Michelle Griffith - The Spectrum Magazine

News Briefs
Gang Attack Injures Two
Police in Redwood City are investigating a gangrelated
attack that left two injured, one hit with a
shovel handle and another stabbed multiple times.
Units responded to the 500 block of Buckeye
Street where two Redwood City men were
reportedly attacked by as many as four armed
suspects, according to the Redwood City Police
Department.
One victim was hit in the head with a shovel
handle and treated at the scene, police said. The
second victim was stabbed several times, once in
the neck and multiple times in the torso. He was
taken to the hospital in serious condition.
The suspects, allegedly armed with a shovel,
glass bottles and a knife or machete, were last
seen running southbound on a footbridge over
Woodside Road, according to police. They were
described as four Hispanic males between 18 and
25 years old. Two were described as about 5 feet
8 inches tall and weighing about 160 pounds. One
was wearing a red shirt and red pants; another
wore a black hoodie.
Police are investigating the incident as gangrelated.
Anyone with information regarding the attack
is encouraged to contact Redwood City police at
650-780-7100.
Man Who Shot Customers at Pizza
Parlor Sentenced
A 23-year-old man who had faced attempted
murder charges for shooting three customers
in front of a Redwood City pizzeria has been
sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading
no contest to lesser charges, escaping a possible
life sentence.
Luis Lombera was sentenced in San Mateo
County Superior Court to seven years in prison
with credit for 485 days served, Assistant District
Attorney Karen Guidotti said.
He had faced 30 years to life in prison if
convicted of attempted murder in connection with
the Sept. 10, 2008, shooting.
Lombera pleaded no contest on Sept. 22 to
being a felon in possession of a firearm and
using a firearm to inflict great bodily injury, in
exchange for the sentence, Guidotti said.
“There were significant factual issues with the
case,” she said. “We’re pleased with the resolution
of the case. We think it was a wise way to go.”
The shooting happened after Lombera and
his brother tried to enter Primo’s Pizzeria on El
Camino Real in Redwood City in the late evening
hours of Sept. 10, 2008.
A security guard stopped Lombera and his
brother from entering, claiming the two were
drunk. Lombera and his brother then had to
be forcibly removed from the pizza parlor,
prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said the brothers left but returned
half an hour later with a gun and shot at the
security guard and another worker standing in
front of the restaurant.
The bullets missed the security guard and worker but
struck three customers also standing outside. Two of
the three customers who were shot suffered great
bodily injury, according to the district attorney’s
office. All had to be hospitalized.
Lombera, who prosecutors said fired the gun
and drove the getaway car, was arrested later that
night for attempted murder.
Redwood City Teen Competent for
Murder Trial
The former teenage ward accused of killing a
man last year after walking away from a juvenile
detention camp is competent to stand trial on
murder charges, a judge ruled.
The judicial decision is the exact opposite
conclusion reached by a trio of court-appointed
doctors who in July decided Adrian Sedano was
not able to aid in his own defense. Rather than
accept that outcome, prosecutors sought a trial
on the matter. After a four-day hearing filled
with expert testimony, Judge Robert Foiles found
Sedano competent.
Sanity is a defendant’s state of mind at the time
of an alleged crime, while competency is the
ability to aid in one’s own defense.
Foiles’ ruling means Sedano will stand trial
and face prison rather than be treated at a state
hospital. Criminal proceedings, which were on
hold pending the competency trial outcome, were
reinstated and Sedano was ordered back to court
Nov. 9 to set a preliminary hearing date.
Sedano is accused of fatally stabbing a
23-year-old Redwood City man Aug. 9, 2008,
after walking away from Camp Glenwood, a San
Mateo County honor camp in La Honda for wards
of the juvenile justice system. Although Sedano
was 16 at the time, prosecutors charged him as an
adult on charges of murder and the use of a knife.
The fatal fight allegedly started between a
group of girls at the 7-Eleven at the corner of
Hess and Woodside roads in Redwood City. The
fight continued to spark during the evening and
resulted in Sedano, co-defendant Christian Lopez
and the victim getting into an altercation in front
of an apartment complex at 551 Geneva Ave. Police
quickly obtained a search warrant for one of the
apartments. Inside, police found Sedano and Lopez
arguing with two girls from the earlier fight.
Lopez, 17, was initially charged with murder as
an adult but prosecutors lowered the charges to
assault with a deadly weapon because he didn’t
wield the knife. Lopez pleaded no contest to the
charge with no promise of a specific sentence.
However, Lopez was immediately released from
custody on his own recognizance pending a Nov.
19 sentencing hearing at which he faces up to four
years prison.
Sedano remains in custody.
Pizzeria Sued for ‘Gross Amount of
Human Hair’
The Chuck E. Cheese pizzeria in Redwood City
served a pizza with “a gross amount of human
hair baked into the crust” to an adult and child
who ate half the pie before discovering the
unexpected ingredient, according to a lawsuit
filed in San Mateo County Superior Court.
The startling find led Jason Lovio, Aracelli
Torres and a minor child to suffer and continue to
suffer severe emotional stress “including but not
limited to shock, worry and anxiety,” according
to the suit filed on their behalf by attorney Leigh
Herman.
The three visited the restaurant at 2451 El Camino
Real in Redwood City on Aug. 14. After eating
approximately half the pizza, the trio reportedly
found the hair, became ill and were forced to seek
medical help, according to the lawsuit.
Herman did not return a call for comment but in
the court papers filed Oct. 23 said the customers
are seeking damages for medical bills and lost
wages on top of the emotional injuries.
The business and its employees were negligent
because they owed customers the duty “not to
prepare and serve customers food that would
cause them to become ill,” the lawsuit states.
Chuck E. Cheese corporate representatives did
not return inquires for comment.
The case is scheduled for a management
conference March 5, 2010.
Accused Car Thief Waives Hearing
The alleged car thief caught with the book
“How to Be a Successful Criminal” waived a
preliminary hearing on the evidence and heads
straight to trial on charges of vehicle theft,
possession of a stolen vehicle, second-degree
auto burglary, receiving stolen property and
misdemeanor possession of burglary tools.
Brian Winner, 29, returns to court Dec. 2 to
enter a Superior Court plea and set a trial date.
On Oct. 21, Redwood City police located
and arrested Winner after responding to a call
for a suspicious person looking into parked
cars. Winner was allegedly driving a stolen car
containing property taken from multiple victims,
including the book.
Winner remains in custody in lieu of $20,000 bail.
Residential Burglars in Custody
Two Redwood City residents are in custody
following a residential burglary on the 1500 block
of Gordon Street, according to police.
Hugo Farias-Yanez, 21, and Luis Perez, 18, were
arrested after a witness saw the two men climb
through a side window of a residence, Redwood
City police reported.
Police were called to the scene and officers
established a perimeter around the home. Shortly
after, the two men fled the home and a brief foot
pursuit ensued, according to police.
The two men were taken into custody a short
distance from the scene and were positively
identified by the witness.
The men admitted to the crime and items stolen
from the residence were recovered. The two were
booked into the San Mateo County Main Jail for
the crimes of residential burglary and resisting/
obstructing a police officer.
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