City of Fountain Valley – Police Department
On February 17, 2015, at 10:00 pm, the pictured suspect entered Rite-Aid located at 18395 Brookhurst Street in Fountain Valley. The suspect selected a soda and approached an employee at the cash register. The suspect then grabbed his waistline and simulated having a handgun while demanding cash. The employee handed the suspect an undisclosed amount of cash at which time the suspect fled on foot. No vehicle was seen. Continue reading
**AMBER ALERT**** ***STATEWIDE***
ON 03/09/2015, AT APPROXIMATELY 0130 HOURS, JAYDEN NATHANIEL SANTIAGO WAS TAKEN FROM A LOCATION IN SAN PEDRO, CALIFORNIA, AFTER HIS FATHER VIOLENTLY ATTACKED THE CHILD’S MOTHER AND HER BOYFRIEND AT HER RESIDENCE.
THE VICTIM, JAYDEN SANTIAGO, IS A 1 YEAR OLD HISPANIC MALE, STANDING 24” TALL, WEIGHING 26 POUNDS, WITH BLACK HAIR, AND BROWN EYES. HE WAS LAST SEEING WEARING A LIGHT BROWN AND GREEN SWEATER, GREEN AND BROWN STRIPED ONESIE, AND BLACK AND WHITE NIKE SHOES. Continue reading
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 8, 2015
Released by: Lt. Bob Dunn, (714) 497-6330
Subject: **UPDATE** Officer Involved Shooting: 900 block of S. Roberts St.
At 5:30 P.M., Anaheim Police Officers were called to investigate a stabbing at a laundromat in the 900 block of S. Euclid St. Reports indicated a female suspect stabbed a female laundromat patron with a knife. As officers were responding, the female armed with the knife fled the scene. Area residents and business owners knew the woman, who was suspected in the stabbing lived in a nearby apartment complex. Witnesses directed officers to the apartment of Monique Jenee Deckard, in the 900 block of S. Roberts St.
Officers attempted to make contact with Deckard, who was reported to live alone. Deckard, talking to officers through the closed apartment door, indicated she was not coming out to speak with officers. An Anaheim Police Tactical Negotiator was on-duty and requested to the scene. However, before the negotiator arrived Deckard emerged from the apartment. She was armed with two knives and charged officers who were in the courtyard of her apartment complex. At this time, several Anaheim Police Officers were involved in an officer involved shooting. Deckard was struck by the gunfire and transported to a local hospital by Anaheim Fire & Rescue Paramedics. She was pronounced deceased shortly after arrival. Continue reading
A homeless man was arrested on suspicion of grand theft Friday morning after the SAPD, with the help of a sheriff’s department helicopter, found him hiding near Taqueria El Perico, 716 E. First St., where a man reported that his cellphone had been stolen, according to the O.C. Register.
Apparently the homeless man grabbed the cellphone from a fellow who was standing outside the restaurant, as he was talking to someone on the phone. The homeless man then fled south on Hickory St., in Santa Ana’s Ward 2, which is represented on the City Council by Councilwoman Michele Martinez. Ironically Martinez herself has had both a purse and a bicycle stolen during her time as a City Council Member. Continue reading
Irvine Police Department Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PRESS RELEASE: 03/08/2015
Subject: Man Arrested for Assault on Neighbor
Contact : Farrah Emami, Public Information Officer, 949-724-7112, femami@cityofirvine.org
IRVINE, CA – An Irvine man has been arrested for assaulting and threatening his neighbor. Nathaniel Estes, 35, was arrested this morning, March 8, 2015, following a stand-off with Irvine Police Department (IPD) officers.
At approximately 2:00 a.m., IPD responded to an apartment complex on the 500 block of Veneto regarding a male subject causing a disturbance and threatening to kill a neighbor. Continue reading
Violent thief in custody
From the Huntington Beach Police Department’s Facebook page
At about 8:15 last night, we received a call of a robbery at the Starbucks on Adams Avenue at Brookhurst Street. The suspect had grabbed the tip jar from the counter and ran into the parking lot where he was followed by a customer. The customer confronted the suspect about the theft, and the suspect grabbed a 40-pound metal sign and attacked the customer, striking him in the head. The suspect then got on a bicycle and fled from the area.
Officers arrived and started their investigation and area search for the suspect. A short time later, the suspect was located in the area of Brookhurst Street and Ellis Avenue in Fountain Valley. The suspect was later identified by the victim and other witnesses, and was found in possession of the stolen property. Our officers arrested Francisco Cardenas, a 26 year old resident of Santa Ana, for theft and assault with a deadly weapon, and he was booked in the Huntington Beach city jail. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE
Case # 12NF0309
Date: March 6, 2015
SANTA ANA – A drunken driver was sentenced today to 15 years to life in state prison for murdering one and injuring two others in a head-on crash after driving the wrong way into oncoming traffic on two separate Orange County freeways. Ruben Gurrola, 26, Pomona, was found guilty by a jury on Nov. 14, 2014, of one felony count each of murder, driving under the influence causing bodily injury, driving with a blood alcohol level .08 percent or more causing injury, and a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury.
Late on the night of Jan. 28, 2012, Gurrola left a Newport Beach bar with his then 24-year-old girlfriend Allison Poon after several hours of drinking alcohol with friends. The defendant took a cab with Poon to a friend’s house. After arriving at the home, Gurrola got into the driver’s seat of a Honda sedan and drove away with Poon in the passenger seat. At approximately 1:40 a.m., the defendant drove under the influence of alcohol on the wrong side of the freeway into oncoming traffic, heading northbound in the southbound lanes of the 241 toll road. Several motorists called 911 and had to swerve to avoid being hit by the defendant. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE
Case # 15CF0049
Date: March 6, 2015
SANTA ANA – A former Signal Hill Police Department (SHPD) officer was arrested today on charges of using excessive force under the color of authority. Jacob Emory Swigger, 39, Lake Forest, is charged with one felony count of excessive force by a police officer and one felony count of assault with a firearm. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of four years in state prison. Swigger is out of custody on $50,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned on March 30, 2015. The time and department are to be determined.
At the time of the crime, Swigger was working as a police officer with SHPD. The defendant is accused of committing the crime on his way into work dressed in civilian clothing and driving his personal vehicle. Continue reading
Holding signs reading “Ernesto Canepa’s Life Matters” and with expletives directed toward police, more than a dozen people at Tuesday’s Santa Ana City Council meeting protested Friday’s officer-involved shooting that left Ernesto Javier Canepa Diaz, a 27-year-old man dead, according to the O.C. Register.
Few details have emerged about the incident. Santa On Tuesday, Santa Ana Police told the Orange County Register that Canepa was accused of robbing a 63-year-old woman on Feb. 13 while she was loading her grandchildren into a car in the 2300 block of N. Louise St., according to the Voice of OC. Continue reading
Santa Ana Police Department
Advisory: SAPD Homicide Detectives Arrest Two Suspects in El Zocalo Restaurant Murder Case
Victim: Jose De Jesus Mendoza Maria (32) Los Angeles
Suspect 1: Viyey Castaneda (29) Santa Ana (No Photo available)
Suspect 2: Anastacio Castaneda Rios (45) Santa Ana (No Photo available)
Location: El Zocalo (Restaurant) – 301 N. Tustin
Summary: On 3/2/15 at approximately 12:47 a.m , patrol officers responded to the El Zocalo Restaurant located at 301 N. Tustin regarding an unknown trouble call. Upon their arrival, officers discovered multiple gunshot victims at the scene. One victim was deceased at the scene and (4) other people were transported to area hospitals. CAP/Homicide Detectives responded to the scene and took over the investigation. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE
Case # 07NF2414
Date: March 3, 2015
MAN CONVICTED OF 1994 STABBING MURDER OF EX-GIRLFRIEND AND LOCKING HER BODY IN TRUNK OF HER CAR
SANTA ANA – A man was convicted today of stabbing and murdering his ex-girlfriend and locking her body in the trunk of her car in 1994. Samuel Agustin Lopez, 43, Placentia, was convicted by a jury of one felony count of murder and a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon. He faces a maximum sentence of 26 years to life in state prison at his sentencing on May 1, 2015, at 9:00a.m., inDepartment C-34, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
Samuel Lopez’s cousin, Xavier Francisco Lopez, 43, Anaheim, is charged with one felony count of special circumstances murder involving the infliction of torture. He faces a maximum sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole and is scheduled for jury trial on March 20, 2015, in Department C-34, Central Justice Center. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE
Case # 07NF2178
Date: March 3, 2015
*One co-defendant was sentenced and another co-defendant is awaiting re-trial in this case
SANTA ANA – A man was sentenced today to receive the death penalty for murdering his ex-girlfriend’s father and sister and attempting to kill her mother. The two murdered victims were set on fire and the third victim was left in a coma after suffering life-threatening injuries. Iftekhar Murtaza, 30, Van Nuys, was found guilty by a jury Nov. 22, 2013, of two felony counts of murder, one felony count of attempted murder, one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder, the special circumstance sentencing enhancements for multiple murders, and murder during the commission of kidnapping were found true. The same jury recommended the death penalty for Murtaza on Dec. 16, 2013.
Co-defendant Charles Anthony Murphy Jr., 30, Mission Hills, was found guilty by a jury Dec. 12, 2012, of two felony counts of special circumstances murder, one felony count of attempted murder, and one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder. The sentencing enhancements for multiple murders, murder during the commission of kidnapping, and murder for financial gain were found true. Murphy was convicted in his third re-trial, as a previous jury was unable to reach a verdict and the second re-trial was declared a mistrial. He was sentenced to life in state prison without the possibility of parole on Jan. 17, 2014. Continue reading
Irvine Police Department Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PRESS RELEASE: 03-03-15
Subject: Woman Arrested Following Domestic Dispute
Contact : Farrah Emami, Public Information Officer, 949-724-7112, FEmami@cityofirvine.org
IRVINE, CA – The Irvine Police Department (IPD) has arrested a woman following a domestic dispute. Debra Gardner, 57, was taken into custody after IPD responded to a residence on the 600 block of Hayes in Irvine regarding a single shot fired.
At approximately 5:15 p.m. on March 2, 2015, Gardner entered the residence of a male victim, with whom she was previously in a romantic relationship. The suspect was armed with a firearm. Gardner and the victim began to struggle in the doorway of the apartment, and a single shot was fired into the apartment. The shot hit an interior wall and no one was injured by the round. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE
Case # 15HF0219
Date: March 2, 2015
NEWPORT BEACH – Additional charges were filed today against two high school teachers for unlawful sexual intercourse and illegally providing alcohol and cocaine to a group of underage students after organizing a camping trip at San Clemente Beach. Melody Suzanne Lippert, 38, Covina, is facing additional charges of one felony count of unlawful sexual intercourse, one felony count of furnishing a controlled substance to a minor, and a sentencing enhancement for being four years or older than the minor, in addition to the original previous charge of one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Co-defendant Michelle Louise Ghirelli, 30, West Covina, is facing additional charges of one felony count of unlawful sexual intercourse, one felony count of furnishing a controlled substance to a minor, one felony count of oral copulation of a minor, and a sentencing enhancement for being four years or older than the minor, in addition to the original previous charge of one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Continue reading
A confrontation at El Zocalo Mexican Grill and Seafood, located at 301 N. Tustin Ave., in Santa Ana, ended violently early Monday morning when a gunman fatally shot one man and a crowd of customers and security guards subdued the shooter and another attacker, according to the L.A. Times.
Two men were also shot, but are expected to survive, and were taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana with another man whose head was injured, according to the O.C. Register. Continue reading