New Santa Ana | Tag Archives: fbi

Two Anaheim men arrested by the OC Joint Terrorism Task Force

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Anaheim, Crime, Orange County, Santa Ana, Terrorism 2 Comments

The OC Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested two Anaheim men Thursday after an investigation, according to the O.C. Register.

One man was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport, and the second man was arrested at an undisclosed location in Orange County, according to sources familiar with the investigation, according to the L.A. Times.

Details about the two suspects and what charges the men are facing were not immediately released. Both men will be charged in federal court Friday, according to ABC News. Continue reading→

Michigan man indicted for a sextortion plot against a 16-year-old Santa Ana teen

Posted on August 16, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Nicholas Glenn Wilcox

A Southern California Grand Jury has indicted Nicholas Glenn Wilcox, who resides in Michigan, for allegedly threatening a 16-year-old Santa Ana boy and demanding the teen take pornographic photos and videos of himself, court filings show, according to the O.C. Register.

Michigan law enforcement authorities list the 5-foot-9 inch and 250-pound Wilcox–who used monikers that include “rapegod666,” “Kypkilla12,” “that1kid014,” “Flame” and “Heretik”–as a sex offender with a 2009 felony conviction for possession of “child sexually abusive material,” according to the OC Weekly.

Here are additional details about this case, courtesy of the OC Weekly: Continue reading→

The FBI recovers 168 juveniles involved in Child Sex Trafficking

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, FBI Leave a comment

FBI
Washington, D.C.
June 23, 2014
FBI National Press Office, (202) 324-3691

168 Juveniles Recovered in Nationwide Operation Targeting Commercial Child Sex Trafficking

During the past week, the FBI; its local, state, and federal law enforcement partners; and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) conducted Operation Cross Country VIII, a week-long enforcement action to address commercial child sex trafficking throughout the United States. This operation included enforcement actions in 106 cities across 54 FBI field divisions nationwide and resulted in 168 recoveries of children who were being victimized through prostitution. Additionally, 281 pimps were arrested on state and federal charges.

“Targeting and harming America’s children through commercial sex trafficking is a heinous crime, with serious consequences,” said FBI Director James B. Comey. “Every child deserves to be safe and sound. Through targeted measures like Operation Cross Country, we can end the cycle of victimization.” Continue reading→

Pulido lawyers up – should the Council Members do so as well?

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Crime, David Benavides, Jose Solorio, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 9 Comments

Mayor Miguel Pulido

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido has received at least $25,000 in contributions toward a legal defense fund that he established in January as he is being investigated by the state’s political watchdog agency, according to the OC Register.

The “Miguel Pulido Legal Defense Fund” was set up in January, shortly after City Attorney Sonia Carvalho began investigating a real estate swap involving Pulido that ethics experts say looks like a bribe and could have violated state conflict of interest laws, according to the Voice of OC.

My sources tell he that a few of the Santa Ana Council Members may want to set up legal defense funds of their own. One pajarito in particular told me last week that the FBI is looking at conflict of interest by the Council Members with regard to real estate development on Bristol and Seventeenth and at the property formerly known as the Honer Plaza which is now called the Bristol Marketplace. Continue reading→

With all her baggage, should Janet Nguyen even be running for SD34?

Posted on April 19, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Janet Nguyen, Jose Solorio, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana Leave a comment

senators

From the OC Political Blog

The heat’s still on. First District County Supervisor Janet Nguyen, the Orange County GOP’s Local Elected Official of the Year, has been fingered AGAIN by the union-funded Voice of OC for conspiring with two CalOptima Board members to ignore a Federal audit critical of their leadership: CalOptima Leaders Shelved Critical Audit. Tracy Wood reports:

The move killed a chance to fix at least some potential problems as much as a year before federal auditors discovered one of CalOptima’s programs posed a “serious threat to the health and safety” of participants. According to meeting records and emails, Nguyen and CalOptima board Vice Chairman Lee Penrose, who is president and CEO of St. Jude Hospital in Fullerton, put off making a decision on which firm to hire. County Health Care Agency Director Mark Refowitz, who became board chairman during the process, didn’t act to ensure that the work was done.

Continue reading→

Santa Ana comes in at #45 in the FBI’s 2012 Safest Cities report

Posted on October 15, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, FBI, Public Safety, Santa Ana Leave a comment

If you live in Thousand Oaks, Irvine, Simi Valley, Murrieta, Glendale, or Santa Clarita, you can go ahead and leave your doors unlocked at night: your cities have named some of the safest in America according to the FBI’s newly released 2012 crime statistics, as reported by California City News.

So what about Santa Ana? Our city came in #45th. Fontana was #46. Los Angeles was #53. Southern California cities that were ranked safer than Santa Ana included El Monte (#33); Garden Grove (#41); Temecula (#37); Orange (#24); Torrance (#14); Murrieta (#8); and Oxnard (#34). Click here to see all the ratings. Continue reading→

FBI arrests Garden Grove man with possible Al Qaeda ties, in Santa Ana

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, FBI, Garden Grove, Public Safety, Santa Ana, Vietnamese 2 Comments

A Garden Grove man, Sinh Vinh Ngo Nguyen, was charged Friday with trying to support Al Qaeda and making false statements on his passport, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Twenty-four-year-old Sinh Vinh Ngo Nguyen of Garden Grove, also known as Hasan Abu Omar Ghannoum, was stopped at a bus station in Santa Ana, Calif. at 7:30 a.m. by members of the Los Angeles Joint Terrorism Task Force and arrested on suspicion of providing material support to al Qaeda, according to NBC.

Nguyen, also known as “Hasan Abu Omar Ghannoum”, was about to board a bus for Mexico at the time of his arrest, Laura Eimiller of the FBI said, according to CBS. Continue reading→

Santa Ana gangs raided as authorities go after the Mexican Mafia again

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Crime, FBI, Gangs, Michele Martinez, Orange County, Public Safety, Santa Ana 6 Comments

UPDATE: We have received the official press release regarding this multi-agency gang sweep. It is posted at the end of this article.

Pre-dawn raids at about 75 locations throughout the county Tuesday were the culmination of a multi-agency investigation called “Operation Smokin’ Aces” taking aim at the Mexican Mafia, a notorious prison gang known for its grip on local street gangs, particularly in Santa Ana, authorities said, according to the O.C. Register.

Authorities said it involved dozens of arrests and search warrants that were served throughout Santa Ana neighborhoods. More than 800 officers, deputies and agents of the Santa Ana police; Orange County Sheriff’s Department; FBI; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and U.S. Marshals took part in the investigation and the arrest warrants that were served before sunrise. The arrests were coordinated simultaneously. Continue reading→

Santa Ana immigration officer, who was bribed with egg rolls and cash, indicted

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Courts, Crime, FBI, Federal Government, immigration, irvine, Santa Ana, Vietnamese Leave a comment

An immigration officer who worked in Santa Ana has been indicted on charges that she took bribes in cash and egg rolls from immigrants seeking citizenship and green cards, according to CBS News.

Federal prosecutors say 47-year-old Mai Nhu Nguyen, an Irvine resident who worked in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Santa Ana, was indicted Wednesday on three counts of solicitation of a bribe by a public official, according to Fox News. Continue reading→

FBI seeks “Chubby Cheeks” bandit who robbed a Chase Bank branch in Santa Ana

Posted on June 24, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Banking, Crime, FBI, Santa Ana Leave a comment

FBI Los Angeles
Press Release: June 24, 2013
Contact: Public Affairs Specialist Laura Eimiller, (310) 996-3343

Robbery of Chase Bank Branch in Santa Ana – Female Suspect Known as ‘Chubby Cheeks Bandit’ Sought

The Orange County Bank Robbery Apprehension Team (BRAT) is seeking assistance from the public with information leading to the arrest of a suspect known as the Chubby Cheeks Bandit, an unidentified female bank robber who robbed a Chase Bank at 4:30p.m. on June 17, 2013. Continue reading→

FBI reports minor increase in violent crimes in Santa Ana

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, FBI, Federal Government, Public Safety, Santa Ana Leave a comment

The FBI’s Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report, January-December, 2011-2012, has been released online. The news is a mixed bag for Santa Ana. Overall violent crime has gone up marginally by 2% from the previous year, but some categories of violent crime have seen increases of up to 23% while others have dropped by as much as 64%

You can read the data for yourself here. You can compare this data to past years by looking at the FBI crime data from 2010 and 2011 here. I put all of the Santa Ana info into a spreadsheet that you can look at here. Continue reading→

Real Orange Panel Discusses FBI Investigation of Janet Nguyen

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, Janet Nguyen, Orange County, Politics Leave a comment

From the OC Politics Blog

On this You Tube video from the April 10th Real Orange program (PBS SOCal, KOCE Channel 50), Panelists

OC Supervisor Janet Nguyen

Mark Petracca (pictured), Rick Reiff, Michael Capaldi and Chris Mears discuss the ongoing FBI investigation of OC Supervisor Janet Nguyen‘s campaign fundraising.

Petracca, a UC Irvine Professor, also raises the very pertinent question of why the Orange County District Attorney has been less than aggressive about investigating OC politicos — versus the FBI. He also suggests that the investigation is excellent fodder for anyone planning to run against the Supervisor next year as she’s already planning her campaign for the 34th State Senate District next year to be vacated by Democrat Lou Correa. Nguyen is termed off the Board of Supervisors in 2016.

Continue reading→

The FBI is asking questions about Supervisor Nguyen’s campaign fundraising!

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in FBI, Federal Government, Janet Nguyen, Orange County, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Vietnamese Leave a comment

Cartoon Janet Nguyen

From the OC Politics Blog

“A contractor who has done work for the County of Orange this week confirmed that FBI officials contacted him late last year with questions about County Supervisor Janet Nguyen,” according to the Voice of OC.

Additionally, another source told Voice of OC that they had a “wide-ranging” discussion with FBI agents about Nguyen’s fundraising activities, specifically in regards to county contracts. Continue reading→

Amezcua’s old pal Ojeda, of the Mexican Mafia, gets busted again

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Art Pedroza Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Courts, Crime, Gangs, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Public Safety, Santa Ana 10 Comments

A chill must have gone up failed Santa Ana Mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua’s spine this morning when he cracked open the newspaper and found out that “Federal and state authorities charged 99 alleged Orange County gang members with crimes including murder, drug trafficking and extortion, at least half or whom were associated with the Mexican Mafia prison gang,” according to NPR. Continue reading→

Don’t believe the naysayers, violent crime has gone down in Santa Ana

Posted on December 12, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Civic Affairs, Crime, Education, Public Safety, Santa Ana 7 Comments

An irresponsible O.C. blogger, who regrettably has joined the Amezcua cult, has been advancing the notion that violent crime has not gone down in Santa Ana.

In 2009, according to the FBI, there were 1,726 violent crimes in Santa Ana. The same amount of violent crimes happened in 2008, again according to the FBI.

A few differences should be noted. There were 30 murders in Santa Ana in 2008 – and only 25 murders in 2009. Statistically that is quite a drop.

And there were 788 aggravated assaults in Santa Ana, in 2008, but only 755 such assaults in 2009. Again, that is a substantial drop in number. And it dropped even more when you consider that in 2007, there were 1,080 such assaults in Santa Ana, according to the FBI. That is a thirty percent drop compared to 2009!

In 2006, there were 1,998 acts of violent crime in Santa Ana, according to the FBI. That same year there were 126 acts of violent crime in Irvine. Guess what? In 2009 there were 153 violent crimes in Irvine. That’s right. Violent crime is going UP in Irvine while Santa Ana has seen a drop in violent crime in the same timespan!

Our local newspapers focus primarily on reporting crime. They fail utterly to report all the good things happening in Santa Ana. We try, very hard, to make up for that. The truth is that we are improving as a city, not going backwards.

Racists often attack our residents and blame them for things they have not done. This is due in part to the newspapers and to the actions of a few irresponsible bloggers who rather focus on what is bad while ignoring the ongoing improvements in Santa Ana.

The same blogger I have referenced here also attacked our Mayor, Miguel Pulido, because of the problems with education in our city. That is just beyond ridiculous. Pulido is not in charge of our schools. And the fact is that we have a lot of great non-profits in town, such as the Santa Ana Police Officers Athletic League and Think Together, who are making a real difference with regard to education.

We are all working together to try to fix this mess, and in the meantime local Democratic leaders keep backing the SAUSD Trustees who have created this mess. Both Jose Solorio and Lou Correa endorsed SAUSD Trustee Audrey Yamagata Noji this year. Blame them when she inevitably makes things worse in the next four years.

I intend to continue to focus on the good things happening in town. If other bloggers want to twist statistics and focus on being negative, good for them – but that won’t happen here on this blog.