At the October 16 Council meeting, the City Council is expected to appoint Lynne Wright Chair of Piedmont’s Public Safety Committee (PSC) on the recommendation of the committee following the September 15 resignation of Chair Lori Elefant, effective September 28, 2017. Elefant will remain a member of the PSC.
Piedmonters are alerted to be watchful if their power is unexpectedly turned off.
On October 10, 2017, at 10:30 p.m., a home invasion robbery occurred in the City of Piedmont. It is believed that the suspects shut off the power to the victim’s residence to lure them outside. While inspecting the cause of the power outage outside of the home, one of the residents was confronted by one of the suspects who was armed with a firearm. Two additional suspects simultaneously confronted another resident inside the home.
The initial victim confronted outside was forced back into the residence at which point the three suspects demanded valuables from the victims and searched the house for items of value to take. One of the suspects struck one of the victims in the head with his firearm during the incident.
The three suspects took cash, electronics and other items of value from the home and victims before fleeing the scene in an unknown direction.
The suspects were described as follows: Suspect #1 was described as a black male adult in his 20’s, 5′ 8″, last seen wearing all black possibly wearing a mask or beanie, and armed with a black semi-automatic handgun. Suspect #2 is described as a black male adult in his 20’s, 6′ 0″, last seen wearing all black possibly wearing a mask or beanie, and possibly armed with a black semi-automatic handgun. Suspect #3 is described as a black male adult in his 20’s, shorter, last seen wearing all black clothing. It is unknown whether this suspect was armed.
The robbery took place in the 1300 block of Oakland Avenue.
For future reference, readers may locate crimes on the following website of the Piedmont Police Department:
http://www.ci.piedmont.ca.us/police/crime.shtml
Anyone with information related to the robbery case is asked to contact Piedmont Detective Willie Wright at (510) 420-3013.
Piedmont residents have been directly impacted by the numerous fires north of Piedmont. Elderly residents, those with compromised health, and young children have been advised to not linger or exercise outdoors when smoke is evident in the air. Windows should be closed.
The fires remind Piedmonters to prepare for an emergency such as a wildfire.
Is your neighborhood prepared for a major earthquake, wildfire, or other emergency?
Piedmont has a program to help neighborhoods come together to help each other. Would you like to help organize your block to join the other 30 Piedmont neighborhoods that have participated?
Communities across America have successfully implemented the “Map Your Neighborhood” (MYN) program to organize and prepare for public safety disasters in their communities. It is focused on neighborhoods with 15-25 adjacent residences (although there is flexibility on either end.)
The Piedmont Public Safety Committee and the Piedmont Fire Department will help facilitate MYN meetings which usually last 90 minutes. MYN provides a ready reference for actions to be taken before and after an earthquake, including mapping neighborhood utility shut-offs, preparing a neighborhood roster, and developing a process to check on the safety of all neighbors, particularly persons who are alone, disabled, or otherwise requiring assistance.
The program also provides a process to identify vital skills and resources that may exist in a neighborhood.
If you would be willing to organize your block or find out more about the program, please contact Sheila March at smarch@piedmont.ca.gov or (510) 420-3010.
Join members of the Piedmont Police Department for an informal gathering the morning of Wednesday, October 4th from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Exedra in Main Park at the junction of Highland Avenue and Magnolia Avenue to meet your local police officers. Ask questions, discuss concerns, or just stop in and say hello! No agenda, no speeches. Coffee and bagels will be provided!
Recreation employee Terrance May was arrested and charged with Embezzlement and Grand Theft.
Between July 15 and August 28, 2017, the crime of Embezzlement was committed within the City of Piedmont.
Piedmont Recreation Department staff discovered unusual transactions and promptly notified the Piedmont Police Department of their observations. The Police Department immediately initiated an investigation and determined that the suspect, who was an employee of the Piedmont Recreation Center for the past four years, used a point of sale application on his mobile device to take payments from Recreation Center customers and transfer those funds into his own bank account. The total amount of funds taken was $15,830.00.
Extensive investigative follow-up, combined with evidence recovered from bank accounts, led to the arrest of Terrance May.
May was charged by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office with one count of Embezzlement and two counts of Grand Theft.
May is currently out on bail.
Anyone with information and/or inquiries related to this case is asked to please contact Detective Willie Wright at (510) 420-3013.
Suspect: TATIANA TIA, 20 years old, Sacramento resident
Location: 1900 block of Oakland Avenue
Date/Time: September 12, 2017 around 9:30 am
Charges: Identity theft (5 counts); possession of fraudulent driver licenses; possession of stolen property.
SYNOPSIS: Piedmont Police Officers responded to the 1900 block of Oakland Avenue after a concerned citizen reported a suspicious vehicle with Nevada license plates making several passes in the neighborhood. Police responded to the area, but did not locate the vehicle.
Utilizing Piedmont Police Department’s license plate reader system, the suspicious vehicle was identified and found to be a rental car. Officers continued to search the surrounding area and located the vehicle on Hardwick Avenue near Oakland Avenue. The vehicle was occupied by TATIANA TIA. TIA provided several false statements to police. Officers sought and were granted permission to search TIA’s vehicle and purse.
Found inside the purse were several fake California driver licenses, numerous credit cards in the names of five different individuals, and sales receipts from stores in Sacramento, Richmond, Oakland, and San Rafael. TIA was arrested and brought to the Piedmont Police Department.
Suspect later provided a statement to officers admitting to knowingly possessing and using the credit cards to purchase services and goods totaling over $10,000.00 since July of 2017.
With the assistance of investigators from the Sacramento Police Department and San Francisco Police Department, four out of the five identity theft victims have been identified and contacted.
TIA’s first court appearance in Alameda County is September 14, 2017. She has no prior arrests in Alameda County.
Piedmont Police Department – 403 Highland Avenue ▪ Piedmont, CA 94611 ▪ Phone (510) 420-3000 ▪ Fax (510) 420-1121
The recent tragedies of Harvey, Irma, and wildfires remind Piedmonters – it is time to prepare for an emergency! Piedmont’s close proximity to earthquake faults and potential raging wildfires are ongoing reasons to prepare.
Piedmont is fortunate to have its own Public Safety Committee appointed by the Piedmont City Council. The Council charge to the Committee can be read HERE.
Council Liaison: Jen Cavenaugh (H) 428-1442
Chief of Police Jeremy Bowers (W) 420-3010
Fire Chief Bud McLaren (W) 420-3030
Andrea Swenson, School Board Appointee
Lori Elefant
Ryan Gilbert
Garrett Keating
Chris Houlder
Gina Scialabba
Lynne Wright
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Get Ready, Piedmont – Disaster Preparedness Brochure & Checklist
The Piedmont Public Safety Committee has prepared the Get Ready, Piedmont disaster preparedness guide. This document provides comprehensive information on preparation for and response to, earthquakes, fires, landslides, and other emergencies. The guide is 50 pages in length with checklists and illustrations on things like turning off utilities, food and water storage, first aid materials, seismic measures etc. This document is available by clicking here as well as on the Public Safety Committee and Fire Department pages of the site. Printed copies are available at the Fire Department.
Also available is the four page checklist which provides a ready reference on steps to take in the event of an earthquake or wildfire as well as general guidance on disaster preparedness and crime prevention. Printed copies are available at the Fire Department.
On Friday, August 25 the Urban Shield Task Force met in Oakland to discuss the future of Alameda County’s Urban Shield training program. The controversy focuses on whether terrorism is the most important crisis for Bay Area preparation. The funding program’s terrorism nexus requires that 25 percent of all grant funds go for “terrorism prevention activities.” Yet Alameda county’s Emergency Operation Plan lists terrorism preparedness as the eighth-most important disaster scenario, according to critics of Urban Shield.
Piedmont residents Melissa Gjerde, Lauren Mayfield, Rohaina Hassan and Jordan Bailey opposed the program on other grounds, stating “Urban Shield programs that promote/train for a militarized police force are fundamentally racist and Islamophobic.”
Also objecting were members of the Stop Urban Shield coalition who prefer investing in disaster prevention, which they consider more important than the Urban Shield.
The Urban Shield Task Force )voted down a motion to avoid funding requiring terrorism preparedness, which some called crucial for BART. Also rejected was the proposal to urge the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to lobby Congress to remove the “nexus to terrorism” requirement.
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted to create a task force to study and report back on Urban Shield on January 10, 2017. The task force is composed of more than a dozen appointees.
Read about Bay Area Urban Shield here.
Read more about EMS Urban Shield here.
Read ABC 7 news report here.
Piedmonters are alerted to be aware of caregiver activities.
PRESS RELEASE
On June 5, 2017, the crime of Elder Fraud was committed within the City of Piedmont. The suspect, who was the victim’s caregiver for the past five months, persuaded the victim to write three checks to her in the total amount of $4,530.00. This was done against the victim’s will.
Extensive investigative follow-up, combined with evidence recovered from the victim’s bank account, led to the arrest of Dorgima Bambushew.She was charged by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office with three counts of Elder Fraud and one count of Burglary.
Bambushew is currently in custody awaiting further prosecution.
Anyone with information and/or inquiries related to this case is asked to please contact Detective Willie Wright at (510) 420-3013.
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