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
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
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
Ira Alexander Stringer, a 45-year-old man, is in custody after being suspected of robbing an Orange gas station and fleeing law enforcement in a pursuit that endured for 45 miles and ended after a two-hour standoff in Riverside early on Sunday, according to the O.C. Register.
After he was arrested, Stringer also admitted to carjacking a baseball coach and 16-year-old boy from the area around Hickman Field in Kearny Mesa around 10 a.m. Wednesday, according to ABC 10 News. 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
The Orange County Coroner has identified the homeless man who was shot to death just outside Heritage Park, in his sleeping bag, on Dec. 13, at around 3:30 p.m., according to the O.C. Register.
The victim was Rudy Correa, 55-years-old. He had been living at Heritage Park, located at 4812 W. Camille St., for some time. Continue reading
The Orange County Fire Authority requested help from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Bomb Squad today at around 3 p.m., in response to a report of a suspicious package or substance at the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, in Santa Ana, according to the O.C. Register.
The building in question is located at 411 West Fourth Street, in Downtown Santa Ana. Continue reading
Santa Ana Police Department
Advisory: Follow-up To Death Investigation 1000 Block North Jackson
Follow-up To Death Investigation 1000 Block North Jackson
Deceased: Ricarda Reyes-Villalobos (50) Santa Ana
Summary: On Thursday, 12/17/15 at approximately 2 p.m., officers were dispatched to 1000 block of North Jackson reference a body found in a refrigerator. They contacted the landlord who advised that a couple who rented and lived in the detached garage moved out approximately 3 months prior, leaving the refrigerator and additional property behind. The landlord stated a strong odor was coming from the refrigerator. When the landlord inspected the refrigerator, she found the remains of a female inside. Homicide detectives responded to the location and conducted their investigation. Continue reading
Michele Renee Lara, a 37-year-old homeless woman, armed herself with a field hockey stick and paintball grenade while wearing a hockey mask as she tried to leave a Sports Authority store in Santa Ana with two shopping carts of merchandise on Monday, according to the O.C. Register.
Lara arrived at the Sports Authority store located at 3900 South Bristol St., at around 6:30 p.m. and she spent about three hours filling up the two shopping carts with all sorts of sporting goods. She also began to put on some of the merchandise and was also putting goods into backpacks that she also placed in the carts.
Finally at around 9:30 pm. Lara tried to leave the store with all the goodies – but she did not pay for the merchandise. Continue reading
NEWS, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts: Lt. Jeff Hallock, 714.904.7042, JHallock@ocsd.org; Carrie Braun, 714.647.1848, CBraun@ocsd.org
Mail Theft Suspects Arrested Following Vehicle Pursuit
LAGUNA HILLS, Calif. (December 18, 2015) – On Friday, December 18, 2015, Orange County Sheriff’s deputies arrested David Brown, 45, Anaheim, Jessie Brown, 55, Anaheim, and Corey Richardson, 22, Anaheim, following an almost two-hour pursuit through Orange and Los Angeles counties. The suspects were arrested after they fled on foot following termination of a vehicle pursuit in the City of Downey.
At approximately 2:30 p.m., Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the 25000 block of Buckboard Lane after neighbors reported seeing two male subjects taking mail from their mailboxes. The informants described the subject’s vehicle as a silver compact vehicle. The Sheriff’s Department’s airship “Duke” responded to the area with patrol units and immediately located a silver 2011 Honda Civic leaving the area. The vehicle, driven by David Brown, was travelling at a high rate of speed on Alicia Parkway towards the Interstate 5 freeway. Deputies attempted a traffic stop of the vehicle; however, the vehicle accelerated and a pursuit ensued. Continue reading
The media is reporting that shots were fired at the Westfield MainPlace Mall tonight at about 8:15 pm. Shoppers apparently rushed to the exits after they heard people say that there was a possible shooter in the mall, according to the O.C. Register.
A fistfight may have taken place near the movie theater at the mall, after which someone nearby yelled out that shots had been fired, causing “pandemonium,” according to KTLA. Continue reading
Santa Ana Police Department
SANTA ANA POLICE STEP UP DUI ENFORCEMENT
The Santa Ana Police Department will be conducting a DUI/Drivers License checkpoint on Saturday, December 19th, 2015. It will begin at 9:00 PM and is scheduled to conclude at 3:00 AM. 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