Two Men Killed In Separate Incidents Less Than Two Hours Apart

Two men were killed in separate incidents less than two hours apart in Oakland on Sunday, police said.

Officers responded to a report of a shooting in the 800 block of 46th Street near Martin Luther King Jr. Way around 7:20 p.m., Oakland police Officer J. Moore said.

Arriving officers found a man shot several times and he was pronounced dead at 7:34 p.m., Moore said.

Around 9:15 p.m., officers responded to a report of a stabbing in the 1400 block of Chestnut Street near Lowell Park.

A caller who reported the incident said the man was found with multiple lacerations inside a home, police said.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene, Moore said.

No one has been arrested in either incident, according to Moore.

Two Men Killed In Separate Incidents Less Than Two Hours Apart

A construction project on the Bay Bridge’s western span has been suspended after commuters experienced significant delays on Friday, Caltrans officials announced Sunday.

The project was set to replace six expansion joints on the bridge’s upper deck and place steel plates on the roadway to accommodate the work, Caltrans spokesman Bob Haus said.

The project started on Friday and was scheduled to continue for two months, he said.

Haus said motorists driving over the tapered plates would likely slow down or come to a complete stop until they are used to driving over the plates.

Haus said people do generally slow down when going over the plates, but there is no need to come to a complete stop before driving over them.

Caltrans engineers will be looking into other options for the project that would have a lesser impact on traffic, according to Haus.

Inmate Found Dead In Cell Saturday Night Identified

An inmate booked into the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility in Santa Rosa on Friday and found dead Saturday night has been identified as 50-year-old transient Rhonda Jean Everson, the sheriff’s office reported Sunday.

At 9:30 p.m. Saturday, a nurse dispensing medication in a special housing unit at the jail found Everson unresponsive inside a cell, Sonoma County sheriff’s Sgt. Cecile Focha said.

After a correctional deputy could not detect a pulse, other jail personnel were called to the scene and paramedics arrived but life-saving attempts failed and Everson was pronounced dead at 9:49 p.m., deputies said.

Everson was arrested and booked into the jail Friday on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance, bringing a controlled substance into a jail and violating felony probation, according to Focha.

Jail medical employees screened the inmate and because Everson had an extensive history of substance abuse and associated medical concerns, she was assigned to a special housing unit for inmates going through withdrawals from drug abuse, deputies said.

Everson was placed into a cell in the unit at about 9:40 p.m. on Friday, Focha said.

She awoke Saturday morning and correctional deputies accounted for the inmate in twice-hourly rounds, deputies said.

There is no indication of injury or foul play and the circumstances behind the inmate’s death are still under investigation, according to Focha.

Detectives of the sheriff’s office are conducting the investigation, she said.

2 Injured In Hit-And-Run Collision At Downtown Intersection

Two people were injured in a hit-and-run collision in downtown San Francisco on Sunday evening, police said.

Officers responded to a report of a hit-and-run collision at Mason and Turk streets, north of Market Street, around 6:30 p.m.

A 50-year-old woman and an 80-year-old man, were struck by a light-colored BMW that fled the scene, police said.

Both people were transported to San Francisco General Hospital for injuries not considered life-threatening.

The driver fled west on Mason Street and remains at large, police said.

Driver Killed In Solo Car Crash This Morning

A person was killed in a solo vehicle crash near Novato on Sunday morning, Novato police said.

Novato police officers and firefighters responded to a report of a car crash in the 800 block of Atherton Avenue, east of U.S. Highway 101, around 8:30 a.m.

The driver was found dead inside the car and was the sole occupant, police said.

It appears the driver drove off the roadway and crashed into a tree, according to police.

The Marin County coroner’s office was called to the scene and the driver’s identity has not been released pending notification of next of kin.

Woman In Serious Condition After Fire Caused By Unattended Cooking

A woman suffered minor burns and is in serious condition following a one-alarm apartment fire in Pleasant Hill on Sunday afternoon, a fire official said.

Firefighters responded to a report of the fire in the 2100 block of Geary Road shortly after 4 p.m., Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Fire Marshal Robert Marshall said.

A second alarm response was called for but was quickly canceled, according to a dispatcher.

The blaze at the two-story building was under control around 4:25 p.m., Marshall said.

Once fire crews knocked down the fire, they searched through the building and located the woman in a second floor unit involved in the blaze, according to Marshall.

She was transported to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek for minor burns to her legs and smoke inhalation, he said.

The fire was caused by cooking left unattended on a kitchen stove inside the same unit where the woman was found, Marshall said.

The blaze primarily damaged the kitchen and burned walls around the stove of the involved unit, he said.

The fire also resulted in smoke damage throughout the apartment and water damage in the building, according to Marshall.

The fire caused an estimated $50,000 in damage, he said.

Marin, San Mateo Counties Had Bay Area’s Lowest Jobless Rates Last Month

Marin and San Mateo counties had the lowest unemployment rates in the Bay Area in September and the region’s counties all had levels lower than the average for California, state officials reported Friday.

Marin’s unemployed made up only 3.9 percent of its workforce of 145,800 people and San Mateo boasted of just 4.1 percent of its 414,000-person labor pool without jobs, according to the state Employment Development Department.

San Francisco and Napa counties had relatively low jobless rates of 4.4 percent each, with workforces of 499,400 and 80,900, respectively.

In the rest of the Bay Area, Santa Clara County had the next lowest rate at 5.2 percent and a workforce of 945,700 people, the region’s largest.

Contra Costa County had a rate of 5.7 percent among its 543,900 combined workers and jobless, as did Alameda County with its pool of 789,800 persons.

In Santa Cruz County, 6.2 percent of its labor pool of 150,900 people were jobseekers.

Solano County had 6.3 percent of its 219,100 workforce without jobs and Monterey County’s rate was 6.5 percent of its pool of 225,000 without work.

California’s unemployment rate dipped to 7.3 percent in September, compared to 8.8 percent for September 2013, with the number of jobs increasing by 297,000 during the year to 17.3 million people employed, state officials said.

The jobless rate for the United States in September was 5.9 percent, also down from the month last year, officials reported.

Three Arrested In Connection With Stabbing, Two Robberies

Police on Saturday arrested three people in connection with the stabbing and robbery of a homeless man and an attempted robbery of another man in Vacaville.

Daniel Ortiz, 20, of Fairfield, was arrested on suspicion of robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery, vehicle theft, possession of stolen property, felony evading, resisting an officer, conspiracy and probation violation.

Angel Alvarado, 19, of Fairfield, was arrested on suspicion of robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery and conspiracy.

A 17-year-old from Vacaville was arrested on suspicion of robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery, conspiracy and a probation violation.

Police responded at 5:14 a.m. to a gas station at 605 Elmira Road, where they located a transient man who had been beaten, stabbed and robbed.

Police said the man was sleeping when the suspects threw a beer bottle at him before running away.

Later, the man was walking near the gas station at 605 Elmira Road when the suspects returned and surrounded him.

Police said the victim ran away, but the suspects chased him, physically assaulted him and robbed him of a small amount of cash.

The victim was stabbed twice during the assault.

He was transported to the hospital with injuries that were not life threatening.

At around 6:38 a.m., police received a report of an attempted robbery that occurred at Nut Tree Road and Summerfield Drive.

Police said a second victim told investigators he was fishing when a green Honda pulled up next to him, and one of the occupants tried to rob him.

The victim was able to run away, and the suspects fled in the car.

Officers located the vehicle nearby and learned it was reported stolen from an address in Vacaville.

Police said officers tried to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle, but the driver, later identified as Ortiz, fled at a high rate of speed before crashing into a tree at an apartment complex in the 100 block of Summerfield Drive.

Police said Ortiz fled on foot but was apprehended a short time later, and the two other suspects, who had remained in the vehicle, were also taken into custody.

PG&E Agrees To Drastically Reduce Fees To Install Gunshot-Tracking

Installation of new devices to detect the sounds of gunshots in San Francisco will move forward after the utility company PG&E agreed Friday to drastically lower its fees, according to a spokeswoman.

PG&E, in a pact with the city and county of San Francisco, will immediately begin placing the gunshot-tracking devices on 35 of its telephone and power poles in the city, county Supervisor David Campos spokeswoman Carolyn Goossen said.

The sound-sensitive mechanisms are affixed to light poles, government buildings and schools to alert police about shootings within 40 feet of where the shots were fired, allowing officers to respond quickly, according to Goossen.

The San Francisco Police Department began using gunshot-tracking technology in 2008 in areas of the city with the highest levels of gun violence, city officials said.

Then last year, the department started a project to expand locations of the technology to include PG&E telephone and power poles, but the effort stalled when PG&E charged installation fees that were higher than anticipated, Goossen said.

On Friday, PG&E agreed to reduce its installation fee from $1,500 per pole to between $200 and $400 and to begin putting the devices in right away, she said.

Police Warn Residents About Potential Scams

San Francisco police are warning residents about several potential scams that have recently been reported in the area.

The scams include callers claiming to represent local government and soliciting donations for an earthquake relief fund and those who call grandparents claiming to be a grandchild in distress who needs money, according to police.

Other scammers claim they recently entered the country and have a large amount of money to donate to a church or charity that they need delivered by the victim after the victim provides “good faith money,” police said.

Still other scams involve mail theft, fraudulent home repair, sweepstakes and lotteries, according to police.

Anyone in San Francisco who believes they are the victim of a scam may contact the Police Department at (415) 553-0123.

Motorist Suffers Major Injuries After Veering Off Hillside Road In Castro Valley

The California Highway Patrol was at the scene of a major injury accident in Castro Valley in Alameda County where the driver was able to get out of their car after it veered off a hillside roadway.

At 7:52 a.m. Sunday, the CHP was dispatched about an injury accident at 27361 Palomares Road in a rural area about 4 miles east of Hayward and a mile south of Interstate Highway 580, the CHP said.

The driver of the vehicle left the roadway, located along a foothill near Palomares Creek, and suffered major injuries, the CHP reported.

The injured motorist was able to get out the vehicle on their own and a tow truck is using a 200-foot-long cable to remove the vehicle from an embankment, according to the CHP.

2.6-Magnitude Earthquakes Recorded In Santa Clara, Monterey Counties Saturday

Two earthquakes shook parts of Santa Clara and Monterey counties along the San Andreas Fault on Saturday and a stronger one hit Sunday morning next to the fault in Humboldt County, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

A 2.6-magnitude quake was recorded at 8:16 a.m. Saturday in unincorporated Santa Clara County about 4 miles east of the east foothills outside San Jose and at a depth of 4.3 miles, the USGS reported.

At 3:21 p.m. Saturday, another 2.6-magnitude temblor happened approximately 15 miles southeast of Soledad in Monterey County, around 2 miles below ground.

Then at 7:24 a.m. Sunday, the USGS reported a quake with a larger magnitude of 4.2 about 20 miles southwest of Rio Dell in Humboldt County, a city around 245 miles north of San Francisco.

The quake outside Rio Dell took place about 14 miles underground.

All three quakes occurred along the 810-mile San Andreas Fault that extends from northern California south to the Cajon Pass near San Bernardino in southern California, according to the USGS.

Two Injured In Road Rage Shooting

The California Highway Patrol is investigating a Saturday night shooting that occurred near Interstate Highway 580 in Alameda County.

Officers responded at 7:43 p.m. to an area near Interstate Highway 580, west of Interstate Highway 205 in reference to a possible road rage incident.

Officers said a gray Audi and a white Toyota were approaching the Interstate Highway 205 interchange, when the driver of the Toyota pulled along side the Audi, and a passenger in the Toyota fired several shots at the other vehicle, injuring two occupants of the Audi.

The driver of the Audi pulled the car over, and the occupants called 911.

The victims were men, 22, 23, and 23 years old, and the two shot suffered major injuries, according to the CHP.

The suspects are described as two men in their 20s.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call the Dublin CHP office at (925) 828-0466.

Man Arrested For Alleged Stabbing In Road Rage Incident

A man was arrested in Livermore Saturday after California Highway Patrol officers said he stabbed another man Friday night in a road rage incident.

A CHP officer at around 9:45 p.m. was working detail at a Caltrans construction site near Interstate Highway 580 at North Livermore Avenue when the officer saw two drivers pull into the area, get out of their vehicles and begin fighting.

Officers said Mohsen Agib, 52, of Livermore, pulled a folding knife and stabbed the other driver several times.

The CHP officer was able to stop the altercation and take Agib into custody at the scene.

The victim was treated at the scene for his wounds and released.

Officers said investigators determined the two men were believed to be involved in a road rage incident prior to the confrontation.

Agib was taken to the hospital to be medically cleared for wounds he suffered in the altercation and was booked into jail Saturday morning.

Weather Forecast For The San Francisco Bay Area

Mostly cloudy skies are likely in the Bay Area this morning, with a chance of rain. Highs are expected to be in the 60s to lower 70s with southwesterly winds of up to 20 mph.

Partly cloudy skies are likely in the Bay Area this evening, with a chance of rain. Lows are expected to be in the 50s, with northwesterly winds of up to 20 mph.

Partly cloudy skies are likely Tuesday morning. Highs are expected to be in the 60s with northwesterly winds of up to 10 mph.