More info on shooting near Kennedy Tent City

Man slain near a Tent City
RICHMOND: Peace campers say gunfire does not intimidate them and they will stay until the end of the month as planned

By Karl Fischer
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

James Cash peeked out his camper window before dawn Friday, watching an idling car across the street from Kennedy Park in Richmond.

Minutes passed. Nothing happened, so he went back to bed.

"Then about 4:20 I heard the shots," Cash said. "They were firing all kinds of shots. They just kept shooting."

Cash grabbed his flashlight when the shooting stopped and swept its beam over the tents erected two weeks ago to protest the city's street violence. Then he cast his light across the park to South 41st Street.

There, just 30 yards from where peace activists labored to broadcast a message of hope, Travante Navaro James sat dying in the same Mazda that Cash saw earlier, now pockmarked with bullet holes.

Word of the killing spread swiftly to Richmond's other Tent Cities: camps in Nevin, Shields-Reid and King parks where fed-up community members seek to reclaim public space from street crime. Since the first camps appeared in late September, no killing came so close.

But as the sun rose Friday, organizers said it only galvanized their commitment to stop endemic street violence in the flatland neighborhoods.

"We are truly on the battlefield for Christ. These people are really out here on the front line," said Patsy Green, who visited the camp Friday morning. "People know that any one of us could pay the ultimate sacrifice."

Police got a call about gunfire from residents of an apartment complex several blocks away at 4:28 a.m., Lt. Mike Gormley said. They found nothing there, but at 4:43 a.m. an officer saw a man, Cash, shining a flashlight in cars on the 400 block of South 41st and found the victim.

"The window was all busted up. You could see he was shot in the face," Cash said. "It looked like he was talking on a cell phone."

Someone walked up to the car and fired many rounds through the window, killing James, police said. Witnesses heard a car leaving the area immediately after the shooting, a car that could be involved, Lt. Enos Johnson said.

James, who lived a few blocks away, slumped toward the passenger seat, Cash said. A cell phone lay on the floorboard.

James appeared to be breathing when Cash found him, but Cash said he did not receive medical attention for nearly a half-hour. An ambulance took James to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in central Richmond, where he was pronounced dead.

Dispatch records show the ambulance arrived at 4:48 a.m., five minutes after police.

Detectives pursued leads in the case Friday. A patrol officer had stopped the victim and given him a traffic citation about 10 minutes before the shooting, Detective Sgt. Lee Hendricsen said, so police have some information about his movements before he died.

"We have not determined the motive behind the killing," Johnson said. "We have not determined whether this was a random shooting or whether the victim was targeted."

Richmond's 35th killing of the year came during a relatively light stretch for shootings in the city, but was not the first homicide near a Tent City camp. Jesse Lee Woodson, 24, died in an Oct. 2 drive-by shooting on First Street, three blocks from Nevin Park.

"I pray that the citizens do not get discouraged," said the Rev. Andre Shumake, who helped organize the Tent City in Nevin Park last month. "We want the community to know that our resolve is strong, and we will stay the course. We will stay out here until the end of the month, as planned."

Reach Karl Fischer at 510-262-2728 or kfischer@cctimes.com.

ZERO HOMICIDES IN RICHMOND CAMPAIGN

Richmond homicides this week (Saturday-Friday): 2
Year to date total: 35
Year to date 2005: 30

Date:
• Oct. 15: Musharaf Poswal, 48, Rodeo. Shot and killed in his car about 4 a.m. near the corner of San Pablo and Bayview avenues.
• Oct. 20: Travante Navaro James, 20, Richmond. Shot and killed in his car about 4:30 a.m. in the 400 block of South 41st Street.

HOW TO HELP
Police ask anyone with information about the killing of 20-year-old Travante Navaro James to call Detective Esteban Barragan at 510-231-3053 or the anonymous tip line at 510-232-TIPS (8477).

IF YOU GO
The Iron Triangle Neighborhood Council has organized a peace walk in memory of community activist Ramona Braxton-Samuels at 11 a.m. today. The walk starts at the corner of Fourth Street and Macdonald Avenue, followed by a 3 p.m. gospel concert in Nevin Park.

Reverberation

Although we don't know if he reads the Tazer, we like Bud Wakeland anyway because he's echoing something we said at the time.

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Leaking info a usual part of politics

Your editorial regarding Richmond Mayor Irma Anderson's car allowances was most welcome and appropriate, with the exception of the sentence, "We find the dirty pool unsavory."

What the heck is unsavory about her opponents leaking information at election time? That's the political process.

Opponents research and expose their opponents, who certainly are not going to expose themselves. That is obviously what happened, just as the Democrats leaked the Mark Foley information on the eve of the national election.

Fortunately, someone is researching those in power. Otherwise, we shortly would not have our freedom.

Anderson's opponents did exactly what they are supposed to do, and the Times did exactly what it is supposed to do, which is report.

Bud Wakeland
El Sobrante

Another killing near a Tent City

A sunny Friday to end the week, but it's also the unfortunate end to another life...

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Police find homicide by anti-violence camp

By Karl Fischer
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

RICHMOND - An unidentified 21-year-old man was shot to death this morning just yards from one of the six Tent Cities set up to take back the city's streets from violence, police said.

At 4:30 a.m., police were called about shots near the Monterey Pines Apartments in south Richmond, Richmond police Lt. Mike Gormley.

When they arrived, they didn't find anything but did hear reports of someone using a flashlight to look into cars at Kennedy Park near Cutting Boulevard and South 41st Street, Gormley said.

Police headed to the park and met some of the Tent City's residents before finding the body of a 21-year-old man sitting in a parked car on the 400 block of South 41st Street, about 75 feet from the encampment. Shell casings from bullets littered the street.

Police said they believe the gunman walked up to the car and opened fire on the victim sitting inside, and that the initial call may have been the shooting's sound echoing and drifting over to the apartments.

Paramedics took the man to Kaiser Medical Center in Richmond, where he was pronounced dead.

The homicide is the city's 35th death of the year.

The Kennedy Park Tent City opened Oct. 9. Tent Cities' intent is to unify the city's southside, central and North Richmond neighborhoods, which have been embroiled in long-standing feuds. The first one was erected Sept. 24 in the Iron Triangle neighborhood and another began in North Richmond's Shields-Reid Park the next day.

Staff writer John Geluardi contributed to this report.

This just in...

As up-and-coming members of the media, we've gotten hold of an interesting press release...

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LATEST RICHMOND MAYORAL POLL:
Distrust, Indecision, & Concern Regarding Violence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 19, 2005
CONTACT: LL Enterprises LLC: info@doubleLenteprises.net

Results of a poll regarding the Richmond, CA mayoral race, conducted September 15 – 30, 2006 by media relations/political consulting firm LL Enterprises LLC, shows a very tight race with many voters still on the fence about their 3 choices to lead the city over the next four years.

The poll results indicate that if the election were to take place tomorrow, all three candidates are extremely close, with Richmond business owner Gary Bell slightly ahead of current City Councilmember and Green Party candidate Gayle McLaughlin. Incumbent Mayor Irma Anderson comes in third, just a few points behind McLaughlin.

To the following key questions, respondents provided these results:

• Do you feel that you live in a city with “Pride & Purpose”?
No: 77%
Yes: 23%

Analysis: This seems to reflect a generalized displeasure about the city, to perhaps include a malaise regarding city politics.


• How serious a problem is crime in the City of Richmond as a whole?
Very serious: 87%
Somewhat serious: 11%
A bit serious: 1%
Not serious at all: 1%

• How serious is crime in your community?
Very serious: 29%
Somewhat serious: 40%
A bit serious: 25%
Not serious at all: 6%

Analysis: The differences in these results appear to indicate a general perception that Richmond has serious problems with crime. However, since 69% of respondents answer that crime in their community rates “somewhat serious” or greater, there is at least anecdotal evidence that crime remains a real problem.


• If the election were held tomorrow, who would be your choice for Mayor of Richmond?
Gary Bell (Banker): 22%
Gayle McLaughlin (Councilmember): 18%
Irma Anderson (Incumbent): 16%
Undecided: 42%

Analysis: The most interesting story in this poll may not be who has made up their mind, but who has not. Former Councilmember Bell and current Councilmember McLaughlin lead sitting Mayor Anderson, but a whopping 42% of Richmond voters surveyed for this poll responded that they have not made a decision on which candidate they will support in next month’s election.

“We believe that there are a number of factors in play here,” says LL Enterprises Managing Partner RC Williams. “There is an incumbent mayor who has been beat up quite a bit for a number of reasons, and can’t seem to shake the perception that she is a ‘gavelbanger’ who can’t take decisive action when required; a City Councilperson who — while well intentioned — does not seem to possess the experience or business savvy to run a city government; and a businessman who has been away from politics for a number of years and may be out of the loop of voters’ knowledge. Our figures bear out this indecision, but then we dug a little deeper.”

“In-depth, follow-up questioning indicates that Richmond voters want certain qualities in a mayor: leadership experience, business experience and political experience,” says LL Enterprises Managing Partner Wesley Westfall. “Along with a concrete plan on how to rebuild the city and reunite the electorate, it’s a formula that Richmond voters seem to be seeking. They want their city on the right track, and the real story will be which candidate can convey their message best to the numerous and demographically disparate residents, some of whom are either not completely informed about this race, or remain on the fence nonetheless.”

With the candidates’ forum that was broadcast live on Richmond Public Access Television Channel 28 on October 9th and others in the near future, voters will get an opportunity to see all three candidates in action in the few weeks left before Election Day. Amid a blitz of mailers and other advertising, combined with news attention, the candidates are obviously jockeying to communicate. Because this ballot occurs outside of a Presidential election cycle, turnout may be comparatively low. The three campaigns for Richmond Mayor must energize their base and collect voters in the undecided middle to assure victory.

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Sept. 15th to 30th might be a bit out of date considering some of the news that has come in, like Tent City developments, Anderson's car stipend foibles, and the slayings of Jesse Lee Woodsen and Musharaf Poswal.

It's still the ONLY polling data that the Tazer is aware of, and considering the consultation that must be going on in all mayoral camps, we're surprised this didn't happen sooner. Who is LLE, and on what side is their bread buttered? These sorts of polls don't pay for themselves, y'know?

But it's interesting all the same, mostly the part where an incumbent mayor isn't making the grade simply on her incumbency.

BOHICA: Bend Over Here It Comes Again

We at the Tazer want to believe Chief Magnus and City Manager Lindsay about this move, but we're still worried that it will impede RPD service, and will cost the city money that could be (or could have been) better spent...

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Police department to relocate
RICHMOND: City Council votes 8-1 to move force out of Hall of Justice, citing mold and flooding concerns

By Karl Fischer and John Geluardi
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Spurred by reports of seasonal flooding, mold infestation and other grotesque conditions, the Richmond City Council has voted to move its police force out of the decrepit Hall of Justice building.

Police headquarters most likely will shift to the same industrial area near the city marina now occupied by City Hall, which vacated its Civic Center Plaza building in 2003 over seismic safety concerns.

Logistics prohibit a move before January, meaning officers and the public will spend one more dirty, leaky winter in the 57-year-old building.

Council members regretted such an expensive solution -- early estimates peg rent and moving costs at $5.6 million -- but said they had no choice.

"We have to look at what's more important," Mayor Irma Anderson said. "Life or the almighty dollar."

The council voted 8-1 in favor of the move Tuesday, with Councilman Tom Butt dissenting. Butt, an architect, said the city did not do enough to learn about the building's flaws or about the health risks associated with mold there.

"I do not think there is enough valid information to make a $10 million decision," he said Wednesday. "And I don't think there's much value in making that decision now."

With the same vote, the council agreed to focus lease negotiations for the department's temporary digs on a Regatta Boulevard property owned by DiCon Fiberoptics Inc. The department would occupy about half the company's 100,000-square-foot building.

If those talks resolve, police will follow City Hall out of Richmond's residential core into a remote, unpopulated area on the southern edge of the city, separated from most neighborhoods by railroad tracks.

Renovation and retrofitting of Civic Center Plaza begins next year, and plans include construction of a new police building that could be ready by 2009. The current Hall of Justice will be renovated for use by city government.

"I don't think this changes the fundamental way we are policing the community. We are firmly committed to a geographic model, with officers patrolling in every neighborhood in the city," Police Chief Chris Magnus said. "(The move) will not have much impact on our deployment."

Moving the department also would prove less expensive than keeping it in the building during renovation, according to a cost analysis provided to the council by City Manager Bill Lindsay.

Lindsay's staff hired several consultants to study the Hall of Justice since April, when about 30 police employees filed workers' compensation claims protesting their daily exposure to mold and asbestos.

Workers supplied hundreds of photos showing copious mold growing throughout the building during the rainy season, when a leaky roof and walls allow water to trickle down to the basement, which floods as much as 12 inches in a property vault that contains drugs, blood evidence and other potential hazards.

Past police administrations downplayed the problems, and several council members have said they were not aware of the extent of the problems until this year.

"I can't envision any case in which we would put employee safety behind cost," Councilman John Marquez said. "I've seen the inside of that building, and nobody should be working in there."

While the city's insurer has paid no claims to date, the city did respond with environmental tests within the building. In June, a consultant found high levels of mold, unhealthy but not acutely toxic.

An environmental health specialist recommended the city make immediate repairs or move the department before winter.

Moving police to a rental property on a three-year lease and repairing the vacant Hall of Justice will cost about $9 million, according to city estimates. Repairing the Hall piecemeal while rotating sections of the department through portable trailers would cost about $10 million.

Both estimates incorporated work from a previous consultant, who did not open walls and cautioned that costs could rise if hidden complications arise.

The $9 million estimate also assumes a three-year, $3.4 million lease and $3.5 million in actual repair costs. The repair costs include a 20 percent contingency cost.

The $10 million estimate includes $2.6 million for portable trailers, $3.9 million for actual repair costs and about $3.5 million worth of projections for contingencies -- about 78 percent -- owing to the complexities of working in an inhabited building, Assistant City Manager Janet Schneider said.

The department will move in phases, Magnus said, but most workers will relocate by January. A consultant at the council meeting, meanwhile, estimated the move would happen in March.

"Our personnel are very motivated to get out of this building. There really are health and safety concerns, not to mention it's a horrible work environment," Magnus said. "My employees will do everything possible to facilitate a rapid departure."

Reach Karl Fischer at 510-262-2728 or kfischer@cctimes.com.

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The whole Civic Center area could use attention, but bad finances and City Hall ops moving in 2003 seem to have put it on the back burner. Unfortunately, this means that the city is still paying rent at Marina Bay, RPD will have to start doing the same, AND we don't see a permanent solution in this.

For his opposition, we're curious to know what Tom Butt's solution would be. To Mr. Butt and any concerned Richmond resident, the Tazer stands ready if you wish to opine.

More details on cab driver killing

Robbery a motive in cabbie slaying, police theorize

Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Less than two years ago, a back injury ended Musharaf Poswal's 18-year career as a clerk and night-crew supervisor at a Richmond supermarket. To make ends meet, he began driving a cab in San Francisco, often reassuring his son over the phone that he was fine.

Before dawn Sunday, friends found Poswal, 48, slumped over the wheel of his blue Mazda pickup truck, parked behind his Yellow Cab on a Richmond street within sight of the El Cerrito police station. He had been shot numerous times and killed, moments after he ended his shift, authorities said.

As Richmond police looked for clues Monday in what they believe was a botched robbery, Poswal's family and friends gathered at his home in Rodeo, mourning the loss of the father of four sons and lamenting the latest instance of the slaying of a taxi driver.

"Everyone can tell you, he's a very respectable guy, a nice gentle man, very caring about others," said Poswal's son, Ali Poswal, 24, of San Jose. "He never had problems with anybody. I'm really shocked. It's unnecessary. I don't know what to think right now."

Right after Poswal's shift ended at about 4 a.m., a clerk at the Terrace Inn and Suites near San Pablo and Bayview avenues in El Cerrito reported hearing three shots, an employee said Monday. But Poswal's killing wasn't discovered until 6 a.m., when worried friends, wondering where he was, found the victim in his truck.

Richmond police haven't identified any suspects in the slaying, the city's 34th homicide so far this year, said Lt. Mark Gagan. "We haven't ruled out any motive, but it appears to be a robbery gone bad," Gagan said.

Investigators would not say whether they believe Poswal was killed by a passenger or someone who came up to him on the street.

Poswal usually parked his cab on Bayview Avenue; his relief driver, Shaukat Khan, 44, of El Sobrante, would then take it from there directly to San Francisco for his day shift.

"He's very nice. He treated me like a brother," Khan said. "I really miss him."

Ali Poswal said he often spoke to his father over the phone several times during his shift, sometimes as he had passengers in the back seat. The elder Poswal never reported any problems while on the job, he said.

"It's very, very sad for me," said Poswal's brother, Maqbool Ahmed, 55, of Fremont. "I was in a somber mood when I heard at 6 a.m. (Sunday)."

Ahmed said friends who found the body ran over to the El Cerrito police station across the street and were told to call Richmond police. Ahmed accused El Cerrito police of failing to respond, but El Cerrito police Cmdr. Michael Regan disputed that assertion Monday.

Regan said officers were initially told that there was a car with a broken window on the street. But during that same conversation, police learned that someone was in distress and immediately went to the scene, even as Richmond police were called, Regan said.

Poswal, a native of Pakistan, immigrated to the United States in 1980. He took a job at a Richmond plastics factory before becoming a clerk at a Lucky supermarket. Years later, he became a night supervisor when the store became an Albertsons.

He leaves behind his wife, four sons and four siblings.

The slaying underscores the dangers that cab drivers -- many of them immigrants from India or Pakistan -- face every day, authorities said. Taxi drivers were shot and killed in Richmond on Christmas Day last year and in 2003, the same year that one was fatally shot in Redwood City.

At the Richmond BART station Monday, the bruise under the left eye of cab driver Nirmal Rangi, 70, was still evident more than a week after he was attacked by a passenger after dropping him off in Vallejo. The man, who told Rangi he didn't have any money and just got out of jail, also bit him in the right arm, said Rangi, showing his bandage.

"I'm scared," Rangi said. But, he added, "There's no other job except to drive."

E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee@sfchronicle.com.

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EDIT 3:30 PM: HotCoCo finally opened up for us. Yet more details and things aren't looking so hot for El Cerrito PD...

Cab driver was shot to death, police say
RICHMOND: Co-worker finds body of man in truck that was parked near police station

By Karl Fischer and Tom Lochner
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

The body of a cab driver killed Sunday in Richmond across the street from a fire station likely sat in his personal vehicle for two hours before a co-worker found him, police said Monday.

Although detectives lack leads in the case, flashing lights and sirens from a fire engine leaving for an emergency call about 4:10 a.m. may have scared off whoever shot 48-year-old Musharaf Poswal, they said Monday.

Poswal, who lived in Rodeo, drove his cab in San Francisco. He worked from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. and parked the cab in the same place after every shift, where a different cabbie would take it for another shift, police said.

When the victim did not come home Sunday, his wife called another cabbie, who went to the corner of San Pablo and Bayview avenues and found the body a few minutes after 6 a.m., Detective Sgt. Mitch Peixoto said.

"It looks like he got out of the cab to move some belongings to his personal vehicle" when he was attacked, Peixoto said. "The cab was parked in front of his pickup."

The attacker shot him several times. Poswal locked himself inside his truck, where he died.

"Obviously, they knew who these people were, where they got off and on," said Harpreet Sandhu, a member of the Richmond Human Relations Commission and a longtime advocate for cabbie safety in West County. "This didn't happen by randomness."

Police found no obvious signs of robbery, detectives said, nor any obvious indicator of motive. The truck was parked on Richmond's side of San Pablo Avenue, across the street from the El Cerrito city offices, including the Police Department, City Hall and Fire Station 71.

The engine company responded to a call of a burning vehicle shortly after 4 a.m., detectives said, about the same time Poswal would have parked in his usual spot across the street.

Robbers have killed at least three other taxi drivers in the greater Richmond area since 1999 and wounded several others. Leaders at the Sikh temple in El Sobrante have repeatedly called on police and city government to provide more protection for drivers, as most cabbies in the area are Sikhs.

Sandhu said local cab drivers have been told to exchange their vehicles in "safe" places, which may explain why the victim chose a place so near the El Cerrito Police Department.

"This a place they do it every day," Sandhu said. "Somebody knew that this is where they change every day."

Poswal was not Sikh. He leaves behind two children.

The death was the 34th homicide reported this year in Richmond.

Reach Karl Fischer at 510-262-2728 or kfischer@cctimes.com. Reach Tom Lochner at 510-262-2760 or tlochner@cctimes.com.

HOW TO HELP
Police ask anyone with information about Sunday's killing of Musharaf Poswal to call Detective Terry Miles at 510-620-6860 or the anonymous tip line at 510-232-TIPS (232-8477).

Cab Driver Found Shot In Own Car

Richmond police are investigating the homicide of a male cab driver who was found early Sunday morning slumped over the steering wheel of his car.

Rodeo resident Musharaf Poswal, 48, was found with multiple gunshot wounds just after 6 a.m. on Bayview Avenue at San Pablo Avenue, which is near the El Cerrito city line and about a block from the El Cerrito Police Department.

A motive for the shooting has not been determined, said Lt. Shawn Pickett. It is Richmond's 34th homicide this year.

The victim, who drove for a San Francisco cab company, was discovered in his personal vehicle, which was parked right behind the cab he used for work. The shooting occurred in a residential neighborhood where the victim usually picked up the cab at the beginning of shift and parked it afterward, Pickett said. It is uncertain whether he was beginning or ending his shift when he was shot.

Anyone who has information about the shooting is asked to contact the Richmond police at 510-620-6643 or, to remain anonymous, call 510-232-8477.

-- John Geluardi

Mail Call!

It's a soggy Monday in Tazerville, but we hope your weekend was pleasant. According to our comment backlog, quite a lot of you are chomping at the bit to say your piece. We've let some of it through, but then some of it is just going to have to fall by the wayside.

We understand that you have opinions, and that you like the spontaneity that the Tazer used to offer. Unfortunately, this lent itself to abuse. Thus, due to the bad behavior of a few bad apples (or perhaps only one?), it's led us first to the deletion of comments, and now comment moderation. Sorry, Tazer Faithful, but that's the way it has to be.

However, some of you (like "Mack the Knife") might be curious about what crosses our desks. Honestly, so much of it is unrelated to violence prevention that we at the Tazer decided to showcase a sample of the insanity we feel we're saving you from, complete with responses...

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* Lady Dawg Daddy said...
God knows I could use a good job.
You Tazer people want to meet me at Fifth and Palm? Any job is a good job.

Dear Starts with a B/Rhymes with Itch,

You're exactly why the Banstick exists.

Good luck with that,
The Richmond Truth Tazer

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* Anonymous said...
Oh geez, did the internet exist in 1969?

Dear Anonymous,

Yes, the system that would become the Internet (then known as ARPANET) made its first link on October 29, 1969.

Geez, don't you know anything?

Feel free to ask smarter questions,
The Richmond Truth Tazer

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* ever so slightly touched in the head by an angel said...

Ummm...yea

If your significant other is withholding crucial their day job from you, I suspect that they may fall ever so slightly below the threshold of "significant"

Dear Blah Blah Angel,

We don't come down to where you work and mishandle your overalls or touch your rubber gloves. Just for that, we're breaking up with you.

Leaving your stuff on the porch,
The Richmond Truth Tazer

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* Former Tazer Reader said...

This real great, now we have to wait to see and read our postings?!
Really great Tazer! Good going! I won't be wasting my time here anymore. Sorry, Heave-ho Tazer I got to go.

Dear Never Was A Tazer Reader,

We doubt that you'd like to have someone writing graffiti in your newspaper, but that's what these nonsensical postings have become.

Since you believe that we shouldn't maintain control of our own blog, then the feeling isn't mutual. You're actually part of the problem, and we're not sorry to hear you go. We recommend that you start up your own blog and allow whatever comments you like.

Sincerely,
The Richmond Truth Tazer

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We at the Tazer would like to reiterate that this blog is about violence prevention in Richmond, and how politicians and their politics are involved. We enjoy your comments, but hate when you're off topic. Until further notice, comment moderation will be enforced because we want to assure you that what you're getting is quality discussion.

Thank you for your cooperation!