WaccoBB in PD: Sebastopol takes rash of crimes in stride

[Barry]

[WaccoBB.net surfaced in the PD again yesterday. Bob Norberg called me for a comment. I mentioned the recent crimes had not been mentioned yet, but the November attempted rape had. Bob asked me if the comments were from "whackos" referring to the type of comments that appear of the PD's discussion area (forums). If you want evidence of how "conscious" our community is, check out the comments on this article on the PD's forums! - Barry]


Sebastopol takes rash of crimes in stride


By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 3:01 p.m.

A recent spate of crimes in Sebastopol does not appear to have ruffled the feeling of safety that most residents take for granted in the city of 7,700.

In the past 10 days, there were four incidents, in each case resulting in an arrest, but police stress they were in no way related.

A group of teens were fired at Tuesday by assailants with a shotgun at Ives Park, 10 days ago an Analy High student was sexually assaulted walking to her car, a week ago four gang members were arrested in a stolen car and were found with weapons and a suspected gang member took a hatchet to a police car Saturday.

Police Sgt. Mike Nielsen said it is a coincidence they occurred in such a short time span.

“I don’t see a pattern,” he said. “I just see a lot of things happening in close proximity, which puts them up on the radar.”

The crimes have been noticed in Sebastopol, but city officials said they have heard few concerns from citizens.

“I have heard from a couple of parents who are rightfully concerned about Ives Park because of its location — it is close to the pool and close to schools,” said City Councilwoman Kathleen Shaffer. “I can understand because of the location, that concerns me as well, there are lots of kids around that area.”
Laurie Whiteside, principal of Park Side Elementary School, which is near Ives Park, said she hasn’t heard anything from parents and the school is a safe haven.

“We are an elementary school, there has been no activity around here. We don’t even get tagged regularly; nothing,” Whiteside said.

Dan Osmer of Sebastopol, who regularly frequents two local coffee shops, said crime has not been a topic of discussion and he wasn’t even aware of the incidents.

“Sebastopol is the bubble city,” Osmer said.

Barry Chertov, founder of the West County Community Bulletin Board (www.waccobb.net), which has 10,000 members, said 16 people have been posting messages about crime, but it was related to a mid-November rape attempt and not the recent crimes.

“The posts are quite thoughtful and some are one side and some on the other, they are not inflammatory, there is some passion as fears get stirred, but it is not off-the-cuff hatred stuff,” Chertov said. “This is a real concern and the community is wrestling with how do you balance fear with the cause of justice.”

Vice Mayor Guy Wilson said it is because Sebastopol is so safe these crimes are noteworthy.

“Members of the community will express concerns, that is natural, but it is not anything to worry about,” Wilson said. “It’s newsworthy when any kind of crime happens in Sebastopol because it is so unusual.”
Nielsen said no motive has been discovered in the Ives Park shooting. It could have been driven by gangs, drugs or personal feelings, he said.

The gang members in the stolen car were not Sebastopol residents and could have been just driving through, and the suspect in the attack on the police car was intoxicated and claimed a different gang than those in the stolen car, Nielsen said.

The suspect in the Analy sexual assault was living in a nearby group home and is not a gang member, Nielsen said.

You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or e-mail [email protected].

[photolite]

The information in this article regarding the gang members in the stolen car not being from this area is suspect. I overheard two local Sebastopol men, one 22 and the other 20, talking about the incident last night. They were friends of the young person hit by the bullet. They both insisted that the people in the car were local Sebastopol residents and spoke of them by name, refering to them as the brother of so and so and the like. They also pooh poohed the idea of gang affiliation. Just some bad local apples.
They said they understood that these people had come by Ives earlier in the evening and tried to start a fight with the kids who were just hanging out together as teens do. None of em wanted anything to do with fighting with these thugs. The thugs then left to return a bit later and one of them fired from the car into the group.

[WaccoBB.net surfaced in the PD again yesterday. Bob Norberg called me for a comment. I mentioned the recent crimes had not been mentioned yet, but the November attempted rape had. Bob asked me if the comments were from "whackos" referring to the type of comments that appear of the PD's discussion area (forums). If you want evidence of how "conscious" our community is, check out the comments on this article on the PD's forums! - Barry]


Sebastopol takes rash of crimes in stride


By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 3:01 p.m.

A recent spate of crimes in Sebastopol does not appear to have ruffled the feeling of safety that most residents take for granted in the city of 7,700.

In the past 10 days, there were four incidents, in each case resulting in an arrest, but police stress they were in no way related.

A group of teens were fired at Tuesday by assailants with a shotgun at Ives Park, 10 days ago an Analy High student was sexually assaulted walking to her car, a week ago four gang members were arrested in a stolen car and were found with weapons and a suspected gang member took a hatchet to a police car Saturday.

Police Sgt. Mike Nielsen said it is a coincidence they occurred in such a short time span.

“I don’t see a pattern,” he said. “I just see a lot of things happening in close proximity, which puts them up on the radar.”

The crimes have been noticed in Sebastopol, but city officials said they have heard few concerns from citizens.

“I have heard from a couple of parents who are rightfully concerned about Ives Park because of its location — it is close to the pool and close to schools,” said City Councilwoman Kathleen Shaffer. “I can understand because of the location, that concerns me as well, there are lots of kids around that area.”
Laurie Whiteside, principal of Park Side Elementary School, which is near Ives Park, said she hasn’t heard anything from parents and the school is a safe haven.

“We are an elementary school, there has been no activity around here. We don’t even get tagged regularly; nothing,” Whiteside said.

Dan Osmer of Sebastopol, who regularly frequents two local coffee shops, said crime has not been a topic of discussion and he wasn’t even aware of the incidents.

“Sebastopol is the bubble city,” Osmer said.

Barry Chertov, founder of the West County Community Bulletin Board (www.waccobb.net), which has 10,000 members, said 16 people have been posting messages about crime, but it was related to a mid-November rape attempt and not the recent crimes.

“The posts are quite thoughtful and some are one side and some on the other, they are not inflammatory, there is some passion as fears get stirred, but it is not off-the-cuff hatred stuff,” Chertov said. “This is a real concern and the community is wrestling with how do you balance fear with the cause of justice.”

Vice Mayor Guy Wilson said it is because Sebastopol is so safe these crimes are noteworthy.

“Members of the community will express concerns, that is natural, but it is not anything to worry about,” Wilson said. “It’s newsworthy when any kind of crime happens in Sebastopol because it is so unusual.”
Nielsen said no motive has been discovered in the Ives Park shooting. It could have been driven by gangs, drugs or personal feelings, he said.

The gang members in the stolen car were not Sebastopol residents and could have been just driving through, and the suspect in the attack on the police car was intoxicated and claimed a different gang than those in the stolen car, Nielsen said.

The suspect in the Analy sexual assault was living in a nearby group home and is not a gang member, Nielsen said.

You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or e-mail [email protected].

[tomcat]

Well, maybe not those particular crimes, but I started a 'Thieves in Sebastopol' thread and there is now another thread about peoples license plate tags being stolen.
If anyone thinks Sebastopol is a 'Bubble City', they are living in the past, IMHO.
Be careful out there folks !

[WaccoBB.net surfaced in the PD again yesterday. Bob Norberg called me for a comment. I mentioned the recent crimes had not been mentioned yet, but the November attempted rape had. Bob asked me if the comments were from "whackos" referring to the type of comments that appear of the PD's discussion area (forums). If you want evidence of how "conscious" our community is, check out the comments on this article on the PD's forums! - Barry]


Sebastopol takes rash of crimes in stride

By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

...

Dan Osmer of Sebastopol, who regularly frequents two local coffee shops, said crime has not been a topic of discussion and he wasn’t even aware of the incidents.

“Sebastopol is the bubble city,” Osmer said.
...