Crime in Moraga: Days of Rage, Scary Neighbor, Lost Garage, Date From Hell

Thursday, Aug. 22, 2013

A former employee of Safeway apparently felt that part of the benefits from his former job was free groceries for life. The manager, feeling strongly to the contrary, didn’t want to press charges, but wanted the misconception noted in case further action was required.

A student at St. Mary’s College answered an ad in the student paper’s classified section for some work. The student completed the work and was sent a check for $1,900. He was told to cash the check and send $1,700 of it to the Philippines. Having no doubt heard about such swindles, and being a savvy college student, he simply kept all the money. But the school wanted the police to be advised of the attempted scam. Isn’t it nice to read about scammers getting scammed for a change?

Friday, Aug. 23, 2013

A report of a road rage incident near the corner of St. Mary’s Rd. and Moraga Rd. came in and police arrived at the scene. They discovered what was described as “an on-going road rage incident with each other,” whatever that could possibly be. Did one driver follow the other around and criticize their driving skills with a middle finger? At any rate, officers advised both drivers to chill out in an ongoing manner.

A resident of Ascot Dr. called police to report that her neighbor had yelled at her boyfriend when he “politely” asked some boys in the pool to quiet down. The neighbor apparently said some things to her boyfriend that caused her to be afraid for her safety. It was not the first time words had been exchanged between the neighbors. She wanted a report on the record, just in case.

Alert and wonderful neighbors managed to put out a fire in the garage of a home on Sullivan Dr., but just to be sure the fire was out, firefighters arrived and tore out a wall to get in. It was found that an electrical problem started the blaze. The damage from the fire and the destroyed wall was about $10,000. 

A noise complaint from a party on Ascot Dr. resulted in officers removed about 60 “unwanted guests” from the party, and cited the resident for violating the noise ordinance. One can only imagine how grateful the resident was to get rid of 60 unwanted guests.

Saturday, Aug. 24, 2013

Police were driving down Moraga Rd. when they noticed a car crossing the double yellow line. They especially noted the car because it almost collided head on with the police car. This naturally resulted in police pulling the driver over and, smelling alcohol on the driver’s breath, conducted tests that revealed a blood alcohol level of .10 percent. The driver was arrested and released to a family member on a promise to appear in court.

A woman left her purse in her unlocked car while she attended to some business on Camino Pablo. While she was gone, someone attended to their own business by going through her purse and removing a credit card and $300 in cash. She cancelled the credit card, but had to kiss the cash goodbye.

Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2013

What probably started out as an exciting evening for a young couple turned into a cold shower of reality. Around 2:30 a.m. police on Larch Ave. saw a car drive through a stop sign. Frowning on such blatant disregard for important traffic safety rules, officers pulled the driver over and found an 18-year-old man with a blood alcohol level of .15 percent. His passenger was a 16-year-old girl who left her home in a stealthy fashion. Parents of both parties were contacted; the man was arrested and released on a promise to appear in court. It’s a good bet that no one in either house got a lot of sleep the remainder of that night.