Tuesday, May 22, 2012
In November, John Peder Harris was speeding and ran a red light, striking another vehicle and killing the mother and daughter inside. He plead not guilty. The case continues Wednesday in court.
John Peder Harris is due back at the Contra Costa County's Superior Court in Martinez Wednesday morning after the case was pushed up from an April 12 appearance. Harris, 32, of Walnut Creek, pleaded not guilty on March 8 to two counts of vehicle manslaughter with gross negligence. On Nov. 7, according to a Danville Police investigation, Harris was traveling west on Sycamore Valley Road in a Toyota 4-Runner when he ran a red light at the Brookside Drive intersection, hitting a Dodge Durango and killing the mother and daughter inside. Harris was charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence for his role in the Nov. 7 collision. Elham Pirdavari, 51, of Danville, was driving the Durango and her mother, Mahin Dowlati, …
38.01807
-122.134
725 Court St, Martinez, CA
/articles/john-peder-harris
/locations/7076565
For four hours Sunday night, the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District worked on saving a cow stuck in the mud in San Ramon.
When a bovine is stuck up to its belly in a pond, how do you get it out? The San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District faced — and eventually answered — that question near Ivy Hill Way and Albion Road in San Ramon on Sunday night. San Ramon Valley Fire was alerted to the distressed female bovine at about 8 p.m., Battalion Chief Derek Krause said. After taking some slurps of water (presumably), the cow had wandered too deep into the pond and could not get out. On the shore, the cow's calf paced nervously. The department brought in search and rescue. They illuminated the area with floodlights and pumped the water out of the pond. But with most of the water gone, the cow was still bogged down, belly-deep in mud. Though it was a last resort, …
A 29-year-old Richmond mother with her infant in a stroller was arrested after she allegedly brandished a knife when employees at an El Cerrito Plaza business tried to detain her for suspected shoplifting, police said today, Tuesday.
A Richmond woman with her 11-month-old son in a stroller was arrested for investigation of robbery and other charges after she allegedly brandished a knife at employees of a business at El Cerrito Plaza who tried to detain her for theft, El Cerrito police said Tuesday. It was one of two arrests of alleged knife-wielding suspects in separate incidents announced by police Tuesday. In the mother-with-infant case, police were dispatched about 1:09 p.m. last Wednesday, May 16, in response to a report of a person brandishing a knife at the Plaza, according to a police news release. Employees had tried to stop the woman after she "attempted to leave the business without paying for some merchandise," the release said. When employees attempted to …
Roger Hernandez, D-West Covina, was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence in Concord on March 27.
A state assemblyman from Southern California has pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence in connection with a March DUI arrest in Concord. Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Bobbi Spinola said Tuesday that Roger Hernandez, D-West Covina, pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor DUI counts on May 8. Hernandez, 36, is scheduled to appear in court on June 20 for a pretrial conference, Spinola said. The assemblyman and assistant majority whip was arrested March 27 at about 2 a.m. after police observed his vehicle weaving on the road and the driver failing to use signals near Concord Avenue and Meridian Park Boulevard, police said. After blood test results released in April indicated that Hernandez had a blood-…
The man arrested in connection with Sierra LaMar's kidnapping and death also is suspected of assaulting a woman in Morgan Hill three years ago.
Two and a half months after Morgan Hill teenager Sierra LaMar disappeared, investigators said Tuesday the 15-year-old is dead. "We have adequate facts, we have strong facts to believe she has been murdered," Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said. Antolin Garcia-Torres, 21, was arrested for the girl's kidnapping and murder Monday night in Morgan Hill. Investigators suspect Garcia-Torres attacked at least one woman in Morgan Hill in 2009. "There were three assaults in Morgan Hill about three years ago ... We have linked one of those to our suspect through forensic evidence," Smith said. There's much more about the Sierra LaMar case, and updates later in the day, at this link to Gilroy Patch.
Robert Wyatt pleads no contest to vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in crash that killed Edward Phillips in Rossmoor in December 2010.
Patch had a couple of inquiries from readers and has confirmed a plea bargain and sentence for lawyer Robert Wyatt, who was the driver of a car that struck and killed Edward Phillips, 85, of Rossmoor on Dec. 10, 2010. Wyatt, 71, of Rossmoor, pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, a felony, said Assistant District Attorney Matthew Caron. Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Clare Maier on April 30 sentenced Wyatt to three years of felony formal probation, including 90 days of jail, Caron said. Wyatt was ordered to pay victim restitution to Phillips' family. The judge also ordered him to abstain from alcohol during the term of the probation, and revoked his driver's license for a year, Caron said. According to …
Antolin Garcia-Torres, 21, of San Martin, was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and murdering Sierra LaMar.
Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Investigators have arrested Antolin Garcia-Torres, 21, of San Martin in connection with the disappearance of Morgan Hill teen Sierra LaMar. Garcia-Torres was booked into the Santa Clara County Jail on one count of murder and one count of kidnapping Monday night, Sheriff’s Sgt. Jose Cardoza wrote in a prepared statement. Detectives reportedly took Garcia-Torres, who owns the red VW associated with Sierra's disappearance, from a Safeway on Tenant Avenue in Morgan Hill at around 6 p.m., and questioned him for two hours before booking him, KTVU reports. Garcia-Torres' DNA was reportedly found on clothing items belonging to Sierra that were in her backpack, a KTVU article states. However, it’s not clear where the …
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Walnut Creek police reports from May 11 to May 14.
Friday, May 11 Ouch. A bicyclist was injured when he lost control of his bike and slammed into a telephone pole on 700 block of Ygnacio Valley Road at 10:59a.m. Get well! Beer run. A convenience store clerk refused to sell beer to an underage customer on the 300 block of North Civic Drive at 3:04 p.m. The unknown customer left $20 and still took the beer. Double parking. Please do not double-park on Main Street if you are dropping off or picking up a student who attends the ballet school. Thanks! Lock your bikes, kids. Two 23-inch Jamis kids bicycles were stolen from the bike racks at Valley Verde Elementary School. Saturday, May 12 Jamaican me crazy! A caller reported that a Jamaican telemarketer offered to come to her house to trade a $…
Friday, May 18, 2012
Neighbors react to the arrest of Spencer Freeman Smith, the San Ramon resident arrested in connection with Tuesday night's fatal hit and run crash.
The San Ramon man arrested on suspicion of killing Bo Hu in a hit-and-run crash Tuesday night lives less than three miles from where it happened. Spencer Freeman Smith, 32, a lawyer in San Francisco, was arrested at his Baker Way home on Thursday night by Dublin police detectives and booked at Santa Rita Jail on charges of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and felony hit-and-run. Smith's home on Baker Way is located 2.7 miles from where Hu was killed at the intersection of Dougherty Road and Fall Creek Way in Dublin. Neighbors said they saw police cars at Smith's home on Thursday night and saw a tow truck take a black Mercedes out of the garage. Parts believed to be from the same type of car were recovered at the accident scene…
He suffered minor injuries, police report.
- POLICE & FIRE
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Friday, May 18
A motorcycle rider suffered minor injuries when he took a spill late Thursday morning at the intersection of North Main Street and Ygnacio Valley Road. The motorcycle, southbound on North Main Street, spilled after another vehicle cut in front of it, Walnut Creek police reported. The motorcyclist was transported to an area hospital. The accident was reported at 11:38 a.m. Thursday.
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Ygnacio Valley Rd & N Main St, Walnut Creek, CA
/articles/motorcyclist-injured-in-north-main-st-spill
/locations/7054616
josh
7:32 pm on Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Whether the cause of the accident was a seizure or not, he is still responsible. He drove knowing that he has the possibility of having seizures, which there is medication for. My father is on it and it takes away any chance he could have a seizure. So I ask this, was this guy on seizure mediation, and if so, was he actually taking it? Unlikely. Which makes it totally his responsibility. Also, … more ›