September 18, 2007
SFist Blotter
More vigilantes? A shooting yesterday afternoon in the Loin may have been an attempt to clean up the neighborhood. At around noon yesterday, authorities found a man with non-life threatening wounds after hearing reports of one shot being fired. The shooter was arrested a few hours later, after what the report called an "intense" building search. Witnesses say the shooter was acting as an armed vigilante of some sort, but the cops won't comment about that. The shooter may also have shot someone on Sunday; the cops are investigating that too.
In a somewhat-better type of neighborhood self-policing in Berkeley, neighbors are now going in large groups to Becky Temko Tot Park in downtown Berkeley, so another neighbor won't yell at them. Local parents who went to the park alone would often get targeted by the neighbor, who'd yell profanities at them and blare obscene hip-hop music. Parents report that the neighbor would threaten them if their kids were playing, saying, "I know where you live," and "this is war." The neighbor's wife says that her husband doesn't like all the noise because he's recovering from a workplace injury. We try not to take sides here at the blotter, but dude, could the angry recovering neighbor maybe close a window or something? If you live near a park, don't you expect there to be some kind of noise from kids playing? Also -- isn't the loud hip-hop music the guy's playing not really going to help him if he wants it quieter? A number of people have called the cops but they say the neighbor hasn't technically broken the law so they can't really do anything.
And Oakland City Council president Ignacio de la Fuente's started a website saying that the Oakland PD trumped up the criminal charges against his son to derail de la Fuente Sr's mayoral campaign and because they were biased against him as a Mexican-American. Earlier this year, De la Fuente's son pled guilty to rape charges, lodged by four separate women (three of whom were prostitutes). De la Fuente Sr. says he agrees that his son didn't pay the prostitutes but disagrees that they were raped. In response, the Oakland PD says they have "no question" as to de la Fuente's son's guilt. De la Fuente Jr. has been sentenced to a 14-year prison term.


I love this quote:
"Perhaps the only offense committed by De La Fuente, Jr., was not paying some of these women for their services and this is, in all certainty, a cardinal sin on the streets."
So it's a conspiracy because he's mexican-american? No, it's a conspiracy against a f*cked up a-hole who doesn't pay his whores, and tries to hide behind the fact that his daddy is a city politico.
Didn't he just get "married" last week in county because once he goes to state it's a lot more difficult to wed an inmate?
What kind of douchebag would get pissed off at the sounds of children playing? Whadda twerp.
Newsflash! Police says they have 'no doubt' convicted felon is, in fact, guilty. Developing...
See http://www.innocenceproject.org/ for more guilty people.
Really, I'm surprised there hasn't been more vigalante stuff than there is. When the city government (that means you, Gavin, Kamela, and Heather!) is completely incompetent at addressing crime, this is what happens. Not saying it's right. Just a reality.
Vigilantes! How 1983.
What I’m saddest to hear is that even in our whimsical town, none of these vigilantes are willing to go the extra mile and dress up like some sort of animal or other metaphorical figure. It’s not like we lack costumers in the City, why can’t we have a ‘pigeon man’ trying to chase the dealers and pimps out? That would at least get in the national news - lunatics with pistols is just boring, I mean a rubber Charles Broson mask would add something at least…
I second the call for furries with Mac-10s.