Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Tag Archives: Crime

The SAPD is conducting a DUI and Drivers license checkpoint tonight on E. 4th St.

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Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: SAPD conducting a DUI/Drivers License checkpoint on Friday, April 15th, 2016, 9:00PM – 3:00AM, 1000 E. 4th Street

SANTA ANA POLICE STEP UP DUI ENFORCEMENT

The Santa Ana Police Department will be conducting a DUI/Drivers License checkpoint on Friday, April 15, 2016. It will begin at 9:00 p.m. and is scheduled to conclude at 3:00 a.m. It will be conducted in the area of 1000 E. Fourth Street, in the City of Santa Ana.

The primary purpose of a DUI Checkpoint is to deter impaired driving, not to increase arrests. All too often, members of our community are senselessly injured or killed on local roadways by impaired drivers. This DUI/Drivers License checkpoint is an effort to reduce those tragedies, as well as ensuring drivers have a valid driver’s license. The DMV reports that unlicensed drivers are 4.9 times more likely to cause a fatal crash than a licensed driver. Continue reading→

Man sentenced to just over 4 years in prison after raping his friend’s daughter for 10 years

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

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

Case # 14CF1692

Date: April 15, 2016

MAN SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS AND FOUR MONTHS IN PRISON FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTING FRIEND’S 15-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER FOR 10 YEARS

FULLERTON, Calif. – A man was sentenced to four years and four months in state prison today for sexually assaulting a friend’s 15-year-old daughter for a decade. Isidro Medrano Garcia, 42, Bell Gardens, was found guilty by a jury on March 4, 2016, of three felony counts of lewd acts on a minor. Garcia also received mandatory lifetime sex offender registration as a term of his sentence.

The victim testified to the following in trial: Continue reading→

Volleyball coach in Costa Mesa arrested for lewd conduct with a minor

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OC Child Exploitation Task Force Arrests Coach for Engaging in Lewd Behavior

Investigators Seek Additional Victims

COSTA MESA, CA (April 13, 2016) – On Wednesday, April 13, 2016, investigators from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Detail (SVD) and the Orange County Child Exploitation Task Force (OCCETF) arrested Troy Linehan Crutchfield, 26, Costa Mesa, on charges related to sending harmful matter to a minor electronically and communicating with a minor to engage in lewd behavior. Crutchfield is suspected of taking and sending lewd videos of himself to a minor. Crutchfield was arrested following an investigation that started in March 2016.

At the beginning of March, 2016, an investigator with the OCSD Special Victims Detail assigned to the Orange County Child Exploitation Task Force was contacted regarding a female minor victim who was having inappropriate conversations with a male online. An investigation was initiated. During the course of the investigation, Troy Crutchfield was identified as a possible suspect. Continue reading→

O.C. victims’ rights advocates honored at 12th annual victims’ rights conference

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Garden Grove, Orange County 2 Comments

12th ANNUAL VICTIMS’ RIGHTS CONFERENCE HONORED VICTIM ADVOCATES AND OFFERED CUTTING-EDGE EDUCATIONAL TRACKS

Community Service Programs’ 2016 Victims’ Rights Luncheon Featured Dr. Kathie Mathis, President/CEO of California Cognitive Behavioral Institute

Garden Grove, Calif. (April 11, 2016) – “Serving Victims, Building Trust, Restoring Hope” was the theme of nonprofit Community Service Programs’ (CSP) 12th annual Victims’ Rights Conference on Thursday, April 7, 2016 at the Embassy Suites in Garden Grove. The event hosted more than 220 law enforcement officers, therapists, nonprofit staff, service providers, victims and community members to learn valuable training through cutting-edge educational tracks and to honor local heroes who work tirelessly to advocate for victims’ rights throughout Orange County.

Acclaimed author and advocate Dr. Kathie Mathis, President and CEO of the California Cognitive Behavioral Institute, was the luncheon’s plenary speaker. During her career, Dr. Mathis has developed and introduced national models in mentoring, abuse prevention and school-based stop bullying programs. Dr. Mathis is a state and national advocate who participated on the taskforce reforming the California Dept. of Parole/Rehabilitation Adult Outpatient Mental Health Programs. Dr. Mathis discussed Secondary Trauma, or Vicarious Trauma, and shared how first responders can decrease their chances of “work burnout” and understand how the work they do every day can have a lasting impact on them. Continue reading→

Suspect arrested in the stabbing murder of Bryan Torres at a party in Santa Ana

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Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: SAPD Detectives Arrest Suspect In Homicide Case Looking For Additional Witnesses To Come Forward

Arrested: Nicholas James Tadlock (22)

Victim: Bryan Alberto Torres (19)

On Saturday, 04-09-16, at approximately 0335 hours, officers were dispatched to 2837 W. Edinger, reference a stabbing that occurred. When officers arrived, they located Bryan Alberto Torres, suffering from several stab wounds to the upper torso. OCFA paramedics responded and Torres was subsequently transported to UCI Medical Center where he later died. Continue reading→

SAPD DUI and driver’s license checkpoint set for April 9 at 500 W. First St.

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

Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: SAPD conducting a DUI/Drivers License checkpoint on Saturday, April 9th, 2016, 9:00PM – 3:00AM, 500 W. First Street.

SANTA ANA POLICE STEP UP DUI ENFORCEMENT

The Santa Ana Police Department will be conducting a DUI/Drivers License checkpoint on Saturday, April 9th, 2016. It will begin at 9:00PM and is scheduled to conclude at 3:00AM. It will be conducted in the area of 500 W. First Street, Santa Ana, CA.

The primary purpose of a DUI Checkpoint is to deter impaired driving, not to increase arrests. All too often, members of our community are senselessly injured or killed on local roadways by impaired drivers. This DUI/Drivers License checkpoint is an effort to reduce those tragedies, as well as ensuring drivers have a valid driver’s license. The DMV reports that unlicensed drivers are 4.9 times more likely to cause a fatal crash than a licensed driver. Continue reading→

Parolee robbed a Santa Ana bank then was caught while fleeing in an OCTA bus

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

Imagine getting out of jail then, as a parolee, making the decision to rob a bank?  Well that happened this morning when an unarmed Joseph Springer Erickson, 34, robbed the Chase Bank branch located at 3600 South Bristol Street, at around 11:20 a.m., according to the O.C. Register.

Erickson handed a bank clerk a note demanding money. The teller gave him cash, but for perhaps he had second thoughts as Erickson then handed the money over to another bank employee before taking off on foot.

That is when this story got very weird.  Erickson did not have a getaway car. So instead he got onto an OCTA bus that was working Route 57. Continue reading→

Five O.C. pharmacies including Santa Ana’s Med-Zone targeted in burglary spree

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Santa Ana’s Med-Zone Pharmacy, located at 800 North Tustin Ave., was one of five local pharmacies in Orange County that were burglarized early Wednesday morning, according to the O.C. Register.

Garden Grove police officers found about 100 prescription bottles belong to Med-Zone near Euclid Street and Trask Ave. just after 7 a.m.

The initial suspect descriptions were similar in all five burglaries. Continue reading→

Another hip DTSA restaurant closes as North Left goes the way of The Crosby

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The North Left, the downtown Santa Ana restaurant that replaced The Crosby after the awful murder of one of their patrons, who was literally kicked to death outside the restaurant by two women in 2014, has closed their doors according to the O.C. Register.

The owners, Phil Nisco, Chris Alfaro and Marc Yamaoka, hired Ryan Adams, a Laguna Beach chef at Three Seventy Common, to oversee the new operations at North Left, which opened pretty quickly after The Crosby shut down. Continue reading→

Man badly injured in a car-to-car shooting near Mater Dei High School

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An unidentified man was shot twice and critically injured in Santa Ana on Tuesday evening, according to the O.C. Register.

The shooting apparently happened at around 6:30 p.m. at the 1300 block of South Bristol Street, according to the SAPD.

A man in his 30s was found by SAPD police officers sitting in the driver’s seat of a vehicle with two gunshots wounds to his upper body. Continue reading→

Realtor arrested for defrauding escrow customers in Santa Ana

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Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: Detectives Arrest Suspect Real Estate Fraud – Believe There May Be Additional Victims

On April 5, 2016, Santa Ana Police Department Economic Crimes Detectives arrested Andres Pacheco, 39, of Yorba Linda, for the theft of over a half million dollars. Pacheco was arrested at the Orange County Courthouse after making an appearance on an unrelated case.

Andres Pacheco is a Real Estate Broker and owner of Franklin Equity Corporation/Signature Escrow, based in Santa Ana. In July of 2015, Santa Ana Police Economic Crimes Detectives were contacted by a victim, who claimed he was defrauded by Pacheco. The investigation revealed Pacheco’s escrow company was holding $186,000 in escrow, pending completion of a real estate transaction. When the real estate transaction was cancelled, the victim was due his $186,000; however Pacheco’s escrow company failed to return the money. Continue reading→

Santa Ana Peace and Unity March and Rally set for April 30

Posted on by Posted in Churches and Religion, Crime, Gangs, Santa Ana 1 Comment

A Peace & Unity March and Rally has been set for Saturday, April 30, 2016. This is a community city-wide event that will take place at Jerome Park, located at 2215 McFadden Ave., in Santa Ana.

The march will start at 11 a.m. and the rally will start at 12 noon.

The event will include:

  • A Resource Fair
  • Food
  • Live Music
  • Testimonies
  • Speeches by city officials
  • A prayer for the city

Continue reading→

Man fatally shot in the neck at the El Coral Bar in Santa Ana

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Leonel Bucio, 37-years-old, died after being shot in the neck at the El Coral Bar in Santa Ana, at 1902 South Standard Ave., just south of Edinger Ave., at around 9:30 p.m. on Friday night, according to the O.C. Register.

When the SAPD police officers arrived at the scene they found the victim on the ground, bleeding, according to the SAPD. Continue reading→

Jury acquits a Santa Ana man who was accused of molesting his ex-girlfriend’s daughters

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Ignacio Gaytan Hernandez, a 40-year-old Santa Ana man, was acquitted Tuesday of molesting the two daughters of his former girlfriend, according to the O.C. Register.

The girls, ages 11 and 14, accused their mother’s boyfriend of molesting them when they were 9 and 11 years old, according to Hernandez’ attorney, O.C. Deputy Public Defender Sara W. Ross said.

Ross said that the girls “had credibility issues and there was a lot of doubt. They had lied before – they had made false accusations before. And their statements were pretty inconsistent.” Continue reading→

The SAPD’s Easter Cruising enforcement resulted in the arrest of a wanted felon

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Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: SAPD Traffic Officer Working Easter Weekend Cruising Enforcement Arrest One Of Mariposa County Sheriff’s Most Wanted Suspects

Arrested: David Santiago Garcia (25) Santa Ana

Current Booking Charges: DUI, Evading, Driving on a Suspended or Revoked License

On 3-27-2016, at approximately 1130PM, a SAPD Motor Officer working the Easter Cruising Enforcement observed a 2004 Lexus fail to stop for a red traffic signal. When attempting to stop the vehicle for the traffic violation, the driver later identified as suspect Garcia fled from officers. The vehicle pursuit ended in the 1200 block of South Towner where the suspect fled on foot. Officers located the suspect in the yard of a residence in the 900 block of West Wilshire where he was taken into custody without incident. Continue reading→