West Sacramento Police arrested a man accused of robbing the First Northern Bank on Wednesday afternoon after a dye pack included with the stolen money exploded.
An armed man entered the First Northern Bank in West Sacramento about 3 p.m. and demanded money from the cashier, according to a Police Department news release. The man - who police allege was Hubert Rotteveel, 47 - left the bank and was captured as he fled the area.
Police said the dye pack had exploded, covering areas of the man's body with dye. Both the money and the gun were recovered.
During the investigation, police learned that Rotteveel matched the description of the suspect in two other banked robberies, one of which occurred earlier in the day in Woodland.
The other occurred in Vacaville. Police said an investigation is being conducted to determine whether the crimes are linked.
Anyone with information pertaining to the investigation is asked to call West Sacramento Police Dispatch at (916) 375-6474.
A West Sacramento man has been arrested on a fugitive warrant from New Hampshire, alleging he caused an apartment fire in 1989 that killed four family members.
New Hampshire Attorney General Michael Delaney said Wednesday evening that 53-year-old David McLeod (photo left) had been arrested on four counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Carl Hina, his wife Lori, their 4-month-old daughter Lillian, and Carl Hina's 12-year-old daughter Sara.
The medical examiner ruled all four victims died from smoke inhalation after the Jan. 14, 1989 fire on High Street in Keene.
Delaney said McLeod was arrested Wednesday in West Sacramento, where he has lived for 15 years and had a family.
McLeod is in the Yolo County jail tonight after being arranged earlier in the Yolo County Superior Court on the New Hampshire charges. However, McLeod is fighting extradition.
Marion Meyer, who lives several houses away from the McLeod residence in West Sacramento, said she didn't know the family well but sometiems the McLeod children would "come over to swim." She said she didn't think David McLeod was employed.
Earlier, two adult women shooed TV camera crews away from the McLeod residence. They said they didn't want to talk to the media. One woman sprayed water from a bottle on the crews.
Sacramento will receive nearly $1 million in funds aimed at helping potential offenders stay off the streets and in jobs, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced today.
The competitive grants are being awarded as part of the California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention initiative aimed at stemming street violence. The program started in 2007.
Receiving the grants - about $490,000 each - are the Sacramento Employment Training Agency and the Sacramento Regional Conservation Corps, according to a news release from the governor's office.
In March, Schwarzenegger announced that Sacramento would be receiving almost $383,000 in funds to target gang violence at the local level.
That money is helping fund the "Safe Community Partnership," based on the "cease-fire strategy" used in other U.S. cities, which is expected to launch in September.
That effort involves identifying the worst youth offenders and offering them a choice: Take advantage of community resources to lead a better life, and face a crackdown by local law enforcement.
The strategy will be focused on the Sacramento communities of Del Paso Heights and Oak Park and the Mack Road corridor west of Highway 99.
The grants announced today are intended to expand education, job training and placement programs for at-risk youth. The statewide grants total $7.6 million.
Q: At least 10 years ago a waitress in the Pocket named Dawn was kidnapped and murdered. What is the status of the matter? - Anonymous, Sacramento
A: Semanulepoto Milo, now 48, was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole and 25-years-to-life on April 24, 2000, for the killing of Dawn Marie Perrigo (photo left), 21, according to court records and Bee reports.
Milo was convicted of the Oct. 11, 1998, robbery and gunshot slaying of Perrigo, a clerk at the Earthgrains Baking Co.'s thrift shop. Her body was discovered in the women's restroom at the store on Wilbur Way near Gerber Road in south Sacramento.
She had been shot five times by Milo's 9 mm Glock pistol, and about $430 was missing from the bakery's cash register, according to the probation report.
Investigators were directed toward Milo by employees who remembered that the company driver sometimes slept in his car outside the store when he was "having trouble at home," using the bathroom to take sponge baths.
He had his own key to the facility, the report said, and there was no indication there had been a break-in.
With a record of two prior convictions in 1986 and three additional arrests in 1990 and 1991, Milo was a suspect for several months before he was arrested on suspicion of murder on March 17, 1999.
By that time, experts had matched hammer and ejection marks made by Milo's gun to shells found at the homicide scene.
Milo initially denied owning a 9 mm weapon but ultimately turned the Glock over to police with the barrel replaced, apparently in an attempt to thwart a ballistics comparison.
A cheaper, after-market barrel produced in Korea had replaced the Glock's original barrel, and it had been crudely painted black to match, the probation report said. Some of the new paint jammed the gun's mechanism, causing it to misfire when tested.
Milo continued to deny responsibility for the killing. He told probation officers, "I know for a fact I am innocent."
Evidence produced at trial suggested that Milo persuaded a former jail mate to testify on his behalf by promising the inmate a rendezvous with his sister-in-law in Hawaii.
Jurors rejected the inmate's testimony as a fabrication concocted by Milo, and the inmate subsequently recanted, admitting to investigators that his story was a lie, the report stated.
Judge John V. Stroud, who presided over Milo's trial, pronounced the sentence, imposing the mandated life-without-parole for murder committed during a robbery plus 25 years to life, to be served consecutively, for the use of a firearm causing death.
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A jury has failed to reach a verdict in the murder trial of a man accused of shooting a woman to death who stumbled up to a doorstep and died of gunshot wounds in unincorporated south Sacramento County six years ago.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Roland L. Candee declared a mistrial Monday and has scheduled a hearing for July 19 on whether prosecutors will retry Christopher Brian Rogers for the Nov. 25, 2004, killing of Juanita Johnson.
After six days of deliberations, jurors told Candee on Monday that they could not reach a unanimous verdict on Rogers, 36. The panel was split 8-4 in favor of guilt, court officials said.
Rogers was booked last October on suspicion of murder in the death of the 44-year-old Johnson. Authorities said his DNA matched semen samples taken from the slain woman's body.
Rogers admitted that he had sex with Johnson in the hours before her body was found in the 3900 block of 43rd Avenue. But the defendant denied that he shot and killed the woman.
Two female teenagers and a young man were shot during a drive-by shooting in Del Paso Heights late Tuesday night. And police suspect they might have prevented a retaliatory shooting afterward by arresting four suspects and seizing two guns, according to authorities.
Police were called to the 3200 block of Western Avenue shortly after 11 p.m. after receiving calls of a shooting. There, they found three victims: a 15-year-old female, a 16-year-old female, and a 21-year-old man, said Officer Konrad von Schoech.
None of the injuries were life-threatening, he said.
The three victims had been hanging out in the home's front yard when an unknown car drove by, with at least one occupant firing shots, von Schoech said.
Police have not yet identified a motive for the shooting.
One witness told police a blue Chevrolet Avalanche was seen leaving the area shortly after the shooting, von Schoech said. Officers located the car nearby, and found four young men inside who turned out to be associated with the home where the others were shot, he said.
The car's occupants were out looking for the shooters, von Schoech said.
Inside the car, police found two guns, von Schoech said. All four of the car's occupants - ages 16, 17, 28, and 34 - were arrested on various charges, including attempted assault, possessing a loaded firearm in a public place and conspiracy.
Police have not collected clear suspect descriptions in the drive-by, or a description of the car used, von Schoech said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP.
A Sacramento fire station was shot at sometime Tuesday, although nobody was hurt, according to authorities.
Firefighters returned to Station 16 on 24th Street, south of Florin Road, after a call and realized the building had been shot, according to city fire spokesman Capt. Jim Doucette.
They made the discovery just before 5:30 p.m. However, authorities suspect the shooting occurred sometime in the previous 24 hours, said police Sgt. Norm Leong.
It's unclear whether the station was the actual target, but Doucette said firefighters at the station haven't had any issues in the neighborhood recently.
He said it's not the first time a firehouse has been hit by bullets.
A Sacramento Superior Court jury today convicted Calvin Lynn of first-degree murder in the baseball bat-beating death of his brother, Lawrence Dean Lynn, nearly three years ago in a dispute over the control of their boyhood home.
The panel reached its verdict to conclude deliberations that began Monday. Prosecutors said Calvin Lynn (photo left), 51, had argued with his brother over the Del Paso Heights single-family residence left to them by their late mother.
Lawrence Lynn's body was found Aug. 22, 2007, in the yard of another house in the neighborhood. Authorities said his brother wrapped the body in blankets and dumped it there after the bludgeon killing in the Dry Creek Road residence.
Judge Kevin J. McCormick scheduled Lynn's sentencing for July 30.
A man who tried to climb up a Fair Oaks river bluff last night only made it half way and had to be rescued by firefighters.
Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District firefighters were called about midnight to assist Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies in rescuing the man who attempted to climb from the water up the bluff near the old Fair Oaks bridge.
The 40-year-old man had been stuck for about eight hours about 100 feet up from the American River. It is not known why he tried to climb the cliff.
Firefighters lowered from the top of the cliff with ropes, hooked the man into a safety line and lowered him into an awaiting Sac Metro boat.
Sac Metro Assistant Chief Brian Rice said that the man was dehydrated and had suffered some scrapes, but was otherwise uninjured.
A Sacramento woman who pleaded guilty to robbing a Citrus Heights bank has been sentenced to 22 months in prison.
U.S. District Court Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. on Monday also sentenced Yuliya Stepanisko, 21, to three years of supervised release and ordered her to pay $1,740 in restitution, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.
On Oct. 17, 2008, Stepanisko robbed the Washington Mutual Bank at 5801 Sunrise Blvd. According to court documents, she presented a note demanding money and warning the teller not to give her tracking devices or to summon police.
She surrendered to law enforcement officers later that day, claiming unidentified men forced her to commit the robbery.
Stepanisko later retracted that claim, however, and confessed to robbing the bank. She pleaded guilty on Nov. 30, 2009 to committing the bank robbery and to a single count of lying to federal agents.
Stepanisko was ordered to surrender to the U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Bureau of Prisons on Aug. 6 to begin serving her sentence.
Sacramento police are looking for suspects in the shooting of two men on a north Sacramento street in what might have been fallout from an earlier dispute, according to authorities.
One of the men, who was shot in the torso in the shooting Monday, was the likely target, according to a Sacramento police report. The other man, who was shot in the leg, likely was an innocent bystander who tried to run away.
Both injuries were non-life-threatening, said police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong.
The incident came to the attention of police about 10:30 p.m., after they responded to a call of a man shot in the 2000 block of San Juan Road, the report states. They located the victim, a man in his 30s, and he was transported to a local hospital.
Just before that call, police had been alerted to a man shot in the leg near the 600 block of Las Palmas Avenue.
Investigating officers learned that the San Juan victim actually had been shot on Las Palmas in the same shooting that injured the other man, also in his 30s.
The man who was the likely target told police the shooting might have stemmed from an earlier argument he had with other neighbors, Leong said. No suspect descriptions were available.
A 26-year-old woman who died in a crash Monday morning on Interstate 80 in the Sierra Nevada has been identified by the Nevada County Coroner's Office as Ruby Navarette of Stockton.
The crash occurred at 5:30 a.m. on westbound I-80 just west of Eagle Lakes Road and east of Emigrant Gap.
A California Highway Patrol spokesman said the driver, Navarette, was ejected from the car when it rolled in the dirt center divider area. Navarette was not wearing her seatbelt was thrown 75 feet from the car, the CHP said. Her male passenger was wearing a seatbelt and suffered only moderate injuries.
Witnesses reported that the car swerved several times before leaving the roadway. The CHP is looking into whether Navarette might have fallen asleep at the wheel.
A Sacramento Superior Court jury convicted two men of second-degree murder Tuesday in the beating death of their uncle two years ago.
Jason DeWayne Shepherd, 27, and Shawn Christophe Shepherd, 25, face at least 15-years-to-life prison terms in the May 6, 2008, killing of their uncle David Bryan Bishop, 47.
Jurors found that Jayson Shepherd beat Bishop to death with a baseball bat because he suspected his uncle of stealing his girlfriend's underwear.
Shawn Shepherd, meanwhile, was charged in the case for helping his brother tie up Bishop after the beating and then assisting him in disposing of the body by dumping it in a creek outside Jackpot, Nev.
Beside the murder, the Shepherds also were convicted of identity theft and forgery in connection with case.
Jason Shepherd also was convicted of second-degree commercial burglary. Shaw Shepherd was acquitted on that charge.
Judge James L. Long scheduled their sentencing for July 27.
Luciana Harmath, once a contract Romanian interpreter for a now-defunct Sacramento law firm, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court to four months in prison for her role as a conspirator in a years-long, massive asylum fraud.
U. S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. also imposed a $4,000 fine and ordered Harmath to serve four months of home detention following her release.
The judge acknowledged to Harmath that her punishment is "not a heavy sentence in light of what you did," but noted she is a new mother and will likely be deported.
On the other hand, Damrell told her, "You can't just walk away. I am not going to allow it."
A year ago, a jury found Harmath, three attorneys, and another Romanian interpreter guilty of conspiring to secure asylum status in the United States for their clients through the use of false statements on applications and supporting papers and in hearings before officers of the U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The four other defendants are scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 24.
Twice last week, suspects claimed they were undercover cops while committing crimes in Sacramento County, according to authorities.
Both incidents occurred Friday on Walnut Avenue, according to crime summaries provided by the Sheriff's Department.
In the first incident, a 28-year-old man was confronted by a suspect after he parked his vehicle in a parking lot in the 6200 block of Walnut Avenue. The suspect was in plain clothes and driving a Honda Accord, one report states.
The victim told deputies that the suspect, later identified by deputies as 29-year-old Matthew Davis, identified himself as a police officer and flashed a pocket calendar he hoped the victim would think was a badge, according to the report.
Davis allegedly led the suspect to the side of the car and repeated that he was a law enforcement officer and that the victim was under arrest, the report states. However, the victim was able to get away, write down the suspect's license plate number and call authorities from a nearby store.
Deputies contacted Davis at his home and arrested him on suspicion of false imprisonment and impersonating a peace officer, according to the report.
Almost four hours later, an unknown suspect knocked on the door of a home in the 5500 block of Walnut and, after identifying himself as an undercover police officer, forced his way inside the home, another report states.
The suspect went to a back bedroom and took money before leaving the home, again identifying himself as a cop. According to the report, the victim described the man as being 35 to 45 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing about 170 pounds. He had black hair.
Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran said all deputies - including those working undercover - are required to carry their badge as well as their department-issued ID card.
Anyone unsure of a deputy's legitimacy can ask to see both items, Curran said. The ID card has the department's logo as well as the signature of Sheriff John McGinness.
"And if they fail to produce it, they can call 911 and ask for watch supervisor," Curran said.
A white, middle-aged couple were each sentenced Tuesday in Sacramento to 18 months in federal prison in connection with their brutal beating of a man at a South Lake Tahoe beach because of his ethnicity and the color of his skin.
Georgia Silva, 52, and her husband, Joseph Silva, 56, were found guilty in March by a jury of violating the civil rights of Vishal Wadhwa, a 40-year-old native of India, by interfering with his right to be in a public area.
Wadhwa testified the Silvas set upon him in a picnic area adjacent to the beach on July 14, 2007, after he questioned them about a racial slur allegedly hurled by Georgia Silva at Ayesha Matthews, then Wadhwa's fiancé and now his wife.
In addition to the prison terms, U. S. District Judge John A. Mendez ordered that the Silvas, who he said are alcoholics, undergo outpatient treatment for substance abuse and "mental health issues" as part of three years on probation after their release. He also ordered that the mental health treatment include "counseling on race relations and tolerance of other races."
"Frankly, my biggest concern is their intolerance of people who don't look like them," Mendez said.
At one point during the hearing, the judge mused that the Silvas' crime, which he said was one of violence, is at least as serious as many drug-related crimes, "and yet, here we are talking about months instead of life" in prison.
A wanted sex offender surrendered today, saying he couldn't deal with the pressure from media coverage of his wanted status, authorities said.
Marco Arturo Quintero, 29, called Sacramento County sheriff's detectives and said he wanted to turn himself in, said sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran. He later was arrested and booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on suspicion of failing to register as a sex offender, booking records show.
He is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Detectives were seeking Quintero, a standup comedian who performs in Sacramento-area comedy clubs, because he had failed to register his new address.
The California attorney general's web site shows that Quintero was convicted of oral copulation with a person under 16 years of age and has been in violation of sex offender registration requirements since Dec. 31, 2009.
Quintero is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
El Dorado County sheriff's deputies say the shooting of a man driving in Cameron Park was not a random act.
A man reported that he was driving north on Cameron Park Drive at 2 p.m. Monday when he was shot in the left shoulder. His wound was not life-threatening.
The victim told deputies that a dark-colored vehicle with several passengers inside was passing him on Cameron Park Drive when he heard a gunshot.
He was transported to Mercy Folsom Hospital.
No suspects have been arrested or identified, authorities said.
"The sheriff's office wants to assure the general public that this shooting was an isolated incident and not a random act," a sheriff's department news release states.
A Placerville man who was the subject of his family's frantic multi-county search has returned home after a 20-day disappearance.
Guy Albert Franzi had last been seen on June 8 fueling his truck at a Valero gas station in La Grange in Toulume County and texting his wife, said his daughter-in-law Lisa Franzi.
Today, the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office said detectives were told by Franzi's family on Monday afternoon that he had returned home.
A sheriff's news release did not explain why Franzi was missing.
"The investigation is closed," the release states.
Franzi, who is part-owner of a business that sells feed supplements for horses, originally set out to meet a potential client outside of Modesto.
He subsequently texted his wife from the La Grange gas station, and two days later, his phone was recovered by the Calaveras County Sheriff Department after it turned up in the back of another resident's truck.
Franzi's family spent many hours combing nearby towns, putting up posters and looking for clues.
A 13-year-old boy and a woman have been arrested in connection with the theft of a puppy from a girl in a Roseville Park.
Roseville police said they got a tip last night due to media coverage of the missing dog and arrested the boy for theft of the 10-week-old male German shepherd/pit bull mix.
Also arrested was Jean Merrill, 37, of Roseville on suspicion of grand theft and receiving stolen property.
The puppy was also found.
Police said the 8-year-old girl was playing with her puppy about 6:40 p.m. Friday in Maidu Regional Park when a teenage boy approached.
The girl was playing with the puppy near the soccer area on the west side of the park while her father played soccer.
The teen asked if he could pet the puppy but then unclipped the animal from its leash, grabbed it and got into a waiting van. The van sped away toward Rock Ridge Drive.
The Butte County coroner has identified a motorcyclist who was killed Monday when the bike he was riding slammed into a car that pulled into his path on a Butte County road.
The motorcyclist was identified as Stephen Charles Greenman, 65, of Oroville.
Greenman was traveling west on Forbestown Road east of Oroville at about 4 p.m. when an 18-year-old woman driving east in a 1994 Geo Prism slowed and turned left at Hurleton Road.
The motorcycle, a 2009 Harley-Davidson, struck the right side of the car, the impact throwing Greenman from the bike and causing fatal injuries.
A vacant building owned by Sacramento State that was gutted by fire this morning is scheduled to be demolished beginning at the end of July.
The fire, reported at 12:06 a.m., hit one building housing a former commissary, kitchen, dining area and warehouse for the California Youth Authority, the property's previous owner.
Sacramento firefighters were on the scene within minutes, but the buildings at 3001 Ramona Avenue near Folsom Boulevard and Power Inn Road were burning intensely, the blaze already going through the roof. Firefighters surrounded the structure to keep the fire from spreading.
No injuries were reported, authorities said, and 75 firefighters responded to the blaze. The fire is being investigated by the state fire marshal's office.
Sacramento State took ownership of the property in July 2005. It had been vacant for about a year before University Enterprises, a Sac State auxiliary, purchased the property.
Originally, the university planned to develop faculty and staff housing on the site, but the lagging economy interrupted that effort.
A demolition plan had been in the works. Final papers for tearing down the old CYA construction are expected to be signed in a few days.
The university expects the demolition work to be completed by September.
Security and Sacramento State police have patrolled the property, the university said today. More patrols will be added.
The buildings have been frequented by transients, fire officials said. On March 23, a fire at the site was contained to an abandoned portable classroom. Photo caption: Sac City firefighter David Pierner prepares to hose down a hot spot at the scene of a fire that destroyed two buildings belonging to Sacramento State University near Power Inn Road and Folsom Boulevard Tuesday morning. Photo by Randy Pench
Sacramento and federal authorities are looking a man they say is responsible for two bank robberies and an attempted one in the last four days in Sacramento County.
Detectives from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and FBI special agents, who form the Sacramento Violent Crimes Task Force, say the man first tried to rob a Wells Fargo Bank at 5695 Stockton Blvd. on June 24 at about 4:10 p.m. Minutes after that, authorities say the same man robbed a Bank of America at 5744 Stockton Blvd.
On Monday at about 1:15 p.m., the same man is believed to have entered the US Bank at 11111 Folsom Blvd. and demanded cash from the teller, who complied. An exploding red-dye pack was hidden with the money and activated when the suspect left the bank. Authorities said the dye should have stained the suspect's clothes and skin. He was last seen running north from the bank to a nearby light rail station.
The suspect is described as black, in his late 20s or early 30s, about 5-feet-10-inches tall and weighing about 180 pounds. He had a goatee and was wearing a gray Raiders baseball cap, a black short-sleeve shirt with a design on the front and blue jeans.
Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at 916-874-5051 or Crime Alert at 916-443-HELP. Tipsters may also send a message by texting to 274637 (CRIMES). Enter SACTIP followed by the information. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000. US Bank is also offering a reward of up to $10,000.
A Roseville man who stole mail in Nevada and El Dorado counties has been sentenced to 1-1/2 years in prison, authorities said.
U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell also sentenced Allen Skipper, 35, to three years of supervised probation and ordered him to pay $1,950 in restitution, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's office in Sacramento.
According to the federal criminal complaint, Nevada County law enforcement officers on Dec. 9, 2009, found Skipper in possession of a large amount of mail, some of which had been opened, addressed to approximately 51 different addresses. Some of the items had been reported stolen from a neighborhood collection box.
Skipper was charged in Nevada County Superior Court and released on bail. According to the complaint, he then went to El Dorado County and stole more mail from residential mail boxes between Dec. 20 and 22 to obtain mailed cash and gift cards.
A Lodi woman was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Sacramento to two years in prison for possession of counterfeit money.
Tami Kishi Deanda, 43, pleaded guilty on Nov. 9, 2009. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb Jr. sentenced her to three years of supervised release.
She is the final defendant to be sentenced in this case, which involved creation and distribution of counterfeit $100 bills, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's office in Sacramento.
Between January 2006 and July 2008, Deanda, along with co-defendants Clinton Earl Irons, Holly Armada Haworth and others made and passed the bills throughout the Central Valley, according to court documents. To manufacture the bills, they used degreaser and other tools to "wash" the ink off crisp $5 bills. Then they used a laser printer to print images of $100 bills onto the washed $5 bills.
The counterfeit bills looked authentic except for various security features that remained on the washed bills, including the $5 embedded strip and the watermark of Abraham Lincoln.
Since the first counterfeit bills in this case appeared, more than $277,000 in counterfeit currency has been recovered. Bills from the series were recovered outside the United States, including one in Mexico and three in Iraq. The bills recovered in Iraq were passed by codefendant Joseph Deanda, the U.S. Attorney's office said.
In all, Tami Deanda produced at least $30,000 bills, the news release says.
Among other defendants, Irons was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison, Joseph Deanda to 1-1/2 years and Haworth to one year in prison.
Rocklin police are looking for a man who robbed the PremierWest Bank on Granite Drive this morning.
The man entered the bank about 10:45 a.m., approached the teller windows and showed a teller a sign demanding money, according to a Police Department news release. The teller placed an undisclosed amount of money in a bag and gave it to the man, who then left on foot with the money and his sign.
The man was described as white, 50 to 60 years old, 5 feet, 8 inches to 5 feet, 9 inches tall, with a medium build. He was wearing a gray baseball cap with a white logo on the front, blue jeans, gray long-sleeve shirt and wire-rimmed glasses.
Police said several surveillance videos are being reviewed. No photos of the suspect have been released.
Anyone with information related to the robbery is asked to call the Rocklin Police Department Detective Division at (916) 625-5400.
Highway 65 has been reopened to traffic between Sunset Boulevard and Twelve Bridges Road after being shut down for about a half hour due to a grass fire near the Thunder Valley Casino.
Cal Fire spokeswoman Chelsea Fox said the fire, reported at 2:26 p.m., had been contained after burning 50 acres in the area of Athens and Industrial avenues.
Firefighters from Placer County, Rocklin and Lincoln departments were dispatched along with those from Cal Fire.
Five Elk Grove restaurants were forced to close today following a lunchtime fire that started in an electrical box at a Baja Fresh restaurant in a shopping center at Laguna Boulevard and Bruceville Road.
The fire started at the rear of the Baja fresh restaurant, according to a news release from the Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Department. Four adjacent restaurants also have been forced to close for an indefinite period while electrical repairs are made.
Four fire engines, two fire trucks, two batallion chiefs and a medic unit were dispatched to the fire, which was reported about noon.
Smoke entered the restaurants around Baja Fresh and all were evacuated. No injuries to patrons or firefighters were reported.
Fire officials said they did not know whether the fire was related to the weather and triple-digit temperatures.
A Placer County sheriff's lieutenant accused of firing a gun into the air outside his Rocklin home is scheduled to begin trial in October, authorities say.
Lt. John David Savage is charged with a misdemeanor count of negligently discharging a firearm. His trial date is Oct. 25, the Placer County District Attorney's Office says.
The trial's start time and courtroom will be determined during a Sept. 13 hearing, the office reports.
Savage is accused of firing several gunshots into the air during a disturbance in his Rocklin neighborhood on or about Oct. 8. The district attorney's office filed the charge against Savage in March.
The Placer County District Attorney's Office is expected to seek a new arraignment date for a Sacramento police sergeant accused of shoplifting in Roseville because prosecutors have not decided whether to charge him, authorities say.
Sgt. John Castiglia was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in connection with a May 28 citation for allegedly shoplifting from a Roseville grocery store.
However, prosecutors are reviewing the case and are expected to ask for a new arraignment date during Tuesday's proceeding, a district attorney's office news release states.
Prosecutors hope to schedule a July arraignment, the release states.
Castiglia, 48, is head of the Sacramento Police Department's financial crimes unit, with previous experience in the sexual assault and child abuse units. He was lauded for his work with high school students when the department opened magnet academies on several Sacramento campuses.
Castiglia remains on paid administrative leave from the department.
A 26-year-old woman was killed this morning in a crash on Interstate 80 in the Sierra Nevada.
The 5:30 a.m. accident occurred on westbound I-80 just west of Eagle Lakes Road and east of Emigrant Gap.
A California Highway Patrol spokesman at Gold Run said the driver of the car, who was not immediately identified, was ejected from her car when the vehicle rolled in the dirt center divider area.
The victim was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected 75 feet from the car, the CHP said. Her male passenger was buckled in and suffered only moderate injuries.
Witnesses said the car swerved several times before leaving the roadway. The CHP is looking into whether the woman might have fallen asleep at the wheel.
Firefighters saved a woman from drowning Sunday evening after they spotted her struggling to cling to an empty raft, according to fire officials.
The firefighters were returning by boat from an emergency call at a spot known as Gilligan's Island on the American River when they noticed an empty raft behind the boat and a woman drowning, said Capt. Christian Pebbles, spokesman for the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District. Gilligan's Island, a popular party spot, is located behind Hagan Community Park in Rancho Cordova.
A rescuer pulled the woman, who was not wearing a life vest, out of the water, Pebbles said.
The woman had swallowed a large amount of water and told rescuers "I thought I was going to die."
She was transported to the UC Davis Medical Center for treatment. Officials at the center declined to comment on the woman's status.
Federal arson officials and local authorities are investigating a suspicious blaze that gutted the Broderick Christian Center today.
The center helps hundreds of homeless and low-income residents in one of West Sacramento's roughest neighborhoods.
The fire at the center's day shelter followed several acts of vandalism in recent days. Someone slashed tires, smashed windows and poured oil on a half-dozen vans and buses at the center, said Alvin Lewis Jr., executive director of the United Christian Centers of the Greater Sacramento Area, which runs the Broderick shelter.
Those attacks occurred late Thursday and Saturday. At 9:40 a.m. Sunday, the center's day shelter erupted in flames after what witnesses described as an explosion, said Battalion Chief Steven Binns, of the West Sacramento Fire Department.
By the time firefighters arrived minutes later, the building was fully engulfed.
"The first units on scene encountered heavy fire coming from multiple windows on three sides of the building," Binns said. "They made an aggressive interior attack and were able to knock the fire down, but the building's a total loss."
Binns said at his request, agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms began arriving Sunday to investigate and others would be flying in this morning. They will join local police and arson investigators.
Officials said federal ATF agents are called in on church-related arson cases to help determine how the fires occurred and to investigate if they have elements of hate crimes. The Broderick Christian Center is supported by the American Baptist Churches USA.
Police are investigating the shooting of a 20-year-old man who came into the West Sacramento Police Department office today, bleeding from his chest.
Officers were heading to the location of the 2 p.m. shooting, at Arthur Drive and Cummins Way in West Sacramento, when the wounded man showed up at the police headquarters after getting a ride, a police spokesman said.
"While the officers were on the way, he showed up at the police station on (550) Jefferson (Boulevard) with multiple gunshot wounds" to his torso, said Sgt. Jason Winger.
The man was rushed for treatment at UC Davis Medical Center. Police declined to release his identity, pending an investigation of the incident.
Authorities are asking anyone with information on the incident to contact West Sacramento Police Department dispatch at (916) 372-3375.
Roseville police officers are asking the public's help in finding the teen who stole a puppy from an 8-year-old girl in a park.
A Police Department news release gave this sequence of events:
The 8-year-old girl was playing with her puppy (see photos below) about 6:40 p.m. Friday in Maidu Regional Park when a teenaged boy approached.
The girl was playing with the 10-week-old male German shepherd/pit bull mix near the soccer area on the west side of the park while her father played soccer.
The teen asked if he could pet the puppy but then unclipped the animal from its leash, grabbed it and got into a waiting van. The van sped away toward Rock Ridge Drive.
The suspect is described as a dark-complexioned male of undetermined race, 14-15 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall with a "chunky" build. He had dark brown hair and was wearing an orange and white shirt and shorts. He had been seen in the park with a group of approximately five other male teenagers.
He got into a silver Dodge Caravan (late 1990s-early 2000s model) with a sliding side door.
"Stealing the dog was not only very upsetting to the girl and her family, but is grand theft, a felony," a police spokeswoman said in the release.
Anyone with any information is asked to call Roseville Crime Stoppers at (916)783-STOP.
Callers may remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward for information leading to arrest.
California Highway Patrol investigators are looking for tips after a hit-and-run driver seriously injured a Samaritan trying to help at an accident scene at the Interstate 5 to Interstate 80 interchange.
Daniel Zipay, 28, of Folsom was struck by a vehicle while trying to put out reflective warning triangles at the scene of an earlier accident. He was taken to UC Davis Medical Center with a broken leg and pelvis.
The incident began shortly before 2 a.m. when the driver of a 1995 Isuzu Rodeo made a turn into the path of a 2003 Ford Crown Victoria taxi on the transition from I-5 to I-80 eastbound, CHP officials reported.
The taxi was unable to stop before striking the Isuzu and knocking it over. The Isuzu came to rest on its roof.
Passengers in the Isuzu and the taxi were taken to the hospital for treatment of lacerations. The Isuzu's driver, Ramon Vargas, 23, of Sacramento, was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI and driving on a suspended license.
Zipay and his brother had stopped to help out at the collision scene, and Zipay was trying to alert drivers when he was hit. The driver of the vehicle that hit him fled immediately, the CHP reported.
Anyone with information on the hit-and-run is asked to call CHP investigators at (916) 338-6710.
A man who refused to return a mislaid cell phone unless he was paid was arrested by Sacramento police Friday.
The phone belonged to an off-duty law enforcement officer.
Sacramento police reported that the officer, from an unspecified agency outside Sacramento, was in a shopping center near the intersection of Truxel and San Juan roads when he put his phone down on a counter.
When he realized the phone was missing, he called it and spoke with a male who answered. The man holding the phone said he'd return it only for payment and set up a meeting to return the phone.
The off-duty officer notified the Sacramento Police Department. Officers detained Darvelle Little, 23, and recovered the phone.
Little, with no known address, was arrested on suspicion of theft.
A man walked into a bar today, Woodland police reported, but it was no joke.
The man, identified by police as Juan Benejan, 25, was reported to be carrying a silver semiautomatic handgun when he entered Kenny's Bar on East Street before 1 a.m.
When police arrived, the man had left the bar and officers set up a perimeter and began searching for the suspect.
When police found him, however, he refused to cooperate by showing his hands to officers on the scene.
A police dog, Mondo, was used to capture the suspect without any shots fired. He did suffer bites that required treatment at Woodland Memorial Hospital.
A .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol was recovered from the site where Benejan was captured.
He was booked on suspicion of firearms violations, resisting arrest and possession of marijuana.
A Sacramento police officer shot a man in the leg after responding to a domestic dispute report in North Natomas early today.
Police responded to the 3400 block of Lumley Lane at 3:38 a.m.
The suspect was reportedly throwing things and threatening his wife. The man shot a gun at the ceiling of the home, police said.
When police arrived, people leaving the house told them the suspect was threatening to shoot if returned to the house.
Police saw the man at the door and ordered him to drop his gun, according to a release issued by spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong.
When the man ignored the order and turned to re-enter the house, an officer shot him in the leg to prevent him from hurting occupants still in the home, Leong reported.
The man, who was not identified, is hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The investigation is ongoing to determine the applicable charges, Leong said. The officer involved, a six-year veteran, has been put on paid administrative leave in accordance with standard procedures.
Michael Pittman Jr., 16 months, his 4-year-old brother and parents came home to their new Sacramento-area apartment on Thursday to find new top-of-the-line furnishings: suede couches, wooden tables, a granite kitchen table with tall stools and a computer with a flat-screen monitor and a printer.
Michael Jr's mother, Alexis Pittman, started to tear up. Then she smiled and hugged Paul Moen, one of the Sacramento County Sheriff' deputies who had secretly delivered the furnishings to their new home that same morning.
"They were in disbelief," Moen said.
Earlier this month, the Pittmans' previous apartment on Arden Way was ruined when Alexis Pittman's cousin, Anthony Alvarez, held Michael Jr. hostage in a 56-hour standoff with Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies. (In photo at left, a Sacramento sheriff's deputy carries Pittman to safety after the standoff ended.)
The ordeal ended June 11, with deputies shooting Alvarez to death in a gun battle.
Bullet holes riddled the Arden Way apartment. A robot had broken its windows and tore off the blinds. And in the last hour of the saga, deputies detonated explosives to create two 18-by-18 inches holes in the wall.
In the aftermath, Moen and another deputy who runs the sheriff's toy project, Allen Dukes, worked with the Sacramento Law Enforcement Chaplaincy and Volunteers in Victims' Assistance to raise donations from local retailers.
Beck's Furniture, the La-Z-Boy Furniture Gallery, Sleep Train donated $6,000 worth of furniture. Heald College in Rancho Cordova donated the computer and printer. The toy project, which Walmart contributes to, spent about $1,300 on Thursday during a shopping spree to get the family household items. The toy project also gave the family a rocker in the shape of a sheriff department's helicopter, which Michael Jr. immediately climbed onto.
Moen said the Pittmans had been staying at a hotel and was scheduled to check out of the hotel at noon on Thursday.
Moen called Alexis Pittman on Wednesday and said he wanted to take the family to Walmart to buy some toys for the children.
Over the phone, her voice trembled as she thanked Moen.
On Thursday, after his secret delivery, Moen went shopping with the Pittmans at Folsom's Walmart store.
While buying linens, silverware, pots and pans, clothes and toys, Alexis Pittman's eyes would well up on several occasions. She kept saying, "I can't believe this." The family even asked Moen to help pick out pictures for the family room.
"It was a lot of fun," Moen said. "They are extremely unassuming and thankful people."
A Sacramento man has been sentenced in to 4 1/2 years in prison after he was found to be in possession of CDs and an iPod that contained 380 files of child pornography, according to a U.S. Justice Department news release.
Joseph Mulligan, 37, pleaded guilty May 8, 2009, and was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Edward J. Garcia, the release states. The prison term will be followed by eight years of supervised release.
According to court documents, Mulligan admitted to law enforcement officers that the CDs and iPod were his and that he had downloaded the images from the Internet.
At the sentencing, Judge Garcia heard and considered statements from some of the victims, including a girl who was raped by her biological father when she was 10 years old.
The act was videotaped and posted by her father to the Internet. The victim said knowing that others were searching the Internet and downloading the videos made her feel like she was being abused again, the release states.
A former Marysville resident has been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution for his involvement in a conspiracy to commit mail fraud and identity theft.
Manuel Mejia Ordonez, 31, who previously lived in Marysville but is a Mexican citizen, was sentenced today in Sacramento by U.S. District Judge Edward J. Garcia to eight years and one month in prison, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.
He also was ordered to pay $3 million restitution to the California Employment Development Department, the release states.
According to court documents, Mejia Ordonez conspired with others to defraud the EDD by submitting claims for unemployment insurance using stolen employee and employer information with the employees' addresses changed to mail drops controlled by the conspirators.
When the checks from EDD were sent to the mail drops, Mejia Ordonez and co-conspirators took them to a market in Marysville as well as two markets near Fresno to cash them and to wire-transfer the funds to co-conspirators and family members in California and Mexico.
Through the scheme, the conspirators unlawfully acquired more than $3 million.
The case resulted from a joint investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation and the EDD Investigative Division.
A Sacramento man already serving time for murder has been sentenced to an additional 10 years and one month in prison for interstate transportation of a minor for sex, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Dominick West (photo left), 29, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Edward J. Garcia. He will serve his federal sentence concurrently with the 51-year sentence he is serving as a result of his conviction in Sacramento Superior Court for the 2007 murder of a young woman leaving a nightclub with her friends, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release. The murder was unrelated to the federal case.
According to court documents filed in the current case, Sacramento police on Jan. 11, 2008, received a report of a 15-year-old runaway from Montana. Police learned that the girl was being offered as a prostitute on Craigslist.
An undercover police officer made a "date" to meet her. The officer met her in a Sacramento motel room, confirmed that she was the 15-year-old runaway and took her into custody.
The girl told police that she had run away from her home in Montana at West's urging when she began talking to him online. West paid for a bus ticket for her to come to Sacramento from Montana, and she arrived on Dec. 25, 2007.
West met her at the bus station and took her to a female friend's apartment, where he had the woman post an ad offering the girl as a prostitute, the release states. The girl served as a prostitute for West out of a Sacramento motel for two days, according to the release.
A Mexican murder suspect captured earlier this month in Sacramento was turned over by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers today to representatives from the Mexican Attorney General's Office at the border crossing in San Ysidro.
Israel Toledo-Vieyra, 32, is accused of killing Ascenscion Cedejas-Miranda nearly a decade ago, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement news release. An arrest warrant for Toledo-Vieyra was issued by a judge in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico in September 2000. (Toledo-Vieyra is show below in a cell at the border crossing as he awaits Mexican officials. Photo is courtesy of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.)
He came into federal custody after being arrested by Sacramento police June 16 based on a tip provided by the U.S. Marshals Service Southwest Regional Fugitive Taskforce.
Toledo-Vieyra was convicted in February 1999 on perjury charges in Sacramento County and sentenced to 45 days in jail, the news release says.
An immigration judge ordered him removed to Mexico in March 1999 and he was immediately deported.
Officials say Toledo-Vieyra was a fugitive from justice in Mexico and was in the United States illegally. Officials say Toledo-Vieyra had been hiding in the Sacramento area for more 10 years prior to his arrest earlier this month.
A stand-up comedian who performs at Sacramento-area comedy clubs is being sought by law enforcement officers for failing to meet his registration requirements as a registered sex offender.
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department's Major Crimes Bureau reported that a warrant has been issued for the arrest of Marco Arturo Quintero (photos below), 29, who is also a tattoo artist.
A Sheriff's Department news release describes Quintero as Hispanic, 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 210 pounds.
He has black hair, brown eyes and multiple tattoos, including the name "Veronica" on the left side of his neck and the name "Yazmine" behind his left ear.
Officials say Quintero may be in the company of a woman and her two minor children, who may be in danger.
The California Attorney General's website shows that Quintero was convicted of oral copulation with a person under 16 years of age and has been in violation of sex offender registration requirements since Dec. 31, 2009.
Sheriff's Department spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran said he did not know where or when the sex offense occurred but said it was not in Sacramento County. Quintero is wanted now because he moved from one Sacramento County address to another without reporting the change of address, Curran said.
Anyone with information regarding Quintero's whereabouts is asked to call the Sheriff's Major Crimes Bureau at (916) 874-3152 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-4357.
Tipsters also can send a text message tip by texting 274637 (CRIMES), then enter SACTIP followed by the tip information.
Callers may remain anonymous and may eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
Alert Roseville Police Department officers recognized two shoplifting/robbery suspects and eventually three suspects were arrested, a department spokesman said.
The events began Tuesday afternoon when two people allegedly shoplifted items from the Nordstrom Rack store on Galleria Boulevard, police said.
Loss prevention stopped a man and a woman suspected of shoplifting, police said.
The man intervened physically when attempts were made to stop the female suspect. That act upped the shoplifting to strong-arm robbery, police said.
The officers from the department's crime suppression unit watched the surveillance film and recognized the two suspects, police said. The officers tracked the suspects and arrested them.
Booked into Placer County jail on suspicion of shoplifting was Ashley Leyea, 20, of Rocklin, police said. Booked on suspicion of shoplifting and robbery was Adrian Valadez, 24, of Roseville.
A third suspect, Denna Rodriguez, 20, of Rancho Cordova, allegedly tried to return some of the stolen merchandise to the store, police said. She was arrested and booked on suspicion of burglary and receiving stolen property, police said.
A man used a knife and a gun to evict his roommate, finally accomplishing the task after he shot the roommate, according to a Sacramento County sheriff's crime summary released this week.
The 25-year-old roommate suffered non life-threatening injuries, the summary states.
The suspect, Vincent Konkler, 18, is in Sacramento County jail today, charged with assault with a deadly weapon on $85,000 bail, jail and court records show.
The summary gives this chain of events:
At about 6:30 a.m. on June 20 at a residence in the 3900 block of Queenston Court, the violence erupted.
First, Konkler and his roommate, who deputies said were friends, got into an argument during which Konkler armed himself with a large kitchen knife.
Konkler and the roommate struggled over the knife for several minutes before the roommate got it away from Konkler.
Konkler then grabbed a .22 caliber rifle, pointed it at the roommate and ordered him to leave the residence, deputies said.
As the roommate was standing in the threshold of the door, Konkler shot him in the face, deputies said.
The roommate was transported to Mercy San Juan Hospital where he was treated for his injuries.
Deputies said Konkler admitted to getting ``spooked`` and shooting the roommate in the face. Konkler said the roommate was not armed at the time of the shooting, deputies said.
A records check of the rifle used showed it was reported stolen, deputies said.
Placer County sheriff's Deputy Ken Skogen will not be prosecuted in connection with the accidental April death of his 3-year-old daughter, who shot herself with a gun the off-duty deputy was preparing to lock up in the family's Roseville garage, the Placer County District Attorney's office announced today.
Investigators could find no evidence that Skogen "acted in a grossly negligent manner in his storage of firearms in the household," according to a news release from the office.
According to Roseville police, who investigated the shooting, Skogen had finished cleaning a firearm in the garage of his Sawtell Road home and opened the gun safe to store the weapon. Skogen turned away for a "brief moment," police said, and that's when the 3-year-old reached in and pulled out the loaded handgun.
Kalli Skogen shot herself in the stomach and died later at UC Davis Medical Center.
The gun was not Skogen's service weapon, police said.
The shooting occurred on April 20. In early May, Roseville police concluded their investigation and forwarded their findings to the District Attorney's office for consideration about whether to prosecute Skogen for being criminally negligent.
State law requires that firearms are stored in a manner that children cannot access them.
As the Jaycee Lee Dugard kidnapping case drags on, Nancy Garrido's lawyer suggested today that Dugard and her two children should be allowed to visit Garrido before the trial begins.
Attorney Stephen Tapson said after a five-minute court hearing today that he believes it would be better for Dugard to see Nancy Garrido in a private setting before she sees her stand trial in Dugard's kidnapping.
"She loves those kids, she loves Jaycee," Tapson said. "This is a relationship born in evil, but she loves them and misses them."
An El Dorado Superior Court judge has issued a protective order that prohibits Phillip or Nancy Garrido from trying to contact Dugard, who they allegedly kidnapped and held for 18 years.
Tapson said that because of that order he cannot formally request such a meeting, but he said he believed it would be beneficial if Dugard decided to make such a move.
Today's hearing in Placerville consisted of brief housekeeping matters, including an order from the judge that the Garridos, who are being held separately in the El Dorado County jail, be allowed to speak by phone once in July and once in August.
A 46-year-old woman was shot in a drive-by shooting in as she watched television.
The woman, whose condition was not immediately available, was sitting in the living room of her home in the 4000 block of 44th Street about 11:50 p.m. Thursday when her house was sprayed by gunfire, according to a Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman. She was struck several times in the chest.
No descriptions of suspects or a description of a vehicle was available for the shooting near Stockton Boulevard and 14th Avenue.
A 53-year-old woman has died from injuries suffered when she apparently was trying to open or close a gate on a private road near Georgetown.
El Dorado County Coroner's officials identified the woman as Andrea M. McDevitt of Georgetown.
The accident occurred on 2 Gates Road south of Snowy Way at about 5 a.m. Thursday, according to a spokesman from the California Highway Patrol.
With no witnesses to the accident, the CHP surmises that McDevitt began to exit her sport-utility vehicle while her car was still running and in drive.
The vehicle apparently began moving and she tried to re-enter the SUV. At that point, the SUV struck the gate and the vehicle then continued until it struck a tree.
The CHP said McDevitt was pinned between the tree and the vehicle.
The Sacramento County Coroner's office has identified a 7-year-old boy killed when he was hit by a slow-moving sport-utility vehicle in an El Dorado Hills apartment complex driveway area.
He has been identified as Carter Mecier of Latrobe in El Dorado County.
The boy was running with another child about 11 a.m. Wednesday from a breezeway of the apartment complex off Valley View Parkway when he was struck, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.
The driver of the SUV, an 84-year-old Citrus Heights man, was traveling about 15 mph at the time of the accident.
A CHP investigation into the accident could take two months before completion, the CHP said.
Officials worked late Thursday to clean up oil apparently emptied from a big rig into a Woodland storm drain.
A Woodland resident noticed a a hose coming from the engine compartment of a big rig at Hays Lane and Douglas Lane about 2 p.m., police said. The hose went from the rig to a storm drain.
The citizen suspected the driver was changing his oil and disposing of the old oil into the storm drain.
Woodland police and fire officials were dispatched. Eventually, the city's environmental operations and the state Department of Fish & Game became involved.
Police seized the Freightliner semi tractor and stored it for examination by the California Highway Patrol. The truck's engine, which has a capacity of 30 quarts of motor oil, had an empty crankcase, police said.
In addition, new motor oil was found in the cab of the semi. Muhammad Ibnan Khalid, 29, of Woodland, was arrested for improperly disposing of the oil and booked into Yolo County Jail on $20,000 bail.
A conviction of a known gang member has resulted from the injury to a man who had his eye pop out when he sneezed after being sucker punched on Picnic Day.
Steven Hector Martinez, 35, of Woodland was sentenced to 31 years to life on Thursday in Yolo Superior Court.
The Yolo County District Attorney's office said that Martinez hit a man in the eye on April 18, 2009, when the victim tried to break up a fight in downtown Davis.
A University of California, Davis student followed the attacker and directed a Davis police officer by cellphone. Martinez was arrested and identified by the victim as the assailant.
The victim went to the hospital but left before being treated because he said there were two elderly men who looked in worse condition. However, according to the district attorney, "three days later, the victim sneezed and his eye popped out of his socket. He pushed the eye back in and went to the hospital."
X-ray images revealed that the eye socket was shattered in two places and parts of the bones were dislocated and depressed into the victim's head. He suffered extreme pain, according to a district attorney's press release.
Martinez was sentenced under the state's "three strikes law." The DA said Martinez is a member of the Sureno gang.
The El Dorado County District Attorney has fired back at the man who claims to be Jaycee Dugard's biological father.
Kenneth Slayton has sought in court to have a relationship with his daughter.
Dugard, who resurfaced last year after being kidnapped 18 years ago, has stated that she does not at this time have an interest in having a relationship with Slayton.
The El Dorado District Attorney's office is prosecuting Phillip and Nancy Garrido, Dugard's accused kidnappers. El Dorado District Attorney Vern Pierson said his office has been peppered with inquires to respond to Slayton's lawsuit to establish parental relationship.
On Thursday, Pierson issued a strongly worded statement saying that in 1991 Slayton was contacted regarding the disappearance of the then-11-year-old Dugard but that Slayton showed no interest or concern.
"Frankly, it's disgusting," Pierson said. "First a man abducted and then forced himself upon Jaycee for 18 years. Now, her biological father seeks to force himself upon Jaycee using his attorneys and the legal system."
Pierson went on to say "it's sad commentary on our society that a man who professes that all he wants (for his now 30-year-old daughter) is to love and protect her, and damn it, he'll sue her for the right to do it."
The statement said Dugard has the right to decide who she meets and when she meets them.
A spokeswoman for Dugard said earlier this month that Dugard does not wish to see Kenneth Slayton or his family, though she reserves the right to change her mind later.
Dugard's mother, Terry Probyn, has never denied Slayton was the father.
A new digital red-light photo enforcement camera system has been installed at the intersection of Florin Road and East Parkway, just east of Southgate Plaza.
Sacramento County Sheriff's Department officials say the system is being tested and is scheduled to go "live" at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. For the first 30 days, red-light violators will be mailed a warning notice. Beginning July 26, motorists running red lights at the intersection will receive citations by mail.
The citations will refer recipients to a website where they can review still and/or video images of their violation. The violator will be able to clearly see where the vehicle is in relation to the limit line, and the green, yellow and red lights.
The fine for red light violations currently is $436.
As much as a 76 percent reduction in red-light-related crashes has been reported at photo enforced intersections in the city and county of Sacramento since the program was implemented, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. Officials also report a 28 percent reduction in crashes related to vehicles running red lights at all signal-controlled intersections in the city and county.
Fire officials have arrested a woman suspected of starting fires Thursday night along the north and south banks of the American River Bike trail, officials report.
Sacramento Fire Department Arson Investigators and Sacramento County Park Rangers arested Evangeline Deutsch, 39, who is homeless, on suspicion of committing arson.
The fires, reported about 8 p.m., burned for a half-mile near Highway 160, said Capt. Jim Doucette of the Sacramento Fire Department. Seventy-five firefighters battled the blazes, which were extinguished about 9:30 p.m.
Initially, officials had been looking for two people, a man and a woman on bikes.
Crews from the Sacramento Metro Fire District and West Sacramento Fire Department helped the Sacramento Fire Department battle the fires. There were no injuries reported.
A Woodland man with a prison record has been sentenced to 31 years to life behind bars for punching a man who tried to break up a fight during Davis' 2009 Picnic Day.
Steven Hector Martinez, 35, was convicted by a Yolo County jury on March 12 of one count of battery with serious bodily injury and was sentenced today by Yolo Superior Court Judge Kathleen White.
On April 18, 2009, the victim reported that he was at the Bistro 33 restaurant in downtown Davis when he saw people he thought he knew getting into a fight in the street area. When the victim went over to stop the fight, Martinez, a stranger to the victim, "sucker punched" the man in the face with his fist, according to a Yolo County District Attorney's Office news release.
Martinez and the group with him then fled. But a concerned University of California, Davis, student witnessed the attack and followed the group. The student used his cell phone to call 911, relayed the group's movements and descriptions, and confirmed when a Davis police had stopped the right person.
The student and the victim identified Martinez as the attacker.
A known Sureno gang associate, Martinez had been released from prison only 100 days before the incident, officials said.
The victim went to the hospital by ambulance but left before being treated because, he said, there were two elderly men who appeared to be in worse condition than he was, according to the news release. Three days later, however, the victim went to the hospital where a CT scan revealed that his eye socket was shattered in two places.
Judge White's sentence was based on the application of California's "Three Strikes Law." Martinez previously had been convicted of four felonies, including a 1996 shooting in Woodland where he fired several shots from a semiautomatic gun into a crowd of rival gang members, the news release said. One bullet hit a 19-year-old man in the throat, and another bullet struck a 16-year-old youth in the leg.
A Sacramento woman has been sentenced to two years and six months in federal prison for credit card fraud.
Stephanie Fahlgren, 33, pleaded guilty on Jan. 28 and was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr., according to a federal Department of Justice news release.
According to court documents, from June through November 2008, Fahlgren used her computer to obtain personal and financial information relating to more than 114 victims. She obtained the information by accessing a computer database of a national life insurance company without authorization.
The database contained the medical and personal data of prospective life insurance purchases. Using this information, Fahlgren complied profiles of the victims and opened lines of credit and credit cards in their names. She then made purchases without the consent of the victims, often ordering merchandise to be shipped to an address in Sacramento or picked it up at retail locations.
Fahlgren is to appear in court July 29, when the court will determine the amount of restitution owed to the fraud victims.
The case resulted from an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Davis Police Department.
A North Highlands man has been sentenced to one year in county jail and five years probation for accidentally shooting his friend and roommate to death with a shotgun last year.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Joseph Orr imposed the term Wednesday on Jason Batalla, 24, in the Nov. 21, 2009, death of Thomas Conrad Kruger, 21, in a plea agreement worked out between Deputy District Attorney Dawn Bladet and defense attorney Eric Hintz, according to court records.
Batalla pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
Batalla's probation report said that he and Kruger were "good friends" who had just moved into an apartment together in the 6700 block of Medora Drive. The two had been drinking beer and watching a basketball game on television when Batalla showed his .12-gauge Mossburg shotgun to Kruger, according to the report.
The report said that Batalla accidentally chambered a round into the gun and that the weapon went off when he was putting it away.
Batalla pleaded guilty on May 26.
According to the report, Batalla did not have a measureable blood-alcohol level when he was tested after the shooting. He did have a minimal level of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana in his system, the report said, but his lawyer said the amount was so low that it suggested it had been well more than a day since Batalla had ingested it.
A 2 1/2-year-old child has been returned to his father, an Australian citizen, under an Sacramento Superior Court order enforcing an international treaty pertaining to child abduction.
The goal of the Hague Convention International Child Abduction Treaty is to promptly return abducted children to the country of residence where any unresolved custody or visitation issues can be settled, according to Sacramento County District Attorney's Office news release.
In February, the father of a child identified by the DA's office as Tristan C., allowed the youngster to come to the United States with his mother, Yvonne Pierman, for a family funeral and a two-month visit. Pierman has dual United States and Australian citizenship.
The father agreed to the visit, anticipating the child would be returned to Australia on April 24. But Pierman did not return as agreed and said she had decided not to return with Tristan, the news release said.
An application was instituted in Australia under the Hague Treaty for return of the child, and the District Attorney's Office received it June 3.
Pursuant to the court order, district attorney investigators, with the assistance of the Sacramento Police Department, located and retrieved the youngster for court proceedings in Sacramento on Wednesday. The father traveled to Sacramento at his own expense to be present for the hearing and to take the child home, officials said.
"People need to know that one parent just can't unilaterally deprive the other parent of their right to the child," Deputy District Attorney Rich Curry said in the news release. "The Hague Convention treaty will be used to return a child brought into this country or kept here without lawful orders. In this case, the Australian courts are the proper forum to decide custody of Tristan."
A 31-year-old man who was arrested in connection with a fatal bar fight over the weekend has been released from jail and will not face charges, according to authorities.
On Saturday night, Sacramento police arrested Andre Huerta on suspicion of murder in connection with the stabbing death of 23-year-old Ryan McPhee earlier that morning at the Q Street Bar and Grill in midtown.
However, Huerta was released from the Sacramento County Main Jail today, booking records show.
Police Sgt. Norm Leong said detectives determined that Huerta was involved in a fight involving McPhee, but that he was not the person who stabbed McPhee. As of now, he does not face charges in connection with the fight, Leong said.
A second suspect - 26-year-old Jonathan Montejano - remains in custody on suspicion of murder and assault with a deadly weapon, booking records show.
McPhee was stabbed on the sidewalk outside of the bar after a fight spilled outside, according to police.
An arrest warrant has been issued for a man who took his 2-year-old child during a supervised visit Friday, Sacramento police said in a news release.
Sacramento Police are looking for Andre Myles (photo bottom left), 21, and his daughter Harmony Myles (photo bottom right), who was in the legal custody of her grandmother when Andre Myles took the youngster, the release states.
Andre Myles, the child's biological father, is described 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighing about 150 pounds with a shaved head and brown eyes. He is wanted for custodial interference, according to the release.
Harmony Myles is described as 2 feet, 6 inches tall, weighing 40 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a green t-shirt and diaper.
Police said at the time of the child's disappearance that there was no reason to believe Andre Myles would harm the girl.
Anyone with information on the location of Andre Myles or his daughter is asked to call police at (916) 264-5471.
A Sacramento Superior Court jury today convicted Gabriel Ricardo Dominguez of first-degree murder in the May 1, 2009, stabbing death of Samuel Sanchez.
The jury also convicted Dominguez (left in 2009 booking photo) of having a loaded handgun in his car at the time of the killing that police and prosecutors say was gang-related.
Dominguez, 19, faces at 25-to-life term at his scheduled Aug. 2 sentencing in front of Judge Cheryl Chun Meegan. He also could receive an added eight months on the gun charge.
Sanchez, 21, was killed in a brawl outside the Express Stop Liquor on Julliard Drive near the College Greens Shopping Center in the Folsom Boulevard-Florin-Perkins Road area.
Even though the jury convicted Dominguez of murder, it did not reach a verdicts on the special finding that he personally used a knife in Sanchez' death. Deputy District Attorney Sean Laird also had argued, however, that the jury could convict Dominguez of murder under the theory that the natural and probable consequences of his behavior on the day of the killing led to the death.
The panel also could not decide whether the killing took place for the benefit of a street gang. The gang enhancement would have added 10 years and the weapons allegation another year to Dominguez' term.
Judge Meegan declared a mistrial on the two special findings. She scheduled a hearing for July 2 for the district attorney to decide whether to retry the allegations.
A magazine salesman who thought he could save his job by writing a fraudulent check to make himself look good in the eyes of his employer has been sent to state prison for two years and four months by a Placer County judge, according to a Placer County District Attorney's Office news release.
The salesman, Joseph Won Lee Jones (photo left), 33, stole a blank check from a 71-year-old Auburn resident on Feb. 2 after she invited him into the house and placed a magazine subscription order for $44, the release states.
Jones then asked for a glass of water. When the victim left the room to get it for him, Jones went to the woman's checkbook and took a blank check, which he later used to write another magazine order for $396 in an effort to impress his bosses, the DA's office said.
Prosecutor Jim Deslaurier of the Placer County District Attorney's Office said the defendant told authorities he was having trouble meeting sales numbers.
"He didn't want to lose his job," Deslaurier said.
When the victim received her bank statement later that month, she noticed the $396 transaction and went to the Auburn Police Department to report the incident. Jones was tracked down to San Bernardino County and was arrested on March 10, Deslaurier said.
He later entered a plea of no contest to a felony charge of petty theft with a prior offense and of committing a financial crime against an elderly person, Deslaurier said.
Superior Court Judge Jeff Penney sentenced Jones to prison on Wednesday and ordered him to make restitution of $396 to the victim's bank.
Deslaurier said the District Attorney's Office "takes very seriously any crime in which a perpetrator enters a home, particularly when the victim is an elderly person. We have no tolerance for that."
Deslaurier urged all citizens not to let strangers who are knocking on doors into their homes to conduct business.
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn announced today that the city's interim police chief, John Diaz, is his choice to fill the position permanently.
Diaz now must be affirmed by the City Council.
McGinn chose Diaz from two finalists narrowed from an initial field of 11 finalists. East Palo Alto Chief Ron Davis was the other finalists and faced opposition from the city's police unions, who feared his lack of big city experience made him an ill fit for the Seattle job.
Sacramento police Chief Rick Braziel was the third finalist, but withdrew himself from consideration earlier this month.
Fire and law enforcement officials provided their annual warning to anyone who might think about setting off illegal fireworks.
Among those calling attention to the danger of illegal fireworks were Tonya Hoover, acting state fire marshal, and Sacramento Metro Fire Department Chief William Sponable.
"We are once again implementing a zero-tolerance effort against illegal fireworks, along with tough sentencing guidelines that apply to both adults and juveniles," said Sponable in a press release.
Hoover said that 15 years ago, illegal fireworks mostly included firecrackers and bottle rockets. Today, there is heavy importation of aerial shells that rival public fireworks displays.
Legal fireworks can be purchased from thousands of non-profit groups in the California that sell state-approved "safe and sane" fireworks for use in some counties.
Q: In the '80s, a little girl was raped and murdered, and her body washed up around 16th Street. What happened in that case? - Anonymous, Sacramento
A: Thomas C. Bolin, now 54, was convicted of raping and murdering Crystal Dawn Reid, 16, The Bee reported. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The girl was killed sometime on the night of Oct. 4, 1981 or in the early morning of Oct. 5, investigators said.
The victim was raped, kicked, beaten and strangled. Her body was dumped into the American River near Highway 160 and the body washed up near 16th Street in Sacramento.
Originally, Sacramento police arrested Bolin and Roy Dean Daniel and charged them with murder and rape. Charges against Daniel were dropped by the district attorney in exchange for his testimony against Bolin.
According to testimony, Daniel, then 18, and Bolin met Crystal for the first time at an Oct. 4 party in North Sacramento. Crystal became bored and suggested Daniel, Bolin and she leave.
They drove to nearby Woodlake Park and then drove to a point on the American River just north of Highway 160 where Crystal eventually was murdered.
Sacramento police arrested both men shortly after the girl's body was found.
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A pickup truck driver died this morning after his vehicle ran off the road in Rancho Cordova.
The accident happened at 6:40 a.m. on White Rock Road at Luyung Drive when the truck left the roadway and entered a field. Rancho Cordova police are investigating the accident.
White Rock Road is closed between Grant Line Road and Luyung Drive. The California Highway Patrol estimates the roadway will be closed until 9:30 a.m.
A former Yolo County probation officer was arraigned Wednesday on eight felony counts of accessing computer data without permission.
Jaime Melgoza resigned earlier this month from the Yolo County Probation Department, where he was a senior deputy probation officer.
He had worked for the department since 2000, said Jim Metzen, probation program manager. Metzen said he could not comment on personnel matters.
Prosecutors with the Yolo County District Attorney's Office did not explain the basis for the charges during the brief hearing, nor would they provide details afterward.
The alleged conduct occurred from May 2008 to October 2009, according to a complaint in the case. The complaint did not spell out the allegations behind the charges.
Melgoza pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Commissioner Janene Beronio appointed a private attorney to represent Melgoza and allowed him to remain free without bail.
To avoid the media, Melgoza slipped out a locked side entrance of the Yolo Superior Court building with a companion who had a key.
Melgoza is scheduled to return to court on July 22 before Judge Kathleen White.
The Sacramento Police Department seeks the community's help in locating a woman who was reported missing Friday after some of her belongings were found in downtown Sacramento.
According to a Police Department news release, Phyllis Nichols, 58, was traveling from Tacoma to Los Angeles by bus and had a layover in Sacramento at 1:40 a.m. Friday. She was not on the bus when it arrived in Los Angeles.
Police responded to a missing person call in downtown Sacramento at 9:15 am. Friday after a man found a backpack and purse on Second Street between I and K streets. The man called the phone number he found in the purse, spoke to Nichols' husband, then called police.
Nichols experiences memory loss when she fails to take medication for diabetes and has seizures when she is under stress, the news release said.
She is described as African American, 5 feet 2 inches, tall, weighing 130 pounds with salt and pepper-colored hair and no teeth. She was last seen wearing a black fur coat over a long-sleeved white shirt, blue jeans and white tennis shoes.
Police ask anyone with information about Nichols to call the department at (916) 264-5471.
A Placer County sheriff's deputy admitted today that he violated his probation in March by getting drunk again less than a month after he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence.
A judge, however, decided not to give John Caliguire, left, additional jail time after learning that he had served his original jail sentence and is participating in various rehabilitation programs.
Thomas Leupp, Caliguire's attorney, said his client had served his original 45-day jail sentence, undergone an in-patient rehabilitation program and faithfully attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings since his rearrest March 24, according to a Placer County District Attorney's Office news release.
Caliguire, 48, a longtime bailiff in the Placer court system, apologized to the judge for not having adhered to conditions of his probation, which includes refraining from alcohol.
Retired visiting Judge Angus Saint-Evens expressed disappointment that Caliguire had violated probation but said he was pleased Caliguire had taken steps in the past three moths to deal with his drinking.
The judge could have sent Caliguire back to jail for another 45-day sentence to fulfill a suspended jail term. Instead, he reimposed the conditions of the three-year probation and added a new requirement that Caliguire attend five Alcoholics Anonymous meetings per week.
Caliguire was arrested for DUI on Nov. 7, 2009, after Rocklin police saw him driving erratically and pulled over his vehicle.
On Feb. 26, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DUI and Saint-Evens placed him on probation, ordered him to serve 45 days in jail and suspended an additional 45 days in jail.
But on March 24, Caliguire showed up for his bailiff job intoxicated and was arrested again before bailing out of jail. On May 10, he began serving his original 45-day sentence.
A woman who jumped into the American River without a life jacket or raft, launching a search for a potential drowning victim, was arrested on suspicion of public drunkenness.
A helicopter, two boats and a land crew were dispatched to search for the woman about 3 p.m. today after the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District received a report that a woman who had been drinking near Hagan Community Park in Rancho Cordova had jumped into river and appeared to be in distress.
About 30 minutes after the search began, the woman showed up at the River Bend Park raft take-out area, said Capt. Christian Pebbles, fire department spokesman. The woman claimed she was not the subject of the search, but several witnesses identified her as the woman who had jumped into the river, Pebbles said.
She was arrested by park rangers.
"The message here is, if you're going to get drunk and act like a fool on the river, and jeopardize your life and the lives of the rescue crews and everybody else, you're probably going to be arrested," Pebbles said.
A woman who fled from police was rescued by two Galt Police officers after her vehicle ran off the road into a ravine and caught fire.
The officers went to the 800 block of Lake Canyon Avenue shortly after 11 this morning after receiving a report of a physical fight between a mother and daughter. When police arrived, the 18-year-old daughter fled in a vehicle, striking her mother's house in the process and causing moderate damage, according to a Police Department news release.
Officers pursued the vehicle, which turned onto Carillion Boulevard, then careened into a ravine at the corner of Simmerhorn Road and Carillion Boulevard. The driver's airbag deployed and the woman lost consciousness.
Officers arrived, saw flames coming from the driver's side of the vehicle and yelled at the woman to get out of the locked vehicle. When they realized she was unconscious, Sgt. Ed Arlt broke the passenger window to unlock the vehicle. He and Officer Steve Denier pulled the woman out through the passenger side door as she was regaining consciousness, the news release said.
A Sacramento Superior Court jury today convicted a North Natomas man for committing four home invasion robberies -- including two in which he raped his victims -- that helped terrorized the neighborhood two years ago.
Sammie Lee Nichols, now 20, was convicted on 18 counts: the two rapes, five first-degree burglaries, four kidnappings for the purpose of robbery, four robberies, one kidnapping and two gun violations.
"All of these victims were really good, hard-working people," Deputy District Attorney Rob Gold said. "They had done everything right, but this was just the worst day of their lives. It was real rewarding when they can see that the justice system works."
The four North Natomas home invasions and another one outside the area happened in 2007 and 2008, Gold said. They occurred around the same time that North Natomas residents had expressed fear and concern over a violent string of attacks that had hit their neighborhood.
In the midst of the home invasions, more than 400 people attended a community forum at Inderkum High School.
Nichols was charged in the case Nov. 10, 2008, a few days after he was arrested on marijuana, gun and felony evasion charges. He was taken into custody after attempting to escape a sheriff's deputy who pulled him over for a cracked windshield, Gold said.
Nichols is facing six life terms as a result of his conviction. Judge Michael W. Sweet scheduled his sentencing for Aug. 6.
Dozens of boxes of illegal fireworks have been recovered from the bedroom of a Sacramento apartment.
Sacramento County sheriff's deputies learned that illegal fireworks might be at a home within Sacramento Police Department's jurisdiction. Deputies and police officers went to an apartment complex in the 2600 block of Fairfield Street where they found 45 boxes of fireworks.
Most of the fireworks were of the type that shoot into the air, a police spokesman said. Aerial fireworks are often blamed for roof fires.
A price list was found with the fireworks at the apartment complex in the Noralto neighborhood near Del Paso Boulevard and El Camino Avenue. Police estimate that the collection of fireworks is worth $20,000.
Siaosi Vilingia (top left photo), 30, a resident of the apartment, was arrested on suspicion of possessing dangerous fireworks. He also was arrested on a felony assault warrant.
Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.
KCRA: Expect crackdown on illegal fireworks, police say
A Roseville man has been sent to state prison for stealing a vehicle and running from officers.
Keith G. Logan, 40, after pleading no contest May 28, was sentenced in June to four years and four months in Placer County Superior Court.
A member of the Sacramento County Auto Theft Suppression Task Force on May 21 spotted a stolen Chevrolet Tahoe sports utility vehicle on Park Drive in Roseville. A man later identified as Logan got into the SUV.
Eventually, a high-speed chase began by marked units of the task force and California Highway Patrol officers. The chase ended at an apartment complex where the driver jumped out of the moving SUV.
The SUV hit a chain-link fence and Logan bolted but was taken into custody within minutes.
A high-speed police chase last night in Yuba City and Marysville last night included a motorcycle being hit, reckless driving and an arrest, according the California Highway Patrol.
A CHP officer initially spotted a stolen car being driven by a man on E Street in Marysville. The man driving the stolen car was also wanted for involvement in strongarm robbery earlier in the day.
A chase ensued in Marysville, the pursuit eventually leading into Yuba City where the 1993 Toyota Corolla reached speeds up to 70 mph.
The CHP said the driver of the Corolla then intentionally struck a motorcycle from behind on the Colusa Highway west of Plumas Street. The motorcyclist suffered minor injuries.
The Corolla continued at a high speed in a reckless manner, running red lights, the CHP said. At one point, the car made a U-turn and drove at the pursuing CHP vehicle.
The officer avoided a collision and lost sight of the suspect. Eventually, the car was found abandoned at Crestmont Avenue and Sherwood Drive.
With the help of neighbors, officers were able to find David Scott Branham, 28, who was listed as a transient, and arrest him at 6:30 p.m. Branham was arrested on several charges, including suspicion of assault and car theft.
Three men were arrested for theft of air conditioning units after an watchful business owner with the latest in security cameras helped nab the suspects.
Glenn Forrest, owner of a north Sacramento heating, plumbing and air conditioning business, was at his home early this morning monitoring cameras trained on the outside of his business. Forrest only sleeps about 4 hours a night.
"I watch it all the time," he said. "I have different managers who also watch it. So while I sleep, others watch it."
At about 4 a.m. he spotted thieves once again breaking into his business, Royce-Air Heating, Plumbing & Air Conditioning, 4280 Pinell St., near Interstate 80 and Marysville Boulevard (see video above).
"Watching from home I saw them make a u-turn in front of the building," said Forrest. "As soon as they cut the fence, I called 911."
The men loaded used air conditioning units which have copper and aluminum coil into a white pickup. Thieves want the coils for their recycling value.
"So when they left, the officer was waiting on the corner," said Forrest. "They started to evade the officer. Two (AC) units fell off on Pinell Street and then when they turned left, two more fell off on Rene Avenue."
On Winters Street near the light rail station, the truck stopped and police arrested three men ages 19, 23 and 21.
All three will be charged on suspicion of theft, police said. The driver will also be charged with suspicion of evading police.
"This has happened many times," Forrest said. "But we have installed video and we watch it 24-7 now. I have a whole computer room with cameras."
Forrest said he is going more hi-tech in the future: Still in the box, about to be installed, is a $2,300 security camera that auto-tracks movement and automatically zooms in.
"So if somebody is walking around the yard the camera will stay on him," said Forrest.
The thieves were strong, moving the heavy units around the yard and loading them into the truck. Just the kind of able-bodied worker who would make a good HVAC employee.
"The sad point is that if they knocked on my door, I'd give them jobs," he said. "But they would rather do this than honest work."
Video caption: Security video supplied by heating and air conditioner business owner Glenn Forrest shows men moving air conditioning units around the yard of his business in north Sacramento. Three men were arrested this morning, suspected of taking air conditioning units from the business, Royce-Air Heating, Plumbing & Air Conditioning, near Marysville Boulevard and Interstate 80.
A woman whose son and brother were killed in a drive-by shooting Thursday night said a fight Sunday morning was an unprovoked attack against her daughter.
Lynda Nelson, mother to 27-year-old Anthony Barnett and sister to 58-year-old Avery Sanders Jr., said a woman came at her daughter with a crowbar outside their home on Balsam St, the same place where the men were gunned down.
Sacramento police Sgt. Norm Leong said each side had a different version of what happened and discrepancies in their stories about who instigated the fight.
Some glaring between two women, whom the police are not naming because no arrests have been made, apparently happened inside the Market Basket on Marysville Boulevard on Sunday morning. The women were buying groceries for a barbecue, police said.
The hostility culminated in front of the house in the 3900 block of Balsam Street when one party was unloading the items from the car. A fight ensued and Leong said a crowbar was involved, but it's not clear who had or used it.
Leong said it's not clear how the women are related.
"Let us mourn in peace," Nelson said. "We don't want no more drama."
Officers will complete a report and forward it to the District Attorney's office, where authorities will determine whether anyone is prosecuted, Leong said.
Another three men - ages 18, 29 and 31 - were shot during the Balsam Street drive-by. They were seriously injured. Their current condition is not known.
A Lodi man has been sentenced to 30 months imprisonment for producing and attempting to pass counterfeit money.
U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb Jr. today also sentenced Clinton Earl Irons, 33, to a 36-month term of supervised release, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release. Irons pleaded guilty Feb. 8 to attempted passing and uttering a counterfeit United States obligation and possession of a counterfeit United States obligation.
According to court documents, between January 2006 and July 2008, Irons, along with co-defendants Tami Kishi Deanda, Holly Armada Haworth, Shelie Radotic and others made and passed counterfeit $100 bills throughout the Central Valley.
To manufacture the bills, Irons and others used a degreaser along with other tools to "wash" the ink off crisp $5 bills. Irons then used a laser printer to print images of $100 bills onto the washed $5 bills. The counterfeit bills looked authentic except for various security features that remained on the washed bills, including the $5 embedded strip and the watermark of Abraham Lincoln, the news release said.
Irons possessed computer hardware and software that allowed him to manipulate digital images of United States currency to produce realistic looking counterfeit $100 bills. Irons sold and gave these digital images to others so that they could counterfeit their own currency.
Between January 2006 and July 2008, Irons counterfeited a series of bills with serial numbers that were passed throughout the Central Valley. Since the first counterfeit bills in this case appeared, more the $277,000 in counterfeit currency has been recovered, the news release says. Some was in Mexico and Iraq.
The bills recovered in Iraq were passed by Joseph Deanda, who acquired them from Tami Kishi Deanda.
Joseph Deanda pleaded guilty on April 27, 2009, to passing counterfeit currency and was later sentenced to 18 months imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release.
Tami Kishi Deanda pleaded guilty Nov. 9, 2009, also to possessing counterfeit currency, and is to be sentenced on June 28.
Co-defendant Holly Haworth pleaded guilty on June 1, 2009, to passing counterfeit currency and was later sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and three years of supervised release.
Despite tight budgets, major fire agencies in Sacramento County will boost the number of firefighters dispatched to calls beginning July 1.
Capt. Christian Pebbles, Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District spokesman, said the new regional standard operating guidelines were given a trial run this morning when a fire broke out in the garage of a townhouse in the 5600 block of Verner Oak Court in the Foothill Farms area.
Five engines, three trucks, two battalion chiefs and a medic were dispatched, in keeping with the new standards for a first-alarm response for a multifamily residential or commercial structure. That amounts to two more engines, an additional truck and 10 to 12 more firefighters than would have been sent in the past, Pebbles said.
"We had more people there faster," he said.
Having more resources on scene initially, he said, saves time and can be critical to preventing a fire from spreading to other buildings.
Along with the Sacramento Metropolitan district, the Sacramento, Folsom, and Cosumnes fire departments have adopted the new system, which is scheduled to be fully operational July 1, Pebbles said.
"The community should know that although we're in the midst of a budget crisis or economic downturn ... that the citizens are still getting the very best fire service possible," he said.
In the townhouse fire reported at 4:22 this morning, Pebbles said, the presence of additional firefighters may have prevented the fire from spreading to neighboring units.
A man living in the townhouse was awakened by his cat, and he then alerted neighbors.
Pebbles said the fire began in the garage but quickly spread into the attic. The townhouse's vaulted ceilings made it difficult to determine where the fire was burning.
Firefighting also was complicated by a gas tank leak in the garage, as fuel kept reigniting.
The fire confined to the one townhouse. Although the man and his cat were displaced, neighboring units suffered only minor damage and were still habitable, Pebbles said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. The resident is a flooring contractor, and oil soaked rags in the garage are a possible source, Pebble said.
A West Sacramento man has been sentenced to three years in prison for possessing child pornography.
Yolo Superior Court Judge Timothy L. Fall sentenced Phil Douglas Reese, 45, to the maximum prison term allowed at the state level for the offense, according to a Yolo County District Attorney's Office news release. Reese was convicted by a Yolo County jury on May 18 for possessing child pornography and failing to register as a sex offender.
Reese was arrested Aug. 29, 2008, in the area of West Capitol Avenue by the West Sacramento Police Department's community Response Team. When he was arrested, Reese had a laptop computer with him in his truck. The computer was on and officers observed numerous movies involving child pornography on the computer.
Lt. Peter Martin, an investigator with the District Attorney's Child Sexual Predator Unit, forensically examined the laptop computer and discovered more than 20 such movies on the hard drive, the news release said.
As part of the investigation, West Sacramento police also determined that Reese was living in Riverside County without notifying the West Sacramento Police Department of his change of residence, which was in violation of his requirement to register as a sex offender.
Since 2003, Reese has been required to register as a sex offender for an Internet crime conviction involving a minor from Stanislaus County. In that case, Reese was arrested by the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department for communicating through the Internet with what he believed was 13-year-old girl for the purpose of meeting with her to have sexual intercourse. The "girl" was actually an undercover officer.
Toxicology tests will be conducted on a man who was hit by two vehicles and killed while crossing southbound lanes of the Capital City freeway, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The 48-year-old man was hit about 1 a.m. Monday when he tried to cross from the fast lane to the shoulder of the road between Marconi and El Camino avenues.
His name has not been released, pending notification of family.
He was hit first by a car and that driver stopped and called 911. A truck that did not stop also struck the man's body, the CHP said.
There were no vehicles parked along the shoulder of the road or the center divide that might have belonged to the man, the CHP said.
The former medical director of the Sacramento County Jail is again suspected of writing an illegal prescription, according to Sacramento police.
A Sacramento Police Department spokesman said that on Friday Peter Dietrich (booking photo left from last year's arrest) went to a pharmacy inside a Safeway in midtown to pick up a prescription and was arrested.
Pharmacy staff had been notified by state investigators that if Dietrich went to the store to get a prescription they were to notify police, which they did, the spokesman said.
Earlier in the day, police said, Dietrich had ordered a prescription for Vicodin, a narcotic pain reliever, for someone else. He indicated he would pick it up, police said.
Dietrich was arrested on suspicion of writing a fraudulent prescription, police said.
Dietrich has surrendered his license, according to the California Medical Board website.
Dietrich entered his no-contest plea last year on previous charges.
Dietrich was placed on probation for four years and ordered to serve 60 days with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department work project, according to an online court records. He was also ordered to perform 600 hours of community service.
State Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement agents arrested Dietrich on Jan. 14, 2009 after finding that he had been writing an unusually high number of prescriptions for OxyContin, a powerful, highly addictive painkiller. BNE agents suspected that Dietrich had been writing the illegal prescriptions for himself.
At the time, Dietrich had been in charge of medical operations at the downtown jail and the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center for a year and a half.
Q: Was the Thomas Hebeisn murder ever solved? - Anonymous, Sacramento
A: The case remains unsolved, police said.
Hebeisn, 46, who police said led a quiet life, was found bludgeoned to death April 21, 1996, off the American River bike trail.
Hebeisn's car, a 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass, was found the next day in the 3300 block of Lerick Road near Watt and Fulton avenues.
The car was unlocked with the keys in the ignition, police said.
Detectives told The Bee shortly after the body was found that they believe Hebeisn was killed elsewhere by several blows to the back of the head and then dumped under Highway 160 near Northgate Boulevard. Hebeisn's wallet was not on him.
Police said Hebeisn likely had been dead one to 1-1/2 days when his body was discovered.
Hebeisn had lost his job in electronics at Packard Bell in November and since had been looking for a job and doing some construction work. He lived alone in an apartment at the Warren Oaks Apartments on Fair Oaks Boulevard.
Hebeisn was described by detectives as a quiet man with a modest lifestyle and a love of fishing.
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A fire that started in a garage heavily damaged a townhouse in the Foothill Farms area this morning.
The fire in the 5600 block of Verner Oak Court near Greenback Lane and Interstate 80 began about 4:30 a.m. About 40 firefighters from Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District battled the blaze.
Fire Capt. Christian Pebbles said the homeowner, a floor contractor, escaped the early-morning blaze, which moved from the garage through the inside of the walls to the attic.
A ruptured fuel tank on a vehicle in the garage fed the blaze. Fire investigators say oily rags in the garage might have caused the fire.
Relatives of two men killed in a drive-by shooting Thursday night got into a fight with each other while grocery shopping Sunday morning, according to Sacramento police.
What exactly happened at the Market Basket on Marysville Boulevard is still being sorted out by officers, who were called to the store for a fight in progress, said Sacramento police Sgt. Norm Leong.
It appears, however, that two women related to the men killed on Balsam Street on Thursday night got into an argument that turned physical, Leong said. The women were buying groceries for a barbecue that day when the problems began, according to police.
At one point during the fight, one person jumped on the roof of someone else's car, damaging it, Leong said. However, the circumstances around that alleged vandalism is unclear, he said.
Officers will complete a report and forward it to the District Attorney's office, where authorities will determine whether anyone is prosecuted, Leong said.
Five men were shot during the Balsam Street drive-by, two of them fatally. Killed were 27-year-old Anthony Barnett and 58-year-old Avery Sanders Jr. Three other men - ages 18, 29 and 31 - were seriously injured. Their current condition is not known.
Sacramento police have arrested a second suspect in the fatal stabbing of a 23-year-old man outside a midtown bar early Saturday.
Jonathan Montejano, 26, turned himself in to police about 11:15 a.m. today, said Sacramento police Sgt. Norm Leong. He was arrested and booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on suspicion of murder, booking records show.
Homicide detectives allege that Montejano and his brother in law - 31-year-old Andre Huerta, who police arrested Saturday night - are responsible for the stabbing death of Ryan McPhee after a fight inside the Q Street Bar and Grill, near 20th Street, Leong said.
The bar's doorman also was stabbed as he tried to break up the scuffle, which had spilled outside, but he survived.
Detectives are not yet sure which man had the knife and was physically responsible for the stabbings, but believe both were involved in the fight, which spilled onto the sidewalk, Leong said.
Even though police do not suspect gang ties, the fight apparently began after the two groups began talking about "where each side is from," Leong said. Then the suspects became angry after somebody from McPhee's group talked to a woman in the suspects' group, Leong said.
Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP.
More than a dozen businesses have been cited following an industrial pollution prevention sweep in West Sacramento.
The June 15 sweep was conducted by the Yolo County District Attorney's Environmental and Consumer Protection Unit, in conjunction with the county Department of Health Hazardous Materials Unit, West Sacramento Police Department, state Bureau of Automotive Repair, Sacramento County Auto Theft Suppression Task Force, state Board of Equalization, state Employment Development Department and the California Labor Commission.
The purpose of the sweep was to identify businesses that illegally produce hazardous materials or waste that pollute the air and soil, according to a District Attorney's Office news release. It also was intended to combat illegal dumping and discharges that cause pollution.
The operation was a response to reports of illegal dumping and unlicensed activities in the area. Further investigation revealed evidence of certain businesses engaging in unfair business competition by trying to gain an advantage over law-abiding businesses. These businesses were failing to pay taxes on goods and services. They also were paying cash to employees and thereby failing to pay tax withholdings, the news release says.
Jonathan Raven, assistant chief deputy district attorney, said the majority of citations were for air emissions and labor code violations.
Citations were issued for illegal storage and disposal of hazardous wastes, wage code violations, being unlicensed, failure to keep proper records and municipal fire code violations.
An 18-year-old man was booked into Sacramento County Jail this morning on suspicion of shining a laser at a California Highway Patrol airplane.
Jacob George Risch was arrested on suspicion of discharging a laser at an aircraft and possession of small amount of marijuana.
Sacramento police said that the CHP aircraft was flying over the Natomas area late Sunday night when a laser shined on the airplane several times.
Police tracked the light to a home where they found Risch and a younger friend. Risch showed officers where he had disposed of the laser.
Federal air marshals were called in to interview Risch and the younger suspect before Risch was booked into jail.
In September, a 30-year-old Roseville man was sentenced to three years and one month in prison for interfering with the safe operation of aircraft by shining a powerful laser on a commercial jetliner and a Sacramento Sheriff's Department helicopter.
The chief of security for Sacramento Unified School District, Vince Matranga, is retiring.
Matranga (in photo, fingerprinting a district employee), 59, will retire at the end of June but will remain with the district during a transition period.
He has been with the district police force for 36 years, the last 24 years as chief.
Matranga has been the public face of the district when vandalism, fire or violence has occurred on school campuses in the urban district.
In a parting letter to Sacramento media, Matranga, said he is sad to leave after working so long in the district but looks forward to retirement.
Matranga's father, also named Vince, was a sergeant with the Sacramento Police Department before retiring after more than 30 years. Other members of the Matranga family also have been in law enforcement.
Matranga said the incident that stands out most from his long tenure with the department is the flooding of the Luther Burbank High school auditorium. In September 1999 six young vandals sneaked into the school during the Labor Day weekend and flooded the auditorium with fire hoses.
Damage was estimated at $250,000. District leaders called it the worst case of vandalism in the district's history.
The minors were ordered to pay more than $46,000 each for the damage. Repairs at the school included a new stage, new carpeting and seats.
"The flooding of the Burbank auditorium was incredible," Matranga said. "I remember standing on the stage and looking out onto an auditorium submerged in 3 to 5 feet of water. The seats were under water because the auditorium is below ground level, so the water did not leak out the doors. In the orchestra pit, the piano was under water."
Matranga also saw the gang influence move from neighborhoods onto school campuses.
"In the 1970s it was only Bloods and Crips," he said. "As time went on, there were more and more gangs. But with the school resource officers from the Sacramento Police Department on our high school and middle school campuses, it has really kept (gang) activity to a minimum."
Matranga has led a department that provides safety for more than 40,000 students and thousands of employees and also is responsible for monitoring close to 800 security cameras at schools and other district properties.
"In large urban school districts you have to have cameras," he said.
In addition to bringing in the security cameras, Matranga has helped supervise the upgrading of alarms to catch vandals and burglars.
Instead of using only silent alarms on doors, motion detectors were installed to catch intruders breaking in through windows.
But Matranga said cameras and alarms are no substitute for neighbors to watch the schools.
Matranga started a school neighborhood watch program in 1990. Matranga knocks on the doors of homes surrounding schools, introduces himself and hands out a card with phone numbers to call if something suspicious is spotted on campus.
"It's worked out beautifully," he said. "The homeowner keeps these little information cards next to the telephone, and we dispatch somebody right away."
The district has not announced Matranga's successor.
A man killed by a car this morning on the Capital City Freeway has been identified by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office as Roy William Pearson, 48, of Sacramento.
Pearson was hit by a white Toyota about 1 a.m. while walking in or along the southbound lanes of the freeway between Marconi and El Camino avenues.
The two right lanes of the freeway were closed until about 3:30 a.m. The Toyota's driver stopped after striking the man.
A man arrested Sunday night by Citrus Heights police is suspected of trying to burn a house of worship.
Jose Louis Orduno (left), 44, was arrested on several charges in connection with the alleged attempted arson of the Jehovah Witness Kingdom Hall at 6965 Sylvan Road in Citrus Heights. Police were called to the incident at 7 a.m. Sunday.
Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District investigators say they suspect that Orduno ignited a flammable liquid at the church but that it burned out before the structure was damaged.
A joint investigation by police and the fire district's arson unit led to Orduno's arrest.
He was booked into Sacramento County Jail at 11:30 p.m. on charges of threats to commit a crime that could cause death or injury, possession of a firebomb, attempted arson, terrorism using a symbol and interfering with civil rights.
A 29-year-old man was arrested for stabbing his girlfriend in the leg with a 14-inch knife on Sunday night, said Citrus Heights Police.
After 40 minutes of negotiations, police arrested the man at 6304 Stonehand Ave. in Citrus Heights, said police Sgt. Jeremy Garrison. He would not release the name of the man arrested.
Police arrived at the residence after receiving a call at 7:49 p.m. from a distraught woman claiming her boyfriend had stabbed her in the leg. The woman said she was locked in the bathroom and her boyfriend was trying to break through the door.
"The dispatcher could hear her screaming and his screaming in the background," Garrison said.
When the police arrived at the scene they spotted the man at the front of the house. He ran back inside after seeing officers.
The police called the victim and patrol units were able to lead her safely out of the house.
Police were able to persuade the man to come out of the house and he was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and domestic violence.
The woman was taken to the Mercy San Juan Hospital where she is expected to make a full and speedy recovery, Sgt. Garrison said.
A day at the dog park turned ugly when a woman identified as a Sacramento County sheriff's deputy punched another woman in the face as their dogs fought.
Shelly Riley said she was at Bear Dog Park, on Pleasant Grove Boulevard in Roseville, at about 6:30 p.m. Friday and was with other owners in an area reserved for small dogs when the trouble began.
Her dog, a miniature pinscher named Diesel, started to mix it up with two pugs. The pugs both got on top of Diesel, who was on his back, she said.
She said she was concerned Diesel would get hurt.
As she pulled the pugs off by their harnesses, she felt someone grabbing her from behind. She turned to see what the person wanted.
"Then there was a fist coming at my face," Riley said. "As soon as I got hit this lady said, 'You threw my dog.' "
Riley said she dragged the dogs off but didn't throw them.
Other dog owners separated the two women. They escorted the woman who had thrown the punch to her car and detained her until officers arrived, Riley said.
Roseville Police Sgt. Dave Sloane identified the woman as Monica Estephanie Chavez, 32. She was arrested, cited on suspicion of misdemeanor battery and released pending a court date next month, Sloane said. She was also ejected from the dog park, he said.
Chavez told officers that she was in local law enforcement, Sloane said.
Sgt. Tim Curran, spokesman for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, said a deputy was cited on suspicion of battery by Roseville police Friday but would not give her name.
The deputy, who normally patrols the north area, was assigned to modified duties pending the outcome of an administrative investigation, Curran said.
Others inside the department said the deputy was Chavez.
Chavez could not be reached for comment Sunday.
Riley, a 34-year-old event planner, said her cheek was swollen and bruised. At first she thought it was broken, but a CT scan found no fractures, she said.
Riley said she also had red marks on her back, where Chavez scratched her.
"Everyone was saying she was crazy," Riley said. "I'm still in shock."
A man who was shot twice during an attempted robbery on the 3200 block of Azevedo Drive Saturday night is expected to survive, police said.
The 29-year-old victim was among a group of people standing on the porch of an apartment complex when they were approached by a man wearing all black, said Sacramento Police Department Sgt. Norm Leong.
The man pulled a gun and tried to rob the group, Leong said. When the victim reached for his wallet, he was shot twice, Leong said.
The call came in to police at 11:13 p.m., Leong said.
The suspect was described by witnesses as black, 18 to 22 years old, 5-foot-10 and between 210 and 260 pounds with short twisties.
Neighbors in the area reported seeing a black Buick driven out of the area at high speed.
A Sacramento man was arrested shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday in the fatal attack outside a bar on the 2000 block of Q Street about 20 hours earlier, Sacramento Police said today.
Andre Lamont Huerta, 31, was taken into custody at his residence in the 1500 block of Fulton Avenue for investigation into the fatal stabbing of Ryan Mcphee outside the Q Street Bar & Grill in the 2000 block of Q Street.
Officers arrived at 1:37 a.m. Saturday and found Mcphee, 23, unconscious on the sidewalk outside the bar and began to perform CPR. He was declared dead at the scene. David G. Rasul, 32, the bar's doorman, was taken to an area hospital with non-life threatening stab wounds after he tried to break up the fight.
Authorities said Huerta and two others began to argue with Mcphee inside the bar. The conflict escalated into a physical fight outside, where police said Mcphee was stabbed.
A tip led authorities to identify Huerta as a suspect. Detectives are still investigating two other men who were with Huerta when the fight broke out.
A police officer used his T3 personal mobility vehicle to chase down a shoplifting suspect near the Sunrise Mall on Friday night.
The officer was alerted about the suspect by mall security and observed the suspect walking away from the mall, said Citrus Heights Police Department Sgt. Rich Wheaton.
When the officer addressed the suspect, 20-year-old Dontae Dixon, Dixon ran across Sunrise Boulevard toward the Birdcage Center, Wheaton said.
The officer maneuvered his electric-powered T3 - which resembles a three-wheeled Segway - across Sunrise Boulevard, quickly caught up with Dixon in the Birdcage center and made the arrest, Wheaton said. (At left is a 2007 photo of a T3 vehicle used by a Los Angeles Police Department officer.)
Dixon was booked into jail on suspicion of felony theft and violating terms of probation, according to online jail booking records.
A three-alarm fire burned materials at a recycling plant on Power Inn Road late this afternoon and into the early evening.
The fire started as a grass fire and spread to Recycling Industries, 3300 Power Inn Road, where it ignited cardboard and paper bales that were piled about 15 feet high, said Sacramento Fire Department Capt. Jim Doucette.
It has been contained and tractors and forklifts are being used to break up bales of cardboard to help extinguish the flames, according to an update on Doucette's Twitter account at about 7 p.m.
No injuries were reported.
The fire was reported as a two-alarm fire at about 5 p.m. but went to three alarms about an hour later.
Police units are redirecting traffic in the area as a cautionary measure, said a Sacramento Police Department dispatcher.
Four fire departments responded to the blaze with nine engines, six trucks and 78 firefighters.
Firefighters will likely be at the site all night as the materials continue to smolder, Doucette said.
The Sacramento County Coroner's Office has identified a 23-year-old man who police say was stabbed to death in a midtown Sacramento bar fight early Saturday as Ryan McPhee, 23, of Sacramento.
Sacramento police responded to the Q Street Bar & Grill at 1:37 a.m. after the stabbing was reported.
They found the victim unconscious on the sidewalk. Fire Department paramedics arrived and declared McPhee dead at the scene.
David G. Rasul, a doorman at the bar, was also stabbed trying to break up the incident. He underwent surgery for three wounds that nicked internal organs, according to his father, David D. Rasul.
The younger Rasul, still in the hospital, felt bad that he couldn't save the victim, his father said. "He felt it was his fault."
Police believe a fight began in the bar and moved to the sidewalk where McPhee was stabbed. Friends at the scene Saturday morning said he was a recent arrival from Alabama.
Three suspects fled the scene and police are looking for information related to the crime.
Police described the men who stabbed McPhee and Rasul as three Hispanic males, all between 20 and 30 years of age, around 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing about 200 pounds.
Tips can be called in at (916) 443-4357 or texted to 274637. Enter SACTIP plus the information. Callers can remain anonymous.
A 12.5-acre grass fire in the Rio Linda-Elverta area today was caused by someone trying to mow a fire break, officials said.
Someone doing "the right thing at the wrong time" sparked the blaze, said Sacramento Metro Fire Capt. Christian Pebbles.
The recommended times to use power equipment for mowing dry grass are early in the morning and late in the evening when temperatures are lower and humidity is higher.
Saturday's fire started around noon when fire risk was higher.
The fire went to three alarms because of Saturday's breezes, the size of the fire's flanks and its potential to affect nearby buildings.
Firefighters from Sacramento Fire Department also worked to knock down the blaze.
The fire cause no injuries and affected no homes, but consumed some small out-buildings and yard equipment, Pebbles said.
The Sacramento Police Department is seeking the return of a 2-year-old girl taken by her biological father from a home in the 7300 block of Cranston Way in the Meadowview neighborhood.
Police say Andre Myles, 21, was having a supervised visit with his daughter, Harmony, at the home of the girl's grandmother, who has legal custody of the child.
Myles took Harmony Friday afternoon. He is not believed to be a threat to his daughter, but police are seeking the girl as a missing person.
Harmony, who weighs about 40 pounds and has black hair and brown eyes, was last seen wearing a diaper and green T-shirt. Her father is 21, 5 feet 8 inches tall, with a shaved head and brown eyes.
Anyone with information on Harmony's whereabouts is asked to call police at (916) 264-5471.
An Oroville man has been sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison for drug trafficking crimes, including an incident in which he dressed up as a law-enforcement officer.
U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton on Tuesday sentenced Eric Keith Sills to 10 years and 10 months in prison for drug trafficking and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, according to a federal Department of Justice news release. Sills pleaded guilty on Feb. 2.
According to court documents, Sills and three other men dressed up as law enforcement officers to rob a marijuana growing operation in Butte County. The men, armed with shotguns and semiautomatic pistols, detained a man guarding the site at gunpoint.
Law enforcement officers later searched Sills' house and found more than 120 pounds of processed marijuana, a MAC-10 machine pistol, a .357 revolver, a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun, a Panther stun gun, police badges, gun cases, shirts with Sheriff's or police insignia, night vision goggles, two sets of handcuffs, body armor and a radio on a tactical police sling.
The cases resulted from a joint investigation by the Butte County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
The Sacramento County Coroner's Office has identified the two men killed in gunfire in Del Paso Heights last night as 27-year-old Anthony Lamar Barnett and 58-year-old Avery Sanders.
The condition of three other men shot in the Balsam Street driveway - ages 18, 29 and 31 - is unknown, said Sacramento police Sgt. Norm Leong.
The five men were shot during a driveby shooting about 10:40 p.m. Thursday night. As or early this afternoon, Sacramento police had not publcly identified any suspects, nor a possible motive.
The victims were in the driveway of a home in the 3900 block of Balsam Street about 10:40 p.m. Thursday when a white or gray sedan drove up and the shooting began, Leong said.
One man died at the scene and another was pronounced dead at Mercy San Juan Medical Center.
After the shooting, family members and friends of the men gather at the scene, which is off of Grand Avenue. Some were in tears, wailing and being comforted by others. Some demanded angrily that officers tell them who died. Some knelt and prayed out loud.
Bruce Sanders, who said the shooting took place at the house where he has lived with his mother since 1964, said his brother, Avery Sanders, was a truck driver visiting from Minnesota. The big rig Sanders' brother drove was parked in a lot across the street from the house.
It was not the first time that violence had been visited upon the family. Sanders also said that his nephew, Dennis Nelson, was killed in March in his home on Lindsay Avenue, also in Del Paso Heights.
A Bee online article on March 21 reported that Nelson, 33, was shot to death after an apparent argument in his home with two other men in their 20s. There have been no arrests in that killing and police released only a scant description of the two suspects.
"We just buried someone two months ago," said Vickie Sanders, who added that her 27-year-old son, Calvin Lynn, was also one of the victims and she was on her way to UC Davis to see him.
Vickie Sanders said the men had just returned home from watching the Los Angeles Lakers win the NBA finals when they were fired upon.
Janice Lewis said Barnett was her son-in-law. She said the couple has a 4-year-old daughter, and her son-in-law was a good father to his daughter and to his 6-year-old step-son, Lewis' grandson.
"They were thinking of signing up the boy for soccer," Lewis said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Alert at (916) 443-4357. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward up to $1,000.
Call The Bee's Chelsea Phua, (916) 321-1132, and follow her on Twitter at @Chelsea_Phua.
Photo captions: Top: An evidence tag marks a bullet hole in the windshield of a car invovlved in a drive-by shooting in Del Paso Heights on Friday. Two men were killed and three wounded in a drive-by on Balsam Street Thursday night. Bottom: Police investigators examine the scene of a drive-by shooting in Del Paso Heights on Friday. Photos by Randall Benton
A 19-year-old man is in jail today after Sacramento County sheriff's deputies said a witness to a wallet theft from woman with a baby led to his arrest, according to a crime summary released this week and jail records.
The crime summary lays out this series of events:
On June 8 at about 7 p.m., the victim was at her vehicle in a parking lot at Zinfandel Drive and Folsom Boulevard. The victim's infant daughter was in a car seat strapped to a shopping cart.
A man came up to the victim and reached behind the infant's head to grab the victim's wallet. He fled.
However, another person witnessed the theft and trailed the man until he stopped at an unspecified location. The witness called deputies who said they arrested Charles Brandon.
Brandon has been charged with grand theft and possessing stolen property, according to court records.
As of early this afternoon, Brandon was still in jail on $25,000 bail, according to booking records.
TRUCKEE - The names of two men who died in a plane crash Thursday near Truckee-Tahoe Airport were released Friday by Placer County Sheriff Edward N. Bonner.
The victims are Raymond O. Rotge, 66, Santa Rosa, the registered owner of the aircraft, and Mack L. Johnston, 71, Chewelah, Wash, the sheriff said.
The plane crashed in the Martis Creek area south of the airport, approximately 500 yards from the main runway, as it approached for landing Thursday, Placer County sheriff's Lt. Allan Carter said in a news release.
At 2:14 p.m., the downed aircraft, a single-engine plane with tandem seating for two, was spotted and reported by another pilot who was approaching for landing, Carter said.
A Sacramento Superior Court jury today convicted Marvel Barksdale of voluntary manslaughter in the gang-related shooting death of Robert Haynes two years ago at a house party in Meadowview.
Barksdale, who is now 17 years old, was 15 at the time of the Aug. 22, 2008, party in which Haynes, 16, was felled by a bullet during a shootout between the Fourth Avenue Bloods of Oak Park and the Guttah Boys from Meadowview.
Prosecutors had charged Barksdale with first-degree murder. But in spite of the manslaughter verdict, the defendant still faces substantial prison time at his scheduled Aug. 12 sentencing in front of Judge Timothy M. Frawley.
In addition to the 11 years Barksdale is facing for the voluntary manslaughter conviction, he is likely to be sentenced to 10 years under an allegation found true by the jury that he shot Haynes for the benefit of a street gang.
Another sentencing enhancement could add three, five or 10 years to Barksdale's term, the result of the jury's additional finding that he personally used a firearm.
A 29-year-old man is in jail today after he allegedly assaulted a Sacramento sheriff's deputy who arrested him after he was found drunk in the middle of a street, according to a crime summary released this week.
Here is the sequence of events, according to the summary:
A deputy found a man stumbling in the middle of the street about 11 p.m. June 12 in the 600 block of I Street. The man was carrying a 40-ounce open bottle of beer, had a strong odor of alcohol about him and was rambling in his speech, the deputy reported.
The deputy arrested him for being drunk in public.
While transporting the man to jail, he "continuously" said: "I'm going to kill you if you take me to jail. I'll kill you with my bare hands," the deputy reported.
As the deputy opened the patrol car door after arriving at the jail, the man charged out of the car and kicked the deputy before he was subdued. The deputy was not seriously injured.
Arrested on suspicion of assaulting a peace officer and on an old burglary warrant was Richard Olivares, jail records show.
A judge today called slain Sacramento sheriff's Deputy Vu Nguyen "a true hero" and then sentenced the teenager convicted of shooting the officer to death on a gloomy mid-week morning three years ago to spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole.
"He dedicated his life to shield us from dangerous gang members ... but also he was there to help people, to perhaps turn them from such a dark choice," Sacramento Superior Court Judge Cheryl Chun Meegan said of Nguyen.
The 37-year-old street cop was gunned down Dec. 19, 2007 while chasing a young but prolific lawbreaker through the backyards of a tough south Sacramento neighborhood.
"He gave his life in this and he is not forgotten," the judge said.
Jurors on April 28 convicted the youth who killed Nguyen. The defendant, Jimmy Siackasorn, is now 19-years-old. He was 16 at the time he murdered Nguyen.
Assistant Public Defender Sue Karlton filed a motion before the sentencing arguing that a life in prison without parole for a 16-year-old killer amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.
But Meegan said that Siackasorn "ambushed" Nguyen, "executed" him on top of a chicken coop behind a house on 37th Street. And she forcefully turned back the defense motion.
"This was a cold and vicious killing, and it was no less so because the number of years this defendant had lived on earth was 16 at the time he committed that crime," Meegan said.
Throughout his many arrests and stays in juvenile detention facilities before the murder, Siackasorn often told officers how he would like to kill them if he got a chance, according to testimony at trial.
The defendant sat with his hands folded in front of him during the sentencing and did not raise his eyes to meet the laser-stare Meegan laid on him while she sent him off to prison.
A slight tumult interrupted the proceedings when one of the murdered deputy's brothers, emotionally distraught, challenged Siackasorn to turn around and look at him when he read his victim's impact statement.
The defendant's face went blank while he continued to look down at his hands.
Another brother of the deputy, Thang Nguyen, told the court of a "void" in his family's life that is "irreconcilable."
Thang Nguyen told Siackasorn "you're still very young" and "you will one day feel remorse - this is my hope."
"But when you do feel remorse," Thang Nguyen said, "make no mistake. It's because you took a life ...You took a gift that was not yours to take."
Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.
Photo caption: Jimmy Siackasorn shows little emotion after he was sentenced to 25 years to llife without the possibilty of parole on Friday, in Sacramento Superior Court. Photo by Hector Amezcua
El Dorado County sheriff's deputies have arrested a man in the shooting death of a woman in El Dorado Hills.
Deputies were called to the scene of a shooting in the 2100 block of Valley View Parkway at 7 p.m. Thursday, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.
When they arrived, Steven Mittelman (photo left), 55, of El Dorado Hills, was outside the apartment where the shooting occurred, the release states. Inside the apartment, deputies found the dead woman.
The 63-year-old woman, whose name has not been released, had suffered what appeared to be a single gunshot wound.
Deputies called in detectives who conducted a crime scene investigation at the home into the early morning hours today.
Detectives questioned Mittelman and later booked him into jail on suspicion of homicide, according to the release.
One suspected drunken driver was arrested after nearly 1,000 motorists drove through a Citrus Heights police checkpoint.
The checkpoint was in place from 8 p.m. Thursday to 2 a.m. today at Auburn Boulevard and Twin Oaks Drive.
Drivers were randomly stopped and officers spoke to them to determine if they are driving under the influence or without a license. Unlicensed drivers had their vehicles towed.
In total, 993 vehicles drove through the checkpoint, seven vehicles were towed, 16 citations were written and one driver arrested for DUI.
Two people have been arrested in connection with the theft of more than $125,000 from automatic teller machines at the Red Hawk Casino.
Eduardo Ursua Fontillas, 51, whose job was servicing ATM machines at the casino, was arrested Sunday after casino officials, using surveillance cameras, concluded that he was taking money out of the machines and pocketing it.
According to an FBI affidavit filed in support of a criminal complaint, an internal audit conducted by the casino for the period of May 1 through June 13 showed a $97,000 shortage from the ATMs.
Fontillas had access to the ATMs when servicing them and restocking them with cash.
According to the affidavit, surveillance cameras showed him on several occasions making unusual movements and appearing to place wads of cash in his pockets.
When confronted by law enforcement officers, Fontillas confessed to stealing money and demonstrated how he had removed it from the machines.
According to the affidavit, he told authorities he had taken money from the machines on approximately 125 occasions since early November 2009 and estimated that he had removed more than $125,000 in all.
He consented to a search of his residence and law enforcement officers recovered $46,000.
He told authorities that he also had given between $50,000 and $60,000 to his girlfriend, Rosalina Due Bona, 43.
Steve Dupree, an FBI spokesman, said Bona was arrested late Thursday afternoon at the office of the California Bureau of Gambling Control in Sacramento.
She was booked into Sacramento County Jail. Fontillas remains in custody in El Dorado County Jail in Placerville.
Both are accused of stealing money belonging to an Indian tribal organization.
According to the affidavit, both have written letters of apology to the Red Hawk Casino.
Sacramento County sheriff's deputies have arrested a brother and sister in connection with the shooting of a man this afternoon in Rancho Cordova, according to authorities.
In custody are 19-year-old Jose Medina and his 18-year-old sister, whose name was not immediately available, said sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran.
The two face charges of assault with a deadly weapon and possibly attempted robbery, Curran said.
Just after 1:30 p.m., a man in his 30s was shot in the leg on Majo Court in Rancho Cordova, Curran said. The injury is not life-threatening.
Curran said authorities suspect the shooting occurred during a robbery attempt.
Sacramento area law enforcement officers arrested two men on suspicion of real-estate fraud and identity theft as part of a two-year Sacramento Police Department investigation, according to a news release.
Roseville police arrested Edwin Hetherton (photo bottom left), 32, on June 9 and Peter Scalise (photo bottom right), 40, turned himself in the El Dorado County Sherriff's Department later that day after warrants were issued for their arrest, according to the Sacramento police release.
The men were jailed on suspicion of six counts each of real estate fraud and six counts each of identity theft, according to the release.
Hetherton and Scalise worked together under Hetherton's company, Azzure Financial, and neither man was licensed with the Department of Real Estate, the release states.
The two men were using another broker's license information without permission, under which they collected loan commissions, the police allege. At least six fraudulent mortgage loans in Sacramento were facilitated by the two suspects, totaling more than $2 million, the release states.
Some of these loans ultimately defaulted, according to the release.
Two men have died in the crash of a small airplane near Truckee-Tahoe Airport.
Lt. Allan Carter of the Placer County Sheriff's Department said the report of the crash was received at 2:14 p.m. He said the single-engine plane with tandem seating went down about 500 yards south of the runway in an area of sagebrush.
Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the plane was a homebuilt, single-engine RV8. According to Gregor, the pilot departed from Truckee for a local flight and intended to return to that airport.
An FAA website lists the registered owner as Raymond Rotge of Santa Rosa.
Carter said airport personnel reported receiving a radio transmission from what they believe was this aircraft saying it was on a left face turn before a final approach. The plane did not land, however, and another airplane approaching the airport spotted the crash site, Carter said.
He described the two people on board as middle-aged men. Their identities will not be released until their families are notified.
Carter said the Sheriff's Department was awaiting the arrival of National Transportation Safety Board representatives before removing the bodies.
The California Highway Patrol has launched a new mobile application allowing motorists to check for traffic collisions and roadway hazards on their mobile device before starting their daily commute.
The new application provides real-time updates on where CHP officers are responding along roadways. The traffic reports are updated around the clock and include incident time, location and whether it involves a collision, traffic hazard or lane obstruction.
"By using this application, motorists will be able to choose an alternate route to get where they're going and avoid the congested area," CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow said in a news release. "This will help reduce frustration on the part of motorists stuck in traffic and possibly lessen the number of vehicles moving through the incident area."
He cautioned, however, that drivers should use the mobile application only when they are parked, or assign the task to a passenger while traveling. California law prohibits motorists from reading, writing or sending a text message, or operating a mobile computing device while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle.
The mobile application works on most devices, including the Android, iPhone and Blackberry. To view the site from a mobile device, visit http://m.chp.ca.gov.
The Yolo County District Attorney's Office is cautioning residents to be wary of cell-phone text messages purporting to be from the Yolo Federal Credit Union.
In the past few days, residents have received a rash of fake messages, according to a news release from the DA's office.
The message states that there is a problem with "Your YOLO FCU CARD starting with 4661." The message continues, "Your card has been placed on hold and you should call the number provided."
The scam message can be sent to thousands of people by crooks pretending to be legitimate businesses, such as banks and credit card providers, the release states.
The goal is to lure people into providing personal information like bank or credit card numbers. The scammers try to appeal to the victims' emotions so that they will quickly call back and provide sensitive and private information that will be used for future identity theft crimes, according the release.
Numerous Yolo County residents have contacted the DA's office to report the text messages. Several realized the message was a scam just before providing their account numbers.
District Attorney Jeff Reisig advises people never to respond to unsolicited requests for personal information without independently verifying with the bank or credit card company that the requests are legitimate
Yolo Federal Credit Union officials expressed their concern and offered assistance.
"Our members can rest assured the Yolo FCU stands ready to assist its members and that no data or personal information has been compromised," Jenee Rawlings, the credit union's vice president, said in the news release.
To help citizens protect themselves from becoming the victims of scams, the Yolo County District Attorney's Office, along with several other agencies, will hold a Fraud Fair from 2 to 6 p.m. July 8 at West Sacramento City Hall, 1110 West Capitol Ave.
For more information or directions, call Dave Edwards at (530) 666-8416.
A 19-year-old man shot in a Mack Road apartment complex this morning is expected to live, according to authorities.
Sacramento police responded to the 4900 block of Mack Road just after callers reported hearing gunshots in the area just after 11 a.m., said Sgt. Norm Leong.
Shortly thereafter, the 19-year-old victim showed up at a local hospital, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, Leong said.
Police have learned that the man was walking with friends through an apartment complex when two teenagers approached them, Leong said. The two groups argued before both teens pulled out guns and shot the victim, Leong said.
The teens, described to police only as black males, then fled, Leong said. Police are still searching for them.
Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP or text in a tip to 274637 by entering "SACTIP" followed by the information.
Q: Were the slayings of two people outside a North Sacramento beauty salon a couple of years ago ever solved? - John, Sacramento
A: Miguel Carranza (photo left), 39, is due to go on trial July 22 for alleging shooting to death his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend in 2007, according to Sacramento Superior Court records.
Police said that Martha Yesenia Lopez-Pacheco, 29, and her Jezer Lopez, 32, were gunned down on Nov. 8, 2007 as they headed home from the beauty salon where Lopez-Pacheco worked, The Bee reported.
Carranza had been accused of raping, stabbing and threatening the woman, according to a 2005 petition she filed for a restraining order.
Lopez-Pacheco left behind a 9-year-old son; Lopez had four young children.
According to police, the couple's killer waited for them to emerge from the salon on Northgate Boulevard before shooting them.
For a complete list of questions answered by Sacto911, click here
The Sacramento Police Department will conduct a DUI/driver's license checkpoint on Friday in the north area of the city, according to a news release.
The site and time of the checkpoint was not revealed in the Police Department release.
Uniformed officers will check for alcohol and/or drug-impaired drivers. Officers will also check driver's licenses.
Funding for these programs is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The Sacramento Police Department is seeking the community's help in identifying a man suspected of an attempted armed robbery at Jimboy's Tacos, 5085 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento Crime Alert officials report.
On May 14, the suspect (right photo) approached the drive-through window on foot. He attempted to rob the business with a black semi-automatic handgun, officials said.
The suspect is described as a black adult, age 30 years of age, 6 feet tall, weighing 210 pounds, with short black hair. He wore a large dark-striped shirt and dark, baggy jeans.
Anyone with information about the suspect or robbery is urged to contact Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP or text in a tip to 274637 (CRIMES). Enter SACTIP followed by the tip information. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
Roseville police are reminding seniors to be alert to financial scams targeting older people.
Police say the most common type of elder abuse law enforcement and victim advocates encounter locally is financial abuse, often perpetrated by professional scam artists.
Common scams include:
* Home and roadside repair scams: A scam artist contacts a homeowner or motorist, points out a previously unnoticed, or invented, repair problem and offers to fix the problem at a discounted rate. Recently in Roseville, an older couple were flagged down by another driver who told them their vehicle was smoking, according to a Police Department news release. The man offered to fix their vehicle at a "discounted rate" of $1,250. He and his companions talked the couple out of $40, then gained access to their home, distracted them and stole jewelry.
In a similar version of the scam, phony home repair people contacted older residents on the pretext of fixing the roof or conducting other unsolicited home repairs, then talked themselves into the homes and stole money and other items.
* The grandparent scam: A scam artist calls a senior citizen, often late at night, posing as a grandchild in trouble in another state or a foreign country. The "grandchild" tells the senior that he or she is in jail or has auto repair problems, and asks the grandparent to wire money.
* Foreign lottery or fund transfer scams: People are told they have won a lottery, even though they may never have entered it. They are told that all they have to do to claim millions of dollars is to wire a few thousand dollars to pay the taxes. Or people may receive an e-mail from a someone claiming to be a former government official in Nigeria asking assistance transferring millions of dollars to the United States, and saying they will be well compensated. People are asked to provide their bank account information so the transfer can be made. Police say some Roseville residents not only fell for the scam but were hounded afterward by the same scammers urging them to send even more money.
Once someone has wired money, or given away cash, police say it is almost impossible to arrest the scam artist, who may be in a foreign country, or to recover the stolen money.
Police also note that older people are sometimes reluctant to talk about their financial affairs with their family, or are too embarrassed to tell anyone that they have been duped.
Laura Conrad, victim advocate for the Placer County District Attorney's Office, offers tips to avoid becoming a victim:
* Before having work done to your home, check a contractor's license number online at http://www.cslb.ca.gov/, or by calling (800) 321-2752. Always get multiple bids, get a written contract and never pay more than 10 percent down or $1,000, whichever is less, upfront.
* Never let strangers, unsolicited "inspectors" or solicitors into your home. Create a barrier between yourself and solicitors with a metal screen door or a security door. Before letting inspectors or repairmen in, verify their ID with their employer.
* Get in the habit of discussing transactions or purchases of more than $1,000 with a trusted family member.
* Don't be pressured into making an immediate decision.
* Register you home and cell phones with the "do not call" national registry at (888) 382-1222 or www.donotcall.gov.
An Auburn man was arrested early this morning after he allegedly drove his vehicle toward police officers, leading them to fire handguns in an attempt to stop it.
Gary Jones, 26, is accused of assault with a deadly weapon, evading a peace officer and driving under the influence.
The incident began late Tuesday night when Auburn police officers spotted a suspicious vehicle in the Auburn Town Center parking lot in the 300 block of Elm Avenue. It was parked in a location that generally is not used at that hour, according to a police department news release.
About 12:25 a.m. today, officers saw the vehicle leave the location and they attempted to stop it. The driver, however, failed to stop after officers turned on their emergency lights and siren. The vehicle instead accelerated as it turned onto Mikkelsen Drive and crossed over to the wrong side of the street.
When the vehicle slowed down, officers believed it was going to stop. As they got out of their vehicles, however, the suspect vehicle made an abrupt turn and headed toward the officers. Fearing for their safety, the officers fired shorts at the vehicle in an attempt to disable it, the news release said.
The vehicle sped away and entered an apartment complex in the 700 block of Mikkelsen Drive.
As officers were driving around the apartment complex, a witness directed them to the driver and passenger, who were now out of the vehicle. Both were detained.
An initial investigation determined that Jones was the driver and he was arrested. The passenger was released after questioning, and investigators said it was unlikely charges would be filed against that individual.
Police said the investigation is continuing. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call detectives at (530) 823-4237.
Sacramento police are searching for a teenager who fled from officers during a traffic stop in the Meadowview area, according to authorities. A loaded handgun and knife were founding the car, police said.
Just after 4:30 p.m., an officer pulled over a white Toyota at Quasar Circle and Loma Verde Way, possibly because the car had no license plates, said police Sgt. Norm Leong.
Four teenagers fled from the car. Two have been detained, Leong said, and police are searching the area for the driver and another passenger.
The driver is described as a black male, about 16 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing about 130 pounds, Leong said. He was wearing yellow boxers under blue jeans, a black baseball cap and no shirt, Leong said.
Sacramento police are asking for the public's help in indentifying a man with a penchant for bank robbery, according to a Police Department news release.
The man (photos left and below), who held up two banks in the five days, has been captured on security camera photographs, images that were released to the media today.
The release gave these details:
On Friday, the man entered the Bank of America at 1100 Alhambra Boulevard and demanded money from a teller. He fled from the bank on foot after the cash was turned over.
On Tuesday he entered a bank in the 1300 block of Broadway and robbed another teller of money.
He is described as a black male in his late 20s or early 30s, about 6 feet tall and weighing about 170 pounds.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Alert at (916) 443-4357. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward up to $1,000.
Proposition 69, which requires arrested suspects to submit to DNA tests even when accused of nonviolent crimes, is reaching its intended goal of helping solve cold cases across the state, according to an analysis by the Attorney General's office.
Since the law went into effect in the beginning of 2008, more than 800 matches have been made between the DNA of newly arrested suspects to DNA samples from crime scenes in older cases, the AG's office stated in a news release today.
"Collecting DNA at the time of arrest is cracking cold cases that might have gone unsolved forever," Attorney General Jerry Brown is quoted as saying in the release. "It is particularly significant that individuals arrested for non-violent crimes have been linked to the commission of violent crimes such as murder and rape."
The AG's office looked at 69 DNA matches made over 15 months, the release states. Of those 69 matches, 78 percent involved new DNA samples taken from suspects arrested on suspicion of non-violent crimes, according to the release.
Proposition 69, passed by California voters in 2004, broadened the scope of existing practice in which law enforcement officials collected DNA samples from suspects arrested in connection with violent felony offenses. Now, under the new law, DNA samples are collected from suspects accused of any felony offense, violent or not.
In his release, Brown cited a Sacramento case as evidence of the proposition's success. In 2009, 56-year-old Donald Carter was arrested on a felony drug charge. His DNA sample then was matched to DNA collected in the previously unsolved, 20-year-old murder case of Sophie McAllister, 80.
The owner of Elk Grove-based Liberty Mortgage Co. and Liberty Real Estate and Investment Co., and nine alleged accomplices face federal mortgage fraud and mail fraud charges, following a 48-count federal grand jury indictment, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Wednesday.
The indictment charges Liberty owner Hoda Samuel, 58, of Elk Grove, and others with masterminding 30 home purchases from April 2006 through Feb. 2007 using fraudulent loan applications. All but two of the homes have been foreclosed by lenders for a loss of $5.5 million, said U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner.
Five of those indicted are Elk Grove residents. Others are from Lodi, Oakland and San Diego. Charges include conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud, mail fraud and making false statements in mortgage applications to federally insured banks.
None of those named in the indictment have been arrested and several have already appeared in federal court in Sacramento and made not guilty pleas.
The indictment alleges that the two Elk Grove companies prepared loan applications using inflated incomes and false employment information. Liberty typically offered sellers $15,000 to $40,000 more than the asking price, saying the extra money was going to contractors to make the properties livable for disabled people. The money went to Liberty and its clients instead, the indictment says.
Elk Grove residents indicted in documents unsealed Tuesday included Connie Devers, 40, Charles Robert Maness, 32, Ronald Burris, 36, and Sean Patrick Gjerde, 34.
Most of the lenders in the property deals were subprime lenders that have since gone out of business.
The Sacramento district attorney will file a misdemeanor charge of brandishing a weapon Thursday against a Sacramento police officer arrested last year and booked on suspicion of kidnapping and other felonies in a domestic dispute with his girlfriend, The Bee learned today.
Officer Bryan David Weinrich (photo left) is expected to turn himself in and be arraigned Thursday afternoon in Sacramento Superior Court, his lawyer said.
"It was investigated as a felony assault and kidnapping and the District Attorney's Office's decision was that there was no kidnapping and there was no felony assault," Weinrich's attorney Tom Johnson said. "We also firmly believe there was never a brandishing of a weapon.
"We don't think any charges should have been filed," Johnson said. "He didn't do anything criminal."
Sacramento district attorney's officials declined to comment.
Weinrich, 24, has been on paid administrative leave since his Nov. 20 arrest.
Sacramento police spokesman Officer Konrad von Schoech said the department still is conducting its internal investigation. Von Schoech deferred comment on the DA's decision to the prosecutor's office and the Galt Police Department, which made the arrest on the officer.
Galt police spokesman Lt. Brian Vizzusi said officials from his agency have been informed by the DA's office about the decision to pursue the misdemeanor case and that they agree with it.
Weinrich had initially been booked for four felonies - domestic violence, brandishing a firearm, kidnapping and false imprisonment.
His girlfriend with whom he cohabitated told police he pushed her down and brandished the weapon two days before the arrest, Galt police said. Investigators said then that she was injured but that she didn't need medical help.
The kidnapping and false imprisonment allegation apparently stem from the alleged victim's statement to police that Weinrich physically restrained her from getting out of a car. He eventually let her go, police said.
A 19-year-old Mount Aukum man drowned Tuesday in the rapids of the Cosumnes River, officials said today.
El Dorado County Sheriff's deputies said that John Fagan Jr. was swimming in a large pool in the middle fork of the Cosumnes River when he was swept downstream through a series of rapids.
Witnesses lost sight of him for several minutes until his body was spotted 200 yards downstream, floating face down, according to a news release.
The witnesses removed Fagan from the water and started cardiopulmonary resuscitation. When paramedics arrived CPR was continued.
However, Fagan could not be resuscitated and he was pronounced dead at the scene. A California Highway Patrol helicopter was used to remove his body from the remote location near the Outingdale area.
Deputies remind boaters and swimmers that El Dorado County rivers are running swift and cold with snow melting in the Sierra Nevada, the release states.
A search has ended in Citrus Heights for a suspected truck thief.
The search began when a Citrus Heights police officer discovered through a routine check with the computer on board his squad car revealed that a pickup he was following was stolen.
He pulled the pickup over at an apartment complex at Shupe and Grady drives. That is when the suspected pickup thief ran away.
Officers searched the complex but failed to find the man. A backpack with possibly stolen items, including cell phones, was found in the truck.
Two people in another vehicle that the truck driver seemed to be following before the stop were detained for a short time but later released.
A Union City man is the latest of several people to be sentenced for their involvement in a large-scale conspiracy to distribute cocaine from Mexico to the Sacramento area.
Jose Maria Meza-Portillo, 44, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton to 19 years and seven months in prison for conspiring to distribute cocaine, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release. He pleaded guilty Nov. 4, 2009.
During the investigation, federal agents learned that Meza-Portillo was directing the payment of money from the sales of cocaine back to the suppliers in Mexico. On Mary 3, 2006, officers stopped a vehicle they believed was carrying money bound for Mexico and discovered nearly $1 million in cash hidden inside, the news release said.
Co-conspirators previously sentenced in the case include:
• Luis Manuel Sanchez-Aceves, 29, of Richmond, sentenced on May 25 to 13 years in prison
• Cristobal Navarro, 46, of Richmond, sentenced June 2 to 12 years and seven months in prison
• Daniel Rosales, 26, or San Francisco, sentenced Sept. 29, 2009 to eight years in prison
• Darius Louis, 38, of Richmond, sentenced May 25 to four years in prison.
Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness said today that the responsibility for last week's standoff ultimately lies with suspect Anthony Alvarez, and not with San Francisco police, who had identified Alvarez as a homicide suspect in April but who reportedly could not link him to the crime with blood evidence because of an overburdened crime lab.
McGinness called a news conference this afternoon to respond to a San Francisco Chronicle article reporting that blood collected at the scene of an April 8 homicide in Noe Valley had not yet been analyzed quickly because of a backlog of evidence waiting to be tested at the crime lab.
Had that blood been tested quicker and linked to a DNA sample Alvarez submitted after a drug arrest in 2008, Alvarez likely would have been in custody before last week's standoff, the story suggests.
But McGinness said the argument that the standoff could have been prevented by quicker work at the crime lab is "invalid" and pointed out that the showdown occurred as police tried to take Alvarez into custody in Sacramento. There is no guarantee a similar situation would have unfolded had San Francisco police tried to arrest Alvarez sooner, McGinness said.
"I harbor no animosity toward the San Francisco Police Department," he said. "I understand what they're working with in terms of caseloads."
The sheriff went on to say that "the blame for Mr. Alvarez's behavior ... is his and his alone."
Alvarez, who on Thursday turned 26 holed up in an Arden Way apartment with his cousin's 16-month-old son held hostage, was shot and killed by sheriff's SWAT members Friday night, ending a 56-hour standoff with authorities. The toddler was not harmed.
The standoff began Wednesday morning, when Sacramento County sheriff's deputies went to the Arden Way apartments with Concord police to arrest Alvarez on suspicion of committing three armed robberies in the Bay Area and shooting at a Concord police officer.
He also was a suspect in the San Francisco homicide, authorities said.
When Alvarez saw police, he grabbed his cousin's toddler and retreated inside the apartment. Another child, the 4-year-old of Alvarez's cousin, was safely rescued by sheriff's deputies through a window.
The Chronicle also reported that Alvarez admitted to the homicide while speaking with negotiators during the standoff, but McGinness said that did not happen. He attributed the mistake to a miscommunication between the newspaper and San Francisco police.
Roseville police are asking for help in recovering a federal agent's handgun left in a supermarket restroom.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent removed his weapon while using the restroom of the Bel Air supermarket on Foothills Boulevard, said Dee Dee Gunther, a spokeswoman for the Roseville Police Department. After noticing his oversight, about 15 minutes later, the agent returned to find the gun gone, she said.
The handgun was lost about 7:50 p.m. June 3. Today Roseville police asked the media for help, but the news release they sent omitted the fact that the gun was a federal agent's.
Gunther said anyone finding valuable property has a legal responsibility to try to find the rightful owner. Based on the value of the semi-automatic handgun, the person taking it could be found guilty of a felony.
Gunther said she had to give the agent credit for not trying to hide his mistake.
"He reported it immediately," she said. "His biggest concern is to find that weapon and get it off the streets."
Police say they suspect that the man shown in a security photograph (right) picked up the weapon. Security photos show him entering and leaving the restroom shortly after the handgun was left behind.
He is seen in the photo holding the waistband of his shorts as if concealing something, police said.
The man in the photo is in his late teens or 20s and has short hair. He was wearing wire-framed glasses, a red T-shirt with a spiral design, dark-colored basketball shorts and white athletic shoes.
He also had a lanyard around his neck.
Police say it is a crime to take lost property without attempting to find the rightful owner. Anyone who recognizes the man in the photo is asked to call Roseville Crime Stoppers at (916) 783-7867.
Two burglary suspects Tuesday morning were taken into custody on a Sacramento elementary school campus.
One of the suspects was arrested in a hallway at Camellia Basic School in the Glen Elder neighborhood.
The second man was taken into custody when he tried to blend in with a crowd of parents and students at a function in the school multi-purpose room.
Sacramento police said the home burglary occurred in the 6400 block of Rancho Adobe Drive near the school. Police quickly responded and chased the suspects over a fence that led onto campus.
The school at 6600 Cougar Drive was placed in lockdown and the suspect in the hallway was arrested. The second suspect was able to enter the multi-purpose room before the lockdown was in place.
"Alert parents pointed him out," said Sgt. Vince Matranga with the Sacramento Unified School District police department. "He was standing in the back of the room. He was taken into custody without incident."
Quick work by a Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy early Tuesday6/15 could not save a man who was shot on an Arden Arcade street.
At 1:42 a.m. a call came into the sheriff's department dispatchers regarding gunshots heard in the area of Howe Avenue and Whippoorwill Lane near Marconi Avenue and Interstate 80.
A deputy conducting a vehicle stop in the area had heard the gunshots and responded to the location.
The deputy found a 50-year-old man in the street suffering from more than one gunshot wound.
The deputy administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation until paramedics arrived.
The man was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later, according to a sheriff's department news release.
Coroner's deputies have yet to identify on the victim.
Homicide detectives learned that the man was walking along Howe Avenue when a vehicle stopped and three men got out.
The trio approached the man and started fighting with him.
In the course of the fight, one assailant shot the man and the suspects then hopped back into the vehicle and fled.
A witness could not provide a description of the weapon, suspects or the suspects' vehicle. A motive has not been determined.
Anyone with information regarding the killing is asked to call detectives at (916) 874-5057 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-4357.
Peak fire season officially began today in the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit.
Seasonal firefighters have been rehired and trained, and fire response facilities are open around-the-clock, according to a Cal Fire news release.
Fire officials urge homeowners to prepare for wildfires by reducing or removing vegetation around homes to create a defensible space.
"Homeowners play a key role in determining the survivability of their homes," Chief Brad Harris of the Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit said in the news release. "The most important person in protecting a home from a wildfire is not the firefighter during the actual emergency, but the property owner and their actions in the weeks and months before."
To help make homes fire safe, fire officials advise property owners to:
• Remove all flammable vegetation within 30 feet of structures.
• In an additional 70 feet, space trees and plants away from each other.
• Clear all needles and leaves from roofs, eaves and rain gutters.
• Trim branches 6 feet from the ground.
• Use trimming, mowing and power equipment before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m.
• Landscape with fire-resistant plants.
• Use ignition-resistant building materials.
For more information on defensible space, see the Cal Fire website at www.fire.ca.gov.
Copper wire thieves continue to plague the city of Davis, bringing the cost of thefts in recent weeks to more than $100,000.
Over the weekend, wire was stolen along the south Davis greenbelt area next to the Putah Creek Bike Path, according to a Police Department news release. In one case, police said, wires were dangerously spliced together causing electrical shorts and minor explosions.
Thieves have focused on park areas near the freeway around the west and south ends of the city. The wire thefts have disrupted lighting in parks and automatic sprinkler systems. As a result, greenbelt areas have been left in the dark, and significant patches of grass and vegetation are beginning to die, officials say.
In the south area of the city, thieves cut wires, then spliced them together connecting the wrong electrical currents. When city electricians attempted to return power to that area, an electrical short caused two minor explosions. No one was injured.
In an effort to catch the thieves and protect the public, Davis police recommend:
• If you see suspicious activities, immediately report it to the Police Department.
• Do not tamper with any wiring. If you see wiring that appears to be exposed or tampered with, immediately call the Police Department. Officers will be dispatched to determine whether a crime is taking place and will notify city electricians of suspected damage.
• Alert children to the dangers of exposed wiring if they use local parks and greenbelts. If they see exposed wiring while playing or walking through the park, advise them to come home and notify and adult.
An El Dorado County judge today denied motions to grant separate trials to Tylar Marie Witt and Stephen Paul Cover in the murder of Witt's mother, Joanne - unless prosecutors choose to introduce Witt's lurid short story about young lovers inspired to kill.
El Dorado Superior Court Judge Kenneth J. Melikian said he would not grant defense motions to allow Will and Culver to be tried separately - or with two juries - unless prosecutors introduce into evidence Witt's story, "A Raven and his Killer."
Authorities say the girl's "Raven" story, set in medieval times, parallels the real-life murder of Joanne Witt in June 2009.
They allege Joanne Witt was stabbed to death by Colver at the behest of Witt after Joanne Witt gave her daughter's dairy detailing a sexual relationship with Colver to El Dorado County sheriff's detectives investigating a statutory rape allegation.
In "The Killer and his Raven," Witt wrote about teen lovers driven to murder after their dreams were "shattered" by a woman who handed over her teenage girl's romantic journal to police.
Prosecutor Lizette Suder said she will decide whether to introduce the "Raven" story based on the outcome of other motions in the case. The trial is due to be moved to El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Daniel B. Proud.
Colver, 19, has pleaded not guilty in the killing. Tylar Witt, 15, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Joanne Witt was found stabbed to death June 15, 2009, in the master bedroom of her home.
A kayaker reported missing Sunday on the middle fork of the Cosumnes River has been identified as Leon Wescombe, 29, of Australia.
The El Dorado County Sheriff's dive team is continuing its search today for Wescombe. He was with a group making its way down the river about 2 p.m. Sunday when he rolled upside down. When Wescombe righted himself, the river funneled him into the next set of treacherous rapids, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. Fellow kayakers watched as Wescombe entered the rapids, but did not see him exit.
Sheriff's officials said Wescombe and the other kayakers were experienced and had the proper equipment.
The shore was searched Sunday on the ground and from the air using a California Highway Patrol helicopter before being suspended about 6 p.m.
Famed Placerville-raised painter Thomas Kinkade has been arrested for allegedly driving drunk outside Carmel, according to the California Highway Patrol.
A Monterey County sheriff's deputy initially pulled over Kinkade's Mercedes Benz for a vehicle code violation Friday night, said CHP Officer Robert Lehman. After making contact with the 52-year-old Kinkade, the deputy suspected that he was drunk, Lehman said.
The deputy called the CHP to assist, and an officer performed tests to determine that Kinkade was impaired, Lehman said. The CHP officer arrested Kinkade just after 10 p.m., Lehman said.
Kinkade was booked into the Monterey County Jail on suspicion of misdemeanor drunken driving, Lehman said.
The arresting officer reported that Kinkade was "very polite" during the exchange, Lehman said.
Kinkade did submit to a blood test, Lehman said; however, the CHP is not releasing his blood-alcohol level.
Kinkade, dubbed the "Painter of Light," is the most-collected artist of modern times and likely the best-selling in history. Millions of his paintings are displayed in homes across the nation.
His specialties are light-filled scenes of cottages, lighthouses and chapels, and seaside and pastoral landscapes.
A nationwide network of art galleries specializes in his brand, and officially endorsed Web sites sell Kinkade-themed goods.
Kinkade was born in Sacramento and grew up in Placerville.
He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.
Sparks from power lines apparently caused grass fires that scorched 150 acres in the Elk Grove area.
A series of grass fires during the weekend spread through open fields, burning several farm buildings and haystacks.
A fire Saturday, driven by high winds, grew to 80 acres in an hour. It started near Grantline and Waterman roads, destroying a barn, several other buildings and vehicles.
On Sunday, four separate fires along the same north-south power lines blackened at least 70 acres east of Elk Grove and Wilton. The first fire that day spread to a haystack.
No buildings were damaged Sunday but three haystacks made of baled hay burned. Value of the hay was estimated to be in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Sacramento Municipal Utility District, owner of the power lines, told investigators a line malfunctioned, a Cosumnes Community Services District news release states.
Firefighters from the Cosumnes CSD, Sacramento Fire Department, Sacramento Metropolitan Fire Department and Wilton Fire Department fought the blazes.
Sacramento police have arrested a man on suspicion of arson after they say he attempted to set his former home on fire.
James Haskell, 51, was arrested on suspicion of arson and threatening to commit a crime resulting in great bodily injury.
Police were called to a residence Sunday afternoon after they received reports of a man pouring gasoline around a house and setting a fence on fire. They also were told that the man was armed with a knife and was chasing people.
Police said they found Haskell unarmed in the front yard of the residence in the 3100 block of 66th Avenue in south Sacramento. Haskell allegedly screamed at police, imploring them to shoot him.
Haskell, who police said appeared intoxicated, subsequently was arrested.
Police said three young people are suspected of joy-riding golf carts away from Bing Maloney Golf Course.
Managers of the golf course at 6801 Freeport Blvd. noticed on Sunday that carts were missing. The three carts were found with minor damager in a wooded area of nearby Chorley Park, police said.
Three children, one 12 years old, the other two both 10, were detained and determined to have been responsible, police said.
A Rosemont High School science teacher is on administrative leave while Sacramento police investigate allegations that he engaged in lewd conduct with a female student on campus.
Nam Manh Nguyen, 32, is being investigated for inappropriately touching a 17-year-old student on June 3, police Officer Konrad von Schoech said. The alleged incident was reported a day later.
Von Schoech said many of the details cannot be disclosed because the matter is under investigation.
Sacramento City Unified School District spokesman Gabe Ross confirmed Nguyen is on administrative leave but said he could not comment further because it is a personnel matter.
Nguyen has been a teacher at Rosemont High School since 2006 and has not worked elsewhere in the district, Ross said.
A Sacramento street gang member convicted of first-degree murder for killing a rival during a shootout two years ago has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, online court records show.
Billy Saechao was sent to the Department of Corrections on Friday by Sacramento Superior Court Judge Laurie M. Earl for the killing of Koua Lee, 20.
An estimated 40 shots were fired in the battle between two street gangs March 21, 2008, on Millroy Way in south Sacramento.
The disappearance of a Placerville man has his family in a frantic multicounty search for clues.
Guy Albert Franzi was last on June 8 fueling up his truck at a Valero gas station in La Grange in Toulume County and texting his wife, said his daughter-in-law Lisa Franzi. From that point the trail goes cold. No phone activity. No credit card use. And no sign of him or his truck, she said.
Franzi, who is part owner of a business that sells feed supplements for horses, set out Tuesday to meet a potential client outside of Modesto.
Two days after the text message was sent, Franzi's phone was recovered by the Calaveras County Sheriff Department after a resident reported finding it in the back of their truck.
Lisa Franzi said the family spent the weekend combing nearby towns, putting up posters and looking for clues.
"How do we find a truck that seemed to just vanish?" Lisa Franzi said.
Guy Franzi drives a maroon 1998 Chevy Silverado pickup truck, California license number 5U30039. An "E3 Live" logo is on the side of the truck.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Guy Franzi or the truck can call the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department at (530) 621-6600.
A judge has sentenced convicted murderer Jules Gholar to 25 years to life in prison for the methamphetamine-related shooting of Augusta James in Oak Park.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge David De Alba imposed the term Friday on 27-year-old Gholar.
Gholar, left, had been smoking crystal methamphetamine and trying to buy more drugs when he shot and killed James, 32, outside a house on 35th Street around 2:20 a.m., according to a prosecution trial brief.
Crews in El Dorado County were busy Sunday afternoon searching for a missing kayaker, a law enforcement dispatcher confirmed.
According to press reports, the crews are combing the north fork of the Cosumnes River in search of a kayaker last seen around 2 p.m. near Lower Caldor Road near Grizzly Flat Road east of Somerset.
A group of kayakers navigated the area and when they reached the end of their run noticed that one person in their group was missing.
Two Antelope homes are in serious need of repair after an out-of-control propane grill fire spread to the two homes Sunday afternoon, causing an estimated $400,000 in damages.
Capt. Christian Pebbles, of the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, said all signs point to the grill as the origin of the fire. The homeowner left the grill unattended and returned to find it engulfed in flames, Pebbles said. The resident was concerned the propane tank would explode and called the fire department, he said.
"This was a preventable fire. If you have a barbecue don't leave it unattended," said Pebbles.
He also recommended outdoor cooks clean their grill frequently to reduce the amount of flammable grease.
The fire at Magister Court was called in at 5:11 p.m. It took 35 firefighters 23 minutes to extinguish the fire.
Police in Woodland are looking for a male suspect in the robbery of a Quik Stop Market early Sunday morning.
The suspect was last seen running southbound on Matmor Road at around 4:30 a.m. after a failed attempt to rob the Quik Stop Market at 1400 Main St, police said. According to the police account, the man had a black handgun, but the clerk refused to give him any money. The suspect fled shortly thereafter.
Anyone with information on the case is encouraged to call the Woodland Police Department.
The parents of the little boy held hostage for three days during a police standoff at a Sacramento apartment complex thanked local authorities today for getting their 16-month-old son out safely and provided some insight into their ordeal. The standoff ended Friday night when officers shot and killed Anthony Alvarez
"I just want to thank all the agencies involved," Michael Pittman said before a bank of television cameras and members of the media. His wife Alexis was at his side with their young son, Michael Pittman Jr.
The youngster seemed unfazed by the events. During the press conference he alternated between being joyful and fussy never losing his grip on the stuffed lion given to him by the wife of an officer.
Alvarez was Alexis Pittman's cousin. He was suspected in three bank robberies in Contra Costa County and was wanted for questioning in a San Francisco homicide, Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness said at a news conference Saturday. Alvarez also allegedly shot at a police officer during a traffic stop in the Bay Area last week.
When the sheriff's department arrived at the Arden Towne Apartments last week, he took the child hostage.
Michael Pittman said he felt helpless during the standoff and at points considered whether he should try to talk Alverez down, but decided the officers could best handle the situation.
"It was pure joy," Alexis Pittman said of the moment her son was back in her arms.
The Sacramento County Sherifr's Department reported that Kody Kilgore, the eight-month-old child who had been reported as an at risk missing person, was found unharmed today. His father and his father's girlfriend were located early today. Deputies said they determined a crime had not been committed.
A suspected gang member is in custody after fleeing from Roseville police during a traffic stop Saturday afternoon, police said.
David M. Perez, 32, was in the passenger's seat during a routine stop just east of the Sierra Street Bridge in Roseville, said Sgt. Cal Walstad.
Perez provided false identification to an officer and then fled on foot, Walstad said. As he was running, he dropped a gun, Walstad said.
Police said the gun was loaded and that its serial number had been removed.
Police set up a one-block perimeter between Coronado Avenue and Sierra Street, and between Yosemite and Shasta streets.
"He wasn't going anywhere," Walstad said.
A canine unit found Perez hiding under a house at 205 Coronado Avenue, Walstad said. The foot pursuit began at 3:52 p.m., and police had Perez in custody at 4:11 p.m.
Perez was booked into jail on suspicion of six felonies, including resisting arrest, carrying a concealed firearm, dropping a firearm in a place where it could have been found by children and committing a crime for the benefit of a gang, police said.
Perez also was being held on a no-bail parole violation, according to online jail booking records.
Sheriff's deputies are looking for an El Dorado County man who left his home for a business meeting on June 8 and has not been heard from since that afternoon.
Guy Albert Franzi (photo left) left home around 1 p.m., for a meeting at a ranch near Modesto, according to a release from the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office.
Two hours later, his wife received a text message from Franzi's phone, which she found odd because Franzi had never sent her a text message before, the release states.
At 6 p.m., Franzi's credit card was used to buy gas at a station in La Grange, about 30 miles from Modesto.
The credit card has not been used since, and there has been no further activity on Franzi's phone, according to the release.
If you have information, police ask that you contact the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office at (530) 621-6600 or Detective Jeff Leikauf at (530) 642-4720.
TUCSON, Ariz. - Tucson police have arrested a suspect in the killing of a former Sacramento woman who's body was discovered in an east Tucson park Thursday morning.
Police arrested 26-year-old Francisco Romero after the body of 46-year-old Sandra Stevens, who had been living in Tucson, was discovered.
While processing the crime scene at Freedom Park Thursday morning, officers observed a man near the children's playground.
Upon contact, Tucson police said officers noted evidence tying the man to the crime scene.
Romero was detained and transported to the main police station for an interview before he was booked into Pima County jail on a charge of first degree murder.
Detectives are withholding the cause and manner of Stevens' death as well as the motive for the slaying.
A two-alarm grass fire in Elk Grove burned 80 acres and threatened the house on one of the oldest ranches in the area before firefighters got it under control this afternoon.
The fire started around 1:30 p.m., near the intersection of Waterman and Grant Line roads. It burned a couple of out buildings near the Mahon Ranch, which has stood in the area for over 125 years.
The fire quickly spread from covering five acres to covering 80 because of high winds, said Steve Capps, public information officer for the Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Department.
It took a little over two hours for firefighters from the Cosumnes department and other departments to get the fire under control, Capps said.
There were no injuries, and the house on the ranch was not affected.
The Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy who carried a 16-month-old boy out of a dramatic hostage situation that ended Friday evening spoke briefly with media this afternoon.
Deputy Orrlando Mayes said little Michael Pittman Jr. did not cry when another deputy snatched him out of the apartment where a mentally disturbed cousin had been holding him hostage for more than 55 hours. He didn't fuss when he was handed off to Mayes, who was clad in a camouflage SWAT uniform and helmet.
It wasn't until the toddler was taken to UC Davis Medical Center for an examination that he began to cry, Mayes told reporters.
Deputies ended the standoff with Anthony Alvarez Friday evening when they blew holes in the wall of the Arden Way apartment where he'd been holed up with the boy. Alvarez was left dead in the apartment after a volley of gunfire with deputies.
Mayes said he would have expected the toddler to be more upset.
Neither Mayes nor Sheriff John McGinness would provide additional detail about how the standoff ended Friday night, saying that the incident still is under investigation;
McGinness did confirm that Alvarez is a suspect in a San Francisco homicide. Alvarez also is suspected in three armed bank robberies in Contra Costa County and allegedly shot at a Contra Costa police officer who pulled him over during a traffic stop there last week.
Mayes, an 18-year veteran of the sheriff's department, said the suspect had shot at him at different times during the standoff.
Call The Bee's Carlos Alcalá, (916) 321-1987.
Top photo: Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy Orrlando Mayes holds 16-month-old Michael Pittman Jr. as a standoff in an Arden-area apartment ends Friday evening. Photo by Andy Alfaro.
Bottom photo: Orrlando Mayes, foreground, is introduced by Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness during a news conference on Saturday.
A Placer County judge has sentenced David Harrison Buzzetta, 22, for killing his stepfather with an aluminum baseball bat in 2007, according to a release from the Placer County District Attorney's office.
Judge Mark S. Curry sentenced Buzzetta Friday to a term of 26 years to life in prison, the maximum possible under a plea agreement.
Paul Bonomo, the victim, had allowed his stepson, then 19, to stay in the house upon his return from Colorado. Buzzetta was said to have resented his stepfather's discipline, "tough love" in the words of the release.
Although a jury had found that Buzzetta was lying in wait -- a circumstance that could have led to a sentence of life without possibility of parole -- the allegation was withdrawn after the plea deal.
Under the deal, Buzzetta withdrew an insanity plea, the release said.
The Sacramento City Fire Department is fighting a large grass fire in the 2000 block of Meadowview Road, near the old California Highway Patrol Academy, said Capt. Jim Doucette.
No homes are threatened at this time, said Doucette, a fire department spokesman.
The 55 1/2-hour Arden Way standoff ended Friday night after Sacramento County sheriff's deputies fatally shot Anthony Alvarez and rescued a 16-month-old boy who had been held in an apartment.
Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness said his officers detonated an explosive that blew two holes in the apartment wall and got a good visual of the suspect, who was in close proximity to the baby. Alvarez was shot multiple times. No officers were shot, but one sustained a cut to his leg, he said.
A SWAT team member wearing fatigues carried the toddler from the Arden Towne apartments about 7:15 p.m. McGinness said the baby was unhurt. Authorities said the baby was taken to the UC Davis Medical Center to be examined.
A television cameraman heard officers on the police scanner say, "suspect's dead" and said it out loud. Tessa Alvarez, the suspect's sister, was standing nearby and collapsed into her husband's arms crying. They immediately left the scene in their car.
McGinness described the operation as successful and said that he gave the green light for his officers to use deadly force if that would safely and effectively rescue the baby.
"That window of opportunity presented itself," the sheriff said in a news conference following the baby's appearance.
After the standoff, Arden Towne residents looked forward to returning to their apartments.
"I'm just glad it's over so we can start our lives again," said Helen Allen. "All of us have been uprooted. I'm going to take a long shower."
Another resident, Heather Pantalone, said, "I just want to go home and sleep in my bed."
Both may have to wait until mid-Saturday morning to return to their residences because the area remains cordoned off as a major crime scene for investigations.
Just hours before, the department was preparing for the standoff to last "two, four more days or even a week," said sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran.
Earlier in the afternoon, a Sacramento Sheriff's Department robot delivered "liquids and snacks" to the armed robbery suspect, who was holed up in an apartment at 2400 Arden Way, officials said.
The goods were delivered to Alvarez in an "attempt to gain his trust," Curran said.
In a briefing for reporters about 1:20 p.m., McGinness said getting the boy out safely was "all that matters."
"The collective goal ... is to bring the child out safe and well," McGinness said.
McGinness said the standoff was the longest hostage situation in his department's modern history and may be one of the longest nationally.
With the SWAT members tied up, patrols in the rest of the county suffered during the standoff, McGinness said. At one point, only six deputies were available to patrol the entire unincorporated county, he said.
McGinness thanked the Sacramento Police Department for supplying its SWAT members to relieve the sheriff's SWAT. He also thanked the California Highway Patrol for handling traffic and other duties around the standoff site.
According to a relative, Alvarez is schizophrenic and bipolar and had not been taking his medications.
Deputies and Sacramento police had shot at Alvarez several times over the three days of the standoff. Alvarez had fired at officers several times.
Alvarez is suspected of a bank robbery in the Bay Area and shooting at a Concord police officer.
Concord police officers backed by sheriff's deputies tried to arrest Alvarez around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, but Alvarez grabbed the boy and the standoff began.
Alvarez shot at Sacramento County sheriff's deputies in the early morning hours and fired at a robot. Alvarez fired several times at a robotic device as it rolled up to the apartment after sunrise, Curran said. The deputies are using a robot to try and monitor Alvarez.
Curran said that overnight, six or seven shots were fired, some indiscriminate but others directly at SWAT deputies.
Several times between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m., deputies deployed loud flash-bang explosions outside the apartment.
Bee reporters will stay with this story and take you behind the scenes. Follow updates Saturday online: www.sacbee.com, sacbee.com/sacto911
Photo caption:
A Sacramento Sheriff's Department SWAT team member looks for paramedics after a young boy was rescued after being held hostage for by a robbery suspect in the Arden Towne apartments for three days. Photo by Andy Alfaro
Firefighters have extinguished a large, two-alarm grass fire at West Elverta Road and Highway 99 this afternoon, said Capt. Jim Douchette, spokesman for the Sacramento City Fire Department.
No structures were involved.
High winds hampered firefighters and spread the smell of smoke over parts of Sacramento County.
A 54-year-old Roseville man has been sentenced to 16 years in state prison for the sexual molestation of three girls, whose ages ranged from 9 to 13, according to a new release from the Placer County District Attorney's Office.
Edwin Lionel Chartier (photo left) must also register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and will be on three years parole after he gets out of prison, Placer County Superior Court Judge Robert P. McElhany ordered during the defendant's sentencing Wednesday, the release states.
Prosecutor Jeff Wood of the Placer County District Attorney's Office said Chartier will be required to serve at least 85 percent of his prison sentence.
"In addition, two of the felony charges against him are strikes," Wood said. "Should he pick up a third strike, he is looking at even more substantial prison time."
Wood said the crimes against the girls, whose ages were 9, 12 and 13, began in 2006 and continued through 2009.
On April 21, one of the girls revealed the molestation to a parent, triggering a police investigation. The following day, Chartier walked into the Roseville Police Department and confessed the crimes, Wood said.
The 30-day grace period for red-light camera at a major Elk Grove intersection ends early Saturday, police said.
Effective at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, drivers running red lights at Elk Grove Boulevard and Bruceville Road will be issued citations carrying a $436 fine, according to a release from the Elk Grove Police Department.
A Sacramento area woman has been arrested on charges linked to body parts found along the Sacramento and Feather rivers after her son was arrested in Oregon.
The Sutter County, sheriff's office says that 57-year-old Lela McDonald was arrested Thursday evening in the Sacramento area. The Marysville Appeal Democrat newspaper reported on its website that McDonald was arrested at her West Sacramento home.
Her son, 39-year-old Michael Gold, was arrested earlier Thursday at his home in Grants Pass, Ore.
Both are charged with being accessories to a criminal act and destruction of evidence. Gold also was charged with removal of a body without the authorization of a coroner.
DNA tests have shown the body parts belonged to McDonald's husband, Elmer McDonald. The parts had washed up on the banks of the Sacramento and Feather rivers since last November.
The investigation began when a severed leg was found Nov. 22 on an area of the Feather River in Sutter County known as Beer Can Beach. Discoveries in February and March included a torso, two arms and a severed head.
DNA tests confirmed the leg and the torso are from the same person. DNA results on the arms and head are pending, officials said.
Sutter County sheriff's deputies told the Grants Pass Daily Courier they initially spoke with Gold on Nov. 15 after he was seen along the Feather River with what appeared to be blood on his hands. Gold told the deputy he was searching for a fishing spot and had cut himself in a fall.
Gold was given a warning about a broken license plate light on his truck.
The Sutter County Sheriff's Department this timeline of the body parts discoveries:
- Nov. 22, 2009, A severed leg was found on Beer Can Beach along the Feather River.
- Feb. 26, 2010, a decomposed torso minus the head, arms and legs was discovered in the Sacramento River.
- March 13, two fishermen reported the discovery of possible human remains downriver from Beer Can Beach. Sutter County deputies confirmed that the remains were two decomposed severed arms.
- March 14, Sutter County detectives found a decomposed human head in the same general location as the severed arms.
Citrus Heights police officers arrested two DUI suspects at a DUI/driver's license checkpoint the police department conducted Thursday night and into this morning.
More than 1,400 vehicles rolled through the checkpoint at Sunrise Boulevard and Oak Avenue between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m., according to a police department news release.
Officers also issued 36 citations and ordered 11 vehicles to be towed, the release states.
The Sacramento Police Department is seeking the community's help locating a suspect in an armed robbery who was caught on a surveillance video.
The man has been identified by authorities as Steven Keene (left photo), 47. The suspect was caught on camera at 10:52 a.m. May 27 at a gas station in the 3700 block of Franklin Boulevard. The suspect in the robbery was armed with a gun, reached over the counter and grabbed money out of the opened cash register, according to a Police Department news release.
Police also are investigating a similar robbery and believe the two may be connected. At 10:37 a.m., a suspect entered a cell phone business in the 3900 block of Stockton Boulevard. The suspect in this incident, also armed with a gun, had the clerk open the cash register, reached over the counter and grabbed money.
The suspect in both robberies was described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing about 200 pounds, with a medium to heavy build. He also was described as in his late 30s or 40s. Police said he also has a distinctive tattoo on his neck.
Anyone with information about the crimes is asked to call Crime Alert at (916) 443-4357, or text a tip to 274637. Enter SACTIP followed by the tip information. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
Five people were arrested today by agents of the California Department of Justice's Bureau of Gambling Control in connection with a suspected loan-shark ring. A sixth person was arrested on an immigration hold.
Michelle Quinn, a department spokeswoman, said all the suspects are Chinese national's living in Sacramento.
The suspect are accused being involved with a network of people who illegally loaned money to people at casinos and then tried to extort more money from them when they didn't repay the debt fast enough.
Quinn said the victims sometimes were charged as much as 5 percent interest per week, and some were threatened with harm.
Quinn said more than 40 people are known to have received loans, and several are believed to have been threatened. Some people were forced to sign contracts.
The activities had been going on for about 18 months.
The Department of Justice investigation was carried out with the cooperation of a number of casinos. Quinn said agents especially credited the Red Hawk and Thunder Valley casinos for their assistance.
Among those arrested today was Weixiong Kuang, 44, the suspected ringleader, who is accused of felony extortion, conspiracy and assault, Quinn said.
Arrested on suspicion of felony conspiracy were Jian Liu, 43, Zi Zhen, 23, Yezhi Lei, 46, and Zhi Huang, 23, Quinn said.
The sixth person, Yuerui Wu, 31, was arrested on an immigration hold, Quinn said.
Three law enforcement agencies are looking for identity thieves after identical credit card skimming machines were discovered inside gasoline pumps in Placer County, Folsom and Sacramento.
The devices (photo left) were placed in gas pumps and were used to retrieve credit card numbers from victims, according to a Placer County Sheriff's Department news release.
The scanning devices have been found in pumps farthest from the clerk's location and nearest to the street to avoid detection. Law enforcement officials recommend that customers to pay inside the store using their credit cards or cash to avoid this type of fraud.
Detectives suspect more scanning devices are in use. They note that they devices been located at a variety of gas stations, not at one particular company's pumps.
People who think their credit card information may have been stolen at a gas station are advised to file a report with their local law enforcement agency.
The Placer County Sheriff's Department, in conjunction with the Folsom Police Department and the Sacramento County High-tech Crimes Task Force are seeking suspects.
Sgt. Tim Curran, Sacramento Sheriff's Department spokesman, on Thursday night issued a statement explaining why the standoff with suspect Anthony Alvarez is taking so long to resolve.
Alvarez has been holed up with the 16-month-old son of his cousin for 1 1/2 days in an apartment in the 2400 block of Arden Way. About 10:20 p.m. Thursday, the suspect fired one shot but no one was hurt, said sheriff's Capt. Scott Jones.
"Just the fact that the child is in there, we can't use certain tactics that we would use otherwise," Curran said. "The baby's health and welfare is our ultimate priority."
Curran said one of the main reasons the situation has become drawn out is because negotiators have been having a hard time establishing trust with the suspect.
"We feel bad for (the residents) that this is taking so long," Curran said.
At this time, Curran said authorities do not believe that the suspect is a threat to his cousin's child.
This afternoon, an armored SWAT vehicle apparently was hit by a bullet. However, officers said they didn't hear a shot from the apartment where Alvarez is holed up with the toddler.
Sacramento police officers were inside the vehicle when Alvarez allegedly fired at it, but nobody was injured.
Alvarez, 26, earlier told his mother this afternoon that he has a gunshot wound to his arm and some sort of head injury, although the extent of his injuries are not known, a law enforcement spokesman said.
Sheriff's deputies exchanged gunfire with Alvarez late last night and twice in the early morning, but didn't know if he was hit. A SWAT officer also fired a single shot at Alvarez this morning.
Alvarez told his mother over the phone of his wounds, said sheriff's spokesman Tim Curran around 2:30 p.m.
Alvarez also told his mother that the boy is OK. Authorities also have seen the boy through the windows.
Police officers said they saw just after 1 p.m. the boy in the apartment in the 2400 block of Arden Way and he appeared to be OK.
Also this afternoon, a woman was arrested at the scene after she climbed on a nearby roof.
The woman told California Highway Patrol officers that she wanted to "save a baby" and read a poem. The woman's identity was not immediately available.
And officers moved media further from the scene this afternoon because they said it possible that Alvarez is watching their movements on television.
Negotiators earlier told Alvarez over a loud speaker that "nobody will get hurt" and to give up. Family member also were reportedly brought to the scene again to plead for Alvarez to surrender.
Alvarez told police by phone around 10 a.m. that the boy was unharmed. This was about an hour after a SWAT officer had taken a shot at Alvarez, but apparently missed.
"One of the officers then saw the suspect and then as per the rules of engagement he was fired at him but we do not believe he was hit," Curran said.
Overnight Sacramento County sheriff deputies used a robot to tear down window blinds in the apartment. The robots broke the windows and removed the curtains from the outside.
Deputies exchanged gunfire late last night with Alvarez, but do not believe he was hit. No officers were injured.
Alvarez is being sought by Concord police, who suspect him in three armed robberies and the attempted murder of a Concord police officer, authorities said.
San Francisco police said they also want to speak to Alvarez about his possible involvement in a recent homicide in that city.
"Several times throughout the late night and early morning hours our SWAT team exchanged gunfire with the suspect," Tim Curran said.
At 6 a.m., sheriff SWAT deputies were relieved by Sacramento Police Department SWAT officers. At 4 p.m., the sheriff's SWAT member relieved the police SWAT members.
"They will develop a plan, execute the plan and hopefully we will have some resolution to this sometime today," said Curran before the latest gunfire.
At about 9 p.m., sheriff's deputies deployed a flash-bang device to try to determine the man's whereabouts inside the apartment. Deputies could hear the child in the background.
The suspect barricaded himself about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Sacramento County sheriff's deputies spoke to Alvarez intermittently via cell phone during the standoff, Curran said. He was uncooperative but not angry or making demands on Wednesday, Curran said late in the afternoon.
Curran said Alvarez has only sporadically communicated with negotiators.
"We never established meaningful dialogue with him," said Curran of the effort to coax Alvarez to give up. Today is Alvarez's birthday.
Negotiators were trying to develop a bond with the suspect by emphasizing the relationship between him and the baby.
Tessa Alvarez, the suspect's sister, said she, her three sisters and her mother have talked to Anthony, the last time at 8 p.m. They have tried to persuade him to surrender, she said.
Tessa Alvarez, who lives in San Francisco, drove to Sacramento late last night with her husband. She wanted to help negotiators talk to her brother and encourage him to surrender.
Tessa Alvarez said her brother was living in transitional housing in the Tenderloin area of San Francisco and seeking employment, but not having any luck because of his mental illnesses. She said he is bipolar and schizophrenic and had not been taking his medication for a month.
"It's really, really, hard," Tessa Alvarez said. "He's a good guy. He's not a killer. He's just a little lost."
Tessa Alvarez added that she has a son and that her brother has been "really good with my son."
Tessa said she does not believe Anthony would hurt her cousin's baby.
Anthony also asked Tessa to call him every 15 minutes to check in on him. She tried to do that, but said there were times she could not reach him because his phone appeared to be disconnected.
She said she, her two sisters and her mother have tried to encourage him to surrender peacefully, to "come out with his hands up" so the police would not shoot him. She said he expressed a willingness to surrender when she talked to him at about 8 p.m.
"He's my brother, I don't want anything bad to happen to him," Tessa said. "We all love him."
Concord police initially sought Alvarez in connection with three armed robberies in the Bay Area, Curran said. When they tried to arrest him Friday during a vehicle stop in Concord, he shot at a police officer and fled, Curran said.
No officers were injured, Curran said.
Concord police later gathered information indicating Alvarez was staying at the Arden Way apartment complex.
Authorities asked for help from the Sheriff's Department in making an arrest, Curran said.
When authorities arrived at the complex Wednesday, the suspect spotted them and grabbed the 1-year-old from a relative's arm and barricaded himself in the apartment, Curran said. Officers were able to rescue a second child, a 4-year-old, through a window.
The property's resident manager, Dawn Jimenez, said 100 to 125 tenants had been evacuated earlier in the day.
Later Wednesday, some residents at the other side of the complex were allowed back into their apartment. Residents were offered the option of taking shelter at a nearby church.
Mike Sanwal, who identified himself as the complex owner, said the couple whose child was being held hostage had lived in the complex about a year and a half.
Miranda Cotla, 15, a cousin of the 1-year-old's parents, said, "I don't think (the parents) knew what was going on (with Alvarez). If they did, they wouldn't have let him stay with them and put the baby's life in danger."
As the hostage standoff stretched into its second day, businesses along the Arden Way corridor east of Bell Street were feeling the effects - those, at least, that remained open.
After law enforcement officers blocked the section of Arden Way to traffic, many businesses along this usually busy stretch of fast food outlets and taquerias, home furnishing stores and smaller shops closed their doors.
Jason Kimmel Jr., a manager at carpet store Floors to Go, summed up Thursday in one word: "Horrible."
He decided early Thursday to close shop, but stayed in the store to listen for updates and to tell customers when they might be able to pick up their orders.
Across the street, it was 12:30 p.m. before co-owners Ming and Stan Hung had their first rush at their office supply store Refill Tech.
"We had two calls this morning asking if we were open," Stan Hung said.
"We're OK, but the people farther on Arden Way - they're stuck," Ming Hung said.
Businesses behind the barricade, from Carpeteria to Togo's to neighborhood favorites Kico's Mexican Food and El Herraduro restaurant, had called it a day.
At Leatherby's ice cream parlor, employees would normally gear up for a busy day. Today is graduation day at nearby Encina High School and a handful of parties are booked this evening.
But managers sent staff home about 9 a.m. and didn't know if they would reopen. They hope to make a decision before the evening shift comes in at 5 p.m.
"This would normally be a big day," said manager Samantha Cox. "This time of year is normally very big for us, but, as you see, nobody's here."
Bee Staff writers Darrell Smith, Cathy Locke and Bill Lindelof contributed to this report.
Photo captions: top two pictures: An unidentified woman climbed on the roof of the Arden Towne Apartments on Arden Way on Thursday at the scene of a hostage standoff. She was handcuffed and taken from the scene by police. Photo by Andy Alfaro. bottom picture: City police SWAT officers in a sheriff's department vehicle cover the window of an apartment where a man has been holding a 1-year-old hostage on Arden Way Thursday. Photo by Randy Pench View a photo gallery from the standoff.
A Citrus Heights woman accused of attempting to drown her baby daughter in 2008 is mentally incompetent to stand trial, a Sacramento Superior Court judge has found.
Judge Marjorie Koller ordered Fotini Huntley committed to the Napa State Hospital for involuntary treatment until she is deemed capable of understanding court proceedings and assisting her attorneys.
Huntley was arrested and charged with attempted murder in September 2008 after she told police that she had drowned her 2-year-old daughter Antonia. The girl suffered serious brain injury and paralysis, according to court records.
Family members have previously told The Bee that Huntley had delusions and other symptoms of schizophrenia but had never been violent toward her daughter until the night the girl got hurt.
Koller sent Huntley, who has been incarcerated at the Sacramento County Main Jail, to the state hospital "pending restoration of competency." The judge based her decision on confidential reports from doctors who examined Huntley.
The Sacramento Fire Department extinguished a fire at Morrison and Western avenues this afternoon that burned a travel trailer and an outbuilding, Capt. Jim Doucette, a department spokesman, said.
Callers to The Bee reported seeing thick black smoke coming from the north Sacramento area.
Doucette said the fire "went to two alarms" and was contained at about 1:20 p.m.
The fire also spread to a field and winds whipped the fire toward a nearby elementary school. But the field had been abated and the school was not threatened, Doucette said.
However, the Morey Avenue School was evacuated as a precaution.
More than two dozen chickens are dead or injured after a pig was allowed by an intruder to get in with the fowl at a school farm in Winters, a school official said.
The chickens were part of a Future Farmers of America project of a Winters High School student.
School principal George Griffin said that Tuesday night or Wednesday morning somebody let pigs out of their pens at the school farm barn, about eight blocks off the main school campus.
The pigs and other animals went into other areas at the farm. One pig got in with the chickens and injured or killed 25 of the birds, said Griffin.
Some pigs also got into an animal waste area but will be okay.
Griffin would not rule out that some of the chickens might have been killed by the person who let the pigs out.
A 40-year-old Grass Valley man has been placed on five years probation, given a three-year suspended prison sentence and ordered to register as a sex offender after posing as a teenage boy to solicit photos of teenage girls in their underwear.
Steven Lawrence Elliott (left photo) was sentenced Wednesday by Placer Superior Court Judge Robert P. McElhany. Although Elliott was credited for serving 495 days in Placer County Jail, he may not be released immediately because there is a custody hold on him from Nevada County, according to a Placer County District Attorney's Office news release.
Elliott was arrested in July 2009 following a Rocklin Police Department investigation into allegations by the mother of a 15-year-old girl that her daughter had received inappropriate text messages.
Police determined that Elliott had posed as a 16-year-old boy and sent text messages or made Internet contact with a number of teenage girls, asking for photos of their underwear or of the girls wearing the underwear, according to the news release.
Elliott originally pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including stalking, contacting minors with the intent to commit a sexual offense, annoying children and one count of unauthorized use of another person's identity.
On May 5, he agreed to plead no contest to the felony charge of unauthorized use of another's identity and to one misdemeanor count of annoying a child younger than 18.
Prosecutor Todd Kuhnen said the probation conditions imposed on Elliott include restrictions on use of the Internet and cell phones. If Elliott violates probation, he could be ordered to fulfill the remainder of his three-years suspended sentence in state prison.
District Attorney Jan Scully told reporters Wednesday that her office will slice $6.9 million from its budget next fiscal year by laying off 50 employees, releasing eight legal research assistants and leaving 14 more vacant positions unfunded.
Scully said the 50 layoffs will include 11 deputy district attorneys who prosecute misdemeanors and other lower-level crimes. She said she has asked for pro bono help from local law firms as well as state agencies such as the Attorney General's Office and the Department of Social Services to take up the slack in prosecuting misdemeanors.
The other layoffs will come out of the DA's investigative unit, victims' services, the crime lab and legal process servers, Scully said. They will leave the office with 343 employees, down from 401 last year.
Scully said the cutbacks figure to result in more plea bargains on less-serious crimes, with possible implications for public safety.
"What you might see is in the more minor cases, you might see us early on giving better deals to get that case out of the system," Scully said. "Because what we're going to need to do is focus mostly on the serious and violent felonies. Obviously those have a greater impact. But when you're not strongly enforcing your lower-level crime, and the consequences aren't enough to get people's attention..., people kind of graduate to crime instead of (not) doing crime, so that's an issue."
The cutback in DA's investigators also raises the chance of some cases getting thrown out of court, according to Scully.
"We will no longer be able to do investigation on cases with the exception of murder cases, gang cases and sexual assault cases," she said, "which means that if a case comes into our office and it needs more work, we return it to the agency and say, 'You do the additional work.' And it has to get done. Otherwise we're not going to be able to proceed with the case and the case will get dismissed."
Mayor Kevin Johnson this afternoon declared it a "good day" in Sacramento in response to news that police Chief Rick Braziel is staying in town.
"The city won today," Johnson told reporters.
Interim City Manager Gus Vina joined Johnson in an afternoon news conference celebrating Braziel's decision to remove himself from consideration for Seattle's next police chief.
Vina said he "could not be more ecstatic" about the development.
"Rick has delivered over and over again," Vina said.
Braziel, 50, was one of three finalists for the Seattle gig. He announced today that the selection process made him realize just how happy he is with his place in the Capital City.
"I have a greater appreciation for what we have here," Braziel told The Bee. "You don't know what you've got until you go look somewhere else."
In a statement released this morning, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn praised Braziel as a strong candidate and expressed disappointment over his decision to stay in Sacramento.
"I appreciated meeting him and learning about the remarkable things he has accomplished in Sacramento," McGinn wrote. "I was impressed with his candor and the thoughts he shared during the candidates' public forum last week in Seattle."
Braziel said he had no indication whether he was going to be selected by McGinn or whether the Seattle mayor was going to choose in-house candidate John Diaz or Ron Davis, the chief in East Palo Alto.
Had Braziel gotten the job, he would have inherited a larger department and a salary of roughly $200,000. His retirement pension from Sacramento would have also paid him 90 percent of his $192,000 salary in Sacramento.
When Braziel succeeded Albert Najera, he voluntarily took an 8 percent pay cut, which Braziel said interim City Manager Gus Vina agreed to restore.
But Braziel said his decision to stay never was about the money.
"I've got a great job. I'm very happy here," he said. "Would I be any happier in Seattle than I would be here? And the answer is no."
While not ruling out the possibility of entertaining any future offers, Braziel said he intends to finish out his career here.
"I did enough looking recently. I did enough conversations and interviews and media," he said with a chuckle. "I'm just looking forward to the weekend."
Q: In 1986, I believe, a teen named Daniel Murphy was shot and killed in the Sunrise area. What was the outcome of that case? - Anonymous, Rancho Cordova
A: A Sacramento Superior Court judge sentenced John Fred Lira to 19 years to life for the April 21, 1990 murder of Murphy, The Bee reported.
Lira, now 40, is still in prison, records indicate.
The killing of Murphy, 19, followed a water-and-Pepsi fight at a Citrus Heights Burger King.
According to testimony, Lira was "cruising" the parking lot at the Citrus Heights Burger King on Greenback Lane with his sister Angie and another teenage girl.
He was carrying a sawed-off shotgun tucked under the dashboard, and the girls were spraying other people with water from a squirt gun they'd found in the street earlier that night.
Witnesses said the girls in Lira's car sprayed a pickup, and Murphy jumped out of the truck and went up to the passenger side of the Lira vehicle twice, the first time yelling, the second time shaking a Pepsi bottle in his hand.
As fizz from the soft drink sprayed Lira's car, inside and out, Lira raised the shotgun and fired, striking Murphy in the chest.
One witness testified at trial that Lira laughed and bragged about shooting someone shortly after the killing.
Lira claimed he was acting in self-defense, testifying that he was afraid he and his passengers were about to be jumped by the youths who had come up to his car. He said he didn't even know he'd hit anyone, or that the victim was Murphy, until some time later.
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The Sacramento Police Department will conduct a DUI/driver's license checkpoint on Friday in the east area of the city, according to a department news release.
Uniformed officers will check for impaired drivers and valid drivers' licenses.
Funding for these programs is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Vandals struck on an Elk Grove Unified School District campus again last night.
Somebody cut off the top of young trees, stuffing one sapling in a metal garbage can and setting it on fire at Helen Carr Castello Elementary School, a school district spokeswoman.
A metal bench pulled by vandals near to the burning trash can was also damaged. The incident occurred in the quad of the school at 9850 Fire Poppy Drive.
Last week, two cases of campus property crime occurred. Vandals smashed several classroom windows at Elk Grove High School, while a projector was stolen during a break-in at Raymond Case Elementary School.
One man suffered first- and second-degree burns to his hands in a fire that burned about 4 acres of grass in North Highlands this afternoon.
Assistant Chief Brian Rice of the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District said the fire, which started about 1 p.m. in the 6200 block of Watt Avenue, was sparked by a lawn mower at a church. Ten fire companies, a helicopter and a bulldozer were called in to fight the fire, which was brought under control in about 50 minutes.
Rice said they were able to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby buildings.
He said one citizen suffered burns to his hands trying to fight the fire and was taken to an area hospital.
Rice said what started as a small grass fire spread quickly due to the warm weather and a breeze.
A Woodland man, identified as a member of the Norteno Criminal Street Gang, has been sentenced to 38 years and 8 months to life in state prison after being convicted of robbery, assault with a firearm and attempting to dissuade a witness.
Anthony Vasquez, 22, was sentenced by Yolo County Superior Court Judge Timothy Fall on Friday.
On May 5, 2008, Vasquez arranged to buy marijuana from the victim, according to an Yolo County District Attorney's Office news release.
When the victim arrived to make the sale, Vasquez got into the back of the victim's car. When the victim began to show him the marijuana, Vasquez grabbed the marijuana and shot the victim in the chest from the back seat.
Vasquez then returned to a party he had been attending earlier. The victim underwent hours of surgery to repair damage from the bullet that pierced his lung, the news release says.
Authorities located Vasquez six months later hiding in a local hotel room.
On July 4, 2009, days before a scheduled preliminary hearing in the case, a correctional officer at the jail found a letter written by Vasquez. The letter was smuggled out of jail by an inmate who was being released from custody.
In the letter Vasquez admitted shooting the victim and asked that some of his "homies" let witnesses know that they should not attend his trial and that they should say he was not present at the time of the shooting, the news release says.
The jury found Vasquez guilty of robbery with intentional use and discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury, assault with a firearm causing great bodily injury and attempting to dissuade a witness. The jury also found that the crimes we committed for benefit of a criminal street gang.
Citrus Heights Police Department officers will conduct a DUI/driver's license checkpoint Thursday on Auburn Boulevard and Twin Oaks Driver, according to a news release.
The checkpoint will begin at 7:30 p.m. and run to 3:30 a.m., the Police Department release states.
Officers will be checking drivers for signs of impairment and for valid drivers' licenses. The vehicles of drivers without a valid license are subject to tow, the release states.
The checkpoint is one in a series that are being funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the release states.
Yolo County Sheriff's coroner's deputies have identified a prisoner who committed suicide over the weekend.
The inmate, David Bradley Van Buren, 33, who was homeless, hanged himself with a bedsheet in a single-prisoner cell on Saturday at the Monroe Detention Center, said Chief Deputy Coroner Robert LaBrash.
Van Buren was found in his cell about 9:20 p.m. Jail medical staff began CPR and Woodland Fire Department and an ambulance crew responded.
He was pronounced dead at a Woodland hospital.
"The inmate came into custody Thursday afternoon and gave no indication that he was a threat to his own safety or the safety of anyone else," Sheriff Ed Prieto said in a news release.
Officers had completed a check of all inmates in the housing unit just minutes before Van Buren was found, the release states.
Q: What happened to the so-called "Batgirl" killer who murdered a man for his car around 1994? - Anonymous, Sacramento
A: Michelle Cummiskey is still in prison, records indicate. A Sacramento Superior Court judge sentenced her to 25 years to life in prison for the March 5, 1991 slaying of Philip Inhofer.
Cummiskey, now 39, was dubbed "Batgirl" by investigators because of a tattoo of bats circling her upper left arm and a tattoo of a vampire bite, complete with blood droplets, on her neck.
Cummiskey stabbed Inhofer 32 times, bludgeoned him with a blunt object and stuffed his body into the closet of his South Natomas mobile home on March 5, 1991. She placed a plastic bag over his head and took his red 1975 Mercedes.
Sacramento County homicide inspectors, with the help of the FBI, sought Cummiskey, a former prostitute at the Mustang Ranch brothel outside Reno, who'd met Inhofer through a Sacramento escort service.
She was apprehended two months after the slaying in Biloxi, Miss., with Inhofer's Mercedes, which she had painted.
Cummiskey was eligible for the death penalty, but in a plea bargain, she admitted to first-degree murder.
Prosecutors said it was uncertain whether Cummiskey would have received the death penalty or been convicted of first-degree murder because she claimed to be on mind-altering drugs at the time of the slaying.
Cummiskey will be eligible for parole in 2011.
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Seattle cops want Sacramento's police chief to be their new boss, according to a report.
Both the Seattle Police Officers Guild and the Seattle Police Management Association recommended that Seattle's mayor pick Sacramento Chief Rick Braziel (photo left) to head their department, according to the report by the King 5 TV station in Seattle.
Braziel is considered by the labor groups as a better option than Interim Seattle Police Chief John Diaz or East Palo Alto Chief Ron Davis, the station reported.
To hear the station's report, click on the link below.
Sacramento police have arrested a man for the fatal shooting of a 39-year-old man in a Gardenland parking lot over the weekend.
Police said they arrested Carlton Lydale Reid (photo left), 35, on suspicion of homicide. Police made the arrest Monday evening after he was located at 16th and P Streets.
He is suspected in the killing of Gregory David Lewis, who was shot Saturday. Police now believe that the killing was related to narcotics and that both men knew each other.
About 1:40 a.m. Saturday, Sacramento police responded to calls reporting gunshots in the area of Northgate Boulevard and West El Camino Avenue.
There, they found Lewis, suffering from a gunshot wound. He later was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Detectives said that Lewis and another person had driven to a parking lot between a clothing store and a convenience store. As they were sitting in their car, a man approached and engaged in a conversation.
The man, who police now suspect was Reid, then shot Lewis.
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department seeks help locating a 64-year-old man who walked away from his North Highlands care home Sunday.
Michael Lynn Lamb is considered at risk because he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and has a pacemaker, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.
Lamb was last seen by his caregivers about 10 a.m. as he walked away from a care home in the 6000 block of Georgia Drive.
He is described as white, 6 feet tall and weighing 240 pounds. Lamb has short gray hair, brown eyes and a mustache. He has a surgical scar on his abdomen and is missing some toes, the news release said.
Lamb was last seen wearing a bright yellow Hawaiian-style shirt and green and white shorts. He was carrying a blue and white duffel bag that contained clothing.
Anyone with information regarding Lamb's whereabouts is asked to call the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department at (916) 874-5115.
A 17-year-old youth who disappeared May 18 from a group home has been located.
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department reported today that Tyler Villanueva was found in good health and will be reunited with his caregivers.
Villanueva walked away from a group home in Antelope last month and had been classified as an at-risk missing person because he was believed to be without needed medication.
A two-story house near Rancho Cordova suffered heavy damage in a fire this morning.
Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District crews responded to a report of a building on fire at 9411 Mira del Rio Drive at 10:42 a.m. They arrived to find a fire in front part of the house that quickly spread to the second story.
Because of the fire's rapid spread, the incident commander ordered a second alarm, according to a fire district news release.
Firefigthers were able to contain the fire and save the contents of the garage, but every other room of the house sustained heavy fire damage.
The occupant of the house, a 24-year-old man, was sleeping when the fire started. He was alerted to the fire by a gardener knocking on the door just as the smoke detector began to sound, the news release said.
The man was able to get out of the house with two family dogs, but a cat died in the fire.
The Metro Fire arson investigator is investigating the cause of the fire.
Seven murder trials are underway or about to begin in Sacramento Superior Court, including one death-penalty case, a couple of reputed gang slayings, a purported fratricide and a traffic collision where the prosecutors say the defendant was under the influence of methamphetamine and heroin.
Here's the rundown:
• Jury selection is underway in front of Judge Maryanne G. Gilliard in the death-penalty case of Glenn Wade Jennings, 57. A convicted 16-time robber, Jennings had been paroled from prison only three months when he attacked Kulwant Sufi, 61, with a steak knife during an 8:30 a.m. robbery at the GK Discount Liquor on Florin Road on June 2, 2004, police and prosecutors say.
• Opening statements are scheduled to begin Tuesday in front of Judge Cheryl Chun Meegan in the murder trial of Gabriel Ricardo Dominguez. The 19-year-old defendant is accused in the May 1, 2009, stabbing death of Samuel Sanchez, 21, during a gang fight outside the Express Stop Liquor on Julliard Drive at Folsom Boulevard.
• Pretrial motions were being heard today in front of Judge Kevin J. McCormick in the murder trial of 51-year-old Calvin Lynn. He is accused of killing his brother, Lawrence Dean Lynn, 54, and stashing his body in a yard in Del Paso Heights. Authorities say the Lynn brothers had argued about their late-mother's house.
• Motions are set to begin today in Judge Trena H. Burger-Plavan's courtroom in the case of Michael Eugene Jastraub, 52. Officials said Jastraub had a long history of methamphetamine abuse and causing crashes while under the influence of illegal substances before he triggered the fatal May 15, 2008, wreck that took the life of Janell Cummings. Witnesses said they saw Jastraub driving erratically and that he had been involved in a hit-and-run just minutes before he hit Cumming' vehicle at the intersection of Florin Road and Fletcher Farm Drive.
• Evidence is wrapping up in the trial of Christopher Brian Rogers, 35. He is accused in the Nov. 25, 2004, shooting death of Juanita Johnson on 40th Street. Rogers was arrested and charged as a result of a cold DNA hit. The trial is taking place in front of Judge Roland L. Candee.
• Closing arguments could take place as soon as Tuesday in the murder trial of Marvel Barksdale. The 17-year-old defendant is accused in the Aug. 22, 2008, gunshot killing of Robert Haynes, 16, at a Meadowview house party. Police and prosecutors say the killing was gang-related.
• Testimony continues in front of Judge James L. Long in the trial of Jason Dewayne Shepherd, 27, and his younger brother, Shawn Christophe Shepherd, 25. They're accused in the May 6, 2008, bludgeon death of their uncle, David Brian Bishop, 47, whose body was found the next month in a creek in Idaho. The defendants had taken their uncle's credit cards and other belongings in a slaying prompted by Jason Shepherd's anger when he suspected Bishop of stealing his girlfriend's underwear, authorities said.
A confrontation that police say started on a Sacramento freeway Sunday afternoon ended with one man being stabbed and a suspect being sought.
Sacramento police characterized the incident as road rage.
Police said a man and his wife driving on the Capital City Freeway followed another vehicle, a Nissan Altima, when it exited onto Exposition Boulevard. When both vehicle stopped at a traffic signal, both drivers emerged from their cars and began fighting.
The Nissan's driver then returned to his car and drove away. The man who was driving with his wife returned to his car and, feeling pain in his left side, discovered he had been stabbed.
He drove himself to a nearby hospital.
Police say the stabbing suspect is white, about 40 years old, 6 feet tall with a slim build and straight brown hair. He was wearing a light-colored T-shirt, tan shorts and brown hiking boots.
Two men were injured during a gun fight Saturday night at the Sienna Vista Apartments near American River College.
The men were hit by an assault weapon around 9:45 p.m. and may have returned fire with a .40 caliber hand gun, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.
After the shooting on Little Oak Lane, the suspects fled southbound on foot and the victims were taken to Mercy San Juan hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening gunshot wounds.
Authorities found a .40 caliber handgun, an assault weapon and numerous .40 caliber and assault weapon shell casings at the scene.
An 18-year-old was killed Saturday night when a gun was fired during a graduation party at an Elk Grove motel, according to Elk Grove police.
The Sacramento Coroner's Office identified the victim as D'Andre Blackwell, a resident of Sacramento.
Shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday night, police responded to a shooting at the Holiday Inn Express on West Stockton Blvd, near Laguna Blvd. They found Blackwell lying in the hallway of the hotel's third floor with a gunshot wound in his chest. He was declared dead at the scene.
Elk Grove Police Officer Christopher Trim said several parties were taking place in the motel Saturday night, including at least one graduation party. He said he did not know which school's graduation was being celebrated there.
"There were several groups of teenaged men circulating inside the hotel traveling between floors," a statement from the Elk Grove Police says. "Apparently the victim and some friends were confronted by a large group of unidentified males... During this confrontation, an argument ensued and the victim was shot in the chest by an unidentified African-American male. After the shooting, the suspect and the others who were present fled from the hotel in several different directions."
Elk Grove Police are asking anyone with information on the shooting to call them at (916) 714-5115 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP (4357). Callers to Crime Alert can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a $1,000 reward. Tips can also be sent cell phone text message: Type "Tip732" and your message and send to CRIMES (274637).
Sacramento County sheriff's deputies are searching for three men - possibly armed with at least one AK-47 assault rifle - who fired into an apartment complex on Little Oak Lane tonight, hitting two people, according to authorities.
The victims have been transported to Mercy San Juan Medical Center, and their injuries are non-life-threatening, said Sacramento County sheriff's Capt. Scott Jones.
The shooting occurred just before 10 p.m. at the Sienna Vista apartment complex at 4901 Little Oak Lane, just north of American River College.
Three men - described only as black men in their early 20s - fired at least one AK-47 assault rifle or a similar weapon at the two victims, who apparently fired back, Jones said. The gunmen were seen running south from the complex, toward the college, Jones said.
Deputies have recovered a .40-caliber handgun they believe was fired by one of the victims, Jones said. They also have found several rifle rounds consistent with an AK-47 assault rifle and .40-caliber shell casings at the scene, the captain said.
K9 units tried to track the gunmen but were not successful. Deputies were trying to review surveillance videos from the complex.
Jones said authorities are investigating the possibility that the shooting was gang-related.
The 296-unit Sienna Vista apartment complex is a notorious trouble spot for the Sheriff's Department. Last year, the department received 406 calls for service from that address, according to department statistics.
Sacramento police are unclear what led an unknown suspect to fatally shoot a 39-year-old man in a Gardenland parking lot early this morning.
However, detectives are aware of the victim's drug history, according to a police spokesman - a history laid out in court records.
About 1:40 a.m., Sacramento police responded to calls reporting gunshots in the area of Northgate Boulevard and West El Camino Avenue, said Sacramento police Sgt. Norm Leong.
There, they found Gregory David Lewis on the ground of a parking lot, suffering from a gunshot wound, Leong said. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Detectives later learned that Lewis and another person had driven to the parking lot, located between a clothing store and a convenience store, Leong said. Lewis got out of the car to talk to another man, who then shot Lewis and fled, Leong said.
The gunman was described to police as a black man between 30 and 40 years old, 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing between 180 and 210 pounds. The man was wearing dark clothing, according to police.
It's unclear whether the victim and the suspect were acquaintances, Leong said. He declined to describe the relationship between the victim and the person in the car with him for the person's safety, saying only that they knew each other.
Leong said the motive remains elusive, but said detectives know of Lewis' drug history. He also said there is no evidence of gang involvement in the case.
According to Superior Court records, Lewis has been convicted of felony drug possession five times dating back to 1992. Once, he was convicted of felony resisting arrest, and twice he was convicted of misdemeanor evasion of police, the records show.
Efforts by The Bee to contact Lewis' family were unsuccessful.
Saturday's killing was the 16th in the city this year. During the same period last year - which boasted an unusually low homicide tally - there had been nine.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP or text in a tip to 274637. Enter "SACTIP" followed by the tip information. Callers can remain anonymous and might be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
Two robberies in the Natomas area early this morning appear to be related, although police have not established a definite link, according to authorities.
The first robbery was reported to Sacramento police at 1:19 a.m. at Natomas Crossing Drive and Tulip Tree Circle, according to a police report.
In that incident, the victims were in front of a home when an older, green, four-door vehicle pulled up, the report states. Four people were inside the vehicle.
Two of them, described as black men in their late teens, got out of the vehicle and confronted the victims, according to the report. One was armed with a hand gun and ordered the victims to empty their pockets before all the suspects fled in the vehicle, the report states.
In the second incident, reported two miles away about 20 minutes later, the victim was walking in the area of Pebblewood Drive and Truxel Road when a dark-colored sedan pulled up, according to another police report.
Four black men described as in their late teens or early 20s - one of them armed with a gun - got out of the car and confronted the victim, the report states. One of the suspects struck the victim in the face with a metal object, the report states. The suspects stole items before fleeing.
Sacramento police Sgt. Norm Leong said the incidents appear related, based on proximity in location and time as well as the suspect descriptions. However, detectives have not yet looked into the matter, he said.
Two robberies were reported in the north area Friday - one on the 3800 block of Truxel Road, the other the 3600 block of Marysville Boulevard - but Leong said they do not appear connected to each other or to this morning's crimes.
Ignoring a text message may have resulted in a DUI arrest for one woman Friday, according to police reports.
The Sacramento Police Department set up an evening sobriety checkpoint on Marysville Boulevard at Harris Avenue as part of its "Live Beyond Graduation" campaign.
A woman, who was not identified, was detained as a result of DUI evaluation, police reported.
The police used the woman's cell phone to call a friend to pick up her dog, which was in the vehicle she had been driving.
While using the phone, officers came across a text message warning of "checkpoints in the area." The woman was arrested.
A Sacramento police sergeant is on paid administrative leave after he was arrested on suspicion of petty theft last week, according to authorities.
Sgt. John Castiglia was placed on leave last Friday after Roseville authorities notified Sacramento police officials of the arrest, said Sgt. Norm Leong.
Castiglia, a 48-year-old Rocklin resident, is accused of shoplifting "a couple of toiletry items" from a Roseville grocery store on May 28, said Roseville police spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther.
Loss prevention officers at the grocery store called police after detaining Castiglia for allegedly taking the items out of the store without paying for them, Gunther said. He had paid for other groceries, Gunther said.
The Roseville police officer cited Castiglia for misdemeanor petty theft on scene, Gunther said.
He is tentatively scheduled to appear in Placer Superior Court on June 29, according to the Placer County District Attorney's Office.
Castiglia heads the department's financial crimes unit. Before that, he led the sex assault and child abuse unit. In the 1990s, he played a key role in the success of the department's magnet academies in some area high schools.
For his acclaimed work as a teacher, mentor and counselor to students at Kennedy High School, he was named one of two "Teachers of the Year" in the Sacramento City Unified School District in 1996.
Authorities briefly locked down Grant High School this morning as police searched the area for three armed robbers, wanted for a robbery in the area this morning, according to police.
The robbers are believed to have struck a minimart at 3621 Marysville Boulevard at gunpoint before fleeing, said Sacramento police Sgt. Norm Leong.
Sacramento and Twin Rivers Unified police officers searched for the robbers and set up a perimeter.
Authorities locked down Grant High as a precaution, according to police and a district spokeswoman.
The school, located at 1400 Grand Avenue in Sacramento, was locked down from 10:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
Police detained two men, but ultimately determined they were not linked to the robbery, Leong said. The three robbers remain at large.
The sentencing of a man convicted of murder in the vicious stabbing death of Jim Arthur last year in Boulevard Park was delayed today until next month because the defendant's probation report wasn't finished.
Johnathan Allan Baker asked Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steve White to go ahead and sentence him anyway. White rescheduled the sentencing to July 1.
Baker, 22, stabbed Arthur, 23, an estimated 140 times during the course of the June 3, 2009, killing, "because he was gay," one of his co-defendants in the case told police.
Baker and co-defendants Jeremy Dale Ackerman and Nadine Klein, both 21, were accused of killing Baker during the course of robbing him. Ackerman also has been convicted in the case and is slated for a July 1 sentencing.
Klein's jury could not reach a verdict and White set her retrial for Sept. 16.
Police and prosecutors said Baker, Ackerman and Klein were heavy methamphetamine users who met Arthur through their mutual use of the drug.
Q: What ever happened with the Sean Cassinelli case? Did they ever find who killed him? I went to high school with him and it had a major impact on our neighborhood. - Anonymous, Citrus Heights
A: On July 22, 1994, Richard Avalos, 20, the last of five defendants in the July 1991 "code of silence" killing of Citrus Heights teenager Shawn Cassinelli, was sentenced to two years in prison, according to Bee reports.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Thomas M. Cecil pronounced sentence on Avalos, who was found guilty in March 1994 of being an accessory to murder by deliberately misleading sheriff's detectives investigating the Cassinelli killing.
Nick Nathaniel "Nate" Morelos admitted stabbing the 16-year-old after a bottle allegedly was thrown at Avalos' car on Old Auburn Road. Morelos, a passenger in the vehicle, was sentenced to 15 years to life.
Prosecutor Brian Myers charged that Avalos and other witnesses instigated a cover-up to protect Morelos, delaying an arrest by weeks. At his trial, Avalos testified that he didn't want to be a snitch.
The other three defendants, all juveniles, received 90-day sentences after pleading guilty to accessory charges.
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Bee researcher Linda Beymer contributed to this report
A man who kidnapped and raped a Sacramento store executive and a man who killed his wife because she refused to have sex are among five Sacramento area inmates who have parole hearings scheduled in the next two weeks, according to the State Board of Parole Hearings.
The convicts are:
-Vaitafe Eti Fruean, 52, California State Prison, Solano.
A Sacramento Superior Court judge sentenced Fruean to life in prison for the January 1977 kidnapping, robbery and rape of a woman after she left her job at a Sacramento area shopping mall, The Bee reported.
The woman was left nude in a field in Placer County. The attack was part of a crime spree by Fruean and Robert Raymond Peterson that included other robberies and another kidnapping.
Peterson also was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
-John Barry Estep, 53, California State Prison,
Solano.
A Sacramento Superior Court judge sentenced Estep to 19 years to life in prison for killing his estranged wife with a shotgun on July 4, 1993.
The prosecution said Estep attacked the 40-year-old woman after he lured her to his Sacramento house with the promise that she could retrieve the family car.
When she refused to have sex with him, the prosecution said, he killed her. Estep then shot himself, but recovered and was convicted in 1995 after one mistrial.
-Edward Vincent Grabowski, 58, California State Prison, Solano.
A Sacramento Superior Court judge sentenced Grabowski to life in prison for attempting to murder a 29-year-old woman on Jan. 26. 2000 at a Sacramento residence.
-William Emerson Townsend, 42, California State Prison, Solano.
A Sacramento Superior Court judge sentenced Townsend to life in prison for stabbing to death his girlfriend's son-in-law on June 6, 1997.
Townsend killed Mark Anthony Montgomery, 26, with a butcher knife. Montgomery angered Townsend when he parked his car at the girlfriend's Sacramento.
-John Pua Wright, 47, Calipatria State Prison.
A Sacramento Superior Court judge sentenced Wright to life in prison for a March 21, 1983 stabbing attack at the state prison in Folsom.
Wright slashed a fellow inmate, who survived. Wright already was serving a life term for murder.
If you want to give your opinion of an inmate's suitability for parole, you may mail a letter to:
Martin Hoshino, executive director
Board of Parole Hearings
1515 K Street
Sacramento, CA 95811
For more information on the Board of Parole Hearings, go to:
The defendant in a purported gang slaying at a Meadowview house party two years ago took the witness stand today and denied that he had anything to do with it.
"I ain't never went in...I stayed back," Marvel Barksdale testified in Sacramento Superior Court, saying that he remained in the backyard when shooting broke out in the living room of the party house on Detroit Avenue.
Two witnesses at the trial identified the 17-year-old defendant as the shooter and a third said she saw him with a gun at the party on the Aug. 22, 2008, night when Robert Haynes was shot to death.
Police and prosecutors say the fatal shooting resulted from a dispute between the Meadowview-based Guttah Boys and the Fourth Avenue Bloods of Oak Park.
Haynes, 16, had been affiliated with "FAB," but had been more focused on sports and academics at Sacramento High School at the time of his death, school officials said.
Barksdale denied being a member of the Guttah Boys. He said he was affiliated, however, with G-Mobb that serves as a south area umbrella gang that includes elements of the Guttah Boys, law enforcement officials say.
An Olivehurst man will spend nine months in jail as part of a four-year probation sentence for sending a sexually explicit photo to a 15-year-old Auburn girl.
Michael Anthony Nielsen (photo left), 36, was sentenced Wednesday by Placer County Judge Robert P. McElhany, who also ordered him to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, prohibited him from living within a quarter of a mile of elementary schools and being within 100 yards of places where children congregate.
Nielsen contacted the girl last summer through text messages and sent a lewd photo, according to a news release from the Placer County District Attorney's Office. When the girl's father learned of it, he contacted the Placer County Sheriff's Department.
Posing as the girl, sheriff's detectives continued text messaging Nielsen, who suggested meeting for sex at Marysville motel. Officers arrested Nielsen when he arrived at a store parking lot next to the motel.
Nielsen is to report to the Placer County Jail on June 22 to begin serving his term. The judge credited him with having already served 57 of the 270 days.
Six Sacramento residents have been charged in connection with a student-loan fraud ring.
U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced today that a federal grand jury returned a 26-count superseding indictment charging Nakesha Sharrieff, 23, Thomas Keys, 23, Jarmal Duplessis, 22, Hoa Tasha Kelly, 24, Jewel Minor, 24, and Teaona Williams, 24, with various activities related to a loan fraud ring that allegedly operated from 2004 through most of 2009.
Sharrieff - also known as Takiyah Raheem and Aysia Hanifah Kahan - along with Keys and Duplessis previously had been charged by indictment in October 2009, according to a Department of Justice news release.
The superseding indictment continues the charges against them, adds some charges relating to Sharrieff, and brings charges for the first time against Kelly, Minor and Williams, Wagner said.
Williams and Kelly were arrested Wednesday in Sacramento, Wagner said.
All six defendants are charged with conspiring to obtain federal financial aid by fraud or deceit. Sharrieff, Kelly, Minor and Williams are charged with mail fraud. Sharrieff also is charged with two counts of aggravated identity theft and obstructing law enforcement.
The indictment states that the fraud operated like this:
Kelly, Minor and Williams acted as recruiters for Sharrieff, finding individuals who were willing to supply their names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers. Sharrieff then used the information to obtain federal student assistance funds for attendance at American River College.
None of the "straw" students who provided their personal information had any intention of attending school. Instead, the indictment alleges that when the checks were mailed to addresses associated with Sharrieff, Williams, Kelly or Minor, some of all of them met the straw students at banks or check cashing locations where the checks were cashed and the proceeds divided among the straw student, Sharrieff and the recruiter.
Through the scheme, more than $200,000 in federal financial aid funds were fraudulently obtained, the release states.
Keys and Duplessis are charged as co-conspirators for their roles as straw students, the release states.
The indictment also alleges that Sharrieff stole identities from two individuals and used them to obtain federal financial aid.
Sharrieff also is charged with obstructing law enforcement by attempting to prevent witnesses from speaking with law enforcement officers. Sharrieff allegedly sent a message stating that one witness needed to "keep his mouth shut" and would have "a price on his head," the release states.
The case resulted from an investigation by the Department of Education, Office of the Inspector General. The Sacramento Police Department assisted in the arrests.
The California Highway Patrol is investigating an alleged road rage attack on KFBK sportscaster Pat Walsh, who reported he was stopped and attacked by three men along Interstate 80 north of Auburn.
The Bee could not reach Walsh on Thursday. In interviews with local media, Walsh has said he was driving on the freeway Tuesday when three men in an SUV pulling a car dolly came up quickly behind him and started yelling and flashing obscene gestures.
He said he sped up on eastbound Interstate 80 to try to avoid a confrontation but pulled over near the Applegate truck scales when the SUV did not slow down and cut off his vehicle.
Walsh said the men attacked him and punched his face and body - leaving him with a head gash, swollen jaw and bruised kidneys - before throwing him down an embankment and driving off. He said he was able to get the SUV license plate number, which he gave to CHP officers who were called by witnesses to the attack.
The California Highway Patrol confirmed three men - including a man, his son and the son's friend - were involved in the confrontation but declined to identify them.
The investigating officer has spoken to the father and "one or two witnesses" who saw the fight, CHP Officer Dave Martinez, a spokesman, said Thursday.
The investigator plans to speak to others who may have seen what happened on the freeway before the confrontation, Martinez said.
"We want to find out what was said and what happened on the road before they pulled over," the CHP spokesman said.
The investigating officer likely will submit his report early next week, "and then it will be up to the DA to determine if any charges will be filed," Martinez added.
Sacramento gang detectives seized several guns and a bullet-proof vest from a Del Paso Heights home this morning after serving a search warrant connected to two shootings, according to police.
The shootings, both of which occurred in the north over the last month, are believed to be gang-related, said Sacramento police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong.
A victim in one of the shootings, 19-year-old Andre Johnson, lives at the Balsam Street home that police targeted with the search warrant, Leong said. Detectives received information that guns and a bullet-proof vest were being kept in the home, he said.
Inside, police found an illegal assault rifle, a handgun, a long rifle, ammunition and a bullet-proof vest, Leong said. Detectives arrested Johnson on suspicion of possessing an assault rifle, and he is being held at the Sacramento County Main Jail in lieu of $60,000 bail.
Leong said relatives of Johnson, who is not a validated gang member, claimed the teen had the weapons for protection, but Leong said police have not verified that account.
Johnson does not have a criminal history in Sacramento County, according to superior court records. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.
Leong said the seizure underscores the rising threat of gang violence in the city. From Jan. 1 through April of this year, police have responded to 268 crimes that officers believe to have gang ties. That's nearly double the amount for the same period last year, Leong said.
He warned parents to keep a closer eye on their children - and what those children are bringing into their homes.
Sacramento County sheriff's deputies answering a call were confronted with a speargun-armed suspect, according to a crime summary released this week.
The deputies convinced the suspect that it would be a great idea to put the gun down and come with them, the summary indicates.
Here's the chain of events, according to the summary:
On May 29 at about 7 p.m., deputies were called to a residence in the 2000 block of La Loma Drive.
A suspect had been brandishing a speargun with "the spear pushed into the chamber" at seven people, ranging in ages from 1 year to 37 years, in the home, deputies were told.
The suspect didn't have the speargun when deputies arrived, but she became irate and grabbed the weapon, the summary states.
She lifted the weapon "in a threatening manner," but dropped it at the deputies' requests.
Taryl Schroeder, 53, was booked into on a charge of threatening with a weapon. She was still in jail as of this morning on $100,000 bail.
A team of state and local law enforcement officers fanned out today to arrest as many as 34 gang members in Yuba, Sutter and Sacramento counties in a major bust led by the state Department of Justice.
The suspects were named in arrest warrants being served on validated members of the Norteño and Sureño gangs, said Michelle Gregory of the department's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement and Gang Suppression Team. The warrants charge suspects with homicide, drug possession, drug trafficking and other crimes. (Photo at left is of weapons and ammuniiton seized in the raid. Photo is courtesy of the State DOJ.)
The crackdown followed a series of homicides and retaliatory attacks by the rival gangs that escalated following the killing in the Yuba City area in January, Gregory said. Since then, law enforcement officials discovered gang members were gaining a foothold in Sutter and Yuba counties to distribute methamphetamine from Mexico, she said.
"They're trying to embed themselves in these communities and bring in the drugs and weapons," Gregory said. "We're out here to make sure they don't do that."
Most of those arrested today belonged to the Norteño gang, Gregory said. Participating law enforcement agencies included local police, sheriff's departments and state agencies.
It's not often a detached car bumper with a license plate is presented as the big clue to a crime, but such was the case in a recent Sacramento County Sheriff's Department investigation.
A crime summary release this week outlines this chain of events:
On May 28 at about 10:54 p.m. in the 10000 block of Sorenstam Drive, two suspects allegedly stole a pair of leaf blowers from a lawn service's vehicle.
The suspects fled but the victims followed and a car chase ensued. In the course of the chase, the two vehicles collided and the suspects' vehicle lost its front bumper and license plate.
The suspects managed to evade their pursuers, but the victims collected the bumper and plate, which they gave to responding sheriff's deputies.
The suspects also suffered a flat tire in the chase. They allegedly broke into a vehicle and stole a tire and jack to fix their vehicle.
Deputies eventually caught up with pair, according to the summary.
Sylvester Shelton, 23, was booked into Sacramento County Jail on suspicion of burglary, grand theft, receiving stolen property, assault with a deadly weapon and resisting a peace officer. He is being held on no bail for two warrants for possession of a controlled substance, jail records show.
Alonzo Hawkins, 23, was booked on suspicion of burglary, grand theft, receiving stolen property, assault with a deadly weapon and resisting a peace officer. He is being held on $50,000 bail.
Q: Around 20 years ago John Arana was murdered. He was a friend of mine. Was that crime ever solved? - Anonymous, Sacramento
A: A suspect in Arana's homicide was arrested Jan. 6 of this year and is awaiting trail in Sacramento Superior Court, according to court records and Bee reports.
Michael J. Peterson (photo left), 44, was extradited from Missouri, where he was in prison for an unrelated crime. Authorities matched his DNA with a DNA profile developed from evidence in the 1992 slaying of 40-year-old John Arana.
Arana died from stab wounds Nov. 5, 1992, at his home in the 5400 block of 10th Avenue. A few days after his death, his stolen truck was found about a mile from his home.
Arana, who lived alone and was a part-time driver for a print shop, was discovered by a friend who dropped by the victim's home.
Peterson was on parole at the time.
Peterson is in the Sacramento County jail, awaiting trial on murder and robbery charges.
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Sacramento Police Department officers will conduct a DUI/driver's license checkpoint on Friday in the north area of the city.
A department news release did not give the time or location of the checkpoint.
Drivers will be checked by uniformed officers for alcohol and/or drug-impairment, the release states. Officers will also check driver's licenses.
Funding for these programs is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
A four-alarm fire overnight caused major damage at an apartment building near Meadowview Road and Freeport Boulevard, displacing many families who were awakened by smoke alarms and fled the fast-moving flames.
Flames that broke out around 2 a.m. today quickly spread through the common attic at the 24-apartment building in the 7600 block of Amherst Street, Sacramento fire Capt. Jim Doucette said. Several upstairs units were destroyed by flames, while water damaged many downstairs dwellings.
"There were heavy flames on the top floor by the time firefighters arrived," Doucette said. "Smoke detectors woke up many people, so that's a good thing."
No injuries were reported. Meanwhile, the Red Cross has set up an evacuation center for residents at the nearby Sam Pannell Meadowview Community Center, 2450 Meadowview Road.
Fire investigators this afternoon ruled the cause to be "undetermined," saying they could not rule out electrical problems or malfunctions, Doucette said.
A four-alarm fire overnight caused major damage at an apartment building near Meadowview Road and Freeport Boulevard, displacing many families who were awakened by smoke alarms and fled the fast-moving flames.
Flames that broke out around 2 a.m. today quickly spread through the common attic at the 24-apartment building in the 7600 block of Amherst Street, Sacramento fire Capt. Jim Doucette said. Several upstairs units were destroyed by flames, while water damaged many downstairs dwellings.
"There were heavy flames on the top floor by the time firefighters arrived," Doucette said. "Smoke detectors woke up many people, so that's a good thing."
No injuries were reported, and the cause is under investigation. Meanwhile, the Red Cross has set up an evacuation center for residents at the nearby Sam Pannell Meadowview Community Center, 2450 Meadowview Road.
One man was arrested in connection with a vehicle burglary and another on suspicion of burglary and possessing stolen property in separate cases in Woodland.
Christopher Perkins, 26, of Woodland was arrested today after citizens reported seeing two or three people stealing items from a vehicle in the 100 block of Bartlett Avenue. The witnesses attempted to detain the individuals for police, but they fled before officers arrived, according to a Woodland Police Department news release.
Officers searched the area and found two people who matched the description of the individuals involved. One of them, Perkins, was identified as a suspect in the vehicle burglary. He was booked into Yolo County Jail.
In the other incident, a police officer stopped a bicycle in the area of West and Cross streets about 8 p.m. Sunday. The rider, Luke Ulricksen, 18, of Woodland was wanted by police in a case involving possession of stolen property.
Ulricksen was searched and found to be in possession of additional property, tools and marijuana, according to a Police Department news release, and an investigation determined that this property was also stolen.
Ulricksen was arrested and booked into Yolo County Jail on suspicion of burglary, as well as possession of stolen property, burglary tools and marijuana.
Both cases are under investigation and anyone with additional information is asked to call the Woodland Police Department at (530) 666-2411, or (530) 661-7800.
An Auburn man was arrested today on suspicion of possessing and selling drugs, and possessing a dangerous weapon.
Kyle James Bird, 22, was observed conducting three drug sales to unknown individuals before selling Oxycontin to an undercover officer, according to an Auburn Police Department news release. The transaction occurred in the Auburn Town Center parking lot in the 300 block of Elm Avenue.
After Bird was arrested, investigators found that he possessed approximately 12 grams of cocaine with a street value of $600, 27 Oxycontin pills with a street value of $1,350, drug paraphernalia and a dangerous weapon, a dirk or dagger, police said.
Bird was booked into Placer County Jail.
The Placer County Special Investigations Unit, which includes an Auburn police investigator, has been working on a case in the Auburn area involving possession, possession for sales and transportation of cocaine and Oxycontin, and Bird's alleged transactions were observed as part of that investigation, the news release said.
A Folsom man has pleaded guilty to investment fraud following investigation by federal agencies.
Luis Fernandez, 36, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conducting monetary transactions in criminally derived property in connection with his operation of an investment scheme, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.
According to a plea agreement filed today in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, Fernandez was the owner and president of Fernandez Financial Inc., or FFI, in Folsom. Between September 2004 and March 2009, he collected approximately $7.4 million from investors by promising them a 3 percent monthly return on their money.
Fernandez falsely represented to investors that the firm was profitable in both good markets and bad, and that it was consistently generating a return on investment that was sufficient to pay the promised rate of return. During this time, however, Fernandez invested approximately $4.6 million in the stock market, sustaining a loss in five of the six calendar years.
To lull existing investors into keeping their money with FFI, Fernandez and others acting at his direction falsely represented that the firm was doing well and provided investors with false documentation showing stock market gains and concealing the losses. After subtracting a total of $5.3 million in monthly payments to investors, Fernandez caused a total loss to investors of approximately $2.1 million.
Fernandez also admitted that he used investors' money to purchase cashier's checks made payable to Elliot Homes for $168,872.75 for the purchase of a house in Folsom.
The case resulted from investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation.
The union representing Sacramento County sheriff's deputies has launched a campaign to warn residents of the dangers of further budget cuts to the department - and to get them to lobby the Board of Supervisors for support.
The campaign, titled "Service With Concern" - which also is the Sheriff's Department's slogan - aims to "educate the residents of Sacramento County that these budget cuts are real and the budget cuts are coming," said Kevin Mickelson, president of the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs' Association.
"They've got to know," he said. "We're at the bottom of the barrel. I don't know where they're going to take bodies from" if the department is forced to lay off deputies, he said.
To promote the campaign, union officials have started a website (www.servicewithconcern.com ); bought radio spots and a full-page ad in The Bee; distributed mailers; and purchased a mobile billboard that is being driven across the county, Mickelson said.
One of the mobile billboards shows a frightened child with a hand over her mouth. The sign reads "Your child's safety is at risk! By cutting deputies, county supervisors are putting your children's safety at risk!"
The effort is costing the union about $75,000, Mickelson said.
During the last fiscal year, Sheriff's Department officials slashed $59 million from a discretionary budget of $130 million. Officials laid off 122 sworn deputies, as well as non-sworn employees.
According to Sheriff John McGinness, his department now faces a hit of $37.6 million as the county grapples with a deficit of $181 million. McGinness has begun asking residents if they'd rather see a decrease in patrol and investigations staffing, or in jail staffing, a reduction that would require the release of low-level inmates.
Though more expensive, the DSA's strategy is arguably tamer than that employed by the Stockton Police Officers Association, which began erecting billboards across that city over the weekend.
The background of one billboard is blood-spattered asphalt. The message reads "Welcome to the 2nd most dangerous city in California," and then "Stop laying off cops!" The city manager's phone number is plastered there, too.
Another billboard advertises the city's "body count" of 24.
Mickelson said described that union's campaign as a notch above his union's efforts, which he described as "shocking."
They've already fielded a few phone calls from residents upset over what they described as the union's scare tactics, Mickelson said. But at least the campaign caught those residents' eyes, he said.
"We're trying to get people to pay attention," he said. "They think it's a scare tactic, but look at the numbers."
About 150 people were ordered from four buildings on Channel Drive in West Sacramento early this afternoon after an ammonia leak was discovered at one of the businesses.
John Heilmann, division chief with the West Sacramento Fire Department, said firefighters were dispatched shortly after noon when they received a report of a smell of ammonia in the area.
Ammonia was discovered leaking from a valve at the Agrium ammonia plant, 3961 Channel Drive. The valve was shut and nearby buildings were evacuated.
Heilmann said one person was taken to an area hospital complaining of difficulty breathing and five others were treated at the scene.
Employees were able to return to the buildings about 1:20 p.m.
A man walked into a fire station near Florin Perkins Road and Folsom Boulevard this afternoon with non-life-threatening stab wounds, according to Sacramento police.
It's not clear where the man was when he was stabbed, or who stabbed him, said police Sgt. Norm Leong.
The man was not cooperative with officers, he said.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steve White today slapped a gag order on the prosecution and defense in the murder trial of former sheriff's deputy Chu Vue that is scheduled to begin next month.
White's order came on the request of Deputy District Attorney Eric Kindall. Defense attorneys Donald Masuda, who is representing Chu Vue (photo left), and Matthew Scobel, who is representing co-defendant Lang Vue, did not object to the prosecutor's request.
Trial is scheduled to begin July 21 for Chu Vue, 45, and Lang Vue, 27, who is no relation. They are charged in Oct. 15, 2008 slaying of California correctional officer Steve Lo, 39, who was gunned down in the garage of his south Sacramento home while he was getting ready to go to work.
Police and prosecutors say Lo was having an affair with Chu Vue's wife at the time of his death.
The accused gunmen in the case, Chu Vue's younger brothers Chong Vue, 31, and Gary Vue, 29, will be tried separately.
The gag order will prevent the lawyers from discussing the case with news reporters. Kindall's motion requesting the order was sealed by the judge.
White also granted the prosecutor's request to deny "extended" media coverage of the trial, a ruling mostly aimed at broadcast news outlets. He said he would allow the electronic media and still photographers to take pictures of the defendant's at some point in the early stages of the trial, however.
Kindall opposed the limited allowance granted to the visual journalists, saying "it would be nice to keep the temperature down" in terms of media attention on the case during jury selection.
Besides graduations and parties, the end of the academic year is bringing a rash of vandalism and thefts to schools this week in the Sacramento region.
In Elk Grove, officials are investigating two cases of campus property crime today. Vandals smashed several classroom windows at Elk Grove High School, while a projector was stolen during a break-in at Raymond Case Elementary School.
In Sacramento, some students at Bancroft Elementary School were left in the dark today after brazen thieves cut live power lines to steal about 100 feet of copper cable running to a wing of classrooms. Investigators suspect more than one person was involved in the crime, which required lifting a heavy cement slab to reach the underground wires.
"Whoever did this has to have some knowledge about electrical lines," said Sgt. Vince Matranga of the Sacramento City Unified School District security service. "If you didn't know what you were doing with these lines, you could easily electrocute yourself."
The incidents followed vandalism Monday at Pioneer High School in Woodland, where superglue and toothpicks were used to jam locks to about 50 classroom doors. Officials estimated the cost to repair or replace the locks at $15,000.
On Sunday, an arson fire destroyed a playground structure at Hazel Strauch Elementary School in North Sacramento. The incident was the third fire at an elementary campus in the Twin Rivers Unified School District during the past nine months, police spokesman William Cho said.
"I don't know if you can attribute this to typical senior pranks," Cho said. "Seniors usually target their own schools."
At Elk Grove High School, where classes have ended for the year, vandals smashed classroom windows around 4 a.m., district spokeswoman Elizabeth Graswich said. No theft was reported.
Police are investigating security camera footage for leads, including a possible connection to two men whom Elk Grove police arrested before dawn on suspicion of public intoxication.
Earlier, a break-in was reported around 10:30 p.m. yesterday at Raymond Case Elementary School, where a projector was found missing, Graswich said. The incident activated an alarm, but arriving officers found no one on campus.
Graswich urged neighbors to keep an eye on campuses and report any suspicious activity 24 hours a day to (800) 78 CRIME.
Officials said crime tips also can be reported anonymously to Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP or by texting 274637 (CRIMES) and entering SACTIP followed by the information.
Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for as much as $1,000 in reward.
While schools face vandalism, burglaries and other crime year-round, incidents often increase at the end of the school year, when campuses are less populated or mostly empty, Matranga said.
Security cameras at 75 percent of Sacramento City schools, Matranga said. But the key to prevention is neighborhood involvement, he said.
"You can have all the cameras and upgraded security systems, but nothing can replace people keeping an eye on their neighborhood schools," he said. "It's really the eyes and ears on the ground that we need to prevent these problems."
A 24-year-old Sacramento man driving with a gunshot wound in the hand has been arrested after running a red light last night and crashing into an SUV carrying a woman and four children at Watt Avenue and Longview Drive, according to the California Highway Patrol.
No one was seriously injured in the crash at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, although all the victims were taken to a hospital as a precaution, officials said.
Larry Houghton Jr. ran a red light while driving southbound on Watt Avenue in a 1991 Lincoln Continental, CHP Officer Lizz Dutton said. He crashed into a 2004 Ford Expedition carrying four children driven by a 41-year-old woman, Dutton said.
His car also swerved into northbound lanes and hit a Honda, Dutton said. A passenger in the Honda reported minor injuries.
Houghton was arrested on suspicion of felony driving under the influence, driving without insurance, and driving without a valid license, Dutton said.
Meanwhile, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department is investigating the earlier shooting. Sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran said Houghton had left the Omega Court apartments in North Highlands before the crash.
"He is not talking," Curran said. "He's not telling us anything."
A four-alarm fire that destroyed an Arden-Arcade apartment complex under construction on Friday was caused by a person, but it is not clear if the act was accidental or arson, officials said.
More than 80 firefighters from the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District and the Sacramento Fire Department responded to the fire at the three-story complex at the 1181 Fulton Ave.
The cause remains under investigation, Metro Fire Capt. Christian Pebbles said.
Anyone with information is asked to call an arson tip line at (916) 859-3775.
Q: Was the murder of Anthony J. Galati ever solved? He was one of my best friends. - Kevin Bailey, Sacramento
A. Jeremy Phillip Puckett was convicted of murdering Galati (photo of Galati left is from DMV) and sentenced on March 14, 2002 to life in prison without the chance of parole. Israel Sept was convicted as an accomplice and received an 11-year prison term in 2002.
An earlier version of this story gave incorrect information.
A motorist driving along White Rock Road found Galati's body on March 14, 1998 in a Rancho Cordova field. Galati, 18, of Sacramento County was shot execution-style, investigators said. His wallet was missing.
Galati's smoldering Pontiac Firebird was discovered by a patrol officer about 1:30 a.m. March 16 in the 3500 block of Mather Field Road.
A Sacramento County sheriff's spokesman said the car might have been burned to destroy evidence.
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Sacramento Police Chief Rick Braziel (photo left) told the Seattle City Council today that he won't be desk-bound if he is named Seattle police chief, according to the Seattle Times newspaper.
Braziel, one of three finalists for the Seattle police chief job, also will participate in a public question-and-answer session.
The public forum will be live-streamed at 6 p.m. today by the Seattle Channel on the Mayor's blog.
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn is expected to make the final decision later this month on who succeeds former Chief Gil Kerlikowske, who left his eight-year tenure last year when President Barack Obama tapped him to be his drug control policy director.
Competing against Braziel are Ronald Davis, East Palo Alto's police chief, and John Diaz, Seattle's interim police chief.
Braziel, 50, began working for the Sacramento Police Department in 1979, rising through the ranks to become chief in 2008.
Two people wanted on suspicion of using a Virginia state senator's stolen credit card information to buy medical marijuana in Sacramento have been arrested.
Bernell Bryan Washington (photo bottom left), 24, and Sky Manriquez (photo bottom right), 20, were charged in arrest warrants with identity theft. Washington also was charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition by a prohibited person.
Virginia state police contacted the California Highway Patrol in March with information that the Virginia lawmaker's personal information was being used in Sacramento.
The CHP notified the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force, which investigated the case.
Washington and Manriquez used the lawmaker's personal information to open or take over multiple credit accounts in his name, according to a Sacramento County Sheriff's Department news release.
Investigators serving a search warrant at a Fulton Avenue address used by the pair found receipts indicating they had used the fake accounts to buy medical marijuana, officials said.
Jury selection began today as scheduled in the Placerville trial of David Charles Zanon.
Zanon is accused of capital murder. He is charged with running down CHP officer Douglas Scott Russell in 2007 in the course of a high-speed chase on Highway 50.
The selection process began with a jury service video shown to prospective jurors in the standing-room-only courtroom of Department 1 of the Placerville Main Street Branch of the El Dorado County Superior Court.
Lawyers expect to take a month narrowing potential jurors down on the basis of hardship and then based on jury questionnaires and interviews with the judge and attorneys.
Davis police are searching for three armed men who robbed a residence in the 800 block of Anderson Road early Monday morning.
The robbery occurred about 12:30 a.m. The victim was held at gunpoint by one of the men while the other two placed various electronics in a pillow case, according to a Davis Police Department news release.
After collecting items from the home, the three men fled in a vehicle.
Two laptop computers, along with other electronic devices were stolen.
Descriptions of the robbers were sketchy. The robbers were described as between 19 and 22 years old, wearing dark-colored hooded sweatshirts and blue jeans.
Detectives are trying to determine whether there is a connection between this incident and another home invasion robbery that occurred last month in an apartment complex in the 2400 block of Pole Line Road.
A trial date has been set for a Placer County sheriff's deputy accused for violating his probation stemming from an earlier DUI conviction.
A judge today set a June 23 hearing on a petition to revoke probation for John Caliguire (photo left), 49, who was arrested March 24 while working in the courts division in the Santucci Justice Center in Roseville.
Caliguire's supervisor said he observed signs of intoxication and an odor of alcohol, and a breath test showed Caliguire had a blood alcohol content of 0.09 to 0.10, Placer County sheriff's officials reported at the time.
Caliguire was on probation for a Feb. 26 DUI conviction. The incident in that case occurred Nov. 7, 2009, when Caliguire was observed driving erratically in Rocklin and was found to have a blood alcohol level between 0.31 and 0.33. The legal limit is 0.08.
Caliguire's attorney, Thomas Leupp of Auburn, said during a pretrial conference today that Caliguire has completed a 45-day disciplinary term on the DUI conviction and is attending two Alcoholics Anonymous meetings per week.
Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Ausnow said Caliguire remains on unpaid administrative leave from the Sheriff's Department pending the outcome of an internal investigation and legal proceedings.
Statewide this Memorial Day weekend was one of the safest in years for California drivers, CHP officials said today.
This year, 11 motor vehicle accidents over the holiday weekend resulted in 17 fatalities, a 62 percent drop from the 2009 statewide total of 45.
In 2008, the statewide total was 38 people killed in traffic accidents.
"We just credit it to increased awareness and better enforcement," said Erin Komatsubara, spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP has made the Memorial Day weekend a priority, placing every available officer on patrol. For statistical purposes the CHP deems 6 p.m. May 28 through 11:59 p.m. May 31 as the holiday weekend.
Of the 17 killed, 12 were in CHP territory and five there in incorporated cities.
The CHP also reported that DUI arrests are up from 1,465 in 2009 to 1,541 this year.
The Woodland Police Department is asking the public's help in identifying three suspects in the theft of a wallet and the subsequent illegal charging of about $1,500 on the victim's credit cards, according to a news release. (See photos below.)
The release gave this sequence of events:
The theft happened about 2:20 p.m. May 19 at the Costco Store in Woodland.
The 71-year-old victim was shopping when her wallet was taken from her purse which was in a shopping cart.
The suspects then left Costco and made approximately $1,500.00 worth of purchases on the victim's credit cards at the nearby Target Store.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation should contact the Woodland Police Department at (530) 666-2411 or (530)661-7800.
The State Board of Parole Hearings has recommended a parole for a man convicted in a 1984 Sacramento beating death, a board spokeswoman said.
John Anthony Gresham, 57, was found suitable for parole on May 6, said Margot Bach, board spokeswoman. She said the proposed parole will become final in 120 days from that date.
The governor then will have 30 days to accept or reject the parole recommendation, Bach said.
Gresham maintained throughout his trial that he did not know his companion planned to rob and kill someone, The Bee reported.
A Sacramento County Superior Court jury convicted Gresham and Phillip Eugene Golob Jr., then 19, of the April 20, 1984, robbery and slaying of Howard Maddux, a 64-year-old retired school teacher, The Bee reported.
A judge sentenced both men to 25 years to life in prison.
Testimony at the trial indicated that Golob and Gresham walked across town to get to a park known to be frequented by gays to obtain money and a car to go to Texas.
They figured a gay man would be an easy mark because he would not report the crime to police, prosecutor Al Locher said during the trial.
Their victim, Maddux, died of injuries sustained in a beating administered by Golob, testimony showed.
Golob virtually stomped the life out Maddux, Judge Lloyd A. Phillips Jr. said at sentencing.
After taking Maddux's credit cards and automobile, the pair partied with a friend in San Francisco and then drove to Gorman, Texas, where they were arrested several days later.
Golob admitted committing the acts that led to Maddux's death, court records revealed.
Students and teachers were locked out of about 50 classrooms at Pioneer High School in Woodland after vandals used super glue and toothpicks to jam door locks during the three-day weekend, causing damage estimated at $15,000, an official said.
No classes were canceled, said Mike Stevens, associate superintendent of the Woodland Joint Unified School District. Teachers and staff moved students to the gym, cafeteria, library and empty classrooms to keep the school operating, he said.
"It's a huge disruption," Stevens said, "not just for regular classes, but also for finals starting this week."
The vandalism was discovered when students and staff begin arriving on campus this morning, he said.
Locksmiths were cleaning locks that could be salvaged or replacing locks, at a cost of $200 to $300 per lock.
District officials and police are reviewing security camera recordings for possible tips, Stevens added. If a suspect is identified, the district will seek restitution for the damage and staff time needed for repairs, he said.
The Yolo County Probation Department will begin closing to the public during the lunch hour, starting Monday.
Doors will be closed from noon to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday at probation services, 2780 E. Gibson Road, and at the Alternative Sentencing Program, 45 Matmor Road. Hours are being reduced because of funding shortfalls and staff reductions, a news release states.
Probation Department offices will remain open from 8 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m.
Sacramento police have arrested a 36-year-old man in the fatal stabbing of another man who was believed to be flirting with the suspect's wife at a South Natomas apartment complex, according to police.
William Todd was arrested near Azevedo Drive and Atrisco Circle as he fled the complex on foot, police said in a news release.
Todd is suspected of stabbing a 44-year-old man at the apartment around 8:10 p.m. Monday in the 3200 block of Azevedo Drive, officials said. The victim, identfied by Sacramento County coroner's officials as David Paul Endres, died after he was taken to UC Davis Medical Center.
Statements from witnesses indicated both men were visiting the apartment and Todd believed the victim was flirting with his wife, police said. Todd became angry, stabbed the victim with a knife and fled on foot, the release states.
The Sacramento Police Department encourages anyone with information about the crime to contact Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP or to in a tip to 274637 (CRIMES). Enter SACTIP followed by the information.
Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for as much as $1,000 in reward.
Firefighters will conduct controlled burning training exercises Thursday and Friday in Galt and Elk Grove.
The Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Department will perform the training exercises for firefighters between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., a news release states.
In Elk Grove, crews will conduct a burn at the Elk Grove Airport property on Grant Line Road. In Galt, firefighters will burn vegetation on a 20-acre parcel at 10278 Kost Road, directly south of Meadowview Park.
The exercises are contingent upon approval from the Sacramento Air Quality Management District, officials said.
The Woodland Police Department has received a $4,000 grant from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to help pay for new equipment and training, a news release states.
The department also received a grant last year from PG&E, police said. The money is used to help maintain some specialty programs, including SWAT and bike patrol units.
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Q:What happened with the case regarding Marc McCormick? He was accused of videotaping a woman in her home and was arrested. He lives in my neighborhood and I see him all the time. Were charges dropped?
A: According to Sacramento Superior Court online records, misdemeanor charges have been filed against Mark William McCormick, alleging that he used a camcorder or other instrument to view an individual in a place where there was an expectation of privacy, trespassing and peeping.
His next court date is June 4.
According to Sacramento police logs, McCormick, 40, was arrested March 8 after the victim reported that a friend had entered her home without her knowledge to secretly videotape her.
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