NEWS
Hayashi, represented by attorney, skips court appearance
Pleasanton bomber’s trail leads to Massachusetts
Accused of shoplifting nearly $2,500 in apparel
Tip called in after TV show feature
A state assemblywoman accused of shoplifting at a Neiman Marcus store in San Francisco’s Union Square in October did not appear in court for a hearing and was excused from appearing at the next hearing in December. Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi, D-Hayward, was arrested on Oct. 25 after a security officer at the store at 150 Stockton St. stopped her because she was leaving with items worth $2,445 that she hadn’t paid for, prosecutors said. The 45-year-old assemblywoman pleaded not guilty to a felony grand theft charge on Oct. 27 and was released on $15,000 bail. Hayashi was not required to appear in San Francisco Superior Court for a hearing Tuesday morning to set a date for the preliminary hearing. After Tuesday’s hearing was continued to Dec. 7 to discuss the status of evidence in the case and possibly set a preliminary hearing date, prosecutor Paul Brennan asked that Hayashi be required to appear at all future hearings. Judge Gerardo Sandoval initially granted the request, but Hayashi’s attorney Douglas Rappaport objected. Sandoval then talked privately with Brennan and Rappaport and
reversed his decision, waiving her appearance for the Dec. 7 hearing. District Attorney’s Office spokesman Omid Talai said prosecutors had requested that Hayashi appear at the hearings “to treat her the way any other defendant would be treated.� Rappaport declined to talk to Mary Hayashi reporters outside the courtroom after the hearing about what was said to the judge. Hayashi’s spokesman Sam Singer has said the arrest was “a mistake and misunderstanding.� Singer said she carries two cell phones and was texting and talking on the phone with a bag in her hands and inadvertently stepped outside the store. Hayashi was elected in 2006 to represent the 18th Assembly District, which includes Pleasanton, Hayward, Castro Valley and Dublin. She is a member of the leadership team for Assembly Speaker John Perez, serving as chair of the Assembly Committee on Business, Professions and Consumer Protection. —Bay City News Service
BY GLENN WOHLTMANN
A reenactment on America’s Most Wanted has led the FBI to New England in its search for the man wanted in a 2003 bombing at Shaklee Corp. headquarters on Willow Road. The FBI is asking the public’s help in locating Daniel Andreas San Diego, a fugitive on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist list who may be hiding in western Massachusetts. A tip from “America’s Most Wanted� has led the FBI to conclude that San Diego may be in the Northampton, Mass., area. FBI Special Agent Richard DesLauriers called the tip “recent and current.� San Diego was the first domestic suspect added to the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist list on April 21, 2009. He’s wanted for his alleged involvement in two bombings in the Bay Area, including a Sept. 26, 2003, bomb laden with nails that was exploded at Shaklee. The FBI is offering a $250,000 reward for his capture. The Shaklee bombing was the second site believed to have been targeted by San Diego. Two bombs exploded approximately one hour apart on the campus of Chiron, a biotech corporation in Emeryville, on Aug. 28, 2003. A federal arrest warrant was
issued for San Diego in October 2003, but he disappeared before he could be taken into custody. San Diego, a former Berkeley resident and son of the Belvedere city manager, is described as a 6-foot-tall white male with brown hair and brown eyes, weighing 160 pounds. He has several tattoos, including a round image Daniel Andreas of burning hillSan Diego sides in the center of his chest with the words “It only takes a spark� printed in a semicircle below; and burning and collapsing buildings on the sides of his abdomen and back. He’s been linked to an extremist animal rights organization and was a dedicated vegan, eating neither meat nor any food containing animal products.
The bombing created a stir in Pleasanton, when the Police Department responded to the first of five calls dispatchers received on their emergency 911 telephone lines between 3:20 and 3:30 a.m. from residents who reported a loud explosion in the area. A minute earlier, a dispatcher at the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department received an automated alert from Shaklee’s fire alarm system of an emergency at the southeast corner of the building, near a doorway. Both police and firefighters were at the scene within minutes. Bomb-sniffing dogs from Pleasanton and the state police force were also brought in, with a determination made that the device that exploded was the only one in the area. Investigators said a kitchen timer wired to the device had triggered the explosive material. The FBI says San Diego should be considered armed and dangerous. N
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Pleasanton WeeklyĂŠUĂŠNovember 18, 2011ĂŠU Page 7