Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Category Archives: Santa Ana

Why is the Santa Ana City Council wasting time opposing Trump while gangs run amok in our city?

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, David Benavides, immigration, Juan Villegas, Santa Ana 2 Comments

Crime in Santa Ana from 2.5 to 2.7.17, courtesy of CrimeMapping.com

The Santa Ana City Council voted 4-2 last night to prepare a resolution condemning President Trump’s executive orders withholding funds from sanctuary cities and barring immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S., according to the O.C. Register.

The only Council Members who opposed this pointless measure were Mayor Miguel Pulido and Councilman Juan Villegas. Councilmember Michele Martinez left before the matter was voted upon. Continue reading→

The new OCTA 53Xpress bus will speed up commutes on Main St. from Santa Ana to Anaheim

Posted on by Posted in Anaheim, OCTA, Orange County, Santa Ana Leave a comment

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Joel Zlotnik (714) 560-5713, Eric Carpenter (714) 560-5697

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb. 7, 2017

53Xpress Route to Speed Up Main Street Commute

New weekday service will have fewer stops along Route 53 between Anaheim and Santa Ana

ORANGE – Working, shopping or dining along Main Street is about to become more convenient, thanks to the Orange County Transportation Authority’s new OC Bus limited-stop 53Xpress service.

The new service, launching Monday, Feb. 13, runs along Main Street through downtown Santa Ana, with fewer stops along the popular Route 53 to speed up the commute for those riders traveling longer distances. Continue reading→

The Santa Ana City Council will consider an anti-food truck ordinance on Tuesday night

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Food, Food Trucks, Public Safety, Santa Ana 2 Comments

The Santa Ana City Council is considering a proposed ordinance that will make it very difficult for food trucks to do business in Santa Ana. The hearing will be held on Tuesday night. Click here to read the staff report.

City traffic engineering staff found that vending trucks in the vicinity of schools, parks and community centers encouraged children to cross streets mid-block, and that lines could block sidewalks and force pedestrians to detour onto the street, according to the O.C. Register. Continue reading→

A 9-year old girl died in a car accident in Santa Ana on Sunday night

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

Melissa Guadalupe Hernandez, a 9-year old girl who attended Jim Thorpe Fundamental School, died after two cars crashed into each other on Sunday night at around 11:30 p.m., in front of the South Coast Global Medical Center at 2701 South Bristol Street, according to the O.C. Register.

Hernandez was riding in a Honda Civic, with her father, when their car was broadsided by a Toyota Camry, according to the SAPD. Continue reading→

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman gets probation after driving the wrong way on the 5 Freeway in Santa Ana

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

Washed up former NBA star Dennis Rodman will serve three years of probation after admitting that he drove an SUV unto the exit ramp for the carpool lane for the 5 Freeway, which is located on Main St., just south of the Discovery Cube, according to the O.C. Register.

At approximately 12:30 a.m. on July 20, 2016, Rodman drove a sport utility vehicle traveling north in the southbound carpool lane on Interstate 5 near Main Street in Santa Ana. The lane bears concrete dividing walls on either side. Rodman drove head-on toward a sedan, causing the driver of the sedan to swerve and crash into a dividing wall to avoid contact with the defendant’s vehicle. The victim called 911 and California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers responded to the scene. Rodman failed to exchange information with the other driver and fled the scene prior to CHP’s arrival, according to the OCDA.
Continue reading→

A Santa Ana man was followed then shot at Southeast of Jerome Park

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

McDonald’s at S. Pacific and Edinger Ave

This Sunday morning, at about 11:30 a.m., a man was exiting the McDonald’s parking lot at S. Pacific and Edinger Ave. when he realized that he was being followed by a black, older model Acura sedan.

When the man stopped his vehicle at W. Lingan and S. Raitt the Acura pulled up alongside the victim’s driver’s side door. The passenger of the Acura, described as a male Hispanic gang member, asked the victim where he was from, according to SAPD Case number 17-03359. Continue reading→

2017 started with 27 shootings in Santa Ana in the month of January

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Santa Ana 1 Comment

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→

More Granny Flats approved in Santa Ana despite the lack of neighborhood parking

Posted on by Posted in Development, Housing, Planning, Real Estate, Santa Ana Leave a comment

The city of Santa Ana decided to adopt the state of California’s new Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) ordinance effective January 1st, which will allow a detached building up to 1,200 sq ft. to be built on an existing residential property or even an existing garage to be converted into a living space.

For the last year, Santa Ana residents have voiced their concerns that the state ordinance does not require the property owner to provide parking for the tenants of these new ADU’s and will just make the existing street parking problem in our city even worse. Continue reading→

Death penalty for sex offender who kidnapped and murdered three Santa Ana women

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

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE

Case #14ZF0337

Date: February 3, 2017

REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER SENTENCED TO RECEIVE DEATH PENALTY FOR SPECIAL-CIRCUMSTANCES MURDER OF FOUR WOMEN AFTER KIDNAPPING THE VICTIMS

*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→

A man was shot and wounded early this morning near Spurgeon Intermediate School

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

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→

Santa Ana man arrested by the Irvine Police for stealing high-end jewelry

Posted on by Posted in Crime, irvine, Santa Ana 2 Comments

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→

Possible kidnapper fled from the SAPD but then crashed his car into a tree in Irvine

Posted on by Posted in Crime, irvine, Santa Ana 1 Comment

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→

If you live in Santa Ana which local school district is the best one for your kids?

Posted on by Posted in Education, irvine, Santa Ana, Tustin 13 Comments

Do you live in Santa Ana? If you have kids then you need to know that you don’t have to put them in our local schools. That said there are some fine schools in Santa Ana. But are they the best ones for your kids?

Parents are allowed to indicate a preference for the school which their child will attend, irrespective of the child’s place of residence within the district. And surrounding school districts have to honor this parental preference if their schools have sufficient capacity without displacing other currently enrolled students, according to California Education Code Section 35160.5(b).

So what school districts are the best ones in our area? Continue reading→

Santa Ana man who sodomized a 3-year old girl re-sentenced to 25 years to life in prison

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

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→

A vigil will be held on Jan. 31 in memory of Steve Salgado, who was shot by the SAPD

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Santa Ana 1 Comment

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→