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Cement, served cold, clogs roof vent pipe

Revenge, it is often said, is a dish best served cold. Whether or not revenge was on someone’s mind during the first week of January may never be known, unless Sonoma police discover the identity of the person or persons who made criminally creative use of some ready-mix cement on the roof of a Fourth Street East residence.

The resident, who told police he was “having problems” with several neighbors, returned to his home on Jan. 6 after being gone for three nights, and in due time discovered something was amiss with his toilet, which backed up when he flushed it.

After calling a plumber, he discovered that the three-inch plumbing vent that exits through the roof of the house was clogged. But the problem wasn’t the usual mass of grease, hair or sanitary napkins. It was cement.

On close inspection it was discovered that concrete dust and crushed rock was scattered around the perimeter of the pipe where it emerged through the roof. The pipe itself was completely blocked with hardened cement.

Repairs to the house were estimated at $1,000.

At last report, police had no suspects.

In other incidents reported local law enforcement:

Friday, Jan. 6:

12:33 a.m. – One bad turn deserves another. Police spotted a black Honda make a right turn out of the center lane and pulled the car over in the 600 block of Broadway. The driver, a 23-year-old man from Vallejo, smelled of alcohol and acknowledged drinking “three beers at a friend’s house.”

He was also, it turned out, driving on a suspended license and was on probation for a previous DUI. He registered a blood alcohol level of .09 and was booked into the county jail, charged with DUI and driving on a suspended license.

6:52 p.m. to 10:56 p.m. – Painful sting. Sonoma police conducted another in an ongoing series of ABC decoy stings at 11 local establishments. Using two 19-year-olds who ordered alcoholic drinks at each location, police cited two restaurants for serving them. Citations were issued to Happy Garden Chinese restaurant, in the Marketplace shopping center; and Shiso restaurant in Maxwell Village shopping center.

The decoys were served a Coors beer at Happy Garden and a Sierra Nevada beer at Shiso. In both instances, said police, the illegal service appeared to be unintentional, in that servers did not accurately read personal IDs provided.

The other establishments, where service was refused, included The Epicurean Connection, Taqueria Sonoma, Olde Sonoma Public House, Carniceria Chapala, a Highway 12 gas station, a Quik Stop market, a 7-Eleven store, Juanita Juanita restaurant and the Boyes Food Center.

As part of the operation, police also conducted a “shoulder tap” sting, in which the underage decoys asked older citizens to buy them alcohol. Four people were arrested in the course of the evening for buying the male and female couple alcohol.

Police said the sting operations will continue through June.

Saturday, Jan. 7:

8:23 a.m. – Meth mom goes to jail. Police were called to a mobile home in the 200 block of Manuella Lane where a resident told police her 27-year-old daughter was curled up on an outside sofa on her porch, bundled up in layers of clothing against the cold.

The mother told police her daughter used methamphetamine and had been gone since Jan. 1, leaving her, the mother, responsible for her two children.

When police tried to wake the daughter she mumbled unintelligibly before finally explaining that she had been partying with five friends for five days, and using methamphetamine.

The daughter consented to a search of her person, and that turned up a metal box in a jacket pocket containing cigarettes and a Ziplock baggie containing crystal meth.

The daughter said the case was given to her by a friend, and that the jacket wasn’t hers. She was charged with possession of methamphetamine and was booked into county jail. Police contacted Child Protective Services to investigate the welfare of the two children.

7:39 p.m. – Tom-Tom gone in an hour. A resident in the 19000 block of Robinson Road told police he parked his Chevy Tahoe on the street, unlocked, for about an hour, and when he returned his Tom-Tom GPS unit, that had been lying on the floor between the front seats, was gone. The unit was valued at $300.

Sunday, Jan. 8:

1:09 p.m. – No helmet? $50. A vigilant Sonoma police officer, determined to enforce the helmet ordinance at the Sonoma Skate Park, cited a 16-year-old Sonoma youth for skateboarding without a helmet. Police are cracking down on helmetless skaters because the practice is not only dangerous, it exposes the city to significant liability risk. The citations cost $50.

7:07 p.m. – Fortuitous stop. When police stopped a silver Nissan on Arnold Drive at Laurel Avenue because the center brake light wasn’t working, they contacted the driver and discovered she was shaking with fear. But it wasn’t the police she was afraid of, it was the man in her back seat who was threatening her, calling her “bitch” and refusing to get out of the car.

Police removed the 25-year-old man, who was heavily intoxicated, charged him with being drunk in public and booked him into the county jail.

Monday, Jan. 9:

12:58 p.m. – Thief cops book fair cash. Authorities at Adele Harrison Middle School reported that on Dec. 14, an envelope containing $619.86 had been removed from the top of a secretary’s desk. The money was the proceeds from a Scholastic Book Fair sale that was to benefit the school. Reporting the loss was delayed while school officials conducted an internal inquiry and contacted their insurance company, which will cover the loss.

3:38 p.m. – Toking in the roses. A Sonoma police officer spotted a familiar figure in the Plaza rose garden sucking furtively on an odd-shaped cigarette and sharing it with a friend.

The officer called the 61-year-old toker over for questioning and learned that he had a medical marijuana card, but that he was not a caregiver and that the friend with whom he shared his joint was not his patient. The owner of the joint was cited for furnishing less than an ounce of marijuana. The uncooperative furnishee was nevertheless not cited.

Wednesday, Jan. 11

2:50 p.m. – Annual arrest winner. Police signaled the winner of the annual Sonoma Arrest Derby, a fictional prize awarded by the media for the most arrests by one Sonoman in one year. The 32-year-old arrestee, picked up on a warrant in the Plaza, received his 11th arrest, beating out the runner-up by a margin of one trip to the county jail. He did not receive a trophy.

Thursday, Jan. 12:

9:58 a.m. to 11:05 a.m. – Slow down on East Spain. In a little over an hour, a Sonoma police officer conducted five traffic stops on East Spain Street and cited the drivers for speeding, some traveling as much as 20 miles over the speed limit.

The enforcement effort came in response to East Spain Street residents who complained about the constant level of speeding through their neighborhood. Police said continued enforcement efforts will be focused on the area.

Arrests were made from First Street East to Fourth Street East.