Free Republic

Lake Merritt is one of Oakland’s loveliest spots, especially during the evening golden hour when the “Necklace of Lights”comes to life around the lake. But over the last few weeks, the 126 ornate lampposts that anchor the lake’s signature circle of lights have been the target of vandalism. The city believes thieves are toppling and stealing the almost century-old lampposts and ripping out the wires from the boxes at the bases. It’s a local chapter of a story happening around the country as valuable metals inside the lampposts are harvested for later resale. Jean Walsh, a spokeswoman for the Oakland...

Oakland - A popular store in Oakland's Rockridge neighborhood was broken into early Tuesday by burglars who rammed a pickup truck into the doors, the fourth such incident in recent months. "I wish we could do something about it, but we cannot," said co-owner David Shrestha. Surveillance video shows a pickup truck repeatedly backing into the store on College Avenue near Lawton Avenue at about 3:50 a.m. Tuesday. Several intruders then rummage inside, stealing liquor, cigarettes, two cash registers and a safe. "You can't even tell me right now how I'm feeling. I'm really, really mad," said Shrestha, who believes...

Oakland’s only In-N-Out will serve its last double-double on March 24 after more than 18 years in operation at 8300 Oakport Street, the burger restaurant’s chief operating officer Denny Warnick confirmed with SFGATE in an emailed statement Sunday. Warnick described the store as “busy and profitable” for the company, and drive-thru lines during the dinner rush often stretched all the way out into neighboring parking lots. However, he cited “ongoing issues with crime” as the reason for the closure. “Despite taking repeated steps to create safer conditions, our Customers and Associates are regularly victimized by car break-ins, property damage, theft,...

Public safety was on the minds of Oakland residents and city leaders as they rallied outside -- and inside -- a community meeting Saturday. John Ramos reports.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Violence in Oakland has reached a boiling point, that NAACP's Oakland chapter asked that the city declare a state of emergency, and now, the regional branch is doubling down. Just days ago, the Oakland chapter of the organization wrote a letter to the city saying in part: "Failed leadership, including the movement to refund the police, our District Attorney’s unwillingness to charge and prosecute people who murder and commit life-threatening serious crimes, and the proliferation of anti-police rhetoric have created a heyday for Oakland criminals." On Saturday the chapter that oversees the entire state of California showed...

OAKLAND, Calif. - An Alameda County Superior Court judge was robbed at gunpoint while walking to work at a courthouse in Oakland on Thursday. Judge Kevin Murphy was starting his day when he was robbed by three masked men of his Rolex watch, wallet and other personal items at gunpoint, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office announced on Thursday. Murphy was walking from a parking garage to the René C. Davidson Courthouse building, which sits near Lake Merritt, when he was robbed, a source said.

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Diocese of Oakland announced this week it is considering filing for bankruptcy due to hundreds of lawsuits that have been filed, alleging clergy members sexually abused children. In a letter posted on the diocese website, Bishop Michael Barber said that 330 lawsuits have been filed against the diocese from 2020 to 2022. A new California law gave victims of sexual abuse a three-year window to file claims that had previously expired due to the statute of limitations. He says he believes bankruptcy would allow the diocese to reorganize its financial affairs, while providing a way to...

OAKLAND, Calif. - For the first time in two years, Oakland police will soon be walking the streets in busy shopping districts. Mayor Sheng Thao and Acting Police Chief Darren Allison made the announcement at a news conference at the Waterfront Hotel in Jack London Square. "This is not a new problem, we know that, but it is a challenge," Thao said. "We are committed to a safe Oakland for every person who lives here, who works here and who visits and play here in the city of Oakland." Allison said, "Starting next week, you will see a return of...

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- It's been a week since an Oakland baker went to the bank and was fatally injured trying to stop thieves who'd broken into her car. Jen Angel, the founder of Angel Cakes, died last Thursday. After watching that story an Oakland restaurant manager says she was also the victim of a similar smash-and-grab crime last month. Owner of popular Angel Cakes bakery has died after being in a medically-induced coma after being dragged 50 feet during Oakland robbery. Leah Beneze has worked in the restaurant industry since she was a teenager. But she says, what's happening...

The owner of a bakery in Oakland is in "grave condition" after she was knocked to the ground during a robbery on Monday afternoon in Uptown Oakland, police said. Jen Angel of Angel Cakes was in her car, parked near the Wells Fargo on Webster Street at 12:30 p.m., when an individual broke into her vehicle and took her belongings, the Oakland Police Department said. Angel attempted to take back her items, and during the struggle, she was thrown onto the pavement, police said. Medics arrived on the scene, provided aid and transported Angel to a local hospital. Multiple media...

In Oakland, hundreds of people came out Sunday evening, demonstrating against the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police. Team reports from Da Lin and Lauren Toms. (1-29-23)

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP/CBS13) — Poll workers at a voting site in Oakland incorrectly told up to 200 people that their paper ballot was only a receipt and that it could be taken home, leading to the votes not being counted, a coalition of voting rights advocates alleged in a complaint to Alameda County’s registrar of voters. The groups said the errors occurred on the campus of Mills College, where some voters who used an electronic device to mark their ballot were wrongly told it was keeping a digital record of their selections on federal, state and local races and that...

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - A protest through the streets of downtown Oakland, California, in support of racial justice and police reform turned violent when "agitators" among the demonstrators set fire to a courthouse, vandalized a police station and shot fireworks at officers, authorities said. About 700 demonstrators participated in what started as a peaceful march Saturday night but then some broke from the larger group and smashed windows, spray-painted graffiti and pointed lasers at officers, the Oakland Police Department said on Twitter. Several tweets called for peace and asked organizers to "help us provide safe spaces and safe places for...

OAKLAND (CBS SF) — Hundreds marched in downtown Oakland Saturday night, demanding social justice and showing solidiarty for protesters in the streets of Portland who have been in a standoff with federal agents for more than a week. While the majority of crowd peacefully protested, a handful of demonstrators turned violent, vandalizing Oakland Police headquarters and setting a fire inside the Alameda County courthouse. Agitators within the crowd of demonstrators have set the Alameda County Superior Courthouse on fire. Please avoid the area. We are calling for peace and to have safe spaces and safe places for tonight's demonstration. #WallofMoms...

A growing movement to get police officers out of US schools saw a major victory this week when Oakland’s school board voted to eliminate the school district’s dedicated police department. But in Chicago and Los Angeles, despite protests by youth activists, support from teachers’ unions, and an outpouring of public support, school boards voted to keep police in public schools, at least for now. Since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, calls to shrink police budgets and invest taxpayers’ dollars in non-violent strategies to promote public safety have gained political support across the country. Minneapolis’s city council has...

Police are asking for help from the public in their search for two suspects in a Walnut Creek shooting that happened Thursday evening. Walnut Creek Police Department responded to reports of a shooting that happened on the 1200 block of Newell Avenue at around 6:23 p.m.

An Oakland priest placed on administrative leave after accusations of inappropriate sexual misconduct with a minor has now reportedly fled the country, officials confirmed. Father Alex Castillo was living at a rectory in Oakland and reportedly was looking to live with friends for a few days immediately after he was placed on leave Jan. 30, the San Jose Mercury reported. The diocese said they last spoke with him Feb. 20, then were unable to reach him the following day. A missing persons report was later filed on Feb. 23, after calls to jails and hospitals in the area failed to...

A 60-year-old man found shot to death in the Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve was a longtime writer, editor and English teacher who loved to hike in the Oakland hills park, his wife said Wednesday. David Robert Ruenzel of Oakland was found on a park trail by a woman who had reported hearing gunshots about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to the East Bay Regional Park Police Department. Investigators said they were looking into whether Ruenzel had been killed during a robbery....He was also an award-winning writer and editor at Teacher Magazine. Most recently, Ruenzel worked at the Bill and Melinda Gates...

Until now, the courts and the public have placed the responsibility for Oscar Grant's death entirely on the BART police officer who shot the unarmed passenger on an Oakland train platform. But a federal appeals court ruling could shift some of the blame to the officer's supervisor and perhaps the transit system itself. Former Officer Johannes Mehserle, who fired the shot that killed Grant on Jan. 1, 2009, served 11 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter, and is also a defendant in the damage suit by Grant's father and four of his friends. While allowing claims against Mehserle to go...

Lawsuits against BART police officers involved in the 2009 incident that left Oscar Grant shot to death will go forward after a federal appeals court declined Tuesday to grant the officers immunity as law enforcement agents. The ruling by a three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco concerned suits brought by Grant's father, who is incarcerated, and by five of his friends, who were detained with Grant at Fruitvale Station in Oakland on Jan. 1, 2009. Grant had been in a fight on a train. After then-BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle shot him in...