Fog City News Briefs

By Lara Moscrip

May 28, 2007

Police looking for man who stabbed owner of South San Francisco grocery store

Police are looking for a man who allegedly stabbed the owner of a grocery store four times with a large silver butcher knife early Sunday morning while robbing the South San Francisco business.

At about 6:10 a.m., a man reportedly entered the grocery store, located in the 800 block of Linden Avenue, and brandished a knife at a clerk who stood near a cash register at the front of the store, South San Francisco police reported.

The clerk saw the knife and ran to the rear of the store.

The owner of the business, who was in the rear of the grocery, heard the commotion and went to see what was happening. The owner then stepped between the suspect and the fleeing clerk.

According to police, the owner got into a physical altercation with the suspect and the suspect stabbed him four times with the butcher knife.

The clerk managed to escape out the back door and called police.

The suspect, who was described as a white or Hispanic man about 25 years old, 5 feet 3 inches to 5 feet 5 inches tall with an average build, a clear, medium complexion and possibly a slight mustache, forced the owner to open the cash register and then left with an undetermined amount of money, police reported.

According to witnesses, there may have been a second suspect who allegedly stole several cases of beer during the incident, police reported.

Another witness reported seeing two males, one possibly a white man wearing all white clothing and carrying a knife fleeing toward a vehicle just after the stabbing occurred, police reported.

Other witnesses told police that the man who stabbed the storeowner was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with a zipper, police reported.

The suspect's vehicle was described as a light blue, four-door Chevrolet Impala with oversized chrome rims. The vehicle was last seen traveling the wrong way in the 200 block of Ninth Lane, possibly with four Hispanic males between 18 and 20 years old inside, police reported.

Sonoma County man killed at a Marin County beach

A 26-year-old Sonoma County man was killed and three men were arrested after a fight early Sunday morning at a Marin County beach, a sheriff's office spokesman reported.

Sheriff's deputies responded to a fight at Dillon Beach, west of Tomales near the northern Marin County border, at about 1 a.m. and found the victim. He succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead, Marin Sheriff's Office Sgt. Mike Crain said.

According to Crain, sheriff's detectives found and arrested the three men they believe are responsible for the killing near the beach.

Robert Marcus, 20, of Elk Grove, Robert Martell, 24, of Antioch, and Daren Bell, 24, of Sacramento, were scheduled to be booked Sunday afternoon into Marin County Jail on suspicion of murder, Crain said.

Crain would not elaborate on the nature of the fight or the cause of the man's death, but confirmed that the victim was not shot or stabbed. The victim's name is being withheld pending notification of his family.

According to Crain, there were many people at the beach and at the nearby Lawson's Landing campground at the time of the fight. Witnesses are asked to contact the Marin County Sheriff's Office at (415) 499-7265.

Memorial Day weekend: Three Bay Area traffic-related fatalities reported

According to a preliminary report released by the California Highway Patrol there have been three traffic-related fatalities in the Bay Area so far during the Memorial Day weekend period.

According to information collected starting at 6 p.m. Friday and running through 6 a.m. Sunday, the CHP reports that statewide there have been 1,048 people arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. That figure compares with last year's total of 1,024 such arrests for the same period.

In the Bay Area, which includes information from 12 CHP command centers, there have been 133 arrests on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. That number is down from last year's total of 172 such arrests through the same time period.

The CHP's maximum enforcement period will continue through midnight.

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