Capt. Richard Corriea: 2 traffic fatalities in Nov.

On Nov. 16, at 3 p.m., a 25-year-old male motorcyclist was killed at the intersection of Arguello Boulevard and California Street. He had been traveling westbound on California Street when he struck the side of a vehicle heading northbound on Arguello. The young man was pronounced dead a short time later at San Francisco General Hospital.

Just three days later, on Nov. 19, at 8:17 a.m., a 69-year-old female pedestrian was struck by a van and killed as she crossed Geary Boulevard at Ninth Avenue. The van had been traveling southbound on Ninth Avenue and turned onto eastbound Geary.

Since both accidents are still under investigation at the police department's Hit and Run Detail, I am limited as to details that I can provide about these tragedies. However, I can assure you that all parties and several witnesses have been interviewed, and the causative factors precipitating each collision have been identified.

The loss of two members of our community weighs heavily on the hearts of the officers of Richmond Station. The victims and their families are in our prayers.

Throughout this year Richmond Station officers have worked diligently on traffic enforcement and education. Our intent continues to be to reduce collision-related injuries and to make our neighborhoods safer for pedestrians and motorists. We encourage traffic safety in our station's newsletter and e-mail advisories, and endeavor to keep you well informed on the trends and risks that we see. Our radar speed-indicating trailer is deployed daily, and so far this year officers have issued 10,000 citations and arrested 115 drunk drivers.

The rising and setting sun this time of year coincides with the times that many folks are traveling our major east-west thoroughfares, and the angle of the sunlight limits drivers' vision. Please be careful when you are crossing the street. Motorists should drive carefully and defensively, and slow down.

Commercial Burglaries

During the lastÊthree weeks we have received six reports of burglaries of businesses in the Richmond District. This is a significant increase in commercial burglaries and we suspect that just one or two individuals are involved. In each case the suspect seemed to be looking for cash or small items of value. We continue to investigate these crimes and are focusing our patrols and undercover teams on commercial areas.

David Heller of The Greater Geary Boulevard Merchants' Association has sent e-mail warnings about the burglaries to association members, and our beat officer have been distributing burglary prevention literature to merchants along our commercial corridors. But we still need your help to catch this burglar. If you see anyone acting suspicious in our commercial areas during the evening hours, please call 553-0123 immediately and alert us to your concerns. If you pass by a business and notice that the door is ajar or that glass is missing or broken, please call 911 immediately.

The burglaries all occurred during the late evening or early morning hours and were perpetrated as follows:

á Oct. 30: A suspect entered a business on the 5000 block of Geary Boulevard by removing vents above the glass front door;

á Oct. 30: A suspect entered a business on the 5400 block of Geary after smashing the front window;ÊÊÊÊ

á Oct. 31: A suspect entered a business on the 1500 block of Clement Street by removing a sliding metal gate from its track and then prying out a pane of glass from the front door;

á Nov. 10: A suspect entered a business on the 1500 block of Clement Street by forcing open the front door;

á Nov. 19: A suspect entered a business on the 400 block of Clement Street by prying open the front door;

á Nov. 21: A suspect entered a business on the 3600 block of Balboa Street by removing panes of louvered glass adjacent to the front door.

Around Richmond Station

The SF Police Department is in the process of re-organizing its Bureau of Inspectors. What this means for the Richmond Station is that starting Nov. 28, our staffing will be increased by one lieutenant and four police investigators. Redeployment of investigative resources to our station puts investigators closer to crime scenes and the communities we serve. I am delighted to have additional help with investigating crimes and to see that our arrests are aggressively prosecuted.

We are in the process of forming a community advisory board for the Richmond Police District. If the notion of participating interests you, kindly send me an e-mail, call me or come to our first meeting on Dec. 2, at 6:45 p.m., at the Richmond Station, 461 Sixth Ave.

The Richmond Station distributes an e-mail newsletter weekly. It contains information about recent crimes, arrests and events in the district. To receive the newsletter, please e-mail us at [email protected]. You can also visit http://richmondforum.wordpress.com to see the current station newsletter, past editions and periodic public safety advisories.

Capt. Richard Corriea is the commanding officer at the Richmond Station.