BAKERSFIELD — A pair of thieves were arrested last Wednesday in connection with the theft of equipment from a utility company building in a remote section of northeast Kern County earlier this year.

Steven Stout, 39, and 46-year-old Dawn Ranjel, both of Bakersfield, were booked into the Kern County Sheriff’s Central Receiving Facility for burglary, grand theft, possession of stolen property, vandalism and conspiracy. According the sheriff’s office, the incident began back on July 23, when deputies from the KCSO Rural Crime Unit responded to a Pacific Gas and Electric substation facility, near Granite Road and Round Mountain Road, in a rural approximately 12 miles north of Bakersfield, to investigate a theft of copper wire spools and a Honda generator.

During the investigation, detectives said they learned that the suspects were connected to several thefts of copper wire in the Kern County area and that they were hiding the stolen copper wire inside a storage unit located in the 3000 block of Unicorn Road in Bakersfield.

“Detectives obtained a search warrant to search the storage unit,” said KCSO Public Information Officer Ray Pruitt. “Where they found a Honda generator and a spool of copper wire inside, both of which were identified by PG&E employees as being property that was stolen from their facility on Granite Road.”

The evidence allowed detectives to obtain an arrest warrant for both Stout and Ranjel, who were taken into custody without incident on Aug. 12.

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Californian: Couple caught in copper wire caper

Santa Barbara County - Life as a sex offending felon truly sucks…so to speak. There is, apparently considerable verity to the notion that should you be accused of a sex crime in this country, “you can run, but you cannot hide.”

The truth of that was made apparent once again in mid-July when, according to Santa Barbara County Sheriff Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover, SBSD Deputies—in the normal course of a completely unrelated investigation pursuant to a routine call for service—stumbled across information about the location of Jose Luis Coronado.

The 52-year old resident of Santa Barbara County had, in 2012, been accused of the “aggravated sexual abuse of a child” in the state of Utah, Hoover reported. Since that allegation had been made, Coronado had not made any appearance in any Utah jurisdiction, and remained at large, his whereabouts unknown to law enforcement.

But when SBSD deputies in the Lompoc area were on their otherwise routine call and came upon credible information indicating his presence within their jurisdiction, “an exhaustive search to find Coronado” immediately ensued.

Three weeks later, on August 8th, SBSD Deputies, working in concert with the Lompoc Police Department, located Coronado at his workplace within the city limits of Lompoc and took him into custody without altercation or incident. Coronado was then summarily transported to Santa Barbara County Jail where remains held without bail pending extradition to Utah, and where, presumably, the wheels of justice will determine his guilt or innocence.

The lesson here: the mere accusation of a sex offense guarantees serious consequences.

Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking

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EdHat: Alleged Utah sex offender arrested

SAN BERNARDINO – A missing pregnant woman, who disappeared in June, was discovered in a mine shaft on Saturday. Erin Corwin, 20, was the victim of a homicide, said San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon, who made the announcement at a Monday noon press conference. The suspect, who is Corwin’s alleged lover, Christopher Brandon Lee, 24, was arrested in Alaska and is being held at the Anchorage Correctional Complex, according to law enforcement officials.

Corwin disappeared on June 28, reportedly heading for Joshua Tree National Park, which is just a few miles from her Twentynine Palms home. She lived there with her husband, who is a U.S. Marine assigned at the Twentynine Palms U.S. Marine Air Base Combat Center. Ever since Corwin, then 19, had disappeared, an investigation eventually revealed sordid details about the relationship that both she and Lee had engaged in; both are married to others.

Friends and neighbors told investigators that Corwin and Lee had been intimate, though the suspect first denied being romantically linked to the victim. In affidavits to law enforcement investigators, Lee then admitted to kissing Corwin. One of Corwin’s friends from her native Tennessee told investigators that she was afraid that Lee was the father of her unborn child. Evidence began linking Corwin’s disappearance to Lee, who admitted to being in Joshua Tree National Park on June 28, the same time as Corwin had visited the park.

According to affidavits, detectives believe Lee’s motive for killing Corwin was to keep his wife, Nicole, from discovering the affair. The Lees also have a child. Lee is a former marine originally from Anchorage, which is where he moved shortly after Corwin’s disappearance. He spent seven years in the Corps before being honorably discharged. The Lees and Corwins lived next door to each other on the marine base.

During the course of the investigation, law enforcement officials served warrants at various locations. It led to Lee’s arrest on a separate charge for possession of an illegal firearm. Investigators believed that his weapon capability was likely used to harm Corwin. There was no information released about what led search crews to the mine shaft where Corwin’s body was discovered. Federal agents will reportedly deliver Lee back to California on charges.

Ventura County - Few California prison inmates serve the total time of their sentence behind bars. Most are released after a specified minimum percentage of time in custody, and with the advent of the state’s “prison realignment” ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court, increasing numbers of those convicted of non-violent crimes are being granted ever-earlier release dates.

But walking outside those prison gates in no way is an implication of “freedom” as enjoyed by most law-abiding citizens. Release from physical custody on terms of probation or parole is in itself a form of managed incarceration that requires local law enforcement agencies to strictly supervise those former prison inmates.

Pursuant to those protocols and the need for enforcement of probation and parole terms, on August 16th the Ventura Sheriff’s Department, working in concert with the City of Thousand Oaks Police Special Enforcement Unit, the City of Camarillo Special enforcement Detail, the Sheriff’s Gang Unit, Tactical Response Team and Custody Division, engaged in what VCSD spokesman Sgt. Dan Hawes described as “a proactive approach” in the form of a massive parole sweep throughout the Thousand Oaks area.

Employing the resources of no less than 50 deputies focused primarily upon “gang members, drug users, and thieves”, the operation was described by Hawes as “funded by a California State grant for supervising post-release and serious habitual offenders” who are out on the street as a result of the ongoing prison realignment in the state. The action began early that Saturday morning, with 75 residences targeted for the 7:00 a.m. wake-up call from deputies arriving unannounced on doorsteps.

Pursuant to that effort, 22 individual arrests were made on charges of possession of methamphetamine, being under the influence of controlled substances, possession of drug paraphernalia, outstanding warrants, providing false information to peace officers, resisting arrest, possession of blank prescription notes, possession of stolen property, trespassing, and assorted probation violations.

With nearly two dozen individuals headed back to their life behind bars, the dream of genuine “prison realignment” may be just that.

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VCSTAR: 22 arrested in Conejo Valley probation, parole searches

SFV Media: Probation-parole sweep ends in 22 arrests

CITRUS HEIGHTS—A man convicted a decade ago for the traffic death of a Folsom prison correctional officer was involved in another crash on Thursday, August 14 that injured another driver.

Citrus Heights Police arrested Scott Richard St. Pierre on August 17, 2014 for evading a police officer and resisting arrest. Police spotted St. Pierre, 39, who had an outstanding felony warrant from Placer County, in a vehicle at 10 p.m. on Thursday, August 14.  St. Pierre had been arrested on November 13 on charges of transportation of a controlled substance. He began driving evasively in Citrus Heights and a short pursuit continued onto Madison Avenue, and then into the unincorporated part of the county on Auburn Boulevard.

Driving south on Auburn Boulevard, St. Pierre’s vehicle hit another vehicle near Winding Way, according to Citrus Heights Lt. Jason Russo. St. Pierre was arrested at the scene. The driver of the other vehicle was transported to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

In 2004, St. Pierre was sentenced to state prison for 10 years for the death in Roseville of a Folsom prison correctional officer who was on his way to work. St. Pierre received the sentence after pleading no contest to a felony charge of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

St. Pierre’s car collided on Blue Oaks Boulevard on March 17, 2004 with a vehicle driven by Jerry Carldean Walker, 47, a Lincoln resident and Folsom prison correctional officer who was on his way to work at 9:25 p.m.

St. Pierre, then 28, had been arrested earlier that same day in Sacramento County on suspicion of driving while intoxicated after his car was involved in a non-injury accident on Highway 50. It was later learned that he was driving with a suspended license during both incidents.

St. Pierre was booked into Sacramento County Jail early Friday morning, August 18 with his bail set at $650,000.

SAN LEANDRO — A dog may be a man’s best friend, but 37-year-old Juan Amezquita of Oakland discovered early Monday morning that a police dog can be a car thief’s worst enemy.

According to a San Leandro Police press release, around 1:00 a.m., officers were investigating a report of a stolen 1996 Nissan Altima from the 1100 block of Victoria Avenue. An alert patrol officer spotted the stolen car on a side street only a quarter of a mile away. The officer was unable to see inside the car, which had tinted windows, but when a second officer arrived, Amezquita bolted from the car and disappeared into a nearby neighborhood. A search of the abandoned vehicle turned up a ballistic vest, narcotics and tools used to break into the car.

Backup units, including the K-9 team of Officer Dennis Mally and his partner, Rohan, were dispatched to the area to search for the suspect. Rohan managed to sniff out Amezquita hiding in a backyard utility shed on the 1100 block of Dutton Avenue. But just as police were about to apprehend him, Amezquita smashed through the shed’s wall and, according to Lt. Robert McManus of the San Leandro Police Department, “charged officers while trying to escape and failed to stop, despite the officers’ repeated commands.” Fortunately, he didn’t get far. The intrepid police dog, trained in fetching as well as finding, captured Amezquita near the scene. “A struggle ensued as the officers tried to handcuff the suspect,” says Lt. McManus, “but they were eventually able to overcome his resistance and safely arrest him.”

Amezquita tried hiding in a shed in this neighborhood.

Things could have turned out much worse. Inside the shed where Amezquita was hiding, police found a loaded high-caliber, semi-automatic handgun. A check of the gun revealed that it had been reported stolen a few weeks earlier after a burglary in Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Amezquita was arrested on suspicion of auto theft, possession of a loaded and stolen firearm, possession of narcotics and a host of other charges. Police also discovered that Amezquita was on probation for an earlier attempted car theft only two miles away. Coincidentally, it was the same K-9 team that apprehended him that time as well. He will be arraigned Tuesday afternoon in the Hayward Superior Court.

According to Lt. Robert McManus of the San Leandro Police Department, “It was the work of an alert patrol officer and the keen sense of a police canine that led to the arrest of Amezquita and recovery of another stolen firearm that may likely be used against someone else. Arrests such as this make our community safer for everyone.”

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REDDING — It was just after noon on the 15th of August, out at the Redding Bank of Commerce on Churn Creek Road. Police had received a call shortly before about someone trying to cash a manufactured check.

By the time officers arrived, the person in question was sitting shotgun in a vehicle in the parking lot. He was detained, along with his two friends, and identified as 26-year-old Sean Michael Obrien. Perhaps not surprisingly, he was also found to be in possession of heroin, hypodermic syringes, and a stolen driver’s license.

The vehicle’s driver,  identified as 24-year-old Megan Lee Seiler, was not without her own cache of stimulants — methadone and Lorazapam (both without prescriptions), methamphetamine, and more syringes. The third and unidentified person was released at the scene without charges.

Obrien was arrested for forgery, identity theft, attempting to pass a manufactured check, and miscellaneous drug possession charges, and Seiler for drug and paraphernalia possession charges. Both were booked and remain housed at the Shasta County Jail.

Read more:

aNewsCafe.com: Manufactured Check Case at Local Bank

Redding PD press release (Nixle)

FRESNO COUNTY – Two men who allegedly were involved in two armed robberies between Mendota and Firebaugh over the weekend were arrested following a police pursuit.

The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office arrested 34-year-old Gary Dean Bunyard and 31-year-old Michael John Bryant Saturday afternoon.

The pair is suspected of robberies that happened earlier that day. The first one occurred around 1:30 in western Fresno County, where a victim alerted deputies that two men in a dark Kia SUV robbed him at gunpoint and took his cell phone and truck keys, the sheriff’s office said.

Deputies received another report 10 minutes later from a second victim who said he had been robbed near a canal bank. The victim reported that he had been fishing when two men robbed him at gunpoint and stole his cash, cell phone and car. He said the suspects left the scene in a gray Kia SUV and his silver PT Cruiser, according to the sheriff’s department.

Michael John Bryant

Firebaugh police were able to arrest Bunyard after he crashed into another vehicle near 10th and N Street while driving a Kia SUV.

Meanwhile, Mendota police saw the stolen PT Cruiser on Highway 33 and tried to pull the driver over. The driver attempted to get away, but police pursued him until he eventually stopped and ran away on foot. The driver, identified as Bryant, was caught and taken into custody.

Bryant is facing charges of carjacking, armed robbery and possession of stolen property. Bunyard is facing charges of carjacking and armed robbery. They were both booked into the Fresno County Jail.

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ABC30: 2 arrested after robbery, pursuit

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These days in California, due to budget constraints and prison realignment, people arrested for non-violent crimes are usually released on little or no bail pending their court date, and sentencing often results in jail time that is reduced or eliminated in favor of probation, parole and “AB109 Post Release Supervision”, which is similar to parole with frequent follow-ups with assigned officers. Unfortunately, for some arrestees, being back on the streets allows them to continue doing what they do best.

One case in point is Alejandro Murillo, also known as Alejandro Murillo-Gonzalez or Alejandro Gonzalez. The 23-year-old was arrested yesterday, August 18 in Cloverdale, Sonoma County for possession of stolen vehicles and property. As it turned out, he had been arrested three times before, just in the past three weeks.

On July 28, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office announced that they had received reports of a stolen vehicle from the California Highway Patrol at 2:10 am. They said it was approaching the town of Willits on Highway 101 going north from Sonoma County. Sheriff’s deputies, along with Willits Police officers and the CHP stopped the car in Willits and ordered Murillo to step out. He started to obey, and left the vehicle, but as they began to take him into custody, he started resisting, and was said to have made a move to his sweatshirt pocket. The deputies quickly wrestled him to the ground, where they completed handcuffing him. His mugshot showed the effects of his brief, but violent encounter.

Murillo-Gonzalez was arrested again by Modesto CHP while recovering from his injuries.

He was booked at the Mendocino County Jail on charges of auto theft and resisting arrest. Bail was set at the time of $15,000. But he was out on bail soon, and just one week later, he was arrested by a Highway Patrol unit while traveling on Interstate 5 near the central valley town of Newman, west of Merced. An officer out of the Modesto CHP office caught him in a stolen vehicle, and he was detained and booked into the Stanislaus County Jail on August 4. By the next weekend, records show he was again picked up, this time by the Santa Rosa CHP, and charged with possession of stolen property, driving without a license, and speeding.

Now, another week later, on August 18, Sonoma County Sheriff’s detectives, investigating a stolen vehicle and property case, responded to a residence on Asti Road in Cloverdale, a largely rural and industrial area right next to Highway 101. They found Alejandro Murrilo-Gonzalez along with 2 stolen vehicles and other stolen property taken from local businesses over the past few weeks. One of the vehicles parked there had been stolen from a home in Geyserville, just a few miles south, during a residential burglary there. It is not clear what his connection is to the location where he was arrested, as his home of record is an apartment about 3 miles away, also in Cloverdale.

Alejandro’s most recent arrest took place at a residence along Asti Road in Cloverdale.

Murillo-Gonzalez was arrested once again, charged with two counts of vehicle theft and possession of a stolen vehicle, and one count of possession of stolen property. His bail was set higher at $50,000.00, a hopeful deterrent to him him stepping out of the courthouse once again and planning his next big adventure.

Actions may speak louder than words, but words can still speak pretty loudly.

On Saturday, August 16 around 10 p.m., Santa Clarita deputies were called by a woman who reported that violent threats were being posted on Instagram. Later, more than 100 calls were made by people that reported the same thing, in fear that the threats could be real. One of the posts said that the subject was going to shoot high school students in the near future. The other posts included both sexist and racist comments. In the posts, there were photos of guns, dead bodies, and a school marquee for “Valencia High School”.

In one of the posts, the caption read “We are aiming our guns mostly at high school students. Be ready because blood will be shed and families will suffer. No mercy will be shown. Slow and painful deaths will happen on a very dreadful day”. However, the photos, as it turned out, were only generic photos, and there was no proof that the subject possessed any of the the guns that were posted.

According to the report, on August 17 around 10:30 a.m., deputies located and arrested the suspect. He is a teenage boy who attends one of the high schools in the Santa Clarita area. His name was not released because he is a minor. The juvenile was arrested and booked at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.

Based on the suspect’s background and statements, it seemed that he made these threats in order to get a reaction from his followers. Little did he know, however, that they would take them seriously, until it was too late.

The suspect was taken into custody and will be released into the control of the Los Angeles County Probation Department.

Read More:

California juvenile arrested for making school shooting threats over Instagram

REDDING – A pair of residential burglars were caught the same day thanks to a neighbor with a camera, and the suspects’ own ankle bracelets.

On Saturday morning, August 16, a resident on Jewell Lane in southwest Redding saw two men enter a neighbor’s home and remove property, loading it into their vehicle, according to a Redding Police press release. Perhaps not sure if they belonged there or not, the neighbor did not call police, but did take several photographs of the two men and the vehicle.

When the homeowner returned later, he saw that his house had been burglarized, and his neighbor told him what had happened, and the photos that were taken of the incident. The victim called police at 10:42 that morning, and officers responded to investigate. They recognized one of the suspects as Jacob Michael Short, a 30-year-old Palo Cedro resident. Short had been arrested in September 2013, and again in April of this year on an outstanding warrant and probation violations. He was currently on supervised probation, and monitored by a GPS ankle bracelet.

Officers took both suspects into custody on Cameo Court.

Short was tracked by means of the ankle bracelet to a house on Cameo Court in central Redding. The tracking system identified a second subject at the same location also on GPS monitoring, 34-year-old Anthony Joseph Messina, who resides in Redding, but not at that location. Messina’s file photos matched the man seen in the photos with Short from the burglary scene.

It is somewhat ironic that Messina was not the one initially identified from the photos. His history with area law enforcement is much more extensive than Short’s. Records show at least 20 arrests for him since 2006, with charges ranging from burglary, narcotics possession, disorderly conduct under the influence, resisting arrest, and numerous parole violations and failure to appear charges. His most recent arrest was for burglary in July of this year. He was just released on Friday, August 15, the day before this burglary, on supervised probation, and fitted with the GPS ankle bracelet.

Redding Police called on the Highway Patrol air units to assist while they converged on the Cameo Court location, but they were able to locate the two suspects easily enough, both conveniently in the same car shown in the burglary scene photos. They were stopped and taken into custody without trouble. Most of the stolen property was also recovered. They were booked at the familiar Shasta County Jail on first degree burglary, conspiracy, and active warrants. They are being held without bail, and relieved of the ankle bracelets, at least for the time being.

Officers from the Roseville Police Department recently arrested a total of three suspects during two separate drug arrests, according to an official weekly crime report.

On Friday, August 15 at 12:24 am, an officer reportedly made a routine traffic stop on Sierra College Boulevard and conducted a probation search on a driver and their vehicle. During the search, the officer reportedly found a concealed and loaded handgun, loaded shotgun, and almost a pound of marijuana, as well as evidence of drug sales. A follow-up search of the suspect’s hotel room in Rancho Cordova reportedly produced more drugs and evidence of sales.

Jason Allen Sutter, 44, of Gold River was reportedly arrested on suspicion of drug sales, carrying a concealed firearm and other related charges. He had been previously picked up by Folsom Police on April 16 on DUI and possession of a controlled substance charges.

John Hann (Facebook) Charles Osborne and Raychell Pollard (file photo)

And then on Sunday, August 17, just before 9 pm, officers reportedly checked on a report of people trespassing in the yard of a home in the 100 block of Franklin Street. Upon arrival, officers reportedly made contact with two men who did not have the owner’s permission to be on the property.

Charles David Osborne, 31, of Rocklin and transient John Richard Hann, 40, were arrested on suspicion of possessing methamphetamine. Osborne had been arrested in February as a participant in a identity theft ring with eight others, including Raychell Pollard, his girlfriend. The pair were also arrested in March for soliciting drugs from another suspect in the same incident. John Hann had been arrested in June on drug possession charges.

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CrimeVoice: Roseville PD Arrest 6 in Commercial Burglary Ring

Last week, the Roseville Police Department arrested two suspects in two different incidents that both centered around vehicles, according to an official weekly crime report.

On Friday, August 15, at about 7:30 am, officers responded to a report of a motorcycle that had just been stolen from Booth Road and Walker Drive. Officers reportedly checked the area for the stolen bike, and noticed an SUV pulling a small utility trailer stopped in a dirt field next to Baseline Road. When officers began to approach the SUV, the driver got out, unhitched the trailer, and sped away in the SUV.

However, before the driver sped away, his female passenger had reportedly gotten out of the SUV and surrendered to officers. Amber Nichole Hamm, 31, of Rio Linda was reportedly arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft and conspiracy. Officers found the stolen motorcycle inside the trailer, and also found the trailer itself had reportedly been recently stolen from North Highlands.

The investigation is continuing as officers work to identify the other suspect. They did not specify if Thomas Hamm, Amber’s husband, is considered a suspect, though it seem likely that he is. He was arrested on January 1st of this year on charges of burglary, possession of burglars tools, and possession of stolen property. Amber was also arrested in October and January on charges of receiving stolen property.

Hernandez was accused of doing damage to a vehicle parked in this area in Roseville.

And on Saturday, August 16, at 5:25 pm, Roseville PD officers reportedly to a disturbance in the 300 block of Gibson Drive, where a man was reportedly beating on another resident’s truck with a metal pipe. The suspect reportedly got into his own vehicle and left the area before officers arrived. However, officers were later able to locate the suspect driving on Pleasant Grove Boulevard at Highland Point Drive where they conducted a traffic stop and took the suspect into custody without incident.

Oscar Hernandez Jr., 21, of Roseville was reportedly arrested on suspicion of vandalism.

A liquor store shoplifting suspect was recently arrested after officers were aided by local citizens, according to an official weekly crime report issued by the Roseville Police Department.

John Campbell Graham Jr., 38, of Roseville was reportedly arrested on suspicion of petty theft and resisting arrest.

According to Roseville PD, on Sunday, August 17 at 1:51 pm, officers responded to a report of someone shoplifting at the Rose Liquor, Food & Gas store on the 100 block of Riverside Avenue. According to the report, the suspect had grabbed a pack of beer and ran out of the store.

Graham wasn’t hard to find. He was enjoying the stolen beer right behind the store.

About half an hour later, officers reportedly found the suspect in an alley behind the store, thanks to being tipped off by citizens in the area. The suspect reportedly put up a struggle during the arrest, but officers were able to subdue him and take him into custody.

Graham had been picked up just two days prior to this arrest on charges of possession of drug paraphernalia. He also has a history of probation violations and a DUI from 2011.

CLEONE, MENDOCINO COUNTY – Cleone California is a small community north of Fort Bragg, along Highway 1 near the ocean at Laguna Point and MacKerricher State Park. It was from here that a young woman reported to authorities that she had been sexually abused by a member of her family for the past seven years. The County Sheriff’s office opened an investigation in July on the reported abuser, 34-year-old Daniel Medina.

The exact relationship between him and the young victim was not disclosed, though at least at this time, he was living in nearby Fort Bragg, at a home on West Street, a residential neighborhood in the central part of town. Most of the incidents of abuse reportedly took place at this location, though two recent incidents happened in Cleone.

On Tuesday, August 19, Sheriff’s detectives served a search warrant at Medina’s home, and he was taken into custody and interviewed. He was arrested and charged with lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and penetration with a foreign object. He was booked at the Mendocino County Jail with bail set at $200,000.

HAWTHORNE, CA—You may not believe in Santa; likewise, some “Santas” apparently don’t believe in giving so much as taking.

Miranda Frett, 19, was picked up by Hawthorne police officers on Friday, August 15 at approximately 4 p.m. She was arrested along the 2700 block of West 120th Street in Hawthorne, presumably at the Target store which claims the address. The self-proclaimed “Secret Santa” was charged with petty theft of personal property valued under $400 (484(A)PC). Bail for the Fullerton, California woman was set at $1,000.

The term “Secret Santa” is popularly known as an anonymous exchange of gifts among a group of people. While it tends to be a social event, there is a Web site by the same name that allows people to exchange in complete anonymity. According to UrbanDictionary.com, the term also has a number of sophomoric sexual definitions, all of which involve humiliation.

In any case, not one block away from Frett’s arrest locale is the Hawthorne Municipal Airport; perhaps she had her personal sled ready to carry her up to deliver her purloined gifts?

INGLEWOOD, CA—The 1980s new wave band named The Waitresses had a hit song called “I Know What Boys Like”–and it perhaps so did this waitress.

Tierra Tatyana Dornellas, 19, was arrested by Inglewood Police Department (IPD) officers on Wednesday, August 20 at approximately 8:30 p.m. She was apprehended at Imperial Highway and Doty Avenue. The self-proclaimed waitress was charged with “Loitering with the intent to commit prostitution” (653.22(A)PC).

The area has for decades been notorious for Inglewood police officers being involved with prostitution–especially along Imperial Highway where according to an L.A. Times story in 2008 the FBI performed a sting operation that netted a number of officers.

The area has a number of inexpensive hotels that are alternatives to the luxury hotels that service the nearby Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Police reports in recent years indicate that prostitution remains a problem along Imperial Highway through Inglewood and Hawthorne.

Bail for Dornellas was set at $100,000. It will definitely take a lot of big tips to get her back on the street.

Suspect fled County to Avoid Arrest

WATSONVILLE—Authorities with the Watsonville Police Department along with the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office have announced that they have indeed arrested 19-year-old Watsonville resident Brenda Alcara Velador for a traffic accident that occurred back in March.

The original accident occurred on Wednesday, March 12 near the intersection of Main Street and First Street in downtown Watsonville. A 10-year-old boy was with his family in the crosswalk when he was struck by a speeding motorist in a purple PT Cruiser.

The driver was identified as Velador, but she was not arrested at the scene, as the investigation was ongoing for several months. The Watsonville Police Department’s Traffic Division along with the Investigation Division conducted a joint investigation into the accident.

Based on their findings, charges were requested by the police department through the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office. An arrest warrant was issued for Velador.

There are two crosswalks at the corner of Main and First Streets.

“Ms. Velador was made aware of the arrest warrant, however she refused to cooperate and turn herself in to authorities.” Watsonville Police Sergeant Eric Montalbo wrote in a press release, “It is believed that she had fled Santa Cruz County to avoid arrest.”

As they diligently worked on this case, investigators were able to develop a lead that Velador was in Vacaville. On August 14, Watsonville Police, with assistance from the Vacaville Police Department, located and arrested Velador at a residence there on Alamo Drive.

She was transported to Santa Cruz County Jail and booked on a charge of reckless driving that caused serious bodily injury. Her bail has been set at $500,000.00 dollars.

Ironically, in the interim time between the accident and her arrest, Velador was booked on an unrelated crime. She and Robert Arce Avila, 27 of Watsonville, were arrested for a June 20 burglary at Sears in Capitola Mall, just north of Watsonville near Santa Cruz. They were both charged with burglary and conspiracy according to sheriff’s records.

The 10-year-old accident victim, identified by KION News as Jesse Ventura, is still in critical condition at a children’s hospital. The Watsonville Police would like to remind everyone that with school starting, to please drive carefully in residential areas.

HAWTHORNE, CA—There’s no place like home–especially when that is the first place police look when picking up people for a handful of outstanding warrants.

Lois Sharrel Pearson, 33, was arrested by Hawthorne police officers on Thursday, August 14 at approximately 5:15 p.m. She was stopped at the corner of 126th Street and Hawthorne Boulevard in Hawthorne and apparently found to have a number of warrants from as far away as San Bernardino, California.

It is presumed that she was sought for the outstanding warrants as police records indicated no new charges.

There were two warrants from San Bernardino County Sheriff’s department: grand theft of money or property exceeding $400 (487(A)PC) and forgery/false checks (470(D)PC). Total bail from San Bernardino was $500,000.

Closer to home, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) also had two warrants on her: possession of narcotic controlled substances (11350(A)HS) and trespassing on residential property (602.5(A)PC). Only one bail charge was noted (trespassing) and it was for a relatively pithy $25,000.

At least her family and friends will have easy visitation rights.

Woodland Police and California Highway Patrol officers were involved in two separate shooting incidents, one of them a fatality, on August 18. Woodland Officer Darryl Moore shot to death Jeffrey Allen Towe, 53 at his Woodland residence. Heath Austin Nunes, 38, of Lincoln, was shot and seriously wounded by a CHP officer in his car parked on the I-5 shoulder in Woodland.

Polcie released this photo of the knife Towe was using in the altercation.

After identifying Towe and Moore on August 19, Woodland police stated that Towe allegedly physically threatened Officer Moore. Towe had behaved “erratically” during a 20 minute confrontation with Moore at the College Manor Apartments, 411 Elliot Street in Woodland. Officers, including Moore, had been investigating a reported disturbance there at around 6 am on the morning of the 18th. Finally, Towe disobeyed police orders to surrender, brandished a knife and charged Moore, who then discharged his weapon. Woodland police also stated the knife was a “military-style” weapon with a seven inch blade.

17 hours after the College Manor shooting, an unidentified CHP officer shot and injured Nunes, who had appeared intoxicated when contacted about 11:30 p.m. on August 18. He, along with two motorcycle riders, were pulled over to the side of the Freeway on southbound Interstate 5. After the motorcycles had left, Nunes disobeyed orders to exit his car. While two officers pulled him out, he allegedly reached for a handgun inside the car. One of the officers then shot him in the abdomen during the struggle.

A total of seven officers — two from the Woodland Police Department and five from the CHP — have been placed on leave while investigations continue. Meanwhile protesters, who linked these incidents to the ongoing unrest in Ferguson, Missouri over the August 9 shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, marched in Woodland and demanded police use of lethal force end.

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The Davis Enterprise: More details emerge in Woodland officer shootings