Orange County’s homeless population is becoming a big criminal problem, not just in Santa Ana but in surrounding areas.
On Monday, June 19, at about 5 p.m., when it was still broad daylight, a homeless man entered an Arco gas station located at 2490 Fairview Road, and he pretended to be armed with a weapon, according to the O.C. Register. Continue reading
Pearleen Hopkins
Dallas Frank Reichstein, a 48-year-old Santa Ana resident and repeat drunken driver, admitted guilt on Friday, June 16 and he faces 22 years in prison for a hit-and-run collision that left a pedestrian dead in Santa Ana, according to the O.C. Register.
Reichstein accepted felony charges of hit-and-run with permanent and serious injury and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. As part of his plea bargain with the OCDA, a murder charge will be dismissed. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Case # 12CF0764
Date: June 16, 2017
SANTA ANA, Calif. – A gang member was sentenced today to life in state prison without the possibility of parole for murdering an innocent bystander in a retaliatory gang shooting in Santa Ana.
Defendant: Rene Mojarra, 25, Santa Ana
Found guilty by a jury on March 14, 2017, of felony: Continue reading
A man suspected of burglary who attempted to hide inside a 7-Eleven located at 2745 W. McFadden Ave., was arrested late Thursday, June 15, after he crashed through the store’s ceiling tiles, according to the O.C. Register.
The suspect had apparently broken into several apartments at a complex located at 2701 W. McFadden Ave., at around 11 p.m., according to the SAPD. Continue reading
Monroe Elementary in Santa Ana
Santa Ana Police Department
Advisory: SAPD/OCSD Bomb Squad Working Suspicious Package at Armory
Location: 612 E. Warner – National Guard Armory
UPDATE: The SAPD has declared the scene to be safe as of 10:36 a.m.
Armory personnel discovered a suspicious package left near the south entrance gate. SAPD Officers are on scene and have established a perimeter. Monroe Elementary has been placed on lockdown. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE
Date: June 13, 2017
*Allegations characterized by the Orange County Grand Jury as “witch-hunt”
OCDA is addressing only the parts of the report pertaining to the Office and defers inquiries regarding the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to Sheriff Sandra Hutchens.
SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Orange County Grand Jury’s (OCGJ) report released today entitled “The Myth of the Orange County Jailhouse Informant Program,” confirms the steadfast position of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) both in court and in the media regarding informant matters. The OCGJ debunked the media “witch-hunt” for agency corruption, in examining People v. Dekraai and People v. Wozniak.
“The OCGJ is confident there is no program of jailhouse informant use for criminal investigation in the Orange County jails.” (p. 19). Furthermore, the OCGJ found that “Allegations of intentional motivation by a corrupt district attorney’s office … to violate citizen’s constitutional rights are unfounded. Disparate facts have been woven together and a combination of conjecture and random events have been juxtaposed to create a tenuous narrative insinuating nefarious intent. That narrative does not stand up to factual validation.” (p. 5)
Key points and findings include: Continue reading
Daniel Jones-Hoebel, a 19-year old transient, was arrested by the Garden Grove police on Saturday, June 10, in the Friday, June 9 stabbing of 20-year-old Genaro Diaz of Santa Ana, who later died of his injuries at a hospital, according to the O.C. Register.
Antonio Esquivel, a 21-year old resident of Garden Grove, was arrested shortly after the Garden Grove police found Diaz, who was stabbed in the chest, at the 12800 block of Haster Street, just after 9 p.m. on Friday night. The police believe that Diaz got into a fight with the two men. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE
Case # 17NF1372
Date: June 9, 2017
SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) is seeking the public’s help identifying potential additional victims of a man who is scheduled to be arraigned today for posing as a police officer and kidnapping a woman to commit a sex offense.
Defendant: Sean Michael Vasquez, 35, Los Alamitos
Charged today in an amended complaint with the following counts: Continue reading
Remember a few weeks back when we noticed that the SAPD was no longer reporting crime data to Crimemapping – a website that logs crime activity throughout the U.S.? Well today the SAPD finally admitted what happened.
The SAPD noted in a press release that the Department changed its computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system and apparently because of that the link between the CAD and CrimeMapping.com stopped working and had to be rebuilt. Continue reading
The Greenwood Homes in the Tustin Legacy development have been experiencing a spike in theft related property crimes since the beginning of the year. In addition to regular Neighborhood Watch meetings, several of the residents have installed video security surveillance systems.
On May 23rd a homeowner had a package stolen from the front porch and the surveillance video captured the suspect fleeing in a black Mercedes. On May 25th the same vehicle was involved in a package theft in a nearby Irvine neighborhood. On May 26th the suspect struck again at a different residence and he was once again captured on video surveillance fleeing in a black Mercedes. The license plate on the vehicle was stolen from a similar looking Mercedes in the City of Orange weeks earlier. Continue reading
Guest Inn and Quality Suites
Do you remember when the Guest Inn and Quality Suites, located at 2151 E. First St., was converted into the first large-scale permanent supportive housing project in Santa Ana for the homeless, last year? Well they are in the news again as the SAPD is now investigating a shooting that occurred there early this morning in which a woman was wounded, according to the O.C. Register.
When SAPD police officers arrived at the Guest Inn, after getting a phone call about a woman being shot, they found a woman with what looked like one gunshot wound to her upper torso, according to the SAPD. Continue reading
Lately, there has been a lot of fingering pointing at who is to blame for Officer Brandon Sontag being given his job back with the Santa Ana Police Dept. after being seen in a video of the Sky High marijuana dispensary raid?
So who is to blame for Officer Sontag getting his job back with the Santa Ana Police Dept?
The Mayor? NO!
Former Chief of Police Rojas? NO!
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE
Case # 17CF1377
SANTA ANA, Calif. – A Palmdale felon is facing additional charges for pandering seven victims and pimping two young women in Costa Mesa and Garden Grove. His co-defendant faces initial charges in the amended complaint filed yesterday.
Defendant: Antonio Alon Johnson, 23, Palmdale
Felony Charges: Continue reading
Daniel Jonas Fine, 42, a Santa Ana man, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, June 7, to misdemeanor charges for hitting a clerk in the head, hurling bananas at another employee and knocking over two cash registers when his payment card was declined for a candy purchase at a Santa Ana 7-Eleven store, according to the O.C. Register.
Fine was placed on three years of informal probation despite pleading guilty to charges including battery, vandalism and assault. He has been in jail since April 18 so his additional 30-day jail sentence most likely is a moot point. Continue reading
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE
Case # 13CF3891
Date: June 8, 2017
MAN CONVICTED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING TWO WOMEN IN PARKING LOTS AND KIDNAPPING AND ROBBING A THIRD
SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man was convicted by a jury today of sexually assaulting two women and kidnapping and robbing a third in mall, fast food, and church parking lots.
Defendant: Raymond Martin Boykin, 21, Anaheim
Convicted of Felony Counts: Continue reading