MOJAVE — A 26-year-old man accused of flashing motorists along a remote stretch of Highway 58 in the middle of the Mojave Desert was arrested on Wednesday of last week.

Kirk Antosh was booked into the Kern County Jail Central Receiving Facility for indecent exposure. According to the Kern County Sheriff’s Department, Antosh was already wanted by authorities in Los Angeles County, where he had an outstanding warrant for a similar case. In Kern County he is being linked to 11 calls regarding a male suspect exposing himself to motorists traveling on Highway 58 near the town of North Edwards Air Force Base.

“Over the past several months deputies have responded to 11 separate calls regarding a nude male subject committing lewd acts to passing motorists,” Ray Pruitt, Kern County Sheriffs Public Information Officer said. “However, the suspect was able to flee the area prior to the arrival of deputies each time.”

However, on Oct. 15, at around 2:30 p.m., deputies caught a break after responding to a call from a motorist reporting a nude man standing near a white SUV near the area of Claymine Road and Highway 58. After fleeing from deputies once again, a California Highway Patrol officer assisting with the search spotted a white SUV matching the suspect vehicle description parked at a nearby mobile home park.

“Deputies made contact with the resident of the mobile home where the vehicle was parked and identified the resident Kirk Antosh,” Pruitt said. After further investigation, investigators also discovered that Antosh was the suspect involved in the case reported on Oct. 15, as well as the same suspect involved in the 11 previous calls.

Read more:

KERO: Man accused of exposing himself to motorists arrested

LA QUINTA – An injured and unresponsive woman found in vehicle led police to a domestic homcide.

On Sunday, while investigating an early morning traffic accident in the area of 47-200 Washington Street in La Quinta, police noticed a suspicious vehicle. The car which was discovered near 46-600 Washington Street was not believed to be involved in the accident, but the driver was unconscious and nonresponsive.

After forcing entry into the vehicle, officers discovered an adult female who was injured. Police declined to specific the exact nature of the injury. The woman was transported to an area hospital for medical treatment.

In an effort to determine the cause of the injuries, the officers and investigators from the La Quinta Police Department and the Thermal Sheriff’s Station conducted a preliminary investigation. It was determined that the last known location of the woman was at a home in 51-000 block of Avenida Carranza in La Quinta where she had been visiting with family.

The officers and investigators followed this lead to the residence in the quiet suburb of La Quinta Cove, where they found two deceased adult males. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Central Homicide Unit continued the investigation from here.

According to Sergeant Jim Erickson in a press release from the Riverside Sheriff’s Department, the female driver and the two deceased men were related. Investigators declined to share further information on the case, but state that is being investigated as a domestic homicide.

No outstanding suspects are being sought at this time and the investigation is currently active and ongoing.

At this time, the injured woman discovered in the vehicle is listed in critical but stable condition. Authorities are currently withholding the names of the involved parties due to the manner of injury and deaths.

Anyone with any information regarding this incident is asked to call Investigator Loureiro at the Sheriff’s Central Homicide Unit (760) 393-3524.

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Desert Sun: Two dead, one injured in ‘domestic homicide’

Desert Sun: Dead La Quinta man kept to himself

Penal Code 21310 is a California law prohibiting the carrying of “a concealed dirk or dagger”. The language may seem outmoded – who is even aware of what a “dirk” is? But the penalties for a misdemeanor violation can be a year in jail and/or $1000.00 fine, and for a felony violation, up to three years and $10,000.00. A dirk or dagger is defined as a knife or other instrument capable of being used as a stabbing weapon which could inflict significant and substantial injury or death. A folding knife fits the definition if the blade is exposed and locked. Good news for Renaissance Faire enthusiasts – if your blade is carried in a sheath, and hung openly from your waist, it may be worn per the state’s open carry knife law. However, other knives, such as switchblades, ballistic knives, or trick knives, like lipstick or cane knives, may never be carried.

The Mendocino Sheriff’s Office had cause to make use of the law in some recent cases. Earlier in October, on Monday morning the 13th, patrol deputies in Laytonville spotted Edward Taylor Esquivel Sr., 51 of Willits, driving in the area of the Cahto Rancheria reservation, located west of town. Esquivel was known to the department for past infractions, and was a suspect in a recent burglary investigation. His drivers license was also suspended, so deputies pulled him over on Lucas Lane.

According to a Sheriff’s press release, he was searched, and a fixed blade knife was found in his back pocket. He also had a couple of hypodermic needles carefully hidden in his left shoe. Esquivel was arrested on felony carrying a dirk or dagger, possession of drug paraphernalia, and driving with a suspended license. He was also being held as a suspect in the burglary case. Bail was set at $15,000.

Ruiz was walking aloing State Street in Ukiah, much like the man in this Google Maps image, when he was noticed by deputies.

On Friday of last week a patrol deputy driving through south Ukiah, along State Street near the Grace Hudson Elementary School, Boys and Girls Club, and the Skate City roller rink, spotted a man walking along the road at 12:30 in the afternoon. What initially drew the deputy’s attention, according to the Sheriff’s Department, was a hatchet partially exposed in his clothing. The deputy stopped to address the man, who displayed clear signs of being under the influence of a controlled substance. When asked for his name the man gave the deputy what turned out to be a false one.

The deputy figured out it was a fake name, and learned his real name was Baraquel Ruiz, 28-years-old of Ukiah. A records search revealed two felony warrants out on probation violations, as well as his current probationary status. Ruiz was arrested four times last year on drug and probation violation charges, and celebrated July 4th getting arrested for driving without a license. In April of this year he was charged with being under the influence, possession of paraphernalia, and resisting arrest.

Carrying the hatchet with him brought a new charge of carrying a dirk or dagger, along with giving false identification to an officer and the more familiar being under the influence. He was booked into Mendocino County Jail on a no-bail status.

More serious, however, than a dirk or dagger is the possession of a deadly assault weapon. Last Wednesday at 10 pm, deputies on patrol in Ukiah, in the northern area of town near Ukiah High School, spotted a vehicle with a lighting violation at Despina Drive and Capps Lane. They conducted a traffic enforcement stop, and found two men in the car, 41-year-old Jon Paul Rickel of Ukiah driving, and 42-year-old Todd Wisniewski of Willits. A check on their identifications revealed that Rickel was a convicted felon on active probation with Mendocino County.

Jon Paul Rickel and Todd Allen Wisniewski

According to archives of the Ukiah Daily Journal, Rickel was arrested back in 1995 for an assault on his mother using a telephone as a weapon. His step-father tried to intervene, but he beat him with his fists. Another archive shows that the next year he was arrested on threats of violence and violation of a court order, presumably to stay away from his mother.

Other records show a series of arrests from 2006 to this year. Several of the charges involve violations of domestic violence court orders, though it is not clear if they stem from the incident with his mother, or from another victim. There are also several drug related charges, including possession and sale of marijuana and controlled substances and paraphernalia, and parole violations. In January of this year he was charged with battery causing injury, committing a felony while on bail, and parole violations.

In spite of all that, Rickel posted on his Facebook page on September 2 of this year that he was done with parole and had a positive outlook on he future. He wrote “Today is Day 1….not having to answer to Parole.. 13+ years - LIFE BEGINS NOW…. IT’S TIME TO SHINE AND SHOP THE WORLD HOW TO ENJOY LIFE WITHOUT NEEDING SOCIAL MEDIA TO EXIST. …. SEE YA IF I SEE YA.. OTHERWISE ENJOY YOUR COMPANY THAT IS ONLY IN YOUR MIND NOT IN YOUR PRESENCE.”

Jonh Rickel and Todd Wisniewski images from Facebook.

A few days later he posted a photo of Todd Wisniewski, saying “This is Todd Wisniewski a good friend. O’Ya and he is single for all the women who deserve a good man.”

But despite that, the deputies, aware of Rickel’s history and status as a parolee, searched the vehicle, and found a semi-automatic assault rifle, along with ammunition and loaded magazines. The weapon is illegal in California. They placed Rickel and Wisniewski under arrest for possession of an illegal assault weapon. Rickel was additionally charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and one more parole violation. He is being held under a no-bail status at the Mendocino County jail, and may face a much longer sentence under the provisions of California’s three strikes law.

Wisniewski, who doesn’t have Rickel’s extensive history, had bail set at $15,000.00.

Deputies responded to apartments on Foster Avenue in Laytonville.

October has been designated Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the United States, and the Mendocino Sheriff’s Department has announced three recent arrests that perfectly demonstrate that violence in the home is not only a problem of men attacking a weaker spouse (which is by far the most common occurrence) but can also happen when a woman attacks her husband or boyfriend.

As Saturday, October 11 passed into the early hours of Sunday, the Sheriff’s office was called at 1:40 am on reports of vandalism to an apartment home on Foster Avenue in Laytonville, a small community along Highway 101 in inland Mendocino County, north of Willits. A mirror of a vehicle had been damaged by someone in the middle of the night. Responding deputies found first, however, an intoxicated woman in front of a nearby business – most likely the Chief Smokehouse and Laundromat, which is just around the corner. The woman, identified as Vanessa Ann Winters, 34, also appeared to have been recently assaulted. She had a swollen face and dried blood around her nose and lips. She told the deputies she had been attacked by her boyfriend at the apartments they had been headed to.

Susan Irene Mason booking photo

They arrived at the location, and detained the suspected attacker, a 37-year-old man. However, witnesses to the incident told a different story. The deputies took statements that said Ms. Winters had done the damage to herself, pounding her head against a door frame and wall in an apparent attempt to implicate the man as a domestic abuser. They said she had also attacked him, biting him in the arm and putting a lit cigarette out on his head. And while she left, she damaged the mirror to a neighbor’s car, who reported the vandalism originally.

Vanessa Winters was booked for committing corporal injury to a spouse or co-habitant (domestic violence), vandalism, and falsely reporting a crime. Her bail was set at $25,000 at the Mendocino County jail.

Deputies were called to these apartments where Susan Mason was arrested.

A few days later, on Friday October 17, deputies were sent to an apartment complex on South State Street for a welfare check at 8:41 in the morning. They arrived and contacted a man there who said he had been in an argument with his girlfriend, which had turned physical. He said he had been hit in his ear by a plate she had thrown at him, but he did not want any medical help for the injury. His girlfriend, 43-year-old Susan Irene Mason, was arrested and charged with felony domestic violence battery. She was booked at Mendocino County Jail with bail set at $25,000.

Rhonda Ann Motts

Later that same Friday, at 9:36 in the evening, deputies were sent to the Woodside RV Park along Highway 1 in Fort Bragg, in the southern part of town near the famous Botanical Gardens. They were sent on reports of an on-going domestic violence incident. When the arrived they contact a 44-year-old man, who had visible injuries to his neck and chest, which showed signs of bleeding due to scratch wounds.

He told them he and his wife, 43-year-old Rhonda Ann Motts, had been arguing, and she then attacked him physically. He said she had since run away.

Banner posted on Rhonda Motts Facebook page.

Rhonda Motts is on active summary probation out of Mendocino County for assault with a deadly weapon charges. That charge may be related to two prior arrests, according to records, on domestic violence assault in May of 2011 and September of 2012. Ironically, Eric T. Motts, presumably Rhonda’s husband, was also arrested on domestic violence charges the same time she was in May 2011. Details of that incident were not available, and victims are never identified by law enforcement, but it seems likely they were both charged in a fight with each other. Eric was also arrested for possession of an assault weapon in September 2012, around the same time as Rhonda’s other domestic violence booking.

But last Friday night, deputies at their RV park home did not have to wait long, as Rhonda was spotted returning to the home. She was arrested for corporal injury to a spouse or co-habitant, and probation violations. Her bail was set at $30,000.00.

FRESNO – Police arrested three suspects from Selma on allegations that they carjacked a woman at gunpoint over the weekend in central Fresno.

The incident happened just before 6 a.m. on Saturday in the 2000 block of N. Farris Avenue. Two men, one of whom was carrying a sawed-off shotgun, approached the woman outside of her home.

The suspect with the gun pointed it at her and told her to sit on the curb. The men then took off in the woman’s vehicle, also taking her purse. The suspect who had driven the men to the home followed in a blue Dodge Neon, authorities said.

Police located the woman’s stolen car early the next morning and arrested the two suspects inside, identified as 19-year-old Hector Montano and a 17-year-old juvenile, both from Selma. The shotgun was found hidden in the vehicle and detectives were able to get a confession from both the suspects, police said.

The driver of the blue Neon, 25-year-old Otha Gray, also of Selma, was arrested in Reedley. He was identified as a Selma Bulldog gang member.

All three suspects face carjacking charges.

Read More:

Fresno Bee: Three arrested in central Fresno carjacking

SAN JOSE, Calif – Three suspects were arrested this week in what police are calling an end to a “Point Break” bank robbery team who entered four banks throughout the Santa Clara County area and took control of bank employees and customers in order to rob them.

32-year-old Daniel Chavez, 22-year-old Antonio Chavez and 24-year-old Jesse Hernandez were arrested in a series of charges with multiple counts of bank robbery, gun enhancements and false imprisonment for the purposes of benefiting a gang.

According to Sgt. Heather Randol with the San Jose Police Department, “Detectives are continuing the investigation to identify additional suspects and determine if these suspects are responsible for other bank robberies throughout the state”. Randol said, “Robbery Detectives from the San Jose Police Department, along with the assistance of Campbell Police Department and the FBI, conducted an extensive investigation into a crew dubbed POINT BREAK”.

Bank of America in Campbell, one of the armed robbery locations.

The three men are suspected of robbing one bank in Campbell, two in San Jose and one in Gilroy. The first of the robberies occurred at the US Bank on Aug. 14, 2013 on the 1900 block of South Bascom Avenue in Campbell. “Evidence developed in this case pointed to a Norteno street gang based out of Salinas, however, its members were spread out over several counties”, Randol said. The trio also struck a Chase Bank on Nov. 6, 2013, located on the 1100 block of First Street in Gilroy.

The gang appeared again after a three month hideout, striking a Wells Fargo Bank on Feb. 26 on the 100 block of Branham Lane, San Jose. Robbery detectives were tight-lipped about the gang’s movement, and gave the media few details about the robberies committed by the trio. The final robbery occurred on April 8 when the trio again robbed another Wells Fargo on the 1700 block of South Bascom Avenue, Campbell – just blocks from where they had first struck.

Sergeant Larry Day from the San Jose Police Department Robbery Unit said, “They were the most sophisticated crew of bank robbers we have seen in quite some time”. Day said, “Detectives from the Salinas and Campbell Police Departments were instrumental in assisting with the investigation”.

BORON — Detectives broke up a major burglary operation in the small southwest Kern County town of Boron last Friday, arresting nine people.

Leanna Rodden, 25, 26-year-old Anthony Vargas and 30-year-old Charles Rogers were booked into the Sheriff’s Office Central Receiving Facility for burglary and conspiracy, while 34-year-old Jolene Perez, 49-year-old Edie Rodriguez, 45-year-old Alberto Contreras and 18-year-old Emily Contreras were all booked on charges of identity theft and conspiracy.

Tommy Perez and Robert Perez, 43-year-old twin brothers, who were not part of the investigation but were present during the execution of the search warrants, were also arrested for being under the influence of a controlled substance.

Sheriff’s investigators said that the seven arrests for burglary were the result of a nearly three-month long investigation into a rash of residential burglaries that occurred in Boron beginning in August 2014.

The first burglary occurred in the 26000 block of Ferguson Street in Boron, where the victim also became the target of eventual identity theft.

Deputies used evidence gathered at the scene to positively identify at least four suspects involved in the burglary, which also led them to four additional suspect that used the victims personal information to open credit card accounts, public utility services and cell phones in the victim’s name.
Using their evidence, investigators obtained warrants to search for four homes in Boron — two in the 26800 block of Jessie Street, one in the 27300 block of Anderson Street, and one in the 11900 block of Boron Avenue, which were all executed on Oct. 17.

Read More:

KERO: Burglary investigation in Boron results in 9 arrests

Bakersfield Californian: Multiple people arrested for identity theft

Kern Golden Empire: Boron burglary investigation results in nine arrested

Authorities Arrested 12 Suspects

SAN JUAN BAUTISTA—Agents with the United Narcotics Enforcement Team (UNET) arrested 12 people who were on the property at the 9644 Betabel Road because they believed they were cultivating and processing marijuana for sale. The building, known as the Betabel Station Event Center, is currently listed for sale.

Investigators found massive quantities of harvested marijuana.

On October 16, The UNET team was watching the property because of an odor of marijuana had been detected. Agents tried to contact some occupants who were just outside the property, but they took off in a vehicle, and one who was standing outside the vehicle ran into the woods behind the property.

Alerted to what was going on outside, several men ran from the building into the woods and hills. But authorities were still able to arrest 12 people as they tried to leave or were attempting to hide in the building.

Arrested were 20-year-old Fernando Berdugo of Salinas, 22-year-old Daniel Caverro of Gilroy, 23-year-old Pasiano Ruiz of Fresno, 23-year-old Felipe Merino of Bakersfield, 23-year-old Benito Martinez of Gilroy, 24-year-old Joel Garcia Torres of San Jose, 25-year-old Guillermo Ruiz of Santa Rosa, 29-year-old Roberto Sanchez Ruiz of King City, 36-year-old Santos Ramos of East Palo Alto, 40-year-old Jose Perez of East Palo alto, and 50-year-old Jacinto Ramirez of Selma.

The interior of the building.

“As a Result of the search warrant authorities seized more than thousand pounds of processed marijuana, the marijuana was packaged for sales in one-pound packages.” San Benito County Sheriff’s Captain Eric Taylor wrote in a press release, “It is believed that this structure was being used as a marijuana processing center and a residence for ‘workers’.”

All twelve suspects were transported and booked into the San Benito County Jail.  The value of the marijuana was approximately 1,250,400.00 dollars.

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Benito Link: Pot bust nets half a ton of marijuana, 12 arrests

LAKE ELSINORE – Believing that three commercial robberies involve the same perpetrator, the police department is hoping that the public can help in solving the crimes and arresting the suspect.

Three commercial robberies in Lake Elsinore, occurring within three days of each other, are believed to be the acts of the same suspect, based on video. All of the crimes occurred within three miles of one another and the suspect is considered armed and dangerous.

On Thursday, October 16^th,  an incognito, large-handed bandit was responsible for two robberies. At 12:55 PM, Lake Elsinore police report that a gas station on the 300 block of North Main Street was robbed by a suspect with a handgun who escaped with an undisclosed amount of money and fled on foot. At 8:40 PM, the same suspect entered another gas station in the 300 block of North Main Street, brandishing a handgun. Again the suspect was able to flee the scene with an undisclosed amount of money.

The third robbery took place on Friday, October 17, 2014, at 11:47 PM. This time, a man who the police believe to be the same suspect entered a pizza establishment at 18200 Collier Avenue. Once again the robbery involved a handgun and ended with the suspect fleeing with money he was able to coerce from employees.

According to Sergeant Pauling in a Riverside Sheriff’s Department press release, the suspect is “a white male adult, 35-45 years of age, 5’10” to 6’01” tall, weighing 250-300 pounds.” Sergeant Pauling notes that that the suspect wore a hat covering his face as well as a blue/black and white bandana, a jacket, blue jeans and white tennis shoes.  Witnesses have stated that the suspect has large hands.

The Lake Elsinore Police request that anyone with information about this robbery series is asked to contact Investigator Cornett #4072 at 951-245-3357.

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Police have arrested two brothers in the fatal stabbing of 20-year-old Ronnie Goodman September 9 in the Mission District, according to a San Francisco Police Department press release.

Javier Gutierrez, 26, and his brother Luis Gutierrez, 21, both of San Francisco, were arrested by SFPD Homicide Detail investigators on October 19 and charged with murder and conspiracy, according to the release.

Goodman was fatally stabbed just before midnight during an altercation with two suspects outside a Capp Street apartment building near 24th Street. The suspects fled the scene on foot. Paramedics rushed Goodman to San Francisco General Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

On October 16, police released video surveillance footage of two men wanted for questioning in the crime. The footage shows two young men running near the scene of the crime around the time the crime took place. Police asked anyone who had information about the men in the video to contact them. The San Francisco Police Department has not confirmed whether the two men in the video are the Gutierrez brothers, but they did specifically thank members of the public for coming forward to assist them in the case.

San Francisco PD has not confirmed if the men seen in the footage are the Gutierrez brothers.

The victim was the son of 54-year-old Ronnie Goodman, a homeless San Francisco artist and distance runner whose story appeared on the Today Show in July of this year. The younger Goodman was making a name for himself as a graffiti artist and attending City College of San Francisco at the time of his murder, according to MissionLocal.org.

Goodman’s family and friends were shocked by the crime, as Goodman had no gang affiliation, nor was he friends with gang members. “He was trying to find his own voice as an artist,” Goodman’s father told MissionLocal.org. “That really stood out with me. He was just being Ronnie, being creative, doing his thing. He was trying to find his own meaning and his own purpose at a young age.”

Ronnie’s mother, Sherry Baltodano, started a crowdfunding campaign in her son’s name to raise money for the SF Street Violence Intervention Program. Her goal is to raise $10,000. You can find a link to the campaign below.

The investigation is ongoing, and the SFPD is asking anyone with additional information about the crime to contact them at (415) 553-1145 or anonymously at (415) 575-4444. Witnesses can also text-a-tip to TIP411 with SFPD at the start of the message.

Read more:

SFGate: Brothers charged in Mission District killing

MissionLocal.org: Remembering Ronnie Goodman

YouCaring.com: Ronnie Papa Goodman aka Mire: Giving back to the community

San Luis Police arrested a man for indecent exposure after he allegedly dropped his pants in front of a housekeeper on Saturday.

According to SLOPD, officers were called to respond to an incident regarding indecent exposure that occurred at the Motel 6 South, located at 1625 Calle Joaquin around 12:59 p.m. A housekeeper, a 43-year-old resident of SLO, told police she was cleaning a room with the door ajar when a man entered the room, dropped his pants to his ankles and exposed his penis to her.

The suspect, later identified as Benjamin Kuhzarani, 32, of San Luis Obispo, slammed the door shut and locked himself in the room with the housekeeper. The housekeeper began to yell at Kuhzarani, causing him to flee out of the room.

San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Deputies, who happened to be at the motel on an unrelated call for service, saw Kuhzarani fleeing the scene. The deputies were familiar with Kuhzarani and were able to identify him for the SLO police officers when they arrived at the scene. Police learned through witnesses at the scene Kuhzarani was hiding in a room that was to be cleaned and left open.

Kuhzarani resisted and was put in custody with the help of the sheriff’s deputies. He was also found to be in possession of a controlled substance and was booked into the SLO County Jail for felony indecent exposure, resisting arrest and possession of a controlled substance. His bail was set at $20,000.

Read More:

KVEC: Housekeeper at Motel 6 accosted on Saturday

Cal Coast News: Housekeeper accosted and flashed at SLO Motel 6

SANGER – The man who shot and wounded by a Sanger police officer over the weekend has been identified as 30-year-old Philip Ozuna of Del Rey.

The incident happened around 6 p.m. on Sunday. A Sanger police officer was attempting to make a traffic stop on a stolen Honda Accord near North and Academy Avenues, but the driver, later identified as Ozuna, failed to pull over.

Officers pursued Ozuna through Sanger. Ozuna eventually lost control of the Accord and crashed it into a fire hydrant and utility pole near North and Brehler Avenues  As a patrol vehicle pulled up behind the Accord, Ozuna backed the vehicle up toward the officer and the officer’s car. The officer, who has not been identified, fired several shots at Ozuna, who then drove away, according to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.

Police again pursued Ozuna, who used the Accord to ram one of the patrol vehicles. An officer was eventually able to disable Ozuna’s vehicle at Annadale Avenue and I Street.

Officers discovered that Ozuna had been hit by a bullet.  He was taken to Community Regional Medical Center for treatment.

Ozuna is a self-admitted gang member and a wanted parolee. He is facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, felony evasion and possession of a stolen car.

Read More:

Fresno Bee: Gang member shot, wounded by police

A man attempted to rob a 72-year-old Paso Robles resident at gunpoint on Saturday while she was at an ATM machine.

According to the Paso Robles police, officers responded to a call of an attempted armed robbery at the ATM of the Rabobank located on the 800 block of Spring Street. The victim told police she was completing a transaction at the walk-up ATM when the armed suspect demanded that she turn over her cell phone.  She was accompanied by her eight-year-old grandson.

The victim told the armed suspect she did not have a cell phone.  When he heard that, he ran to his vehicle. Once he left, the victim fled to her vehicle with her grandson. When she attempted to drive away, the suspect blocked her with his car. They collided and the victim called 911 to report what had happened.

As she tried to drive away a second time, the suspect used his vehicle to block her again. He then drove away for unknown reasons, heading south on Spring Street. PRPD received reports of a suspicious person in the 500 block of Spring Street at about the same time. His description matched that of the attempted robbery suspect.

According to police, the subject had reportedly broken out a window of a parked car and was acting erratically inside a check cashing business. Finally, police stopped him on 12th Street and he was detained without further incident. They discovered a loaded gun as well as a controlled substance in the car.

Mario Alejandro Valenciavalencia, 28, of Santa Maria, was arrested and booked into the SLO County Jail for attempted armed robbery, false imprisonment, elder abuse, child endangerment, vandalism, carrying a loaded firearm and possession of a controlled substance.

Read More:

The Tribune: Santa Maria man arrested after series of bizarre crimes

Cal Coast News: Santa Maria Man goes on criminal binge

Suspect Wanted To “Die Today” By Cop

SALINAS—Authorities with the Salinas Police Department arrested 63-year-old Salinas resident Ramon Vargas after a two-hour standoff, in which Vargas wanted to “die today’.

Tuesday afternoon, at 2:08 pm, Vargas went to his daughter’s home on the 200 block of Dennis Avenue in Salinas. An argument ensued as he was under the influence of alcohol and narcotics, which is never a good combination.

His daughter suffered a superficial wound after being struck with a large pipe as the argument turned violent. The daughter was able to escape the house along all other occupants and call the police.

Vargas armed himself with an eight-inch kitchen knife and locked himself in the house. He threatened to commit suicide. Salinas Police called in the Hostage Negotiation Team (HNT) and the Crisis Intervention Team CIT) from the Monterey County Department of Behavioral Health to assist in the standoff. This was standard protocol.

Officers reported that they negotiated with Vargas for two hours, and during that time he taunted them to shoot him and said “that he would ‘die today’”. Vargas repeatedly poked himself in the abdomen with the knife and became increasing agitated.

Vargas continued to taunt officers to shoot him, and at one point he even challenged them to a fight.

Vargas eventually exited the house still armed with the knife. An officer moved in to make the arrest, but as if to give one last stand, he challenged the officer to a fight, but the officer told him that he unarmed. Vargas threw down the knife and prepared to attack. Two other officers, armed with 40mm nonlethal projectiles, fired and struck Vargas above the knee.

Vargas fell to the ground uninjured and was taken into custody without further incident.

He was transported to Natividad Medical Center for observation and then lodged into the Monterey County Jail.

A burglary was reported near the 500 block of West Edmundson Avenue, in unincorporated Morgan Hill on Saturday,October 18 around 2:42 am.

A female resident was awakened by the noise of someone taking off the screen on one of her home windows. According to Sergeant Stenderup with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department, “The suspect, later identified as Steven Hather, removed the screen and opened the window”.

Steven Hather booking photo.

33-year-old Steven Hather of Morgan Hill was found trying to push himself past the surrounding blinds to enter from the window. Standerup said, “When he was about half-way into the residence he saw the victim and asked ‘Who else is here right now?’”

The victim did not say anything to the suspect. Fearing for her life, she pushed Hather out of the window and back outside, closing the window behind him. This stopped Hather from entering the residence, and apparently spurred him to flee the area.  According to Standerup, “Hather fled south from the residence towards La Crosse Drive in the city of Morgan Hill”. Sheriff’s deputies responded throughout the area in search of the suspect.

While deputies were searching the property for evidence at the scene, Morgan Hill Police Department officers were dispatched to La Crosse Drive after receiving a call of a suspicious person. Hather was identified as the person matching the description of the suspect involved in the earlier burglary and was detained by police.

The victim positively identified Hather as the man who was trying to enter the residence through the window. Hather was subsequently arrested for burglary and booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for the offense. Records show Hather has been arrested before, for being under the influence of drugs or alcohol in 2007, and for a DUI in 2009.

If anyone as any further information about this incident they’re asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office Investigations Division at 408-808-4431.

Detectives from the Placer County Sheriff’s Office have reportedly arrested three juveniles last week in connection to recent burglaries and acts of vandalism at the Auburn Valley Country Club, according to an official press release.

According to Placer County Sheriff, twice in August the golf course’s clubhouse and restaurant, as well as the golf cart maintenance building, were broken into. During the break in, alcohol was reportedly taken, and golf carts were taken out on to the course for joy-riding. The carts were then reportedly intentionally damaged. Then in an October 15 incident, golf carts were reportedly again taken and vandalized. The cost of all the damages is reportedly still being determined.

Following up on leads, the detectives reportedly located the three suspects at a local high school. Two 15-year-old suspects were reportedly charged with the October break in only. The 14-year-old — who was on probation — was taken into custody and booked at the Placer County Juvenile Hall in Auburn. All three were charged with burglary, felony vandalism and conspiracy.

The 15-year-old suspects were reportedly released to the custody of their parents, and a report was forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office and to the Placer County Probation Department.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s North Problem Oriented Policing (POP) Team recently conducted an undercover prostitution sting, resulting in 23 arrests, according to an official press release.

According to Sac Sheriff, the sting was conducted at several locations along Watt Avenue and Auburn Boulevard over a three day period last week. Deputies reportedly arrested 12 adults for prostitution or prostitution-related charges, and 11 additional arrests were made for a variety of other criminal charges and outstanding warrant arrests.

Key -
11357(c) – possession of marijuana over 28.5 grams
11350 or 11377 – possession of controlled substance
11364 – possession of controlled substance paraphernalia
1203.2 – revocation of probation
653.22 – loitering with intent to commit prostitution
647B – disorderly conduct prostitution
2800.4 – fleeing a peace officer-vehicle

Suspect Even Solicited An Acquaintance

SANTA CRUZ—Stop me if you have heard this one. Suspect gets served with an eviction notice, then takes out an insurance policy, then sets the place on fire. Sounds like a movie theme, right? Well, that theme was played out earlier this month in Santa Cruz. Authorities with the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Department and a Santa Cruz Fire Department Investigator arrested 34-year-old Annette Carranza for doing just that.

Early Monday Morning, September 29 at 4:15 am, the Santa Cruz Fire Department and the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department were called to an apartment fire on 1300 block of 30^th Avenue in Santa Cruz. Firefighters had to rescue two elderly residents who were trapped in an upstairs apartment. One firefighter was treated at the scene for minor injuries.

Damage from the fire that left 11 people without their homes.

An investigation at the scene proved that the fire originated from Carranza’s apartment, where she lived with her three young children and two other adults. The fire had spread to five other units before it could be extinguished. It also rendered the apartment complex uninhabitable and displaced eleven tenants.

On October 7, after a lengthy investigation, Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Investigators, along with the Santa Cruz Fire Investigator, arrested Carranza on arson charges. She had originally told deputies that the fire started accidentally after she had lit a candle and fell asleep.

“Investigators learned that a day after Carranza was served an eviction notice, she purchase fire insurance for the apartment.” Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Sergeant Kelly Kent wrote in a press release, “She also solicited an acquaintance to set the fire.”

She had planned to pay the accomplice with the insurance settlement. Sheriff’s Detectives have charged her with aggravated arson and booked her into the Santa Cruz County jail.

SACRAMENTO—A South Sacramento man has been arrested for allegedly attacking a woman with an ax.

On Sunday morning, October 19,  Sacramento Police received a call from a woman at approximately 6:00 a.m. from the 7800 block of Center Parkway in a neighborhood south of Mack Road. Officers found her with a significant injury from an ax.

The suspect, Jamaal Ringgold, 25, was approached by officers and took off running, but was arrested a short time later. It’s not clear why Ringgold allegedly attacked the woman.

Sacramento Police says one of their officers was injured during Ringgold’s arrest. The officer’s injury is considered minor, according to a brief release from the Sacramento Police Department.

Ringgold faces charges including attempted homicide, domestic violence and resisting arrest. He was booked at Sacramento County Jail and held without bail. Ringgold has 2 previous arrests on record for DUIs in 2010 and earlier this year. Though his current address was not released, he has lived the past in both Sacramento and Las Vegas.

PETALUMA – In a press release issued earlier today, Thursday October 23, the Petaluma Police Department asked the public for assistance in identifying a robbery suspect caught on surveillance tape.

On October 17 at approximately 1:30 pm the suspect entered Friedman’s Home Improvement store at 429 North McDowell Boulevard and filled a shopping cart with several high-end power tools and left the premises through the nursery department without paying for them.

An employee from the store followed the man out into the parking lot when the suspect started running while pushing the cart through the lot. The Friedman’s employee began yelling at the suspect, which attracted several customers in joining in the pursuit of the thief. The customers overpowered the suspect taking control of the cart with the stolen merchandise as the suspect then ran off.

The suspect ran south on North McDowell Boulevard and is believed to have jumped into a vehicle that had just exited the parking lot. The suspect is described as a white male adult and was last seen wearing a baseball cap, a black jacket, tan pants and white tennis shoes. The vehicle involved is described as a black, 2-door Ford Explorer.

All of the tools were returned to the store by the customers, which had an estimated value of over $1800. Petaluma PD asks anyone with information about this suspect to contact the department at 707-778-4372 or via their Anonymous Tip Line at (885) 847-7247.