*Names and other specific information to identify persons are intentionally omitted. All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty. Charges may be changed or dropped. This is not a reflection of every police activity, but rather a selective summary.
October 3
Just after midnight an Officer had pulled over a vehicle for a minor infraction. While talking to this driver, another vehicle drove past crossing over the center line and almost hitting oncoming traffic. The officer quickly warned the other driver and caught up to this vehicle. The car continued swerving almost going off the road several times. When he pulled over, there inside of car smelled of beer, there were empty beer cans all over the car and the driver had very noticeable signs of intoxication. His preliminary blood alcohol was 0.17. The legal limit is 0.08. He was placed under arrest for driving under the influence. The driver also had a warrant from San Joaquin County.
October 5
Early in the morning, officers saw a car parked in a private parking lot. They pulled up to check on the driver and a passenger. The passenger was on probation which allows searching at any time. Officers also learned the driver had an outstanding warrant from Napa County. While searching the car, officers located several hypodermic needles and methamphetamine. The meth was seized and because it was a relatively small amount and is a misdemeanor, they were released with citations promising to appear in court.
Officers responded to River Road for a report of a vandalism to personal property. Apparently, a customer as Chevron thought they saw someone steal from the store. That person followed the “thief” from there to their home and decided to take the law into their own hands. They threw a rock at a car window and slashed the tires of the car. The victim knows the suspects family and that there may be mental health issues. They decided to handle this civilly, with the suspect paying for the damage caused. No one wished to press charges.
October 8
There is a patch of oleanders on River Road near North Front Street. This section of the road belongs to the state, but the state gave the city permission to remove the oleanders as they were becoming overgrown and a potential hazard. Numerous transients live in those bushes. Starting on October 1st, officers contacted those in the bushes nearly every day letting them know when the bushes would be removed. They would not be “evicted” from those bushes, as the law currently does not allow that. However, they would be required to remove their belongings and be gone from the area to allow the work to be done. On the morning the work started, there were still several transients in the bushes stating they didn’t think we were serious. They spent the morning gathering their belongings and the work was allowed to progress.
Dispatch received a call of ten persons fighting on Hamilton Avenue. The entire shift responded including a Deputy Sheriff who was in the area. After we arrived, we learned there were only two people fighting and another person tried to break up the fight. There were some minor injuries, and they were treated by paramedics. One of the parties wanted to press charges on the other, so this report was provided to the DA for potential filing.
We received a report of fraud and theft. The victim was doing some online banking at home and a pop-up came onto her computer screen. She then received a call from someone claiming to be from the bank who could help her. After the scheme was over, the victim was missing as much as $3,000 from her bank account. There are several leads in this case and it remains under investigation.