Man charged with attempting to murder a police officer

The Contra Costa District Attorney filed charges earlier this week against a 30-year-old man for attempting to shoot and kill several Richmond Police officers who were responding to a 911 call. The defendant, Elston Young, has been charged with three felonies for pointing his gun toward police officers earlier this month. Before the officers arrived,…

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Police confirm three officers fired weapons in Feb. 11 shooting

Intersection of B Street and Nevin Avenue, Richmond, CA

The Richmond Police Department confirmed Thursday that three of its officers fired at an armed suspect in the officer-involved shooting on February 11, the city’s first such shooting since December 2011. Police Capt. Mark Gagan said the man, identified as Elston Young, 30, was “brandishing a firearm” and pointed it at the officers, but did…

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Richmond sees its first homicide in two months

Richmond had its first homicide of 2013 on Monday. The Richmond Police Department identified the victim as Richmond resident William Wheeler, 26. His body was found at around 3 a.m., alongside the train tracks near Lucas Park, at Lucas Avenue and 10th Street. He died of apparent gunshot wounds. It was the city’s first homicide…

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Police seek to bridge gap between foster youth and officers

adult education table

The Richmond Police Department held its first annual Foster Youth Conference on Saturday at the LaVonya Dejean Middle School on Macdonald Avenue. About 100 foster youth, foster parents, Richmond police officers, staff from West County Children and Family Services and community members filled the multipurpose room early in the morning for a day full of…

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Five Richmond police officers promoted

From left: newly promoted Richmond Police Sergeants Tim Simmons, Brian Gard and Armando Moreno, and Lieutenants Rahn Carmichael and Darren Monahan. (Photo by: Rachel Waldholz)

Five Richmond police officers were promoted in a ceremony Thursday morning, and Code Enforcement Officer Dave Ragowski received a Lifesaving Award for successfully negotiating with a Richmond resident who had threatened to commit suicide.

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Richmond, Oakland leaders supporting proposed state regulation of ammunition sales

Assemblymember Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), announces new legislation on January 7 that would regulate the sale and purchase of ammunition throughout California. Photo courtesy Julie Waters, Office of Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner.

In the wake of recent mass shootings—including one in December at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, which took 26 lives, and one in late July at an Aurora, Colorado movie theater, which left 12 dead—an East Bay politician is pushing for new state restrictions on the sale of ammunition in California. The move has received widespread support from city and school officials in cities like Oakland and Richmond, which struggle with high rates of violent crime.

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Scrap metal steals Richmond

A tractor sifts through metal

Richmond has been picked over by thieves. A stump of a pipe, the tops of concrete floor boxes pried up from the sidewalk, a lonely hinge hanging from a roof. These remains, which RPD Captain Mark Gagan easily spots throughout the city, are evidence of scrap metal theft that has plagued the city for years.…

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Open Carry Ban in Richmond

Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill late last month making it illegal to visibly carry loaded or unloaded shotguns or rifles. In San Francisco the open carry ban has spurred debates and some protests by open carry advocates. But across the Bay in Richmond, the response has been more muted, and some citizens said the…

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Friends, family remember Officer Brad Moody

The memorial to Bradley Moody

Four years after the on-duty crash that ended his life, Richmond Police Officer Bradley Moody lives on in his closest family members, in friends who honor his life with tattoos, memorials, and keepsakes, in complete strangers who were given a second chance on life with his organs, in the people he worked with both in…

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Richmond takes back prescription drugs, again

pills

About 120 pounds of prescription drugs were dropped off at the Richmond Police Department’s Prescription Drug Take Back Day Saturday at the Hilltop Mall police substation. A strategically placed 2012 Chevy Camaro patrol car attracted the attention of passersby, which gave police representatives the opportunity to educate the adults on the risks of prescription drugs…

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Homicide suspect arrested

Richmond police arrested a suspect Tuesday night in the shooting death of Isaiah Thomas last week. Jafari Sargent, a 30-year-old Richmond resident, turned himself in around 8 p.m. at the Richmond Police Department, Detective Nicole Abetkov said. Sargent and Thomas were cousins, Abetkov said. Eyewitnesses described the shooting, which resulted from an escalating argument between…

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