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‘We kill snitches’: Concord man gets 6 years for assaults on four women

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:14 GMT

MARTINEZ — A Concord man has been sentenced to six years in prison through a plea deal, in a case where he was accused of attacking four women and sexually assaulting one of them, court records show.Royce Richards, 38, pleaded no contest in May to four counts of felony assault and four counts of false imprisonment, as well as one count of making criminal threats. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped kidnapping and sexual assault charges against Richards, court records show.Richards was accused of assaulting four different women in unrelated attacks in Contra Costa County, including one woman who accused him of forcing her to orally copulate him, according to court records. She told police that Richards offered her a ride in his vehicle, told her “we kill snitches,” then attacked her.Richards was charged in September 2022 and arrested the following month. He was sentenced July 5, court records show. The time he spent behind bars, while the case was pending,...

Sale closed in Piedmont: $1.5 million for a three-bedroom home

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:14 GMT

132 Cambridge Way – Google Street ViewThe historic property located in the 100 block of Cambridge Way in Piedmont was sold on June 2, 2023. The $1,500,000 purchase price works out to $787 per square foot. The house, built in 1925, has an interior space of 1,905 square feet. This single-story house has three bedrooms and two baths. The home’s outer structure has composition shingles on the roof. Inside, a fireplace enhances the ambiance of the living area. Additionally, the house comes with a garage. The lot of the property covers an area of 2,625 square feet.Additional houses that have recently been sold close by include:In September 2022, a 1,912-square-foot home on Keefer Court in Piedmont sold for $1,920,000, a price per square foot of $1,004. The home has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.On Oakland Avenue, Piedmont, in July 2022, a 1,540-square-foot home was sold for $1,800,000, a price per square foot of $1,169. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.A 1,962-square-foot home on the ...

Despite previous warnings, woman arrested outside Taylor Swift’s home

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:14 GMT

By Jennifer Henderson | CNNA woman was arrested outside Taylor Swift’s Rhode Island home on July 3, just one month after an Indiana man was charged with stalking and harassing the star and allegedly sending her threatening messages.Westerly Police Chief Paul Gingerella said police were dispatched to the front of the home to investigate reports of a trespasser outside the gates.The woman had been previously warned to stay away from the property, Gingerella said.Police did not confirm the Westerly home belonged to Swift, but the company listed on property records has the same mailing address as Swift’s management company in Nashville.According to court records, the woman will be arraigned on July 14.CNN has reached out to reps for Taylor Swift but has not yet heard back.The incident comes after Mitchell Taebel, 36, was booked into the LaPorte County Jail in Indiana on June 2 on charges of stalking, intimidation, invasion of privacy and harassment, according to jail records.Taebel has ...

San Jose must unseal Pink Poodle strip club scandal documents about firefighters, judge rules

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:14 GMT

The City of San Jose was ordered by a judge on Friday to hand over investigatory documents related to a tawdry episode in October where a bikini-clad woman was seen stepping out of an on-duty firetruck and toward the Pink Poodle strip club.In May, The Mercury News sued the city after it repeatedly refused to release records about its internal probe of the Oct. 5 scandal and any subsequent disciplinary actions taken against the firefighters involved. Despite multiple attempts from reporters and a media attorney to obtain the documents through routine records requests, the city argued their release was not in the public’s interest and would have violated the employees’ privacy.In his ruling, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Thomas E. Kuhnle wrote that the law requires the city to give over investigatory records whenever it imposes discipline on an employee — and that the highly publicized incident garnered enough evidence and importance to compel full disclosu...

Proud Boys-linked Jan. 6 rioter gets 5 years in prison

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:14 GMT

By Alanna Durkin Richer | Associated PressA Florida man prosecutors say is affiliated with the Proud Boys extremist group was sentenced on Friday to five years in prison for attacking police officers with pepper spray as they tried to defend the U.S. Capitol against supporters of President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021.Barry Ramey, an aircraft mechanic who was convicted of assault and other crimes in federal court in Washington, D.C., also tried to intimidate an FBI agent investigating him before his arrest. Ramey anonymously called the agent and recited the agent’s home address over the phone, prosecutors say.Ramey has been locked up since his April 2022 arrest. His attorney wrote in court documents that Ramey “has understood the gravity of his actions and is ready for a change with support standing by to help him through it.”There was no immediate response Friday to an email sent to his attorney seeking comment.Prosecutors say Ramey joined a large group of Proud B...

Bill stalls to make Big Tech pay California publishers for news

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:14 GMT

​Signaling potential trouble for an effort to ​help news organizations survive in the internet age, an East Bay lawmaker has pulled back a bill that would force Google, Meta and other big technology firms to pay media companies in California for using their content.The bipartisan California Journalism Preservation Act (AB 886) had been scheduled for a hearing next week in a state Senate committee after the Assembly passed it last month. But in an abrupt reversal of momentum, the bill, strongly opposed by major tech firms, now has been sidelined until next year.The halt comes as Google and Facebook’s parent company, Meta, battle similar efforts in Canada and Australia, threatening to pull news from their platforms. Meta has made a similar ultimatum in California.The California bill aims to bolster the finances of traditional news outlets that have struggled even as their content has helped digital-advertising giants attract users to their platforms.Bill co-sponsor Buffy Wicks, ...

Louis Vuitton is latest high-end store to open in downtown Walnut Creek

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:14 GMT

(KRON) -- A luxury designer store has opened in downtown Walnut Creek. Louis Vuitton has opened a new location at 1275 Broadway Plaza.Louis Vuitton first opened its doors last Friday, June 30, a Broadway Plaza spokesperson confirmed to KRON4. The Paris-based designer store is on a shorter-term lease. These major retailers in downtown SF have closed their doors for good The spokesperson did not specify for how long exactly Louis Vuitton's lease is. However, the store "hopes to extend (the lease) after being open at Broadway Plaza for a while."Another luxury brand from France is set to open this summer. CHANEL Fragrance & Beauty Boutique is set to open by the end of July, the Broadway Plaza spokesperson said.Within the past year, Broadway Plaza has been through some changes. P.F. Chang's at 1205 Broadway Plaza closed its doors for good last month. Small business Decors de France shut down last fall -- the last mom-and-pop shop in Broadway Plaza. When Decors de France closed las...

Firefighters responding to grass fire in Brisbane

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:14 GMT

(KRON) -- Multiple fire agencies are responding to a grass fire in Brisbane on Friday afternoon, according to Cal Fire. Units with North County Fire Authority and Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz are on the scene. SF woman swept over Lake Tahoe waterfall; Oakland man dies on hike PG&E and Cal Fire images from the scene show what looks like an acre or two of charred vegetation. The burn area appears to be surrounded by trees with dense rows of homes not too far away.There are no reports of injuries or damage at this time.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Parole denied for man who 'slaughtered' his family as a teen in Monterey County

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:14 GMT

(KRON) -- The California Board of Parole denied granting freedom for a Monterey County man who "slaughtered" four family members when he was 19-years-old, prosecutors said. Harold Bicknell stabbed his grandmother, his 6-year-old cousin, and two more cousins to death on August 9, 1977. His killing spree was triggered when family members found out that he had impregnated an underage girl, prosecutors said. Bicknell's parole was denied Wednesday.Monterey County District Attorney's Office wrote, "Despite multiple confessions, in varying environments ... Mr. Bicknell claims to be innocent. The parole commissioners found the denial implausible."The quadruple killing happened inside Bicknell's grandmother's house in Seaside. On August 9, 1977, Bicknell arrived at the house with his pregnant 14-year-old girlfriend, identified by prosecutors as "Terri M."Bicknell’s grandmother, Josephine Smith, lived in the Seaside house with her 28-year-old daughter, Suzanne Harris, her 15-year-old granddau...

Suspect who inappropriately touched teen girl wanted by Mountain View PD

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:14 GMT

(KRON) -- Police in Mountain View are looking for a man accused of inappropriately touching a teenage girl on a trail on Wednesday. The victim, a 17-year-old Palo Alto resident, was jogging on the Bay Trail around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday when the suspect approached her, according to the Mountain View Police Department.The suspect, a man walking a bicycle, approached the girl and asked if she spoke Spanish. He then asked her if she knew how to get back to a hotel but never said which hotel, police said. SF woman swept over Lake Tahoe waterfall; Oakland man dies on hike The man then asked the girl to show him a map for how to get to the hotel on her cell phone. It was at that point that the man grabbed the girl, pulled her toward him and touched her inappropriately.The teen pushed the suspect away and ran away. She was able to flag down a woman walking by who walked her to her car, police said.The girl arrived at the Mountain View police station the next day to report the incident. S...