j. - Piedmont residents fear vandalism may be hate crimes
Piedmont residents fear vandalism may be hate crimes
ALEZA GOLDSMITH
Bulletin Staff
A rash of vandalism in Piedmont that may have targeted minorities is currently under investigation by both the Piedmont district attorney and the FBI.
Homes and property owned by Jews, Latinos, Asian-Americans, and African-Americans, as well as others, were hit during the May 28 attack. At least 10 cars and garage doors and a retaining wall were sprayed with blue paint. In addition, vandals broke several windows in some homes.
The word "Nigga" was painted on two cars, one of which belonged to an African-American family, and the phrase "187 Piedmont" was painted on a garage door on the Oakland-Piedmont border. Neighbors said 187 is known from rap music as the criminal code for "murder."
One Jewish family believes the scrawling on their car may have included a J for Jew, but Piedmont police argue that it is probably just a squiggle.
The main suspect, a 17-year-old female from Oakland, reportedly admitted the crime to both the Piedmont district attorney and the police, but she denied that her actions were racially or ethnically motivated. She was allegedly joined by two 17-year-old females from Manteca, but only the Oakland teen remains in jail. All three were charged with vandalism.
Detective Steve Dewarns of the Piedmont Police Department said the suspect claims the vandalism was aimed at one female, a pediatrician living on the Piedmont-Oakland border, who had tried to sever ties when the suspect became too fixated on her. The other acts of destruction were random, he said.
"This is a clear-cut case of stalking ," said Dewarns. "The vandalism occurred sporadically throughout the city and she had no idea who lived in what house. [The suspect] felt she was abandoned and that the doctor thought she was better than her. She decided that anyone with a holier-than-thou attitude would pay a price. Since Piedmont is a wealthy community, she believed Piedmont must have the same attitude.
"At this point, the DA is looking at it, but I don't believe it will be prosecuted as a hate crime," he added.
Some Piedmont residents, however, believe a sporadic attack on the homes of so many ethnic minorities is too much of a coincidence; especially in Piedmont.
"Piedmont may be getting more diverse, but the chances of that happening randomly is about as good as winning the lottery," said Ronnie Caplane, a member of the Piedmont Unified School District Board of Trustees.
Joan Tanzer and Gerald Frank, who own the car allegedly painted with a J agreed.
"It's really hard for me to believe it's random," said Tanzer, "especially considering the number of minorities and the level of accuracy."
The initial police investigation was publicly decried at a June 1 meeting of Piedmont's Community Relations Advisory Committee. Victims claimed that it was only through the prompting of resident David Oppenheimer, a civil rights attorney and professor of law at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, that fingerprints and paint samples were taken at the crime scenes.
Tanzer said the insufficient pursuit of evidence was disconcerting.
"There seems to be a lack of sensitivity and sophistication with regard to something like this happening in our community," said Tanzer.
Caplane, who was not a victim of the attack, added : "I don't think Piedmont is in danger of turning into a Nazi state, but I do think that constant vigilance is necessary. Police officers have to be vigilant and use something like this as an opportunity for themselves and the community to start looking at their attitude."
THE CHRONICLE SEASON OF SHARING FUND / Fund delivers for woman hurt in bus stop attack / Business owner still feeling effects
THE CHRONICLE SEASON OF SHARING FUND
Fund delivers for woman hurt in bus stop attack
Business owner still feeling effects
Heather Knight, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, December 30, 2005
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Eltyna McCree, who owns a travel agency in Oakland, is st...
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Eltyna McCree, a businesswoman since the age of 4 when she sold popcorn to her kindergarten classmates, was full of excited anticipation as she sat at an Oakland bus stop on the morning of Oct. 17.
The owner of a travel agency had scored a job coordinating airplane tickets for 65 people to a church conference in Tennessee, and she was also planning festivities to mark the 10th anniversary of the upscale clothing boutique she started on the side.
But all that changed in a flash as she heard the scream of another woman waiting for the same bus at 11th Street and Broadway.
"She was literally staggering past me saying, 'Why did you hit me in the back of my head?' I jumped up, and there was this man glaring at me, just glaring at me!" she recalled Thursday. "I was paralyzed in fear -- I could not move."
The man then punched McCree in her right eye, causing her to fall to the ground. The man kept punching her until bystanders intervened.
"I just kept screaming, 'Jesus! Jesus!' That's what I know to do," said McCree, who also works as a minister at Bible Faith Ministries in East Oakland. She spent several hours at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center before being released.
More than two months later, her right eye remains swollen shut, she walks with a cane, pain shoots through her head, she has trouble sleeping and she cannot work as many hours as she used to.
She doesn't have health insurance, and she has lost some business and needs help covering two months rent on the downtown building that houses her travel agency, A Travel Moment, and boutique, Underground Treasures. The Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund is helping to provide assistance.
The alleged attacker, Chad Angle, 31, of Alameda, was arrested and charged with felony aggravated assault and battery with the enhancement of a hate crime, according to Alameda County deputy district attorney Casey Bates. The suspect was being held in Santa Rita County Jail, but criminal proceedings have been halted until psychological evaluations are completed, Bates said.
McCree tries to keep her spirits high, but it's hard. She hates having to ask for help from others. She is sometimes scared when she's out and about. She is especially fearful that the muscles in her right eye will never fully repair and that her eye may be permanently shut.
"The thing that I have always had going for me since I was a little girl was my eyes. People always talked about my big pretty eyes," she said, crying and pausing for several moments.
It's a huge blow when such a violent crime hits a member of the family, said her son, Anton Dixon.
"It's more of a shock when it hits you directly and personally," he said. "I definitely was very outraged about it. This is your mom, an innocent person getting attacked like that."
Mostly, though, McCree tries to focus on the positive and rattles off projects she hopes to undertake once she's recovered.
"I'm just so grateful to God that it was not worse -- it could have been worse," she said. "I'm just trying to make it back."
E-mail Heather Knight at hknight@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page B - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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