Fire Crews Douse One-Alarm Fire At Historic Home

Fire crews battled a four-alarm fire that nearly consumed a church in San Jose Sunday afternoon, fire officials said.

Firefighters responded to the blaze at the Holy Cross Parish at 580 E. Jackson St. around 2:20 p.m., a dispatcher said. Crews contained the blaze around 5 p.m., although firefighters remained on scene all night, said fire spokesman Mike Van Elgort.

One neighbor said she saw the roof collapse and a cross fall to the ground, she said.

“Glass started shattering from the front of the porch (at the church) from all the pressure inside,” Cobos said.

The afternoon mass service had just ended and there were several people inside the building when the fire started, Van Elgort said. He said all of the people inside got themselves out of the building by the time fire crews arrived.

Initial reports indicated the fire started on the second floor near the pipe organ, but Van Elgort said the official cause has not yet been determined and is subject to investigation.

Van Elgort described the damage as “extensive,” but shied away from calling it a total loss.

“I’ve seen some amazing rebuilds,” Van Elgort said. “It’s certainly uninhabitable and at risk of collapse.”

The historic building was founded as a mission of the St. Patrick’s Church in 1906, according to the church’s website. One firefighter was treated for a medical complaint sustained while he was battling the blaze, Van Elgort said.

Roughly 80 to 100 firefighters and command staff responded to the fire, Van Elgort said.

Highway 29 Open Following Possible Homicide Investigation

Police closed state Highway 29 for most of the day on Sunday due to a homicide investigation in a rural area in Napa County, according to the Napa County Sheriff’s office.

Police responded to a report of a woman in her mid- to late-50s found injured in the southbound lane of Highway 29 near Old Lawley Toll Road around 4:45 a.m. The highway reopened at around 5:15 p.m., sheriff’s officials said.

Sheriff’s deputies found the woman suffering from major injuries and airlifted her to the Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, but she died while en route, according to sheriff’s officials.

The rural area where the woman was found has few pedestrians and investigators have not found a vehicle associated with the incident. They are investigating the incident as a possible homicide, sheriff’s officials said.

Highway 29 was closed in both directions between Tubbs Lane and Robert Louis Stevenson State Park.

Suspected Dui Crash Results In Almost 200 Customers Without Power, Phone Service

Police arrested a 20-year-old man on suspicion of driving under the influence and crashing into a pole that disrupted power and phone service for almost 200 customers early Sunday morning, police said.

Around 12:30 a.m., the man was driving a new sports car northbound in the 500 block of Eucalyptus Avenue at high speeds, police said.

The man lost control of the car and crashed into a PG&E power pole that fell down and sheared off an AT&T phone line control panel at Eucalyptus Avenue and Tamarack Lane, according to police.

The man, later identified as South San Francisco resident Juan Lopez, fled the scene but was caught by police near the crash scene, police said.

Police arrested Lopez on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood alcohol content level of 0.08 percent or more, driving while under age 21 and resisting arrest, police said.

The customers affected by the power outage also lost AT&T phone service, police said.

Cigarette Caused House Fire That Displaced 3 People

Fire officials said an unattended cigarette was likely the cause of a one-alarm fire that displaced three people in Hayward Sunday morning.

Fire spokesman Don Nichelson said the family’s son was smoking a cigarette in the downstairs bedroom when he put it in an ashtray and walked away.

Firefighters responded to the fire at the two-story house in the 25600 block of Soto Road north of Harder Road around 7:50 a.m., Nichelson said.

Crews extinguished the blaze by 8:05 a.m., but not before it had spread to a second-floor bedroom, rendering it uninhabitable, Nichelson said.

No injuries were reported.

Nichelson said he didn’t yet know how much the estimated damage would cost. The family is staying with relatives in the meantime, he said.

Bart Charging $1 Parking Fee At Airport Beginning Monday

Drivers parking their cars at the Oakland International Airport BART station will have to pay a $1 parking fee beginning today, BART officials said.

BART officials first announced the new parking fee at four stations in the Bay Area on Oct. 6. Officials implemented the first fee at the Concord BART station on Oct. 27, followed by the North Concord station on Nov. 12.

The Hayward station will begin charging for parking on Dec. 8, BART officials said.

The daily fees are required for parking between 4 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the stations.

BART officials said all of the revenue generated from the new parking fees will be placed into a special account to be used only for programs to improve station access, including shuttle and feeder service to stations, and “much needed” station rehabilitation and modernization.

Police Arrest 18-Year-Old, Juvenile For Homicide

Police arrested a juvenile and an 18-year-old man Sunday on suspicion of murdering a Seaside man on Wednesday, police said.

Officers responded to a report of a shooting at a house in the 1200 block of Hamilton Avenue on Wednesday at 8:20 p.m. Police said the man, identified as 23-year-old Isaac David Iglesias, died from his injuries at a hospital in Salinas on Thursday.

Police arrested Sergio Guevara Calvo and a juvenile on suspicion of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and participation in a criminal street gang.

Police said the shooting was random and the victim was not involved with a gang.

Both Calvo and the juvenile are also suspected of committing an attempted murder and participating in a criminal street gang for a shooting they allegedly participated in the night after Iglesias was shot, police said.

The shooting on Thursday occurred near San Pablo Avenue and Darwin Street in Seaside. Police said no one was injured in that shooting.

Fire Crews Douse One-Alarm Fire At Historic Home

Fire crews extinguished a fire at an abandoned historic home in Hercules Sunday, fire officials said.

Rodeo Hercules Acting Battalion Chief Darren Johnson said firefighters responded to a structure fire at 12:58 p.m. in a building on Railroad Avenue at Santa Fe Avenue near a set of railroad tracks parallel to the San Francisco Bay Trail.

Johnson said the building was a historic home that had been moved approximately 15 years ago and was sitting on wooden platforms 5 feet above the ground.

Firefighters were unable to access the elevated structure and it was almost entirely consumed by flames by the time fire crews arrived, Johnson said.

Brush, grass, railroad ties and fence posts were also burning, Johnson said, and the structure could not be salvaged.

There were no injuries reported.

2 Men Injured In Shooting On Telegraph Ave.

Police are seeking two suspects in a shooting Sunday morning in Oakland that left two people injured, police said.

Officers responded to a report of a shooting in the 2100 block of Telegraph Avenue at 9:43 a.m., police said.

Two men were on the street when two suspects shot them, police said. The men were transported to a local hospital in stable condition.

The suspects left the scene in a vehicle, but police said they had no description of the vehicle or the suspects at this time.

Police said they did not know whether the victims knew the suspects.

Man Suspected Of Robbing, Raping Two Prostitutes Arrested

A 24-year-old man suspected of raping two prostitutes in separate incidents in October and earlier this month in Pleasanton was arrested on a search warrant in Oakland on Friday, police said.

Police arrested Rashad Joshua Costello, of Oakland, with assistance from the East County Tactical Team, police said.

On Oct. 6, Costello allegedly removed a handgun from his waistband and robbed a prostitute of her money and iPad before raping her during an arranged meeting at a Pleasanton motel, according to police.

Costello was also identified as a suspect in a similar incident on Nov. 5, when officers responded to a report of a man armed with a gun at a local hotel around 2 p.m., police said.

A prostitute told police she arranged to meet with a man at a hotel to provide services. The man forced his way into the room, struck her in the face by swinging the door, pulled out a handgun and threatened her and later beat her in the face with the gun, police said.

The suspect fled the scene before officers arrived but police were able to recover a handgun they believe was used in the crime, police said.

DNA evidence and evidence at Costello’s home linked him to both cases and the female victims identified him in a lineup, police said.

Costello was arrested and booked into Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of forcible rape, robbery, forced oral copulation, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, assault with intent to commit rape and criminal threats, police said.

Weather Forecast For The San Francisco Bay Area

Partly cloudy skies are likely Bay Area this morning. Highs are expected to be in the mid 60s to lower 70s with northeasterly winds of up to 15 mph.

Partly cloudy skies are likely in the Bay Area this evening before becoming partly cloudy. Lows are expected to be in the lower 50s, with easterly winds of up to 15 mph.

Partly cloudy skies are likely Tuesday morning before becoming mostly cloudy. Highs are expected to be in the mid 60s to lower 70s with northeasterly winds of up to 10 mph.