Bay Briefs

SAN FRANCISCO - A former burglar, crack smoker, state prisoner and alcoholic has donated $10,000 to the art gallery where he had panhandled for the last few years.

The man inherited $187,000 from his long-estranged mother who died a year ago. Executors of her estate tracked him down only a month ago through his Social Security number and help from local social workers.

One of the first things the man - identified in the San Francisco Chronicle as Don - did was show his gratitude to Blue Room Gallery owner Paul Mahder for treating him with respect.

"When I had a heart attack and wound up in the hospital a year ago, who was the only person to visit me? Paul. And when I needed a doorway to sleep in over the past couple years, who let me? Paul," Don said. "He treated me like a human being. That's something you don't forget."

Both men burst into tears when Don presented his check.

"We both stood there crying," Mahder said. "Me, because I knew how much this meant to Don. And Don was crying because, I think, he was able to really do something big for something he really cared about."

Social workers are helping Don manage his money. He has bought a $35,000 trailer and has started drug and alcohol counseling, the paper reported. He also bought a Rolex watch and tipped stunned cub drivers with $100 bills.

Assault weapons

responsible for cop deaths

OAKLAND - Three of the five Oakland police officers killed at work in the last 10 years were killed by banned assault weapons.

Police Chief Richard Word and acting Richmond Police Chief Charles Bennett called a news conference Tuesday to highlight a newly released report from a Washington, D.C., nonprofit group claiming that, since 1994, dozens of U.S. gun manufacturers have shirked state and federal law by producing weapons only slightly different than banned models.

"Manufacturers make minor, cosmetic changes to the weapons," said Josh Sugarmann, director of the Violence Policy Center. "But they're still assault weapons."

The police chiefs appealed to Congress for an extension and strengthening of the 1994 federal assault weapons ban, which is to set to expire Sept. 13. Democrats have introduced legislation to extend the federal ban, but lawmakers are running out of time this year.