In what has become an alarmingly common occurrence around the Bay Area lately, copper thieves have struck again today. This time the victim is St. Ignatius of Antioch, a Catholic Church in the East Bay that has twice been relieved of it's copper wiring while undergoing renovations. Roughly 500 yards of copper was taken from the church early this morning, only two months after previous incidents left St. Ignatius without another 1,000 yards newly-installed copper as well as seven air conditioners and five security cameras. more ›

Last night around 10:45 p.m. on a quaint-looking street just a block from an elementary school in suburban Antioch, a 40-year old man from Oakland was shot in the stomach when a masked gunman stole his Mercedes. The driver, who had been waiting for a friend in his car on the 4500 block of Bison Way, got out of the car when the carjacker approached and pointed his gun at him, only to be shot in the abdomen before the gunman made off with the 2-door black Mercedes. more ›

40-year-old Lloyd Harris, who was wanted under two local warrants for domestic violence as well as by U.S. Marshals for a probation violation, attempted to flee from police yesterday evening by first shoving someone out of an SUV, then trying to carjack a nice lady's Cadillac on Highway 4. Harris was riding in the back of an SUV when he was spotted by police, who tried to pull over the SUV. They watched Harris shove another dude out of the car, and then the SUV dumped him out in the middle of the freeway. Traffic was slow (this was around 6 p.m.) and he went up to a couple of cars banging on windows and trying to get people to open their doors. He then tried to carjack a red Cadillac belonging to a Discovery Bay woman, at which point cops tackled him to the ground. Great plan, guy. [CC Times] more ›

Antioch shot and killed a burglary suspect early this morning. SFGate reports, "The incident began when officers responded to reports of a burglary in progress at the home. The residents were on vacation at the time, police said. Officers found the suspect inside the house and tried to use a police dog to capture the suspect." As the suspect and police exchanged gunfire, which resulted in the death of the former, a police dog was shot in the crossfire. Thor, the pooch in question, is expected to survive. [SFGate] more ›

A recent divorce and losing custody of a child are a couple of reasons that might have exacerbating Antioch resident Layla Trawick's bipolarism and schizophrenia, prompting her to go on a stabbing spree a Los Angeles Target. According to Trawick's half brother, Tim Helton, the attack as out of character for her. "Being aggressive was not her, she was pretty damn docile," Helton said. "She might not have all been there upstairs sometimes, but she was never aggressive." more ›

Yesterday, Antioch resident Layla Trawick, 34, went on a stabbing spree at a Target store in Southern California. She sliced four customers, including a woman holding a baby, before being subdued and arrested. This was a random act. And, according to her mother, Trawick suffers from mental illness. Obviously. more ›

During yesterday's annual Super Bowl jubilation, an Antioch man was shot and killed over a reneged bet/drunken behavior. more ›

Kidnapping victim Jaycee Lee Dugard and her two children were not the only residents of the tents and huts in the Garridos' backyard in Antioch: there were also five cats, a Labrador mix, a Rottweiler mix, three cockatiels, a pigeon and a mouse. Jaycee Lee and her daughters are now eager to get their pets back, and have been speaking to Contra Costa Animal Control who have been caring for the animals. We're not clear on what the delay is in getting them back -- not like there's any evidence hidden in the cats -- but we just have to say right now that while we hope for all the best for Jaycee Lee, we have to draw the line at keeping a pigeon for a pet. That's just fucking disgusting. more ›

The mentally ill man who kidnapped, raped, and held Jaycee Lee Dugard prisoner outside his Antioch home for almost 18 years, Philip Garrido, was also an aspiring musician. Marc Lister, a Garrido business associate who has a sample of the recordings, slammed them as "absolutely horrifying," according to MSNBC. more ›

New details have emerged in the kidnapping of Jaycee Lee Dugard, who was kept hidden inside an Antioch home for 18 years. It seems Dugard helped her captor, Philip Garrido, run a small printing business from inside the home. According to NBC Bay Area, "Garrido's printing business customers described Dugard as a polite and efficient aide who straightened out orders on the phone and by email." Experts claim that Dugard never made a run for it due to fear/identifying with Garrido and his wife. One customer, Carla Kirkland, described Garrido as suffering from schizophrenia. "Just knowing the weirdness and the bizarre literature he would leave," Kirkland says, "the things he would say and singing songs. Now that I look back I think -- something was definitely wrong." Garrido is now being treated as a suspect in a series of unsolved Antioch murders. In related news, people have been venting their anger at Garrido on his loopy website. What with Garrido locked in the clink now, those rants are falling on deaf ears. Oh, and Antioch, it seems, is a haven for registered sex offenders. more ›

Oh wow. This story just gets better and better. Jaycee Lee Dugard's alleged kidnapper's brother, Ron Garrido, just spoke to The Chronicle about his deviant brother, Phillip. "It just seems so bizarre, but I can believe it," said the 65-year-old Brentwood resident. "I know my brother, and I can believe he did that. ... He's a fruitcake." (Can we have a moment to talk about the derogatory use of the word fruitcake? It's awesome in that it covers so many bases. Well said, Ron.) Phillip also dabbled in LSD and drug dealing before being run out of town by angry drug dealers. Also, he kidnapped and raped a woman in Reno in the 1970s, hence his Megan's Law profile. Regarding his sister-in-law, Nancy Garrido, who assisted in the kidnapping and rapes, Ron says, she "was 'a robot' under her husband's control." He went on to say that Nancy "would do anything he asked her to" and that she was "no different from Manson and those girls." Read The Chron's entire interview with Phillip Garrido's brother here. more ›

As details of the kidnapping case still unfold, a lot of people are asking why Jaycee Lee Dugard didn't manage to escape during her 18 years of captivity in an Antioch backyard. Why didn't she scream for help? Alert a neighbor? Jump the fence? more ›

Jaycee Lee Dugard, the girl who was kidnapped on her way to catch a school bus in 1991 only to reveal herself to police this week, had spent most of her life in captivity. According to reports, Dugard was "kept hidden from the world behind a series of fences, sheds and tents for nearly two decades, even giving birth to her suspected abductor's children." (Take an aerial look of the yard via this Google Maps view.) CBS 5 / AP reports that her kidnapper, 58-year-old Phillip Garrido, "raped her and fathered two children with her, the first when Jaycee was about 14." The children, girls ages 11 and 15, "also were kept hidden away in the backyard compound behind the Antioch home." more ›

An Amber Alert was issued late this morning for two young sisters "believed to have been taken from their home by their mother, who may be suicidal," according to the Gate. Here are the details: more ›

If you liked man rapes dog, then you'll love be mildly amused by man bites off eyebrow. Today, CBS 5 reports that this past Saturday dramatic married couple Harry Bouchard, 38, and Mrs. Harry Bouchard, 40, got into a fight, see? Because that's what couples do. Then, a car chase ensued between the two lovers, followed by Harry's brother-in-law entering from stage left. Cut to a local Walgreens where the two men get physical. And then without warning, Bouchard bites off his brother-in-law's eyebrow. Yeouch. Fortunately, a plastic surgeon managed to re-attached the brow with 70 stitches. Read more about this important story here. more ›

Vice detectives arrested a woman of ill repute, Kimelyse Hurley, in Antioch yesterday after the fuzz posted a fake love-for-money ad on Craigslist. Hurley, in addition to carrying a meth pipe, also "admitted to managing five females that worked as prostitutes for her," according to CBS 5. Pimp a prostitute? more ›

Today, a little before 8 a.m. in the Bayview-Hunter's Point District at the 600+ unit complex Bayview Apartments currently under renovation: one person, shot; one person, dead. When police arrived at the scene, according to CBS 5, they "found one victim found in a doorway of a residence at 25 Garlington Court. The second victim was found around the corner." It seems that the two shooting victims knew each other, "one worked as a... more ›