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New charges filed in SF faked doctor case

New charges were filed against a San Francisco man accused of posing as a doctor and illegally performing medical procedures after a third alleged victim came forward recently, a district attorney's office spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Carlos Guzmangarza, 49, also known as Carlos Guzman, allegedly operated a dermatology clinic in the 2500 block of Mission Street called Derma Clinic and assumed the identity of a physician's assistant with a name similar to his, prosecutors said.

He pleaded not guilty in December to charges stemming from allegations that he performed liposuction on a woman.

Prosecutors said last month that a second victim had come forward. That woman said Guzmangarza told her was a doctor and that he could treat her for a dermatological condition, according to police.

However, during three consultations with him, Guzmangarza allegedly touched the woman inappropriately, claiming it was part of the treatment, while also making sexually charged remarks, police said.

A third victim has now contacted authorities with new allegations, district attorney's office spokeswoman Stephanie Ong Stillman said.

The new charges filed in the case include practicing medicine without a license, sexual touching under false medical pretenses, sexual touching without consent, impersonation, identity theft and grand theft, Stillman said.

She said even more victims may come forward in the case.

Guzmangarza, who remains in custody, had his bail increased from $750,000 to $850,000 at a hearing on Tuesday.

He will return to court on March 5 for a status hearing in the case.

Embattled SF sheriff allowed to visit son

San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, facing trial on domestic abuse charges, was granted limited visitation rights with his son at a court hearing Wednesday morning.

Mirkarimi is facing allegations of domestic violence against his wife, Eliana Lopez, and has been under a court order to stay away from Lopez and the couple's 2-year-old son Theo since being arrested and charged on Jan. 13.

But San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ronald Albers approved an agreement between Mirkarimi and Lopez in which Mirkarimi can see his son for two hours each weekday and up to six hours on a weekend day.

The agreement, which is effective immediately, stipulates that Theo will be taken to and from Mirkarimi by either Patricia or Jeremy Forsyth, a mother and son who are friends of the family.

Near tears while speaking to reporters outside the courthouse after the hearing, Mirkarimi said, "I get to see my son."

"I can't tell you how excited and grateful I am," he said.

Mirkarimi said that since being separated from his son, he has been buying books and toys to give to him upon their reunion, including a small fire truck he pulled out of his pocket to show reporters.

"It's been so unhealthy for us to be apart," he said. "My son and I are very close."

Although the order involving Mirkarimi's son was modified, the order to stay away from Lopez remains in effect.

That order stems from an alleged domestic violence incident on Dec. 31 in which Mirkarimi is accused of grabbing Lopez and bruising her arm.

It will stay in effect until the end of his trial on charges of misdemeanor domestic violence battery, child endangerment and dissuading a witness. The trial is set to begin Feb. 24.

Before the agreement was approved by Albers, the family court had mediators meet with both Mirkarimi and Lopez to discuss what was in the best interest of their son. The couple had to be in separate rooms because of the stay-away order, Lopez's attorney Paula Canny said.

They returned with an agreement that Albers said "makes absolute sense to me."

However, part of the agreement apparently didn't make sense to the couple's attorneys. Mirkarimi's attorneys told reporters they took the weekend hours outlined in the agreement to mean six hours per weekend, while Lopez's attorneys said that meant up to six hours each weekend day.

Regardless, the agreement means that Mirkarimi will have a chance to see his son this afternoon, the attorneys said.

Lopez briefly spoke to reporters outside of court, saying she is "extremely happy" that Theo is going to see his dad and that "it's going to be a surprise for him."

Canny, Lopez's attorney, took issue with the presence of Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Aguilar-Tarchi, who is prosecuting the case, at Wednesday's family court hearing.

Aguilar-Tarchi tried to speak in front of Albers at the end of the hearing but the judge walked out of the courtroom without addressing her.

"Never before in my career have I seen a deputy district attorney attempt to intervene" in a family court case, Canny said.

She said the prosecutor was "not thinking about what's in the best interest of Theo, but what's in the best interest of her case, and that's just wrong."

A district attorney's office spokesperson was not immediately available to say what Aguilar-Tarchi planned to discuss to the judge.

Canny said she is also considering whether to try to modify the order preventing contact between Mirkarimi and Lopez, saying the sheriff "isn't guilty of the things he's charged of."

Barring any further hearings on the stay-away order, Mirkarimi is next scheduled to return to criminal court at the Hall of Justice on Feb. 22 for a pre-trial conference.

If convicted of all charges, he could face up to a year in jail and three years' probation.

Mirkarimi was sworn in as sheriff on Jan. 8 after serving for seven years on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

San Jose police release photos of armed robbery suspect

San Jose police released surveillance photos of a man who robbed a grocery store at gunpoint last month in hopes that the public can help identify him.

The robbery occurred at about 8:05 p.m. on Jan. 15 at the Stop & Save Food Store at 1212 East Julian St.

Photos released by the department show an unidentified man pointing a black handgun at a clerk and demanding money from the register.

Police said the clerk complied and the man fled with cash.

There were no reports of shots fired or injuries, according to police.

The suspect was described as a Hispanic man in his early to mid-20s, standing at about 5 feet 6 inches tall, and weighing 130 pounds. He had a mustache and was wearing a black T-shirt, gray hooded sweatshirt, and black pants.

Anyone with information about the robbery or the suspect was asked to call police Detective Adam Hutson at (408) 277-4166. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at (408) 947-STOP (7867) or visit svcrimestoppers.org.

A San Francisco-based federal appeals court has halted the deportation of seven immigrants.

In a 2-1 ruling on Monday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals demanded the Obama administration explain whether the immigrants qualify for a reprieve under the administration's new immigration directive.

That directive, issued in June, prioritized the deportation of convicted criminals and called on immigration authorities to consider such factors as an immigrant's U.S. family ties in deciding cases.

The court gave the administration until March 19 to respond.

Among the immigrants whose deportation was halted was David Aranda Rodriguez. Rodriguez's attorney, Bernadette Connolly, said her client has lived in the United States for more than two decades and cares for two children who are U.S. citizens.

The dissenting 9th Circuit judge accused the court of overreaching.

Heavy fog triggers Highway 37 chain reaction crashes

Heavy morning fog blanketed Highway 37 near Sonoma’s Infineon Raceway early Wednesday, triggering a series of 11 chain reaction crashes involving 31 vehicles, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The chain-reaction crashes were reported at around 7:55 a.m. in an area where the highway is surrounded by marsh and swampland. The cutover is popular with local residents heading toward Highway 80 in Vallejo or Highway 101 in Novato.

Bob Banos, who’s SUV received heavy damage to its front end, said the fog was so thick he never saw the other cars until it was too late to stop.

“There was a thick fog that caused most of us to slow down,” he said. “I was on top of the cars before I could see them. I braked full on and hit the cars blocking the lane. Two or three seconds later I was impacted from the rear. I just kept hearing the sounds of collisions one after another.”

Doreen Cortez said she had swerved to avoid the pileup, but still got hit.

“It was very foggy, you couldn’t see 20 feet,” she told KTVU. “I had pulled to the side and the lady in back of me hit me and pushed me into the car in front of me. Then I could just hear a multitude of crashes in back of me.”

Meanwhile, Ignacio Lopez slammed on his brakes and steered his truck into a roadside creek to avoid the other vehicles.

“Traffic stopped completely in front of me. My only choice was to go into the river,” he told KTVU. “There was just too much fog.” The CHP closed the highway to allow emergency vehicles to reach the scene of the crash. Traffic was turned around at Skaggs Island on Highway 37 and also at the Infineon for several hours.

At least two people were being treated at the scene for neck and back injuries.

The heavy fog blanketed many areas of the Bay Area early Wednesday, forcing the National Weather Service to issue a fog advisory.

The CHP warned drivers of foggy conditions on the Carquinez, Richmond-San Rafael and Bay bridges. Flight delays of up to 30 minutes were reported at San Francisco International.

A man accused of committing dozens of Bay Area robberies using a chrome revolver pleaded not guilty to 37 felony counts in San Mateo County Court.

Ricky Renee Sanders, 34, was nicknamed the "chrome revolver bandit" because of the silver-barreled revolver he allegedly used in as many as 30 armed robberies or attempted robberies at retail businesses in several Bay Area cities, according to the district attorney's office.

In the most serious case, Sanders is accused of shooting a store clerk in the leg while robbing a PetSmart store in San Mateo on Oct. 8, prosecutors said.

The victim suffered a severed femoral artery but survived the shooting.

Sanders is suspected of robbing a BevMo in Colma, a GameStop in Colma, and various businesses in San Francisco, San Jose, Daly City, Redwood City and Fremont, prosecutors said.

Sanders today pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of robbery with a firearm, five counts of attempted robbery, six counts of assault with a firearm, nine counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of mayhem.

He is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on April 30.

As police in Walnut Creek step up patrols of bars and nightclubs in an effort to prevent crime, city leaders voted Tuesday night to cut one popular downtown nightspot's hours.

The Walnut Creek City Council voted unanimously to deny an appeal from the owners of Lift Lounge and Grill that would have allowed the Locust Street business to continue operating until 12:30 a.m.

Instead, the council voted to roll back the bar and grill's hours by one hour for the next 90 days, after which time the business owners may re-apply to extend their hours.

The decision follows a nearly identical planning commission vote to scale back the bar and eatery's hours after a review of Lift Lounge and violations of the lounge's conditional use alcohol permit since the business launched in November 2009.

Since that time, police say they have received 80 calls for service at the bar and grill, mostly connected to drunken people leaving the business who cause a disturbance.

Other offenses police say occurred in connection to Lift Lounge during that time range from driving under the influence arrests to physical fights outside the building and one sexual assault inside the bar, according to Walnut Creek police Capt. Tim Schultz, who spoke at the Tuesday night hearing.

"I think the over-service of alcohol has led to a large number of the calls that may not otherwise exist," Schultz said.

Similar businesses downtown have had far fewer disturbance calls, he said.

And police, he said, are left to "deal with the fallout" from Lift Lounge patrons who start fights or urinate outside, although he said that type of behavior cannot be attributed solely to the bar.

David Bowie, an attorney representing Lift Lounge, said its owners should not be expected to police the area surrounding their business, where many of the public disturbances that police cite have occurred.

He and Lift Lounge's co-owner, Jasmine Butler, urged the council to grant the fledgling business another chance to comply with their conditional use permit.

Since the planning commission vote to cut the bar's hours two months ago, police have received just four calls for service there, Councilwoman Cindy Silva noted.

And for several Walnut Creek residents who spoke during the meeting, the bar and grill provides more than a safe, friendly environment -- it also fills a late-night niche in town that's an alternative to fast-food, according to about half a dozen speakers Tuesday night.

For 27-year-old Walnut Creek resident Noel Ronda, Lift Lounge is one of the rare local spots where she and her boyfriend can eat a meal and have a drink after a late-night movie.

John Muir Medical Center worker John Gainey, a Walnut Creek resident in his late 30s, told the council that after a 16-hour shift, Lift Lounge provides "food that's decent and not exorbitantly expensive."

After about three hours considering the appeal, the council nonetheless voted to slash the bar's hours.

The decision comes after the first weekend of beefed-up police patrols at Walnut Creek bars, meant to crack down rising numbers of fist fights and other disturbances around the city's nightspots in recent months.

Police Chief Joel Bryden said Tuesday that the additional police presence appears to have been successful, slashing numbers of arrests and disturbance calls over the weekend.

Southbound U.S. Highway 101 lanes were reopened early Wednesday after a California Highway Patrol chase ended in an accident, according to a CHP spokesman.

Southbound lanes just north of East Poplar Avenue reopened at 1:32 a.m., according to the CHP, after a pursuit ended there and blocked lanes at 12:28 a.m.

The police pursuit began at 12:08 a.m. out of San Pablo. San Pablo police eventually turned the chase over to the CHP when the suspect drove through San Francisco. The chase ended in San Mateo 20 minutes later, CHP Officer Art Montiel said.

The suspect appeared to be driving at high speeds and weaving between cars and almost crashed into another vehicle, so the driver swerved and lost control, Montiel said.

That is when the car rolled over several times, injuring the driver, who was sent to Stanford Hospital with minor injuries, Montiel said.

The suspect will be taken into custody after he is released from the hospital, Montiel said.

Explosion rocks SF neighborhood; Two injured

An explosion ripped through an Ingleside District home late Tuesday, sending a woman and an 12-year-old to the hospital for treatment of burns, according to authorities and a resident of the home.

Authorities said they got a 911 call around 8:50 p.m. reporting an explosion at a residence near Capitol and Ocean Avenues.

Arriving firefighters found that the force of the blast had blown out the front windows, spreading glass and debris all across the street.

A man living at the home told KTVU that the flash fire from the blast burned his 33-year-old fiancée and her 12-year-old, who were transported to St. Francis Hospital’s burn unit. They were expected to recover from their burns.

The man told KTVU he had gone out to his car to retrieve something when the explosion rocked the building. His fiancée, the man said, was in the bathroom at the time and her son was playing a video game in the front room.

Police investigators arrived and determined that a butane tank had exploded as drugs were allegedly being manufactured, police spokesman Sgt. Daryl Fong said.

The woman could be arrested in connection with the explosion, Fong said.

Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call the Police Department's anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444 or send a tip by text message to TIP411.

Plane crash pilot stole Cessna from Concord

A small plane that crashed outside Fresno Sunday killed the pilot.

But investigators were saying Tuesday that the Cessna had been stolen from Buchanan Field in Concord.

 The 1980's Cessna airplane was a mangled mess after the crash and the man behind the wheel, identified Tuesday as 52 year old Ray Pirro, was killed on impact.

Federal investigators told KTVU he stole that plane sometime over the weekend.

The plane's rightful owner, Felix Boston of Walnut Creek, couldn't believe it when he got the call.

"He asked me he said you know your plane's been in an accident.  I said no it should have been up here, " recalled Boston. 

Even though they have 24 hour security at Buchanan Field, Boston believes Pirro likely just hopped a short chain link fence around the tarmac, hotwired the plane and then took off. 

There are reports Pirro first flew to Stockton where he landed, bought food and then took off again.   

After the crash, Boston took a photo of the altered tail number on his stolen plane. 

An NTSB investigator said Pirro was not a licensed pilot.

 It appears he clipped some power lines prior to the crash.

Pilots at Buchanan Field like Fiona McChesney expressed worries over airport security.

"You know if someone really wants to get into an airport they can get on an airport," said McChesney.

However, the theft of a small plane is an unusual crime -- according to a non-profit aviation group, on average fewer than 10 planes are stolen in the U.S. every year.

International film series to debut at Antioch's El Campanil
Bulgarian film will kick off Lamorinda Foundation's pilot series at historic theater
8 Feb 2012 at 2:46pm

In Brief: Fire District sets parcel meetings
EAST CONTRA COSTAEast County fire district sets parcel tax meetingsEast Contra Costa Fire District has scheduled another round of meetings to answer property owners' questions about the $197 annual parcel tax it's proposing on the June ballot.
8 Feb 2012 at 2:46pm

Special Kids group works to build all-abilities playground in Brentwood
Group plans to install handicap swing, light, sound and sensory elements at Veterans Park
8 Feb 2012 at 2:46pm

Park walks offers glimpse at majestic birds
Nature lovers gather at regular walks to count raptor sightings
8 Feb 2012 at 2:45pm

Oakland police remove 'Aquapy' boat from Lake Merritt
OAKLAND -- A group of Occupy Oakland protesters launched a second boat to "Occupy" Lake Merritt this week, but their boat was taken by police Wednesday night, according to protesters.
8 Feb 2012 at 2:33pm

Police arrest Piedmont man in shooting of off-duty federal agent in Newark
Piedmont taken into custody in shooting that left U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent hospitalized after being shot outside his home Tuesday morning.
8 Feb 2012 at 2:23pm

Police: Gunman was raving before arrest near San Pablo school
Suspect has a history of mental illness, police say
8 Feb 2012 at 2:03pm

San Pablo woman arrested after police say she called 911 more than 3,000 time...
SAN PABLO -- A serial 911 caller went to jail this week, after police said she dialed for emergency help more than 3,000 times since September.The vast majority of those calls were hang-ups, but more than 20 times in four months the anonymous caller reported a man with a gun near an apartment
8 Feb 2012 at 1:59pm

Dry weather has slowed march of California newts
The newts are on the march -- sort of.This is normally the season when California newts, a variety of salamander, migrate from the woods and fields where they lie dormant during the dry months to the ponds and streams where they congregate to mate and produce a newt generation.
8 Feb 2012 at 1:49pm

Carol Olson: Memories of old candies are sweet indeed
Candy bars were a nickel when we were kids -- and they were big. Stores would have jars full of penny candy that you could pick from and purchase. I can even remember sheets of white paper, about the size of calculator paper that had little dots of chocolate on them.
8 Feb 2012 at 1:48pm

Oakland Tribune