A man was injured today in what the SAPD is calling a gang-related shooting while he was driving at the 2800 block of West Edinger Ave., near Centennial Regional Park, according to the O.C. Register.
The shooting took place in the early morning. The police did not identify the victim or the shooter. Continue reading→
When Lizbeth Mateo, a 16-year-old from Seattle, WA who was visiting family in Santa Ana, disappeared from El Festival Hall Nightclub, in Downtown Santa Ana, after celebrating New Year’s Day there, many of our readers wondered why a teenager was allowed to party at a nightclub that is supposed to be for those 21 years and older.
Mateo has since been found but the questions about El Festival Hall Night Club persist. Continue reading→
Update: The missing minor Lizbeth Mateo, who disappeared early this morning from El Festival Club, located at 230 East 3rd Street, in Santa Ana has been located in the City of Anaheim.
Mateo is being reunited with her family.
The SAPD investigation into the circumstances of her disappearance continue. Continue reading→
Santa Ana Police Department
Advisory: SAPD Detectives Request Public And Media Assistance In Locating Missing Minor
Missing Person: Mateo, Lizbeth DOB: 03-07-1999, 16 year old Hispanic, female 5’0 tall, 120 pounds, black long hair down to her waist, brown eyes, last seen wearing the same clothing in the picture provided.
Location: last seen at the El Festival Club, 230 East 3rd Street, Santa Ana
Synopsis: Mateo resides in Kent, Washington however is visiting family in the 500 block of South Cypress in Santa Ana for the holidays. Mateo was with a family member and dancing at the El Festival Club on 1-1-2016. She was last seen at 1:30am, on 1-2-2016, in the El Festival Club when she told the family member she was going to the restroom. Mateo never returned to the table and has not been seen or made contact with family members since. Continue reading→
The New Year is barely underway and already we have an armed robbery to report here in Santa Ana. The victim was sitting in his car early this morning when he was robbed by two armed suspects, according to the O.C. Register.
SAPD police officers got a call about the incident just after 6 a.m. today. The robbery happened at the 900 block of East Pine Street. Continue reading→
It’s a New Year today but last year’s violence in Santa Ana has continued as two men were shot on New Year’s Eve and early on New Year’s Day, according to the O.C. Register.
SAPD police officers responded on Thursday night, at about 9:50 p.m., to a shooting call at the 1000 block of South Sullivan Street, just west of Jerome Park, where they found that a male homeless person had been shot from behind by an unknown attacker.
The homeless victim was shot in the lower calf and ended up at a local hospital with a wound that did not appear to be life-threatening. Continue reading→
A recall campaign against Judge Marc Kelly, an Orange County Superior Court judge who reduced the sentence for a Santa Ana man convicted of sexually assaulting a 3-year-old relative, has fizzled after organizers were unable to gather enough signatures to put the recall on the June ballot, according to the O.C. Register.
The recall effort was launched against Kelly in reaction to his April ruling in the Kevin Jonas Rojano-Nieto case, in which Rojano-Nieto was convicted of sexual assault of a 3-year-old relative. Despite state law imposing a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years, Kelly slashed the sentence down by 60% to 10 years, according to OC Political. Continue reading→
Santa Ana Police Department
Advisory: UPDATE: SAPD Detectives locate fatal hit and run suspect vehicle
Suspect: Belen Guadalupe Sicair, (22) Santa Ana
Booking Charges: 20001(a) VC-Felony Hit and Run
Summary: On 11/29/15 at approximately 1:43 a.m., officers responded to the scene of a vehicle vs. pedestrian hit and run fatal traffic collision at 1200 W. 1st St.
The investigation revealed that a blue obsidian pearl Honda Accord (midnight blue) struck a pedestrian as the pedestrian was crossing 1st St. The Honda fled from the scene westbound on 1st St. without providing identification or rendering aid to the pedestrian. Continue reading→
Several vehicles were involved in a collision on Wednesday night, and one of the cars crashed into a beauty salon at the 600 block of South Main St., according to the O.C. Register.
The SAPD received a call about the accident at 10:03 p.m. Continue reading→
OCTA Offering Free Bus Rides on New Year’s Eve
Free bus rides on New Year’s Eve is back! So go ahead and plan a fun night on the town and OC Bus will get you there and back safely. OCTA is providing free rides on any fixed route bus beginning on Thursday December 31st at 6 pm and extending through 2:30 am on Friday January 1st.
Taking the bus is pretty easy. Even after a great party you can probably figure things out. Just in case, you can find everything you need to plan your trip in OCTA’s how to ride section. OCTA encourages you to plan ahead using the Google Trip Planner since not all routes run past midnight. Remember it is free after 6 pm, so bring $2 bus fare if you are getting an early start. Continue reading→
Newport Beach Police Department
Community Press Release – Homicide Investigation UPDATE
Arrested: Isaac Nieto Hernandez, male Hispanic, 29-year-old resident of Santa Ana
On Tuesday, December 29, 2015 at approximately 12:11 a.m., the Newport Beach Police Department received a call regarding suspicious circumstances. The callers were concerned about their associate, a young woman who was last seen at an office building on Campus Drive an hour or two earlier. The callers had searched for the young woman, but were unable to find her. She had also stopped responding to text messages or answering her cell phone, which raised concern for her safety.
Officers responded and began to search the area. Shortly after 1:30 a.m., they located the woman, deceased, inside the building located at 5030 Campus Drive. The Orange County Coroner’s Office has identified the victim as Sarai Alcaraz, a 23-year-old resident of Long Beach. The cause of death has not yet been determined. Detectives are currently investigating this incident as a homicide, however and manner and cause of death will be determined pending autopsy and toxicology reports from the Coroner’s Office. Continue reading→
Many community activists in Santa Ana have openly wondered why the vacated OCTA bus terminal, at 405 W. 5th St., has not been used to provide temporary shelter for the many homeless who gather at the Civic Center every day. Now the County of Orange is finally in a position to make this happen as they are finalizing the purchase of the bus terminal, according to the O.C. Register.
The terminal will be purchased for $3.3 million dollars, which will include the terminal and a 473-space parking structure and a seven-story office building that will remain the headquarters of the Orange County Health Care Agency.
The OCTA opened the bus terminal in 1984 but stopped using it in 2008 instead of renovating it to fit the newly designed, natural-gas fueled buses that have become much of the OCTA’s fleet today. Continue reading→
John Luis Whelpley, a 45-year-old ex-con, was charged on Tuesday with assault and making criminal threats for allegedly attacking a 3-year-old girl with a screwdriver and another victim with a flower pot, golf club and a chunk of concrete in Santa Ana on Christmas Eve, according to the O.C. Register.
Whelpley was charged with four felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily injury and one count of making criminal threats, according to court records. Continue reading→
Join the launch of the Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble’s Winter Playwriting Series on January 9th @ GCAC
WHEN: Saturday, January 9 @ 1:00pm to 4:00 pm
WHERE: CSUF Grand Central Arts Center (basement space). 125 N Broadway, in Santa Ana
The Launch is to help participants learn more about the series, expectations, the organization, the teaching artists and each other.
Each workshop is FREE with an emphasis on playwriting taught by theater professionals. No experience necessary. Spaces are limited. A public shared reading will culminate the winter series. This is an opportunity for our writers to hear their work read out loud in a staged reading format. All are encouraged to participate as writers, readers, and/or audience members. Continue reading→
A man was stabbed at the 2600 block of Cypress Avenue, at around 4 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, according to the O.C. Register.
The man had a knife wound in his lower left leg. He ended up at a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
A male suspect is thought to have fled in a black SUV. The SAPD has not established if the two men knew each other or what might have led to the attack. Continue reading→
