Livermore police arrest man accused of stealing Little League equipment

A 29-year-old Livermore man was taken into custody this week for two alleged thefts of thousands of dollars in property.

Upon receiving a report from a school resource officer of an electric bicycle that was stolen from a high school student who'd secured it in the bike storage unit at his campus on March 16, officers with the Livermore Police Department (LPD) identified a suspect via surveillance footage, according to a statement from the department.

After serving a search warrant at the suspect's home on March 20, officers discovered property that had been reported stolen in a burglary at the Granada Little League fields at Max Baer Park on March 15, as well as other stolen property.

The stolen sports equipment was valued at $3,500 and the e-bike was valued at $2,400, according to police.

The suspect was taken into custody March 22 at a different residence, after which police discovered stolen property from a number of other thefts, including two scooters, a credit card and three Ring cameras, with some of the property coming from a recent vehicle burglary. LPD staff is in the process of contacting all the victims.

The suspect is being held without bail on charges including grand theft, burglary, possession of stolen property and felony ammunition possession.

According to an announcement from LPD, the suspect "has an extensive criminal history and is known to Livermore Police," and was previously out on bail for two counts of felony stolen vehicle possession.

Police are asking anyone with more information to contact their anonymous tip line at (925) 371-4790.

--Jeanita Lyman

In other news

* BART police more than doubled the number of officers patrolling trains starting March 27 to address safety and quality of life issues, BART officials said.

BART police are deploying eight to 18 more officers on trains per shift in San Francisco and in BART's core service area. That's up from 10.

The increase is the largest deployment in 25 years if not the history of BART, BART Police Chief Ed Alvarez said at a press conference on Monday. The deployment will include K-9s.

BART officials said they are suspending fare enforcement at Embarcadero Station on weekday mornings so that fare inspectors and officers can patrol elsewhere. Patrols will occur all day.

BART ridership is down compared with pre-pandemic levels and safety may be the reason, said John Grubb, chief operating officer for the Bay Area Council, which represents the area's largest employers.

Those employers "rely on BART more than any other transit system to get their employees to and from work," Grubb added.

The drop in ridership threatens the financial well-being of BART, and doesn't appear to be due to the desire for remote work, he added. People are driving to work and using the ferry where ridership has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels.

"BART has become very unsafe," Grubb said.

Grubb maintains that safety is the number one reason workers are not riding BART. He thinks the first step to making BART safer is deploying officers and security personnel.

Grubb said BART police need BART board members to back officers who enforce payment and the system's code of conduct, which includes not eating or smoking on BART and in the paid area of the system.

Riders also may see cleaner trains and stations. BART officials are having trains cleaned more frequently and increasing the number of crews cleaning stations.

Recently, crews began cleaning train interiors twice as often as in the past. Cleaners are scrubbing cars when trains reach the end of a line and each night.

To make stations cleaner, BART is adding four more cleaning teams in the coming weeks. Station cleaning includes pressure washing stairwells and the busy areas of stations.

* The Pleasanton Unified School District is asking parents and guardians to provide their thoughts and ideas on school safety through a school survey.

In that survey, PUSD will also be asking for residents to provide feedback on the city and district joint School Resource Officer program, which is a program that has been provided through the Pleasanton Police Department since 2002.

According to the district survey description, that information will be used to provide an update to the PUSD Board of Trustees in spring of this year and will help the district's efforts in school safety.

PUSD currently has two School Resource Officers that each have an office at either Amador Valley High School or Foothill High School. They also support all the other middle and elementary schools.

--Christian Trujano

* The Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department (LPFD) is offering Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training to people 16 years and older who either live or work in Livermore or Pleasanton.

The classes will be held in Pleasanton's Operations Service Center and the LPFD training grounds on Busch Road in Pleasanton from 6 to 9:30 p.m. every Thursday from April 20 to May 25.

"The CERT training is an opportunity for community members to learn about basic disaster preparedness and beyond," according to a post on the LPFD's Facebook page. "Through classroom and hands-on instruction, participants will learn about disaster preparedness and basic response related to fire safety, disaster medical operations and light search and rescue. The seven-session program also covers disaster psychology, terrorism, utilities and the mission of the CERT organization."

The classes will end with a drill that will put all the skills the participants have learned to the test.

"When a disaster such as a major earthquake strikes, emergency responders will be focused on the most critical emergencies," the Facebook post states. "Fortunately, there are many things that residents can do to help themselves, their families and the community around them, leading up to and following a disaster."

Pre-registration for the course is required. To register and get further details, call (925) 454-2361. You can also email questions to CERT@LPfire.org.

--Christian Trujano