Police & Fire
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tiffany zgraggen May 23, 2013 at 11:49 pm
Wow he's getting off easy, imagine that lol. It seems thats the way it goes nowadays .
Alison May 20, 2013 at 12:40 am
It was an airtight case only because the DA's office used journalist Balfour's exhaustive research…Read More on Al Solnit and the doctors who trained with Ayres.
Kudos to Supervisor Dave Pine for pushing DA Wagstaffe to take the case seriously enough to add two prosecutors to the case.
Michael Mathews May 14, 2013 at 09:23 pm
Reality Check is right on. Caltrain doesn't rule on the cause of death and won't comment on it until…Read More a coroner's finding is issued. By that time, it's old news and rarely is a follow-up story published. I have seen pedestrians go around the gate to try and catch a train. This can be very dangerous if another train is coming in the opposite direction. However, most of these deaths end up being suspected as intentional.
I have been riding for years and I have taken time to Google the few follow-up articles that are published.
I also was very affected by a "jump in front of the train" that happened at Mountain View station in 2006. It took me 3 hours to get to work that morning instead of the usual 1 hour 15 minutes from arriving at San Francisco station. I am not complaining about the delays. It was the aftermath which was upsetting even 3 hours after it happened. (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/29870)
TP May 14, 2013 at 06:14 pm
Reality Check, perfectly said. Destiny, I said I work and investigate them. Care to guess what I do?…Read More I NEVER said the one I witnessed led me to believe they are ALL suicides. You clearly need to do your own research. The one I witnessed was not when I was working. Blaming the trains is just stupid. Again, do you blame the Golden Gate Bridge for the suicide jumpers?
Reality Check May 13, 2013 at 03:58 pm
Most people who get themselves killed by Caltrain did it on purpose; it's not all that easy to get…Read More yourself killed by Caltrain by accident.
Some are quite obvious about it (e.g. running onto the tracks and facing the fast-oncoming train with arms outspread, or running out and kneeling down, leaving a note on themselves or at the scene, sending or posting "goodbye" messages, etc.).
Some of the accidental deaths are fairly obvious (albeit stupid and/or easily avoidable): car stuck on the tracks (the direct result of violating the vehicle code about not crossing before there is enough room to get completely and safely across and/or stopping on tracks), waiting to cross immediately behind a passing train only to be hit by a second train coming the other way, etc.
Others are more ambiguous, and by the time there's an official determination, the reporters are long done with the story (so the public who read the "breaking news" stories generally doesn't find out -- since few news outlets will even find out -- or bother to run an equally prominent follow-up story just to add the suicide angle.)
All the rest, where it can't be determined, are presumed accidental. This category necessarily includes suicides that could not be proved.
I don't recall the exact stat, and it varies from year to year, but if you check with Caltrain, you will find that the known- or presumed-accidental deaths are a fraction of the total. The rest (vast majority) are known/proven suicides.
Alison May 11, 2013 at 07:31 am
San Mateo County ignored tips from doctors who knew ayres in 2011 that he had been seen out and…Read More about in San Francisco by himself, and acting perfectly competent, as well as lurking around his old office on N. San Mateo Drive, the scene of the crimes. Because the tips were ignored, the families of the victims hired a private investigator to tail Ayres. The investigators tailed Ayres to a restaurant in San Francisco, where he held forth on his business ventures, the Iowa straw polls, and laughed when his doctor friend joked about using Alzheimer's as a ruse in the courtroom.
Curiously, just the day before evidence was gathered that Ayres was competent, San Mateo District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told Dave Pine that his office
was "strongly considering retrying Ayres." But when given evidence that showed Ayres was competent, Wagstaffe panicked, hid out from reporters and when a mother of a victim finally tracked him down, Wagstaffe very nervously and talking faster than a machine gun said they would not retry Ayres, One of the reasons he gave was that Ayres was using a walker, which would not be helpful for a jury.? Huh? Ayres used a walker in the first trial.
Everyone who knew Ayres knew that he was competent. The DA's office just didn't want to admit they messed up in 2011.
Mike May 10, 2013 at 07:03 pm
"The suspect, Edward Lang Hargrove, was also in the coffee shop, when Hargrove left his table,…Read More went outside and returned carrying a rifle.”
Why ID the murderer as a suspect. If living isn’t a person called a suspect or defendant prior to conviction or if dead upon the competition of an investigation that proves they are no longer a suspect? In this instance should Edward Lang Hargrove not be referred to as a murderer?
Brian Baugher May 9, 2013 at 10:42 pm
Forever a hero! Rest in peace Officer Krings. Your quick thinking saved countless lives and you will…Read More always be remembered as a REAL HERO! Job well done!
Rest in peace. Brian
Marilyn May 9, 2013 at 01:23 pm
Cool! Thanks, y'all! I just registered on the San Mateo County alert system.
Mary Andreatta May 8, 2013 at 04:44 pm
You can call 511 but even they don't always have current information
Barbara Penley May 5, 2013 at 04:54 am
Great news to keep the public informed. Four teenagers were in my dad's backyard in the White Oaks…Read More area. One girl had a baby acting like they were visiting. Thank god they were spotted. He also has had many people ring his doorbell saying they were contractors, gardners and religious organizations. Very scary
Joan S. Dentler (Editor) May 8, 2013 at 07:17 pm
Pearl, Try pasting this link into an email:…Read More http://belmont-ca.patch.com/articles/tyler-hutchinson-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-no-parole
Estelle Franklin May 1, 2013 at 04:09 pm
My thoughts and prayers are with the driver and his family. As I drove past the scene on my way to…Read More the Daly City BART station I saw the vehicle near the center divide. My heart was filled with sadness....
Atom Bomb April 25, 2013 at 05:52 pm
First thing I saw was the sign. I take my car to that shop. They always take great care of our…Read More cars... and they do find creative ways to advertise :) I unknowingly drove through this and it took some time to get through that block but seemed like the fire firefighters were not to concerned, they were standing 20 feet away from the hole in the ground!
Geneva w May 8, 2013 at 05:19 pm
I saw the foster City firetrucks coming and they were going as fast as they could, and they made…Read More that turnaround in one shot, I could believe how that firetruck made that U-Turn in one shot, That fire truck driver was great. We stopped for them to make the U-turn and I was amazed how he turned that big truck right around with no problem. They made it there as fast as they could.
Peninsula Basketball Star Arrested on Murder Charge
0 Recommend Christa Bigue (Editor)