January 2017 was another violent month in Santa Ana with a total of 27 shooting incidents which resulted in 2 deaths. That includes the SAPD shooting incident on Jan 29. There was also one fatal stabbing incident and one Pedestrian/Vehicle incident which resulted in a death.
All of these reported incidents have been placed on a map to keep track of the violent crime incidents in our city, which can be found here. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE
Case #14ZF0337
Date: February 3, 2017
*Co-defendant is also facing the death penalty
SANTA ANA, Calif. – A registered sex offender was sentenced to receive the death penalty today for the special-circumstances murder of four women after kidnapping the victims. Steven Dean Gordon, 48, Anaheim, was indicted by the grand jury on Oct. 2, 2014. He was found guilty by a jury on Dec. 15, 2016, of four felony counts of special circumstances murder with sentencing enhancements for kidnapping and multiple murders. The OCDA announced on Dec. 11, 2015, that it would seek the death penalty against Gordon, and a jury recommended the death penalty for Gordon on Dec. 21, 2016.
Co-defendant Franc Cano, 30, Anaheim, was also indicted by the grand jury on Oct. 2, 2014, and is charged with four felony counts of special circumstances murder and four felony counts of forcible rape. The special circumstance sentencing enhancements are for murder during the commission of rape, multiple murders, lying in wait, and kidnapping. The OCDA announced on March 15, 2016, that it would seek the death penalty against Cano. He is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on May 12, 2016, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-40, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana. Continue reading
Shooting at W 5th and N Fairview in Santa Ana
There was yet another shooting in Santa Ana, early this morning. A male adult shooting victim transported himself to UCI for a gunshot wound to his lower torso on Friday, Feb. 3, at 1:30 a.m., according to SAPD Case #17-3173.
When SAPD police officers arrived to speak to the victim, he said that he had been walking in the area of W. 5th and N. Fairview when he was shot. He is in stable condition. Continue reading
Daniel Cervantes, a 27-year-old man who lived in Santa Ana with his parents was arrested by the Irvine Police tonight on suspicion of stealing high-end jewelry, including an engagement ring from 1892, from at least four people who asked them to do work on the pieces, according to the O.C. Register.
Cervantes, a former employee at Nathan Alan Jewelers, told the victims that he could polish or resize their engagement or wedding rings. However he would never return the jewelry to his customers – even after they paid him for his services. Continue reading
A man believed to be a possible kidnapper was arrested by the SAPD after leading them on a fifteen minute police pursuit on Wednesday night, that ended at about 11:30 p.m. The pursuit ended in a crash at the 4000 block of El Camino Real in Irvine, according to Mynewsla.
The suspect, an unidentified man, was briefly trapped in his car after he crashed it into a tree, according to the O.C. Register. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE
Case # 14CF1874
Date: January 31, 2017
COURT OF APPEAL REVERSES TRIAL JUDGE’S ILLEGAL SENTENCE OF MAN WHO SODOMIZED TODDLER
*Defendant was originally sentenced to 10 years in state prison; court remands case for defendant to be sentenced to 25 years to life
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division One reversed a trial judge’s illegal 10 year sentence for a man who sodomized a toddler and ordered the judge to impose the mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration. Kevin Jonas Rojano-Nieto, 21, was found guilty by a jury on Dec. 3, 2014 of one felony count of sexual intercourse or sodomy with a child 10 years or younger and one felony count of lewd acts upon a child under 14. His resentencing date is to be determined.
“The Orange County District Attorney’s Office applauds the decision by the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division One, which recognizes that the Legislature’s mandated punishment of 25 years to life for committing sodomy on a toddler is a constitutionally valid sentence designed to protect the most vulnerable victims in our community,” Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas stated. “This was a good day for child victims of brutal sex assaults and the People of Orange County.” Continue reading
The family of Steve Salgado, an 18-year old young man who was shot to death by the SAPD’s gang unit on Jan 29, 2017, at 5:00 p.m. on 400 South Birch Street, in Santa Ana, has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for his funeral.
A witness to the incident, as seen in the video above, said that Salgado ran from the police because he did not want to go back to jail as he would miss his daughter. Continue reading
Adan Rodriguez Leon, a 34-year old Santa Ana man who is on trial for shooting his sister’s boyfriend to death during an argument is finally getting to tell his side of the story, as his defense attorney is arguing that he acted in self-defense, according to the O.C. Register.
Leon is facing a felony murder charge for killing 39-year old Paul Guzman, 39, in 2015. Continue reading
Casa Del Rey in Santa Ana
An unidentified man was shot once in his torso after he reportedly got into a fist fight with two other men, just past midnight this morning, outside of the Casa Del Rey, a bar located at the 200 block of West Warner Avenue, according to the O.C. Register.
As is often the case in these shootings both the victim and the shooter had fled from the scene before SAPD police officers had arrived. However a short time later the Irvine police notified the SAPD that a shooting victim had driven himself to their city, according to SAPD Case Number 17-02759. Continue reading
Police are investigating an officer-involved shooting that left a young man named Steve Salgado dead on Sunday afternoon at around 5 p.m. at 500 South Birch St., in Santa Ana. At least four blocks of Broadway were closed during the SAPD’s investigation according to one of our readers.
Apparently SAPD gang detail detectives either made a car stop in an alley or encountered a car in an alley with two occupants. For some reason the passenger from the car, Salgado, allegedly took off on foot through the neighborhood, and the police officers chased him on foot. Then for some unknown reason he was shot and killed by one of the SAPD police officers, according to the O.C. Register. Continue reading
Murrieta Police Department Murrieta Police Department
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PRESS RELEASE 1701M-5789
Subject : Call from Citizen Leads to Arrest for Mail Theft
Contact : Tony Conrad 951-461-6309, tconrad@murrieta.org
On 1/26/17 at approximately 4:24 a.m., the Murrieta Police Department received a phone call from an observant citizen regarding subjects seen going through mailboxes in the area of Silkwood Court and Spinning Wheel Drive. The caller was able to provide a description of the vehicle that dropped the subjects off, as well as a direction of travel of the subjects who were on foot. The first of several officers arrived in the area within four minutes of the phone call and observed four individuals walking on Spinning Wheel Drive, as the caller had described. The four subjects were detained by the officer while the incoming units continued to check the area for the vehicle described by the caller, as well as any possible outstanding subjects. Continue reading
Shooting at 100 South Mountain View in Santa Ana
On Friday morning, January 27 at about 1 a.m. SAPD police officers responded to the area of 100 South Mountain View after receiving calls about a shooting.
Witnesses reported an altercation between two males and minutes later a male checked into a local hospital for emergency care with a gunshot wound, according to SAPD Case # 17-02529. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE
January 27, 2017
Case # 16NF0951
SANTA ANA, Calif. – Two Colorado men were sentenced to five and eight years in state prison today for human trafficking, pimping, and pandering a 17-year-old girl. Jahsee Elan Brewster, 33, Denver, Colorado, and Clifton Haralson, 34, Colorado, were found guilty by a jury on Nov. 16, 2016, of one felony count of human trafficking of a minor, one felony count of pimping a minor, one felony count of pandering by procuring, and one felony count of carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in public. Brewster was sentenced to five years in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration, and Haralson was sentenced today to eight years in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration.
Co-defendant Jovon Andrew Williams, 21, Denver, Colorado, pleaded guilty on Oct. 13, 2016, to one felony count of pandering and was sentenced on Nov. 18, 2016, to three years in state prison. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE
Case # 15CF0763
Date: January 27, 2017
MAN TO FACE TRIAL FOR SHOOTING-MURDER OF SISTER’S BOYFRIEND BEFORE FLEEING TO MEXICO
SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man is scheduled to face trial on Monday for the shooting-murder of his sister’s boyfriend before fleeing to Mexico. Adan Rodriguez Leon, 34, Santa Ana, was charged on April 13, 2015, with one felony count of murder and a sentencing enhancement for personal discharge of a firearm causing death. If convicted, Leon faces a maximum sentence of 52 years to life in state prison. The defendant is being held on $5 million bail, and opening statements are scheduled to begin Monday, Jan. 30, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-44, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
At approximately 2:30 p.m. on April 8, 2015, Leon is accused of going to the home of his sister’s boyfriend, 39-year-old Paul Guzman, in Santa Ana. The defendant is accused of contacting Guzman and walking down the sidewalk with him. Leon is accused of pulling out a loaded firearm, shooting the victim multiple times, and fleeing the scene. Continue reading
While the Santa Ana City Council considers blowing $123 million in Federal funds, while stubbornly clinging to their new Sanctuary City status, folks keep getting shot. Two more men were shot and wounded tonight – a day after two men were shot yesterday evening.
SAPD police officers showed up at the intersection of W. 15th and N. Durant Streets, after getting reports about a shooting, at about 8:25 p.m., according to the O.C. Register. Continue reading