The Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) is conducting a public hearing with invited presenters regarding the issue of rehabilitation exploitation and health care trafficking in Orange County, on Monday, March 12, 2018, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Continue reading
Category Archives: Drugs
OC Democrats who don’t live in Santa Ana want to bring the needle exchange back to DTSA
Should Santa Ana allow the Needle Exchange to operate again in the Civic Center?
Once again, people who do not live in Santa Ana are trying to tell our city what to do. After operating in the Civic Center for 2 years, the Orange County Needle Exchange Program (OCNEP) was denied a permit to continue giving out free needles in the Civic Center every Saturday. In January, the city decided that finding needles in our Civic Center, library, parks, and neighborhoods was a public safety issue, and could no longer allow the program to put resident’s and city worker’s safety at risk. Continue reading
Santa Ana heroin addict gets only 6 years in jail after multiple assaults and robberies
Hector Maldonado Ibarra, a 30-year-old Santa Ana man, plead guilty on Monday to five theft cases involving stealing from stores – including the pistol whipping of one victim, according to the O.C. Register.
Ibarra was sentenced to only six years in prison for two felony cases and several misdemeanors. Continue reading
The new O.C. mental health facility will be located in Orange
Homeless Response: In 24 months, Orange County will open $26 million mental health facility
O.C.’s first publicly-owned mental health treatment facility
Santa Ana, Calif. (February 28, 2018) — With its largest homeless encampment now dismantled, Orange County is moving forward with a $26 million investment in the county’s first publicly-owned mental health treatment facility, to be located at 265 S. Anita Drive, in Orange, CA.
On Tuesday, the Orange County Board of Supervisors approved the purchase of an office building in Orange that will be renovated into a treatment center for people with mental health and substance abuse problems. Continue reading
LA/OC rehab center owner convicted of sexually assaulting seven female patients
Rehab Center Owner Convicted of Sexually Assaulting Seven Female Patients
The founder of a Los Angeles drug and alcohol treatment facility was convicted today of sexually assaulting seven women, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.
A jury deliberated for about a day before finding 56-year-old Christopher Bathum guilty of 31 counts, including forcible rape, sexual penetration by foreign object, forcible oral copulation and sexual exploitation. Continue reading
The City of Santa Ana shut down Sky High and another illegal pot dispensary today
Sky High Holistic, an infamous medical marijuana dispensary that sued the City of Santa Ana and got an award of $100K after SAPD police officers raided them back in 2015, was raided again today as Santa Ana Code Enforcement and police officers finally closed down the illegal business, according to the O.C. Register.
The lawsuit in 2015 was due to the fact that several SAPD police officers busted Sky High’s video equipment while eating their granola bars. They also threatened a disabled woman. Continue reading
A car crashed into the second floor of a building in Santa Ana early this morning
Santa Ana Police Department
Advisory: Officers Working Vehicle Into Building Collision 300 Block East 17th Street
SAPD police officers responded to a collision involving a single vehicle into a commercial business early this morning, at the 300 block of East 17th St.. Upon arrival the police officers observed an occupied white sedan that was partially wedged into the second floor of a dental office.
They determined the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed, northbound on French approaching 17th. The driver continued northbound and struck the raised center median on 17th, which launched the vehicle into the air. The vehicle struck the 2nd floor of the building and remained lodged. Continue reading
Where you can legally buy recreational marijuana in Santa Ana on Jan. 1
Santa Ana dispensaries will be able to sell marijuana to adults 21 and older with just an ID starting at 7 a.m. on New Year’s Day after the state issued last-minute licenses to shops on Saturday, Dec. 30, according to the O.C. Register.
While the State of California will legalize recreational cannabis sales on Jan. 1, because the voters approved this when they voted for Prop. 64 in 2016, only a few cities, including San Diego and the Coachella Valley, have passed local ordinances allowing for legal marijuana sales. The City of Los Angeles is still weeks away from getting local permits approved. The City of West Hollywood won’t let its local pot shops start selling marijuana until Jan. 2. Continue reading
Why is the City of Santa Ana misleading us about Hepatitis A cases in Orange County?
Is the city of Santa Ana telling us the truth about Hepatitis A?
A recent article on the homeless encampments in the Civic Center quotes Robert Cortez from the City Manager’s office:
“Cortez said city leaders are concerned about disease as a statewide outbreak of hepatitis that started in a San Diego homeless encampment and spread to Los Angeles and beyond. So far 672 have been reported statewide, but none in Orange County.” Continue reading
The SAPD is conducting a DUI and driver’s license checkpoint on Friday, Dec. 22
Santa Ana Police Department
SANTA ANA POLICE STEP UP DUI ENFORCEMENT
The Santa Ana Police Department will be conducting a DUI / Driver’s License checkpoint on Friday December 22nd, 2017. It will begin at 9:30 PM and is scheduled to conclude at 2:30 AM. It will be conducted in the area of 500 W First Street, in the City of Santa Ana.
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 / Driver’s 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
A burglary suspect allegedly on drugs crashed while fleeing from the SAPD
The SAPD had their hands full on Friday night, Dec. 8, when they arrested Leoncio Gutierrez, a suspect thought to be on drugs who was driving on the wrong side of the road when he ran a red light and crashed into two cars – all while he was fleeing from the police, according to the O.C. Register.
The pursuit happened as the SAPD was responding to a commercial burglary on South Lyon St. A witness had reported seeing 80 suspects breaking into a building. Apparently there was a rave going on nearby. Continue reading
The SAPD is conducting a DUI and Driver’s License Checkpoint on 12/9
Santa Ana Police Department
SANTA ANA POLICE STEP UP DUI ENFORCEMENT
The Santa Ana Police Department will be conducting a DUI / Driver’s License checkpoint on Saturday December 9th, 2017. It will begin at 9:30 p.m. and is scheduled to conclude at 2:30 a.m. It will be conducted in the area of 3500 W 5th Street, in the City of Santa Ana. Continue reading
Man pleads guilty to a fatal DUI collision that killed a popular Santa Ana runner
John Motesharrei, a 40-year-old Westminster man, pleaded guilty on his birthday Tuesday to a hit-and-run collision that killed Juan Ramirez Garcia, a 48-year-old Santa Ana man who was jogging in Fountain Valley, according to the O.C. Register.
Motesharrei pleaded guilty to hit and run with permanent injury, a felony, and hit and run with property damage, a misdemeanor. Continue reading
The SAPD is conducting a DUI checkpoint on Nov. 22
Santa Ana Police Department
Advisory: SAPD conducting a DUI/Drivers License checkpoint on Wed, Nov 22th, 2017, 7:30PM to 1:30AM, 1000 E. 4th Street
SANTA ANA POLICE STEP UP DUI ENFORCEMENT
The Santa Ana Police Department will be conducting a DUI / Driver’s License checkpoint on Wednesday November 22, 2017. It will begin at 7:30 PM and is scheduled to conclude at 1:30 AM. It will be conducted in the area of 1000 E 4th. Street, in the City of Santa Ana. Continue reading
Santa Ana man gets 8 years in prison for charges including eluding police and gang activity
Daniel Enrique Ramirez
Daniel Enrique Ramirez, 24, of Santa Ana; and Joshua Rudy Ramirez, 21, of Corona, pleaded guilty to gang activity, eluding police and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to the O.C. Register.
Both men were sentenced to eight years in prison after they led the SAPD on a high-speed pursuit that began in Santa Ana and ended when they crashed into an 80-year-old woman’s bedroom in Fountain Valley. Continue reading