Police arrest suspected 'East Bay Pirates' who allegedly raided boats on Oakland waterfront



The Oakland Police Department announced that it recently arrested three suspected "East Bay Pirates" who allegedly raided houseboats and yachts along Oakland's waterfront, KRON reported.

On Thursday, authorities detained three individuals believed to be connected to a March 13 robbery that targeted a maritime business on the 1300 block of Embarcadero, a San Francisco waterfront. The break-in prompted a joint investigation between the Oakland Police Department Marine Unit and the Criminal Investigation Division Burglary Unit.

Police officers used security footage provided by the business to identify the suspects, who they recognized as individuals residing on boats in the Oakland Estuary, KPIX-TV reported. Law enforcement officials recovered items stolen from the business on two ships associated with the detained individuals.

Authorities will present the case to Alameda District Attorney Pamela Price's office for charging. George Soros-backed Price is currently facing a recall effort over her soft-on-crime policies, which critics argue have led to a significant uptick in crime in Oakland.

Residents living in houseboats and yachts along the waterfront have reported an increase in theft and physical confrontations with the "East Bay Pirates," according to Fox News Digital. The thieves use small stolen or abandoned boats to reach and break into larger ships docked in the area.

During an October San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission's enforcement meeting, former harbormaster Brock de Lappe stated, "The open shoreline of the (Oakland-Alameda) estuary is littered with sunken wrecks and derelict, end-of-life vessels, and crime has risen to truly intolerable levels."

"Multiple vessels have been stolen and ransacked. Victims have had to resort to personally confronting the criminals to recover their property without the benefit of police support. Is this an appropriate activity for a 79-year-old senior?" de Lappe questioned.

Alameda Police Chief Nishant Joshi told Fox News Digital, "In the waterways, it's very difficult to draw a line."

"There are no roadways or fence lines, so we all have a shared interest, much like crime as a whole, to deal with this as a regional approach," Joshi noted.

A Coast Guard spokesperson called the waterfront burglaries "a federal and state problem," Fox News Digital reported.

"We're all working to protect the best interests of everyone in the estuary," the representative told the news outlet.

Oakland police are still investigating the thefts.

Residents across Oakland have sounded the alarm about the area's out-of-control crime problem. Several San Francisco Bay Area businesses, including Denny's, In-N-Out, Black Bear Diner, Subway, and Starbucks, announced that they would close amid the crime wave. Last month, Taco Bell stated that several of its Oakland locations will close their dining rooms following several recent robberies.

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33-year-old called up to the major leagues makes his 13-year wait count: 'I'm going out hacking'



Drew Maggi played 1,155 games in the minor leagues over the course of 13 seasons. Up until last month, he had the sneaking suspicion that his shot at Major League fame had come and gone. Nevertheless, he persevered and kept swinging for the fences.

The 33-year-old learned on April 22 that he was being called up to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates — what he reckoned was a "dream come true."

While the crowd at his debut game on Wednesday was overjoyed to see him, they ultimately saw him strike out.

Maggi later learned the Pirates had optioned him back to Double-A Altoona, meaning his long wait may have ultimately been for naught. However, the Pirates kept him on for its doubleheader against the Washington Nationals, permitting him one last shot to leave his mark.

Maggi did not disappoint.

The journey to the plate

TheBlaze previously reported that prior to his summons to the major leagues, Maggi had contemplated calling it quits.

"You always believe that you can get another shot, but as you get older, you have that in your mind: 'This could be it for me,'" he said.

However, he never caved to doubt or despair.

"I got to a certain point where it was like, 'You know what? It doesn’t matter. I love playing baseball. As long as I have a jersey on and I’m having a good time, whatever.'"

Calix Crabbe, the Altoona Curve manager and the Pirates' assistant hitting coordinator, told Maggi seated amidst his Curve teammates last month, "Maggi, you're going to get an opportunity to move up."

Maggi appeared dumbstruck until Crabbe confirmed the news with a hug and a handshake, at which point he leapt up and said, "Let's f****** go!"

Strike out

UPI News reported that Maggi made his Major League entrance as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the eighth inning of the Pirates' 8-1 home game win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 27. He had replaced veteran designated hitter Andrew McCutchen.

The crowd erupted with excitement, giving the emotionally overwhelmed 33-year-old a standing ovation as he approached the plate.

"I didn't even know what to do," Maggi said on the AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh broadcast. "[The crowd] was cheering me on. I never expected that. I thought I'd make my debut and it would be a normal at-bat."

\u201cDrew Maggi receives a standing ovation during his MLB debut for the @Pirates after 1,155 minor league games! \ud83d\udc4f\ud83d\udc4f\ud83d\udc4f\u201d
— MLB (@MLB) 1682559167

Despite the fanfare, Maggi was unable to make good on this first opportunity.

According to UPI, he fouled off a 93.5-mph fastball, then received an automatic strike for a timer violation. After a foul ball, he missed a low-and-inside slider, thereby striking out.

Although the Pirates handily won the game, Maggi no doubt felt a sense of personal loss; especially when days later, he was optioned back to the Altoona Curve.

The 'perfect hit'

With the understanding that he was on his way back to the minor leagues, Maggi maintained his resolve Saturday during the Pirates' doubleheader against the Washington Nationals. His time came in the seventh inning of the second game of the day, which the Pirates ultimately took in a 16-1 victory. Maggi helped put one of those points on the board.

Yahoo! Sports reported that facing off with Nationals pitcher Hobie Harris, Maggi fouled two and missed two.

"It was do or die," he later told reporters. "I know, of all people, that this can end very quickly. Who knows where it goes from here? Maybe I never get back up here, and that was it. That was going through my head the whole day, so it was kind of like, 'You know what? I'm swinging. I'm going out hacking.'"

Maggi successfully lined a 2-2 splitter into left field for an RBI single, putting his team up 13-0 and driving the crowd wild.

\u201cDrew Maggi is at it again, folks.\u201d
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pittsburgh Pirates) 1682815580

Upon reflection, Maggi later stated that he was "not trying to do too much. It was like the perfect hit, too, 'cause I saw it go right through the middle, and it's so vivid in my mind right now. ... I was so happy I got it done, got that weight lifted off my shoulders."

The crowd gave Maggi a sendoff he won't soon forget:

\u201cMAGGI\nMAGGI\nMAGGI\u201d
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pittsburgh Pirates) 1682817148

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Pirates call up 33-year-old infielder from the minors after 13-year wait, leaving him in tears: 'A dream come true'



Andrew Jerome Maggi of Phoenix has played 1,155 games in the minor leagues. He has 13 seasons under his belt.

On April 14, he delivered his first multi-hit game of the season, helping his Pennsylvania Double-A team, the Altoona Curve, secure a big win over the Erie SeaWolves. Those hits were just a few of many that ultimately helped knock Maggi out of the park.

The 33-year-old learned Saturday that he was being called up to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Calix Crabbe, the Altoona Curve manager and the Pirates' assistant hitting coordinator, delivered the news to Maggi in a crowded locker room, saying, "In spring training, we talked about how life is like a journey. We talked about three words. We talked about perspective. We talked about choice. We talked about grit."

With these three words in mind and the understanding that baseball is a "microcosm" for their application on and off the field, Crabbe said, "It is with great pleasure that I get to promote my first person to the major leagues and someone that is tremendously important to this group and someone that exemplifies grit."

Crabbe then turned all focus to the 33-year-old seated in the back, saying, "Maggi, you're going to get an opportunity to move up."

Maggi, shirtless and motionless, sat agape until Crabbe confirmed the news with a hug and a handshake, at which point he leapt up and said, "Let's f****** go!"

According to the New York Post, Pittsburgh transferred Ji-Man Choi to the 60-day injured list to make room for Maggi on the roster.

\u201cIt\u2019s been a hell of a journey for Drew Maggi.\u201d
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pittsburgh Pirates) 1682260792

Maggi told MLB.com in March, "It’s been a lot of years, a lot of different teammates, a lot of different organizations. ... I think going through the process and being here now, I’ve learned a lot. It’s been a hell of a journey, man."

At times, he considered calling it quits.

"You always believe that you can get another shot, but as you get older, you have that in your mind: 'This could be it for me,'" he said.

However, he never caved to doubt or despair.

"I got to a certain point where it was like, 'You know what, it doesn’t matter. I love playing baseball. As long as I have a jersey on and I’m having a good time, whatever.'"
Maggi will now wear the black and gold jersey with the No. 39.

The Pirates posted a video Sunday captioned "Never give up on your dream," wherein the team's manager, Derek Shelton, greeted Maggi.

Shelton embraced Maggi, saying, "Let's go, man! This is awesome."

Upon entering the MLB team's locker room, No. 39 noted, "It's a lot bigger in here, ya know?"

\u201cNever give up on your dream. \ud83e\udd72\u201d
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pittsburgh Pirates) 1682266910

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Washington Post op-ed calls out Tampa Bay Buccaneers' pirate imagery: 'There is danger in romanticizing ruthless cutthroats'



One wonders at this point if leftists are simply on a nonstop mission to root out and cancel all things with any association — however innocuous — to everything in history they define as wrong.

What's the background?

There's certainly plenty the left has managed to burn to the ground recently with its cancel-culture flamethrower. But how far will the self-appointed arbiters of good and evil go? In recent years, for example, sports franchises all over America have been barraged with left-wing criticism over their offensive mascots — with some bowing to the pressure. To wit:

And the battle to institute wokeness everywhere has even included college students so eager to board the left-wing bandwagon that they got hilariously hoodwinked, such as:

You get the picture.

What now?

Now back to Sunday's Super Bowl, which saw the Tampa Bay Buccaneers shock the defending champs from K.C. The Washington Post ran an op-ed that takes issue with the Bucs' pirate imagery.

The writer — Jamie L.H. Goodall, a staff historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History — argued that "while this celebration of piracy seems like innocent fun and pride in a local culture, there is danger in romanticizing ruthless cutthroats who created a crisis in world trade when they captured and plundered thousands of ships on Atlantic trade routes between the Americas, Africa, and Great Britain."

Goodall went on to say that treating pirate imagery as no big deal "takes these murderous thieves who did terrible things — like locking women and children in a burning church — and makes them a symbol of freedom and adventure, erasing their wicked deeds from historical memory."

She used the example of pirate legend José Gaspar — the "namesake" of Tampa's annual "Gasparilla Pirate Festival" — who was one of many pirate "murderers who pillaged, raped and plundered their way through the Caribbean. And they were well-known enslavers who dehumanized Africans and Indigenous people, selling them for profit."

How did folks react?

It's unclear what exactly has been driving the backlash against the op-ed, but some observers may have just witnessed enough wokeness to last them several lifetimes — such as former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and Outkick's Clay Travis:

This is pathetic... even for the Washington Post. Go find something else to cancel and complain about! Leave Tampa… https://t.co/b7wTo6rjTZ
— Kayleigh McEnany (@Kayleigh McEnany)1612719187.0

Matt Walsh of the Daily Wire sarcastically noted that the op-ed makes "a good point. I know many people who spent years swashbuckling on the high seas because of the way piracy was normalized by professional sports teams."

Others had similar takes:

  • "Is there anything #leftists won't try to ruin?" one commenter tweeted.
  • "ARE YOU F***IN' SERIOUS?!?! WOW!!!" another user exclaimed.
  • I guess we need to rename them to The Tampa Bay Football Team," another commenter said. "This is where all this is headed, right?"
  • "As a Pirate-American I am very offended by this. Yarr!" another user growled.
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