The Motel 6 in north central Santa Rosa (actually called Motel 6 Santa Rosa South because there is another one just up Highway 101) is by most appearances just like any other Motel 6 – basic rooms with few amenities at a very reasonable price. In fact, many reviewers on TripAdvisor.com stated as much, especially those traveling with pets found it acceptable, and even nice. Many other reviews on TripAdvisor, Yelp, and other review sites, however, complain of a long list of issues – smoking in non-smoking rooms, loud neighbors, prostitution, drug dealers and users, and gang activity. An incident in May seemed to confirm that this motel has a problem.

On Tuesday, May 19, a group of friends had rented a room at the motel, which is on Cleveland Avenue right off the 101 Freeway. They were partying late into the night and smoking marijuana in the room, according to the Santa Rosa Police. A group in the next room, however, was looking for trouble. At some point after midnight, some of these “neighbors” confronted one of the partyers, asking him what gang he claimed. The intruders claimed a local criminal gang affiliation, and continued to shout gang challenges to the partying group.

Probably intimidated by the confrontation, all but one of the partyers left the room. Finding the remaining 29-year-old man in the room alone, a group of the gangsters came into the room and attacked him, both punching and kicking him in the head and body. Leaving him semi-conscious and suffering critical injuries, the attackers then left the motel. At 1:33 am, a guest at the motel contacted police to report the violent assault. Police and emergency medical personnel were dispatched, and the victim was rushed to the hospital.

Detectives from the Santa Rosa Police Gang Crimes Team took over the case, and developed leads based on witness accounts and evidence collected from the scene. Of the estimated eight to ten gang participants, they identified two specific suspects. One of them, 25-year-old Maurice Martin Marchbanks, was arrested that same day, found at his home on West 6th Street in central Santa Rosa, about two miles from the motel.

The other identified suspect was Marcos Dionicio Vazquez, a 19-year-old also of Santa Rosa. But Vazquez, at least in previous arrests, did not report a permanent home address, using only a P.O. box, so locating him was more of a challenge.

Vazquez had been arrested three times in recent months. On March 3 he was pulled over by a CHP officer in the Santa Rosa area and charged with driving under the influence. On the night of Saturday, April 18, he was arrested by Windsor Police in the town of Windsor, north of Santa Rosa on Highway 101. He was arrested near a home on Common Court and charged with carrying a concealed dirk or dagger. (Records show that another Santa Rosa man, 18-year-old Enrique Ramos Torres, was also arrested that night in the same area and charged with public intoxication, but it is not known if the two were directly connected.)

Vazquez was arrested in April for being a minor in possession of alcohol and resisting arrest on Stony Point Road in Petaluma.

A week later, on Friday April 24, Vazquez was arrested by a Sonoma County Sheriff’s deputy in Petaluma, on Stony Point Road, and charged with possession of alcohol as a minor and resisting arrest.

He was appearing at Sonoma County Superior Court on Friday, May 29 on these prior charges. when detectives were finally able to locate him, and arrested him as he left the courthouse.

Both Marchbanks and Vazquez were booked at the County Main Adult Detention Facility and charged with attempted murder, with related gang enhancements. Bail was set at over one million dollars for each.

The investigation and search for additional suspects involved in the assault is ongoing. A reward has been offered by the Sonoma County Alliance “Take Back Our Community Program” of $2,500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of these and other potential suspects in the gang attack. The Gang Crimes Team may be contacted at 707-543-3670. The regular police line, which may be called to report any gang activity, is 707-528-5222. Anyone in immediate danger should always call 911.

A 22-year-old Roseville man was arrested in connection with a string of burglaries over the past four weeks in southwestern Placer County. The suspect drew the attention of a deputy who was on routine patrol in Granite Bay.

Monday, June 1 at about 4 a.m. a deputy spotted a man in a car acting suspiciously. The suspect, Brock Anthony Kent noticed the deputy and pulled into a driveway of a Granite Bay home.

Brock Anthony Kent

According to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, when the officer approached Kent, he stated he lived at the home. The deputy checked with the homeowner, who informed the officer Kent was not a resident of the home. Kent was arrested on charges including possession of burglary tools, methamphetamine and heroin. It was not Kent’s first run in with police. Kent was also charged with a probation violation. In June of 2013, he was arrested for possession and transportation of controlled substances with intent to sell.

Kent was taken to Placer County Jail and released shortly after with a promise to appear. On Tuesday, detectives conducted a probation search at Kent’s home in the gated Broadstone development in Roseville. His home backs up to Eureka Road, and while they were there, he fled the location, apparently jumping the fence, and headed across Eureka. A brief search followed, and Kent surrendered to a Placer County detective in Maidu Park, on Johnson Ranch Road, after the detective’s K-9 made an appearance.

Although the investigation is continuing, Kent may be involved in similar burglaries and thefts in the Rocklin, Roseville and Granite Bay area. While searching Kent’s home, several items, which are related to over 50 thefts, were recovered including children’s bikes.

Kent is being held at Placer County Jail and booked on charges including receiving known stolen property, resisting arrest, residential burglary and a probation violation. He is being held on $95,000 bail.

Citizen Helps Police In His Capture

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville Police Department arrested 29-year-old Damian Baxter after they discovered that he was driving a stolen vehicle out of Gilroy.  Baxter was arrested for possession of stolen property, felony evading, hit and run that caused injury, and possession of a controlled substance.

On Tuesday May 28, at 8:30 pm, patrol officers with the Watsonville Police located a Honda Accord that had been reported stolen out of the city of Gilroy in the parking lot of the Economy Inn on Auto Center Drive. After staking out the vehicle for a short time police noticed that the stolen Honda was leaving the parking lot.

The stolen car was spotted in this parking lot.

When the Officers attempted to pull the vehicle over, Baxter, with a woman passenger, sped away. A pursuit ensued as the officers tried following him throughout the city streets. Baxter started driving erratically at a high rate of speed, causing the officers to call off the pursuit due to public safety concerns.

Baxter later crashed the vehicle into another car near the 300 block of East Lake Street. He reportedly left the vehicle and fled the scene on foot. Responding officers quickly set up a perimeter around the area as Baxter tried to evade capture.

Officers received help from a citizen who lives in the area. He told an officer that there was a man hiding in the bushes and asking for help. They found Baxter hiding in a garage near the scene of the crash. He was taken into custody with the help of “Ranger”, the Watsonville Police Department’s K-9 unit.

Images posted in Baxter’s Facebook page include a past mugshot (left).

Baxter was taken to a local trauma center for treatment of injuries sustained in the crash. His female companion sustained minor injuries, as did the driver of the other vehicle. Baxter was also found to be in possession of heroin.

Baxter made the news five years ago in a very similar incident. According to the Register Pajaronian, Baxter had stolen a green 1997 Acura, and led Monterey Sheriff’s deputies on a chase through Watsonville. He crashed that car into another, leaving a woman with minor injuries. A citizen, who the report says aspired to be in law enforcement, followed Baxter on foot as he tried to hide, and tackled him in the parking lot of the Crossroads shopping center. In addition to the deputies, Watsonville Police, CHP, Watsonville Fire, and emergency medical personnel responded to the scene. Baxter was captured and arrested on December 13, 2010, and charged with vehicle theft, evading resulting in injury, hit and run resulting in injury, resisting arrest, and parole violations.

Read More: Register Pajaronian – High-speed chase ends with crash in Watsonville (2010)

HINKLEY – Law enforcement officials have identified the second body that was discovered on Monday, in which a 22-year-old man from Victorville was arrested on murder charges.

Prospare Walter Landry, 56 and a resident of Hinkley, an unincorporated community near the desert city of Barstow, was discovered by San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies. He and Laurel Diana Roberts, 36, were found dead at a house in the 22200 block of West Main Street. Frank Joseph Covin, 22, was found locked inside another room when deputies entered the home after 10 p.m. on Monday.

Two days later, Landry was publicly identified after authorities had notified family members. Originally, deputies had been called to the residence earlier on Monday when family members requested a check be made on the well-being of both Landry and Roberts. When they arrived, the door was locked and there was no answer on the telephone.

Told that Roberts had texted a neighbor, saying she was on vacation and would not return until Tuesday, deputies left the scene. Family members called deputies again when someone was spotted “moving inside” the home, according to Detective Scott Thies, the lead investigator on the case along with Sergeant Jason Radeleff.

This time, deputies gained entry into the home, discovered the victims dead inside a bedroom, and someone else inside the home. Deputies said that Colvin had barricaded himself inside another room. He eventually surrendered to authorities after negotiating for several hours with Specialized Enforcement Detail officers.

Homicide investigators took custody of Colvin, who was booked at the Barstow jail for murder, and violation of a Post Release Community Supervision. He is being held without bail. No official cause of death has been listed, pending an autopsy.

According to the Victor Valley News, Covin is Landry’s son and has been charged before with “drug and weapons charges, as well as an active case where he is accused of the felony of Violation of Community Supervision.”

He Had No Previous Arrest Record

SALINAS—Usually when I walk into the Safeway Store on Harden Parkway, the pharmacy is open with customers waiting to fill their prescriptions. However this Wednesday it was closed, and I found myself wondering, why?  Little did I know at the time, just a few moments before I had entered the store an armed suspect had come in with the intent to rob the pharmacy.  Diligent Salinas Police Officers managed to arrest the 13-year-old Juvenile suspect just a few yards from the store.

Several witnesses to the crime reported to police that they saw the suspect wearing a black plastic mask, similar to that worn for paint ball, enter the store and approach an employee at the counter of the pharmacy. He threatened the employee by stating that he was in possession of a firearm and he wanted prescription medication.

The employee obliged the suspect with his request and handed over a small amount of prescription drugs.  After receiving the drugs the suspect preceded to exit the store. Witnesses provided police with a very detailed description of him.

The description was so accurate that Salinas Police Officer Oscar Dydasco, who responded to the call, spotted the suspect running east bound on Harden Parkway. Officer Dydasco and a second officer took the 13-year-old boy into custody without further incident.

A search of the suspect produced a black colored semi-automatic replica firearm hidden in his waistband.  All the property was returned to the pharmacy. He was booked into the Monterey County Juvenile Hall on armed robbery charges.

Suspect Was Burglarizing A Home

HOLLISTER – Police arrested a 17-year-old juvenile after he reportedly walked into a home on B Street and stole the keys to a white 2013 Volkswagen Jetta, and then led police on a vehicle pursuit that ended in a crash on Fourth Street in Hollister last Sunday.

On Sunday afternoon, Hollister Police and San Benito County Sheriff’s deputies were in the area of the 800 block of Powell Street investigating a residential burglary when they received a call that someone had walked into a house and took the keys to the victim’s white 2013 Volkswagen Jetta, and made off with the vehicle.

Hollister Police Sergeant James Weathers located the stolen vehicle heading northbound on Westside Boulevard. The driver failed to yield to police and led them on a vehicle pursuit down Fourth Street, and then southbound on Monterey Street. The suspect drove in such a reckless manner that he failed to negotiate a left turn from Monterey Street onto Nash Road.

Officers established a perimeter around San Benito High to capture the suspect.

The suspect crashed the Jetta into a power pole as he tried to make the turn. Now with the car inoperable, the suspect fled on foot. He was spotted running through the south campus of San Benito High School. Hollister police, along with San Benito County Sheriff’s deputies chased the suspect onto the north campus of the high school. Authorities finally caught the 17-year-old suspect after they had set up a perimeter.

Hollister Police learned that the suspect was already on probation for similar criminal activity. The suspect was taken to Hazel Hawkins Hospital for injuries from the crash. He was later booked into the San Benito County Juvenile Hall on Burglary, vehicle theft, reckless evading of a peace officer, hit and run collision, resisting arrest and driving while under the influence.

SANTA CLARA COUNTY – The Morgan Hill Police Department has filed murder charges against two suspects who were located just hours after a 9-1-1 call was made to report an unidentified man with multiple stab wounds. The victim died after being taken to a nearby trauma center.

According to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department, “On early Sunday morning, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office was advised that the Morgan Hill Police Department was responding to a stabbing in their city.”  The victim was found in a field in a rural area near Diana Avenue and Ringel Drive. It was soon discovered the stabbing took place just outside the city limits, placing the case in the hands of the Sheriff’s Department.

That day, Sunday May 31, 20-year-old Spencer Richard Smith was identified as a suspect through the follow up investigation into the stabbing. Though listed as a transient, Smith was arrested at a home on Paquita Espana Court, near the Coyote Creek Golf Club. It was the home of his friend Chase Austin Benoit.

Benoit was later identified as the second suspect in the stabbing murder, and he was arrested three days later at the same home. Evidence found at the scene linked the two suspects to the stabbing.  Police believe that an altercation broke out between the suspects and victim, during which time both men began to attack the victim, stabbing him multiple times before fleeing the scene.

Records show that Benoit was arrested in July of 2014 for speeding, making an unsafe turn without signaling, and then evading and failing to obey the officer. At the time he was living at Madrone Mobile Home Estates in Morgan Hill. Smith was arrested in July 2013 for cultivation and possession of a controlled substance. He was arrested a year later on a outstanding warrant for possession of metal knuckles, and then in April of this year for public intoxication and another warrant for a past speeding offense.

SAN BERNARDINO – Police arrested two San Bernardino men for multiple felonies after pursuing them on city streets early Thursday morning. Police later learned that the suspects, Johnny Arturo Martinez, 22, and Joseph Malo Fernandes, 21, had both been released in compliance state assembly bill 109 when the state prison system was required to release non-violent offenders in order to lower prisoner population.

Deputies learned that Fernandes was on active felony parole for grand theft auto. Martinez, who was wearing a GPS tracker device for monitored supervision, was on active felony parole for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Sheriff’s deputies, acting on a report of a vehicle burglary shortly before 3 a.m. in the 600 block of Rialto Ave., saw Fernandes driving a recently stolen green 1995 Saturn, a vehicle that fit the description provided to officers.

Fernandes began accelerating away from the patrol car, according to reports, heading toward the center of the city while deputies pursued them. Reportedly driving recklessly throughout the neighborhoods, the car continued eluding deputies through the northeast corner at Baseline Rd. and Waterman Ave., a main intersection. Speeds reached up to 80 miles an hour, according to deputies.

Eventually, the suspects led deputies to the on-ramp of the 215 freeway at which the deputies successfully used a pit maneuver, spinning the suspects’ car, safely concluding the pursuit.

There were no further incidents once the suspects were taken into custody, including no injuries to officers or to Fernandes and Martinez. Originally the two suspects had been described as Hispanic males.

San Bernardino Police officers responded to the end of the chase scene, assisting deputies by positively identifying the suspects as the same men that had been involved in several other car burglaries and thefts in their jurisdiction. Both men, charged with felony evading, possession of stolen property, felony no bail warrants and violation of parole, were booked at the Central Detention Center. Other charges are pending.

According to a release, it was noted that both men had been released by the state prison system as part of Gov. Brown’s Realignment Plan – Assembly Bill 109 – that offenders were either to be released or serve reduced sentences in county jails while being placed on local supervision through county probation.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA – Detectives are seeking witnesses in charges that a 26-year-old woman abused a three-year-old toddler. San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies had been called to the emergency room at the Pomona Valley Medical Center on Monday when reports of a suspected child abuse case surfaced.

The child’s mother, Annie Wang, of Rancho Cucamonga, was arrested the next night when it was determined that the severe injuries had likely been caused by physical abuse. Wang had brought the boy to the hospital, which was located in Los Angeles County, because he was vomiting.

When medical staff examined the boy, they discovered severe bruising on various parts of his body. A detective from Rancho Cucamonga Sheriff’s station, located in neighboring San Bernardino County, conducted a criminal investigation. Bruising found on the child’s face, abdomen, buttocks and thighs was enough evidence of abuse to arrest Wang, who is a citizen of Taiwan. She resides on the 9600 block of Milliken Avenue in Rancho Cucamonga.

The child was taken to the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital later that evening for additional tests and treatment, according to reports. Physicians confirmed to authorities the condition of the boy’s internal and external organs was consistent with physical abuse.

Detectives from the county’s Crimes Against Children Detail concluded that Wang caused the injuries to her son, likely during the last two weeks of May.

At 10:45 p.m. on Tuesday, June 2, a day after Wang brought her son to the hospital, she was arrested and taken to the Central Detention Center, held originally on $100,000 bail. Bail was since increased to $325,000. She will appear in Rancho Cucamonga Superior Court on Friday.

Investigating detectives in the case, Michelle Brand and Matt Gordon, are seeking additional witnesses. “Anyone who might have witnessed the abuse,” said Brand, “or has information regarding the crime is urged to call.”

PETALUMA – According to a Petaluma Police Department (PPD) Press Release, 39-year-old Michael Patrick Stewart Stull was arrested for committing a series of commercial burglaries. There were more than 13 cases connected to Stull between March and May of 2015.

Most of the crimes were committed within the commercial complexes located on the 1300 block of North McDowell Boulevard and the 700 block of Baywood Drive near the Sheraton Hotel. In most of these cases there were no signs of forced entry. In some cases Stull had entered some of the victim businesses while employees were still on the premises.

The Sheraton Hotel at Baywood Drive, and North McDowell Blvd., the areas where the burglaries were reported

Investigators believe that Stull had somehow compromised the “Knox Box” system used by many businesses as a means of gaining entry into them. According to the Press Release, “corrected measures have been implemented to minimize the risk of additional thefts.”

The two suspects were reportedly married in March (Images – Facebook)

Stull’s primary residence was in San Rafael, though he divided his time between that location and an apartment in Santa Rosa where he lived with his wife. She too is listed as a suspect and was arrested for possession of stolen property and was booked into Sonoma County Jail. She has been identified as 33-year-old Lauren Nicole Marguglio of Santa Rosa. According to her Facebook page, they were married in March of this year.

Stull was booked into Sonoma County Jail for burglary, possession of stolen property, and for violating his parole, which stemmed from a series of burglaries committed in Marin County back in 2005. Back then, he was even called the “Knox Box Burglar” in some media reports for his use of that method to gain entry to his victims’ property. At that time, he was sentenced to 31 years to life in prison on a series of charges, and the three strikes provision for repeat offenders.

Read More:

Marin Independent Journal (2007): Novato man sentenced to 31 years to life in burglary cases

Ventura County – A full eight months after she died, 33-year old Thousand Oaks resident Christina Blankenship’s uncle has been arrested and charged with having caused her death.

According to the May 27th report filed by Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Public Information officer Sgt. Victor Fazio, it was on October 28, 2014 that Ventura County Sheriff’s deputies assigned to the Moorpark station responded to a 911 Emergency call reporting “a person not breathing.” When deputies arrived at the scene, they quickly determined that Christina Blankenship was not breathing because she had, in fact, expired.

The investigation that immediately followed led deputies to suspect that Paul Giannotta, Ms. Blankenship’s 64-year old uncle, had supplied her with methadone. With Giannotta thus identified, search warrants were obtained and served upon both the Blankenship residence and that of Giannotta by the Ventura County Interagency Pharmaceutical Crimes Unit, the East County Narcotics Street Team, and the Moorpark Police Department Investigations Unit. The interagency effort revealed evidence at Giannotta’s residence “confirming him as the source of supply of methadone” for his niece.

A subsequent autopsy of Blankenship performed over the ensuing eight months established the “significant contributing factor” and cause of her death as an overdose of methadone. Based upon that finding, Giannotta was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter and furnishing methadone with a special enhancement of causing great bodily injury during the commission of a felony, with his arraignment in Ventura County Superior Court calendared for June 25th.

Christina Blankenship had been arrested twice in April of 2014 on charges of possessing drug paraphernalia.

BAKERSFIELD — A pair of Bakersfield men were arrested late last week for allegedly selling heroin on the streets of east Bakersfield.

Danny Romero, 59, and 51-year-old Raymond Sanchez, were booked into the Kern County Jail on charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for sales, maintaining a residence for the sales of a controlled substance, and possession of paraphernalia.

According to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, the pair were arrested on the morning of Thursday, June 4, when deputies assigned to the California Multi-Jurisdictional Methamphetamine Enforcement Team executed a search warrant in the 2200 block of Lucky Street in east Bakersfield.

During their search of the residence, deputies said they located suspected heroin, along with items indicative of the sales of heroin and an undisclosed amount of cash.

A third man at the residence, 56-year-old David Romero, was cited and released at the scene for being in possession of drug paraphernalia.

SACRAMENTO—Police arrested an elderly man on Friday, June 5 on murder charges in the death of his octogenarian wife.

Masaharu Ono

Authorities initially believed Masaharu Ono, 89, discovered his wife’s body inside their mobile home in the Golf Green Estates at 8665 Florin Road. However an investigation by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s homicide team and County coroner determined that injuries the victim, Hiroko Ono, 83, had sustained were the cause of her death.

Her husband has been accused of the murder and is currently being held without the possibility of bail at the Sacramento County Main Jail. Detectives report that there are no other outstanding persons of interest in this case.

Ono faces his first court appearance on Tuesday, June 9.

Although it is rare for a long-time spouse to murder his or her wife or husband in old age, just last month a 100-year-old New Jersey man killed his 88-year-old wife with an ax while she slept. He then went into the bathroom and committed suicide with a knife. According to Bergen County, New Jersey County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli, Michael Juskin and his wife Rosalia had a “’history of domestic issues.” Juskin is one of the oldest people ever to be accused of homicide. His family said he suffered from dementia.

Ventura County – Paul Flores, a 33-year old resident of the oceanfront community of Port Hueneme, apparently harbors an unfettered entrepreneurial instinct. As the proprietor of “Vapor Forest”, an Oxnard area smoke shop, he conducts a legal business catering to those undoubtedly shopping for supplies and devices with which to indulge in the enjoyment of a wide range of tobacco and herbal products.

While purveying retail products to such a clientele can be a viable and profitable business, Flores may have sought even greater returns, according to the report of Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Narcotics Unit spokesman Sgt. Jose Rivera that details the circumstances leading to Flores’ May 29th arrest. Flores had been the subject of an ongoing investigation into various aspects of his retail dealings which indicated he was involved in the sale of both cocaine and concentrated cannabis to an expanding Ventura County customer base.

With search warrants in hand for both his place of business and his residence, detectives arrived at both his home and at the “Vapor Forest” location, where they found “approximately one ounce of cocaine, several ounces of concentrated cannabis, over two pounds of marijuana, and a loaded handgun.” Detectives also discovered several thousand dollars in cash, which were the suspected “proceeds from illegal drug sales,” and led to Flores’ prompt arrest.

Flores was transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked for possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana for sale, possession of a controlled substance with a firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon, and illegal possession of ammunition, with his bail set at $500,000.

Photo: Courtesy Facebook.com

BAKERSFIELD — A 45-year-old Lamont man on probation was arrested last week for after being caught with around $22,000 in suspected methamphetamine.

Alex Veloz was booked into the Kern County Jail on charges of transportation and possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for sale, possession of ammunition by a prohibited person and possession of a dangerous weapon.

His bail has been set at $67,500.

The Kern County Sheriff’s Office stated, that Veloz’s arrest occurred in the evening of June 4, when deputies assigned to the California Multi-Jurisdictional Methamphetamine Enforcement Team conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle Veloz was traveling in, in the area of Edison Highway and Fairfax Road in east Bakersfield.

After a search of the vehicle, deputies said they found approximately a half a pound of suspected methamphetamine, ammunition, a weapon and an undisclosed amount of cash.

Veloz has a long record of arrests, including a charge in August of last year for driving with a suspended license, reckless evasion, and resisting arrest. Prior to that, over the past 10 years, he has been arrested at least ten times on various charges of burglary, drug possession, resisting arrest, and parole or probation violations. But his history goes back even further.

In 2003, while already a parolee with a history of battery, drug and paraphernalia possession, and resisting arrest, Veloz was in a car when he spotted a sheriff’s deputy approaching. He bolted from the car, and the deputy, calling in for backup, gave chase. Another patrol car tried to block his path, and Veloz ran right over the vehicle. After two of the deputies caught up with him, he only surrendered after being struck with a baton. However, according to a report published in Bakersfield.com, when another deputy in the chase, Benjamin Conway, joined in the group, he struck Veloz several more times, despite his being completely under control by then.

Conway, then 43 and a 16-year-veteran of the force, was subsequently arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon under color of authority. He was later sentenced to nine months in jail, served in neighboring Tulare County.

Read More: Deputy arrested in beating of suspect

Ventura County – The Fillmore Police Department has recently received a number of citizen reports recounting serial episodes of public indecency performed on city streets by a man driving a white Dodge Charger.

According to Fillmore Police Department Detective Javier Chavez, multiple females reported having walked past the white Charger while it was at a complete stop at intersections within the city. While the driver of the car was apparently compliant with the Vehicle Code, he may have been unaware of the fact that while one is inside one’s vehicle, one is still considered to be “in public.” The male suspect’s ability to grasp this notion may have been diminished by the effects of grasping his own anatomy, which resulted female pedestrians witnessing the horrors of what Det. Chavez described as a “male subject masturbating” while behind the wheel of his car.

While there was no reported indication that for his part, the man in turn observed the females who were apparently intently observing him, Fillmore deputies responded and soon located the suspect vehicle in the parking lot of a fast food establishment.

As deputies were making contact with Melescio Poncedeleon, a 29-year old hailing from Wasco, the city notorious as the home of the California Department of Corrections Reception Center and State Prison, a second female who was driving past the fast food establishment stopped to volunteer that she had personally seen Poncedeleon masturbating behind the wheel of his car not just once, but on two separate prior occasions. Chavez’ report to the media did not indicate how the young woman happened to be so unfortunate as to be in the wrong place at the wrong time twice, but based upon the report of this second victim, Poncedeleon was arrested at the scene, presumably handcuffed in such a fashion as to prevent any further criminal self-gratification while in their custody, and transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on charges of indecent exposure.

Photo: Courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking

TAFT — Thanks to good work from detectives from the Kern County Sheriff’s Department, a Taft burglary ring has been exposed, resulting in the arrest of four men last Tuesday.

Luis Arteaga, 21, and 24-year-old Sergio Arteaga, along with 20-year-old Juan Mota and 18-year-old Jose Mota, all of south Taft, were booked into the Kern County Jail on various charges ranging from driving without a license and burglary and possession of stolen property, to cultivation of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and obstructing a peace officer.

According to Sheriff’s Public Information Officer Ray Pruitt, the June 2 arrests were the result of an investigation that began back on May 31, when deputies began looking into a residential burglary that occurred in the 300 block of Shattuck Avenue in south Taft. “A concerned citizen came forward and provided detectives with information about a suspicious vehicle that had been in the neighborhood the day of the burglary,” Pruitt said.

Two days later, on June 2, deputies spotted a vehicle that matched the witnesses’ description and performed a traffic stop, which resulted in the arrest of the driver Luis Arteaga for driving without a license.

During the stop, deputies also detained Sergio Arteaga, who was later arrested after deputies found a stolen television, several marijuana plants and a prescribed controlled substance at the pair’s residence. “Further investigation led detectives to two additional suspects connected with the two suspects already in custody,” Pruitt said.

They were Juan and Jose Mota, who are accused of receiving stolen property from the burglary suspects. Jose Mota was also arrested for two active warrants.

The US Bank inside Safeway was the scene of the robbery.

Roseville Police arrested a man and his accomplice in connection with a bank robbery in Roseville. According to Roseville Police, the suspect was identified as Gregory Matthew Travis Townsend, age 25, of Yuba City. Police allege Townsend robbed the U.S. Bank branch located inside the Safeway store at 9045 Woodcreek Oaks Boulevard in Roseville.

Events unfolded at about 2:40 p.m. on May 27^th. The suspect handed the teller a note demanding cash. Although a gun was not seen, Townsend mentioned he was armed. The suspect got away with an undisclosed amount of cash, and no one was injured in the robbery.

Information discovered by Roseville Police detectives during the investigation led to the suspect. With the assistance of Yuba City PD, Roseville Police located and arrested Townsend at a home in Yuba City on June 4th. He was booked into Placer County Jail, and bail was set at $100,000. Townsend is not a stranger to run-ins with police. His prior arrest record reveals a December 2014 arrest for petty theft and failure to appear on a felony charge.

Both men were found at Townsend’s home on Rosalind Street in Yuba City.

It appears Townsend did not act alone in the bank robbery. Roseville PD also arrested 30-year-old Timothy Michael Eckman of Vacaville at the same home. He was charged with being an accessory to the robbery. He was also taken to Placer County Jail where bail was set at $50,000.

Ventura County – Juan Pablo Valencia, 37, a former member of Ventura’s Vista Del Mar Psychiatric Hospital staff, was arrested for the second time on June 4th pursuant to reports of sexual assault upon the patients under his care.

According to Ventura Police Department’s Media Relations Officer, Valencia was arrested on January 21st of this year and charged with sexual contact with a confined person, sexual penetration of a mentally disturbed person, and rape of a victim incapable of giving consent due to a mental disorder following the October 2014 report of a sexual assault by a female who was a patient at Vista Del Mar at the time. Valencia reported “began to pursue” the woman who was undergoing psychiatric care at the time. When she was released from the hospital, Valencia allegedly “continued a sexual relationship with her.”

During the course of that initial investigation leading to Valencia’s January 2015 arrest, detectives did considerable research into both the medical records of the putative victim and into Valencia’s employment history and personnel records. Shortly after that arrest, additional victims of Valencia were identified, each independently alleging sexual assault while they were patients at the hospital.

Based upon those reports and additional evidence, Valencia was once against arrested on June 4th, and transported to Ventura County Jail where he was booked on charges of sexual contact with a confined person, sexual penetration of a mentally disturbed person, sexual battery of an institutionalized victim, sexual penetration with an intoxicated person, and rape of an intoxicated person.

The investigation into Valencia’s alleged crimes is ongoing, and anyone with additional information regarding sexual misconduct by Valencia is urged to contact Detective Edwards of the Ventura Police Department at (805)339-4328.

Photo: Courtesy Ventura County Jail booking

A suspect was brought in for charges related to domestic violence last Monday, June 1, according to an official report by the Madera County Department of Corrections. Jose De Los Alcaraz, 36, was arrested by Sheriff’s Deputies and booked at 8:05 am on charges of felony inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or co-habitant, and misdemeanor dissuading or preventing a witness or victim from testifying. These two charges resulted in a $50,000 bail, with the addition of $5,000 more for violating terms of his probation.

The suspect, who lists his occupation as laborer, has a history of sometimes violent offenses over the past seven years. Records show that in 2008 he was charged with possessing or manufacturing a dangerous weapon. That was followed by a November 2011 arrest for false imprisonment by violence. A year later, in December 2012, he was charged with being a convicted felon in possession of ammunition. He faced a probation violation charge in August of 2013.

Alcarza currently resides in a home in East Madera, near Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School.