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Police Bulletin

Woman fights off would-be purse snatchers

A woman successfully fought off two teen girls who tried to grab her purse and a bag of items she was returning to Stoneridge Shopping Center at 2:57 p.m. July 6, according to a police report.

The woman had just arrived at the mall, and as she opened her trunk to get the items for return, two young women jumped her. One tried to grab her purse, while the other made a grab for the bag. The victim began screaming for help and the suspect who grabbed the purse hit her four or five times on the left side of her face. The woman managed to hold on to her belongings.

The report said the two suspects escaped in a white Honda with two others inside. Both suspects are described as 15 to 16 years old, black with black hair, about 5 feet tall and weighing about 110 pounds. Police are checking surveillance videos for details.

In other police reports:

* A day camp operating at the Stratford School in the 4500 block of Willow Road was hit twice in the last two weeks, with a thief or thieves making off with a $3,600 inflatable soccer stadium, which was stolen between 7 p.m. June 29 and 7 a.m. July 1. The inflatable was in a fenced area at the school and was dragged through bushes and over the fence. The theft, from Steve and Kate's Camp, operating at the school during the summer, was followed by the theft of a 300-pound pizza oven valued at $1,300 and a 300-pound single-burner stove worth an estimated $335. That theft occurred between 6:30 p.m. July 6 and 7 a.m. July 9, from a patio that was secured with a lock, as well as having a set alarm and a wood bar across the gate.

* Five vehicles parked in the 7700 block of Canyon Meadows Circle were vandalized and searched in the early morning hours of July 8, with another report filed July 9. In each case, windows were broken with a few items stolen, including a $600 set of golf clubs and a $100 pair of sunglasses taken from the July 9 auto burglary.

* A Hayward man was arrested for possession of marijuana for sale after a July 3 traffic stop near the intersection of Bernal Avenue and Interstate 680 for a missing front plate. Ronald Novell Caeser, 28, was arrested at a traffic stop and was taken into custody at about 12:32 a.m. Police seized 5.6 ounces of different types of marijuana in separate packages from his car.

* Burglars attempted without success to break into businesses in two separate incidents July 9 and 10. One, reported at 3:38 p.m. July 9 in the 5900 block of Stoneridge Drive, resulted in damaged doorknobs. In the other, reported 7:31 p.m. July 10 in the first block of Angela Street, a window in a side door was broken, and a padlock was pried off another door. No entry was gained in either case.

* A $1,000 laptop computer and a $100 air card were reported stolen between 7:40 and 8:41 p.m. July 9 from a car parked outside Sears in the 1000 block of Stoneridge Mall Road.

Under the law, those arrested are considered innocent until convicted.