Bomb Threat at the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse
There was apparently a bomb threat late this afternoon at the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse, located at 411 W 4th St #1-053, in Santa Ana’s Civic Center.
The O.C. Sheriff typically responds to such threats – and they have a bomb squad. Usually the SAPD will block off the streets and manage traffic in such instances. Continue reading
The year 2016 cannot end soon enough! A violent year in Santa Ana was capped on Thursday night by a visit by the O.C. Sheriff’s Department bomb squad to a Santa Ana home after a 61-year old man, Nong Nguyen, was found in a bedroom that may have been booby trapped with improvised explosive devices, according to the O.C. Register.
Nguyen lived at the 2200 block of North Jetty Street. His family got worried when he failed to answer a knock on his bedroom door just before 8 p.m., according to the SAPD. Continue reading
Stephen Ponte Garcia, a 37-year-old registered sex offender with a lengthy criminal record, pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of exposing himself to female passengers on Orange County buses and was immediately sentenced to only three years in prison, according to the O.C. Register.
Garcia pleaded guilty to two felony counts of indecent exposure with prior convictions stemming from incidents on Sept. 28 and Oct. 5. Continue reading
Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, December 15, 2016
The Justice Department today opened a civil pattern-or-practice investigation into the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, pursuant to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Continue reading
Clinton Charles Rose
OCSD Investigators Warn of Auto and Check Fraud Scam
Suspects Identified, Investigators Seek Public’s Assistance to Locate
SANTA ANA, Ca. (November 17, 2016) – Investigators from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) are warning the community of an ongoing scam and asking for the public’s assistance in locating two suspects.
Clinton Charles Rose, 35, and Lauren Marie Conkey, 23, have been identified as suspects in a number of auto and identity theft cases. Rose and Conkey are suspected of contacting victims through various web sites to purchase vehicles from private party sellers. They contact the victim, present fictitious checks and identification, and then take possession of the vehicle. They are suspected of then falsifying documents to resell the stolen vehicle to another victim. Continue reading
Photo Courtesy of the Seegmiller Law Firm
The Orange County Coroner’s office has confirmed that Jose Barraza-Soto of Santa Ana, 40, was killed last Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016, when two-vehicles crashed in Lake Forest, near the Foothill Towne Centre, according to the Patch.
A 2016 Hyundai collided with a 1997 Ford F150 truck, which Barraza-Soto was driving, at around 2:20 a.m. at Alton Parkway and Towne Center Drive, according to the O.C. Register. Video of the crash scene is available here. Continue reading
A car reported stolen in Newport Beach turned up in Santa Ana this Saturday evening. SAPD police tried to pull over the suspected car thief at at 8:55 p.m. at Grand Avenue and 1st Street, but as is usually the case in these incidents the suspect sped off, according to the O.C. Register.
Police ended up pursuing the suspect for five miles and were assisted by the O.C. Sheriff’s helicopter. Continue reading
A police pursuit of a car reported stolen started this afternoon in Santa Ana and finally ended in Laguna Hills, according to the O.C. Register.
The incident began before 4 p.m. in Santa Ana when the driver of the suspected stolen SUV fled from the SAPD. The chase continued through the cities of Irvine and Tustin, and involved at times both the 5 and the 405 Freeways. Continue reading
For Immediate Release: September 15, 2016
Contact: Scott Hart, (949) 230-6998
ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF SANDRA HUTCHENS ENDORSES STEVEN A. NGUYEN FOR
RANCHO SANTIAGO COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT AREA 5
Santa Ana (CA)— Steven Nguyen, candidate for Rancho Santiago Community College District Area 5, announced today that he has been endorsed by Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens.
“I am proud to endorse Steven Nguyen for College Board,” said Hutchens. “He will ensure that the Rancho Santiago Community College District spend taxpayer dollars in the class room for our students.” Continue reading
September Declared “California Pedestrian Safety Month” to Address Pedestrian Safety Crisis
SANTA ANA, Calif. (September 2, 2016) – In answer to rapidly increasing numbers of pedestrians being killed and injured on California roadways, the California State Senate has passed a resolution declaring September as “California Pedestrian Safety Month.” The Orange County Sheriff’s Department will be joining with other law enforcement agencies, city and state transportation agencies, pedestrian advocates and walking clubs to promote public awareness aimed at both drivers and pedestrians alike to always be aware of each other and share the road responsibly.
This first-ever specially designated month draws attention to the 813 pedestrians killed on California roadways in 2015 alone, accounting for nearly 25 percent of all roadways deaths in the state, up from 17 percent just ten years earlier. Continue reading
Sheriff Hutchens Outlines Efforts to Harden OC Men’s Jail
SANTA ANA, Ca. (August 19, 2016) – Sheriff Sandra Hutchens released additional details today about the January 22, 2016 escape of inmates Hossein Nayeri, Bac Duong, and Jonathan Tieu from OC Central Men’s Jail (CMJ) and the improvements made to harden the CMJ in the six months since the escape.
Immediate:
o Points of exit used by inmates secured
o Inmate count procedures rebriefed
o Tool inventory and search protocol instituted
o Jail Hardening Team formed Continue reading
Person of Interest in Fatal Motorcycle Accident Located
Santa Ana, Ca. (August 18, 2016) – On Wednesday, August 17, 2016, Orange County Sheriff’s Department Traffic Bureau investigators arrested Damon Ellery Block, 41, following an investigation of a fatal traffic collision that occurred on Santiago Canyon Road in Modjeska Canyon.
On August 1, 2016, a fatal vehicle vs. motorcycle accident occurred on Santiago Canyon Road in Modjeska Canyon. The driver of the motorcycle died, and the female passenger on the motorcycle was severely injured. The driver of the vehicle (Honda) fled the scene and was not located after an extensive search of the area. Continue reading
Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens will be speaking at the West Floral Park Neighborhood Association on August 10, 2016, at 7 p.m., at Santiago Elementary School, in Room 51, which is behind the main office. Santiago Elementary is located at 2212 N. Baker St., in Santa Ana.
One question that might be posed to Sheriff Hutchens is whether or not her agency may take over security at the Plaza of the Flags, in the wake of the shooting of an unarmed homeless man by an SAPD police officer. Continue reading
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) is seeking the public’s assistance to identify a person of interest in a fatal motorcycle vs. vehicle accident yesterday in Modjeska Canyon.
The person driving the vehicle in the accident left the scene before deputies arrived. Continue reading
Sheriff Hutchens Addresses Jail Special Handling Log
SANTA ANA, Ca. (June 09, 2016) – Today in court there was discussion of the jail informant notes and special handling/classification log. I want to provide the public with some background as to the discovery of the log and the steps that have been put in place to ensure this doesn’t occur in the future.
In February 2016, one day prior to a hearing on the Henry Rodriguez case, we were provided personal notes kept by an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy. This deputy worked in the Special Handling Unit. These notes were not part of our general documentation practice and protocol for record keeping in the jail. The discovery of these notes were shared with the court and the Department of Justice. Continue reading