Bay Area News Briefs

By Maya Strausberg

February 11, 2008

Missing Concord man found dead

A Concord man missing since Friday was found dead on a steep hillside on the Contra Costa County side of Tilden Regional Park Sunday morning, East Bay Regional Park District police Lt. Dave Dubowy said.

Christopher Bruce, 39, was found at about 9:30 a.m. in a remote area between Wildcat Canyon Road and Curran Trail, Dubowy said.

It was not immediately clear how he died. The Contra Costa County coroner's office has taken the body and will be conducting an autopsy.

The search effort began at about 11:30 p.m. Friday after an East Bay Regional Park District police officer found an abandoned vehicle near the Mineral Springs area of the park, Dubowy said.

The officer ran the license plate and discovered that the vehicle belonged to Bruce, who had been reported missing in Concord.

Police searched the area around the vehicle Friday night on foot and with the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office's helicopter, but eventually suspended their efforts because of the darkness and difficult terrain.

At 8 a.m. Saturday, 60 members of the Contra Costa County Search and Rescue team began searching for Bruce, along with Regional Park District personnel, Dubowy said. Rescuers also brought in six teams of dogs to help track Bruce's path.

Thinking Bruce could have gone into Lake Anza, rescuers also sent two dogs trained to sniff water out onto the lake in a boat, Dubowy said.

Rescue crews again suspended the search Saturday night because of darkness, but resumed their efforts at 8 a.m. Sunday.

"Search and rescue did an outstanding job," Dubowy said.

The case has been transferred back to the Concord Police Department for investigation, Dubowy said.

Carjacking and sexual assault suspect stabs himself

A man being investigated in connection with a carjacking and sexual assault in Santa Rosa Thursday stabbed himself in the stomach with a homemade spear Sunday morning as officers broke into his home.

The victim, a 29-year-old Santa Rosa woman, had been loading groceries into her car in the parking lot of the Safeway at 2785 Yulupa Ave. just before 6 p.m. Thursday when a man, armed with a stabbing instrument, threatened to harm her child if she resisted, Sgt. Lisa Banayat said.

The man then forced her to drive to a dark location in the 3700 block of Montgomery Drive where he sexually assaulted her and stabbed her. The suspect fled on foot, leaving the woman and her child in the car. The child was not physically hurt during the incident, Banayat said.

The woman went for help at the Park View Garden convalescent home at 3751 Montgomery Drive.

Eric Moessing, director of the 116-patient facility, said the frightened woman came through the front door of the lobby around 6:15 p.m.

She was bleeding badly enough to call 911 but nurses at his facility treated her immediately.

The woman remains at an area hospital. Her injuries are no longer considered life threatening, police said.

The woman was able to provide a detailed description of her attacker and police issued a composite sketch to law enforcement agencies throughout the state. They also posted the sketch at the shopping center and released it to local media outlets.

Police received several tips regarding possible suspects. One tip that came in Saturday from somebody who had seen the sketch led investigators to a home in the 3700 block of Mayette Avenue.

At about 1:56 a.m. Sunday, officers knocked on the man's door and announced themselves.

The lights were on inside the home, but nobody came to the door. Detectives then forced entry into the home and found the man in the kitchen where he had reportedly stabbed himself in the stomach, police reported.

Detectives administered first aid and called for an ambulance, Banayat said.

The man was transported to a local hospital where he was being treated for injuries that did not appear to be life threatening.

The man is being investigated in connection with the Thursday attack, but has not been arrested, Banayat said Sunday morning. His name is not being released.

Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to call the Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Team at (707) 543-3595.

Body found in parked car at Montara State Beach

Authorities detained a man for questioning Saturday night after discovering a dead man's arm extending out from a covering in the backseat of a vehicle parked at Montara State Beach, the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office announced Sunday.

Just after 11 p.m. Saturday, a sheriff's deputy located a single vehicle in the beach's parking lot, which is a small turnout just south of Devil's Slide. As the deputy approached the vehicle's driver, he noticed an arm extending out of coverings in the backseat, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Additional sheriff's deputies arrived and located an unresponsive man in the backseat of the vehicle. Half Moon Bay Fire Department emergency crews pronounced the victim dead at the scene.

Investigators from the Sheriff's Office, the district attorney's office and the coroner's office responded to the scene and the incident is being investigated as a homicide.

Officials said it was not immediately clear how the victim died and an autopsy will be conducted. The identity of the victim is being withheld pending notification of his family.

Evidence indicates that the alleged crime occurred in another county, but the Sheriff's Office did not name the county, stating that further information could jeopardize the investigation.

Salinas man arrested for allegedly stabbing girlfriend to death

Authorities arrested a 44-year-old man Friday for allegedly stabbing to death his 46-year-old girlfriend in Salinas, police said.

At about 10:30 a.m. Friday, police were informed that a woman might be injured in an apartment at 455 California St. Detectives conducted a welfare check and found the body of Jean Franklin, who had been stabbed in her head and body, police said.

Franklin's boyfriend Edward Gardner was arrested and booked into the Monterey County jail on suspicion of murder.

Highway 680 collision victim identified

The Solano County coroner's office has identified a woman killed in a crash Saturday that injured four others on Interstate Highway 680 south of Fairfield.

The collision occurred at about 11:45 a.m. in the northbound lanes of the highway just south of Marshview Road when a sport utility vehicle rolled over, California Highway Patrol Officer Tracy Hoover said.

Kalo Lolo, 65, of San Mateo, was killed in the crash, according to the coroner's office. Hoover said four others occupants of the vehicle were injured and at least one victim was airlifted to an area hospital.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash.

Suspect arrested in Santa Rosa shooting

A suspect was arrested in a possible fatal shooting in Santa Rosa Wednesday that was initially believed to be a suicide, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department said Sunday.

Deputies were dispatched to a residence at 806 Naify Lane at about 8:45 p.m. to find Santa Rosa resident Jorge Balbuena with a gunshot wound to the forehead, the sheriff's department said.

The deputies administered first aid but Balbuena was pronounced dead just before 9 p.m.

The sheriff's department received information to indicate the shooting was self-inflicted but detectives from the Violent Crimes Investigations Unit and Crime Scene Investigations Unite began to look into the case.

During the investigation, it was discovered that four other people were in the room during the shooting and two of the subjects fled after the shooting took place, the sheriff's department said.

One of the subjects who fled and was identified as a suspect in the death was 36-year-old Pedro Serafin of Santa Rosa. Serafin was arrested in his home and booked into Sonoma County Jail on a no-bail warrant for manslaughter.

Daly City police arrest apartment robbery suspects

Police arrested two San Francisco men suspected of robbing a number of victims in an apartment building in Daly City Sunday morning.

At about 6:15 a.m., officers from the Daly City Police Department were dispatched to the 500 block of Clarinada Avenue on reports of a home invasion robbery. When they arrived, officers found three male victims in a hallway of the building.

According to victim statements, two men robbed a cab driver at gunpoint in the hallway before approaching a second man arriving home from work, police said.

While one suspect held the two men at gunpoint, the second suspect forced his way into an apartment, taking several items, according to police.

The victims told police the men were armed with an assault rifle with a scope and fled southbound on state Highway 1 in a black compact car.

Pacifica police spotted the car on the highway traveling at a high rate of speed and the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office joined the pursuit until the suspect vehicle collided with a sheriff deputy's car in Half Moon Bay.

One suspect was taken into custody without incident, police said The second man fled on foot and broke into a residence in the 500 block of Terrace Avenue before being captured as he fled out of the garage, said police. The weapon was located on the side of the highway near Devil's Slide.

Police charged 26-year-old Jamie Terrell and 19-year-old Lawrence Cordova with numerous crimes including first-degree robbery, kidnapping and weapons violations. They were booked into Maguire Correctional Facility.

Surfer rescued in Pacifica

A surfer was rescued Sunday after he became stranded in the waters off the coast of Pacifica, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Russell Nagle said.

The Coast Guard received a report that a surfer near Pacifica Pier, located off Beach Boulevard, needed rescuing at 2:17 p.m., Nagle said.

A Coast Guard pilot flew a helicopter to the area and lowered a rescue swimmer down to the surfer.

The surfer was pulled from the water and brought to safety at 2:47 p.m., Nagle said. He was not injured.

Pacifica fire officials recovered the surfboard, Nagle said.

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