Motorcycle Unit
On March 1, 1979, the Off-Road Motorcycle Squad was formed by Sheriff John R. McDonald. This was in response to complaints by citizens who wanted some peace and quiet in their neighborhoods and to prevent the destruction of natural habitat in San Bruno Mountain Park and Edgewood County Park. Families came from all over the Bay Area to ride their off-road vehicles on San Bruno Mountain and other areas of the County. With the number of vehicles arriving the first few weekends of the detail, one would think these areas were off-road vehicle parks similar to Carnegie and Hollister Hills State Vehicle Recreation Area. That soon ended.
Patrol Lt. Gerry Moerman and Sgt. Jim Wakefield formed the squad and to be part of it you had to have your own dirt bike and equipment. Sgt. Ed Gladysz became the supervisor a few months later and rode a Yamaha. The first four deputies assigned to the squad, which was on an overtime basis, were Keith Carlson, John Courtney, Frank DalPorto and Jim Rosengart. Keith Carlson was the most experienced rider and won well over a hundred trophies for racing, including a gold medal in the 1978 Police Olympics. He rode a 1979 Honda XR 500, John Courtney rode a 1975 Yamaha DT 250 Enduro, Jim Rosengart rode a 1977 Yamaha IT 400 and Frank DalPorto rode and regularly fell off a Yamaha 250.
L-R: Deputies Jim Rosengart, Keith Carlson, Frank DalPorto and John Courtney - 1980
Two deputies worked a 10 hour overtime shift, mostly on weekends, and the call signs were 2-Mary-10 and 2-Mary-11. After a few months, San Bruno Mountain and Edgewood Park were fairly quiet, but the Coast was receiving lots of complaints. Coast Patrol deputies were frustrated with dirt bike riders flaunting them knowing a patrol car could not go where they could. With the new squad, Patrol deputies would call for the Mary units and the suspects were easily apprehended. Deputies were happy to fill out the CHP 180 and impound the bike, as well as take the rider to jail.
John Johnson, who was part of the County's Area Disaster Office, fixed up a surplus three-quarter ton Army Jeep, painted it in the Sheriff's Office blue and white color scheme and gave it to the squad for hauling the bikes around. The uniform was a long sleeve shirt, blue jeans and boots. The Office was afraid someone would crash and damage the Colt Pythons that were the issued service weapon at the time and issued a second weapon to use while riding, which was a S&W Model 15. It was normally issued to the Reserves. During the first year the Office purchased helmets and Hi Point dirt-bike boots.
During the first month, the unit issued mostly warnings, as this was something new for the County. After that, anyone in or on a vehicle in San Bruno Mountain Park or Edgewood County Park was cited for a special county ordinance, which was a misdemeanor. In the first year of operation several stolen vehicles were recovered, including one that was occupied. A pot farm was uncovered, which resulted in the arrest of two suspects, and several other arrests were made, along with a hundred plus citations issued and over a hundred warnings handed out.
Near the end of the first year, the unit's success resulted in a lack of business, so the squad started riding regularly on the Coast. During one shift, deputies Carlson and Courtney attempted to stop two dirt bikes near the radar site area of Princeton, but they refused to stop and the chase was on. Deputy Courtney got the first bike stopped, but the second was a fast bike with a very good rider on it. Deputy Carlson, the best rider in the group, chased the suspect for almost 20 minutes, all off-road riding, until he finally got him stopped. Both suspects went to jail and they were not very happy to see their bikes on the back of a tow truck. There were no flat-bed tow trucks at this time, so they were both laid on the sling and hauled away. When the suspects arrived at the jail, they told the Intake deputies they would have a rematch when they got out and said they would not get caught this time. The Half Moon Bay Review included a front page news article about the incident. The very next week deputies Courtney and Carlson were on duty again and could not find a dirt bike anywhere on the Coast. Once again, the squad's success contributed to the lack of business.
In 1982 deputy Don Faulstich and deputy Tom Fritz became part of the squad. In the mid 1980's, the County purchased four new Kawasaki 600's, a trailer and assigned one of Patrol's Dodge Ram Chargers to the squad.
By 2000, most of the original deputies were retired or moved out of the unit and the County purchased four new green Kawasaki KLR 650's, which are still in service today. These bikes were equipped with red and blue lights, sirens, radios and saddle bags. Soon after the purchase, the County cut the budget and the bikes were only used a few times a year, usually for the Maverick's surf competition, Redwood City 4th of July Parade, the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival, Half Moon Bay Airport Street Machines and limited search and rescue. The deputies assigned to the unit were: Bill Peters, Jim Goulart, John Gonzalez, Todd Finato, John Flahavan, Darron Sisneros, Larry Edwards, Mark Fleishman, Pat Deasy, John Flahavan, Mark Duri, Bill Osborne and Duane Brumfield.
In 2005, Sheriff Don Horsley purchased two Harley Davidson street bikes, through traffic grants, and assigned them to work traffic in Woodside and Portola Valley. Deputies Rob Lawrence and Todd Schindler were assigned to the unit. The CHP did not want the Sheriff's Office to work traffic in unincorporated areas and to keep good relations with the CHP, the Sheriff complied with their request. In 2008, an additional Harley was purchased through a traffic grant, assigned to the Sheriff's Transit Police and ridden by Deputy Sal Zuno.
2010 Harley Davidson ridden by Woodside Traffic Deputy Todd Schindler
In 2007, Lt. John Courtney was assigned to Headquarters Patrol and found that due to a lack of funds, the off-road motors had been used very little of the past seven years. All four bikes had a little over 2500 miles on them. With the start of a motorcycle traffic unit, a budget was created and there was some unused money in the account. He used those funds to have all four bikes serviced, repaired and tires replaced so they would be ready for patrol use. Deputies Peters, Gonzalez and Flahavan had been promoted to sergeant and there was only room for one. He chose Sgt. John Gonzalez as the supervisor and started a testing process to revive the unit. All prior deputies would have to pass the test to stay on the unit. Approximately 20 deputies applied and the test consisted of driving through closely spaced cones, a street driving section and an off-road test section. At the end of the testing process, the following were assigned to the unit: Jim Goulart, Todd Finato, Duane Brumfield, Rob Lawrence, Todd Schindler, Larry Edwards, Fred Padilla Jr. and Jason Peardon. Other than special events, overtime was not authorized and the unit became an on-duty unit only. If an off-road bike was needed, two unit members, who were on-duty, would respond to the Hall of Justice from their worksite, suit up and go directly to the incident. Lt. Courtney was able to get Assistant Sheriff Sanchez to authorize painting the bikes black to match the street motors. Deputy Duane Brumfield donated his off-duty time stripping each bike of the green plastic parts and replacing them with black ones that were recently purchased.
The hill section of the off-road test. It may not be steep, but it was very loose, as the deputy in the photo on the left found out. Patrol Lt. Courtney showed them how it was done on the downhill test.
The berm section was not very high, but several deputies had difficulty with it. You had to drive through the cones without putting your foot down.
There were plenty of spectators to cheer on the applicants. Probably more embarrassment for some than being cheered on.
Patrol Deputy Duane Brumfield on the Kawasaki KLR 650 after he outfitted it with the new color scheme.
L-R: Deputy Duane Brumfield, Deputy Sal Zuno, who is assigned to the Sheriff's Transit Police, Deputy Todd Finato, who was recently assigned to the street motors and Deputy Rob Lawrence, who is also a motors instructor.