PERITOPIA!

>>CAT BURGLARY — Caller in the 100 block of Gibson Street reports at 1:06 p.m. Wednesday that someone known to him broke into his apartment and took his cat.<<

I was going to write about the growing number of “aggressive transients” in our county, but then this story caught my eye. 

>>STOLEN CAR — A driver who left his blinker on too long tipped a patrolling officer to the fact that he was driving a stolen car Tuesday night.

A Los Angeles parolee, later identified as Dwayne Roy Mason, 27, was driving a green 2010 Toyota SUV in the fast lane of Highway 101 north of Willits when Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Don Scott, patrolling with his K-9 partner “Hondo,” spotted the SUV with its blinker on “for quite a distance.”

A records check on the vehicle revealed it was reported stolen from the city of Pasadena.

Deputies performed a high-risk stop and found Mason was alone in the car. He gave officers a false name at first, but further investigation revealed his true identity.

Mason told officers he was driving to Eureka to visit family and that a friend had given him the keys to the Toyota, but he couldn’t give the friend’s name or tell the officers where he was when he got the SUV.

“This seemed odd as the vehicle was new and appeared to be very expensive,” the MCSO stated, and Mason refused to answer any further questions about the vehicle.

Mason was arrested on suspicion of possessing stolen property, giving false identification to a peace officer and violating his parole. He was booked at the county jail and is being held without bail.<<

Here are the important takeaways.   First, apparently, leaving your blinker on constitutes probable cause.  I am totally on board with that because the mind can only reel at how many peeps leave their blinkers on all the time, for the entire trip, around here.  “Dude, we’re going to make a left — eventually.”   Second, if you are going to steal a car, at least have a cover story ready because, apparently, peeps are not good at shooting from the hip.   What would have been wrong with “my friend’s name is John.  I picked the car up in L.A.?”  I mean, he was willing to make up a name for himself, after all.  Third, and most importantly, Hondo is a weird name for a dog, but I applaud giving the K-9 partner credit for this coup — even though I’m not sure any of his skills were necessary.  He probably sniffed the car.  Oh, if only Hondo could talk.

I don’t know what is going on — but, our police blotter is starting to read more like a Lost & Found.  Is this the BEST we can do?  They might as well start reporting the undersized abalone catches.

>>SHOPPING CART IN ROAD — Caller reports a shopping cart in the middle of the road in the 100 block of North Bush Street at 4:53 a.m. Monday.<<  Would be funny if this is the address of a Safeway.

>>ORANGE CONE IN  ROAD — Caller reports an orange cone in the middle of the street at the intersection of West Clay and McPeak streets at 1:51 p.m. Monday, with no work crews near it, that is causing a traffic hazard.<<  Is anyone thinking what I am thinking?  Obstacle course!

>>POT PLANTS IN NEIGHBOR’S YARD — Caller reports seeing 20 to 35 pot plants growing in neighbor’s back yard at 3:30 p.m. Monday. Officer contacted the 61-year-old resident, who said that the plants belong to her daughter and they would be removed that evening.<<  Yes, officer, those illegal drugs belong to me, and I sincerely apologize for leaving them out in the open like that.  Love the peeps who make it so easy.

>>ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD STEALING MONEY — Caller in the 1100 block of Mulberry Street at 4:15 p.m. Monday said he wanted to report his 11-year-old daughter is stealing his cash and credit cards.<<  Kind of sad when you have to report your 11-year old to the police, instead of say, disciplining her.  Off to a good start establishing that permanent record, though.  And, who is letting an 11-year old buy stuff on credit?   Hope she’s not getting a mortgage.

>>FANCY PURSE IN ROAD — Caller reports a “fancy purse” in the middle of the road in front of the Big Lots store on South Orchard Avenue at 5:28 p.m. Monday. Officer noted it was not a purse but a make-up bag, and had been run over several times.<<  Ah, an homage to Mill Valley with extraneous details that couldn’t possibly be relevant — not that the purse was all that important to begin with.  But why stop there?  What color was the bag?  Was there make-up inside it?  Did the mascara get all over the road and make a mess?  Wasn’t anyone cited for vandalism — cause that’s what the folks in the MVPD would have done.

>>STOLEN NECKLACE FOUND IN COIN SHOP — Caller reports at 8:26 p.m. Monday finding a necklace at a coin shop that was stolen from his son.<<  Hm, this seems like reporting the resolution of a criminal investigation, not an actual crime.  Although, it is a bit suspicious that the necklace was in a coin shop (unless it was a coin necklace); the coin shop was open at 8:26 p.m.; and the caller wanted to report that his son’s necklace had been found — something I’m sure the officers over at the UPD were breathing a sigh of relief over — and now they can return to their regular duties of clearing miscellaneous objects from the road.

>>DRUNK IN THE DRIVE-THRU — Officer responded to the Jack-In-The-Box on Airport Park Boulevard at 11:11 a.m. Friday after a caller reported a shirtless, drunken man harassing customers in the restaurant’s drive-thru. Subject was counseled and advised, not arrested.<<  See, you’d think that this guy would be guilty of “public intoxication” (which is, sometimes, apparently an actual crime).  Maybe they let him off easy because he was shirtless but not actually inside the restaurant.

>>DRIVE-BY EGGING — Caller reports people in a white SUV and dark sedan were throwing rotten eggs at cars in the 600 block of Holden Street at 9:30 p.m. Friday, hitting her and her car. Vehicles described as possibly a Jeep Cherokee and older model Acura Integra.<<  Seems kind of messy.   If I were going to throw rotten eggs, I would do it standing very still with paper towels on hand.  I would be the Martha Stewart of rotten egg-throwing.

>>PEEING ON BUILDING — Report of a man urinating in front of a building in the 500 block of South State Street at 11:23 p.m. Friday next to a parked dark SUV.<<  So, I saw a man urinating next to his (bright red) car in the middle of a Corte Madera mall parking lot during lunchtime.  Now THAT is actionable peeing.  And he earned my profound respect because of it.  Particularly because the trail of pee went straight from the car to the middle of the parking lot island.  Awesome.

>>NAKED MAN ON BALCONY — Man in the 200 block of West Gobbi Street was observed “naked and touching himself” at 6:01 a.m. Saturday. Submitted voluntarily for mental health care.<<  MV Equivalent: Exactly the same but cited for trespassing.

>>BAG OF DEAD FISH — Bag of dead fish was discovered in the 300 block of Warren Street Saturday at 11:30 a.m.<<  MV Equivaklent: Caller observed bag of dead fish and complained street smelled bad.  Officer investigated.  Cause of death and perpetrator still unknown.   Fish cited for smell.

Interestingly, the labels for these crimes are, in fact, actual crimes in Mill Valley.

>>PANTS ON THE GROUND — A 22-year-old Susanville man was arrested on suspicion of using a controlled substance Wednesday at 10:54 p.m. after an officer discovered him sleeping near the dumpsters behind Super Taco and Lucky on East Perkins Street with his pants down.<<

>>LOUD SKATEBOARDERS — A resident in the 1000 block of Bush Street reported at 11:12 p.m. Wednesday that a group of skateboarders was being “extremely loud” for the fourth night in a row.<<

Thought of a new game — let’s check out the police log from the Ukiah Daily Digest and ask ourselves, “What Would the Mill Valley Equivalent Be?”

>>MAN REPORTEDLY DRINKING WITH JUVENILES — Justin M. Settles, 26, was arrested Saturday for allegedly providing alcohol to minors after officers reportedly found him drinking alcohol in the playground area of Yokayo Elementary School on South Dora Street with a 14-year-old boy, a 16-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl. The juveniles were all arrested on suspicion of possession of alcohol.<<  MV Equivalent: SUSPICIOUS MAN — Caller reported a man wearing a tank top in the vicinity of juveniles.  Officer investigated and found 3 juveniles congregating but could not find man.  Officer advised juveniles to keep the noise down.

>>MAN SLEEPING IN CAR — A resident of the 1100 block of South Dora Street called police at 3:50 a.m. Tuesday after discovering a man had broken one of the windows on his vehicle and was sleeping in the backseat of his car. The suspect – identified as Michael J. Johnson of Ukiah – got out of the vehicle after being awakened, and officers found him two blocks away and arrested him on suspicion of burglary. Johnson had been released from state prison three days prior.<<  MV Equivalent: SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES — Caller reported seeing a man sleeping in a vehicle.  Officer investigated and found a man who said he fell asleep in his car while waiting for his wife to finish shopping.  Officer cited man for being in a car without kids.

>>MUSEUM VANDALIZED — A caller at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday reports graffiti drawn on the Sun House Museum.<<  MV Equivalent: VANDALISM–Caller reported finding a divet on her lawn.  Officer counseled caller not to golf on lawn.

>>STOLEN BICYCLE — A resident in the 600 block of Bush Street reports at 8:05 p.m. Wednesday that a locked bicycle was stolen from a front yard either that morning or the previous night.<<  MV Equivalent: THEFT — Caller reported an iPod stolen from her unlocked vehicle.  Value estimated at $5,700.  Report on file.

>>SEWER OVERFLOWING — A caller at 9:13 p.m. Wednesday reports a sewer cover overflowing at the intersection of North Barnes and West Perkins streets.<<  MV Equivalent: LITTERING — Caller reported seeing trash in a recycle bin.  Officer investigated but could not find trash.  Advice given.

Alas, my time with the Mill Valley Reporter has probably come to an end.  Thankfully, I’m leaving with a lot of material.

>>Advice to Citizen: Whole Foods Market at 5 p.m.  Caller wanted advice regarding subjects protesting against President Obama with signs of him dressed like Hitler.  Caller felt this might incite a riot.  Advice given regarding First Amendment.<<  Excellent, now we can add LEGAL advice to the kinds of advice the folks down at the MV police station are willing to dispense.  As an aside, the notion of anyone rioting in MV is laughable.  And, if they did, it would be because the protesters were blocking the salad station.

>>Vehicle Tampering Report: Blithedale Terrace at 9 a.m.  Caller reported her license plates stolen from her vehicle, sometime in the past two weeks.  Rear plate missing.  Report on file.<<  Gotta love that it took the caller two weeks to notice AND the MV police obviously didn’t.  Because, of course, they were studying for the bar exam, naturally.

>>Advice to Citizen: Sycamore Avenue at 7:45 p.m. Caller reported he received a call on his cell phone stating, “I saw what you did to my dog and I am going to kill you in front of my family.”  Caller didn’t know whom the call came from and wanted officer to listen to message to see if it was credible threat.  Officer gave advice to caller.<<  Um, hope that advice was, only if you did something to someone’s dog.  BTW, a tad weird that the cell phone caller would want to kill the caller in front of his own and not the caller’s family.  He must not like his family very much.  OR maybe they are a family of murderer-avengers — in which case don’t step on their cat.

>>Suspicious Vehicle: Redwood Highway Frontage Road at 3:30 a.m. On routine patrol, officer saw vehicle with one subject.  Contacted subject, who was fishing, caught one striped bass.<<  So, apparently, it is suspicious to be in car alone in MV.  That makes sense.  I mean, I think you are required by law to have at least 3 kids in a car at any one time, from what I’ve seen so far.  Appreciate that the report includes what the subject caught — because I was on the edge of my seat over that one.

>>Miscellaneous Code Violation: Cascade Dam at 4:15 p.m. Caller saw five male juveniles in swim trunks heading toward the dam but it was closed.  Officer advised juveniles of dam closure.”  Ah, another “let’s guess the code violation” entry.  I’m going with five juveniles.  Seems like MV might prohibit 3 or more juveniles congregating in a group — because they would probably make too much noise.

>>SOUNDS FUNNY — A caller in the 100 block of Wabash Avenue reported Friday at 7:21 p.m. that the propane in the garage was making funny noises.<<  This DOES sound funny!

>>SHE-SAID, SHE-SAID — A caller reported  at 6:34 a.m. Friday that a waitress at Henny Penny Restaurant had assaulted her when she went in to use the restroom and buy coffee. The waitress reported the woman tried to punch her. The subjects were advised about trespassing, and no prosecution was desired.<<  They gave advice!  And, in typical fashion for THIS county, it looks like bad advice.  How is this trespassing???  Trespassing on her face maybe.

>>SLEEPING ON PLAZA ROOF — Caller reports a man sleeping on the roof of the Alex Thomas Jr. Plaza at 7:22 a.m. Thursday. Subject cited for camping.<<  Now, see, I would have thought this was trespassing.  But apparently it constituted the illegal activity of “camping.”   Wonder how many camping arrests they made this July 4?