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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 12, No. 6
Arrests made in armed robberies by Rick Lemyre Staff Writer The Brentwood police have made several arrests in connection with a rash of armed robberies in recent months. Bakari Fields, 31, was taken into custody without incident at 7:30 p.m. last Thursday at his girlfriend’s house in the 1800 block of Highland Way in Brentwood. Lt. Ben Tolero said Fields’ last known address was in Richmond. Fields, along with accomplice Maurice Shavers, is believed responsible for an FIELDS attempted armed robbery at the Kohl’s department store on Lone Tree Way on Nov. 4 of last year; an armed robbery at a Balfour Road Chevron Gas Station on Nov. 7; and a takeover-style robbery at a Balfour Road Walgreens on Jan. 6. A semi-automatic pistol believed to have
been used in at least one of the robberies was recovered at the time of Fields’ arrest, Tolero said. Shavers was killed by police during a takeover robbery of a Walgreens store on Jan. 20 in Oakland. This week, the Contra Costa District Attorney’s office filed 21 felony counts against Fields for robbery and weapons violations. Fields has two previous robberyrelated convictions, Tolero said, and is facing his “third strike.” Bail was set at $3.2 million. Weapons charges have also been filed against his girlfriend, Latricia Hayes, 27, who is also in custody. “There were a lot of man-hours involved in this investigation,” Tolero said. “To link it all together is great. Our investigators did a great job.” Earlier last Thursday, police arrested three adults and one juvenile after they allegedly attempted to rob a trio of juvenile girls at knifepoint near Shady Willow Lane and Los Medanos Court near the Streets of Brentwood at about 3:45 p.m. According to Sgt. Mark Misquez, the robbers were scared off by a passerby who, along with the victims,
provided descriptions of the assailants. About 40 minutes later at the nearby Villa Amador Apartments, police arrested Daniela Rodriguez, 18, of Antioch; Sergio Eovva, 19, of Brentwood; and Andrew Rivera, 19, of Brentwood. A 17-year-old female was also arrested. All four are associated with a local street gang, Misquez said. “It was the swift response by our patrol officers that led to the arrest,” Misquez said, adding that it was not yet known if any of the four suspects were involved in a Jan. 21 armed robbery in a parking lot of the Streets of Brentwood, or a series of robberies in the downtown area. Those cases are still under investigation. On Friday, Mayor Bob Taylor sent a congratulatory e-mail to Brentwood Police Chief Mark Evenson: “Chief, convey my thanks to those working on the robbery cases. This is good for our community, and as mayor I appreciate the hard work involved in the apprehension of suspects.” Those with information related to any of the cases should call Detective Folena at 925-634-6911. To comment, visit www.thepress.net.
Citizen, Business of the Year honored by Samie Hartley Staff Writer When you’re Citizen of the Year, you can do pretty much whatever you want, including interrupting your own celebration to take a phone call. That’s what 2010 Brentwood Citizen of the Year Rick Lemyre did during the Chamber of Commerce awards dinner last Saturday. About halfway through an hourlong tribute, Lemyre interrupted the festivities to announce he’d received a phone call from his son Chris, a Navy corpsman currently stationed on the USS Nimitz, which is returning to the States from Afghanistan. The crowd of more than 150 guests cheered as father and son enjoyed a quick chat, but then it was back to the parade of praise, as family, friends, coworkers and
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Citizen of the Year Rick Lemyre and Jim Wangeman, coowner with his wife Ann of Business of the Year Harvest Park Bowl, congratulate each other at the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce awards dinner last weekend. colleagues took turns offering testimonials to Lemyre’s worthiness of the honor. “If you want to know what it takes to be citizen of the year, you’ve gone way, way beyond
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that,” said friend and tribute host Mike Davies, whose video slideshow of Lemyre’s life proved the entertainment highlight of the evening. Lemyre, managing edi-
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tor of the Brentwood Press, is known throughout Brentwood and East County for his exemplary community service. His resumé includes involvement in the Brentwood Regional Community Chest, Brentwood Kiwanis, Brentwood Diversity Committee, East Contra Costa Historical Society, Relay For Life, and Antioch Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day celebrations – a narrow cross-section of his many contributions. Despite the long list of Lemyre’s community involvement, his wife Cyndy said she had to convince him that he was truly deserving of the Citizen of the Year honor. “Rick and I, we’ve been talking about it a lot,” Cyndy said. “Rick kept asking, ‘Why am I getting this?’ and I’ve come see Citizen page 18A
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February 5, 2010
This Week Savings by the fistful
How to squeeze hundreds of dollars in savings into your pocket? Look for our coupon booklet inside this issue.
Feelin’ the Plan B blues
A funding shortfall has derailed plans to build an eBART station in an optimal location. Page 6A
Authoritative pro-motion
A local baseball academy’s grand opening got a grand-slam boost from a real live pro. Page 1B
Plus: Calendar ............................ 23B Classifieds ......................... 16B Cop logs .............................14A Food & Entertainment .. 11B Health & Beauty ................ 8B Milestones ........................ 10B Opinion ..............................13A Sports ................................... 1B
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