Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Tag Archives: drugs

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→

Parole agent arrested for allegedly embezzling state funds in exchange for narcotics

Posted on by Posted in california, Crime, Drugs, OCDA, Orange County, Santa Ana Leave a comment

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

Case #16CF1898

Date: July 28, 2016

PAROLE AGENT ARRESTED ON CHARGES OF EXCHANGING EMBEZZLED CDCR FUNDS FOR PAROLEE’S PRESCRIPTION NARCOTICS

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A parole agent was arrested yesterday on charges of exchanging embezzled California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) funds for narcotics prescribed to a parolee. Scott Patric Keblis, 49, Chino, is charged with one felony count of embezzlement by a public employee and one misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance. If convicted on all counts, Keblis faces a maximum sentence of three years in state prison and one year in county jail, and would be ineligible to ever hold any office of honor, trust, or profit in California. Keblis was released from custody today after posting $20,000 bond. The defendant’s court date is to be determined. Continue reading→

Two Santa Ana residents charged with drug possession at the Pechanga Resort and Casino

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Riverside County Sheriff’s Department

Press Release: Possession of a Controlled Substance for Sales Arrest Incident

File Number(s): SW16198009

On January 16, 2016, at 5:24 AM, deputies were dispatched to the 45000 block of Pechanga Parkway reference a report of possible drug activity occurring out of a vehicle parked inside a parking structure.

Upon arriving on scene, deputies contacted the occupants of the vehicle identified as Rudy Torres and Karina Melgoza, both residents of the city of Santa Ana. Continue reading→

Public input sought to shape a new O.C. Drug Medi-Cal pilot project

Posted on by Posted in Drugs, Health and Medical, Orange County, Santa Ana Leave a comment

For Immediate Release: June 29, 2016

Contact: Jessica Good, Public Information Officer, Email: JGood@ochca.com

OC HEALTH CARE AGENCY SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT TO SHAPE DRUG MEDI-CAL PILOT PROJECT

(Santa Ana, CA) – Beginning on Wednesday, July 20, 2016, the OC Health Care Agency’s (HCA) Behavioral Health Services team will be hosting countywide informational meetings throughout the summer to seek public input and discuss participation in a 5-year Drug Medi-Cal pilot project to expand and improve the public’s access to Substance Use Disorder (SUD) services.

SUD is a treatable chronic disease that can be addressed through a comprehensive system of treatment and recovery support services. Historically, Drug Medi-Cal funded limited treatment options for SUD. California recently received a Federal waiver to develop a 5-year pilot project to better serve people experiencing a SUD and who are eligible for Drug Medi-Cal under the Affordable Care Act. Continue reading→

Two Santa Ana men arrested in Irvine for weapon and drug charges

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Irvine Police Department Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PRESS RELEASE #06-14-2016

Subject: Two Men Arrested for Weapon and Drug Charges

Contact : Farrah Emami, Public Information Officer, 949-724-7112, femami@cityofirvine.org

Irvine, CA – The Irvine Police Department has arrested two men for various weapon and drug related charges. The suspects are identified as Rigoberto Donan, 36, and Frank Perez, 45, both of Santa Ana. Continue reading→

Man convicted of shooting a man and trying to murder two women, in DTSA

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ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

Case # 14CF2681

Date: June 14, 2016

DEFENDANT CONVICTED OF SHOOTING AND MURDERING ONE MAN AND ATTEMPTED MURDER OF TWO WOMEN

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A Garden Grove man was convicted today of shooting and murdering a man and attempting to murder two women in Santa Ana. Dustin Sean Ross McDonald, 24, was found guilty by a jury of one felony count of first degree murder, two felony counts of attempted murder with premeditation and deliberation, and sentencing enhancements for the personal discharge of a firearm causing death or great bodily injury. He faces a maximum sentence of 114 years to life in state prison at his sentencing Aug. 26, 2016, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-30, Central Justice Center Santa Ana.

On Aug. 12, 2014, McDonald arranged to meet with the three victims in Santa Ana for a drug transaction. At approximately 11:30 p.m. that night, the defendant drove up to the victim’s vehicle in the area of 12th Street and Main Street, stepped out of his vehicle, walked around to the front passenger side of the victims’ vehicle while armed with a firearm, and fired approximately 10 shots. McDonald murdered the front passenger, 23-year-old Aaron Chavez, and wounded both the 21-year-old female driver of the vehicle and the 28-year-old female passenger. Continue reading→

Man charged with shooting a man and wounding two women in Santa Ana

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ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

Case # 14CF2681

Date: May 20, 2016

DEFENDANT TO FACE TRIAL FOR SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES SHOOTING-MURDER OF ONE MAN AND INJURING TWO WOMEN

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A Garden Grove man will face trial Monday for the special circumstances shooting-murder of a man and attempted murder of two women in Santa Ana. Dustin Sean Ross McDonald, 24, is charged with one felony count of special circumstances murder by lying in wait, and two felony counts of attempted murder with premeditation and deliberation. He also faces sentencing enhancements for the personal discharge of a firearm causing death or great bodily injury. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole. Opening statements are scheduled to begin Monday, May 23, 2016, in Department C-30, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana. The time is to be determined. Continue reading→

Costa Mesa officer attacked and bitten by a suspect at a women’s addiction recovery home

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A Costa Mesa police officer was attacked and bitten by a suspect on Saturday night, at around 11 p.m., at The Lynn House, an addiction recovery home for women in the 2700 block of Cibola Avenue, according to the O.C. Register.

Police officers arrived at the recovery home to look into an alleged attack by a female on a staffer, with a fire poker.

Police at the scene found a 25-year-old woman named Kristen Scali, from Massachusetts, who appeared to be under the influence of a stimulant narcotic. Continue reading→

Suspected Santa Ana drug house raided by the O.C. Sheriff’s SWAT team

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A secretive drug investigation culminated in the detention of two men and two women at a suspected drug house in Santa Ana on Thursday morning by the OC Sheriff Department’s SWAT team and detectives, who were trying to serve a search warrant, according to the O.C. Register.

The house, at the 1900 block of South Main Street, was very well fortified, which led investigators to believe that weapons were involved, which is why they brought in their SWAT team. Continue reading→

Drug-dealing gangbangers have allegedly taken over a vacant house in Santa Ana’s Ward 6

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Gangs, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana Leave a comment

One of our readers reports that there is a vacant house in her neighborhood that has become a problem with the local gang members squatting and dealing drugs from it, at 4917 W. Kent Ave., in Santa Ana.

Our reader said that the problem was resolved – at a very basic level – in August 2014; however, recently gangbangers have again been again eyeing the house. Apparently this past Saturday, the front door of the house was found by neighbors to be wide open.

To make matters worse, the gangbangers have allegedly been bothering the neighbors and scaring the local children. Continue reading→

Santa Ana apartment complex could be converted into a 60 unit drug rehab center

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Drugs, Phil Bacerra, Planning, Redevelopment, Santa Ana 4 Comments

There is an effort underway by Rock Solid Recovery to convert the Mauna Loa Garden Apartments in Santa Ana to a 60 unit residential development to a behavioral health facility – essentially a drug rehab center, at 1311 Washington Place, in Santa Ana, just south of the Target store located at N. Grand Ave. and 17th. St.

This proposed drug rehab center will be located a half mile south of Sierra Intermediate School and the adjacent Northeast Santa Ana Little League.

This seems like a bad idea. For one thing the proposed location in our city is ringed by crime. But to see how bad an idea this is check out these Yelp excerpts regarding Rock Solid Recovery, which currently offers rehab facilities in Costa Mesa: Continue reading→

Santa Ana man will only be in prison for three years despite charges involving drugs, theft and a police pursuit

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

Westley Alvarez , a 27-year-old man with a prior conviction, pleaded guilty Wednesday to multiple felonies charging him with shooting another man with a pellet gun before leading police on a chase through several Orange County cities, according to the O.C. Register.

Alvarez got into an argument on Sept. 26, 2015, with another man that he knew from their Santa Ana neighborhood, according to the SAPD.

The victim thought that Alvarez had broken into his car earlier and he asked him if he did. The defendant reacted by getting out of a vehicle that he had stolen, retrieving a BB gun from the vehicle’s trunk, and then shooting the other man with it multiple times from six or seven feet away. Continue reading→

SAPD detectives seize $5.7M worth of marijuana being grown in a local warehouse

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Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: SAPD Detectives seize approximately $5.7 million dollars worth of marijuana in service of a search warrant

Location: 401 N. Sullivan

Subject: Indoor Marijuana Grow

On 12/09/15, members of the Santa Ana Police Department’s Medical Marijuana Dispensary Task Force (MMDTF) served a search warrant in Santa Ana at a suspected illegal marijuana cultivation site at 401 N. Sullivan Street. The location is a large, warehouse-type building in an industrial area. The illegal activity was identified after the task force received tips from concerned citizens. Continue reading→

Man who led the police on a chase on Saturday night facing life in prison

Posted on by Posted in Crime, OCDA, Santa Ana, Vietnamese 1 Comment
Jimmy Hoang Truong

Jimmy Hoang Truong

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

Case # 15CF2521

Date: November 9, 2015

FELON OUT ON THE STREETS DUE TO PROP 47 LAW CHANGE CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER ON PEACE OFFICERS

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A felon who had two of his prior felony convictions reduced to misdemeanors under Proposition 47 (Prop 47), which resulted in his release from custody, was charged today with shooting his firearm at police officers while leading them on a chase. Jimmy Hoang Troung, 28, Santa Ana, is charged with two felony counts of attempted murder on peace officers, two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm on peace officers, one felony count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, one felony count of evading peace officers while driving recklessly, and sentencing enhancements for the use of a firearm. If convicted, Troung faces a maximum sentence of life in state prison. He is being held without bail and is expected to be arraigned tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana. Continue reading→

The SAPD seeks to identify a suspect in the shooting of a marijuana dispensary’s owner

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Santa Ana Marijuana Dispensary robber 2

Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: SAPD Detectives Request Media & Public’s Assistance in Identifying Suspect Wanted In Attempted Murder Case Of Marijuana Dispensary Owner

Suspect: Male, Unknown Race, 20-30 years old, 5-4 to to 5-6, thin build

On November 2, 2015, at approximately 3:00 p.m., the victim, a 48 year-old male, was exiting his business and walking to his vehicle in the parking lot of the business complex at 1900 East Warner Avenue when he was shot at by an unknown gunman. The suspect fled on foot southbound through the business complex. Continue reading→