Sacto 9-1-1

One man was taken to a hospital this evening with injuries that are possibly life-threatening after he was shot in the Robla area.

Sgt. Andrew Pettit of the Sacramento Police Department said officers were summoned at 7:40 p.m.by fire department personnel, who were responding to a report of a shooting.

They found the victim at a market at Norwood and Jessie avenues. Pettit said the victim's companions reported that they were in a vehicle at Bell Avenue and O'Conner Way when they were confronted by a large group of males wearing white T-shirts, who began shooting at them.

A man died this evening following what Sacramento police described as a violent fight with officers that began inside a Metro PCS store in the 8300 block of Folsom Boulevard.

Police spokesman Officer Doug Morse said a female clerk called police at 5:46 p.m. after the man entered the store. She indicated that she felt threatened by the man, so officers responded with lights and sirens.

When officers approached the store, Morse said, the man held the door closed in an attempt to prevent them from entering. With the suspect and the clerk inside, officers forced the door open and the man, said to be in his 40s, began fighting with officers.

Sacramento police and fire crews have recovered a body from the Sacramento River near Riverside Boulevard.

Sacramento Police Sgt. Andrew Pettit said the body is that of a male and may be the driver of a vehicle that went into the River at Sutterville Road and Riverside Boulevard, near Interstate 5, late Tuesday night.

Pettit said officers responded to a report of a vehicle accident at 11:48 p.m. Tuesday, but were unable to find any sign of a vehicle when they got to the scene.

Wednesday morning, officers returned to the location and found evidence that a vehicle had gone into the river. He said divers located a vehicle and spotted a body but were unable to recover it at the time.

Three men have been sentenced for involvement in a human trafficking ring in which women from Mexico were used as prostitutes in five Northern California cities, including Sacramento, Yuba City and Chico.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced that Nery Najarro-Rodriguez, 42, Jorge Perez-Hernandez, 37, and Luis Mata, 30, pleaded no contest to conspiracy to commit pimping and pandering as part of a multi-county investigation. Each was sentenced today in Sacramento Superior Court to three years in county jail.

The charges stemmed from an FBI investigation into a human trafficking network that spanned several Northern California counties. Young women, ages 21 to 30, were brought from Mexico and sold for sex to as many as 20 clients in a single day, according to an Attorney General's Office news release. The sex acts occurred in brothels in Chico, Stockton, Yuba City, Fairfield and Sacramento, officials said.

Citrus Heights police have announced a third arrest in connection with the death of a 52-year-old man Jan. 5.

Andrew Les Johnson (top left photo), 28, of Citrus Heights was arrested May 17 in San Diego. He was the last outstanding suspect in the death of Jack Swaim, who was found outside his home in the 6300 block of Stonehand Avenue, police said. Johnson, who was arrested by San Diego police, has been transported to Sacramento and booked into Sacramento County Jail.

Police responded to the Stonehand Avenue address about 6:30 a.m. Jan. 5 and found Swaim unconscious. Swaim reportedly had been struck with an unknown object outside his home. He was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Jeffrey Douglas Powell (top right photo), 30, of Sacramento was arrested Jan. 12 in the 7700 block of Wintergreen Drive in Citrus Heights by detectives serving an arrest warrant. Police also announced at the time that they had an arrest warrant for Johnson. In February, police arrested Christopher Langlois (lower photo), 29, of Orangevale in connection with the homicide.

Powell and Johnson were booked on suspicion of murder and burglary, and Langlois, on suspicion of murder.

Because the three men have been charged by the District Attorney's Office, police said they could not comment specifically about the facts of the case. A news release announcing Johnson's arrest states that this was not a random crime and investigators believe Swaim was an unintended victim.

A man arrested in the attempted kidnapping of a woman in Woodland last November was indicted this week for trading in child pornography.

A federal grand jury in Sacramento on Thursday returned a four-count indictment charging Kyle Michael Hall, 24, of Woodland with receipt and distribution of child pornography, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

According to the indictment, between May 10 and Oct. 30, 2012, Hall distributed and/or received child pornography through the Internet.

A 23-year-old Sacramento woman has been accused of pimping a minor.

A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment Thursday charging Shanntaye Ebony Hicks with one count of sex trafficking of a minor and two counts of transportation of a minor, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

Between March 3 and March 23, Hicks allegedly maintained a female victim by means of force, threats of force, fraud and coercion, to engage in a commercial sex act, according to the indictment. It also is alleged that on two occasions in March, Hicks transported the girl to Reno and Las Vegas with the intent that the girl engage in prostitution.

By Peter Hecht
phecht@sacbee.com

A former Sacramento dispensary operator, who courted the high life as a marijuana entrepreneur with an MTV audition tape and closet full of cash, was sentenced Friday to spend six years in federal prison.

Bryan Smith, 28, was the last of six defendants to be sentenced in a case involving a south Sacramento dispensary, the R&R Wellness Collective, multiple growing houses, stolen electricity and pot distribution to Southern California.

In Sacramento, the city-registered dispensary was operating as a purportedly non-profit business providing medical marijuana to people with doctors' recommendations for medical use.

But in a raid on Smith's Elk Grove home, authorities found what they described as an apparent audition tape for an MTV program - "True Life" - that featured a pot-themed segment called, "I'm in the marijuana business," and portrayed lavish rewards.

Auburn police report a knife fight occurred last night in town, but they are missing both a suspect and a victim.

Officers responded to Auburn Folsom Road and Lincoln Way about 11:40 p.m. where a fight was reported to have taken place. Officers learned that one man stabbed another, but neither combatant could be located.

The man who was stabbed ran away. The man with the knife was last seen leaving in a silver Hyundai Accent with "Marshall Auto Sales" paper plates.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Dustin McLaughlin at (530) 823-4237, ext. 221.

A pilot was rescued this afternoon after reporting an airplane crash in the Truckee area.

The Nevada County Sheriff's Department received a report about 3 p.m. of a downed aircraft in the area of the Truckee Airport. The reporting party was the lone occupant of the single-engine aircraft that had crashed about 7 miles east of the airport, near the California-Nevada border, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. The victim contacted the sheriff's dispatch center via cell phone.

Helicopter rescue crews from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention and the California Highway Patrol assisted in airlifting the victim from the crash site. The victim's name and condition were not released

Sheriff's officials said the cause of crash is not known. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are being notified and will handle the investigation.

A man previously accused of defrauding a Granite Bay woman of more than $7 million has been indicted in connection with a second scheme, this one involving a Pennsylvania financial manager.

A federal grand jury in Sacramento today returned a 20-count superseding indictment charging Troy Stratos, 47, formerly of Los Angeles, with three counts of mail fraud, 12 counts of wire fraud, four counts of money laundering and one count of obstruction of justice, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

In December 2011, Stratos was indicted for mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice in relation to a scheme to defraud a Granite Bay woman of more than $7 million. The superseding indictment includes all the charges in the original indictment and adds four counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering relating to a different scheme to defraud a financial manager of $11.25 million in client funds, officials said.

Woodland police are looking for thieves who stole equipment from a cemetery storage area.

Officers received a report about 7 a.m. today that a maintenance yard and shed had been forcibly entered at the Woodland Cemetery, 800 West St.

The suspects took small power equipment form the yard and from inside the shed, according to a Police Department news release. Police said the theft occurred during the hours of darkness the previous night.

Anyone with information regarding the theft is asked to call the Woodland Police Department at (530) 666-2411.

The Sacramento Police Department hosted an awards ceremony today to recognize more than two dozen of its employees and volunteers.

The annual event is designed to honor "those that work tirelessly to keep our community safe," said Officer Doug Morse.

The 17 officers who received the bronze medal of valor are: Officers Mike Blessing, Gary Dahl, Andy Davis, Natalie Duckham, Todd Edgerton, Kevin Griffin, Doug Rosin, Michael Severi, Ryan Trefethen, Randy Van Dusen, Ray Villegas and Steve Walters; sergeants Greg Brown, Adam Green, John Lightfoot and Mike Nichols; and Lt. Dennis Joy.

A Sacramento Superior Court jury today convicted Dr. Scott Dodd Anderson on six counts of sexually abusing two of his patients four years ago at a workers' comp clinic on Folsom Boulevard.

The jury acquitted Anderson (pictured), 64, on two other counts but has not reached verdicts on seven other counts related to two other alleged victims.

Judge Eugene L. Balonon took the partial verdict today because one of the jurors had a vacation scheduled to begin on Friday. He named one of the alternates on the panel to replace the juror who is leaving. The panel will begin deliberations on the seven remaining counts on Tuesday.

The judge will not schedule a sentencing date until the jury resolves all of the counts.

The convictions came on three felony counts of engaging in sexual contact with his patients and three misdemeanor counts of sexual battery.

Anderson was not remanded into custody.

Today's verdict came on the sixth day of deliberations in Anderson's retrial. His first trial finished in November with a jury acquitting him on two counts and failing to reach a verdict on 15 more.

Anderson had initially been charged with three counts of rape as well as additional counts of forced oral sex, sodomy and penetration by force. Those charges were dropped before his first trial.

All of the allegations were lodged by patients who suffered workplace injuries that he treated at U.S. HealthWorks on Folsom Boulevard.

The nation's drug czar on Thursday released study results showing that 78 percent of adult males arrested in Sacramento County tested positive for at least one illegal drug.

Gil Kerlikowske (pictured with Vice President Joe Biden), director of National Drug Control Policy, during an address today at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., released the results of a 2012 Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) report that collected data from inmates in five cities or counties.

In his address, he said more than half of adult males arrested for crimes, misdemeanors and felonies, tested positive for a least one drug.

The five cities or counties in the report were Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, New York and Sacramento. Positive results ranged from 62 percent in Atlanta to 86 percent in Chicago.

Woodland police are looking for a man who they believe hit a transient on the head with a baseball bat during a fight on Wednesday.

Police said Monty Tesnear, 57, was hit on the head and left arm during the brawl, reported about 11 p.m., in which combatants used with knives and bats. Tesnear was treated at Woodland Memorial Hospital for non life-threatening injuries.

The assault apparently happened behind a shuttered movie theater on Main Street where other transients had gathered in an alley. Police described Tesnear's attacker as a black man, about 50 years old, who goes by the name of "Marcus."

Anyone with information is asked to call police at (530) 661-7800.

The Sacramento County Coroner's office has released the name of a woman found shot to death in a double homicide Tuesday night in Citrus Heights.

She was identified as Gladys Quinteros, 41, of Citrus Heights. The man found dead with Quinteros has yet to be identified by the coroner.

Officers were called to a report of shots fired in the 6000 block of Birdcage Street about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. Once on the scene, they found a man and Quinteros dead inside in a car along the shoulder of Birdcage Street.

Police said a light-colored sedan was seen speeding away northbound from the scene on Birdcage Street toward Greenback Lane around the time of the shooting. Witnesses also reported seeing a white pickup truck driving away southbound on Birdcage Street.

No further information was released by police.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: On March 13, 2010, there was a stabbing death of Monica Ann Anderson at an apartment complex in Citrus Heights. Lan Anh Le was arrested. Could you tell me what the outcome was?
Submitted by:Jim, Sacramento

ANSWER: Lan Anh Le was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of 26-year-old Monica Anne Anderson at Anderson's Citrus Heights apartment.

Le, 23, was sentenced in October 2012 to 25 years to life in prison and is incarcerated at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla.

A pedestrian has been taken to a hospital with critical injuries after being struck by a vehicle at Martin Luther King Boulevard and 23rd Avenue in Sacramento's Oak Park neighborhood.

Sacramento Police Department spokesman Officer Doug Morse said the collision occurred at 6:12 p.m. He said the vehicle, a red four-door sedan, remained at the scene. Morse said the pedestrian was a male, but he did not know his age.

No further details were available. The cause of the collision is under investigation.

The U.S. Forest Service is asking the public's help in catching thieves who have caused more than $35,000 worth of damage to Plumas National Forest campgrounds at Lake Davis and Frenchman by removing copper pipes and brass fixtures.

"Thankfully, the campgrounds were open before Memorial Day because repairs were done so quickly by our concessionaires, Thousand Trails," Beckwourth District Ranger Deb Bumpus, said in a written statement.

But the money diverted to repairs means other needed work will not be accomplished this year, Bumpus said. Plans that have been postponed for Lake Davis include a fence along Honker Cove Road and the environmental analysis for a disc golf course, according to a news release. The Forest Service also won't be able to purchase picnic tables or put gravel on the road at Frenchman.

A Montana man arrested last year at Sacramento International Airport when he attempted to board a plane with a concealed firearm has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Harold E. Waller, 46, of Circle, Mont., was sentenced today in federal court in Sacramento by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller. He will be subject to three years of supervised release when he completes his time in prison, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

According to court documents, in March 2012, Waller drove from Montana to Sacramento. On March 22, he purchased a one-way ticket to Alaska at the US Airways counter for the same day. Waller proceeded to the security checkpoint, placed three bags on the table near the X-ray belt and waited his turn to proceed through individual screening.

A Sacramento Superior Court jury today convicted Antoine Blesset in the Feb. 10, 2011, shooting death of Christopher Sisoukchaleun at a liquor store on Del Paso Boulevard.

Jurors found that Blessett, 38, murdered the 20-year-old victim for the benefit of the defendant's street gang, the Meadowview Bloods.

Judge Michael W. Sweet scheduled Blessett's sentencing for June 13.

By Cathy Locke and Kim Minugh
clocke@sacbee.com

A woman who barricaded herself in a south Sacramento home for nearly three hours this afternoon before surrendering to police has been booked into Sacramento County Jail.

Stacy Curnow (pictured), 34, was arrested on suspicion of discharging a firearm in a grossly negligent manner, and drawing and exhibiting a firearm in the presence of a police officer.

A handgun believed have been fired during the incident was recovered at the scene, according to a Police Department news release.

Sacramento police officers surrounded the home in the 100 block of Tristan Circle, near Mack Road and Center Parkway, after determining that a woman believed to be armed was inside.

Sacramento police spokeswoman Officer Michele Gigante said police responded about 2 p.m. She said a woman, later identified as Curnow, was reportedly despondent and was believed to be alone inside the home. Gigante said Curnow had called family members, who called police.

SWAT officers and negotiation team members were sent to the scene. Gigante said the sound of shots had been heard from inside the home.

Police said Curnow surrendered at 4:39 p.m. No one else was inside the home.

Nearby Charles Mack Elementary School was locked down during the incident.

Three separate Sacramento juries have convicted two men and failed to reach a verdict on a third defendant accused in the Jan. 1, 2011, bludgeon murder of 48-year-old Scott Hanson during an attempted drug robbery on Amanda Way in Meadowview.

Convicted of first-degree murder were Joseph Lee Conn, who turns 26 next week, and Arsenio Barajas, 24. Jurors also found true the special circumstance allegations that Conn murdered Hanson during the course of a robbery. Barajas' jury didn't reach a verdict on the special circumstances allegation.

Today, the third jury concluded deliberations on defendant Jaime Charles Sandoval, but could not reach a verdict, and Judge Ernest W. Sawtelle declared a mistrial. Deputy District Attorney Hilary Bagley Franzoia said she would retry Sandoval.

Both Conn and Barajas face life sentences.

After his sentencing, Conn is expected to be extradited to Colorado where he is facing murder charges there, Bagley said.

Two other people arrested in the case, Bryan Smith and Tamicia Soto, both pleaded guilty to being accessories to murder and are scheduled to be sentenced by Sawtelle on Friday.

Editor's note: This story was changed at 2:30 p.m. May 23 to reflect that defendant Barajas wasn't convicted of special allegations of murder during the commission of a robbery. Also, he faces life in prison, not life in prison without parole.

A South Lake Tahoe police officer pleaded guilty today to witness tampering and obstruction, according to the U.S. Attorney in Sacramento.

John Gerald Poland, 44, was arrested Jan. 23 following an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, South Lake Tahoe Police Department and the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement.

According to court documents, on June 29, 2011, Poland, interfered with a federal investigation of a gang member in South Lake Tahoe. Poland persuaded the gang member's girlfriend to conceal and destroy evidence, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's office.

In October and November 2011, Poland tampered with the girlfriend in an investigation into Poland's own conduct as well as the conduct of the gang member. He also told another witness to conceal and destroy evidence rather than provide it to federal authorities.

Poland is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller on Aug. 7.

A stubborn 11-acre grass fire in River Bend Park that flared again this morning due to windy conditions has been contained by Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District firefighters.

Firefighters battled the blaze last night and were performing mop up duties this morning when the blaze along the American River erupted in brush and grass again. About 10:45 a.m. the fire was contained once again by firefighters.

A total of 19 engines and two water tenders responded to the park near Bradshaw Road and Highway 50. The park was closed this morning so that firefighters could put out the blaze.

About 57,000 drivers were ticketed for handheld cell phone talking and texting during an April crackdown by the California Highway Patrol and other police agencies.

The California Office of Traffic Safety notes the 57,000 tickets matches the number handed out the year before. The average number of tickets handed out in a non-distracted driving awareness month is 36,000.

While the ticket numbers are the same, the percentage of drivers actively using cell phones at any one time in the state dropped from 10.8 percent in 2012 to 7.4 percent this year. Those figures are compiled during a March observation survey.

A Sacramento man was sentenced in federal court for selling crack cocaine near an Oakland elementary school.

Oscar Baker Phillips, 34, was sentenced Monday in Oakland to 30 months in prison, followed by six years of supervised release. Phillips pled guilty on March 5 to distribution of crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school.

In a plea agreement, Phillips admitted that on July 3 he sold .27 grams of "cocaine base" for $20 on Oakland's Sycamore Street, according to a press release from U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California.

That location is within 1,000 feet of St. Andrew's Baptist Missionary Elementary School and Kindergarten.

A man in a wheelchair died when he was struck by a car early this morning in Sacramento.

Police received a call of a person struck by a car at about 1:30 a.m. today at 19th and X streets. Police and fire personnel responded.

The man in his 50s was declared dead at the scene.

A witness told officers that the man in the wheelchair was in the street when a car traveling eastbound on X Street struck him. Sacramento police said in an activity log that the man in the wheelchair was not in a crosswalk and was going against a red light when crossing X Street.
The car was described as a white two-door Honda or Acura. The motorist did not stop.

By Bill Lindelof

blindelof@sacbee.com

Sacramento police said no foul play is suspected in the death of a woman whose body was found in a Natomas canal.

Two joggers came upon the body of the woman in her 70s in the water near Bridgecross Drive and Natomas Boulevard about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The Sacramento County Coroner's office responded and took over the investigation. Her identity has not been released.

Two people were found shot to death in a car in Citrus Heights last night.

Officers were called to a report of shots fired in the 6000 block of Birdcage Street about 11:30 p.m. Once there, they found a man and a woman dead inside in a car along the shoulder of Birdcage Street.

The names of the victims were not immediately released.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: What happened to the man that hit a pedestrian, not in the crosswalk, on Northgate a few years ago and killed the young man?
.
Submitted by: Mind Wondering, Sacramento

ANSWER: Vincent Alfred Velasquez, who struck and killed a teenager on Northgate Boulevard in February 2011, entered no contest pleas to driving under the influence and driving on a suspended license.