FORT BRAGG – High speed chases usually look at least something like a Hollywood movie, with the suspect in a sports car tearing through the streets at a dangerous speed, endangering the lives of drivers and pedestrians along the way. And that’s what happened in Fort Bragg last Friday night, except the car was a white minivan.

Fields lost control at this curve along Highway 20 while driving at night.

The Mendocino Sheriff’s office said that at about 10 pm Friday, September 12, a patrol deputy traveling on Highway 1 through Fort Bragg saw the minivan coming the opposite direction at a high rate of speed, and veering into the oncoming traffic lane. The deputy quickly turned around to pursue, and followed the van southbound, reaching speeds up to 100 mph. When it reached Simpson Lane, the driver had to lock the brakes and skid, narrowly avoiding a collision with other cars. The pursuing deputies thought they would be able to stop the van, but it instead circled the round-about intersection, and headed back north.

Now traveling at 30 to 55 mph, the van turned right onto Highway 20, Fort Bragg-Willits road. About 5 miles in, as the road became more curvy, the driver tried to maintain his speed. At 6 miles, he hit more curves, and this time lost control. The wheels hit the gravel, the van skidded, and jumped across the road into the opposite embankment. It ended up facing westbound, back towards Fort Bragg. The driver then hit the gas again, slid, and came to a stop again facing the side of the road. Perhaps seeing no other escape, he floored it once more, right off the road and down a 75 foot embankment, where the chase was finally over.

A 2010 Facebook image. “a little too much rum that day, as far as what i can recall. there could have been some midgets and hallucinogenics involved or it could have just been a lot of pot. either way, i’ll never really remember.”

They pulled out the driver, with his distinctive beard and long hair, and identified him as Anthony Fields, 32 years old. Once a resident at a Victorian style home in central Fort Bragg, he is now considered a transient.

Fields had been arrested in November of last year on charges of assault with force likely to cause great bodily harm, and conspiracy. He was on probation for those offenses. He was arrested Friday night on charges of driving under the influence, evading a peace officer, and probation violations. He is now being held without bail at the Mendocino County Jail.

Detectives are still looking for this suspect.

For several weeks, detectives from the Sacramento Valley High Tech Crimes Task Force and 7-Eleven Store investigators reportedly conducted a joint investigation, resulting in the recent arrest of three identity theft suspects in Sacramento County, according to an official press release issued by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department.

Marcell Horton, 30, Fremon Reaves, 29, and Jacques Houston, 20, were arrested on Wednesday, September 17 and booked into custody at the Sacramento County Main Jail for a combined 36 counts of identity theft. Each suspect is reportedly being held on $500,000.00 bail.

Another suspect still wanted.

Detectives recovered more than $4,000 in cash and money orders, several hundred dollars worth of recently purchased merchandise, and several thousand dollars in Visa gift cards. The suspects were reportedly using stolen credit card account numbers, which detectives believe were purchased on the black market overseas. The three suspects were reportedly part of a counterfeit credit card ring believed to be responsible for over $230,000 of fraud at local 7-Eleven stores over the past several months.

Detectives are also asking for the public’s assistance in identifying two additional suspects that were reportedly conducting fraudulent transactions, and are believed to be part of this crime ring. If you have any information regarding this fraud ring or the identity of the two outstanding suspects, please contact the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department High Tech Crimes Division at 916-874-3198.

The driver of a vehicle that led police in a pursuit reaching speeds upwards of 70 mph through suburban Fairfield eventually plunged into the waters of the Putah Creek canal from which he had to be rescued by his pursuers.

It all began about 1:30 pm on September 17. Arthur Johnson, 37 of Sacramento, had stopped his vehicle at a red light the next lane over from a Solano County Sheriff’s patrol car. Legally waiting for the light to turn green, Johnson hit the gas hard, accelerating within a short distance to his top speed of 70 mph.

Hauling down Manuel Campos Parkway, Johnson blew through a dead end barrier. After a short cross-country journey, Johnson reached a Putah Creek canal access road and soon a six-foot cyclone fence topped with barbed wire. He climbed the fence, splashed into the canal and yelled for help. Officials threw him a rope and pulled him to shore.

He was treated for minor injuries and now stands accused of quite a variety of traffic law violations. A Solano Sheriff’s Department spokesperson did not explain Johnson’s motive for fleeing or why his getaway car had a private security firm’s logos on it. Perhaps the DUI/drugs (with injury) he was charged with led him to want to get away from the patrol car. Johnson was also charged with hit and run by a runaway vehicle causing property damage, reckless driving on a public street, and evading with wanton disregard for safety.

The preliminary hearing for the trial of the Baptist pastor accused in January of firebombing his former girlfriend’s family home has been set for September 26.

Pastor Mark Lewis, who met Sarah Nottingham while she was a member of the Fellowship Baptist Church’s congregation, is accused of committing arson at an inhabited structure, and stalking. The firebombing occurred at Nottingham’s home on Chateau Circle in Vacaville. Testimony at a probable cause hearing in Solano County Superior Court in July outlined how the quality of Nottingham’s relationship with Lewis diminished until, eventually, she attempted to end the relationship in late 2013.

After that, Lewis allegedly warned Nottingham that she “had created a monster.” During the next two weeks, Lewis allegedly harassed Nottingham on the phone, committed vandalism of her property, and attempted multiple times to set her family’s home on fire. These monstrous methods of harassment Lewis employed were revealed in testimony and court documents.

At about 3:30 am on January 9, a Molotov cocktail (a glass bottle filled with gasoline, and ignited by a wick made from a twisted rag stuck in the bottleneck) crashed through a window in the Nottingham residence. Coincidentally, within a matter of minutes, a Vacaville police officer patrolling Leisure Town Road observed a U-haul box truck break a traffic law while rolling toward the I-80 onramp. The patrol officer pulled the truck over.

Kristen Broyles, 30, of Citrus Heights, was driving; her passengers were Anthony Newbolt, 33, and Richard Wright, 28. Both passengers are residents of Sacramento. In a subsequent interview with Vacaville Police Detective Omir Torres, Newbolt disclosed that Pastor Lewis had instructed him in the how to “send a message” by firebombing the Nottingham home on Chateau Circle. Broyles, Newbolt and Wright were all homeless in early January and taking shelter in the church. The trio also stand accused of arson; their trial date has yet to be scheduled.

Lewis has entered a not guilty plea and remains lodged in Solano County Jail with bail set at $500,000.

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CrimeVoice: Combative Vacaville Pastor Must stand Trial for Firebombing

Ventura - It’s hard to imagine any hour of the week presumably more benign and less threatening to a woman walking her dogs in a Ventura neighborhood than at 11:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Yet, for one female resident of the city doing just that on the morning of September 14th, that day and that hour proved to have violent and possibly deadly potential.

It was just after 11:00 a.m., according to the media report issued by a Ventura Police Public Affairs spokesman, that the Police Command Center received a 911 Emergency call from a citizen reporting “an unknown disturbance” on a neighborhood street. “Officers responded to the area within minutes,” as described in the report, “and discovered a possible attempted sexual assault.”

A female victim at the scene detailed for patrol officers that she had been walking her dogs and had been followed for some considerable distance by a man whom she ultimately turned to and confronted verbally. At that point, the suspect summarily attacked her, pushed her to the ground, and attempted to forcibly remove her clothing. The victim’s screams for help apparently alerted neighbors, several of whom placed a series of 911 Emergency calls on her behalf.

Officers at the scene, working on witness statements and a description provided by the victim, located Anthony Morales, a 24-year old Ventura resident. When he was presented to the victim, he was positively identified by her and he was taken into custody without further incident.

Morales was transported to Ventura County Jail and booked on charges of attempted rape, with his bail set at $100,000.

Read more:

CBSLA: Man attempts to sexually assault woman

Sespe Sun: Attempt sexual assault

NORCO – Two men were arrested for breaking into vehicles and stealing property in the LA Fitness parking lot.

On Tuesday evening, while fitness-minded gym goers were busy working out, two men were scouting the LA Fitness parking lot at 1377 Hamner Avenue in the city of Norco. Witnesses noticed the men going from vehicle to vehicle looking suspiciously into windows. Deputies from the Sheriff’s Department were dispatched to investigate the subjects.

When deputies were en route, they were told that the subjects were also breaking into vehicles, removing property and putting it into their dark blue pick-up truck. Arriving at the location, the deputies quickly located and detained the suspects, catching them just as they were leaving the scene.

On further investigation, stolen property belonging to several victims was found in the bed of the suspects’ truck. Witnesses positively identified the two suspects, who were arrested, and the stolen property was returned to the victims. Richard Juarez, 24, was charged with burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, possession of stolen property and violation of probation. Adrian Fuerte, 28, was charged with burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, possession of stolen property and possession of burglary tools.

The Riverside Sheriff’s Department notes in their press release that according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, every year more than a billion dollars in estimated personal property and accessories are stolen from vehicles. The Department recommends that citizens protect their possessions by doing the following:

• Lock your vehicle no matter where you leave it.
• Close windows and sun roofs.
• Hide tempting items, including navigation systems (even the suction cup mounts), phone or electronic device adaptors and power plugs.
• Put shopping bags in the trunk.
• Conceal visible cargo.

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Press Enterprise: Vehicle burglaries prompt arrests

The Solano County District Attorney’s Office filed a motion on September 16 to drop charges of embezzlement against the Vanden High School head football coach.

Levon Haynes, 42, had been arrested in late August on suspicion of embezzlement. Police investigation had apparently revealed he had taken for himself thousands of dollars raised to support the Vanden High football team. Haynes was placed on paid administrative leave and remains free on $15,000 bail.

Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams said this does not mean the case against Haynes has been cleared completely. What the motion indicates is the prosecutor working on the case is performing further research before making a final determination on whether to prosecute Haynes. Abrams said the investigation “would not go on indefinitely.” Ultimately if a decision is made not to prosecute a notice of intent not to prosecute would be filed “but that has not happened at this point.”

School District officials had called the Fairfield police in August after starting their own investigation into Haynes’s use of the football funds. Fairfield police said the alleged embezzlement could involve thousands of dollars.

Read More:

Daily Republic: Police arrest Vanden football coach for suspected embezzlement

REDLANDS – A 34-year-old man was arrested in the murder of a 17-year-old on Wednesday night. Two days later, more information surfaced about the suspected shooter, Erlindo Rodriguez, Jr., of Redlands. According to reports, Rodriguez was growing fresh marijuana in a yard that bordered an alleyway. It’s likely the victim was trying to take some of the plants.

Rodriguez was arrested after the body of the teen, Marcus Green, a student at Redlands East Valley High School, was discovered shortly after 10 p.m. Redlands Fire Dept. paramedics responded to the scene on the 1000 block of Post St., pronouncing Green dead. Green, who was found with a pair of scissors near his body, was cutting fresh marijuana plants that belonged to Rodriguez, according to reports, which is the reason the suspect opened fire. Police questioned Rodriguez after Green was found lying in an alley, unresponsive and a single gunshot wound in his chest.

According to reports, Rodriguez has been selling marijuana products to neighbors, including kids and adults. Redlands police did not comment on that portion of the investigation. In 2000, Rodriguez was convicted a concealed weapon in Los Angeles. Two years later, he was found to be a felon in possession of a firearm in San Bernardino. In 2004, he was convicted for grand theft auto in San Diego. The following year, he was convicted for assault with a deadly weapon in Riverside.

Police have not yet determined if Rodriguez, who was arrested last December for failing a mandatory drug test, has gang connections. He spent the remainder of his sentence in county jail. The shooting location was less than two blocks from a January 2011 shooting that claimed the lives of two teenagers while two others were injured.

Read More:

CBSLA: Man possibly stealing pot plants when shot

Press Enterprise: REV student shot to death over marijuana theft

If you’re going to carry drugs, obey the traffic rules.

This week the Fremont Police Department is reporting a routine traffic violation stop that led to a search of the vehicle and the subsequent discovery of a hidden compartment containing drugs and cash, resulting in the arrest of a Hayward man.

On August 29, agents from the Southern Alameda County Major Crimes Task Force (SACMCTF) were conducting surveillance in the city of Hayward when they witnessed a 1999 Silver Honda Accord make an illegal U-turn, according to Officer Geneva Bosques of the Fremont Police Department. “There were two violations,” Bosques says. “22103 VC (illegal U-turn) and 22107 VC (failure to signal).”

Agents pulled the Accord over on Western Boulevard near Laurel Avenue and asked the driver’s permission to search the vehicle, which was granted.

During their search of the car, agents discovered a false compartment under the right front passenger seat. Inside the compartment were 20 clear plastic bags containing suspected methamphetamine, estimated to weigh 191 grams total, or 6.75 ounces, with an approximate street value of $15,280. Also found in the compartment was $1,398 in U.S. currency. The methamphetamine was seized as evidence and the currency was seized pursuant to asset forfeiture.

Discovered in the driver’s possession were two cellular phones and a notebook containing a pay/owe sheet.

The suspect was identified as 27-year-old Hayward resident Paul Monjardin-Perez. Perez was arrested on possession for sale of a controlled substance, transporting a controlled substance, and use of a false compartment to conceal a controlled substance. He was booked and transported to the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. His bail has been set at $180,000.

FRESNO – A woman with two toddlers in her car was taken into custody following a police pursuit on Wednesday morning.

Police said that 31-year-old Elizabeth Sally Rillo, of Fresno, was driving a Chevrolet Suburban erratically around 10:45 a.m. in east-central Fresno. An officer attempted to pull her over near Cedar and Dayton avenues.

Rillo stopped at the nearby intersection and the officer pulled up next to her to tell her to pull over. Rillo began yelling at the officer and then drove off through the red light and proceeded eastbound on Clinton Avenue.

Although police initially pursued Rillo, they saw a small child in her lap and stopped the pursuit for safety reasons. A California Highway Patrol helicopter tracked her as she drove through a shopping center onto McKinley Avenue.

Police were able to safely block her car at McKinley and Maple avenues. They discovered Rillo’s 2-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter in the car.

Rillo was arrested on charges of suspicion of felony child endangerment, driving under the influence of drugs, and evading a police officer. The two children in the car, as well as three other children who were in school at the time, were taken into the custody of Child Protective Services.

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Fresno Bee: Intoxicated Fresno woman evades police

Ventura - The truth of the adage that “a dog is man’s best friend” applies in varying degrees, it seems, depending upon who the “man” is. In the case of Joseph Ojida, a 53-year old Ventura resident, following the events that transpired late in the evening hours of September 14th, he most certainly is not likely to appear at the next meeting of the local kennel club.

It was nearly midnight on the evening in question when the Ventura Police Department Command Center received a 911 Emergency call reporting a violent encounter between a man and a woman at a local area hotel. According to the report submitted to the media by the VPD Public Affairs office, the first patrol unit to arrive at the scene of the reported disturbance was in fact one of the police department’s more robust K-9 “officers”. Both the K-9 “officer” and his uniformed and sworn partner observed Ojida in the process of “physically assaulting a female in the hallway of the hotel” with the use of a rope bearing a metal object on one end.

When the officer ordered Ojida to drop the rope and cease his assault, Ojida made a mistake that he undoubtedly regretted all the way to the hospital, and “refused to comply” with the officer’s multiple verbal commands. At that point, given the green light by his handler, the K-9 “officer” did what extensive training had prepared him for, and within seconds he had Ojida subdued, bleeding, and in custody.

Subsequent investigation determined that Ojida had entered the female victim’s hotel room against her will and had initiated a threatening verbal discourse. When the female attempted to escort him out of her room, Ojida refused to exit and began swinging the metal-tipped rope at her in a menacing fashion. While she avoided being struck by the metal object arcing toward her, the female did sustain minor injuries in the altercation and was treated for them at the scene.

For his part, Ojida was arrested and then given what can only be imagined as a painfully slow ride to the hospital for “injuries he sustained from the K-9 deployment.” Once he was stitched up, Ojida was transported to Ventura County Jail and booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest.

Read more:

VCSTAR: Ventura man accused of assault

Before Its News: Man arrested for assaulting woman

PIERCY, MENDOCINO COUNTY – The Town of Piercy is a small community nestled along the Eel River just off of Highway 101 as it winds through inland Mendocino County. It is located south of Garberville amid the redwood forests of coastal northern California. Two brothers, who both live in southern California’s Apple Valley, were with a friend and their father at the family property along the river on Highway 271, were working at a marijuana grow of about 120 plants on the property.

Marijuana growing is seen to be a way of life for several northern California regions, especially in the so called “Emerald Triangle” of Mendocino, Humboldt, and Trinity Counties. While it is said that marijuana cultivation may consist of up to two-thirds of the region’s economy, and that as many as 90% of the area’s residents are in some way tied to it, there are also strict regulations in place. Mendocino County law states that any one parcel is permitted only 25 marijuana plants, and for certified medical use only.

The property is located off the driveway to the left from Highway 271 near the Eel River.

However, what happened in Piercy on Wednesday of this week may have been only tangentially related to the marijuana growing operation. According to the Mendocino Sheriff’s office, Carl and Anthony Fragale were at the property near 78000 Highway 271. During the day, and while they worked together in the marijuana garden, Carl, 28, confronted his brother Anthony, 23, accusing him of being disrespectful toward their father.

The brothers argued, and the dispute became a physical fight between them. Once they split up, Anthony went for a handgun, confronted Carl, and shot him. It was just before 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

Anthony, with his father and friend, then took Carl’s wounded body in their vehicle on the 15 mile drive north up the winding 101 Highway to Garberville. They brought him to Jerold Phelps Community Hospital, but efforts to save him were fruitless, and he was soon pronounced dead of the bullet wound. Reports came to the Sheriff’s office from both one of the party, and the hospital staff. Anthony Lawrence Fragale was arrested at the hospital for the murder of Carl Anthony Fragale. His bail was set at $500,000.00.

Diego Galindo loved his family. He especially loved his young niece, Daniela. Back in May, Galindo changed his Facebook profile photo to one of the toddler. She sits there in a pink princess tutu dress and flower headband, staring off into the distance.

She won’t get to know the uncle who loved her so much.

Kealani Osako also loves her family. She loves her father, Kenneth, and is his biggest defender. “There are two sides to every story,” she wrote on her Facebook page Saturday.

For 16 years, Galindo worked as a butcher at the Carniceria Tepa in South San Francisco. Marta Sanchez, a friend and coworker, described the 43-year-old to the San Francisco Chronicle as a wonderful person: “He had a big heart. He was a kid with the body of an adult, but a kid at heart.”

He had a big heart, and a big body, one he kept fit. The San Bruno resident was a longtime member of the Bally Total Fitness Gym in South San Francisco.

So was Kenneth Osako. In his booking photo, the 46-year-old sports a piercing in the shape of a miniature dumbbell through his right eyebrow.

Bally Fitness, where the deadly altercation took place.

South San Francisco Police are still trying to determine if the two men knew one another. This much they do know: On Wednesday, September 17, at around 9:30 p.m., Osako and Galindo had some sort of altercation inside the gym. A little later, as Galindo was working out, Osako allegedly grabbed a solid steel bar used for lifting weights, came up behind Galindo and struck him on the head several times before dropping the improvised weapon and fleeing the scene, according to a South San Francisco Police Department news release. Paramedics rushed Galindo to San Francisco General Hospital, where he died from his injuries the next day.

Witnesses inside the gym identified Osako as the killer. On Thursday, police got in touch with Osako, who was out on a plumbing job. Osako informed them where he was located and surrendered without incident, according to Sgt. Tom Neary of the South San Francisco Police Department.

“How cold-hearted could you be?” Sanchez said of Osako for going about his daily routine after the murder. “You didn’t throw a rock, a little pebble at somebody—you killed somebody. You took somebody’s life away.”

Police are investigating a motive for the crime. A possible motive suggested by Kealani is jealousy. She told KTVU that she spoke to her father after his arrest, and he claimed that Galindo was flirting with his girlfriend. “The man was trying to get my father’s girlfriend to leave with him and that didn’t go well with my father, obviously,” she said.

She apologized to the Galindo family on her father’s behalf. “I know he’s sorry and I know he didn’t want this to happen.”

Meanwhile, workers at Carniceria Tepa are trying to come to terms with their loss. “It’s just really hard to imagine him not here,” Sanchez said on Friday. “Everybody is devastated.”

A candle for Galindo burns on the counter, alongside a donation box to help pay for his funeral.

DELANO — Two men are behind bars after investigators busted up a major pot farm operation in Delano on last week. Ignacio Valencia, 27, and 39-year-old Juan Carlos Palacios Gomes, both of Delano were booked into the Kern County Jail for cultivation of marijuana, conspiracy. Gomes faces an additional charge of resisting arrest. Both men are being held on immigration holds.

According to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, the arrests were the result of a five-month long investigation by the Sheriff’s Office Major Violator Unit into a marijuana drug trafficking organization operating in Kern County Two search warrants were issued and for a suspected large clandestine marijuana garden operation in the Delonegha Creek Drainage near the Democrat Fire Station on Highway 178 in Lake Isabella , and for an apartment in the 1000 block of 10th Avenue in Delano where detectives believed the harvested marijuana was being processed and stored.

On Sept. 19, detectives, with the assistance of U.S. Forest Service, Kern County HIDTA, officers from Cal-MMET and KCSO Gang Suppression deputies, served the search warrant on the suspected stash apartment. “Mr. Gomes was at the apartment and after trying to flee, was arrested by deputies without incident,” Ray Pruitt, sheriff’s public information officer said. “The second suspect, Mr. Valencia was taken into custody at around the same time after he was located at a family member’s home.”

Pruitt also said that investigators found approximately 101 pounds of marijuana along with additional evidence of marijuana cultivation at the apartment on 10th Avenue. The next day, the second search warrant was executed at the Delonegha Creek marijuana garden, where detectives found two large gardens containing 3,770 6-foot marijuana plants and an additional 40 pounds of processed marijuana. The processed marijuana and plants, which according to authorities had a potential value of approximately $15,000,000, was flown out and destroyed by law enforcement.

Read more:

KERO: Major drug discovery north of Lake Isabella

Californian: Two arrested for allegedly operating large pot farms

LAMONT — A man who allegedly murdered a woman in Lamont earlier this month has been arrested.

Juan Carlos Montes-Figueroa, 35, was booked into the Kern County Jail for one count of murder. According to Kern County Sheriff Homicide investigators, Montes-Figueroa was being sought as the primary suspect in a homicide that occurred in the 21000 block of Adobe Road in Lamont last Friday.

Deputies responding to the report of an injured subject at around 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 19, arrived to find a Hispanic female suffering from major head trauma. The unidentified female subject was pronounced dead at the scene.

Homicide detectives responded and initiated an investigation. which eventually led to Montes-Figeuroa’s arrest the next day on Sept. 20. The investigation is still ongoing, and police are asking for the public’s help.

Read more:

KERO: Man arrested in Lamont, charged with murder

SAN JACINTO – Two Suspects were arrested for cultivating, processing and packaging marijuana and concentrated cannabis for sale while a four-year-old child lived on the premises.

After receiving a tip that there was an illegal marijuana grow operation at a residence, the San Jacinto Police Department Special Enforcement Team began to investigate. The deputies got a break in the investigation when late Friday evening they observed a Chevrolet truck from the residence traveling westbound on Evans Street in San Jacinto.

A deputy conducted an enforcement stop for a vehicle code violation. During the stop, deputies located a half-pound bag of marijuana in the truck as well as $3,000 in cash. The driver Jessica Desmond, 22 and the passenger as Leroy Langford, 21, both of San Jacinto were detained. The deputies then obtained a search warrant for their residence.

According to Sergeant J. Orona on the following Saturday afternoon, a search warrant was served by the Special Enforcement Team. During the service of this search warrant, deputies discovered the residence was a marijuana grow house and packaging operation as well as a concentrated cannabis, “honey-oil” lab.

The honey oil-making process requires the use of butane gas to turn marijuana into a honey-like substance that can be easily vaporized and is an extremely dangerous process. The butane poses a serious fire hazard and can be explosive. During the investigation deputies also discovered that a four-year-old child lived in the residence in these dangerous conditions.

Searching the residence, 12 mature marijuana plants, 30 pounds of processed marijuana and packaging material, and 16 ounces of concentrated cannabis – honey oil were seized. There was also a loaded firearm within easy reach of the child.

Desmond and Langford were both arrested and booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility for cultivation and possession of marijuana for sales, operating a concentrated cannabis extraction lab, possession of concentrated cannabis, and felony child endangerment. Langford was also charged with violation of probation.

Read More:

CBSLA: Deputies raid suspected honey oil lab

KTLA: Concentrated cannibas operation found in San Jacinto home

MARICOPA — A 32-year-old man accused of assaulting another man with a gun early in the week is behind bars thanks to an alert citizen.

Jeffery Helm was booked into the Kern County Jail on one count of assault with a deadly weapon. According to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, Helm was wanted as the suspect in a shooting incident that occurred on Wednesday, Sept. 17, on the 10000 block of South Union Avenue in Bakersfield.

An arrest warrant had been issued for Helm after a citizen spotted him coming and going from an abandoned house in the 800 block of Madera Street in Maricopa, approximately 30 miles southwest from where the shooting occurred.

Deputies went to the house on Sept. 20, where a sheriff’s helicopter spotted Helm leaving on foot. A short time later Helm was taken into custody without incident.

Zephyr Malik Carter, whose name could be translated into Carter, the King of the West Winds, escaped from a Sonoma County Jail work detail, and was free for nearly two months before he was located and arrested in Las Vegas Nevada.

Zephyr Malik Carter Mugshot

Carter has made something of a career out of identity theft, at least for this past year. He had been arrested several times in the past few years for burglary, and once for domestic violence, and also for escaping from custody. But this year, in January, he was arrested by University of California Berkeley Police on charges of forgery, unauthorized use of a personal ID, and giving false information to a peace officer.

That arrest was followed in April when he was part of a notable team who were running an identity theft and credit card fraud operation out of a Rohnert Park hotel. He, along with two other men and two women, had used stolen credit cards to rent Mercedes Benz cars, purchase merchandise, and withdraw cash. They were found with stolen cards, blank cards, a card reader, and computers set up to further their scheme. They also had drugs, including methamphetamine, and smoking paraphernalia.

They were caught when one of the women, Nicole Dunlap, tried to withdraw cash using one of the cards at the Graton Indian Casino near their hotel. The fraud was detected, and she was taken into custody. A little while later, another of the team, Jhona Mathews, tried the same thing, and was also caught. The investigation into Dunlop and Mathews led to exposure of the whole team, and all five, including Michael Anger and Robert Serrato, were arrested and charged with forgery, burglary, identity theft, and other violations.

Zephyr Carter posted bail and was released pending his court date. He then failed to appear, and an arrest warrant was then issued. (One of his partners, Jhona Mathews did show up for court, but when her bail was increased, she was taken into custody again, and then revealed that her 3-year-old daughter was locked in her car in the parking lot. The rescue of the girl revealed more evidence of drugs and ID theft in the car. She then faced further charges, while the girl was placed into protective custody.)

Zephyr Carter (Facebook)

According to the Sheriff’s Office, Carter was found and arrested on May 15 in Oakland by agents from the FBI and US Marshall’s Fugitive Task Force Team. True to form, Carter was in possession of 57 counterfeit credit cards. This time he was not released on bail, and appeared in court. He was sentenced on June 9 with two years, eight months prison. Per AB109 prison realignment guidelines, he was assigned to carry out his sentence in the Sonoma County Jail, at the North County Detention Facility.

On July 28, while on a work crew outside the confines of the jail, he managed to escape. Agents from the FBI, US Marshalls, and Sonoma County Sheriff’s office began searching for him immediately. Evidence tracked him to San Francisco, where he once lived, but he was not located there. His picture was posted on the “Northern California’s Most Wanted” website, and a tip came in that he was seen in Las Vegas. The Criminal Apprehension Team of Las Vegas law enforcement was alerted to the tip, and launched their own investigation. They eventually located Carter at a motel near the Las Vegas Strip, and took him into custody on Tuesday, September 16. The District Attorney’s office in Sonoma County began extradition proceedings to bring Carter back to face charges on his escape.

Read More:

CrimeVoice: Hotel credit card operation shut down

CrimeVoice: Troubled woman locked up again

Northern California’s Most Wanted: Zephyr Carter

UPDATE: According to the Santa Clara Sheriff’s Office, On August 28th, deputies responded to a body on fire lying on the side of the roadway in the area of Oak Glen Avenue and Uvas Road, Unincorporated Morgan Hill.

Santa Clara Sheriff’s Deputies and Paramedics located a smoldering grass fire and a body down an embankment on Oak Glen Avenue. A short time after their arrival, paramedics at the scene pronounced the woman deceased. The victim was identified by the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office as 35 year-old Julie Teresa Calocci of San Jose, a few days after the incident.

On Friday, September 12, Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office detectives located and arrested 21-year-old Edgardo Gutierrez, of San Jose, for the homicide of Calocci.

During the investigation evidence located at the crime scene, along with witness statements, led to the identification and arrest of Gutierrez.

The victim, Julie Calocci, image from the GoFundMe site in her name.

According to authorities, “A motorist was driving on Oak Glen Avenue when they observed smoke off the side of the road. The motorist saw a body on fire just off the roadway in the brush”. Afterwards, witness statements were taken from the concerned motorists who stopped to investigate the small blaze.

Due diligence by the drivers allowed investigators to act quickly and collect evidence linking Gutierrez to the scene of the crime, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. They immediately called 911. The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Detectives and Crime Scene Investigation Team were dispatched to the scene a short time later.

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CrimeVoice: Burning body found in South County now identified