Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Tag Archives: Crime

Former O.C. Superior Court employee facing Federal charges for altering records

Posted on by Posted in Courts, Crime, Orange County, Santa Ana Leave a comment

September 7, 2016

Former Court Employee Faces Federal Charges

Santa Ana, CA – A former Orange County Superior Court employee faces federal criminal charges
for altering case records, as announced today by the United States Attorney’s Office. This matter
was discovered on March 20, 2015 by an Orange County Superior Court employee who noticed
irregular entries while she was reviewing the court minutes in preparation for an upcoming hearing
in a criminal case. She immediately reported the inaccuracies to her supervisor, and the Court
immediately began an investigation to determine if other cases were affected. The Court employee,
Jose Lopez, was quickly identified as the source of the questionable minutes and before the end
of the day his system access was terminated. He was then placed on administrative leave pending
further investigation, and shortly thereafter his employment with the Court terminated. Continue reading→

SAPD detectives have identified a 17-year old stabbing victim from Tustin

Posted on by Posted in Crime, homeless, Santa Ana, Tustin Leave a comment

Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: SAPD Detectives Identify 17 Year Old Victim In Stabbing Death

Victim/Deceased: Jesus Daniel Flores (17) Tustin

On Tuesday, September 6, 2016, at 12:51 PM, SAPD Officers responded to a report of a stabbing, which occurred in the riverbed at 1st Street west of Fairview Street. The Officers discovered a 17-year old male suffering a stab wound to his upper torso. The victim was transported by ambulance to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased at 1:32 PM. Continue reading→

The Police Officers Assn. responds to the claim that crime is going down in Santa Ana

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Rojas, Crime, Santa Ana 5 Comments

To: Mayor and City Council

From: SAPOA Board of Directors

Re: Follow-up to City Manager and Chief’s Memorandum

This response is based on the overwhelming displeasure of the Santa Ana Police Officers Association (SAPOA) and the SAPOA Board of Directors regarding the memorandum released on August 30, 2016, by the City Manager and Chief of Police. The memo contained numerous misrepresentations and distorted the current crime picture and fact pattern during their tenure, beginning in 2013.
The truth must never be hidden from the community and the officials sworn to protect and represent the public.

I applaud the City Manager for recognizing the phenomenal job Chief Paul Walters did from 1987 to 2013 during his 25 plus years, reducing crime by 74%. However, why is the current crime picture distorted with statistics from 1987, utilizing three-year averages? Continue reading→

Orange County approves Supervisor Do’s plan to turn a vacant DTSA bus terminal into a homeless shelter

Posted on by Posted in Andrew Do, Crime, homeless, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Homelessness: Orange County Approves Supervisor Andrew Do’s Plan to Turn Bus Terminal into Transitional Homeless Shelter

(Santa Ana, California)— At a special meeting of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, a unanimous board approved Supervisor Andrew Do’s plan to turn the Santa Ana Transit Terminal into a transitional homeless shelter.

“Our community is tired of talk; Orange County wants action,” said Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do, who has made tackling homelessness his primary focus during his eighteen months on the board. “By turning this transit terminal into a homeless shelter, we are creating a safe place to help Orange County’s homeless get off the streets and onto a productive path.” Continue reading→

Updated: A 16-year old boy was shot and killed last night on West Hazard Ave.

Posted on by Posted in Angelica Amezcua, Carlos Rojas, Crime, Santa Ana 1 Comment

While most of us were enjoying Labor Day Weekend someone shot and killed Alex Ramirez, a 16-year old boy as he was standing outside his home, at the 3600 block of West Hazard Ave., last night at about 11:45 p.m., according to KTLA News.

The boy was shot in his upper body. He was taken to a local hospital afterwards where he died just past midnight, according to the O.C. Register. Continue reading→

Santa Ana man who tried to cash a fake check got away after his friends crashed a stolen car

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

The SAPD are hunting for a male suspect in his mid-20’s who took off after trying to cash a fake check yesterday, at a business located in the 1200 block of West Warner Ave., according to the O.C. Register.

The SAPD received a call about the suspect at about 5:54 p.m. Before the police arrived the suspect left the unidentified place of business and fled in a vehicle where a male driver and a female passenger were waiting. Continue reading→

An SAPD K9 police dog took down a car theft suspect who was hiding in a backyard

Posted on by Posted in Crime, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Our readers alerted us that there was a major SAPD police response yesterday in central Santa Ana. It turned out to be a police pursuit of a suspect who stole a vehicle.

That suspect, an unidentified man in his mid-20’s, was spotted at about 4:15 p.m. in a stolen vehicle near Flower and First St., by SAPD police. A police helicopter then followed the car until the suspect crashed it into a parked vehicle at the 500 block of South Poplar St., according to the O.C. Register. Continue reading→

Yet another shooting reported today on S. Townsend, near Jerome Park

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

Yet another shooting in Santa Ana has been reported. This one occurred early this morning at approximately 3 a.m., in the 800 S. Townsend block.

The victim reported hearing several shots fired in the immediate area. He later discovered a bullet hole in his bedroom window. Continue reading→

There was a shooting involving an assault rifle, on West Willits, this morning

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Rojas, Crime, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Santa Ana’s assorted criminals, bad guys and thugs must not have read yesterdays puff piece by inexperienced and ineffective SAPD Police Chief Carlos Rojas, falsely claiming that crime has gone down on his watch. We already reported one shooting incident that happened today and now we have another one to report.

Early this morning at about 6 a.m., multiple 911 calls were made reporting a shooting in the area of 1500 West Willits, in Santa Ana, according to SAPD Case Number 16-23391. Continue reading→

Package thief caught by a security camera in Santa Ana’s Metro Classic Neighborhood

Posted on by Posted in Crime, David Benavides, Santa Ana 2 Comments

Two USPS packages were taken from a front porch on Thursday, Sep. 1, 2016, at 11:08 a.m. in the Metro Classic Neighborhood (Bear and Segerstrom), in Santa Ana. Other homes in the neighborhood may have been hit too. Security camera footage showed that USPS came at 10:38 a.m. and the robbery suspect came almost a half hour later.

The suspect is a male Hispanic, in his mid 20’s, with a medium build, short beard, and bald or very short hair, with a dark colored T-Shirt with a big graphic on the front, black shorts hanging below the knees, and brown boots or high tops.  Continue reading→

Man shot and wounded the day after a Rojas puff piece claimed crime is going down

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Rojas, Crime, David Cavazos, Michele Martinez, Santa Ana 3 Comments

Early this morning, shortly after midnight, Santa Ana police officers responded to the area of 1300 South Magnolia on a call of a shooting. Minutes later, an adult male victim arrived at a local hospital suffering from a gunshot wound to the leg. A vehicle that was parked on Magnolia Street was struck by gunfire through the windshield.

Ironically, this comes the day after our overpaid (and oversexed) City Manager, David Cavazos, and our inept and inexperienced SAPD Police Chief Carlos Rojas released a ridiculous puff piece stating Santa Ana is one of the safest cities in the United States – yes, but that was way back in 2011! Continue reading→

A driver shot out a vehicle’s windows this morning at a Santa Ana gas station

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Michele Martinez, Santa Ana Leave a comment

A verbal altercation occurred just after midnight between the occupants of two vehicles at the ARCO gas station at 302 E. First St., in Santa Ana, according to the SAPD.

As the victim drove out of the lot, gunshots were heard and the vehicles rear windshield was shattered. The victim(s) was not struck by the shooting and flagged down officers  for help. Continue reading→

The Santa Ana City Council explains why they think the homeless problem is the County’s fault

Posted on by Posted in Crime, homeless, Michele Martinez, Orange County, Politics, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 2 Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 1, 2016

CONTACT: Alma Flores, Communications Manager, City of Santa Ana (714) 647-5200, aflores@santa-ana.org

Mayor Pro Tem Sarmiento along with Councilmembers Martinez and Reyna Seek to Declare Public Health and Safety Crisis Related to Homelessness

Urging County of Orange to Open Former Transit Terminal for Homeless Services

Santa Ana, CA – Facing mounting public health and safety impacts in the Civic Center and throughout Santa Ana, Mayor Pro Tem Vicente Sarmiento, Councilwoman Michele Martinez and Councilmember Roman Reyna will bring forward a resolution before the Santa Ana City Council declaring a public health and safety crisis related to the large concentration of homeless and urging the County of Orange to take immediate action to provide services to the homeless at the Santa Ana Transit Terminal which the County owns and controls. The item will appear on the September 6th Council Agenda for consideration of the full City Council. The resolution also calls for a number of improvements to enhance public health and safety within the Civic Center and for the support of all Orange County cities to adopt a resolution encouraging action by the County of Orange. Continue reading→

Santa Ana man sentenced to 52 months in prison for a $3M loan mod scam

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Housing, irvine, Real Estate, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Serj Geutssoyan, 34, of Santa Ana, was sentenced yesterday to 52 months in prison, according to the O.C. Register, for his part in ripping off about 1,000 victims out of about $3M in a loan modification scam.

Geutssoyan’s colleague, Daniel Shiau, 30, of Irvine, received a 58-month term. Continue reading→

The CHP will be running maximum anti-DUI patrols this Labor Day Weekend

Posted on by Posted in Alcohol, Crime, Drugs, Orange County, Santa Ana 2 Comments

CHP Office of Community Outreach & Media Relations

Contact: Fran Clader, Director of Communications, (916) 843-3310

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 8/30/2016

CHP URGES SAFETY DURING LABOR DAY WEEKEND

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Although the summer season will soon be coming to a close, many Californians will continue to take advantage of the warm weather into the Labor Day weekend. As the celebrations commence, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) wants everyone to enjoy their holiday and to remain safe on California’s roadways.

All available CHP officers will be on duty during the Labor Day Maximum Enforcement Period (MEP), from 6:01 p.m. Friday, September 2, to 11:59 p.m. Monday, September 5. Drug recognition experts and CHP officers will be on patrol watching for impaired drivers as well as assisting motorists in need throughout the holiday weekend. Continue reading→