Oakland kidnapping deserves scrutiny - Peggy Stinett
Inside Bay Area
THE lengthy silence that has strangely characterized a horrendous Oakland kidnapping may soon be broken as police take an official look at how fellow officers have handled the case.
It has been more than seven months since the kidnapping of an Adams Point woman from her home by a bold intruder who stole $4,000 in cash in an armed robbery and then drove six hours with her as a captive in the family car.
She escaped the kidnapper — unhurt but terrified — in Merced County, where the Sheriff's Department later found her abandoned Mercedes.
But for all this time, the Oakland police who were supposed to be investigating the case have not contacted the woman and her husband to let them know what is going onor, more aptly, what is not.
When I checked with the victim yesterday, she and her husband still had no information about the case, although the Police Department's internal affairs division has opened its own investigation into whether fellow officers have conducted themselves properly. She said no one has told her about the investigation.
(I have given the woman the name Noreen to protect her identity.)
A few leads have fallen through, including one that the suspect was a known sex offender who had been identified by Noreen from a Megan's photo gallery at the Merced County Sheriff's Office. But police said the fingerprints of the man she identified didn't match those taken from the car nor was there a DNA match, leaving investigators to start from scratch.
While on the May 20 trip from Oakland to Merced County, the kidnapper told Noreen he feared arrest because he had served time for sex offenses and knew he would be put away forever as a three-striker if he were arrested.
Noreen says she has never fully recovered from the terror she felt that night and that the couple's daily life has been traumatized because the case has not been resolved.
They do not understand why Oakland police have not been in touch with them and have not been able to make an arrest.
Because of police failure to communicate with them even in the least degree, they wonder if anything at all is being done to solve the case.
Police conceded the communication between investigators and the woman could have been better but said dozens of hours have been put into the case and that the woman would be contacted, possibly as early as today.
Noreen's Adams Point neighbors, however, have not been silent. In fact, several have been diligent in pressing for the facts.
They questioned why the kidnapping has not been addressed at three public meetings: a Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council meeting, a Piedmont Avenue Neighborhood Improvement League meeting and a Northern California Rental Housing Association meeting. I attended all three.
At the NCPC meeting, the police officer in charge reported she knew nothing about the kidnapping and would "look into it," although she listed other crimes that had taken place at the same time in the district.
Police Chief Wayne Tucker, who appeared before the Piedmont Avenue group and was questioned about the case, also said he would "look into it." And at the property owners meeting, Deputy Chief Jeffrey Israel said he would "look into it." It appears Israel followed through with his promise.
Israel asked Sandy Sher, an Adams Point neighbor of Noreen's, to send him her comments in writing. She did just that.
When I spoke with Deputy Chief Howard Jordan of the Bureau of Investigation, he said the investigation would go deeper into the case than police conduct.
However, at this writing, he has not contacted Sher, who described her serious concerns and that of others about the lack of police attention in a detailed memo to police.
Along with other concerns in her memo to Israel, Sher asked, "Why did it take four months for the fingerprints to get processed? All inquiries, by the victim and others, resulted in the same consistent answer by the investigating sergeant that homicides and attempted homicides took precedence and the crime lab couldn't handle anything else. We also heard that the lab was short staffed, as was the rest of the OPD."
Another point made by Sher: "On Sept. 20, one day after a column about this kidnapping appeared in the Tribune, a lieutenant posted a notice on the Adams Point NCPC Web site saying he had talked with the sergeant in charge and 'he is waiting for DNA test results and a few other items. Unfortunately, the fingerprints did not produce any leads.'"
There is much more — too lengthy to reproduce here — but her inquiry ends with: "A lot of us want to know what's really going on with the OPD and this case."
I can't say it better than that, folks.
Inside Bay Area
THE lengthy silence that has strangely characterized a horrendous Oakland kidnapping may soon be broken as police take an official look at how fellow officers have handled the case.
It has been more than seven months since the kidnapping of an Adams Point woman from her home by a bold intruder who stole $4,000 in cash in an armed robbery and then drove six hours with her as a captive in the family car.
She escaped the kidnapper — unhurt but terrified — in Merced County, where the Sheriff's Department later found her abandoned Mercedes.
But for all this time, the Oakland police who were supposed to be investigating the case have not contacted the woman and her husband to let them know what is going onor, more aptly, what is not.
When I checked with the victim yesterday, she and her husband still had no information about the case, although the Police Department's internal affairs division has opened its own investigation into whether fellow officers have conducted themselves properly. She said no one has told her about the investigation.
(I have given the woman the name Noreen to protect her identity.)
A few leads have fallen through, including one that the suspect was a known sex offender who had been identified by Noreen from a Megan's photo gallery at the Merced County Sheriff's Office. But police said the fingerprints of the man she identified didn't match those taken from the car nor was there a DNA match, leaving investigators to start from scratch.
While on the May 20 trip from Oakland to Merced County, the kidnapper told Noreen he feared arrest because he had served time for sex offenses and knew he would be put away forever as a three-striker if he were arrested.
Noreen says she has never fully recovered from the terror she felt that night and that the couple's daily life has been traumatized because the case has not been resolved.
They do not understand why Oakland police have not been in touch with them and have not been able to make an arrest.
Because of police failure to communicate with them even in the least degree, they wonder if anything at all is being done to solve the case.
Police conceded the communication between investigators and the woman could have been better but said dozens of hours have been put into the case and that the woman would be contacted, possibly as early as today.
Noreen's Adams Point neighbors, however, have not been silent. In fact, several have been diligent in pressing for the facts.
They questioned why the kidnapping has not been addressed at three public meetings: a Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council meeting, a Piedmont Avenue Neighborhood Improvement League meeting and a Northern California Rental Housing Association meeting. I attended all three.
At the NCPC meeting, the police officer in charge reported she knew nothing about the kidnapping and would "look into it," although she listed other crimes that had taken place at the same time in the district.
Police Chief Wayne Tucker, who appeared before the Piedmont Avenue group and was questioned about the case, also said he would "look into it." And at the property owners meeting, Deputy Chief Jeffrey Israel said he would "look into it." It appears Israel followed through with his promise.
Israel asked Sandy Sher, an Adams Point neighbor of Noreen's, to send him her comments in writing. She did just that.
When I spoke with Deputy Chief Howard Jordan of the Bureau of Investigation, he said the investigation would go deeper into the case than police conduct.
However, at this writing, he has not contacted Sher, who described her serious concerns and that of others about the lack of police attention in a detailed memo to police.
Along with other concerns in her memo to Israel, Sher asked, "Why did it take four months for the fingerprints to get processed? All inquiries, by the victim and others, resulted in the same consistent answer by the investigating sergeant that homicides and attempted homicides took precedence and the crime lab couldn't handle anything else. We also heard that the lab was short staffed, as was the rest of the OPD."
Another point made by Sher: "On Sept. 20, one day after a column about this kidnapping appeared in the Tribune, a lieutenant posted a notice on the Adams Point NCPC Web site saying he had talked with the sergeant in charge and 'he is waiting for DNA test results and a few other items. Unfortunately, the fingerprints did not produce any leads.'"
There is much more — too lengthy to reproduce here — but her inquiry ends with: "A lot of us want to know what's really going on with the OPD and this case."
I can't say it better than that, folks.
Comments
Juvenile w/ stolen gun= no arrest. Juvenile in stolen car=no arrest. Juvenile dealing drugs=no arrest. Juvenile w/ trifecta=possible arrest. OPD says this. I didn't make it up. Get that? MAYBE arrested. No wonder we are minting so many adult criminals around here.
OPD needs more officers.
Cops are only 1/2 the equation, though. Citizens active in neighborhoods is the other half. it is a battle & a big pain in the ass, but on our block, it has paid off pretty well, after a few years.