Sacto 9-1-1

By Chelsea Phua

cphua@sacbee.com

The man on the phone sounded like her 24-year-old grandson, Sacramento resident Doris McRoberts said.

He told her he and some friends had been involved in a car accident in Ontario, Canada, and needed $3,000 to pay for the cost of repairs.

She would have sent the money, but for a Wells Fargo bank employee who felt something was not quite right and made McRoberts promise that she would consult family members before sending the money.

It's a good thing McRoberts has never broken a promise.

She called her daughter. Her real grandson, as it turned out, was in Berkeley during the time of the alleged accident, and didn't call grandma for money.

"We've seen an increase in these type of scams," Sacramento police spokesman Officer Konrad von Schoech.

Known as the "Grandmother" scam, the con artist poses as a grandchild or a friend of the grandchild and tells grandma or grandpa that he or she is in jail, in trouble or is sick.

"It's usually a tragic situation which the scammer requests to be kept secret," von Schoech said.

If the victim can't share the information, the victim can't verify if it's true, von Schoech said.

"But the best thing to do is verify that the situation that someone is posing to you actually exists," von Schoech said.

And never give personal or financial information over the phone, or agree to meet someone you don't know.

McRoberts also has a few words of wisdom - gained from hindsight. She has two grandsons, but the scammer never specified which of the two he was, and she just assumed he was the older one.

"When they say they are your grandchild, ask, "Which one are you?'" McRoberts said.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

Sutter County Sheriff's officials arrested a person of interest Saturday in connection with the homicide of a couple in the small town of Sutter, west of Yuba City.

Responding crews found the pair of bodies Friday while investigating a report of shots fired and a subsequent garage fire.

One of the victims has been positively identified as Jack Martin. The other is believed to be his wife, Susan Martin, but she has not been positively identified, said Sheriff's Capt. Lewis McElfresh.

The deaths are being investigated as homicides and officers have arrested Joseph Hayden Simlick, 21, in connection with the crimes. He was jailed on suspicion of burglary and false imprisonment. Simlick (photo right) was an acquaintance of the couple, officials believe.

After more than 24 hours of around-the-clock work on the crime, which took place Friday, investigators took a break with plans to resume Sunday, McElfresh said.

Call The Bee's Carlos Alcalá, (916) 321-1987.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

California Highway Patrol officers have arrested a Marysville woman accused of using Caltrans credit cards to steal gasoline.

Officials at the Caltrans facility on B Street in Marysville reported noticing irregularities in quantities of gas pumped compared with gas receipts for an employee.

After a supervisor monitored the employee's activities, Caltrans told CHP the woman was entering the facility after hours, picking up state credit cards and using them to buy gasoline for her personal vehicle before returning the cards.

Caltrans notified CHP of the suspected embezzlement Wednesday and Christy Winona, 41, was arrested Thursday at the facility.

She was booked at Yuba County Jail on suspicion of grand theft, embezzlement and burglary.

Call The Bee's Carlos Alcalá, (916) 321-1987.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

Sacramento police have arrested a Del Paso Heights couple for allegedly having a 6-year-old girl urinate in a cup to help fake a drug test.

Police say Vincent Walker, 50, and Janeese Gaines, 40, talked a neighborhood girl to come over and urinate in a cup. Gaines reportedly had an upcoming drug test in connection with her parole.

Police were notified after the girl told her parents.

Walker and Gaines were arrested Friday on suspicion of annoying a child and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Call The Bee's Carlos Alcalá, (916) 321-1987.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

Coroner's officials have released the identity of a man killed Thursday by a Union Pacific train near Cal Expo.

The man was Bryan Haugen. It is not known what he was doing on the tracks in the parkway near Cal Expo when he was hit at about 9 p.m. Thursday.

Union Pacific crews were the first to see the man on the tracks.

Haugen would have been 44 years old today.

Call The Bee's Carlos Alcalá, (916) 321-1987.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

A 38-year-old man died early today when his motorcycle crashed into a median at high speed on Pocket Road.

Police were called with a report of a motorcyclist down in the roadway at Pocket Road and West Shore Drive at 1:24 a.m.

The biker was dead when units arrived and no witnesses to the accident were found.

The victim's identity has not been released.

Call The Bee's Carlos Alcalá, (916) 321-1987.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

A man under the influence of alcohol accidentally backed over and killed a friend with his recreational vehicle Friday night, Sacramento police reported.

A group of friends were hanging out around Darryl Alexander's RV at North A and Ahern streets when Alexander decided to leave.

Others attempted to talk Alexander (photo right) out of driving drunk, but he started the vehicle and backed up quickly, running over his friend, a 56-year-old woman, whose name has not been released.

Alexander drove from the scene and later abandoned the vehicle to flee on foot.

He was captured by an officer who happened to be in the area. The victim was taken to a hospital, where she died from her injuries.

Alexander, 50, was arrested on suspicion of felony hit-and-run, drunk driving, manslaughter while intoxicated and parole violation.

Call The Bee's Carlos Alcalá, (916) 321-1987.

By Queenie Wong
qwong@sacbee.com

A Citrus Heights man was arrested Thursday morning after a police officer spotted a pickup truck with alleged stolen copper piping and enviro-brass water meters, according to the Rocklin Police Department.

Officers arrested Christopher Etzel (left photo), 48, at his home on suspicion of possessing stolen property, theft and conspiracy. Police are still searching for a second suspect, said Sgt. Scott Horrillo, the department's spokesman.

Horrillo said officers spotted Etzel in a pickup truck with 11 water meters and piping about 1 a.m. Thursday, but did not arrest the driver because they could verify if the items were stolen.

Detectives later discovered that water meters and piping had gone missing from Elliott Homes near Calverhall Way, Horrillo said.

Etzel is being held at the Placer County Jail with a bail of $210,000.

Call The Bee's Queenie Wong, (916) 321-1008.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A man accused of impersonating a police officer in an attempt to extort money was arrested Thursday by officers with the Auburn Police Department and Placer County Special Investigations Unit.

Chad Richard Mowry, 26, was taken into custody at a Rocklin residence on suspicion of burglary, grand theft and conspiracy, as well as attempted extortion and impersonating a peace officer.

Mowry allegedly contacted victims and told them he was aware that they had hired exotic dancers to perform sexual acts at a residence in Auburn, according to an Auburn Police Department news release. Mowry reportedly said that he was a law enforcement officer and that he could "make the charges go away" if they paid him money.

The victims did not have all the money Mowry requested, so they wrote him a check and asked him to cash it at a later date. They alleged that they were contacted numerous times over the next several days by Mowry and several other suspects, who provided numerous reasons why they needed to cooperate with Mowry, according to the news release.

The victims then contacted the Police Department, and the investigation led detectives to the Rocklin residence, where Mowry was arrested.

In addition to Mowry, Auburn detectives say they have identified several other suspects and believe there may be additional victims who have not come forward.

The Police Department asks anyone who knows of additional victims or who has information relevant to the case to call Detective Adam Cline at (530) 823-4237, ext. 238.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A man wanted by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department in a child pornography case has been arrested in Las Vegas.

Arturo Sanchez (left photo), 21, was arrested Thursday by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers on an active arrest warrant for possession of child pornography, according to Sheriff's Department news release.

During October 2009, Internet Crimes Against Children task force investigators in Sacramento identified Sanchez as someone who allegedly was offering child pornography over the Internet. A search warrant was served on his residence and several items of evidence were seized, including his computer, removable media and compact discs.

A forensic examination of the items was conducted and images of prepubescent children engaged in sexual activity were found, according to the news release.

Sanchez later was indicted by a federal grand jury and an arrest warrant was issued. When detectives went to his residence to arrest him, they learned that he had moved. Officials said they do not know how long he had been living in Las Vegas.

The Sheriff's Department is working with Las Vegas authorities to have Sanchez returned to Sacramento to face the local possession of child pornography charges.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Six Sacramento Unified School District campuses, dubbed Superintendent's Priority Schools, are undergoing facelifts this summer and district officials seek the community's help in protecting them from vandalism.

The six campuses - Jedediah Smith, Father Keith B. Kenny and Oak Ridge elementary schools, Will C. Wood and Fern Bacon middle schools and Hiram Johnson High School - serve approximately 4,600 children, most of whom live in poverty, according to a district news release.

This summer, district crews are repainting classrooms, conducting campuswide deep cleaning and improving landscaping. Video surveillance cameras also are being repaired or replaced.

But officials say vandals are undoing improvement efforts by tagging newly painted walls with graffiti, breaking newly planted trees in half and pulling out shrubs.

At Fern Bacon Middle School, thieves stole six large aluminum vents from rooftop air conditioning units, costing the district $1,800, according to Police Sgt. Vince Matranga, head of district security.

"We really need help watching over these schools," Acting Chief Accountability Officer Mary Shelton, who oversees the priority schools, said in the news release.

To report suspicious behavior on a school campus within the Sacramento city limits, call the Sacramento Police Department (916) 264-5471.

Residents outside city boundaries are advised to call the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department at (916) 874-5115. School District Security also is available around the clock by calling at (916) 643-7444.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Bee Staff

Detectives assigned to the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force are asking the public's help in identifying three identity theft suspects who have passed fictitious checks on the same bank account.

The three suspects have passed checks at two Antelope-area stores: Walmart, 5821 Antelope Road; and Bel Air Market, 7901 Walerga Road, according to Sacramento sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran.

The suspects passed checks multiple times at each location between June 20 and June 30, 2010. The losses exceed $2,000, Curran said.

The suspects are described as (see photos below):

-A white female, 18- to 24-years-old, 5 feet 4 inches to 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing 110 to 115 pounds, with blonde hair.

-A white female, 18- to 24-years-old, 5 feet 4 inches to 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing 120 to 125 pounds with brunette hair.

-A white or Hispanic male, 22- to 26-years-old, 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 8 inches tall, 145 to 160 pounds, with black hair and a goatee.

Anyone with information regarding the identities, or whereabouts, of these suspects is asked to call detective Jim Clausen at (916) 874-3014, or Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP; or send a text message tip by texting to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter SACTIP followed by the tip information.

Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

The Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force is a multi-jurisdictional task force that conducts investigations involving high technology, computer, and internet based crimes, Curran said.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department serves as the lead agency for the task force which is comprised of over 50 local, state and federal law enforcement and prosecuting agencies.

By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com

A Sacramento-area man and his son have been charged with stealing $1.6 million from people who hired them to retrieve assets from the state controller's unclaimed property fund.

Thomas Rodine, 56, of Carmichael, and his son Dustin, 28, of Citrus Heights, were arraigned today on charges of embezzlement and submitting fraudulent claims to the controller, Attorney General Jerry Brown announced.

Brown's office said the Rodines established a trust account to repay their clients after being hit with a search warrant. So far $700,000 has been repaid, and officials say they expect everyone will be paid in full.

The Rodines couldn't be reached for comment.

They could face a maximum of 7 1/2 years in prison if convicted.

Call The Bee's Dale Kasler, (916) 321-1066.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A former California Highway Patrol officer allegedly offered $10,000 to a "confidential informant" to kill a witness in his drugs and weapons case in the Placer County Superior Court, court documents show.

Ruben Cesar Salgado (photo left), 37, pleaded not guilty today in Placer County Superior Court to the solicitation to commit murder charge.

Salgado also faces drug and weapons charges in the same court.

Judge Mark S. Curry also ordered Salgado held without bail on the solicitation charge and raised the bail on the other charges to $500,000 from $70,000.

Curry also ruled that Placer County has jurisdiction in the case, even though the alleged solicitation occurred in Sacramento County.

Salgado was initially arrested May 11 by the California Highway Patrol on drug and weapons charges following a two-month investigation.

A 12-year CHP veteran, Salgado had been assigned to patrol duties in the Auburn area since January 2009. He was arrested in May on six felony counts, including possession and transportation of a controlled substance and possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony.

Officials said in May that an outside source alerted CHP and Placer County district attorney's investigators to Salgado's alleged criminal activity involving drug use.

He pleaded not guilty during an arraignment in Placer Superior Court on May 13.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

The California Highway Patrol today released the video an officer shot from a CHP airplane of a car driven by Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans that led to the player's arrest.

An aerial video shows Evans, 20, speeding down Interstate 80.

High above the purple Mercedes S550 being driven by Evans shortly before 7 p.m. May 31, was a Highway Patrol flight officer in a CHP Cessna airplane.

The two officers in the airplane spotted Evans' vehicle traveling more than 100 mph while crossing lanes on westbound Interstate 80. The video shows his nine-mile trip down I-80 and his arrest.

The vehicle at times reached speeds of up to 130 mph and continued at high speeds for several miles while passing vehicles in Memorial Day weekend traffic.

"Westbound, west of Madison, they are at 120 or 130 now," an officer in the CHP airplane can be heard on the video.

It appears that another car was speeding along with Evans. An officer says on the video that the "two vehicles are racing." The CHP pilot eventually lost sight of the second car.

When Evans' vehicle was pulled over at a park in Sacramento's Robla neighborhood, CHP officers approached with guns drawn and ordered Evans and his passengers out of the car. The vehicle's windows were tinted, and officers could not see inside.

"So far the driver is complying," said an officer in the airplane.

On July 23, Evans pleaded no contest to reckless driving.

CHP officer Adrian Quintero said Friday that Evans put himself and others in danger.

"You can see him passing vehicles that are traveling anywhere from 65 to 80 mph like they are standing still," said Quintero.

Evans was eventually cited and released. He signed a few autographs and left, said Quintero.

Quintero said the CHP didn't seek street racing charges against Evans because of evidence problems.

"The reason we went with reckless driving is because it is easier to prove," he said.

"Obviously they were both traveling at excessive speed but because we didn't have concrete evidence that they looked at each and said: 'Let's go,' it would have been a lot harder case to prove versus reckless driving."

The aircraft could not keep track of both drivers. Without knowing who the other driver was, it is difficult to a "speed contest."

If the CHP had both drivers "we would have to separate them, ask them questions and see if there was some type of communication or they knew each other."

Evans was ordered to serve three years' informal probation and 80 hours of alternative sentencing, Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully said in a written announcement. His driver's license also was suspended for 30 days, and he was ordered to participate in two California Highway Patrol Start Smart Driving programs, educational programs targeting teenage drivers.

Evans, who won the 2009-10 NBA Rookie of the Year award, apologized the day after the incident, saying he didn't realize how fast the car was traveling.

"I felt like I wasn't going that fast but I was, " Evans told a Bee reporter. "I've just got to be careful."

Deputy District Attorney Suzanne Salazar said that by participating in the CHP's program for young drivers as part of his sentence, Evans will be required to educate others about the dangers of reckless driving.

The Kings selected Evans fourth in the first round of the 2009 NBA draft.

Evans, who played college basketball at the University of Memphis, brought excitement to a struggling team with his outstanding performances on court.

He became the fourth first-year man in NBA history to average 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in a season, joining Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Bee Staff

The California Highway Patrol will conduct a DUI/driver's license checkpoint beginning at 8 p.m. tonight in at an undisclosed location in El Dorado County.

The checkpoint will be staffed by a team of CHP officers who will control traffic at the checkpoint to evaluate drivers' sobriety, check driver's licenses, and hand out literature warning of the dangers of drinking and driving, according to a CHP news release.

Additional CHP officers will be assigned to roving patrols in the checkpoint areas to seek out the DUI drivers, the release states.

Earlier this week, the Roseville Police Department announced that its officers DUI/Drivers License checkpoint on Saturday from 6 p.m. until approximately midnight.

By Bill Lindelof and Cathy Locke
blindelof@sacbee.com

Sutter County Sheriff's detectives are investigating as homicides the death of two people whose bodies were found after a house fire was extinguished.

About 12:40 a.m. today, dispatchers received a call of the sounds of gunshots or firecrackers and breaking glass in the small community of Sutter, five miles west of Yuba City.

The Sutter Fire Department firefighters responded to the location of the call in the 2200 block of Mulberry Street and quelled a garage fire. Firefighters also found two bodies inside the home.

Deputies responded and cordoned off the home.

Sutter County Sheriff's Capt. Lewis McElfresh said officials are awaiting the coroner's identification of the victims, but they are believed to be Jack and Susan Martin, the residents of the house.

McElfresh said investigators have a person of interest in the case, but he declined to elaborate. He said Sutter County detectives are being assisted in the investigation by the state Department of Justice.

The cause of the fire also under investigation.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Cathy Locke and Miranda Simon
clocke@sacbee.com

Divers with the Drowning Accident Recovery Team have pulled out a 22-year-old Walnut Grove man from a vehicle that went off the road into the Sacramento River near Highway 160 and Leary Road.

The body was found at 12:52 p.m. today, said California Highway Patrol officer Bernie Pico. The Sacramento County Coroner's Office identified the man as Isai Flores Mejia. No other passengers were in the car, Pico said.

CHP spokesman Officer Michael Bradley said the CHP received a report about 10 p.m. Wednesday of a broken guardrail that indicated a vehicle had gone off the road. Pico said the vehicle struck the guardrail before it fell into the water.

Officers were unable to locate a vehicle at the time, but the DART team went out this morning and found a four-door Mitsubishi sedan in the water.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Canadian police said that a cyclist from a Davis bicycle club has died in that country after being hit by a motor home.

Bruce S. Winder, 56, was with other bicyclists on vacation when he was struck by the recreational vehicle Wednesday on a highway in St. Joachim, northeast of Quebec City, in Quebec province, a police spokeswoman said.

Ann Mathieu, spokeswoman for the Quebec provincial police, said the investigation is not completed. However, she said that Winder was with a group of 20 other cyclists on the road.

Winder was making a left turn when struck by the motor home going in the same direction, she said.

A Quebec newspaper said another cyclist, Winder's wife, Ellen, was also injured.

"When the driver saw the cyclists, he tried to avoid them but he was not able to avoid them all," said Mathieu.

Winder had once served as the membership director of the 700-member Davis Bike Club.

"He and his wife are just outstanding cyclists and solid, salt-of-the earth kind of people," said Dan Shadoan, a longtime member of the club.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Kim Minugh and Bill Lindelof
kminugh@sacbee.com

Hours of cat-and-mouse ended about 11 a.m. when two Sacramento County sheriff's patrol deputies spotted a man being sought for alleged child molestation and took him into custody, according to authorities.

Gary Jay Livers (photo left), 44, of Orangevale was arrested without incident at the AM/PM at Auburn Boulevard and Watt Avenue, said sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran.

Livers is accused of sexually assaulting a now 11-year-old girl more than once, Curran said. The alleged sex acts began when the child was 10 years old, he said.

The arrest came shortly after a search of an Auburn Boulevard motel where Livers stayed the night turned up nothing. Deputies who had been assigned to the call were driving by the AM/PM when they recognized Livers, despite his apparent efforts to disguise himself by dying his hair black and cutting it off, Curran said.

Earlier today, the Sheriff's Department asked for the public's help in finding Livers, who fled from detectives who tried to serve an arrest warrant at his home Wednesday night, Curran said.

Sometime thereafter, Curran said, Livers checked into the motel. Deputies responded there this morning after learning he was staying there, but did not find him.

Surveillance footage showed Livers walking eastbound on Auburn from the motel shortly before 9 a.m., Curran said.

Deputies had considered Livers, an avid hunter, armed and dangerous after his wife told detectives that three rifles were missing from the gun cabinet at the couple's home, Curran said.

However, he was not armed when he was arrested, Curran said. Deputies are unsure whether he was ever armed or whether Livers' wife was mistaken.

The allegations against Livers came to light when his alleged victim told her father, who then called the Sheriff's Department. The father and Livers know each other, detectives said.

Anyone who has information is asked to call their local law enforcement agency, the Sheriff's Department at (916) 874-5115 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-4357.

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.

By Cynthia Hubert and Chelsea Phua
chubert@sacbee.com

A Placerville police officer feared for his life and was justified in killing a mentally ill woman who fled in an ambulance from a local hospital in March, the El Dorado County District Attorney has found.

District Attorney Vern Pierson concluded that Officer Nick Maurer did not engage in criminal conduct when he shot and killed Linda Carol Clark of Folsom as she sat in an ambulance in the driveway of a Placerville home on March 28, The Bee has learned.

In a lengthy report investigating the shooting of the Folsom woman, Pierson determined that "based upon the totality of the evidence" and legal standards, the officer's "use of deadly force was reasonable under the circumstances," says the report, released to The Bee on Thursday afternoon.

Police have said that Clark tried to run over officers with the vehicle, prompting them to shoot in self-defense. An eyewitness has disputed that account.

In an interview with The Bee, Pierson said eyewitness accounts are not always reliable. "When people go through traumatic events, they often have a perception of what happened and what they saw" that is contradictory to physical evidence.

He said investigators set aside eyewitness accounts, including that of the officer, and focused solely on physical evidence such as gun shell casings, skid marks and a re-creation of the crime scene.

The dead woman's father, Marty Hansen, said he met with Pierson and investigator James Clinchard earlier this week and got a preview of the report. Based on the meeting and other information that he has collected, he said he remains unconvinced that Maurer was "reasonable" in shooting his daughter.

"I believe there are holes in their reasoning," he said.

To read more about the report, see tomorrow's Bee.

Call The Bee's Cynthia Hubert, (916) 321-1082.

More information

Video: Shooting re-enactment staged by the El Dorado County DA

Q: Would you please provide an update regarding Raul Reyes Jr.? - Anonymous, El Dorado County

A: Raul Rodriguez Reyes Jr. (photo left), now 21, pleaded no contest to two felonies in the shooting death of Angela Vasquez.

In a plea agreement on May 6, 2009, in El Dorado County Superior Court, Reyes of Sacramento entered the plea to assault with a deadly weapon likely to produce great bodily injury, discharging a firearm from a vehicle and enhancements to the charges, court records show.

In exchange, a first-degree murder charge against Reyes was dropped.

Reyes received sentences that totaled 12 years and 8 months in prison. A judge ordered the individual sentences to run consecutively.

Vasquez, 17, of Sacramento was found shot to death July 21, 2007, in a Chevrolet Suburban parked in El Dorado Hills.

Authorities believe Reyes was driving the Suburban. They said he placed the original 911 call, The Bee reported.

For a complete list of questions answered by Sacto911, click here

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Cal Expo police have arrested four suspects allegedly trying to use counterfeit money during the run of this year's California State Fair.

Officers have also confiscated the fake $20 and $100 bills that the suspects have tried to use at the fair, according to a news release from the fair.

Vendors, exhibitors, carnival and fair employees are provided information on how to spot counterfeit cash.

"In addition to counterfeit bills, we're on the lookout for phony admission and carnival ride tickets, too," said Lance Moyer, a representative of Butler Amusements Inc., which operates the state fair carnival rides.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Chelsea Phua
cphua@sacbee.com

A 32-year-old validated gang member was sentenced to 14 years in prison after pleading no contest to felony charges that stemmed from a June 12 traffic stop where he fled from police and a loaded handgun fell out of his pocket, Placer County authorities said.

Prosecutors from the District Attorney's office said David Michael Perez of Rio Linda was a passenger inside a car that police stopped on the Sierra Street Bridge in Roseville. They said Perez got out of the car and ran away. When he jumped on the hood of a parked car and dented it, a loaded gun fell out of his pocket.

As a validated, active gang member with felony convictions, Perez was not allowed to have a gun, prosecutor Stephanie Macumber said.

On July 21, Perez pleaded no contest to four felony charges that included carrying a concealed weapon, possession of a firearm by a felon, street terrorism and vandalism, authorities said. He also pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges of resisting or obstructing peace officers and one misdemeanor count of carrying a loaded firearm. He also did not contest special allegations of having prior felony offenses.

Photo provided by the Placer County Sheriff's Department

Call The Bee's Chelsea Phua, (916) 321-1132.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A Sacramento jury today imposed $7,500 in punitive damages on a Board of Chiropractic Examiners supervisor who was found liable in retaliating against an employee.

The Superior Court panel's decision came on top of $1,175,000 in economic and non-economic damages it awarded on Monday to former board office assistant Carole Arbuckle.

Arbuckle claimed in her whistleblower lawsuit that she was demoted and driven from her job for reporting that the chiropractic license had lapsed on a former board member.

In finding in Arbuckle's favor, the jury on Monday also voted unanimously that the employee's injury resulted in part from the malicious conduct of her supervisor, Kim Smith.

The punitive damages will have to be paid personally by Smith, court officials said. The award was based on Smith's net worth of approximately $232,000, according to figures provided to the court by lawyers from the state Attorney General's Office.

Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A Sacramento judge has sentenced a man who murdered his uncle to 18 years and four months to life in prison.

Superior Court Judge James L. Long imposed the term Tuesday on Jason Dewayne Shepherd, 27.

Shepherd and his younger brother Shawn Christophe Shepherd, 25, were convicted of second-degree murder June 29 in the bludgeon slaying of their uncle, David Bryan Bishop, 47.

Shawn Shepherd's sentencing was delayed until Aug. 3.

The jury found that Jason Shepherd beat his uncle to death with a baseball bat because he suspected Bishop of stealing his girlfriend's underwear.

Shawn Shepherd then helped his brother tie up Bishop and dump his body in a creek outside of Jackpot, Nev., according to the evidence at trial.

Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A Sacramento Superior Court jury convicted Glenn Wade Jennings today of first-degree murder in the robbery slaying of a liquor store clerk on Florin Road six years ago, qualifying him for a possible death penalty.

Judge Maryanne G. Gilliard scheduled the penalty phase of Jennings' trial for Aug. 9. The judge said she expects the testimony in the penalty phase to take most of that week.

Jennings, 57, stabbed Kulwant Sufi, 61, 11 times in the June 2, 2004, attack inside the DK Discount Liquor store in the 8400 block of Florin Road.

"I'm very happy he jury has found him guilty for the things he has done," said Chanan Sufi, the victim's husband.

It took the jury a little less than two days of deliberations to reach a verdict in the case after hearing seven days of testimony over the past three weeks.

Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

The city of Davis and UC Davis campus are poised to consolidate management of their fire departments under a two-year pilot program.

The Davis City Council on Tuesday authorized staff members to proceed with a plan for the two departments to share one fire chief, a move that could save $250,000 a year. The pilot project also calls for a shared dispatch center, restructuring of administrative support functions, and standardized training policies and procedures.

If approved by UC Davis Vice Chancellor John Meyer, the consolidation likely would begin Sept. 1, said Kelly Stachowicz, deputy city manager.

Under the plan, Bill Weisgerber, interim chief of the city Fire Department, would become interim chief of both departments, reporting jointly to Meyer and City Manager Bill Emlen. The city and university would contribute equally to his $149,316 annual salary, according to a city news release.

City and university officials estimate that sharing a chief will save UC Davis $110,000 annually and the city, about $140,000 a year. The savings would be reinvested in fire operations.

Emlen said the agreement is in keeping with a national trend to merge fire departments.

"This consolidation will eliminate redundancy and duplication of effort, provide opportunities for cost savings and enhance the level of service for both campus and city," he said in a written statement.

Under provisions of the agreement:

- In addition to the fire chief position, the two departments would share an assistant chief, training chief and operations chief.

- All other personnel would continue to be employees of their home departments, and their collective bargaining agreements would remain in effect.

- Fire calls on the Davis campus, now dispatched through a campus facility that also serves the campus Police Department, eventually would be dispatched through the city's public safety dispatch center to improve emergency dispatch and response coordination.

- Crews and equipment would be dispatched based on proximity and availability, rather than by city and campus boundaries.

- The departments would implement standardized operating guidelines, training, and policies and procedures, and look at joint purchasing to save money.

For years, the city and university have shared the weekly rotation of a duty chief to respond to first-alarm or larger emergencies, and the departments have provided mutual aid for major incidents.

In 2009, when the chiefs of both departments announced their retirements, the city and university took the opportunity to consider a new model for managing fire services.

Stachowicz said the city and university will seek the advice of a consultant regarding a more extensive consolidation of the two departments.

"We need a third party to help us walk through all the steps and make sure further consolidation wouldn't have any unintended consequences," she said.

The city Fire Department, with an annual budget of $9.69 million, 45 firefighters and three fire stations, responded to 4,169 calls for service in 2009.

The campus Fire Department has an annual budget of $3.95 million, 20 firefighters and one fire station, and responded to 939 calls.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com

Yolo County authorities announced the arrest today of 12 registered sex offenders for parole and probation violations during a sweep of 129 individuals in Yolo and Sacramento counties on Tuesday.

(Earlier informaton supplied by officials only listed 10 arrests.)

Dubbed Operation Vigilance, the sweep on Tuesday involved more than 100 officers from agencies across two counties.

Teams each carried software that allowed them to quickly scan offenders' computers for banned images - eliminating the need to transport each device for analysis.

It was the first time an operation of such scope was attempted in Yolo County, which has 382 registered sex offenders, authorities said.

Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig vowed the sweeps would continue to ensure sex offenders are complying with the law.

"It was called Operation Vigilance because we will be vigilant," Reisig said in a news conference at his Woodland office. He was flanked by representatives from a dozen different local and state agencies.

The operation was accomplished without the use of overtime - a requirement amid budget cuts, officials said.

Arrested and the suspected parole or probation violation were:

James Andrus, 63 possession of pornography;

Robert Sutton, 47, possession of computer device;

Jim Baker, 65, possession of pornography;

Vincent Russell, 39, possession of pornography and marijuana;

Uriah Clark, 35, possession of pornography.

Ramona Hernandez, 28, possession of pornography and alcohol and drug smoking;

Omar Avalos, 26, possession of pornography;

Joshua Bracy, 36, possession of pornography;

Aurelio Solorio, 56, immigration hold;

Keith Berg, 51, possession of alcohol;

Richard Evans, 51, being in a restricted location;

Jose Naverette, 55, possession of alcohol and pornography.

(An earlier list of the suspects had incorrect information.)

Call The Bee's Hudson Sangree, (916) 321-1191.

By Bill Lindelof and Cathy Locke
blindelof@sacbee.com

View photo gallery

Arson is suspected in a fire that caused a power outage at approximately 12,000 residences and businesses in southern parts of Sacramento on Tuesday night, a Fire Department spokesman said today.

The outage occurred at 9:07 p.m., about the time a fire was reported at 35th Avenue and South Land Park Drive, at a city water drain station, Sacramento Fire Department officials said.

Arson investigators say the fire apparently was set, said Capt. Jonathan Burgess, fire department spokesman.

In a news release issued Wednesday afternoon, Burgess said an inspection and investigation by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and fire investigators determined that the fire started on the ground on or near a mattress. Burgess said SMUD officials reported that transformers in the area were tested and found to be intact and functioning properly.

According to fire investigators, the fire spread up trees and came in contact with power lines.

Because of the power loss, fire crews had to be alerted by telephone. Firefighters at a station nearby at 43rd Avenue and Gloria Drive saw the glow of the fire and responded to the blaze, which was quickly extinguished, fire officials said.

The fire was reported first to be burning in a trash bin. However, firefighters soon learned that trees were on fire, Burgess said. A small portion of the fence around the water station also was burned.

Power was out for about 12,000 SMUD customers in the South Land Park, Pocket and Greenhaven for nearly two hours.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

The Placer County coroner has released the name of a pedestrian killed last week on Interstate 80 in Roseville.

She has been identified as Jodi Jenell Jones, 26, of Sacramento.

Jones was walking on I-80 July 21 when she was struck by a big rig and other vehicles.

It is not clear why the woman was on eastbound I-80 just east of Douglas Boulevard about 4:40 a.m.

Her family had reported her missing the day before she died.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

A high-ranking member of the Citrus Heights Police Department is leaving to take a new job in the Bay area.

Bryan Robert (photo left)s, a commander in the Citrus Heights department, was selected from a pool of more than 30 candidates to be the new police chief for Menlo Park, San Mateo County, according to a news release from the Menlo Park city manager.

Roberts joined the Citrus Heights Police Department in 2006 as a commander. He previously held various positions in the Ventura Police Department.

His selection is pending a background check and other requirements for public safety officers, according to a City of Menlo Park press release.

His new job pays $179,500 and he would begin work on Sept. 7.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

Q: In the late '70s or early '80s, a girl was found sexually assaulted and murdered in Santa Anita Park. What happened in that case? - Anonymous, Sacramento

Troy Adam Ashmus, now 48, is on California's death row for the May 19, 1984, rape and murder in a Sacramento County park of 7-year-old Marcie Davis, prison records and Bee reports show. (Ashmus is at right in photo taken at his preliminary hearing.)

Ashmus, a dropout from San Juan High School and a one-time carnival roustabout, alternately lived with his grandmother in Citrus Heights and in Santa Anita Park.

He confessed to leading Marcie to a secluded place in the park. Ashmus said he then raped her.

After the assault, he crammed three plastic wrappers and the child's underpants in her mouth.

The girl died of asphyxiation, investigators said.

Santa Anita Park is just east of Howe Avenue Park, where Marcy, 7, her 10-year-old brother and another boy had gone to play.

For a complete list of questions answered by Sacto911, click here

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Roseville police are looking for a man who robbed the River City Bank at 3992 Douglas Blvd. this afternoon.

The robber (left photo), a white man in his 50s or 60s, entered the bank about 2:45 p.m. He was carrying a metal clipboard with a note attached demanding money, according to a Police Department news release. No weapon was seen.

After presenting the note to a bank employee, the man took an undisclosed amount of cash and ran out of the bank toward Sierra College Boulevard. Police said no vehicle was seen and no injuries were reported during the robbery.

The man was described as 6 feet tall with a medium build. He was wearing eyeglasses and a black Oakland Raiders ballcap over short salt and pepper hair. He also was wearing a white, long-sleeved dress shirt with a black tie and blue jeans.

Anyone who recognizes the man or has information about the crime is asked to call Roseville Crime Stoppers at (916) 783-7867. Callers may remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

A Sacramento man died today after sustaining injuries in what police suspect might have been a hit-and-run boating accident on the Sacramento River last week, according to authorities.

Sacramento police are now seeking the public's help in gathering more information about the July 18 incident.

Department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said the victim, 51-year-old Kenneth Weatherington, left his home that Sunday to fish overnight on the Sacramento River. When he did not return the next day, relatives went looking for him.

They found his boat anchored in the middle of the Sacramento River, north of Old Sacramento, Leong said. They found Weatherington inside the boat's cabin with serious head injuries, Leong said.

UC Davis Medical Center officials contacted police July 20. Weatherington died there this afternoon, Leong said.

Leong said Weatherington's boat had front-end damage "consistent with another boat hitting it, although we don't know conclusively that's what happened." They believe the boat was facing north, and that the boat that caused the collision would have been going southbound, Leong said. (Photo below is of Weatherington's boat).

Police suspect Weatherington suffered the injuries in the collision, although they have not ruled out the possibility that he was injured by somebody who came aboard the boat, Leong said.

Authorities are hoping to speak to any boaters that may have been in the area the night of July 18 through the morning of the 19th.

The Sacramento Police Department urges anyone with information pertaining to this incident 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.

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

The Galt Police Department seeks the community's help in locating an attempted murder suspect.

Thomas Edward Cruz (photo left), 18, of Galt is wanted in connection with two violent attacks last week, police said.

In the early morning hours Wednesday, Cruz and several other people are accused of confronting a man at his home in the 200 block of Emerald Oaks Drive, according to a Police Department news release. Cruz allegedly fired several rounds at the man, who was not struck by the gunfire.

In the middle of the afternoon the same day, Cruz and four other people allegedly attacked a man at a gas station in the 300 block of Pine Street. The victim was stabbed several times in the abdomen and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Police said investigators have obtained an arrest warrant for Cruz for one count of attempted murder and one count of discharging a firearm at an inhabited dwelling. Both incidents appear to be gang related, according to the news release and several other suspects have been arrested.

Cruz is described Hispanic, 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighing 148 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He is believed to frequent Galt, Lodi, Sacramento and Rancho Cordova.

Police said Cruz is considered armed and dangerous, and they caution citizens not to take any action that could result in a confrontation.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call the Galt Police Department at (209) 366-7000 or the Galt Area Crime Stoppers at (888) 393-8477. Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards for anonymous tips.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

The Folsom Police Department will be conducting a specialized motorcycle safety enforcement operation Aug. 13-15, according to a department news release.

Additional officers will patrol areas frequented by motorcyclists and where prior crashes have occurred, the release states.

Officers will be cracking down on traffic violations made by motorcyclists as well as other violations which lead to motorcycle collisions, injuries, and fatalities.

Inexperience is cited as a major factor leading to motorcycle crashes. Police encourage riders of all ages to seek training and safety information. Training is available through the California Motorcyclist Safety Program. For information and training locations, see the website at www.CA-msp.org, or call (877) 743-3411.

Funding for the operation was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

Associated Press

A state appeals court has put the case against a Stockton man accused of fatally shooting a California Highway Patrol officer on hold. The man was due to be tried in Sacramento later this summer.

The 5th District Court of Appeal in Fresno on Monday afternoon stayed all proceedings against 34-year-old Columbus Allen Jr. (photo left) to consider a defense motion that the Sacramento County judge presiding over the case be removed.

Earlier on Monday, it appeared as if the case was headed to trial after a Stanislaus County judge rejected defense motions to delay the proceedings and move them out of Sacramento.

Allen is accused of shooting Officer Earl Scott during a traffic stop in 2006 in Stanislaus County.

A judge granted Allen a change of venue in August 2009 citing extensive pretrial publicity.

By Kim Minugh and Bill Lindelof
kminugh@sacbee.com

A pregnant cow brought to the State Fair nursery area to give birth before fairgoers was shot today because she could not be corralled, a fair spokesman said.

At about 9:30 a.m., veterinarians from the University of California, Davis transported a pregnant cow to the livestock nursery where fairgoers see live births. As the cow was being unloaded from a trailer, she broke free.

She ran through the fairgrounds before being cornered in a tunnel just beneath the main gate. Police and UC Davis vets tried to coax the cow into a trailer but after an hour were unsuccessful.

The cow broke free once again and ran back through the fairgrounds. She was corralled a second time near the Golden One concert venue.

"The veterinarians from the UC Davis were trying to avoid tranquilizing because it was carrying a calf and was due to deliver any day," said Brian May, deputy general manager.

But at that point the decision was made to tranquilize the cow. However, the tranquilizer gun did not fire, said May.

The time was then 11 a.m. and the cow was breaking through barriers, May said.

With a couple thousand state fair employees and vendors now on the fairground and the gates scheduled to open in an hour, the decision was made to kill the cow, he said.

"We had no choice but to shoot it to protect the public safety," said May. A police officer used a handgun to kill the cow.

Occasionally, an animal will get loose from the livestock barns but 4-H and Future Farmers of America handlers can get control of their animals, May said.

"But this was a pregnant animal and was very agitated, it was running all over the place," said May. "It's a little different set of circumstances."

The cow was owned by a doctor at the UC Davis veterinary school. As part of the livestock nursery program, expectant animals are monitored by vet students at the fair before they give birth before fairgoers.

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.

Sacramento police and fire officials investigate the discovery of a legal marijuana growing operation today inside a fire-damaged north Sacramento warehouse. Bee photo by Randy Pench.

By Bill Lindelof and Peter Hecht
phecht@sacbee.com

A legal marijuana-growing operation was damaged after the Sacramento warehouse where it was housed caught fire early this morning, according to a lawyer for the grower.

The warehouse grows marijuana for Unity Non-Profit Collective, a Sacramento dispensary that has a registered network of about 3,000 medical marijuana users, according to a spokesman for the collective.

Sacramento police said the operation is legal.

"We were given a clean bill of health," said George Mull, Unity's attorney. "It's not considered a crime scene, and we're moving on."

Firefighters were called to the warehouse by a report of the strong odor of something burning in the vicinity of warehouses near Del Paso Boulevard and Railroad Drive at 5:13 a.m.

When crews arrived eight minutes later to 1900 Railroad Drive they reported heavy black smoke billowing from metal roll-up doors on the concrete-sided warehouse.

A second alarm was sounded as crews cut open doors to get at the fire.

Using thermal imaging cameras, firefighters were able to peer through the thick smoke to locate and extinguish the fire.

When the smoke cleared, firefighters found marijuana plants at several spots growing inside the building, a department spokesman said.

Sacramento police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said that about 200 plants in various stages of growth were found in the warehouse. Three or four rooms had been converted for the purpose of growing.

Chemicals to help grow the marijuana and electrical equipment to power indoor grow lights also were found.

Authorities also found 15 18-gallon plastic containers of dried marijuana.

Several hours after the fire, several people approached officers and told them that the marijuana was part of a collective growing the plants for medicinal purposes.

By Bee Staff

The Roseville Police Department will conduct a DUI/Drivers License checkpoint on Saturday from 6 p.m. until approximately midnight, according to a department news release.

"The checkpoint will be conducted at an undisclosed location where a significant number of alcohol-related arrests and collisions have occurred," the release states.

Funding for this operation is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety.

By Bill Lindelof
blindleof@sacbee.com

A restaurant employee is in custody for allegedly conspiring with two others to fake a robbery at the Curtis Park creperie where he works, police said.

Police said events conspired to lead them to the alleged conspirators Monday night at Crepeville, 2700 24th St.

Police were called to the restaurant by an employee who said he had been the victim of an after-hours robbery by two armed masked men. The hold-up men fled with cash, he claimed.

Officers began to search the neighborhood and found a witness who said she saw two men leaving the restaurant. The witness saw them last near a white truck.

That's when events leading to the arrests started to unfold, police said.

Inside the cab of the truck, officers spotted two men on the floor. After several loud orders from officers, the men got out of the truck.

The restaurant employee told officers the truck was his. Inside the vehicle were scarves, a BB gun and cash.

Additional investigation revealed that the employee and the two "robbers" were in cahoots, police said.

One of those arrested was a 17-year-old male on suspicion of burglary and conspiracy to commit a crime.

Two adults were booked into jail: Keith Domom Herrera (photo bottom left), 19, on suspicion of burglary and conspiracy and restaurant employee Michael Asberry Jr. (photo bottom right), 19, on suspicion of embezzlement and conspiracy to commit a crime, police said.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A 34-year-old Carmichael man died when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver in Fair Oaks this morning.

The California Highway Patrol received an initial call of a man standing in the roadway and yelling on Fair Oaks Boulevard near Bannister Road at about 2:50 a.m.

Not long after the first call, the CHP was informed that a person had been hit by a vehicle. The man, identified by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office as Francisco Javier, died at the scene, said CHP officer Rich Wetzel.

Javier was standing in eastbound lanes when hit, and his body ended up in the westbound lanes.

The CHP suspects that the vehicle had medium or dark blue metallic paint and that an outside mirror on the vehicle is damaged or missing.

Officers also believe that moderate damage was sustained to the left front side of the vehicle. It is not known if the vehicle is a car, truck or sports utility vehicle.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

Bee staff:

The Sacramento Police Department is seeking the community's assistance in identifying an armed man (left photo) who is suspected of robbing a pharmacy of OxyContin, Sacramento Crime Alert officials report.

Authorities said at 5:05 p.m. July 17, the suspect entered the CVS Pharmacy at 400 Howe Ave. and demanded "oxy" while displaying a handgun in his waist band. The suspect took the powerful painkilling medication and fled on foot.

He is identified as in his late 20s, 5 feet 9 inches tall weighing 200-plus pounds wearing a black baseball cap, black T-shirt with a blue-and-white abstract design around the shoulders and neck area. He was also wearing what appeared to be prescription eye glasses, officials said.

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.

By Chelsea Phua
cphua@sacbee.com

A Rio Linda woman allegedly shot her boyfriend during an argument Monday night, Sacramento County Sheriff's officials said.

The injuries appeared to be non-life threatening, spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran said.

Shortly before 9:30 p.m., a 44-year-old man and his 29-year-old girlfriend got into an argument in the 6900 block of Seventh Avenue, Curran said. The woman shot the man in the neck, who then grabbed the pistol and pistol-whipped her. Curran said authorities was going to arrest the woman as the "primary aggressor" and charge her with domestic violence and assault with a deadly weapon, both felonies.

Curran said a report will be forwarded to the District Attorney's office to determine if additional charges would be filed.

Call The Bee's Chelsea Phua, (916) 321-1132.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Davis police are looking for the man who robbed an AM/PM store early this morning.

The man, armed with a handgun, entered the store at 333 Mace Blvd. at 4:43 a.m., according to a Police Department news release.

He was described as white, in his mid-20s, 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing about 150 pounds and had dark eyes. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head, baggie tan or khaki pants and black shoes. The reportedly brandished a black revolver at the clerk and demanded money.

After receiving an undisclosed amount of cash, the man walked out of the store and got into a dark-colored Chevy Impala or Camaro-type sedan, and left in an unknown direction.

No injuries were reported.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A Sacramento man was sentenced today to 7 1/2 years in prison for sex trafficking of minors.

Reginald Wilson, 23, also was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. to 15 years of supervised probation, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

According to court documents, in December 2007 and January 2008, Wilson recruited two girls, ages 15 and 16, and caused them to engage in prostitution. Wilson pleaded guilty Sept. 8, 2009.

The case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Innocence Lost Task Force.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

The owner of crime-plagued apartment complexes in the Arden Manor area has been charged by the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office with allowing a public nuisance to exist the Villa Capri and Arden Villa Apartments.

Under the California Penal Code, it is unlawful for property owners to allow public nuisances on their property, including conditions that are harmful to health, obstruct the free use of property and interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by an entire community or neighborhood, according to a District Attorney's Office news release.

The misdemeanor charge was filed against property owner Emily Chen, general partner of the E/H First Family Limited Partnership. She could face a maximum penalty of six months in county jail and a $1,000 fine.

In January, two innocent bystanders were shot and killed while standing on the grounds of the Villa Capri Apartments. Law enforcement officials say the apartments have inadequate security, and violence perpetrated by tenants and visitors has resulted in a disproportionately high number of calls to the Sheriff's Department.

In addition, the apartments lacked an on-site manager as required by the California Code of Regulation. Without property supervision, officials say, the apartments attracted frequent loiterers who intimidated neighbors and committed crime.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Chelsea Phua
cphua@sacbee.com

Sacramento police arrested a 57-year-old man earlier today in connection with a 30-year-old homicide case.

Authorities say they believe that Robert Blockton was seen with the victim, Charles Redmond, hours before Redmond was found stabbed to death at Miller Park on Nov. 3, 1980 at 5:30 a.m. Redmond was 22 years old when he died, a police spokesman said.

Detectives said Redmond and Blockton knew each other and they arrested Blockton. But charges were eventually dropped and Blockton was released.

In 2007, cold case homicide detectives discovered several pieces of evidence taken from the victim during the autopsy that had never been processed for DNA.

The items were submitted to the Sacramento County District Attorney's Crime Lab and criminalists were able to harvest a partial DNA profile.

This year, detectives found out that Blockton was arrested on possession of ammunition as a felon. Detectives contacted him and obtained a DNA sample. The DNA profile found on the victim and the DNA sample from Blockton matched, authorities said.

Blockton was arrested earlier today at his home in the 7000 block of Greenhaven Drive and booked into Sacramento County jail on suspicion of murder.

Call The Bee's Chelsea Phua, (916) 321-1132.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A Sacramento Superior Court jury today awarded $1.175 million to a former state Board of Chiropractic Examiners office assistant who claimed she was retaliated against for blowing the whistle on wrongdoing at the agency.

Carole Arbuckle will have a chance to add to her award when the jury returns on Wednesday to determine whether to slam her former boss with punitive damages.

In its verdict, the panel found that the boss, Kim Smith, acted with malice against the Arbuckle.

Neither Arbuckle's lawyer, Daniel A. Horowitz, nor the two deputy attorney generals who represented the board and the plaintiff's former boss, Lyn Harlan and Noreen Skelly, would comment on the verdict.

Arbuckle claimed in the her 2003 suit against the state that she was a top-rated employee until she found out that board member Sharon Ufberg's chiropractic license had temporarily lapsed in early 2001.

"Instructed to sweep this under the rug, Carole refused," Horowitz's trial brief said. "She proceeded according to standard practice and soon found that her secure job was vanishing. She was attacked, demoted and driven out of her job. Her attempts to report the wrongdoing of the chiropractor and her supervisors went unheard. She was driven out of the job and her attmepts to find other and equal employment were hampered."

Arbuckle, a former union steward, said her job performance ratings began to decline after she reported the information about the board member's license. She claims she also was denied a promised promotion. She said she was subjected to personal attacks and forced to take time off on disability. She said she eventually transferred to other state jobs, but at lower pay.

She claimed the board's actions cost her $750,000, including her retirement losses.

The state's lawyers argued that Arbuckle's claims were barred because she had already lost them in an action she filed with the State Personnel Board and that she had not filed a writ to overturn the decision.

They also said Arbuckle's "disclosures" were not specifically protected by the state's Whistleblower Protection Act. In addition, the state attorneys said in their trial brief that none of the actions taken against Arbuckle "substantially and materially" affected the terms of her job and that the defendants had "legitimate business reasons for the actions taken."

Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.

By Denny Walsh
dwalsh@sacbee.com

Marc McMain Keyser, the Sacramento resident who sprayed the nation with more than 100 fake anthrax mailings in October 2008, was ordered Monday to pay $6,677.70 in restitution to two fire departments, a police department, a laboratory and a congressman for costs stemming from receipt of packages.

Restitution may be assessed only in connection with hoax packages for which Keyser was convicted and, while they were mailed all across the country, he was charged with only 10 of them and a jury found him guilty of only three of those.

U. S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. ordered Keyser to pay the Sacramento Fire Department $609.06 for its response to packages delivered to a Starbucks coffeehouse and McDonald's fast-food restaurant.

He was ordered to pay $2,438.79 to the Modesto Fire Department; $748.29 to the Modesto Police Department, and $1,200 to Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, for costs associated with receipt of a package at the congressman's Modesto office.

Finally, Keyser was ordered to pay $1,681.56 to Sacramento County's Division of Health, where samples of the substance were tested and found to be sugar.

Keyser, 68, is serving a prison sentence of four years and three months imposed by Damrell in April, but he is still in the Sacramento jail because he was required to be in court Monday.

His attorney filed a four-page written statement by Keyser on Friday, in which he sounded his now-familiar refrain that he is a whistleblower and his actions were a test "to prove scientifically" that the Department of Homeland Security's ability to protect citizens from a real anthrax attack "is a fraud."

When asked Monday by the judge, Keyser chose not to speak. Had he said something, it likely would have drawn fire from Damrell, who has no patience with Keyser's rationale.

Call The Bee's Denny Walsh, (916) 321-1189.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

Jury selection is getting underway today in the murder trial of former Sacramento County sheriff's deputy Chu Vue, who is accused of arranging the love-triangle killing of state correctional officer Steve Lo.

Vue, 45, is charged with setting up the Oct. 15, 2008, shooting death of Lo in the garage of the 39-year-old officer's south area home because Lo was having an affair with the former deputy's wife.

Lang Vue, 27, who is no relation to Chu Vue, also is charged in the case. He is accused of aiding and abetting the murder by renting motel rooms for the gunmen who are charged with carrying out the killing.

The accused gunmen, Gary Vue, 29, and Chong Vue, 31, are Chu Vue's younger brothers. They will be tried separately from Chu Vue and Lang Vue.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steve White will preside over the case. Jury selection is expected to run well into next week. Opening statements have tentatively been scheduled for Aug. 9.

Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.

By Matthew Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A 20-year old man drowned in Placer County Sunday afternoon when he dove into a lake and did not resurface.

The victim drowned near the south shore of Camp Far West Lake, a Placer County Sheriff's Department dispatcher confirmed.

Sheriff's department personnel responded to reports of a possible drowning shortly after 4 p.m.

The victim's identity was not immediately available.

Call The Bee's Matthew Kawahara, (916) 321-1015.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Sacramento County coroner's deputies today have released the name of a man who died when his car went into the Mokelumne River.

He was identified as Joseph Chi Lam, 18, of Sacramento.

The accident occurred shortly before 4:19 p.m. Sunday on Brannan Island Road at State Route 12 near the B&W Marina in Isleton, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The car was not pulled out of the water until just before 10 p.m., CHP Officer Michael Bradley said.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

The suspected burglar shot at by Sacramento sheriff's deputies Sunday after he pointed a weapon at them has been identified as Dorel Muresan, the sheriff's department said tonight.

The suspect earlier had been identified as 47-year-old Pinta Viteazu, but sheriff's officials said that is an alias he has been booked under in the past.

Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran said the suspect had been burglarizing a home in the 8500 block of Greenback Lane when the homeowner interrupted him before 7 a.m.

The homeowner reported that the suspect was armed with a knife and a pump-action gun, Curran said, and when deputies arrived they learned that the man had ducked into nearby bushes.

The officers called for him to drop his weapons and come out, Curran said. The suspect refused and then pointed the gun at the deputies. Curran said that both deputies fired multiple shots from their handguns at the suspect.

No one was hit by the gunfire and the suspect, identified as Dorel Muresan, 47, surrendered.

No one was hit in the gunfire and deputies recovered the suspect's weapons: a knife and what turned out to be a bb/pellet gun.

Muresan was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on charges of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, robbery, burglary, and threatening with a weapon.

According to department policy, the deputies, a 44-year-old woman with 12 years in the department and a 41-year-old woman with 11 years on the job, will be placed on administrative leave while the incident is investigated.

The circumstances surrounding the shooting will be investigated by the department's homicide and internal affairs units and the District Attorney's Office.

Call The Bee's Loretta Kalb, (916) 321-1073.

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

A North Highlands man is dead and his 31-year-old son is in custody for investigation of homicide today after an early morning fight in Citrus Heights last week, authorities said.

Citrus Heights Lt. Gary Hendricks said Curtis Lee Atkinson was booked into Sacramento County Main Jail after the department consulted with the District Attorney's office about the father-son physical altercation in the 6800 block of San Tomas Drive on Thursday.

Hendricks said that when authorities arrived at the address shortly before 2 a.m., the victim had stopped breathing. He was taken to the Mercy San Juan Hospital by Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District.

Coroner's official said the 52-year-old father - also with the name Curtis Lee Atkinson - died in the hospital.

The lieutenant declined to disclose if any weapons were used in the fight, saying that the investigation is ongoing.

Call The Bee's Loretta Kalb, (916) 321-1073.

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

Sacramento sheriff's deputies shot at a burglary suspect who pointed a weapon at them early today, the department said. After that he surrendered and was taken into police custody.

Spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran said two deputies found the suspect hiding in the bushes near an Orangevale home that he was burglarizing when the homeowner interrupted him.

No one was hit in the gunfire, which occurred shortly after 6:52 a.m. after officers responded to a homeowner's report of a burglary-in-progress at the 8500 block of Greenback Lane.

The homeowner reported that the suspect was armed with a knife and a pump-action gun, Curran said.

When deputies arrived, they learned that the man, still armed, had ducked into nearby bushes.

The officers called for him to drop his weapons and come out, Curran said. The suspect refused and then pointed the gun at the deputies. Curran said that both deputies, fearing imminent danger of death or great bodily harm, fired multiple shots from their handguns at the suspect.

The suspect, identified as 47-year-old Pinta Viteazu, surrendered and was taken into custody.

They recovered the suspect's weapons: a knife and what turned out to be a bb/pellet gun.

Viteazu is to be booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on charges that include assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.

According to department policy, the deputies, a 44-year-old woman with 12 years in the department and a 41-year-old woman with 11 years on the job, are to be placed on administrative leave.

The circumstances surrounding the shooting will be investigated by the department's Homicide unit, the Internal Affairs unit, and the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office.

Call The Bee's Loretta Kalb, (916) 321-1073.

By Matthew Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Witnesses identified a car believed to be involved in the fatal hit-and-run of a bicycle rider in south Sacramento Saturday night as an older black SUV, according to a Sacramento Police Department release.

The victim was riding his bicycle west on Florin Road near 29th Street when he was struck by a vehicle around 9:15 p.m. Saturday, the release said.

The driver of that car sped away, police said. Witnesses said the car could have been either a Ford Explorer or a Chevy Blazer, the release said.

A second vehicle then ran over the bicyclist in the street. The driver stopped, indicating that he had not seen the victim, the release said.

The victim's identity was not immediately available. Police said that he was a black male adult in his 30s.

Investigators hope the driver of the black SUV will come forward, the release said.

The Sacramento Police Department urges anyone with information pertaining to this incident to contact Detective Schrum at (916) 808-6032.

Call The Bee's Matthew Kawahara, (916) 321-1015.

By Miranda Simon
msimon@sacbee.com

A 16-year-old boy accidentally shot his 12-year-old brother in the chest at 12:04 a.m. Saturday at home in the 6200 block of Welty Way, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.

The boy was taken to the hospital and is now in stable condition, reported Sgt. Tim Curran, a department spokesman, in a news release, and the weapon was recovered.

Neither child was identified.

The news release stated that the 12-year-old boy was lying in the bathroom at the home when deputies responded. His mother was home at the time of the shooting.

The older boy was taken into custody and booked into Juvenile Hall on suspicion of discharging a firearm with gross negligence, Curran stated, and detectives are trying to determine how the 16 year-old got the weapon.

Call the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department at (916) 874-5115 if you have further information on this shooting.

Call The Bee's Miranda Simon, (916) 321-1119.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Sacramento County Sheriff's detectives are seeking information related to a July 18 attempted sexual assault in Antelope.

At 11:57 that night, deputies responded to a call at an apartment complex in the 4400 block of Shandwick Drive. When they arrived, a woman told them she was asleep on her sofa when a man entered through an unlocked door and attempted to sexually assault her. She struggled with her attacker and he ran away.

The woman did not get a good enough look at the man's face to produce a composite sketch, sheriff's officials said. She described her attacker as a white man, approximately 6 feet tall, weighing between 180 and 190 pounds with a medium build. He had shaggy brown collar-length hair and the woman thinks he was clean shaven. He was wearing green pants, which may have been sweat pants.

Anyone with information about the case or who may have seen someone matching the suspect's description in the area of 4400 Shandwick Drive on the night of July 18 is asked to call the Sheriff's Sexual Assault Bureau at (916) 874-5070.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A Rocklin resident was sentenced today to six months in jail and placed on three years probation for committing a sex act on a man who was asleep in a guest room the morning after a New Year's Eve party.

Placer County Superior Court Judge J. Richard Couzens also ordered Ladd Douglas Wiidanen, 42, to obtain psychological counseling and treatment for alcohol abuse. He must also register as a sex offender.

A jury on March 18 convicted Wiidanen of committing a sex act on an unconscious person, which is a felony. The jury took less than 90 minutes to reach a guilty verdict, according to a Placer County District Attorney's Office news release.

Wiidanen and the victim were among guests at a house party in Rocklin on the night of Dec. 31, 2007.

The victim and his girlfriend retired to a guest room during the early morning hours of Jan. 1.

About 7 a.m., the victim was awakened by the defendant committing an act of oral sex on him, according to the news release.

Rocklin police were called to the home and took DNA samples, which were forwarded to the California Department of Justice for analysis. Because of the heavy backlog of cases, however, the department didn't match the DNA samples to Wiidanen until 22 months after the incident.

Earlier this month, as Wiidanen awaited sentencing, he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol in Rocklin and is scheduled for arraignment Aug. 12. Judge Couzens cited the arrest in ordering counseling and treatment for alcohol abuse.

Wiidanen apologized repeatedly in a brief statement to the court and acknowledged the drinking problem, saying that he is attending Alcoholics Anonymous classes, according to the news release.

Couzens said Wiidanen must serve at least 45 days of his county jail sentence before he is eligible to apply for alternative sentencing, which could include work release programs with electronic monitoring.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Bee Staff

Kings basketball star Tyreke Evans has pleaded no contest to reckless driving, the Sacramento County District Attorney said today.

Evans (photo left), the NBA's Rookie of the Year, was ordered to serve three years informal probation, 80 hours of alternative sentencing, participate in two CHP Start Smart driving programs and had his driving license suspended for 30 days, DA Jan Scully said.

Scully gave this chain of events:

On May 31, a CHP flight officer working over Sacramento County in a CHP Cessna airplane observed Evans' vehicle traveling in excess of 100 mph (up to 130 mph at times) while crossing lanes on westbound I-80. The defendant continued to maintain a high rate of speed for several miles while passing a number of vehicles.

A motorcycle officer was dispatched and pulled the defendant over without incident.

"This kind of reckless driving puts the safety of citizens who travel our roads and highways at enormous risk," said Deputy District Attorney Suzanne Salazar. "By sentencing the defendant to participate in CHP's driving program for young drivers, he will be required to educate others that this type of driving is dangerous and unacceptable."

By Bee Staff

An 18-year-old man is being held in the Sacramento County jail on an attempted murder charge and other felonies, following a stabbing of another teen in a gang fight in Galt, according to police reports and court records.

Anthony Kapewa of Tracy is being held on a no-bail warrant, accused to attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon with the likelihood of causing great bodily harm, and battery, all felonies, jail records show.

Four teenagers were arrested Wednesday after another 18-year-old Tracy man was stabbed, police said.

A 17-year-old Acampo boy and two other Galt boys, ages 16 and 17, also were booked into the Sacramento Juvenile Detention Center on suspicion of various charges related to the assault, police said. Their names were not released because they are juveniles.

The victim was stabbed multiple times in the abdomen but is expected to recover from his injuries, Galt Police Lt. Brian Vizzusi told the Lodi News-Sentinel.

Police believe it is related to a shooting the previous day in which nobody was struck, the newspaper reported.

In Wednesday's stabbing, officers said they were called around 2:15 p.m. to the 300 block of Pine Street, where several people were fighting.

The suspects fled, but officers detained them and witnesses ultimately identified them as suspects, according to a news release issued by police.

Officers found the victim suffering multiple stab wounds, and he was transported by ambulance to a local hospital, Vizzusi said.

Around 1 a.m. Tuesday, shots were fired in the 200 block of Emerald Oak Drive. Someone apparently fired several rounds at an occupied home, but nobody inside was injured, police said.

Police believe that matter was also gang-related and is connected to the subsequent stabbing.

Anyone with information on the crimes may contact Galt police at 366-7000. Anonymous calls may be made to Galt Area Crime Stoppers at 888-393-TIPS (8477).

By Cathy Locke and Bill Lindelof
clocke@sacbee.com

A 24-year-old Dixon man died this morning in a collision on Midway Road east of Nunes Road near Dixon.

A 2008 Peterbilt truck and trailer owned by San Francisco-based SF Recycling had emptied a load at a landfill south of Dixon and was traveling west on Midway Road about 8 a.m., said Officer Chris Parker, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

James C. B. Robben was driving a 2007 Ford F250 pickup and had backed the truck into a service entrance to the Veterans Cemetery on the south side of Midway. He moved forward and stopped at the white fog line on Midway, and then for unknown reasons drove north across Midway, directly into the path of the big rig, Parker said.

The driver of the big rig, Anastacio Serrano, 40, of San Francisco, applied his brakes but was unable to avoid the pickup. The big rig collided with the right side of the pickup, causing the pickup to overturn on the north shoulder of Midway Road.

Parker said Robben was partially ejected from the pickup truck and suffered fatal injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Serrano was not injured.

Midway Road was closed for approximately two hours for cleanup and investigation of the collision.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Sacramento police have arrested a man who might be linked to four cases of masturbation in public and one of assault.

Police had sent out a press release and photo of suspect as Michael McLaughlin (photo left), 22, this morning. Shortly after noon, the department said McLaughlin had been arrested near the Bannon Creek bike trail in Natomas.

As recently as Thursday afternoon the man was suspected of exposing himself to a woman waiting for a bus in the 2400 block of Natomas Park Drive. The woman told police that a man began masturbating in her presence, police said. She screamed and the stranger walked away.

While officers responded to that crime, a victim called police from a nearby building, saying that a man had assaulted her in a restroom.

A police report indicates that she saw the man masturbating so she screamed.

The suspect grabbed the woman but she fought back, causing the man to flee.

The man is described as a white male in his 20s, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 170 pounds with blond hair. He was wearing a black baseball cap, red shirt and black shorts.

The police report said same man could have been the suspect who twice was reported masturbating in public at Sand Cove Park off the Garden Highway over the past two weeks.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A 20-year-old man who participated in the torture murder of a disabled former Marine two years ago was sentenced today to spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole.

The life term was imposed on James Davis Washington by Sacramento Superior Court Judge Kevin J. McCormick for the June 7, 2008, murder of William "Billy" Deer, 50.

Deer had bought a cup of coffee and was drinking it on a curb next door to a 7-Eleven in the 10200 block of Mills Station Road in Rancho Cordova when he was attacked by Washington and another man named Frank Abella, who also is now 20.

Abella, who also was convicted of first-degree murder with special circumstances in a separate trial, is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 27.

Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Sacramento police said a domestic row that began with a woman pummeling her partner ended with the pair under arrest for assaulting officers.

The altercation began when an officer was hailed by a citizen in the 2400 block of Northgate Boulevard early this morning. On the ground was a woman straddling a man and punching him in the face.

The officer separated the parties and placed the woman in the back seat of the police car. The woman started to kick at the back window of the patrol car.

To restrain the woman, the officer and a colleague tried to put her in handcuffs. However, as they were attempting to cuff her, the man charged at the officers.

Police said the woman bit and kicked one officer while the man threw punches at another officer. After a short struggle, the man and woman were subdued.

James Spencer, 30, and Amanda Strickland-Phillips, 21, were booked into Sacramento County Jail on suspicion of battery against a police officer and other charges.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

Q: Two years ago a man named Jose Duarte was arrested for murder and arson at an apartment in Sacramento. What was the end result of that case? - Anonymous, Citrus Heights

A: Jose Camdelario Duarte, 23, is scheduled to go on trial Sept. 9 on murder and arson charges in Sacramento Superior Court, according to court records.

Duarte is accused of killing Alicia Ray, 20, and setting fire on Aug. 10, 2008, to a South Natomas apartment where the victim was staying with a friend, The Bee reported.

Firefighters discovered her body after extinguishing a blaze in the apartment in the 2000 block of West El Camino Avenue.

It appeared the victim had been strangled. No motive has been publicly released.

For a complete list of questions answered by Sacto911, click here

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

An elementary school teacher jogging along a road near Chico was hit and killed by an SUV driven by a motorist police suspect was stoned.

The jogger was identified as Carrie Jean Holiman, 56, a fifth-grade teacher at Corning Union Elementary School.

The California Highway Patrol arrested Jimmy Candido Flores, 25, of Chico on suspicion of driving under the influence causing injury and gross vehicular manslaughter.

CHP officer Tony Nunes said today that Holiman was jogging along the shoulder of the Oroville-Chico Highway about 9 a.m. Thursday. Flores was driving west when he allowed his 2001 BMW X5 sports utility vehicle to drift off the road and hit Holiman, throwing the woman about 100 feet and killing her instantly, Nunes said.

Nunes said Candido claimed that one of two dogs in his SUV jumped on him while he was driving, causing him to veer off the road and hit Holiman.

Nunes said Flores has a medical marijuana garden in Butte County and that the suspect exhibited symptoms of intoxication in a field sobriety test.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Three people have been arrested in connection with a Sunday night shooting in Citrus Heights in which three people were wounded.

Tiffany Gangstee, Thomas Wanamaker and Iman Shabazz

Tiffany Gangstee, 26, and Thomas Wanamaker, 26, both of Citrus Heights, were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and attempted murder, according to a Citrus Heights Police Department news release.

Also arrested Wednesday was Iman Shabazz, 29, of Foothill Farms, who is accused of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and an accessory after the fact.

Police received a report about 10:30 p.m. Sunday shots fired in the area of Sunrise Boulevard and Greenback Lane. When officers arrived, they found three gunshot victims inside a vehicle.

The victims originally were parked in the 6900 block of Sunrise when a dispute occurred between the victims and Gangstee and Wannamaker. The victims drove off in their vehicle and a few minutes later they noticed the suspects following them in a vehicle.

The victims pulled into a parking lot in the 6200 block of Sunrise Boulevard, believing they were no longer being followed. But as they began to drive through the parking lot, they realized they were being followed again. The suspects pulled up alongside the vehicle, fired several rounds from a handgun and fled.

The three victims were treated at local hospitals. Police said the wounds did not appear to be life-threatening.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A federal grand jury today returned an indictment charging two men with manufacturing more than 1,000 marijuana plants on federal land in Yolo County.

Jose Andres Prieto Rodriguez, 30, and Jose Rodrigo Rodriguez Vidal, 19, both citizens of Mexico, are accused of being responsible for an illegal marijuana growing operation on land under the jurisdiction of the federal Bureau of Land Management, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

If convicted, the men face a maximum of 10 years to life in prison, a $4 million fine and five years of supervised release.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A woman believed to be linked to a Sacramento County child pornography and pedophile case has been arrested and indicted in Brazil for child molestation.

Karlla Cristina Do Nascimento (photo left), 23, was located by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the legal attaché assigned to Brazil, according to a Sacramento Sheriff's Department news release. She is considered a suspect in the Sacramento County case involving Benjamin Dee Kendrick.

Kendrick, 39, was arrested by California Highway Patrol officers during a vehicle stop near Davis on May 13. He was wanted by the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force on suspicion of possessing obscene matter depicting sexual conduct of a person under the age of 18 and solicitation to commit a felony.

Detectives had obtained a $1 million warrant for Kendrick's arrest after they served a search warrant at his residence and seized a computer from his bedroom. When the computer was searched, detectives found that more than 100 child pornography videos and images and been downloaded and stored.

Detectives also developed information the led them to believe Kendrick maintained a long-term Internet relationship with suspects in Brazil and was soliciting to have a child brought to him from Brazil for the purpose of using the child for sex.

Earlier conversations between Kendrick and Do Nascimento indicate there may be another local child molestation victim, according to the news release.

Detectives contacted residents in the neighborhoods where Kendrick lived but were unable to identify the victim.

Sheriff's officials say information based on the conversations indicate that the abuse occurred between 2005 and January 2009, the child was approximately 9 years old at the time of the molestation, Kendrick was known to the child's parents and the youngster spent time at Kendrick's house years before the molestation.

Anyone with information regarding the identity of the victim is asked to call the sheriff's Department's Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force at (916) 874-3002.

Call he Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

The Oak Park man accused of blowing up his neighbor's house and injuring four Sacramento firefighters is facing at least 17 years in prison if he is convicted on all the charges that prosecutors filed against him today.

Robert William Durst (photo left) confirmed his name but said nothing else at his Sacramento Superior Court arraignment while Judge Michael A. Savage read the six-count complaint against him.

The 44-year-old defendant is accused in the complaint of arson causing great bodily injury to the firefighters in the July 5 explosion at a house on 25th Avenue. Sentencing enhancements added to the first count include injuring multiple people, injuring firefighters and causing the fire with a delayed ignition device - in this instance, a lit candle placed close to an open gas valve.

Other counts in the complaint include second-degree burglary, being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm, a later second-degree burglary of the same house on an unspecified date after the explosion, possession of stolen ceiling fan from the second break-in and taking stolen property with a previous conviction for the same offense on his record.

Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Grippi said that if Durst is convicted on all counts "as charged," the defendant could be sentenced to 17 or 18 years in prison.

Grippi said that prosecutors are still investigating the case and that they might add some counts or seek additional sentencing enhancements that would give Durst more time in prison if he is convicted.

A handyman by trade, Durst is accused of setting off the explosion that sent four firefighters to the hospital because he was angry at the owners of the house that was torched because they owed him money for work he did on their property.

Grippi, who is in charge of the felony prosecution unit for the DA's office, said he may wind up trying the case. Assistant Public Defender Allison Edwards represented Durst at today's arraignment.

Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

The Placer County coroner is requesting help in identifying a pedestrian killed Wednesday on Interstate 80 in Roseville.

The woman was walking on I-80 Wednesday morning when she was struck by a big rig and other vehicles.

It is not clear why the woman was on eastbound I-80 just east of Douglas Boulevard about 4:40 a.m.

The woman is either white or Latino, between 25 and 35 years old, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs about 200 pounds, the Placer County coroner said in a news release. The dark-haired woman was wearing black pants and a black shirt.

Anyone who might be able to identify the woman is asked to call Chief Deputy Coroner Dennis Watt at (530) 889-7878.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

Ask Sacto911: Sacramento man convicted after shooting suspected vandal

Q: About 20 years ago, a man in South Land Park killed a vandal who had slashed his tires. What happened to the man? - Anonymous, Sacramento

A: John Robert Thurs, now 46, was convicted of hunting down and fatally shooting in 1995 a man who he believed slashed his tires in South Land Park, The Bee reported.

Thurs (the man at left in photo taken at his trial) was sentenced on Sept. 15, 1995, to a prison term of 65 years to life, under California's "three strikes law."

The maximum sentence means Thurs won't be eligible for parole until his 89th birthday, The Bee reported.

In July 1995, a Sacramento Superior Court jury convicted Thurs of involuntary manslaughter in the Jan. 25 slaying of Eric Grimble, 23.

Grimble, who had a history of psychiatric problems and vandalism, was dressed in all black clothing when was fatally shot at 3 a.m. near bushes in the South Land Park Hills neighborhood where both men lived.

Thurs contended that when he shot Grimble with a 30-30 hunting rifle he was acting in self defense. He said Grimble lunged at him with a kitchen knife. Thurs claimed the same knife had been used to puncture his car tires earlier that night.

Thurs was also convicted of a charge of being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm. His last convictions represented his fourth and fifth felony convictions on charges of burglary, robbery and assault.

Sacramento Superior Court James I. Morris was urged by Thurs' lawyer, Angelo Vitale, to sentence his client to a single 25-years-to-life term in prison. The judge chose the maximum punishment in part because of "threats leveled against the prosecutor in court."

Upon his conviction, Thurs turned in court to Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Albert Locher and told him "You're going to have a dead DA." The comment was loud enough to be picked up by television cameras.

For a complete list of questions answered by Sacto911, click here

By Bill Lindelof and Chelsea Phua
blindelof@sacbee.com

Sacramento police have arrested a 20-year-old man on suspicion of homicide in the death of his baby nearly a year ago.

Everett Bobbylee Quinn (photo left) was booked into Sacramento County Jail Wednesday night on suspicion of homicide and assault charges, police said.

Police said they suspect that Quinn caused the injuries that resulted in his baby's death.

Placer county coroner officials identified the baby as Heratio Wysinger, who was 4 months old when he died July 27, 2009.

The lengthy period between the boy's death and Quinn's arrest was due to the need for experts to look into the boy's death, said Sgt. Norm Leong, Sacramento Police Department spokesman.

Placer County coroner officials identified the baby as Heratio Wysinger, who was 4 months old when he died July 27, 2009, in a Roseville hospital.

Placer County Sheriff's spokesman Dena Erwin said the cause of death included "blunt force impact and rotational injuries."

Erwin said the infant's brain was sent for extensive neuropathological study and the report was returned to the coroner's office two months ago. The baby also suffered from chronic cystic encephalopathy, a disease of the brain.

Leong said police do not known exactly why or how Quinn might have harmed his child.

On May 19, 2009, officers responded to the 5300 block of Mack Road regarding a baby who was vomiting blood.

The initial investigation revealed that Quinn was taking care of his baby while the child's mother was in the shower. Fire department medical personnel were called when the baby vomited blood.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Dixie Reid
dreid@sacbee.com

The Sacramento Police Department announced Thursday a new e-mail alert service that allows city residents to stay on top of crime activity.

By signing up for e-Notify, citizens will receive daily notifications about crime that took place in their neighborhood -- or throughout Sacramento -- the previous day.

E-notify also offers the option of receiving e-mail alerts about police helicopter activity, along with the department's press releases and its Community Connection newsletter.

To sign up, go to www.sacpd.org and click on "Stay Informed," then "e-Notify." You will be required to create a password.

With e-Notify, the department aims to promote greater diligence among citizens about reporting suspicious activity and be more aware of crime trends in the community.

Call The Bee's Dixie Reid, (916) 321-1134.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

Sacramento police are investigating the possibility of an inside job in connection with the brazen nighttime robbery at the State Fair on Wednesday that netted the robbers about $100,000.

The incident occurred at about 10 p.m., as the fair was closing, when two men dressed in uniforms used by a food service company at the fair walked into an unguarded cash counting room and held up three employees.

The room is on an upper level of the grandstand that fronts the race track area at Cal Expo and contains all the cash from food products sold by Ovations Food Services, a State Fair contractor.

There were no security guards or police officers at the entrance to the room or the building, and no video surveillance of the area, State Fair General Manager Norb Bartosik said this morning.

Bartosik said nobody was injured in the heist, which involved the two men armed with handguns who loaded the cash into a plastic bag and who disappeared with the crowd leaving the fair for the night.

There are three public exits the robbers could have used to leave the fairgrounds, and Bartosik said Sacramento police are searching for suspects.

Police are investigating whether any Ovations workers didn't show up today, and are looking into how the robbers obtained the Ovations uniforms.

"That's part of the investigation that is going on," Bartosik said.

He added that 100 Cal Expo police officers were on duty Wednesday night, but none were in the Ovations area, and that it would have been up to Ovations to have requested security there.

"I can assure you that they will be taking a long hard look at it," Bartosik said of improving security in that area.

Attendance at the State Fair has exceeded expectations so far, and Bartosik said he didn't expect the robbery would affect that.

"This is a very safe place," Bartosik said. "This took place after the fair had closed."

He added that on a typical weekday night the fair could collect hundreds of thousands of dollars.

He didn't disclose the amount taken in the robbery, but said the fair would not lose money because insurance likely would cover the loss.

Ovations contracts with the State Fair to sell food to fairgoers throughout the Cal Expo complex, and uses the room in the Grandstand building to collect and count the money.

There is a vault inside the room and the money typically is removed from it in armored cars.

Authorities are looking into whether someone knew the routine or location used by Ovations, but Bartosik acknowledged that gaining entry to the building would have been relatively easy.

Employees have ID cards to gain access to the grandstand entrance. But those attending races could have entered through the race track side. The last race was at 5:30 p.m.

Bartosik said this is the first such incident in the history of the State Fair.

Call The Bee's Sam Stanton, (916) 321-1091.

By Bee Staff

The Folsom Police Department is the latest Sacramento area police department to announce that it will conduct a DUI and driver's license checkpoint on Friday.

The Folsom checkpoint will operate from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. at an undisclosed location in the city, according to a news release.

The Rancho Cordova and Sacramento police departments will be conducting similar checkpoints in their cities on Friday

Officers will be checking drivers for signs of impairment, and checking for driver's licenses, the release states.

The checkpoint operation is funded by the state Office of Traffic Safety.

By Queenie Wong
qwong@sacbee.com

Police have sealed the grounds at the California State Fair late Wednesday to search for two armed men who stole money from a food and beverage concessionaire, said Brian May, Cal Expo deputy general manager.

May said that the suspects stole an undisclosed amount of cash about 10 p.m. from the money room at the Ovations Food Services office in the horse racing track grandstand. Two Ovations employees who witnessed the robbery were uninjured, he said.

The California State Fair Police Department and the Sacramento Police Department are searching vehicles as they exit the fair, he said.

No description of the suspects was available.

Call The Bee's Queenie Wong, (916) 321-1008.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A 37-year-old Citrus Heights man was arraigned today in Sacramento Superior Court on charges of communication with a minor with the intent to have sex.

Kesava Braeger, 37, was arrested July 14 in Sacramento. Citrus Heights police officers and Clovis police detectives served him with an arrest warrant at his home, according to a Clovis Police Department news release.

The victim is a Clovis teenager. Her best friend is related to Braeger's ex-girlfriend. All three had stayed together at Braeger's Sacramento home.

Braeger is accused of posing online as a 17-year-old boy, creating a relationship with the Clovis teenager and agreeing to meet for dinner in Fresno.

The teenager told police that when she saw him, she recognized him as the man who had tried to grope her on two occasions. She ran out of the restaurant and reported the attempts of inappropriate touching to Clovis Police along with the later encounter.

Evidence seized from Braeger's computers as a result of the search warrant indicated that he had videotaped one of the teenagers getting out of the shower during one of the stays at his house, the news release says. The girl was age 13 at the time.

The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office is pursuing possession of child pornography charges based on evidence that Braeger had been downloading photos onto his computer.

Braeger is a former auditor for the California Department of Transportation and a current auditor for CalPERS, according to the news release.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Queenie Wong
qwong@sacbee.com

A 48-year-old Durham woman was arrested Wednesday afternoon after she reportedly stole money from a bank in Davis, then locked her car keys in the getaway vehicle, according to the Davis police department.

The suspect, Laura Jane Murray, allegedly walked into Union Bank on E Street about noon and handed a note to a teller, demanding money. When the teller gave her an undisclosed amount of money, she fled to her parked car nearby.

Police officers found Murray as she was trying to break the window of her car with a piece of equipment she had stolen from a nearby delivery truck, said Lt. Thomas Waltz, the department's spokesman.

Waltz said that there were no injuries and weapons used during the robbery.

Murray was charged with suspicion of armed robbery and taken to the Yolo County Jail.

After the arrest, officers discovered that she had a $35,000 arrest warrant issued by the Butte County Sheriff's Office for another bank robbery in Oroville.

Call The Bee's Queenie Wong, (916) 321-1008.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A Sacramento man has been sentenced to five years in prison for mail theft.

Henry M. Martinez, 46, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. for possession of stolen mail and possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release. The prison term is to be followed by three years of supervised release.

Martinez was arrested Jan. 27, 2009 in possession of more than 200 pieces of stolen mail and more than 15 unauthorized access devices such as credit cards and ATM cards, according to court documents.

The total loss attributed to the stolen mail is more the $30,000.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Bill Lindelof
blindleof@sacbee.cm

Two off-duty police Sacramento Police Department officers did some crime-fighting off-the-clock Tuesday afternoon when they arrested a suspected burglar.

The officers were in their Elmhurst neighborhood near Stockton Boulevard and T Street when they saw a man jumping over their neighbor's fence, according to a police spokesman.

In the hand of the man, who police identified as Peter Howard Pearson, was a jar filled with cash, jewelry and other items. The officers then saw the suspect run across the street and jump into the backyard of another home, the spokesman said.

The officers walked along the sidewalk until they saw the suspect jump back out.

The officers confronted the man and identified themselves as police.

The suspect refused to cooperate and the officers had to subdue the man, the spokesman said.

Nobody was injured and Pearson, 30, was booked into county jail on suspicion of burglary, the spokesman said.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Bill Lindelof and Cathy Locke
blindelof@sacbee.com

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District officials are investigating six arson fires that have occurred in the past 24 hours.

Two of the fires occurred at structures and four were grassfires. Damage apparently was not major.

Firefighters responded about 9 a.m. to a fire at an office in the 5300 block of Madison Avenue. An arsonist had set a telephone book on fire that was against the door of the office, charring the door, investigators said Metro fire spokesman Capt. Christian Pebbles.

Another fire was reported at the front door of a vacant restaurant, Rosie's Cafe, at Auburn Boulevard and Garfield Avenue in Foothill Farms, Pebbles said.

Three of the grass fires were in the area of Bridge and Park roads, east of Watt Avenue, between Interstate 80 and Auburn Boulevard. The fourth was in the 5200 block of Hemlock Street.

Pebbles asked that anyone who has information call the arson tip line at (916) 859-3775.

"Our information is that somebody is walking the area and doing this," said Pebbles. "These are all deliberate."

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Placer County sheriff's deputies say a man who opened a bar not only didn't have a license to serve booze but also didn't own the saloon.

Detective Jim Hudson read a newspaper article in the Auburn Journal that stated Travis Lloyd Kevie (photo left), 29, of Newcastle was the new owner of the Valencia Club on Taylor Road in Penryn. Hudson said he recognized Kevie as a "transient" whom deputies knew well.

Hudson was aware that the Valencia Club had previously closed its doors and the liquor license had been surrendered to the state.

So the curious detective went to the bar where patrons were bellied up to the bar to find out if Kevie had a new license, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.

Hudson said he soon found out that there was no liquor license and Kevie, who had once worked on a clean-up crew for the previous owner, had no legal rights to the property.

Deputies said Kevie admitted that he broke into building and on Friday night threw an "Open" sign in the window. Soon, he was pouring for thirsty customers, deputies said.

Like other savvy business owners, he re-invested profits in the business: Kevie started with a six-pack of beer purchased from a convenience store across the street and used the proceeds from bar customers to buy more alcohol, deputies said.

He kept the bar open through the weekend, serving about 30 customers a day, deputies said.

Kevie was arrested on suspicion of burglary and selling alcohol without a license, deputies said.

A large amount of alcohol and cash was confiscated at the scene, the release states.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Bee Staff

The Rancho Cordova Police Department will conduct a DUI and driver's license checkpoint beginning at 8 p.m. Friday and continuing until 2 a.m. at an undisclosed location in the city, according to a news release.

Officers will be checking drivers for signs of impairment, providing educational materials outlining the dangers of driving while impaired and checking for driver's licenses, the release states.

The checkpoint operation is funded by the state Office of Traffic Safety.

By Bill Lindelof and Queenie Wong
blindelof@sacbee.com

Tracking a trail of toilet paper, Sacramento police said they found and arrested a woman on suspicion of vandalism at a business that promotes calm.

Officers received a call early Wednesday morning of the sound of a window being broken at Zuda Yoga at 19th and O streets. The business also suffered graffiti damage. Damage to the yoga studio was estimated at more than $400, said Officer Konrad von Schoech, Sacramento Police Department spokesman.

A description of the suspect at the Yoga studio matched that of a later call in which a woman littered toilet paper around 17th and N streets.

The officers said they followed the trail of toilet paper to a midtown residence where they spoke to Lynda Sue Briney (top left photo).

Briney, 54, was arrested on suspicion of felony vandalism, police said.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

Q: Was the murderer of two teenage girls named Melissa and Tina in 1984 ever caught and convicted? - Anonymous, Carmichael

A Placer County Superior Court jury acquitted a Carmichael man on Aug. 5, 1988, of the 1984 bludgeoning deaths in Sierra County of two North Highlands teenagers, the Bee reported.

No one else was ever prosecuted in the deaths of Tina Shrader and Melissa Mattingly, both 17, according to Bee reports.

The jury foreman said the "jury was just not convinced that the prosecution proved without a reasonable doubt" that the 34-year-old suspect was guilty.

The suspect was manager of the North Highlands doughnut shop where Mattingly worked.

The case based on circumstantial evidence was moved to an Auburn courtroom because of pretrial publicity in Sierra County, where the heavily decomposed bodies of Shrader and Mattingly were discovered July 4, 1984, by a fisherman near the Little Truckee River.

The suspect admitted on the witness stand that he took Shrader and Mattingly to the north shore of Lake Tahoe on Memorial Day weekend 1984 but testified the girls left that area in the company of an unidentified motorist who was driving a car with out-of-state license plates.

He denied having taken them to the secluded riverside spot north of Truckee where their nude bodies were found lying side by side. A pathologist testified the backs of the victims' skulls had been crushed by a blunt object.

For a complete list of questions answered by Sacto911, click here

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

The Sacramento Police Department will conduct a drunken driver checkpoint on Friday in the eastern part of the city at an undisclosed time and location.

Uniformed officers will be checking for alcohol or drug-impaired drivers.

The officers will also be checking to make sure all drivers have a valid driver's license.

Funding from the program is from the California Office of Traffic Safety.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

A woman walking on Interstate 80 was struck and killed by a big rig this morning.

It is not clear why the woman was on eastbound I-80 just east of Douglas Boulevard in Roseville at about 4:40 a.m.

California Highway Patrol officers were in the area at the time, assisting with traffic control for a construction project. However, the woman was struck by the big rig only minutes after the first call was received by the CHP of a pedestrian on the freeway.

CHP spokeswoman Kelly Baraga said the pedestrian may have been struck first by the truck and then by another vehicle.

All lanes have reopened. CHP Officer Rich Wetzel said the woman was not associated with the construction zone work.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

KCRA: Pedestrian killed along I-80 in Roseville

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Three people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries after a big-rig truck overturned on Interstate 5 near Woodland late Tuesday afternoon, closing southbound lanes to traffic for nearly two hours.

Officer Keerat Lal, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol, said the truck was pulling a flatbed trailer with a load of PVC pipe and was traveling too fast as it entered southbound I-5 from the cloverleaf onramp at County Road 102 shortly before 5 p.m. The driver lost control and the truck toppled over on its left side, dislodging its load. The pipes scattered across the roadway striking a box truck, and Chrysler and Ford sedans.

Lal said two people in the Chrysler and the driver of the Ford were taken to UC Davis Medical Center complaining of pain, but he said their injuries were not believed to be serious.

The southbound lanes reopened to traffic about 7 p.m., after the pipes were moved to the side of the roadway.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Barbara Barte Osborn
Bee Correspondent

Drug-enforcement agents arrested eight men and seized 2,804 marijuana plants for destruction Monday at an alleged longstanding pot-growing and distribution operation in Rough and Ready, Nevada County. Law enforcement officials linked the pot ring to a Sacramento cannabis club.

The federal search warrant was served at a home in the 11000 block of Glen Loop following a two-year joint investigation by Nevada County, state and federal agents, county Sheriff Keith Royal said in a news release. (Photo left is of pot plants seized during the raid. The photo was provided by the Nevada County Sheriff's Department.)

Arrested at the scene was the property owner, John Gross II, 68; Kenneth Gross, 42; Jack Lions, 58; and Salvador Reyes, 53, all from Rough and Ready, the release states.

Also during the search, three alleged employees of the operation were arrested: Travis Hronis, 21, Grass Valley; Matthew Maya, 19, Penn Valley; and Brendon Maya, 22, Penn Valley, the sheriff said.

While officers were at the scene, John Gross III, 46, Rough and Ready, arrived and was also arrested for alleged involvement in the operation, the release states.

"Mr. Gross III is affiliated with the P Street Cannabis Club out of Sacramento and admitted to agents that the marijuana was being grown and sold to several patients from the club...," Royal said in the release.

"It appears a substantial profit has been made from this marijuana cultivation via the dispensary," he said.

The eight suspects were booked at the Sacramento County Jail for investigation of illegal cultivation and distribution of marijuana.

After being photographed from the air in 2008, the operation continued to increase in size, Royal said.

In addition to the plants, grown in greenhouses and outdoors, agents seized approximately 200 pounds of processed marijuana, plastic bags and totes and $5,000 cash.

A cargo trailer used as a drying room, two backhoes, a bulldozer, and various vehicles, including a Ford truck, all allegedly used to facilitate the marijuana cultivation, were also seized.

John Gross II was convicted in 2005 on state charges in Oregon of marijuana cultivation and distribution, Royal said.

Monday's search was conducted by agents from the Nevada County Narcotics Task Force, federal Drug Enforcement Agency, Mountain and Valley Marijuana Investigation Team, which is a multi-agency task force of the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement; and the Internal Revenue Service.

By Ed Fletcher
efletcher@sacbee.com

CHP officials remained tight-lipped Tuesday regarding their investigation into former officer Ruben Salgado. While they refused to talk about the case against Salgado, they did confirm that a woman was arrested with him last week.

Breaonna Nunes, 21, and Salgado, 37, were arrested at 2:15 a.m. Thursday at the Governors Inn in Sacramento. They face drug charges.

Salgado has also been charged with soliciting a murder for hire.

Nunes was booked into Sacramento County jail, while Salgado was sent to Placer County's jail in Auburn - his second stint there in recent weeks.

Salgado was initially arrested May 12 by the California Highway Patrol on drug and weapons charges following a two-month investigation.

A spokesman for the Placer County District Attorney's office released the information about Salgado's second arrest, but there was no mention of Nunes, whose last name has also been spelled Nunez by the CHP.

This is not Nunes' first brush with the law in Sacramento County. In 2009, she faced vandalism charges and she has a July 28 court date for a 2010 DUI offense.

She could not be reached for comment.

The Sacramento District Attorney's office has not filed charges in response to the latest arrest.

Court documents indentify the target of the alleged murder for hire scheme by the initials "R.M."

Jeanie Hoatson, a spokeswoman for the CHP, said they could give no further details on the plot other than to say that crime took place while he was out on bail.

"That is part of the reason why they are so tight lipped, because this is a continuing ongoing investigation," Hoatson said. "They are not releasing anything on that."

Call The Bee's Ed Fletcher, (916) 321-1269.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

A man has been arrested for having a weapon on campus this morning at Cosumnes River College.

At about 8:30 a.m. a campus officer spotted a van at an outer edge of a college parking lot and looked through a window. Inside he saw a couple of propane tanks.

He thought it was suspicious and asked the person sitting in the van to step out. The officer was granted permission to search the van and inside the vehicle the officer found a six-inch knife.

Fire officials, a bomb squad and a hazardous material team was called but the campus was never evacuated. School officials simply took precautionary measures and cordoned off a portion of the parking lot.

"Nothing was ever found that was dangerous," said campus spokeswoman Kristie West.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Bill Lindelof and Matt Kawahara
blindelof@sacbee.com

A suspect has been arrested in connection with a fiery explosion earlier this month that rocked Oak Park, sending four firefighters to the hospital. Investigators said the believe a repair dispute prompted the deliberate blast, but that it wasn't intended as a trap for firefighters.

Robert William Durst (photo left), 44, was booked into Sacramento County Jail this morning on suspicion of arson causing great bodily injury, aggravated arson with prior convictions and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. (A Sacramento police spokesman said Durst was not arrested on suspicion of the charge of aggravated arson with prior convictions, although that charge was listed in booking records.)

Sacramento Fire Department officials confirmed that Durst was arrested at 3 a.m. today.

Durst's bail was set at $1 million.

Sacramento Fire Chief Ray Jones at a noon press conference for the first time provided some insight into what caused the explosion.

He and a fire department spokesman said that a gas valve in the kitchen was left open and a lit candle left inside the home apparently ignited the house just as the firefighters entered the home.

"Fire investigators had determined that a gas valve had been left open and they also found a candle on the floor of the residence,' said Jones.

Officials said that the ongoing dispute with the homeowner prompted neighbor Durst to cause the explosion and was not an effort to harm firefighters.

"At this point in the investigation, it does not appear that it was meant to be a trap," said Sgt. Norm Leong. "Based on what we have it was spawned as a furtherance of their ongoing dispute in an effort to create damage to the residence."

The dispute with the homeowner was over work that Durst performed on a sewer line at the home in 2009.

Owner Sandra Liu said she knew Durst but declined to comment further so she would not comprise the ongoing investigation. She thanked firefighters and police for their diligence.

Police said investigators served warrants Monday at two homes near the scene of an Oak Park home explosion.

After the blast on July 5 blew up the home, the four firefighters were taken to UC Davis Medical Center with burns to their faces and extremities. One was released that day but the three others were hospitalized several days before being released.

The four firefighters were injured after responding to a report of a possible gas leak.

The explosion occurred in a vacant home on the 3800 block of 25th Avenue near Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Fire officials were called to the neighborhood at 9:47 a.m. July 5 when dispatch received a call from a neighbor about a possible gas leak. Officials also received reports of someone possibly inside the home.

Firefighters turned off the gas and electricity to the house. When they forced their way through the home's front door at 9:56 a.m., an explosion blasted the firefighters and the home.

PG&E spokesman said he knew of no prior reports of trouble at the Oak Park house, which has been vacant for months and was up for rent. Neighbors reported smelling fumes emanating from the property on the Fourth of July.

The company's first word of a possible gas leak was a call from the fire department, just minutes before the explosion.

Cami Durst, the suspect's wife, in a phone interview said: "I just feel so bad for those firemen. I just thank god that nobody lost their lives."

She declined further comment.

David Peterson, 57, who lives next to the house that exploded, said that the suspect "would give you the shirt off his back, (but) if you screw him, look out."

Earl Steinackle, Peterson's housemate, said he talked to Durst's wife this morning and "she can't believe he would do something like that."

Steinackle said Durst's arrest surprised him.

"(Causing the explosion) seems out of character for him," Steinackle said.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

Previous coverage:

Sacramento Fire Department investigates whether crew followed procedures before blast - July 14, 2010

Firefighter hurt in home explosion leaves hospital - July 12, 2010

Firefighter recalls explosion chaos - July 10, 2010

Sacramento firefighters injured in home explosion recovering - July 7, 2010

Oak Park home explosion injures 4 firefighters, terrifies neighbors - July 6, 2010

By Ed Fletcher
efletcher@sacbee.com

Two Sacramento law enforcement officers facing misdemeanor charges pleaded not guilty during their separate arraignments today.

Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy Monica Chavez pleaded not guilty to a charge of battery for allegedly punching another woman while attempting to separate their fighting dogs at a Roseville dog park.

Sacramento police Sgt. John Castiglia, who did not appear in court, made his please through attorney Daniel McNamara, denying that he stole razors and deodorant from a WinCo store in Roseville.

Chavez is charged with hitting Shelley Riley, whose miniature pinscher fought with Chavez's pug at Bear Dog Park on Pleasant Grove Boulevard. Chavez claimed that Riley threw the pug while separating the dogs, but Riley told The Bee that she dragged the pug off her dog but did not throw it.

Chavez's attorney, Michael Bowman, said his client acted properly in defending herself and her property.

"Under California law you don't have to get hit first," Bowman said. "You can act reasonably to protect yourself or your property."

Call The Bee's Ed Fletcher, (916) 321-1269.

Previous coverage:

At capital-area dog parks, it's the humans who sometimes act up - July 10, 2010

Dog park punching case set for July 20 arraignment - June 23, 2010

Woman accused of dog park assault identified as deputy - July 21, 2010

Sacramento police sergeant arrested on suspicion of shoplifting - June 5, 2010

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Rewards are being offered for the arrest of a man who is suspected of holding up six banks.

Two of the banks were robbed in Roseville and four in the south Bay area between April 2 and June 22. The two held up in Roseville were the River City Bank inside a Bel Air supermarket on May 14 and the US Bank inside a Safeway store on June 22.

The robber is described as a white man in his 30s or 40s, 6 feet tall, with brown hair and a handlebar mustache.

Roseville Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward and tipsters may also be eligible for a $10,000 reward from U.S. Bank. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (916) 783-7967.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

Previous story:

Roseville police seek supermarket bank robber - July 8, 2010

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Citrus Heights police have released the photographs of two people they want to question in the shooting up a vehicle Sunday night, which injured three people.

Police responded to near Sunrise Boulevard and Greenback Lane about 10:30 p.m. Sunday where the three gunshot victims were still inside their vehicle.

The victims were transported to the hospital and none of their wounds were life-threatening. Their names were not released.

An investigation revealed that the victims and the assailants got into a "disturbance" in the 6900 block of Sunrise Boulevard. The three were then followed by the suspected shooter and a passenger who were in a white, older model convertible.

Police said the suspects pulled up alongside the victims' vehicle in a parking lot in the 6200 block of Sunrise Boulevard and the driver fired multiple rounds with a handgun.

The suspects then fled.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Deia deBrito
ddebrito@sacbee.com

Citrus Heights police are seeking a man who reportedly broke into a bedroom window late Sunday night and sexually assaulted a woman who had been sleeping in her apartment in the 7600 block of Greenback Lane.

After waking up to the sound of the intrusion, the victim screamed loudly enough for the neighbors to hear and fought off the attacker, a police report states.

The intruder, described as a white male 5 feet 8 inches tall between the ages of 22 and 25, fled on a dark red bicycle that witnesses said looks like a cruiser.

He was described as weighing about 185 pounds and clean-shaven, with spiked short blond hair and dark brown eyes.

Anyone with information about the incident is urged to call the Citrus Heights Police Department at (916) 727-5500, or the department's anonymous tip line at (916) 727-5524.

The Police Department offers these crime-prevention tips:

• Lock doors and windows when you go out and at night.

• Don't leave cash and jewelry in plain sight. Don't tell people you don't know well about your valuables.

• Close pet doors.

• Trim bushes and trees so your front door is visible from the street.

• Leave lights on at night.

• Keep a radio or a television on during the day.

• Install motion lights on your property.

• Vary your times of arrival and departure.

Call The Bee's Deia deBrito, (916) 321-1087.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A 19-year-old man killed in a vehicle crash on Highway 99 near Galt on Friday has been identified by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office as Victor Martinez of Stockton.

Martinez was the driving a white Toyota Corolla northbound on Highway 99 near the central Galt exit about 1 p.m. Friday. Witnesses reported that car went off the road and up a steep embankment, hit a bridge abutment and rolled over onto its roof, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Martinez was taken to Kaiser Permanente South Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

His passengers, a woman and two young girls, were hospitalized with injuries.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A 19-year-old man was formally charged today with the murder of one teenager and attempted murder of another at a teen party.

Jaivonne Flenory-Davis, 19, did not enter a plea during the brief arraignment hearing in a courtroom at the Sacramento County Jail. He stood in the courtroom cell facing the judge as the charges were read. He did not look at the audience, which included numerous friends and family members of the victims. At the request of Flenory-Davis' attorney, W. Bradley Holmes, the matter was continued to Aug. 2.

Flenory-Davis is charged with the murder of 14-year-old Lanajah Nachelle Dupree, 14, of Sparks, Nev., who died of a single gunshot wound July 11 after Flenory-Davis allegedly fired into a crowd at an "under 21" dance party on Auburn Boulevard. He also is charged with the attempted murder of a 17-year-old girl who suffered gunshot wounds at the party but is recovering.

In addition, Flenory-Davis is charged with intentionally discharging a semiautomatic handgun and with being an active participant in a criminal street gang.

Detectives have said that they do not believe the girls were Flenory-Davis' intended targets, or that they were involved in an argument that apparently occurred between gang members at the party and led to the shooting.

The mother of the 17-year-old girl said in an interview following the hearing that her daughter is out of the hospital and recovering from her wounds. She said the teenager was shot in the arm, and the bullet entered her stomach and grazed her liver.

She said services for Dupree were held Saturday.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

A Minden, Nev., man has been sent to state prison for trying to prevent a witness from testifying at his trial.

Clint Wayne Wardlow, 35, was sentenced in Placer County Superior Court on Thursday to 16 years after pleading guilty to trying to dissuade a witness and two drug-related counts.

Also contributing to his sentence was Wardlow's admission of having a prior conviction for possessing methamphetamine for sale.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Suzanne Gazzaniga said Wardlow's most recent conviction stems from a 2008 case in which he was arrested on suspicion of possessing methamphetamine for sale.

Wardlow made a telephone call in October 2009 as his case was going through the justice system to one of the witnesses who was served a subpoena to testify against him. Wardlow threatened to kill the witness and burn down her home, Gazzaniga said.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Sacramento County Coroner's deputies have identified a bicyclist who died Monday when he was struck by a car.

Allen Hervey Crenshaw, 62, of Sacramento was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

A white Saturn automobile and the bike were both traveling east on White Rock Road near Quality Drive when Crenshaw turned into the car's path just after 8 a.m., witnesses told authorities.

The car's driver, identified as Noe Raul Rivas-Rodas (photo right), 23, was arrested on suspicion of driving without a license.

The accident is under investigation.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

Previous story:

Man arrested after cyclist is fatally struck by car - July 20, 2010

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Sacramento police are looking into another case in which a man might have tried to impersonate an officer.

In both cases the suspect drove a Ford Crown Victoria, a model often driven by police.

In the most recent case Sunday night, a woman was stopped at a red light on Stockton Boulevard near Broadway. She was talking on her cell phone when a man in a Crown Victoria pulled up next to her vehicle.

The man told her that she was in trouble for driving while using a cell phone then showed her a badge. Not believing he was a police officer, the woman drove away, then pulled over and telephoned 911.

The suspect then drove up and told the woman that the shield he showed her was a security officer's badge. He then fled the area.

The incident followed a similar incident Tuesday. A woman reported that when she was leaving a marijuana dispensary at 28th and O streets a man questioned her about her marijuana prescription and searched her pockets. He released her without taking anything.

The woman told police that the man was standing next to a black-and-white Ford Crown Victoria.

A light bar was on top of the car, and the woman reported the man was wearing a bulletproof vest with "Police" written on the front.

The man, described as balding, white and in his 30s, had a medium build and brown eyes.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Ed Fletcher
efletcher@sacbee.com

Former CHP officer Ruben Salgado, who is accused of being involved in a murder-for-hire plot, did not enter a plea today when he appeared for an arraignment hearing in Auburn.

Salgado's attorney, Daniel Nicholson, said he wants details on the case against his client before entering a plea. Nicholson is also seeking a change of venue.

Prosecutors declined to talk to the media.

Salgado was arrested in May on drug and weapons charges. In addition to solicitation to commit murder, the new allegations include possession of a controlled substance, being under the influence of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Officials would not discuss who was believed to be the target of the alleged murder solicitation. Court documents identify the alleged target as "R.M."

Call The Bee's Ed Fletcher, (916) 321-1269.

KCRA: New venue sought for Salgado case

Previous coverage:

CHP officer arrested again -- suspected of solicitation to commit murder - July 16, 2010

CHP arrests one of its officers on drug, weapons charges - May 13, 2010

By Bill Lindelof and Queenie Wong
blindelof@sacbee.com

The name of the 19-year-old man who police say died during an illegal street race in Rancho Cordova has been released today by the Sacramento County Coroner's department.

He was identified by coroner's deputies as Kevin Hiroshi Imura, 19, of Sacramento.

Sgt. Tim Curran, spokesman for the Rancho Cordova Police Department, said officers responded shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday to a collision between two motorcyclists in the area of Freestone Way and Edington Drive.

Rancho Cordova police found Imura lying in the street suffering from severe injuries. Paramedics arrived quickly and pronounced him dead.

Investigators say Imura was racing with another motorcyclist when the two collided, causing Imura to lose control of his motorcycle and crash.

The 20-year-old rider of the other motorcycle and witnesses were detained for questioning. Officers said about 20 motorcyclists authorities believe were involved in street racing were at the scene.

Curran said the Rancho Cordova police Major Accident Investigation Team will determine the circumstances of the crash and forward its findings to the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office.

The district attorney will determine if charges will be filed against the other racer, who was uninjured.

Curran said that the area is a well known area for illegal street racing because it's an undeveloped area.

Anyone who witnessed the collision and did not speak with officers at the scene is urged to call detective Ron Brazell at (916) 875-9623.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

KCRA: 1 killed in street racing crash

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

A man who allegedly fired an assault rifle in his family's Meadowview home has been arrested this morning.

Police were called to the home in the 7500 block of Tamoshanter Way at about 5 a.m. after a 30-year-old man allegedly fired a rifle.

Family inside the home were afraid and called police, authorities said. Police surrounded the house, evacuated nearby neighbors and called for the man to come outside.

The suspect was peacefully taken into custody. Police took him to the hospital for an evaluation, suspecting his mental health was a factor in the incident.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (9126) 321-1079.

KCRA: Man shoots AK-47 in South Sac standoff

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

A Woodland gas station was robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash this morning.

Police say they arrived at the Chevron station on the 1500 block of East Main Street at 5 a.m. The cash register was on the floor, where the clerk said the robber threw it. The clerk was not hurt.

The suspect, who was unarmed, is described as a Hispanic man in his early 30s, between 5-feet, 5-inches and 5-feet-9, with a medium build and a shaved head.

He was wearing a blue, short-sleeved shirt with white stripes and dark colored jeans. He might have had tattoos on his arms.

He was last seen fleeing in a white sedan, possibly a small, late 1990s, 4-door car, authorities said.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (9126) 321-1079.

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

Sacramento Police responding to a report of a shooting found a 21-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his neck in front of a residence on Lane Drive in the north area shortly after midnight today.

The man appeared to have been shot less than a block away at the 600 block of Las Palmas Avenue, police said. The shooting victim was taken to an area hospital and into surgery.

The man's identity was not immediately available. Motive and suspect information were not immediately known, police said.

Call The Bee's Loretta Kalb, (916) 321-1073.

By Stephen Magagnini
smagagnini@sacbee.com

Sacramento fire crews are monitoring a large, suspicious wood fire burning along Garden Highway this afternoon, threatening trees and power lines.

Firefighters responded to the blaze with tankers containing several thousands gallons, but "are using the water sparingly because there aren't any hydrants in the area," said Capt. Jonathan Burgess.

The closest dwellings are at least 300 yards away across garden Highway, but firefighters will stay on the scene, wetting down nearby tress and the general area around the blaze to make sure the fire doesn't spread.

"We'll stand by over the next 24, maybe 48 hours until it burns out to make sure no winds pick up and start blowing embers anywhere," Burgess said. "It's a lot of lumber stacked pretty high, over 15 feet."

The burning pile, which appears to be old trees stacked in a field several hundred feet from 5871 Garden Highway, was reported around 2 p.m. this afternoon and as of 6 p.m. was no longer threatening power lines, and no power has gone out in the area, Burgess said. There are some bulldozers and heavy equipment nearby, but were not being operated Saturday.

Call The Bee's Stephen Magagnini, (916) 321-1072.

By Stephen Magagnini
smagagnini@sacbee.com

Four steel barrels containing about 200 gallons of flammable materials were illegally dumped in southeast Sacramento County Saturday morning right beneath a sign that read "$1,000 FINE FOR LITTERING," reported Sacramento Metro Fire Captain Christian Pebbles.

The barrels, containing mostly kerosene, were dumped on Scott Road at the corner of White Road around 11 a.m., closing the road for several hours while hazardous materials experts assessed the situation, Pebbles said.

The illegal dump, south of Highway 50 and east of Sunrise Blvd., wasn't leaking, and was turned over to county sheriff's investigators. Kerosene can be used for fuel or for cleaning. The perpetrator could face a minimum of $1,000 fine and the cost of the cleanup, Pebbles said.

Call The Bee's Stephen Magagnini, (916) 321-1072.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A Sacramento man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution for his participation in a credit card fraud scheme.

U.S. District Judge Edward J. Garcia Jr. ordered Corey Ebanks, 27, to pay restitution of $22,383 for making false statements on a credit card application. Ebanks pleaded guilty April 30.

According to court documents, Ebanks met Jerry Van Le, who had access to Social Security numbers and could establish fictitious lines of credit with these numbers. Van Le provided Ebanks with a fraudulent Social Security number and set up a fictitious credit history in Ebanks' name connected to this number, which Ebanks used to establish fraudulent lines of credit.

On May 30, 2008, Ebanks submitted a fraudulent credit card application to Capital One, a federally insured bank. In the application, he provided the false Social Security number to obtain a credit card. After receiving the card, he immediately maxed out his credit, then failed to make payments, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

Ebanks also received credit cards from Bank of America, Citibank, Discover and Target, amounting to a total of $9,127 in credit to which he was not entitled.

On Sept. 24, 2008, Ebanks went to Lexus of Sacramento to purchase a vehicle. The vehicle was financed through Toyota Financial Services, the in-house finance agency for Lexus dealerships. In the credit application, Ebanks provided his false Social Security number and falsely stated that his gross monthly income was $14,500. As a result, he was able to purchase a new vehicle for $34,780.34, the news release said.

Five other people -- Jerry Van Le, Chung Jeng Tang, Nathan Bitner, Keilan Johnson and Tehan Ferguson -- also pleaded guilty in connection with the credit card fraud scheme. In January, Tang was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison and Bitner to six months in prison. Van Le, Johnson and Ferguson are scheduled for sentencing Aug. 27.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Davis police have arrested the remaining two suspects believed to be responsible for a May 31 home-invasion robbery in the 800 block of Anderson Road.

Jesus Cruz, 18, and Jose Elenas, 19, both of Richmond were located and arrested with the help of the Richmond Police Department and were sent to the Yolo County Jail, according to a news release from the Davis Police Department.

During the robbery, several armed subjects forced through the door and while one held the occupant at gunpoint, the others gathered electronic equipment, the release said.

On June 30, Davis police arrested Fernando Ochoa of Richmond, 20, in connection with the robbery. Ochoa was booked into the Yolo County Jail on suspicion of armed robbery and burglary.

Call The Bee's Matt Kawahara, (916) 321-1015.

By Chelsea Phua
cphua@sacbee.com

The 19-year-old man accused of killing a 14-year-old girl at a Sacramento County teen party is scheduled for arraignment Monday afternoon.

Jaivonne Flenory-Davis appeared in Sacramento County Superior Court briefly on Friday on a felony burglary case that he pleaded no contest to in June.

He was scheduled to be sentenced to no more than a year in county jail on the burglary conviction, said W. Bradley Holmes, Flenory-Davis' attorney.

Holmes told the judge that he hadn't had time to review the pre-sentencing report and asked that the sentencing to be postponed to Tuesday. The judge granted the request.

Flenory-Davis had been out on bail awaiting the burglary sentencing when Sunday's shooting, which killed Lanajah Nachelle Dupree, happened at an "under 21" party on Auburn Boulevard.

Sheriff's officials said they believe Flenory-Davis was connected to a fight that broke out between rival gang members at the dance party and that he fired randomly into the crowd, intending to hurt rival gang members but instead struck Dupree.

A 17-year-old girl was also injured, but is expected to survive.

Dupree's family told The Bee that she was selected to join the cheerleading team as a high school freshman and had aspired to be a nurse.

At least 10 of Flenory-Davis' family members - including his mother, aunt and sister - attended his Friday court appearance.

They declined to speak to The Bee. Flenory-Davis was not available for an interview.

Holmes said he has yet to review the murder case.

Call The Bee's Chelsea Phua, (916) 321-1132.

Previous coverage:

Suspect arrested in teen's death at Auburn Boulevard dance party - July 16, 2010

Security's imperative for teen parties, say organizers, officers - July 15, 2010

Marcos Breton: Party site where girl was slain lacked license - July 14, 2010

Safe party turns deadly for teen visitor from Nevada - July 13, 2010

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Placer County animal control officers are investigating an incident in which it appears a donkey was sprayed with acid in a Penryn-area pasture.

The animal's owner, Shannon McClurg, said this is the second time in five years that the 22-year-old donkey has been the target of such an attack. The latest incident occurred last weekend.

McClurg said she keeps two donkeys in a pasture off Butler Road. She speculated that the assailant used a high-powered squirt gun. She said the substance burned the animal's fur and skin, starting at the lower shoulder and extending down the leg.

The same donkey also was attacked in June 2005.

Placer County spokeswoman Anita Yoder confirmed that animal control officers are investigating the incident, but said she did not know whether the agency had received other reports of such attacks.

McClurg said she is installing motion-sensor lights around her property and has moved the donkeys into a smaller corral away from the road.

She is eager to see the perpetrator caught.

"People that have this kind of disregard for animals don't have any regard for people, either," McClurg said.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

Donkey targeted in acid attack

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A Sacramento Superior Court jury acquitted a Carmichael man of murder today in the death of his 6-month-old baby boy, but found him guilty of an assault that resulted in the infant's death.

Kevin Harper, 26, actually faces more time on the assault conviction than he would have received had he been convicted on the second-degree murder count in the August 2008 death of his son, Jaden Harper.

The statute for assaulting a child under age 8 resulting in death carries a 25-to-life term. The sentence for second-degree murder is 15 to life.

Although jurors acquitted Harper on the second-degree murder charge, they convicted him of the lesser offense of involuntary manslaughter. That conviction could add two, three or four years to his term.

Judge Patrick Marlette scheduled Harper's sentencing for Sept. 3.

The prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Rochelle Hao, was out of town today and not available for comment on the verdict.

Assistant Public Defender Sue Karlton said the jury's acquittal of Harper on the murder count suggests that the panel "clearly thought there was an accident that happened to this child," but that Harper still could face a life term.

"That's not something the jury did," Karlton said. "That's the nature of the statute, which is heartbreaking in this case."

The jury had deliberated since last Friday.

In her closing arguments, Hao said that Harper, who worked the graveyard shift, shook the baby to death as a result of his growing frustration with the child. A coroner's autopsy found that Jaden Harper died from "blunt head and neck trauma due to shaken impact." Several physicians who treated the baby testified that they found his injuries suspicious.

Karlton argued that Jaden Harper, who was born prematurely, had suffered from a chronic internal bleeding disorder, and that caused the baby's death.

Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.

Previous coverage:

Sacramento jury must decide: Did dad shake infant to death? - July 10, 2010

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Department has arrested a man accused of falsely representing himself in various roles to befriend and defraud people.

Sheriff's detectives in South Lake Tahoe were contacted Wednesday by detectives from the Arizona Department of Public Safety, who had information indicating that one of their fugitives was in South Lake Tahoe. John William Rodriguez, 31, was wanted by Arizona authorities on 12 counts of fraud and forgery, according to a sheriff's department news release.

Rodriguez is accused of fraudulently representing himself as a U.S. Marine, an Iraq war veteran, an FBI agent and a detective with the Department of Veteran's Affairs. Officials say he often wore a Marine uniform, gained access to military installations and attended functions such as the Marine Corps Ball.

On Thursday, El Dorado County Sheriff's detectives learned that Rodriguez was living at a residence on Eloise Avenue in South Lake Tahoe. After a daylong investigation and surveillance, Rodriguez was arrested without incident and booked into the South Lake Tahoe jail for a local misdemeanor warrant and a no-bail felony fugitive warrant from the state of Arizona.

Based on their investigation, El Dorado County detectives say they believe Rodriguez engaged in similar fraudulent activities while living in South Lake Tahoe. They said information indicated he befriended numerous people in the area and might have used his scam to defraud his new friends.

Anyone with information about Rodriguez is asked to call Detective Matt Harwood at (530) 573-3015.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Sacramento Sheriff's Department detectives are searching for a 21-year-old man wanted on a federal warrant for possession of child pornography.

Officials say Arturo Sanchez is believed to be hiding in the Sacramento or San Francisco areas.

Investigators with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force identified Sanchez as someone who was offering child pornography over the Internet, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. A search warrant was served on his residence and several items of evidence were seized, including his computer, removable media and compact disks. In a forensic examination of those items, investigators found images of prepubescent children engaged in sexual activity, officials reported.

Sanchez was later indicted by a federal grand jury and an arrest warrant was issued. When detectives went to his residence to arrest him, however, they learned that he had moved.

Sanchez is described as Hispanic, 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing 120 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information regarding Sanchez's whereabouts is asked to call the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department at (916) 874-5115, or Crime Alert at (916) 443-4357. A text message tip may be sent by texting to 274637, then entering SACTIP followed by the tip information. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Sacramento police have arrested a man who is suspected of grabbing the behinds of women in Sacramento.

Police arrested Maurice Talley (photo right), 26, Wednesday on suspicion of assault with intent to commit a sex crime and sexual battery. Initially, he was suspected of grabbing the buttocks of women downtown near Fifth and K streets.

He was later suspected of three other incidents. Talley, ineligible for bail, is in the Sacramento County Jail.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A Sacramento jury convicted Michael Eugene Jastraub of second-degree murder today for the May 15, 2008, traffic collision he caused that killed Janell Denise Cummings.

Jastraub, 42, was under the influence of methamphetamine, methadone, muscle relaxers and anti-anxiety medication when he ran into Cummings' Toyota on Florin Road and sent her into a spin and into the path of a truck that ran into her and killed her.

Cummings (photo right), 30, was a Chico State graduate who was in the process of earning her Master's degree at Sacramento State when she died.

"I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to enjoy her more," her father, Ivory Cummings, a retired sergeant from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said after the verdict.

Deputy District Attorney Caroline Park said she was "very relieved" by the verdict.

"She was a very good person," Park said of Cummings.

Superior Court Judge Trena Burger-Plavan scheduled Jastraub's sentencing for Aug. 30, after the defendant refused a prosecution request to delay the hearing into September to accommodate Ivory Cummings' vacation plan.

Noel Mee, one of the jurors who convicted Jastraub, said "I didn't see any sign of regret" on the defendant's part, either during the trial or when the verdict was announced today.

"I didn't see any sign that he would have done anything differently," Mee said.

Cummings' 12-year-old niece and a friend of the girl also were injured in the crash. The wreck took place in the afternoon after Cummings had picked the girls up from school.

Besides the murder, Jastraub also was convicted on two felony counts of injuring people while driving under the influence of the drugs, two counts of felony possession of drugs and misdemeanor counts of drug and paraphernalia possession, driving without a license, hit and run and driving without insurance, which was an infraction.

Assistant Public Defender Amy Rogers declined to comment after the verdict.

Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.

By Denny Walsh
dwalsh@sacbee.com

Matthew Michael Fraticelli was sentenced Friday in Sacramento to four years and nine months in prison for placing a homemade, unlit bomb next to the downtown federal courthouse in May of last year.

Assistant Federal Defender Dennis Waks asked that his client be given credit for the 14 months he has spent in jail since his arrest and that he be placed in a mental health treatment program.

Calling the case "bizarre," Assistant U. S. Attorney Richard Bender sought a five-year prison term for Fraticelli, 31, of south Sacramento.

Contrary to both requests, U. S. District Judge Edward J. Garcia followed a probation officer's recommendation in a pre-sentence report. The judge also imposed three years of supervised release following Fraticelli's discharge from custody.

Call The Bee's Denny Walsh, (916) 321-1189.

By Queenie Wong
qwong@sacbee.com

The Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Team is searching for more information about an 82-year-old sex offender, who they arrested Wednesday for failing to register his address since 2005, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.

Detectives from the SAFE Team, a multiagency task force that includes the Sheriff's Department, say they don't know how long Donald Warren Delaney (left photo) has been in Sacramento County. They discovered Delaney living in the 3400 block of Ponzi Court in Rancho Cordova.

Anyone that knows about Delaney's movements since 2005 should contact the Sheriff's Department at (916) 874-5115 or the SAFE Team at (916) 874-4317.

Call The Bee's Queenie Wong, (916) 321-1008.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A Sacramento man pleaded no contest today to murdering two people and trying to kill two more in a 2007 south-area shooting spree that his lawyer said was spawned by the defendant's mental health issues.

Jay Patrick Johnson had been facing the death penalty in the handgun killings of Lee Candelaria and Ramona Alice Gonzales. But in an agreement worked out between Deputy District Attorney Kevin Greene and defense attorneys Linda Parisi and John Perkins, Johnson, 41, is likely to be sentenced to two terms of life in prison with no chance of parole.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Laurie M. Earl scheduled Johnson's sentencing for Aug. 6.

Johnson gunned down Candelaria, 25, and his girlfriend, Gonzales, in the apartment they shared in the 6900 block of Lewiston Way shortly after midnight on Feb. 18, 2007. Just before he shot and killed Candelaria and Gonzales with his .45 handgun, Johnson admitted today that he also shot Trong Le and Kevin Julian outside a gas station when they wouldn't give him a cigarette. Just after the killings Johnson set fire to his own apartment.

"There are some serious issues about mental health and other factors that contributed to this event," Parisi said of her client.

She said she worked out the plea agreement with Greene and Deputy District Attorney John O'Mara, the homicide chief in the District Attorney's Office.

"It really was a joint contribution from all sides, talking about what might be a fair resolution," Parisi said.

Greene declined to comment.

The brother of one of the victims expressed anger about the outcome.

"It's been three and a half years," John Candelaria said. "Murder is murder, and justice is justice, and this just seems like, if my brother and his girlfriend were famous people or related to somebody, if they had a little more pull, with somebody more higher up, this would have happened a lot quicker."

Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A 19-year-old man suspected in the shooting that killed one girl and wounded another at a dance party Sunday night on Auburn Boulevard has been arrested.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department announced today the arrest of Jaivonne Flenory-Davis, 19, in connection with the shooting death of 14-year-old Lanajah Nachelle Dupree and the wounding of a 17-year-old girl.

Flenory-Davis was arrested at 6:42 a.m. today at a relative's apartment in the 2600 block of River Plaza Drive in Sacramento, a sheriff's news release states. He was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. Sheriff's officials said he is ineligible for bail and is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. Friday.

The shooting occurred about 10 p.m. Sunday at Venue4Rent, a private event facility at 2902 Auburn Blvd. When deputies arrived, they found Dupree lying in the doorway for the facility. She had been shot in the upper body.

The 17-year-old girl was lying in the parking lot and had been shot once in the upper body and once in the arm. Both were taken to local hospitals. Dupree was pronounced dead shortly after she arrived. The 17-year-old girl is expected to survive.

Homicide detectives say they believe the shooting was gang-related, the news release states. Detectives learned that an argument broke out between rival gang members inside the dance facility shortly after 10 p.m. Private security guards tried to defuse the situation by directing partygoers outside.

Detectives say they think Flenory-Davis was standing at the edge of the parking lot, fired multiple gunshots into the air and then fired multiple shots into the partygoers exiting the building.

Officials say they do not believe the victims were the intended targets or that the girls were involved in the argument between the rival gang members that led to the shooting.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

Previous coverage:

Security's imperative for teen parties, say organizers, officers - July 15, 2010

Marcos Breton: Party site where girl was slain lacked license - July 14, 2010

Safe party turns deadly for teen visitor from Nevada - July 13, 2010

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Police seek the community's help identifying a suspect in a June 21 burglary at an Elk Grove independent- and assisted-living facility for seniors.

The Elk Grove Police Department says a woman entered The Commons at 9564 Sabrina Lane through a service entrance about 5:20 p.m. that day. Surveillance video shows her checking door handles on rooms to see if they were unlocked, a police department news release states.

The woman was seen entering a resident's room without permission and leaving a short time later. The surveillance footage shows the woman exiting the building and leaving the parking lot in a black four-door vehicle.

A few days after the burglary, the resident was contacted by her bank regarding several suspicious charges on her account. At this point, the resident discovered that her wallet, credit cards, jewelry, cash and a digital camera had been stolen from her room, and she called police.

Detectives say they believe the suspect captured on video surveillance is responsible for the theft. She is described African American, about 20 years old, 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighing about 170 pounds. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail with braids, and she was wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans.

Anyone with information about the burglary is asked to call the Elk Grove Police Department's Detective Bureau at (916) 478-8060 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-4357. Callers to Crime Alert can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

Tips also ca be sent via SMS text message by entering 274637 on a cell phone, followed by Tip732 -- the agency identification number -- and the message.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Chelsea Phua
cphua@sacbee.com

Another vacant house. Another report of a possible gas leak.

But this time, Sacramento firefighters, mindful of an Oak Park explosion that injured four of them July 5, took extra precaution when they noticed the spinning gas meter and odor.

"There were some similarities," spokesman Capt. Jonathan Burgess said. "There's heightened awareness in the organization."

The responding unit "slowed down" and waited for the Hazardous Material Response Team to arrive with gas monitors before entering the home in the 4100 block of Howard Avenue in Oak Park early this morning, Burgess said.

The gas monitors detected little to no measurable gas in the air, and the home was "opened without incident," Burgess wrote in a news release.

In the July 5 incident, the Hazardous Material Response Team was not dispatched - until after the blast.

In addition, everyone entering the home this morning wore full protective clothing, including masks attached to breathing apparatus and gloves, Burgess said.

"As far as we know, they weren't wearing masks at the time the explosion occurred," Burgess said in an interview with The Bee earlier this week. It has not been determined whether they wore gloves on July 5.

Fire officials say they suspected the Oak Park explosion near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard was a "deliberate act," but the cause remains under investigation, Burgess said.

Authorities identified the source of today's leak as a broken gas pipe in the residence's rear driveway. How the pipe was broken is being investigated.

Call The Bee's Chelsea Phua, (916) 321-1132.

Previous coverage:

Sacramento Fire Department investigates whether crew followed procedures before blast - July 14, 2010

Firefighter hurt in home explosion leaves hospital - July 12, 2010

Firefighter recalls explosion chaos - July 10, 2010

Sacramento firefighters injured in home explosion recovering - July 7, 2010

Oak Park home explosion injures 4 firefighters, terrifies neighbors - July 6, 2010

By Bill Lindelof and Bee staff
blindelof@sacbee.com

An inmate who walked away this morning from minimum supervision at California State Prison-Sacramento in Folsom has been captured, prison officials report.

Zachary Dickens, 27, who was serving a sentence for injuring his spouse, was captured in Sacramento County by the Special Service Unit about 5:20 p.m.. He surrendered without resistance, officials said.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation special agents took custody of Dickens and will be transporting him back to the prison.

Dickens was reported missing from his bunk in a dorm at 6:30 a.m. Dickens entered the state prison system March 18, 2010 from Sacramento County and was serving a four-year term.

He was scheduled to be released Dec. 22, 2011.

The prison houses maximum-security inmates serving long sentences and those who have been hard to control. The prison also has minimum-supervision inmates, such as Dickens, outside the institution's perimeter to help with maintenance and other tasks.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

Bee staff:

Law enforcement officials are seeking a suspect (right photo) in the robbery of a cell phone on a light-rail train May 28 in Sacramento, Sacramento Crime Alert officials report.

The suspect is described in his late mid teens to early 20s with a thin build, wearing a dark Oakland A's baseball cap with a lighter-colored logo, brown leather-looking jacket with dark colored hooded-style sweatshirt underneath the jacket and blue denim pants, authorities said.

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.

Bee staff:

Even retired priests can be potential phone scam targets.

The Rev. Bill Dohman called late Wednesday afternoon after he said he received an offer he could refuse -- after some inquiry.

Dohman said a woman called and said he was to be awarded $5,000 for being a "good citizen." Dohman said the woman had his name, phone number and birthdate. She then referred him to another phone number, where a man named "John" said that if Dohman would wire him $235, he could receive the $5,000.

"That's when I said, 'I think this is a scam,' " he said, before hanging up.

Dohman, who said he volunteers at Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento, said he called The Bee to warn other potential victims not to fall prey to this type of scam.

Click here for scam prevention tips, as provided by the Better Business Bureau, and articles about various scams.

By Queenie Wong
qwong@sacbee.com

With the help of concerned neighbors, Twin Rivers Police Department arrested two suspects who police believe stole copper from Center High School.

Wednesday afternoon, police officers arrested Eric Moore, 26, and Joshua Albrect, 34, on suspicion of grand theft, said William Cho, the department's spokesman, in a news release. They were arrested at Elverta Road and Watt Avenue, a short distance away from the school, Cho said.

Police also believe that the suspects, who had parts of an air conditioner with them, may be connected to other recent copper thefts at the high school.

Cho said at least two witnesses called the police Wednesday afternoon to report the theft.

"We wouldn't have known otherwise because you can't really put an alarm on an air conditioner," Cho said. "Someone would have to have seen them."

This is not the first time Center High School has been hit with copper thefts. The total cost of these thefts and damages at the school within the past six months are estimated to be about $10,000.

Cho said that thieves typically sell the copper to businesses that recycle scrap metal for money.

Call The Bee's Queenie Wong, (916) 321-1008.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Seven members of a crime ring that stole checks out of rural mailboxes in Placer County and used account and routing numbers to create counterfeit checks have been sentenced to jail and prison terms.

Banks and individuals lost thousands of dollars as a result of the fraudulent activities that occurred between February and October of 2009, according to a Placer County District Attorney's Office news release.

"We are aware of more than a dozen victims whose account information was used and of probably another dozen stores and banks that were victimized when fraudulent checks were passed," prosecutor Dan Quick said in a written statement.

Five defendants were sentenced Monday in Placer County Superior Court. Two others, including Jayson Paul Krack, whom officials identified as the central figure in the group, were sentenced earlier this year.

Krack, 30, a Citrus Heights resident, received the longest sentence, seven years in state prison, after pleading no contest May 10 to felony charges or conspiracy, forgery, identity theft and burglary.

Thomas Alan Woodhouse, 24, of Auburn received six years in the California Rehabilitation Center, a prison facility for substance abusers. He pleaded no contest in April to conspiracy and identity theft, as well as unrelated charges of burglary and illegally taking a vehicle, according to the news release.

On Monday, James Michael Marich, 46, of Auburn was sentenced to one year and four months in state prison after pleading no contest to charges of conspiracy, identity theft and burglary.

The other defendants, all Auburn residents who played lesser roles in the operation, were sent to Placer County jail after plea agreements. They included Rachael Duran, 30, six months for conspiracy, forgery and burglary; Andrew Clifford, 24, three months for conspiracy and identity theft; Jason Lacy, 22, two months for conspiracy and burglary; and Bonnie Tremlin, 29, 45 days for identity theft.

Quick said one other defendant awaits sentencing while two other suspected members of the ring are sought by authorities.

The counterfeiters came to law enforcement officers' attention when one of the defendants was caught after trying to pass a phony check at a business. Phony checks found in the suspect's vehicle led to the arrests of others involved in the operation.

Quick advised residents of rural areas to use caution when putting up the red flag on their mailboxes. In addition to alerting postal carriers to outgoing mail, they may be alerting thieves that they are sending out a check. He recommended people drop their letters in a mailbox at a post office.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Chelsea Phua
cphua@sacbee.com

A suspected hostage situation in the Arden Arcade area this morning turned out to be a short confrontation between a man and teenage boy, Sacramento County sheriff's officials said.

Sgt. Tim Curran said that shortly before 9 a.m., a man flagged a California Highway Patrol officer near Hurley Way and Bell Street. The man told the officer he had been assaulted with a weapon in a nearby apartment.

The man had gone to that apartment in the 1200 block of Bell Street to pick up his teenage son. When the man arrived, a 17-year-old boy brandished a gun and told him to leave the apartment. Curran said several people also were inside the apartment, which led authorities to believe the suspect could be holding them hostage.

Officers evacuated the apartment, and several law-enforcement units and SWAT members arrived but did not find the suspect inside the apartment, Curran said.

No one was hurt.

Occupants of that apartment later told authorities the suspect fled as soon as he saw the CHP officer driving up to the apartment.

Call The Bee's Chelsea Phua, (916) 321-1132.

KCRA: Search continues for armed teen

By Bill Lindelof
blinelof@sacbee.com

Sacramento police are investigating the possibility that a man impersonated an officer in the midtown area Tuesday night.

A woman reported that when she was leaving a marijuana dispensary at 28th and O streets a man questioned her about her marijuana prescription and searched her pockets. He let her go without taking anything.

The woman told police that the man was standing next to a black-and-white Ford Crown Victoria, a model car often driven by police. A light bar was on top of the car, and the woman reported the man was wearing a bullet-proof vest with "Police" written on the front.

The man, described as balding, white and in his 30s, had a medium build and brown eyes. He was wearing a black T-shirt and dark pants.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Queenie Wong
qwong@sacbee.com

A 25-year-old Woodland resident has been arrested on suspicion of robbing a convenience store clerk at knife point, according to the Woodland Police Department.

Detectives on Tuesday evening arrested Bradley Robert Simmons, 25, in connection with a robbery that occurred July 11 at the AM/PM convenience store at 313 W. Main St.

Simmons was booked at the Yolo County Jail with bail set at $50,000.

Call The Bee's Queenie Wong, (916) 321-1008.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Citrus Heights police are searching for a woman they believe was the tenant in charge of a home where 51 cats in various stages of health and filthy living conditions were discovered last week.

Sherri Lynn Mendoza (left photo), 44, is wanted in connection with a July 6 shoplifting incident at a Walmart store on Auburn Boulevard in Citrus Heights and animal cruelty to numerous cats located at a nearby duplex at 7536 Gallant Circle.

Police were looking for two women accused of shoplifting July 6 when they spotted one of the women at the duplex. When they went to the residence, officers discovered a home filled with cats and littered with feces. Rebecca Kenmonth, 30, was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting, but the other woman, who police believe was Mendoza, fled.

During July 6 and 7, animal control officials captured 51 cats at the residence. Thirteen of the animals were euthanized due to poor health, police said.

Police Sgt. Christine Ford said that James Franks, 36, who was at the duplex when police arrived July 6, was arrested for outstanding misdemeanor warrants, but Mendoza is the only person believed to be linked to the animal cruelty case.

Anyone with information as to Mendoza's whereabouts is asked to call the Citrus Heights Police Department's Tip-line at (916) 727-5524.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

Previous coverage:

Dozens of cats found in filthy Citrus Heights duplex - July 8, 2010

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

When the California State Fair kicks off Wednesday, state corrections officials will be watching closely to make certain that paroled sex offenders won't be mingling in the Cal Expo crowds.

Corrections officials say that they will monitor sex offenders wearing GPS straps and that they will be arrested if they attempt to enter the fairgrounds.

"Our message to those strapped with GPS monitors is to stay away from events like the State Fair," Robert Ambroselli, director of the state corrections department's adult parole operations, said in a statement. "If GPS shows you are in violation of your terms, you will be arrested."

The effort is the second aimed at detecting sex offenders trying to make their way into the state fair crowds.

Last year, five sex offenders were arrested trying to get into the fair, officials said. A total of 35 offenders were arrested last year at six fairs statewide, corrections officials said.

Call The Bee's Sam Stanton, (916) 321-1091.

By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com

Lawyers delivered opening statements today in a trial to determine whether West Sacramento will have a permanent injunction targeting the alleged criminal street gang known as the Broderick Boys.

This is the first time that the on-again-off-again injunction has gone to trial with lawyers for each side planning to call dozens of witnesses.

The previous incarnations, including the one currently in place, have been temporary injunctions granted after court hearings.

At issue is whether the gang exists and, if it does, whether extraordinary legal restrictions on its members' movements and associations are warranted.

Yolo County prosecutors argued the gang's criminal and non-criminal activities represent a public nuisance that only a gang injunction can curb.

Defense lawyers contended that there is no gang and that police activities are the real threat to residents of the West Sacramento neighborhoods of Broderick and Bryte.

After a trial predicted to take months, Judge Kathleen White will decide whether to make the gang injunction a long-term fixture in West Sacramento.

Call The Bee's Hudson Sangree, (916) 321-1191.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

The family of Anthony Jerome "A.J." McDonald (left) is holding a celebration service for the well-liked man who was found slain in his apartment near the Arden Fair Mall on July 2.

"He was truly loved by so many people," McDonald's daughter, Jernita Belcher, said today. "I hope my dad is at peace. He no longer has to suffer the daily stresses of life."

Belcher said the service will be 11 a.m. Friday at the Morgan and Jones Funeral Home, 4200 Broadway.

Sheriff's detectives said they do not have any leads on who killed McDonald, a 54-year-old recovered drug addict who was the most popular person in his Wyda Way complex.

A coroner's spokeswoman said an autopsy determined McDonald's death was a homicide, but exact cause of death is being withheld for now.

Beyond the apartment building, McDonald also was well-known and liked around the Salvation Army complex at 12th and B streets.

"Major" Mary Rocheleau said McDonald played bass guitar in the Salvation Army's worship band.

"He was so precious," Rocheleau said. "He was quiet. He would just lay back and play the bass."

Sheriff's officials have asked for the public's help to solve the case. The numbers to call are (916) 874-5057 for sheriff's investigators, (916) 443-4357 for Crime Alert, and the text number is 274637 followed by SACTIP. Officials have posted a $1,000 reward in the case.

Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

A Lincoln man was arrested after allegedly pointing a laser-sighted handgun at a police officer and committing several other weapons violations late Monday.

Joshua Jones, 33, of Lincoln, was arrested on suspicion of pointing a gun at an officer, threat using a laser scope, recklessly discharging a gun, shooting at a dwelling or vehicle and suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance.

Police said Jones pointed a handgun with a laser sight at the first officer to arrive at the suspect's home on the 700 block of East Avenue at about 11:30 p.m.

Jones dropped his weapon when the officer ordered him to. Additional officers arrived and helped take Jones into custody.

Officers recovered two handguns and found several spent rounds in Jones' front yard and inside his home. Bullet holes were found in the interior walls of his home, garage, vehicle and a vehicle in a neighbor's driveway.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Two grass fires reported in the Rancho Cordova area this morning are being investigated as arson.

At one of the two small fires reported about 4:30 a.m. near Sunrise Boulevard and Kiefer Boulevard a burned road flare was found, possibly tossed into dry grass by an arsonist.

"They were both deliberately set," said Capt. Christian Pebbles, Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District spokesman. "They were extinguished very fast."

Today's fires do not appear to be related to a string of grass fires in the same general area on Monday, authorities say. Investigators are considering the possibility that those fires were started by sparks from some kind of metal object being accidentally dragged by a vehicle.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

KCRA: Arsonist sought after Rancho Cordova fires

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Sacramento District Attorney Jan Scully has been elected president of a national group representing prosecutors.

Scully was elected to lead the National District Attorneys Association at the group's annual conference. She will assume the presidency in July 2011.

The 7,000-member organization is headquartered in Alexandria, Va.

Scully will be the first female president of the NDAA, which was founded in 1950. She was also the first woman to be elected Sacramento County district attorney.

In a news release, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, a member of the NDAA board, lauded Scully for innovative programs in Sacramento.

Scully, she said, "continues to be a pioneer for women in our field."

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Queenie Wong
qwong@sacbee.com

A multi-vehicle crash on the Capital City Freeway sent seven people to the hospital Monday night, slowing traffic just north of E Street in Sacramento, the California Highway Patrol said.

Victims were transported to UC Davis Medical Center and Kaiser South Sacramento Medical Center. There were no deaths reported, but one person suffered a broken arm, CHP Sgt. Scott Baland said.

One other person involved in the accident was not taken to the hospital, Baland said.

Sacramento firefighters and medical crews at about 9:30 p.m. responded to the scene where authorities say a collision between a Honda CR-V and a motorcycle caused two other vehicles to roll off the freeway embankment on 29th Street. All lanes were reopened to traffic at 10:51 p.m.

Cause of the collision between the Honda and motorcycle is being investigated.

Call The Bee's Queenie Wong, (916) 321-1008.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Roseville Police credit alert residents for the arrests of burglary suspects in two separate incidents over the weekend.

About 6:30 a.m. Friday, a resident of the city's Stonebridge neighborhood noticed a gray Honda Civic cruising slowly down the street, with the driver looking at the resident's house. A short time later, the man came to the door and rang the doorbell.

The resident answered the door and reported that the man seemed surprised to find someone at home. The man made an excuse and went back to the car.

The resident thought the man's behavior was suspicious and called police, providing a detailed description of the man and his vehicle, according to a Roseville Police Department news release.

Officers located the Honda Civic about three blocks away with two men inside. A search of the vehicle turned up methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, as well as checks, portable GPS units and other property that had been reported stolen in Rocklin and Sacramento County. The two 22-year-old men, both from Citrus Heights, were arrested on suspicion of drug offenses and possessing stolen property.

Another resident called police Sunday morning after noticing two teenage boys standing next to a vehicle in his neighbor's driveway in the Misty Wood neighborhood. The vehicle's dome light was on.

The man called 911, providing descriptions of the two individuals. He and other residents detained the two teenagers until police officers arrived.

Police suspect the teenagers had been walking up and down the street trying car doors and entering vehicles they found with rolled-down windows or unlocked doors. Officers recovered numerous items of stolen property, including GPS navigators, cameras, video games, a satellite radio, a laptop computer, cash and music CDs. The items were returned to their owners.

The 17-year-old youths, both from Roseville, were arrested on suspicion of burglary, grand theft, conspiracy and prowling, and taken to Placer County Juvenile Hall.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Two 11-year-olds and an 8-year-old were cited Sunday for starting a fire that damaged a play structure at Freeport Elementary School in Sacramento's Meadowview area.

Firefighters responded at 2:27 p.m. to a report of a wood chip fire at the school at 2118 Meadowview Road. Engine Company 17, located at 24th Street and Gardendale Road would ordinarily have responded and arrived within four to five minutes, but it was committed to a water rescue at the time, according to a Sacramento Fire Department news release. Instead, Engine Company 57, located at Franklin Boulevard and East Parkway, was the first company on scene, arriving eight minutes after dispatch.

The fire was extinguished within two minutes. But because of the extended response time, officials said, the wood chip fire had spread to the play structure, causing significant damage.

Arson investigators responded, and the three youngsters were located within an hour. The children remained in the custody of their guardians.

Fire officials noted that the Firefighters Burn Institute sponsors the Juvenile Fire Setters Program, designed to educate juveniles about the dangers associated with setting fires. For more information about the program, call (888) 452-7233 or go to www.firesetter.com.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Queenie Wong
qwong@sacbee.com

Firefighters have contained multiple grass fires that burned about 250 acres near Rancho Cordova on Monday afternoon, according to fire officials.

The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection personnel used about 35 pieces of equipment, including bulldozers and helicopters, to battle a series of six grass fires near Grant Line Road and White Rock Road, said Capt. Christian Pebbles, Sac Metro district spokesman. The fires were contained at 5:25 p.m. after they merged into four fires.

Pebbles said that it is "very unusual" to have that many fires burning next to one another, and they are currently investigating the cause of the fires.

Two outbuildings were reported to have been damaged by the fires, but no injuries have been reported, Pebbles said.

Anyone with information about the fire should call the Metro Fire's Arson Tip Line at (916) 566-4320.

Call The Bee's Queenie Wong, (916) 321-1008.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

An Olivehurst man has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for possession of child pornography.

Douglas William Howay, 31, pleaded guilty March 19. Friday, U.S. District Judge Edward J. Garcia sentenced him to eight years and two months in prison followed by a 10-year term of supervised probation, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

According to court documents, in 2008, undercover detectives in Chesterfield County, Va., posed as a 13-year-old girl and communicated online with Howay through a Yahoo chat room. At the time, Howay was an airman stationed at Beale Air Force Base in Yuba County. He was arrested Sept. 12, 2008 while he was online with the Virginia detectives.

A forensic search of Howay's computer and other computer equipment found 399 visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, the news release says. The forensic search also discovered that Howay had communicated in explicit sexual terms with people who identified themselves as minors.

Howay separated from the military following his arrest and is no longer a member of the armed forces, according to the news release.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

The Folsom Lake Marina at Brown's Ravine is boosting security after expensive speakers and amplifiers were taken from boats in a string of thefts.

Ken Christensen, marina manager, said about 15 boats have been hit in a little more than a month. Some were moored and others were in dry storage at the marina.

Christensen said the thieves have targeted boats with high-quality speakers and amplifiers, while ignoring other items of value.

The marina has 24-hour security but is installing more lights and wireless security cameras. A major problem has been people failing to close gates, but Christensen said new gates will automatically close.

Folsom Lake Marina has 675 boats in mooring slips and an additional 175 in dry storage.

Christensen said the marina staff is working with State Parks rangers and the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department to try to catch the thieves. He urged anyone with information to call the marina at (916) 933-1300.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

KCRA: Thieves hit Folsom Lake boats

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

The Willows woman whose lane change led to the traffic wreck that took the life of Sacramento sheriff's Deputy Kelley Allen Lara last year pleaded no contest to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter today and was sentenced to 150 hours of community services.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Gary Ransom imposed the sentence as a result of the plea agreement worked out between the District Attorney's Office and the lawyer for defendant Stacy Lynn Taylor.

Sacramento prosecutors said in a press release that there was no evidence that Taylor exhibited any reckless or aggravated disregard for the safety of others in the Aug. 6, 2009, incident, in which Lara was killed while driving to work. Those are the elements that would have been needed to sustain a felony case against the 22-year-old defendant.

Taylor also had been charged in the case with felony hit and run, but the DA's news release said there was reasonable doubt whether the woman was involved in the wreck and whether she knew she was involved.

Some 17 friends and relatives of Lara, a 43-year-old mother of four, wrote letters to the court extolling the career of the 15-year sheriff's veteran and asking the judge to impose as stiff a term as possible on Taylor.

Her husband, Don Lara, called Taylor's driving a "willful, careless and criminal act."

Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.

Previous coverage:

Marcos Breton: On simple trips, tragedy can lurk - Aug. 12, 2009

Sacramento County deputy who died in crash was born to the job - Aug. 11, 2009

'We're so sorry,' says mother of suspect in Sacramento deputy's fatal crash - Aug. 8, 2009

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Keoudone Noy Phaouthoum of Sacramento has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine.

Phaouthoum, 37, is one of 51 defendants charged in nine related indictments that stem from a 13-month federal investigation with connections to six different states, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release. He entered the plea Friday before U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr.

Phaouthoum is alleged to have organized one of the four drug rings that federal and state investigators dismantled in August 2008.

As a result of the investigation, officers seized several pounds of methamphetamine, more than 15 firearms, six marijuana grow houses, 13,000 Ecstasy pills and a methamphetamine lab capable or producing 10 to 20 pounds of pure methamphetamine every 24 to 48 hours, officials said. Investigators also seized approximately $890,000 in alleged criminal assets over the course of the investigation.

Phaouthoum is to be sentenced Oct. 15.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

The body of a man has been recovered from the Folsom South Canal.

The body was spotted floating in the canal near Sunrise Boulevard and Florin Road. A Department of Reclamation employee reported the body floating in the water to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department about 11 a.m.

A dive team has recovered the body, a sheriff's spokesman said. It is not known how the man drowned, according to the sheriff's department.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

All four Sacramento firefighters injured when a home exploded in Oak Park on July 5 have returned home from the hospital.

Firefighter Jeff Coats was released at about 10 a.m. today. Michael Feyh was released Sunday night.

Firefighters Dave Storck and Scott McKinney previously had been released from UC Davis Medical Center.

The firefighters were responding to a routine gas-leak call when the home exploded, burning all four men.

Cause of the explosion, which fire officials say was deliberate, remains under investigation.

PG&E officials say they detected no gas leak in their pipes.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

Previous coverage:

Firefighter hurt in home explosion leaves hospital - July 12, 2010

Firefighter recalls explosion chaos - July 10, 2010

Sacramento firefighters injured in home explosion recovering - July 7, 2010

Oak Park home explosion injures 4 firefighters, terrifies neighbors - July 6, 2010

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Sacramento firefighters discovered more than 200 marijuana plants growing in three rooms of a south Sacramento house after they extinguished a fire there Sunday night.

The fire was in a home on the 5900 block of Sawyer Circle near Franklin Boulevard and Calvine Road.

The fire appears to have been the result of an illegally bypassed utility meter, said Sacramento police, who placed responsibility on the home's occupants.

Bypassing house meters has been discovered in other indoor pot-growing operations. It is done so the high energy consumption of grow lamps is not revealed on utility bills.

Police have not identified suspects.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

KCRA: Fire reveals indoor pot farm

By Bill Lindelof and Matt Kawahara
blindelof @sacbee.com

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office has released the names of two people who were killed Sunday in an Elk Grove car crash.

Dead are Ying Yang, 44, who was driving the car, and Blia Moua, 80, a passenger. Both victims were from Sacramento.

Yang apparently lost control of his car, a Honda, which went off an embankment from eastbound Elk Grove Boulevard and landed on Highway 99, where it collided with a pickup truck in a southbound lane, Elk Grove police spokesman Christopher Trim said.

Trim said the Honda flipped and Moua was partially ejected from the passenger seat. A child in the pickup's passenger seat suffered minor injuries.

Call The Bee's Matt Kawahara, (916) 321-1015.

By Chelsea Phua and Bill Lindelof
cphua@sacbee.com

A 14-year-old Nevada girl who was killed in what authorities said was a random shooting at an Arden Arcade party on Sunday night was looking forward to joining the cheerleading team as a high school freshman, her mother said.

"Dancing came easy to her," Nikia Johnson said during a phone interview from her home in Sparks, Nev., this morning, talking about her only daughter, Lanajah Nachelle Dupree (left).

Dupree had a 9-year-old brother, and she made breakfast for him, walked him home from school and took him skating.

Another teen, 17, was shot in the arm and upper body during Sunday's violence and is expected to survive, authorities say.

The shooting occurred after 10 p.m. during a party for people younger that 21 at Venue 4 Rent at 2906 Auburn Blvd. When deputies arrived at 10:17 p.m. they found Dupree lying in the doorway of the party venue. She had been shot once in the upper body.

Dupree died shortly after being transported by ambulance to a hospital.

Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman Tim Curran said about 200 people were partying in the hall when an argument started.

Security guards hired for the event started moving attendees outside in an attempt to calm the crowd. The shooter, described as a male wearing dark clothing, was standing near the street.

Detectives believe that the shooter had attended the party, Curran said, but the Venue 4 Rent manager, Kevin Kennedy, disputed that.

He said the promoter had hired armed security guards, who had denied entry to some "thug-type individuals" earlier that night.

Authorities say the gunman fired his weapon into the air before shooting into the crowd, which had moved to the parking lot, Curran said. The assailant was last seen walking west on Auburn Boulevard.

Authorities say they don't think the shooter targeted the victims, and it is unclear what fueled the argument or if it was related to the shooting, Curran said.

Curran said authorities don't know if the suspect is younger than 21 because they are unsure how closely security personnel had checked IDs.

Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detectives at (916) 874-5057 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-4357.

Staff writer Matt Kawahara, researcher Pete Basofin and online content developer Nathaniel Miller contributed to this report.

Bee staff

Sacramento County sheriff's detectives arrested Isaac Martinez, 19, and booked him into the main jail Saturday for the slaying of 22-year-old Damien Burkholder earlier that day.

Shortly before 5 a.m. Saturday, Rancho Cordova police found Burkholder with multiple gunshot wounds in an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Laurelhurst Drive. Paramedics took him to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The Sheriff's Department reported finding the man suspected of killing him 12 hours later at a house on Ford Road.

Witnesses told authorities they heard an argument and then gun shots. Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran reported that homicide detectives believe Martinez and Burkholder got into an argument over a woman, and that Martinez pulled out a pistol and shot Burkholder.

The department asks that people with information about the homicide call detectives at (916) 874-5057.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department released additional information today on the suspect arrested Friday in connection with a kidnapping on Fair Oaks Boulevard in Carmichael.

Cuahetemoc Rangel "Sergio" Leon, 27, was booked into the main county jail today and is facing charges of kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, domestic violence and discharging a firearm in a grossly negligent manner, according to a release from Sgt. Tim Curran.

Bail is $175,000.

Leon (photo right), initially identified as Leon Cuahutemoc, was arrested Friday after an Amber Alert had been triggered.

He had been thought to have kidnapped his girlfriend and a 3-year-old from an apartment at 8740 Fair Oaks Blvd. on Friday morning. Witnesses said he used force and fired shots, though he did not aim at the victim.

The report turned out to be false regarding the child, but the woman was with Leon when he was captured.

Leon was apprehended near Susanville at the Honey Run rest stop.

Call The Bee's Carlos Alcalá, (916) 321-1987.

Previous stories:

Man suspected of kidnapping is arrested - July 9, 2010
Amber Alert issued after 3-year-old girl, woman kidnapped in Carmichael - July 9, 2010

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

Fire investigators are looking into a suspicious fire near Excelsior and Gerber roads in Sacramento County. It had threatened homes in the Vineyard housing subdivision Friday evening.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District arrived at the fast-moving grass fire at about 7 p.m. It took 24 firefighters about 20 minutes to subdue the fire.

Officials were unable to determine an accidental cause for the fire, which started in the middle of a field, and are treating it as having been intentionally set, said Capt. Christian Pebbles.

Anyone with information on this fire is asked to call Metro Fire's Arson Tip Line at (916) 566-4320.

Call The Bee's Carlos Alcalá, (916) 321-1987.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

Sacramento coroner's officials have identified the victim of this morning's Rancho Cordova shooting as Damien Burkholder, 22, of Sacramento.

Rancho Cordova police found Burkholder suffering from multiple gunshot wounds when they responded to a call in the 3000 block of Laurelhurst Drive at 4:46 a.m.

He was discovered lying on a walkway between apartment buildings and transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Residents told investigators they had heard an argument followed by shots and saw a suspect in dark clothing get into a dark colored sedan and drive from the scene.

Sacramento Sheriff's Department detectives are investigating the crime, but officials have not identified a suspect nor established a motive for the shooting.

Call The Bee's Carlos Alcalá, (916) 321-1987.

View Larger Map

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Activities that two Placer County men considered "rough-housing" with young children has earned them jail terms for physically abusing a 10-year-old boy and 5-year-old girl.

Barr	Swan

Jason Anthony Barr, 29, of Colfax and his ex-roommate, Mark Alan Swan, 30, were each sentenced to more than one year in Placer County Jail and four years of probation for conduct that included sitting on the boy's chest while play wrestling. Barr and Swan each weighs more than 200 pounds.

The men also tied up the youngster with duct tape, blew marijuana smoke into his face and rubbed "Icy Hot," a pain-relief medication, on his body, including private areas, according to a Placer District Attorney's Office news release.

The boy's 5-year-old sister also was subjected to Icy Hot rubbed on her arm and to liquid soap squirted into her mouth for reportedly saying a bad word.

Barr, who was the boyfriend of the children's mother, was the youngsters' legal guardian and Swan was his roommate, according to the news release.

The county's Child Protective Services contacted the Sheriff's Department in February regarding possible child abuse.

The two men were originally charged with felony torture, which could have resulted in life sentences. Each initially entered not guilty pleas, but on Tuesday they pleaded no contest to eight misdemeanor charges. They were sentenced Friday by Placer County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Penney.

The charges included two counts each of cruelty to a child, false imprisonment, corporal injury to a child and assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury.

Prosecutor Estelle Tansey of the Placer County District Attorney's Office said the no-contest pleas will spare the children having to testify in court. She said the original felony count of torture was dismissed because of insufficient evidence.

Judge Penney sentenced Barr and Swan to one year in county jail, a term that does not include 39 days that Barr was in jail in March and April and 111 days that Swan has spent in jail. Both men waived their rights to appeal their sentences, and both were ordered by the judge to have no contact with the children, who are in foster care.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com

Hubert Rotteveel, the prominent Dixon real estate salesman who was arrested last week after a pair of bank robberies in Woodland and West Sacramento, pled not guilty Friday to criminal charges in Yolo County Superior Court.

With family members in attendance, Rotteveel, 47, waived the reading of the charges in court, which included one count of burglary and one count of robbery, according to his attorney, Tom Johnson of Sacramento.

The next court hearing was set for July 20.

Rotteveel was a member of the UCLA's national championship soccer team in 1985 and was formerly a general manager of the Sacramento Knights professional indoor soccer team.

He had built a thriving real estate business in recent years, but filed for bankruptcy protection last year.

Call The Bee's Hudson Sangree, (916) 321-1191.

Photo caption: Hubert Rotteveel at his arraignment at the Superior Court of California, County of Yolo, Friday afternoon. Photo by Manny Crisostomo

By Cathy Locke and Kim Minugh
clocke@sacbee.com

The man sought in a kidnapping that generated an Amber Alert this morning has been taken into custody after a California Highway Patrol officer spotted the suspect's vehicle at the Honey Lake rest stop near Susanville.

Sacramento Sheriff's Department spokesman Tim Curran said Leon Cuahutemoc, 27, was arrested about 1:30 p.m. He allegedly had kidnapped an 18-year-old woman, believed to be his girlfriend, from her apartment at 8740 Fair Oaks Blvd. shortly before 10 a.m. She was with Cuahutemoc when he was caught and was reported to be in good condition.

Curran said a report that a 3-year-old girl had been kidnapped along with the woman turned out to be false. He said both Cuahutemoc and the woman will be returned to Sacramento County.

Cuahutemoc is accused of kidnapping the woman at gunpoint. He allegedly fired several shots, although deputies do not believe he was targeting the woman, before forcing her into a car described as a pink Lincoln Cadillac.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Cathy Locke and Kim Minugh
clocke@sacbee.com

A 35-year-old Pollock Pines man died this morning when his truck ran off the road and crashed into a tree.

The crash was reported just after 5 a.m. on Sly Park Road near Cedarwood Lane. The victim's name has not been released pending notification of family.

Officer Terry Pedretti, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol in Placerville, said the man was alone in the 2005 Toyota Tacoma pickup and there were no witnesses to the crash.

"He ran off the road straight into an oak tree," Pedretti said.

The officer said the vehicle's airbag deployed, but the man was not wearing a seat belt.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

Closing arguments began today in Sacramento Superior Court in the second-degree murder trial of a man accused of shaking his 6-month-old baby to death two years ago.

Deputy District Attorney Rochelle Hao told jurors that Kevin Harper, who worked the graveyard shift as a stocker at a Wal-Mart store, grew frustrated when his son, Jaden, woke him as he tried to sleep during the day. The prosecutor said the 26-year-old defendant lost control just long enough to kill his child.

"He was a healthy, thriving baby boy until Aug. 21, 2008, when something horrible happened," Hao said. "He was left with someone who was supposed to care for him. He was left with someone he should have been able to trust. He was left with his father, Kevin Harper, who murdered him."

Assistant Public Defender Sue Karlton argued that the baby, who was born prematurely, had a bleeding disorder almost from the time he entered the world, and that he had been taken to the emergency room twice in the months before he died because blood was found in his stool and in his vomit. There had never been any indication in the boy's prior hospital visits that he had been subject to child abuse, Karlton said.

"The proof here is that this child was bleeding and had been bleeding throughout his entire short life," Karlton told the jury.

An autopsy showed that Jaden Harper died of blunt head and neck trauma due to "shaken impact," Hao told the jury. Karlton disputed the coroner's findings, saying that "these dinky little bruises" found on the boy's body were not consistent with anybody shaking him or slamming him against a hard surface.

Hao is scheduled to give her rebuttal argument early this afternoon, before Judge Michael W. Sweet instructs the jury and sends jurors to deliberate.

Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.

By Ed Fletcher
efletcher@sacbee.com

Authorities arrested Sheldon Watson, 45, Thursday evening in connection with two Elk Grove robberies.

The most recent robbery Watson is accused of perpetrating is the July 6 robbery of the U.S. Bank at 5000 Laguna Boulevard. Witnesses said the robber presented a note demanding money and gave the teller a white plastic bag. The teller gave the man an undisclosed sum of U.S. currency and the man rose away on a metallic green "cruiser" style bicycle.

Watson, of Elk Grove, is also accused of the June 16 robbery of the Walgreens at 7299 Laguna Boulevard.

He was booked into Sacramento County jail on two felony counts of robbery.

Call The Bee's Ed Fletcher, (916) 321-1269.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

Authorities have issued an Amber Alert for a 3-year-old girl who, along with an 18-year-old woman, were kidnapped at gunpoint by man believed to be the woman's boyfriend.

Officials have identified the suspect as 27-year-old Leon Cuahutemoc.

Shortly before 10 a.m., Cuahutemoc went to the woman's apartment at 8740 Fair Oaks Boulevard and allegedly "took her forcefully from the apartment," said sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran.

He fired several shots, though deputies do not believe he was targeting the woman, Curran said.

He then allegedly forced her into a car described as a pink Lincoln Continental or a Cadillac, Curran said. They were last seen heading westbound on Fair Oaks.

A 3-year-old girl also is in the car, according to the Amber Alert. Curran said it's unclear whether the girl is Cuahutemoc's child from another relationship or the couple's child.

The 3-year-old is described as a Hispanic girl with brown hair and brown eyes, according to the alert.

The adult victim is described as a white woman, 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 180 pounds, Curran said. She has blonde hair and blue eyes and was last seen wearing a white shirt and pink pants.

The suspect is described as a Hispanic man, 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighing 200 pounds, Curran said. He has brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Department at (916) 874-5115 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP.

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

The man stabbed to death in an Orangevale home Monday has been identified as 39-year-old Troy Allan Wheeler, according to the Sacramento County Coroner's Office.

Sacramento County sheriff's detectives said that Wheeler, a woman and the couple's baby were staying in a home in the 6800 block of Hazel Avenue when Wheeler apparently got into an argument with 19-year-old Billy Ray James.

The home belongs to James' uncle.

Detectives allege that James grabbed a knife during the argument and stabbed Wheeler, who was later pronounced dead at the scene.

James was arrested on suspicion of murder, according to sheriff's officials.

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

If Sacramentans were upset with the Johannes Mehserle verdict Thursday night, they appear to have acted responsibly.

Sacramento police report no there were problems overnight in the Capital City - not even any protests, said Officer Konrad von Schoech.

When a Los Angeles judge announced Thursday afternoon that there was a verdict in the murder trial of former BART officer Mehserle, Sacramento police, like many other California law enforcement agencies, were preparing for trouble.

Day shift officers were asked to stay on shift a little longer while swing shift officers returned to the station to pair up in cars. Officials said they weren't expecting any problems in Sacramento, but wanted to take extra precaution.

Officers also were told to limit self-initiated activity so that there would be sufficient help available if problems arose.

They didn't.

"It was business as usual for us last night," von Schoech said.

A jury convicted Mehserle of involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting 22-year-old Oscar Grant as the unarmed man was prone on the ground at a BART stop. Jurors concluded Mehserle acted recklessly but did not intend to kill Grant.

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

Auburn police are searching for two suspects who robbed a woman at gunpoint early this morning, according to a news release.

About 12:30 a.m., two unknown male suspects forced their way into a Dorer Drive apartment, confronted a woman with a semi-automatic handgun and demanded to know where she kept her "pills," the release states.

She complied, and the suspects fled on foot with the pills and the victim's cell phone, the release states.

The victim was not harmed.

The suspects were described only as male subjects dressed in black and wearing ski masks, the release states.

The Auburn Police Department can be reached at (530) 823-4237.

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.

By Chelsea Phua and Kim Minugh
cphua@sacbee.com

Sacramento County Sheriff's officials said they have found the 2-month-old boy whose father reportedly refused to return the child to his mother, who has custody of him.

Earlier Friday, detectives found little Cody Andrew Thompson and his father, 27-year-old Tommy Erick Mitchell, at a motel in the Auburn area, authorities said. The baby appeared well, according to a news release.

Detectives detained and interviewed Mitchell, then released him. Detectives will submit a report to the district attorney's office for prosecutors to decide whether to file charges against Mitchell.

Sgt. Tim Curran said in the release that the 2-month-old was returned to his mother, who lives in Los Angeles with her three other young children.

Cody's mother and father had been estranged, but recently decided in a meetup in San Francisco that they would get back together and raise the children together in the Sacramento area, Curran said.

Cody's mother left him with Mitchell while she flew back to Los Angeles to pick up her other children, Curran said. But when the two spoke Wednesday, Mitchell had changed his mind about getting back together and said he wouldn't give back Cody.

Cody's mother contacted police in Roseville and Stockton and asked them to look for Cody in the homes of Mitchell's relatives, but officers did not find him, Curran said. The next day, Cody's mother flew to Sacramento and reported the issue to sheriff's deputies working at the airport.

Cody's mother said she intends to return to Los Angeles and does not plan to reconcile with Mitchell.

Call The Bee's Chelsea Phua, (916) 321-1132.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

The California Highway Patrol is reporting a possible fatality in the Placerville area, according to dispatchers.

A Toyota Tacoma pickup truck crashed into a tree on Sly Park Road near Cedarwood Lane just after 5 a.m., the report states.

The truck's driver, the only person in the vehicle, appears to have been killed in the collision, according to a dispatcher.

The coroner is responding to the scene. Check back later for updates.

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A Woodland man has received four consecutive life sentences plus 17 years and four months in state prison for the 2009 kidnapping and attempted robbery of a father and his three young sons.

Paul Alexander Hinojosa Jr., 31, was sentenced Wednesday by Yolo County Superior Court Judge David Rosenberg, according to a news release from the Yolo County District Attorney's Office.

A Yolo County jury on March 15 convicted Hinojosa of multiple kidnapping, carjacking and child endangerment offenses, the release states.

The release gave this chain of events:

On May 2, 2009, Hinojosa asked a man, a sympathetic stranger, for a ride home from K's Carwash in Woodland.

Once in the car with the man and his three children, Hinojosa pulled out a gun and demanded money, threatening to kill the man if his demands weren't met.

Hinojosa also threatened to kill everyone in the victim's household if the man reported the incident to police.

The children were able to escape when their father distracted Hinojosa by grabbing the muzzle of what was determined to be a replica firearm. The two fought over the gun before Hinojosa got out of the car and fled.

Hinojosa ran to a nearby home where the residents, also strangers to Hinojosa, detained him until police arrived.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Chelsea Phua
cphua@sacbee.com

Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness plans to close two inmate housing facilities at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center in Elk Grove as part of the department's efforts to close its budget deficit, officials said.

Department spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran said the Roger Bauman Facility, which houses about 150 men and the Sandra Larson Women's Facility, which houses about 148 women, are scheduled for the closing.

The men will be moved to other inmate housing facilities at the correctional center.

The women will be evaluated for "alternative sentencing" programs, which would include the Sheriff Department's work release and home detention programs. The women who do no qualify for an alternative sentencing program will be transferred to the Sacramento County Main Jail to serve the rest of their sentences.

The move is expected to be completed by July 18.

"The value of closing those facilities sets into motion a series of personnel moves that ultimately saves in the neighborhood of $5 million," Curran said.

Relocation will affect the inmate's visitation schedules. To find out the new housing locations for inmates, click on "inmate information" on the department's website at www.sacsheriff.com.

Call The Bee's Chelsea Phua, (916) 321-1132.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A neighborhood watch group in Sacramento's Meadowview area will sponsor a fundraising barbecue this weekend to help fight crime by installing cameras on a neighborhood street.

Regina An Lam will hold the two-day event at her home at 1958 Bonavista Way. The barbecue and other activities, including presentations and demonstrations by Sacramento Police and Fire departments, are scheduled from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

An Lam said she started Neighborhood Watch on her street with three other people five years ago. Since then, participation has expanded to neighboring streets and more than 400 people.

Last year, she said, they raised funds for Neighborhood Watch signs. This year's goal is to raise at least $2,000 to install surveillance cameras on Bonavista Way as a means to combat crime. Next year, An Lam said, they hope to fund speed bumps.

With budget cuts for police and fire service, she said, it is important that residents shoulder more responsibility for neighborhood security.

A donation of $5 per person is requested for the barbecue.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A federal grand jury in Sacramento today indicted a South Lake Tahoe woman for wire fraud in connection with an investment fraud scheme.

According to the indictment, Lori Zoval, 45, was a licensed securities broker with a firm in Folsom and used her position of trust to steal more than $439,000 from a couple for whom she managed investments, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Zoval allegedly spent the stolen funds at casinos, restaurants and nail salons, as well as on gasoline, groceries and other personal expenses, without the knowledge or consent of the victims.

To conceal the fraud, shed allegedly created false documents, many of which she forged and had notarized, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

Zoval also is accused of sending the victims false and misleading account statements.

Zoval is scheduled for arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

Sacramento police say they are prepared for any local turmoil in the wake of the Mehserle trial verdict, but that they don't expect any problems.

"We want to be prepared in case something does happen," said Officer Konrad von Schoech, a department spokesman. But he added: "We have trust in the community ... This has nothing to do with Sacramento."

Former BART Officer Johannes Mehserle was convicted by a Los Angeles jury today of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant III, who was unarmed and prone when Mehserle shot the 22-year-old in the back on a BART platform on New Year's Day 2009.

The verdict was read shortly after 4 p.m. In anticipation, Sacramento police officers working the day shift were asked to stay on patrol as swing shift officers returned to their stations to double up.

Von Schoech said officers are on alert, but optimistic.

"We don't expect anything to happen here in the city," he said.

Sacramento County Sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran said his agency has taken no special precautions in light of the verdict.

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A judge today sentenced former prostitute Carolyn Marie Simmons to 15 years to life in prison for bludgeoning a man to death after a sex transaction in 1991.

Simmons, 54, was convicted of second-degree murder on April 5 in the death of Richard Jackson, 66. Prosecutors said she killed Jackson on June 16, 1991, because he didn't pay her quickly enough.

In sentencing Simmons, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Maryanne G. Gilliard noted that the defendant had 17 criminal convictions that dated to the 1970s -- mostly for drugs, theft and prostitution -- and continued for 14 years after she killed Jackson.

"She's engaged in what I'd refer to as a one-woman crime spree," Gilliard said.

Simmons was arrested in January 2009 when her son went to the police and told them he had information that his mother killed a man.

Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.

Previous coverage:

Sacramento County jury gets '91 murder case - March 30, 2010

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

A discount cigarette shop on Mack Road is closed after selling tobacco to a minor three years ago, authorities say.

Discount Cigarettes is shuttered until July 21 after city officials suspended the store's license to sell tobacco following a long appeals process started by the owner, a Sacramento Police Department news release states.

A store clerk was caught selling tobacco products to a minor during a sting operation by Sacramento police on April 28, 2007, the release states. Three days later, city code enforcement officials served the store's owner with notice of a 30-day suspension, which the owner appealed.

The long appeals process ultimately ended in the 3rd District Court of Appeals, where the store owner exhausted all of his appeals on June 10, the release states.

The 30-day suspension began June 21.

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.

By Deia de Brito
ddebrito@sacbee.com

Roseville police are looking for a man who robbed two banks inside of a Sunrise Avenue grocery stores in the past two months, according to a police department news release.

The suspect was caught on video both times, once wearing a shirt with the word "security" on it, and the other time in a San Francisco Giants shirt. He was wearing a black baseball cap during both robberies. He was identified as a white male in his 30s or 40s, 6 feet tall with a medium build, brown hair and a handlebar mustache.

On May 14, the suspect robbed River City Bank, inside the Bel Air supermarket on 1039 Sunrise Avenue, and rode away on a mountain bike. A month later, he robbed a U.S. Bank branch inside the Safeway on 898 Sunrise Avenue.

In the robberies, which occurred on May 14 and June 22, the suspect demanded money by handing a note to the teller. Police say no weapons were brandished and no one was injured.

Anyone who recognizes this man or has information about these crimes 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.

Call The Bee's Deia de Brito, (916) 321-1087.

Photos courtesy of Roseville Police Department.

By Deia de Brito
ddebrito@sacbee.com

A one-alarm fire that burned a south Sacramento home early this morning has been contained, Sacramento Fire Department officials said.

The fire that began in the garage of a house on the 6500 block of Golf View Drive near 50th Avenue killed two dogs, one of which was the mother of four puppies. The owner saved the puppies as he left the house, Capt. Jim Doucette said. Animal control collected the two deceased animals.

Firefighters requested Red Cross assistance for the three people who were displaced because of the fire. The residents were unhurt.

One firefighter suffered a minor injury and was taken to the hospital.

A hazardous materials team was called to the scene to investigate whether water used to extinguish the fire had entered the storm drain.

Investigators are trying to determine the fire's cause.

"(The house) didn't burn to the ground, but it's damaged enough so that people can't live in it," said Doucette.

Call The Bee's Deia de Brito, (916) 321-1087.

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By Deia de Brito
ddebrito@sacbee.com

A minimum-security inmate escaped from a Nevada County correctional facility last night, according to a news release from the state department of corrections and rehabilitation.

Jeffery Shook, 36, was last seen at Washington Ridge, a conservation camp in Nevada City.

Staff searched the area around the camp for Shook, and notified local law enforcement agencies and the California Highway Patrol, who are also looking for the escapee.

Anyone having information about or knowledge of Shook's whereabouts should contact the California Correctional Center Watch Commander at (530) 257-2181, extension 4173, or Washington Ridge Conservation Camp at (530) 265-4623.

Call The Bee's Deia de Brito, (916) 321-1087.

By Deia de Brito
ddebrito@sacbee.com

The intersection of El Camino and Eastern avenues is the site of the region's latest red light photo-enforcement camera system. Its testing period began at 12:01 a.m. today.

Installed by the Sacramento Metropolitan Red Light Photo Enforcement Detail, the camera will catch red-light violators and mail them a warning notice, according to a news release from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.

The non-punitive warnings will become $436 citations starting Aug. 7. A website will be available for violators to review their transgressions in photo or video form.

The sheriff's department reports that red-light related crashes have dropped by 76 percent in photo-enforced intersections since the start of the program.

Call The Bee's Deia de Brito, (916) 321-1087.

By Deia de Brito
ddebrito@sacbee.com

Heavy black smoke billowed up from under the roll-up door of a Sacramento auto repair shop early this morning in a two-alarm blaze, a fire department new release said.

Two firefighter crews entered Qualiti Break and Tune, 401 16th Street, and put out the flames of a car that was engulfed in flames and completely destroyed. The building and its contents were spared, and no one was injured.

Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire.

Call The Bee's Deia de Brito, (916) 321-1087.

KCRA: Blaze damages auto repair shop

By Deia de Brito
ddebrito@sacbee.com

Four teens were taken to hospitals just before midnight Wednesday after a night of drug and alcohol use - and forgotten seat belts, Folsom police reported.

Officers arrived at the gated Hillcrest community to find two males and one female between the ages of 16 and 17 ejected from a crushed Ford Explorer. The unlicensed driver, a 17-year old male, was found gripping the steering wheel, his seat belt still on, when police arrived. He suffered minor injuries. Police say he was the only one wearing a seat belt.

The three passengers, on the other hand, were reported to be in serious conditions at 3:30 this morning.

Investigators found broken bottles of whiskey, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia along a slope where the vehicle rolled. Investigators said alcohol and possibly drugs had likely caused the accident.

The driver was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs causing serious injury and booked at the Sacramento Juvenile Hall.

Investigators said the sport-utility vehicle had been speeding north on Heritage Place when the driver swerved onto a sidewalk and lost control. The vehicle landed upright across after rolling northbound across empty lots parallel to the roadway.

All names are being withheld because the suspect and victims are minors.

Call The Bee's Deia de Brito, (916) 321-1087.

Photo courtesy of Folsom Police Department.

By Chelsea Phua
cphua@sacbee.com

A man suspected of robbing eight banks last month and early this week in Sacramento has been arrested, police said.

Authorities said Dewitt Turrentine, 37, was arrested Wednesday night near Del Paso Boulevard and El Camino Avenue.

Police had been looking for Turrentine in connection with a series of bank robberies that happened on Alhambra Boulevard, Broadway and on Tuesday, at a bank in the 5600 block of Freeport Boulevard.

The suspect would enter the bank, demand the teller for money and flee on foot with an undisclosed amount of money in at least two cases.

Police earlier released a description of the bank robber and pictures captured by surveillance video.

Call The Bee's Chelsea Phua, (916) 321-1132.

By Chelsea Phua
cphua@sacbee.com

Two young men were shot Wednesday night in the southern part of Sacramento County, sheriff's officials said.

The victims, who are in their late teens or early 20s, suffered non-life threatening wounds, sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran said.

The drive-by shooting occurred on 68th Avenue near Power Inn Road, officials said.

One victim was struck in the arm, and the other in the leg, Curran said.

No suspect descriptions were available.

No other details were available.

Call The Bee's Chelsea Phua, (916) 321-1132.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Davis police have arrested a Richmond man in connection with a May 31 home invasion robbery.

Fernando Ochoa, 20, was booked into Yolo County Jail on June 30 on suspicion of armed robbery and burglary. During a search of his residence, detectives also seized cocaine and packaging material, according to a Davis Police Department news release issued today.

The home invasion robbery occurred in the 800 block of Anderson Road. Several armed individuals forced their way in through the door of the home and robbed the occupant, police said.

One man held the victim a gunpoint in the living room area, while the others gathered laptops and other personal electronic equipment, police said. The robbers then left the area in a Mazda sedan.

Police said detectives are continuing to investigate leads in the case.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

El Dorado County Sheriff's officials have recovered the body of Leon Wescombe, the Australian kayaker who had been missing in the Cosumnes River since mid-June.

Deputies and a dive team responded Saturday to a report that a fisherman had seen a body floating in the river.

Divers recovered the body about 100 yards downriver from where Wescombe had gone missing and a CHP helicopter flew the remains out.

After a coroner's examination, the body was identified as that of Wescombe, 29.

Wescombe had been with a kayaking group making its way through a treacherous section of the river. His fellow kayakers reported him entering a section of rapids but not exiting.

His kayak was later located lodged under water, without Wescombe.

Call The Bee's Carlos Alcalá, (916) 321-1987.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

Elk Grove police seek the public's help identifying a man suspected of robbing a U.S. Bank on Tuesday.

Just after 1 p.m., the suspect (left) presented a note demanding money from a teller at the U.S. Bank at 5000 Laguna Boulevard, an Elk Grove police news release states. The teller complied, putting an undisclosed amount of cash into a white plastic bag held by the suspect, the release states.

The suspect left the bank and mounted a metallic green cruiser-style bike, the release states.

The suspect is described as a black man about 30 years old, 5-feet-6 inches tall and weighing about 140 pounds, the release states. He has a short, full beard and was wearing a tan baseball cap, black hooded zip-up "sweat jacket," white shirt and light blue jeans.

Anyone with information is asked to call Elk Grove detectives at (916) 478-8060 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-4357. Tips also can be sent via text message to 274637, followed by "Tip732" and the tip information.

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.

By Barbara Barte Osborn
Bee correspondent

Fourteen Grass Valley residents were arrested for investigation of drug and other charges Tuesday following an investigation and sting operation.

The arrests followed a search by Nevada County Sheriff's officers at a home in the 300 block of First Street in Grass Valley.

The search turned up approximately 20 grams of methamphetamine, scales, packaging materials, morphine tablets, drug paraphernalia, $900 and a "Whizzinator," a device used to provide drug-free urine samples utilizing someone else's urine, according to a news release from Sheriff Keith Royal.

Arrested at the home for investigation of possession of a controlled substance and maintaining a residence for the use or sale of a controlled substance were Timothy Blankenship (top photo), 30; William Folden (bottom photo), 45; Christopher Wilson, 22, and Angelina Sinclair, 20.

Blankenship, Folden and Wilson were also arrested for investigation of possession of a controlled substance for sale.

Blankenship's arrest charges also included allegations of violation of probation and parole. Folden's included alleged violation of parole and being under the influence of a controlled substance.

During the search of the apartment, both Blankenship's and Folden's cellular phones continued to ring, Royal said in the release.

Ten of the callers were subsequently arrested after they arrived at the home, allegedly to make drug purchases.

"Due to the search warrant allowing officers to answer phones, an undercover officer spoke to numerous subjects who wanted to purchase methamphetamine," Royal said.

Arrested for allegedly being under the influence of a controlled substance were Devon Howell, 22; Patricia Atkinson, 38; Kenneth Greer, 30; Steven Spreadbury, 42; Dirk Schriner, 30; Don Lewis, 44; Millington Hendren, 53; and Jack Pepple, 59.

Greer was also arrested for investigation of possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.

Schriner's arrest charges included allegedly being out of compliance as a registered sex offender.

Lewis' charges additionally included allegedly being in possession of drug paraphernalia and destruction of evidence. Hendren also allegedly possessed drug paraphernalia.

Additionally, Donald Webb, 55, and April Heaton, 40, were arrested for alleged possession of a controlled substance and child endangerment.

Webb's and Heaton's 14-year-old son was turned over to Child Protective Services after witnessing his parents purchase methamphetamine from an undercover officer, Royal said.

On Wednesday afternoon, nine of those arrested remained in custody at the Wayne Brown Correctional Facility in Grass Valley and the others had been released on bail pending arraignment, said Donna Nelson of the Sheriff's Department.

Still in custody are Blankenship, Folden, Greer, Heaton, Lewis, Schriner, Sinclair, Webb and Wilson.

By Deia de Brito
ddebrito@sacbee.com

Galt police officers are investigating a robbery that occurred on June 20.

The victim told police he was walking on a dirt path near the area of Dry Creek and Highway 99 that afternoon when he was assaulted by four men who stole his wallet and medication, according to a news release from the Galt Police Department. No weapons were reported.

The first suspect (top sketch) is described as a dark-skinned Hispanic male in his late 20s, about 5-foot-10 with a stocky build, a mustache, goatee, and short, faded hair. He had a tattoo on his left arm and three dots tattooed near his right eye. He was wearing a blue and white striped polo shirt and black shorts.

The second suspect (bottom sketch) is described as a Caucasian male in his early 20s with shaggy brown hair and short unshaven facial hair. He was wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans. His name could be "Alex."

There were two other suspects but police say there is no further information about them.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Pittman at (209) 366-7000 or the Galt Area Crime Stoppers at 1-888-393-8477. Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards for anonymous tips.

Call The Bee's Deia de Brito, (916) 321-1087.

By Deia de Brito
ddebrito@sacbee.com

Efforts by local police departments to curb drunk driving continue this week with DUI checkpoints and saturation patrols in both Citrus Heights and in the Cal Expo area.

The Citrus Heights checkpoint, to be held at Madison Avenue and San Juan Avenue, will run from 7:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. The Cal Expo Police Department will conduct a saturation patrol within about a one-mile radius around the Cal Expo tomorrow night from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m.

A saturation patrol is a group of officers who patrol a certain area looking for signs of drunk driving, which include weaving, driving without headlights, and failing to stop at stop signs and red lights, said Cal Expo Lt. Dan Dailey.

The Cal Expo Police Department has been performing checkpoints and saturation patrols for several months. Like many area police departments, it received a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety that funds law enforcement agencies to reduce deaths and injuries caused by drunk drivers, Cal Expo Lt. Dan Dailey said.

"We're doing this to be a good neighbor," said Dailey. Cal Expo has had its fair share of drunk driving accidents, he said.

"It's an area identified through statistics as one that has a high rate of DUI collisions. It's a heavily trafficked area, a pass-through between downtown and East Sacramento," said Dailey.

Arden Way and Exposition Boulevard are particularly dangerous, he added.

Call The Bee's Deia de Brito, (916) 321-1087.

By Chelsea Phua
cphua@sacbee.com

Two teenage lifeguards saved the life of a 6-year-old girl at an Antelope community park swimming pool Tuesday afternoon, Sacramento County fire officials said.

Capt. Christian Pebbles of Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District said the girl went under water at about 3 p.m. at the Antelope Aquatic Complex near Palmerson Drive and Elverta Road.

When a citizen and the lifeguards pulled the girl out, she did not have a pulse, Pebbles said. She had been in nearly four feet of water.

The lifeguards - two unidentified teenage girls - performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the child for a few minutes and brought her back to life.

By the time firefighters arrived, the little girl was conscious, Pebbles said. They took her to Mercy San Juan Medical Center. She was later transferred to UC Davis Medical Center, officials said.

Fire authorities praised the quick action of the teenage lifeguards and their training.

"Sometimes accidents happen in the swimming pool," Pebbles said. "But when you have people in place and prepared, lives are saved."

Call The Bee's Chelsea Phua, (916) 321-1132.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Law enforcement agencies in a five-county area arrested 115 people for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol during Independence Day weekend.

Collaborative efforts in Sacramento, Placer, Yuba, Sutter and Colusa counties were part of a campaign involving sobriety checkpoints and DUI saturation patrols to reduce the number of traffic deaths and injuries caused by impaired drivers.

Between midnight Friday and midnight Monday, 59 DUI arrests were reported in Sacramento County, 33 in Placer County, and a total of 23 in Yuba, Sutter and Colusa counties. No deaths attributed to drunken drivers were reported in those areas.

Law enforcement officials plan to conduct more such efforts in partnership with a nationwide 18-day campaign in August ending with the Labor Day weekend.

Motorists are encouraged to report impaired or dangerous drivers by calling 911.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A Roseville business that serves children with disabilities is reeling from the second burglary in about a month.

Dayna Thomas, a speech therapist, and her husband, Joshua, own Jabbergym, with facilities in Roseville and Sacramento. Dayna Thomas said someone broke the front window of the business in a Roseville center in 100 block of North Sunrise Avenue sometime early Sunday morning.

"They took all of our computers, servers, scheduling tools, all of our software," she said today in a telephone interview

The burglars even took trash cans and the "sticker box" containing stickers youngsters use in play and therapy sessions.

Thomas said computer equipment was taken in a previous burglary, in which someone entered by breaking a window at the rear of the building.

Jabbergym, in operation in Roseville for six years, provides speech and physical therapy, primarily for infants and children age 5 and younger. Its services are funded in part by the state Department of Developmental Services and area school districts, Thomas said.

Jabbergym serves about 300 youngsters weekly, about 100 of them at the Roseville site. About 40 percent of the clients are children with autism, Thomas said.

Roseville Police Department spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther said police had taken reports on burglaries at Jabbergym on May 29 and Sunday. She said another business in the same complex on North Sunrise Avenue reported a burglary involving theft of a computer about the same time in May, as did a nearby Dimple Records store.

All are near the Douglas Boulevard-Sunrise Avenue intersection, which Gunther described as one of the busiest areas in the city, with easy access from Interstate 80.

Although the center in which Jabbergym is located has a night watchman, Thomas said she was having a new security system installed in hopes of preventing further burglaries.

"The first time, we thought it was just a random act of someone who was really in need," she said.

This time, she said, it seemed like an act of meanness.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A father sought by the Sacramento Police Department in a parental abduction case has returned his 2-year-old daughter unharmed. He was arrested.

Police said Andre Myles, 21, took his daughter, Harmony Myles, during a supervised visit June 18, according to a Sacramento Police Department news release.

The child's grandmother has legal custody of the youngster.

An arrest warrant had been issued for Myles for custodial interference.

Police said Myles brought the child to Police headquarters this afternoon.

Sacramento County jail booking records show Myles was being held this afternoon on suspicion of two felonies in connection with the alleged abduction on $250,000 bail.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A suspect in several area bank robberies is believed to have struck again today.

Sacramento police say Dewitt Turrentine (photo left), 37, is wanted in connection with at least one bank robbery and is believed to be responsible for six others as well.

Today a man entered a bank in the 5600 block of Freeport Boulevard at 12:44 p.m. and demanded money. No weapon was involved and the man, believed to be Turrentine, left on foot, according to a Sacramento Police Department news release.

Today, police said, he was wearing a black baseball cap, black T-shirt, blue jeans and a black backpack with a red stripe.

Turrentine was identified from bank surveillance photos in connection with robberies July 11 at a bank in the 1100 block of Alhambra Boulevard and June 15 in the 1300 block of Broadway, police said.

Anyone with information 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.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Bee Staff

Bee researcher Linda Beymer contributed to this report

A man who was convicted of killing one inmate at Folsom prison (and acquitted of killing a second inmate) is due a parole hearing.

Joseph Broughton, now 76, will get the hearing July 14 at the California men's Colony, according to the state Board of Parole Hearings.

A Sacramento Superior Court jury convicted Broughton of stabbing to death a fellow inmate at Folsom Prison in 1970, according to Bee reports.

Broughton, who was serving a life sentence for armed robbery from Marin County, killed Salvador Gandeera.

In a separate case, a jury acquitted Broughton of killing a second inmate in the prison's license-plate shop.

Broughton has a long criminal record going back to a 1957 conviction for assault with intent to commit murder in San Francisco.

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:

http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Divisions_Boards/BOPH/

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

Three firefighters burned in an explosion Monday likely will remain at the UC Davis Medical Center for a few more days, but are expected to make a full recovery, their doctor said today.

Meanwhile, authorities are still trying to figure out what caused the explosion, which crippled a vacant Oak Park home and injured four firefighters who had arrived to investigate a report of a possible gas leak.

One firefighter was treated and sent home from the medical center by the end of Monday; the other three remain there today.

Investigators have found physical evidence inside the house to indicate the blast was "a deliberate act," said Lloyd Ogan, who is serving as acting chief of the Sacramento Fire Department while Chief Ray Jones is on vacation.

Ogan declined to talk specifically about the evidence, other than to say it is evidence "you would not normally find in a vacant home."

The house is being treated as a "potential crime scene," Ogan said. However, who caused the explosion and how remains unclear, he said.

Speaking to reporters outside the medical center this afternoon, Dr. Tina Palmieri said the three firefighters remaining at the hospital are in stable condition after suffering burns to their hands and faces.

Palmieri, director of the hospital's burn unit and the firefighters' attending physician, said she only had permission to speak specifically about firefighter Scott McKinney's injuries.

She said he suffered second-degree burns that had penetrated the outer layer of his skin, but left the deeper layers of skin intact.

Palmieri said she expects all three firefighters to remain in the hospital a few more days so they can continue receiving intravenous pain medication while also getting therapy to help prepare them to get back to work.

Steven McKinney, Scott McKinney's father, praised the burn unit as "absolutely wonderful" and thanked his son's colleagues for their support.

"That's been very heartwarming," he said.

He asked that anyone with information about what led to the explosion to come forward.

"These firefighters could've been killed," Steven McKinney said. "Thank God that they're alive."

Capt. Jonathan Burgess read a statement from firefighter Michael Feyh, asking for privacy as he heals.

"We're appreciative and thankful for all of your support," Feyh said in the statement.

Anyone with information about the explosion is asked to call the arson tip line at (916) 808-8732.

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.

Previous coverage:

Oak Park home explosion injures 4 firefighters, terrifies neighbors - July 6, 2010

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A Rancho Cordova couple who left their 7-week-old baby in a car while they gambled at the Thunder Valley Casino near Lincoln have pleaded no contest to felony child abuse.

Thuan Huy Nguyen and Panfila Phu Phan, both 27, could face up to 90 days in jail and three years probation. They are scheduled for sentencing in Placer County Superior Court on Aug. 25.

The couple entered the new plea June 30 before Superior Court Judge Jeff Penney. The two previously had pleaded not guilty.

Nguyen and Phan were arrested April 13 on suspicion of leaving the baby unattended in their vehicle in a casino parking garage for about 2-1/2 hours. A security guard discovered the infant in the car.

The couple will be required to attend a one-year parenting class, according to prosecutor Joe McInerney of the Placer County District Attorney's Office.

If the parents are progressing well after the first 18 months of probation, they can apply to the court to have the felony conviction reduced to a misdemeanor, McInerney said in a District Attorney's Office news release.

In the meantime, the baby, now 5 months old, is in the custody of relatives and could eventually be returned to the parents, McInerney said.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Deia de Brito
ddebrito@sacbee.com

The Citrus Heights police department will conduct a DUI and driver's license checkpoint at Madison Ave. and San Juan Ave. on Friday. The checkpoint, which will run from 7:30 p.m. to 2 a.m., is part of an effort by the police department to lower the number of deaths and injuries caused by drunk driving, according to a press release from the department.

Several police departments have the same goal in mind. The Sacramento Police Department held a checkpoint Friday in Del Paso Heights. Five arrests were made, department officials said.

On Sunday, the holiday itself, three people were arrested for drunken driving by Sacramento police. The arrested included a driver who sped away after getting into a fight and a driver who hit a parked car and then crashed into a garage.

In 2008, nearly 8,000 people statewide were reported injured or killed during the months of June, July and August.

Call The Bee's Deia de Brito, (916) 321-1087.

By Ed Fletcher
efletcher@sacbee.com

Placer County Judge Joseph O'Flaherty likely will be disciplined again after a three-judge panel formally charged him with violating three judicial canons.

The panel held an evidentiary hearing April 27 and 28 in Sacramento and made public its finding on June 30.

The matter will now be heard by the State Commission on Judicial Performance. Acting in an appellate function, 11-member commission could do anything from dismissing the charges to removing O'Flaherty from the bench. The earliest it could take action is late August.

O'Flaherty will remain on the bench as the process moves forward, said Victoria Henley, chief counsel for the commission.

O'Flaherty was admonished by the commission in 2004 for inviting potential jurors who might be racially prejudiced to lie about why they couldn't serve.

Over the last decade, the commission has initiated 34 formal proceedings against California judges.

The latest charges stem from December 2008 small-claims case between Golden 1 Credit Union and car dealer Scott Herold. At the conclusion of the hearing, O'Flaherty issued a no contact order without proper due process.

In his response to the panel, O'Flaherty stated "that he does not believe he issued any type of restraining order ... but instead issued an admonishment" base on Herold's behavior.

Henley said the commission can take his earlier discipline into account.

Call The Bee's Ed Fletcher, (916) 321-1269.

Previous coverage:

Placer judge testifies in disciplinary hearing - April 28, 2010

Placer judge faces inquiry into abuse-of-authority claims - Feb. 11, 2010

By Deia de Brito
ddebrito@sacbee.com

An apparent road rage incident in Yolo County on Saturday afternoon left one man dead and his killer at large.

Jorge Gutierres, a 52-year-old resident of the Colusa County community of College City, was northbound on County Road 99 W near Dunnigan when authorities say a series of passing incidents led to his stabbing death.

A passenger in the victim's car told investigators that Gutierres, who was driving a Jeep Cherokee, passed a black Ford Mustang convertible, a Yolo County Sheriff's Department news release states. The Mustang and Jeep continued passing each other until the Mustang's driver stopped in front of Gutierres' Jeep and exited his car. After smashing Gutierres' window, the suspect stabbed the victim several times in the arm, authorities say.

The suspect returned to his car and resumed driving north on County Road 99 W. Witnesses said the suspect was accompanied by a passenger in the Mustang.

Yolo County sheriff's deputies and Dunnigan firefighters arriving at the scene of the assault found Gutierres in the driver's seat of the Jeep, suffering from several stab wounds to his left arm. He was transported by air to UC Davis Medical Center, where he later died.

The suspect was described as a Hispanic male, 30 to 40 years old, 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10, with dark hair in a buzz cut.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Yolo County Sheriff's Department at (530) 668-5280.

Call The Bee's Deia de Brito, (916) 321-1087.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

An 18-year-old man is in custody in connection with a fatal shooting at a July 4 party near Rutter Park, according to authorities.

Sacramento County sheriff's Major Crimes detectives arrested Imari Malik Powell at a Motel 6 in Oakland this morning, said sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran.

Powell was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on suspicion of murder, booking records show. He also had an outstanding warrant for making threats with a firearm, records show.

Powell is accused in the death of 21-year-old Dawayne Edward Douglas, who died after being shot at a large July 4 block party on the 7700 block of Scottsdale Drive, Curran said. Douglas ran from the scene and collapsed on Florinda Way. He died later at the hospital.

More than 300 people attended the party. Several partygoers told detectives they heard an argument, followed by multiple gunshots, authorities said.

Curran said the shooting might have stemmed from a prior dating relationship between Powell's mother and Douglas.

Powell is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, booking records show.

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.

By Deia de Brito
ddebrito@sacbee.com

Local residents are battling a fire that has burned for three days on Bradford Island, a Contra Costa County community not served by a specific firefighting organization.

No firefighters have fought the blaze, which has burned several structures and hundreds of acres in the Delta, published reports state.

The East Contra Costa County Fire department is the closest firefighting organization in the area, but dispatchers there say they have no obligation to respond.

"We are not responding to that fire," a Contra Costa County Fire Department dispatcher said. "It's an uncovered area."

Call The Bee's Deia de Brito, (916) 321-1087.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A Sacramento judge today ordered that Aaron Norman Dunn be executed by lethal injection for his 2006 shotgun killing spree in which he murdered two men who had just finished dining with their families in Elk Grove.

"It is the judgment and sentence of this court that you, Aaron Norman Dunn, should be put to death within the walls of San Quentin in the manner proscribed by law upon the date to be fixed by this court in the warrant of execution," Superior Court Judge Michael W. Sweet told the 32-year-old defendant.

Dunn (left) was convicted of murder April 13 in the March 25, 2006, slayings of Michael John Daly, 45, and Jon Johnson, 46. The two men were leaving popular Laguna Boulevard restaurants when they were killed by Dunn, who was distraught over the break-up of his marriage and had been ingesting methamphetamine.

The same jury that convicted Dunn voted on May 12 to recommend he face the death penalty. Dunn also was convicted of trying to kill four other people in the spree, two of whom were Elk Grove police officers.

Wearing a yellow jail T-shirt and flanked by three defense lawyers, Dunn remained silent but fiddled with a pencil at times during the sentencing hearing. At one point, he turned to look at Karen Johnson, the wife of victim Jon Johnson, who told the court, "Satan worked through that man that night."

Still, Johnson told the killer, "Aaron Dunn, I have forgiven you."

In a letter read to the court by Deputy District Attorney Scott Triplett, Daly's older sister, Dianne McGarry, refuted the defense contention that drugs, depression and a lousy upbringing combined to lead Dunn to murder.

McGarry said in her letter to Dunn that he had a choice in the events that have sent him to California's death row.

"Aaron Dunn, you have brought these consequences upon yourself with the actions you chose in March 25, 2006," McGarry wrote. She told Dunn in the letter, "You are truly a cold, ruthless killer."

Earlier in the hearing, Sweet rejected a defense motion to exercise "independent mercy" and refrain from sentencing Dunn to death.

The judge said the aggravating circumstances of the killings were "so horrendous" that they outweighed the defendant's problematic upbringing of a drug-abusing father and an indifferent, uncaring mother.

Sweet then delayed the sentencing hearing for a half hour while he read the probation report on Dunn that had been filed under seal.

Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.

KCRA: Widow: I've forgiven Aaron Dunn:

Previous coverage:

Jurors tell why they decided spree killer must die - May 13, 2010

Jurors still weighing fate of killer in Elk Grove spree - May 5, 2010

Jury weighs fate of Elk Grove killer of 2 men - April 30, 2010

Family describes killer's grim life - April 27, 2010

Victims' relatives tell of pain, loss at killer's sentencing hearing - April 23, 2010

Jury convicts man of gunning down 2 in Elk Grove - April 14, 2010

Jury deliberating fate of double-murder defendant Aaron Norman Dunn - April 13, 2010

Prosecutor, doctor spar over Elk Grove murder defendant's actions - April 8, 2010

Prosecutor eager to attack psychiatrist in Elk Grove shooting spree trial - April 7, 2010

Meth psychosis cited in killings; defendant's words cast doubt - April 6, 2010

Elk Grove cop testifies how she and partner stopped deadly rampage - March 17, 2010

Witnesses tell of lives shattered in deadly Elk Grove shooting spree - March 12, 2010

Prosecutor, defense attorneys agree suspect killed two people in Elk Grove - March 10, 2010

Elk Grove residents eligible for murder case jury - Dec. 11, 2009

Prosecutor's bid for Placer DA could stall trial for double killing - Dec. 2, 2009

Homicide suspect's lawyers don't want any Elk Grove jurors - Aug. 11, 2009

By Queenie Wong
qwong@sacbee.com

A 12-year-old girl was shot in the upper leg when occupants of two cars traded gunfire in south Sacramento Monday night, according to the Sacramento Police Department.

The girl was walking home from a park around 9:20 p.m. when occupants of two cars, described as a gold SUV and a brown van, opened fire on each other on the 4500 block of 77th Street, said Sgt. Norm Leong, the department's spokesman.

The SUV arrived at the Sacramento County jail where the occupants told the deputies that they had been shot at. Leong said police are still investigating the motive behind the shooting.

The victim was transported to the UC Davis Medical Center and her condition is not considered to be life-threatening.

The second vehicle, described as a brown van, is still at large.

Call The Bee's Queenie Wong, (916) 321-1008.

KCRA: 12-year-old girl shot in leg

By Deia de Brito
ddebrito@sacbee.com

Sacramento police are looking for a motorist who shot into a crowd celebrating Independence Day just before midnight Sunday, injuring two.

A large number of Fourth of July celebrants were lighting fireworks on Collingwood and Matson streets minutes before midnight when a white Toyota or Honda drove west on Matson street, slowly, police said. Suddenly, two of the celebrants became drive-by victims.

"Before they realized it, they had been shot," said Sacramento police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong. One was shot in the hand and the other in the buttocks. The two victims were transported to a local hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

The driver kept heading west on Matson Street. Police were unable to make an arrest.

Leong said there was no known prior altercation between the victims and the shooter.

"We don't know what spurred the shooting," he said.

Call The Bee's Deia de Brito, (916) 321-1087.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Smoldering fireworks in a garbage can likely caused a two-alarm fire just after midnight this morning that gutted one house and burned another on Laguna Lake Road in Elk Grove, neighbors said.

Nobody was hurt, thanks in large part to the quick action of Gilbert Rodriguez, 45, a neighbor who saw the fire from an adjacent backyard and ran to alert the residents, who were asleep.

The fire started between the two houses and spread up the walls and into the attics, said Cosumnes Fire Department fire chief Tracey Hansen.

The flames had gained significantly by the time firefighters responded at 12:15 a.m., Hansen said. Firefighters could not battle the flames from inside the house because the roof was collapsing, and they were still working on the fire at 3:30 a.m., she said.

Call The Bee's Matt Kawahara, (916) 321-1015.

By Bobby Caina Calvan and Ryan Lillis
bcalvan@sacbee.com

A fiery explosion rocked Oak Park this morning, sending four firefighters to the hospital and jolting nerves and houses throughout the neighborhood.

The four firefighters were in fair condition at UC Davis Medical Center with burns to their faces and extremities, said acting Sacramento fire chief Lloyd Ogan. One was released from the hospital today.

Rescue workers do not think anyone else was in the house when it exploded, but a search dog was on scene to double check, Ogan said.

The explosion occurred in a vacant home on the 3800 block of 25th Avenue near Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Fire officials were called to the neighborhood at 9:47 a.m. when dispatch received a call from a neighbor about a possible gas leak. Officials also received reports of someone possibly inside the home.

Firefighters turned off the gas and electricity to the house. When they forced their way through the home's front door at 9:56 a.m., it exploded, Ogan said.

What caused the blast isn't yet clear. Fire investigators and a crew from Pacific Gas & Electric this afternoon picked at the debris to determine the cause of the explosion.

A PG&E spokesman said he knew of no prior reports of trouble at the Oak Park house, which has been vacant for months and was up for rent. Neighbors reported smelling fumes emanating from the property on the Fourth of July, but some dismissed the odors as the lingering whiff from holiday fireworks. The company's first word of a possible gas leak was a call from the fire department Monday morning, just minutes before the explosion, said PG&E spokesman J.D. Guidi.

Ogan said the fireball's "ignition source should have been eliminated" when the gas and electric were shut off. "Who knows what sparked it?" he said, adding it was unlikely the firefighters forcing their way through the front door would be the sole source of the blaze.

The explosion buckled the house's roof and blew out a side wall.

John Jelks, a neighbor, was standing at his mailbox when the fire crews arrived. "I saw pieces of wood fly as high up as the trees," he said.

That's when he bolted away from the explosion.

Some neighbors reported the smell of natural gas overnight.

Many dismissed it as fumes from holiday fireworks, neighbors said.

Dave Peterson, another neighbor, said "It was a big old gas ball coming out of the window."

When the house exploded, Brittany Acosta, who lives down the street, said she thought it was fireworks, but that it was too loud.

Aurora Alvarado, who lives in the 5100 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard, said she didn't know what hit her neighborhood. "Even the house shook," she said.

Call The Bee's Bobby Caina Calvan, (916) 321-1067.

KCRA: Home explosion sends 4 to hospital

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

Authorities have arrested and charged a 19-year-old man suspected of stabbing a 39-year-old man to death in a home in Orangevale early today, according to the Sacramento Sheriff's department.

The suspect, Billy Ray James (left), was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail after deputies interviewed him about what occurred at 2:53 a.m. in the older wood-frame home less than 15 feet from the heavily traveled 6800 block of Hazel Avenue.

Sacramento Sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran said deputies found the victim in the living room with a stab wound to his upper body. Paramedics pronounced the victim dead at the scene.

Curran confirmed a report that the victim, a woman and the couple's baby were staying a few days in the home of the uncle of the suspect.

In his news release, Curran said James arrived at his uncle's home and argued with the victim before grabbing a kitchen knife and stabbing him. Curran said the suspect then ran from the house.

At 7:30 a.m. Monday, investigators surrounded a home a half mile away in the 8800 block of Elm Avenue, and used a PA system to call the suspect out. He was placed into custody.

Occupants of both the Elm Avenue and Hazel Avenue homes declined to to talk to The Bee.

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office has not released the identity of the victim.

James is ineligible for bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.

By Deia de Brito
ddebrito@sacbee.com

A Fourth of July block party ended up with one man dead last night, deputies said.

The 21-year old, identified as Dawayne Edward Douglas of Sacramento, suffered at least one gunshot wound to his upper body. Sheriff's deputies found the victim lying in the middle of Florinda Way, south of Scottsdale Drive, near the party of 200-300 people.

Several people attending the party told investigators that they had heard an argument followed by multiple gunshots, deputies said.

The shooting occurred on the 7700 block of Scottsdale Drive. The victim ran around the corner and collapsed on Florinda Drive.

Deputies tried to resuscitate the victim until paramedics arrived and took him to a hospital, where he was shortly pronounced dead. Investigators haven't established a suspect or determined a motive for the homicide.

Anyone with information is regarding this murder is urged to call Sheriff's Homicide detectives at (916) 874-5057, or Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP. Tipsters may also send a text message tip by texting to 274637 (CRIMES), then enter SACTIP followed by the tip information. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

Call The Bee's Deia de Brito, (916) 321-1087.