FRESNO – Three women were arrested for allegedly being part of a shoplifting incident that turned into a violent robbery, police said. The women are accused of stealing items and attacking employees at Fallas Discount Store in the 4100 block of North West Avenue on Wednesday.

Police say three women went inside of the store and began putting merchandise in their purses before running out to the parking lot. A store security officer confronted the three women, who then attacked the employee. One of the women threatened the employee with a stun gun, authorities said.

The three women then fled south on West Avenue in a black Mercedes. Officers saw the car in a nearby neighborhood and took the three women into custody without incident, authorities said.

The women arrested in connection to the incident have been identified as 18-year-old Destiny Davis, 18-year-old Janaiah Jackson, and 27-year-old Javon Waldrop.

In addition, in 2014 Waldrop was arrested on January 7 and May 28 for driving with a suspended license.  The May 28 incident also included charges of petty theft, giving false information to a police officer and resisting/obstructing a police officer.

FRESNO – A man and woman stole a victim’s phone in a Denny’s restaurant parking lot after the victim gave his phone to one of the suspects to make a call, police said.

The victim was carjacked in this Dennys parking lot.

Police arrested 31-year-old Angel Anguiano and 39-year-old Anna Maria Garcia in connection to the incident, which happened at the Denny’s near Blackstone Avenue and Divisadero Street at 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

One of the suspects asked to use the victim’s phone to make a call. When the victim asked for his phone back, one of the suspects pulled out a knife and demanded that the victim let them take his 1997 Saturn, police said.

The suspects sped away in the stolen vehicle, but a witness was able to follow the car onto Highway 180. Officers saw the witness driving erratically and made a traffic stop, during which the witness told them about the carjacking, police said.

The officers were able to catch up with the suspects, who were having a hard time driving a stick shift. Police pulled over the car at McKinley and Maple Avenues and arrested the two suspects.

Anguiano was booked on carjacking charges and Garcia was booked for receiving stolen property. On January 16 Anguiano was arrested for another burglary charge and possession of ammunition.  Over the past 16 months he has had at least 15 arrests.  Included among these are seven charges for burglary/robbery related crimes, two for being intoxicated in public, and two for possession of a controlled substance.

MORGAN HILL – An investigation into an early morning brawl that resulted in the death of one man and the arrest of another has been reported by the Morgan Hill Police.

The Morgan Hill PD arrested a man from San Jose who allegedly killed a male acquaintance, John Flood, during a fight outside a bar called the M&H Tavern, located at 17365 Monterey Street near downtown Morgan Hill, sometime after 1:00 am early Wednesday, May 20. Based on witness statements and video surveillance footage, 37-year-old Joseph HaIey was identified as the suspect seen fighting in the parking lot. According to the Morgan Hill Police Department, “Officers arrived on scene and located an adult male on the ground with major head trauma.”

The M & H Tavern in Morgan Hill.

The victim was transported to a local hospital in Gilroy where he was pronounced dead a short time later. “During the investigation it was determined 32-year-old Joseph Haley out of San Jose was in a physical altercation with the victim, which led to the victim’s death.”

Haley was taken into custody and booked in the Santa Clara County Main Jail for homicide. On Thursday, after a brief court hearing, Haley was released from Jail pending an investigation into the death of Flood. According to Santa Clara County Supervising Deputy District Attorney Steve Lowney, “The case is under review. The review cannot be completed before the suspect’s arraignment date. Consequently, the suspect will be released from custody.”

The Morgan Hill Police Department reported that during the 2014, only 37 arrests for aggravated assault were made. The last homicide in the town occurred in 2013 when a resident living in a trailer park killed his live-in girlfriend and then dumped her body near the railroad tracks, just a few blocks from downtown Morgan Hill. With a population of 40,246, crime rates pale in comparison to larger cities in the surrounding area, with San Jose Police reporting more than seven homicides this year, and a new population census reporting more than one million residents.

Relatives and friends have set up a fundraising site at HealthDonor.com in Flood’s memory to help pay for funeral costs and other expenses unforeseen due to his death.

A stabbing on May 20^th in a Citrus Heights park led to the arrest of a Carmichael man. Jose Partida, age 54, was arrested Wednesday in Citrus Heights.

At about 10:30 pm on Wednesday evening, neighbors living near Tempo Park reported hearing a man calling for help from the park. The park is located just north of Sunrise Mall and the Sunrise Gold Course, between Sunrise Blvd. and Fair Oaks Blvd. As police were responding to the call to do a welfare check, an additional call came in indicating the victim was knocking on a door for help. He stated he had been stabbed.

Jose Partida – Citrus Heights PD

Officers located the victim, and he was able to provide a description of the suspect. The suspect was believed to be still in Tempo Park. With the help of Roseville Police, a perimeter was set up around the park and the suspect quickly located. He was detained and arrested.

The victim was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries. He was rushed into surgery, but is expected to survive.

Partida is being charged with attempted murder and mayhem, and will be booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail. Although the investigation is ongoing, it appears the victim and suspect knew each other. Anyone with any information about the incident is asked to contact detectives at the Citrus Heights Police Department at (916) 727-5500.

Ventura County – Oxnard is a city known for many things: strawberry fields and festivals, its status as a transportation hub, its international port, a major U.S. Navy base, deep white sand beaches, Channel Islands Harbor, violent gangs, and an underground economy driven by illegal drug sales.

It’s this last distinction that is the apparent factor driving the events of the afternoon of Thursday, May 14th, when the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Narcotics Unit—who had been investigating the activities of Luis Arroyo, 35, an Oxnard resident suspected of being a retailer of controlled substances within the county—observed Arroyo as he walked out of his “A” Street residence and sauntered down the street toward Oxnard Boulevard, one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares. According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Jose Rivera, when a Sheriff’s marked patrol unit attempted to make contact with Arroyo, he “fled from the deputies…and discarded a small baggie that contained several grams of methamphetamine and a large knife.”

Arroyo left his A Street apartment and was soon running from the police.

At that point, the chase was on, with Arroyo sprinting across the busy downtown street and making his way into a nearby residential neighborhood as he ignored the vocalized entreaties of his uniformed pursuers to stop and submit to arrest. Arroyo finally ran into the rear yard of a home where he was cornered by Deputies and “taken into custody without incident.”

Pursuant to Arroyo’s arrest, a search warrant for his residence was obtained and served. During that effort, Arroyo’s wife and “several minor children” were discovered, along with “a quarter pound of methamphetamine, firearms, ammunition, and evidence that Arroyo was actively involved in the sale of methamphetamine.”

Records show that Arroyo was arrested on June 21 of last year on domestic violence charges of inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or co-habitant.

Arroyo was transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on charges of possession for sales of a controlled substance, possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of ammunition by a felon, child endangerment, attempted destruction of evidence, and resisting arrest, with his bail set at $200,000. No explanation was given as to the method Arroyo used to place a large knife in a small baggie.

INGLEWOOD, CA—Can one be trusted as a food handler if one is unable to avoid getting busted abusing drugs and alcohol in a variety of ways in a single day?

Axel Enrique Dominguez, 31, was apprehended by Inglewood police officers on Sunday, May 17 at approximately 6:36 a.m. at the intersection of Century Boulevard and Yukon Street in Inglewood. The intersection is on the other side of an entrance to Hollywood Park Casino, and immediately south of a future sports stadium that Rams owner Stan Kroenke claims he will start building later this year.

The self-proclaimed “food handler” was charged with taking alcohol/drugs/paraphernalia into a jail (4573.5PC), a DUI for having 0.08 percent or higher blood-alcohol content (23152(B)VC), possessing 28.5 grams or less of marijuana (11357(B)HS) driving without a license (12500(A)VC) and a DUI for drugs/alcohol (23152(A)VC).

The Inglewood man’s bail was set at $36,000, with the highest amount being $25,000 for taking drugs, etc. into a jail and the lowest amount being a relatively pithy $100 for driving without a license.

Ventura County – The question of why an individual, who is known to local law enforcement as an active member of a criminal street gang, continues to maintain a residence in that community and within that jurisdiction may require greater psychological analysis than mere journalism can possibly provide, but one might surmise the attractions of “reputation” have something to do with it, in spite of the frequent price exacted for such notoriety. That gang-related infamy can even be the undoing of one who has fled the local area was demonstrated on May 18th when Fillmore resident Daniel Torres, 25, was tracked down to a home in the city of San Bernardino and taken into custody.

Torres’ arrest came pursuant to an episode of street violence in the early evening of May 18th, when a 911 Emergency call alerted Fillmore Police to a violent attack and stabbing in the 500 block of Santa Clara Street. According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Cary Peterson, the stabbing victim fled from his attacker and was found by responding officers at a nearby residence, where he immediately received first aid and was then transported to Ventura County Medical Center “with serious wounds to his upper and lower body.”

The investigation at the scene led to the identification of Torres as the primary suspect, known to Fillmore Police and Ventura County Sheriffs as an active gang member. With his reputation both preceding and following him, Torres was located two days later in San Bernardino, where he taken into custody. Torres enjoyed the long free ride to the Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on charges of attempted murder and committing a crime for the benefit of a criminal street gang, with his bail set at $1,000,000.

Photo: Courtesy Ventura County Jail booking

Ventura County – As a profession, burglary may have many things to offer: flexible working hours, casual dress code, frequent travel, high hourly rate of pay. Of course, should one’s professional activities attract the attention of law enforcement, those job benefits may suddenly pale in contrast to the downside of potential prison terms. That potential commonly rears its ugly head simply by way of the necessity to convert the physical assets stolen by way of burglary into something more fungible, i.e., cash.

Cue the local pawnshop, where representatives of law enforcement agencies systematically seek stolen goods as they investigate unsolved burglaries within their jurisdiction. According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Detective Javier Chavez, it was at a Simi Valley pawnshop on May 18th that Ventura County Sheriff’s Department deputies, in the course of their investigation into a local area burglary that took place a month prior, discovered “high-end jewelry and other luxury items” which had been reported as stolen at that time.

By the time detectives had investigated the records maintained as a matter of law by the pawn shop, they promptly connected the suspect items to Anthony Louis Duran, an 18-year old Fillmore resident. Shortly thereafter, contact was made with Duran, and he was taken into custody without incident. It apparently didn’t take Duran long to identify his cohorts in crime, a male juvenile from Fillmore, and Raheem Lewis Wright, a 19-year old from Simi Valley.

Both Duran and Wright were transported to Ventura County Jail and booked on charges of first degree residential burglary and conspiracy, while the male juvenile was booked into Ventura County Juvenile Detention Center, proving once again that every business—particularly the illegal variety—has a downside.

SAN JOSE – 21-year-old Kevin Matthew Kellogg was arrested on May 7 under a $200,000 bail warrant for the charge of PC 215, carjacking.

On Thursday, January 29 at around 3:00 PM, a woman contacted San Jose 9-1-1 dispatchers to report that a male suspect had followed her to her car and pulled out a handgun, demanding that she give him her car. Kellogg had allowed the female victim to gather some of her items from the car before he entered the driver’s seat and exited the parking lot from where the victim worked, at Valley Relocation/North American Van Lines at 1710 Little Orchard Drive in San Jose.

While he had the car, Kellogg removed the front and rear license plates from the vehicle. Once he reached Napa, police initiated a traffic stop. When they asked Kellogg about the vehicle, he told the officer that he had rented the Nissan from the victim, and said that he had paid her $110. He offered the registration information from the car as if it were a valid form of identifying the transaction. However, as the registration information was run by Napa Police Dispatchers, it was soon learned that the vehicle was reported stolen. According to Kellogg, he said he “rented the car from a friend (that he identified as the victim out of San Jose).”

The victim viewed this photo lineup, and chose the top middle image, Kevin Kellogg.

According to Napa officers, a marijuana pipe was also found in the rear of the vehicle that was believed to have been used previously, but there was no significant evidence of drug use. Therefore not only was he charged with car theft by Napa police, but he was also charged with possession of paraphernalia. Police went to Kellogg’s known residence to search for the pistol used in the incident. According to relatives, they believed that he had left the pistol at his mother’s residence. No further information was available, and the recovery of the gun seemed unlikely.

Follow up investigation by San Jose Investigators included a photo lineup, and the victim was able to positively identify the suspect. Kellogg was subsequently charged with the carjacking by San Jose Police Investigators within days after the initial arrest out of Napa.

The 2015 Blue Nissan Versa was considered to be in good condition and towed to a safe location so the vehicle could be returned to the rightful owner. The next court date will be heard on June 11, 2015 at 1:30 PM in Dept 34.

SACRAMENTO—A young woman caught in crossfire was seriously injured when she was shot on Thursday afternoon, May 21, near the Arden Fair Mall.

The shooting—in front of a complex at 1860 Ethan Way—happened at approximately 4:50 p.m. when Ariel Knapp, 20, was walking with a man, according to Sgt. Lisa Bowman with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department. Deputies and gang investigators said the gunfire happened between the occupants of what was possibly an SUV and a group of people in the apartment complex parking lot. (Some reports have identified her as Ariel Napp.)

The victim Ariel Knapp, image from Facebook.

Knapp, who is also a mother, was taken to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries but is expected to survive. She was shot twice in the upper body.

Knapp’s friend Aaron McDonald was terribly distressed at hearing this news, and said to a Fox 40 Television reporter “She doesn’t deserve it. She really doesn’t deserve it. She’s like my best friend. She’s got kids to raise and everything.” McDonald also said that just a few years ago his father died in a fight on the sidewalk where Knapp was shot. He has been staying in contact with Knapp’s brother, who said she went into surgery last night. Her family are awaiting the results.

“Ariel was planning on getting married to her boyfriend and they were gonna move outta here and everything so it’s crazy,” McDonald added.

At present, there is no confirmation on who is responsible or for whom police are looking. Ethan Way is an area frequently patrolled by law enforcement officers in problem-oriented police forces.

Records show that last year,  Knapp herself was charged with a misdemeanor domestic violence charge against a person in a former dating relationship. Sacramento Police reported arresting her at 7:30 in the evening of Monday, June 2, 2014 at an Arden Way shopping center, at or near the Ulta Beauty Supply store and Cheesecake Factory restaurant. Further details of that incident were not available.

Read More: Fox 40 – Woman shot in front of apartment complex near Arden Fair Mall

HAWTHORNE, CA—How far are you willing to go for a friend in need. One felony? Two? Perhaps even three?

An investigation into drug sales led Hawthorne police to arrest two men at their shared home in south Los Angeles. George Barrios, 26, and Oscar Edward Lopez, 43, were arrested by Hawthorne police officers on Tuesday, May 19 at approximately 6 p.m. along the 100 block of East 80th Street in L.A., at what police records indicated was both of the pair’s home address.

Barrios was charge with three felonies: possession of a controlled substance (11370.1AHS), possession/purchase of a controlled substance with the intent to sell (11351HS) and possession of more than $100,000 made from/or for the sale of a controlled substance (11370.6AHS).

Lopez was charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession/purchase of a controlled substance with the intent to sell and possession of a firearm by a felon (12021(A)1PC). Lopez had been arrested on November 22 of last year for possessing marijuana for sales.

Both Los Angeles residents—Barrios claiming to be unemployed, Lopez allegedly a car wash employee—were hit with $100,000 bail. The drug possession charge was $50,000; the possession of more than $100,000 for drugs was $30,000; and the different third charge was $20,000.

BAKERSFIELD — Police investigators were trying to determine if a suspected bank robber was shot and killed by officers, or turned his gun on himself, after leading police on a high-speed pursuit through the streets of Bakersfield on Tuesday morning. In an statement released by Public Information Officer Sergeant Joe Grubbs today, it was reported that the fatal shot was determined to be self inflicted.

The suspect, identified as 26-year-old Lancaster resident Leland Kane Smithson, died from a single gunshot to the head.

According to the Bakersfield Police Department, Smithson, dressed in a ski mask and armed with a gun, entered the Wells Fargo Bank branch located at 1300 22nd Street at around 10 a.m. on May 19.

Bakersfiled police outside the bank in a 2012 Google Maps image.

“The suspect contacted an unarmed bank security guard outside the bank, and once inside, ordered the guard to the ground and made entry into the vault,” Sergeant Joe Grubbs said. “The suspect then fled the scene, heading eastbound on 23rd Street, where officers spotted him and began their pursuit.” Smithson led officers through downtown Bakersfield until he collided with a tree in the 1000 block of East 18th Street near Owens Street.

From there, a shootout ensued, ending with Smithson sustaining a single fatal gunshot wound to the head.

During their investigation, officers said they found a loaded firearm and an undisclosed amount of cash taken from the bank inside the vehicle Smithson was driving. One officer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation. But the officer who did return fire, according to Grubbs, did not hit Smithson.

A duo of burglars robbed property from the Golden 1 Credit Union last Friday.

According to the San Luis Obispo Police, they received a call regarding a burglary at the financial institution, located at 852 Foothill. Investigators found that several of the businesses in the complex surrounding Golden 1 Credit Union are currently under construction. A construction foreman discovered a hole in the drywall leading into a storeroom of Golden 1 and notified the security company, who then contacted SLOPD.

Officers discovered that one of the buildings directly next to Golden 1, which was under construction, was vacant and openly accessible. Police say the suspects had made a large hole in the drywall, giving them access into the storage room at the rear of Golden 1.

After gaining entry, the suspects removed an undisclosed amount of property before leaving the location. A security camera in the storage room captured footage of the suspects as they were committing this crime. Police say the camera was then dismantled by one of the suspects prior to the pair departing.

The first suspect is described as a white male in his mid-20s with fair skin, slim build, short dark hair, and was wearing a red long-sleeve shirt and blue jeans. The second suspect is described as another white male in his mid-20s, fair skin with a stocky build, dark hair pulled into a bun or pony tail, and a beard but no mustache. He was wearing a dark long-sleeved shirt with a number of colored designs all over it.

Anyone who may recognize the pair are encouraged to call the Police at 805-781-7317, or CrimeStoppers at 549-STOP.

Santa Barbara County – Those who fail to take the privilege of driving a motor vehicle in the State of California responsibly can find themselves at the wrong end of a criminal prosecution, and we know where such courtroom experiences find ultimate resolution: with incarceration, probation, parole, and lifelong felony records.

Such severe penalties may well be in the future of 21-year old Tarcelia Perez, who was driving through the streets of Santa Maria on Saturday, May 23rd, when she was observed by witnesses as she drove through an intersection red light and crashed her 2002 Toyota Corolla into a 2003 Honda Odyssey van. The driver of the van, a 28-year old woman, was later found to be seriously injured – enough to be transported to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Immediately following the accident, according to Santa Maria Police Department spokesman Sgt. Mark Norling, Perez drove away from the scene as “a witness followed the Corolla” and observed Perez slam into another vehicle on Santa Maria’s Main Street. It was at this time that Santa Maria Police Department Patrol units were on the scene, quickly giving pursuit to Perez as she sped off once again.

A vehicle chase ensued, during which marked patrol units attempted to bring Perez’s vehicle to a halt over a distance of approximately four miles. Perez was ultimately forced to stop by the extensive damage to her vehicle, whereupon she was taken into custody, and determined to have been driving under the influence and without a valid operator’s license.

She was then transported to Santa Barbara County Jail where she was booked for felony DUI, felony hit and run, evading a peace officer, and driving with a suspended license.

Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail booking

School Placed On Lockdown While Suspects Were Arrested

SALINAS—You know you have been writing a lot of crime stories when they start coming to you.  I have been a reporter for CrimeVoice – United Reporting Crime Beat News for three years now, and in that time I have never had stories come to me – until yesterday when three suspects were arrested right down the street from my house.

Shortly before noon on Wednesday, May 27, I heard the familiar sound of a high-speed police cruiser pass my house. It seemed that three robbery suspects were being pursued by police when they decided to turn down my street to avoid capture.  Wrong move – two other police cruisers were positioned at the other end of the street, blocking it.

The Scorpio Imports shop is in this East Laurel shopping center near CVS.

It seems that earlier that morning, two suspects, a 16-year-old juvenile and 18-year-old Xavier Reyes entered the Scorpio Imports smoke shop at 130 East Laurel Drive armed with a replica semi-automatic firearm and approached the cashier, demanding money. The cashier, believing that the gun was real, handed over an undetermined amount of cash.

Before leaving the business, the suspects stole several glass smoking devices and t-shirts.  When they left, the two got into a vehicle driven by 18-year-old Joseph Viloria and sped away.

Several witnesses provided police with important suspect and vehicle information. A Salinas Police Officer was on patrol in the area when he spotted the suspects’ vehicle near the intersection of Linwood Drive and Chaparral Street. He pursued the vehicle until it was cornered, and the driver pulled into a driveway on Modoc Avenue. Natividad Elementary School, which is directly across from where the vehicle was stopped, was placed on lockdown.

All three suspects were pulled out of the vehicle at gunpoint and taken into custody without further incident.  The cash and the stolen products were returned to the business.

NEWBERRY SPRINGS – San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputies seized over 7,300 marijuana plants and arrested eight suspects after a three-hour standoff in an unincorporated portion of the county this week.

Deputies served warrants at six separate addresses on Tuesday and Wednesday, resulting in the discovery of large-scale outdoor marijuana cultivations that were taking place at each location.

Investigators, according to a release, “revealed all of the marijuana cultivation operations were illegal and not in compliance with California medical marijuana laws.”

Most of the suspects contacted, according to information released by law enforcement, were interviewed and released at the scene. A standoff ensued at 41227 Silver Valley Road, however, in which eight were taken into custody after nearly three hours. “The suspects barricaded themselves inside the residence,” according to the release, “and refused to come out.”

Despite numerous requests by investigators to surrender, SWAT team members were summoned to assist “with the safe removal and arrest of the suspects from the residence.” Aside from the initial three hour long standoff, they were all taken into custody without further incident. Investigators discovered 3,110 marijuana plants and 50 pounds of marijuana, seizing them in the process.

Arrested were Harold Bahn, 28, of Newberry Springs, Souk Polsena, 29, of Fresno and Las Vegas residents Hunter Hayden, 21, Malayphone Koulavongsa, 34, Bounleuth Sinsarady, 40, Asdawut Yatprachum, 27, Pang Koulavongsa, 35, and Keo Souvannasane, 40.

Each man was charged with cultivation of marijuana, possession for sales of marijuana, transportation and furnishing of marijuana, and conspiracy to commit a crime. No charges were mentioned regarding the standoff.

A sheriff’s spokesman said the large amount of marijuana seized suggests “the suspects had no intention of abiding by California’s medical marijuana laws or the county ordinance. Many of the suspects were utilizing fictitious medical marijuana recommendations in an effort to deceive law enforcement personnel into thinking the operations were legitimate.”

The county does have an ordinance prohibiting outdoor marijuana cultivations. County code enforcement, the sheriff’s Narcotics Division and sheriff’s deputies played a part in the sweep. Charges for the remaining 16 people are under review. The suspects range in ages from 21 to 61. All are subject to fines, prosecution and the seizure of property.

The Paso Robles Police Department is looking for a suspected armed robber who allegedly robbed a local restaurant using a handgun on Tuesday, May 26.

According to PRPD, they received a 911 call around 10:35 a.m. on Tuesday reporting an armed robbery had just occurred at Chico’s Cafe, located at 834 11th Street. The witness, a cafe clerk, told officers that a white male adult, wearing a bandana to cover his face, displayed a handgun and ordered the victim into a back office. The suspect ordered the victim to remain in the office while he stole the money from the cash register.

The suspect is in his mid-30s, with a thin build, wearing a blue beanie-style cap, blue shirt, and blue jeans. Police say no one was injured during the robbery, but the suspect was able to steal an undisclosed amount of cash from the register.

The suspect fled the café out the back door while the clerk remained in the office, waiting approximately five minutes before calling the police. The suspect was gone before officers arrived on the scene.

Suspect Received 14-Month Prison Sentence for 2012 Incident

SAN JOSE—Members of the Hollister Police Department and San Benito High School personnel were sitting in a courtroom of the United States District Court when they heard the sentence brought down by District Court Judge Lucy H. Koh. She sentenced 30-year-old Jason Keith Smith of Lincoln Park, Michigan, to prison, followed by supervised release.

The Hollister Police Department and the San Benito High School representatives were there to offer testimony in this case. Their statements offered insights to be considered by Judge Koh during the sentencing.

United States Attorney Melinda Haag and Federal Bureau of Investigation Agent David Johnson made the official announcement that Jason Keith Smith had been sentenced to 14 months in prison and 3 years supervised release for making telephone bomb treats to San Benito High School.

The supervised released also comes with special conditions that include Smith not making any phone calls to San Benito High School, nor possessing any computer without permission from his probation officer.

Smith was formally charged in an indictment filed on February 19, 2014 and has been in federal custody since October 6, 2014. Northern District of California Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mulcahy prosecuted the case with assistance of Laurie Worthen.

The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI in Northern California and Detroit, the Hollister Police Department and the Lincoln Park Police Department. Smith was found to have made several calls from his home in Michigan. It appeared that the threats involved his efforts to get in contact with one particular girl student. The FBI quoted his as saying in a message left at San Benito High “And by the way, I want you to look up this one chick named [the Student]. If she goes to school there, please let her know that I am watching her.” In one call, he claimed to be a police detective and said that the girl was in trouble and needed to contact him. His calls and threats occurred over several days during December 2012.

Smith pleaded guilty on March 3, 2015 to an indictment charging him with communication threats in violation of 18 U.S.C 875(C).

Santa Barbara County – There is a short list of fundamental Rules of the Road of which all drivers should be aware:
#1. Don’t drink and drive.
#2. If you have an accident, don’t drive away.
#3. Don’t threaten cops with a large knife.
When one ignores any of those three rules, bad things tend to occur.

The proof of that came once again on the streets of Santa Maria—where hit-and-run DUI accidents have recently become something of a public plague–on the evening of Friday, May 22nd, when Deadrick Rollins, 36, failed to yield at a downtown intersection and clammed into a vehicle carrying multiple occupants. According to Santa Maria Police Department spokesman Sgt. Mark Norling, Rollins violated Rule #2 (above) and fled the scene. A short time later, Rollins’ vehicle was spotted by a marked patrol unit, which made an attempt to conduct a traffic stop upon it.

Rather than submit to the traffic stop, Rollins “failed to stop his vehicle” and led officers on a short vehicle pursuit, which finally ended when Rollins brought his car to a halt. After a period of time during which Rollins refused to exit his vehicle, he inexplicably violated Rule #3 (above) by “brandishing a large knife at the officers.” Showing remarkable restraint—possibly as a result of prior years’ multiple police shooting investigations and retraining—officers responded to Rollins’ threat by firing beanbag weapons, striking him with non-lethal force. He was immediately subdued and taken into custody.

It was determined on the scene that Rollins had also violated Rule #1 (above), and was booked into Santa Barbara on charges of DUI, hit-and-run, felony evading, brandishing a weapon, resisting officers with force, and driving on a suspended license.

Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking

The Paso Robles Police arrested a man for allegedly driving under the influence on Thursday.

According to PRPD, they received a call of a possible hit-and-run around 2:55 p.m. in the area of 11th and Olive streets. The caller said a gold-colored Cadillac Escalade was driving recklessly in the neighborhood and collided with a street sign before the driver fled the area.

Once PRPD officers arrived on the scene, some began searching for the suspect’s vehicle while other’s gathered evidence at the scene. Around 3:04 p.m., an officer spotted a vehicle matching the description on the 800 block of Creston Road. The officer attempted to pull the vehicle over.

Initially the vehicle yielded to the side of the road, but then fled at a high rate of speed. The officer reported last seeing the suspect vehicle in the area of Tanner and Creston. Officers focused their search efforts in this area, and at approximately 3:15 PM another officer saw the suspect vehicle westbound on Creston Road, approaching the intersection at South River Road.

When the officer attempted to catch up to the suspect, the vehicle left the roadway and drove through a dirt area and down a hill, where it collided with a tree adjacent to South River Road near Union Road. The adult male driver ran from the vehicle and resisted officers’ attempts to detain him.

An officer deployed his taser, which immediately caused the suspect to stop resisting, and he was taken into custody without further incident. The suspect was treated at the scene and transported to a local hospital as a precautionary measure. Upon being released from the hospital, the suspect unsuccessfully attempted to flee from the arresting officer prior to being transported back to the PRPD for booking.

The suspect was identified as Richard Leon Zambrano, 45, of Paso Robles. Zambrano was booked into the PRPD detention facility for misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol, misdemeanor evading a police officer, misdemeanor hit-and-run driving and misdemeanor battery on a police officer.