San Francisco, CA
Livermore police were called to Walmart to help man being harassed, but then learned he had allegedly arrived to meet 15-year-old girl
LIVERMORE — On the night of April 15, a security guard at a Walmart here called police to assist a man who was being aggressively accosted by a half-dozen teenagers assaulting a man and screaming “pedophile” at him outside the store.
An officer arrived and separated the teens from 31-year-old Vivek Agrawal, he offered no specific reason behind the attack, according to police.
“I was browsing through the shoe section and these guys came and attacked me,” authorities say Agrawal told the Livermore police officer.
But then the officer spoke with one of the teens, and that’s when the investigation took a drastic turn. Two months later, after a review of digital evidence found Agrawal’s MeetMe profile, the Alameda County District Attorney charged him with a misdemeanor count of meeting a child for lewd purposes, a misdemeanor.
The case is just another example of an increasingly popular social media trend that involves a person posing as a minor and arranging a meeting with an adult, only to film, shame, and accost whoever shows up for the meeting. Ironically, those who partake are essentially mimicking real police investigations, but the consequences can be unpredictable.
In Brentwood, for instance, a 44-year-old man allegedly placed a boy in a headlock then ran off after being trapped in a similar sting by a group of teens. But the incident led to federal charges being filed against the man.
In Agrawal’s case, he was arrested June 15 — two months after the Walmart incident — near his home in San Francisco, but has since been released from jail. He pleaded not guilty at a July 7 court appearance, records show.
Livermore police investigators determined that the group of teens who were hitting and yelling at Agrawal that night had created a profile on MeetMe, a social media app for adults. The profile depicted a teen girl who was listed as 18 years old, but when Agrawal contacted the person, the user on the other end — a teenage boy pretending to be a 15-year-old girl — revealed her fictitious underage identity.
“Is it ok I’m 15?” the “girl,” who went by Kristie, allegedly asked Agrawal.
“That’s alright,” Agrawal allegedly responded.
In subsequent conversations, Agrawal allegedly told “Kristie” he was attracted to her, tried to meet up with her, and attempted several times to call, without success. Eventually the two arranged to meet up at the Walmart in Livermore, under the fake story that “Kristie’s” home was nearby.
“Daddy wants to (expletive) you real hard tonight but you’re not listening to me,” Agrawal allegedly said during one conversation.
When Agrawal allegedly arrived at the Walmart, the group recognized him from a picture he sent “Kristie” and began accosting him, according to police. After the officer arrived, one of the teens explained the ruse and invited police to review the chat history between Agrawal and “Kristie” on MeetMe. Police contacted the social media company for the transcripts, and after reviewing them, brought a case to the DA’s office, authorities said.
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco hotel workers approve new contract, ending 3-month strike
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Hilton hotel workers who have been on strike for the past three months voted Tuesday to approve a new union contract.
The approval by Unite Here Local 2 in San Francisco settles the last of three hotel strikes in San Francisco this year, union officials said.
The strikes at Marriott, Hyatt and Hilton hotels throughout the city began in the fall. Marriott workers reached agreements on Thursday, with Hyatt doing the same on Friday.
San Francisco Hyatt Hotel union workers unanimously approve new contract
The Hilton agreement is the same as those ratified by striking Hyatt and Marriott workers last week, according to Ted Waechter, spokesperson for the Unite Here Local 2 union.
The agreement applies to about 900 workers, 650 of which have been on strike for over three months, according to Waechter. The hotels include the Hilton San Francisco Union Square and about 250 workers at Hilton’s Parc 55 hotel, who had been prepared to go on strike.
All the deals with hotels include keeping the workers’ health plan, wage increases, and protections against understaffing and workload increases.
Many of the 2,500 hotel workers had been striking for about 93 days, picketing daily in Union Square, which is the site of a Hilton and the nearby Grand Hyatt on Stockton Street.
SF Hyatt Hotel union workers on strike to vote on ratifying tentative agreement for new contract
“These 93 days have not been easy, and I’m so proud that my coworkers and I never gave up,” said Bill Fung, a housekeeping attendant at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square for 29 years. “We stood together through the rain and cold, and even though there were some hard days, it was all worth it. We will go back to work with our health care, good raises, and the confidence of knowing that when we fight, we win.”
Hilton media representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie on Tuesday issued a statement welcoming an end to the strike, saying it came just in time for the holiday season and allows workers to return to work for key events such as the JP Morgan Health Care Conference and NBA All-Star Game.
Unite Here Local 2 represents about 15,000 hotel, airport and food service workers in San Francisco and San Mateo counties and represented the striking hotel workers.
Copyright 2024 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, re-transmission or reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. Is prohibited.
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Giants Gold Glove Catcher Projected For Huge Season
The San Francisco Giants have made some huge offseason moves already and hope they aren’t done just yet, but as is the case for every team that doesn’t win the World Series, the most important development will have to come from within.
One player who took a huge step from 2023 to 2024 and will try to improve even further in 2025 is Giants catcher Patrick Bailey. After a beyond solid rookie season in 2023 in which he finished in the top-ten for the National League Rookie of the Year, Bailey won a Gold Glove in 2024.
While the offensive output was similar to his rookie season and not anything to write home about, there’s confidence the bat will come along for the 25-year-old.
In an article naming breakout stars in 2024 who are due for a huge season in 2025, Bailey was one of the first names mentioned by Will Leitch of MLB.com.
“Bailey led all players in Statcast’s fielding run value metric (plus-22), and FanGraphs, which factors pitch framing into its WAR calculation, had Bailey third among catchers with 4.3 WAR,” Leitch wrote. “At age 25, Bailey already has won as many Gold Gloves as Posey — now his team’s president of baseball operations — did over his whole career.”
Leitch pointed out that Bailey has established himself to be San Francisco’s catcher of the future, something that seems undeniable at this point. If the former first-round pick can develop his bat to the point where he is hitting at least close to the same rate as he was raking in the minor leagues, he will have a chance to become one of the best catchers in baseball.
Through 218 games over his first two seasons in MLB, Bailey has posted a batting average of .234, an OPS of .640, slugged .348, and has hit 15 home runs and 94 RBIs. Certainly not numbers that will blow you away at the plate, but his defense has more than made up for it and allowed the Giants to be patient with his bat.
In 193 minor league games since being drafted No. 13 overall in 2020, Bailey hit .251 across all levels and had an OPS of .779. He also showed an encouraging level of power with 25 home runs, but has struggled to replicate that in the big leagues thus far.
Having already established himself to be one of the best in the game on defense, Bailey will have a chance in 2025 to enter the upper echelon of catchers across the game if he can have the breakout season he appears poised to.
San Francisco, CA
Christmas gifts arrive early for children at San Francisco hospital
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