Market staff thwarts criminal wine syndicate

The recent week was a smooth one for law enforcement, Thursday's rainstorm notwithstanding.|

The recent week was a smooth one for law enforcement, Thursday's rainstorm notwithstanding. Sonoma police reported no major incidents and said crime actually dropped during the inclement weather.

Over the past few weeks, however, police have handled some interesting cases. For example, in late November, employees at Sonoma's Whole Foods on West Napa Street had their first encounter with a 'southeastern Asian gang out of San Jose' engaged in stealing fine wine from the supermarket's shelves.

The incident was first reported on Nov. 24, when Whole Foods employees were taking inventory and realized that about $1,800 in wine had gone missing. Going over recent video surveillance footage, they discovered that an Asian man had entered the store a few days prior, loaded up his shopping cart with about 28 bottles of expensive wine – Silver Oak cabernet and Jordan cabernet, in particular — and left without paying.

Soon after, employees at Whole Foods in Petaluma obtained footage of an Asian man of similar description stealing wine there. This time, a license plate number provided a good lead, and police traced the license to a San Jose address. Local authorities began working with authorities in Santa Clara County, and learned that an Asian gang had been stealing expensive wines from Whole Foods stores around the region.

Then on the afternoon of Tuesday, Nov. 30, a break came in the case: Whole Foods employees in Sonoma noticed that the same man had returned to the store, and was currently in the wine aisle putting bottles in his cart. Police arrived to find the man (who apparently realized they were on to him) putting bottles back on the shelf. The suspect, 43-year-old Peter Kang of Cupertino, was detained, and while in custody police saw him trying to toss away a glass pipe and turn to step on it, but they stopped him. Police also noticed that Kang was drifting in an out of consciousness, as though intoxicated. Pills were found on his person; the stolen wine has not been recovered.

In other news from the Sonoma Police Department:

Market staff thwarts criminal wine syndicate

Sunday, Nov. 21

1:46 p.m. — Doesn't like Hummers. A woman in the parking lot of Safeway on West Napa Street looked up to see another woman quite casually destroying a vehicle's paint job. More specifically, the vandal was methodically using her keys to scratch up a white full-size Hummer SUV, circling all around the vehicle, getting every side and the hood, too. Once finished, she turned and headed into the Safeway supermarket, presumably to shop.

But the quick-thinking witness used her phone to take a picture of the vandal in the act, then called authorities. Police arrived and, using the picture, were able to locate the woman still inside the store. They arrested 56-year-old Yudi Boyd of Boyes Hot Springs for felony vandalism. Damage to the vehicle was quoted in excess of $5,000. Police did not know of a motive and said Boyd did not know the owner of the keyed-up Hummer.

8:55 p.m. — Thank you, Prop. 47. A traffic stop on Old Maple Avenue in El Verano would have led to a felony arrest for drug possession — but due to Proposition 47, which California voters passed on Nov. 4, the charges were all bumped down to misdemeanors. Officers used Sonoma's police dog, 'Dickie,' to locate the man's stash of methamphetamines behind the steering column.

Monday, Nov. 22

12 a.m. — Down the hatch. A well-known 'local alcoholic,' on probation, was seen around midnight at East MacArthur near Broadway, standing on the sidewalk with a 25-ounce can of beer in his hand. Officers approached him and asked him to pour out the beer, so he did – down his throat. He was handcuffed and taken to jail.

3:30 a.m. — Bad night. Officers received reports of a prowler in someone's backyard on the 19000 block of Junipero Serra Drive. They learned from the homeowner that he was awakened by knocking at his back door, where he saw an unknown man there, demanding to be let in. He didn't let him in, so the man went to the front of the house and climbed inside the homeowner's truck instead – and, when responding, police asked him to get out, he made a gesture indicating he would shoot them, then flipped them off. They eventually got him out and took him to the Valley substation, but the man remained hostile, challenging police to a fight and kicking over the interview table. He was restrained and taken to jail.

Thursday, Dec. 4.

9:49 p.m. — Desperate housewives. Police received reports of a window being broken at a house on Second Street East. They arrived to learn that an angry wife had gone to the home of her unfaithful husband's new girlfriend in order to confront the cheating pair. When no one came to the door, she picked up something heavy and threw it through the front window, then drove away.

To contact Sonoma Police – 996-3602

To contact the

Sonoma Valley Substation – 996-9495

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.