Busy in the 24/680 as our rain lifts and we’re treated to a patch of blue.
Our alliterative streak also continues overnight as burglars reportedly took advantage of the break in the weather and broke into homes in Danville and Walnut Creek – apparently smashing through rear glass sliding doors to gain access.
Another thread we unraveled recently turned out to be connected to a suspected prostitution operation at a Clayton Road motel, with police following up some neighborhood leads with a raid resulting in the arrest of six people and confiscation of money and other items linked to illicit activity.
The suspected ring allegedly used online ads to attract customers.
Our travels also took us to Rossmoor in Walnut Creek where some residents recently reported feeling sick after being exposed to some type of chemical agent. At first, it was believed the victims had been in contact with a freon gas leak but that was later revised to suspected contact with – bear spray.
We’re not sure when bear spray made the transition from use as a deterrent against bears in the wild to close-quarter battle and grudge matches between humans but more humans than bears seem to be getting a face full of the stuff these days.
We were also on hand recently when several hundred members of several East Bay car clubs descended on a Pleasant Hill department store parking lot to compare and admire their rides. There were food trucks and other offerings being sampled and pretty soon it became clear the group hadn’t secured permission to use the lot and that the neighbors were getting short-tempered about the noise because police from several local jurisdictions rolled in to shut things down.
CHP Contra Costa said “thousands of dollars of damage” was done to the chosen parking lot from reckless driving and that officers initiated a traffic stop on a Dodge Challenger after the vehicle’s operator allegedly fled from officers at speeds over 135 miles per hour.
Apparently the Challenger lost its front left tire and eventually the front left rim during the pursuit, officers arresting the driver for felony Reckless Evading, Driving Without a License and an outstanding arrest warrant out of Santa Clara County. The 23-year-old Oakland man behind the wheel was booked into Martinez Detention Facility.
That’s a lot of stuff going on in just a couple of days. We’ll be out and about to see what the future has in store…
Bear spray seems to have been in vogue since Jan 6….
The pic shows the RIGHT front tire and rim shredded. Is that in addition to the unseen left side tire and rim mentioned in the article?…and where?
As for the gathering, why is the “department store parking lot” not indentified?
Because we had video from the event as it happened and most people already knew PLUS the harried owners are probably tired of being singled out.
We see this over and over, but I continue to be surprised that no one ever seems to connect the dots. The “glorification of car culture” has existed for decades i.e. low-rider culture, auto racing, car shows etc…but, there’s no question that the Fast and Furious films (10 and still counting) is the true driving factor (ha!) for the out-of-control auto lawlessness we’ve see in recent years, and the pandemic only added gasoline to the existing auto obsession. I love it when people say movies and gaming culture are completely blameless for many of our worst impulses.
Criz, I can’t help but agree.
I’d like to point out that long before The Fast & The Furious films, there were automotive antics which, I believe, ultimately birthed the films, or at least, exemplified the well-established car culture. Look back to American Graffiti, Smokey and the Bandit, Cannonball Run, Mad Max, Duel, and many more. I would argue that the cars nowadays just happen to *look* like those in the Fast & Furious films, but the actions of their owners has been passed down for generations. I learned how to do a proper donut and how to catch three gears’ worth of rubber from my dad and uncles, before I got my license (in 1988). I also learned the hard way that you can’t outrun the police radio!
You Old Gearjammer You! Yes, we happen to think Dom DeLuise, Burt and that Sally Field have much to answer for!
This is all on Captain Chaos and JJ.
Yeah…..And that dadgum confounded rock ‘n’ roll rhythm dancing leads to all the reefer fiends out there.
I wonder which films inspired the local brothels.
Oy! History of the World Part I must have covered it.
Hey, I carry pepper and bear with me, the bear goes out in a fog and is better for multiple suspects or crowds. Of course that’s just the beginning of what I have.
Lucky it wasn’t my Danville residence.
Firestone
Danville, Deputy? Have you spiked a SECOND pension to move up from WC?
Well played!
Well, if cruelty is your primary objective and not all those other bothers you are sworn to, well then you are well prepared for the day.
Greg, I agree with you up to a point. I did a few of those “car tricks” when I was a young whippersnapper back in the day, but my pals and I did not have social media providing a non-stop barrage of media “inspiration” for all the crazy shenanigans that we see on a regular basis today i.e. sideshows with gun-play in formerly quiet neighborhoods, supercharged cars and motorcycles trying to break land- speed records in the same neighborhoods, etc…..My point is, some things are actually a bit different these days.
Oh, and rock and roll and reefer usually doesn’t kill people. Just sayin.
I was into street racing etc as a kid. The problem is the sideshows easily descend from a group of car enthusiasts to a place for a group of drinking gun toting gangsters to do whatever the hell they want and at that point has very little to do with man and machines, unfortunately large spectator crowds at unsanctioned events lead to shenanigans. Now the dancing with the car doing donuts we never did in my day, I just chalk that up to a few drunken stupid individuals desperate for the crowds attention. I had heard the point there needs to be venues and events for car enthusiasts that are affordable an accessible but this is chaos.
“I was into street racing etc as a kid.”
Can we agree that was fucked up then? Not now but then! The criminal recklessness of your youth. You can’t just dismiss it as prologue to the current crimes as though it was fundamentally different. Well, you can, but that would be so sadly self-serving.
Were the burglaries homes occupied?
Believe a couple were occupied at the time or observed via home surveillance systems. Others were “discovered” break-ins found after residents returned home.
Yikes, while none of it is good most concerning of all is when someone is robbed while home. Thanks for the update.
The rear slider smash and grab went down on the peninsula last week also. Same MO I wonder if its the same crew.
Yeah, it’s apparently common, but it’s not exactly an MO to utilize whatever the weakest entry point is to a house. If you don’t lock a door or leave your garage opener in your unlocked car, that’s an even easier entry point. These guys are not generally smart, but they are dedicated.