An Oakland woman discovered that her license plates had been swapped with stolen plates that were linked to a serious crime — after she was pulled over by Hayward police who were tipped off by a Flock license plate reader.

As Oaklandside reports, 65-year-old Ann Nomura of Oakland was pulled over by Hayward police earlier this month and told to exit her car with her hands up, after deputies flagged her car as being tied to a serious crime — only to find she wasn’t connected to the case at all.

Authorities said the stop was triggered by a Flock license plate reader that had scanned the plates on her car, which turned out to have been switched out with plates tied to the incident.

“That is when it sort of hit me that I was being treated as a potential criminal and could have been hurt,” she told Oaklandside.

According to KGO, the process is called “cold-plating,” which helps thieves evade police detection in break-ins, robberies, toll evasion, and, now, avoiding speed cameras.

Sgt. Roberto Morales with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office told Oaklandside that the tactic has been common over the years, but authorities haven’t consistently kept track of reports. Morales said the proliferation of speed cameras has made authorities more aware of the problem in recent years.

“If you don’t know how often license plates are stolen in Oakland, you don’t know how often this is going to happen,” Nomura said, speaking to the Oaklandside.

In 2022, SFist reported that SFPD had uncovered a large plate-swapping operation, discovering tools inside a stolen Audi along with evidence suggesting the tactic was used to mask stolen vehicles and avoid detection.

Additionally, according to Oakland Redditors, cars that are missing license plates altogether are all too common in the city. One user said they even saw a car with a handmade plate. While the Redditor referred to it as a “handwritten paper plate,” SFist is going to assume they don’t mean an actual “paper plate.”

Nomura, speaking to Oaklandside, expressed concern that cold-plating could lead to crime victims paying the price. While the Oakland Police Department and the Alameda County Sheriff credit speed cameras with catching large numbers of suspects since their respective installations, some residents are concerned about potential privacy violations.

Brian Hofer, a former Oakland privacy commissioner, points out that authorities are required to utilize other evidence in addition to speed reader data, in accordance with Senate Bill 34. Per Oaklandside, Hofer is currently suing the city of Oakland for violating the measure, claiming that officers often rely solely on plate-reader alerts without verifying details like vehicle make, model, and color.

He pointed to a previous case in which he and his brother were mistakenly stopped at gunpoint after driving a rental car that had been recovered from a theft, but was never removed from a law enforcement database.

“OPD could run the plate, and the image will pop up, and they should have some sort of visual confirmation to be like, ‘wait a minute, this license plate was on a silver Corona, now it’s on a red Ford 150,’” Hofer said.

Nomura counts herself lucky that no guns were drawn and that she was treated professionally, but she told Oaklandside that the ramifications from the incident were not insignificant. She said she not only had to replace the stolen plate in order to drive her car again, but it also came with a hefty fee for expedited shipping.

She also learned the hard way that she was supposed to report the plate stolen with Oakland police, which had to be done in person, as San Rafael police called her days later saying her car was used in an attempted robbery.

Previously: License Plate Theft Victim Uncovers Elaborate Criminal Scheme After Getting Hit With Massive Parking Tickets

Image: Hayward Police Department/Facebook

There was heavy police presence on Cedar Street, an alley on the edge of the Tenderloin, following Thursday’s violent scuffle involving SF Mayor Daniel Lurie’s security detail, with two additional arrests Friday, and neighborhood advocates worry about potential overreach.

As Mission Local reports, police officers conducted a major sweep on Cedar Street near Jane Cafe in Lower Nob Hill Friday, following the scuffle that occurred Thursday between San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s bodyguard and 44-year-old Tony Shervaughn Phillips, who was reportedly blocking the mayor’s SUV, along with multiple others.

As SFist reports, a second video of the incident surfaced Friday that shows the bodyguard shoving Phillips into a pile of debris — while Lurie stood a few feet away — prior to Phillips pushing the bodyguard to the ground, resulting in an abrasion to the bodyguard’s head.

At least two people were reportedly arrested during Friday’s sweep, as seen in the below video footage by X user jj smith, per Mission Local.

While advocates had hoped the incident would help shed light on the need for improvement on Tenderloin streets, they emphasized to Mission Local that heavy policing does more harm than good without the support of crucial community-based programs, which have been drastically cut in recent months, per the SF Examiner and Mission Local.

“We just don’t want to be in this cycle of moving folks around. We want to find a pathway to getting people healthy,” a law enforcement source told Mission Local. “If you get people healthy, you just eliminate so many issues.”

Randy Shaw, executive director of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, said the Tenderloin is largely ignored in city policies. “The Tenderloin needs a higher level of service than it is getting,” he told Mission Local. “That seems kind of obvious, but it hasn’t yet translated into a policy action.”

Shaw said the city’s neglect of the Tenderloin helps fuel MAGA rhetoric, and predictably, as Mission Local reports, both the New York Post and the account, Libs of TikTok, took the opportunity to mock Lurie for failing to step in during the scuffle.

The Chronicle spoke to Art Tilis, a local private investigator and former police officer, who says he considers Lurie’s habit of engaging with people on the street a security risk, especially when he's not willing to step in to help during conflict.

“I can’t believe he just walked away,” Tilis told the Chronicle. “All it takes is one other person to help put somebody on the ground.”

“You are not only putting yourself as mayor in harm’s way, you are also putting officers in harm’s way,” he added. “He shouldn’t be doing stuff like that if he doesn’t expect to help.”

Del Seymour, founder of the nonprofit Code Tenderloin, told Mission Local that people on Tenderloin streets are often dealing with addiction and mental health struggles, which makes their behavior unpredictable.

“You can’t be driving through the Tenderloin jumping out trying to be Mother Teresa,” Seymour told Mission Local. “You think you’re a celebrity being the mayor and you think everyone loves you, and most of us do, but there are people that don’t know who you are and you mean nothing to them.”

The mayor “has learned that now,” he added.

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

Image: Mayor Daniel Lurie's Security Detail Attacked In Tenderloin Scuffle, Two Injured

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

Dallas police were filmed tasing and arresting Michael Singleton, a Black executive chef based in Oakland and Dallas, as he told onlookers he was being wrongfully accused of possessing cocaine. Singleton has since been released and all charges dropped.

Atlanta-based media network, Punk Black, shared video footage on Instagram yesterday of Michael Singleton, an executive chef based in the Bay Area and Dallas, being tased by police at the Dallas Love Field Airport — while he was standing still with his hands behind his back. At least two witnesses filmed the incident as Singleton repeatedly shouted his name and told onlookers to record what was happening.

Musician Lizzy Ashliegh filmed the below clip and told Punk Black the following:

this man said he was being framed and to film. I later overheard that a lady was misheard by the officers and they went straight into action when they assumed “white powder was involved” I hope what she really said goes back to the cops that took him away.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by PUNK BLACK | Alt POC Network (@punk.black)

The video was also shared on fellow Oakland chef Edward’L’s Instagram account, where someone in the comments reported that Singleton has been released and has hired a lawyer:

Mike contacted me on FB tonight after I share this post earlier. He is free and okay at the moment. The charges have been dropped including resisting arrest. He is lawyered up and it is in the courts hands now.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Edward’L (@chefsmelly)

There are currently no other reports or details on the incident.

Here is a transcription of the clip’s audio:

Singleton shouts at the crowd as several officers start to pull his arms behind his back.

Singleton: Somebody tape this. I didn’t do nothing. My name is Michael Singleton.

Police: You have warrants.

Singleton: I got a traffic warrant. (To the crowd) My name is Michael Singleton. I want you to please tape this. They arrested me for the wrong reasons.

As Singleton is standing still with his hands pulled behind his back, police then take a step back and tase Singleton, who falls to the floor.

Witness: No! Why would y’all do this? He was just standing still!

Witnesses can be heard crying and panicking in the background.

Singleton: Oh my God! (to the crowd) My name is Michael Singleton. My birthday’s {redacted}. I’m Michael Singleton. (To the police) I have no warrants. I have a traffic warrant for {redacted}.

Police: That’s right. We’re trying to investigate it.

Singleton: No, you said I have cocaine! I’m not a drug dealer! {unintelligible}

Police: Calm down! Calm down!

Singleton is still on the ground being handcuffed.

Singleton: Hey, Man! I didn’t try to fight you. Why did you tase me?!

Police: You were … {unintelligible}

Singleton: I wasn’t {unintelligible}.. Somebody got me on tape.

Police: {unintelligible}

Singleton: You’re a fucking dickhead, bro.

Police pull Singleton off the floor.

Singleton: I had my hands behind my back and didn’t even fucking move. And I was fucking electrocuted!

Police tell Singleton to sit down then push him into a rolling chair.

Singleton: You keep telling me to do things, but I can’t do anything with my hands, you dumbfuck!

Police: {unintelligible}

Singleton: Hey, fuck you. I just got tased for nothing.

Singleton: (to the crowd) Hey, man, somebody please have this on tape.

Police wheel Singleton away.

Image: Screenshot pulled from the video clip

We now know that ten Antioch and Pittsburg police officers were arrested in Thursday’s FBI raids, and on top of the racist text messages, we have allegations of steroid dealing, intentional dog attacks, faking college credits, and collecting ‘trophies’ and ‘mementos’ from their most brutal acts of violence.

When the bombshell news broke Thursday that the FBI had raided the homes of and arrested several Pittsburg and Antioch police, it was unclear just how many officers were arrested. Early reports from various different local media publications indicated it was seven, eight, or nine officers arrested. But now that the dust has settled and the FBI has announced charges, KRON-4 reports that ten current and former Antioch and Pittsburg PD officers were arrested, on charges ranging from illegally dealing steroids, to excessive force with K9 violence, to faking college credits to get promotions, and of course the racist text messages that first brought this nearly two-year FBI investigation into the public eye.  

“The defendants boasted about their illegal use of force. The officers had no interest in de-escalating to avoid violence,” U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey said at a late Thursday afternoon press conference. He added that some officers collected  “mementos” that were “from their attacks on the people of Antioch.”

The Chronicle has a full list of the officers charged, and all of the charges against them. They sum this up saying that “One former Antioch police officer allegedly spurred his dog to bite 28 people throughout the city, while another shot projectiles at 11 people in less than a year,” and add that “Two more exchanged text messages to plan an alleged drug delivery for a ‘customer’ seeking anabolic steroids.”

The steroid dealing allegations obviously jump out, though the FBI indictments did not mention any alleged cocaine trafficking, which has been mentioned in previous media reports. But many of these other allegation will certainly raise eyebrows.

The Chronicle reports that officer Morteza Amiri is accused of intentionally orchestrating vicious attacks with his K9 dog Purcy. Amiri allegedly texted “Bro, you see that armpit?” along with a graphic image of a suspect’s injuries from the dog’s bites. He allegedly added later in the exchange, “As Purcy was on the bite I pulled his harness which I think helped with the bite.”

In another exchange, Amiri allegedly wrote, “Putting a pistol in someone’s mouth and telling them to stop stealing isn’t illegal...  it’s an act of public service.”

Amiri is also among the four officers accused of faking college credits to get promotions. In these cases, they allegedly paid other people to take courses for them. Per the Department of Justice, those charges carry up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or “twice the gross gain or loss” of the money they made via the fraud.

KRON4 has the full indictment online.

And in an unrelated but very hilarious development, the Bay Area News Group reports that the Alameda County DA is charging five more Pittsburg PD officers with accepting bribes of tequila to make parking tickets go away.  

Related: Antioch Police Chief Abruptly Announces Retirement Amid Racist Text Scandal [SFist]

Image: Antioch PD

In the latest development in the scandal facing the Antioch Police Department, Contra Costa County Judge Clare Maier released the names of 17 city police officers that allegedly used racial slurs and racist jokes and memes in text messages on Friday.

Judge Maier described many messages as targeting “members of the Black and Hispanic community,” and said that the content of the messages was “deeply disturbing” and so offensive it could "incite further hate or racial animus."

These texts surfaced as evidence in an ongoing federal investigation into alleged fraud, bribery, drug distribution, and civil rights violations regarding the use of force throughout the Antioch and Pittsburg police departments, according to the East Bay Times. The FBI had reportedly served search warrants on several officers’ homes and seized phones and other personal items directly from police headquarters.

The mayor of Antioch, Lamar Thorpe, released a video addressing the scandal on Saturday statement on Youtube. He called for a complete independent audit of hiring and promotions practices by the city government to address the biases in the department, and said, “This will undoubtedly leave an embarrassing stain on our community. The culture at the Antioch Police Department is a problem and has long been a huge financial and legal liability to the city."

The names of officers in the racist messages scandal include the president of Antioch's police union, Rick Hoffman, and five officers already being investigated by the FBI, the East Bay Times reported. Eleven more Antioch officers were also named, at least eight of whom have been put on administrative leave by Mayor Thorpe in March, according to KPIX.

Attorney Ben Nisenbaum, who is representing the family of Angelo Quinto in a wrongful death lawsuit against the Antioch Police Department, said that the release of the officers' names is necessary for accountability, ABC7 reported.

The texts reportedly call into question arrests by the officers, especially of Black and Latino suspects, as legal defenses of those suspects could argue they were targeted due to their race. Some of the messages sent by officers specifically reference alleged members of the Oakland-based ENT gang, a few of whom were arrested by Antioch police officers — police misconduct that could jeopardize the federal charges against them, according to Contra Costa News. Already, as the East Bay Times reported, due to the FBI probe, dozens of federal and state cases have been dismissed.

Image of Antioch Police Department via Google Street View.

There was heavy police activity Friday morning on the 900 block of Folsom Street, after an officer shot and killed a man armed with a knife inside an SRO.

A Friday morning skirmish resulted in a San Francisco police officer shooting and killing an unnamed man Friday morning shortly after 8 a.m. KGO reports that “A San Francisco police officer shot and killed a man at a residential hotel who was armed with a knife this morning,” and police are still on the scene.

Given the description of the block and scene, the residential hotel is likely the CW Hotel at 917 Folsom Street.

The above warning to avoid the area still applies as of noon Friday. According to NBC Bay Area, SFPD officers “were dispatched around 8:05 a.m. Friday,” and reportedly found the man wielding a knife inside the building. The station reports that “authorities said because ‘officers felt the need,’ police fired their guns and hit the man.” That unnamed individual died later Friday morning while hospitalized.

The SFPD just released a full statement: “This morning at approximately 8:05 a.m., San Francisco police officers responded to the 900 block of Folsom Street regarding a person with a knife. Officers arrived on scene and made contact with a male suspect inside of a residential building. During this contact, an officer-involved shooting occurred. Officers rendered aid to the male and summoned medics to the scene. Medics transported the male to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center with life-threatening injuries. The male succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased at the hospital.”

Ominously, KTVU’s Henry Lee notes in the above tweet that the district attorney’s office “will also investigate use of deadly force.” So you may hear a whole lot more about this police shooting in the weeks and months to come.

According to NBC Bay Area, “Police said there will be a community forum to discuss the shooting in 10 days.”

Related: SFPD Investigates Fatal Shooting at 17th and Folsom [SFist]

Image: Google Street View

Citing a need for “enhanced security for Members of Congress outside” of the nation’s capitol, the U.S. Capitol Police are opening two new field offices, one in San Francisco.

Many of us who haven't lived in Washington, D.C. had never heard of the U.S. Capitol Police until Trump supporters stormed the capitol on January 6. After all, that force's jurisdiction is tiny — it’s not just the U.S. Capitol building, but a small patch known as the National Capitol Region, which is all of Washington, D.C., and six surrounding counties in Maryland and Virginia.

Their jurisdiction is getting larger, though. The Chronicle reports that the Capitol Police are opening two new offices, one in Tampa, Florida, and the other in San Francisco.

The Chron caught this tidbit in a month-and-a-half-old press release commemorating the six-month anniversary of the insurrection, and spelling out changes that U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) will make hoping to avoid a repeat. “The USCP has enhanced our staffing within our Dignitary Protection Division as well as coordinated for enhanced security for Members of Congress outside of the National Capitol Region,” the release says. “The Department is also in the process of opening Regional Field Offices in California and Florida with additional regions in the near future to investigate threats to Members of Congress.”

According to the Chronicle, that California office will be in the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, which is one of the upstairs offices in the Phillip Burton Federal Building at 450 Golden Gate Avenue, between Larkin and Polk Streets.  

The temptation is to say that San Francisco is getting the office just to keep Nancy Pelosi safe. And to be fair, capitol rioters were screaming, “Bring Nancy Pelosi out here now. We want to hang that fucking bitch.” But as the Chron points out, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy also lives in California, and the state has the largest congressional delegation in the county. And the alert sirens here are flashing Trump-baseball-cap red.

“At this time, Florida and California are where the majority of our potential threats are,” a Capitol Police spokesperson told the Chron. “A regional approach to investigating and prosecuting threats against members (of Congress) is important, so we will be working closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in those locations.”

Apparently this had been in the works before the events of January 6, but that day’s proceedings prompted the USCP to speed up the effort. And it’s probably the correct decision. According to one intelligence director who spoke to the Chronicle, since January 6, the “center has sometimes processed 60 threats of harm to individuals or the public a day.”

Related: SF Proud Boy the Latest Charged by FBI for Storming the Capitol [SFist]

Image: WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 14: A U.S. Capitol Police officer stands guard in front of the U.S. Capitol Building, on June 14, 2017 in Washington, DC. This morning House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) and others were shot by a gunman during Congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

California remains one of five states that won’t strip badges from officers who commit crimes or misconduct, after an attempt to reform that failed to make the Assembly floor.

COVID-19 has not stopped the annual late August/early September rush of California state house bills that the Senate and Assembly attempt to cram through in the final 24 hours of the year’s legislative session. The big, urgent one was the pandemic eviction moratorium bill AB-3088, which did pass, and Newsom signed. But a lesser-noticed set of police reforms were up for votes too, and the most prominent of these failed. The Associated Press reports that SB-731, a bill that aimed to “disqualify a person from being employed as a peace officer” if found guilty of certain types of misconduct, failed to pass the state legislature.

According to the AP, as well as Audioslave and Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello as seen in the tweet above, California is one of only five states that will not automatically decertify officers found guilty of crimes. The others are Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

Even Kim Kardashian West interrupted her non-stop barrage of bullshit celebrity influencer marketing to endorse the bill and apply pressure to lawmakers. But her call-out of Assemblymember Evan Low would not even matter. According to the California legislature website, the bill did not even make the Assembly floor, and died in committee.  

It’s pretty well-known that in California, a police officer who’s fired or resigns for misconduct reasons can just bounce to another community’s police department, essentially escaping career consequences. But the AP reports the bill “could not overcome vehement objections from law enforcement organizations that the proposed system is biased and lacks basic due process protections.”

A few other police reform bills did pass, though: a ban on police chokeholds was approved, a bill requiring the state attorney general to investigate every police shooting of an unarmed civilian also went through, and another bill requiring young people under 18 speak with an attorney before waiving their Miranda rights was also approved.

Each of those awaits Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature, and he’s said he would sign the chokehold ban.  

Related: SF To Pay Nearly Half a Million Dollars to Settle Alleged Police Misconduct Cases [SFist]

Image: “Bad Lieutenant,” Aries Films

The story of a bizarre attempted robbery on BART that some thought was too strange to be true...was actually true, it appears, after the transit agency released surveillance video of the woman they say is responsible for the crime.

As previously reported, 32-year-old Oakland resident and BART passenger Julie Dragland says that she had to fake a seizure after a mysterious person handed her a note demanding her property as she rode a train through San Francisco.

“There are 2 guns pointed at you now," the note read. "If you want to live hand back your wallet + phone NOW + do not turn around and be descreet. Do not turn around until after you have left civic center + you will live.”

Dragland pretended she was having a seizure to avoid complying with the demand, and said she believed that the person who had handed her the note hopped off the train as passengers gathered around her to offer medical assistance.

“So I… if I fake a seizure or fake like I’m passing out, I’m not even not complying,” Dragland told CBS 5. “I’m scared and reacting so, I started slumped over to the left and started shaking and people started to notice and they’re like, ‘Are you okay? Are you okay?'”

“I was terrified and then I started to be like, is somebody really going to shoot someone for a phone and a wallet?"

When Dragland reported the threatening note, BART police searched area stations for the suspect, but found no one matching the description. After reviewing surveillance footage from the train, BART says that the photos above and below depict the suspect in the attempted robbery.

According to BART, the video from the Dublin-bound train confirms Dragland's account of the incident.

"Video from the train shows the suspect was seated behind the victim who was sitting alone," BART writes in a press release. "The suspect, who was also alone, is seen reaching over the victim's shoulder which is when the suspect may have dropped the note."

According to BART, the video shows the suspect getting up to flee the train as Dragland feigned her medical issue, disappearing into the crowds at Powell Street Station.

The suspect, whom BART describes as "a white female, possibly in her 30's with long strawberry blonde hair," did not appear to be armed. She's not previously known to BART police, they say.

"I've been with BART police 19 years and I've never seen anything like this," said Deputy Chief Lance Haight at a Monday press conference reported on by ABC 7.

Dragland has said that she's not interested in pursuing charges against the suspect, as the robbery didn't actually happen. But BART police are undeterred in their investigation, saying that as many as 30 people were on train at the time of the robbery attempt, and they're hoping someone might have witnessed the incident and will come forward with more information. Those who think they recognize the suspect or who have more information on the case are asked to call BART PD at 510-464-7040.

Previously: Bizarre BART Mugging Attempt Goes Sideways When Victim Fakes Seizure

It's the crime reporters' version of Groundhog Day, to write what seems like the same confounding report again and again. But here we are, once more talking about a law enforcement officer who makes the astonishing decision to leave his or her gun in their car as they park in San Francisco, only to have it stolen and used in a crime.

This time, the victim was 23 year-old Abel Enrique Esquivel, Jr., who police said via press release Wednesday was shot at 2 a.m. near 26th Street and South Van Ness Avenue on August 15.

Transported to San Francisco General Hospital, Esquivel died the following day.

On Monday, police arrested two suspects in the case, and on Tuesday a third. All three men — 18-year-old Erick Garcia Pineda and 24-year-old Jesus Perez-Araujo were nabbed at 16th and Mission, police say, and 18-year-old Daniel Cruz, arrested on the 2600 block of Mission — are SF residents who the San Francisco Police Department says were allegedly "responsible for several robberies that occurred in the Mission District between August 13th and August 15th," as well as an aggravated assault.

According to a GoFundMe page established by members of Esquivel's family, the victim was killed in one such robbery, when while walking home from his work as a night staffer at a local market, “two hooded individuals” who attempted to rob him fired the fatal shots.

According to the Chron, "Esquivel was a compassionate young man who volunteered at a community center in the Mission District."

It's towards the bottom of the SFPD press release that you see the clock flip.

During the course of the investigation, it was determined that the weapon used in the homicide was a personal firearm registered to a San Francisco Police officer that was stolen from his personal vehicle on August 12, 2017. The Department is conducting an internal investigation into the circumstance of the theft of the firearm.

Where have we heard this, or something like this, before? Oh, I know:

• May 29, 2016: A vehicle belonging to an FBI agent was broken into at Hayes and Pierce Streets, on the southern edge of Alamo Square Park. Stolen were the agent's badge and his FBI department-issued, fully loaded Glock 27, and ankle holster.
• March 25, 2016: San Francisco sheriff deputy’s gun, duty belt, and bullet proof vest were stolen from a Visitacion Valley home, as was an SFPD star
• February 19, 2016: An ICE agent lost his gun in the Ingleside after leaving it on top of his car and driving off
• January 28, 2016: Three handguns, an FBI badge, credentials, and “miscellaneous FBI property” were stolen from a car parked in Benicia
• October 18, 2015: An off-duty CHP officer was robbed of his his "personal" handgun after he left it in a backpack on the front seat of his Prius, parked at 8th and Howard
• September 13, 2015: An ICE agent's gun is stolen from a vehicle parked in SF, and was later used to kill an Oakland muralist
• June, 2015: A Bureau of Land Management agent left a gun "in a backpack in the back of his car 'in plain sight.'" After that gun was stolen, it was used to kill Kate Steinle. Her family has since filed suit against the BLM, charging "lax enforcement of gun safety regulations among the law enforcement agencies involved."

In this most recent case, the San Francisco Police Officers Association followed up the SFPD release with a statement that took things from bad to worse, saying that the officer was apparently so freewheeling with his car gun that he didn't even know it was gone:

A few weeks ago, a vehicle belonging to an SFPD officer was burglarized and the officer's personal firearm was stolen, unbeknownst to him. There were no visible signs of the burglary, and the officer did not realize that the vehicle had been broken into, nor that the firearm had been stolen. Days after the burglary, that firearm was used in a gang-related homicide. The officer, a highly-decorated veteran, is devastated. He is working with the Department to fully comply with its investigation into this case.

Police have not released where they believe the theft to have occurred (though, how could they know, if the police officer didn't even notice his gun was gone?), nor any details on the officer. Following Wednesday night's Police Commission meeting, SFPD chief Bill Scott said little was known regarding the crime. “As far as our department policy, there is a department policy on storage of weapons in vehicles, it’s pretty clear,” Scott told CBS 5.

“The weapon is supposed to be stored in a locked container that is affixed to the vehicle. So, I don’t have the details for that because the investigation is ongoing, but there is a policy for that.”

Former Supervisor David Campos, who launched the locked container regulations back in 2015, told NBC Bay Area that his law was proposed specifically to avoid tragedies like this one.

"The idea was to make sure that every person in the city, every San Franciscan, knows if they have a responsibility if they have a gun and they leave it in a vehicle, it has to be secured."

"If anything," Campos said, "there's an expectation that police officers would be held to a higher standard."

SF Police Commissioner Petra DeJesus appears to agree with Campos regarding standards for officers, telling CBS that when she heard the news of the homicide weapon's origins, "I was surprised."

“Given the fact that guns in officers’ cars have been in the news in the last 18 months and crime being committed by that," DeJesus said, "I was concerned and surprised that there wouldn’t be more care in leaving a gun in a car.”

If the gun was indeed unsecured, Mission District Supervisor Hilary Ronen says “The officer needs to be held accountable."

Speaking with the Ex, Ronen says “If anyone should be setting an example of how to safely store weapons in vehicles especially given a number of tragedies that have occurred… it is sworn police officers. They should be setting an example.”

Meanwhile, the suspects in Esquivel's death are currently off the streets and in custody at San Francisco County Jail. Pineda faces charges of "homicide, multiple counts of robbery, conspiracy, burglary and attempted murder," the SFPD says. Perez-Araujo was booked on multiple counts of robbery, burglary, and conspiracy, and Cruz faces homicide, conspiracy, robbery and possession of stolen property charges.

Related: Tuesday Night Shooting Sends San Francisco's Homicide Count To 48

We hear @KeakDaSneak got shot in Richmond this morning.

Our prayers go out to the legend, and we wish him a full and speedy recovery. 🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/mAZeQQlzc3

— Thizzler On The Roof (@TheThizzler) August 21, 2017

A longtime Bay Area rapper credited as one of the originators of the hyphy movement was shot multiple times Monday morning, just hours after he performed in Oakland.

Richmond police say they found 39-year-old Keak Da Sneak, whose given name is Charles Williams, at a gas station at Carlson Boulevard and Imperial Way in Richmond at 5:30 a.m. Monday. He was suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, KRON 4 reports, saying:

Williams was parked at the gas station but not getting gas, employees said. He was talking to someone in a car beside him.

Somebody then walked up to his car from the sidewalk and shot him more than five times.

Police told NBC Bay Area that Williams's "car had also rolled across the street into a bus stop."

ABC 7 reports that "Police do not have a suspect or getaway vehicle description, but they do have surveillance video and they're going through it."

According to the Chron, Williams "was transported to a trauma center, where he underwent several hours of surgery and is in recovery." Friends confirm this to KRON, saying "he is in ICU and out of surgery. He is said to be doing OK."

On Sunday night, Williams had performed at Complex Oakland. “The concert ended before midnight,” Richmond Police Department spokesperson Lieutenant Felix Tan told the Chron. “Between that time and [Monday] morning, something transpired.”

"What we know is he was most likely targeted," Tan told ABC 7.

"It wasn't a random shooting and it kind of underscores the fact that the person who did this was intending to probably take his life because you don't just shoot multiple times at a person not intending for the person to die," Tan said.

This isn't Williams's first shooting, as on January 20, Williams was shot but took the stage only two days later.

Williams was also arrested in May for a probation violation, following a September 2016 police pursuit in Hercules that resulted in an arrest for driving on a suspended license and evading the police.

Along with the late Mac Dre and E-40, both of Vallejo, the Oakland-born Williams helped bring national attention to the Bay Area's hyphy movement in the early 2000s. Also a member of legendary underground Bay Area rap group 90s rap group 3X Krazy, Williams is perhaps best known for his appearance in E-40's 2006 hit "Tell Me When to Go."

In a deleted Instagram video reported by the East Bay Times, Oakland rapper Mistah F.A.B., who attended Sunday's Keak Da Sneak show, said “We need to stop waiting ’til we hear news of something to show our appreciation for someone."

"When a man be going through his ups and downs and trials and tribulations, that’s when he needs his friends. That’s when he needs his support. We gotta start loving each other while we here, man, giving each other roses while we’re here."

Previously: Hyphy Rapper Keak Da Sneak Is Recovering, Performing After Being Shot

Poop is a weapon. At least it was for a man who threw it at police officers in Richmond.

According to KRON 4, Richmond police received a report that contained the location of a wanted suspect. When the police attempted to detain the man, he gave the police a fake name. Coincidentally, that name was attached to an outstanding warrant as well.

Richmond police explained in a press release:

"Well, there was an arrest warrant for the person with the name he provided. When the suspect realized he was about to be arrested for that warrant, he provided officers with his real identity. Well, there was an arrest warrant for him too."

Well, well, well.

The suspect was cuffed and placed in the back of a patrol car for transport to the police station where it was determined that the suspect was already on parole. As a result, the suspect had to be transported to the Contra Costa County jail in Martinez.

At this point, the suspect undressed in the back of a squad car and threw his clothes out of the car window along I-80. He then defecated, proceeded to get the feces in his mouth, and spit it at the officers in the front seat of the vehicle.

Presumably covered in poop, the officers pulled over, called for back-up, and constrained the suspect in a "compliance safety device."

Said the police:

"CHP officers assisted by shutting down the freeway to ensure safety to the officers and the suspect. Once the suspect was safely re-secured, he was taken to county jail. We are proud of the officers' professionalism, composure and patience in this incident. We appreciate the partnership we have with the CHP and their continued efforts to help keep everyone safe on the freeways."

Related: Martin Shkreli Pelted With Poop At UC Davis As Yiannopoulos Event Gets Canceled Amid Protest

A University of California, Berkeley student is saying via Facebook post, that he suffered a 39-hour ordeal via the Berkeley Police Department and has yet to receive an apology.

The Daily Californian reports that senior Ismael Chamu's allegations stem from a walk he and a friend took on Piedmont Avenue at around 2 a.m. last Wednesday morning following a hike above campus. Chamu says that police claimed that he and his friend matched the descriptions of suspects in a nearby burglary and detained them.

Chamu's friend, who does not have an accent and was described by Chamu as "light-skinned" was allowed to leave by the six officers at the scene, Chamu says. According to his harrowing Facebook post, Chamu was denied an attorney, repeatedly mocked by police because of his race, strip searched, and missed work — resulting in the apparent loss of his job.

"Chief Greenwood directed police staff to investigate the allegation. As Mr. Chamu's allegations are part of an ongoing investigation, we won’t have any more details to share," said Berkeley Police spokesperson Sgt. Andrew Frankel in statement emailed to the Daily Californian.

Berkeleyside managed to get some more details out of Frankel, reporting:

According to Greenwood, an officer saw Chamu duck behind a vehicle when he saw police, and appeared to set something down. Greenwood said an officer recovered a knife under that vehicle during the investigation. According to a photograph of the knife provided by BPD, it was a 6-inch knife with a 2.5-inch blade. Police arrested Chamu on suspicion of possession of an illegal weapon, the spring-loaded folding knife, said Greenwood.

The young man was not identified in a line-up as one of the burglary suspects. Greenwood said he has already told his staff to look into Chamu’s allegations. 'Given the apparent interest in this matter, I thought it best to respond to you as quickly as possible,' he said in an email Friday night.

Berkeley has yet to equip its police officers with body cameras, although a plan to do so is slowly moving forward, the Daily Cal reports.

Chamu's Facebook post has since gone viral, garnering 4,117 shares by the time of publication. Berkeley's Mayor Jesse Arreguín has become aware of Chamu's case and said that, "the city is looking into the allegations. We take them seriously and want to get the facts about what happened."

The 21-year-old activist, who says he missed both a fellowship and a scholarship interview due to his detainment, has continued to update his Facebook page with details on his subsequent anxiety and attempts to get justice. "I was kidnapped by armed agents. I was humiliated. I have been traumatized," posted Chamus.

Later he wrote, "I appreciate the warmth and support from everyone. At the moment I am trying to decompress and be normal again."

Here's Chamu's entire original Facebook post, which contains explicit language:

I am Free. Tuesday around 2AM I was detained by 6 Berkeley Police Department Officers as my friend and I were walking thru the Frat Row Area on Piedmont and College Avenue. Police Officers immediately ran towards us and they handcuffed us on the spot no questions asked. I proceeded to ask the officer why I was being detained and his response was that someone had called about two male subjects suspiciously walking through the neighborhood and that we were burglars. I repeatedly asked to speak to a lawyer and to remain silent. They denied me that right saying that I was not under arrest therefore I was not entitled to such privileges. The officer threw me into the back of a BPD SUV vehicle and they mocked me repeatedly for "not speaking English" .

They proceeded to take me to Berkeley City Jail. They fingerprinted me, Strip searched me. I never have felt more violated, frightened and humiliated in my life. Every moment I was fearing for my life. I am a 5' 2' Mexican Guy...I have nothing. I begged my Ancestors for help and peace. I prayed to God for freedom.

They threw me into a Jail Cell. It was freezing inside and I slept on a stupid little mattress and one blanket. I was kept locked up at the Berkeley Police Department Jail for 30+ Hours. I kept asking for counsel and legal representation but was never granted the right. The psychological torment was more than I could bare. I would nap and wake up hoping that I was free but it was all in my head. Every now and then the Police would come around and bang on the metal door as to mock me. As to Mock my existence. I could not sleep, I was starving, I was freezing. I felt so alone so detached I got constant anxiety attacks and panic but I was alone no one there to help me but myself.

I had no perception of time.

Today around 4AM I was awaken by loud bangs , I had court for 9AM. I was moved into a BPD van and transported to Oakland Police Department Jail. I was placed into a Jail detainment Cell the entire day, I never saw a lawyer or a judge. Throughout the day a Sheriff C. Tracy Mocked me by putting both hands on his knees and saying "Tu no Hablas Espanol o inlges tu little Frijol, you a little Bean" he would laugh and slap his knees. I felt so low and angry. I was pissed but kept a calm face. Around 6PM I was finally released. I had no charges. They stole 2 days of my life. I missed a Scholarship Interview, a Fellowship Skype interview and work.

I was kidnapped by armed agents. I was humiliated. I have been traumatized. I still feel shock and pain and anger. I am just glad to be free. At Least feel the illusion of freedom.
The Police racially profiled me for being Mexican. For looking like a "Burglar" for appearing "Dangerous"

I will never forget this. Fuck them. Fuck them a thousand times over Fuck them. BPD you will hear from me soon.

I want the world to see this injustice. I was not a teacher, or a student, or a scholar. I was but a Criminal Mexican in thier fucking eyes.

Related: Ugly Racial Profiling Incident Caught On Video At Mission Grocery Store