Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Category Archives: Crime

A 17-year old Santa Ana male was arrested in Corona today after fleeing in a stolen car

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Auto Theft Suspects Arrested after Pursuit

Corona PD CR #17-7016

Today, at 10:04 AM, Riverside PD’s air unit, Air-1, alerted Corona Police Dispatch to a pursuit of a stolen Honda Civic in the area of Hidden Valley and I-15. Corona units took over the pursuit of the Civic, which had been reported stolen to Buena Park Police earlier today, when it exited the 91 freeway at Main Street.

The driver, a 17 year-old male from Santa Ana, and the passenger, a 19 year-old male from Orange, were taken into custody without incident when the Civic stopped on Lilac Street near Via Santiago. Continue reading→

The SAPD is investigating the death of a Santa Ana man who had been arrested

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: Death Investigation

Christian Isaac Arias (30) Santa Ana

On Saturday, June 10, 2017, SAPD Officers encountered Christian Arias, an adult male, in the area of 1300 West 1st Street. Arias displayed symptoms of being under the influence of a controlled substance and/or alcoholic beverage(s). The officers detained Arias without incident and requested medics for a medical evaluation. Continue reading→

David Valentin selected as the new acting interim police chief of the SAPD

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Cynthia Kurtz, David Valentin, Jim Schnabl, Santa Ana 1 Comment

We finally have some very good news to report about the Santa Ana Police Department – a once proud agency that was wrecked by former SAPD Police Chief Carlos Rojas and our lame Santa Ana City Council majority. The current interim City Manager, Cynthia Kurtz, has appointed a new acting SAPD police chief selecting Deputy Chief David Valentin and returning the current acting police chief, Jim Schnabl, to his administrative duties.

This is truly fantastic news and I hope Valentin gets the permanent job. He is already the Deputy Chief in charge of Field Operations which includes the Patrol Division, Homeland Security, Traffic Division, Emergency Management and the SWAT team. Continue reading→

A homeless man was arrested for robbing a gas station in Costa Mesa

Posted on by Posted in Costa Mesa, Crime, homeless, Orange County, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Orange County’s homeless population is becoming a big criminal problem, not just in Santa Ana but in surrounding areas.

On Monday, June 19, at about 5 p.m., when it was still broad daylight, a homeless man entered an Arco gas station located at 2490 Fairview Road, and he pretended to be armed with a weapon, according to the O.C. Register. Continue reading→

Santa Ana man arrested for a DUI hit and run collision with a pedstrian in Costa Mesa

Posted on by Posted in Accidents, Alcohol, Costa Mesa, Crime, Santa Ana Leave a comment

On Sunday, June 18, 2017, at about 2:20 a.m., Costa Mesa police officers were dispatched to West 19th Street and Harbor Boulevard regarding a vehicle versus pedestrian hit and run collision.

Officers located the victim in the street with moderate injuries. A witness followed the suspect vehicle to Dyer Road and the California State Route 55 and called 911. Continue reading→

Santa Ana man gets 22 years in prison after a DUI hit and run crash that killed a nurse

Posted on by Posted in Alcohol, Crime, OCDA, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Pearleen Hopkins

Dallas Frank Reichstein, a 48-year-old Santa Ana resident and repeat drunken driver, admitted guilt on Friday, June 16 and he faces 22 years in prison for a hit-and-run collision that left a pedestrian dead in Santa Ana, according to the O.C. Register.

Reichstein accepted felony charges of hit-and-run with permanent and serious injury and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. As part of his plea bargain with the OCDA, a murder charge will be dismissed. Continue reading→

Santa Ana gangbanger gets life in prison after murdering an innocent bystander

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Gangs, OCDA, Santa Ana 8 Comments

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Case # 12CF0764

Date: June 16, 2017

GANG MEMBER SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF PAROLE FOR MURDERING INNOCENT BYSTANDER DURING RETALIATORY GANG SHOOTING

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A gang member was sentenced today to life in state prison without the possibility of parole for murdering an innocent bystander in a retaliatory gang shooting in Santa Ana.

Defendant: Rene Mojarra, 25, Santa Ana

Found guilty by a jury on March 14, 2017, of felony: Continue reading→

A burglary suspect fell through the ceiling at a Santa Ana 7-Eleven while hiding from the police

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Santa Ana 5 Comments

A man suspected of burglary who attempted to hide inside a 7-Eleven located at 2745 W. McFadden Ave., was arrested late Thursday, June 15, after he crashed through the store’s ceiling tiles, according to the O.C. Register.

The suspect had apparently broken into several apartments at a complex located at  2701 W. McFadden Ave., at around 11 p.m., according to the SAPD. Continue reading→

Monroe Elementary placed on lockdown as the SAPD bomb squad investigates a nearby suspicious package

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Monroe Elementary in Santa Ana

Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: SAPD/OCSD Bomb Squad Working Suspicious Package at Armory

Location: 612 E. Warner – National Guard Armory

UPDATE: The SAPD has declared the scene to be safe as of 10:36 a.m.

Armory personnel discovered a suspicious package left near the south entrance gate. SAPD Officers are on scene and have established a perimeter. Monroe Elementary has been placed on lockdown. Continue reading→

The O.C. Grand Jury has found the O.C. Jailhouse Informant Program investigation to be a witch-hunt

Posted on by Posted in Crime, OC Grand Jury, OCDA, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana 1 Comment

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE

Date: June 13, 2017

ORANGE COUNTY GRAND JURY DEBUNKS PHONY NEWS OF PROSECUTORIAL CORRUPTION IN ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE

*Allegations characterized by the Orange County Grand Jury as “witch-hunt”

OCDA is addressing only the parts of the report pertaining to the Office and defers inquiries regarding the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to Sheriff Sandra Hutchens.

SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Orange County Grand Jury’s (OCGJ) report released today entitled “The Myth of the Orange County Jailhouse Informant Program,” confirms the steadfast position of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) both in court and in the media regarding informant matters. The OCGJ debunked the media “witch-hunt” for agency corruption, in examining People v. Dekraai and People v. Wozniak.

“The OCGJ is confident there is no program of jailhouse informant use for criminal investigation in the Orange County jails.” (p. 19). Furthermore, the OCGJ found that “Allegations of intentional motivation by a corrupt district attorney’s office … to violate citizen’s constitutional rights are unfounded. Disparate facts have been woven together and a combination of conjecture and random events have been juxtaposed to create a tenuous narrative insinuating nefarious intent. That narrative does not stand up to factual validation.” (p. 5)

Key points and findings include: Continue reading→

Transient arrested in Garden Grove for the stabbing death of a Santa Ana man on Friday

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Garden Grove, homeless, Santa Ana 5 Comments

Daniel Jones-Hoebel, a 19-year old transient, was arrested by the Garden Grove police on Saturday, June 10, in the Friday, June 9 stabbing of 20-year-old Genaro Diaz of Santa Ana, who later died of his injuries at a hospital, according to the O.C. Register.

Antonio Esquivel, a 21-year old resident of Garden Grove, was arrested shortly after the Garden Grove police found Diaz, who was stabbed in the chest, at the 12800 block of Haster Street, just after 9 p.m. on Friday night. The police believe that Diaz got into a fight with the two men. Continue reading→

O.C. man who posed as a police officer facing several felony charges including kidnapping

Posted on by Posted in Anaheim, Crime, Santa Ana Leave a comment

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE

Case # 17NF1372

Date: June 9, 2017

OCDA SEEKING PUBLIC’S HELP IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL ADDITIONAL VICTIMS OF MAN CHARGED WITH POSING AS POLICE OFFICER AND KIDNAPPING VICTIM TO COMMIT SEX OFFENSE

SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) is seeking the public’s help identifying potential additional victims of a man who is scheduled to be arraigned today for posing as a police officer and kidnapping a woman to commit a sex offense.

Defendant: Sean Michael Vasquez, 35, Los Alamitos

Charged today in an amended complaint with the following counts: Continue reading→

The SAPD is once again reporting their daily crime data online

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Remember a few weeks back when we noticed that the SAPD was no longer reporting crime data to Crimemapping – a website that logs crime activity throughout the U.S.? Well today the SAPD finally admitted what happened.

The SAPD noted in a press release that  the Department changed its computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system and apparently because of that the link between the CAD and CrimeMapping.com stopped working and had to be rebuilt. Continue reading→

Transient arrested for stealing packages from homes in Orange, Irvine and Tustin

Posted on by Posted in Crime, homeless, irvine, Orange, Tustin Leave a comment

The Greenwood Homes in the Tustin Legacy development have been experiencing a spike in theft related property crimes since the beginning of the year. In addition to regular Neighborhood Watch meetings, several of the residents have installed video security surveillance systems.

On May 23rd a homeowner had a package stolen from the front porch and the surveillance video captured the suspect fleeing in a black Mercedes. On May 25th the same vehicle was involved in a package theft in a nearby Irvine neighborhood. On May 26th the suspect struck again at a different residence and he was once again captured on video surveillance fleeing in a black Mercedes. The license plate on the vehicle was stolen from a similar looking Mercedes in the City of Orange weeks earlier. Continue reading→

A woman was shot and wounded at Santa Ana’s Guest Inn & Quality Suites this morning

Posted on by Posted in Crime, homeless, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 1 Comment

Guest Inn and Quality Suites

Do you remember when the Guest Inn and Quality Suites, located at 2151 E. First St., was converted into the first large-scale permanent supportive housing project in Santa Ana for the homeless, last year? Well they are in the news again as the SAPD is now investigating a shooting that occurred there early this morning in which a woman was wounded, according to the O.C. Register.

When SAPD police officers arrived at the Guest Inn, after getting a phone call about a woman being shot, they found a woman with what looked like one gunshot wound to her upper torso, according to the SAPD. Continue reading→