Residents: Close catwalk

"I've gone up there and there's always debris like tossed out bottles of alcohol and leftover drug paraphernalia," said Stacy Weiss, head of the neighborhood's improvement task force. "It stinks and it's not a pleasant place to be."

Public Works Director Larry Patterson said it's not likely the city can shut it down. Sending out the crews to close the area every day would be time consuming and difficult, he said.

On top of that, Patterson said closing the overpass wouldn't necessarily solve the problems.

"It would still leave some areas for problems," he said.

In the meantime, Patterson pointed out that the overpass will be torn down as part of the reconstruction of a sound wall along Highway 101. The new design should prove to be safer, he said. Namely, he said there will be greater visibility for people descending from the catwalk.

"The lighting will be different and it won't be as convenient a place for folks to hang out," Patterson said.

Weiss said she would like to see the new overpass somehow be automatically shut down at night. During the day, she said neighborhood children use the overpass to get to school.

The overpass has always been a problem in the residential neighborhood, but Weiss said the problems have become more amplified in recent times because of the economy. The Police Department has never shut down an overpass, however, said Lt. Barbara Hammerman. Aside from a recent string of events, she said the overpass hasn't given police significant problems.

As first reported in the Daily Journal Friday, police set up a sting operation on the catwalk Thursday night that ended with a man and woman being booked for petty and felony grand theft.

At approximately 9 p.m. Thursday, an undercover San Mateo police officer was sitting on the catwalk when he was approached by a man and a woman who asked if he was OK. The man then took a cell phone lying next to the officer and the woman grabbed a gold chain off the officer's neck.

The two fled east on the catwalk and were apprehended by waiting San Mateo police officers. The woman, 18-year-old Morgaine Cravitz of San Mateo, was booked for felony grand theft and conspiracy. The man, 19-year-old Jamaal Cooper of Redwood City, was arrested for conspiracy, petty theft and possession of marijuana. A third man was detained but later released.

The operation began at 5 p.m. and lasted until approximately 10:30 p.m.

The overpass has been a hot spot for crime in the past week. On Monday night, two men with a fake pistol robbed a man of his wallet and $51. Last Thursday, a 16-year-old boy received a superficial stabbing wound to the wrist and lip near the overpass. All may have been crimes of opportunity.

Yunmi Choi can be reached by e-mail at yunmi@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 109. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.