Safety
Last Saturday, Richmond residents and community leaders gathered in North Richmond to call for stronger community relations and an end to gun-violence. The community fair was sponsored by Ground Zero, Operation Richmond, and the McGlothen Temple Evangelist Department. Complete with grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, snow cones, an air castle, housing and employment specialists, and music from the band Redemption, the event drew residents out their homes all afternoon long. Here’s a snippet of the day’s action.
His toenails clack on the tiled floors as he darts from door to door. He takes an audible sniff under each crack and the sound reverberates down the dark hallway. At one of the last doors in the hall, he stops in his tracks, hair bristling. He’s found what he’s looking for. The dog takes one last breath, just to be sure, before he lets out a series of deliberate barks. The door opens suddenly, releasing a flood of light….
The suspect in connection with the woman found dead in a Richmond restaurant was shot by police earlier this morning after a long standoff. San Leandro police received a call yesterday morning saying the suspect, 42-year-old Rafael Zarate, was in a home on 12500 Central Avenue near the 880/238 freeway interchange. Richmond Police Dept. Lt. Bisa French said the San Leandro police surrounded the house, but Zarate refused to surrender. Officers from Richmond’s SWAT department joined the standoff. At 1:40…
A 30-year-old woman was found dead in a local restaurant Tuesday night in what police are investigating as a homicide. Officers responding to a 7:30 p.m. call found Jensy Romero dead inside Angie’s Restaurant and Bakery in the 12000 block of San Pablo Avenue, police said. An employee discovered the body and placed the emergency call, according to Richmond Police Lt. Bisa French. “She was pronounced dead on the scene,” French said, adding that police believe Romero’s death was “likely…
Richmond residents began stepping forward Thursday night at the Nevin Community Center as part of a new initiative to prevent gun violence. One of them was the Rev. Eugene Jackson of Grace Bible Fellowship of Antioch, who said in his more than 15 years as a pastor, he has conducted funeral services for 15-20 young men killed by gunfire. During these services, he said, the most striking part is “the segment of the meeting … that allows people to say…
After responding to a series of boisterous parties characterized by out-of-town, late-night revelers, police shut down an illegal underground club in the Iron Triangle known as the “Bee Hive.” The illegal parties and discovery of both fire and municipal code violations prompted the Richmond Code Enforcement Unit to board up the windows and “red tag” the building. A crimson sign posted on the front door states that the area is unsafe, and anyone entering the building without police or fire…
A 52-year-old man was shot in the left leg and wounded on Cutting Boulevard this morning, said Richmond Police Det. Nicole Abetkov. Multiple gunshots activated the ShotSpotter detection system from the 2600 block of Cutting Blvd. around 12:38 a.m. Responding officers said they located the victim on the corner of South 25th and Cutting. Police said they saw a black Saturn traveling northbound on South 25th Street and pursued the vehicle. The driver — who Abetkov said was a 56-year-old man…
There were fewer bodies in the audience at Thursday night’s Office of Neighborhood Safety meeting than have been laid out in blood on Richmond’s streets thus far this year. But although organizers said they were discouraged by the turnout at the Dynamics of Peace forum, those who did show up at the Nevin Community Center did not lack for conviction. “Right now we’re a small team, but if we all come together we can be an army,” said Charles Muhammad,…
Dinesh Kumar woke on a recent morning to find an armed intruder who shot him at least four times and killed his mother. This is his story.