San Mateo police have arrested a man suspected of a shooting at a bar in the city in which one of the bullets grazed the leg of a male victim.
On April 14, at approximately 12:58 a.m., patrol officers with the San Mateo Police Department (SMPD) responded to the unit block of 37th Avenue for a report of a shooting.
Authorities immediately launched an investigation at the scene, and after interviewing witnesses and reviewing surveillance video, officers learned that a group of three unknown suspects were involved in an altercation with two men inside a bar.
One of the three suspects punched one of the other men in the face. The fight continued outside the bar and one of the suspects retrieved a firearm from a vehicle, who fired one round into the sky and then fired two or three more rounds into the ground, where one of the bullets grazed a 26-year-old male victim who had a minor graze on his ankle, police said.
The three suspects fled the scene in two vehicles prior to SMPD arrival.
Officers continued their investigation and quickly identified the shooter as Diego Perez-Pinzon.
So, during the early hours of this morning on May 3, SMPD arrested Perez-Pinzon without incident near his residence in Redwood City, CA.
Perez-Pinzon was booked into the San Mateo County Jail for assault with a firearm, negligent discharge of a firearm, criminal threats, exhibition of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a parolee and carrying a loaded firearm.
In response to these events, authorities recalled that "If you see something, say something."
«We are encouraging our community to use security cameras. They are especially helpful in identifying suspicious activity in neighborhoods when the cameras face the street. Our officers request surveillance regularly and you can help by notifying SMPD where cameras are located in your neighborhood at the site http://www.cityofsanmateo.org/Nest", they recalled.
Bay Area authorities will hold a gun buyback event on May 6.
The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, along with San Mateo County and the police departments of South San Francisco, San Bruno, Daly City, Colma, and Citizens for San Mateo County Gun Buyback, will be holding an anonymous gun buyback event this coming Saturday, May 6.
The event will be held in the parking lot of the North County Courthouse, located at 1050 Mission Road in South San Francisco, on Saturday, May 6, 2023, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
“Our gun buyback event provides a safe and anonymous way for community members to turn in firearms they no longer need or want. By participating in this event, you are helping to keep our communities safer by reducing the number of guns in circulation,” said San Mateo County Sheriff, Christina Corpus.
“We encourage all residents to consider taking advantage of this opportunity to make a positive impact on our community,” he added.
For those planning to attend, please transport your firearms unloaded and in the trunk of your vehicle. All firearms will be accepted, no questions asked, in exchange for cash ranging from $50 to $200.
In addition to removing firearms from the community, gun buyback events also provide an opportunity to educate the public about safe firearm storage and other gun safety protocols, as well as distribute free gun locks.
“Gun violence remains an ever-present danger in our communities,” said Dave Pine, chairman of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. “By taking guns out of circulation, along with strong local safety policies, we can continue to reduce the prevalence and availability of guns.”
San Mateo County has hosted six buyback events; yielding a total of 2,359 firearms collected to date.
This event series, known as the San Mateo County Gun Buyback Program, is scheduled to include two events per year through 2023 and is funded by a partnership between the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, which approved a grant of up to $208,000 in Measure K, and $100,000 from the Sheriff’s Office, with more than $67,000 raised by Citizens for a San Mateo County Gun Buy Back, a local community group.
The new COVID-19 variant that was detected in January of this year has caused concern among experts in recent months, becoming a "variant of interest" for the World Health Organization -WHO-.
During the radio show Hecho en California, hosted by Marcos Gutiérrez, Anna Lee Mraz, CEO of Península 360 Press, warned about the new COVID-19 variant "Arcturus" or XBB1.16, which was first identified in India and has so far been detected in at least 29 countries.
One of the characteristics of this strain is that it may be more transmissible because it has an additional mutation in the spike protein. The program mentioned that conjunctivitis is one of the characteristic symptoms of this new variant, in addition to other symptoms already known to the population such as cough, fever, fatigue, sore throat, difficulty breathing, among others.
Lee Mraz also pointed out that at the press conference organized by Ethnic Media Services, where experts met to discuss the new variant, it was recommended that both adults and children get vaccinated against COVID-19 to be protected against the new variants of the disease, which would reduce the risk of contracting Arcturus.
"The vaccine itself can reduce the possibility of it causing us more harm," said host Marcos Gutiérrez, while Lee Mraz recommended that people receive booster shots and follow hygiene measures to avoid transmission of the disease.
Dina Boluarte's government is a "civil-military dictatorship"
Camilo Pérez Bustillo, executive director of the National Guild of Lawyers of the San Francisco Bay Area, announced the presentation—which took place on May 2 at the Medicine for Nightmares Bookstore and Gallery—of the report and photographic exhibition on human rights violations in Peru.
The exhibition #PerúResiste was organized jointly by Global Exchange and Social Focus, in collaboration with Península 360 Press, Rompeviento TV, Periodistas Unidos and the Center for Latin American Socio-Legal Studies —CESJUL—.
He also pointed out that the illegitimate government of Dina Boluarte has established, according to what the inhabitants of Peru say, "a civil-military dictatorship." He also pointed out that the repression carried out by this dictatorship has left "more than 70 dead, hundreds of people arrested, many wounded and 5 places where there has been concentrated repression against indigenous peoples."
Bustillo also denounced that "this repression is being supported, financed and armed by the United States, there is more than 40 million in military aid to the government of Dina Boluarte and the government welcomed this illegitimate government," which has caused the number of Peruvian migrants to increase because they are fleeing.
"The interim government headed by Dina Boluarte is a government that has applied a policy of state terror that has culminated in crimes against humanity. We are talking about the most serious level - according to international law - of massive human rights crimes, extrajudicial killings, massacres," he explained.
Finally, Manuel Ortiz, director of Península 360 Press and co-organizer of the exhibition #PerúResiste said that "there is a lot we can do here," as he pointed out that in Peru people hope that people from abroad will also raise their voices regarding the situation the country is experiencing.
"It seems that the media phenomenon in Peru has died down, but the problem continues. Now it is time to denounce not only this imposed government but also the United States as the promoter of this illegitimate government and as the promoter of a militarization that is advancing throughout Latin America," he concluded.
The California Reparations Task Force released documents Monday indicating it plans to recommend that the state apologize for racism and slavery and consider "down payments" of varying amounts for eligible African-American residents.
The documents, which total more than 500 pages, do not contain a general price tag for reparations, but they do include ways the state could calculate how much money African Americans in California have lost from 1850, when the state was established, until today because of certain government practices.
Loss estimates would vary depending on the type of racial harm and how long a person has lived in California. Loss estimates range from $2,300 per person per year of residence for over-policing of African American communities, to a total of $77,000 per person for losses and devaluations of African American-owned businesses over the years.
The state-appointed task force has a July 1 deadline to make repair recommendations to the Legislature and governor. Gavin NewsomTask force leaders have said they expect the Legislature to come up with actual reparations amounts.
The task force also recommends a variety of policy changes to counter discrimination.
“It’s critical that we compensate, but we don’t just compensate. We also need to evaluate the policy that continues to hold us back,” said Monica Montgomery Steppe, a San Diego City Council member who sits on the task force. She spoke at a “listening session” in San Diego on Saturday.
Who would receive reparations?
The task force documents discuss two types of reparations: those arising from particular instances of discrimination or harm that require an individual to file a claim, and those involving the distribution of money or benefits to all eligible Black Californians for racial harm experienced by the entire community.
A recent example of an individual claim was Bruce's Beach, an oceanfront property and resort that the city of Manhattan Beach seized from a black family nearly 100 years ago. Recently, in part because of the task force, government leaders returned the deed to the land to descendants of the Bruce family, who resold it to Los Angeles County for $20 million.
It is one of the few times that a local government has restored property owned by a black family.
Eligibility for reparations remains controversial. The task force in March 2022 voted to limit potential compensation to descendants of free and enslaved African Americans who were in the United States in the 19th century. The group narrowly rejected a proposal to include all African Americans, including recent immigrants, regardless of lineage.
Everyone in the eligible class should be compensated, the task force report says, even if they can't prove they suffered a specific harm.
“The State of California created laws and policies that discriminate against and subjugate free and enslaved African Americans and their descendants,” the report says. “In doing so, these discriminatory policies made no distinctions among these individuals; the compensatory remedy must do the same.”
The final report, like the task force’s previous interim report, lays out the history of systemic racism and ongoing injustices in California.
Costs of racial harm
The latest batch of documents also urges that eligible individuals be compensated in cash, sooner rather than later. The records instruct the Legislature to begin with “initial payments” rather than waiting for full loss calculations.
The final report suggests dollar figures for certain categories of racial harm:
-Due to mass incarceration and over-policing of Black communities, estimates a per-person loss of $115,260, or $2,352 for each year they lived in California from 1971 to 2020, corresponding to the National War on Drugs;
-For housing discrimination, it offers two methods of calculating losses. One method based on gaps between the “housing wealth” of whites and blacks would peg losses at $145,847 per person. The other method, based on governments’ history of “redlining,” including discriminatory lending and zoning, would estimate losses to black residents at $148,099 per person, or $3,366 for each year they lived in California from 1933 to 1977; and
-For health care injustices and discrimination, it estimates $13,619 per person for each year lived in California, or $966,921 in total for someone who lives to around 71 years old: the average life expectancy of African American residents in California in 2021.
The reparations program would be overseen by a new state agency that would determine eligibility and distribute funding, the report says. The agency would also be responsible for helping people document and provide evidence of specific injustices.
Eligible Black residents shouldn’t expect cash payments anytime soon. The state Legislature and Newsom will decide whether reparations are paid, and it’s unclear what they will do with the task force’s recommendations.
“This is the time when we really need the voice of the public,” said Khansa T. Jones-Muhammad, also known as Friday Jones, a member of the Los Angeles reparations advisory commission. “This is the time to get your churches together. This is the time to get your school boards together.”
Jones made the comments during a listening session in San Diego.
Non-monetary repairs
Some members of the task force have been dismayed by the amount of attention paid to the dollar figures being discussed. The final report provides dozens of policy recommendations aimed at preventing further discrimination and harm against black residents.
“The biggest struggle is the implementation of all of these recommendations,” Montgomery Steppe said. “After the task force issues its final report, those recommendations need strong support in the California Legislature and government. It will take all hands on deck to ensure that we push for a policy change from our state legislature.”
The task force is scheduled to meet again at 9 a.m. Saturday in Lisser Hall at Northeastern University, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., in Oakland. The meeting will be streamed live on https://oag.ca.gov/ab3121.
This publication was supported in whole or part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.
City Manager Melissa Stevenson Diaz announced Wednesday the selection of Kristina A. Bell as the new Redwood City Police Chief, who will begin her new role on June 5.
The city said in a statement that with his extensive experience in public safety, Bell brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Redwood City Police Department, having lived in the city all his life, he also has a deep understanding of the community and the many partners and agencies that collaborate to support public safety.
"Bell has an excellent reputation for being an authentic and open leader, and has demonstrated honesty and integrity throughout her career," the authorities said.
“I am thrilled to welcome Kristina as Redwood City’s new Police Chief. Her significant experience and strong track record of relationship building, as well as her commitment to improving public safety, will be invaluable assets to our city,” said Stevenson Diaz.
“I look forward to working closely with her as she takes the department to new heights. I am confident she will have a positive impact on the department and our community for years to come,” he added.
Since 2020, Bell has served as Chief of Police Services for the City of San Carlos and as Captain of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.
Bell has also held various positions within corrections, operations and support services within the County Sheriff's Office, rising through the ranks from Correctional Officer to Sheriff's Captain.
“My primary goal as Redwood City Police Chief is to work collaboratively with the City Council, staff and community to provide continued safety for those who work, live or visit our wonderful city,” Bell said. “I will continue to value and practice transparency and listen to all voices. Together, we can build on the great foundation that has already been established in Redwood City.”
The incoming police chief has worked extensively with youth and diverse communities in Redwood City and North Fair Oaks and is fluent in Spanish.
Kristina Bell began her employment at age sixteen working for the Redwood City Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education with a minor in Psychology from Abilene Christian University and a Master of Education degree from Southwest Baptist University.
After a year and a half as a site coordinator for after-school programs in Redwood City, she began her law enforcement career with the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, steadily rising through the ranks.
Trustee Stevenson thanked community members for their support in the hiring process. “I took their feedback very seriously and sought to find a police chief who not only had the skills, temperament and experience to effectively lead the department, but also a demonstrated commitment to community engagement.”
“Our new police chief will build on our strong relationships with community members and partners and help us continue to evolve the services we provide,” said Stevenson Diaz.
Bell has completed a rigorous state-mandated background check and will assume her role as Redwood City Police Chief on June 5, 2023 following the retirement of Chief Dan Mulholland.
California on Tuesday awarded nearly $17 million to 44 community and tribal organizations to develop and increase youth substance use prevention services through civic engagement and culturally competent programs.
These grants are part of Elevate Youth California, a state program that addresses substance use disorder.
These investments will seek to help grassroots community and tribal organizations develop substance use prevention services for youth living in communities disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.
“California is committed to reaching young people struggling with substance use and mental health issues where they are, with the resources they need to stay healthy,” said Governor Gavin Newsom.
“We are investing in our community partners who work day in and day out to help vulnerable youth access the quality, culturally competent services they need and deserve,” she added.
Mental health and substance use challenges for youth are at an all-time high in California, especially for youth of color and 2S/LGBTQ+ youth, said California Department of Health Services (DHCS) Director Michelle Baass.
“Through Elevate Youth California, DHCS continues to provide safe spaces where youth have an equitable opportunity to receive preventive behavioral health services.”
Support will empower youth to create policy and systems change through civic engagement, implement culturally and linguistically competent youth development programs, peer support, and mentoring that are healing-centered and trauma-informed, and prioritize harm reduction and public health solutions that build resilience and prevent substance use disorder.
The state of California once again became the state in the American union with the highest number of people defrauded by romantic scams with 2,189, as well as the one with the highest losses for said crime for 158.1 million dollars.
This is according to figures from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), an agency that detailed that Texas moved to second place, losing $60.3 million, and Florida fell to third, losing $53.4 million.
Nearly 70,000 Americans lost a record $1.3 billion to romance scams in 2022, according to the Federal Trade Commission, up a staggering 138 percent from $547 million in 2021.
According to a study by the online research service Social Catfish, this 138 percent jump from last year is by far the largest the country has ever seen, and despite mounting government warnings, pop culture shows like “The Tinder Swindler,” which aired last year on Netflix, and increased public awareness, romance scams continue to leave unprecedented numbers of Americans broken and heartbroken.
Romance scams are when criminals steal photos of attractive people and create fake profiles on dating apps or social media platforms, then develop a relationship with the victim by showing romantic interests over a long period of time or through elaborate schemes involving multiple people to lure them into money laundering, cryptocurrency or gift card scams.
While the methods used by scammers have evolved over time, the results remain the same: people are left penniless and heartbroken, with little recourse to justice due to government jurisdictional interviews.
Most romance scams come from Nigeria
The original romance scam was the infamous Nigerian prince scam that began during the infancy of the Internet in AOL chat rooms. Today, romance scams take place in large office buildings in Nigeria, where criminals operate using a combination of strategies from Corporate America and other crime syndicates, Social Catfish said.
He detailed that offices are manned 24/7 by dozens of “employees” who are responsible for finding “clients,” also known as victims. Operating like a mafia syndicate, when a scammer steals money from a victim, a good percentage of the profits goes to the senior leaders, or “Boss,” of the organization. Senior leadership provides new workers with infrastructure, training, and support.
Social Catfish claims to have infiltrated these organizations and works with several reformed Nigerian romance scammers who serve as on-the-ground consultants in Nigeria.
These reformed scammers, he said, have provided Social Catfish with leaked training manuals, details about how these organizations are run, and will track down information about specific cases of romance scams that Social Catfish is trying to help solve on behalf of its users.
Cryptocurrencies and gift cards
The research also showed that one way to recognize you're dealing with a romance scammer is not just whether they ask for money, but what form of payment they request.
Nearly 35 percent of all money lost to romance scams in 2022 was sent using cryptocurrency. However, the most common form of payment requested by scammers is gift cards.
Analysis by Social Catfish based on a survey of 3,047 romance scam victims from May to August 2022 revealed that 75 percent of romance scam victims have a college education, and 13 percent earned graduate degrees.
Middle- and lower-class Americans account for 84 percent of romance scam victims, with 44 percent of them earning less than $100,000 a year and an additional 40 percent earning less than $40,000 a year.
Overall, 84 percent of victims earn less than $100,000 and only 16 percent earn six figures, showing a strong socioeconomic correlation that those with less money are more susceptible.
The Social Catfish survey also found that 10 percent of victims lost more than $100,000 and 4 percent lost more than $200,000.
"As noted above, 84% of % victims earn less than $100,000 a year, meaning many had to sell their assets or take out loans to pay their scammers. Additionally, 35% of victims retired, and many had to re-enter the workforce," the document states.
Notably, there are four new states in the top 10 in the 2022 national rankings, including Arizona – No. 5 instead of No. 14 – Ohio – No. 8 instead of No. 17 – North Carolina – No. 9 instead of No. 15 – and Illinois – No. 10 instead of No. 13 –.
While four states dropped out of the top 10 this year, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Colorado and Massachusetts.
Three East Bay men have been arrested in connection with robberies targeting AAPI — Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders — communities across the Bay Area, San Jose police said Monday.
The trio, suspected of a series of armed robberies between December and February, were identified as Joel Contreras Barrón, 26, of Antioch, Francisco Rincón, 28, of Richmond, and Juan Rodríguez Ramírez, 26, of Richmond.
Investigators say the men are linked to 13 robberies, five grand thefts and countless vehicle thefts in the region.
San Jose detectives, working with police in San Pablo Santa Clara and Stockton, identified the suspects and obtained arrest warrants, as well as search warrants for their homes.
On February 25, Rodriguez Ramirez was arrested by Stockton police for robbery and remains in custody.
On April 14, 2023, a series of vehicle thefts occurred at the Grand Century Mall and San Jose Police located a car associated with a suspect. Contreras Barron was arrested in connection with the vehicle thefts and his outstanding arrest warrant.
On April 26, the San Jose Police Undercover Response Unit located and arrested Rincon in Richmond.
The suspects were booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail and the San Joaquin County Jail on suspicion of multiple felonies.
Anyone with information regarding these or similar cases is asked to contact Detective Yee #4342 of the San Jose Police Robbery Unit by email: 4342@sanjoseca.gov or 408-277-4166.
Submit crime tips and remain anonymous by using the P3TIPS mobile app, calling the tip line at (408) 947-STOP or at www.svcrimestoppers.org.
If information leads to an arrest, a cash reward may be available through the Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers program.
The Governor Gavin Newsom issued a proclamation on Monday declaring May 2023 as “Small Business Month” in the state of California.
The decree states that California's economy is home to more than 4.2 million small businesses, a figure that exceeds that of any other state.
"Small businesses and entrepreneurs accelerate economic growth and mobility in California, creating two-thirds of net new jobs, building wealth, innovating to solve global problems, launching future growth industries, bringing diversity to our economy and defining Main Streets in our local communities," Newsom said in the statement.
California small businesses account for more than 99 percent of all businesses in the state and employ more than 7 million people, nearly half of the state's private sector workforce.
“Our small businesses are global leaders in innovation and economic competitiveness, and they embody the entrepreneurial spirit that drives the Golden State’s economy,” the governor added.
California leads the nation in business creation, with 20 percent annual growth from 2019 to 2020, receives more than 50 percent of the nation's venture capital, and produces more patents per capita, research and development than any other state in the country.
California is the center of U.S. manufacturing production, with more than 35,000 manufacturing companies employing more than 1.2 million Californians.
Newsom noted that the state's manufacturing companies have created new industries and supplied the world with manufactured goods spanning aerospace, computing and electronics, and most recently, zero-emission vehicles.
“For our economy to maintain its global leadership, we must ensure that all Californians, no matter who they are or where they come from, can pursue their dreams of starting, managing and growing resilient businesses in the Golden State,” he said.
He also explained that California continues to make historic investments to support diversity, equity and an inclusive economy.
In that regard, she recalled that AB 2019, enacted in 2022, seeks innovative ways to increase diversity in state contracting and codifies a goal of 25 percent small business participation in contracting. The Small Business Technical Assistance Program, which was extended indefinitely in 2022, supports underserved small businesses and entrepreneurs so they can start, grow, and be resilient in California.
On the other hand, he pointed out that the state has renewed the Accelerate California program to help expand the technological ecosystem to include more diverse founders, support new technological sectors, drive growth and create high-quality jobs in regions beyond the coast. “Our small businesses are constantly adapting to an evolving market, integrating technology at a higher rate than ever before and developing innovative ways to connect with customers. This month, we recognize the tremendous success of our small businesses and their contributions to the California economy. We affirm our commitment to helping California small businesses thrive and, above all, we commit to ensuring that the California Dream is a reality for all,” he concluded.
On Monday, it was announced that JPMorgan Chase Bank has acquired First Republic Bank from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), with the vast majority of its assets and assumed deposits and other liabilities.
As part of the purchase, JPMorgan Chase is assuming all deposits, insured and uninsured.
“Our government invited us and others to step forward, and we did,” said Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase. “Our financial strength, capabilities and business model allowed us to develop an offer to execute the transaction in a manner that minimized costs to the Deposit Insurance Fund.”
Dimon added that the acquisition is modestly beneficial to JPMorgan Chase overall, “is beneficial to shareholders, helps further advance our wealth strategy and is complementary to our existing franchise.”
Key elements of the transaction following the FDIC's competitive bidding process include the acquisition of the vast majority of First Republic Bank's assets, including approximately $173 billion in loans and approximately $30 billion in securities.
Also assuming approximately $92 billion in deposits, including $30 billion of large bank deposits, which will be repaid after closing or eliminated in consolidation.
The FDIC will provide loss-sharing agreements covering acquired single-family residential mortgage loans and commercial loans, as well as $50 billion in five-year, fixed-rate term financing.
It is worth noting that JPMorgan Chase will not assume First Republic's corporate debt or preferred stock.
While San Francisco-based First Republic Bank was closed Monday by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, branches opened Monday, May 1, as usual, and customers continued to receive uninterrupted service, including digital and mobile banking capabilities. However, they now serve as just another JPMorgan Chase branch.
As a result of this transaction, JPMorgan Chase said in a statement that it expects to recognize a one-time upfront after-tax gain of approximately $2.6 billion, which does not reflect the approximately $2 billion of anticipated after-tax restructuring costs over the next 18 months.
The bank also expects the transaction to be modestly accretive to earnings per share and generate more than $500 million in incremental net income per year, not including approximately $2.6 billion in one-time after-tax gains or approximately $2 billion in after-tax restructuring costs expected over the course of 2023 and 2024.
The acquired First Republic businesses will be overseen by JPMorgan Chase's Community and Consumer Banking (CCB) co-CEOs Marianne Lake and Jennifer Piepszak.
“First Republic has built a strong reputation for serving customers with integrity and exceptional service,” Lake and Piepszak said. “We look forward to welcoming First Republic employees back. As always, we are committed to treating employees with respect, care and transparency.”
