Moraga Police Blotter: Feb. 8 to Feb. 14

Chief Bob Priebe and the men and women of the Moraga police department were out in it last week, coralling stray cows and bad guys between storms and intermittent drunk drivers.

Adrenalin levels must have spiked Monday night when a Moraga officer attempted to pull a speeder over on Moraga Road near Sky Hi at around 10:30 p.m. The driver, piloting a "small passenger vehicle," was clocked at 53mph in the 35mph zone but that number quickly became a thing of the past as the driver accelerated to speeds estimated at between 60 and 70mph on Moraga Road in his haste to get away, police said.

In a brief chase, the car led an officer to the mouth of Canyon, at which point the pursuit was stopped due to lack of visibility due to fog and wet weather.

Pipe Dream

Police are also looking for the man who dropped by Lamorinda Gas and Auto around 3:15 p.m. on February 12 and helped himself to two 10-foot lengths of two inch cast iron pipe -- valued at about $35 each -- which were stored at the station. Video surveillance revealed that the man was Hispanic, driving a late model, white Ford F-150 pickup truck.

Little Too Much To Drinky

Moraga police did pull over the driver of a white Toyota Camry at 1:15 a.m. on February 12 after the car was spotted speeding in the 300 block of Rheem Boulevard (50mph in a 35mph zone) and weaving, and discovered the 40-year-old driver appeared intoxicated. She was tested, registering a blood alcohol content level of .124 percent and .121 percent respectively. That was enough to get her taken to the police station, cited, and released to a friend.

College Daze

Officers were called out to Saint Mary's College at 7 p.m. the evening of February 12 after campus public safety officers entered a dorm room and found marijuana and suspected blotter LSD. Campus police said the marijuana was in plain view when they entered. The student suspected of keeping the drugs was briefly detained and then allowed to leave. The suspected drugs were confiscated and the case forwarded to the district attorney's office for review.

Party House

Police were called to a home in the 100 block of Whitethorne Drive at 11:36 p.m. on February 9 after neighbors had enough of the music and found several individuals inside, drinking. One man was briefly detained for obstructing officers and the "host" was issued a Loud or Unruly Party Warning.

Rheem and St. Mary's Triangle Claims Another

Longtime residents know the intersection of Rheem Boulevard and Saint Mary's Road can be particularly difficult to navigate, with limited sight lines and other factors contributing to regular accidents there. On February 9, officers were sent to Saint Mary's College to take a report of a collision at the intersection, earlier in the day. Turned out the 22-year-old driver was attempting to make the left turn from Saint Mary's onto Rheem Boulevard when an SUV struck her BMW, causing minor damage, and then continued on its way in the direction of Lafayette. There were no injuries.

Patch Is Sorry, Really

No sooner do we report that Moraga has been spared the number of residential burglaries experienced in other nearby towns than Moraga police are called on to investigate -- their second burglary of the year. This one was reported in the 600 block of Moraga Road at 5:30 p.m. with the residents telling officers someone had entered through an unsecured second story window between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on February 9 and made off with jewelry and electronics valued at approximately $4,300.