Crime in Moraga: Deli Crashing, Man with an Ax, Wild Night on Ascot Dr.

Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013

It was on Rimer Dr. about an hour after midnight that a 23-year-old woman had a very bad night. She was clocked driving 37 mph in a 25 mph zone, but the real reason she got pulled over was the little detail of driving for a bit on the wrong side of the road, which is generally frowned upon among police officers and, you know, other drivers. Adding to her woes was the fact that she was driving on a suspended license. A field sobriety test showed her blood alcohol level to be relatively high, so she was arrested and taken to Moraga Police Dept. A subsequent test showed her blood alcohol level to be below the legal limit, so she was cited for driving on a suspended license and released.

A man on Campolindo Dr. reported seeing two men take water from the faucet outside his home. When he confronted them, they jumped over a fence and ran away. Police looked but had no luck finding the aqua thieves.

A woman on St. Andrews Dr. found out just how serious identity theft can be. Someone managed to get her address, phone number, Social Security number and date of birth. They then opened a number of accounts at various department stores in other states and went on a shopping spree. The woman managed to get all of the accounts cancelled and charges reimbursed, but no one is going to give her back the time and effort required to do all of that.

Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013

Halloween came a little early around 4:30 p.m. on Hardie Dr., where residents reported a man walking around with an ax and a suitcase. Police discovered that the suitcase was really a case for a typewriter (kids, ask your parents or grandparents what that is) and that the man had received that and the ax as a giveaway from a Corliss Dr. home. Not wishing to further alarm the neighborhood, the guy got a ride home to Orinda.

Friday, Sept. 6, 2013

A woman reported leaving her iPhone 4s at the Rheem Theater, and using the Find My Phone feature, noted that it had found its way to the 600 block of Moraga Rd., a location she had not visited that evening. Officers went to the block, but finding a number of apartment units there, couldn’t find the specific location of the phone. And we know from personal experience that Siri would be absolutely no help in this situation.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, Ascot Dr. was the scene of noise complaints shortly before and after midnight. Officers watched as five separate parties, consisting of college-age participants, wound down, and Moraga returned to its bucolic serenity until the dawn kissed the horizon.

Saturday, Sept. 7, 2013

A call from a Hardie Dr. resident regarding her cat which was stuck in the ventilation system resulted in the police and the fire department responding to rescue the trapped feline. It’s probably best not to ask how the cat got there.

A deli on the 1400 block of Moraga Way was the scene of a scary incident as a 90-year-old driver, trying to park in a stall, somehow lost control of the car and ran into the wall of the deli, slightly injuring two employees. The driver and passenger were uninjured.