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Close Encounters

December 1, 2015
SFPOA

As every child knows there really is a Santa Claus and, while he’s pretty good at making wishes come true, he also has “helpers“.

This time the wish started with a Dad taking his 2 youngest children, ages 9 and 11, to a trip to the Metreon/AMC Theatre to see the new movie, “Peanuts“. This was a big deal because there are 8 children in the family and the father wanted to make it special for the 2 youngest. Unfortunately, Dad and his children ran across one of the many crazies who have infiltrated pretty much all of The City while they were on a muni bus going to the show. The subject in question threatened to kill the father and both of his children with a knife and his behavior was so intense and so out of control that the driver had to stop his bus at 11th and Mission Streets and call 9-1-1.

Sergeant Rachel Murphy, Officer Kevin Clifford and Officer Rick Heppenstall arrived and disarmed the suspect with the knife he was brandishing and placed him in cuffs. The officers saw first-hand just how petrified the children were of the crazed suspect, with Sergeant Murphy’s statement specifying her observations included in the incident report, “I noticed an 11-year old child standing off to the side. He was trying to be brave but he had tears in his eyes and his body was physically shaking. I approached him and reassured him that the man was in handcuffs and we weren’t going to let him go. Both children told me that their Dad was taking them on a surprise and he would not tell them where they were going. They were both extremely excited to be on an adventure with their Dad but it was obvious that they had also both been seriously traumatized by the actions of the person in custody.”

The report continued, “By the time their father had completed his interview, their mother had arrived on scene. It was discovered that the ‘surprise’ was to go to see the new movie "Peanuts". By now they had missed the start time and their adventure with their Dad was ruined by the actions of one man.”

Sergeant Murphy, Officer Clifford, and Officer Heppenstall were absolutely not going to let this story end there. They met with Mr. Mike Tieger, General Manager of the Metreon/AMC Theatre and arranged for passes for the family. And, with the help of SFPOA President Martin O’Halloran, a gift certificate for a dinner before the movie was also arranged.

So, yes, there still is a Santa, but, more importantly, there are his “helpers”. And, in this case, those very special Tenderloin Task Force and Southern Station elves were proudly representing the SFPD assisting a family overcome a really bad day and turning it into something to remember!

It’s about 2:00 a.m. when a large fight was reported in the area of Geary and Mason. Officer Sonia Sarcos and Officer Nicholas Buckley were just about ready to sign-off from their very busy 10-hour shift but they heard that there was only one 2-officer unit responding to the A-priority run so they jumped back in their car and responded. Once on-sight they were joined by Officer Phillip Haymond and Officer Horrace Liu in detaining 3 individuals. One of those detained decided to leave town but was stopped in his tracks by Officer Buckley and Officer Sarcos pending further investigation at which time he decided his best option was to fight with the 2 officers and try to escape. He had a very definite reason for doing so, he was concealing a fully-loaded, Glock 17 semi-automatic handgun with a high-capacity magazine. Turned out he was also on active felony probation out of Oakland for robbery with a gun . . . imagine.

His cohort also tried to leave Dodge but was stopped by Officer Haymond and Officer Liu who found out that his reason for ducking out were the concealed brass knuckles he had in his possession. There was also a girlfriend of one of the felons just hanging around - turned out she also got a ride to jail for possession of a multitude of drugs for which she had no prescription.

The last thing officers on patrol want to witness is the maiming of an innocent victim. Turned out that’s exactly what Officer Ricardo Santiago and Officer Ramon Reynoso came across at Palou and Jennings where they found a young victim (10-years old) stabbed multiple times and bleeding out. Fortunately, there was a witness to the assault who had cornered the suspect on a muni bus which was stopped nearby. The suspect was taken into custody and charged with attempted murder.

Officer Daniel Guzman and Officer Richard Wise stopped a driver who was operating a vehicle with a broken tail light. Turned out he also had a suspended license, was on probation for carrying a concealed weapon, and a host of other firearm violations. After a brief detention and investigation, the officers found a concealed and loaded semi-automatic gun in the car which, once again, resulted in the suspect being removed from the general population of The City - exactly how it should be . . .

This month’s column will be published during the Christmas season, a time, among other things, of thanking the people you depend on during the rest of the year. The column is prepared as a “Staff Report” because it takes a lot of people to make sure it all comes together. And here they are:

Ray Shine, Managing Editor

Georgette Petropoulos, Layout and Production

Mike Popoff, Advertising Coordinator

Nicholas Shihadeh, Sports Editor

Cyndee Bates, Office Manager

Risa Tom, Contributing Member

Sergeant Rachel Murphy, Contributing Member

Lieutenant Mike Nevin, Contributing Member

And, most importantly, each and every member of this Department who put their lives on the line without question and who commit themselves to a standard of excellence that is unparalleled. 

Stay safe.