Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Category Archives: Crime

Gangbanger will spend 26 years to life in prison after stabbing and killing a family man

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Gangs, Garden Grove Leave a comment

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

Case # 14WF0136

Date: October 7, 2016

MAN SENTENCED TO 26 YEARS TO LIFE PRISON FOR STABBING-MURDER OF STRANGER IN PARKING LOT

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man was sentenced to 26 years to life in state prison today for the stabbing-murder of a stranger in a parking lot. Daniel Perez Munoz, 23, Garden Grove, was found guilty by a jury on Aug. 16, 2016, of one felony count of murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a knife.

On Jan. 11, 2014, Perez Munoz was drinking with friends in an apartment parking lot in Stanton. The defendant walked to the parking lot of a nearby business and approached a local family man, 52-year-old Phuong “Bob” Huynh, who was walking to a store. Perez Munoz confronted Huynh and stabbed the victim several times in the neck and chest. The victim took one or two steps before he collapsed and died at the scene from the stab wounds. Perez Munoz fled the scene. Continue reading→

OCDA gang investigator recognized for collaborating with the O.C. Probation Dept.

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Gangs, OCDA, Orange County Leave a comment

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

Date: October 5, 2016

OCDA GRIP INVESTIGATOR RECOGNIZED BY OC PROBATION DEPARTMENT CHIEF FOR HIS COLLABORATIVE WORK

SANTA ANA, Calif. – Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) Investigator Kevin Ruiz was recognized by Orange County Probation Department Chief Steven Sentman for his collaborative work at the Annual Chief’s Award Ceremony. Investigator Ruiz is currently assigned to the Orange County Gang Reduction and Intervention Partnership (OC GRIP) and was recognized yesterday, Oct. 4, 2016, as a collaborative partner representing the OCDA.

Investigator Ruiz has been in law enforcement for 40 years, retiring as a corporal in the Santa Ana Police Department Gang Unit before joining the OCDA. Investigator Ruiz trains probation officers on officer safety and search and seizure methodology, and has earned respect from his peers for his dedication and teamwork skills. With OC GRIP, Investigator Ruiz partners with police departments to provide education and recreational opportunities for at-risk students, which then increases school attendance and decreases gang activity. Most of these students had never participated in teams or programs outside of school due to a lack of resources or familial support. OC GRIP also supports students by holding hundreds of parent intervention meetings, faculty presentations and gang prevention education courses prepared and delivered by law enforcement agents. OC GRIP sponsored clubs and camps provide a safe, confidence-building environment for at-risk juveniles across the county. Continue reading→

Woman charged with forcing children to commit lewd acts in front of her

Posted on by Posted in Crime, OCDA, Orange, Santa Ana 1 Comment
Brandi Alma Valadez

Brandi Alma Valadez

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

TONY RACKAUCKAS, District Attorney

Case # 16CF2555

Date: October 6, 2016

WOMAN CHARGED WITH SEXUALLY ABUSING CHILDREN BY FORCING THEM TO COMMIT LEWD ACTS ON EACH OTHER IN FRONT OF HER

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A woman has been charged with sexually abusing children by forcing them to commit lewd acts on each other in front of her. Brandi Alma Valadez, 40, was charged on Oct. 3, 2016 with two felony counts of lewd acts on a child under 14, two felony counts of forcible lewd acts on a child under 14, and two felony counts of child abuse, with a sentencing enhancement for multiple victims. The defendant has lived in multiple cities. If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of life in state prison. Valadez is being held on $1 million bail and is scheduled for a continued arraignment on Nov. 4, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana.

In August 2014, Valadez, who knew the victims and was in a position of trust, is accused of being aware that John Doe 1, who was under the age of 13, committed lewd acts on Jane Doe, who was under the age of seven, in her residence. The defendant is accused of forcing John Doe 2, who was under the age of 10, and Jane Doe to engage in lewd acts with each other. Valadez is also accused of sexually assaulting Jane Doe. The defendant is accused of abusing Jane Doe and John Doe 2 by willfully inflicting unjustifiable physical pain and mental suffering on the children. Continue reading→

Man suspected of multiple burglaries arrested by the SAPD

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

Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: SAPD Arrests Wanted Suspect In GTA & Felony Evading Investigation. Suspect Booked On Additional Charges Of Commercial Burglary

Arrested: Maurice Alexander Topps (42) Laguna Woods

Suspect Maurice Topps was taken into custody on 10/3/2016 while SAPD officers were investigating a computer theft he was involved in at the Santa Ana College Campus.

Based on information gathered during this investigation, to date, Maurice Topps has been identified in at least seven commercial burglaries in the cities of Santa Ana, Orange, and Anaheim. Additional burglaries are being investigated, as well as investigative leads for additional suspects involved in the burglaries. Continue reading→

Man charged with attacking and trying to murder an SAUSD School Police Officer

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

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

Case # 16CF2553

Date: October 4, 2016

MAN ARRAIGNED FOR ASSAULTING AND ATTEMPTING TO MURDER SCHOOL POLICE OFFICER BY GOUGING HIS EYE AND CHOKING HIM

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man was charged and arraigned yesterday for assaulting and attempting to murder a school police officer by gouging his eye and choking him. Enrique Martinez, 28, Santa Ana, is charged with one felony count of attempted murder on a peace officer, one felony count of attempted mayhem, one felony count of resisting an executive officer, one felony count of assault on a school police officer, one felony count of battery on a peace officer, one felony count of reckless driving while evading a peace officer, and one felony count of burglary. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in state prison. Martinez is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on Oct. 13, 2016, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-55, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana. Continue reading→

The SAPD receives a federal grant to hire more police officers

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Federal Government, Public Safety, Santa Ana Leave a comment

cops

City of Santa Ana

Community: Santa Ana Police Department Receives Third Consecutive COPS Grant Award of $1.25M

SANTA ANA – For the third year in a row, the Santa Ana Police Department was awarded $1,250,000 in grant funding for the addition of 10 police officers by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). This brings the total amount awarded to $3.75 million for the addition of 30 police officers over the past three years.

Mayor Pulido attested, “One of our top priorities is the safety of our community and we are committed to hiring more police officers.” Continue reading→

A homeless woman attacked a college student at the DTSA 2nd St. Promenade last week

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Education, Santa Ana 3 Comments
DTSA 2nd Street Promenade

DTSA 2nd Street Promenade

The homeless problem in Santa Ana is beginning to impact our local schools. In the latest incident, which occurred last Monday at around 6 a.m. in the morning, a female student at the CSUF Grand Central Arts Center was leaving the building, which is in DTSA at the 2nd Street Plaza, when a female homeless person immediately confront the student in an aggressive manner.

The victim asked that the individual leave her alone, but the individual got more aggressive to the point of hitting the student. The student then fled to the parking structure area, in hopes that security at the structure might assist, with the attacking individual still in pursuit. As police were called, the suspect fled before police could arrive and was of course not found once they did finally show up on the scene. Continue reading→

Over 800 crimes were reported in Santa Ana this week

Posted on by Posted in 2016 Elections, Crime, Jessica Byulnim Cha, Juan Villegas, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment
crimes-in-santa-ana-for-the-week-of-9-25-16

Santa Ana crime summary for the week of 9/25/16, courtesy of Crimemapping.com

The elections are upon us and the Santa Ana City Council incumbents who are up for re-election – Vince Sarmiento and Roman Reyna, want you to believe that crime is going down in our city. However even though the SAPD does not report their crime log (unlike many other cities including Anaheim, Irvine and Fountain Valley), we can take a look at the crimes occurring in our city on Crimemapping.com.

Crimemapping.com reports that there were over 800 crimes committed in Santa Ana during the past week, from last Sunday through yesterday. These crimes included: Continue reading→

The SAPD is conducting a training exercise in the Civic Center this morning

Posted on by Posted in Crime, homeless, Orange County, Public Safety, Santa Ana Leave a comment
sapd-training-exercise-400x212

Photo by Igmar Rodas

If you saw the caution tape around Santa Ana’s Civic Center this morning please don’t panic. It is just an SAPD training exercise, according to my sources.

The Civic Center has become a real problem over the past year as the homeless population has exploded. Just a few weeks ago an altercation between SAPD police officers and a homeless man led to a police shooting. The homeless man died as a result of his injuries. Continue reading→

A man tried to murder an SAUSD school police officer today after invading a home

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Drugs, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Vince Sarmiento 6 Comments

We have written quite a bit this year about the massive increase in violent crime in Santa Ana – and how shorthanded our police department is. What we don’t often talk about is how much our SAUSD School Police do to keep our community safe.

Today, for example, there was an outrageous episode that started just before 3 p.m., when the SAUSD School Police Dispatch got a call from SAUSD employees who were accosted by a male suspect while they were in a parked vehicle in the parking lot between one of our local elementary schools and one of our city parks. I am withholding their identity to protect my source – but I can tell you that this happened in Councilman Roman Reyna’s Ward. Continue reading→

The FBI says violent crime is up 51.87% and homicides are up 61.54% in Santa Ana

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Rojas, Crime, FBI, Santa Ana 3 Comments
Benavides and Tinajero left the Public Safety Committee meeting early to go hang out with Gavin Newsom

Benavides and Tinajero left the Public Safety Committee meeting early to go hang out with Gavin Newsom

Did you know that our Santa Ana City Council Members rarely show up for their own public Committee meetings? The Voice of OC published an expose about this here. In that post they revealed that the Santa Ana Public Safety and Neighborhood Improvement Committee meetings on March 22, May 24 and July 26 were all canceled. This in a city that is in the grips of an unprecedented rise in violent crime!

The members of that Committee, which includes Council Members Sal Tinajero and David Benavides, finally held a Public Safety and Neighborhood Improvement Committee meeting yesterday.  Incredibly they had not held a meeting of this Committee since January of this year. Their excuse is that they don’t have time for these meetings because they are a part-time City Council. (Their solution is their Measure PP – which will give them a 700% pay raise). Continue reading→

Transient sentenced to four years in prison after he broke into the S.A. Zoo and claimed to be Tarzan

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Mental Health, Santa Ana Leave a comment

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

TONY RACKAUCKAS, District Attorney

Cases 15WF1740 & 15WF1737

Date: September 28, 2016

MAN SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS IN PRISON FOR TWO SEPARATE BURGLARY AND ROBBERY CASES

WESTMINSTER, Calif. – A man was convicted and sentenced yesterday to four years in state prison for two separate burglary and robbery cases. John Williams Rodenborn, 38, Huntington Beach, pleaded guilty to one felony count of second degree robbery and one felony count of criminal threats with sentencing enhancement for two prior felony convictions for burglary in 1996 in Placer and 1999 in Orange (Case 15WF1740). He also pleaded guilty to one felony count of second degree commercial burglary and one misdemeanor count of aggravated trespassing (Case 15WF1737). Continue reading→

Body cameras and police hiring to be discussed at the Santa Ana Public Safety meeting on 9/27

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Politics, Public Safety, Santa Ana 1 Comment

PUBLIC SAFETY AND NEIGHBORHOOD IMPROVEMENT SPECIAL MEETING

September 27, 2016, 4:30 P.M.

City Hall Ross Annex, Conference Room 1600, 20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, California

AGENDA ITEMS

1. Approval of Minutes of the 2-22-16 Meeting

2. City Surplus Budget Review (Surplus Budget Presentation) – Francisco Gutierrez, Exec. Director, Finance and Management Services Agency {Strategic Plan Goal No. 4, 3b and 3c} Continue reading→

A family’s car was hit by gunfire as they drove by Jerome Park last night

Posted on by Posted in Crime, David Benavides, Gangs, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Last night at about 10:30 p.m. a shooting occurred at 800 S. Townsend, in Santa Ana, according to SAPD Case Number 16-24254.

A family, including two adults and two children, was driving in the area when they heard a gunshot. Immediately afterwards, the front passenger window of their vehicle shattered. Fortunately no one was hit. Continue reading→

The SAPD is trying to identify an armed gas station robbery suspect

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

santa-ana-shell-gas-station-robbery-suspect-2

Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: Robbery Detective Request Assistance In Identifying Armed Robbery Suspect

Location: 710 E. Dyer Road – Circle K/Shell Gas Station

Synopsis: On 09/22/2016 at approximately 3:50 a.m., the suspect entered the Circle-K store, pointed a black semi-auto handgun at the cashier, and demanded money. The suspect fled on foot westbound on Dyer Road then possibly got on a bicycle and continued west toward Halladay. The suspect was wearing a light blue hoodie sweatshirt with dark blue sweats with a light blue stripe. Continue reading→