Sacto 9-1-1

From Kim Minugh:

A 38-year-old former Sacramento car dealer was arrested Tuesday after he allegedly failed to pay more than $4 million to a local car auction, according to authorities.

Shayan Rahbarian, who previously owned the Suzuki of Sacramento dealership, faces 24 counts of fraud, according to a news release from the California Department of Motor Vehicles. He is being held in lieu of $3 million bail.

A warrant is out for the arrest of his brother, Paiman Rahbarian, who once was the dealership's general manager, the news release states.

In late 2006, Brasher's Auto Auction of Sacramento began purchasing vehicles for resale at Suzuki of Sacramento. By year's end, the dealership had not paid Brasher's for 192 Suzuki vehicles sold or transferred from the lot, according to the DMV release.

Paiman Rahbarian remains at large. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call the DMV's Investigations Division District Office at (916) 229-0167.

Authorities are seeking a man who robbed a Davis bank Tuesday morning, Davis police officials report.

At about 10:50 a.m., the suspect entered the US Bank at 304 F St. and handed a note to a teller demanding money, officials said in a news release.

The note indicated the suspect was armed, although no gun was actually displayed during the robbery. The teller handed over the money and the suspect fled. He was last seen heading north behind Steve's Pizza, officials said.

Davis Police, along with the California Highway Patrol and a West Sacramento K9 unit, searched the area without finding the suspect. While no gun was displayed, the suspect should be considered armed, authorities report. Citizens should not attempt to apprehend the suspect, officials said.

The suspect is described as a white male adult, in his late 30s. He is 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-9, weighing 260 pounds with a heavy or overweight build. He had short-cropped medium-colored brown hair and was wearing glasses. He also was wearing a powder blue button-down long-sleeve shirt with matching tie and brown slacks.

Anyone with information about this robbery is asked to call the Davis Police Department at (530) 747-5400.

From Loretta Kalb:

Robert Lehner, chief of the Eugene Police Department in Oregon, has been named new chief of police in Elk Grove, the city announced this morning.

Lehner (left photo), who has 30 years of experience with large municipal law enforcement agencies, will receive $169,754 a year. He begins his new job Oct. 20.

"Chief Lehner has a distinguished career in law enforcement, and brings a tremendous blend of experience and education to the City of Elk Grove," City Manager Laura Gill said in a statement.

"He is smart, focused, innovative, and by far the most qualified person to lead the Elk Grove Police Department into a new chapter."

His selection from among more than 40 applicants follows a six-month recruitment that began with outgoing Police Chief Robert Simmons' announcement last March that he planned to step down.

Simmons technically retired in early March to take full advantage of his retirement benefits. He continued, however, to head the department as a retired annuitant while the city searched for his replacement.

Before his service in Eugene, Lehner was assistant police chief in Tucson. He holds a masters degree in business administration from the University of Arizona's Eller College of Business and Public Administration.

Oakland officials announced a new city-Alameda County anti-crime program aimed at fighting quality-of-life offenses in the East Bay city, which has totaled 106 homicides this year.

According to the Oakland Tribune, the program is aimed at tackling the lower-level offenses that officials said can lead to violent crime if left to fester.

Under the program, three prosecutors in City Attorney John Russo's office will have the green light from the Alameda County District Attorney's Office to prosecute misdemeanors and infractions that Russo said might not be as "shocking or as evil" as homicide or rape, but can lead to an "environment of fear and disorder" across Oakland.

Here's the Tribune story.

More than a dozen readers have weighed in on Chelsea Phua's "Property owners see red on graffiti" story in today's Bee. Here are two differing views:

'... grafitti-covered neighborhoods create an environment where the bad guys feel safe and comfortable. You stop these jerks and you prevent a lot of other bigger crime.'

'I don't disagree that kids who do this should somehow be caught and made to pay or fix their work. However, even the line drawing shown in this article shows amazing talent, and frankly, in more appropriate places, might have artistic value. Some urban centers have allowed graffiti-legal zones capturing the mural like quality of some of the drawings/graphics of these very talented kids, who haven't been given much opportunity to 'bomb' in a more constructive manner or place. These energies and skills could be channelled toward expression of urban life that could potentially enhance the experience of both the makers of such art as well as the consumers of such art.'

Want to report graffiti? Call these numbers:

• City of Sacramento: (916) 808-5948

• Sacramento County: (916) 875-5171

• Elk Grove: (916) 478-8231

• Roseville: (916) 746-1021

• Folsom: (916) 355-7229

• Rancho Cordova: (916) 851-8700

• Citrus Heights: (916) 727-4770

• West Sacramento: (916) 617-4900

• U.S. Postal Service: Call your local post office

• Regional Transit:(916) 557-4545

• SMUD: (916) 732-6043

• BFI Dumpsters: (916) 631-0600

• Waste Management Dumpsters: (916) 387-1400

• California highways: (916) 859-7810

• Public schools: Call the local school district

Source: City of Sacramento, Bee research

From Art Campos:

A Rocklin man told police that three men broke into his home, held a sawed-off shotgun on him as they beat and tied him and then stole $500 and marijuana he uses for medical purposes.

The home invasion occurred at about noon Monday on Aguilar Road, police reported.

Officers found the front door forced open and located the victim, who declined medical attention for his injuries, Sgt. Tom Dwyer wrote in a news release.

The victim told police he didn't know his attackers and that the robbers ransacked the home for about 15 minutes before fleeing.

Two of the suspects were described as being in their 20s, one of them wearing short, curly brown hair. The other was described as an African American in his 20s. He wore braided hair and carried the sawed-off shotgun.

Lt. Lon Milka said the victim had a valid Proposition 215 card.

Proposition 215 was approved in 1996 by California voters, and it allows patients with a valid doctor's recommendation to possess and cultivate marijuana for personal medical use.

From Niesha Lofing:

Sacramento police are investigating an early-morning burglary attempt at an east Sacramento Rite Aid store where the thief apparently tried to break in using his vehicle as a battering ram.

The incident occurred about 5:30 a.m. at the Rite Aid at 5712 Folsom Blvd., police Officer Konrad Von Schoech said.

A witness who reported the burglary to police said a man in a white sport utility vehicle backed into the glass front doors of the drug store, got out of the vehicle and entered the store, he said.

The man attempted to steal the ATM, and then drove away, Von Schoech said.

The burglary left a 20-foot opening in the front of the store, which services a usually quiet neighborhood.

Police searched the area for the thief but have not found him.

A description of the man is not yet available. The vehicle is described as a large, white SUV similar to a Ford Bronco, Von Schoech said.

From Art Campos:

Roseville police are praising the actions of a woman who helped them catch a fleeing shoplifting suspect Sunday.

The woman, a Roseville resident, noticed a man running out of a wireless telephone store and being chased by an employee about 4 p.m. in the 900 block of Pleasant Grove Boulevard, police spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther said.

The suspect entered a vehicle and got away, Gunther said.

But the woman saw a Roseville police officer at a red light at Roseville Parkway and Pleasant Grove and pulled up next to him, honking at him and describing the incident she had just seen, she said.

The officer broadcast the description of the fleeing vehicle and its direction of travel, she said.

Within three minutes, another officer pulled the vehicle over on Blue Oaks Boulevard near Highway 65 and arrested the driver, who was identified as Thomas Hasler Wallick, 50, of Sacramento, Gunther said.

Inside his vehicle was a wireless telephone headset that had been stolen from the store, she said.

Wallick was arrested on suspicion of burglary and of petty theft with a prior conviction.

"This was a wonderful example of everyone being in the right place at the right time," Gunther said. "The woman saw the crime, happened to pull up next to an officer, gave him very good information, and the other officer spotted him. Good for the woman for caring enough to get involved."

From Art Campos:

Roseville police say a 63-year-old man was victimized Saturday by a carjacker who grabbed him by the throat and demanded his keys. The man's car was found burned the next day in Sacramento.

The incident occurred at 11:30 a.m. in the Auction Town parking lot in the 100 block of Atkinson Street, police spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther said. The victim, a Roseville resident, was entering his 2001 Jaguar sedan when a man pushed him away from the car and grabbed his throat, she said.

The victim backed away, and the assailant drove his car away, she said. The suspect is still being sought, she said.

The carjacker is described as in his late teens or 20s, stands about 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs about 170 pounds. He had dark hair and a mustache and wore a black beanie-style cap, baggy blue jeans and a green hooded sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off. No weapon was seen.

Anyone with information is asked to call Roseville police at (916) 774-5070 or the Roseville Crime Stoppers at (916) 783-7867.

From Sandy Louey:

Elk Grove police are looking for a man who allegedly robbed a woman Sunday.

The incident occurred at 5:50 p.m. Sunday when a man approached a woman in the Wal-Mart parking lot at 8465 Elk Grove Blvd. and asked if she wanted to buy some CDs, according to a police report.

When she said no and turned away, the man placed an object, which the woman believed was a gun, against her back. He demanded her personal belongings, which she gave him. He was last seen entering a green small vehicle that left the parking lot, police said.

From Kim Minugh:

Sacramento County Coroner's officials today identified the second victim of last week's homeless killings as 39-year-old David Butler.

Butler's body was found early Thursday morning in a well-established homeless camp in a field off 47th Avenue near the light-rail tracks - about 13 hours after the body of a 38-year-old man was discovered in the same field.

The first victim, whose name still is being held pending notification of family members, was shot to death, according to Sacramento police. Butler died after suffering blunt force trauma to his head and neck, coroner's officials said.

He had been one of several potential witnesses interviewed by police after the first body was discovered, police said last week.

Since then, police have released little more information about the killings, including whether the same suspect or suspects are responsible for both killings. They also have not released any suspect descriptions.

Officer Konrad Von Schoech, a police spokesman, said today that there is a "strong possibility" that the killings are related, but that the investigation continues.

"We can't conclude with certainty that they are (connected)," he said.

The field is within Sacramento County, but the city police department's homicide detectives are investigating the crimes because they had been covering for sheriff's homicide detectives that night.

From Sam Stanton:

Greg Larkins stood in the driveway of his Antelope-area home Monday wearing an Obama-Biden pin on his white dress shirt.

Craig MacGlashan, head of the Sacramento County Republican Party, stood next to him in a gray pinstripe suit and sporting a McCain-Palin ball cap.

Both men were responding to the latest rash of political vandalism in the region and had the same message: Enough is enough.

For Larkins, the head of Sacramento County's Democratic Party, the problem hit home over the weekend, when he returned to find his Obama sign missing from his front yard and a message scrawled in black spray paint on his garage. "Obama's ship of fools," it read.

The act of vandalism sparked a $1,000 reward, a news conference that drew Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo (even though Larkins lives in the county) and a stern denunciation from the county GOP chief.

"This is not tolerable," MacGlashan said. "This is not free speech. This is a crime."

Click here to read Stanton's full story and see more photos.

From Niesha Lofing:

Sacramento police are asking for help in identifying a man who allegedly stole toilet parts from a local office of the California State Automobile Association.

Police also believe the man (right photo) might be responsible for similar thefts in Roseville and areas of Placer County, a police news release states.

The man went to the association office at 15 Bicentennial Circle on July 29, entered the bathroom and left the building a few minutes later. Employees later found that the flushing mechanisms and plumbing from two urinals were missing.

In similar incidents, the man has dressed up like a plumber, police said.

The man is described as white, in his 30s to 40s, wearing a black T-shirt, blue jeans and carrying a black backpack.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at (916) 264-5471.

From Niesha Lofing:

A Sacramento man who stole hundreds of credit card numbers and drivers licenses faces up to more than 12 years in prison after being convicted in federal court.

Michael McCormick, 29, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. to aggravated identity theft and credit card fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 12, a news release from U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott's office states.

McCormick faces a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison for the credit card offense and a mandatory minimum of two years in prison for the identity theft charge, which must be served consecutively with the sentence imposed for the credit card thefts, the release states.

McCormick, who admitted stealing more than 1,500 credit card numbers and driver's licenses, also will be ordered to pay restitution.

McCormick was arrested in a hotel room where he was running the scam.

Authorities seized his computer, which contained thousands of credit card numbers, driver's licenses and other personal identification numbers, including names, addresses and phone numbers, the release states.

Authorities also found about 72 driver's licenses, 17 credit and gift cards and a black plastic file box containing files, receipts and evidence of fraudulent activity, the release states.

McCormick also possessed five California driver's licenses with his photo but different names and personal information.

Posted on the hotel room walls were worksheets listing stolen financial and identification information, as well as information about how to commit credit card fraud, the release states.

McCormick used the information to obtain credit cards to make more than $1,000 in fraudulent purchases, including renting hotel rooms and making online purchases, the release states.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and Sacramento police. The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office also cooperated in prosecuting the case.

From the Daily Triplicate in Crescent City:

The Crescent City Police Department is searching for a person who put a bloody deer skin in the mail slot at the Del Norte County Democratic headquarters in Crescent City.

No one has been arrested. The incident probably occurred from Sunday evening to Monday morning.

Democratic Central Committee Chairwoman Debra Broner said the hide was discovered around 10 a.m. Monday by a Central Committee member who happened to be passing by.

"I had them call the Crescent City Police, and they came and took pictures," she said. "I just saw the remnants. There was some blood on the windows."

Broner said it's not the first time someone has vandalized the Democratic headquarters near the corner of Third and I streets downtown. In the past, she said, paint was dumped in front of the office building and dirt was put in the locks.

"We are going to put a camera out there, some kind of surveillance," she said.

"We're just disgusted that somebody would stoop to that level," she said. "We're not going to run away or hide."

From Niesha Lofing:

Sacramento County Sheriff's officials are asking for help in locating a Sacramento man who has been missing since Wednesday.

Austin "Bedford" Smotherman, 59, was last seen at 3 p.m. Tuesday leaving a home in the 4300 block of Burket Way in Loomis, according to a sheriff's news release.

Smotherman called his wife and told her that he was on his way home.

He was driving a white and blue 1989 Toyota truck with California license plates reading 3W81313. The truck has a lift kit, a black bra and a toolbox in the pickup bed, the release states.

Austin, who suffers from depression, hypertension and diabetes, is described as white, 6-foot-4, 240 pounds with gray hair, blue eyes, a mustache and goatee.

He answers to the name Bedford, the release states.

He was reported missing to Roseville police on Wednesday.

Anyone with information about Smotherman's whereabouts is asked to call the sheriff's department at (916) 874-5115.

From Bee Metro Staff:

A car wash is planned Saturday to benefit a scholarship fund in the name of Rodrigo "Rod" Rodriguez Jr. who was gunned down on Sept. 16, 2007, outside an Oak Park Barbershop.

Rodriguez (right photo) was an apprentice barber who was also attending the University of California, Berkeley, on a prestigious scholarship.

The car wash will start at 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Hiram Johnson High School, 6879 14th Avenue. All proceeds from the car wash will be donated to the Rod Rodriguez, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund.

The car wash was organized by Rodriguez's Cal Middle School teacher Arturo Apodaca, according to a press release. Apodaca also was responsible for the car wash held to provide funds to the Rodriguez family following the Rodriguez's death.

The scholarship fund has received nearly $10,000.00 in donations from contributors nationwide, the release said.

This year the first scholarship was awarded to MESA student Lee Anthony Mosely, who is attending Cal Poly as engineering major, the release said. The scholarship fund is sponsored by the Sacramento State/UC Davis MESA Center. Rodriguez was a K- 12 MESA student and a Frank and Eva Buck Scholar, the release said.

Contributions to the Rodrigo "Rod "Rodriguez, Jr. Scholarship may be sent to the Sacramento State/UC Davis MESA Center, Santa Clara Hall 1204, 6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819.

The first-degree murder case against Andre Pulido, 25, is in the pre-trial stage. His next appearance in Sacramento Superior Court is Oct. 1.

From Niesha Lofing:

Placer County Sheriff's detectives are asking for help in finding two men who robbed a man at a Loomis bank.

A local businessman was getting out of his vehicle at 9:48 a.m. Sept. 18 at the Bank of America branch on Taylor Road when he was approached by two men, sheriff's spokeswoman Dena Erwin said.

One of the men asked the man for driving directions and then pushed him into his car. The second man snatched a bank bag from the victim's hand, she said. The two men ran away.

One man was described as white, in his 20s or 30s, 6-foot-2 to 6-foot-4 with a thin build (left photo). He was wearing blue jeans, a blue windbreaker and a beige or tan baseball cap. He had light-colored hair that stuck out below his hat, Erwin said.

The other man (right photo) is white, in his 20s or 30s, 6-foot to 6-foot-2, 230 to 260 pounds and dark hair. He was wearing a dark sweatshirt and pants that both were black and gray checkered and a beanie.

Anyone with information about the two men is asked to call the sheriff's department at (530) 889-7800. To remain anonymous and be eligible for a cash reward for information leading to an arrest, call Placer County Crime Stoppers at (800) 923-8191.

From David Richie:

Citrus Heights police arrested three people Wednesday and took two children into protective custody during a probation search. The arrests occurred about 11:45 a.m. at a house in the 7000 block of Oak Spring Way, north of Antelope Road, between Interstate 80 and Rollingwood Boulevard.

Officers said they found approximately four ounces of suspected marijuana in plain sight and detected the strong odor of marijuana smoke throughout the house.

The children, a 4-year-old girl and 4-month-old boy, were also found during the search.

Officers arrested residents Christopher Michael Tolson, 31, and Stefani Lee Partin, 32, as well as a visitor, Jason Daniel Payton, 20, of Citrus Heights.

Tolson was booked Sacramento County Main Jail on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale and felony child endangerment.

Partin was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment but released from custody later that day.

Payton was arrested on a misdemeanor warrant.

From Niesha Lofing:

Five people were charged Thursday in connection with marijuana growing operations at homes throughout the Sacramento region.

A federal grand jury returned the two-count indictment against Tony Le, of Lincoln; Tien Le, of Sacramento; Hung Le, of Elk Grove; Cuong Le, of Sacramento; and Minh Le, of Sacramento. All were charged with conspiracy to manufacture at least 1,000 marijuana plants and manufacturing at least 1,000 marijuana plants, according to a news release by U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott's office.

The indictment alleges that from Nov. 1, 2006 to last week, the defendants conspired and manufactured marijuana plants in Placer and El Dorado counties.

An investigation commenced after Pacific Gas and Electric reported a possible power theft to the Placer County Sheriff's Department.

Federal and state search warrants were served at 10 houses in Foresthill, Auburn, Placerville, Lincoln, El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park, Elk Grove and Sacramento, the release states.

Authorities uncovered active indoor marijuana grow operations in four homes and seized 3,364 marijuana plants. A fifth house contained the components for an indoor growing operation that appeared to have been harvested, the release states.

If convicted, the defendants could face a maximum sentence of life in prison with a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence, the release states.

From Art Campos:

Roseville police seized 41 grams of methamphetamine and arrested three people during an undercover drug operation this week.

Department spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther said one of the suspects agreed to sell an ounce of the drug and met with an undercover officer at 1:07 p.m. Tuesday.

Derek Alexander Hooks, 37, of Sacramento was taken into custody on suspicion of possession and transportation of the drug for sale and of conspiracy, Gunther said.

Two other people police believe to be working with Hooks were arrested nearby on suspicion of possessing methamphetamine for sale and of conspiracy, she said. They were identified as Giovani Perez, 23, and Sonja Lynn Bailey, 43, both of Sacramento.

Hooks and Perez were held in the Placer County jail in Auburn on $250,000 bail. Bailey was released after posting $15,000 in bail.

Gunther said more than $1,000 in cash and drug paraphernalia also were seized when the arrests were made. The 41 grams of methamphetamine, or 1.4 ounces, had an estimated street value of $1,700, she said.

From Kim Minugh:

The two El Dorado County Sheriff's deputies who filed a lawsuit against the widowed Shingle Springs mother of a mentally ill man who shot them last summer are dismissing the case, according to the woman's attorney.

The lawyer representing Greg Murphy, who has since left the sheriff's department and works for the El Dorado County District Attorney's office, and John Yaws is expected to file a letter of dismissal today, said Stephen Jaffe, a San Francisco-based lawyer representing 67-year-old Karen Mies.

In doing so, they also will be giving up their right to refile the lawsuit, Jaffe said. He said he has seen the letter of dismissal, but declined to comment further at this time.

Yaws and Murphy sought damages of $19.2 million each in their lawsuit against Mies and other family members, alleging she and her deceased husband, Arthur, were negligent in not recognizing their son Eddie's mental problems and his potential for violence.

On June 5, Eddie Mies killed his father and then engaged deputies in a shootout at the Mies' sprawling Shingle Springs property.

Yaws and Murphy were shot in the gun battle, as was a police dog and a third deputy, who declined to join the lawsuit. All have since recovered physically; Yaws and Murphy sought the damages for emotional distress, medical expenses, loss of earning capacity and punitive damages.

Their attorney, Phillip Mastagni, did not immediately return a call for comment.

The lawsuit drew ire from the both the law enforcement and El Dorado County communities. One county supervisor said he and other citizens were "appalled" by the deputies' actions, and one sheriff's lieutenant called the lawsuit a "disgrace to the entire law enforcement community."

From Sandy Louey:

A 16-year-old boy was arrested in Elk Grove on Wednesday night for allegedly hitting a man who refused to give him a dollar.

The incident occurred at 11:42 p.m. in the Walgreens parking lot at 7299 Laguna Blvd. The boy asked the man for the money in the parking lot. When the man refused, the boy hit him in the face and pushed him, according to a police report.

The boy left, but was later found hiding in nearby bushes. He was arrested on suspicion of attempted robbery, police said.

From Sandy Louey:

Elk Grove police are looking for a man who tried to pull a woman from a car and steal it Wednesday night, officials said.

At 7 p.m., the 66-year-old woman was sitting in the passenger seat of a car parked in the Walgreens parking lot at 7299 Laguna Blvd. A man jerked the door open and tried to pull her out of the car, according to a report.

She fought the man off and he ran away. Officers were unable to locate the suspect, who was described as being an African American male in his 30s wearing a red shirt and blue jeans, police said.

From Sandy Louey:

Elk Grove police said Thursday that a missing 78-year-old man was found safe in Las Vegas.

Selestino Sandoval (left photo), who has dementia and is diabetic, was last seen leaving his Elk Grove home Monday night on a mountain bike.

He apparently traveled to Las Vegas, where he used to live, using public transportation. Las Vegas police officials contacted Elk Grove police after Sandoval received medical treatment for a fall and broken arm, said Officer Christopher Trim, spokesman for the Elk Grove Police Department.

From Art Campos:

Brad Fenocchio, Placer County's district attorney for the past 14 years, announced today he is retiring and will not seek re-election when his term ends in 2010.

Fenocchio (left photo), 60, said he will endorse the office's acting assistant district attorney, Scott Owens, as his successor.

The district attorney made the announcement at a breakfast meeting at a Roseville restaurant to introduce Owens to political, law enforcement and community leaders.

Owens is an 18-year veteran prosecutor in the Placer office and also doubles as the public information officer. He worked for the Placer County Probation Office for seven years before joining the District Attorney's Office.

He was the office's "prosecutor of the year" in 1998.

Doug Van Breemen, vice president of the Placer County Deputy District Attorneys Association, said members unanimously supported Owens when the group met a year ago to discuss a possible successor to Fenocchio.

"Scott has a deep, deep commitment to public safety," Van Breemen told the breakfast audience.

From Niesha Lofing:

A Sacramento man was sentenced to six years in prison last week for the death of a school teacher who was killed in a March drunken driving collision.

Robert Basinger (left photo), 22, was driving west on Folsom Boulevard at speeds up to 71 mph when he hit Mary Sekul, who was driving east on Folsom Boulevard and attempted to turn left onto 47th Street, Sgt. Matt Young said.

Witnesses of the head-on crash said that Basinger's Jeep Grand Cherokee was traveling at excessive speed and didn't have its headlights on, he said.

At the time of the crash, Basinger had a blood alcohol content of .26, more than three times the legal limit.

Sekul, 59, died at the scene. She was an art teacher at Mariemont Elementary School in Arden Park.

Police were able to determine Basinger's speed through momentum calculations and data that was downloaded from the event data recorder in his car, Young said.

Police also conducted a sight distance study at the scene and found that with limited street lighting, excessive speed and Basinger's vehicle not having its headlights on, it was nearly impossible for Sekul to have time to avoid the crash.

The study's results determined that Basinger had forfeited his right-of-way, Young said.

Basinger was sentenced to state prison for vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

Here's The Bee's March 12 story about Sekul:

David Richie reports in today's Citrus Heights regional edition on a "branding" strategy to deter catalytic converter thefts:

A thief can pull the catalytic converter (left photo) off a pickup or a sport-utility vehicle in 90 seconds.

Citrus Heights police have a strategy that takes a few minutes longer but may save residents a $500 to $1,000 repair bill.

On Oct. 11, police will team up with merchants to present "Operation Branding Iron."

During the event, students from San Juan High School will etch vehicle license plate numbers on catalytic converters that generally lack identifying marks. The catalytic converters also will be marked with a bright, heat-resistant paint.

Operation Branding Iron will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Les Schwab Tire Center, 8001 Greenback Lane, across from Sunrise Mall. To avoid delays, police officials recommend that interested residents make a reservation by calling (916) 727-5524 or (916) 727-5829.

The free program is available to anyone who lives, works or visits in Citrus Heights.

"It's a regional problem," Police Detective Mike Alway said. "That is why we want to open this up."

Toyota trucks and SUVs are especially attractive to thieves because, in many cases, their catalytic converters are bolted on instead of welded in place. But any vehicle with enough room for the thief to crawl underneath may be targeted.

"In Citrus Heights we are seeing about eight to 10 thefts per month, usually in residential areas. Most of them are occurring at night, and they are all whodunits," Alway said.

Click here for Richie's complete story.

The Bee's Regional editions publish Public Safety Watch stories each Thursday. Here's a roundup of those stories and Police/Fire Logs, as compiled by Bee reporters:

Sacramento/North Sacramento/south Sacramento:
North Sacramento man arrested in suspected gas theft attempt
Police/Fire Log

Arden/Carmichael:
Thieves hit Arden-area eyeglass store
Police/Fire Log

Elk Grove/Laguna:
Reward offered in unsolved 2006 murder case
Police/Fire Log

Citrus Heights/Orangevale/Fair Oaks:
Thieves steal tools from vehicles in Citrus Heights

Folsom:
Police/Fire Log

Rancho Cordova/Gold River:
Police/Fire Log

Placer County:
Rocklin conference to focus on scams, elder abuse
Police/Fire Log

From Denny Walsh:

A coast-to-coast manhunt is under way for a Chico man who is suspected of involvement in one of the nation's largest mortgage fraud schemes, federal authorities say.

Garret Griffith Gililland III was indicted by a federal grand jury in Sacramento Aug. 14 on three counts of making false statements on loan applications and one count of engaging in a monetary transaction with cash derived from unlawful activity.

But the 27-year-old Gililland, described in the indictment as "an unlicensed mortgage broker," fled before he could be arrested, authorities said.

He is described by authorities as approximately 6-feet, 2-inches tall, 220 pounds, dark blond hair, green eyes, and an athletic build with a number of tattoos.

Federal agents said they believe he has ties to Loomis Wealth Solutions, a Roseville-based company with offices in Illinois and the state of Washington, which holds itself out as a financial planner that has "figured out a way to help you accumulate cash."

The organization offers to help those who buy membership in one of its plans locate and buy properties that will yield rental income.

"Our members receive an average of $340 (a month) in rental income for properties they have acquired in 2008," its Web site boasts.

The Web site scam.com, however, features postings by people who claim they have lost money dealing with Loomis.

Internal Revenue Service and FBI agents raided Loomis' Roseville office Aug. 26 and carted away 204 boxes of records, plus an array of computers and related equipment.

At the same time, agents raided the Granite Bay home of the company's head, Lawrence Leland "Lee" Loomis, and seized business and personal records. That same evening, an FBI agent and an IRS agent approached the 51-year-old Loomis at the Sacramento International Airport and seized his laptop computer, canceled checks and various types of paperwork.

The next morning, an IRS agent seized more than $461,000 from two Loomis-related bank accounts.

Later that day, the California Department of Corporations issued desist and refrain orders against Loomis, Wealth Solutions and two affiliated entities.

The order aimed at Loomis and Wealth Solutions says they have been offering and selling securities in the form of plan memberships that anticipate members purchasing property, "and then allowing Loomis and Loomis Wealth Solutions Inc. to control the property. The member is promised a monthly return plus half the sale price when the property is sold."

Loomis and his company "were engaged in unlicensed broker-dealer activity," the securities had not been qualified under state law, and Loomis had been acting as an investment adviser without required authorization, the order states.

"Loomis Wealth Solutions will shortly be making a motion for the return of the funds and property that were seized," Malcom Segal, the company's attorney told The Bee in an interview.

"The government has declined to restore the money to the accounts and has refused to return the computer records and documents that would allow the company to function," he said.

"Hopefully, the government will eventually determine that this was an appropriate business methodology and terminate its investigation," Segal said.

Loomis attorney Patrick Hanly was even more explicit.

"The government won't even tell us what it is Mr. Loomis is supposed to have done wrong," Hanly said. "We're confident that, once all the facts come out, he will be shown not to have done anything wrong."

Federal officials in Sacramento said the case is larger in scope than the Charles Head case.

In March, Charles Head, 33, of La Habra was indicted as the alleged ringleader in a massive mortgage fraud case that investigators said preyed on people close to foreclosure and stripped homeowners in two dozen states of millions of dollars in equity. Indictments also were issued against 18 other people, according to court records.

From Niesha Lofing:

A man has been found dead in a field near a south Sacramento light rail station this morning, victim of an apparent homicide, police say.

A Sacramento police dispatcher said the man was found at about 4:30 a.m. in a field in the 2900 block of 47th Avenue, across the street from the Campbell's Soup factory and the 47th Avenue light rail station..

The man appears to have been hit in the head, the dispatcher said.

The brushy field, which appears to be the site of a homeless camp, is next to an equipment rental business.

This is the second time in 24 hours that authorities are investigating a body being found in the location.

Click here for story updates.
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From David Richie:

A muscular bandit reportedly yanked the cash box out of the Coinmaster machine at about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Safeway market on MIssouri Flat Road in Placerville.

Store managers and El Dorado County sheriff's deputies were left with surveillance camera footage that shows the man wheeling the box out of the store. The unidentified bandit escaped with $2,454 in change, according to a sheriff's incident summary.

The suspect is described as white, well-built, weighing about 220 pounds, wearing a dark, short-sleeved buttoned shirt, blue jeans and sunglasses. The suspect's height was not included in the description.

From M.S. Enkoji:

A 47-year-old woman will face four felony charges, including attempted murder, for allegedly shooting a man while she was panhandling in downtown Sacramento.

Audrey Ann Jackson (left photo), who has no known address, appeared in Sacramento County Superior Court to hear the charges against her in a brief hearing Wednesday afternoon.

She also faces weapons charges, including possessing a handgun not registered to her.

Jackson is accused of shooting and injuring a state worker as he sat waiting for a bus ride home at 6ht and J streets on Monday afternoon.

The injured man, 54-year-old Frank Perez, who has cerebral palsy and walks with a cane, has undergone surgery and faces more procedures for wounds to his abdomen.

Witnesses told police that Jackson was hitting up people for money at the bus stop and when she approached Perez, he declined. Jackson then pulled out a gun and shot Perez while he was sitting on a bus-stop bench, witnesses said.

Jackson was later captured while riding a bus near Riverside Boulevard and Broadway a short time later.

The next hearing for Jackson is set for Oct. 8.

Jackson was appointed a public defender.

From Art Campos:

A Placer County judge today reduced the bail to $250,000 for a Roseville middle school teacher who was arrested last week on charges of molesting a former student.

The bail for James Albert Hirleman (left photo), 48, who has pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of molestation of an underage boy, was previously $350,000. The defendant allegedly carried on a five- to six-year sexual relationship that began when the boy was 13, according to the Placer County District Attorney's Office.

Attorneys in the case argued before Placer Superior Court Judge J. Richard Couzens as to whether Hirleman, a seventh-grade teacher at George Buljan Middle School, poses a threat to others if he is released on a lower bail.

Hirleman's attorney, Timothy Balcom, requested that bail be reduced to $100,000 and said his client "has never made a threat to anyone," has no criminal record and is not a flight risk.

Deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Wood argued that bail remain at $350,000, saying he was concerned for the safety of other potential victims, and he noted that Hirleman had access to about $18,000 in credit card availability and cash, making him a possible flight risk.

Couzens cut the bail by $100,000, but not before expressing his own concern about "so many incidents" listed in the criminal complaint filed by the prosecution. Hirleman, currently in custody in the Placer County jail in Auburn, is scheduled for his next court appearance Oct. 8.

The teacher is on unpaid leave from the Roseville City School District. The Rocklin Police Department, which investigated the case, said the alleged incidents with the boy occurred at a residence and not at the school. No other victims have been found, police said.

From Sandy Louey:

Galt police are asking the public's help in locating a mother and her 5-year-old daughter who haven't been seen since Sunday.

Lt. Kenneth Erickson said Wednesday that Jada Hightower was last seen when her parents picked her up from her fraternal grandmother's home in Galt Sunday evening. Her parents have joint custody of the child.

Police are concerned that Jada and her mother, Silvia Nino (pictured at left), 30, may be in danger. Witnesses reported seeing Laddie Hightower, 40, Nino's ex-boyfriend and the child's father, using force to get Nino into a car Saturday in Stockton, Erickson said.

Officials consider Hightower a person of interest in the suspected domestic violence and possible kidnapping case of Nino, according to Galt police.

The child hasn't attended her Galt school this week, Erickson said.

Police believe they may be in a 1995 blue and teal Chevrolet Caprice (similar looking to bottom photo) with 22- to 24-inch chrome wheels and a license plate that reads LRIDESS.

Nino, who is Latino, is is 5-foot-2 and weighs 130 pounds. Jada Hightower is 3-foot-tall and weighs 45 pounds. She was last seen wearing blue and pink shorts. Laddie Hightower is African American and is 5-foot-11.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Galt police at (209) 366-7000.

From Sandy Louey:

Elk Grove police have arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly robbing a taxi driver.

The incident occurred at 5:55 a.m. Tuesday in the 8900 block of Mandalay Way in Elk Grove. The driver had picked up Donnell Hawthorne and two other people on Mack Road, taken them to an Elk Grove home.

The two rear passengers got out, but Hawthorne reportedly pointed a gun at the driver and demanded money. The driver handed over the money to Hawthorne, who ran to a nearby home, according to a police report.

Police found Hawthorne, who was identified by the driver as the robber, officers said. He was arrested on suspicion of robbery.

Officers were unable to find the money or the weapon.

Sacramento Police and California Department of Corrections officials are seeking Robert Lee Lacy (left photo) on a felony no-bail arrest warrant for suspected parole violations and fleeing parole, Sacramento Crime Alert officials report.

Authorities say Lacy, also known as "Turtle," has recently cut off his ankle monitor.

He is described as 27 years old, 5-foot-6, weighing 180 pounds with brown eyes and black hair. His whereabouts are unknown.

Anyone with information about Lacy is urged to contact Crime Alert at (800) AA-CRIME or (916) 443-HELP. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

From Art Campos:

Roseville police have arrested a 14-year-old boy for allegedly pulling a knife on an 11-year-old boy and robbing him of a takeout meal.

The alleged robbery incident occurred at 4:30 p.m. Monday after the younger boy walked out of Amigos Taqueria at 4021 Woodcreek Oaks Blvd. with a bag of food he had purchased, police spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther said.

The older boy confronted him, demanding that the victim hand over the bag, Gunther said. When the victim refused, the older boy displayed a pocketknife and the younger boy gave him the bag, she said.

The victim went home and told his parents, who contacted police, launching an investigation, Gunther said.

On Tuesday, Bob Gillis, the youth services officer assigned to Woodcreek High School, took the older boy into custody at the school, she said. The suspect, whose name is being withheld because of his age, was booked into the Placer County Juvenile Detention Center on suspicion of robbery, she said.

From Stan Oklobdzija:

The Citrus Heights Police Department has filed a response to three former officers who allege they were fired because they are lesbians, using an interpretation of a 1992 law to challenge the claim.

Tamara Warner, Tasha Thompson and Jo Moya sued the department in July, claiming discrimination and disparate treatment on the basis of their sexual orientation.

The women - two former sergeants and a K-9 officer - also alleged that they were subject to "constant denigrating gossip, jokes and other unwelcome offensive behavior."

On Sept. 2, the department filed a motion for dismissal of the case on the basis that the women's lawsuit violated the department's right to conduct official business under a 1992 state statute.

The Police Department's attorney said that the complaint filed by the three former officers interfered with the department's ability to conduct an "official proceeding authorized by law," and thus constituted a Strategic Limitations Against Public Participation - or SLAPP - lawsuit, according to the motion.

Suzanne Solomon, the lawyer, said the fact that the Citrus Heights Police Department had to investigate claims that the officers were acting improperly makes the department eligible for anti-SLAPP protection.

"If there's a complaint that a police officer is engaged in misconduct, the Police Department is required to investigate," Solomon said. "When public agencies are required to do what they do by law, they shouldn't be subject to nuisance lawsuits."

Solomon also said the claim that the officers were terminated from the department because of their sexual orientation was ludicrous. All three officers were praised and promoted by the department in prior evaluations, she said.

"I've litigated lots of discrimination lawsuits, that's not the fact pattern," she said. "If you don't like someone because they're in a protected category, it's just obvious."

The idea of using the anti-SLAPP protection against a discrimination lawsuit is troubling to attorney Mark Goldowitz, who was one of the original advocates of the 1992 statute.

"I'm not aware of the anti-SLAPP statute used in this way before," he said. "This is not the type of case that the law was enacted to protect against."

Goldowitz said that while the literal law includes "official government proceedings" as protected against malicious lawsuits, he said the intent of the statute was geared toward protecting free speech and the right to petition.

"If a private employer was sued for the same thing, they could not sue," he said. "Does it make sense to give this role to a government agency when it's acting in its role as an employer?"

From Niesha Lofing and Chelsea Phua:

Police continue to look for three men who robbed an elderly couple at gunpoint Tuesday in their south Sacramento home and then snatched a 78-year-old woman's purse as they fled.

The home-invasion robbery occurred at about 11:48 a.m. at a home in the 7000 block of Rock Creek Way.

The men beat the couple and robbed them at gunpoint, taking money and property, police said.

Two of the men were armed with handguns, Officer Konrad Von Schoech said.

"It looks like their primary purpose was to get cash," he said.

One of the men was wearing a ski mask. The other two covered their faces with bandannas.

As the men ran to their getaway car, they robbed a woman of her purse in the 6900 block of Pradera Mesa Drive, Von Schoech said.

The woman injured her hand during the purse snatching, he said.

Only vague descriptions are available of the men, described as being in their 20s. They were seen driving away in a 1993 to 1995 tan or brown four-door sedan, possibly a Toyota Camry.

The home-invasion robbery victims suffered minor injuries and were taken to a local hospital for treatment.

This isn't the first time the home has been targeted, however. Sou Saechin, 42, was arrested for shooting a 17-year-old boy for breaking into his car at the home last April. Authorities did not prosecute Saechin.

The couple robbed Tuesday reportedly is related to Saechin, police said.

Von Schoech said the home-invasion robbery does not appear to be connected to last year's shooting.

"There is no indication that these people knew each other or had an ongoing feud with anyone," he said.

Residents should take measures to protect themselves and their homes at all times, even during the middle of the day, Von Schoech said.

"Make sure your doors and windows are always locked," he said. "You think that because it's the middle of the day and you're walking in and out of the house that you don't need to lock up, but you do."

Law enforcers in two counties are each offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the identity of the "Band-Aid Bandit," who authorities say has robbed at least 11 stores from Turlock to Livermore in the past two months, according to The Modesto Bee.

The man, who is thin and appears to be in his 20s, robs stores at gunpoint, said Rex Osborn, Manteca police spokesman.

Stores in Manteca, Ceres, Turlock, Lathrop, Tracy and Livermore have been hit.

Click here for The Modesto Bee story and a video of three of the robberies.

From Sandy Louey:

Elk Grove police are looking for helping in locating a missing 78-year-old man.

Selestino Sandoval (left photo), who has dementia and is diabetic, was last seen leaving his home in the 8400 block of Zinnia Way at 6:30 p.m. Monday on a red small-framed mountain bike, according to police.

Sandoval is a Latino male, 4 feet 10 inches tall who weighs 140 pounds with gray hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a black baseball cap, gray T-shirt, khaki pants and camouflage tennis shoes.

Family members told police that Sandoval can be violent when confronted and will hide or run.

Anyone with information is asked to call the police at (916) 714-5115.

From Chelsea Phua:

Police are asking for the public's help in finding a 59-year-old south Sacramento man who went missing Tuesday morning.

Dell Clements (right photo), who police said is at-risk because of his memory and emotional conditions, was last seen at 9:30 a.m. in his residence in Tearpak Court in the Valley Hi neighborhood.

Police said Clements is unable to care for himself, but should know his identity and place of birth.

He is described as white, 5-foot-9, 190 pounds, with gray hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing blue jeans.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sacramento Police Department at (916) 264-5471.

From Niesha Lofing:

Three teenagers were arrested Tuesday night after allegedly beating and stabbing a 13-year-old in a Woodland neighborhood.

Woodland police received a call of shots fired at 7:30 p.m. in the area of Lemen Avenue and Donnelly Circle, a police news release said. They found the victim had been beaten and stabbed in the upper torso.

Witnesses reported seeing a dark-colored sport utility vehicle leaving the scene.

The victim was taken to UC Davis Medical Center for treatment.

About two hours later, police returned to the neighborhood on a report of a dark-colored SUV and red Chrysler 300 driving recklessly.

An officer stopped the SUV, and a witness identified the occupants of the vehicle - two 15-year-olds and Milton Escobedo, 18 - and said they were at the scene of the stabbing, police said.

The witness told police Escobedo beat the victim with a baseball bat and that one of the 15-year-olds stabbed the victim.

The three teens were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy. One 15-year-old also was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Escobedo was arrested on suspicion of assault.

Police also received a call from Woodland Memorial Hospital that a 15-year-old with a stab wound to the neck had arrived there, but it is unknown whether the two stabbings are related.

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

From Art Campos:

A 28-year-old woman has been arrested by Placer County Sheriff's detectives for allegedly selling shoplifted beauty and health products over the Internet.

Deborah Jayne Hayden (left photo) of Rocklin was apprehended Monday at a trailer park in Loomis, where hundreds of stolen items were recovered, the Sheriff's Department reported. Shipping materials were also found, the department reported.

Detective Jim Hudson said Hayden had made between $4,000 and $5,000 by selling the products online, and that between $5,000 and $10,000 worth of other products were found at the trailer park.

"She had been shipping the items to places as far away as Ireland and Denmark, as well as all over the United States," Hudson said.

Hayden came to the attention of law enforcement after she was seen on a surveillance camera at a Target store placing items in a recycled bag and leaving without paying, the Sheriff's Department said in a news release.

Products such as Alli, Rogaine and other top-of-the-line hair care items were among the stolen goods, the news release said.

Investigators monitored eBay, an Internet sales site, and found many of the suspected stolen products being advertised for sale, the release said.

Hudson said his office determined that the seller was Hayden. She was also allegedly in possession of dozens of stolen DVDs, he said.

Hayden is being held on suspicion of burglary at the Placer County jail in Auburn. Her bail is $10,000.

From Niesha Lofing:

A transient man is facing felony charges after trying to rob an 81-year-old blind woman of her purse at a Sacramento store.

The woman was at the Target store at Broadway and Riverside Boulevard about noon Monday with her son to do some shopping, Sacramento police Officer Konrad Von Schoech said.

While they waited in front of the store for their cab ride home, James Earl Thompson (left photo), 58, who authorities believe is transient, allegedly lunged at the woman and tried to take her purse, he said.

The woman moved and maintained possession of the purse, Von Schoech said.

The woman's son yelled at Thompson and tried to protect his mother, he said.

"The man grabbed (Thompson) and threw him to the ground," Von Schoech said.

Thompson got up and fled, chased by the woman's son and several store customers.

Police were called to the store and given a description of Thompson, whom they found minutes later a few blocks away at Broadway and 14th Street.

Thompson was arrested on suspicion of willfully causing elderly suffering or pain, attempted robbery and violating probation, all felonies.

He is being held in lieu of $65,000 bail in Sacramento County Main Jail and is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, according to online jail information.

Woman and her son both were unhurt.

Von Schoech said police are relieved to have made an arrest.

"Oftentimes, they get away, and in this particular incident, we're very fortunate that there were citizens in the area who were able to provide us with a description and point officers in the right direction," he said.

From Denny Walsh:

Julie Lee, the San Francisco political activist convicted of fraud and attempted witness tampering, was sentenced Tuesday in Sacramento federal court to a year and a day in prison.

In imposing the reduced penalty, U. S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton described the crime as "serious" and the sentencing as "difficult."

"Justice must be served, but it also must be tempered," he said.

Invited by the judge to address him before he passed sentence, Lee's gasping sobs made her words unintelligible.

The courtroom was packed with her supporters.

First Assistant U. S. Attorney Lawrence Brown sought a prison term of three years and 10 months, while defense attorneys Alan Ellis and Lidia Stiglich asked for probation.

Lee, 62, was ordered to surrender Nov. 4 to begin serving her sentence. Assuming she earns the maximum 54 days good time, she will be released around Sept. 10, 2009.

Karlton also ordered a $5,000 fine and three years of supervision by federal probation authorities after her release.

The judge held off ordering restitution until the state Department of Parks and Recreation, the victim of Lee's fraud, submitted a figure that the agency is able to support.

In July, a jury in Karlton's court found Lee guilty of supplying false information and trying to tamper with witnesses after learning she was the target of inquiries by state and federal investigators as to how she spent money from a Parks and Recreation grant.

Lee's nonprofit, the San Francisco Neighbors Resource Center, had received the $500,000 grant for planning and development of a community services center in the city's heavily Chinese American west side.

Prosecutors showed at trial that she laundered $125,000 of the funds through six intermediaries into Kevin Shelley's successful 2002 campaign for secretary of state. There is no evidence Shelley knew of the scheme.

"The political world needs to understand that, if the line is crossed, the offender will get caught and will receive an appropriate sentence," Brown told Karlton.

The judge said he is convinced Lee was striving for political influence.

Ellis, on the other hand, insisted her motive was getting the community center built, and she was counting on help from Shelley, then an assemblyman from the city's west side.

"I'm not sure we haven't said the same thing," Karlton remarked to Ellis.

The Carole Sund/Carrington Foundation is offering a $5,000 reward to anyone who can help solve the homicide of a 15-year-old Elk Grove teenager.

Robert Francisco Maisonet (right photo) was walking on Franklin Boulevard in Elk Grove on Jan. 7, 2006 when three teenage boys about age 15 to 18 pummeled him until he collapsed. They then jumped into a sport-utility vehicle driven by a fourth person, according to police.

The motive for the attack is still unknown, but officials are hoping that the $5,000 reward will help police solve the case.

Anyone with information about the assault is asked to call the Elk Grove Police Department at (916) 478-8060 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-4357. They can also send an anonymous text message to 274637 (CRIMES), followed by Tip732.

-- Bee Metro Staff

Here's The Bee's Jan. 9, 2006 story about the killing:

From Niesha Lofing:

Five people were arrested during a sting targeting adults willing to buy alcohol for minors in Placer County.

Rocklin, Roseville and Lincoln police officers, as well as Alcoholic Beverage Control investigators conducted the Shoulder Tap Operation sting in Lincoln and Rocklin on Friday, a Rocklin police news release states.

In Rocklin, police conducted the operation at six locations. The minor, who was working in conjunction with authorities, approached 70 people and asked them to purchase alcohol. Two adults agreed and were cited for furnishing alcohol to a person under 21. One other person was cited and released for a traffic warrant, the release states.

In Lincoln, police conducted the operation at two locations. The minor approached 40 people and asked them to purchase alcohol. Two adults agreed and were cited for furnishing alcohol to a minor.

A 20-year-old also was cited for using false identification to purchase alcoholic beverages and possession of alcoholic beverages by a person under 21, the release states.

The sting operations, funded through a $87,584 Alcoholic Beverage Control grant, will be held each month throughout the 2008-09 fiscal year.

Authorities have contacted 366 people at 32 locations and issued citations to or arrested 23 people, the release states.

From Sandy Louey:

Elk Grove police have arrested two teenage boys who allegedly robbed and chased another teenager.

The incident occurred at 9:20 a.m. Friday in the 5200 block of Geneva Pointe Drive when two 15-year-old boys in a vehicle approached a 17-year-old boy.

The 15-year-old driver pointed a handgun at the 17-year-old and demanded his property. When he complied, the robbers left in the vehicle. The robbers returned when he was calling 911 on his cell phone and demanded that he empty his pockets again, which he did, according to a police report.

The 15-year-old driver took the phone and threatened to assault the victim, who ran away. The driver got out and began chasing the victim, while the other teen drove the vehicle. The 15-year-old eventually stopped chasing the victim and got back into the driver's seat, according to police.

Police found the vehicle and apprehended the two 15-year-olds, who had abandoned the vehicle and attempted to run away. They were arrested on suspicion of robbery, receiving stolen property and conspiracy.

From Art Campos:

A customer walking up to an automated teller machine outside a bank in Roseville was robbed at gunpoint over the weekend, police reported.

The 29-year-old victim, an Antelope resident, was approaching the Safe Credit Union ATM at 122 N. Sunrise Ave. at 8:20 p.m. Saturday when the armed robber came up behind him and demanded that he withdraw money and give it to him, police spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther said.

The victim complied and the robber left with another man in a small blue sedan, possibly a Honda Civic, Gunther said.

The robber was described as a Latino in his 20s, she said. He was about 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighed about 150 pounds. He had black hair, brown eyes and wore a white hat, a white T-shirt and blue jeans.

Anyone with information is being asked to call the police investigations unit at (916) 774-5070, or Roseville Crime Stoppers at (916) 783-7867.

The Crime Stoppers program offers cash rewards for anonymous tips leading to an arrest.

From Andy Furillo:

A Sacramento jury today convicted Steven Burnnett Burkholder of murder and robbery for stealing a bike and stabbing his victim to death on a midtown street more than four years ago.

Burkholder, 41, was guilty in the slaying of Floyd Wehe, 40, who was taking a late-night bike ride when he was killed in June 2004.

According to Sacramento Superior Court records, Burkholder has prior convictions for carjacking and burglary.

From M.S. Enkoji:

A 44-year-old Sacramento man, who died as he came to the aid of a crash victim, will be honored posthumously by the California Highway Patrol Tuesday.

Guy Pierce was on State Route 99 near Elkhorn Boulevard at about 11 p.m. on March 8 when he approached a rollover traffic accident.

Kaili Jackson, 20, an unlicensed driver, was driving south on SR 99 south of Elkhorn when her 2002 Toyota Tundra drifted to the center and clipped the center guard rail and overturned in the fast lane, the CHP said.

Pierce had pulled over onto the shoulder and crossed the highway to help Jackson and her passenger when a driver in a Jeep Cherokee collided with the overturned pickup and struck Pierce.

Pierce was the only one who died.

The North Sacramento CHP Area will bestow the Certificate of Commendation to Pierce's wife and their children, in a ceremony at the agency's headquarters

A rare Blue Mountain lorikeet (like the one pictured at left) reported stolen from an Auburn pet store last week was returned this weekend and was reported in good condition, the Placer County Sheriff's Department reports.

The woman who returned the bird on condition of anonymity said the bird had been dropped off at her house, according to a department news release.

As reported by The Bee on Thursday, the bird, valued at $800, was taken from its cage at Incredible Pets on Grass Valley Highway on Sept. 12, said Dena Erwin, a Placer County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman.

The store's owners told deputies that before the theft the bird hadn't been allowed out of its cage because it is too young to fly, Erwin said.

She described the bird, which had been in the store about a week before being taken, as "very playful." The bird is considered rare and must be fed nectar, rather than seeds, the owners told deputies.

Lorikeets, which are arboreal parrots found mainly in southeastern Asia, Polynesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia, have brush-tipped tongues for feeding on nectar and soft fruits and can feed from flowers of about 5,000 species of plants.

The tips of their tongues have tufts of extremely fine hairs, which collect nectar and pollen.

From M.S. Enkoji:

Five people have been arrested on drug charges at a Carmichael apartment complex, investigators said.

Sacramento County probation officers on Friday found crystal methamphetamines, body armor, ammunition for assault rifles and $3,000.

Arrested were Alejandro Vuittonet, 25; Theodore Sanchez, 25; Amanda Rangel, 20; Edward Medina, 25; and Jesus Miguel Casas, 26, investigators said. The apartment complex is in the 5300 block of El Camino Ave, near Gunn Road.

All of the suspects face two felony charges: possession with intent to sell and a gang-enhancement charge, investigators said.

A child was present in the apartment at the time of the arrest, which could mean a child endangerment charge could follow, investigators said.

Vuittonet and Rangel were on probation and Casas and Sanchez was on parole, investigators said.

From Andy Furillo:

A 21-year-old Sacramento man has been convicted of first-degree murder in the robbery murder of a marijuana dealer in late 2006.

James Willis was convicted Thursday in Sacramento Superior Court and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 17 by Judge Lloyd G. Connelly.

According to Deputy District Attorney Leland Washington, Willis, a reputed north area gang member, shot and killed 19-year-old Rajneel Kamal Sharma on Dec. 27, 2006 in the course of robbing him.

Sharma, who also was armed, was able to shoot back and hit Willis once, wounding him, before falling dead at the scene of the Norwood Avenue homicide.

From David Richie:

An alert resident teamed up with Rancho Cordova police and California Highway Patrol officers Friday morning to help corral three men suspected of stealing catalytic converters.

The man called 911 to report that he was following a vehicle with three men inside who had just stolen the catalytic converter off his friend's vehicle on Bear Hollow Drive.

The suspect vehicle was tracked to the area near Mechanical Drive and Sunrise Boulevard, where all three men got out and walked away. Police and CHP officers formed a perimeter and sent in a K-9 unit.

The dog located three suspects, identified by Rancho Cordova police as Mono Thap (above left photo), 28, Adam Rodriguez (center photo), 25, and Benjamin Rodriguez (right photo), 28, all of Stockton.

They were booked into Sacramento County Main Jail on suspicion of grand theft and conspiracy.

Not surprisingly, Phillip Reese's "Few men accused of being "johns" ' story in today's Bee sparked a lively debate among readers online. Here are two viewpoints about the world's oldest profession:

'It's time to make it legal. Tax it, and require certain employment standards. As with illegal drugs, most of the problems with prostitution arise because it is illegal, not because of the act itself.'

'Prostitution in the US is not the cutsey "Pretty Woman" kind of scenario. It involves other crimes. If this prostitution was legalized, in the same way it is in Holland, it might be a victimless crime. There would be controls that would prevent the peripheral crimes from happening. Until that happens the johns are just as much to blame for the problem and should be held accountable.'

From Art Campos:

A Roseville man had the distinction of being arrested two times in a 24-hour period.

Police said they took Timothy William Winters, 23, into custody about 12:15 a.m. Thursday for allegedly being in possession of a stolen purse, driving under the influence and possessing drugs and burglary tools. Winters was booked and released after posting $10,000 bail.

However, at 11:30 p.m., officers went back to Winters' home and arrested him again for allegedly having stolen a vehicle Wednesday and later abandoned it, police spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther said.

This time, Winters was booked into the Roseville city jail on suspicion of vehicle theft, possession of stolen property and committing a felony while out on bail on another felony, Gunther said. His bail is $40,000, she said.

"Technically, because we found stolen property in his garage and he hadn't told us about it in the first arrest, we considered it another crime while he was out on bail," she said.

In Winters' first arrest, police also took a passenger into custody, Gunther said. Guy Mount Creason IV, 27, of West Sacramento, was arrested on suspicion of possessing methamphetamine and violating parole. He is being held without bail, Gunther said.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents on Tuesday seized marijuana plants growing in a home in El Dorado Hills.
Florence Low/flow@sacbee.com.

From M.S. Enkoji:

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided three big-dollar marijuana growing operations this week inside some luxury homes in El Dorado Hills and Placerville.

The next day, Elk Grove police found more than 2,000 pot plants growing inside five tract houses in Elk Grove.

How do you know your neighbors are growing pot in their second-story study? A neglected house with painted windows was once a sure sign. Elk Grove Police Officer Chris Trim says rules of the game change as the culprits adapt.

New rules:

Don't assume that your neighborhood of expansive mansions with impeccable landscaping makes you immune to THE TROUBLE NEXT DOOR.

If you don't see the people next door for months at a time, it could mean TROUBLE NEXT DOOR.

If you're awakened by hammering and sawing or other ambitious interior construction activity during the night, TROUBLE NEXT DOOR could be building.

Vans and trucks could be delivering TROUBLE NEXT DOOR if they haul in an unusual amount of lighting equipment, irrigation supplies, air ducts and fans.

If neighbors generate so much trash it's thrown to the curb in stacks of plastic bags, it could be a sign of TROUBLE NEXT DOOR.

The best way to thwart TROUBLE NEXT DOOR is to introduce yourself to new neighbors, "get a read on them," Trim said.

From Andy Furillo:

A man pleaded no contest today in the street-racing death of a Sacramento youth two years ago in Elk Grove.

Clinton Colon, 20, entered his plea in Sacramento Superior Court to the reduced charge of vehicular manslaughter in the June 2006 crash that killed 15-year-old Anthony Mondragon.

Four other youths were injured in the crash, two of whom were in Colon's car.

The case had initially been filed as a second-degree murder.

Colon also pleaded no contest to a reckless driving count. Three other counts were dismissed.

The defendant's attorney, Christopher Wing, said his client will be sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison when he returns to court for judgment on Oct. 17.

From Denny Walsh:

Two Roseville men accused of colluding in the theft of nearly $200,000 in life insurance proceeds meant for a dead Marine's grieving mother were have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Sacramento.

After Joyce Guzman was notified in November of the death of her son, Lance Cpl. Kyle Guzman, in a U. S. Marine Corps training accident, Raymond Brogan and his uncle, Robert Brogan, convinced her to give them control of the money so they could "pay (her) bills and make investments for her benefit," the indictment alleges.

Instead, it alleges, they converted the funds to their own benefit "by fraudulently inducing (her) to sign some checks and forging her signature on other checks."

Raymond Brogan, 41, who is being held without bail, pleaded not guilty Thursday.

Robert Brogan. 61, was arraigned Friday and pleaded not guilty. After a brief hearing, U. S. Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan ordered him held without bail as a flight risk and a danger to the community..

The indictment charges them wire fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy, and conducting a monetary transaction in criminally derived property.

In an FBI agent's affidavit supporting a criminal complaint filed Aug. 25, Raymond Brogan is alleged to have gained access to Joyce Guzman through his girlfriend, Carol Ann Damico, who is Guzman's half-sister.

Damico, 33, and Raymond Brogan were charged in the complaint and affidavit with stealing $195,350 in insurance benefits 21-year-old Iraq war veteran Kyle Guzman left his mother. The affidavit noted the couple had been living in Roseville with Robert Brogan, but he was not charged in the complaint.

Damico was absent from the indictment, which may mean she is negotiating a deal with prosecutors. A Dec. 1 preliminary hearing has been scheduled for her. She is free on bail.

Sacramento Police detectives are seeking James Johnson on a felony $15,000 bail arrest warrant for failing for the past four years to register as a sex offender, Sacramento Crime Alert officials report.

Johnson, also known as Jerry Tate and James Timmson, is described as 47 years old, 6-foot-1 weighing 275 pounds with brown eyes and black hair, officials report. His whereabouts are unknown.

Anyone with information about Johnson is urged to contact Crime Alert at (800) AA-CRIME or (916) 443-HELP. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

From Niesha Lofing:

Several child car seat safety events will be held throughout the Sacramento region beginning Saturday in recognition of National Child Passenger Safety Week.

Car seat technicians will be at various locations to ensure that child safety seats are properly installed as part of National Seat Check Saturday, according to the National Highway Traffic Administration.

The effort kicks off National Child Passenger Safety Week, which begins Sunday and lasts through Sept. 27.

Mercy San Juan Medical Center has partnered with the administration and state Office of Traffic and Safety and Department of Public Health to host a news conference today outlining the importance of child car seat safety. The hospital also will host one of the car seat inspection locations Saturday. The checkpoint will be is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the hospital, 6501 Coyle Ave. Call (916) 864-5779 for an appointment.

To find other car seat inspection locations, click here.

A quick search on the administration's Web site revealed 18 car seat inspection locations within 35 miles of the Bee's Sacramento office.

Car crashes are the leading killer of children, according to a Mercy news release.

In 2007, 139 children in California were killed and 13,987 were injured in car crashes, the release states.

According to the administration's research, 8,325 children 4 and younger have been saved by proper use of child restraints during the past 30 years.

In 2006, an estimated 425 children 4 and younger were saved by child restraint use.

From Niesha Lofing:

A Nevada County pharmacist was shocked Thursday evening when a man seemingly desperate for narcotic painkillers heaved concrete through the Pleasant Valley Pharmacy's glass front door then robbed the place.

Nevada County sheriff's deputies are looking for the suspect, who entered through the shattered door a gunpoint and made off with a stash of OxyContin.

The pharmacist was preparing to leave after closing the business at 7 p.m. when the suspect threw a piece of concrete block through the door at 7:20 p.m., a sheriff's news release states.

The man brandished a silver semi-automatic handgun and demanded all the pharmacy's OxyContin, a powerful Schedule II narcotic analgesic that has been illegally abused for 30 years, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The suspect received about 500 of the pills from the pharmacist then ran away.

He is described as white, 5-foot-10 and in his late teens or early 20s with a thin to medium build. He was wearing a dark-colored sweatshirt with the hood pulled over his head, a ski mask and dark jeans with an embroidered patch on one of the legs.

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's department at (530) 265-7880.

From Chelsea Phua:

Sacramento police have arrested a 37-year-old man on suspicion of shooting a 26-year-old man outside a midtown bar in December.

Jeffrey Reyes (left photo) was arrested Wednesday in connection with the attempted murder of Tyler O'Brien, who was shot several times, police said.

O'Brien and Reyes reportedly were involved in a fight that broke out between two groups of patrons inside the Press Club at 21st and P streets about 1:45 a.m. Dec. 29, police said.

Security escorted one group of about five men outside, where they waited until the bar closed.

When O'Brien and his friends were leaving the bar, another fight broke out, during which a member of Reyes' group was knocked out. Reyes then went to get a handgun from his vehicle and returned to shoot O'Brien, police said.

Search warrants were executed in Sacramento, Chico and Texas earlier this month in an investigation that lasted nine months and involved out-of-state and federal agencies.

From Denny Walsh:

Raymond James Dillon, a 46-year-old habitual law-breaker who savagely attacked two women in their Sacramento homes two years ago, was sentenced Thursday to 115 years to life in prison.

"The brutal and vicious nature of these crimes makes them especially heinous," said Sacramento County Deputy District Attorney Sheri Greco after the sentencing. "Thanks to the bravery of the victims and witnesses, this violent offender with a criminal history spanning almost 30 years will spend the rest of his life in prison."

Dillon had prior convictions for carjacking and burglary, making him a three-strike, 25-to-life candidate going into his trial in July.

After the four-week trial, a jury on Aug. 21 took barely 2 1/2 hours to return guilty verdicts on 12 counts. The panel found him guilty of robbery in the first degree, residential burglary, false imprisonment, battery with serious bodily injury, carjacking, elder abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, receiving stolen property, and stealing bank cards.

Both of the victims - ages 82 and 60 - were beaten severely and the crimes sent shivers of fear through their Curtis Park and east Sacramento neighborhoods.

"They were home alone and were especially vulnerable," said prosecutor Greco.

The two women were in court for Thursday's sentencing and made victim impact statements to Sacramento Superior Court Judge Gail D. Ohanesian.

Dillon and accomplice David Lawrence Keihl broke into the 60-year-old woman's home and physically assaulted her Aug. 30, 2006. She suffered a fractured back and eye orbital. One of the men held her down on the floor while the other disconnected her laptop computer.

When neighbors heard screams and went to check, the duo fled, dropping a hat, backpack, and stolen laptop. Items recovered at the scene were eventually traced to Dillon. The hat had his DNA on it.

The next day, Dillon by himself invaded the 82-year-old woman's home and repeatedly beat her, stole jewelry off her body, took her purse containing credit cards, tied her hands and feet with cloth, cut the phone line, and stole her car, leaving her for dead. She sustained a broken wrist and finger, cardiac contusion, and several head wounds from being hit with a metal pole.

A stolen bank card was traced to Dillon after the Sacramento Police Department released video surveillance of a woman who used it. She identified Dillon and led officers to his apartment, where bloody clothes were found. DNA tests determined the blood was from the 82-year-old victim.

Keihl, the accomplice in the first home invasion who also had a long criminal history and was a three-striker, was found guilty by a jury earlier this year and sentenced to 46 years to life.

From Sandy Louey:

Elk Grove police have uncovered another network of suburban houses used for growing marijuana.

In the latest raids, which took place Wednesday, police served warrants on 12 houses in Elk Grove and Sacramento. Five of the houses, all in Elk Grove, contained indoor marijuana-growing operations.

More than 2,000 marijuana plants were confiscated from the five houses. The largest numbers of plants were found at 8643 Maranello Drive, which had 560, and 9105 Four Seasons Drive, which had 520.

Twelve arrests were made and four suspects still are at large, said Officer Christopher Trim, spokesman for the Elk Grove Police Department.

The raid came a day after an investigation led by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration uncovered pot houses in El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park and Placerville. More than 1,500 marijuana plants were seized and five people have been charged in that case.

Click here to read Louey's full story and see where the homes are located.

From David Richie:

More than 4,000 marijuana plants were hauled out of an illegal marijuana garden Wednesday morning off Wentworth Springs Road, near Stumpy Meadows Reservoir, El Dorado County sheriff's detectives said today.

The 7:30 a.m. raid also involved state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement agents and police officers from a regional drug enforcement task force. The garden was spotted by sheriff's deputies doing aerial surveillance, said Sgt. Phil Chovanec, sheriff's office spokesman.

Two Mexican nationals, armed with loaded guns, were arrested, Chovanec said.

State narcotics enforcement agents took the suspects into custody and transported them to Sacramento.

Pot gardens also have been raided this summer in the Latrobe area and in the Eldorado National Forest near Ice House Reservoir.

Federal agents led a strike force earlier this week that attacked indoor growing operations in El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park and Placerville.

From Sandy Louey:

Elk Grove police arrested a man Wednesday night who allegedly snatched a woman's purse while she was dining at a McDonald's restaurant.

The incident occurred at 6:11 p.m. at the restaurant at 8710 Elk Grove Blvd. Nineteen-year-old Gerald Badua reportedly took the purse from a table. He then got into a Nissan truck driven by 18-year-old David Mock, according to a police report.

A witness who followed the speeding truck reportedly saw the woman's belongings being thrown out of the vehicle. Officers conducted a vehicle stop and found her remaining property in the truck, police said.

Both men were arrested on suspicion of grand theft. Badua also was arrested on suspicion of violating probation, while Mock was arrested on suspicion of being an accessory after the fact.

From Art Campos and Lakiesha McGhee:

Rocklin police have announced the arrest of a veteran Roseville teacher for allegedly molesting a minor in 2001 and 2006.

James Albert Hirleman, 48, a seventh-grade teacher at George Buljan Middle School in Roseville, was taken into custody at his Roseville home late Wednesday night and booked on suspicion of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child, the department reported today.

Police Lt. Lon Milka said the alleged crimes occurred at a residence and not at Hirleman's school. He said no other victims have been discovered.

Police were at Buljan Middle School on Thursday to examine computers that Hirleman had access to, said Richard Pierucci, superintendent of Roseville City School District.

Pierucci also said in a phone interview that Hirleman has been placed on unpaid leave because of the nature of the allegations. The alleged crime involved a former student of Buljan Middle School, he said.

The superintendent said he learned of the arrest Wednesday night and that he began informing staff members Thursday. The district early Thursday afternoon sent out a voice-recorded message to parents informing them of the recent situation, Pierucci said.

"Anytime there is a situation like this, it is shocking to all of us who work with youth," Pierucci said of the allegations.

Hirleman started working for the Roseville City School District 18 years ago as a teacher at Vencil Brown Elementary School. He most recently taught technology at Buljan Middle School, where he worked for the past 10 years, Pierucci said.

Rocklin police detectives made the arrest after investigating information provided from a previous arrest of another person in a local case, Milka said. The detectives pursued the case with the cooperation of Roseville police and the combined efforts of the Placer County Sheriff's Department, the Placer County District Attorney's Office and a county special investigation unit.

Hirleman was booked into the Placer County jail in Auburn and is being held on $100,000 bail, Milka said.

From Art Campos:

A man riding a stolen motorcycle in Placer County was killed Tuesday, apparently while trying to perform an 84-foot jump from one dirt hill to another, the California Highway Patrol reported.

Avery Landeros, 30, of Sacramento was found dead at 11:50 p.m. in the field east of the 8400 block of Pleasant Grove Road and west of Locust Road, the CHP reported. The accident site is in the Placer County area of Elverta.

CHP Officer Kelly Baraga said the incident occurred between 6:30 and 10:15 p.m. but the body was not found until just before midnight.

Officers have determined that Landeros apparently tried to jump from a dirt hill, sail over the 84-foot gap in a road and land on the dirt hill on the other side, Baraga said. However, the motorcycle struck the face of the second hill, ejecting the rider and causing the fatal injuries, she said.

The CHP is asking anyone who may have witnessed the accident to call (916) 663-3344.

Sacramento County Sheriff's Department personnel are seeking Donna Hayes (left photo) on a felony $75,000 bail arrest warrant for suspicion of inflicting serious injury to her spouse or cohabitant and having prior offenses of the same type, Sacramento Crime Alert officials report.

Hayes is described 42 years old, 5-foot-6 weighing 160 pounds with brown eyes and brown hair.

According to authorities, she was last known to reside in the 5400 block of Garfield Avenue in the Foothill Farms area of Sacramento.

Anyone with information about Hayes is urged to contact Crime Alert at (800) AA-CRIME or (916) 443-HELP. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

The Bee's Regional editions publish Public Safety Watch stories each Thursday. Here's a roundup of those stories and Police/Fire Logs, as compiled by Bee reporters:

Sacramento/North Sacramento/south Sacramento:
Sacramento woman arrested on suspicion of threatening witnesses
Police/Fire Log

Arden/Carmichael:
Security guards hurt chasing alleged shoplifter at Country Club Plaza
Police/Fire Log

Elk Grove/Laguna:
Text-message crime tips to assist city police
Police/Fire Log

Citrus Heights/Orangevale/Fair Oaks:
Red-light runners in Citrus Heights, say 'cheese'
Drive-through trip ends in Citrus Heights crash

Folsom:
Police/Fire Log

Rancho Cordova/Gold River:
Police/Fire Log

El Dorado County:
Placerville skate park to reopen under church supervision

South Placer:
Roseville police arrest three suspected of stealing catalytic converters
Police/Fire Log

From Chelsea Phua:

Authorities have arrested a Lodi man for allegedly defrauding nine San Joaquin and Sacramento county residents of at least $60,000 by posing as a licensed contractor.

Robert Lance Weaver (left photo), 38, whose contractor's license was suspended November 2007, is accused of taking money since January 2008 for landscaping projects that he never returned to do, investigators from the Contractors State License Board said. One incident happened in May 2007, said Heather Francis, a CSLB investigator. Among his victims are an 81-year-old man and a 72-year-old woman, she said.

"He would sign contracts, take the deposit and money for materials," Francis said. She said investigators believe he may have bilked more than nine people. Authorities encouraged anyone who has contracted with Weaver or has information about him to contact CSLB at (916) 255-4602 or send a fax to (916) 255-1959.

CSLB investigators and Lodi police officers arrested Weaver at his Lockeford residence Tuesday. He faces nine counts of grand theft, nine counts of contracting without a license and two counts of elder abuse, Francis said.

Weaver is already serving a five-year probation for July 2008 forgery conviction and is also facing felony animal cruelty charges after about 20 dogs and a steer on his property died from dehydration and neglect. Authorities rescued another seven dogs that were suffering from dehydration and malnutrition.

According to authorities, Weaver was a licensed contractor who operated Central Valley Backyards in Linden. His license was suspended last November because he did not have a contractors bond. The projects he promised his victims included patio covers and screened sun rooms.

Authorities caution consumers to be vigilant in checking their contractors' license status.

"Just because they give you a license number doesn't mean that license is in good standing," CSLB Registrar Steve Sands said.

Authorities advice consumers to ask for the contractor's plastic pocket license and photo identification, then go online at www.cslb.ca.gov or call the CSLB's automated phone system at 1-800-321-CSLB to verify the status of the license.

Here's a list of other tips from CSLB authorities:

• Don't rush into decisions and don't hire the first contractor who comes along.

• Be especially hesitant when approached by someone offering home improvement services door-to-door, especially when they will use material they claim is left over from another job.

• Get three references for each contractor and three bids.

• Make sure the contract for work to be done is in writing and that you understand all terms before you sign it.

• Never pay more than 10% or $1,000, whichever is less, as a down payment.

• Don't pay in cash, and don't let the payments get ahead of the work.

• Contact the CSLB if you have a complaint against a contractor.

From Niesha Lofing:

Galt police seek information about a gang-related fight that injured two people and led to a teenage boy's arrest.

Police received several 911 calls at about 5:36 p.m. Wednesday reporting that about 10 people were fighting in the 200 block of McFarland Street, a police news release states.

Police found two injured people at the location, one who had been stabbed in the shoulder and had to be taken to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.

Another person's arm had been cut by a thrown object, but he refused medical treatment, the release states.

Police, who determined that the fight was gang-related, arrested a teenage boy on an outstanding no-bail warrant after talking to him during the investigation, the release states.

The investigation continues, and anyone with information about the fight is asked to call police at (209) 366-7000.

From Art Campos:

Two suspected car thieves ventured into Roseville one too many times Tuesday and ended up behind bars, police reported.

The suspects apparently came into Roseville overnight Monday, stole a vehicle on Atwell Street and drove it to Sacramento County, police spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther said.

But they abandoned the vehicle there and stole another, driving back to Roseville, she said.

At 4:27 a.m. Tuesday, a citizen called police to the 1400 block of Lockhart Way to report that a vehicle burglary had just been interrupted and the culprits were driving away, Gunther said.

A responding officer stopped the suspects before they could leave the area, and two car stereos, wiring and burglar's tools were found inside the vehicle, she said.

The car stereos were matched to burglarized vehicles on Lockhart Way and Oakborough Avenue in Roseville, she said.

Booked on suspicion of auto theft, burglary, possession of stolen property, vandalism and possession of burglar's tools were Souyee Lao (left photo), 20, of Sacramento and Jesse Tang Xiong (right photo), 19, of Elverta. They are being held in the Placer County jail in Auburn on $20,000 bail each.

From Niesha Lofing:

The monetary reward for information about a midday sexual assault in Glenn Hall Park last month has grown.

Councilman Steve Cohn is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible for the crime, bringing the total reward pool to $3,000, Sgt. Matt Young said.

The River Park Neighborhood Association also is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the attacker's arrest, as is Crime Alert.

On Aug. 19, a teenage girl was walking along Sandburg Drive near the park at about 1 p.m. when a man approached her from behind and forced her into the women's public restroom, Young said.

The man sexually assaulted the girl and fled on foot, he said.

The assailant is described as a white man in his mid-40s, 5-foot-10, 160-to-170 pounds with medium-length brown hair, and a full, salt-and-pepper-colored beard. He was wearing a gray shirt with writing on the front, blue jeans and white tennis shoes. He spoke with a Southern accent and had a raspy voice. His appearance was dirty, and police believe he could have been transient, Young said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP. Callers may remain anonymous and still be eligible for the $3,000 reward.

Citrus Heights Police robbery detectives are seeking information leading to the identity of the person responsible for an armed robbery, Sacramento Crime Alert officials report.

At 1:14 p.m. Sept. 11, a man walked into a 7-Eleven store at 6882 Sunrise Blvd., grabbed a female customer and pointed a chrome-colored small-caliber revolver with a black handle to her neck, then at the cashier, authorities report.

The suspect fired a shot at the cashier during the robbery, in which he took money from the store, took the female victim's purse and fled in the female victim's car, authorities report.

The victim's stolen vehicle is a green 2002 Toyota 4-Runner, with tinted windows and California license plate No. 4VWX336.

Anyone with information about the robbery is urged to contact Crime Alert at (800) AA-CRIME or (916) 443-HELP. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

Scrap metal thieves continue to plague cemeteries, and in this case nearly netted a possible big payoff:

From the Orange County Register:

Copper headstones stolen from a Cypress cemetery were narrowly rescued from a recycling pile after thieves tried to turn the stolen goods into cold cash. The 90 missing headstones and tablets that disappeared from Forest Lawn cemetery are worth an estimated $108,000.

But cemetery officials who had ordered the headstones and stored them until they were needed had no idea the copper tablets were gone, said Sgt. Tom Bruce of the Cypress Police Department. A call from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department brought the bad news. Headstones traced to the cemetery had turned up at a Los Angeles recycling facility, Bruce said. A check of the cemetery's south maintenance yard revealed 90 headstones were gone.

Here's the full OCR story.

From Niesha Lofing:

A Sacramento postal clerk could face up to 35 years in prison and a $1 million fine after pleading guilty this week to embezzling more than $38,000 in U.S. postal funds.

Stephen Douglas Martin, 56, of Sacramento worked at the city's historic Metro Station Post Office at 801 I St. He has been a postal worker for 24 years, U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott's office stated in a news release.

As a postal clerk, Martin was responsible for counter transactions, post office money, meter stamp refunds, money order and reporting cash transactions into a daily record.

According to federal prosecutors, Martin stole $38,242.20 in U.S. Postal funds and money then submitted falsified daily records from June 2007 to March 2008.

Martin also made false entries into the Metro post office's point of sales system to decrease the amount of cash he needed to report on his daily record, the release states.

Martin pleaded guilty Tuesday morning before U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton to felony embezzlement of postal funds, theft of government money, making false reports on government accounting forms and theft of postal money orders, the release states.

Martin's sentence will be determined at the court's discretion during a Nov. 25 hearing. He could receive 35 years in prison and be forced to pay restitution and a $1 million fine.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service's Office of the Inspector General.

From Sandy Louey:

Thieves used a pickup truck in an unsuccessful attempt to steal an automated teller machine in Rancho Murieta over the weekend.

The incident took place at 3:50 a.m. Sunday when a security officer heard an alarm from the Rancho Murieta Country Store at 7175 Murieta Drive, said Greg Remson, security chief for the Rancho Murieta Community Services District.

Remson said the security officer who responded to the alarm found the store's window smashed out and a cable and chain wrapped around the ATM machine.

A store surveillance tape showed a pickup truck backing up to the door and a person throwing a rock through the glass door. The cable was attached to the rear of the truck, which tried twice to pull the ATM machine out without success since it was bolted to the ground, Remson said.

The incident was reported to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, which is investigating the attempted theft, he said.

There were two ATM thefts earlier this month. A vehicle was driven through the entrance of the Nimbus Winery shopping mall in Rancho Cordova on Sept. 4 and an ATM was stolen. An ATM also was reported stolen from the Folsom Premium Outlets in Folsom on Aug. 31.

From Sandy Louey:

Elk Grove police arrested two teenagers Monday for robbing a man of his iPod.

The incident took place at 3:01 p.m. at Babson Drive and Haack Way when two 16-year-old boys approached a man who was walking home from the bus stop. One boy headbutted the man and demanded his iPod, ripping it away from him, according to a police report.

The boys ran away, but officers and K-9 units set up a perimeter and found them hiding in residential back yards. They were arrested on suspicion of robbery, conspiracy and resisting arrest.

The man, whose iPod was found on a boy, received medical treatment for a laceration.

It was the second time in three days that teens were responsible for robberies involving iPods. Police Spokesman Christopher Trim said the two incidents weren't connected.

"These crimes are crimes of opportunity," he said.

Trim said the iPods are items that are easy to take. He reminded people to pay attention to their surroundings.

On Friday, three boys - age 14, 15, 16 - were arrested on suspicion of robbery and conspiracy for a robbery that occurred at 4:15 p.m. at Meadowspring Drive and Big Horn Boulevard.

A man was walking down Meadow Springs when the boys approached on bicycles. The boys came from behind and stole his iPod, cell phone, and wallet by force and the threat of physical violence.

The boys left on their bicycles, but officers found them near Shasta Creek and Old Creek drives, according to police.

From Andy Furillo:

Roberto P. Vellanoweth said he was sorry for the "terrible mishap" on "that fateful day," and he quoted the late Pope John Paul II about justice, love and mercy.

Then it was Sacramento Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette's turn. If justice, love and mercy were to be meted out Tuesday in his courtroom, Marlette made it very clear they would go to the friends and family of the four people Vellanoweth killed last year in a drunken driving rampage on South Land Park Drive.

"I think it's important," the judge began, "that everybody understand how offensive it is to the community and the court to call this a 'fateful' day, and to call this a 'mishap,' to treat this as if this was something that came down out of the sky and fell down on that family and devastated that family, to pretend that this is something some power had in store for this family."

With that, Marlette ripped into Vellanoweth in sentencing remarks that lasted 50 minutes. When the judge finished, Vellanoweth, 64, a once-prominent state executive and gubernatorial appointee, walked out of the courtroom in his jail-suit orange, chained wrists to waist, headlong into a maximum state prison term of 17 years and eight months.

Here is Furillo's full story.

From David Richie and Sam Stanton:

In a series of raids, federal agents and police targeted three indoor marijuana growing operations in El Dorado Hills and Placerville on Tuesday, serving eight search warrants and arresting six suspects in what was described as a "family-based" operation.

Indoor marijuana raids have become so common in quiet suburban neighborhoods of the region that they hardly merit headlines. But this operation was different, authorities say.

"This is a three-level home and backs up to an elementary school," Gordon Taylor, special agent in charge of the Sacramento office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said outside the home at 349 Arches Ave. "This is the first time we've seen this kind of operation in such a high-end neighborhood."

Here is the full Bee story.

From Denny Walsh:

The long-dormant docket in the prosecution of 11 men accused of plotting the violent overthrow of the communist regime in Laos sputtered to life Monday with the filing of defense motions seeking disclosure of government records.

Two motions ask U. S. Magistrate Judge Dale A. Drozd to order prosecutors to turn over grand jury records and any citizen complaints and findings of misconduct against the case's investigators.

The grand jury records sought generally relate to the procedural aspects of the impaneling and operation of the jury that indicted the defendants, as opposed to records relating to the substance of the jury's investigation.

A third motion asks Drozd to order all investigators' notes preserved.

The 10 Hmong and a retired Army lieutenant colonel were first charged June 4, 2007, in a criminal complaint, and later indicted by a federal grand jury in Sacramento.

Prosecutors have until Oct. 27 to respond to the motions, and defense lawyers will have until Nov. 19 to reply. A hearing before Drozd is set for Dec. 8.

From Sandy Louey:

Three teenage boys were arrested for allegedly burglarizing an Elk Grove home Sunday morning.

At 8 a.m., a witness saw the boys - age, 14, 15, and 17 - burglarizing a home in the 8700 block of Hopedale Court and leaving in a vehicle, according to a report from the Elk Grove Police Department.

A neighbor gave police the license plate of the vehicle, helping to assist in finding the culprits, said Officer Christopher Trim, spokesman for the police department.

Officers went to the home of the vehicle's registered owner in Sacramento where the boys, the vehicle, and the stolen property were found. All three were arrested on suspicion of burglary and taken to juvenile hall, according to police.

From Sandy Louey:

Elk Grove police arrested a 27-year-old mother for reportedly leaving her two young children alone Sunday night.

At 6:34 p.m., officers were called out to the 8900 block of Monterey Oaks Drive.

A person had called police after finding a 2-year-old boy in diapers in the middle of the street. When the person took the toddler inside the unlocked home, a 1-year-old girl was in her crib. No one was watching the children, according to Officer Christopher Trim, spokesman for the Elk Grove police.

Natasha Johnson, the children's mother, returned to the home 24 minutes after officers arrived. She was arrested on suspicion of endangering the life or health of a child and a warrant, police said.

Child Protective Services was notified and the children were released to relatives.

From Art Campos:

Three suspects were arrested Sunday in a Roseville store parking lot on suspicion of stealing catalytic converters from vehicles, police reported.

Police spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther said two Roseville city employees called 911 at 3:45 p.m. after noticing the suspects acting suspiciously.

They noticed the suspects looking at Toyota vehicles in one parking lot, then driving to a second parking lot where they began inspecting another Toyota vehicle, Gunther said.

When police arrived, they discovered three apparently stolen catalytic converters in the suspects' vehicle, Gunther said. The suspects were arrested on suspicion of grand theft, conspiracy, possession of stolen property and possession of methamphetamine, Gunther said.

Booked into the Placer County jail in Auburn were two men, Carlomagno Doctor Yasay, 37, and Oget Dimaano Mojica, 30, and a woman, Pang Shoua Xiong, 26. All are from Sacramento, Gunther said.

The theft of catalytic converters off Toyota vehicles has been a rampant crime throughout the Sacramento region, Gunther said. The thieves sell the metal parts to recyclers, she said. Replacing a catalytic converter can cost a victim from $500 to $1,000, she said.

From Bee Metro Staff:

Daryl Hale carries the memory of Mary Ourk in his heart, in his car, around his house and on his arm - more than a year after Ourk was killed in drive-by shooting near a midtown Sacramento nightclub.

"I also have her picture in my car and around my house," Hale said. "I miss her but I'm trying to stay positive."

And his left arm is covered with tattoos in memory of Ourk.

Homicide investigators say they have no new leads in the case, however, the Carole Sund Foundation has reauthorized a $5,000 reward for information, police said.

Ourk was with a group of friends the night of June 1 at The Empire nightclub near 15th and R streets. She left shortly before 2 a.m. June 2 in a car with a female friend.

As Ourk was driving south on 12th Street, a car behind her started honking. She pulled over near 12th and W streets, believing she knew the person in the honking car.

Then the car pulled up next to her. Someone inside fired a round into the car Ourk was driving, killing her. Shattered window glass slightly injured her passenger. The car with the shooter drove off.

Police ask anyone with information on this crime to call Crime Alert at 1-800-AA-CRIME or (916) 443-HELP.

From M.S. Enkoji:

Authorities said today that a serial rapist and home-invasion robber linked by physical evidence is terrorizing Natomas and the surrounding area.

They declined to specify what the evidence was that linked the armed man to four attacks that began with a June 22, 2007 attack near Truxel and San Juan roads. The latest attack was June 20 near the Watt and El Camino avenues.

The other attacks were on Aug. 15, 2007, near Truxel Road and south of West El Camino Avenue and June 1 west of Interstate 5 and north of San Juan Road.

A fifth home-invasion robbery on July 31, 2007 in the northern Sacramento County area is not linked by physical evidence, but investigators believe it could be related.

In two of the home invasions, the female victims were sexually assaulted. The robberies were between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the intruder entered the residences through open garage doors or by persuading the victim to open the front door.

The robber, armed with a handgun, took valuables and in two cases forced the women to drive to ATMs and withdraw funds.

Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and the Sacramento Police Department released two composite sketches drawn from two witness accounts. In the top left sketch, the suspect is described as age 18 to 25, 5-foot-10 to 6-feet weighing 190-200 pounds with dark complexion wearing a purple and black headband. In the other sketch, the suspect is described as 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-9, weighing 150-160 pounds wearing a white tank top/T-shirt and red nylon basketball shorts and black lace-up shoes.

Investigators for both departments are searching for other similar cases going back two years to find other possible links.

Anyone with information about the crimes can call the Sacramento Police Department at Crime Alert, (916) 443-HELP or (800) AA-Crime. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward up to $1,000.

From M.S. Enkoji, Art Campos and Niesha Lofing:

A six-year Sacramento Police patrolman is out on bail today after his arrest on charges that included indecent exposure, brandishing a firearm and suspicion of public drunkeness.

Jeffrey Wayne McKay, 34, of Rocklin, was arrested by Rocklin police Saturday after officers were called to Heron Court and Darby Road about a disturbance at about 10 p.m., a Rocklin police spokesman said.

Mckay's neighbors told police that McKay had made threats against them while loading a firearm in front of his home, according Rocklin Police Lt. Lon Milka.

The neighbors also said that McKay exposed himself by urinating on his front law, Milka said.

Officers then arrested McKay and recovered a handgun at the scene, he said.

McKay was also arrested for suspicion of public intoxication and making threats of physical harm to the victims.

McKay was booked into the Auburn jail and later freed on $15,000 bail.

Information about McKay's arraignment hearing was not available , a Placer County Superior Court clerk said.

McKay is assigned to the Metro Division, said Sacramento police spokesman Konrad Von Schoech.

He said an administrative investigation is under way and declined further comment.

From Niesha Lofing:

Sacramento County sheriff's deputies are looking for a man who wrecked his car trying to elude authorities, then escaped early this morning.

The incident began about 4:15 a.m. when deputies saw the man's vehicle on Interstate 80 near Elkhorn Boulevard, Sgt. Jeana Zwolinski said. The man, wanted in connection with a theft, tried to escape in his vehicle but crashed it. He then fled, jumping over a sound wall along the highway, she said.

Deputies set up a perimeter in the area and began searching for the man. A K-9 team was unable to locate the suspect. California Highway Patrol officers also responded to the scene.

Deputies searched for the man for several hours in an alley that runs along the freeway and in neighborhoods in the area of Shenandoah Drive and Spruce Avenue.

He was last seen running on Spruce Avenue, Zwolinski said.

The man is described as white, in his 30s, 5-foot-11, 200 pounds with brown hair and wearing a heavy, blue sweatshirt.

The suspect's vehicle was towed, she said.

From Jennifer Garza and Phillip Reese:

Four home invasions in the Natomas area have been linked to the same person, Sacramento law enforcement officials said.

The home invasions, which happened during a one-year period, have been linked by physical evidence, police said Sunday. Victims at two of the crimes were sexually assaulted.

Officials declined to release more information about the linking of several crimes until later today. Police and the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department will hold a joint news conference, scheduled at 10:30 a.m., to discuss the break-ins. Handouts with specifics and composite sketches of the suspect will be made available.

Natomas has been plagued by a rise in home invasions this year. Through July, police have responded to reports of 22 such crimes, more than double the 10 reported during the same period last year, police data show. About one-third of the home invasions were in North Natomas; the rest were in South Natomas. Most of the home invasions happened during a June spree.

Also, police have responded to 13 reports of sexual assaults in Natomas this year, roughly similar to the 14 sexual assaults reported by this time last year. Among the city's six police districts, only Natomas has not seen a significant drop in sexual assaults so far this year.

From Niesha Lofing:

A neo-Nazi skinhead was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his part in a 2005 attack on a Davis man.

Michael Rose, 28, received the sentence Friday from Yolo Superior Court Judge Kathleen M. White, who also presided over the convict's trial.

Rose and Christopher Vochatzer, both associated with a skinhead gang, attacked a man in a gang-motivated assault on April 4, 2005, a news release from Yolo County District Attorney Jeff W. Reisig's office states.

The two skinheads entered the Davis resident's apartment and Rose used a metal pipe to prevent two of the man's friends from stopping Vochatzer, who beat the victim with a baseball bat. The man was badly injured in the attack, the release states.

Rose and Vochatzer were retaliating against the man for wearing an anti-Nazi T-shirt.

Rose eluded law enforcement for nearly two years before being arrested in Montana in February 2007, the release states. A jury in March convicted him of assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, two counts of false imprisonment and two counts of exhibiting a deadly weapon.

The conviction included enhancements for gang association, prosecutors said earlier this year.

Vochatzer was convicted in 2006 and sentenced to 28 years in state prison for assault with a deadly weapon and other felonies.

From Kim Minugh:

Christopher Coleman didn't have his suspected killer's laptop or his money and it cost him his life, according to Sacramento Police said Friday.

Parnesh Singh, 39, was arrested at a relative's house Thursday night in connection with the Wednesday morning stabbing of Coleman, 39, police said.

Singh apparently was mad that Coleman no longer had the laptop Singh gave him as collateral for a loan months ago, nor did he give him the promised money, said Officer Michelle Lazark. So he allegedly stabbed Coleman multiple times at the man's Oak Park home and fled.

Coleman was pronounced dead at the UC Davis Medical Center.

Police are not sure how much money Singh wanted Coleman to loan him, or for what purpose. They said they just know that Singh gave Coleman a laptop to secure the loan before a stint in jail on an unrelated charge, Lazark said.

Upon returning from lockup, Singh went looking for his laptop. He arrived at Coleman's home Tuesday night and sent his girlfriend to the door to get the computer, Lazark said. Coleman apparently told her he didn't have the laptop, but to come back later.

The couple returned about 3 a.m. Wednesday and the girlfriend again approached the door - the victim and his assailant didn't get along, Lazark said.

"Our victim would not let Singh in," she said. "He didn't like him, he didn't want him coming anywhere near his property."

Singh's girlfriend went inside the house, and the two men argued over her cell phone, Lazark said.

Eventually, the argument spilled outside. Singh pulled out a knife, "slashes the victim a few times," and took off in his black Mercedes, Lazark

His girlfriend stayed and rendered aid to Coleman, alongside the victim's girlfriend.

"It's a tangled web," Lazark said.

Singh is scheduled to be arraigned Monday at 8:30 a.m.

From David Richie:

The third armed robbery in as many months at the American Food Store, 5682 Main Ave., Orangevale, had a different outcome Monday when Sacramento County sheriff's deputies, assisted by Folsom and Sacramento police, chased down and arrested two suspects.

Some information about the incident was released Thursday and Sgt. Tim Curran, sheriff's spokesman, identified the two men today as Andrew White, 23, of Stockton, and Antione Morrison, 27, of West Sacramento.

Both men are being held in Sacramento County Main Jail on suspicion of armed robbery with bail set at $1 million each. Jail records indicate that White also has a parole hold, making him ineligible for bail.

The incident in Orangevale about 10:15 p.m. Monday was similar to a robbery reported at the convenience store Aug. 28. Two men walked in, one of them armed with a sawed-off shotgun. A cashier and a customer were forced to the floor and robbed.

But, as the incident unfolded, a Folsom police cruiser rolled into the parking lot. The panicked suspects fled out the front door and jumped into a 2006 Honda CRV.

Deputies spotted the Honda and a high-speed chase ensued west on Highway 50 to 65th Street, then south on surface streets to Franklin Boulevard, where the suspects abandoned the vehicle and tried to flee.

They climbed over soundwalls and crossed Highway 99 before a sheriff's K-9 unit caught up with one and a sheriff's helicopter helped deputies locate the other, Curran said.

From David Richie:

A Citrus Heights police officer Wednesday morning tracked down and arrested a man who reportedly followed two girls, age 13 and 15, as they walked to school in the area around a private Christian academy near Van Maren Lane and Calvin Drive.

Kenneth Aaron White, 40, of North Highlands was subsequently arrested on suspicion of annoying or molesting a child under 18 and probation violation.

Police officials declined to discuss why he was on probation.

Court records indicate that White has a history as a sex offender. Most recently he was sentenced to 180 days in jail on April 3 after pleading no-contest to a felony charge of indecent exposure. Several additional misdemeanor counts of molesting or annoying a child were dropped during that case.

The girls called police on their cell phone after White followed them in his silver Ford Focus, stopped ahead of them several times and leered at them as they walked by, officials said.

Officers found him a short distance away and arrested him near the corner of Cessna Drive and Dolan Way.

White was still in jail Friday, deemed ineligible for bail.

From: Kim Minugh and Hudson Sangree

Woodland High School students were released from campus at noon today after the school received a threat believed to be related to violence earlier this week, authorities said.

Nearby Lee Middle and Freeman Elementary schools, as well as Pioneer High School, followed "modified lockdown" procedures in which access was limited, but students were not released early from any of those schools, according to officials.

Police also refuted rumors that any guns had been found.

"No guns have been located on any school campus here in the city of Woodland today," said Sgt. Derrek Kaff, Woodland Police spokesman.

He also confirmed that no violence had taken place and that all security measures were precautionary.

"They're just trying to be proactive and keep kids safe," Kaff said of school officials.

Accounts differ as to the nature of the threat to Woodland High School: Kaff said he had heard a student's parent received a bomb threat via voicemail, while students interviewed outside the school said a text message had circulated warning of a drive-by shooting.

Authorities believe the scare might be linked to an incident - apparently a fight - outside Cache Creek High School on Thursday and a drive-by shooting at a non-school location that injured a 16-year-old boy Tuesday.

That afternoon, occupants of two vehicles fired at juveniles congregated at Campbell Park on Thomas Street, Kaff said. The teen victim was transported to UC Davis Medical Center and his condition is stable.

Investigators believe that shooting to be gang-related, Kaff said. An arrested has been made in connection with that shooting.

Kaff said school officials were trying to head off any gang problems today by looking for students "wearing gang clothing or flashing gang signs and then dealing with them administratively as soon as they can."

Spc. James Roland Ambler III, along with Deanna Bogdan, his attorney from the public defender's office, are photographed Aug. 28 outside the Public Defender's office in Sacramento. Michael Rondou photo

From Andy Furillo:

An Army National Guard soldier pleaded no contest today to a reduced charge of reckless driving in the death of a friend who was killed in a traffic collision three years ago.

James Roland Ambler III agreed to serve 30 days in county jail for the accident in which 17-year-old Arcenio Kenneth Spann was killed on Oct. 2, 2005.

Ambler, 22, had initially been charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. A Sacramento Superior Court jury could not reach a verdict in the case. It voted 9-3 for guilt.

The case garnered some local attention when prosecutors filed a motion that was granted by a judge that barred Ambler from wearing his uniform during the trial.

Superior Court Judge Stacy Boulware Eurie ordered Ambler to begin serving his jail time on Oct. 6.

It was not clear today how the verdict will effect Ambler's scheduled to deployment later in the fall.

From Niesha Lofing:

Fire investigators say an early morning fire that destroyed a vacant state building was caused by arson.

The single-alarm fire was reported at 2:30 a.m. at the California Youth Authority facility at 3001 Ramona Avenue, west of Power Inn Road and south of Folsom Boulevard.

When firefighters arrived, they found the building engulfed in flames and had to cut through a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire to access the blaze, said Sacramento Fire Department Capt. Jim Doucette.

The building has been unoccupied for about five years, he said. University Enterprises Inc., which runs the nonprofit corporation of Sacramento State University and manages business for the school, now owns the building.

"Apparently the place has been shut down, with no power to it - just a vacant warehouse," Doucette said.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze and remained on scene for several hours.

Officials have not said the fire was intentionally set but called the blaze "definitely suspicious," Doucette said.

Anyone with information about who may have started the blaze is asked to call the fire department's arson tip line at (916) 808-8732.

Dozens of readers have commented on Ryan Lillis' "Police adding details on cuts" story in today's Bee. Here's one take on the story:

'It makes zero sense to be cutting a police force that is already below average in officers per capita and which is facing increasing crime due to the bad economy. Take the funds from less essential city departments. Or put those nonessential departments on a four-day work week. In times like these, everything must be done to preserve police patrols and fire stations.'

From the Associated Press:

Police are searching for a Modesto man charged with the murder of the head of San Francisco's Hells Angels chapter.

Authorities say 37-year-old Christopher Ablett is a member of the rival Mongols Motorcycle Club and has been identified by several witnesses as the man who shot 45-year-old Mark "Papa" Guardado last week in the Mission District.

San Francisco Homicide Inspector Karen Lynch says Ablett and Guardado argued on the street before the shooting.

Members of the Mongols and Hells Angels were involved in a fight at a Nevada casino in 2002 that claimed the lives of three bikers and injured more than a dozen others.

Here's the San Francisco Chronicle story that provides more details about the shooting and the feud between the Mongols and Hells Angels.

Sacramento Police Department detectives are seeking Nathaniel Ruben Hall (left photo) on a felony $50,000 bail arrest warrant for suspicion of pimping and procuring another person for purpose of prostitution, Sacramento Crime Alert officials report.

Hall is described as 22 years old, 6 feet tall, weighing 295 pounds with brown eyes and black hair.

Hall's whereabouts are unknown. According to officials, Hall frequents these areas: Armadale Way-Franklin Boulevard in the Valley Hi neighborhood of Sacramento, Bismarck Drive-Elkhorn Boulevard area of North Highlands and the Watt Avenue corridor in Sacramento County.

He was last seen driving a white Hyundai rental car.

Anyone with information about Hall is urged to contact Crime Alert at (800) AA-CRIME or (916) 443-HELP. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

By Chelsea Phua

A federal grand jury has indicted a 37-year old Orangevale man on two counts of receiving child pornography, according to U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott's office Thursday.

Federal prosecutors say Richard Duane Silva received depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct between June 24 and July 11. The indictment also states that Silva possessed child pornography Sept. 3.

Silva was also previously convicted in Sacramento Superior Court on April 24, 2006, for possessing child pornography.

For the first count, Silva faces no less than 15 years and up to 30 years in prison. For the second count, he faces no less than 10 years and up to 20 years. He could also face a life term of supervised release and a $250,000 fine for each count.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department Internet Crime Against Children Task Force investigated the case.

From Niesha Lofing:

Wondering if your child's car seat is installed properly?

Several law enforcement agencies have teamed to host a free child safety seat inspection today in Marysville.

The California Highway Patrol, Yuba City police and Yuba County Health Department are holding the car seat checkup event from 1 to 4 p.m. in the parking lot of Mervyn's, 202 D St., Marysville, a CHP news release states.

Car seats will be inspected by nationally-certified child safety seat technicians, who will ensure that car seats are installed properly, fits the child properly and does not have manufacturer recalls or other safety defects, the release states.

The inspection takes about 20 minutes.

A limited number of free seats will be available if participants needs to be replaced, the release states.

From Chelsea Phua:

A 20-year-old Sacramento man was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of negligently discharging a firearm, according to police.

Police received reports of a gunshot from a residence in the 2500 block of 37th Street about 9:20 p.m., according to Lt. James Hendrickson. Patrol units surrounded the area and attempted to contact the shooter.

Steve Stafford was arrested in the residence a short time later, Hendrickson said.

The lieutenant said Stafford appeared to have been intoxicated.

From Niesha Lofing:

A man who grabbed a woman by the neck, fired a handgun toward a store clerk, then robbed the place and escaped in the woman's car remains on the loose and sought by Citrus Heights police.

The suspect is described as white, 5-foot-10, with a thin build and light brown hair. He was last seen wearing a gray T-shirt and blue jeans and driving a green Toyota 4-Runner, with license plates 4VWX336, police said.

The assaults and robbery happened about 1:15 p.m. Thursday when the suspect walked into a 7-11 store in the 6800 block of Sunrise Boulevard.

From behind, he approached a woman who was paying for items at the counter, grabbed her by the neck and held a silver handgun to her head, police Sgt. Rich Wheaton stated in a news release.

The gunman demanded cash from the store clerk, and when the clerk didn't respond quickly, the suspect fired one shot toward the clerk, which didn't hit the employee, Wheaton stated.

The clerk gave an undisclosed amount of cash to the gunman, who grabbed the woman customer's purse and keys and fled.

The suspect stole the woman's vehicle, which was parked in front of the store, and drove away. He remains at large, a police dispatcher said early this morning.

Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at (916) 727-5839 or police dispatch at (916) 727-5500.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department has released a sketch of the suspect in a carjacking and sexual assault Sept. 5 on the border of unicorporated Sacramento County and Citrus Heights.

A woman reported that she was carjacked and sexually assaulted about 12:24 a.m. when a man forced his way into the woman's car at gunpoint near the intersection of Roseville Road and Antelope Road. The woman told investigators that the man took control of the vehicle and drove to a secluded location near Fair Oaks Boulevard and Old Auburn Road where he assaulted her.

She was left at that location and the man drove away in her car. It was located a short distance away.

The suspect is described as a white male adult in his early to mid 30s, about 5-feet-9-inches tall and weighing 150 pounds. He has a light colored mustache.

He was wearing a dark colored knit beanie with a brim, worn backwards, a plaid button-down shirt and dark pants.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the sheriff's sexual assault bureau at (916) 874-5070 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP. Callers can remain anonymous and might be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

From Denny Walsh

Oroville chiropractor Steven Horn has agreed to pay federal and state governments a total of $321,726 to settle a civil claim that he charged the Medi-Cal program for a lot more patient visits than the law allows.

The program covers up to two chiropractic visits a month for each beneficiary.

Horn, 52, charged Medi-Cal for more than 5,000 visits above the cap, despite his knowledge of the legal limit, according to Assistant U. S. Attorney Catherine Swann.

Medi-Cal is the state's version of the federal Medicaid program, created by Congress in 1965 to provide payments of medical expenses for low-income patients. In California, the program is funded half with federal funds and half with state funds.

Horn, who operates Chiropractic Health Clinics of California in Oroville, agreed to the settlement, but denies any wrongdoing, Swann said.

From Kim Minugh:

An 18-year-old Sacramento man was arrested Thursday in connection with the May shooting death of another 18-year-old man in Rancho Cordova, authorities said.

Victor Anthony Ortega is being held at the Sacramento County Jail on suspicion of fatally shooting Marcus Mayes on May 28, according to Sacramento County Sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran. Ortega already was in sheriff's custody on an unrelated matter.

Detectives are still searching for a second suspect, identified as a Hispanic male adult, 18 to 25 years old with black hair and brown eyes, Curran said. He is believed to be between 5-foot-9-inches and 5-foot-10 inches tall and weighing between 200 and 210 pounds.

Mayes was killed about 8:30 p.m. May 28 after a brief verbal fight with the two suspects. One of the suspects pulled out a handgun and shot Mayes.

Authorities believe the shooting was gang-related.

Detectives believe they know who the suspect is and are actively pursuing him, Curran said. Authorities implore him to turn himself in.

From Bee Correspondent Barbara Barte Osborn:

A 20-year-old man pleaded guilty Tuesday to felling century-old trees that stood on the shoreline of Davies Creek and Stampede Reservoir near Truckee.

John W. Clifton of Truckee and Sierraville pleaded to one count of depredation of government property before U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott.

Following an investigation by Tahoe National Forest officials, Clifton was accused of illegally felling at least three and possibly up to 33 pines averaging 100 to 125 years old and 100 feet tall.

In a plea agreement, Clifton agreed to pay $70,000 restitution for the loss of all 33 trees and for site rehabilitation in exchange for a sentence of five years probation and 500 hours of community service, according to the release.

Clifton is scheduled to be sentenced by Mendez on Dec. 2. If the proposed sentence is not accepted, he will have an opportunity to withdraw his guilty plea and proceed to trial, Scott said in the release.

The maximum penalty for the crime is 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, he said.

From Sandy Louey:

Two men were arrested Wednesday for allegedly burglarizing a vehicle and leading Elk Grove police on a short pursuit.

At 1:33 p.m., officers responded to a vehicle burglary in the parking lot of the Valley Hi Country Club, 9595 Franklin Blvd.

A witness reportedly saw two men leaving in a white Honda after a vehicle had been burglarized. The witness followed the pair, later identified as Todd Lucas, 32, and Luis Jimenez, 35, while waiting for police to arrive, according to a police report.

When officers initiated a vehicle stop, the men allegedly threw items from the car. Jimenez stopped the vehicle and Lucas exited and was detained. Jimenez drove away, but yielded to officers after a short pursuit.

A search of the vehicle revealed burglary tools and property belonging to the victim, officers said.

Lucas and Jimenez were arrested on suspicion of burglary, possession of burglary tools, receiving stolen property and for outstanding warrants.

Lucas also was arrested on suspicion of violating probation. Jimenez also was arrested on suspicion of attempting to evade a peace officer.

From Sandy Louey:

Elk Grove police arrested a 17-year-old boy Wednesday for allegedly breaking a man's car window and threatening him.

At 1 p.m., a man was stopped at Laguna Boulevard and Harbour Point Drive when the boy got out of a nearby vehicle, according to a police report.

The boy broke out the man's driver-side window with his fist, threatened him and tried to grab him. The man left in the vehicle and called police, the report said.

Police Spokesman Christopher Trim said the incident wasn't a random act and that the boy believed the man was responsible for an altercation last week involving someone he knew.

The boy, who was found at his home, was arrested on suspicion of threatening to commit a crime. He was taken to juvenile hall, police said.

From Niesha Lofing:

Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully has appointed a Sacramento police captain as the office's chief investigator.

Jeff Schiele (left photo), a 29-year veteran of the police department, currently is assigned to the police chief's office.

Schiele had held several positions at the police department, in his early career having served as a patrol officer and detective. When he was a sergeant, he supervised the department's Crank Rock Impact Program team, which was composed of officers from four different agencies, according to a news release by the district attorney's office.

During Schiele's time overseeing the CRIP program, the team was recognized as a model for multi-agency drug enforcement teams by the International Narcotics Enforcement Officers Association.

Schiele also worked for the department's internal affairs section as a sergeant and lieutenant. After he was promoted to captain, he became commander of the Special Investigations Division, where he oversaw 40 detectives in the narcotics, gang, vice and asset forfeiture units, the release states.

While directing that division, Schiele devised and oversaw expanding the gang unit to include more detectives, uniformed officers and strengthening interaction in schools to help combat heightening gang violence. Within one year, the strategy led to a 26 percent reduction in gang shootings, the release states.

Schiele also served as commander of the Kinney station in the north area of Sacramento from 2006 to 2008, overseeing 115 officers. While there, he worked to improve morale, public service and community relations, the release states.

From Niesha Lofing:

A Redding man is facing murder charges in a cold-case homicide after allegedly assaulting a woman who helped him bury the person he allegedly killed nearly 10 years ago.

A Redding woman contacted authorities in Largo, Fla., after Robert Glenn Temple, 58, allegedly threatened her and held a knife to her throat in front of their 3-year-old daughter on Aug. 25 at their home, Redding police said.

The woman told Pinellas County sheriff's detectives that she had moved to the Redding area with Temple in 2008.

She told detectives that she had information about the nearly decade-old killing and accused Temple of murdering his wife, Rosemary Christensen, 44, in Florida. The woman said she helped Temple clean the crime scene and bury Christensen's body in the north part of the state, police said.

Florida authorities contacted Redding police on Sept. 3 to aid in the investigation.

Redding police investigated the domestic violence incident and arrested Temple on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and criminal threats, police said. Temple is being held in the Shasta County Jail.

On Sunday, Pinellas County sheriff's detectives flew the woman to Florida so she could show them where Christensen's body was buried.

Detectives located the body Monday, buried on property owned by the Redding woman's father in north Florida, police said.

Pinellas County detectives Wednesday obtained an arrest warrant for Temple, accusing him of murdering Christensen on Aug. 26, 1999, police said.

Officer Tim Martin stopped his patrol car in the path of a Cadillac whose driver appeared to be having a seizure Tuesday. Photo courtesy of the Sacramento Police Department

' "I just didn't want anybody else to get hurt," he said. "I just thought I was doing my job." Spoken like a true hero; no hubris, just an "I did what needed to be done" attitude. Thank you, Officer Martin.'
-- nodeuce, commenting on Kim Minugh's "Police cruiser takes a hit to spare others" story in today's Bee.

From Cathy Locke:

Despite a name that conjures up images of Old West justice, Hangtown Hank (left photo, with Sgt. John Kunkle) represents the gentle side of law enforcement.

The newest member of the Placerville Police Department's K-9 team would rather kiss than bite.

Although he had yet to work his first case, the year-old black-and-tan American bloodhound was a hit with the public as he romped with children in City Park during last month's National Night Out celebration.

His partner, Sgt. John Kunkle, acknowledged that Hank is more laid-back than the average police dog.

Unlike most police K-9s, bloodhounds are bred and trained for tracking. Hank doesn't participate in daily patrol duty. Police Chief George Nielsen described him as a special-service dog.

Here is Locke's full story.

The Bee's Regional editions publish Public Safety Watch stories each Thursday. Here's a roundup of those stories and Police/Fire Logs, as compiled by Bee reporters:

Sacramento/North Sacramento/south Sacramento:
Man arrested after hit-and-run crash in east Sacramento
Police/Fire Log

Arden/Carmichael:
Man arrested on suspicion of stealing booze from Foothill Farms store
Police/Fire Log

Elk Grove/Laguna:
Police department invites residents to air concerns
Police/Fire Log

Citrus Heights/Orangevale/Fair Oaks:
Suspect sought in Citrus Heights carjacking, sexual assault
Police/Fire Log

Rancho Corodva:
Police/Fire Log

El Dorado County:
$460,000 in marijuana seized in Cameron Park

South Placer:
Roseville bike riders need to brush up on rules of the road
Police/Fire Log

From Niesha Lofing:

A Sacramento man is facing a year in jail and hefty fines after conducting a real estate scam using the popular Craigslist Web site.

Michael Eugene Blair (left photo), 28, pleaded guilty Wednesday to multiple counts of theft by false pretense, Sacramento police Sgt. Matt Young said.

Blair was arrested in May by the department's Real Estate Fraud Unit after they learned he was renting out a property he didn't own.

Blair used the Craigslist Web site to advertise that he was renting out a north Natomas condominium. Blair had lived in the condo and was being evicted, Young said.

The man pretended to be the property's owner and collected thousands of dollars in security deposits and rent from at least four victims. He was in the midst of defrauding other people when he was arrested.

Police learned of the fraud when a potential tenant, who had heard of similar scams, contacted the Sacramento County Assessor's Office and learned that Blair didn't own the condo, Young said.

When detectives contacted the condo's true owner, they were told that all the checks Blair wrote to pay the rent had bounced and he was being evicted.

Blair also is awaiting extradition to Colorado, where he faces additional fraud charges. He is on probation in Florida for theft-related crimes and has an outstanding probation violation there, Young said.

As part of Blair's plea agreement in Sacramento, he will serve a year in jail and pay restitution to his victims.

The police department continues to receive similar complaints from residents in regard to advertising scams on Craigslist.

Police suggest that anyone who uses the site to locate rental property should also use reputable rental agencies and check with the county's assessor's office, Young said.

People also are advised not to pay in cash and to obtain identification from the person with whom they are doing business.

Sacramento County Sheriff's Department robbery detectives are seeking help in identifying a home-invasion robbery suspect, Sacramento Crime Alert officials report.

According to authorities, the suspect, armed with a knife, entered a residence early Aug. 23 in the 9200 block of Linda Rio Drive, northeast of Folsom Boulevard and Mayhew Drive in Sacramento, through an unlocked window.

The 28-year-old male resident of the home awoke and confronted the suspect. The suspect stabbed the victim in the upper body before fleeing, authorities said. The victim was seriously injured and was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

This suspect may have also committed an armed robbery of another victim while walking through nearby Larchmont Park before the attempted home-invasion robbery, officials said.

The stabbing victim assisted the Sheriff's Department complete a composite sketch (at left) of the suspect, who is described as a Hispanic male age 20 to 30. He is 5-foot-8, weighs between 160 and 170 pounds, has short brown hair and was wearing a dark-colored baseball cap.

Anyone with information about the incident or the suspect is urged to contact Crime Alert at (800) AA-CRIME or (916) 443-HELP. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

From Phillip Reese, via The Bee's Public Eye column:

The northern Sacramento County community of Antelope has lately been afflicted by a string of robberies. From January through August, deputies responded to 45 Antelope robberies, according to a Bee analysis of crime data. Half occurred in the last two months.

By this time last year, deputies had responded to 35 robberies in Antelope.

The trend is noteworthy because robberies have plummeted elsewhere in the unincorporated county. From January 2007 through July 2007, there were 977 robberies in the sheriff's jurisdiction. During the same period this year, there were 725.

Use The Bee's Crimemapper for a view of crime in your area.

The column also details how to avoid being scammed by fake utility workers.

From Andy Furillo:

A Sacramento jury returned a first-degree murder conviction Wednesday against a 16-year-old Sacramento youth in a case the prosecution said was gang-related.

Jamil Rashawn Stevens, who was tried as an adult, was found guilty in the Jan. 17, 2007, shooting death of Lamar Pierre Gasaway in south Sacramento.

Stevens was 14 when he shot and killed the 17-year-old victim.

According to trial testimony, Gasaway and Stevens got into a confrontation about their gang affiliations when they ran into each other at a convenience store on Florin Road.

Gasaway then began punching Stevens in the face, and Stevens responded by producing a revolver and shooting and killing Gasaway when he tried to run away.

Superior Court Judge Michael Savage scheduled Stevens' sentencing for Nov. 7. The defendant faces a term of 25 years to life in prison.

From David Richie:

Citrus Heights police announced the arrest today of a bank robbery suspect who liked to work within walking or running distance from his home.

The Bank of America at 7965 Auburn Blvd. near Grand Oaks Boulevard was robbed about 9:11 a.m. Saturday by a man who walked in, put a black, semi-automatic handgun on the counter and demanded cash, officials said. The suspect was last seen running east toward Cripple Creek Road, a side street that cuts into Auburn Boulevard just around the corner from the bank.

Local police and FBI agents interviewed numerous witnesses and reviewed surveillance video that helped them identify Richard Romond Moffett (left photo), 34, as their prime suspect.

"Based on his direction of travel, we conducted a neighborhood canvas with the surveillance photos," said Lt. Thomas Chaplin, of the Citrus Heights police special investigations unit.

Investigators tracked Moffett to his house in the 7500 block of Cripple Creek Road, where he was taken into custody just after noon Wednesday, officials said.

From Art Campos:

The Placer County District Attorney's Office is trying to determine whether to file charges against a woman who allegedly stabbed a former judge in the back of the neck during a dispute at their Auburn home.

The alleged attack Sept. 2 was made on Robert A. Young, a longtime defense attorney who served as a Placer Justice Court judge from 1977 to 1982.

The Placer County Sheriff's Department reported that the victim was treated at a local hospital for a "non-life threatening" wound and released.

Reached at his home today, Young, 67, downplayed the incident, saying it was a "misunderstanding."

"There was no harm done," he said. "Everything is cool."

Sheriff's Lt. Jeffrey Ausnow said officers arrested Noel Brady, 41, after responding to a domestic dispute call at 11:40 p.m. on Haines Road. She was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and of inflicting corporal injury on a spouse, he said.

Brady was released on her own recognizance from the Placer County jail Sept. 4 pending further investigation, Ausnow said.

From Jennifer K. Morita:

A Rocklin man arrested Friday for allegedly being naked while chasing a man and two teenage boys at a park has been linked to a second incident, police said today.

Keith Fonti, 34, was booked on suspicion of indecent exposure in Friday's incident and later released from Placer County jail on his own recognizance, police said.

Shortly before 11:20 p.m. Friday, a man and two 17-year-old boys were talking in Rocklin's Whitney Community Park, when a naked man walked up to them and asked if they wanted to play, according to a police news release.

The victims, who ran for their vehicle, were chased by the man before he ran off in another direction.

Police searched the area in and around the park and found Fonti acting suspiciously, although he was clothed. He was arrested after the victims identified him as the man who had chased them.

The earlier incident occurred at the park about 11 p.m. Aug. 23, Rocklin police Lt. Lon Milka said.

A man and woman sitting together on a park bench were approached by a naked man who asked if he could stay around them.

Milka said police have asked that Fonti also face charges for indecent exposure in the Aug. 23 incident.

Anyone who has been a victim of indecent exposure at Whitney Community Park area should call Detective Sgt. Scott Horrillo at (916) 625-5443.

From Sandy Louey:

You can now text your crime tips to the Elk Grove Police Department.

The department rolled out its program Wednesday, which uses a text messaging technology program called TipSoft.

More than 150 police departments, crime alert and crime prevention programs from around the nation and Canada are using the service, including the Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles police departments, according to Anderson Software, which developed TipSoft.

With the growing popularity of text messaging, this is another way that people can help the police while protecting their identity, said Officer Christopher Trim, spokesman for the department.

Text message tips sent to the system are encrypted, so the user's information is removed. The hope is that people who may have heard or witnessed something will be more comfortable providing information since they can't be tracked down, he said.

"A lot of people are just afraid," Trim said.

The user is given an alias and a unique ID before the information goes to the police. The anonymity is two-way so if law enforcement wants more information, they can reply to the text, Trim said.

The text message tips should be used to let police know about non-urgent criminal activity such as unsolved cases, vandalism, graffiti, theft and narcotics.

To send tips enter CRIMES (274637) on their cell phones. Type Tip732, followed by the message.

The text message tips is not a replacement for phoning the police, especially if a crime is in progress, he said.

Trim said the text message tips will be funneled to personnel in the detective bureau. They will forward the tips to the appropriate person to follow up.

The service will cost the department about $100 a month, Trim said.

From the Associated Press:

A prominent Redding attorney who was about to face charges that he embezzled from his clients has died of a gunshot wound to the chest.

Redding police say they are investigating the death on Tuesday of 66-year-old Franklin Cibula.

The colorful attorney and Democratic Party activist surrendered his state bar membership in February, avoiding disciplinary action.

Here's an expanded story about Cibula by the Redding Record Searchlight.

From Niesha Lofing:

A Gold River salon is offering free haircuts and discounts on other spa services to local police, firefighters and military personnel today and Thursday.

Mane Attraction Salon & Spa is offering the complimentary services from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and Thursday as part of its second Heroes Appreciation Salon Spa Day.

Law enforcement, fire and military personnel who go to the salon in uniform will receive a free haircut. Those not in uniform, but who can provide proof of employment, will receive 50 percent off their haircut.

The salon, which is an Aveda Concept SalonSpa, also is offering 50 percent off all its treatments during the event, including facials, waxing, hair color and massages.

Carrie Martin, one of the salon's owners, said they began the event last year as a way to show their appreciation to the men and women who work to keep the community safe.

The salon has many clients who are in that line of work. Several salon staff members also have family who are sworn public servants, she said.

"It's just something nice to give back to the community," Martin said.

The salon is at 11226 Gold Express Drive, Suite 204.

Walk-ins are welcome, but appointments are preferred. To make an appointment or for questions, call (916) 631-7151.

The Bee's exclusive"Painful police cuts loom" story, in which the Sacramento Police Department is proposing service cuts to help the city close its massive budget, is drawing dozens of comments on sacbee.com. Here are two:

'Reduce base salaries, overtime and pensions to what police officers earn in other states. There is no need to reduce the number of officers. Any officers who do not want to accept a reduction in salary and pension benefits can be replaced.'