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Four local teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of shooting flare guns into multiple houses in San Ramon over the weekend.
Three of the teens are from San Ramon and the other is from Danville, and they are all between 15 and 16 years old, according to the San Ramon Police Department. Their names were not released because they are underage.
They were booked into Juvenile Hall in Martinez on Monday, with charges that include multiple felony counts of conspiracy and shooting into an inhabited dwelling.
The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office will review their case Tuesday, at which point it will be decided which charges will be filed against the four, according to SRPD Lt. Cary Goldberg.
The shootings in question occurred between 10 p.m. Saturday night and 1 a.m. Sunday morning in the southern part of San Ramon just off Interstate 680. An older model Nissan Sentra drove through four streets in San Ramon and fired a flare gun into at least seven residences and multiple vehicles, police said.
The car has been recovered, and 12 gauge flares were found inside, according to Goldberg.
The residences, which were occupied, were located on Yosemite Avenue, Estero Drive, Aptos Drive and Cree Court, police said. It appears the homes and vehicles were randomly targeted.
Multiple videos of the flare gun shootings are posted on the SRPD Twitter and Facebook pages.
Goldberg said the flare guns did cause damage, including broken windows and smoldering, but no structure fires.
“And most importantly, no one was hurt,” he said.
In a statement sent out by SRPD, officials lauded residents who registered their personal surveillance camera systems with the department, both before and after the event, for aiding the investigation.
“The San Ramon Police Department would like to thank the members of the community who assisted in the investigation by registering their home security cameras in the ‘Citizen’s View Camera Registry Program.’ The swift arrests of the four suspects were a result of a collaborative effort between the citizens of San Ramon and the dedicated detectives and patrol officers of the San Ramon Police Department.”
Anyone with additional information on this case is asked to contact the department at 973-2779.
Unbelievable. It’s one thing to door bell ditch or T.P. a house. This is horrible. “Parenting” is a VERB!! Where is their moral compass? This decision doesn’t just come randomly, they need counseling. Please do not just give them back to their parents and into our neighborhoods. (yes, I realize I don’t know their home situation, I’m just getting tired kids not being “raised, parented, guided”. Being a parent is a huge responsibility and blessing.)…..Ok, needed to rant, this story is horrible
These little punks could have caused multiple fires, injuries and even deaths. It’s only through the grace of God that no one was hurt. But what about the property damage? Are these little creeps going to pay for it? How about Mommy and Daddy? No, Mommy and Daddy weren’t even watching when 16 year olds were out at 1 am, so I doubt they will feel any obligation to pay a dime. I hope they are forced to pay the damages or go to jail. I hope those whose property was damaged sue and press charges themselves. These punks need to learn a hard lesson. What they did was NOT funny or cool. They did this deliberately to hurt people and destroy property, if they are not stopped NOW, they will do it again, maybe in your neighborhood. Ever consider that? It’s never a big deal when it happens to someone else, right? If I lived in that community I’d have a lot of questions. Who was driving the car at 16 yrs old, at night with no adult driver in the car? Where did 16 year olds get flares? Whose car was it? Wake up people! A slap on the wrist will not do in this case. Hard punishment and life long consequences are in order before they hurt or kill someone.
I’m thinking mandatory community service EVERY single weekend between now and when they reach age 21. No easy wrist slap for these idiots. And the parents need to serve the community time every weekend as well. Who is so irresponsible as a parent that their 15 and 16 year old kids can even be out at that time of night? I hope the victims sue in civil court for damages, make the kids and the useless parents pay for this. And it would be good if the names get out so that everyone else can know who the parents are that let their kids do this stuff. If I had a neighbor like that I might find it necessary to call them every night to see what no good things they planned to allow their kids to do.
I call for the death penalty in this case. Let it be a warning to all who wants to burn down our community.
Back in the day my generation would have been grounded till we moved out on our own, we would be apologizing and making restitution to those families and there would be plenty of chores to keep us busy after school and on the weekends. Where were those parents, that’s a fine job they are doing with those kids!
Agreed Map! The kids may be under aged and have names withheld legally but the parents should be named and titled as “most irresponsible parents in town ” so that all of their neighbors can be sure to watch for more bad behavior from their children. It would be a community service to let the neighbors know who they have to really watch out for. And if the families cannot take the heat they can move. A few thousand miles away might be far enough.
As for their punishment from the courts, community service plus restitution and about the next five years of no free time at all should be a good start.