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Uploaded: Friday, November 2, 2007, 10:35 AM                                             

59-year-old man shot in attempted car jacking
Man was coming home, getting out of garage when suspect approached him with shotgun in hand

by Janet Pelletier
Pleasanton Weekly Staff

Posted by MB, a resident of the Pheasant Ridge neighborhood, on Nov 2, 2007 at 11:35 pm

I've gotta ask...

how is the crime news info obtained? Press release, press conference, interview?

The Herald's story looks almost the same except for a change around of a few words: Web Link

I try to look at a few different sources/perspectives when possible so I was just curious why the stories would look almost the same.

Thanks in advance if anyone knows how the system works.

Posted by Mac, a resident of the Del Prado neighborhood, on Nov 3, 2007 at 8:56 am

After hearing the droning of a helicopter circling above, I went outside and observed for awhile. The strange thing was that the helicopter circled over and over and over again but didn't seem to go lower to the ground or use it's powerful light in a downward manner as one would expect in a search. It disturbed me. I watched this search heli for 40 minutes and wondered how in the world this would help to locate a fleeing suspect by car - much less by foot.

Posted by retired reporter, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Nov 3, 2007 at 9:17 am

Answers to the above questions: Initial crime info is released to the media through a press release and reporters typically cut and paste. They then follow up with interviews for clarification then, if the incident is big enough, there is sometimes a press conference. As for the helicopter, they now have infrared technology that is far superior in some situations to the bright spotlights you see on TV car chases... you won't even see any light but its there, and works much better when trying to find a person at night. Often helicopters are restricted by FAA as to how close they may come to the ground also.

Posted by Mac, a resident of the Del Prado neighborhood, on Nov 3, 2007 at 9:37 am

Thank you Retired Reporter. I hadn't thought about the infrared. It was distressing to percieve their efforts to be for naught. With a heli, though, wouldn't you expect it to sometimes hover or go in straight lines in a meaningful search rather than round and round and round? I still can't figure that part out unless they are also not allowed to hover in one place.

Thanks again,

Posted by Jeb Bing, editor of the Pleasanton Weekly, on Nov 6, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Jeb Bing is a member (registered user) of PleasantonWeekly.com

The Pleasanton Weekly has a reporter who covers police news and we also receive bulletins on a regular basis from the Police Department. We are also a member of Bay City News Service, which sends us news stories regularly about Pleasanton. On stories such as this that occur during late night or early morning hours, we stick to these reports until we have had a chance to follow-up as the case develops.

Posted by jp1--, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Nov 23, 2007 at 4:53 pm

Has there been any more follow up with facts about this shooting in Laguna Oaks ? Details seem to be incomplete for such a tragis incident for this area. There should be some closure to this incident so that people will learn and be more alert in the future.

Posted by Gene, a resident of the Pleasanton Heights neighborhood, on Mar 2, 2008 at 12:26 pm

To answer your helicopter question about hovering versus flying in circles. It is very dangerous for a helicopter to hover at altitudes above 50 feet. If it were to have an engine failure it would be difficult to maintain rotor RPM in order to perform a safe autorotation. It is much safer to fly a circle around an area you are watching than hover.