A man in his 20’s was shot on Sunday, in Santa Ana, at a residential apartment complex located at the 1800 block of Evergreen Street, at 3:24 p.m., according to the O.C. Register.
Police officers were called and when they arrived they found an approximately 25-year-old unconscious man with a gunshot wound to the upper toro, according to the SAPD. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE
January 23, 2015
Case # 12ZF0147
MAN SENTENCED TO 40 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR SHOOTING-MURDER OF HIS FATHER IN IRVINE HOME
SANTA ANA – A man was sentenced today to 40 years to life in state prison for murdering his father by shooting him in their Irvine home. Steven Joseph Bruno, 23, Irvine, was found guilty by a jury Oct. 29, 2014, of one felony count of second degree murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal discharge of a firearm causing death.
At approximately 9:00 p.m. on Aug. 30, 2012, Steven Bruno murdered his 60-year-old father Ernest Bruno in the victim’s home by shooting him in order to take the victim’s car and money to visit a girlfriend in another state. The defendant locked his father’s body in a bedroom and fled the scene in the victim’s car. Steven Bruno drove his father’s car to Colorado. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE
January 23, 2015
Case # 15HF0093
SANTA ANA – Law enforcement is seeking the public’s help identifying potential additional victims of a chief executive officer of a publicly traded company located in Irvine charged with sexually assaulting minors and possessing child pornography. Qayed Murtaza Shareef, 39, Aliso Viejo, the founder and CEO of Adaptive Media, was charged today with 30 felony counts of lewd acts with a child under 14, one felony count of using a minor for sex acts, one felony count of distributing pornography to a minor, one felony count of possession or control of child pornography, with a sentencing enhancement for substantial sexual conduct with a child under 14 years old and committing lewd acts upon multiple victims. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 752 years to life in state prison. He is being held on $2 million bail and is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon, Jan. 23, 2015, in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana. The time is to be determined.
On multiple occasions between Dec. 25, 2013, and Dec. 29, 2013, Shareef is accused of contacting 10-year-old John Doe #1 and 9-year-old John Doe #2 using an online application called Tango. The defendant is accused of connecting to the program using a fake name of Jeremy Stevens. Continue reading
A 33-year-old man, identified as Richard Molina, was suspected of driving a stolen 1997 gray, four-door Honda Civic ran when a Santa Ana police officer became suspicious of a parked vehicle at around 7:40 pm, on Thursday night, in a parking lot near South Main Street and East Dyer Road, according to the O.C. Register.
Molina noticed that an SAPD police car was watching him and he attempted to flee, according to officials. He drove drove a half-mile north on South Main Street where he crashed into a car near West Warner Avenue. Molina then fled on foot. Continue reading
A man was reportedly running around at around 7 pm, with a shotgun in the 1200 block of North Harbor Boulevard, in Santa Ana, on Thursday, threatening at least two women, police said, according to the O.C. Register.
One woman told the police that she was approached by a man who pointed a shotgun at her, in the 1300 block of North Bewley Street – he ran away after she screamed loudly.
Later a man who was at the 1200 block of North Harbor Boulevard told the SAPD that he saw a fellow with a shotgun pursuing another woman into a business parking lot. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE
Case # 14CF4090
January 21, 2015
SANTA ANA – Three men and two women have been charged with committing loan modification fraud by targeting Hispanic victims throughout Southern California. Three of the defendants are family members and are charged with leading a family-run home loan modification ring and illegally charging victims for services that they did not provide.
Four of the defendants have been taken into custody and one defendant remains a fugitive. In addition to the charges below, each of the defendants face sentencing enhancements for aggravated white collar crime over $100,000 under $500,000, taking funds exceeding $50,000 and theft exceeding $150,000. The defendants’ sentences range from eight years and four months to 77 years in state prison if convicted, and each must prove that the money comes from a legal and legitimate source before they are released on bond. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE
Case # 13WF2913
Date: January 22, 2015
SANTA ANA – A man was sentenced todayto three years in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration for false imprisonment by violence and groping four women by grabbing them on the buttocks with sexual intent in public. Matthew Andrew Linville, 20, Westminster, pleaded guilty today to one felony count of false imprisonment by violence and four misdemeanor counts of sexual battery.
At approximately 6:45 a.m., on Aug. 28, 2013, Linville approached 34-year-old Jane Doe #1 as she was jogging through a neighborhood in Huntington Beach. Linville grabbed the victim on the buttocks, pushed her to the ground, and groped her. He then fled the scene. Continue reading
Santa Ana Police Department
SANTA ANA POLICE STEP UP DUI ENFORCEMENT
The Santa Ana Police Department will be conducting a DUI/Drivers License checkpoint on Friday, January 23rd, 2015. It will begin at 9:00PM and is scheduled to conclude at 3:00AM. It will be conducted in the area of 500 W. First Street, Santa Ana, CA.
The primary purpose of a DUI Checkpoint is to deter impaired driving, not to increase arrests. All too often, members of our community are senselessly injured or killed on local roadways by impaired drivers. This DUI/Drivers License checkpoint is an effort to reduce those tragedies, as well as ensuring drivers have a valid driver’s license. The DMV reports that unlicensed drivers are 4.9 times more likely to cause a fatal crash than a licensed driver. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE
Remarks by District Attorney Tony Rackauckas:
State of Public Safety in Orange County
January 20, 2015
Thank you, Supervisors Bartlett, Nelson, and Steel for allowing us to have this event at the Hall of Administration. We appreciate your hospitality.
Thank you, judges and elected officials who are here with us today. Continue reading
Gang shootings are on the rise again in Santa Ana! The latest shooting occurred today when a gunman approached a group of up to five men outside a business on the 1700 block of South Main Street at around 1 am before opening fire, Santa Ana Police Department said, according to NBC News.
Officials said a light-colored compact car drove up to the group and a man got out of the passenger side to ask the men about their gang affiliation. He then pulled out a shotgun and fired a single round, which injured three of the men and damaged the business behind them, police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said, according to the O.C. Register. Continue reading
Santa Ana Police Department
Advisory: Police investigate KKK propaganda left in neighborhood
Santa Ana police officers respond to a resident who reported he found a small zip-loc baggy containing a rock, a candy, a flyer, and a KKK business card on his driveway this morning in the 2600 block of N Linwood St in Santa Ana.
The flyer contains anti-MLK propaganda. Approximately 40 similar bags were distributed sometime during the evening to various residences within a four block radius. No specific threat was noted on the business card and no crime can be established at this point. Continue reading
Judge John D. Conley on Friday dismissed several sex-related felony charges against Carlos Bustamante, a former Santa Ana City Councilman and Orange County Public Works administrator, who still faces felony counts of false imprisonment, stalking, attempted sexual battery and grand theft, plus four misdemeanors, according to the O.C. Register.
Conley’s ruling mirrors a previous ruling from Judge Kazuharu Makino, who oversaw Bustamante’s preliminary hearing in May 2014. Makino tossed out multiple felony charges for lack of evidence. Continue reading
Ean Keith Brown, Picture Courtesy of the Huntington Beach Police Department
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE
Case # 12CF0072
Date: January 16, 2015
THIRD-STRIKER PAROLEE TO FACE TRIAL FOR STRANGLING-MURDER OF WOMAN IN RV
SANTA ANA – A third-striker parolee will face trial Tuesday for murdering a 21-year-old woman by strangling her to death in his recreational vehicle (RV). Ean Keith Brown, 41, is charged with one felony count of murder and sentencing enhancements for two prior strike convictions and serious felony priors for second degree robbery in 1995 and burglary in 2008. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 85 years to life in state prison. Opening statements are scheduled to begin Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, at 9:15 a.m., in Department C-41, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
Brown was released from state prison in 2010 and was on parole for burglary. After his release from prison and at the time of the murder, the defendant is accused of living in an RV in the driveway of his parent’s Huntington Beach home. Continue reading
Michelle Ghirelli
NEWS, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts: Lt. Jeff Hallock, 714.904.7042, JHallock@ocsd.org; Emily Osterberg, 714.647.1840, EOsterberg@ocsd.org
Teachers Arrested Following Allegation of Sexual Relationship with Students
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. – (January 18, 2014) – On Saturday, January 17, 2015, Orange County Sheriff’s Department Special Victims Unit investigators arrested South Hills High School teacher, Melody Lippert, 38, Covina and district teacher Michelle Ghirelli, 30, Covina; following allegations they engaged in sexual relations with students who attend the school. On the evening of Friday, January 16, 2015, the West Covina Police Department contacted the Orange County Sheriff’s Department after obtaining information about the inappropriate relationships and the alleged sexual relations that occurred in our jurisdiction.
In November 2014, Lippert is alleged to have met a group of male South Hills High School students at San Clemente State Beach. During the meeting at San Clemente State Beach, Lippert provided alcohol to the students and engaged in a sexual relationship with one of them. Several weeks later, Lippert orchestrated an overnight camping trip to the same location with Ghirelli and several of the same high school students. During the camping trip Lippert and Ghirelli are suspected of engaging in sexual relations with two students. The camping trip was not a school or district sponsored event. Continue reading
Hai Truong Vo, 39, of Garden Grove, was released by the Santa Ana Police Department without bail last night, due to “insufficient evidence,” according to an email we received this afternoon from “Xuanxanh Laurie.”
The O.C Register confirmed this in an article posted today. They reported that “Prosecutors apparently have sent the criminal case against Hai Truong Vo, 39, of Garden Grove back to detectives for further investigation, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.” Continue reading