Crime Blotter: Anti-Smoking Dog, Charred Car, Bike Fight and More

Hold On to Your Bike On May 23 around 5:15 p.m., officers were dispatched to the area of Village Bottle Shop, 1577 E. 14th St., regarding a robbery. The victim told officers she had locked her and her son’s bikes to a light pole in front of the store and then walked around the corner to a candy shop.

When the mother and son came back to get their bikes, the woman noticed a man standing in the area, she told officers. When she unlocked her son’s bike, the man tried to grab it from her, yelling that it was his bicycle.

The victim managed to get the bike away from the man, but he tried to grab it back, pushing the woman when she fought to keep the bicycle.

A witness saw the incident and told officers he tried to get part the two struggling over the bicycle. The witness asked the suspect what color his bicycle was, and he said orange. Neither of the bicycles was orange, according to the police report. The witness and another person who observed the incident both said they thought the man trying to get the bike was intoxicated, according to the police report.

Officers arrested the man and transported him to jail.

Stalk, Then Flee On May 26 about 8:15 p.m., an officer was dispatched to a residence on Grand Avenue regarding a court order violation. A woman at the address told the officer that she was in her apartment when she heard loud music coming from a vehicle and looked out her window to see her ex-boyfriend driving a Buick Century. The ex-boyfriend had a temporary restraining order that prohibited him from contacting or being near the woman’s residence, according to the police report.

While the officer was finishing the woman’s statement in the patrol car, he saw the Buick drive by. The officer followed the vehicle onto Grand and then Estudillo avenues, and then westbound onto I-580, according to the police report.

The suspect vehicle was changing lanes on the freeway recklessly, then exited the freeway at 98th Avenue, cutting off several vehicles and causing the drivers to slam on their brakes and nearly crash, according to the reporting officer.

Another officer joined the chase, which continued into Oakland until the driver finally stopped the Buick on 90th Avenue. The officers ordered the suspect to show them his hands, which he did at first, but then began to move his hands towards his waistband, according to the police report.

After repeated commands from the officers, the suspect exited his vehicle and lay on the pavement, according to police. He was taken into custody. No firearms were found.

Don’t Smoke or I’ll Bite On May 27 around 4:30 p.m., an officer responded to a report that a woman had been bitten by a Rottweiler at Washington Manor Park.

The woman and her husband were at the park with their five children. The wife saw a man sitting on a park bench smoking a cigarette and holding a Rottweiler on a leash, she told the officer. She asked the man for a cigarette. The man said yes and reached into his pocket.

The woman began to approach the man but got nervous about the dog. The dog owner said it wouldn’t bite her and pulled out an extra cigarette. When the woman reached for it, the dog lunged forward and bit her left arm, according to the police report.

After the dog released her, the woman backed away and saw four puncture wounds to her arm. Her husband told the dog owner to leave the park and called the police. The man left with his dog.  

The Alameda County Fire Department responded first to the incident and attended to the dog bite. The woman refused any further medical treatment and said she would take herself to San Leandro Hospital. The police officer went to the hospital to wait for the woman and her family. When they didn’t show up, the officer called their cell phone, and was told they did not want any police follow-up, according to the report.

Charred Monte Carlo In the wee hours of May 29, around 12:45 a.m., officers responded to a report of a vehicle fire at 2100 Adams Ave. The caller said he was driving and saw a large fire on the north side of Adams Avenue as he turned onto the street.

As he drove closer, a man in a white shirt driving a metallic blue Chevrolet Avalanche passed him at high speed with the lights turned off, the witness told officers. Then the witness saw that the fire was a burning car and called the police.

Firefighters responded to the scene, and later told the officer it appeared an accelerant had been used to make the car burn fast and hot. Every non-metal surface in the car had been reduced to ash and the exterior was severely burned, the officer reported.

A computer check on the front license plate found that the car was a black 2001 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Police tried to contact the Chevy's registered owner person to whom the car was registered by phone and at his home that night without success, according to the police report.