A Hayward teenager was beaten up and left bloody on a stranger's porch.

In the pleasant upscale suburb of Lafayette, on Happy Valley Road, no less, a human body was found burned to death in a car fire. Suicide, homicide, accident - the authorities aren't sure yet.

We already wrote about the dead man at the Cal sorority, in what could be the premise of a bad teensploitation sequel to the Weekend at Bernie's franchise. Not that this incident isn't something to be taken seriously. Real life murders shouldn't be taken lightly, though the idea of sorority sisters dressing up a dead man in drag, giving him a pedicure, and pretending he/she's just one of the girls and is still alive during a do-or-die member Rush could have promise as a We'll stop there. Here's a link to the Oakland Tribune's version of the story.

And the most disturbing and horrific of East Bay crime stories was reported Friday - a woman was found badly beaten, tied up, and set on fire, on a quiet Oakland street in the relatively violence-free Temescal neighborhood near the Studio One Art Center and Park Day School. As far as we know, the woman is still alive.