Captain Sandra Tong: Police Beat

I want to remind everyone right off that the SF Police Commission and SF Police Department command staff will be holding a meeting at the Richmond Police Station on April 23, at 6 p.m. This meeting will replace our regularly scheduled community meeting originally slated for April 15.

Alert Store Employees
While on bicycle patrol on Clement Street, officer "Eddie" Chow responded to a call of a person attempting to pass a forged check. Chow detained the suspect and transported her to the Richmond Station for further investigation.

Sergeant Tom Lee and officers Chow and Eddie Wu read the suspect her Miranda rights and then interviewed the suspect. The suspect admitted to a crime of forgery, but upon further investigation the officers discovered that the suspect had 10 different pieces of identification with checks and credit cards the suspect was using in her forgery crime spree.

The officers were also able to tie together an earlier forgery incident at another store to the suspect. When the investigation was completed, Lee, Chow and Wu charged the suspect with 18 felony counts for forgery. Fortunately, this crime spree was stopped.

Outstanding Work by Richmond Officers
Officers Rose Castro and Robert Ramos responded to a call of an assault at a medical building.

The victim said a man approached him asking for a cigarette. Suddenly, the suspect punched the victim in the eye and mouth.

Sergeant Peter Dacre and officers Gary Fagundes, Steven Mooney and Kate Waaland responded to the scene. While Dacre watched the street, the other officers commenced a systematic room-by-room search of the medical building.

When the officers heard a noise on the roof, they went up to investigate. While the officers were on the roof, Dacre saw the suspect jump off the roof and start running. After a brief foot chase, the suspect was taken into custody.

The witness confirmed the identity of the suspect. He was transported to Richmond Station and booked for felony assault.

Rifle on Geary Boulevard
A man was walking his dog in the 400 block of 45th Avenue when the dog urinated on a lawn. The owner of the house came out and yelled at the dog owner for letting the dog urinate on his property. After a brief verbal exchange, the suspect retrieved a Winchester rifle from his residence and pointed the rifle at the victim. The man, fearing for his life, ran to his home and called 9-1-1. Lieutenant Teri Barrett, sergeants William Dougherty, Gerry Ishida, Tom Lee and Peter Dacre and officers Lance Martin, Mark Lundin, Tim Yee, Robert Wong, William Tercero, Troy Carrasco and Nick Bryant responded to the scene and set up a perimeter around the suspect's house. The officers first tried to contact the residence by telephone but no number was available. Then Barrett, Dacre, Lee and Lundin approached the house and knocked on the door to confirm that the suspect was still home. The suspect opened the door and then shut it rapidly. The police officers demanded that the suspect come out of the house and he complied. The victim made a positive identification and the suspect was arrested. The rifle was retrieved and booked into evidence for safekeeping. The degree of leadership and teamwork by the responding officers led to a speedy apprehension of the suspect. Cars for Sale in Violation of the Law Officers Charles Tanaka and Alvaro Schor located a vehicle parked and unattended with "for sale" signs on Anza Street near Park Presidio Boulevard. The vehicle was in violation of 710.2 MPC (on street sale prohibited). The law states that no vehicle may display for sale signs unless the owner is parked within 600 feet of the registered owner's address. After checking the vehicle's registration, the officers found out it was registered to a Redwood City address. During an inventory search of the vehicle, previous citations and warning notices were found under the driver's seat, signifying that the person in charge of this vehicle knew the vehicle was being cited and knew the warnings but ignored them. City Tow towed the vehicle for violation of 710.2 MPC.

Capt. Sandra Tong is the commanding officer at the Richmond District Police Station.