• Pharmacist accused of planting poisoned orange juice at Starbucks

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    By Bob Redell and Kris Sanchez, NBCBayArea.com

    A 50-year-old pharmacist was arrested Monday night after police say she removed two bottles of orange juice from a bag - which they say were filled with rubbing alcohol - and placed them on the shelf with other refrigerated items at a Starbucks in San Jose, California.

    San Jose Police Sgt. Jason Dwyer took Ramineh Behbehanian of San Jose into custody on an attempted murder charge because the orange juice contained what police said were lethal quantities of isopropyl alcohol. She is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.

    She has no criminal record in Santa Clara County, according to court records. Late Tuesday, sources confirmed for NBC Bay Area that Behbehanian is a pharmacist working for a company owned by Johnson and Johnson.

    Authorities are still not sure why she would have allegedly mixed rubbing alcohol with some orange juice in the afternoon, left the bottles in the refrigerated section alongside some yogurt and milk, and left the Snell Avenue store about 3:30 p.m. local time (6:30 p.m. ET).

    "Why would she do such a thing?" Chris Africa said, standing outside the Starbucks on Tuesday morning. "Was she trying to poison us?"

    An alert customer standing behind her in line spotted her taking out her own bottles of juice from a green Starbucks bag, and put them in the refrigerator section. He also noticed a toxic smell. He told management. The woman might have felt under suspicion, police said, but a Starbucks employee got her license plate.

    "A lot of people out there may have seen something and probably dismissed it," Dwyer said. "But I believe that person saved lives by doing that."

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    The San Jose Fire Department responded to the scene, retrieved the bottles and tested the contents with hazardous materials equipment. It turned out, the bottles were filled with orange juice and rubbing alcohol.

    On Tuesday morning, customer Brent Breyer said he was a little "apprehensive" about what happened at his usual Starbucks. He said he often brings his young daughter, who routinely grabs for items in the refrigerated section.

    Police were able to track her down at her home, though no motive has surfaced.

    A Starbucks spokesperson told NBC Bay Area that the company destroyed all the other juices in the Snell Avenue store out of an abundance of caution and had all other stores in Bay Area check their juice seals. 

    All checked out OK.

  • 'My heart was beating so fast': Witness tells of Wal-Mart car-attack horror

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    By Lisa Fernandez and Kris Sanchez, NBCBayArea.com

    As he does almost every Sunday, Raymond Raborar was shopping in Wal-Mart in San Jose, Calif. on Sunday, while his mother was nearby at church.


    But instead of having a peaceful shopping trip at the store at 777 Story Road, Raborar witnessed – and videotaped – a bizarre and violent scene on Easter Sunday, as his mother prayed at Iglesia Ni Cristo Church a few blocks away.

    A driver, identified Monday by police as Haamid Ade Zaid, 33, of Seaside, allegedly drove a red Oldsmobile Cutlass into Wal-Mart's beer display before grabbing a blunt object – perhaps a metal pole – and began beating customers Sunday about 11:15 a.m.

    "My heart was beating so fast," Raborar, a 28-year-old San Jose caregiver, told NBC Bay Area on Monday. "People were screaming and starting to run. It was really loud."

    At first, he thought the crazy scene may have been started by some sort of terrorist.

    Raborar, who was at the pharmacy desk of Wal-Mart when the car smashed through the store, caught the event on video, which he shared with NBC Bay Area.

    The video shows a hectic scene, with people lying on the ground and Walmart employees doing their best to keep calm, and shooing gawkers away.

    "Out, out! All the customers out!" an employee is heard yelling. A few people on Raborar's YouTube channel wrote to him that their uncle, or their grandfather, were pictured injured in the video.

    Customers helped subdue Zaid – who police now say was high on drugs – until officers came to arrest him and book him in county jail.

    At least four people were reported injured, not by the car, but by flying debris, according to San Jose Fire Capt. Reggie Williams.

    Read more from NBCBayArea.com

    Zaid was arrested on four counts of assault with a deadly weapon, hit and run, and being under the influence of drugs. Police said they had no specific motive for what happened.

    Zaid's mother, Rosemary Zaid, of Seaside, did not want to speak on camera on Monday.

    But she told NBCBayArea.com that there is no explanation for what her son is accused of doing.

    Rosemary Zaid, however, described her son as an "excellent student" who attended Seaside High School and now lives in San Jose, where he owns his own auto restoration business and several properties.

    "This isn't him, this isn't him, this is not what he's like," Rosemary Zaid said. "He's a good man, a business man. He's never done drugs."

    Related:

    San Jose man drives car into Walmart, beats customers

     

  • Captured on video: Would-be kidnapper tries to snatch teen

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    Investigators are asking for the public's help in locating a suspect they say tried to kidnap a 13-year-old girl late last week.

    Police said the attempt happened early last Friday morning in San Jose, Calif.

    Around 6:10 a.m. (9:10 a.m. ET), a 13-year-old girl was walking along the sidewalk in the area of E. St. James Street and N. 33rd Street in San Jose when a man approached her and dragged her into a residential driveway, according to police.

    The San Jose Police Department is asking for the public's help in locating this suspect in connection with an attempted abduction.

    A nearby surveillance camera captured the young girl running away. Frank Tavares, who lives across the street, showed the video to NBC Bay Area Wednesday afternoon. In the video you see a blurry image of the girl walking behind an SUV and stopping. There is a vague motion of a struggle followed by the girl running down the sidewalk. The entire event lasts less than 30 seconds. 

    The victim told police she screamed and fought back hard enough that the man released her and was last seen running eastbound on E. St. James Street toward N. King Road.

    The suspect was described as a Hispanic male, 25-35 years old, 5 foot 10 inches, thin to medium build, black hair, brown eyes, mustache and spoke English. Police released a sketch of the man Wednesday.

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    He was wearing a dark blue hooded sweatshirt with a hood over his head, blue "Dickies" pants and brown work shoes with white paint, according to police. 

    If you have information on the crime, police are asking you call Detective Enrique Garcia of the San Jose Police Department's Robbery Unit at (408) 277-4166. Persons wishing to remain anonymous may call Silicon Valley Crimestoppers at (408) 947-STOP (7867) or may visit tipsubmit.com and may be eligible for a cash reward.

    NBCBayArea.com

  • Naked man wielding 'Samurai' sword arrested after standoff with police

    Police in California say a man swinging a "Samurai"-type sword while naked on the streets on San Jose is in custody. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    By Lori Preuitt, NBCBayArea.com

    SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A naked man holding a "Samurai"-type sword was arrested after a bizarre New Year's Day standoff with police.

    Authorities were called to Ezie Street and Cas Drive in San Jose after several people called 911 to report a man standing in front of a home with an assault rifle just after 8 a.m. local time (11 a.m. ET).

    As police rushed to the scene, witnesses said the man got in a car and drove to Southwest Expressway and Bascom Avenue. That's where police pulled him over.

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    Police said the suspect immediately got out of his car and started yelling, "You're going to have to kill me."


    He was naked and holding a large "Samurai"-type sword, according to police.

    One witness told NBC Bay Area that the man was pacing back and forth waving the sword at times.

    San Jose Police Department "Crisis Intervention Team" members were called to the scene and a standoff began.

    Coco Bennett, 29, was taken into custody without incident just before 11 a.m. local time (2 p.m. ET).

    Police said he would be evaluated by doctors.

    An AR-15-type assault rifle was recovered, according to police.

  • 42 arrested in melee at San Jose house party

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    By Lori Preuitt, NBCBayArea.com

    A wild scene played out Friday night at a house party in east  San Jose.


    In the end one, San Jose police officer was dragged through the house, dozens of officers were attacked by flying glass bottles (two were injured) and 42 residents were under arrest.

    Police said it all started just before 11 p.m. when neighbors on Patt Avenue called 911 to report shots fired. 

    When the first officers arrived on scene they said they found a large party. They immediately noticed a few of the party-goers jumped the fence into the back yard.

    Police said some in the group then started throwing glass objects at the officers. One officer was struck by an object and then someone attempted to drag him to the rear of the house, according to police.

    The officer was able to escape. A second officer was also injured as a result of the incident. Both officers were treated by medical staff.

    Police said people both inside and outside the home continued to throw objects at the officers and refused to cooperate.

    Officers called for back up and took up a position of safety and attempted to make contact with the residents, but they were met with resistance, according to police.  Some 60 officers were called to the house.

    After a short standoff everyone on the property "surrendered."

    In the end 42 people were arrested. Some of them will face charges of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.

    Those facing the most serious charges were booked into the Santa Clara County Jail or Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall and others were issued citations and released at the scene.

  • Cop's 3-year-old son shot at home with handgun

    By Bob Redell, NBCBayArea.com

    In what police describe as a tragic accident, the 3-year-old son of a San Jose, Calif., police officer was shot and killed Wednesday evening at his home in Gilroy. The boy's death from his wounds was confirmed late Thursday.

    The Gilroy Dispatch newspaper reported that three other children were inside the home at the time of the incident, indicating this might have happened during a play date.

    Police won't say who pulled the trigger of the handgun, but reports say the boy either shot himself or another child accidentally fired the gun. 

    For more, visit NBCBayArea.com

    "Unfortunately, emergency personnel were unable to save the boy and he was pronounced deceased while en route to a local hospital," Gilroy Sgt. Chad Gallacinao said in a statement.

    He added that the investigation will focus on how the gun was stored inside the house and why a child was able to get their hands on it.

    It is not known if the gun was the father's police-issued firearm.

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  • Man found alive, but unconscious, a week after car accident

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    By msnbc.com

    A California man whose car overturned on the highway last week has been found alive, but unconscious, in a wooded area near an off-ramp, a week after his family last heard from him.

    Authorities found Michael Sanchez Jr., a 25-year-old San Jose resident, lying in thick bushes off the side of Highway 101 in South San Jose on Tuesday. He was unresponsive, reported NBCBayArea.com, and was taken to San Jose Regional Medical Center, where he remains hospitalized, police said. Authorities aren't releasing any additional details about his condition, but his sister, Pricilla Sanchez, told KGO-TV that he was still unconscious Wednesday night.

    "Right now, Michael's on life support," she told KGO.

    While Pricilla waits to see if her brother will survive, she's also waiting for answers from the police on why they didn't find him sooner.

    Read Michael Sanchez's story on NBCBayArea.com

    Sanchez's family last heard from him around 1 a.m. Tuesday, May 8, according to San Jose police, but didn't become concerned about his wherabouts until two days later, when he failed to show up for a funeral service for a relative. After the service, the Sanchez family called San Jose police to report him missing.


    Detectives had little information to go on, until Monday, when they learned California Highway Patrol had towed an overturned tan 1991 Ford Ranger pickup early on the day of the crash on Highway 101 in South San Jose, reported The San Jose Mercury News. Witnesses told officers they saw a man climb out of the pickup and leave the area, which is next to a county park.

    Authorities from the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office searched for him for about an hour, California Highway Patrol Lt. Les Bishop told The Mercury News, but they came up empty-handed.

    "We were looking all over for this gentleman," said CHP Lt. Les Bishop. "We not only searched the immediate area and the brush, but we checked the shoulders on the freeway, the neighborhoods and the adjacent park."

    Patrol officers say they ran the registration on the truck and the address tied to it was in Visalia, nearly 200 miles away in California's Central Valley --a cold lead, reported KGO.

    But this week, after learning more details about Sanchez through his missing persons report, San Jose police returned to the crash site.

    Detectives hiked into the wooded area and found Sanchez "in a location where he was not visible from the roadway or to passing motorists," according to San Jose police.

    It's unclear what happened to Sanchez after he got out of his overturned truck, and at what point he lost consciousness. His sister told KGO that despite the vehicle registration confusion, she doesn't understand why California Highway Patrol stopped searching.

    "If they did their search, they should have found my brother's body," Pricilla Sanchez said. "If I report it, my brother missing on that Thursday, they should have traced that truck. If CHP picked up his truck on the 8th, why didn't they report, 'I found a truck, there's a person missing.' You know, why wasn't I informed?"

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  • Graveyard dating back to 19th century found below California construction site

    A hospital expansion project in San Jose, Calif., has been halted after constructions crews unearthed more than 1,000 coffins filled with the bodies of people whose families couldn't afford proper burials. The pine boxes date back to between 1875 and 1935. KNTV's Kimberly Tere reports.

    By NBCBayArea.com

    Construction at a portion of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center has stopped in San Jose, Calif., because crews have unearthed pine boxes filled with the bodies of those whose families couldn't afford their proper burials, NBC Bay Area has learned.

    The pine boxes date back to between 1875 and 1935, and were discovered in February when construction crews were doing seismic survey work, Santa Clara County counsel Michael Rossi said Tuesday.

    For more, visit NBCBayArea.com.

    He said the county had no idea there was a cemetery on the property.

    "It’s a potter’s field or a pauper’s graveyard. Between 1875 and 1935 at Valley Medical Center, people who died indigent, whose families couldn’t be found were buried at this site," Rossi said.


    There are as many as 1,445 bodies on the site. The county filed a petition with the court to get permission to remove at least 100 of the pine coffins to make room for construction.

    The county is looking into hiring an archaeologist who specializes in this type of find, Rossi said.

    If anything identifiable is found, Rossi said they would publish the information in the newspaper to give families time to claim the remains.

    After that, the county will ask the court's permission to dispose of the bodies in accordance to law.

    A county map from 1932 shows the cemetery, but by 1958 there was no indication it existed. By 1966, there was an employee parking lot on top of the cemetery.

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  • Hells Angel member arrested in connection with San Jose funeral slaying

    By msnbc.com news services

    SAN FRANCISCO -- A Hells Angels member missing since October has been arrested on suspicion of gunning down a fellow member of the biker gang at a funeral for the local chapter's president, police said.

    Steve Ruiz surrendered Saturday night after San Jose police surrounded his motel in Fremont, according to police Sgt. Jason Dwyer.

    Ruiz, 38, had been the subject of a widespread manhunt since Steve Tausan was shot and killed during memorial services for Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew on Oct. 15. Police believe that Ruiz shot Tausan when a fight broke out at the San Jose funeral, which was monitored by police.

    Dwyer would not say what led officers to the Days Inn motel in Fremont or if any weapons were recovered, but added that Ruiz was considered "armed and dangerous."

    A front desk clerk at the motel, Rey Bayangos, said Ruiz had checked in just two hours before police arrived.

    "They used the phone at the front desk, called and asked him to surrender peacefully, and he did surrender," Bayangos said. "It happened all of a sudden."

    Casino brawl
    Tausan, 52, was one of 4,000 people attending services for Pettigrew, the president of the Hells Angels' San Jose chapter. Pettigrew was slain during a brawl with a rival biker gang in a Nevada casino on Sept. 23.

    Police said Tausan, who was Pettigrew's close friend, and others confronted Ruiz at the funeral over his perceived failure to have protected Pettigrew during the casino melee, prompting Ruiz to pull a gun on Tausan.

    A week after Tausan was killed, police stormed a house in Stockton but came up empty. Investigators also said in December that they had "credible evidence" that Ruiz, a former San Jose resident, had been seen in the city.

    Ruiz was booked into Santa Clara County Jail. Dwyer did not have bail information or know if he had been assigned a court date.

    The Ruiz arrest marks the latest development in a saga of violence between two rival biker groups -- the Hells Angels and Vagos -- which has led to multiple deaths and injuries.

    Rivalry
    The U.S. Justice Department has named both groups as outlaw gangs engaged in drug and weapons trafficking and other violent crimes.

    Police have said they trace the rivalry to a push by Vagos into the northern coastal town of Santa Cruz, long claimed as Hells Angels territory.

    Tensions flared when members of the rival gangs fought outside a Santa Cruz Starbucks in January 2010. Seven months later, in August 2010, the two groups exchanged gunfire, leaving five people wounded in Chino Valley, a northern Arizona town.

    The Pettigrew killing -- coming 11 months after the Chino Valley fight -- in turn sparked tensions within the Hells Angels' ranks that led to yet another slaying in California, police said.

    Vagos was founded in the 1960s in a Southern California desert community. The Hells Angels, which has over 230 chapters with an estimated 2,000 to 2,500 members worldwide, was founded in 1948 in Fontana, California.

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    The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

     

  • Women 'dining in' at potlucks donate 'dining out' money to aid women globally

    Members of the organization Dining for Women are raising money for women around the globe each time they get together for dinner. NBC's Kristen Dahlgren reports.

    By NBC's Kristen Dahlgren and msnbc.com staff

    Potlucks have a purpose beyond sharing food for thousands of members of Dining for Women. 

    "Basically a group of people get together to share a meal and learn about a grassroots non-profit organization," said Marsha Wallace, president and founder of the Greenville, S.C.-based organization that started with 20 women at one dinner about a decade ago and now counts 8,000 members in chapters across 38 states.

    The average donation at a monthly potluck is $32, about each woman's "dining out" cost.

    "When everybody does that it turns into $42,000," member Cari Class told NBC News.

    The money combined from all the chapters goes to a different charity every month to help women and their families, which also empowers the women who give, members say.

    They've helped in a wide variety of ways, such as saving girls from sex slavery in Nepal, donating sterile birth kits in Tibet, supporting an embroidery business in Afghanistan and sponsoring a girls school in Kenya.

    Dining for Women's website notes that the group gives only to women and girls internationally because 75 percent of the world's 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty are women and children who live in developing nations. The website also gives information about starting new chapters and how programs are selected to receive donations.

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  • Exercise buff in unusual workout mask, vest causes bomb scare

    By msnbc.com staff

    An exercise buff caused a ruckus at a San Jose, Calif., post office when he showed up to mail a package donning a mask and a weight-packed vest, gear he says is part of a so-called "CrossFit" workout.

    Long Hoang, 29, was at the post office Tuesday simply to mail a package of calendars that had been sent to him by mistake. Struggling to jam the package -- which just barely fit into the mailbox -- down the chute, Hoang had no idea he was the subject of calls to authorities about a suspicious man who ran up to the mailbox wearing what looked like a gas mask and a bulletproof vest. After he managed to get the box down the chute, Hoang jogged away, continuing on with his workout.

    A bomb squad and firefighters showed up. Authorities closed down nearby streets, reported CBS 5 in San Francisco. Investigators, using a robot, detonated the box of calendars Hoang had been trying to send to its rightful recipient.

    When the story hit local news outlets, Hoang started receiving phone calls, The San Jose Mercury News reported.

    "My friends kept messaging me, Is this you? Is this you?" Hoang, a nursing student who lives near the post office, said. He called police Tuesday evening to clear up the confusion.

    "The guy said he was wearing a cardio mask," Sgt. Jason Dwyer told The Mercury News. "It was his cardio day, and he was trying to lose weight."

    Hoang said he has been following the CrossFit exercise regimen for about there months. The elongated mask he wears over his nose and mouth makes breathing difficult, to simulate high-altitude training; his black vest holds 10 pounds of weights.

    The workout is "this really creative combination of weight lifting, gymnastics and rowing," Hoang told The Mercury News. "It was like straight out of a movie ... Some of my friends are telling me, 'Hello? 9/11? Anthrax? Blah. Blah. Blah.' And I'm just thinking about my finals and staying in my own little zone."

    Watch an interview with Hoang about the misunderstanding on San Francisco's CBS 5 website.