New Santa Ana | Tag Archives: DTSA

Bittersweet Santa Ana Art Walk set for tonight in reeling DTSA

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Arts and Culture, Entertainment, Santa Ana 8 Comments

Tonight’s Santa Ana Art Walk will be a bittersweet one. Downtown Santa Ana (DTSA) is still reeling from the brutal murder of Kim Pham outside of the now-closed down The Crosby. And the Memphis at the Santora has announced that they are closing down as well, to be replaced by a “High End Mexican Restaurant.” The darkest news is that Jack Jakosky, the owner of the Santora building, has begun to evict his artists, after whitewashing the Santora Mural.

Dark times indeed. But if you are venturing out to DTSA tonight, here is a rundown of what is happening: Continue reading→

More bad news for DTSA – Westwood never recovered after a gang shooting in 1988

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, Santa Ana 8 Comments

Westwood isn’t what it used to be (Photo: Saul Gonzalez)

On Jan. 30, Karen Toshima was one of thousands of people who went to Westwood Village to have an enjoyable evening. Instead, she found death from a bullet fired by a member of a street gang. In her death, she joined the 60% of victims of gang murders who, like her, were innocent bystanders. Every person who was in Westwood Village on Jan. 30 can truthfully say, “But for the grace of God, it could have been me,” because Karen was not killed by a personal enemy. She was killed by our common enemy, a wantonly violent member of a street gang, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Toshima, a 27-year-old graphic designer, was celebrating a recent promotion with a night out in Westwood, according to the Daily Bruin.

That is exactly what Kim Pham was doing when she was stomped to death in Downtown Santa Ana, by a pack of vicious women and a few men too. Pham was waiting to get into a hipster nightclub, The Crosby, which has since announced that they are closing their doors. Continue reading→

Prosecutor says what matters is Pham’s death not who started the fight

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, OCDA, Santa Ana 21 Comments

Contrary to reports that bystanders did nothing as a 23-year-old woman was fatally beaten outside a Santa Ana nightclub, an Orange County prosecutor said that as many as 15 people tried to come to the victim’s rescue, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“There’s been a lot of misinformation in this case,” OC Senior Deputy District Attorney Troy Pino said outside the courtroom Thursday. “There have been statements that this was a person who was beaten by four to five people while everyone stood around and did nothing except videotape — and that’s not accurate. There were plenty of people who got involved and tried to stop this altercation, plenty of people: security guards, friends of the victim, bystanders,” according to CBS. Continue reading→

DTSA imploding as restaurants close and artists are evicted

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Alcohol, Arts and Culture, Bars, Crime, Santa Ana 28 Comments

The party is over at The Crosby

The hipsters and gentrifiers are trying to argue that all is well in Downtown Santa Ana, in the wake of the brutal murder of Kim Pham, who was literally kicked in the head until she went into a coma, in front of The Crosby, a bar/restaurant. She later died in the hospital.

The Crosby is done. According to the OC Weekly they are not going to reopen. And the Memphis at the Santora is also done. They will apparently be replaced by a “High End Mexican Restaurant,” whatever the heck that is. Imagine the limo liberals from Irvine and Long Beach holding Drinking Liberally in a Mexican restaurant! LOL!

And Jack Jakosky, the owner of the Santora building served eviction notices yesterday on the Studio del Sotano and the Green Door Gallery, weeks after whitewashing a mural at the Santora and painting over the Studio del Sotano’s marquee. Continue reading→

Updated: Why do we know so little about the attack on a young woman at The Crosby?

Posted on January 19, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Bars, Crime, Latinos, Santa Ana, Vietnamese 149 Comments

Possible victim of beating at the Crosby

Kim Phan, the alleged victim of the beating at The Crosby, has died from her injuries

I can’t understand why the Santa Ana Police Department has released so little information about the 23-year-old woman (who is named Kim Pham, according to one of our readers) who was attacked while waiting to get into The Crosby. (UPDATE: One of our readers commented that there are now memorial signs at the site of the beating that indicate she has passed away from her injuries and her death has been confirmed by the OC Weekly). The police did admit that the attackers were “a group of five individuals that are only described as three females, two males, all Hispanic between 20 and 25 years of age,” according to ABC News.

So why isn’t the SAPD telling us anything else? Their initial press release about the attack didn’t even note that it happened at The Crosby, a hipster bar/restaurant that is too small to be a nightclub but pretends to be one anyway. All the SAPD noted in their release was the address that the attack happened at.

I have to wonder if the victim of the attack was Asian. A Korean fellow from Irvine was killed a couple years ago after partying at the Proof Bar, which is located not far from The Crosby in Downtown Santa Ana. Are these attacks racially motivated? Continue reading→