Moraga has a lot of personality for a small town, and it comes out in a lot of ways for us – often in the police reports filed by the police officers who patrol its gritty streets.
There’s just something about Moraga PD’s police reports that distinguishes them from those of other jurisdictions. We like and appreciate the good humor and skill exhibited by the officers working at adjacent agencies, but Moraga’s cases always seem to have that blend of small-town charm and Joe Wambaugh prose that endears us to ordinary folks sometimes pushed to the edge by small things – and the people sent out to pull them back. Hopefully.
Police officers see a lot. Not always pretty, often ugly. Moraga isn’t New York, Detroit or L.A., but it has its moments, and here are a few of them – pulled off the crime blotter as local temperatures soared this week:
Drive-by Fruiting
The month got off to a rousing start with a watermelon bombing, six of the mottled green monsters landing squarely on a car parked outside a home on Willow Springs Road on June 1. Officers dutifully took note of the spray patterns and shrapnel-like dispersal of those little black seeds and conceded this one could be hard to solve.
No Fair Using Your Child As A Shield
We think you will admit police are often pressed into unusual, often hostile scenarios most of us would do anything to avoid. On June 3, officers were informed a child at the center of an ongoing custody dispute had been picked up at school by the child’s mother – a potential violation of her custody agreement with the child’s father. Police determined that an outstanding felony warrant had been issued for the mother in San Francisco and went to her Moraga business to contact her, only to be barred from the premises when mom allegedly refused to open the door. When police forcibly entered the building the woman allegedly picked up her child and continued to fight with officers with the child in her arms. She was eventually overcome, arrested for felony child endangerment, misdemeanor resisting arrest, and for the outstanding felony warrant. The child was released to its father.
Vomiting 16-Year-Olds Are Always A Dead Giveaway
Police were summoned to a possible party with “Rugby Players” and “Drunk Drivers” on Country Club Drive the evening of June 6, only to have suspicions confirmed when met by a young girl throwing up at the curb. While assessing her condition and contacting mom for the long ride home, officers said about 50 more “juvenile partygoers” abruptly left the residence in question. Officers arranged rides for others they determined to be under the influence and issued a Chapter 9.08 warning notice to the 48-year-old host, which she signed.
Road Freedom… For All Of Three Days
While at the party outlined above, officers stopped another 16-year-old as she was leaving the area and, after some initial denials, determined that she had also been drinking at the party. A field test confirmed the worst as her blood alcohol registered above the legal limit of .01 and she was asked to surrender her driver’s license – which she’d had for all of three days. She was given a temporary license (pending a one year suspension of her issued license), cited, and forced to endure the long ride home with Dad.
Those Dating Services Don’t Always Work Like They Do On TV
On June 7, officers met with a Rheem Blvd. resident who told them she was being pressured by a man she’d met through an online dating service. Although initially cordial, the woman told officers things turned nasty when the man began demanding she send him intimate photos. When she declined, he reportedly sent her some of his own. Steps were taken and advice given about securing her account and future online safety.
I Follow You, You Follow Me, Everyone’s Following Everybody
Officers contacted a local resident June 9 after she informed them she felt she was being followed and harassed by a party who had begun tailing her after an encounter at a local school. The party in question told police she followed the car she felt was harassing her back to an address on Ascot Court. Police determined the alleged stalker crossed paths with the complainant by chance – and did not know her. When pressed, the reporting party was unable to tell officers why she felt she was being harassed.
OTHER STUFF: Officers also busy with identity theft and more drunk driving cases in Moraga last week, too many to detail. Keep your personal information close to you.
What’s with the picture?
I would think an adult who knowingly hosted a party for teens who were both drinking and driving would open themselves up for an awful lot of trouble if one of those teens hurt themselves or someone else right?
50 chances for things to go really wrong.
I love and trust our kids but I don’t think I would give them a party with alcohol and invite their friends. We have already lost so many young people – bringing them to your home and letting them drink doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Do a lot of parents do this???
Those online dating services are rarely the way they advertise them. I have heard both men and women who have tried them tell me absolute horror stories about the crazies they have met online. I see the ads on television and have to laugh. I think they prey on the lonely.
Only the Lonely by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson 1960.
Dating online gives you access to more jerks in less time with virtually no effort.
If you want romance, try finding a friend first. Then ask yourself, what would Roy do?