Local Briefs

Redwood City police continue to look for one or more burglars that have hit homes in the Redwood Shores neighborhood, police detective Mark Pollio said Friday.

Since May 1, burglars have forced entry into 11 homes through a door or window. The crimes occurred on weekdays during daylight hours. Items stolen include jewelry, laptop computers and other small items.

Police investigators believe the burglaries are connected.

"It’s normally a quiet area,” Pollio said. "We usually get one or two a month.”

A few Redwood Shores residents have also reported suspicious persons in the area.

Police officers encourage residents to lock their doors and windows and activate alarm systems.

Any one who observes a suspicious person or vehicle is encouraged to call 911 to contact Redwood City police with a detailed description.

"We really need people to call us when they see something out of the ordinary,” Pollio said.

Broker sues Morgan Stanley alleging sex discrimination

SAN FRANCISCO — A former female broker of Morgan Stanley DW Inc. filed a class-action lawsuit against the brokerage Thursday alleging sex discrimination.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, alleges that the company’s female financial advisors are denied the same business opportunities as their male counterparts, and are therefore paid less.

The plaintiff, Daisy Jaffe, who worked at the company’s San Mateo office from 1982 to 2005, claims the company favored less-qualified male colleagues, who were given more valuable client accounts. Jaffe, 51, also alleges age discrimination.

The lawsuit alleges Morgan Stanley DW, which has more than 500 retail locations nationwide, has created a system in which branch managers routinely assign fewer and less valuable accounts to female brokers, said plaintiff’s attorney Kelly Dermody.

Dermody estimated that about 2,000 of the company’s 9,500 financial advisors are women. The lawsuit seeks back pay for female brokers and changes in how the company assigns business opportunities.

Mark Lake, spokesman for Morgan Stanley DW, the retail brokerage arm of New York-based Morgan Stanley Inc., declined to comment on the lawsuit Thursday.

Mountain View police chase teen from burned liquor shop

MOUNTAIN VIEW — A group of juveniles broke into an abandoned liquor store, which last month suffered extensive burn damage in one of Mountain View’s largest fires in recent years, in an apparent attempt to steal booze around midnight, the Mountain View Police Department reported today.

A passerby spotted several teenagers on top of the roof of the gutted building at El Camino Real and Castro Street and flagged down nearby police officers, Mountain View police Sgt. Dale Messimer said today. The officers set up a perimeter around the building before spotting a juvenile leaving the liquor store and running east on Castro Street.

A foot chase began that continued onto northbound El Camino Real, where the juvenile apparently ran into traffic, causing three cars to bump into each other with minor property damage. Officers caught up with the boy on Hope Street at El Camino Real, where he was cited and released, Messimer said.

Police discovered several bags stuffed with liquor and beer on top of the roof, where Messimer said the juveniles had climbed to access the store. The boy was not found to be in possession of any stolen goods.

Neither the liquor store nor the three other businesses ruined in the May 17 blaze have been operating since the fire, though some of their property remains inside, police reported.

Body found on Fremont shoreline identified

Alameda County coroners have identified the body of a man found Wednesday afternoon on the shore of Coyote Hills in Fremont as that of missing 53-year-old windsurfer John Runge of Milpitas.

The cause of the man's death has not yet been determined, according to the coroner's office. Friends of the missing man had been looking for him all over the East Bay since June 2, according to Fremont police.

The body was found at 12:18 p.m. in the mud flats in the national wildlife refuge off the Coyote Hills Regional Park. Menlo Park fire and rescue teams, along with the U.S. Coast Guard, recovered the body.<