None of the canines or felines were injured and they were taken into temporary custody by Contra Costa Animal Services Department officers, authorities said.
Three residents of the two-story home on Barber Lane were able to get out on their own and one was taken to a hospital for smoke inhalation, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District spokesman Steve Hill said.
The fire started in the garage of the home about 11 a.m. and spread to the second floor, Hill said. Flames and smoke were coming out of the house when firefighters got to the scene.
Firefighters discovered the animals when they made entry into the house and brought them outside, Hill said.
Hill said the fire was brought under control about 11:30 a.m. No firefighters were injured.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. A damage figure was not immediately available.
Animal Services Lt. Alana Weissman, said the dogs, including some puppies, had been left in the care of the house residents about a week ago by their owner who lives out of the county. The owner was enroute to the house Tuesday afternoon to retrieve the dogs, she said.
She said animal services officers would remain on the scene to wait for the dogs’ owner to arrive.
She said officers were “happy to come out and assist and give the animals a quick onceover to make sure they were healthy. They all look happy and healthy.”
]]>The collision happened about 8:47 p.m. Sunday in the 8400 block of San Leandro Street.
Police said that a stolen Kia was traveling westbound on San Leandro Street when it collided with a concrete barrier along the south curb line.
The male driver fled before police and emergency personnel got to the scene. Investigators are trying to confirm his name.
An 18-year-old Oakland woman who was a passenger sustained major injuries in the crash and was taken to a hospital where she was initially listed in critical condition but was later upgraded to stable.
A 19-year-old Oakland man who was also a passenger was hospitalized in stable condition.
Police said the car had been stolen earlier in the day in West Oakland.Investigators said it has not yet been determined if speed, alcohol or drugs were factors in the crash.
Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $5,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest of the driver. Anyone with information may call police at 510-777-8570 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.
]]>The sex and age of the person whose remains were found have not been determined yet, nor has a cause of death, authorities said.
The remains were uncovered Tuesday in a building that has not been occupied for many years on the Clark Kerr Campus, 2601 Warring St. The campus is the site of a residential hall complex and event space about a mile from the core UC Berkeley campus.
Authorities have not said where in the building the remains were discovered, who found them or how long they may have been there.
UC officials said there are no outstanding missing persons cases from the campus community.Officials said it is not anticipated that the investigation will disrupt resident activities at the Clark Kerr Campus.
Anyone with information about the remains is asked to call UC Berkeley police at 510-642-6760 or the coroner’s office at 510-382-3000.
]]>She did not make it Wednesday morning.
The 71-year-old mother was confronted and stabbed without provocation multiple times by a man she did not know about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 1500 block of Eighth Street, authorities said. She died at the scene.
The vicious attack happened about a block from her home.
On Thursday, 28-year-old Wilbert Winchester, a transient, was charged with murder and other crimes in Franks-Spruill’s death as well as attempted murder in the stabbing of another woman Monday morning on an AC Transit bus in East Oakland, according to authorities and court records.
The victim in the bus stabbing is a 59-year-old woman. The unprovoked attack happened while she was a passenger on a bus traveling in the 3400 block of International Boulevard. In a social-media post, Oakland police said officers responded shortly before 1 a.m. Monday to the 3400 block of International Boulevard for a reported knife assault, and arrived to find her suffering from multiple stab wounds. The suspect fled the bus but was later identified as Winchester.
According to an Oakland police officer’s probable-cause declaration within charging documents obtained Thursday from the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, officers responded to the Wednesday assault after a caller told a dispatcher that a man had his foot on a woman’s neck and that the woman was yelling for help.
When officers arrived, they found the woman suffering from multiple stab wounds, and called paramedics and Oakland Fire Department firefighters for help. Despite first responders’ efforts, the woman was pronounced dead at 1:03 a.m.
After speaking with a witness in the area, an officer learned the attack was likely part of a series of unprovoked attacks by a suspect with a similar description who struck victims in the face or head with a metal pole. In at least one attack, the suspect also slashed a victim multiple times with a knife or box cutter.
About two hours after the attack, two officers saw a man matching the suspect description walking in the 2100 block of Lakeshore Avenue and carrying a metal pipe. When the officers detained him, they saw there was blood on a pair of off-white gloves he was wearing, and confiscated a green box cutter with what appeared to be blood on it.
After other officers helped quickly set up an in-field lineup, the previous witness said the suspect, identified as Winchester, “looked like the person that assaulted the murder victim.”
Officers arrested him on suspicion of murder and took him to police headquarters. After advising him of his rights, police said Winchester “placed himself in the area of the homicide at the time of the homicide, but denied any involvement.”
Police have not determined a motive for either attack. Neither family members nor post-office representatives could be immediately reached for comment Thursday.
The stabbings he is now charged with are not the only times Winchester is accused of attacking a woman at random.
According to court records, in March of 2017, he was arrested and charged with kicking a 73-year-old woman in the head aboard a San Francisco-bound BART train in Oakland causing the woman to be hospitalized.
Winchester did not know the woman. In that case, he was initially charged with assault causing great bodily injury and false imprisonment of an elderly person.
In a plea bargain in May of 2018, he pleaded no contest to the false imprisonment count and in August 2018 was given a three-year prison sentence with more than a year’s credit for time served. He was also ordered to make financial restitution to the victim who was given a 10-year protective order against him, court records show.
According to court records, Winchester was also convicted in February 2017 of a December 2016 battery on a transit passenger and was later placed on three years probation. There were no additional details available about that case.Winchester was in custody Thursday night at Santa Rita Jail without bail and was arraigned on the charges Friday morning at Oakland’s Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse. He is scheduled to return to court for a plea hearing on Feb. 3.
Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.
]]>Both men — a 23-year-old who was shot in the arm and a 28-year-old who was wounded in the leg — were in stable condition, police said.
The shooting happened shortly after 3:10 p.m. Thursday in the 8900 block of MacArthur Boulevard.
Police said the two men were part of a larger group standing outside when a man began shooting at the group.
The two men were the only ones hit by the gunfire, authorities said. They got their own transportation to a hospital.
Police have not yet determined a motive for the shooting or if the two men wounded were the intended targets.
The gunman fled in a vehicle, police said.
Multiple bullet casings were recovered at the scene and streets were blocked off while police investigated.
Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $10,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest of the suspect. Anyone with information may call police at 510-238-3426 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.
]]>The robbery happened about 11:10 a.m. Thursday at the Wells Fargo Bank branch, which is in the Village Square Shopping Center, 2220 Mountain Blvd.
Police said a man approached a teller and, after a few words, brandished a pistol he pulled from a pocket and demanded money.
The teller gave the man an undisclosed amount of cash. He was last seen running away through a parking lot.No one was injured.
The robber was described as Black, in his 50s, with a medium complexion. standing about 5 foot 4 and weighing 120 pounds. He was bald, wore eyeglasses and a green jacket and purple hoodie, police were told.
Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $2,500 in reward money for information leading to the arrest of the robber. Anyone with information may call police at 510-238-3326 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.
]]>The woman’s name and exact age were not released.
She was being treated at a San Francisco hospital. Her condition was not available Thursday.
The woman was injured about 5:15 p.m. Wednesday inside her fourth floor apartment in the 2700 block of San Pablo Avenue.
Interim Deputy Fire Chief Keith May said the department received several calls reporting a fire in the building and that someone was on fire. Firefighters found the woman on the fourth floor with neighbors pouring water on her, he said. She was eventually taken to a hospital.Authorities said initial reports indicated the woman had an electric hot plate on the floor of her apartment that was plugged in and that the robe she was wearing apparently caught on fire through contact with the appliance.
There was no other significant damage to the apartment.
]]>Deshaughn Johnson, 33, of Oakland, is charged in the death of Anthony Bradley, 62. Authorities said the men did not appear to know each other.
The attack happened about 10:30 a.m. Sunday at 21st and Adeline streets, near where Bradley lived, police said. Bradley was pronounced dead at the scene shortly afterward.
According to court records, Johnson fled the scene after the attack but later called police and claimed they had gotten into a physical fight after Bradley robbed him. Police, however, said there was no evidence to support the robbery claim.
There was a physical altercation between the two, some of which was captured on video surveillance recovered from the scene, the records say. The video recovered shows an apparently defenseless Bradley lying on the pavement with Johnson punching and kicking him, according to court records.Johnson turned himself in to police on Monday. He told police he “blacked out” during the fight and did not remember how Bradley became so injured, the records say.
Police said the two men did not know each other.
Johnson is scheduled to enter a plea Jan. 25. He is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail.
]]>The youth, who died Tuesday afternoon, was not named by police.
Another 15-year-old San Francisco boy who was wounded in the shooting was later released from a hospital. .
The shooting happened about 6:08 a.m. Saturday in the 9000 block of Seneca Street, a residential cul-de-sac.
Police said the two youths, who are friends, were inside a parked vehicle when at least one person began shooting at them from outside.
The youth who later died was found at the scene. The other shooting victim was able to make it to a nearby home, where the resident called police.
Police have not yet said why they believe the two were in Oakland or why they were targeted. No suspect information was released and no arrests were announced.Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $15,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest of the shooter. Anyone with information may contact police at 510-238-3821 or 510-238-7950 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.
]]>The woman’s name was not immediately released. Police said she lived in the area where the stabbing occurred.
The attack happened about 12:38 a.m. Wednesday in the 1500 block of Eighth Street, not far from the main post office.
Police said the woman was walking when she was confronted by someone and repeatedly stabbed. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
A man who police suspect may have been involved in the killing was detained in the area later and was being interviewed by investigators.A motive for the killing was not released.
The killing is the fifth homicide investigated by Oakland police this year. Last year at this time police had investigated four homicides in the city.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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