A Northern California man has been charged with a hate crime in connection with a religiously charged rant at a Taco Bell, the Fremont Police Department said this week. Singh Tejinder, 37, of Union City, was filmed shouting at another man at a Taco Bell in Fremont on Aug. 21, according to police. The victim, Krishnan Jayaraman, told KTLA sister station KRON that the suspect's offensive rant lasted more than eight minutes. “He again said, 'Hey, pick up your bean burrito and leave. You’re a vegetarian right? You don’t eat beef. You should eat beef. You Indians should eat beef,'” Jayaraman t ..read more

Elon Musk is inviting the United Auto Workers union to hold an organizing vote at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California. On Twitter Wednesday, Musk wrote that he invited the union to hold a vote at its convenience. “Tesla will do nothing to stop them,” he wrote. The UAW wouldn't comment Thursday but spokesman Brian Rothenberg pointed out that Tesla is fighting a U.S. National Labor Relations Board ruling from last year that found the company and Musk engaged in unfair labor practices in 2018, partly because of his tweets. Musk's recent tweets seem to defy the NLRB ruling, and are part of an e ..read more

About 100 homes have been evacuated in the San Francisco Bay Area after a fuel tanker overturned early on Christmas Eve and leaked gasoline, authorities said. Photos from the scene in Fremont, California, show the tanker upside-down and appearing to have crashed into a wall along Interstate 680. The freeway's northbound lanes are expected to be closed for hours as crews work to load the remaining fuel onto another tanker and get the overturned one upright, according to the Fremont Fire Department. The homes were evacuated due to the smell of gas and residents are being sheltered at a ..read more

A man suspected of sexually assaulting three women this month was arrested after officers caught him brutally attacking a 67-year-old woman in the front yard of a San Francisco Bay Area home, police said. When officers summoned by witnesses to the home Thursday, they saw a naked man sexually assaulting the victim “in broad daylight,” Fremont police said in a statement. The officers stopped the attack and took Alexander Lomax, 28, into custody, the statement said. He was booked for investigation of multiple felonies, including kidnapping, sexual battery and assault with an intent to rape. He wa ..read more

Every day on every news channel, teenage siblings Prabhleen and Mantej Lamba watched the sacrifices of medical workers around the world who risk their physical and mental health on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. “We were really moved by this,” said Prabhleen, 15, “and we knew that we had to involve our community and take action.” So in the spirit of the Sikh faith’s core principle of “seva,” or selfless service, the San Francisco Bay area teens launched an initiative they called Cards 4 Covid Heroes to let health care workers know how much they’re appreciated. In just t ..read more

A San Francisco Bay Area man was arrested for allegedly running international sex trafficking websites that included ads featuring children and earned him $21 million. Wilhan Martono, 46, was arrested Wednesday in Fremont and was being held without bail until he is extradited to Dallas, Texas to face 28 federal charges including conspiracy, money laundering and promotion and facilitation of prostitution, the East Bay Times reported. It wasn’t clear whether he had an attorney to speak on his behalf. Martono set up websites allowing users to search for sex workers in more than 14 U.S. citie ..read more

Things are reportedly not going smoothly with the restart of Tesla’s main factory in California. Last month, CEO Elon Musk threatened to move Tesla operations out of California and sued to force Alameda County to allow Tesla’s plant in Fremont, California, to reopen. Musk is an outspoken critic of stay-at-home orders, which he called “fascist” in a profanity-laced call with analysts in April. He also is a skeptic about the threat posed by the pandemic. The Washington Post has reported that at least two employees of the Fremont complex have ..read more

At the Fit4All Gym in Lebanon, Illinois, owner David Tate considers Elon Musk a huge ally in the fight against government coronavirus orders that Tate says are driving him into the poorhouse. Tate reopened his 250-member gym in defiance of state orders on Monday, the same day Musk restarted his huge San Francisco Bay Area factory despite being told not to by the county Health Department. Like other business owners hit hard by coronavirus shutdown orders, Tate says Musk is a leader in the growing movement to reopen in the face of government orders, giving smaller businesses a boost and letting ..read more

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed Monday that the company has restarted its California factory, a move that defied local government orders involving measures to contain the coronavirus. In a tweet, Musk practically dared authorities to arrest him, writing that he would be on the assembly line and if anyone is taken into custody, it should be him. Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2020 State law allows a fine of up to $1,000 a day or up to 90 ..read more

Seven visitors to Santa Cruz are facing $7,000 in fines for violating local shelter-in-place guidelines Saturday, authorities said. They “came from Fremont to get some ‘essential’ drinks,” Police Chief Andrew Mills tweeted. “If you are not from Santa Cruz and you put our community at risk, you will get a ticket. #shelterinyourowntown.” The department tweeted, “7 x $1000 = One Expensive Hang Out. Everyone should know by now that this is not the time to meetup and party.” The drive from Fremont to Santa Cruz is nearly 50 miles. Santa Clara County’s Public Health Department’s website says, “Shelt ..read more