Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013
8:00am – A woman contacted police to complain of harassing phone calls and emails from a person in England who was casting accusations at members of her family. The woman changed her phone number and email address, and filed reports with both Moraga and English authorities. So far, the harassment has stopped.
4:42pm – Police arrived at a home on the 500 block of Moraga Drive to do a welfare check on a resident there. Upon arrival, however, they discovered a person with an outstanding no-bail warrant, who was arrested and booked at the county jail in Martinez.
Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013
5:53pm – A baseball coach had a serious scare when the two 8-year-olds he had been coaching at Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School suddenly went missing. He called police and after a brief search they were found at the coach’s nearby house, where the boys thought they had been instructed to go after practice. Their parents retrieved them and everything turned out fine.
10:00pm – A woman reported her window was smashed and her backpack taken from her car that was parked on the 1400 block of Camino Peral.
Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013
1:33am – Officers responded to the report of an assault on the 500 block of Rheem Boulevard. It turns out that two men were refusing to pay their cab fare, and both had apparently been drinking heavily. One of the men hit the cabbie in the face and chest during the dispute, but the presence of armed officers calmed the situation. The cabbie got paid and the men went on their way.
2:15am – Officers responding to complaints of disturbing the peace arrived at the 600 block of Ascot Drive to find a man locked out of an apartment. In an attempt to get in, he was bellowing at the people inside. This caused the neighbors to complain to police. While they were there, officers noted that an intoxicated woman was also attempting to get into the apartment. Police gave her a ride back to St. Mary’s College where she was staying. Things seemed to calm down for the rest of the night.
3:28pm – A 30-year-old man was pulled over for speeding at the corner of Rheem Boulevard and Moraga Road. Police said he was doing 52 mph in a 30 mph zone. That was only the first mistake, however. Smelling alcohol on his breath, police had the driver take two tests and he failed them both. A later blood test showed a blood alcohol level of .094 percent. He was booked for DUI, and his car impounded.
4:00pm – The fire department called the police to assist them with a woman who was extremely intoxicated. Police arrived at the 1400 block of Moraga Way and arrested the woman for public drunkenness. They took her to the county jail in Martinez.
9:17pm – A group of five teenagers were reported driving recklessly in the parking lot of Los Perales Elementary School. When officers arrived, four cars were sitting empty in the lot, but one of them had the engine running and the radio on. Police contacted the owner of that car, who called his daughter. The five teens were eventually located, and admitted to driving recklessly around the lot. Alcohol was not a factor. Parents were notified. Lectures and grounding ensued.
Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013
3:30pm – The Safeway store on Moraga Way was the scene of a bubbly crime as seven young men in their late teens or early 20s made off with a 12-pack of Stella and a 30-pack of Bud Light. Four ran on foot, while the others climbed into a car and sped away. They no doubt assumed that would be that, but the store manager got the license plate number of the car, and the store video system captured everyone’s picture. Police are investigating.
Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013
2:00pm – A motorcycle helmet and gloves were stolen from the handlebars of a motorcycle on Freitas Drive.
5:02pm – A security guard saw a woman driving “all over the road” near the 1900 block of St. Andrews Drive. The guard followed her home, and noticed that she clipped the side of her garage trying to park. He made a citizen’s arrest and called police. It was determined that she had a blood alcohol level of .030 percent, and she was arrested for DUI and transported to the county jail in Martinez.
Friday, Jan. 18, 2013
4:24pm – A woman told police she was blocking the driveway of a man who had been driving recklessly. She followed him home to the 500 block of Augusta Drive. Meanwhile, the man was taking photos of the woman, whom he also accused of improper driving. On advice from the dispatcher, the woman drove away. Officers advised the man and the woman on how to properly handle road rage incidents, and the woman was counseled on why it’s never a good idea to follow someone you don’t know to their home, or engage them face to face.
Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013
1:50am – A man got a taxi ride from Walnut Creek to the parking lot of the 7-Eleven on the 600 block of Moraga Road. The passenger, who had reportedly been drinking, “discovered” that he didn’t have enough money to pay for the cab. He called a friend who gave him a credit card number that would handle the $40 cab ride. But the passenger got extremely huffy when the cab driver charged him for the time it took to call the friend (less than $5). Police arrived and sorted the whole thing out.
Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013
10:49am – A terrified witness called police to report that a body wrapped in duct tape with hiking boots visible was seen in the back of a pickup truck on the 1300 block of Moraga Way. Tracking the license number of the truck to a home in Orinda, it turned out that the owner of the truck was “a big fan of Halloween” and that the body was a prop. There is also a casket for the “body.”
Monday, Jan. 21, 2013
12:36am – A loud party in an apartment on the 600 block of Moraga Road was cold-watered when a complaint resulted in a visit from police. A couple of youngsters standing outside the door saw the police car and went inside, where things got very quiet all of a sudden. Police knocked, but no one answered. A few minutes later, a young man emerged carrying a carton of beer. Police determined that he was under 21 years old, and issued a citation for a minor in possession of alcohol.
1:00pm – Police responded to a report of a possible dead body on a hiking trail in Canyon near Ridge Crest Road. Police and firefighters arrived and determined that the man was deceased. No signs of foul play were found, and the identity of the man could not immediately be determined. Patch is following up on this report.
