WEST SACRAMENTO—Police have arrested a 24-year-old man in connection with the drive-by shooting of a bicyclist early Tuesday morning, November 18.

Michael Reyes Jr. of West Sacramento was booked into Yolo County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder following the shooting that happened at approximately 8:00 a.m. at the corner of Proctor, Sycamore and Evergreen Avenues.

The man allegedly shot by Reyes received an unspecified number of gunshot wounds. The victim was not identified by police. He was taken to UC Davis Medical Center, where his condition was not being reported.

According to Lt. Ted Sockman, the 42-year-old man was riding his bicycle near the intersection when a person in an unknown type vehicle pulled up and shot him for no apparent reason. The cyclist was riding his bike with his girlfriend when the assailant pulled up and opened fire. The woman was not hurt, police said.

Anyone with information regarding the shooting is asked to call the West Sacramento Police Department’s dispatch center at (916) 372-3375 or the Crime Tip Hotline at (916) 617-4747.

A minor girl was staying with her friend at their family’s house in Placerville, and reported that her friend’s father had molested her.

The girl’s family called Placerville police on Friday, November 14 after she told what happened at her friend’s house. According to the Placerville Police, they sent a forensic investigator to interview the girl, and got a detailed statement from her regarding the incident. Based on that statement, police arrested 54-year-old Jeffrey Hitt.

Hitt was also interviewed after his arrest, and made several “admission statements” which were consistent with the story they had gotten from the girl.

Hitt was arrested and booked at the El Dorado County Jail on charges of lewd and lascivious acts upon a minor. His bail was set at $50,000. The Placerville Police are asking anyone with any information about this case, including potential other victims, to contact them at 530-642-5210.

According to his Facebook profile, Hitt studied at Brigham Young University and works for JS West Propane. He and his wife have two daughters.

Kevin Bobby Norton appeared to have been suicidal on Monday night. He was seen sitting in his Toyota Tundra pickup truck outside of Taylor’s Tavern Bar in Redwood Valley, the small town just north of Lake Mendocino and south of Willits in the inland valley of Mendocino County. Taylor’s Tavern is a small establishment in the rural area, nestled between an old feed and hardware store turned antique shop, and a veterinarian, pizza joint, and a small market. Norton was seen at 10:30 pm, and appeared to be holding a shotgun to his head.

Norton was parked in front of Taylor’s Tavern when see with his shotgun.

The sheriff’s office was called, and deputies were in their way to the scene when the witnesses reported that the truck had left the parking lot, and had traveled to Highway 20 and then to northbound 101 towards Willits. He was described as white, with a shaved haircut, goatee, and hold a black shotgun. A “Be On The Lookout” alert was sent to local law enforcement, warning of the armed, possibly suicidal man driving in the area.

Norton was over halfway to Willits when a Highway Patrol officer spotted him near Black Bart Road and the White Deer Lodge motel. He pulled up alongside the truck to see if the driver was indeed the man described in the alert. But instead he heard a gunshot, and saw the Tundra’s driver side window explode. The truck continued as the 101 narrowed to a two lane highway, and reached the southern end of Willits, stopping at the gas station at Brown’s Corner. By then more CHP units, Willits Police, and Mendocino Sheriff’s deputies were on the scene as well.

Norton left his truck at the Browns Corner gas station.

The man left the truck, and they could see he was bleeding from his face and left cheek. While given first aid, the man was handcuffed and secured, and identified as 34-year-old Kevin Bobby Norton of Willits. They found a black sawed-off shotgun in the truck, along with a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. He was taken to Howard Memorial Hospital for treatment of his facial wounds.

In addition to the problems of possessing a sawed-off shotgun and shooting it from a vehicle, Norton was already a convicted felon and prohibited from possessing firearms. Norton had been charged with inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or co-habitant – domestic violence – in March of this year. In June he was charged with reckless driving, evading a peace officer, and resisting arrest.

His troubles can be traced back even further, however. An archived report in the Ukiah Daily Journal from 1998 tells of the then 18-year-old, together with a 17-year-old friend, stealing a Jeep Cherokee and crashing the car into a residential building, which caused a fire. The two teens then fled the scene. The building was destroyed, and two families were displaced. Both were soon captured and arrested on vehicle theft and arson.

In this incident, after treatment at the hospital, Norton was booked at the Mendocino County jail on Tuesday, November 18 on charges of possession of a sawed-off shotgun and firing from a vehicle, along with being a felon in possession of a firearm and a loaded firearm, carrying a concealed weapon, and for warrants and probation violations. His bail was set at $25,000.00.

Santa Barbara – Fans of television detective shows dating from the early days of Dragnet, Mannix, and Harry O, all the way up to today’s devotees of Law and Order know that there are several factors working in the favor of law enforcement: communication, collaboration, and consistent footwork.

Those elements were certainly contributing factors in the recent arrests of four suspects who had been sought by Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department detectives for the past month. It all began with a pair of home invasion robberies that took place in the community of Isla Vista, just yards away from the UCSB campus. It was just after midnight on October 22nd that, according to SBSD Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover, three men forced their way into an apartment and confronted the occupants with threats of deadly violence, “physically assaulted them, threatened that they had a gun, and stole property” from the residence.

Robert Clay Palmer

After making good their pre-dawn escape, more than 12 hours later two of the same men returned to the apartment with a third man who had not been there previously. With remarkable bravura, the three invaders proceeded to perpetrate the same crime once again, holding their victims at knife point once again while they proceeded to steal even more personal property.

Just hours after the second robbery, Saul Garcia Tirado, 23, a King City, Ca. resident, was located by deputies at a nearby fast food restaurant and was arrested on suspicion of having been involved in the two robberies. At that point, the investigation into the identities of the other suspects picked up momentum, and on October 28th, SBSD detectives—working in concert with personnel from the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department and the Coalinga Police Department—served a search warrant upon the residence of Robert Clay Palmer, 24. He was positively identified as “the third suspect in the second robbery” and was taken into custody.

Julian Ackerman,

The investigation continued unabated, and on November 8th, Julian Ackerman, 24, another Coalinga resident was picked up pursuant to Santa Barbara warrants for his arrest pertaining to the pair of robberies.

Then, the persistently long arm of the law finally reached out to the fourth and oldest of the four suspects, Buddy Baker, 27, a resident of Fresno, was apprehended and taken into custody.

Buddy Baker

All four men were transported to Santa Barbara County Jail and booked on multiple felony charges stemming from the home invasions, robberies, and use of weapons, with each of their bail amounts set at $500,000.

Photos: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking

Read more:

KCOY: Isla Vista home invasion robberies suspects arrested

Independent: Four men arrested for two home invasions

Santa Barbara County – In what must have been a scene reminiscent of the classic 1955 Glenn Ford-Sidney Poitier movie “Blackboard Jungle”, north Santa Barbara County’s Righetti High School exploded during the lunch hour with a series of fistfights that ultimately needed uniformed law enforcement personnel to quell.

According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover, it was just after the noon hour when two students engaged one another in fisticuffs in the quad area “where more than one thousand students were located for the lunch period.” As per usual, the school’s own security staff quickly broke the punch-out up, and the designated School Resource Deputy took over to discuss the matter with the two combatants.

Just then, another pugilistic event erupted which required official adult intervention, but as the Deputy was attempting to restrain “the primary aggressor in that fight” they both fell to the ground. At that point, as detailed by Hoover, “a large crowd gathered and began yelling obscenities at the deputy and threw food, food containers, and bottles at him.” Things quickly progressed on a downhill path as the crowd of students made sincere attempts to surge forward to kick the downed Deputy.

Shortly thereafter, units of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department arrived on scene to restore order, an objective made difficult by a female student who physically resisted a uniformed deputies attempts to restrain her. Within moments, ‘her friends surrounded the deputy and pushed and hit him,” apparently willing to test the restraint of an armed member of a department with a history of significant use of deadly force. In his moment of restraint, however, the deputy did manage a clean left hook to the kisser of one of the rampaging female students, rendering her immediately unconscious; threat eliminated.

Seriously outnumbered up to that point, law enforcement reinforcements soon arrived with members of the Santa Maria Police Department, CHP, Santa Barbara County Fire Department, the Santa Barbara County Air Support Unit, the Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Team, a Sheriff’s K-9 unit, and the Santa Barbara County Probation Department swarming onto campus.

With such a show of force, order was quickly restored, the campus was placed on “lockdown” status, students were eventually safely escorted off campus, and an investigation was begun immediately. Pursuant to the findings of those deputies on the scene, four juvenile males and two juvenile females were arrested and transported to Santa Barbara County Juvenile Hall to be booked on charges of resisting arrest resulting in injury to a deputy, battery on a peace officer, battery on another student on school grounds, assault on a school employee, possession of a knife on school grounds, possession of marijuana on school grounds, and resisting and obstructing officers in the performance of their duties.

Those arrested will presumably need to explain themselves thoroughly when they apply for admission to Stanford and Yale.

Photo: Courtesy KEYT.com

Read more:

Daily News: California school brawl ends with six students arrested

KCOY: Righetti High School back open

Noozhawk: Six arrested after major altercation

PETALUMA – According to a Petaluma Police Department press release issued Thursday, November 20, officers from the Sonoma County Drug Enforcement Agency Task Force executed a search warrant at a commercial property in the 1000 block of Clegg Court on the east side of Petaluma.

Over one thousand marijuana plants were seized, the majority of which were mature plants and capable of producing close to 1 ½ tons of processed marijuana per year. The estimated annual street value is about $4 million.

No arrests have been made as no suspects were found on the scene at the time the warrant was executed. The Task Force noted several building code violations at the property that were severe enough to deem the property unsafe to occupy.

Clegg Court is just off Clegg Street, one of many side roads fed by North McDowell Boulevard in what is primarily a commercialized area. The building is within close proximity of many well known and established businesses and organizations including a deli café, a health center, a glass company, a Christian fellowship, and a precision tool company to categorize but a few.

Jason Stephens was arrested at Safeway in Petaluma.

In another drug related arrest, on Tuesday, November 18, Jason D. Stephens of Petaluma was arrested just a few blocks from his home. He was picked up at Safeway Market on South McDowell Street on misdemeanor burglary and shoplifting. The charge is a misdemeanor since the amount was under $950.00. However, he was also in possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia, along with a probation violation. Stephens has been a “frequent customer” of the Petaluma Police with arrests in January, twice in September, and once just a week ago; all on charges of possession of controlled substances and paraphernalia, probation violations, and a resisting arrest charge on September 30.

MILPITAS – On Friday, November 14, a sergeant from the Milpitas police department responded to a residential burglary in progress after 33-year-old Norman DeCampo Desumala tried to break into an apartment home located near the 1700 block of South Main Street. The sergeant was in the area conducting a traffic stop and heard someone yelling for help. He observed two men running southbound on South Main Street, and realized a victim was chasing the suspect down the street.

The officer also gave chase, eventually catching up to the suspect in a nearby business parking lot. According to Milpitas Lieutenant Raj Maharaj, the officer “overtook the suspect and captured him without further incident.” Maharaj said, “The Milpitas Police officers later learned the suspect had scaled up a wall, to a second floor balcony, and entered the victim’s home through an unlocked sliding door.”

Desumala broke into a home in this complex on South Main Street.

Desumala was confronted by the residents of the home, and had managed to chase him out of the home. The victims did not have any property taken from the home and were uninjured during the incident. The 44-year-old man and 39-year-old woman were home with an 18-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter when Desumala broke in. After being confronted, he ran out the front door and the man gave chase.

Desumala was booked into the Santa Clara County Jail for residential burglary, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He lists his occupation as a concessions lead or chef at the new Levis Stadium in Santa Clara. Perhaps with the 49ers on the road the past two weeks he was looking to supplement his income.

The Milpitas Police Department is asking if anyone with any information regarding this investigation involving Norman DeCampo Desumala or other residential burglary incidents possibly committed by Desumala is encouraged to contact the Milpitas Police Department at (408) 586-2400. Information can be given anonymously by calling the Crime Tip Hotline at (408) 5862500 or via the Milpitas Police Department website.

TULARE – The U.S. State Department is offering up to $5 million for a Tulare native they believe is commanding a faction of a Mexican drug cartel. The federal officials issues the reward for Jose Maria Guizar Valencia, 35, who is allegedly assumed complete control of a faction of the Los Zetas cartel in southern Mexico, the agency said.

Valencia, who also goes under “Z-43,” has smuggled thousands of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine to the United States every year, the agency said. Under Valencia’s command, the cartel is responsible for the murder of “an untold number of Guatemalan civilians during the systematic overtake of the Guatemalan border region with Mexico during recent years,” according to the agency.

The Los Zetas cartel evolved from a small group of deserters from the Mexican Special Forces, who were then hired by the Gulf Cartel as a security force. They eventually turned into one of the most powerful and violent organizations in Mexico, federal officials said.

The cartel’s founder, Heriberto Lazcano, died and his replacement was arrested, leaving an opening for control of a portion of Los Zetas. Valencia then took command, the officials said.

Valencia also goes under the aliases “Charly,” “Chema,” “Carlitos,” and “43.” Anyone with information is urged to call 1-800-CALLFBI, (415)-436-7900 for the Northern California DEA tip line, and (866)-347-2423 for the ICE tip line.

Read More:

Visalia Times Delta: $5 Million reward offered for Tulare native

Fresno Bee: Top leader of ruthless Mexican drug cartel a Tulare native

Santa Barbara – Santa Barbara’s State Street is a well-known commercial, dining, and sightseeing magnet for the city’s thousands of weekend visitors, and is an upscale route where tourists can generally navigate the traffic crawl slowly and without fear of high-speed collision. Certainly on weekends, pedestrians walking down the street between the emerald-green foothills on the north side of town to Stearn’s Wharf at the shoreline on the south side generally make the trip faster than any motor vehicle on the traffic-clogged street.

But there are those few hours when traffic thins out and it’s possible to get your car up to enough speed to do some real damage. And while Santa Barbara is known as a city where “they roll up the sidewalks” after midnight, it’s also home to a number of watering holes, nightclubs, and bars with closing hours into the wee hours of the morning. It’s that combination of empty streets and flowing late-night libations that frequently gives drivers the opportunity to do something reckless.

Richardson’s rolled-over ride

Such seems to have been the case in the pre-dawn hours of November 16th, when, at 4:20 a.m. Nicol Sarah Richardson, a 23-year old Santa Barbara resident, was behind the wheel of her car. According to Santa Barbara Police Department Sgt. Brian Jensen, Richardson was involved in a rollover wreck which she managed to orchestrate all on her own and without the help or interference of any other drivers on the street. “She may have hit other cars, but I don’t think other occupied vehicles were involved,” Jensen reported to the media.

According to SBPD Public Information Officer Sgt. Riley Harwood, Richardson was transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and was released the following day…only to be issued a citation for driving under the influence.

Photo: Courtesy Urban Hikers

Read more:

Noozhawk: Woman arrested on DUI charges after morning crash

John Nyunt, once a commander at the Pacific Grove Police Department, pleaded guilty to two counts under 18 U.S.C. Sect. 1951, Extortion, and 18 U.S.C. Sect 1343, Wire Fraud.

Nyunt had opened an unlicensed Security Consulting and Investigative Service. From July 2011 – January 2012 Nyunt had given his password to an employee working with his private security firm to access the department’s ‘Accuirant Le’ database.

The database was used to obtain financial and personal information on several individuals that his security firm was investigating. Nyunt never informed the department about his activities and had used fraudulent documents to cover up his operations. The information was then transferred from California to Florida. Fees for the use of the system were billed to the department for the use of the system.

Nyunt had tried to cover up the use of the system by falsifying the reason behind his use of the system, and he had threatened several police officers working in his department, saying that if they were to tell on him, he would seek retribution by having them indicted and or fired from their positions of authority.

Kristin Nyunt was sentenced to eight years for her role in operating the private investigation company with her husband. She also faces additional charges of using a spyware program to illegally gain information from a police officer’s cell phone. Kristin had informed authorities after her husband had threatened to kill her if she told anyone about their business. Information gained through the service was used to commit Identity theft in order to gain financially.

Nyunt was charged on May 13, 2014. Nyunt is currently in custody of the California State Bureau of Prisons. The next sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Dec 9, 2014 at 9:00 AM before the Honorable Judge Beth Labson Freeman.

Read More:

CrimeVoice: Former Police Commander Gets Three Years

BAKERSFIELD — After locating and apprehending a suspect wanted in connection with a November 5 robbery in Bakersfield, police arrested another man for various drug charges.

Marcos Gonzalez, 19, was booked in to the Kern County Jail on charges of robbery, witness intimidation, false imprisonment and participation in a criminal street gang. His bail is set at $200,000.

Moises Valencia image from Facebook.

Moises Valencia, 26, was booked on charges of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of sale, participation in a criminal street gang and maintaining a residence for the purpose of selling controlled substances.

According to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, deputies from the department’s gang unit went to Valencia’s residence in the 300 block of Morning Drive in Bakersfield at approximately 11:30 p.m. on November 21, to serve an arrest warrant. At the residence deputies located Gonzalez, along with Valencia who was on active Post Release Community Supervision. The home is right across the street from Foothill High School.

Deputies said that during a search of Valencia’s person, they located several individually wrapped baggies containing methamphetamine and approximately $1,600 in cash.

Per the terms of his probation, deputies then went to a residence associated with Valencia in the 3800 block of Soranno Avenue in Bakersfield, where they said the discovered over 80 grams of meth, 28 grams of heroin, scales, packaging and more cash.

Officers With Three Different Agencies Are Investigating

SEASIDE—“Like the sand through an hour glass so are the days of our lives.’  Yes, I know this is the lead into American’s favorite soap opera ‘Days Of Our Lives’ but it seemed appropriate here, because for the third straight week we are reporting on the murder of Isaac David Iglesias.

As the investigation continues, Officers with the Peninsula Regional Violence and Narcotics Team and Monterey County District Attorney’s Office, along with the Seaside Police Department, have announced that they have arrested two more suspects in the November 12 murder.

On November 18 authorities announced the arrest of Omar Venegas Ruiz, 19. Ruiz will be charged with the November 13 shooting in which he was involved in with Sergio Guevara, who was the first suspect arrested in the Iglesias murder. Ruiz will face charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and participation in a criminal street gang.

Aaron Diaz, image from Facebook.

They also announced that Aaron Diaz, 18 was arrested for his involvement in both November 12 murder and a November 13 shooting. He faces charges of murder, attempted murder and participation on a criminal street gang.

Both of these suspects were transported to Monterey County Jail and are currently in custody. This makes a total of three suspects that have been arrested in the subsequent weeks since the murder.

For those who did not read the first story, 23-year-old Isaac David Iglesias was a young man that was outside his residence near San Pablo and Darwin with some friends when a group of men walked by, opened fire and fled on foot, leaving Iglesias unconscious suffering from gunshot wounds. Iglesias died from his injuries the day after.

The investigation continues…

Read More:

CrimeVoice: Random Act Of Violence Turns Deadly

Long a source of security concern and public controversy, Santa Barbara’s transport of individuals in custody—while fully garbed in distinctive orange jumpsuits and frequently shackled at the ankles and with wrists cuffed to a thick waist-chain—is almost the “walk of shame” as they’re escorted throughout the day across a very public street in full public view, providing an additional sightseeing adventure to the hundreds of tourists commonly gathered at curbside to ogle the famed Santa Barbara Courthouse architecture.

The picturesque Santa Barbara Courthouse.

While these prisoners—none of whom have yet been convicted of anything—are paraded through the public thoroughfare for everyone’s eye-popping amusement, heavy chains connecting each to the other, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Deputies serving as Superior Court bailiffs keep an intimidating and very watchful eye over their charges. Because of their obvious show of armed force, bailiffs bristling with truncheons and riot guns at the ready generally exhibit little concern over the potential for escape.

But on the morning of November 20^th, as he was being moved from one secure area to another in the criminal courts complex, Cristian Otey, a 41-year old facing an appearance before a magistrate pursuant to his November 17^th arrest on charges of battery against a non-cohabitating spouse as well as warrant issues regarding allegations of willful harm to a child, saw an opportunity to miss his court appointment…and he took it.

According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover, Otey was “handcuffed and secured to a chain with other inmates as they were being unloaded from a sheriff’s bus” when he “managed to escape out of his handcuffs by using a jail-made instrument.”

Once free of his chains, Otey broke away from the deputies, jumped a fence, and sprinted away, stripping off his orange jumpsuit enroute. But with Sheriff’s deputies and the help of a University of California police officer nearby giving chase, Otey was run down just minutes later in the middle of downtown Santa Barbara, and taken back into custody.

He now faces additional charges of escape from jail, and resisting arrest. He had been arrested multiple times in October on public intoxication charges, and previous to that a DUI in August.

Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking, Facebook.com, Google Maps.

REDLANDS – A 24-year-old firefighter-paramedic is suspected of killing a man, and conspiring with the victim’s wife in the killing. The Kern County District Attorney’s office, however, has decided that there isn’t enough evidence to charge Sabrina Limon, 35, of Helendale, according to reports.

Jonathan Michael Hearn, 24 of Hesperia, pleaded not guilty to murder charges last week that he shot and killed Robert Limon, 38, whose body was found at a rail yard at 1500 Goodrick Drive in Tehachapi. Hearn is due back in Kern County Superior Court on Dec. 5.

Hearn was taken into custody on Tuesday, Nov. 18. One day later, Sabrina Limon was arrested. She could be charged later if investigators locate more evidence of her involvement in the killing. Hearn and Sabrina Limon are suspected of having an affair, say police officials.

Sabrina Limon and her victim in seemingly happier times

According to a Kern County Sheriff’s Department news release, Robert Limon’s body was found inside the shop area at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail yard on Aug. 17. They stated that he was found shot to death after returning to the shop after 5 p.m.

Kern County detectives investigated hundreds of leads, at one point pleading for public assistance in help to solve the case. It was during that time they learned about the relationship between Hearn and Sabrina Limon. Text messages between the two have been discovered, according to a CBS LA report, including one that said once her husband was “out of the way”, the two could live their lives together.

Hearn faces charges of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Sabrina Limon, who was arrested and faced the same charges, along with being an accessory, has since been released.

A Redlands official confirmed Hearn had been employed by Redlands since February 2012. BNSF is also offering a $100,000 for information that helps convict Robert Limon’s killer.

Read More:

CrimeVoice: Tehachapi Murder Suspects Arrested

CBS Los Angeles: New Details Emerging In Love Triangle Murder Case in Redlands

A six year veteran of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department has reportedly been arrested on misdemeanor domestic violence charges, according to an official press release.

Chris Lee Bliss, 27, was charged reportedly with domestic violence and battery against a person with a previous dating relationship. He was reportedly arrested and booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on the evening of Saturday, November 22, and was reportedly released from custody after posting bail.

According to Sac Sheriff, Bliss was reportedly arrested by Sheriff’s patrol deputies after responding to a call from a concerned neighbor.

Bliss — who is reportedly currently assigned to the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Facility — will be placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by Sac Sheriff’s Professional Standards Division. Bliss’ next court appearance for the criminal charges is reportedly scheduled for Wednesday, November 26.

BAKER – Law enforcement officials are trying to identify a woman whose body was discovered early Sunday morning at California-Nevada border. So far, authorities are calling the case a homicide. Along with the identity of the victim, a suspect is also being sought.

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Sgt. John Gaffney released information on the woman, on whom on autopsy will be conducted, who appeared to be in her 30s.

According to Nevada Highway Patrol troopers, the body was found at about 6:15 a.m. It was in plain sight along the dirt shoulder of Interstate 15, about two miles south of the state line and the city of Primm, Nevada. Only one lane on I-15 was left open, the traffic heading into California facing gridlock for more than 12 hours as law enforcement officials investigated the crime scene. Primm is famous to California drivers headed to Las Vegas as the home of Whiskey Pete’s Casino and Hotel.

The woman was seen about 2 miles south of the border in California.

A motorist reported the body, which led to the freeway closure. Nevada Highway Patrol said the driver stopped at the side of the highway, called 911 and awaited the arrival of law enforcement officials. Sheriff’s officials from Baker, the nearest law enforcement station to the location of the body, were dispatched to the scene, which was located on the California side.

Due to the nature of the discovery, homicide investigators were called in to take over the case. Authorities, who confirmed the death was not due to a traffic accident, did not, however, disclose the cause of death.

California Highway Patrol officials, who were handling the traffic portion of the freeway conditions, told media outlets they were “handling a fatality”. Traffic was flowing smoother by about 10 p.m. on Sunday.

Notorious criminal Jeremy Stohmeyer, forever linked to Primm Nevada. (1997)

Primm Nevada gained some degree of notoriety in 1997 when 18-year-old Jeremy Strohmeyer molested and murdered a seven year old girl, Sherrice Iverson. He had made contact with her at 4 am while she was with her family at the Primadonna Casino (which is now the Primm Valley Resort and Casino). When the child went into the women’s restroom, Strohmeyer followed her in, where he molested and killed her. His 17-year-old friend David Cash Jr. witnessed part of the incident.

Both returned to Long Beach, California with Cash’s father. They were later identified from security footage, and Stromeyer was eventually convicted of murder, kidnapping, and sexual assault on the child, and is serving life without parole in Nevada. Cash was not charged with a crime, but faced a degree of public outcry for his inaction in the incident, and was labeled a “bad Samaritan”, with activists once holding a rally to have him expelled from UC Berkeley.

Read More:

Wikipedia: Jeremy Strohmeyer

CrimeVoice staff contributed to this story

There’s something about a vicious dog that can make a person instantly compliant. Law enforcement officers carry guns, tasers, billy clubs, and have other assorted weapons handy when needed, but when they let loose a K9 on a suspect, they usually give up the fight and go in peace. Perhaps they realize the dog won’t have to face an internal affairs investigation for brutality, and so it won’t hold back.

Of course to call a law enforcement trained dog “vicious” is a misnomer. When K9 officers take their dogs out to meet the public, they are the most friendly, well behaved animals you are likely to encounter. But they are so well trained that when they are ordered to go after someone, they instantly look like Cujo, Stephen King’s terrifying animal from the 1983 movie.

Homes at the back of the Campway lot.

On Saturday, November 22, a man from Santa Rosa met up with a Sheriff’s K9 and is still feeling the effects. That night, at about 10:40 pm, according to a Sonoma Sheriff’s officer press release, deputies were called out to the Campways Truck Accessories lot at 3948 Santa Rosa Avenue in south Santa Rosa. There are two residential homes at the back of the lot along Smith Street, and someone there had called to report a prowler.

The people at the house had heard and seen a man trying to get into the home, and in fear, they had retreated to the bathroom while he tried to gain entry through several windows and doors. Perhaps seeing the deputies arrive, the prowler hid himself in one of the cars at the house. Meanwhile, the deputies searched the area, along with their K9. They soon found a man hiding in the car, and ordered him out. He refused, and the deputies tried to take him into custody by force.

Mark Baker images from Facebook

The man, identified as 36-year-old Mark William Baker, a transient, fought back with the deputies as they tried to detain him. With little success in calming him down, they enlisted the help of the dog, who soon persuaded Baker to give up the fight.

He was arrested and charged with attempted burglary, resisting arrest, prowling, and threatening a peace officer. After being taken to the hospital for treatment of dog bites, he was booked into the Sonoma County jail.

Baker had been arrested just two weeks prior by Santa Rosa Police on drug charges and a probation violation. And in August he was arrested on the same charges, and was suspected in a residential burglary of a bicyle. and theft from the Santa Rosa Jr. College campus.

PETALUMA – In a press release issued Sunday, November 23, from the Petaluma Police Department, it was reported that another death investigation was underway near the city’s waterfront.

A man was found deceased at approximately 7:30 am near a park bench at the waterfront by a citizen who had gone to the same location to fish. The area is adjacent to the Foundry Wharf business park.

There were no obvious signs of trauma or foul play, however an autopsy is pending to determine the cause of death. The man was identified as Leonard Neal Smith, a 63-year-old resident of Petaluma who is believed to have been homeless for the last month. There were no indications that Smith had been camping in the vicinity. The next of kin have been contacted by the Petaluma Police Department.

Records show that Smith had been arrested on a probation violation in May, and for DUI in October of 2013.

Steamer Landing, Petaluma

Just a day earlier on Saturday, November 22, police were called to Steamer Landing Park on Copeland Street at approximately 9:40 am for an unrelated death investigation. Witnesses said that they had seen a man park his car in the lot, turn on his emergency flashers, and place a note on his window. The then had placed a tarp on the ground in front of his vehicle.

Witnesses called 9-1-1 when they had heard a gunshot. Responding officers found a 78-year-old man wrapped in the tarp. They determined that the man had died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The note on the window said “Call Police.”

The park was closed for two hours while Petaluma PD and the Coroner’s Office conducted an investigation. Petaluma PD is not releasing the name of the deceased. The Coroner’s Office will notify next of kin and will respond to further inquiries.

Last month Petaluma PD had reported a death investigation when a body was found floating in the Petaluma River north of Payran Street on the evening of October 11 at approximately 11:40 pm. Officers and firefighters had responded to the scene but could not safely access and remove the body until morning.

On October 17 a subsequent press released identified the deceased as 57-year-old Michael Todd Coleman, a Petaluma transient. There were no signs of trauma or any evidence of a homicide. It was known that Coleman had pre-existing medical conditions that could have contributed to his death. Toxicology results were also expected to shed more light on the investigation.

NOVATO – According to a community advisory issued by the Novato Police Department yesterday, November 24, an investigation of potential threats directed at Novato high schools on November 7 were found to be without merit.

At the time of the threat, Novato PD worked swiftly with the Novato Unified School District to enhance school security by assigning additional resources to area schools. Novato PD detectives also worked to locate and determine the source of the reported threat.

Combined investigations by patrol and investigative units revealed that threats might have been communicated via the smart phone app known as “Yik Yak.” Investigators immediately worked with Yik Yak internet technology (IT) personnel to locate the reported threat with negative results. Further investigation revealed that the message might have been communicated several days prior to the date it was reported.

Novato High School

Novato PD sought and received a search warrant that encompassed a more comprehensive time period, but again Yik Yak IT personnel were still unable to locate the source of the threat. Detectives concluded that either the threat had not been transmitted using the Yik Yak service or it had not been transmitted at all. No electronic evidence could be located that supported the hearsay information that lead to the initial report.

Yik Yak is marketed as an “anonymous” messaging service. No subscription or sign-in is required by the application. However, it is far from anonymous. An electronic trail is maintained by the company, which actually can lead directly to the originating device. The same information that other social media companies require to track, distribute and maintain their content is frequently used to identify the source and author via legally authorized means.

Sacramento Sheriff homicide detectives have reportedly arrested a third and final suspect in the stabbing murder of Edward White, 35, on Sunday, November 16, according to an official press release.

Monterio Maurice Roberts, 42, reportedly turned himself in to the Sheriff’s Department the evening of Monday, November 24 on his outstanding warrant for his involvement in the homicide. When arrested, he was also charged with possession of a controlled substance, apparently having forgotten to dispose of the unidentified drugs before appearing at the main jail on I Street.

As we had previously reported on Wednesday, November 19, two female suspects had already been arrested — Monica Njoku, 44, and Taiish Immonique Simon, 38 — for homicide charges relating to the incident. Sac Sheriff had reportedly discovered another suspect — a black male in his late 30s to early 40s — had fled the scene prior to the arrival of deputies.

According to previous reports by Sac Sheriff, an argument had reportedly broken out between the victim and suspects related to a tenant/landlord issue, ultimately resulting in the victim being stabbed and succumbing to his injuries at a hospital.

Read More:

CrimeVoice: Two arrested for Stevenson Avenue Murder