Wine theft led to felony charge under Prop 36
(KRON) – A San Francisco man was arrested after attempting to steal multiple wine bottles at a Colma Target, the Colma Police Department said on its social media Friday.
Colma police officers responded to a Target on Junipero Serra Boulevard for the report of a theft around 8:41 p.m. on April 12. Responding officers were informed that a man had shoplifted wine bottles and subsequently returned to take men's clothing items.
Officers located the suspect, later identified as San Francisco resident Dhani Ratliff, inside the store. Police said Ratliff fled through the store but was caught after a brief pursuit.
Verbal altercation led to assault at Colma Target parking lot
According to Colma PD, Ratliff took approximately $481.63 worth of unpaid merchandise on April 12. Target employees told police that Ratliff had stolen $2,580.26 worth of merchandise in total.
Ratliff, 51, had two or more prior theft convictions, which under Proposition 36 made him eligible for arrest.
Ratliff was arrested and booked into the San Mateo County Jail for burglary, grand theft, felony theft with priors and resisting/obstructing peace officers.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
How a 77-year-old Manson follower has Newsom in familiar bind
Once again, a state parole board has found one of cult leader Charles Manson's followers – Patricia Krenwinkel – suitable for release after more than 56 years behind bars for her role in seven 1969 murders. And once again, Gov. Gavin Newsom must decide whether there is any evidence that Krenwinkel, 77, would pose any danger if released – and whether a decision to free her would affect his political future. The Board of Parole Hearings, whose members were appointed by the governor, voted Friday to grant parole to Krenwinkel, the state's longest-serving female prisoner. The board had ruled against her 14 times before recommending parole in 2022, but Newsom vetoed her release, saying she had not shown 'sufficient insight' into her crimes. The governor gave a similar explanation in 2022 for vetoing the parole of another Manson follower, Leslie Van Houten, whose release had been approved five times by the parole board since 2016 but blocked each time by Govs. Jerry Brown and Newsom. But a state appeals court ruled in 2023 that Newsom had failed to justify his conclusions that Van Houten, 73, lacked sufficient understanding of her actions and could still be dangerous after 54 years in prison. She was freed after the governor decided not to appeal the ruling. 'The only factor that can explain this veto (of Van Houten's parole) is political optics, and California law does not allow governors to veto people's parole because it will look bad,' said Hadar Aviram, a professor at UC College of the Law San Francisco and author of the 2020 book 'Yesterday's Monsters: The Manson Family Cases and the Illusion of Parole.' And she said the same thinking will most likely affect Newsom's upcoming decision on Krenwinkel, once the parole board's decision becomes final in 120 days. 'What does he think people have an appetite for in this political reality?' Aviram asked, noting California voters' approval last November of Proposition 36, which increased some sentences for drug crimes. 'It costs him nothing to oppose (her release). In the worst-case scenario, the court overrules him again and she gets out.' Manson ordered seven of his followers, including the 21-year-old Krenwinkel and two other young women, to kill nine people in three gruesome attacks in the Benedict Canyon area of Los Angeles in July and August 1969. During her trial, Krenwinkel admitted chasing Abigail Folger, heiress of the Folger coffee family, and stabbing her 25 times in the home of actress Sharon Tate, another murder victim, and then helping to kill grocery store executive Leno Bianca and his wife, Rosemary, and using their blood to scrawl 'Death to pigs' on a wall. Convicted of seven murders, Krenwinkel was sentenced to death along with Manson and three others in 1971. But the sentences were reduced to life with the possibility of parole after the California Supreme Court overturned the state's death penalty law in 1972. The voters passed a new law in 1977 making capital crimes punishable by death or life in prison without the possibility of parole, but those sentenced under the earlier law, including Krenwinkel, remained eligible for parole. Another ballot measure, approved by the voters in 1988, authorized the governor to veto decisions by the parole board. In prison, Krenwinkel has a clean disciplinary record, earned a college degree and has taken part in community-service programs, working to support other inmates with mental illnesses. At her 2022 parole hearing, she said that after dropping out of school and becoming an infatuated member of Manson's so-called family at age 19, 'I allowed myself to just start absolutely becoming devoid of any form of morality or real ethics.' In a statement released by Krenwinkel's lawyers, Jane Dorotik, a former inmate and now part of the support group California Coalition for Women Prisoners, said, 'Those of us who served time with her came to know her as a thoughtful, gentle, and kind person – someone deeply dedicated to creating a safe, caring environment.' Relatives of the murder victims have not been persuaded. 'I beg the board to consider parole for Patricia Krenwinkel only when her victims are paroled from their graves,' Anthony Demaria, a nephew of victim Jay Sebring, testified at one of her hearings. And Patrick Sequeira, a prosecutor in the murder cases, told the board that if Krenwinkel 'truly understood her crimes and the horrific nature of it, she wouldn't be here at a parole hearing. She would just accept a punishment.' Not so, said her lead attorney, Keith Wattley, executive director of UnCommon Law, an Oakland-based firm that represents inmates seeking parole. 'Pat has fully accepted responsibility for everything she did, everything she contributed to, every twisted philosophy she embraced and endorsed and, most importantly, every life she destroyed by her actions in 1969,' Wattley said in a statement after the board's latest decision. 'Now it's the Governor's turn to show that he believes in law and order when the law requires a person's release despite public outcry.'
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Serial shoplifter robbed same store 16 straight times: SFPD
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A serial shoplifter accused of robbing the same store 16 times between October of last year to May 2025 was nabbed by detectives, the San Francisco Police Department announced on Tuesday. Arrest in 'unprovoked' back-to-back assaults at SF Fort Mason Park SFPD said Neil Peck (aka Kevin Peck), 51, was arrested on May 25 for burglary and attempted grand theft at a retail store on the 700 block of Mission Street. Police said an 'astute' officer figured out that Peck was involved in dozens of other thefts at that same location and quickly alerted investigators. Police did not disclose the exact retail store. 'SFPD DART (Defend Against Retail Theft) investigators began investigating Peck for the prior theft incidents and determined that he was the suspect in 16 additional chargeable cases from October 7, 2024, to May 22, 2025,' said police. 'The total loss for the incidents totaled nearly $8,000.' Peck faces several felony and misdemeanor charges, including petty theft, commercial burglary, grand theft and shoplifting, said San Francisco police. Due to voters passing Proposition 36 in December 2024, Peck's petty theft crimes can be charged as misdemeanors or felony since he has several prior theft convictions, SFPD confirmed. Wine theft led to felony charge under Prop 36 Despite an arrest in the case, this remains an active investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the SFPD at (415) 575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411, starting the message with 'SFPD.' SFPD said its Organized Retail Crime (ORC) Task Force also assisted in the probe. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Thief had ‘enough copper wire to rewire small building': deputies
(KRON) — Deputies said a 31-year-old man faces several charges after he was caught with a bunch of stolen copper wire and piping in his vehicle following a traffic stop, said the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office. Serial shoplifter robbed same store 16 straight times: SFPD SCCSO said the driver of a Chevy Suburban was pulled over for its license plates not matching the car. The arresting deputy soon discovered the plates were stolen from a Jeep in Oakland, and the vehicle was reported stolen in San Jose. 'Inside the SUV was enough copper wire and piping to rewire a small building,' said the sheriff's office. 'The driver, 31-year-old Andrew Reyes, was already on Post-Release Community Supervision (PRCS) and gave a questionable explanation. To make matters worse, he tried to smuggle drugs into the Santa Clara County Main Jail!' The sheriff's office did not disclose the time and location of the incident. Reyes' list of charges includes auto theft, possession of stolen property, copper theft, drug paraphernalia possession, attempting to bring contraband into a jail, and violating PRCS terms, confirmed SCCSO. The sheriff's office said the recovered Chevy Suburban has been reunited with its owner. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
