Sacto 9-1-1

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

After deliberating for little more than an hour, a federal court jury today found an Elk Grove man guilty of involvement in a Sacramento-area mortgage fraud scheme.

Gabriel Richard Viramontes, 48, was convicted by of six counts of bank fraud and seven counts of mail fraud. The verdict was returned following a seven-day trial in Sacramento before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Garcia, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

According to testimony presented at trial, Viramontes and three co-defendants, who had already pleaded guilty to related charges, engaged in a mortgage fraud scheme that involved at least 19 homes with loans of more than $8 million.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Sacramento police have arrested two suspects in connection with the killing of a 19-year-old man last month in north Sacramento.

Alanzo Jackson Banks, 30, and Herbert Antonio Alvarez, 19, were arrested today in Rodeo in Contra Costa County, Sacramento Police Department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said.

Rashad Stephen Alexander was shot to death in the parking lot of a bar in the 3200 block of Northgate Boulevard in the early hours of March 12, police reported.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District firefighter was hospitalized Thursday afternoon after he fell down a flight of stairs fighting a house fire in Sacramento's Arden-Arcade neighborhood, a fire district spokesman said.

Fire crews responded to the 1800 block of Geneva Place at 4:33 p.m., and found flames coming from a two-story house, said Sac Metro spokesman Capt. Christian Pebbles.

The one-alarm fire, which reportedly began in an upstairs bedroom, caused significant damage to the house before firefighters got it under control, Pebbles said.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Placer County sheriff's detectives have arrested one of two women suspected of passing nearly $27,000 in counterfeit bills in Placer and Sacramento counties, a sheriff's detective said.

Aimee Taylor, 26, of Sacramento, was arrested at 3 p.m. Thursday at Heritage Inn in Roseville, said sheriff's Detective Jim Hudson. Information provided by the public helped detectives find Taylor.

Placer County sheriff's detectives, Roseville police and U.S. Secret Service officials participated in the arrest, Hudson said.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Fire crews rescued seven men on the American River this afternoon after their barge hit a tree and capsized near Sunrise Boulevard in Fair Oaks, a Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District spokesman said.

The seven men -- all in their late teens to early 20s -- were traveling down the river on a "homemade party barge" when they hit rapids and lost control, said Sac Metro spokesman Capt. Christian Pebbles.

The barge hit a tree that had fallen in the water and capsized, throwing the men into the water, Pebbles said. All seven were able to grab hold of the tree, Pebbles said.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Sutter County Sheriff's officials today announced arrests in connection with a series of burglaries in south Sutter and Yolo counties.

Sheriff's deputies identified Tomas Quezada Sr., 48, and his son, Tomas Quezada Jr., as suspects in several of the burglaries.

The Yuba/Sutter Narcotic and Gang Enforcement Team, NET-5, also had been investigating Tomas Quezada Sr. for possible involvement in distributing methamphetamine in the two counties, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.

By Matt Kawahara and Bill Lindelof
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Sacramento police are warning citizens about a burglary scheme that has been used successfully at five residences of elderly victims in the last two weeks.

Police say the thieves in these burglaries are two male adults posing as utility or construction workers checking residences for sewage leaks, according to a police department news release.

The burglars separate and, while one suspect distracts the victim and keeps him or her outside, the other suspect enters the residence and steals money, jewelry and other property.

By Bee Staff

Two people have been convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Sacramento's Wood Park 11 years ago, thanks to DNA evidence.

Alonzo Hamilton and Hollie Garrett, both now 28, are scheduled to be sentenced April 29, according to Jan Scully, Sacramento County district attorney.

A news release from Scully gives this chain of events:

By Bee Staff

The Rancho Cordova Police Department will operate a DUI/driver's license checkpoint beginning at 8 p.m. Friday in an undisclosed area of the city.

The checkpoint will be in operation until 2 a.m. Saturday, according to a Police Department news release.

Officers will check for signs of driver impairment by alcohol or drugs. They also will check driver's licenses.

This checkpoint is funded by a federal grant through the State Office of Traffic Safety.

By Bill Enfield
benfield@sacbee.com

A man who pleaded guilty to a 1988 Sacramento crime spree that included an assault on a 41-year-old woman, the rape of a 13-year-old girl, and the kidnapping/robbery of a 65-year- old woman is due a parole hearing.

Aaron Donald Blount, now 46, committed the crimes within a week in November 1988, The Bee reported.

He received a 28-year sentence for his Sacramento crimes and a life sentence for a crime in Los Angeles shortly after his Sacramento spree, records show.

By Bill Enfield

benfield@sacbee.com

Q: What happened in the murder of Rebecca Layson in Van Maren Park? - LadyRose, Sacramento

A: Tyler Espinoza, 18, and Anton "Tony" Adolf Johnson, 19, are charged with first-degree murder and acting in concert in Layson's slaying last year, according to a spokeswoman for the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office.

Johnson also faces two charges of burglary of an occupied structure. The burglary charges are not related to the case, as an earlier version of this story erroneously stated.

Espinoza was 17 at the time of the slaying, but is being tried as an adult.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Elk Grove police are investigating a shooting incident that occurred Wednesday night when an occupant of one vehicle fired several rounds at another vehicle on Bruceville Road, a police spokesman said.

Police received a report at 9:15 p.m. Wednesday of a shooting at Bruceville Road and Big Horn Boulevard, said Elk Grove police spokesman Officer Chris Trim.

Responding officers determined that the victim had been driving southbound on Bruceville Road when a light-colored vehicle pulled alongside and an occupant of that vehicle fired several rounds at the victim's car, Trim said.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Two people were injured Wednesday night in a fight that involved a machete at a Carmichael apartment complex, a Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman said.

The fight began shortly before 8:10 p.m., when a 47-year-old male resident of the complex in the 5300 block of Marconi Avenue tried to intervene in an argument between a 51-year-old man and 48-year-old woman, said sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

The man involved in the argument picked up a machete and attacked the 47-year-old man, who suffered a superficial neck wound, Ramos said.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Davis police are warning drivers about recent catalytic converter thefts from vehicles.

There were 20 reported thefts of catalytic converters in Davis between Feb. 26 and March 28, according to a Davis Police Department news release Wednesday. Most of the thefts occurred in the western part of the city, slightly east of Highway 113.

Thieves are targeting Toyota pickups and utility vehicles, and are primarily striking during the late night to early morning hours, according to the release.

By Ed Fletcher
efletcher@sacbee.com

The city of Rocklin has promoted one of its two police captains to the chief's position.

Capt. Ronald Lawrence, 41, will assume the chief's role effective Friday.

Lawrence has been in law enforcement since 1990, and with the department since 2009.

By Cathy Locke and Bill Lindelof
clocke@sacbee.com

A 20-year-old Sacramento man died this morning when his vehicle fell several feet from a transition road onto southbound I-5 following a collision, according to the California Highway Patrol said.

The collision occurred about 5:45 a.m. as a 20-year-old Sacramento woman was driving 2004 Mitsubishi from southbound I-5 onto the eastbound Highway 50 transition road.

A CHP news release gave this account of events:

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Placer County sheriff's detectives seek the public's help in finding two women accused of passing nearly $27,000 in counterfeit bills in Placer and Sacramento counties.

Aimee Taylor, left, 27, and Brandie Smith, right, 26, both of Sacramento, are suspected of passing the fake money.

Anyone with information on their location is asked to call Detective Jim Hudson at (530) 889-7855.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

The California Supreme Court voted today to review a case where a Sacramento Superior Court judge ordered a juror to allow Facebook to turn over to the court his online postings entered during a recent gang trial.

The 6-0 decision ordered that the case be returned to the state's Third District Court of Appeal, which had previously refused to hear the case.

The high court sent the case back to the Third District "with directions to vacate its order denying prohibition" and to order the Sacramento court to show cause why the juror has to allow Facebook to turn over his postings.

By Cathy Locke

clocke@sacbee.com

The number of sheriff's deputies on patrol in Sacramento County is the greatest in recent history, and the department is rebuilding after staffing cuts in 2009, Sheriff Scott Jones said today.

But the Sheriff's Department that is emerging following the layoff of 122 deputies in 2009 will be different, Jones said.

Staffing for stand-alone units - such as problem-oriented policing, K-9 and SWAT units - remains below pre-2009 levels.

By Bill Lindelof

blindelof@sacbee.com

A retired Sacramento State University professor has drowned in Hawaii, Kauai police said.

Roger William Leezer, 68, of Rancho Murieta, drowned in the waters off Poipu Beach opposite the Sheraton Kauai Resort on March 22, police said.

Leezer had recently retired after a long career but was teaching part-time. He joined the university in 1965 as a part-time member of the faculty in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.

Q: Where are high profile convicted killers Ray Carruth and Phil Specter housed, and how long are they there for? - SF, Sacramento

A: Rae Carruth, now 37, is serving an 18- to 24-year sentence at Nash Correctional Institution, a medium-security prison in North Carolina for his role in the murder of his pregnant girlfriend, according to the North Carolina Department of Correction. (The photo at left is a 2000 jail booking photo of Carruth.)

Carruth, a Sacramento native who attended Valley High School where he starred in football, was sentenced in January 2001 for conspiracy to commit murder, discharging a firearm into occupied property and using an instrument with intent to destroy an unborn child.

Cherica Adams died weeks after the November 1999 shooting.

The baby boy survived. A man who testified that Carruth, a former Carolina Panthers NFL team wide receiver, paid him $5,000 to kill Adams and the baby pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

The Sacramento County District Attorney's office will not prosecute the man who fatally shot another after a confrontation at the Canterbury Inn earlier this year, according to authorities.

However, prosecutors have charged the shooter - 38-year-old Jason Calvin Walker - with two felony counts of illegally possessing assault weapons, according to the DA's office and court records.

The charges stemmed from a Jan. 5 shooting at the Canterbury Inn in North Sacramento. Police responded and found 29-year-old Christopher Maurice Johnston dead. Detectives determined Johnson had gotten drunk and began fighting with a friend when a man - later identified as Walker - came out of his room to break up the fight. Later, Johnson was shot as he broke into Walker's room.

By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com

A Yolo County judge has issued a tentative ruling to place a sweeping anti-gang injunction across a large swath of West Sacramento for seven years.

Prosecutors sought the injunction to control the alleged street gang known as the Broderick Boys, who they blame for a reign of criminal activity across the Bryte and Broderick neighborhoods.

A group of civil rights lawyers representing alleged gang members argued the gang didn't even exist and there was no need for the injunction, which prohibits public gatherings of alleged gang members and imposes a nightly curfew on them.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A Sacramento Superior Court jury today convicted two people of first-degree murder in the June 8, 2008, shooting death of Samuel Alex Wilson in a Florin Road strip mall.

Police and prosecutors said the killing resulted from Wilson ripping off the suspects in a deal for electronic goods earlier that day.

According to Deputy District Attorney Scott Triplett's trial brief, Wilson purportedly sold new television sets and laptops out of the back of his van to the suspects. But when they opened the boxes, the containers were stuffed with Spanish-language telephone books and plywood, Triplett's brief said.

By Bee Staff

A U.S. District Court judge sentenced a former Rocklin drywall installer today to 28 months prison for failing to pay more than $1 million in taxes.

Benjamin B. Wagner, the U.S. attorney in Sacramento, said that William Roseberry, 59, previously of Rocklin, had earlier pleaded guilty to tax fraud.

Senior U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton also ordered Roseberry to pay the Internal Revenue Service $1,040,500.36.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Elk Grove police are asking the public's help in finding a man who tried to hold up an extended-stay hotel earlier this month.

Police also released a surveillance photo of a suspect, left.

On March 10 at 10:51 p.m. the robber demanded that a clerk at the Extended Stay America in the , 2200 block of Longport Court, open a safe and give him the money. He was armed with a holstered gun.

By Bee Staff

A U.S. District Court judge in Sacramento today sentenced a tomato hauler to 15 months in prison and fined him $100,000 for bankruptcy fraud.

James. D. Burke, 59, of Vacaville, was convicted by a federal jury on May 27, according to a news release from the Benjamin B. Wagner, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern U.S. District of California.

Burke was formerly the president of Truck-A-Way, a Vacaville trucking company he took over from his father that hauled millions of dollars worth of tomatoes and other agricultural products throughout the Central Valley.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Westbound Interstate 80 on the Yolo Causeway, which was closed earlier this morning because of a big-rig crash, has now re-opened.

The California Highway Patrol said all westbound lanes re-opened shortly after 11 a.m..

The crash, reported about 9:15 a.m., involved two cars and a big rig. The big rig overturned blocking all westbound lanes of the causeway.

The driver of the big rig was taken to UC Davis Medical Center.

Photo by Bryan Patrick

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

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

A woman who refused to give up her purse got a bloody lip from her attacker last night outside a Natomas supermarket.

The shopper was walking to her vehicle carrying a bag of groceries about 11:30 p.m. Monday night outside the SaveMart supermarket, 3291 Truxel Road, when she saw a man standing in front of the store.

The man followed the woman to her vehicle where he tried to steal her purse. When the woman resisted she was punched in the face.

Her lip bloodied, she continued to resist, while screaming for help, Sacramento police reported. The suspect then ran off without her purse.

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

By Matt Kawahara and Sam Stanton
mkawahara@sacbee.com

The Sacramento County Jail inmate arrested in the killing of another inmate Friday morning had a lengthy criminal record dating back to at least the time he turned 18, Sacramento Superior Court records indicate.

Jeffery Hill, 33, was arrested Monday afternoon, according to a Sacramento Sheriff's Department release. Already in custody for unrelated charges, Hill was booked on suspicion of murder and will not be eligible for bail.

The release states that Hill, left, launched an "unprovoked assault" Friday morning on 58-year-old Eugene Carr, who was transported to an area hospital and died of his injuries Saturday.

By Bill Lindelof

blindelof@sacbee.com

Reports for traffic accidents that occur in Sacramento, Folsom and West Sacramento are now available online.

The departments contract with PoliceReports.US to give access to most traffic reports.

With a report number, date of accident and name of party involved, a search can be made for a report at http://policereports.us/.

The West Sacramento Police Department said most reports are available online within ten days after the accident.

By Bill Enfield

benfield@sacbee.com

A Sacramento man who shot his wife to death in front of police and another Sacramento man who killed his 15-year-old fiancée are due parole hearings.

Jesus Gomez Cazares, now 49, told probation officers that the gun he was holding discharged accidentally in the June 3, 1985 slaying of Louise M. Gomez, 37, The Bee reported.

A Sacramento police officer, who had just arrived on a call of a domestic dispute at the couple's Meadowview area home, did not have a chance to pull his weapon when the shooting occurred. The officer jumped on Cazares and disarmed him.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Galt police have arrested one person and are working to identify two more suspects in connection with a home invasion Sunday in which two residents were pistol whipped.

At about 5:31 a.m. Sunday, police received a report that several armed subjects had forced their way into a home near Bay Landing Way and Bay Shore Drive in Galt, according to a news release.

Officers arrived and found that three suspects armed with handguns had tricked the homeowner into opening the door, then entered the residence and forced all occupants to the floor at gunpoint, according to the release. Two people in the residence were pistol whipped.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

An Orangevale man has been arrested on suspicion of stealing a vehicle that contained 60 tickets to an upcoming Sacramento Kings game belonging to a local nonprofit organization, according to a Sacramento Sheriff's Department news release.

The tickets had been donated to the Sweet Dreams Foundation, which decorates bedrooms for children diagnosed with life-threatening diseases, according to the release and the foundation's website.

On March 17, the foundation's founder had her vehicle stolen from the driveway of her home with the tickets inside. The vehicle was found several days later and investigators developed information that led them to conduct a probation search at a residence in the 9300 block of Ottoman Way in Orangevale.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A South Lake Tahoe elementary school was locked down for 20 minutes this afternoon after two students reported seeing a suspicious man carrying a gun on the playground, according to a South Lake Tahoe Police Department release.

Police responded to the Tahoe Valley Elementary School shortly after 12:30 p.m., as school officials initiated lockdown procedures, according to the release.

Officers searched the grounds and found no threat on campus. Officers also established a perimeter around the school and searched surrounding neighborhoods for anyone matching the suspect's description.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahar@sacbee.com

Arthur Temblador, the 36-year-old director of soccer operations for an Elk Grove youth soccer club who was arrested Friday evening f on suspicion of having sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old girl, has been placed on administrative leave without pay by the club's Executive Board, the Board wrote in an email.

Temblador was taken into custody shortly after 9 p.m. Friday by Sacramento police officers after they spotted a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot of a closed medical building in the 8100 block of Timberlake Way, the Sacramento Police Department reported.

Officers found Temblador engaging in sexual activity with the 16-year-old girl , police reported.

By Matthew Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A Sacramento County man convicted of trying to run down a Roseville policeman with his car in 2009 was sentenced Friday to five years and four months in state prison.

Walter Carrillo, 19, was sentenced by Placer County Superior Court Judge Mark S. Curry after being convicted Jan. 26 of felony assault on a peace officer and other charges, including hit-and-run driving causing injury, according to a Placer County District Attorney's Office news release.

In addition to the prison sentence, Carrillo's driving privileges were revoked for life, according to the release.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A witness told a Sacramento jury today about the terrifying moments leading up to a teenager's shooting death five years ago during an attempted Land Park pot robbery.

Jeremy Humphries, 25, said two intruders first tried to rob him of money and marijuana in the early morning hours of Jan. 3, 2006, at his house on 18th Avenue. Humphries said that after one of them pistol whipped him and threatened to kill him if he didn't come up with more loot or dope, he led the two to his friend James Ramirez' house on Francis Court in Land Park.

At Ramirez' house, Humphries said the gunman held a pistol to his head on the drive to Francis Court. He testified the gunman forced him out of the car and up to Ramirez' window. The witness said Ramirez then went to open the front door.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Hundreds of Apple employees in Elk Grove who were evacuated this morning after a bomb threat was made to the business have been given the okay to return to their works stations.

No bomb was ever found in a search by bomb-sniffing dogs and the all-clear was given shortly after 1 p.m.

The bomb threat was made to Apple, 2911 Laguna Blvd., shortly after 8 a.m. Apple then evacuated employees from three large buildings.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

The name of the wrong-way freeway driver who died Saturday after crashing his car into a tow truck on Highway 50 in West Sacramento has been released.

The Yolo County Coroner identified the motorist as Juan Rizo Salazar, 24, of Sacramento.

Highway Patrol units attempted to intercept Salazar, after receiving reports of a vehicle going eastbound in the westbound lanes of Highway 50 at about 1:15 a.m.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Auburn police have arrested a man for an attempted robbery in an alleyway last night.

Police said that a 25-year-old man was walking on in the 800 block of Lincoln Way about 11 p.m. Sunday when he was approached by another man they identified as Darrell Eugene Polk.

Polk, police said, asked the man for cigarettes before pulling the victim by his coat into the alley. There, Polk, 34, allegedly pulled a knife and asked for the victim's money.

By Laurel Rosenhall
lrosenhall@sacbee.com

An inmate of the Sacramento Main Jail died Saturday after getting in a fight with another inmate the day before, according to authorities.

Inmate Eugene Carr fought with another inmate on Friday morning and was later transported to the hospital, where he died on Saturday, said Sacramento Sheriff's Department spokesman Jason Ramos.

The Coroner's Office said Carr was 58 years old.

A search of Sacramento court records shows a man named Eugene Carr pled no contest to petty theft in December and was sentenced to a year in jail.

Call The Bee's Laurel Rosenhall, (916) 321-1083.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

Dorothea Puente, the notorious F Street landlady convicted of killing her tenants and burying them in her backyard, died Sunday, state corrections officials said.

Puente, 82, had been seriously ill for months, and was transferred from the Central California Women's Facility near Chowchilla to an outside hospital in September 2010.

Even in a city with no shortage of infamous and gruesome murders, the Puente case stands out.

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

By Loretta Kalb and Laurel Rosenhall

A Vacaville man was hospitalized this morning after he walked to his driveway and picked up a newspaper containing a hidden bomb, which exploded, a police spokesman said today.

The man, who police did not identify, suffered unknown injuries in the blast, reported at 10:20 a.m., said Vacaville Police spokesman Mark Mazzaferro.

Mazzaferro said officers evacuated 40 to 50 homes near the bomb site -- the residential neighborhood of Cashel Circle -- and checked for other devices throughout the area. Finding no other explosives, authorities allowed most residents to return to their homes by the end of the day, Mazzaferro said.

By Ed Fletcher
efletcher@sacbee.com

A 36-year-old Elk Grove man was arrested Friday evening for allegedly having sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old girl, the Sacramento Police Department said today.

Arthur Temblador, photo left, was taken into custody by officers without incident shortly after 9 p.m., police said.

Officers said they spotted a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot of a closed medical building in the 8100 block of Timberlake Way. They said they found Temblador and the girl in the car.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

Two people were shot and killed and a third wounded in Acampo Friday, and the suspect was arrested after crashing during a police pursuit, the San Joaquin County Sheriff's office reported.

Sheriff's officials say Howard D. Smith, 40, went to two homes in the 24000 block of Homestead Road Friday around 4:30 p.m.

Smith was reported to be known by victims who he shot at those residences, Sheriff's officials said in a press release.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

Fire officials said a huge fire early this morning caused millions of dollars in damage at an auto body business on Stockton Boulevard at 65th Street.

No firefighters or civilians were injured, according to a press release from Sacramento Metropolitan Fire Capt. Christian Pebbles, who described the fire as "massive."

The fire was reported shortly after 1 a.m. at a commercial auto body parts facility, but Sacramento City and Sac Metro crews arrived to find flames coming through the roof.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

An El Dorado County man who pleaded guilty in federal court to receiving child pornography has been sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison.

Charles Douglas Johnson, 47, of Garden Valley, was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Sacramento after pleading guilty on Sept. 21, 2010, according to a U.S. Department of Justice release. His prison sentence will be followed by 10 years of supervised release.

According to court documents, images of child pornography were found on Johnson's work laptop after he was terminated for allegedly stealing trade secrets, according to the release.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A 34-year-old man has been sentenced in Sacramento Superior Court to six years plus 40 years to life for the sexual assaults of two women in Sacramento in 2009.

Domingo Garcia Vargas was sentenced Friday by Judge Delbert Oros after being convicted Feb. 24 of rape, false imprisonment and infliction of great bodily injury in the two assaults, according to a Sacramento County District Attorney's Office news release.

The first assault occurred Jan. 25, 2009, in the area of 19th and K streets, when Vargas grabbed a woman, threw her to the ground, punched her in the face multiple times, raped her and fled, according to the release. The victim later submitted to a sexual assault examination, in which Vargas' DNA profile was found.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A Galt man has been indicted on charges of wire fraud.

A federal grand jury in Sacramento returned the 15-count indictment last week charging Ruben Rios Jr., 41, with embezzling more than $800,000 from a local company, according to a Department of Justice news release. The indictment was unsealed Friday.

Rios was a controller at the company.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Sacramento police are warning residents about a ruse recently used to distract a victim while her south Sacramento home was burglarized.

At about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, the victim was contacted at her residence near Clipper and Westview ways by a man who said he was a plumber doing repair work at her neighbor's house, according to a Sacramento Police Department release. The man said he needed access to the victim's backyard.

The victim accompanied the man to her backyard and stayed with him while he worked, according to the release. Later, the victim realized multiple rooms in her house had been gone through and jewelry was missing. She contacted her neighbor, who said no plumbing work was being done at the neighbor's residence.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A South Lake Tahoe woman died earlier this afternoon at the Lake Tahoe Community College, after police and firefighters responded to reports that the woman was not breathing, according to a South Lake Tahoe Police Department release.

The death is not currently being investigated as suspicious, pending autopsy results, South Lake Tahoe Police Sgt. Shannon Laney wrote in an e-mail.

Police responded to the community college at about 1:10 p.m. and found the 36-year-old woman not breathing, the release states.

By Barbara Barte Osborn
Special To The Bee

The Nevada County Sheriff's Office is investigating this morning home invasion robbery and assault in Penn Valley.

The Sheriff's Office received a 911 call at approximately 6:30 a.m. from a teenager saying his mother had been hit in the head with a gun, tied up and robbed, according to a news release from Sheriff Keith Royal.

The youth was also tied up during the robbery, a sheriff's spokesperson said, but both were able to work their way loose after the suspects left.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Marysville police arrested seven people over the last two nights during stings that targeted offenders who sell or furnish alcohol to minors, according to a Marysville Police Department news release.

Officers in Marysville carried out "shoulder tap" operations targeting persons who purchase alcohol for minors and "minor decoy" operations targeting vendors who sell or furnish alcohol to minors, the release states. Six people were arrested in the "shoulder tap" stings Wednesday and Thursday nights and one person was arrested in the "minor decoy" stings.

The following people were arrested after they were allegedly observed furnishing alcohol to a minor during "shoulder tap" stings, according to the release: William Allan Unwin, 64, of Marysville; Eugene R. Gibson, 46, of Marysville; Michael Benedict Duran, Jr., 22, of Chico; Dennis Ray Bowman, 47, of Marysville; Vincent Angelo Henry, 50; and Jesus Pablo Garcia Jr., 22, of Marysville.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

An Oroville man and registered sex offender has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Sacramento to receiving and distributing child pornography, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

Donald Wayne Johnson, 46, pleaded guilty to receipt and distribution of child pornography on March 22, the release states.

The release states that on Nov. 11, 2010, a computer repairman working on a printer that belonged to Johnson found animated images of child pornography on the printer.

A Sacramento County sheriff's department patrol car is parked at the scene on Marconi Avenue where a man wielding a knife was shot by deputies thismorning, officials said. Bee staff photo by Bryan Patrick

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

A man shot by a Sacramento County sheriff's deputy this morning is expected to survive, a department spokesman said this afternoon.

The man, who has been identified as being in his 40s, is being treated at Mercy San Juan Medical Center, said sheriff's Deputy Jason Ramos. Further identification of the man was not available.

Once the man is released, he is expected to be booked into jail on suspicion of several charges, including assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, Ramos said.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

A car with the body of a man inside has been pulled from a creek in Natomas where police said the vehicle ran off the road this morning.

The incident happened around 5:30 a.m. at Garden Highway and Truxel Road. A police spokesman said that officers got a call about a vehicle speeding southbound on Truxel Road.

Divers searched the muddy water of Steelhead Creek most of the morning before finally finding the vehicle and securing a cable to the car.

By Marjie Lundstrom and Sam Stanton
mlundstrom@sacbee.com

Michael Lyon's legal woes continue to mount, with two more women claiming in civil court that the former real estate executive secretly videotaped them in bathrooms of his homes.

The lawsuit filed this morning replaces one filed last October on behalf of a former nanny, who was about 16 at the time she was allegedly videotaped, and a family friend who was 18 at the time he allegedly was recorded.

The new suit adds another nanny who was in her 20s when the alleged videotaping occurred in 2006. And it adds a longtime friend of Lyon's ex-wife, Kimarie "Kim" Lyon, who allegedly was taped around 1990.

By Matt Kawahara and Bill Lindelof
mkawahara@sacbee.com
blindelof@sacbee.com

An inmate who walked away from a state prison in Folsom this morning has been captured in Carmichael, a Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman said.

Stephen Koble, 19, a convicted burglar from Yolo County, was arrested by Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies in the 4000 block of Manzanita Avenue shortly after 5 p.m., said sheriff's Deputy Jason Ramos.

Koble had been reported missing from an unfenced minimum custody facility at California State Prison, Sacramento, a prison spokesman said this morning. He apparently escaped between 5:43 a.m. and 7 a.m.

Q: A Sacramento County man killed his three kids in the '60s, was let off death row and then killed a woman. What happened to him? - RL, Sacramento.

A: On June 23, 1987, Robert Henry Nicolaus of Sacramento was sentenced to die for the first-degree murder of his ex-wife, Charlyce "Lisa" Robinson. It was the second time the psychotic killer had been condemned to die, The Bee reported.

The first was in 1964 for the murder of his three children - ages 2, 5 and 7 - who were shot in the trunk of his car in Sacramento County.

Nicolaus died of natural causes in prison at age 69, records show.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Rancho Police Department has canceled a DUI checkpoint for Friday night due to the weather, according to a news release tonight.

The checkpoint had been scheduled for 10 p.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday at an unspecified location in Rancho Cordova, with officers checking driver's licenses and motorists for signs of driving while impaired.

A new date for the checkpoint will be announced when it is scheduled, according to the release.

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

By Denny Walsh
dwalsh@sacbee.com

A Lincoln man caught with a small arsenal of weapons was charged Thursday in a federal grand jury indictment with being a felon in possession of firearms, including three machine guns and a fragmentation grenade.

The weapons were seized three months ago from Eric William Smith, who was previously convicted of felony grand theft in Sacramento County.

Smith, 36, faces a maximum prison term of 10 years on each of the indictment's three counts.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Thanks to the generosity of others, a man with cerebral palsy who had his three-wheeler stolen is back riding.

Will Price read about the loss suffered by Tou Chang on sacbee.com. Chang, 19, was riding home on his trike near San Juan Road and Rancho Silva Drive in South Natomas at 1:30 p.m. Friday when two armed men took his three-wheeler and his money.

The blue trike with a black basket on the back and a black seat was the young man's main way of getting around.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

The Sacramento County sheriff's department will celebrate three promotions today.

A ceremony is scheduled for this afternoon in which Sgt. Darin Griem and Sgt. LeeAnneDra Marchese will be promoted to lieutenants and Lt. Rosanne Richeal will be promoted to captain, said sheriff's Deputy Jason Ramos.

The promotions are the first to occur under the leadership of Sheriff Scott Jones, who assumed leadership of the department in December.

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

By Bill Enfield
benfield@sacbee.com

A man serving life for the sexual assault and murder of an 8-year-old Sacramento County girl in 1967 is due a parole hearing next month.

Willie Curtis Miller, now 84, killed Jeannie Abron in August more than 43 years ago and dumped her nude body in Dry Creek, near the Rio Linda High School track, The Bee reported.

Her body was found four days later.

Q: I heard Paul Kovacich Jr., a former Placer County deputy sheriff who killed his wife, is being held in a minimum security prison. Is that true? - Anonymous, Placer County

A: No. Kovacich, now 61, is being held in medium security at Ironwood State Prison at Blythe, a State Corrections and Rehabilitation Department spokesman said. (Photo at left is a 2006 jail booking photo.)

Ironwood has minimum and medium security inmates, according to the prison's description on the corrections department's website, which may have caused the confusion.

Kovacich was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison in April 2009 for the 1982 murder of his wife, The Bee reported.

By Bee Staff

An El Dorado County marijuana grower who was convicted of the attempted murders of his brother-in-law and his nephew has lost his bid for a parole, the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office said.

A state Parole Board panel ruled Tuesday that Silvestre Gonzalez, now 49, could not apply for another parole for 10 years, said Deputy District Attorney Jamie Verwayen, who appeared at the hearing on behalf of the DA's Office and the victims' family.

The victims had innocently wandered near Silvestre Gonzalez' pot grow and a guard shot them.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Citrus Heights police arrested three men Wednesday on suspicion of weapons and narcotics violations after SWAT teams served a search warrant at a residence in the 6100 block of Peoria Drive, according to a police department release.

The search was part of a weapons and narcotics investigation that began March 9, stemming from a traffic stop, according to the release.

Officers stopped Moe Kouri, 33, for a vehicle code violation and arrested him for several narcotics violations, the release states. As part of the investigation, officers obtained a search warrant for Kouri's residence.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

The Sacramento Police Canine Association is seeking donations from the public for items to be raffled off to support, among other things, veterinary care for retired police dogs.

The items would be raffled off at the association's annual comedy night fundraiser to be held Monday. Tickets to that event are sold out, but the association is asking for the public's help in donating items such as gift certificates, complimentary passes and merchandise for the raffle.

The association is a nonprofit group that covers expenses not covered by the Sacramento Police Department, such as community outreach efforts, some training equipment and veterinary care and burial expenses for retired police dogs.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Motorists stopped at a checkpoint in Rancho Cordova Friday night in Saturday morning will be screened to see if they are driving under the influence.

The checkpoint will operate from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., according to a Rancho Cordova Police Department news release. The exact location of the checkpoint was not released.

Officers will be check for signs of driving while impaired. They will also check driver's licenses.

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

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Police are asking the public's help to find a three-wheeled bicycle stolen from a man with cerebral palsy.

The man was riding home on his trike bike near San Juan Road and Rancho Silva Drive in South Natomas at 1:30 p.m. Friday when two armed men took his bicycle and his money.

The blue bike with a black basket on the back and a black seat was the man's main way of getting around.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Father John Corapi, who once served a prominent position in the Sacramento Roman Catholic Diocese, has been placed on administrative leave in Texas after allegations of misconduct.

Corapi, 63, is a nationally known speaker and a regular on Catholic television. When he was in Sacramento during the mid-1990s, he served as the director of Catholic Faith Formation and packed churches and social halls with his talks about sin, sacraments and faith.

"We have received an allegation that Father Corapi has behaved in a manner unbecoming a priest and are duty-bound to conduct an investigation," said Father Gerald Sheehan of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity based in the Corpus Christi area.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

The Citrus Heights Police Department plans to conduct a DUI/driver's license checkpoint on Friday beginning at 6 p.m. on Greenback Lane, east of Birdcage Street.

The checkpoint is scheduled to run until 3 a.m.

Officers will check for driver impairment and driver's licenses. The vehicles of drivers without valid licenses are subject to tow.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A parolee-at-large wanted by Sacramento police was arrested today after falling 20 feet from an attic where he was hiding from officers serving a search warrant, a police spokesman said.

The man was wanted on a felony warrant for assault, said Sacramento Police Department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong.

Officers served a search warrant about 7 p.m. Tuesday at a residence in the 3100 block of Spinning Rod Way in the Willowcreek neighborhood of north Sacramento, believing he may be there, Leong said.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A woman who allegedly posed as a doctor and established a fraudulent nonprofit organization in Sacramento has been charged with fraud by the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office, according to a Sacramento Police Department news release.

Police detectives believe Victoria Roldan-Cajina, left, 68, defrauded people of services and money when she ran the nonprofit Sacramento Bilingual and Training Agency, which claimed to provide educational, medical and counseling services to underprivileged residents of Sacramento, according to the release.

Police began investigating Roldan-Cajina in 2009 when a victim reported that she was issuing fraudulent checks, according to the release.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

The Rio Linda man accused of chasing down and killing the man he mistakenly believed had burglarized his house was arraigned today on one charge of murder, according to authorities.

Sacramento County sheriff's detectives arrested Steven Andrew Zinda, left, 29, on Sunday after he called early that morning to report he had severely injured a burglar.

Deputies found 20-year-old David Valdez fatally injured in a nearby field. Coroner's records indicate he had suffered multiple blows to the head from an axe.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Victims of theft-related crimes in El Dorado County may find their property among items recovered by the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department during a public viewing Thursday.

Sheriff's officials announced that several arrests have been made recently in connection with residential burglaries in the Placerville and south county areas.

As a result of investigations, hundreds of items of suspected stolen property have been recovered. Items include jewelry, jewelry boxes, purses, electronics and small hand tools, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.

Victims can view the items from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday at 471 Pierroz Road, Placerville. People are advised to have their list of stolen property and case number available for reference.

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

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Woodland Police are looking for a man who robbed a CVS Pharmacy on Monday afternoon.

The robbery occurred about 4 p.m. at the CVS Pharmacy at 7 W. Main St. The suspect was standing in line behind an older couple, and when the cashier opened the register, the suspect pushed the older woman out of the way so he could reach the open cash drawer, according to a Woodland Police Department news release.

Police said the clerk tried to shield the money with her arms and hands, but the man pushed his way into the drawer and removed an undisclosed amount of cash, then ran from the store in a southeast direction.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Sacramento residents can now track crimes in their neighborhood via a new crime mapping feature sponsored by the Sacramento Police Department.

Sacbee.com CRIME MAPPER: Crime data for Sacramento, Sacramento County, Elk Grove, Folsom, Lincoln, Rocklin, Roseville

The department announced that is has partnered with CrimeReports.com to provide mapping of crime and police activity in the city, according to a news release.

The Police Department will provide crime and police activity data to CrimeReports.com each morning, and that data will be converted onto a mapping program found on the CrimeReports.com website.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A 58-year-old Oakland man was found dead this morning on a ski run within the Soda Springs ski resort in Placer County.

A Placer County search and rescue K-9 team located John Hoffman on the Strawberry Field ski run about 9 a.m., said Placer County sheriff's Capt. Jeff Ausnow.

He said there were no signs of trauma and it is possible that Hoffman, who was skiing alone, died from natural causes. The cause of death will not be known until an autopsy is completed, Ausnow said.

By Bee Staff

The California Highway Patrol is cracking down on motorists not wearing seat belts.

The basic fine for not wearing a seat belt is $142, but other costs such as court fees can sharply raise the final total.

The fine is up to $445 for not properly restraining a child under 16. If the parent is not in the car, the driver gets the ticket, a CHP spokeswoman said.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Sacramento police this morning indentified two men suspected of trying to steal copper wire from a SMUD corporation yard earlier.

Charles Caldwell, 55, of Elk Grove and Eunis Wilbur Grant, 50, who have no fixed addresses, are suspected of trying to steal the copper by getting through a fence at the corporation yard.

Sacramento police were called to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District yard near 59th Street and Folsom Boulevard about 4 a.m. Security guards were holding the men for police when they arrived. One suspect was caught inside the yard and another outside, police said.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Sacramento police and Sacramento County sheriff's deputies have broken down a perimeter set up in Oak Park where a reckless driver hit a parked car and power pole earlier this evening, a sheriff's spokesman said.

The driver of a gold sport utility vehicle ran into a power pole and downed power lines near the intersection of 40th Street and 12th Avenue at about 6 p.m., said sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

The suspect ran from the scene, Ramos said.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A former special education teacher at Will C. Wood Middle School in Sacramento has been indicted by a federal grand jury for receipt and possession of child pornography.

Mark Allen Cline, 45, of Stockton, appeared for arraignment Monday morning in Sacramento before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory G. Hollows. Cline pleaded not guilty.

Cline was taken into custody pending a detention hearing, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

An Auburn man has been sentenced to six months in jail after pleading no contest to a single count of possessing counterfeiting apparatus.

Jerod Williams, 24, was arrested March 11 on suspicion of cashing and attempting to cash fraudulent checks at the Cash Club in Auburn. Police said they had received reports that Williams was impersonating a Wave Broadband employee to obtain goods and services.

Williams entered the plea in Placer County Superior Court on Friday.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Two Sacramento men were arrested in Auburn on suspicion of burglary and identity theft, after a Target store security guard recognized them as individuals suspected of previously using a stolen credit card at the business.

The men, identified as Stacy Alan King (above, left), 22, and Michael Raymond Adame (above, right), 28, are suspected of vehicle burglaries in Sacramento and Placer counties.

They entered the Target store on Bell Road in Auburn at 6 p.m. Saturday, and the security guard recognized them as suspects in an incident that had occurred the previous week, according to a Placer County Sheriff's Department news release. Store security officers monitored the men and called the Sheriff's Department. Deputies detained the men as they left the store.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

The prosecutor outlined his case today against three men who are on trial for murder in the front-door shooting death five years ago of a reputed 18-year-old marijuana dealer in Land Park.

Deputy District Attorney Sean Laird said the Jan, 3, 2006, killing of James Ramirez was the third violent home invasion robbery that defendants Alex Brown, 33, David "Jake" Carrera, 33, and Terry Alexander, 25, had carried out in about a week.

In the hours before the shooting of Ramirez, the three defendants robbed two brothers at their nearby residence on 18th Avenue. One of the victims then led the defendants who were on the hunt for "pounds and racks" - marijuana and money - to the Ramirez residence at his parents home in the 4500 block of Francis Court, according to Laird.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Thieves with a stolen backhoe tried unsuccessfully to break into a bank ATM this morning.

Sacramento police responded at 4:16 a.m. when an alarm was activated at the ATM outside a Chase Bank, 1950 Arden Way. Once there, police discovered that thieves had abandoned a backhoe that they had tried to use to break into the cash machine.

The burglars brought the excavator with them, but exactly where it came from was not available from police. The thieves were not able to get any money from the machine, but they did significantly damage the ATM and the building by clawing away with backhoe's toothed bucket.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

The Sacramento County Coroner's office has released the name of a Rio Linda man who was chased down and killed.

Sheriff's deputies said that the man was an innocent victim who was mistaken for a burglar early Sunday. He was identified by coroner's deputies as David Valdez, 20, of Elverta.

Steven Andrew Zinda, 29, pictured, is in the Sacramento County Main Jail on a single charge of murder in the death of Valdez.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Two people were arrested on suspicion of breaking into the Stanford Ranch Animal Medical Center late last night.

Rocklin police said that at about 10:20 p.m. Sunday officers went to the vet hospital at 2311 Sunset Blvd. after receiving a report of two people trying to break into the rear of the business. The burglars were reported to be dressed in black and attempting to pry open a door.

However, the burglars were not successful and left before the arrival of officers. They returned after officers went back on patrol, residents of a nearby apartment complex reporting that that the burglars were back at it shortly before midnight.

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

An Elk Grove couple and their daughter safely fled a house fire in the 6700 block of Koster Way in the Laguna Creek neighborhood about 5:30 a.m. today, a spokesman for the Cosumnes Community Services Fire Department said.

Battalion Chief Sean Stumbaugh of the department said the fire still is under investigation. But he said it may have started in a refuse can outside the house and then appears to have been spread by gas from a natural gas meter. The gas meter may have been damaged in the blaze, he said.

Neighbors noticed the fire, he said. About the same time, the father was alerted by a large boom, Stumbaugh said.

The fire was quickly extinguished, he said, but it damaged part of the attic and the exterior of the house, leaving the home uninhabitable.

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

By Bee Staff

Sacramento police arrested today two armed robbery suspects in the process of robbing a convenience store - and found the suspects' two young children waiting in the getaway car, a police spokesman said.

One of the suspects tried to shoot the store clerk, but his handgun was empty, said Sgt. Norm Leong. The man hit the clerk with the gun, Leong said.

Leong gave this description of events:

By Bee Staff

Based on information from Sacramento-based U.S. marshals, an Amador County murder suspect was arrested today in Mexico.

Justin Bryan Bergo was arrested by Mexican authorities in Tijuana, according to a news release from the U.S. Marshals Central Valley Fugitive Task Force for the Eastern District of California

A warrant was issued in Amador County on Thursday for Bergo, charging him in the murder of his mother, the release states.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

Bystanders delivered for the pizza guy, when he was held up in the Dos Rios Triangle, according to a Sacramento police report.

Three African American men approached the victim right after he had dropped off a pizza near Sitka and Dos Rios streets right after midnight this morning, police said.

One suspect showed a gun, and the attackers attempted to rob the deliveryman.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

A hapless car thief wound up at the hospital after taking a police bait car Friday around 2:30 p.m., Sacramento police report.

After the bait vehicle was taken in Del Paso Heights, police encountered it near the entrance to Interstate 80 at Marysville Boulevard.

The car got on the freeway with police in pursuit and then attempted to make a quick exit at Longview Drive.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

An Auburn woman's credit card was used for video games, but the 77-year-old wasn't the PlayStation addict.

The woman reported losing her purse on her return from the grocery store back in January, Auburn police reported.

She believed it had fallen out of her car and that someone who found it was using her credit cards.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

An Auburn man was arrested last week after he allegedly poked his female housemate in the forehead with a fork during an argument, according to an Auburn Police Department release.

James Warren Svanda, 59, was arrested following an argument Saturday that apparently escalated because some items in the household broke, according to the release.

Officers responded to a residence in the 11000 block of Camjen Lane at about 3:30 p.m. March 12 and found a woman with minor injuries to her head. She alleged that Svanda, also a resident, had poked her with a fork, the release states.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A woman who pleaded no contest to a charge of assault on a child that resulted in the death of her stepson has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

Dayshawna Lawrence, 23, entered the no contest plea last month in the March 2010 death of 3-year-old Jeremiah McRath. She was sentenced Friday by Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette.

Jeremiah's father, Adrian McRath, pleaded no contest in December to child endangerment and was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison.

Lawrence and McRath were angry with Jeremiah because he had been having toilet training accidents and was urinating on the floor in the apartment. After McRath left the apartment, Lawrence inflicted excessive physical punishment on the youngster, causing numerous bruises over his face, head and body, according to a Sacramento County District Attorney's Office news release. The child died of blunt force injuries to his head.

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

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A man convicted of the shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend and her new companion in 2007 has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Miguel Carranza, 42, was convicted by a Sacramento County jury in February of two counts of first-degree murder and use of a firearm, according to a Sacramento County District Attorney's Office news release Friday.

In November 2007, Carranza shot and killed Yesenia Lopez, 29, and Jezer Lopez, 32, as they walked to their car after Yesenia Lopez got off work at a beauty salon on Northgate Boulevard in Sacramento.

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

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A man who kidnapped and assaulted four women, in some cases telling them he was a police officer, has been sentenced to 315 years to life in prison.

Albert Povadora, 35, was convicted in January of 17 counts including rape, sodomy, kidnapping and firearms offenses. He was sentenced Friday by Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Trena Burger-Plavan to 315 years to life plus 17 years, according to a Sacramento County District Attorney's Office news release.

Officials say Povadora approached a woman on May 31, 2008, on Martin Luther King Boulevard. He approached her from behind with a firearm and forced her into a nearby alley, where he sexually assaulted her. Her rape trauma examination in the hospital produced a DNA sample from her attacker.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A 36-year-old man has been sentenced to 50 years to life in prison after a DNA sample linked him to the 2004 murder of Juanita Johnson.

Christopher Rogers was convicted by a Sacramento County jury in October of first-degree murder and the use of a firearm. He was sentenced Friday by Superior Court Judge Eugene Balonon.

Johnson's body was found on the doorstep of a home early Thanksgiving Day 2004 on 40th Street near 44th Avenue in south Sacramento . A trail of blood led down the street to where she had been shot one time in the head, according to a Sacramento County District Attorney's Office news release. Evidence, including a condom, indicated that a sexual act had taken place, officials said.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Two Davis residents have died of injuries sustained Thursday in a head-on traffic collision in Placer County.

The California Highway Patrol reported that Maria McArren, 74, and Richard Tanner, 77, died Thursday afternoon after being taken by air ambulance to Sutter Roseville Medical Center.

The collision occurred shortly before noon as Billy A. Keller, 25, of Foresthill was driving a Mazda 626 westbound of Foresthill Road, east of Drivers Flat. McArren was driving a Honda Civic eastbound on Foresthill Road, when Keller's vehicle traveled into the eastbound lane, directly into the path of McArren's vehicle, according to a CHP news release.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

Is nothing sacred?

Sacramento County park rangers are accustomed to dealing with thieves breaking into cars, poachers and other miscreants plying their trade along the American River Parkway.

But a theft last weekend may mark a new low: someone pried a large commemorative plaque off a boulder in the William B. Pond Recreation Area that marked the starting point for the annual Eppie's Great Race.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A Sacramento Superior Court jury today acquitted Michael Bruce Weisz of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter in the hit-and-run killing of a security guard at a midtown nightclub two years ago.

The seven-woman, five-man panel did convict the 24-year-old Weisz of felony hit-and-run in the early morning Sept. 23, 2009, death of Leroy Berry Fisher III, 64. He faces a maximum of four years in prison on that count.

Judge Maryanne G. Gilliard ordered that Weisz remain in custody. She scheduled his sentencing for April 15.

By Bill Lindelof
blindleof@sacbee.com

The driver of a big-rig truck who was hit and killed when he stopped to assist at an accident on Interstate 80 near Blue Canyon was identified today by the Placer County Sheriff's Department.

William Gonzales, 54, of Sacramento died Thursday when he was struck by another vehicle that slid off an icy Interstate 80.

Officer Todd Kettwig of the California Highway Patrol said the driver of a Jeep Cherokee was eastbound on Interstate 80 just west of Blue Canyon about 6:50 a.m. when he encountered ice and lost control of the vehicle.

By Bill Lindelof
blindleof@sacbee.com

Sacramento Police Department officers were kept busy tracking, tackling and running after four suspects last night and early this morning in separate incidents.

At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, security officers at a Northgate Boulevard parking lot provided police with a description of a getaway vehicle involved in a vehicle burglary. An officer found the vehicle behind a store.

Inside the vehicle were Manuel Rodriguez, 25, Angelina Grubb, 19, and a child, police said. The officers said they also found a laptop believed to have been stolen from the burglarized vehicle.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

A North Highlands motorcyclist is listed in critical condition today after being hit by a braking sports car on Interstate 80 on Thursday.

Brian Jennings, 21, was riding about 75 mph on his 2009 Suzuki eastbound on I-80 at 10:30 a.m. Thursday just east Douglas Boulevard when a 2003 Corvette approached from behind and pulled alongside, the California Highway Patrol reported.

The driver of the car, Donald Stanley Rey Jr., 45, of Roseville slammed on his brakes when he came upon stopped traffic, according to the CHP.

Q: Has anyone been arrested in the slaying of Line Withrow? - Anonymous, Sacramento

A: Line Withrow's 2006 homicide is unsolved. A $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer is still being offered.

Withrow, a 67-year-old retired occupational therapist, was returning from a shopping trip April 28, 2006. Just blocks from her home, a man stopped his car next to her and shouted at her.

Withrow couldn't understand what the driver said and stepped closer to the curb at 37th and P streets. The man demanded her purse, according to neighbors who talked to her after the attack.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A Sacramento man who carjacked and kidnapped a woman near Roseville in 2009 has been sentenced to 30 years to life in state prison, according to a Placer County District Attorney release.

Rick Anthony Cooley (left), 32, a "three-strikes" law offender, pleaded no contest on Feb. 17 to a felony charge of kidnapping during a carjacking, the release states. Cooley also admitted to allegations that he had committed three serious or violent felonies for which he served prison sentences, the release states.

The carjacking and kidnapping occurred Nov. 12, 2009, according to the release, which gives this description of the crime:

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

An Elk Grove man pleaded guilty today to importing counterfeit drugs from China.

Troy James Taylor, 39, pleaded guilty in federal court to the sale of counterfeit drugs with the intent to defraud, stemming from his illegal importation of counterfeit Viagra and Cialis tablets, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

Viagra and Cialis are two oral drugs approved by the FDA to treat erectile dysfunction.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Sacramento police continue to investigate the suspicious death of a baby in the Robla neighborhood, according to authorities.

Officers responded to the 800 block of Rood Avenue at 2:19 p.m. Thursday at the request of firefighters, who had been called to a home, said police Sgt. Norm Leong.

The 2-month old girl has been identified as Mirabelle Thao-Lo, according to a Sacramento Police Department release.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A 32-year-old man has been sentenced to two years in prison in connection with an incident in July in which several shots were fired into the air from a moving vehicle in front of a Cal Fire station in Foresthill.

Joshua Trinidad Lemas (left), of Foresthill was sentenced last week by Placer County Superior Court Judge Larry D. Gaddis after pleading no contest on Feb. 9 to a felony count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and to a misdemeanor count of brandishing a firearm.

The incident occurred about 2:40 p.m. July 27 on Foresthill Road when a Dodge Challenger was driven past the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection station and shots rang out.

By Bee Staff

The California Highway Patrol will operate a DUI checkpoint beginning at 9 p.m. Saturday in an undisclosed area of south Sacramento County.

The checkpoint will run until 2 a.m. Sunday, according to a news release from the CHP, South Sacramento Area Office.

Officers will evaluate driver's sobriety and hand out literature warning of the dangers of drinking and driving, the release states.

If there is inclement weather, the checkpoint will be canceled for safety reasons and the units will be assigned to roving DUI patrols, the release states.

By Cathy Locke
slocke@sacbee.com

Sacramento Police are at scene of a shooting that occurred shortly before 2 p.m. today in a strip mall in South Natomas.

Sgt. Norm Leong said a 20-year-old man was shot in front of a cigar and cigarette store on the southwest corner of Truxel and San Juan roads. Leong said the injuries appear to be non-life-threatening, and the man has been taken to a hospital.

The suspect was described only as a white male in his late teens or early 20s. He was reported riding away from the scene on a bicycle.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A man convicted of murdering his drug dealer was sentenced today to 15 years to life in prison.

Jeffrey Bruce Campbell, 48, received the term from Sacramento Superior Court Judge Kevin J. McCormick.

Jurors convicted Campbell last month of second-degree murder in the May 19, 2009, stabbing death of 19-year-old Frederick Howard.

Prosecutors charged that Howard was trying to collect a $100 drug debt from Campbell when the defendant stabbed him to death and dumped his body in an industrial area in Rancho Cordova.

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

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

Two weeks ago, Nancy Garrido's attorney made a public plea for compassion for his client, saying she should have a chance to walk free someday after doing prison time for the Jaycee Lee Dugard kidnap.

Stephen Tapson asked for compassion, saying Nancy Garrido was like a mother to Jaycee and the two daughters that resulted from Phillip Garrido's sexual assaults upon her. He noted that the El Dorado County District Attorney was seeking a sentence that would keep Nancy Garrido in jail for the rest of her life, and said, "Unfortunately, the quality of mercy is strained in El Dorado County."

District Attorney Vern Pierson was not amused. He told reporters after a court hearing this morning that he would have strong things to say about his supposed lack of compassion, and a short time ago he issued a blistering prepared statement on the matter.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

The first "Sheriff's Chat" with Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones has been postponed until next Thursday.

The event had been scheduled for this morning, but had to be canceled because of a family emergency, said spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

Next week's chat will take place March 24 from 9 to 11 a.m. in the Marconi Room at the sheriff's North Central Division Service Center, 2500 Marconi Ave., Suite 100.

Jones has proposed a series of "Sheriff's Chats" to give the public an opportunity to meet with him one-on-one, as time permits, to ask questions or discuss concerns regarding the Sheriff's Department.

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

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A West Sacramento man has been convicted of 62 counts of sex acts with a relative, beginning when the victim was 12 years old.

A Yolo County jury reached the verdict March 10, and Wednesday the trial court found true the allegations that Bennie Dale Moses, 44, had previously been convicted of 12 separate offenses under the state's "three strikes" law. The law allows judges to increase sentences.

Moses forced the victim to engage in sexual acts with him beginning in 2000 and the abuse continued until July 11, 2009, when the victim confided in a friend that she had been sexually abused for nine years, according to a Yolo County District Attorney's Office news release.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

The driver of a big-rig truck who stopped to assist at an accident scene near Blue Canyon died this morning when he was struck by another vehicle that slid off an icy Interstate 80.

Officer Todd Kettwig of the California Highway Patrol said the driver of a Jeep Cherokee was eastbound on Interstate 80 just west of Blue Canyon about 6:50 a.m. when he encountered ice and lost control of the vehicle.

The Jeep slid across the highway and down the northern embankment at the highway median.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A project to improve pedestrian safety on a section of Greenback Lane in Citrus Heights has been completed with the activation of a new pedestrian crossing signal.

The work was done on Greenback Lane between Birdcage Street and Mariposa Avenue.

The Citrus Heights Police Department announced that it will immediately begin enforcing driving and pedestrian violations at the new signal.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A 3-year-old boy has been taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after falling from a third-story apartment window in Elk Grove this morning.

Elk Grove Police Department spokesman Officer Christopher Trim said the incident occurred at 9:14 a.m. in the 9100 block of Waterman Road.

The youngster was on a couch by the window. Although the screen cover was in place, Trim said, the child pushed through the screen and fell out of the window, landing on bushes and wet dirt.

Trim said the child's mother was in the apartment when the child fell.

The investigation is continuing.

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

By Melody Gutierrez
mgutierrez@sacbee.com

Hundreds of teens from area high schools are set to stage a peace rally Friday at Cesar Chavez Park on 10th and J streets.

Various campuses throughout Sacramento have hosted peace-related events all week to raise awareness about gang violence and in teen crime victims.

The event is hosted by the Sacramento Youth Commission and will begin at noon on Friday.

Students from Hiram Johnson, McClatchy, Grant, Luther Burbank and St. Francis will be participating with County Supervisor Phil Serna.

Call The Bee's Melody Gutierrez, (916) 326-5521. Follow her on Twitter @MelodyGutierrez.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Sacramento police issued a warning today that with the high price of gold, robbers are snatching necklaces.

Two gold grabs occurred this month in south Sacramento when women had their necklaces taken by robbers on the street, police said.

At 5:10 p.m. on March 1, a woman walking in the 6100 block of Lemon Hill Avenue was approached from behind by a man. Without warning, the man grabbed her necklace and kept running east on Lemon Hill Avenue.

PHOTO CREDIT: In this file photo, Phillip Garrido sits in court with his attorney and wife at his side. Plea negotiations in the kidnapping case continue today. Randy Pench, Sacramento Bee.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

PLACERVILLE -- The wrangling continues over how best to resolve the Jaycee Lee Dugard kidnap case, but it appears increasingly likely that accused kidnappers Phillip and Nancy Garrido may end up pleading before the case goes to trial.

Phillip Garrido faces 563 years in prison under an offer from the El Dorado County District Attorney, one lawyer in the case said today, while his wife faces 180 years, up from the 140-year offer made earlier.

The pair appeared in court briefly today and are set to return for a new hearing April 7, when it is possible that the case may be resolved.

By Bee Staff

The Yolo County Sheriff's Department's Animal Services is asking the public's help in finding a dog that bit a man in Davis on Monday.

The 30-year-old victim was walking his dog on a leash in Pioneer Park at Hamel Street and Glide Drive at about 8:15 p.m. Monday when a dog bit him, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.

The attack was not reported until Wednesday.

By Stephen Magagnini
smagagnini@sacbee.com

Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones will met with the Indus Valley Chamber of Commerce to discuss the shooting of two Sikh elders - one fatally - while they took their afternoon walk in Elk Grove March 4.

Jones will be joined by Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Laurel

White. The event, co-sponsored by the Sacramento Regional Coalition for Tolerance and the Sacramento Organization of Chinese Americans, will be held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Sheriff Station Community Room, 7000 65th Ave., between Florin Road and Stockton Blvd.

Call The Bee's Stephen Magagnini, (916) 321-1072.

Q: What is the status of Steven Reece Cochran, the man who kidnapped a 12-year-old Lodi girl in 1994? - Anonymous, Folsom.

A: Steven Cochran, now 42, is serving a 106-year-sentence. He is incarcerated at the Kern Valley State Prison at Delano, records show.

Cochran, a drifter and self-described alcoholic, broke into a Lodi home on July 2, 1994, after stalking the Lodi neighborhood and determining that three girls - ages 12, 13 and 16 - were alone in the house, The Bee reported. Their parents were out of town.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Citrus Heights police conducted a DUI warrant sweep on Wednesday, arresting one person on an active warrant for a DUI-related offense, according to a police department release.

Officers participating in the sweep attempted to locate individuals who had active warrants for DUI-related offenses, according to the release.

Officers attempted to serve a total of seven warrants throughout Citrus Heights.

The sweep, geared toward reducing the city's number of habitual DUI offenders, was funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A fast-moving fire destroyed an abandoned McDonald's in south Sacramento late tonight.

The fire was likely started by a person, either accidentally or on purpose, because the building did not have power or utilities, said Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District Battalion Chief Patrick Ellis.

The boarded-up building, on Stockton Boulevard near Florin Road, was popular with transients, Ellis said.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

An Auburn man arrested last week on suspicion of cashing and attempting to cash fraudulent checks is now also accused of manufacturing checks and impersonating company employees.

Auburn police detectives arrested Jerod Williams, 24, Friday on suspicion of cashing and attempting to cash fraudulent checks at the Cash Club in Auburn. They also received reports that Williams was impersonating a Wave Broadband employee to obtain goods and services.

Williams, who remains in the Placer County Jail, is also accused of manufacturing checks purported to be for a company in New Jersey.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A 67-year-old man has been convicted by a Sacramento County jury of performing lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age.

Louis Mayen was found guilty of molesting a relative at Mayen's residence, according to a Sacramento County District Attorney's Office news release. The jury also heard testimony that Mayen had molested four other children who were related to him since the 1970s.

He is scheduled to be sentenced April 22 in Sacramento Superior Court.

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

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Sobriety checkpoints are planned in El Dorado County and Elk Grove this weekend.

The California Highway Patrol's Placerville-area officers will set up a checkpoint about 8 p.m. Friday, which will operate throughout the evening.

Officers will control traffic at the checkpoint to evaluate drivers' sobriety, check drivers' licenses and hand out literature warning of the dangers of drinking and driving. Additional CHP officers will be assigned to roving patrols in the checkpoint area to seek out DUI drivers.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

The South Lake Tahoe Police Department is warning residents and visitors to the area to be on the lookout for people stealing catalytic converters from vehicles.

The devices were stolen from at least five vehicles Monday night and Tuesday morning, according to a Police Department news release.

Three of the thefts occurred in the city of South Lake Tahoe and the other two in the unincorporated area of El Dorado County.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Law enforcement agencies throughout the Sacramento region encourage St. Patrick's Day revelers those who drink not to drive.

Agencies in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado and Yolo counties will deploy DUI task forces Thursday.

In Placer County, additional roving saturation patrols will be on duty in Roseville, keeping an eye out for people driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

State occupational safety officials have been notified in the wake of the death of a worker who was nearly decapitated this morning when he was pinned between his cherry picker and the front of a big box store in Natomas, a Sacramento Fire Department spokesman said.

The middle-aged man, who was not identified, was working on electrical lights at the Staples store, 3631 Truxel Road, in the Natomas Marketplace about 7 a.m. when he was killed, the spokesman said.

The worker, an employee of Century Lighting & Electric, raised his articulated boom and basket to work on lights near an overhang at the front of the store. The lighting company employee, working by himself, had deployed stabilizers on the truck equipped with the boom basket.

By Bee Staff

Gov. Jerry Brown has until April 7 to act on a parole recommendation for a Yolo County man who killed the 22-month-old son of his girlfriend in 1983, authorities say.

The governor can reject, approve or do nothing on the parole recommendation for Chris Michael Fowler, now 49. Doing nothing allows the parole to become official, a governor's spokeswoman said.

The state Board of Parole Hearings recommended a parole for Fowler late last year. The Davis Enterprise reported that several people offered Fowler employment and he would live in his parent's house.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A man who murdered his wife four years ago has been sentenced Tuesday to 15 years to life in prison.

Augustine Espino Munoz, 40, pleaded guilty last month to the Nov. 8, 2007, strangulation of his ex-wife, Jill Alamo, whose body was found in a ditch in the 900 block of Elder Creek Road.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge imposed the term on Munoz on Tuesday.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

The Sacramento County coroner's department has released the name of the man killed in the South area on Tuesday.

He was identified as Michael Jason Garcia, 28, of Sacramento.

Deputies were called to the 6500 block of Rancho Grande Way about 1:15 a.m. Tuesday. Once at the home near Elder Creek Road and 65th Street Expressway, deputies learned that Garcia had been taken to the Rancho Grande house from a home on Stamper Way.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A Sacramento man pleaded guilty today in federal court to felony copyright infringement in a case involving the pirating of DVDs.

According to court documents, Yan Akhumov, 45, of Sacramento, distributed unauthorized copies of copyrighted motion pictures in Music Land stores that he controlled in Rancho Cordova, West Sacramento, Citrus Heights and North Highlands.

His inventory for sale or rental included unauthorized copies of Hollywood movies such as "The Godfather" and "Indiana Jones", according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A Truckee teen missing since he left home Sunday to walk his dog has been found dead, Capt. Harwood Mitchell of the Truckee Police Department said this afternoon.

Andre Simonpietri, 18, was reported missing Sunday evening, hours after he left his home in the Glenshire area on the east side of Truckee with the family dog, Mitchell said.

A local resident found Simonpietri's body in an open wooded area in Glenshire at about 11 a.m., Tuesday morning, about a half-mile to a mile from his home, Mitchell said.

By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com

Fair Oaks teenager Allen Wright, who thought up an application for the Apple iPhone called "A Note to God," was apparently struck by a hit-and-run driver while crossing Sunrise Boulevard early Sunday and remains in a coma, his father said.

Wright's supporters are asking for users of the popular iPhone application to offer prayers for its young inventor.

"We believe in the power of prayer," said the teen's father, Tod Wright, his voice breaking with emotion. "(Allen) needs his idea of A Note to God to work for him."

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

The Lincoln Police Department has released enhanced security-camera photos (see below) of a jewelry store burglary and seeks the public's help in identifying the suspects.

Lincoln Jewelers, at 395 South Highway 65, was burglarized shortly before midnight March 9 by two individuals wearing gloves and dressed in hooded sweatshirts to hide their faces.

The thieves smashed the front window and used a hammer to demolish the glass on merchandise cases, then used plastic trash cans they brought with them to load the valuables.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

An Elk Grove man died in a collision on Highway 160 Monday when the pickup truck he was riding in was struck head-on by another pickup.

Weiliang Li, 51, of Elk Grove died from injuries suffered in the accident that occurred about 1:15 p.m. Monday on Highway 160 just north of the Antioch Bridge, the California Highway Patrol said today.

A truck driven by a Rio Vista man was traveling north when the pickup drifted into oncoming traffic, The CHP said.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Sacramento Fire Department officials say that it unclear what sent one person to the hospital and caused the evacuation of a building in the East End complex.

The call came in shortly before noon today to respond to 1616 Capitol Avenue, where a handful of occupants of the building were complaining of having breathing difficulties, a Fire Department spokesman said.

Initially, the release of pepper spray was suspected in the building but fire department instruments were not able to pinpoint what caused the problem, the spokesman said.

Employees of the Department of Public Health and Department of Health Care Services were to be allowed back into the building about 1 p.m., the fire department spokesman said.

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

By Bee Staff

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Department wants to find a woman who investigators say is the primary suspect in a stolen-property operation.

Sheriff's detectives are looking for Alyssa Carole Rossetta (left), 40, of Somerset, according to a sheriff's news release.

An El Dorado Superior Court judge has issued a felony warrant for Rossetta on suspicion of receiving stolen property, the release states.

The release laid out this chain of events:

At 7:30 a.m. Saturday, sheriff's deputies conducted a probation search at a home in the 2300 block of Apache Pass Road in Somerset about 11 miles from Placerville.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Three houses were shot at, and one man injured, overnight in the north part of the Sacramento.

The first shot in a residence was reported in the 3300 block of Alvarado Boulevard near Hagginwood Park about 10:30 p.m. Monday.

The house and two vehicles parked in front were hit by several rounds.

By Bill Enfield
benfield@sacbee.com

An El Dorado County marijuana grower who was convicted of the attempted murders of his brother-in-law and his nephew is due a parole hearing. The victims had innocently wandered near Silvestre Gonzalez' pot grow and a guard shot them.

Gonzalez, now 49, was convicted of two counts of attempted murder. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms, plus an additional year for each term, The Bee reported.

Gonzalez armed a 78-year-old laborer, Luis Lopez Arriaga, and told him to shoot anyone who came near Gonzalez' marijuana garden.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawhara@sacbee.com

Citrus Heights police are asking for the public's help in their investigation of a felony hit and run that took place early Sunday and left an 18-year-old man with major injuries.

The incident occurred at Sunrise Boulevard and Arcadia Drive about 12:45 a.m., according to a Citrus Heights Police Department news release. The 18-year-old Citrus Heights resident was walking in the area when a vehicle struck him, then drove away.

The victim was found with a head injury on the center divide of Sunrise Boulevard and was transported to Mercy San Juan, where he is in critical condition, according to the release.

Police are asking anybody with information about the crime to contact the police department. Persons with information can contact the Citrus Heights Police Department at (916) 727-5500 or the crime tip line at (916) 727-5523.

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

By Sam Stanton and Marjie Lundstrom
sstanton@sacbee.com

Disgraced real estate magnate Michael Lyon tearfully confessed in a Sacramento courtroom today to secretly videotaping four prostitutes between March 2009 and last September.

Lyon, a prominent businessman whose reputation collapsed when he was charged last year with four felony counts of secretly recording interactions with prostitutes, pleaded guilty in a deal that will likely result in him spending a year in detention in his home and five years probation. He will be allowed to go to work and doctor's appointments, but will face a curfew and have his movements monitored by an electronic device on his ankle.

The judge suspended a two-year state prison sentence and recommended a year in the county jail. The Sheriff's Department ultimately will decide how his sentence will be served.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

Sacramento County sheriff's detectives are asking for the public's help in identifying a woman whose body was found in a wooded area near Isleton in 2008 - four years after they believe she was killed.

Previously, authorities have released descriptions and sketches of what the woman might have looked like. But with the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, officials now have a three-dimensional model of how her face and head likely looked.

Officials believe the woman was 30 to 45 years old and between 5 feet 3 inches and 4 feet 8 inches tall. She was predominately Caucasian, but might have Asian and African influence in her ancestry, according to forensic pathologists.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

A Sierra college student, who was found guilty of attempted murder for a stabbing on campus, has been sentenced to 11 years in state prison.

Paul Thomas Heintz, 23, was sentenced Friday by a Placer County Superior Court Judge. He had been found guilty Sept. 30 for the stabbing of a former friend in a fit of rage.

Heintz was angry because his friend, Alex Abrahamian, had struck up a relationship with a woman who Heintz had twice dated. On March, 24, 2009, Abrahamian, who was on spring break from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, came onto the campus of Sierra College in Rocklin to see old friends, including the woman.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A Sacramento Superior Court jury today convicted an accused gang member of one count of voluntary manslaughter and three more counts of attempted murder in the shooting death of a 27-year-old man outside a store on Marconi Avenue three years ago.

The panel returned the convictions on defendant Pedro Alonso Meza, 25, after acquitting him of murder charges in the May 5, 2008, killing of Johnny Wayne Brinsfield. The panel found that the shooting was carried out on behalf of Meza's street gang.

Jurors acquitted Meza's co-defendant in the case, Luis Alfredo Serrato, 24, of all charges in the case. Serrato's attorney, Mike Wise, said he expects his client to be released from jail today.

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

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A Sacramento Superior Court jury convicted a man of eight counts of attempted murder today for a freeway shooting spree in the summer of 2009 that prosecutors had characterized as a hate crime.

But, jurors did not sustain the hate crime allegations against the defendant, Kyle Douglas Frank, who is now 24.

Judge Roland L. Candee scheduled Frank's sentencing for April 11.

UPDATE: Michael Lyon confesses to felonies, likely faces home detention

By Sam Stanton and Marjie Lundstrom
sstanton@sacbee.com

Michael Lyon, the real estate magnate whose reputation collapsed when he was charged with four felony counts of secretly videotaping interactions with prostitutes, is expected to plead guilty today in an agreement with prosecutors, The Bee has learned.

The 55-year-old former chief executive officer of Lyon Real Estate also is expected to speak out in Sacramento Superior Court about personal problems that led to the charges, sources close to the case say.

Prosecutors are expected to recommend that Judge Gary Ransom sentence Lyon to a year of detention in his home, where his movements will be monitored electronically and he will be allowed to go to work and doctor's appointments, but face a curfew.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Redding police today took a man into custody who was wanted for attempted murder in Sacramento.

Jesse Moore, 22, was booked into Shasta County Jail on suspicion of resisting arrest, providing a false information, possession of a loaded .357 magnum revolver and outstanding warrants.

Police said they were called to the intersection of Trinity Street and Gilbert Street regarding somebody breaking into a vehicle at 1:22 a.m. today. When they arrived, they noticed a man walking away.

By Ryan Lillis
rlillis@sacbee.com

Two people were arrested in South Lake Tahoe on Friday on suspicion of passing forged American Express Travelers Cheques.

Olewasami Brown, 35, of Pittsburg and Annette Powell, 35, of Merced were arrested in a hotel on Ski Run Boulevard, according to the South Lake Tahoe Police Department.

The pair is suspected of buying merchandise in three South Lake Tahoe businesses with $500 Travelers Cheques and getting cash back. They tried to buy something at a fourth business but were turned away by an employee who had heard of the other three transactions, police said.

A store employee reported the suspects' vehicle description and the automobile was spotted at the hotel. The pair was booked on suspicion of conspiracy and forgery.

Call The Bee's Ryan Lillis, (916) 321-1085.

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

A large fight at STRIKES Family Entertainment Center in Elk Grove at 11 p.m. Saturday sent at least one man to the hospital and prompted the arrests of two others, a city police spokesman said today.

Officer Christopher Trim said the injured man was in stable condition at a local hospital after he was hit in the head with a bowling ball during the fight.

The men were being held for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon, Trim said.

By Carlos Alcalá and Phillip Reese
preese@sacbee.com

Sacramento police this afternoon identified the victim of a homicide earlier on Northgate Boulevard.

Rashad Stephen Alexander, 19, of Sacramento, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police responded to the 3200 block of Northgate Boulevard at 12:46 a.m. after reports of shooting.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

Coroner's officials have released the name of a pedestrian killed after being hit by a car early Friday in Carmichael.

The traffic victim was Julian M. Carter, 26.

According to a CHP investigation, a motorist was traveling northbound on Walnut Avenue near Engle Road at about 4:25 a.m. when he suddenly saw a pedestrian in dark clothing in the roadway.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

Two people died in a single car crash early this morning in the Capay Valley, the California Highway Patrol reported.

Ranjana Pokhrel, 26, was driving a 2008 Toyota Highlander eastbound on State Route 16 near 2nd Street in the town of Capay at about 4:40 a.m.

The Toyota was traveling at an unknown rate of speed when it drifted off the road for unknown reasons.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

The U.S. Secret Service is assisting Auburn police in investigating what appears to be a check and currency counterfeiting operation.

The investigation began after Auburn police arrested Jerod Williams, 24, on suspicion of passing fraudulent checks.

Police arrested him Friday at his home.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

A landscaping worker was robbed of his tools in Natomas Friday.

The worker was tending a front yard lawn on Saintsbury Drive at about 6 p.m. when two men in a white vehicle stopped and took his lawn equipment.

Police did not mention a weapon or threats in the incident.

The suspect is described as an African American male in his 20s, about 6 feet tall, with shoulder-length "twisty" hair.

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

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A 43-year-old man has been convicted by a Sacramento Superior Court jury of sexual acts with a child who had been placed in his care.

The jury found Ronald Meza guilty on all counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child younger than 14 years of age, sex acts with a child 10 years old or younger and false imprisonment.

The 9-year-old victim was a relative. Because the victim's parents preferred that a family member watch their daughter rather than send her to a daycare provider, they asked Meza to watch her when she came home from school, according to a Sacramento County District Attorney's Office news release.

By Bill Enfield
benfield@sacbee.com

A man who fatally shot a guest at West Sacramento hotel after the guest asked about noises coming from the man's room is due a parole hearing.

Harold Underhill, now 69, is serving a life sentence for the April 27, 1985, murder of Keith Highfill, 39, of West Sacramento, records show.

Highfill heard loud banging noises coming from Underhill's room. Highfill knocked on Underhill's door and when he answered, asked if he had any problems.

"No, but you do," Underhill said and shot Highfill one in the chest, witnesses told police.

Call The Bee's Bill Enfield, (916) 321-1058.

Q: Brett Harris murdered his mother and stepdad in their home in Parkway Estates. Police found him in a tree in the yard. Where he is now and is there any possibility that he would ever be paroled? - Former Parkway Pal, Sacramento

A: Bret Brooks Harris, now 49, is serving a 41-years-to-life sentence, records show. He is incarcerated at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga. He is eligible for parole, but at what date is not clear. (His first name in records is spelled Bret and Brett.)

Harris was arrested after police found the bloodied bodies of Barbara Harris Gisler, 55, and Robert Gisler, 52, in the bedroom of their J Parkway home in south Sacramento.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District officials announced this morning that Chief Bill Sponable will be stepping down as chief effective April 1.

Officials characterized it as a mutual decision, though the chief said in his brief remarks to reporters that he had hoped to stay in his position longer.

"This process has been extremely challenging for us all," Sponable said, referring to the district's efforts to remain financially viable in a poor economy. "Relations have become extremely strained."

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A judge yesterday sentenced a pimp who was convicted of murdering a rival to 50 years to life in prison.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge handed down the term to Charles Antonio Williams, 26, for the shooting death last May 8 of Marcel Hatch, 29.

According to a prosecutor's trial brief, the two men worked as pimps out of a motel on Auburn Boulevard.

By Bee Staff

The Sacramento Police Department will hit hard next week at drunken drivers, sellers of liquor to minors and people who have DUI warrants.

The police also urged those celebrating St. Patrick's Day with alcohol to designate a sober driver.

The department news release said these enforcement efforts will be pursed during the week of March 13:

Q: James Swanson was arrested for stabbing me in 2005. What happened to him? - James Williams, Roseville

A: James Charles Swanson committed suicide in a state mental hospital in 2009 at age 31, according to the Placer County District Attorney's Office and death records.

Swanson was undergoing restoration of competence treatment after having been found incompetent to stand trial, the DA's office told The Bee. He was charged with attempted murder.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Police in the city of Lindon, Utah, are seeking help locating two children allegedly abducted by their father and reportedly seen late last month in the Sacramento area.

Sgt. Doug Eastman of the Lindon Police Department said David Fratcher, 41, has visitation rights but does not have custody of daughters Amanda, 11, and Amber Fratcher, 14. (Photos below, from left, are Amanda, Amber and David Fratcher.)

Eastman said Fratcher did not return the children to their mother Feb. 13, and had said he planned to take the children and never return. Fratcher reportedly had told people that he planned to go to California or Mexico, Eastman said.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Police have set up a perimeter in the area of 56th and Q streets in Sacramento, searching for a suspect in the robbery of a Greek restaurant tonight, the Sacramento Police Department reports.

Another suspect is in custody, said Sgt. Norm Leong, police spokesman.

Opa Opa, a restaurant in the 5600 block of J Street, was reported robbed sometime after 9 p.m., Leong said.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A Jack in the Box in south Sacramento was held up tonight, in an event unrelated to a recent string of robberies at fast-food restaurants in the region, a Sacramento police spokesman said.

Two men entered the restaurant at 6300 Power Inn Road just before 8:43 p.m. and demanded money, Sacramento police Sgt. Norm Leong said. At least one of the men was armed.

The two men left with an undisclosed amount of cash, Leong said. Nobody was hurt in the robbery.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A Woodland police sergeant was arrested earlier this week on suspicion of driving under the influence, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.

Woodland police Sgt. Steve Sexton was pulled over and arrested at 4:32 p.m. Monday while riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle at Maxwell Avenue and County Road 102 in east Woodland, said CHP Sgt. Andy Hill.

Shortly before, at a different location, a citizen had seen a motorcycle rider come to a stop and lose control of the motorcycle, Hill said. The citizen stopped to help pick up the bike and smelled the odor of an alcoholic beverage on the rider, Hill said.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawhara@sacbee.com

Police and SWAT teams executing a search warrant in Citrus Heights this afternoon were seeking a suspect in the Tuesday shooting death of a 48-year-old man near a Sacramento elementary school, said Sgt. Norm Leong, Sacramento police spokesman.

The suspect is Augustine Aranda, 28, of Sacramento. He is wanted in connection with the killing of Mark Vincent Colquitt, 48, early Tuesday on 21st Avenue near Franklin Boulevard, Leong said.

Citrus Heights police served the Sacramento Police Department search warrant with SWAT teams at a residence in the 7500 block of St. Philomena Way just before 5 p.m.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A Sacramento jury today convicted two members of a North Highlands street gang of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a 2008 Halloween Night party host.

Gunman Elijah Rasean Fields, 20, and fellow Monk Mobb gang member Corey Andre Carmicle, 24, also were convicted of three additional counts of attempted murder in the Nov. 1, 2008, shooting that killed Patrick Razaghzadeh, 24.

"Relief," said Trish O'Connor, the mother of the murder victim, after the verdict was announced. "I feel like there was justice and resolution. There is no closure. There is never going to be closure. But there is justice."

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Citrus Heights police are asking for the public's help in their investigation of the killing of David Lynch, the skinhead leader who was found shot to death in his home last week. Investigators are interested in surveillance videos from the neighborhood or information on Lynch's activities the week before he was killed.

Residents of the Merlindale Drive and Farmgate Way neighborhoods who may have surveillance video of vehicles leaving the area after Lynch was killed are asked to step forward, the release states, according to a Citrus Heights Police Department release.

Lynch, whom officials called a skilled recruiter and organizer for a prominent white supremacy group in the Sacramento area, was found dead from gunshot wounds to his head and upper torso at his home on Merlindale Drive on March 2.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones will hold his first "Sheriff's Chat" March 17 in Arden Arcade.

It is intended to give the public a chance to meet the sheriff, and to ask questions or discuss concerns regarding the Sheriff's Department and the communities it serves, according to a department news release.

Those who attend will have an opportunity to speak with Jones one on one, on a first come, first-served basis, as time permits, the release states.

The event is scheduled from 9 to 11 a.m. in the Marconi Room at the Sheriff's North Central Division Service Center, 2500 Marconi Ave., Suite 100.

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

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Quick-hitting burglars, who loaded at least $50,000 in rings, watches and necklaces into trash cans, have dealt a blow to a Lincoln family-owned jewelry business.

But the matriarch of the family said they will continue to work hard despite the break-in and the difficult economic times.

"This can't stop us," said store co-owner Debbie Rhodes. "We are just grateful for the family we have, the support we have."

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

An Elverta man who killed a 45-year-old woman in a traffic collision in Rio Linda last year pleaded no contest Wednesday to gross vehicular manslaughter, according to Sacramento Superior Court records.

Travis Weldon Moore, who was 19 at the time of the Feb. 16, 2010, crash, collided at 16th and C streets with a vehicle being driven by Christine Ingle, who died at the scene.

The California Highway Patrol said that Moore was driving at a high rate of speed when he ran the stop sign on eastbound C Street. Ingle was driving northbound on 16th Street.

Moore is scheduled to be sentenced April 6 by Judge Gary E. Ransom.

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

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

The man accused of murder in the hit-and-run killing of a security guard at a nightclub in Sacramento's Lavender Heights neighborhood testified today that he had no recollection of ever slamming his car into the man.

But on cross-examination, Michael Bruce Weisz denied the previous trial testimony of his lover who told jurors that the defendant called him on the phone and admitted that he had hit someone with his car while trying to get out of the Badlands parking lot.

Leroy Berry Fisher III, 64, a popular security guard at the gay bars in the area, died about an hour after the Sept. 23, 2009, incident.

By Bill Lindelof

blindelof@sacbee.com

Elk Grove police say a man tried to burn his father garage using vodka as fuel.

Police said that Kanwarjit Singh Kalotia, 43, went to his father's home in the 8400 block of Water Poppy Way about 11 a.m. Tuesday in violation of a court protective order.

When his father, Bhagwant Kalotia, 72, tried to drive away, his son got into the older man's vehicle armed with a handsaw.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A high-speed chase along Highway 50 and Rancho Cordova and Sacramento streets this morning ended in the arrest of a parolee.

Sacramento County sheriff's detectives arrested Jacobi Sanford, 34, on suspicion of evading a peace officer and violation of his parole.

At 11:22 a.m., detectives with the Sheriff's Department's Gang Suppression Unit attempted a traffic enforcement stop near Zinfandel Drive and Highway 50 in Rancho Cordova. The driver, later identified as Sanford, failed to yield to officers and fled, leading officers on a pursuit onto westbound Highway 50.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A suspected burglary in Oak Park was foiled this afternoon when a Sacramento police officer saw a group of teenagers leaving the back yard of a residence carrying a bag, a police spokesman said.

The officer was driving in the 2900 block of 32nd Street when he saw three males leaving a back yard with a bag, said Sgt. Norm Leong, Sacramento police spokesman. Upon seeing the officer, the subjects began to run, he said.

Two of them were caught in a foot pursuit, and the third was later found by a K-9 unit, Leong said. All three juveniles were arrested on suspicion of burglary, Leong said.

A gaming console was among the items recovered.

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

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A 22-year-old parolee was arrested by Citrus Heights police early today following a pursuit that ended in North Highlands.

Police officers patrolling a the residential area of Auburn Boulevard and Donegal Drive in Citrus Heights about 2 a.m. attempted to stop a vehicle after observing several vehicle code violations. As they attempted the stop, officers recognized the driver as Brian Jones, a parolee, according to a Citrus Heights Police Department news release.

Jones failed to stop and instead led officers on a pursuit, until he lost control of the vehicle and spun out, stopping in the 7100 block of Larchmont Drive in North Highlands.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A Sacramento Superior Court jury has convicted a 65-year-old man of sexual abuse of a dependent adult and failing to register as a convicted sex offender.

The jury also found that Clive McGaw has prior convictions, meaning he is subject to California's Three Strikes law and faces a potential sentence of life in prison, according to a Sacramento County District Attorney's Office news release.

In February 2008, staff at UC Davis Medical Center observed McGaw kissing and being groped by a 25-year-old woman who has Down syndrome.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully announced today that the Sacramento police team that investigated the October 2008 killing of Steve Lo has been awarded a prestigious recognition from the state's Police Officer Standards and Training organization.

The team's work on the case helped contribute to the first-degree murder conviction of former Sacramento County sheriff's deputy Chu Vue, who was found to mastermind the killing of Lo, his wife's lover and also a correctional officer.

Scully said she nominated the team of seven individuals for POST's Investigative Excellence Award because of their "amazing work" on a complicated, time-consuming case. Deputy District Attorney Eric Kindall, who successfully prosecuted Vue, called it "one of the most sophisticated murder conspiracies ever seen in Sacramento County."

By Stephen Magagnini
smagagnini@sacbee.com

The reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for shooting two turbaned Sikh men on their afternoon stroll through Elk Grove last Friday has grown to more than $42,000.

The Jewish Community Relations Council, the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region and area synagogues announced today they have raised more than $10,000 to add to the reward, said Rabbi Mona Alfi, Congregation B'Nai Israel.

An interfaith prayer vigil will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at the intersection of East Stockton Boulevard and Geneva Point Drive, where Surinder Singh, 65, was shot to death and Gurmej Atwal, 78, was critically wounded.

By Denny Walsh
dwalsh@sacbee.com

A Sacramento federal court jury today rejected Drake Jones' claim that he was forced face-down into raw sewage while he was a Main Jail inmate in 2008, and awarded him minimal damages for excessive force manifest in the several hours he spent handcuffed and shackled.

The panel found supervisory liability against a sheriff's sergeant, plus "willful, malicious, or oppressive" conduct on the part of four deputies, but awarded no punitive damages, which are meant to punish, against them.

The five women and three men apparently believed Jones exaggerated his injuries, assessing the jailers a total of $31,000 in general damages; $8,000 against Sgt. Daniel Morrissey, $7,500 against Deputy Ken Becker, $7,000 each against Deputies Justin Chaussee and Chris Conrad, and $1,500 against Deputy Christopher Mrozinski.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

A man has been arrested in connection with the fatal crash of a Folsom woman in late January.

James Beckwith (photo right), 52, of Rancho Cordova, was arrested by Folsom police on a felony warrant for suspicion of vehicular manslaughter on Tuesday.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

A portion of Folsom Boulevard is back open after Pacific Gas & Electric crews made the necessary repairs to a gas leak overnight.

Folsom Boulevard was blocked off between Santa Ynez Way and 39th Street for hours to allow crews to repair a 2-inch gas line, which was ruptured by a contractor drilling in the area Tuesday afternoon, said a PG&E spokesman.

About 50 customers had their gas shut off after the incident, and many of those homes were evacuated.

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

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A Sacramento couple is seeking the public's help locating a bicycle that was stolen Tuesday morning near Stockton Boulevard and Broadway.

Kathy Carter said her husband, Michael Range, 61, relies on the bicycle to make his daily rounds collecting recyclable items. Range, who has diabetes and has had a bout with cancer, travels about 8 miles daily collecting aluminum cans and other items. He rides his bike in the morning, then takes the bus back to their home at the end of the day.

She said he had locked the bike, which he purchased at a garage sale, in back of the Food Source store at Broadway and Stockton Boulevard about 6 a.m. Tuesday. When he returned a short time later, it was gone.

She described it as a 21-speed bicycle, chrome and purple, with a black seat. Anyone with information about the bike is asked to call Carter or Range at (916) 492-2902.

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

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A UC Davis student was found dead in his dorm room by campus police Tuesday afternoon after his parents reported being concerned over not hearing from him for three or four days, a university spokesman said.

Campus police found the student about 3:30 p.m. in his bedroom at Castilian Hall North, an off-campus UC Davis dorm, said UC Davis spokesman Andy Fell.

The student's room is in a shared suite with two other bedrooms and a common room, Fell said.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A 25-year-old woman was hospitalized with moderate injuries after being struck by a light-rail train near 19th and S streets Tuesday night.

The woman was attempting to cross the train tracks in an unauthorized area near a sidewalk about 9:10 p.m., when she was hit by a northbound train, said Sacramento Police Department Sgt. Laura Chase. She was conscious and breathing after the incident and was transported to a local hospital, Chase said.

The train stopped on the tracks for about 20 minutes and train personnel reported the collision to police, Chase said.

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

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

An eighth person has been arrested in the shooting death of an 18-year-old at a high school graduation party in Elk Grove last summer, the Elk Grove Police Department announced.

Jahmal Dawson, 18, was arrested Tuesday morning at an apartment complex in Sacramento in connection with the killing of D'Andre Blackwell, according a department news release. Detectives were acting on a tip from the Sacramento Citizen's Crime Alert Program, the release states.

Blackwell, who had recently graduated from Valley High School, was shot in the chest during a confrontation at a Holiday Inn Express in Elk Grove on June 5, 2010. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Greta Curtis Fall completed her instructions late this afternoon to the seven-man, five-woman jury in the Monk Mobb murder trial, and the panel is set to begin its deliberations Tuesday on two defendants charged in the Halloween Night 2008 shooting death of a party host.

Elijah Rasean Fields, 20, and Corey Carmicle, 24, sat silently throughout the day as their lawyers and the prosecuting attorney gave the jury their final arguments in the case.

Fields and Carmicle are accused of murder in the Nov. 1, 2008, killing of Patrick Razaghzadeh, 24.

Darshan Mundy, spokesperson for the Sikh Temple Sacramento, discusses the shooting of two Sikh men, at a news conference in West Sacramento.

By Stephen Magagnini
smagagnini@sacbee.com

The U.S. Department of Justice today sent its regional director of its Community Relations Service to Elk Grove to help Sikh families cope with the Friday shooting of two elderly Sikh men.

Members of the community and area law enforcement fear the shooting, which left 67-year-old Surinder Singh dead and a 78-year-old Gurmej Atwal in critical condition could be a hate crime.

Investigators are waiting for Atwal to recover from multiple gunshot wounds so he can be interviewed. He is in stable but critical condition in intensive care. He underwent a second surgery Monday, after taking two bullets to the torso.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

The Sacramento County District Attorney's office has begun its investigation into whether an Elk Grove police officer was legally justified in shooting at a handcuffed suspect in January, according to authorities.

The suspect, 32-year-old John Hesselbein, was grazed in the face by a round from the officer's department-issued Colt AR-15 rifle.

The Elk Grove Police Department recently handed over report on the incident to the District Attorney's office, said DA spokeswoman Shelly Orio. As is protocol in the aftermath of officer-involved shootings, officials there will determine whether to file criminal charges against the officer.

By Kim Minugh and Bill Lindelof
kminugh@sacbee.com

The man gunned down near a south Sacramento elementary school this morning has been identified as 48-year-old Mark Vincent Colquitt, according to the Sacramento County Coroner's office.

Colquitt, a Sacramento resident, was found shot to death in the 2800 block of 21st Avenue, across the street from Ethel Phillips Elementary School, about 5:45 a.m., police said.

His body was found on the sidewalk in front of a home. He was transported to a local hospital, where he died shortly before 6:30 a.m., according to authorities.

By Denny Walsh and Sam Stanton
dwalsh@sacbee.com

Alexander Piggee pleaded guilty today to setting the massive Oct. 21 arson blaze at the Westfield Galleria in Roseville and likely will face 10 years in prison when he is sentenced on May 24.

The 24-year-old Sacramento man pleaded guilty to two arson counts in U.S. District Court in Sacramento this morning, one involving the $55 million Galleria blaze and the other for a minor fire he set at a North Highlands Walmart earlier that day.

Piggee could have faced up to 20 years in prison on each count, but federal prosecutors say they plan to ask that he be sentenced to two five-year terms to be served consecutively. Piggee also has agreed to plead guilty in Sacramento Superior Court to setting a blaze that damaged his grandmother's Oak Park home in the weeks before the Galleria fire. The District Attorney's office has agreed to recommend that any sentence he receive in that case be served concurrently with his federal time.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Woodland detectives this morning are looking for three Hispanic men in their mid-20s with medium builds as suspects in a deadly shooting of a man outside a downtown bar early Sunday.

Lt. Anthony Cucchi said detectives believe a fight at closing time at La Finca de Rivera restaurant in the 500 block of Bush Street may have led to the shooting, which left one man dead and another wounded.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Three businesses were burglarized overnight in Rocklin on Sunset Boulevard, police reported.

The burglaries were reported at 2164, 2221 and 2600 Sunset Blvd. In each of the break-ins, someone shattered the front glass of a business and entered to steal.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

The victim of a Monday night robbery in Elk Grove arrived outside a Walmart with the intention of selling a pair of shoes and was left with no clothes after being held up at gunpoint, an Elk Grove Police Department spokesman said.

About 7:17 p.m., officers responded to the Walmart in the 8400 block of Elk Grove Boulevard to find the robbery victim, a male adult in his 20s, naked in the parking lot, said Elk Grove police spokesman Officer Chris Trim.

The man had intended to complete a Craigslist sale of some tennis shoes outside the Walmart, Trim said. When he arrived and met with the prospective buyers, one of them produced a gun and ordered the victim to take off his clothes, Trim said.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Two men accused of attacking a Sikh taxi driver in November entered no-contest pleas today in Yolo County Superior Court, with one man admitting that his attack was a hate crime.

Pedro Ramirez, 42, of Natomas, pleaded to a felony assault charge and admitted that his attack on cab driver Harbhajan Singh in West Sacramento was a hate crime, according to a Yolo County District Attorney's Office news release. He also admitted that he caused great bodily injury to the victim.

Johnny Morales Jr., 33, of West Sacramento, who had a lesser role in the attack, pleaded to felony assault.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

This week is Teen Driving Safety Week in California, and officials are seizing on the opportunity to remind young drivers of the dangers of being distracted on the road.

Statistics offered up by the non-profit organization Impact Teen Drivers are sobering: Reckless and distracted driving is the leading cause of death for teens in the United States, claiming 3,500 teen lives in 2009.

Another alarming stat: More than two-thirds of fatal teen crashes can be attributed to distracted driving and not the usual suspects, drugs and alcohol.

By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com

Woodland police say they are still trying to piece together events that led to a deadly shooting of a 30-year-old man outside a downtown bar early Sunday.

It was the city's first homicide of 2011.

Lt. Anthony Cucchi said detectives believe a fight at closing time at La Finca de Rivera restaurant in the 500 Block of Bush Street may have led to the shooting, which left one man dead and another wounded.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

Students at Antelope High School are being sent back to class after a search of the campus yielded nothing to validate a threat called into the school this morning, according to authorities.

Campus officials received a phone call just after 10 a.m. from an unknown person who threatened to "blow up" the school, said sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

The deputy assigned as Antelope High's school resource officer evacuated the school and coordinated a search of the campus.

That search was finished about 11:30 a.m. and the campus was found to be clear of any threat, Ramos said.

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

By Stephen Magagnini
smagagnini@sacbee.com

Nearly 100 community leaders including Sikhs from throughout Northern California gathered today at the West Sacramento gurdwara to announce a reward of nearly $30,000 for information leading to the arrest of those who shot two elderly men on their afternoon walk in Elk Grove last Friday.

The reward is for information about the fatal shooting of Surinder Singh and the wounding of his friend, Gurmej Atwal, as they walked along the street. The violence has shocked members of the Sikh community. Many fear they were shot because they were mistaken for being Muslim and are victims of a hate crime.

At today's event, Elk Grove Police Capt. Bryan Noblett said witnesses at the scene described a 1999-2003 beige or tan Ford F150 pickup truck in the area of the shooting.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Three unconscious cats in a smoke-filled Woodland house were revived by rescuers this morning.

Woodland firefights extinguished a blaze in a garage and house in the 1200 block of McKinley Avenue. All the people staying there escaped unharmed.

However, they reported three felines remained inside, and when rescuers found them they appeared lifeless.

By Peter Hecht
phecht@sacbee.com

John Luebbers, the school janitor accused of killing Placerville elementary school principal Sam LaCara, made a brief appearance in court this morning as a hearing was delayed in his murder case.

El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Douglas Phimister scheduled a court conference for April 11 to prepare for a preliminary hearing in the case.

Luebbers, 44, is accused of gunning down LaCara, his friend and golfing partner at the Louisiana Schnell School on Feb. 2. Authorities said Luebbers, the school's lead custodian, apparently was agitated over the planned hiring of a night janitor. Sent home by the principal to cool off, Luebbers allegedly went to his home in the town of El Dorado, returned to school with a gun and shot LaCara.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

South Lake Tahoe police are seeking help finding a man who pushed aside a souvenir shop clerk and took money from the store till.

The robbery occurred Saturday night at Lake Tahoe Souvenir, 3477 Lake Tahoe Blvd. The clerk told police a man pushed her against the cabinet and helped himself to money from the cash register.

The suspect and an accomplice waiting in the parking lot then fled in a white sports utility vehicle. The robber was described as a unshaven white man, about 45 years old, 6 feet tall, with an average build. He was wearing a dark gray, zip-up hooded sweatshirt and a black ski cap.

Anyone with information is asked to call officer Ray Poole, (530) 542-6100.

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

Bee staff

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has offered a $5,000 reward after two Sikh men were gunned down while walking in Elk Grove.

The executive director of the council's Sacramento Valley chapter noted that Sikh men in beards and turbans are often targeted by those who mistake them for Muslims. "The Muslim community offers its condolences and support to the Sikh community in this time of sorrow," Basim Elkarra said.

Elk Grove police said Sunday they didn't have new information to release about the shootings that shocked the community. Both victims were frail from heart attacks and advancing years and they slowly ambled through a quiet Elk Grove neighborhood during their daily afternoon walk.

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

A Sacramento man living in the Pocket area knew just what to do early today when he came home and found a strange man sleeping in his bed.

First, he checked with his roommates to see if the sleeper was one of their friends. Turns out, none of the roommates had a clue about the man's identity, Sacramento Police Officer Laura Peck said today.

So the resident took the logical next step: He called police.

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

A busy armed robber who pulls heists just as fast-food restaurants are opening their doors in the mornings has hit two more restaurants tonight. This makes five robberies today and eight in recent days.

The latest robberies included a Del Taco in the 2500 block of El Camino Avenue at about 9:15 p.m., and at 10:13 p.m. a McDonalds in the 8900 block of Folsom Boulevard.

One of the restaurants, a Burger King at Freeport Boulevard and Fruitridge Road just north of Sacramento Executive Airport, was struck twice, once last Tuesday and again this morning, said Officer Laura Peck, Sacramento Police spokeswoman.

By Darrell Smith
dvsmith@sacbee.com

A man was struck and killed by a motorist tonight as he tried to cross Watt Avenue near Elkhorn Boulevard, said witness and a California Highway Patrol officer.

The man had just eaten at a free food kitchen minutes earlier and was crossing Watt outside of a crosswalk about 7:20 p.m. when he was struck by a car headed south on Watt, the CHP said.

The car's driver was traveling about 40 mph when the collision occurred. The driver was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, the officer reported.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

A dramatic early morning truck crash created a major mess but no injuries on Interstate 80, the California Highway Patrol reported.

A propane truck towing a tank trailer crashed into an unoccupied, disabled vehicle about 3 a.m. on westbound 80 near the Sacramento River.

The truck jack-knifed and the cab went through the center railing and was suspended above Garden Highway, said CHP Sgt. David Ricks.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

A drunk-driving suspect nearly escaped as he was being delivered to jail today, Sacramento police reported.

Following a car crash shortly before 4 a.m., the driver was suspected of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and was arrested in the 3900 block of Marysville Boulevard.

The suspect - identified as Maurice Henton, 27 - slipped one hand out of his handcuffs while in the patrol car, police said.

By Carlos Alcala
calcala@sacbee.com

Sacramento fire crews putting out a fire in one unit of a southeast neighborhood duplex discovered marijuana growing in the second unit.

Police responded to the 6400 block of Cougar Drive shortly before 1 p.m. Friday to investigate and were there when the unit's occupant arrived, the Sacramento Police Department activity log shows.

The occupants, however, provided proper paperwork for marijuana cultivation, police reported.

Instead of arresting the growers, officers left and notified code enforcement to look into what they believed to be improper wiring used to supply power.

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

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

A 72-year-old man who died after a single-vehicle crash in Elk Grove has been identified as Robert Gerald Connick of Elk Grove.

Police reported that a minivan drove off Sheldon Road near Springhurst Drive and into a tree at about 11:30 a.m. Friday.

A passing nurse performed CPR, but the victim was unresponsive.

Police have not determined what caused the crash.

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

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

Sacramento Sheriff's homicide detectives continue to investigate a fatal Friday night shooting in south Sacramento, officials announced today.

After receiving reports of shots fired at 8:40 p.m. Friday, deputies found an as-yet unidentified man with a gunshot wound in his head in a car in the 7000 block of Chandler Drive.

He was taken to a nearby hospital where he died.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A man in his 20s died Friday night after a shooting in south Sacramento, authorities report.

At 8:40 p.m., the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department received a call about shots fired at Chandler and Sunnyslope drives, said Deputy Jason Ramos, department spokesman.

A few minutes later, the department received more calls about a gunshot victim in a car on Chandler Drive. Officers found a man shot in the head. Paramedics transported him to Kaiser South Sacramento Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. His identity has not been released.

Ramos said several other men who were believed to be in the car with the victim were detained, and that the incident was believed to be a vehicle vs. vehicle shooting.

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

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Two men were found shot, one fatally, late Friday afternoon on an East Stockton Boulevard sidewalk, Elk Grove Police Department officials report.

A person driving northbound on the boulevard called 911 at 4:29 p.m., reporting that there were two people lying on the sidewalk, said Officer Christopher Trim, Elk Grove police spokesman. Police responded and found two men with gunshot wounds. One man, whom Trim said was in his 60s or 70s, was pronounced dead at the scene with wounds to his upper torso.

The second victim was transported to an area hospital, where he is in critical condition, Trim said.

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

By Cathy Locke and Bill Lindelof
clocke@sacbee.com

A Placerville woman who had been reported missing was found dead this morning 200 to 300 yards from her residence down a steep embankment.

Darlene Marie Newman, 48, appeared to have died from hypothermia, according to an El Dorado County Sheriff's Office news release.

She was found at 10:30 a.m. by El Dorado County Sheriff's Department search and rescue volunteers.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

The 36-year-old man detained on drug charges following the slaying Wednesday of nationally known skinhead organizer David Austin Lynch broke down in court this afternoon, crying out that he had lost his wife, his best friend and his children and saying he needed help.

"Can I speak?" Charles Gilbert Demar III said after Superior Court Judge Lawrence G. Brown read the three felony counts that could send Demar to prison for life under California's Three Strikes Law.

As Brown tried to caution Demar that it would be better for his lawyer to speak for him, Demar interrupted.

By Bill Lindelof and Cathy Locke
blindelof@sacbee.com

Roseville police arrested today 20-year-old Jackson Robert Gall of Roseville on suspicion of shooting his roommate.

A Roseville police officer stopped a speeding vehicle on Sunrise Avenue near Kensington Drive at 5:06 a.m. today and found that one of the passengers, Nicholas Hammer, 22, had a gunshot wound in his neck, according to a Police Department news release.

The officer called for emergency medical responders and Hammer was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where he was listed in critical condition this afternoon.

By Carlos Alcalá and Cathy Locke
calcala@sacbee.com

Sacramento County sheriff's deputies arrested three people in connection with a Friday afternoon drive-by shooting.

The initial 911 call reported that shots were fired at pedestrians from a dark-colored sedan driving by Rosario Boulevard near Santa Fe Way.

A woman was found by deputies at a nearby house suffering from a gunshot wound, officials said. She was taken to a hospital and her injury was not believed to be life-threatening.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A 98-year-old woman died this morning in a hospital as a result of injuries suffered Thursday in a fire in the 7300 block Conrad Drive in south Sacramento.

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office website identifies the woman as Mui Sat Sy.

Sacramento County Metropolitan Fire District officials said the fire started on the outside of the house and fire investigators have been unable to rule out barbecue cooking equipment as the source.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

As part of its annual "Check and Change" program which takes place during spring and fall time changes, the Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Department will distribute nearly 1,000 new batteries to Galt residents for use in home smoke detectors.

Area Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, with the help of the Galt Rotary Club and Galt Community Training, will deliver the free batteries and fire-safety brochures to homes in Galt neighborhoods beginning at 10 a.m. March 12.

Fire officials encourage residents to change the batteries in smoke detectors at the beginning and end of Daylight Saving Time.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Elk Grove police have confirmed the death of a driver in a crash that occurred this morning on Sheldon Road when a van hit a tree.

At about 11:30 a.m., a minivan traveling eastbound on Sheldon Road near Springhurst Drive drove off the right side of the road, over a sidewalk and into a tree.

A registered nurse passing by in his vehicle stopped and administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation to the injured driver. The driver of the van, an elderly man, exhibited no signs of life but was taken from the scene by ambulance, said Elk Grove police spokesman Chris Trim.

Traffic eastbound on Sheldon Road at Springhurst has been detoured. Sheldon Road will be closed most of the afternoon so that officers can conduct an investigation.

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

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A federal jury in Sacramento has convicted a Glenn County man for destroying trees and other plants in the Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge.

Dean Lundie, 59, of Orland was convicted Thursday of unauthorized taking from a National Wildlife Refuge; destruction of natural objects from a National Wildlife Refuge; unlawfully cutting, injuring or destroying trees on United States land; and trespassing on a National Wildlife Refuge.

The guilty verdict was returned after a four-day trial before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

Convicted murderer Dennis Mains (left) rambled for nearly 10 minutes about how he was "sick" and "delusional" when he killed his wife.

Then the judge silenced him from the bench and sentenced him to a prison term of 50 years to life.

"What you did was cold, it was callous, and it was cruel," Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael P. Kenny told Mains, who shot 61-year-old Pamela Wales twice in the head while she slept. "And there is one more word for it - it was cowardly."

By Bill Enfield
benfield@sacbee.com

The recent arrest of a Sacramento woman on suspicion of shoplifting marked at least her 15th arrest since 1988, 13 of which resulted in her pleading guilty or no contest to various charges, Sacramento sheriff's reports and court records show.

The latest arrest for Lajoy Duncan, 49, was 4 p.m. March 1 outside a store in the 9100 block of Kiefer Boulevard, according to a sheriff's crime summary released this week.

A search of Sacramento Superior Court records shows Duncan has a conviction record stretching back to 1988 when she pleaded guilty to burglary.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

The California Highway Patrol said that one of their officers was forced to shoot a driver in Chico early this morning after a wild pursuit.

The incident began when the Butte County Sheriff's Office requested that the CHP take over a pursuit of a pickup in the Durham area, south of Chico. Officers said that the truck was a "suspicious vehicle and speeding."

Chico police deployed a spike strip at Dayton Road and Hegan Lane, north of downtown, which flattened both front tires on the pickup.

Q: What happened to Martin Jennings of Roseville? - BMF, Sacramento

A: A Placer Superior Court judge sentenced Martin F. Jennings III to spend seven years in prison on Jan. 28, 1994, for causing the drunken-driving death of a Rocklin man, the Placer County District Attorney's Office told The Bee and published reports show.

Jennings, then 22, of Granite Bay was convicted by a jury of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in the death of Derrick Wasson, who was killed Nov. 22, 1991. The jury acquitted Jennings of a second-degree murder charge, The Bee reported.

Wasson was a passenger in a car that smashed into an oak tree at 80 mph on a Granite Bay road. Jennings, whose blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit, was the driver.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

The California Highway Patrol said a drunk driver ran his pickup truck into a drainage ditch Thursday night in Olivehurst, causing major injuries to his passenger.

The CHP said that Michael W. Shaeffer, 38, of Olivehurst was southound on Feather River Boulevard, south of Myrna Avenue, near the Yuba County Airport, about 7 p.m., when due to his level of intoxication, he allowed his pickup to leave the right side of the roadway.

Shaeffer was able to pull back from the edge, but lost control and the truck ran off the left side of Feather River Boulevard. The front of Shaeffer's truck hit a partially filled drainage ditch.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Three people, including two children, were hospitalized Thursday after fire department crews observed high levels of carbon monoxide in their south Sacramento home, a Sacramento Fire Department spokesman said.

A carbon monoxide detector went off in the home on Pierre Avenue on Thursday afternoon, leading the adult inhabitant to call the fire department, said department spokesman Capt. Jonathan Burgess.

Fire crews responded about 5 p.m., and tested the three inhabitants' blood with carbon monoxide monitors after the adult complained of nausea, Burgess said. All three showed carbon monoxide readings that were higher than normal, and they were transported to Kaiser South Sacramento Medical Center, he said.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Sacramento County Sheriff's investigators have removed methamphetamine-making materials from the Citrus Heights apartment of Charles Gilbert Demar III, who was detained Wednesday in connection with the killing of skinhead leader David Lynch and later arrested on unrelated charges, a sheriff's spokesman said.

Citrus Heights police served a warrant Thursday morning at the apartment in the 7700 block of Greenback Lane and discovered the materials, said Deputy Jason Ramos, sheriff's spokesman. Sheriff's investigators were called in, and they found undisclosed amounts of all materials needed to make methamphetamine, Ramos said.

Ramos could not confirm whether methamphetamine was found in the apartment.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A Sacramento man with felony convictions has been indicted for possessing a handgun.

Keshon Murry, 21, was indicted today for possession of a firearm after being convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence and for being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

According to court documents, Murry was convicted of domestic violence in San Joaquin County in September 2008. Under federal law, individuals convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor are not permitted to possess a firearm. Murry also had two prior felony convictions: one for evading a peace officer and one for possession of a controlled substance.

The case resulted from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Safe Streets Task Force and the California Highway Patrol.

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

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District firefighters prepare to mop up after a woman was rescued from a fire on Nomad Way. Bee Staff Photo by Hector Amezcua.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Firefighters rescued an elderly woman from her burning home in south Sacramento this afternoon, a spokesman for the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District said.

At 2:24 p.m., fire crews responded to a single-story residence in the 7300 block of Conrad Drive near Nomad Way that showed heavy fire coming from the interior, said Capt. Christian Pebbles, Metro Fire spokesman.

Crews encountered heavy security bars and doors that delayed their entry, Pebbles said. Upon gaining entry, they found one woman in a bedroom and transported her out of the house.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A woman who committed suicide in Grass Valley City Hall on Wednesday has been identified by the Nevada County Coroner's Office as Josephine Melton, 31.

Melton, a city resident, was not a city employee.

Grass Valley police said a city employee discovered Melton in a first-floor restroom of City Hall late Wednesday morning. Police said she had suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said Melton had not had any encounters with city employees and the shooting did not involve any issue with the city.

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

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Roseville police are searching for a man who accosted a teenage girl outside a school gymnasium Wednesday evening.

About 7:15 p.m., a 14-year-old girl was at a club volleyball practice in the gym at Eich Intermediate School on Sierra Gardens Drive.

She stepped outside to cool off, and a stranger approached her, grabbed her by the arm and tried to pull her away from the gym doors, according to a Roseville Police Department news release.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

The California Highway Patrol reports that a drugged driver may have been the cause of a collision on Highway 99 this afternoon in which one person was injured and a California Highway Patrol vehicle was damaged.

CHP spokesman Officer Michael Bradley said a CHP officer had made a traffic stop on northbound Highway 99, just south of Florin Road, and was in the process of towing a motorcycle from the roadway shoulder at 12:20 p.m. A Toyota pickup truck driven by a 46-year-old Livermore resident was traveling on the shoulder and came upon the stopped CHP vehicle. In an effort to avoid the collision, the truck driver swerved into the traffic lanes and collided with an ADT Security van.

The collision caused the driver of the van to lose control of his vehicle. The van began to roll over as it collided with the driver's side of the CHP patrol vehicle. Bradley said the van also hit the motorcycle, which was parked in front of the patrol vehicle.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

An admitted gang member testified today that "I pulled a gun out and shot with my eyes closed" when he killed the host of a 2008 Halloween Night party in the La Riviera-Larchmont Park area.

"I mean it just happened," Elijah Rasean Fields, 20, told a Sacramento Superior Court jury. "I don't really see it in my mind. I know it just happened."

Patrick Razaghzadeh, 24, was hit five times from the bullets fired from Fields' handgun, including once in the forehead. He fell to the pavement and died in the back yard of the house he and some buddies had been renting on Rogue River Drive.

By Sam Stanton and Bill Lindelof
sstanton@sacbee.com

Citrus Heights police have detained a close friend of slain skinhead leader David Austin Lynch, but they have not linked him to Wednesday's killing and the man's former mother-in-law told The Bee today that the two men were best of friends.

Charles Gilbert Demar III, a 36-year-old tattoo artist and skinhead band leader, was booked into the Sacramento County Jail Wednesday night on drug and gang charges and is being held in lieu of $1 million bail. Demar declined to be interviewed by The Bee in the jail this morning.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

A Roseville gang member has been sentenced to 36 years to life in state prison by a Placer County judge who noted the defendant had spent nearly 80 percent of his adult life in custody.

Jose Vincent Rubal Jr. (left), 39, received the sentence Tuesday after Superior Court Judge Jeff Penney denied his motion to dismiss prior serious offenses in hopes of getting a lighter prison term. Rubal is a "three-strikes" offender. (California's three-strikes law allows harsher sentences for repeat felons.)

At least two of his prior crimes involved assaults with a knife. The judge figured that Rubal has spent 6,350 days of his adult life in custody, according to a press release from the Placer County District Attorney's office.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

The Sacramento Fire Department is recommending that an Oak Park building that burned this morning be knocked down, a department spokesman said.

The warehouse-type brick building at 3216 Martin Luther King Boulevard was damaged by fire about 6:30 a.m.

Firefighters entering the building were met by a man who may have been living in what was supposed to be a vacant structure.