Local briefs

A 56-year-old man accused of wielding a gun and threatening two people after mistaking their laughing during a haircut for mockery pleaded no contest to assault with a deadly weapon in return for three years prison.

Ramon Alvarez Gomez returns to court March 29 for sentencing at which time the court and prosecution agreed he should receive no more than three years in prison.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, Gomez returned home Sept. 22 after drinking and overheard his girlfriend laughing with a male friend who she was giving a haircut. Gomez reportedly threatened the male at gunpoint until the crowd fled. Police reported finding the gun on the window balcony but Gomez denied having a weapon or threatening the victim.

Gomez remains in custody in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Guilty verdict in United Cerebral Palsy thefts

A 36-year-old man accused of cashing two forged $2,000 checks stolen from United Cerebral Palsy was convicted of six felonies including grand theft, forgery and commercial burglary.

Michael Koryak remains out of custody on a $50,000 bail bond while awaiting sentencing April 12.

A jury convicted Koryak after an hour of deliberations following a four-day trial.

An accomplice of Koryak was previously convicted of felony possession of stolen property and sentenced to Delancy Street drug treatment.

Koryak, according to prosecutors, tried cashing forged checks at the Moneymart check cashing business in Daly City. The checks were later identified as stolen from United Cerebral Palsy.

Millbrae police warn of fraudulent mail scheme

Millbrae police, investigating a recent mailing that promised a large check from a company in the Bahamas to winners of a monthly draw, warned that a fraud scheme may be targeting Bay Area residents.

Police were alerted to the scheme when a Millbrae woman showed them a letter and a cashier’s check she had received from Deltec Financial and Trust Services, purportedly of Nassau, Bahamas, according to police.

The letter informed her that she was the winner of a monthly draw from a pool of entrants from Readers’ Digest, Publisher’s Clearing House and other sources.

Along with the letter was a check made payable to the woman, allegedly from a credit union account in Florida, police reported.

When the woman called a number listed in the letter, she was told to send a $2,500 Western Union money order to cover "taxes and administrative fees” in order to receive her winnings, according to police. Detectives confirmed with the Florida credit union and with the Central Bank of the Bahamas that the scheme was fraudulent.

Man brandishes knife after card declined

A knife-wielding gas station customer in South San Francisco escaped with a full tank of gas, but without his debit card early Monday morning, police reported.

The incident at the Shell gas station in the 200 block of South Airport Boulevard took place at about 1:30 a.m., after a man in his early 20s gave the cashier a debit card and then began filling up his Mercedes Benz, according to police.

When the cashier told the man his debit card had been declined and asked for cash, the man pulled out a small knife and demanded his card back, police reported.

Police described the suspect as 5 feet 6 inches tall, about 200 pounds, with spiky hair. The vehicle is described as a newer model, gray Mercedes Benz with tinted windows.

Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to call South San Francisco police Officer Ledesma at (650) 877-9000.

Some baby bottles could prove toxic

Several popular baby bottle brands have been found to leach potentially harmful levels of a toxic chemical linked to developmental, neural and reproductive problems, according to a study released Tuesday by an environmental policy group.

The independent laboratory study was conducted in cooperation with the Environment California Research and Policy Center to test whether bisphenol A, a chemical used to make clear plastic for consumer products, including baby bottles, was released into the liquids the bottles contained, Environment California spokeswoman Rachel Gibson said.

The group tested five popular baby bottle brands — Avent, Dr. Brown’s, Evenflo, Gerber and Playtex — all five of which leached bisphenol A at levels "found to cause harm in numerous laboratory animal studies,” Gibson said.

The plastic material in containers breaks down through use and releases bisphenol A into liquids and food. Bisphenol A has been linked by scientists to cancers, impaired immune function, early onset of puberty, obesity, diabetes and hyperactivity, Gibson said.

Though San Francisco currently prohibits the use of bisphenol A in toys and child care products for children under 3 years old, Gibson said her group is calling on California and the federal government to eliminate this and other harmful chemicals from products used by children.

Environment California is also calling for required product manufacturer labeling and reforms in chemical manufacturers’ policies.