alternate Rates for Energy program would be raised from 44 percent to 35 percent.

Kathleen Anderson, 70, of Monterey County, attended Tuesday’s public comment hearing in opposition to the proposed rate changes.

“All of my costs are going up,” she said, particularly housing and food. She said that the move could particularly impact seniors living on a fixed income.

San Francisco resident Charles Minster said he was not convinced that PG&E did not stand to profit on the rates restructuring.

“They’re looking to make money,” he said. “They’re out to make as much money as they can off our backs.”

PG&E, he said, was caught not maintaining underground gas lines adequately, leading to a devastating gas line explosion in San Bruno in 2010.

The CPUC recently handed down $1.4 billion in fines and penalties relating to the explosion that the utility is in the process of appealing. PG&E is also seeking to raise rates to recoup the costs of gas line infrastructure work in a separate proceeding.

The proposed electric rate hikes still must be recommended by an administrative law judge and approved by a vote of the CPUC.

Man Stabbed During Weekend Fight Dies

A 23-year-old man who was critically injured in a stabbing in Concord over the weekend has died, police said Tuesday evening.

Concord resident Ignacio Avila succumbed to his injuries at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek on Tuesday afternoon, two days after being brutally stabbed during a fight early Sunday morning, according to police.

Police said Avila was walking to a house party with a group of friends near Virginia Lane and Premier Place a short time after midnight when the friends encountered another group of young men and an argument broke out.

The argument turned violent and Avila was stabbed multiple times in the chest.

The suspects fled the scene in a car and Avila was hospitalized.

A police officer spotted the suspects in a car on state Highway 242 a short time later and stopped the vehicle.

The car’s driver and a passenger, identified as Concord residents Carlos Brasher, 25, and Dominic Massoni, 18, were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in connection with the stabbing.

Both were taken to county jail in Martinez and are expected to be charged with murder.

Friends of the victim created a page on www.gofundme.com. The fundraising campaign was initially meant to raise money for Avila’s medical bills but will now help cover funeral costs.

Man Who Recently Underwent Brain Surgery Missing Since This Afternoon

San Francisco police are seeking the public’s help in locating an at-risk man who recently underwent brain surgery and has been missing since Tuesday afternoon.

Donald Brockett, 68, was last seen around noon Tuesday wearing a maroon shirt and black pants, police said.

He is described as a white man standing about 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 365 pounds with brown eyes and salt and pepper hair with short curls.

He lives in an apartment in the 300 block of Turk Street in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood and frequents Lafayette Coffee Shop on Hyde Street, according to police.

Brockett underwent a brain aneurysm surgery about two weeks ago and still has stitches from the procedure, police said.

Police believe he may go to Kindred Transitional Care and Rehabilitation’s Tunnell Center at 1359 Pine St. where he received treatment for a stroke he recently suffered.

Brockett hasn’t taken his medication and suffers from mental health issues causing him to become enraged and combative at times, police said.

Brocket has been depressed since his partner of 15 years recently left him after the stroke.

Anyone with information on Brockett’s whereabouts is asked to call San Francisco police at (415) 553-1071 or Ana at (415) 440-6142.

Fire Crews Contain Blaze At Marijuana Grow House

Firefighters have contained a fire that broke out at a marijuana grow house in Antioch on Tuesday afternoon, a fire captain said.

The blaze was reported around 4:40 p.m. at an apparently abandoned home on G Street, according to Capt. Kent Kirby of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District.

Fire crews encountered a fire in the home’s garage and evidence of a pot grow operation, he said.

Animal Services personnel were called to the home to take in two dogs, but no humans appeared to be at the home when the fire broke out and no injuries were reported, Kirby said.

He said the fire started near an electrical box panel and is believed to have been caused by illegal electrical rewiring used to power the marijuana grow.

The exact cause remains under investigation.

Man Who Died In Crash Last Week Is Identified

One of the two people who died in a crash off eastbound Interstate Highway 580 in Pleasanton last week has been identified by Alameda County coroner’s officials as 19-year-old Demondre Harrison of San Francisco.

The other person who was killed in the crash at about 11 p.m. on Sept. 16 near the San Ramon Road exit off I-580 was a female who hasn’t yet been identified, coroner’s bureau Sgt. Paul Graves said.

Coroner’s officials will need to make a DNA comparison to the female’s presumed family members and that process could take weeks, Graves said.

California Highway Patrol spokesman Officer Steve Creel said Harrison and the female were traveling at a high rate of speed in a BMW sedan that clipped an SUV, lost control, flew off the roadway, crashed into a tree and burst into flames.

The people who were in the SUV, including a mother, father and several children, weren’t injured, Creel said.

The CHP is still trying to determine if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash, he said.

According to social media websites, Harrison played basketball at San Francisco’s Balboa High School where he graduated from in 2013 and was attending Clark Atlanta University.

The Seattle-based non-profit group Education First, which targets high school students in low-income communities, said on its website that it awarded Harrison a scholarship and he was the first person from his family to attend college.

SJ Man Killed In Crash During Road Race In Rural Nevada

A San Jose man died in a crash a few miles short of the finish line at a road race in rural Nevada on Sunday, according to the local sheriff’s office.

Philip Bowser, 71, was killed in the crash shortly before 9 a.m. Sunday in the biannual Silver State Classic Challenge held on state Highway 318 between Lund and Hiko, Nevada, according to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.

Bowser, who had his daughter Amy as a passenger in the car, was driving a 1997 Porsche 993 that drifted to the right shoulder of the roadway while he maneuvered a slight left turn, sheriff’s officials said.

The car then abruptly rotated left and crossed both lanes and went off the highway, rolled over and caught fire, according to the sheriff’s office.

Amy Bowser, a resident of Reno, Nevada, was able to escape with minor injuries but her father did not escape and was pronounced dead at the scene, sheriff’s officials said.

Sheriff’s officials said Philip Bowser had competed in many Silver State Classic Challenge events over the years. He was entered in the 150 mph class at this year’s event and his brother was also entered in the race at the 145 mph class.

The race was red-flagged following the crash. A statement on the race’s website reads, “All of us at the Silver State Classic Challenge are saddened by the loss of our friend and fellow competitor Philip Bowser. Our deepest condolences go out to his family and friends.”

Multi-Car Crash On I-680 Snarls Traffic, Causes Minor Injuries

Traffic has slowed to a crawl on Interstate Highway 680 in Concord on Tuesday afternoon after a multi-car crash that caused minor injuries and temporarily blocked three northbound lanes, according to a California Highway Patrol spokesman.

The five-car collision happened around 1:35 p.m. on northbound Highway 680 near the Concord Avenue on-ramp, according to CHP Officer John
Fransen.

A woman was driving a sedan when a bobtail truck pinned her car against the roadway’s center median, trapping her inside the vehicle, Fransen said.

Three other cars were also involved in the collision.

The woman, who was extricated from her car, and two others involved in the collision were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, Fransen said.

The CHP issued a Sig-alert for the crash and closed three lanes, but all lanes were reopened a short time before 3:30 p.m.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Sheriff Warns Of Phone Scam Seeking $500 For Missing Jury Duty

Scammers are calling people in Santa Cruz County claiming to be sheriff’s deputies and telling them they should use a money card to pay $500 fines for missing jury duty, sheriff’s officials said Tuesday.

The male perpetrator of the scheme calls victims while pretending to be “Lt. Pierson” or “Sgt. Joseph Kelly” and warns them they need to pay the $500 over the phone using a Green Dot-brand prepaid cards, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Kelly Kent.

The caller tells victims that if they do not pay the bond for missing jury duty, they will face immediate arrest, Kent said.

So far, the victims of the swindle range in age from 52 to 62 years old and no one has sent in money except for a 62-year-old woman who agreed to place $2,000 on a cash card, Kent said.

Scammers like the Green Dot cards because they are reloadable debit cards but are not linked to bank accounts and the transactions are untraceable, sheriff’s officials said.

The sheriff’s office does not call people asking them to make payments on Green Dot cards and if someone fails to appear for jury duty, they receive a post card in the mail with contact instructions printed on it, Kent said.

The best thing people contacted by the scammer can do is to say they are aware of the scam and to give “the caller a piece of their mind,” Kent said.

County Emergency Communications Center Gets Phone System Upgrade

The communications center that handles emergency calls for Contra Costa County just got a major upgrade to its phone system that paves the way for new technology meant to improve the response to 911 calls.

The new telephone system was installed earlier this month at the Contra Costa Regional Fire Communications Center in Pleasant Hill, where dispatchers answer 911 calls for the majority of the county’s 1.09 million residents, Kody Kerwin, the center’s telecommunications manager, said Tuesday.

“As our population continues to grow and technologies advance, we need to ensure that when an emergency call is received we have the right tools in place to protect and serve the citizens of Contra Costa County,” Kerwin said.

The upgraded phone system will allow the call center to more quickly incorporate future technologies, such as those that pinpoint a caller’s location.

One technological upgrade the fire communications center is eyeing is a system that allows callers to text instead of calling 911 — something that is available in some states but not yet in California, according to Kerwin.

As before, the upgraded phone system is configured so that callers can reach emergency communications personnel even if the communications center itself becomes flooded, damaged or inundated with calls.

The $400,000 phone system was funded by the state, Kerwin said.

Organized Thieves Steal Keys, High-End Autos From Luxury Dealership

San Jose police are looking for suspects in the organized nighttime theft last Friday of five vehicles from a luxury automobile dealership in west San Jose, a police spokesman said Tuesday.

At 10:23 a.m. Friday, police responded to a report about a burglary and car thefts in the 3800 block of Stevens Creek Boulevard near Saratoga Avenue, police Officer Albert Morales said.

Farzan Vassigh, the general sales manager for Formula 1 Motors at 3896 Steven Creek Blvd., confirmed that a group of up to eight suspects broke into his business at 3:35 a.m. Friday, based on surveillance video of the robbery.

The suspects appeared to have a sophisticated plan that included casing the dealership while in two or three cars. One suspect kicked in a window of the business without the alarm sounding and disappeared for about 20 minutes, Vassigh said.

“They broke the (alarm) system,” Vassigh said.

At least one suspect then brought out a board containing more than 40 keys to the dealers’ cars and other suspects joined in as the keys were strewn on the ground, picked up and specific cars targeted, he said.

“They were so organized, that’s the way they did it,” Vassigh said.

The group of suspects used the keys to drive away in five new, high-end vehicles, each the highest priced models with the fewest miles on the odometer, he said.

The makes of the stolen vehicles included two supercharged Range Rover SUVs, a BMW, Mercedes-Benz and a Porsche, he said.

The suspects also left with keys to other vehicles still at the lot, leaving them vulnerable to future thefts, Vassigh said.

He estimated the loss for the business, including the stolen autos and keys, at $200,000 to $300,000.

The dealership has ordered many new keys and put in a chain around the cars displayed at the business, Vassigh said.

Managers watched the surveillance video of the robbery with police, according to Vassigh. The dealership has no reason to believe any current or former employees were responsible for the robbery, he said.

Formula 1 Motors specializes in luxury autos, mostly ones from Europe, he said.

The suspects remain at large, according to Morales.

18-Year-Old Man Fatally Shot Saturday Identified

A young man who was fatally shot in East Oakland on Saturday night was identified by police Tuesday as 18-year-old Alex Breggs of Oakland.

The shooting occurred at about 7:05 p.m. Saturday in the 8700 block of Hillside Street near 88th Avenue, police said.

After he was shot, Breggs was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

No arrests have been made in the case and police haven’t disclosed a possible motive for the shooting.

Coast Guard Still Cleaning 20-50 Gallons Of Fuel Spilled Near Fisherman’s Wharf

Crews are continuing to clean up 20 to 50 gallons of fuel that leaked into San Francisco Bay near Fisherman’s Wharf on Saturday from a World War II-era cargo ship, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The fuel spill was reported at 10:56 a.m. at San Francisco’s Pier 45, where the SS Jeremiah O’Brien is moored.

The SS Jeremiah O’Brien is one of two functional Liberty ships of thousands that were built during World War II and is a popular tourist attraction.

The fuel leaked out of the port side of the ship during an internal fuel transfer, according to the Coast Guard.

Lt. j.g. Jacob Aulner said Tuesday that exactly what caused the leak remains under investigation.

The Coast Guard and other oil spill response organizations deployed 6,000 feet of absorbent boom to contain the spill in the Hyde Street Harbor.

They are monitoring the water around the Jeremiah O’Brien from Pier 39 to Aquatic Park for any other signs of fuel leakage but so far it seems to be contained.

“Everything’s going really well,” Aulner said.

Coast Guard officials said they will continue monitoring the area until the spill is completely cleaned.