SAN PABLO – A body pulled from an East Bay estuary last fall has been identified as an elderly San Pablo woman that authorities believe was killed by her son-in-law. Related Articles Crime and Public Safety | Former Fremont city manager sentenced to jail in fraud case, must pay $317,000 in restitution Crime and Public Safety | Eight suspects arrested in Oakland tobacco products robbery Crime and Public Safety | Man charged with murder in rifle-shot killing in Oakland Crime and Public Safety | Oakland police kill Sacramento homicide suspect who was allegedly armed Crime and Public Safety ..read more

A suspect pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of carjacking a driver in San Rafael, stealing a car in San Anselmo and committing other offenses during a police pursuit. Richard Montiel Contreras, 34, of Fremont entered his plea in the Marin County Superior Court. Judge Kevin Murphy set his preliminary hearing for June 12. Contreras was arrested on March 17 following a chase that started when a robbery was reported at the Macy’s store in Corte Madera. He evaded police and later committed two auto thefts before fleeing to San Pablo, where authorities arrested him, Central Marin police Sgt. J ..read more

SAN PABLO — Body-worn camera footage and 911 audio released Friday reveal new details about an incident in September when police shot and wounded a man who had confronted officers, throwing rocks and swinging a 3-foot metal pole, during an apparent mental-heath crisis. The man, who was later identified as 44-year-old Andre Smith, was initially listed in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the upper-right portion of his leg. He was eventually released from the hospital and now faces criminal charges in the incident. Police were first called at 1:39 p.m. on Sept. 8 2023 to to a house on t ..read more

A company operating 10 nursing homes in and around the Bay Area has settled a lawsuit by local county prosecutors and the State of California alleging it neglected vulnerable patients’ medical care and hygiene needs and exposed them to physical and sexual assaults. Under the settlement, Mariner Health Care, with two facilities in San Jose, two in San Pablo, two in Hayward, one in Oakland, one in Fremont, one in San Rafael and one in Santa Cruz, agreed to pay up to $15.5 million if it fails to abide by terms related to patient safety and staffing levels. Mariner could not be reached for comment ..read more

A robbery suspect was arrested on allegations he stole a vehicle from a Marin County home and then carjacked a driver while fleeing authorities. Richard Montiel Contreras, 34, of Fremont was arrested in Contra Costa County on suspicion of robbery, residential burglary, vehicle theft, carjacking, resisting arrest, evading an officer and being a repeat felony offender. He was booked into the Marin County Jail, where his bail was set at $310,000. The incident began around 3:30 p.m. Sunday when police were alerted to a robbery at the Macy’s store in Corte Madera, Central Marin police Sgt. Jeff Pet ..read more

A Solano County Superior Court judge on Friday set a July jury trial for a 27-year-old San Pablo woman charged with a 2021 Fairfield murder. During the morning session, Judge Wendy Getty ordered Kamaria Isis Davison Strange, who appeared in Department 8 for a trial setting, to return to face jurors at 9 a.m. July 24 in the Justice Center in Fairfield. Getty also set some pretrial matters, including a readiness conference at 8:30 a.m. April 26 and a trial management conference at 8:30 a.m. July 19. Alternate Public Defender Jennifer Proctor represents Strange, who faced a two-day preliminary he ..read more

SAN PABLO — A driver died early Friday when a car ran off the city’s longest avenue, police said. Related Articles Crashes and Disasters | California man with 4 DUIs arrested in hit and run death of pedestrian Crashes and Disasters | Cyclist dies after collision with motorcycle rider in West San Jose Crashes and Disasters | Driver, vehicle sought after fatal hit-and-run crash on I-80 Crashes and Disasters | Truck driver killed after crashing into East Bay overpass Crashes and Disasters | Wrong-way collision in the Oakland hills leaves one dead, five injured The wreck happened on San Pab ..read more

RICHMOND — Maria Chavez first heard about George Miller III Children’s Center almost two decades ago when a neighbor recommended that she send her now-18-year-old daughter there for preschool. After sending all three of her children to the same program, she said her initial nervousness turned into pride that she could provide them a quality early education. “I’m so happy it’s accessible, because as a mother who works, I can’t always give them much time, but here they prepare them so well,” Chavez said, waiting for her youngest daughter, 4-year-old Emily, to finish snack time. “Seeing how they ..read more

SAN PABLO — Not even a bad case of leg cramps could get Salesian guard Aaron Hunkin-Claytor off the floor in the fourth quarter. With just over four minutes left in the CIF NorCal Open Division final, Hunkin-Claytor hit a double-clutch jumper to put the Pride up by three against Archbishop Riordan. As he fell to the floor, he clutched his thigh and hobbled up and down the court for the next two possessions. When Salesian had a player at the free-throw line a minute later, Hunkin-Claytor ran to the scorer’s table, picked up two electrolyte pills from his team’s head trainer and quickly chewed t ..read more

SAN PABLO — A 41-year-old local resident has been arrested and charged with murdering his wife and mother-in-law, who have been missing since last September. Phuc Hong Vo, of San Pablo, was charged with two counts of murder with special circumstances. The victims have been identified as Vo’s wife, 40-year-old Tho Ngoc Ly, 40, and her mother, 70-year-old Que Thi Tran. While police have allegedly established that Vo killed both women, their bodies have yet to be found. Authorities have served search warrants at Vo’s home and discovered blood, but are still testing to see if it can be tied to the ..read more