Crime Alert Bulletin
When I mention “the unit block” of a street, this means the incident occurred at an address anywhere between 1 and 99 of the street.
Notable Cases
On Thursday, 06-27-19 at 12:57 a.m., Officer Lizana was in the area of St. Francis Square when he heard tires screeching. He saw two vehicles driving recklessly and conducted a traffic stop on one of the vehicles near Southgate Avenue and Junipero Serra Boulevard. Officer Lizana smelled an odor of an alcoholic beverage on the driver, a 33-year old Daly City resident. Officer Lizana conducted field sobriety tests on the driver, and the driver failed the tests. Officer Brenes arrived on scene to assist in searching the subject’s vehicle before it was towed. Officer Brenes found a 9mm Beretta semi-automatic pistol concealed in a small handbag within a large handbag on the passenger seat. The magazine was loaded. Officer Lizana found a second loaded 9mm magazine. The subject was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and for being in possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle.
On Thursday, 06-27-19 at 3:55 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 400 block of Bellevue Avenue on a report of a fight in-progress between two males. Officer Covarrubias arrived to find a shirtless male subject standing at the intersection of Acton Street and Bellevue Avenue. The subject was yelling at customers inside the market. Officer Covarrubias arrested the 29-year old transient subject for public intoxication.
On Saturday, 06-29-19 at 11:32 p.m., Officer Reininger and Officer Collins conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle at San Jose Avenue and Wilson Street. The vehicle was reported stolen from BART’s jurisdiction. The subject, a 28-year old Daly City resident, rented the vehicle from “Getaround” and failed to return the vehicle at the specified agreed upon pick up location. Officers searched the subject incident to the arrest, and they found a glass pipe and also a baggie containing a white crystalline substance in the subject’s pocket of his pants. The subject was arrested for receiving stolen property, possession of a controlled substance and possession of narcotics paraphernalia.
On Sunday, 06-30-19 at 12:34 a.m., Officer Ciucci conducted a business check at the Loop gas station/convenience store on Hickey Boulevard. As he entered the store, he saw two subjects standing at the checkout counter, and one of the subjects appeared to be unable to stand without assistance. Officer Ciucci observed that the male subject appeared to be falling asleep while standing. The male had droopy eyelids and stared off into the distance. Suspecting the subject may be under the influence of a central nervous depressant, Officer Ciucci asked the subject’s friend if the subject was “okay”, and the friend said he was fine, and she would make sure he got home safely. The officer then saw the subject’s legs give out which caused the subject to knock over an entire display of caramel candies. Officer Ciucci assisted in picking up the candies and told the female that he was going to make sure the subject was okay. Officer Ciucci walked the subject out of the store by holding on to the subject’s backpack and asked the subject if he had any identification. Officer Ciucci asked the subject if he could search him for identification, and the subject agreed. Sgt. Moala arrived on scene to assist, and Officer Ciucci opened the subject’s backpack and found a semi-automatic firearm with a magazine inserted into the magazine well. The subject, a 27-year old Daly City resident, had outstanding warrants and was placed under arrest. Once learning that the male subject was placed under arrest, the female subject advised another officer on scene that the subject’s 7-year old son (and her step-son) was left alone and unattended in a hotel room in South San Francisco. Officers went to the hotel room and met with the child who willingly opened the door after he heard the knocks. The child had not been fed in over 12 hours, was not left with any provisions, and had no adult supervision. The officers brought the child to the station, provided him a meal and contacted Child Protective Services. The child’s step-grandfather was granted temporary custody of the child. At the station, Officer Ciucci conducted a complete search of the male’s backpack and found numerous pills and a baggie with a substance that tested positive for Fentanyl. The officer searched the female’s purse and handbag and found numerous pills which were all identified as controlled substances. The male was arrested for carrying a concealed firearm on a person, carrying a concealed a firearm as not the registered owner, possession a controlled substance while armed, possession of a controlled substance, felony child endangerment for three outstanding warrants. The female, a 23-year old San Francisco resident, was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, felony child endangerment, and for a misdemeanor warrant.
On Sunday, 06-30-19 at 2:00 a.m., Officer Graner was on patrol in the area of Southgate Avenue and Westmoor Avenue when he saw a vehicle failing to stay within the lane. Officer Graner conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle and administered field sobriety tests to the driver to determine whether or not the driver was able to continue to drive. The driver, a 40-year old San Mateo resident, failed the tests. Officer Graner arrested her for driving under the influence of alcohol.
Robberies
There was one robbery during the past week.
On Thursday, 06-27-19 at 2:51 p.m., Officer Jackson-Berrios and Officer Perez were dispatched to the Target store on a report of a subject fighting with Target security officers. The officers arrived after security had detained a female in handcuffs and moved her to a security office. The female began sliding to the floor, complaining of an asthma attack. Fire department personnel and medics arrived, and they determined the subject did not need to be transported to the hospital. The loss prevention officer from Target explained he was conducing surveillance on the sales floor and saw the female select a large amount of batteries and place them in her cart, covering the batteries with clothing. The loss prevention officer said the subject made other selections and proceeded to the mall entrance doors. The loss prevention officer said the wheels on the cart locked up, and the subject grabbed another cart, transferred the items and exited the store without paying for the items. Two loss prevention officers confronted the subject, and the subject pushed both of the loss prevention officers out of her way before she was detained. The officers arrested the female, a 38-year old San Francisco resident, for robbery.
Residential Burglaries
There were no residential burglaries during the past week.
Commercial Burglaries
There were two commercial burglaries during the past week.
On Wednesday, 06-26-19 between 9:57 p.m. and 10:09 p.m., two unknown suspects burglarized a classroom at the M.P. Brown School. There does not appear to be anything stolen.
On Thursday, 06-27-19 at approximately 5:57 p.m., a male and a female, both wearing hoodies over their heads, walked into the T-Mobile store at the Serramonte Shopping Center and cut the cords to six display phones and ran out of the store with the phones.
Vehicle Burglaries
There were five vehicle burglaries during the past week.
• Parking lot on the 2300 block of Junipero Serra Boulevard—an iPhone X was taken from the cup holder of a 2019 Honda Pilot. The front passenger window was smashed. Occurred on 06-24-19 between 9:00 a.m. and 9:39 a.m.
• Unit block of Crestwood Drive—an electronic delivery scanner was taken from a 2014 Toyota Prius. The right front window was smashed. Occurred between 5:00 p.m. on 06-25-19 and 7:00 a.m. on 06-26-19.
• Parking lot on the 7300 block of Mission Street—a backpack containing clothing was taken from a 2006 Ford F150. The right rear window was smashed. Occurred between 8:00 p.m. on 06-26-19 and 6:30 a.m. on 06-27-19.
• Carport on the 500 block of A Street—baseballs, a blanket and shoes were taken from a 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser. The rear window was smashed. Occurred between 5:30 p.m. on 06-26-19 and 6:00 a.m. on 06-27-19.
• Skyline Plaza parking lot near Sophia’s Salon—two purses—one containing identification
and $700 were taken from a 2011 Mercedes SUV. Occurred between midnight on 06-29-19
and 1:00 a.m. on 06-30-19.
Stolen Vehicles
There was one vehicle stolen during the past week.
• Westlake Shopping Center parking lot near Walgreen’s—a 1992 Plymouth Voyager. Occurred between 9:00 p.m. on 06-26-19 and 7:00 a.m. on 06-27-19.
Miscellaneous
• There were 6 domestic disturbance cases reported
• There were 7 shoplifting incidents reported
• There were 5 cases involving an involuntary psychiatric hold
• There were 10 malicious mischief/vandalism case reported
• There were 2 arrests for public intoxication
• There were 2 hit and run collisions reported
• There were 4 “boots” placed on cars for unpaid parking tickets
Scams/Other
“Can you do me a favor?”
Here is a new scam that has flooded the internet lately. And unfortunately, it has hit one of our Daly City residents. In this type of scam, it starts with an email—which could look like it has come from a boss, pastor/minister or principal of a school. The message might be something simple like, “Lucy, could you please email me back? I need a favor” or “Sally, are you available at the moment? I can’t talk, just send me an email when you receive this”. And then, another email will be sent saying, “I need you to pick up three Home Depot/Google play, etc. gift cards for… and I’ll pay you back.” Once the person buys the gift cards, the scammer asks the person to either take photos of the cards or asks for the numbers. Once the scammer gets the numbers, the scammer wins. The money is gone, and it is impossible to trace.
In our case, a 45-year old Daly City resident was working from home when she received an email from her “boss”. (The name WAS the victim’s boss, but not his email address). The “boss” asked the victim to run an errand for her as he was in a meeting and asked her to send her cell phone number. The victim provided her cell phone number and was promptly texted by another number—not her boss’s number. The subject told her to go to the store and load up Google play cards with various amounts. Once the victim purchased the cards, she was instructed to send the codes from the back of the card to the phone number. The subject was able to convince the victim to purchase $1,500 worth of cards. The victim eventually spoke with her boss who advised her that he did not ask her to purchase any Google play cards. PLEASE pass along this story to prevent people from losing their hard-earned money.
Social Security Scam—New Twist
By now, people should be aware of this scam, but sadly, they are not. Now there is a new twist to this scam. Those of us who know about this scam know that people are receiving calls from someone claiming that their social security numbers are compromised or used in a crime. The caller convinces the victim that in order to clear the record and not be arrested, that the victim must purchase Google Play (or other cards) to clear up the matter. The new twist is that the scammers have programmed OUR police department phone number on the caller I.D., which makes it seem somewhat legitimate. Today, within an hour, two people walked into our police department while STILL on the phone with the scammer! Of course, when our station supervisor spoke to the caller, the caller hung up.
Please DO NOT automatically believe when you are told your social security number has been comprised. Take the necessary steps to find out for yourself by contacting the Social Security Administration directly. According to the Social Security Administration’s website, reports about fraudulent phone calls from people claiming to be from the Social Security Administration are increasingly becoming more frequent, and the callers are becoming more threatening in their calls. If you suspect you have received a scam call, you should hang up and report details of the call to the Office of the Inspector General at 1-800-269-0217 or on line at https://oig.ssa.gov/report.
Community Events/Information
Fourth of July
To celebrate this holiday as safely as possible, we want to remind you that fireworks are illegal in Daly City. This includes the “safe and sane” types that are sold in nearby cities. On the days leading up to each 4th of July, as well as the actual day and after, fireworks are one of the biggest causes of fires and injuries throughout the United States. Let’s keep our City safe and free from any potential disasters—the potential for fires is enormous.
The Daly City Police Department personnel will be on an enforcement detail looking for people using fireworks. People in possession of or using any fireworks will be subject to a citation/arrest by an officer. This includes fireworks that are purchased from another city. People who choose to shoot guns into the air will be booked into the San Mateo County Jail.
For pets and some people, especially Veterans suffering from PTSD, this is a very scary day. The loud firework noises scare the pets and for the veterans, the sounds may bring back traumatic memories. Please do what you can to make sure everyone stays indoors and stays comfortable.
In California, it is a misdemeanor to possess illegal fireworks. This could be punishable by a fine of not less than $500, and no more than $1,000 or by imprisonment in a county jail for up to one year. The Daly City Police Department takes this very seriously. In addition, parents may be held liable for any damages or injuries caused by their children’s use of illegal fireworks.
We know there will be illegal fireworks, and we do try our best to respond to all requests of fireworks use. When reporting illegal fireworks, please do NOT call 911, but instead use the police business line (650) 991-8119. Tying up 911 lines for non-emergencies, especially with the volume of calls on July 4th, places lives in danger.
Please act responsibly and plan ahead. Various events throughout the Bay Area to celebrate our nation’s holiday can be found here: https://patch.com/california/san-francisco/july-4th-guide-fireworks-parades-more-2019-sf-bay-area
San Mateo County Alert System (SMC)
Have you signed up to receive these alerts? This alert is a free digital communication system used by emergency management agencies and first responders to send emergency alerts, notifications and updates to portable digital devices. In an emergency situation, an alert will be sent by San Mateo County authorized personnel and you will receive messages on your cell phone or mobile device. Most carriers activate the service automatically. To receive emergency alerts, sign up by visiting www.smcalert.info. According to County records, Daly City has the lowest number of registered users in the county. Please sign up today!
Nextdoor.com
Nextdoor.com is a free private social networking website for your neighborhood. This private network ensures that only those who live in your neighborhood can join; users must go through a verification process. Neighbors ask each other for business recommendations; help in locating missing pets; discuss relevant local government issues; or connect for other reasons. It is very easy to sign up. I like the fact that the site verifies users by addresses, and it won’t allow people to access to a neighborhood if they don’t live there. Please note: The City of Daly City and/or the Police Department cannot see what residents post—we are only allowed to post information. There is also a mobile application, or you can have it sent to your e-mail. Give it a try! www.nextdoor.com
Digital/Social Media
Please “like” us on Facebook if you would like to see updates and photos about the Police Department. Our handle on Twitter is @DalyCityPD, and on Instagram we are DalyCityPD, if you would like to follow us.
If you have any suggestions or questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you for your concern for our community. I appreciate you taking the time to read my bulletins. Your comments are always welcome!
Diane McCarthy, Management Analyst (650) 746-8373 [email protected]
Address/Location
Daly City Police Department
333 90th St
Daly City, CA 94015
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 650-991-8119
Diane McCarthy
Administrative Services
[email protected]
650-746-8373