College-aged women were targets

San Luis Police are searching for a suspect(s) who has allegedly sexually assaulted at least two female victims on Foothill road.

First assault occurred near here

According to SLOPD, the first assault occurred on Saturday February 3 on the 1200 block of Foothill Road around 11 p.m.

The two victims said were walking together when they were approached by a male subject who they described as 19-20 years old, six feet tall weighing around 180 pounds. They said he was wearing a black sweatshirt and black baseball hat.

According to police, the suspect stepped in between the two women and grabbed the rear area of their pants and tried to pull out their underwear.

After being unsuccessful in removing their underwear the suspect fled the area.

According to SLOPD, the second assault occurred on Sunday, Feb. 3, at approximately 4:15 a.m. in the 700 block of Foothill Road.

This case involved a single victim who said she was waiting in the area for a taxi when she was approached by a male suspect.

The suspect was described as a male white with olive colored skin, 19-20 years old with short dark hair and a very slender build. He was wearing a dark shirt with a dark zip-up hoodie and light colored baggy jeans.

The suspect pulled the victim near some bushes then forced his hands down the front and back of her pants and sexually assaulted her.

The suspect fled the area as the taxi was arriving at the location.

The victims in both these cases were not physically injured, but, according to police, were all very traumatized.

In both cases, the victims were college-age females.

According to SLOPD, in March and April of 2012 two similar assaults occurred in the area of Slack and Hathway near the Cal-Poly Campus.

An additional assault occurred on the Cal-Poly campus and was investigated by the Cal-Poly Police Department.

The suspect in those assaults was also described with a similar physical appearance.

It is unknown at this time if the same suspect is responsible for all these sexual assaults.

While these cases are currently being investigated by the San Luis Obispo Police Department, anyone with information regarding these assaults is asked to notify the police or Crime Stoppers.

The police also recommend that people out late should stay in groups and walk in well-lit areas.

Read More:

SLO Tribune: Two Sexual Assaults Reported in SLO Over the Weekend

KSBY: Police Investigate Sexual Assaults Near Cal Poly

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PORTERVILLE – Two suspects were arrested for the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old man on Sunday night, but a third suspect is still at large.

Frederico Mejia

Detectives with the Porterville Police Department arrested 29-year-old Federico “Freddie” Mejia and his girlfriend, 29-year-old Adriana Jaimez, both of Porterville, on suspicion of murdering Salvador Garcia.

A third unidentified suspect is still being sought. Detectives are developing leads to try to determine who he is and take him into custody.

The homicide happened late Sunday night. Garcia was sitting in a car in the parking lot of a Spirit convenience store at 699 S. Plano Street waiting for his friend who was inside the store. Mejia and the unidentified suspect approached the vehicle. Mejia immediately pulled out a gun and fired a shot at Garcia, hitting him in the chest, according to the police.

Adriana Jaimez

The two suspects fled the scene in a car driven by Jaimez and the victim was taken to Sierra View District Hospital by friends. Porterville officers were called to the hospital around 11:49 p.m. with regard to a victim brought in with a gunshot wound. By the time they arrived, Garcia had already died from his wounds.

Police have said there is no indication that the victim was involved in any gang activity, but have not released a motive for the shooting.

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SANTA MARIA – A man and his dog were killed Tuesday night while enjoying an evening walk when a 19-year-old driver lost control of vehicle and slammed into the pair.

Alvino Corona

Police were dispatched to the 2100 block of N. Blosser Road just before 7 p.m. for a report of a vehicle versus pedestrian accident, where they found a 56-year-old man and his dog dead. The driver and his passenger had fled the scene on foot, according to witnesses.

Investigators believe the unidentified man and his dog were walking west along Blosser on the roadway’s edge when they were struck by a 1990 Honda CRX traveling southbound on the road. Witnesses told responding officers the driver lost control of the vehicle and smashed into chain link fence on the east side of the roadway, police said.

The victim and his dog were pronounced dead at the scene, where the alleged driver, Alvino Corona, 19, of Santa Maria, and his wife, Veronica Corona, 18, returned more than an hour after the fatal collision.

Alvino Corona was arrested at the accident site and booked for felony hit-and-run. His wife, who was a passenger in the Honda CRX at the time of the deadly crash, was released from the scene, police said.

The fatality is still under investigation and anyone with further information is urged to call the Santa Maria Police Department’s traffic bureau at (805) 928-3781.

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Santa Maria Times:Driver in Fatal Hit-and-Run Identified by Police

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A San Luis Obispo detective was arrested Tuesday morning after being charged in a bribery scheme in which he allegedly took cash and narcotics from two individuals. In return, the detective allegedly provided these “cooperating witnesses (CWs)” with narcotics for their own use, as well as fake drugs to sell to drug dealers.

Cory Pierce

Cory Pierce, 39, of Arroyo Grande, was taken into custody without incident by FBI agents.

Pierce was charged with one count of bribery in a criminal complaint filed yesterday in United States District Court in Los Angeles.

According to the affidavit in support of the complaint, Pierce is a six-year veteran of the SLOPD who was most recently assigned to a narcotics task force with the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office.

The complaint describes how Pierce cultivated two sources who are identified in the complaint only as CW1 and CW2 who have since cooperated with the FBI’s investigation.

After CW2 was arrested for heroin possession in 2011, he and his girlfriend, CW1, agreed to cooperate with Pierce. But soon after they agreed to work with the police officer, Pierce made unusual requests for the informants to bring him narcotics.

As the requests continued, Pierce allegedly provided placebo pain pills and real narcotics to the couple. Pierce exchanged those pills and drugs for cash and various narcotics brought to him by the witnesses, including oxycodone, heroin, and drugs that treat opiate addition, according to the complaint, which goes on to state that Pierce on several occasions provided CW1 with methamphetamine that was still in police evidence bags.

The complaint alleges that one of the witnesses obtained prescriptions for pain pills from her doctor and from emergency rooms to give to Pierce and that Pierce would provide her with money to purchase the prescriptions.

The complaint also alleges Pierce used his position as a police officer to influence CW2’s probation officer to perform little or no supervision of him and informed him that he could “work off” his heroin possession charge by cooperating with Pierce.

The complaint goes on to allege that Pierce informed the witnesses about ongoing police investigations, including where best to purchase narcotics and which drug houses to stay away from, so that they would not be caught purchasing drugs.

Pierce allegedly had the informants set up a meeting with a drug dealer, and, following the meeting, Pierce pulled over the dealer’s vehicle over at gunpoint, seized morphine pills and let the dealer go without making an arrest.

When the witnessess advised Pierce the drug dealers to whom they had sold the placebo pills realized they had received a deceptive product and wanted revenge, Pierce asked for their identities and indicated he would “take care of it.”

Last month, one of the witnesses began cooperating with a federal investigation and recorded multiple conversations with Pierce.

During those recorded conversations, Pierce allegedly instructed CW2 to sell placebo pills to a drug dealer for $11,000, money that was to be split between Pierce and CW2.

On multiple occasions, Pierce asked the witness for Suboxone, which is used treat opiate addictions, indicating that he was personally using the drug, according to the complaint affidavit.

Pierce will have an initial appearance before a United States Magistrate Judge at an undetermined time in United States District Court in Los Angeles.

If convicted of the bribery charge alleged in the criminal complaint, Pierce would face a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.

Read More:

The Reporter: California Detective, Cory Pierce, Facing Charges in San Luis Obispo

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Santa Barbara County - Irvin Basquez, 51, had been sought by Santa Barbara County Sheriff detectives since a violent episode took place in the small, quiet north-county community of Orcutt.  Basquez is reportedly the suspect wanted in connection with a stabbing that took place at an Orcutt home in the early evening of January 29^th.

Irvin Basquez

According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover, Basquez had been involved in a personal confrontation that left a victim suffering from wounds “serious enough that he had to be airlifted to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital”, where he remains recovering from his injuries.

Basquez, while the subject of an area manhunt, had eluded apprehension until the afternoon of February 1^st, when Santa Maria Police officers observed a vehicle matching the description of one recently involved in a theft from a local area Walmart.  The officers conducted a traffic stop on the suspect vehicle and “were conducting the identification of the four people in the car,” Hoover reported, when Basquez was discovered sitting in the back seat.  He was summarily taken into custody and arrested on charged of attempted murder, while the other three occupants of the vehicle were arrested on charges related to the Walmart theft, and assorted probation and parole violations.

Basquez was transported to Santa Barbara County Jail and booked for attempted murder with his bail set at a nice round number: $1,000,000.

Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking

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Noozhawk: Suspect in Orcutt Stabbing Arrested at Traffic Stop

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APTOS—Have you ever used an automatic teller machine and have that uneasy feeling that someone was watching?  Well, for one Soquel woman that feeling came true.  While using the ATM machine at the Bay Federal Credit Union on Post Drive in Aptos, she was confronted by two males wearing black ski masks.

Miguel Angel Hernandez, 20

One of the two men held a gun to her head and demanded that she give them money.  She complied with their instruction and the men took her money and fled on foot.  Sheriff’s Deputies canvassed the area but did not locate the suspects.

They obtained surveillance footage from the ATM of the robbery and found that the suspects wore clothing with distinctive features and had distinctive physical characteristics.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the University of California Santa Cruz Police Department, began working on clues from the clothing the suspects wore the night of the robbery.  The two departments quickly came up with Miguel Angel Hernandez, 20, of Royal Oaks as a person of interest in this case.

On Monday, February 4, detectives, with the Sheriff’s Office, found Hernandez at his home in Royal Oaks.  Hernandez was arrested and transported and booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail.  Detectives were able to match Hernandez to the robbery by his characteristics that matched those of the suspect depicted in the surveillance video.

“It was great investigative work that led to the development of Hernandez as a suspect,” Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Deputy April Skalland said. “Crimes like this impact people for a long time so it is good for them that we catch the suspects, gives them ‘peace of mind’.”

Hernandez is charged with robbery in the second degree.  His bail has been set at $150,000.  He appeared in court on Wednesday, February 6.  The sheriff’s Office is still actively investigating this case in an attempt to identify the second suspect.

Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office at 831-4711121 or by email at shf236@co.santa-cruz.ca.us.

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COMMERCE–On both a local and national level, this has not been a good week for postal workers. Two days before postal workers across the country learned from the USPS that they would no longer deliver mail on Saturdays, a Los Angeles area mail carrier was arrested in Commerce for strangling an 11-year-old girl on February 4^th.

According to the victim, the suspect attacked her when she started laughing at him for inadvertently entering the women’s restroom at Bristow Park. When LA Sheriffs Deputies arrived at 1466 McDonnell Avenue, three other witnesses also claimed to have seen the postal worker, whom the police later identified as 55-year-old Daniel Villasenor, become angry and throttle the victim.

Deputies found Villasenor near the scene and arrested him for felony Willful Cruelty to a Child. Villasenor’s initial charge was later reduced to a misdemeanor at his February 6^th arraignment at the East Los Angeles Municipal Court, but not before he had a second charge of Battery in a Park filed against him.

According to an LASD press release, Villasenor is currently being held at the East Los Angeles Sheriff’s Station where his bail is set at $100,000.

In a statement sent to L.A. Weekly, the USPS said that Daniel Villasenor had recently been placed on “emergency non-duty status pending investigation.” The USPS will be launching an investigation of their own into the events surrounding Villasenor, who has been a postal worker since 1981.

The investigation is being handled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Special Victims Bureau. Any questions can be directed to Sergeant Dan Scott or Lieutenant Carlos Marquez at 877-710-LASD (5273) or through Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau.

Read More:

LA Times: Postal worker accused of chocking 11-year-old girl is put on leave

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CBS Los Angeles: Postal Worker Charged In Alleged Child Choking Incident

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A Los Angeles transient was arrested for burglary by San Luis Obispo police after he allegedly exchanged dime coin rolls filled with pennies at two local banks. The suspect capped the ends with dimes.

Carl Bellenir

According to a press release from SLOPD, the suspect, Carl Bellenir 48, transient of Los Angeles entered Santa Barbara Bank and Trust, located at 995 Higuera Street, on Tuesday with rolled coins to exchange for cash.

According to police, the coin rolls, which were supposed to be filled with dimes, were filled with pennies resulting in a loss from the bank.

Police say Bellenir returned to Santa Barbara Bank and Trust on Wednesday around 10:19 a.m. to exchange rolled coins, but an employee opened one of the rolls and called 911 to report the crime.

Bellenir left Santa Barbara Bank and Trust and went straight to Bank of America while officers were in route to the area, where he committed the same crime.

Police say the witnesses provided a good description and several officers saturated the area.

An officer located Bellenir a few blocks away on a bike.

Police say Bellenir was in possession of more change to continue his crime spree at local banks.

Bellenir was booked into county jail for the burglary and is being held on $20,000 bail.

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A Redding woman is in custody for threatening to kill her three-year-old child.

Dorman was holding a similar tool to her child's throat

According to the sheriff’s reports, the deputies of Shasta Conty Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a home at 20230 Sylvia Lane at around 1:30 due to a family disturbance. The deputies were informed that Misty Dorman, 31, was armed with a handgun and threatening to kill her three-year-old son.

The first deputy to arrive found Dorman on her front porch with her left arm wrapped around the boy as she held an object that looked like an ice pick to the child’s throat. The deputy, along with Dorman’s ex-boyfriend, rushed to the front porch and the ex-boyfriend was able to forcefully pull the object from her hand which turned out to be a weed puller. The deputy grabbed Dorman and they engaged in a struggle. Meanwhile, the ex-boyfriend was able to grab the child.

When the other deputies arrived, they were able to eventually detain Dorman. She was booked into Shasta County Jail and is charged with child cruelty causing injury, assault with a deadly weapon, and obstructing or delaying a peace officer. The child was released to his father and no handguns were found at the location.

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HOLLISTER—Officers with the Hollister Police Department’s Gang Suppression Unit arrested three individuals on Friday night, in connection with a loaded stolen gun.  Arrested were Marco Mendoza, 27, Omar Ortega Hernandez, 20 and a 17-year-old female juvenile, all of Hollister.

Marc Mendoza

In response to the recent rise in gang activity, officers were performing routine checks when they came upon individuals standing around and seated inside a vehicle on the 1300 block of Westside Blvd.

When Officers approached the group they found a 17-year-old female juvenile in the front seat. They also found Mendoza in the back seat in possession of an open alcoholic container.  It was later determined that Mendoza was also on probation.  The owner of the vehicle, Ortega-Hernandez, was also in possession of an open alcoholic container while sitting in the front seat.

“The Officers were on patrol in well-known area for gang activity when they found the group of individuals,” Hollister Police Captain Dave Westrick said. “The owner consented to the search when we found the gun in his car.”

Omar Ortega Hernandez

As a result of having the open containers in the vehicle, officers searched the car and found a loaded handgun that was concealed inside the car.  The handgun had been reported stolen earlier this year.  All three suspects were arrested and booked into the San Benito County Jail and Juvenile Hall.

Ortega-Hernandez was charged with being a gang member carrying a loaded firearm and possession of stolen property.  Mendoza was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm as well as a gang member in possession of a loaded firearm.  The Juvenile was charged with as a gang member in possession of a firearm and booked into the County’s Juvenile Detention Center.

“This was an effort of ’cause and effect,’ we beefed up patrols because of the rise in gang activity and were able to get a gun and gang members off the streets,” Captain Westrick added.

The formation of the Gang Suppression United is a result of the City of Hollister’s CALGRIP grant.  This grant is a way for police to combat gang related activity in Hollister.  It is also designed to educate the community and parents, whose children may be susceptible to gang influence.

Read More:

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SALINAS—The Salinas Police arrested 35-year-old Armando Armenta of Salinas after he become belligerent and entered a home on Napa Way in Salinas.

Armando Armenta

On Sunday, February 3, the Salinas Police responded to a disturbance call on the 500 block of Napa Way.  When Officers arrived on the scene, they were directed to Armenta, who at the time was outside a residence.

“He was there at the residence and started causing a disturbance and was asked to leave,” Salinas Police Officer Miguel Cabrera said. “He left the residences but was still hanging around outside creating a problem.”

When Officers attempted to talk with Armenta he became belligerent and refused to comply with the officers.  Armenta ran inside the house and began arming himself with several knives from the residence.

After arming himself with the knives Armenta ran into the backyard of the residence, still uncooperative with the officers.  After a few tense moments with police, he ran from the backyard of the residence for several blocks before being located in another backyard of a home on Trinity Way.

The still uncooperative Armenta tried once more to get away from the officers but in an attempt to apprehend him police used a taser and took him into custody without further incident.

He was transported to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries.  He was then transported to the Monterey County Jail and booked on charges of trespassing and resisting arrest.  He was also found to be on probation, so he was also charged with violating his probation.

“He was taken to hospital for treatment because it is our common practice that anyone that is tased should be checked out by medical personnel,” Officer Cabrera added. “ He also had scrapes and bruises from climbing the fences in his get-a-way attempts.”

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A fourth suspect was arrested February 6^th for the January 24^th robbery and assault of an off-duty police officer in Whittier. 20-year-old Bernice Munoz of Paramount joined three other suspects who had previously been arrested by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department after being located in Yorba Linda .

Bernice Munoz was the latest arrest, joining her three accomplices.

On the afternoon of January 24^th, 22-year-old Andrew Rashad Gatlin, 28-year-old Art Anthony Wibberding of Long Beach, 22-year-old Terrence Davion Collins, and Munoz approached the residence of the off-duty cop on the 5200 block of Pioneer Boulevard. One of the suspects broke into the house and confronted the police officer before stabbing him multiple times and fleeing in an “occupied getaway vehicle,” according to a press release put out by the Whittier Police Department.

On January 31^st, Whittier Police learned that suspects had recently been arrested by the Orange County Sheriffs that matched the description of Gatlin, Wibberding, and Collins. After further investigation, authorities determined that the three suspects were responsible for the burglary and stabbing of the off-duty police officer. In addition to the four suspects in custody, police were also able to locate the vehicle used during the incident.

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office has charged all four suspects with Attempted Murder, Robbery, Kidnapping to commit Robbery, and Burglary. Munoz is currently incarcerated at the Whittier Police Department Jail while the male suspects are in the process of being transported from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. All are being held on $2.2 million bail.

Happier times? Terrence Collins in a Facebook photo with Laker Girls.

Read More:

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Redwood City, February 6, 2013

Sandy Delgado had been robbing her employers for four years before she was arrested on February 2, 2013. Arrested on 95 charges of theft and forgery, she is being held at the San Mateo County Jail in lieu of $950,000 bail.

Sandy Delgado was a trusted housekeeper and nanny before being caught.

Delgado, 28, of Redwood City had been a housekeeper and nanny for family in the North Fair Oaks area, according to the San Mateo County Police Department. On January 18 of this year, “her employer became suspicious of forgery and grand theft that had occurred over the past 18 months,” said Deputy Rebecca Rosenblatt of the San Mateo County’s Sheriff’s Office.

This suspicion led police to a two week investigation in which 66 additional counts of forgery and grand theft were discovered dating back four years.

The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office offers these suggestions to prevent forgery and theft:

Safety Tips:

• Shred items which list your personal information. This includes; mail, canceled checks, bank statements, and credit reports.
• Check your credit reports annually to watch for fraudulent use. You are entitled to one free credit report each year, and can subscribe to credit monitoring companies.
• Do not store birth certificates, social security cards in your wallet. These items can be used to access your bank, and credit cards.
• Do not list driver’s license, social security, or telephone numbers on checks.
• Pay attention when using an ATM. Be cautious of people who appear to be standing too close when completing a transaction.
• Call 911 to report suspicious behavior.

Read More:

Redwood City-Woodside Patch: Redwood City Woman Arrested for Grand Theft and Forgery

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Goleta- In the early afternoon of January 31^st, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s 911 Emergency Call Center Dispatch received a call from a reported stabbing victim located at the rear of the Turnpike Shopping Center CVS Pharmacy retail store.  According to SBSD Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover, “the victim suffered from a stab wound in the upper shoulder.”

Luis Velasquez

Responding deputies quickly learned that the violence had taken place in the vicinity of an area with a reputation as an illegal homeless encampment known to locals as “Granny’s Field”.  Witness statements given to deputies made it apparent that the likely suspect had fled on foot toward nearby railroad tracks and was likely hiding in that area.  As detailed in Hoover’s report to the media, on-scene deputies summoned backup support from the SBSD Aviation (helicopter) Unit, local area patrol units, and a Canine Unit.

With those resources in place—and with no suspect yet in sight—deputies promptly went to nearby El Camino Middle School and San Marcos High School to secure both campuses in a “precautionary lockdown”.  Both lockdowns persisted for approximately 30 minutes, during which time investigators located another victim who had been assaulted and battered with a blunt object by the same reported suspect.  Interviews of that victim and additional witnesses revealed that an argument had erupted among transients living in “Granny’s Field” which quickly escalated to violence.

Pursuant to the multi-task force surveillance and search of the area, Luis Velasquez, 30, was found hiding in the encampment; he was then identified by witnesses and arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon.  Both victims were transported to Cottage Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening wounds while Velasquez was booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail with bail set at $30,000.

Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking

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Santa Barbara Independent- Homeless Man Arrested for Granny Field Stabbing

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The preliminary hearing is finally underway in the so-called “Vigilante Murder Case.”

Calvin Sneed

Last June 4^th, around 2 a.m., an alleged gangster-pimp named Calvin Sneed was driving through the Bay View district of San Francisco. A few blocks from St. Paul of the Shipwreck Church, he was shot at from another car.  And killed.

Following the arrest of a couple on June 9^th, the shooting appeared to be a ‘crime of passion’ committed by frustrated parents of a 17-year-old girl from Southern California who was apparently being exploited by Sneed. The parents, Barry Gilton, 37, and Lupe Mercado, 37, live in Compton, California and would later claim they had tried unsuccessfully to enlist police to help find and rescue her daughter.

But in the weeks after the killing detectives came to believe that this was actually a case of premeditation.  Two other suspects were arrested on July 4^th:   Barry’s cousin, Antonio Gilton, 26, and Alfonso Williams, 35.  They had been spotted in a video surveillance film from an unrelated case.  In that film, taken in an area near Hayes Valley, Barry is also seen holding a .40 caliber handgun.

Sneed was shot and killed while driving in the Bay View area, not far from St Paul of the Shipwreck Church

The film includes scenes of the three men regrouping after the shooting and then dispersing.

Prosecutors say that other signs of premeditation include an incident a week before the killing in San Francisco, in which Barry and Lupe shot and wounded Sneed in West Hollywood.  Moreover, there’s no evidence uncovered so far to suggest that Barry and Lupe contacted police to report their daughter either missing or in danger.

Defendants face murder and murder-related charges; bail for all defendants has been set at $2 million.

“It has taken months to consolidate all four cases,” says Alex Bastian, an assistant DA with the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office. “That’s the reason for the delay. The preliminary hearing continues next week.”

Read More:

CBS Bay Area: 2 More Suspects Plead Not Guilty In San Francisco Killing Of Alleged Pimp

SFGate: SF DA: Evidence points to revenge killing of pimp

The Examiner: Parents charged in plot to shoot man they believed pimped girl

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Westminster- An arrest has been made regarding the September 2004 murder of 55-year-old Ariet Girgis. Her husband, 60-year-old Magdi Girgis, was arrested and charged with hiring hit men to murder his wife in order to avoid a costly divorce.

Magdi Girgis

Just days before she was killed, Ariet had testified against Magdi for domestic violence (he was convicted after her death). In the early morning of September 24^th, 2004, Ariet was home alone with her 17-year-old son Ryan when two intruders allegedly entered her home, and attacked her in her bedroom, where they slit her throat and stabbed her multiple times. One of the intruders found Ryan in his room and later bound, gagged, and forced him into a closet. After several minutes, Ryan heard a car drive away, broke free of his bonds and called the police.

Magdi was arrested on February 1^st, 2013 without incident and is being charged with one felony count of special circumstances murder, one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder, and one felony count of false imprisonment by violence and is being held without bail.  Potential sentencing enhancements for murder for financial gain and murder to prevent testimony could be added to the list of felonies as well.

Magdi planned the hit not only to avoid a costly divorce, but to also avoid a felony domestic violence conviction that would have eventually stripped him of his medical license. Magdi was considered a person of interest since the start of the investigation.

“He wanted to keep all his money to himself,” said Sonia Balleste, a senior deputy district attorney prosecuting the case.

The couple’s sons, Ryan and Richard, have expressed their relief of the case finally coming to an end. In an interview with CBS, Ryan said “I share good memories with (my father) in early childhood. (But) all along, I knew he had something to do with it.”

If convicted, Magdi faces a minimum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. He is also eligible for the death penalty.

A $50,000 reward is offered by the California Governor’s office, plus an additional $5,000 pledged by The Carol Sund/Carrington Foundation, for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspect(s) in this case.

Anyone with additional information related to this incident is asked to contact WPD at (714) 898-3315, Supervising District Attorney Investigator Randy Litwin at (714) 347-8492, or Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS or online at www.occrimestoppers.org.

Read More:

San Francisco Chronicle- OC Man Accused of Hiring Hit Men to Murder Wife

Orange County Register- Husband Charged with Murder in 2004 Westminster Stabbing

Huffington Post Los Angeles- Magdi Girigs Allegedly Hired Hit Men to Murder Wife to Avoid Costly Divorce

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Santa Ana- An Orange County Deputy has been arrested by investigators of the OCSD on suspicion of bribery. Investigators arrested David Lloyd Cass at 9 a.m. on Thursday, February 7^th. He was later booked into the Santa Ana city jail.

David Cass

38-year-old Cass of Glendora was an employee of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department for seven years, where he was assigned to the Custody Operations department at the Men’s Main Jail in Santa Ana.

In January of 2012, it was discovered that a legal runner was possibly smuggling drugs into the facility after marijuana, tobacco and cellular phones had been discovered in an inmate’s cell during a late December 2011 search of the facility.

After investigating surveillance cameras, phone conversations and video records, investigators arrested 31-year-old Ha Duc Nguyen of Norwalk on February 23^rd of 2012. She was charged with bringing drugs into a jail facility, possession of marijuana for sale and gang affiliation. She is being held on bail of $1,000,000.

The items she possessed were delivered to her husband, inmate Stephenson Kim. At the time, Kim was awaiting trial for murder as well as other crimes. He was later convicted and sentenced in April to life in prison. During these visits, David Cass was the supervising deputy of the visiting area.

Kim secretly married Nguyen while in prison in August of 2012 so she could act as his “legal assistant runner” for his cases.

In an effort to understand how Nguyen was able to smuggle drugs to her husband, sheriff’s personal began another investigation. It was then that they discovered that Cass had been communicating with Nguyen. They also learned that Cass had received monetary items such as four tickets to a Los Angeles Kings hockey game, gift certificates to a spa and various restaurants, in exchange to allow Nguyen to pass items to Kim. Nguyen and Kim also offered to introduce Cass to women in exchange for him to allow Kim and Nguyen to have sex in the attorney/bond room.

The acts of bribe are said to have happened from September of 2010 through March of 2012.

Cass was placed on administrative leave during the investigation and was later placed on non-paid administrative leave when he was taken into custody.

In a news release, the OCSD stated “Cass is accused of allowing Kim and Nguyen to smuggle prohibited items into the jail including food, razors, a cell phone, prescription medications and drugs, including marijuana. Kim is accused of frequently selling these items to other inmates.

Cass is being charged with two counts of CPC 68 (a), also known as “Officer Asking & Receiving a Bribe.”

Read More:

Orange County Register- Deputy Arrested on Suspicion of Bribery at Jail

Orange County Breeze- OCSD Arrests Deputy for Taking Bribes

Los Angeles Times- O.C. Sheriff’s Deputy Accused of Taking Bribes from Inmate

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SAN MATEO – Willie Lozano and Phong Le should have tried using their gift cards somewhere else. Lozano, 55, and Le, 32, of San Jose were at a store on East Fourth Avenue in San Mateo using fraudulent gift cards on January 30^th.  The store owners were suspicious and called the police.

The multiple arrests started with suspicious gift cards at a shop in this block of 4th Avenue

The San Mateo Police Department quickly arrived and officers found the two men in a gray Mercedes parked nearby the store. According to Sgt. Dave Norris of the SMPD, the arrest unearthed an entire web of fraud and drugs: the two men had outstanding arrest warrants, more fraudulent gift cards, evidence of identity theft, and more than 10 pounds of marijuana in the car.

The SMPD began working with the FBI and U. S. Secret Service since it’s “standard practice in cases involving counterfeiting of any commercial items – including gift and credit cards – for SMPD to reach out to commercial counterfeiting experts in Federal Law Enforcement,” said Sgt. Norris.

The joint investigation led to the arrest of a third suspect, Ryan Angeles, 31, who was arrested in San Jose for possession of numerous fake credit cards and ID cards, machinery used to manufacture fake credit cards, and weapons including an assault rifle with a high capacity magazine.

San Mateo narcotics officers also arrested two additional suspects in San Jose: Duy Nguyen, 32, and Thao “Tammy” Nguyen, 25. These two men were booked into the Santa Clara County Jail.

Lozano, Le, and Angeles were booked in the San Mateo County Jail. All three were charged on one count of identity theft and four counts of credit card fraud. In addition, Le was charged with one count of possession of marijuana for sale and two counts of commercial burglary. Le posted bail for $20,000 and Angeles bailed out at $100,000. They were due in court in South San Francisco court on March 7^th.

Lozano had the additional charge of one count of driver’s license with intent to commit forgery. Lozano did not post bail and pled not guilty at his court appearance last week. He went back to court on February 7 for a pre-court conference. No agreement could be reached so his felony preliminary hearing is set for February 14^th.

SUSPECTS

Willie Lozano –  San Mateo County Jail – 6 charges: one count of identity theft; four counts of credit card fraud; one count of a false driver’s license with intent to commit forgery. Pled not guilty on February 1, 2013. No plea agreement reached. Hearing set for February 14, 2013 in South San Francisco.

Phong Le – posted bail for $20,000 – 8 charges: one count of identity theft; four counts of credit card fraud; one count of possession of marijuana for sale and two counts of commercial burglary. Court date March 7, 2013 in South San Francisco.

Ryan Angeles – posted bail for $100,000 – one count of identity theft; four counts of credit card fraud. Court date March 7, 2013 in South San Francisco.

There are no booking photos currently available. This is an ongoing investigation.

Immediate calls and detailed witness information quickly relayed to SMPD were critical in the success of this case. Please take responsibility if you see something that needs police attention and call us. Often victims of crime are too afraid, ambivalent, or unable to report crimes in progress.

Police ask citizens to ‘help us maintain the safety of our community by being our “eyes and ears”’

• Call 911 for emergencies and crimes-in-progress.
• SMPD non-emergency phone number: 650-522-7700.

Anyone with information on current investigations or ongoing crime trends is encouraged to contact the San Mateo Police Department:

• SMPD Investigations Bureau: 522-7650
• SMPD Secret Witness hotline: 522-7676
• Anonymous Text to SMPD: 262-3473
• Anonymous E-Mail to SMPD: Sanmateo@tipnow.org

Read More:

Foster City Patch: San Mateo Police Arrest Five in Counterfeiting Operation

KGO-TV: Gift card fraud leads to drug, counterfeiting arrests

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Isla Vista - UCSB is a well-regarded institution of “higher” learning, where marijuana is the recreational drug of choice…and where market forces are always at work.

James Chung

Apparently responding to the supply-demand economics of campus life, James Chung, 20, was carrying over ¼ pound of processed marijuana and more than $2,000 in cash on the evening of February 2^nd when he was pulled over by the local Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s division Isla Vista Foot Patrol for somewhat minor vehicle code violations.

Jorden Gendron

Once the Foot Patrol deputy noted that this was more than enough marijuana for reasonable “personal use”, the only conclusion was that Chung was in the business of meeting local demand…with his supply.

According to SBSD Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover, Chung was arrested for “possession of sales of marijuana and transportation of marijuana.”  He was booked into county jail with a bail request of $200,000 based upon prior felony charges.

Francisco Iemoli

Investigation pursuant to Chung’s arrest led SBSD Narcotics Detectives to the realization that he had been enroute to another I.V. location to “meet another narcotics trafficker,” as described by Hoover.  When detectives proceeded to the location where transactions were to have taken place, they discovered that those waiting for Chung had no intention of buying anything from him, but were, in fact, lying in wait with the intent to rob him of his cash.

Connor Field

At that time, according to Hoover’s report to the media, officers from the UCSB Police Department joined the investigation and contacted those at Chung’s destination where they identified the prospective armed robber as Jorden Gendron, 20.  Evidence found at that scene corroborated the robbery suspicions, and Gendron was arrested for attempted robbery and booked on those charges with his bail set at $50,000.

Tuszynski

Subscribing to the eternal verity that one thing leads to another, detectives had obtained a search warrant for Gendron’s residence where they discovered more than 1.5 pounds of processed marijuana and $3,000 in cash.  Taken into custody at that location for possession of cocaine and marijuana for sale were Francesco Iemoli, 20, Connor Field, 20, and Christopher Tuszynski, 22.  All were booked into Santa Barbara County Jail with bail amounts of $30,000 each.

Photos: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking

Read more:

KCOY: Five College Students Arrested for Alleged Drug Trafficking

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Renea Soderberg, 36

Renea Soderberg, 36, of McKinleyville found a rather unusual way to express her anger when her older brother told some of her friends to leave his residence.

According to Humboldt Sheriff’s reports, the deputies were called to the 1100 block of Vista Drive in McKinleyville on Thursday, February 7. When the deputies arrived, Soderberg’s 39-year-old brother reported that his sister, who occasionally sleeps in his garage, has been drinking alcoholic beverages and got very upset with him when he insisted that her friends leave his residence. She was yelling at him while he got into his 2012 Ford pickup truck and began backing out of his driveway.

Seeing that her exclamations are being ignored, Soderberg decided to show her brother some “sisterly love” as she got into her 1998 Chevy Silverado pickup and rapidly accelerated towards the victim, striking his vehicle in the driver’s side and causing a dent in the door. She then backed up and accelerated towards the car again striking it in the front. According to the witness’ reports, Soderberg repeated the same maneuver approximately four times. While the victim was not injured, there were obvious damages to his lawn caused by the tires of Stolberg’s vehicle.

The incident occurred, and Soderberg was later found, on this street

The deputies began searching for Soderberg, who fled the scene, and found her vehicle in the 900 block of Vista Drive. It was not until the next day that Soderberg was found and arrested when the deputies responded to the reports about a suspicious woman in the 1100 block of Vista Drive. When they arrived, the deputies detained Soderberg for assault with a deadly weapon. She was transported and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional facility where she was searched and found to be in possession of a small bag of methamphetamine. Soderberg was therefore charged with the additional charge of possession of an illegal drug and her bail was set at $50,000.

Anyone with more information on the incident is encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Office at 707-445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip Line at 707-268-2539.

Read More:

News Channel 3: Assault With Truck Leads to Discovery of Drugs, McKinleyville Woman’s Arrest

The Willits News: Siblings Involved in Assault Case

Humboldt Sentinel: Sisterly Love and Assault

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