Santa Ana Police Department
Subject: Luis Eduardo Distancia (45), Male, Hispanic, 5-10, 160 lbs., Brown, Brown, Warrant – $50,000.00
Suspect Vehicle: White, 2006, Ford, Econoline van, (IN CUSTODY)
UPDATE – New Photo of the Suspect Released:
New Photo of Luis Eduardo Distancia
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE
Case # 14WF2704
Date: March 20, 2017
MAN SENTENCED TO 12 YEARS IN PRISON FOR USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO CONTACT MINORS TO COMMIT LEWD ACTS
SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man was sentenced to 12 years in state prison today for contacting underage victims through social media with the intent of committing lewd acts. Michael Theodore Mordaunt, 47, Cypress, pleaded guilty on Feb. 9, 2017, to 19 felony counts of contacting a child with the intent to commit a specified crime,five felony counts of lewd acts upon a child age 14 or 15,two felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14, three felony counts of meeting a minor with the intent to engage in lewd conduct, one felony count of possession and control of child pornography, and a sentencing enhancement allegation for substantial sexual conduct with a child. In addition to prison, Mordaunt was also sentenced to mandatory lifetime sex offender registration.
At the time of the crime, Mordaunt was working in the Information Technology Department of the Boeing Company in Seal Beach. Continue reading
Registered Sex Offenders in Santa Ana
Per the Megan’s Law website, there are currently 591 Registered Sex Offenders residing in the city of Santa Ana. There are approximately 3,500 registered Sex Offenders in all of Orange County – so why are so many in Santa Ana?
It may have to do with the large homeless community in Santa Ana. Of those 591 in Santa Ana, there are 197 Registered Sex Offenders who are transients meaning they have no permanent address or cannot be located. This is a sharp increase from the 2016 data provided by SAPD’s Sex Registrant Unit which stated there were 68 Homeless Sex Offenders in Santa Ana. Continue reading
On Friday March 17 at about 9 p.m. SAPD police officers were dispatched to 2200 West First Street regarding a shooting that had just occurred. Upon arrival they located an adult male bleeding from the upper torso lying on the sidewalk. The victim was transported to a local hospital for emergency treatment.
On Friday, March 17 at about 11 p.m., SAPD police officers were dispatched to the area of 2700 West Alton regarding a shooting. This shooting happened right in front of Councilman Sal Tinajero’s gated community. Continue reading
Van involved in fatal Santa Ana hit and run accident
36-year-old Eduardo Estrada of Santa Ana was killed on Friday, March 17, when his motorcycle collided with a van in a hit-and-run crash at around 5:15 p.m. at the 200 block of South Standard Avenue. The police have still not tracked down the suspect who killed him.
Estrada left behind five children and his wife. On the day he was killed his family tried to reach him to find out what he wanted to eat that night. They knew something was wrong when he didn’t answer his phone late that evening and started to worry. Continue reading
Ending jail contract with ICE hurts community
By GERRY SERRANO / Contributing writer, O.C. Register
Cutting off your nose to spite your face is an expression that dates back to the 12th century. It is thought to be derived from legends of pious women who disfigured themselves in order to protect their virginity. Today it has come to mean a needlessly self-destructive over-reaction to a problem. “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face” is a warning against acting in a way that would damage oneself more than address the subject of your concern.
The previous Santa Ana City Council cut off its nose, and by extension the nose of the city, by giving in to the bullying of a small group of outside agitators and refusing to comply with the federal contract with ICE which is a legal agreement in place with the city. Rather than considering the drastic implications of allowing ICE to remove inmates from the jail, the previous council provoked the cancellation of a contract that could have kept the facility operating for years to come, provided fiscal stability to the city and saved union jobs. Continue reading
Remember when the previous Santa Ana City Council majority, SAPD Police Chief Carlos Rojas and our since-fired City Manager, David Cavazos, tried to convince us last year that crime was going down in Santa Ana?
It turns out they were all lying through their teeth! Homicides in Santa Ana nearly doubled last year as gang-related shootings pushed the number of killings in Santa Ana to 23 homicides – its highest point in six years, according to the O.C. Register. Continue reading
An unidentified man was critically wounded in a stabbing Friday night, March 17, in Santa Ana, at around 9 p.m., at a strip mall located in the 2200 block of West 1st Street, according to the O.C. Register.
The victim appeared to be a transient. One of our readers identified him as Eduardo Mendez. Continue reading
36-year-old Eduardo Estrada-Luevano of Santa Ana was killed on Friday, March 17, when his motorcycle collided with a van in a hit-and-run crash, according to ABC News.
The collision happened around 5:15 p.m. in the 200 block of South Standard Avenue, according to the O.C. Register. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE
March 17, 2017
Case # 15CF1483
*Longest sentence in HEAT Unit history
SANTA ANA, Calif. – A parolee who trafficked a woman while on GPS monitoring was sentenced yesterday to 233 years to life in prison for kidnapping, raping, and pimping a victim on the Fourth of July. Beau James Dearborne, 38, Santa Ana, was found guilty by a jury on Nov. 17, 2016, of two felony counts each of forcible rape in concert, oral copulation in concert with force and fear, pimping, and pandering, and one felony count each of human trafficking, kidnapping to commit rape, and second degree robbery. The defendant admitted a prior serious and violent felony strike conviction for rape of an unconscious person in 2010 in Orange County, and sentencing enhancements for prior prison convictions in 2003 and 2006 in Clark County, Nevada. Dearborne was sentenced on March 16, 2017, to 228 years determinate and 5 years to life indeterminate. Continue reading
Costa Mesa Police Department
COSTA MESA, Calif. – As part of the Costa Mesa Police Department’s (CMPD) continued commitment to reducing injury and fatalities caused by impaired drivers, CMPD’s Traffic Unit will deploy additional officers on special DUI Saturation Patrols tomorrow, Friday, March 17, 2017, to stop and arrest drivers showing signs of alcohol or drug impairment.
In addition to this St Patrick’s Day enforcement effort, all police, sheriff deputies, and the CHP will be on heightened alert ready to stop and arrest any impaired driver throughout the long weekend. St. Patrick’s Day is a popular holiday to celebrate and party. Unfortunately, too many people are taking to the roads after drinking, making this holiday one of our most dangerous. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 252 people lost their lives in drunk driving-related crashes during the St. Patrick’s Day holiday period from 2011 to 2015. More than a fourth of them were killed in drunk driving crashes that occurred in the early morning, post-party hours between midnight and 5:59 a.m. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE
March 16, 2017
Case # 16CF2659
SAN DIEGO MAN SENTENCED TO THREE YEARS IN PRISON FOR PIMPING AND PANDERING WOMAN IN SANTA ANA
*The crime was discovered during a routine traffic stop
SANTA ANA, Calif. – A San Diego man was sentenced to three years in state prison yesterday for pimping and pandering a woman, which was discovered during a routine traffic stop in Santa Ana. Rodney Jerome Walker, 50, San Diego, pleaded guilty on March 15, 2017, to a court offer of one felony count each of pimping and pandering. Continue reading
On Monday, March 13, 2017 at about 5 p.m. SAPD police officers responded to the area of 1710 West 17th Street references witnesses reporting multiple shots being fired.
Witnesses saw multiple individuals involved which all fled prior to the arrival of the police, according to SAPD Case # 17-06786. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE
Case # 12CF0764
Date: March 15, 2017
GANG MEMBER CONVICTED OF MURDERING INNOCENT BYSTANDER DURING RETALIATORY GANG SHOOTING
SANTA ANA, Calif. – A gang member was convicted yesterday of murdering an innocent bystander in a retaliatory gang shooting in Santa Ana. Rene Mojarra, 24, Santa Ana, was found guilty by a jury on March 14, 2017, of one felony count of special circumstances murder, one felony count of possession of a firearm by a felon, and one felony count of street terrorism, with sentencing enhancements for murder committed for criminal street gang purpose, personal discharge of a firearm causing death, and criminal street gang activity. Mojarra faces a maximum sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole at his sentencing on May 19, 2017, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-30, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana. Continue reading
On Saturday, March 11 at about 9 p.m. SAPD police officers responded to the area of 215 South Hickory after reports of a shooting. When they arrived they located a vehicle struck by gunfire, according to SAPD Case # 17-06591.
This shooting occurred northwest of Roosevelt Elementary School in Santa Ana’s Ward 2, which is represented by Mayor Pro Tem Michele Martinez. Continue reading