New Santa Ana | Category Archives: David Benavides

Man defends himself with a skateboard and kills an attacker at a Santa Ana Starbucks

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, David Benavides, Santa Ana 4 Comments

Starbucks at 3345 South Bristol in Santa Ana

A man his early 50s died this afternoon just before 1 p.m. after being struck in the head with a skateboard by a a man in his 20s just outside a Starbucks at 3345 South Bristol Street, just north of MacArthur Blvd., in Santa Ana on Tuesday, according to the O.C. Register.

The older man was allegedly “bugging people” in the shopping complex when he went into the Starbucks and began to harass the younger man, according to a witness identified only as “Geovanni.”

The two men argued and at some point the situation became physical and the younger man ended up hitting the older man in the head with his skateboard, outside of the coffee shop. Continue reading→

LoJack device leads police to a stolen Honda Accord at the MainPlace Mall

Posted on November 1, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, David Benavides, Santa Ana Leave a comment

A car thief took a gold 1996 Honda Accord today at around 2:45 p.m., from the Target parking lot at the 3300 block of South Bristol St., according to the O.C. Register.

Ordinarily the thief would have probably gotten away with it but not this time. He took a car that was equipped with a LoJack device.

SAPD police officers were able to track the stolen Accord, by following signals emitted by the car’s LoJack device. The signals led them to a parking lot at the Westfield MainPlace Mall. Continue reading→

Police pursuit of a stolen vehicle results in three arrests by Sandpointe Park

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, David Benavides, Santa Ana Leave a comment

A driver of a stolen Honda Civic, while attempting to get away from the police this morning, at around 10:45 a.m., led them on a chase in the stolen car then on foot after he crashed the vehicle, near West Alpine Avenue and South Parton Street, according to the O.C. Register.

The incident resulted in a lockout at the nearby MacArthur Fundamental Intermediate School, located at 600 W. Alton Ave. The lockout was lifted at about 11:10 am today. Continue reading→

Suspect with a knife arrested after robbing a business near Bristol and Sunflower

Posted on October 14, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, David Benavides, Santa Ana Leave a comment

A man with a knife robbed a business today in Santa Ana at the 3800 block of South Bristol Street at around 1 p.m., according to the O.C. Register.

The man demanded that an employee of the targeted business turn over an undisclosed amount of cash. The suspect took the money and fled from the crime scene. Continue reading→

Poll – Should City Manager David Cavazos be allowed to date his employees?

Posted on October 7, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Angelica Amezcua, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, David Cavazos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana 7 Comments

Santa Ana City Manager David Cavazos in a letter released Tuesday night acknowledged having a romantic relationship with a city employee, according to the Voice of OC.

The whole mess came to the surface when Mayor Miguel Pulido “harshly criticized Cavazos for carrying on the relationship during a meeting with union leaders. The mayor went so far as to as to name the city employee in the meeting.” Continue reading→

Council Members Martinez, Reyna and Benavides voted against flying the rainbow flat at city hall

Posted on September 16, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, David Benavides, LGBT, Michele Martinez, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Roman Reyna fakes that he supports gays

A rainbow flag will fly over Santa Ana City Hall for five weeks this coming Harvey Milk Day (May 22) through the end of national Pride Month in June, making the city the first in Orange County to fly the symbol of LGBT solidarity, according to the O.C. Register.

However the motion did not pass unanimously even though all of the Santa Ana City Council Members are registered Democrats.

Council Members Michele Martinez, David Benavides and Roman Reyna voted against flying the rainbow flag over Santa Ana’s City Hall. Continue reading→

Our local politicians showed up for the Fiestas Patrias parade today

Posted on September 13, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Andrew Do, Angelica Amezcua, Arts and Culture, Cecilia Iglesias, David Benavides, Jose Solorio, Karina Onofre, Loretta Sanchez, Lou Correa, Lowriders, Politics, Republican Party, Rick Miller, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 1 Comment

David Benavides at the 2015 Fiestas Patrias Parade

I stopped by today’s Fiestas Patrias parade in Downtown Santa Ana – mostly to take pictures of the local politicians but also to take in the spectacle. I was not disappointed on either count.

Somethings never change – Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides appeared to be riding in the same car he was in back in 2013 – with his kids. Continue reading→

Benavides welcomes Bustamante back to the City Council chambers

Posted on August 7, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, Erika Carranza, Politics, Restaurants, Santa Ana 10 Comments

Disgraced former Santa Ana Councilman Carlos Bustamante returned to the City Council Chambers at this Tuesday’s City Council meeting, where he was warmly welcomed by his old friend, Councilman David Benavides.

Bustamante and Benavides have been friends for year although they hail from different political parties. Bustamante is a Republican and Benavides is a Democrat. They flew to Washington DC together a few years back when then President George W. Bush invited Bustamante to a Cinco de Mayo celebration for the GOP. Lord knows what those two did while their wives were back home! Continue reading→

Two armed robberies and a home burglary happened in Santa Ana today

Posted on June 27, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, David Benavides, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 1 Comment

It was a hot and muggy day today in Santa Ana – and the criminals were more active than usual. A man robbed another man at gunpoint this morning at the Chevron located at 3301 South Bristol St., which is just west of Saddleback High School, and another robber robbed a 7-Eleven store at 1700 East Dyer, after brandishing a knife, according to the O.C. Register.

The robber at the Chevron gas station made off with an unknown amount of cash but he was eventually arrested. The robber at the 7-Eleven got away with an unknown amount of money. Continue reading→

Man shot in the leg near Saddleback High School

Posted on June 26, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, David Benavides, Santa Ana 1 Comment

A man was shot at several times today at round 3:05 pm, near the intersection of Central and Rosewood avenues, in Santa Ana. One of the bullets struck him in one of his legs, according to the SAPD, as reported by the O.C. Register.

Witnesses were not sure if the man who shot the victim was on foot or if he fled in a vehicle. Continue reading→

Two men shot while working on a vehicle in their driveway, near several schools

Posted on June 19, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, David Benavides, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Another day another ridiculous shooting in Santa Ana. This time two men with no gang connections were badly wounded as they were shot while they worked on a car in their driveway at the 1300 block of South Rita Way, in Santa Ana, at around 9:15 p.m. on Thursday evening, according to the O.C. Register.

One victim, identified him as 21-year-old Juan Seneseros, was shot in the back. The other victim, a 26-year-old man was shot in the upper and lower torso and was in serious condition. Continue reading→

Does the City Council have a problem with the homeless and the LGBT?

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Charities, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, homeless, LGBT, Santa Ana 1 Comment

One of our readers paid attention the other night when the Santa Ana City Council was deciding how to spend their Community Development Block Grant money. Kidworks, a non-profit organization that recently hired Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides, asked for $45,000 in CDBG grants and the City Council gave them $56,000!

While Kidworks, and presumably Benavides, scored the City Council rejected these requests: Continue reading→

Saddleback High School student injured in a gang-related drive by shooting

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, David Benavides, Santa Ana, SAUSD 6 Comments

The latest gang-related drive-by shooting in Santa Ana targeted two Saddleback High School students who are known to be gang members. One boy was walking while another student was on a bicyle, as they traveled south on Baker Street, near West Alton Avenue on Wednesday afternoon. A vehicle pulled up at around 2:55 pm and several shots were fired, according to the O.C. Register.

The boy who was on foot was shot in the neck and shoulder. He was lucky – he escaped with non-life threatening injuries. No one else was injured. Continue reading→

Should Benavides have appointed his girlfriend and his daughter to City Commissions?

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, David Benavides, Santa Ana 14 Comments

Santa Ana’s City Council Members are supposed to nominate City Commissioners who represent their Wards – and hopefully these are Commissioners who can actually contribute something to our city’s well being.

However questions are being raised about how Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides is going about making his appointments. We have already written extensively about his support for Santa Ana Planning Commissioner Phil Bacerra, who was a paid consultant to Downtown Santa Ana’s bars and restaurants when Benavides tabbed him for the Planning Commission.

But get this – apparently Benavides appointed his alleged girlfriend, Erika Carranza, to the Santa Ana Parks and Recreation Commission, which you can read about here. Can you say “conflict of interest?” Continue reading→

Two men stabbed, one in the face, in separate attacks in Santa Ana

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Santa Ana 1 Comment

What a bloody year it has been in Santa Ana so far in 2015. Last night, on Thursday, two more men were stabbed in separate incidents, according to the O.C. Register.

In the first incident the SAPD showed up at an attempted robber, at around 11:40 pm, in the 700 block of South Van Ness Avenue, which is in Santa Ana’s Ward 2, which is represented by Councilwoman Michele Martinez.

Apparently a suspect who was wearing a ski mask and gloves ran up to a man and proceeded to stab him in the face! Continue reading→