From the archives

Thousands of police officers, friends and family turned out the week of Jan. 14, 2006 for a monumental farewell to Richard May, an East Palo Alto police officer who was shot and killed the previous weekend.

Police and fire vehicles from agencies throughout the state participated in a four-mile long procession from Menlo Park to San Jose. Roughly 2,500 people paid tribute at the HP Pavilion in San Jose to May, who was killed Jan. 7, 2006 while trying to question a gang member.

That night, May and a 16-year-old Explorer Scout riding with him in the car responded to an afternoon report of a disturbance at a taqueria on University Avenue near Bay Road. When May arrived at the scene, he tried to stop Alberto Alvarez, 22, of East Palo Alto, who allegedly opened fire and killed May. Alvarez was arrested after a 14-hour manhunt.

Virgin America signs lease

for Burlingame headquarters

The new start-up domestic airline Virgin America, to be based out of the San Francisco International Airport, announced the week of Jan. 14, 2006, the signing of a long-term building lease for the company’s headquarters in Burlingame.

The 42,000-square-foot building is housed at the Bay Park Plaza II located at 555 Airport Blvd., Virgin America reported.

Virgin America reported that it planned to move into its new office by March of 2006, creating some 1,500 new jobs within its first two years of operation. After the initial start-up phase is completed, Virgin America reportedly expected to create at least 3,000 new jobs nationwide within its first five years of existence.

Woman falls to

death outside hotel

An employee at the Embassy Suites in South San Francisco plummeted eight stories to her death early in the morning the week of Jan. 14, 2006 in an incident that was tentatively considered accidental.

Leila Fangu, 34, of San Mateo, was discovered about 2:30 a.m. on the ground between some bushes and the all-suite hotel at 250 Gateway Blvd. A male occupant of the room from which the woman tumbled was questioned but not arrested. The two reportedly had a relationship. Investigators tentatively believed the victim tried to climb from the room’s balcony to one below and either slipped or fell to the ground below.

South county

firebug strikes again

Two fires that broke out early in the morning the week of Jan. 14, 2006 in Redwood City bore a striking resemblance to at least 20 fires set the previous summer, leading investigators to wonder if the south county firebug was back.

The early-morning fires were deliberately set at apartment buildings with easy access and garbage to burn. The fires held a striking resemblance to at least about 23 carport and dumpster fires reported between July and October the previous year.

The first fire Tuesday occurred at 3:04 a.m. in a carport at 227 Hazel Ave. It took about 10 minutes to extinguish.

The second fire occurred in a trash can in an entryway at 1033 Jefferson Ave. The fire was reported at 3:41 a.m. and was extinguished by a Redwood City police officer who responded to the scene. The two locations were about 10 minutes from each other and near El Camino Real.

From the archives highlights stories originally printed five years ago this week. It appears in the Thursday edition of the Daily Journal.

From the archives highlights stories originally printed five years ago this week. It appears in the Thursday edition of the Daily Journal.