Vendor faces charges
of annoying children
A 66-year-old Santa Clara ice cream man is facing charges that he asked two teenage girls much more disturbing questions than what flavor they wanted, according to San Jose police.
And Detective Tricia Bowers is looking any for other children who may have been victims of Santokh Singh Sajan, 66.
Sajan allegedly made sexually inappropriate comments to two teenage girls, police said. He was booked Tuesday on charges of three counts of annoying a child – misdemeanors, according to police.
The ice cream vendor allegedly made the comments to a 14-year-old Tuesday afternoon as she bought ice cream in the 3200 block of Firth Way, police said.
An investigation revealed that Sajan allegedly made similar comments to a 14-year old in the same neighborhood twice before in recent days.
Bowers is asking any one with information about these cases or others to call her at (408) 277-4102. Anonymous tips may be left at (408) 947-STOP.
-Sean Webby,
Mercury News
BAY AREA
Web site keeps track
of crimes by block
Want to keep tabs on crimes happening in your neighborhood?
If you live in Los Gatos, Palo Alto, Gilroy or unincorporated parts of Santa Clara County, you can now log on to the Web site CrimeReports.com and pinpoint crime activity on a map down to the block in those areas.
The service, provided by a Salt Lake City software firm, has been available for crime activity in San Jose since September.
Developed by the firm Public Engines, the new crime-mapping software provides time, date, nature of the crime and block location where it occurred in near-real time. An “identifier” number can be used to seek more information about a crime by visiting the police departments. Crimes are updated by the police agencies every 24 hours at about 1 a.m.
Icons on the map show where robberies, vehicle thefts, sexual crimes, homicides and other incidents are being reported.
The crime information is presented through a Google Maps interface. CrimeReports.com is a free service and citizens can sign up to receive free e-mail alerts of crimes reported near their homes or schools.
The new system, say police, can put better information in the hands of citizens and help police officers do a better job.
For more information, visit www.CrimeReports.com.
-Connie Skipitares,
Mercury News
BART plans switch
to stronger tickets
BART is switching to a stronger ticket to give riders more protection against the inconvenience of having tickets demagnetized by cell phones, computers, purse clasps and other items with magnets.
The BART board approved a $3.7 million contract today to buy a five-year supply of plastic tickets with stronger magnetized strips that store fare values.
Sales of the new tickets will begin later this year and eventually will replace the old plastic tickets, said BART spokesman Lynton Johnson.
The new tickets will resemble the old ones.
BART officials expect to cut down on the 250 daily complaints a day about ticket values being erased. Even the new tickets can be damaged if consumers place them close enough to a device with a strong magnet, officials added.
– Denis Cuff,
Bay Area News Group
