October 19, 2005

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Publication Date: Wednesday, October 19, 2005

News Briefs: Man dies in bicycle accident

Gene Raymond Torres, 48, of San Carlos died of multiple blunt injuries after falling off a bicycle, according to the San Mateo County Coroner's Office.

Atherton police said Mr. Torres was riding a bicycle on Valparaiso around 11 p.m. Thursday, October 13, when he apparently ran into the concrete barriers and fell off.

The accident apparently took place on the Menlo Park side of the street, but Atherton police handled the investigation, said Lt. Glenn Nielsen.
Atherton dispatcher convicted of fraud

Anita Beatriz Blick, a former Atherton police dispatcher, could face up to five years in prison for cheating the town out of more than $100,000 in workers' compensation claims.

Ms. Glick, 53, was convicted October 7 on three felony counts for filing fraudulent workers comp claims. She apparently falsified the severity of a knee injury suffered while answering the phone, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office.

After claiming she was too injured to work in 1995, investigators allegedly taped her squatting and lifting heavy rocks.

Ms. Blick said she injured her knee when she fell down while answering the phone, and subsequently had surgery.

She received workers compensation from Atherton, and never returned to work, according to the district attorney's office.

Including medical bills and other compensation, more than $100,000 was given to Ms. Blick.

A sentencing hearing is set for December 2. In addition to the maximum five-year prison sentence, she may have to pay a $50,000 fine.

-- Bay City News Service
Car crashes into pet grooming shop

An 80-year-old woman drove her silver Jaguar through the front of Corrine and Mimi's Dog Grooming Salon at 55 Fifth Ave. in unincorporated San Mateo County on October 15.

No one was injured, said Division Chief Richard Auger of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District. The driver's foot stuck to the gas pedal, he said.

Mimi Combel was grooming a cairn terrier in the back of the store around 11 a.m. when she heard the crash. "I turned and saw a Jaguar blowing through the French doors (of the store)," she said.

The Jaguar pushed the whole storefront into the back grooming area, shattering glass and demolishing a wall. The car stopped about 3 inches from Ms. Combel, pinning her between a wall and the dogs, she said.

It's amazing that no dogs were hurt, said Ms. Combel who hopes to re-open on October 25.

The driver was taken to a local hospital for a check-up. Damage to the store is estimated at $20,000, according to Mr. Auger.

-- Bay City News.
Shooting victim in stable condition

A man is in stable condition after being injured when people in two cars shot at him while he was driving on U.S. 101 in Menlo Park just after midnight on October 14.

The man told Menlo Park police he exited at Marsh Road and headed east on the Bayfront Expressway, when he lost control of his car trying to turn onto Willow Road.

The two suspects' cars fled, and the injured man flagged down a passing driver, who took him to Kaiser Hospital in Hayward, said Sgt. Sharon Kaufman. Police said the victim was in stable condition.
Helping victims of hurricane

Local efforts to help victims of Hurricane Katrina are continuing. Woodside resident Diane Eskenazi said her nonprofit organization Peace Builders recently coordinated the assembly of about 1,000 boxes of supplies, including clothing, toys, shoes and school supplies, which were once again shipped free to the Gulf Coast by Federal Express. For more information, call 529-0999.
Caltrain tweaks Baby Bullet schedule

Caltrain adopted a new schedule October 10. Three weekday Baby Bullet trains that were leaving San Francisco at 4, 5, and 6 p.m. depart 33 minutes later.

Other train arrival times were changed three or four minutes, as Caltrain fine-tuned the schedule adopted in August when it started running 96 trains a day.

Some of the popular Baby Bullet express trains are taking longer to load than anticipated, so schedules are being adjusted to restore on-time performance, said Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn.

Schedule changes can be viewed online at caltrain.com; they are also posted on trains.

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