Sacto 9-1-1

A man has been sentenced to 67 years 4 months, plus 40 years to life, plus life without the possibility of parole for a series of shootings which occurred between February and March 2005, according to Jan Scully, Sacramento County district attorney.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Helena R. Gweon sentenced Roy Houston on Friday.

Houston was convicted by jury earlier this month for the February 2005 murder of Donald McCall and the attempted murders of Randall Hudson and Joseph McCoy. The jury also found the special circumstance of shooting from a vehicle, personal use of a firearm and gang enhancement to be true, Scully said.

A shooting in south Sacramento late Friday night left a child with minor injuries caused by flying debris, a Sacramento Police Department spokesman said.

Police received multiple calls at 10:03 p.m. of shots heard in the 2500 block of 50th Avenue, said police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong. Officers in the area on a DUI stop also heard the shots and responded to the block.

Officers found that a house had been shot into, and that a small child in the house had suffered minor injuries believed to be from debris caused by the bullets going through the wall, Leong said. The child, believed to be between 8 and 10 years old, was not hit by the gunfire and the injuries were reportedly superficial.

Police believe the shooting may have been gang-related, Leong said. Witnesses reported hearing a car leaving the area, but no car was seen.

Elk Grove police have shut down the carnival of the Elk Grove Western Festival after a large fight broke out tonight, a police spokesman said.

Police received a call at about 8:30 p.m., of a large group of people fighting at the carnival in the Elk Grove Regional Park in the 9900 block of Elk Grove-Florin Road, said Elk Grove Police Department spokesman Officer Chris Trim.

The carnival is a precursor to the annual Western Festival, which runs Saturday and Sunday in the park, Trim said.

A C.K. McClatchy High School employee has been placed on administrative leave while allegations of "misconduct" with a student are investigated, the Sacramento City Unified School District reported Friday.

School officials were informed Thursday evening that the employee had engaged in "inappropriate contact with a student," according to a school district release. They notified district officials, who placed the employee on leave and are now assisting Sacramento police in an investigation into the allegations, the release states.

Sacramento Police Department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said police are investigating "sexual allegations between a student and a teacher," and that the investigation is ongoing. No one has been arrested in connection with the allegations, Leong said.

Students were notified of the incident through a letter passed out Friday afternoon. Parents were notified via phone messages, and a staff meeting was held on campus.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A woman accused of drowning her 3-year-old daughter in a bathtub pleaded guilty to murder today in Sacramento Superior Court.

Anul Malik Ram, 32, is facing a term of 15 years to life in prison when she is sentenced May 20 by Judge Marjorie Koller.

Ram also entered a plea today of not guilty by reason of insanity. Under the terms of her dual plea, she still must serve at least 15 years, Deputy District Attorney Charles Gonzalez said, either in a state mental hospital or prison.

The Sacramento Police Department announced that it will use new surveillance cameras to help monitor large-scale events and specific areas within the city.

The Police Department was awarded $600,000 by the California Emergency Management Agency to purchase the equipment as part of Mayor Kevin Johnson's efforts to obtain additional funds for public safety, according to a news release.

The monies will be used to purchase:

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A Sacramento judge today sentenced Pedro Alonso Meza to 68 years and four months in prison for the gang-related shooting death of Johnnie Brinsfield three years ago.

Jurors last month found Meza, 25, guilty of voluntary manslaughter for the May 5, 2008, killing of the 27-year-old Brinsfield outside a store in the 2300 block of Marconi Avenue.

Superior Court Judge Helena R. Gweon imposed the term on Meza, who also was convicted of three additional counts of attempted murder.

A co-defendant in the case, Luis Serrato, was acquitted of all charges.

An Oak Park man has been sentenced in Sacramento to more than 24 years in federal prison for drug trafficking.

U.S. District Judge Edward J. Garcia today sentenced Edward Mallory, 45, to 24 years and four months in prison for his conviction on two counts of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and two counts of possessing crack cocaine for distribution, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release. Mallory pleaded guilty on Feb. 11.

Between Jan. 1, 2004 and Jan. 18, 2005, Mallory supplied large quantities of crack cocaine to a drug trafficker in and around Sacramento, according to court documents. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration made controlled purchases of crack cocaine from the drug trafficker on six occasions.

The Rancho Cordova Police Department is searching for a suspect wanted in connection with an April 7 residential burglary.

In a photograph captured on a surveillance camera, the suspect, left, is using a credit card stolen from the victim, police said.

He is believed to be between 16 and 21 years old, approximately 6 feet to 6 feet, 2 inches tall, weighing about 160 pounds, according to a Police Department news release.

Jacob Risch, 19, is wanted by the Sacramento Police Department after he failed to complete conditions of his probation for a felony conviction of pointing a laser light at a California Highway Patrol airplane, according to court records and police reports.

Risch, left, pleaded no contest on Sept. 13 to a felony count of discharging a laser at an aircraft. Police said he hit the CHP plane with a green laser light six times from ground near the 100 block of Mike Gartrell Circle in North Natomas, police said.

Responding Sacramento police officers arrested Risch.

Risch was sentenced to 60 days on the sheriff's work project and five years probation, court records show. On Nov. 30, his probation was revoked for failure to complete the terms of his sentence, records show.

Sacramento police said a man was arrested after he caused a disturbance at the city pound in an effort to get his dog back.

Police said they initially arrested Timothy Parkinson, 38, for having an open alcoholic container and warrants. His dog was taken by animal control for safekeeping.

Parkinson later showed up at the Sacramento City Animal Care Services, 2127 Front St., looking for his dog.

Q: On Dec. 5, 2009 a dead body was found in Folsom at Blue Ravine Road and East Natoma Street. What was the outcome of the investigation? - Kevin Kiersey, Folsom

A: The Sacramento Coroner's Office determined that the death of Earl Barrett, 44, of Folsom, was accidental, a Folsom police department spokesman told The Bee. The coroner listed cause of death the result of "acute methamphetamine intoxication" which aggravated existing medical conditions, police said.

Detectives initially investigated the death of the decayed body as suspicious, but early on said there were no signs of foul play, The Bee reported.

The body was found by three boys riding bicycles found the body in a wooded area, which concealed it from casual view.

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

By Bill Enfield
benfield@sacbee.com

A woman who lost an insanity defense after she killed her husband in rural El Dorado County is due a parole hearing.

Peggy Ann Struthers, now 59, is serving 15 years to life for the March 18, 1992 murder of Gordon Struthers, 54, a reserve sheriff for the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office, The Bee reported.

Struthers told investigators that shed believed her husband to be unfaithful and went into a jealous rage. She shot him six times with a .357-caliber pistol.

Two Yolo County men were indicted today by a federal grand jury in Sacramento for child pornography offenses, authorities said.

The grand jury returned a one-count indictment charging Steven R. Russell, 62, of Woodland with possession of child pornography, according to an U.S. Department of Justice news release. Russell was released from prison a year ago after a prior conviction for possession of child pornography, the release states.

The indictment alleges that in December 2010, he was found to be using the Internet to download pornography, despite conditions of release that prohibited him from doing so.

Elk Grove Police have arrested a Sacramento man in connection with a March 10 armed robbery at the Extended Stay America motel, 2201 Longport Court, Elk Grove.

Luke Garlinger, left, 30, was arrested this morning following a vehicle stop in Wilton.

Detectives received several tips from the Sacramento Citizen's Crime Alert Program regarding the identity of the person responsible for the robbery, according to a Police Department news release.

Rocklin police are looking for two men in connection with an early morning armed robbery of a convenience store. (Surveillance photo above shows one of the suspects entering the store.)

Officers responded at 2:21 a.m. today to the 7-Eleven store and gas station at 6001 Stanford Ranch Road regarding a robbery that had just occurred.

A store employee told police that two men, one holding a shotgun, had robbed the store. After taking cash, the suspects left in an unknown direction.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

Jaycee Lee Dugard today expressed relief that Phillip and Nancy Garrido pleaded guilty in El Dorado Superior Court to kidnapping and assaulting her.

Another victim said she was "extremely happy that my ordeal with Phillip Garrido is finally coming to a close."

"I'm relieved that Phillip and Nancy Garrido have finally acknowledged their guilt and confessed to their crimes against me and my family," Dugard said in a prepared statement.

Silver stars for valor for two deputies and a special citation for a teen who kept a cool head will be awarded Friday by the Yolo County Sheriff's Department.

Deputies Mike Glaser and Derrick Alatorre, along with 14-year-old Cloreesa Borrego, will receive the awards for their actions on Dec. 19 when a vehicle went in the water and began to sink.

Glaser and Alatorre witnessed the accident between two vehicles that cold winter day when a vehicle with a pregnant woman and three children, including Borrego, careened into a slough in the Yolo Bypass, according to the Sheriff's Department.

A suspected robber was apprehended this morning, in part thanks to the help of a man delivering The Bee to a midtown gas station, according to the Sacramento Police Department.

Police said a man entered the AM-PM gas station, 2225 16th Street, and pretended he had a weapon under his shirt during a hold-up at about 3:30 a.m. The suspect then ran with money from the station.

The clerk yelled that he had been robbed, which was overheard by a man delivering newspapers to the business, police said. The Bee delivery man and his relative chased after the suspect in their vehicle, eventually catching up with him nearby.

Q: Doug Leeper was murdered in midtown in the late '80s or early '90s. What happened in the case? - Anson, Sacramento

A: Dale Leroy Hutton, now 39, is serving 15 years to life plus seven years for Leeper's murder, Bee reports and records show.

Hutton stabbed to death Douglas Leeper, 31, in Leeper's Sacramento apartment on March 7, 1993. Hutton also stole drugs from Leeper.

A manhunt in Carmichael Wednesday eventually ended with Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies arresting a convicted felon.

It took two searches of a Carmichael neighborhood, but deputies eventually arrested 18-year-old Shakeel Ali-Mapp. He was booked into Sacramento County Jail on suspicion of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of ammunition by a prohibited person and resisting an officer.

The determined police work, aided by citizen involvement, began at 11:45 a.m. when Sacramento County probation officers went to the 3300 block of Mensch Court near Garfield and Whitney avenues to check up on his residence. While in the home, officers saw a firearm in plain view.

Sacramento County Sheriff's Department homicide detectives have arrested a 57-year-old homeless man in connection with the January shooting death of a woman in south Sacramento, according to a department news release.

Teng Thao, 57, left, was taken into custody Wednesday near 37th Street and 41st Avenue -- just blocks from where Jennifer Cha, 25, was found shot to death in the early morning of Jan. 9, according to the release.

Sacramento police are searching for the occupants of a car that sideswiped a north Sacramento home tonight, severing a gas main and water line, a police spokesman said.

Police responded at 9:17 p.m., to reports of a car running into the house in 900 block of Alamos Avenue near Rio Linda Boulevard, Sacramento police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said. They found the car, a white Chevrolet Monte Carlo, but the occupants of the vehicle had fled, Leong said.

Responding Sacramento firefighters shut off the gas main, Leong said.

There were no injuries reported and surrounding areas were not evacuated.

The Sacramento Police Department has announced an option for families seeking to protect loved ones who are in danger of becoming lost due to cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer's, dementia or autism.

The department has partnered with EmFinders, which provides a service using the EmSeeQ wearable locator system to quickly locate individuals who are prone to wandering due to cognitive disorders. EmSeeQ can track the location of a missing person anywhere in the United States where cellular service coverage exists, according to a police department news release.

The wearable watch-like device uses the nationwide U-TDOA cellular technology to determine the location of the person wearing the device, enabling rescuers to quickly find the individual.

Caltrans officials say they believe a problem in new software may be responsible for a malfunction that left about 70 onramp meters stuck on red as the Sacramento area afternoon commute began today.

Caltrans spokesman Mark Dinger said sabotage was not suspected.

Reports of problems with the meters designed to regulate merging traffic began coming in about 3:45 p.m.

Thirteen radar-equipped signs have been installed in Citrus Heights to tell motorists to slow down. (Clink link at end of story to see map of locations.)

Unlike portable trailer-mounted signs, the speed-check signs are mounted on poles and meant to stay in one spot.

They have been positioned throughout the city, including on busy streets such as Van Maren Lane, Greenback Lane and Auburn Boulevard.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

The lawyer for the accused gunman in a fatal 2006 Land Park pot robbery where a teenager was shot to death argued today that prosecutors did not prove their case against his client.

Defense attorney C. Emmett Mahle said that the case against Alex Brown Jr. fell short because five of the key prosecution witnesses all had "agendas" that undermined their credibility.

Mahle mostly targeted witness Sophia Garduno in his argument. In her testimony, Garduno identified Brown, 34, as the gunman in the Jan. 3, 2006, shooting death of James Ramirez, 18, inside his parents' Land Park home.

CHP The California Highway Patrol today identified the man arrested for suspicion of drunken driving after a Friday crash in El Dorado County that killed the passenger in his vehicle.

Sean Perry, 43, of Chico, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving in the single-car crash on a rural El Dorado County road, according to the CHP.

The two men were in a BMW traveling west on Pleasant Valley Road around 12:25 a.m. when their vehicle failed to negotiate a curve in the road about a quarter-mile east of Mother Lode Drive.

Sacramento police have released a composite drawing of a man they say robbed and sexually assaulted a hotel clerk.

Police said that at 4:45 a.m. Friday a man came to a hotel in the 2800 block of Gateway Oaks Drive, ostensibly to rent a room. The man pointed a gun at the clerk and demanded money before leading her into a back room and sexually assaulting her, police said.

He fled on foot.

The suspect is described as a black man, 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet 2 inches tall, with a solid build. He was wearing a black baseball cap, a black thermal shirt and black pants with a red and yellow design on the rear pocket, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Alert at (916) 443-4357 or text to 274637 (CRIMES). Enter SACTIP followed by the tip information

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

A Sacramento man who killed his girlfriend in 1995 after charges were dropped over him attempting to stab her previously is due a parole hearing.

Ajani Abdel Wahid Imarogbe, now 61, is serving 15 years to life for the murder of Leslie Watson, 33, inside her I Street apartment, The Bee reported.

Imarogbe walked into the Sacramento County Jail on Nov. 30, 1995, and told deputies he had killed his girlfriend three days ago and stabbed himself.

Isleton city officials wait to be summoned before a Sacramento Superior Court grand jury on Wednesday. (Photo by Hector Amezcua)

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

The entire city officialdom of Isleton marched into the Sacramento Superior Court house this morning, summoned before a grand jury probing city plans to allow a massive marijuana farm to be built there.

Council members, the police chief, the city manager, planning officials and others all huddled on the first floor of the courthouse waiting to be summoned before a closed session of the grand jury.

All of them except Police Chief Rick Sullivan are expected to invoke their 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Lawyers for a youth pastor who sued the owners of Westfield Galleria at Roseville over free speech say they have resolved his case out of court.

In October, the California Supreme Court denied a Westfield request to review a lower court's ruling that the mall's rules restricting communication among strangers are a violation of free speech.

The appellate court ruled that Westfield's conduct of prohibiting talk among strangers unless it relates to the mall and is approved in advance "are unconstitutional on their face" under the California Constitution's free speech guarantee, according to an appellate opinion.

Q: My friend Linza Johnson was murdered by her husband approximately nine years ago. Is he still in prison and will he ever be released? - Bev, Sacramento

A: George Edward Johnson Sr., now 69, is in prison, serving 78 years to life for killing Johnson on Dec. 12, 1996, Bee reports and records show.

He could become eligible for parole in about 20 years. He is incarcerated at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville.

Sacramento Police Department SWAT officers have served a search warrant on a Natomas residence at the request of a neighboring agency.

SWAT officers made entry to a residence on Daggett Way near Natomas Boulevard and West Elkhorn Boulevard about 7:30 a.m.

Elk Grove police said they are looking for a person connected to an ongoing criminal investigation but would not provide any more detail.

The Yuba County Sheriff's Department is continuing its search this evening for a foothills man with developmental disabilities who was last seen Sunday.

Brian Cook (below), 44, was last seen by his brother Sunday afternoon. Sheriff's officials said the two men reportedly walked to the Fresh Market in Oregon House and then hiked near the area of Dolan Harding Road and Marysville Road in the Browns Valley area..

About 1 p.m., Brian Cook decided he wanted to return home, but his brother wanted to keep walking, so they parted ways. Brian Cook has not been heard from since and his family is concerned that he may be lost, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.

A Yuba County man is credited with alerting sheriff's deputies when he spotted his neighbor's pickup truck in a fast-food parking lot, leading to the arrest of a suspected burglar.

A neighbor of the truck's owner called the Yuba County Sheriff's Department about 1 p.m. Monday to report that he had seen the vehicle in the parking lot of a Burger King restaurant on North Beale Road. Soon afterward, a deputy spotted the pickup near the Burger King and tried to stop it, but the driver, later identified as Michael Gorham, 32, sped up and led deputies down Arboga Road to 11th Avenue, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.

Gorham then turned around and drove north on a fire trail near the Union Pacific Railroad tracks that parallel Arboga Road. He abandoned the stolen truck at the dead end of Second Avenue and ran off on foot.

One person died and another was seriously injured this afternoon in a collision reported about 3:20 p.m. at Auburn Boulevard and College Oak Drive.

Officer Lizz Dutton of the California Highway Patrol said a 33-year-old man was driving southbound on Auburn Boulevard in a Chevrolet 3500 pickup pulling a trailer fully loaded with rock and other debris. He was traveling about 40 mph and approaching College Oak Drive, when a 92-year-old man driving a Ford F10 pickup made a left turn onto College Oak.

The Chevy 3500 pickup struck the F10 on the passenger side. The F10 hit a curb and turned over on the driver's said.

Sacramento police said today that have arrested a suspected Natomas burglar with the help of home surveillance footage.

The suspect's image, left, was captured by a home surveillance camera when he allegedly attempted to burglarize a home near Natomas Boulevard and Club Center Drive on the afternoon of Dec. 20, 2010, according to a Sacramento Police Department news release.

The suspect is believed to have knocked on the front door of the home and, when there was no answer, gone around to the back of the home and attempted to force entry, police reported. He then fled when the alarm activated.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A Sacramento Superior Court judge found the Sheriff's Department negligent for a 2008 attack where two pit bulls bit a motel janitor while deputies were serving a search warrant for the dogs' owners.

The jury awarded Miguel Gutierrez $974,000 in damages, including $850,000 for pain and suffering.

But the jury found the Sheriff's Department found only liable for 20 percent of Gutierrez's injuries from the attack - about $170,000 of the pain and suffering award. The county did not contest Gutierrez's nearly $125,000 in medical bills.

Woodland police are investigating the vandalism of more than 30 trees along County Road 102 over the weekend.

Saplings and trees were either uprooted or broken off overnight from April 23 to 24, on a stretch of County Road 102 between East Gibson and Farmers Central roads, according to a Woodland Police Department release. The uprooted trees were replanted, but about 36 broken trees were destroyed.

The loss of the destroyed trees is estimated at about $8,500, according to the release.

A $500 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the crime. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Woodland Police Department's investigative division at (530) 661-7800.

A 26-year-old San Jose man has been convicted of assaulting a UC Davis student in 2010 with the intent to commit rape, the Yolo County District Attorney's Office reported Tuesday.

Hoang Cong Nguyen was convicted by a jury Monday in the May 6, 2010, assault on the 18-year-old student, according to a DA's office news release.

The release states that Nguyen had dated the victim's older sister for several years prior to the assault and remained friends with the older sister after their relationship ended in fall 2009. At that time, the victim and her sister moved to Davis to attend classes at UC Davis.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Sacramento area law enforcement agencies are partnering with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to combat prescription drug abuse on Saturday by giving people a venue to dispose of unwanted or old prescription pills.

There are more than 30 free and anonymous drop-off sites planned in Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer and Yolo counties, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., for the second National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.

About seven million Americans used prescription drugs for non-medical purposes in 2009, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

The California Highway Patrol has identified the victim of a Monday afternoon collision in south Placer County near Roseville.

Robert Ortiz, 49, of Roseville, died after his 2006 Ford Ranger collided head-on with a 2005 Ford F-250 pickup being driven by Bethany Sperling, 50, of Carmichael, at about 5:05 p.m. on Baseline Road near Walerga Road, according to a CHP news release.

Sperling was airlifted to Roseville Sutter Medical Center after the crash with major injuries, the CHP reported.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

Closing arguments got under way today in the murder trial of three defendants accused in the Jan. 3, 2006, shooting death of a teenager in the doorway of his parents' Land Park home.

"Let's say it like it is," Deputy District Attorney Sean Laird told the jury, then turning to Alex Brown Jr., Terry Larell Alexander and David Jacob Carrera and saying, "The evidence in this case revealed these three men to be monsters."

Brown, 34, Carrera, 33, and Alexander, 26, are accused of killing James Ramirez, 18, in a failed attempt to rob the victim of either marijuana or money.

A Mexican national who had been deported nine times pleaded guilty to illegal re-entry to the United States Monday, according to the federal attorney in Sacramento.

U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner said that Humberto Moran-Torres, 42, of Mexico, pleaded guilty in mid-trial.

Moran-Torres had been deported from the United States on nine prior occasions, according to court records. He also had prior convictions for possession of heroin for sale and second degree assault with a deadly weapon, court records show.

Roseville police will conduct a DUI checkpoint Saturday, at an undisclosed location from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., the Roseville Police Department reported.

Officers will check drivers for signs of alcohol and drug impairment, and will also check drivers' licenses, according to a police department release. Those found to be driving impaired could face jail, vehicle storage fees, license suspension, fines and DUI classes, the release states.

The checkpoint is being conducted with grant funding from the California Office of Traffic Safety.

Over the past three years, DUI collisions in Roseville have led to eight deaths and resulted in 122 injury crashes, according to the release.

A California Highway Patrol officer sustained minor injuries to both arms Monday afternoon when his car was struck by another vehicle after he had pulled into the center median of Interstate 80 in West Sacramento to help a stranded motorist, according to a CHP news release.

The 32-year-old officer was traveling eastbound on Interstate 80 near Enterprise Boulevard at 5:12 p.m., when he saw a stranded motorist in the center median of westbound I-80, the release states. The officer traveled slightly past the stranded motorist, then activated his rear emergency lights and reversed his vehicle toward the motorist at about 5 mph.

A man who shot to death a motorist in 1990 as he drove on Highway 50 in El Dorado County is due a parole hearing.

On July 2, 1990, Kenneth Earl Millikan, now 50, killed Peter J. Martinelli of Richmond on Highway 50 east of Pollock Pines, The Bee reported. Millikan is serving 27 years to life.

Martinelli was en route to Lake Tahoe with his family for a vacation. Another vehicle was struck by a bullet fired by Millikan, but no one was injured.

Q: What happened in the road-rage case involving Pat Walsh of KFBK? - Anonymous, Sacramento

A: Two men were charged with misdemeanor battery in the alleged road-rage attack last year on KFBK sportscaster Pat Walsh, according to the Placer County District Attorney's Office.

John Patrick O'Neill, 52, and his son, Cory Taylor O'Neill, 23, both of Newcastle, face a May 2 trial, court records show.

Sheriff's deputies have called off their search for a man believed to have attempted an armed robbery at a home in a south Sacramento neighborhood Tuesday morning.

Deputies responded to the 4300 block of Greenwich Circle near Highway 99 at about 4:30 a.m., after a resident reported that a man had tried to rob him at gunpoint, said sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

The resident said he had been in his garage when he was confronted by a man wearing dark clothing and brandishing a firearm, Ramos said. The resident ran inside his home and called law enforcement.

Folsom police will conduct an impaired driver checkpoint Saturday near the intersection of Greenback Lane and River Rock Drive, according to a police department news release.

Officers staffing the checkpoint will check drivers for signs of drug or alcohol impairment, and cite unlicensed drivers.

The checkpoint will begin at 7 p.m., and continue into the early hours of May 1. It is being staffed through funding from the California Office of Traffic Safety.

A man died and a woman was seriously injured late this afternoon in a collision in south Placer County near Roseville.

California Highway Patrol spokesman Terence Sims said a woman driving a Ford F250 truck was westbound on Baseline Road near Walerga Road shortly after 5 p.m. when her vehicle drifted into the eastbound lane and collided with a smaller eastbound pickup truck.

The male driver of the eastbound pickup was pronounced dead at the scene, and the woman was taken by air ambulance to Sutter Roseville Medical Center with major injuries, Sims said. The name of the driver who died has not been released pending notification of family.

Two Olivehurst men have been arrested in connection with an April 18 robbery and assault at a Linda gas station.

The attack, which is being investigated as a hate crime, was captured on store surveillance video.

Yuba County Sheriff Steve Durfor announced today that detectives have arrested two suspects.

Perry Jackson, 25, was arrested Wednesday and Anthony Tyler, 30, was arrested today. Both were booked into Yuba County Jail on suspicion of criminal threats, hate crime, assault with a deadly weapon, robbery and attempted carjacking.

By Denny Walsh
dwalsh@sacbee.com

A former Woodland middle school teacher and coach pleaded guilty Monday4/25 in Sacramento federal court to receipt and distribution of child pornography.

Christopher Tomsett is scheduled to be sentenced July 11, and faces up to 20 years in prison on the distribution prong of the plea.

The 44-year-old Tomsett pleaded guilty to one of two counts in an indictment returned by a grand jury 11 months ago. He has been held without bail since then as a "danger to the community."

The Yuba County Sheriff's Department is looking for a parolee in connection with a stabbing that occurred Sunday in Olivehurst.

The incident occurred during an argument in an acquaintance's front yard on Garden Avenue.

Damon Aaron, 39, of Olivehurst and Nelson Figueira, 36 of Yuba City were arguing when Figueira grabbed a handle from a broken golf club and tried to stab Aaron, according to a Yuba County Sheriff's Department news release. Aaron managed to block some of the stabs with a metal broom handle, but was stabbed once on the side near his arm pit.

Aaron was taken to Rideout Hospital for treatment and Figueira fled the scene.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office is asking the public's assistance in locating two men who have felony arrest warrants issued for their alleged involvement in a series of burglaries in Placerville and the surrounding area.

Jacob A. Goldie (below, left) 24, is described as 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighing 195 pounds, with blond hair and brown eyes. The Sheriff's Office identifies him as a parolee whose last known addresses were in Pacific House and Camino. He is wanted on a felony warrant for burglary, stolen property and vehicle theft.

Nicholas A. Amaral, 26, (bottom, right) is described as 6 feet, 2 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. His last know addresses were in Pollock Pines and Diamond Springs. He also is wanted on felony warrant for burglary, stolen property and vehicle theft, according to the Sheriff's Office news release.

A 56-year-old woman has been arrested in connection with a fire this morning that damaged the Crestwood Manor psychiatric facility.

Wendy Vergeson, an occupant of the facility, was arrested a few hours after the fire on suspicion of arson and is being held in Sacramento County Jail, a Sacramento Fire Department news release states.

The fire broke out at 7:25 a.m. at the psychiatric facility at 2600 Stockton Blvd. It was contained to one room due to activation of the fire sprinkler system and fast action by firefighters, fire officials said.

Sacramento police arrested a 20-year-old woman Sunday who was pushing her infant child in a stroller when she allegedly got into an argument with another person, brandished a gun and turned her pit bull on that person, according to police department activity logs.

Alissa Clark, 20, left, was pushing the stroller and walking her dog in the 3700 block of Astoria Street in the north area when she started arguing with the victim, police reported. Clark allegedly pulled a gun and then ordered her dog to attack the victim, who suffered bite wounds to the upper thigh, police reported.

The dog did not puncture the victim's skin, said police spokeswoman Officer Laura Peck.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

Former real estate executive Michael Lyon will have to do time in jail rather than serve a year of home confinement following his guilty plea last month to four felony counts.

Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said today he had rejected Lyon's application to serve his sentence under home arrest with an electronic monitoring device attached to his ankle. Lyon and his attorney had expected routine approval of the request, which would have allowed Lyon to go to work each day and to conduct visits with doctors and run other errands.

"The facts of his offense caused me grave concerns," Jones said, adding that he had received letters from alleged Lyon victims urging him to order Lyon to jail. Jones said the fact that Lyon's crimes occurred in his home -- and that one of them occurred after Lyon knew he was under investigation -- played into his decision. He also said the fact that Lyon's behavior allegedly went back decades and involved numerous victims was a factor.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

The attorney for a 57-year-old Motel 6 janitor asked jurors today to award his client $1.1 million in pain-and-suffering damages in a lawsuit filed against Sacramento County as a result of a pit bull attack the man suffered three years ago.

Miguel Gutierrez was making his rounds at the motel on College Town Drive and Howe Avenue when four sheriff's detectives who were arresting two strong-armed robbery suspects knocked on a door and the two dogs bolted outside and tore into the janitor.

Gutierrez suffered serious injuries to his left arm and left hand. The detectives saved him from further injuries in the attack by shooting and killing one of the dogs.

The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office announced today that it will not file charges against two people who allegedly were involved in an assault on a Fox 40 news crew outside a Natomas International House of Pancakes restaurant in late February.

The altercation occurred on the afternoon of Feb. 20 outside the restaurant in the 2900 block of Advantage Lane. Mourners had gathered for a vigil for 27-year-old Chester Jackson, who had been shot to death in the parking lot of the restaurant about 13 hours earlier.

According to a District Attorney's Office release, media members who approached the mourners were told mourners did not want to be interviewed or filmed. Those media crews remained on scene at a distance.

Sacramento Fire Department crews have contained a two-alarm fire that broke out this morning at a mental health care facility near the UC Davis Medical Center, a fire department spokesman said.

Fire crews responded shortly before 7:45 a.m., to the Crestwood Center in the 2600 block of Stockton Boulevard, said spokesman Capt. Jon Burgess.

They located fire in one of the facility's rooms, Burgess said. The building's sprinkler system had held the fire in check, allowing firefighters to get inside and extinguish the flames, he said.

The elderly Davis man reported missing by police Sunday has been located, according to a Davis Police Department press release.

The manager of a Davis retirement complex filed a missing person report Saturday regarding Delbert Oard, 85, who had last been seen Thursday morning at his apartment in the 1200 block of Kennedy Place, Davis police reported.

On Sunday, police received a call from American Medical Response saying that AMR had transported Oard to a local hospital after he had fallen in downtown Davis on Saturday, according to the release.

Oard received medical attention and his missing person case has been closed, the release states.

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office has identified the 20-year-old man who was gunned down at a Foothill Farms apartment complex Friday evening.

Alex E. Toliver, 20, of Citrus Heights, was found by Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputies who responded at about 8:30 p.m., to a call of shots fired and a man down at the Logan Park apartments in the 4100 block of Palm Avenue.

Paramedics responded and pronounced Toliver dead at the scene, said sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

Investigators were trying to determine why Toliver was at the complex and did not provide a suspect description Friday evening. No new information has been released.

A man stabbed to death last week at a Stockton Boulevard apartment complex has been identified by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office as Victor Vincent Cepeda, 41, of Sacramento.

Cepeda was allegedly stabbed by a juvenile family member last Tuesday following an argument at the apartment complex in the 7300 block of Stockton Boulevard, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department reported.

Deputies found medical personal tending to Cepeda after arriving at the complex at about 10 p.m. He had been stabbed several times in the chest and other parts of his body, according to a sheriff's department release.

By Brad Branan
bbranan@sacbee.com

Davis police are asking for help locating a missing 85-year-old man.

The manager of a retirement complex on Saturday filed a missing person report on Delbert Oard, who was last seen Thursday morning around his apartment at 1221 Kennedy Place in Davis, according to a news release from the Davis Police Department.

Oard is described as white, 5-foot-9 and about 150 pounds. He doesn't drive, apparently has no family in the area and walks with a stoop, officials said.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts should call Davis police at (530) 758-3600.

An unidentified man was shot in the arm during a conflict at 40th Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard in south Sacramento shortly before 2 p.m. today, Sacramento County Sheriff's officials said.

Sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos said a man reported to be the shooter was then severely beaten by other people at the scene.

Both men were taken to area hospitals.

By Laurel Rosenhall
lrosenhall@sacbee.com

A single-car crash on a rural El Dorado County road Friday night has left one man dead and another seriously injured and arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The two men were in a BMW traveling west on Pleasant Valley Road around 12:25 a.m. when they failed to negotiate a curve in the road about a quarter-mile east of Mother Lode Drive, said CHP Sgt. John MacDowell. The car hit an embankment and then a tree before landing in a field.

The passenger, Timothy Chapman, a 40-year-old from El Dorado, died. The driver was airlifted to Sutter Roseville with major injuries, including serious head trauma, MacDowell said.

A stolen Sacramento Fire Department vehicle was recovered by Sheriff's deputies today before it was even reported missing, officials said.

A resident of Berkshire Way in the Arden area called at 11:25 a.m. to report that the yellow utility truck with Sacramento Fire Department markings was parked on the street with a known drug dealer going in and out of it.

"It's not a fire truck used to fight fires," noted Deputy Jason Ramos, Sheriff's Department spokesman.

San Francisco police have arrested a suspect in the April 14 shooting death of Francisco Flores in Sacramento, local police officials reported today.

Based on information from the Career Criminal Apprehension Team, Vincent Rivera (photo below, left), 25, was located and taken into custody today.

No further details on the arrest were available.

Two children were placed into protective custody after their parents were arrested in Sacramento on suspicion of sexual abuse.

Officials at a Solano County correctional facility contacted Sacramento Police Department after an inmate received a photo that showed an adult male doing something sexually inappropriate with a child in the presence of another child.

Officials identified an address on Bonfield Way in the Robla area as the source of the photos.

A Shasta County Sheriff's deputy was accidentally shot by another deputy Friday while they were attempting to apprehend a fugitive, but the injuries were not considered life-threatening.

The incident began when National Park Service Rangers requested assistance finding a couple wanted on multiple felony warrants in the Whiskeytown Lake area.

Elizabeth Hope Riley, 46, was sought on a warrant for marijuana sales and transport.

(Update, Aug. 25, 2011: The Yolo County District Attorney declined in May to file charges against Monica Ogaz in this case.

"What that means is that we felt there was not a strong likelihood that we would be able to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury," said Jonathan Raven, Chief Deputy District Attorney, in an email response to questions.)

Woodland police have arrested a woman on suspicion of intentionally hitting a man with her car and dragging him down the street.

Police responded at about 5:25 p.m. Friday to the 100 block of Summerwood Drive where Francisco Delgado, 24, was being treated by medics on the front lawn of a residence.

Witnesses told police the driver of a vehicle intentionally hit Delgado, who was taken to UC Davis Medical Center with injuries that were not life-threatening.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A man in his early 20s was shot to death in the parking lot of a Foothill Farms apartment complex Friday night, a Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman said.

At about 8:30 p.m., sheriff's deputies were called to the Logan Park apartments in the 4100 block of Palm Avenue, by a resident who reported hearing multiple shots and seeing a man lying motionless on the ground, said sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

When deputies arrived at the complex, northeast of Watt and Madison avenues, they located a man with a gunshot wound to the head, Ramos said. Paramedics responded and pronounced him dead at the scene.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A federal grand jury has returned indictments in two separate real estate Ponzi schemes, resulting in the arrest of two Sacramento-area men.

The indictments were returned April 14, but were sealed until the defendants were arrested.

Royce Newcomb, 49, of Granite Bay was arrested Friday on charges of wire fraud in an investment fraud scheme and is to be arraigned Monday.

An off-duty Elk Grove police officer had his badge stolen out of his personal vehicle in Sacramento County earlier this afternoon, an Elk Grove Police Department spokesman said.

The officer reported at about 4 p.m., that his police badge and a firearm had been stolen from his car in the 7700 block of Vineyard Road, said Elk Grove police spokesman Officer Chris Trim. The firearm was not department-issued, Trim said.

Elk Grove police are handling the investigation into the burglary.

Trim said that officers typically carry several forms of identification, and that a badge by itself does not constitute that someone is a law enforcement officer. Anyone unsure of a person identifying his or herself as a law enforcement officer can ask to see that officer's official department ID, Trim said.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A former state correctional officer who took bribes from inmates to smuggle cell phones into California State Prison, Sacramento, admitted his guilt today to a single felony conspiracy count.

Terry Ray Lane, 25, was immediately sentenced by Superior Court Judge Gary E. Ransom to 45 days in jail and three years probation, court officials said.

Along with jail and probation, the judge also fined Lane $5,700. Sacramento prosecutors said in a news release it was the same amount of cash he received from the inmates at the maximum security prison to bring the cell phones inside.

Inmates have increasingly gained access to cell phones inside California prisons in recent years. Authorities have blamed correctional officers and non-sworn staff for much of the problem that they say is a serious security threat in the prisons.

A Yolo County District Attorney's Office investigator has been honored by the California Hazardous Materials Investigators Association.

Enforcement Officer Heidi D'Agostino was named the group's 2010 Investigator of the Year at a conference last week, District Attorney Jeff Reisig stated in a news release.

D'Agostino was honored for her efforts in traveling throughout the state obtaining evidence and interviewing former employees to build a case against Target Corp. that resulted in a $22.5 million dollar statewide judgment for disposing of hazardous materials in an illegal manner, Reisig said.

The Folsom city manager today named a Long Beach police commander as the city's new police chief. Cynthia Renaud, left, will be the third female police chief in the Sacramento area.

Valerie Harris is Auburn police chief and Annette Spicuzza is UC David police chief. An earlier version of this article did not list Spicuzza.

Renaud will assume her post on May 2, with an annual salary of $178,992, City Manager Kerry Miller said.

"Commander Renaud competed successfully in a very rigorous recruitment process," Miller said. "She brings a wealth of experience, talent and expertise to our organization and we are pleased to welcome her as Folsom's first female police chief."

A federal grand jury has indicted an Auburn man for allegedly receiving by fraud more than $210,000 in workers' compensation benefits.

The indictment charges Bruce Lee Cearlock, 74, with theft of government money, mail fraud, and making false statements, according to U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner.

According to the indictment, starting no later than August 2005, Cearlock made false statements about his employment and income and received more than $210,000 in government workers' comp benefits under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act, Wagner said.

The Sacramento Police Department will conduct a DUI/ driver's license checkpoint on Saturday at Truxel Road and Pebblewood Drive.

The operation will at 8:30 p.m. and run for five to seven hours, according to a Police Department news release.

Office will check for alcohol and/or drug-impaired drivers. Officers will also check driver's licenses.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Q: Has anyone been caught in the slaying 18-year-old Emanuel Michel a couple of years ago? - E.M. and LisaLisa

A: The slaying is unsolved. A $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Michel's killer or killers is outstanding.

Michel, left, was gunned down the morning of Oct. 18, 2008 at a home in the 2100 block of 57th Avenue in Sacramento, The Bee reported.

He had gathered with friends, according to Sacramento police, when a group of uninvited people showed up.

After being asked to leave, the uninvited group fired gunshots at the house as they fled.

Police have said that the uninvited group shouted gang affiliations, though detectives do not believe Michel or his friends had gang ties.

Anyone with information about Michel's killing is asked to call Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP.

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

Those who say that God moves in mysterious ways need look no further than Our Lady of Guadalupe church this morning.

That's where a parishioner, shortly bound for seminary, was robbed on Good Friday of $2,000 - money he wanted to give to a friend for a much-needed car.

Then, a couple hours after the hold-up, a stranger showed up at the Southside Park church with $2,000 for the robbery victim so that his plan to help a friend could still be realized.

Elk Grove police have arrested two men in connection with an illegal marijuana grow discovered in a house in the 9000 block of Old Creek Drive, a police spokesman said.

At about 10 a.m. Thursday, Elk Grove police officers searched the house and found about 200 marijuana plants, processed marijuana and back rooms constructed with lighting and equipment to facilitate growing, said Elk Grove police spokesman Officer Chris Trim.

Detectives had "developed information through investigative efforts that marijuana growing was taking place at this location," Trim said.

Joe Luu, 30, bottom left, and his brother Wilson Luu, 21, bottom right, were arrested and booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on suspicion of possession and cultivation of marijuana, Elk Grove police reported.

A 13-year-old male was hospitalized Thursday evening after being found with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound in south Sacramento, a Sacramento County Sheriff's spokesman said.

At about 6:10 p.m., a woman in the 7600 block of Loucreta Avenue reported that a teenager had showed up at her door with a gunshot wound to his chest, said sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

Deputies responded and found the wound was actually in the teenager's shoulder, Ramos said. The victim was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The North Highlands house fire in which firefighters found the bodies of a 37-year-old woman and her 8-year-old son on April 6 was an act of arson, Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District investigators have concluded.

Laura Fernandez and Wilfred Villarruel were found dead in the burning home by crews that had responded to the 4000 block of Stephens Drive at about 8 p.m.

The cause of their deaths is still listed on the Sacramento County Coroner's Office website as undetermined, as the office awaits test results to determine what killed them.

Two Reno men have been arrested after allegedly carrying out a scam to steal items from Auburn's Home Depot.

Scott K. Nelson, 46, (bottom left) and C. Nicholas Psarras, 47, (bottom right) were booked into Placer County Jail on Sunday afternoon after loss prevention employees reported observing Nelson place his homemade UPC stickers over the store's UPC stickers on boxes in his cart. After ringing up his own purchases at the self-service register, Nelson exited the store and was confronted by employees, according to a Placer County Sheriff's Department news release.

Officials said he fought with the employees before being handcuffed and taken back to the store. It was determined that Nelson had paid $97 for items valued at $810, according to the news release.

Three members of the Placer County District Attorney's Office have won awards this month from different organizations.

Two of the winners are prosecutors -- Karin Bjork and Garen Horst - while the third is criminal investigator Brandon Olivera, according to a news release from the DA's office.

Bjork, a 20-year veteran prosecutor and currently a supervising deputy district attorney, was named as a Volunteer of the Year by KidsFirst, a Placer County organization dedicated to the prevention of child abuse, during the group's 13th annual awards presentation on April 1.

Two men arrested in a crime spree in Auburn and Nevada County were arraigned today in Placer County Superior Court in Auburn.

Defendants Dillon James McMahon, 22, of Roseville, and John Cody Adrian, 19, of Colfax appeared before Superior Court Judge Colleen Nichols, according to a Placer County District Attorney's Office spokesman.

McMahon's attorney, Helen Fong of the Placer County Public Defender's Office, entered a not guilty plea on his behalf to two counts of carjacking, one count of kidnapping, one count of kidnapping during commission of a carjacking and one count of conspiracy to commit a crime. All are felonies.

Grass Valley police are investigating a collision that occurred this morning involving a passenger vehicle and a pickup truck belonging to the Nevada Irrigation District.

Officers were dispatched at 8:17 a.m. to Brunswick Road near Sutton Way, where they found a heavily damaged gray Ford Focus with two occupants in the intersection of Brunswick Road and Plaza Drive. A second vehicle, a white Ford utility pickup belonging to the Nevada Irrigation District, was located farther east of the intersection, also heavily damaged, with one occupant, according to a Police Department news release.

Police said the preliminary investigation indicated that the Ford Focus was westbound on Brunswick Road when it began to drift left and into the path of the pickup, which was eastbound. Witnesses told officers that the driver of the pickup attempted to move to the right, but was unable to avoid being struck by the Ford Focus.

A man who died after being shot early Sunday morning at a south Sacramento nightclub has been identified by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office as Jesse D. Fowler, 29, of Elk Grove.

The shooting occurred about 1:20 a.m. at Warners Rendezvous nightclub in the 7100 block of Governors Circle, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department. Deputies found Fowler with a gunshot wound to the head and up to 150 people at the scene. Fowler was taken to a hospital where he died later in the day.

A second victim, who suffered non-life-threatening wounds, arrived at a hospital later Sunday and told authorities he and his vehicle had been fired upon.

More study is needed to determine the identity of human remains found over the weekend in a Yolo County creek bed, a sheriff's spokesman said today.

Hunters found the human bones on Sunday in a dry creek bed in the northern part of the county. Yolo County sheriff's deputies and coroner's officials responded and concurred with the hunters that the bones were human.

The bones were collected for analysis.

On Tuesday, another search turned up more bones. The bones found included two leg bones, one rib bone and a jawbone.

Q: Have there been any developments in the disappearance of that Sacramento restaurant owner about 12 years ago? Anonymous, Sacramento

A: No developments have been reported in the disappearance of Henry Moreno.

In August 1998, Henry Moreno, 46, was on the brink of opening his dream restaurant on the Sacramento River. He was seen at Home Depot on Aug. 6, and at a local cafe he frequented. Then he vanished, The Bee reported.

His disappearance is a mystery in every sense of the word. There have been no bank account or credit card charges, no cell phone activity. His car, a 1997 white Nissan Pathfinder with a California license plate of 3VLP084, has never been found.

His restaurant was foreclosed on and sold.

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

The name of the man killed in a bloody knifing outside a pot dispensary in South Sacramento on Wednesday has been released this morning by the Sacramento County Coroner.

The man was identified as Jesus A. Galvan-Mendoza, 24, of Sacramento.

Galvan-Mendoza was one of three victims stabbed outside the R&R Wellness Center on Quinta Court near Stockton Boulevard. Two of the victims went by private vehicle to a local hospital, including Galvan-Mendoza, who was pronounced dead at 12:04 p.m.

Woodland police have arrested a suspect in the alleged drugging and attempted sexual assault of a homeless man.

Police reported detectives contacted a homeless Woodland man on April 8 who said he was given a beverage laced with something that rendered him unconscious. He was then taken to an "obscure" area in the 100 block of West Court Street where the victim told police he was possibly a victim of an attempted sexual assault.

After an investigation, police arrested another homeless Woodland man, 58-year-old Robert Talley, as a suspect. Talley was booked into Yolo County Jail on suspicion of torture, attempted forced sexual assault, assault with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Four people were shot late Wednesday in a south Sacramento neighborhood, according to the Sacramento Police Department.

Police responded about 10:30 p.m. to a call of multiple shooting victims in the 7700 block of 51st Avenue.

The four male victims -- in their late teens and early 20s -- were taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Sacramento police Sgt. Norm Leong said.

Sacramento police are asking for the public's help in locating two suspects in a fatal south Natomas shooting that left a 19-year-old man dead last week.

Police are searching for Vincent Rivera, 25, bottom left, and Fred Huante, 19, bottom right, according to a police department release. Rivera is described as a male black adult, 6-foot-4, 240 pounds, with shaved black hair and brown eyes. Huante is described as a male white adult, 5-foot-8, 120 pounds, with shaved brown hair and green eyes.

They are wanted in connection with an April 14 shooting in a parking lot at Northgate Boulevard and San Juan Road that left Francisco Flores, 19, dead, and his 20-year-old brother with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, according to the release.

A 63-year-old Newcastle man has been arrested by Auburn police after he allegedly hit two vehicles and a metal gate while driving drunk Tuesday evening, according to an Auburn Police Department news release.

Auburn police officers responded to the area of Sacramento Street and Auburn Folsom Road at about 6 p.m. Tuesday, after receiving a report of a suspected drunk driver who had been involved in multiple hit-and-run collisions, the release states.

Officers found that the suspect had hit two motorists on Auburn Folsom Road and driven through a gate in a residential neighborhood, according to the release. When officers located the suspect and attempted to stop him, he led them on a brief pursuit.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

Sacramento police now believe a stabbing outside a medical marijuana dispensary this morning may have been gang-related, said Sgt. Norm Leong, police spokesman.

Rival groups may have run into each other in the dispensary and then got into a fight outside.

Police said several people were stabbed, one fatally, outside a medicinal marijuana dispensary on Quinta Court near Stockton Boulevard in south Sacramento at about 11:45 a.m. today.

An 81-year-old man, beaten by attempted robbers Monday, has been upgraded to serious condition, Sutter Roseville Hospital officials reported today.

The victim, Jim Wright, was beaten with a tire iron at his home in Nevada County, after he refused to give money to attempted robbers.

Two suspects, Dillon James McMahon, bottom left, 22, of Roseville, and John Cody Adrian, bottom right, 19, of Colfax, were arrested by Yuba County law-enforcement officers Monday night following a high-speed pursuit near Marysville in which their vehicle was stopped by a spike strip.

They are expected to be arraigned today in Placer Superior Court on various charges.

Read earlier item here.

Sacramento police have arrested two suspects, including an 11-year-old girl, after an attempted home invasion robbery in the Valley Hi area.

The incident began around 1 p.m. Tuesday when four juveniles knocked on the door of a home in the 6500 block of Valley Hi Drive, according to information from the Sacramento Police Department.

When a 16-year-old answered, the juveniles demanded her cell phone.

Elk Grove police said they booked a 19-year-old man who allegedly crashed a stolen SUV into a video store this morning into Sacramento County Jail on multiple charges.

Police arrested Marquis Youngblood, left,19, about 4 a.m. after they said he crashed a stolen 2002 Toyota RAV 4 into a Blockbuster Video store at Elk Grove Boulevard and Bruceville Road. Police said they had attempted to pull the SUV over but Youngblood refused to stop, leading to a vehicle pursuit and eventual damage to the SUV and the retail building.

After the crash, police said Youngblood fled on foot. Officers set up a perimeter and eventually found and arrested Youngblood.

Juvenile Sacramento County sheriff's deputies have arrested a 16-year-old juvenile in the stabbing death of a family member last night in the south area.

Deputies were called to an apartment complex about 10 p.m. Tuesday in the 7300 block of Stockton Boulevard near Florin Road where medical personnel were tending to stabbing victim, a sheriff's spokesman said.

The man was transported to a hospital where he died several hours later.

Q: Will the murderer of the two CHP officers for whom a stretch of Interstate 80 east of West Sacramento was named ever be paroled? What became of the girlfriend who testified against him? - Anonymous, Sacramento

A: Luis V. Rodriguez Jr., now 55, is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole after being convicted for the 1978 murders, according to Bee reports and records.

His companion, Margaret Klaess, served two years in prison under a plea agreement for aiding and abetting Rodriguez. She testified against him, The Bee reported.

A Roseville couple is out on bail after being arrested on suspicion of tax evasion.

Franchise Tax Board special agents arrested Dino Puma, 48, a real estate broker and his wife, Jennifer Puma, 43, on Friday for allegedly failing to file their 2004-2007 state income tax returns and report more than $700,000 income, according to a press release from the board.

The state said the couple owes more than $44,000 in unpaid tax. Additional interest, penalties and cost of investigation will also be sought.

A man is in police custody after he led Citrus Heights officers on a 20-minute car chase tonight that began in Citrus Heights and ended in Orangevale, the Citrus Heights Police Department reported.

The pursuit began in the area of Devecchi Avenue and Auburn Boulevard shortly before 9 p.m., the department reported. Officers observed a white van driving in that area and checked the license plate of the vehicle, which came back stolen, the department reported.

Officers attempted to contact the vehicle, at which point the driver instigated the pursuit.

U.S. Coast Guard and Sacramento County Sheriff's Department crews are on scene near a houseboat that ran aground this morning at the 47 and 49 marker buoys in the San Joaquin River.

No one was injured and there is no pollution threat, according to a Coast Guard news release.

The houseboat was being towed from Sacramento to Helen's Marina when it ran aground early Sunday morning near Webb's Tract.

At the time, it did not pose a navigation hazard, and the owner stated that he would hire a commercial towing company to move the tug and houseboat, officials said.

West Sacramento police have launched an investigation to determine who was responsible for explosive device that was found in a trash bin.

Police responded to the 700 block of Walnut Avenue about 11:20 this morning regarding a report of a suspicious package. Officers arrived and confirmed that the package appeared to be an explosive device. A perimeter was established and residences were evacuated.

The Yolo County Bomb Squad responded along with the Sacramento County Sheriff's and California Highway Patrol bomb squads and rendered the device safe, according to a Police Department news release.

Auburn police have arrested a 20-year-old homeless man on suspicion of raping a 14-year-old girl while she was intoxicated and possibly unconscious.

Patrol officers investigating the attack that allegedly occurred Saturday, located the suspect, Taylour Francis Jordan, left, at a camp in Auburn, where he was living, according to a police department news release. He was arrested and booked at the Placer County jail, where he is being held in lieu of $250,000 bail.

Police said he is accused of rape with the victim unconscious of the nature of the act and unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor more than three years younger than he is.

Federal security personnel found a loaded handgun in the carry-on bag of a passenger on Monday at Sacramento International Airport, official said.

A Transportation Security Administration officer discovered the pistol about 3:45 p.m. Monday at an airport checkpoint.

The weapon was described as a .38 caliber pistol. A "speed loader" with five rounds of ammunition was also found in the bag.

The El Dorado Sheriff's office is looking for a man in his late 50s or early 60s suspected of robbing a bank in Cameron Park Monday.

Deputies responded to the Umpqua Bank and interviewed emotional employees, who told them the robber entered, told a teller, "You're being robbed," and brandished a small black semi-automatic handgun.

After showing the gun, he tucked the weapon in his waistband, according to a release from the Sheriff's Office.

By Bill Lindelof and Barbara Osborn
blindelof@sacbee.com

Two Placer County men were booked Tuesday for investigation of assault, kidnapping and two car thefts they allegedly committed during a three-day, three-county crime spree.

Dillon James McMahon, 22, of Roseville, and John Cody Adrian, 19, of Colfax, were arrested by Yuba County law-enforcement officers Monday night following a high-speed pursuit near Marysville in which their vehicle was stopped by a spike strip.

Earlier Monday evening, the pair is suspected of severely beating an elderly man with a tire iron in Nevada County when he refused to give them money.

Two teens ages 15 and 16, were arrested today in a break-in at Del Paso Manor Elementary, 2700 Maryal Drive.

The break-in was one of two early this morning at San Juan Unified School District elementary schools.

The district has been plagued by 10 recent burglaries at the district office in Carmichael, an official said.

Two men are wanted as suspects in a string of burglaries in Placerville and Pollock Pines.

El Dorado County Sheriff's deputies are searching for Robert E. Lee, 41, last known address in Hayward, Alameda County, and Gary J. Masse, 41, of Placerville. Lee is wanted on a $200,000 felony warrant for residential burglaries and Masse has a felony warrant for possession of a stolen firearm by a convicted felon.

Masse is considered armed and dangerous by authorities. Anyone with information about either suspects is asked to call the El Dorado County Sheriff's dispatch at (530) 621-6600 or detectives at (530) 642-4715.

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of stealing catalytic converters in Cameron Park where a rash of such thefts have occurred this month.

The spate of catalytic converter thefts in El Dorado County has focused on Toyota trucks in the Cameron Park area, Sheriff's Office officials reported.

The El Dorado County Sheriff has taken 15 theft reports - averaging more than one per day - between March 29 and April 10.

A man was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after being shot in the hand and buttocks at a south Sacramento apartment complex, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department reported.

Sheriff's deputies responded to the complex in the 6500 block of 47th Street just after 4:42 p.m., after the apartment's manager reported hearing six or seven gunshots, said sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

Deputies located a man suffering from gunshot wounds, who said he had been working on his car in the complex parking lot when two men approached him and started shooting, Ramos said. Paramedics responded and transported the victim, a Sacramento man in his early 20s, to a local hospital, Ramos said.

The suspects, described as two black male adults, one wearing a black jacket and the other wearing a white jacket, may have fled in a red four-door vehicle, Ramos said.

A Coronado man was arrested by Truckee police following a collision in which a pedestrian was seriously injured Sunday night.

Police received a report at 8:10 p.m. of a collision involving a vehicle and a pedestrian at 11700 Donner Pass Road, in front of the Sunset Mobile Home Park. Officers located the parties, including an injured pedestrian, an adult male, who was taken by Tahoe Forest Hospital by ambulance and later to Renown Hospital in Reno for treatment of injuries suffered in the collision, according to a Truckee Police Department news release.

The driver of the vehicle, Ronald Sosnowski, 60, was later arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. Police said the collision is still under investigation. Anyone who witnessed it is asked to call Sgt. Robert Womack at (530) 550-2335.

The Davis Police Department today released preliminary statistics showing that Picnic Day enforcement efforts resulted in 54 arrests and 207 citations Friday and Saturday.

Officers patrolling on foot, bicycle and in cars focused their attention on downtown Davis and neighborhoods that traditionally hold large house parties. The California highway Patrol and a countywide DUI enforcement team kept a lookout for drunken drivers, and California Alcohol Beverage Control agents were in town enforcing violations associated with alcohol consumption and sales, according to a Police Department news release.

Police officials in a written statement said they were not prepared to issue opinions on whether this year's Picnic Day was better or worse than last year, saying they would further analyze enforcement activities, and would seek comment from the community and other interested parties before offering conclusions.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A Sacramento jury today returned a first-degree murder conviction against a man who stabbed a friend of his to death last year.

The verdict came back against William Michael Todd Jr., 37, for the May 31 death of David Paul Endres, 44, in an apartment in the 3200 block of Azevedo Drive.

Todd stabbed Endres twice, including once in the heart, after Endres looked at the defendant's wife, according to Deputy District Attorney Charles Gonzalez.

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

University and city officials extended their condolences to the family of a UC Davis, graduate and former baseball player who died as a result of a head injury over the weekend.

Davis police said 22-year-old Scott Heinig died at 12:18 p.m. Sunday. He fell at a private party Saturday evening.

Davis police detectives are investigating the circumstances of Heinig's fall, which occurred shortly after 8:30 p.m. Saturday at a party in the 1000 block of Fifth Street, which is off campus.

The California Highway Patrol has arrested a man from Smartville who they say fell from a razor-wire topped fence when he tried to flee.

The CHP said they had been looking for Donald Harter Likens, 22, of Smartsville, Yuba County, for a number of vehicle thefts. He was also wanted for outstanding warrants in Yuba and Nevada counties.

An officer spotted him Saturday morning in Linda. After a short vehicle pursuit, Likens got out of his vehicle at a levee near Park Avenue. A foot chase began as other CHP and Yuba County Sheriff's deputies moved in.

Three people were killed in Sacramento on Sunday in a rash of violence.

A hail of bullets outside a bar, a fight settled with a knife and gunfire at a house party resulted in three men dying in three different neighborhoods, law enforcement authorities reported. Homicide detectives continued to search for suspects and coroner's deputies were kept busy notifying relatives of the dead this morning.

The most recent death occurred Sunday night about 8 p.m. when an 18-year-old man was knifed in the neck outside a home in the 4600 block of Galbrath Drive in North Highlands. He was identified by coroner's deputies as Vladimer Y. Korets.

By Mark Glover
mglover@sacbee.com

The Sacramento Police Department has arrested a suspect in connection with shooting five people - one of whom died - at a party in Del Paso Heights early Sunday.

Police said their investigation identified the shooter as 23-year-old Michael Walton, who was arrested at 8:20 p.m., in the 2500 block of Cottage Way. Officers said they stopped a vehicle in which Walton was a passenger and arrested him.

Police responded to the 3800 block of Fig Street about 3:30 a.m. and found two victims suffering from gunshot wounds. Both were taken to the hospital, where one man in his 30s died, according to the police report.

By Mark Glover
mglover@sacbee.com

An 18-year-old man has died from a stab wound sustained Sunday night in North Highlands, according Sacramento County Sheriff's Department officials.

The victim was found with a wound in the neck shortly before 8 p.m. in the 4600 block of Galbrath Drive.

Investigators said a suspect in the stabbing also sustained an injury and was hospitalized Sunday night. The suspect was identified as a male who is "a similar age as the victim."

Five people were shot at a party at Del Paso Heights early today, and one died from his injuries, the Sacramento Police Department reported.

Police responded to the 3800 block of Fig Street about 3:30 a.m. and found two victims suffering from gunshot wounds, according to the report. Both were taken to the hospital, where one man in his 30s died, according to the report.

Three other victims took themselves to the hospital.

A piano teacher who provided piano and music lessons to about 150 students in the south Sacramento area over the last five years has been arrested for investigation of molesting a 9-year-old music student, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department reported.

The piano teacher, 41-year-old Hao "Henry" Nguyen, was booked into the Sacramento County jail Saturday and was held in lieu of $1.2 million bail.

He was held for investigation of committing a lewd act with a child and sexual assault, according to Sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

A Sacramento parolee, 27-year-old Jose Martinez, was taken into custody early today for investigation of possessing a firearm, discharging it at an occupied vehicle and drug possession, the Sacramento Sheriff's Department reported.

Sheriff's authorities said they were called to an apartment complex in the 1200 block of Fulton Avenue shortly after 1 a.m. following a citizen's complaint of shots being fired at a sports utility vehicle.

The caller told deputies that the shooter had gone into an apartment unit inside the complex after the shooting, according to Sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

A man was killed, another injured when gunfire erupted outside a south Sacramento nightclub, sheriff's deputies said.

Deputies arrived at the Warners Rendezvous nightclub in the 7100 block of Governors Circle about 1:20 a.m. Sunday after receiving a call of shots fired in the area, sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos said.

Outside the bar, deputies found one man on the ground with a gunshot wound to the head and a crowd of up to 150 at the scene, Ramos said. The victim was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died later in the day.

Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies arrested a 33-year-old man for investigation of kidnapping, assault with intent to commit rape and other charges in connection with a home invasion assault Saturday on an elderly victim in her south Sacramento home.

Renell Thorpe, who was on parole in another case, was being held today in lieu of more than $1 million bail after his arrest about 4:40 p.m. Saturday, Sheriff's spokesman Jason Ramos reported.

Authorities received a first call in the case shortly before 11 a.m. when the woman said a man had come into her home, restrained her and sexually assaulted her. She told police he then spent time in her home trying on some of her clothes before fleeing.

The jury is still out on Picnic Day 2011.

Crowds at the UC Davis annual open house were large but less rowdy than last year, authorities said earlier today.

However, arrests for public drunkenness and other crimes mounted as the day wore on.

A Friday night traffic wreck in Woodland sent a motorcyclist to the hospital in a helicopter.

Alfredo Calderon, 58, of Woodland, was airlifted to UC Davis Medical Center after the 10:50 p.m. collision between his two-wheeler and another vehicle at Brannigan Lane and Ogden Street.

Hospital officials today did not provide an update on Calderon's condition.

Chris Kangas of Nevada County has died from injuries sustained when his girlfriend hit him in the head with a full beer bottle, Detective Sgt. Stephen Tripp of the County Sheriff's Department said Saturday.

Although that was not the only blow struck during the deadly domestic dispute, it apparently was the fatal one, Tripp said.

"It was a real knock-down-and-drag-out that went on for several minutes," Tripp said of the alleged clash early Thursday between the 26-year-old Kangas and Audrey Yoder, 21.

A Woodland man was arrested in Saturday's early hours for indecent exposure and probation violation, and he was jailed in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Woodland police officers were first dispatched at about 1:35 a.m. to a parking lot at 92 W. Court St., where a man was reportedly walking around with no pants on, but the officers were unable to locate him, according to a Woodland Police Department news release.

But at about 2 a.m., officers said they encountered Mario Duran, 37, of Woodland, at that location. He matched the description police had been given and his pants were unzipped, the release says. It says that a witness told the officers that a man had exposed his penis to her and made a sexual comment as she was walking through the parking lot talking on her cell phone.

By Denny Walsh
dwalsh@sacbee.com

A man gunned down Friday night at an Arden-Arcade apartment complex has been identified by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department as 21-year-old David Neider.

Department spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos said Saturday that Neider is in critical condition at an undisclosed hospital and has not been able to give detectives a full acount of the incident.

"They shot him five times, so they obviously want him dead," said Ramos, in explaining why the department does not want Neider's location known.

Thus far, Ramos said, detectives have no information regarding what led up to the shooting. He said witnesses saw two individuals running away from the scene after the shooting. Both were wearing hoodies, and there are conflicting statements about their gender, he said.

By Denny Walsh
dwalsh@sacbee.com

A man has been hospitalized after being shot multiple times at an Arden-Arcade apartment complex, a Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman said.

The sheriff's department received a call at 10:12 p.m., from a person who reported hearing about six gunshots and a man screaming that he had been shot, said sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

Deputies responded and located a man with multiple gunshot wounds, Ramos said. He was transported to a local hospital, and was conscious and breathing when transported. However, his condition was not known, Ramos said.

Witnesses said they saw two people running from the scene, but gave conflicting descriptions of those people, Ramos said. Deputies are canvassing the area looking for other potential witnesses.

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office has identified the 19-year-old man who was shot to death in a south Natomas parking lot Thursday afternoon.

He was identified as Francisco Flores, 19, of Sacramento, according to the coroner's website.

The shooting, which occurred in the parking lot of a small shopping center at Northgate Boulevard and San Juan Road at about 4:45 p.m., also left Flores' 20-year-old brother with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, police said.

A man who kidnapped a couple in a Del Paso Boulevard parking lot has been sentenced to 18 years to life in prison.

The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office announced today that Jeffrey Elder, 27, was sentenced by Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Allen H. Summer.

In March, Elder was convicted by a jury of kidnap for robbery, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and inflicting great bodily injury.

On Dec. 18, 2009, Elder waited in a parking lot on Del Paso Boulevard as the two victims, who were husband and wife, got out of their van and entered a check cashing business. Elder then climbed into their unlocked van and hid.

A man who shot a Contra Costa County probation officer as she was driving home from work has been sentenced to 32 years to life in prison.

Alfonso Valeriano-Delacruz, 44, was convicted by a Sacramento Superior Court jury of seven felony counts, including discharging a firearm at an occupied vehicle, assault with a deadly weapon or firearm, causing great bodily injury to a peace officer and evading a police office by driving in a reckless manner, according to a Sacramento County District Attorney's Office news release. He was sentenced by Judge Allen H. Sumner.

In September 2009, Valeriano-Delacruz had been drinking and stocked his car with alcohol, a loaded 22-caliber rifle and additional magazines. He then went driving in search of a random victim on whom to take out his aggressions, officials said.

Jurors deliberated for barely a day before they convicted David Scott Denson of first-degree murder today for the April 10, 2009, north area shooting death of Dusty Rose Vasquez.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Kevin J. McCormick's scheduled Denson's sentencing for May 20.

Police and prosecutors said Denson, 32, was angry that his girlfriend had sex with another man and that he went over to the man's house with the intent to shoot him. Vasquez, the man's sister, greeted Denson at the door, and he then shot her in the face.

The jury also found Denson guilty of attempted murder for shooting the brother as well as Vasquez' mother, all of whom were at the Del Paso Road residence where the shooting took place.

-Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

Two separate Sacramento juries returned second-degree murder convictions today against two men in the shooting deaths of two other men two years ago in the Seavey Circle housing project.

Michael Lee Armstrong, 23, and Philip Perez Gonzales Jr., 27, are scheduled for a May 27 sentencing for the July 21, 2009, killings of Everett Antonio Taylor, 28, and Deshawn Dante Holloway, 35.

Evidence in the Sacramento Superior Court trial showed that the two defendants shot the victims at the urging of Taylor's girlfriend, Priscilla Ramirez, 21. Ramirez told the men Taylor had raped her, an accusation that the prosecution in the case termed a lie.

Ramirez is scheduled for a May 9 trial in front of Judge Steve White.

-By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A man accused of the 1981 first-degree murder of a blind, deaf 88-year-old Sacramento woman has pleaded guilty to the crime.

Leroy Veal, 60, admitted killing Pauline Colombatto and to three special circumstances allegations that the crime occurred during the commission of burglary, attempted robbery and rape, the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office announced today.

In exchange for the plea to these offenses and a waiver of appellate rights, the District Attorney's Office agreed not to pursue the death penalty, but to instead have Veal sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A Sacramento judge today sentenced Michael Bruce Weisz to four years in state prison for his hit-and-run conviction last month in a nightclub parking lot traffic collision that killed a security guard.

Weisz, 24, had been charged with second-degree murder in the Sept. 23, 2009, death of Leroy Berry Fisher III, but a jury acquitted him of manslaughter as well as the murder charge.

Superior Court Judge Maryanne G. Gilliard also sentenced Weisz to a concurrent six-month term for a drunken driving arrest he picked up while he was out on bail in the murder case.

Sacramento police have closed Stockton Boulevard from Fruitridge Road to Lawrence Drive because of a gas leak in the area, authorities said.

The road is expected to be closed until as late as 6 p.m. Drivers are being advised to avoid the area in the meantime.

Sacramento police Sgt. Norm Leong said Pacific Gas & Electric crews were doing work in front of a Stockton Boulevard strip mall when they struck a gas line, creating a leak.

A former Mexican attorney general from Baja California said today that legalization of marijuana in California would curb pot-related violence in Mexico but would do little to stop the overall killings and corruption of Mexican drug cartels.

Antonio Martinez, who served as attorney general for Northern Baja California from 2001 to 2007, told a McGeorge School of Law symposium on marijuana and legal issues, that sanctioning marijuana use in California would force cartel to increase other forms of drug trafficking.

"They still will be in the black market," Martinez said of Mexican drug networks. "And those individuals will shift into other sectors of organized crime. They will kidnap. They will steal ... They will go into cocaine, firearms and other things. For that merchandise (marijuana), violence will go down. But that doesn't mean it will stop."

One of two Monk Mobb gang members today received four 25-to-life prison terms, plus an additional 45 years, for the Halloween Night 2008 shooting death of party host Patrick Razaghzadeh.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Greta Curtis Fall imposed the sentence on 21-year-old Elijah Rasean Fields, who crashed the party with other gang members.

A jury last month convicted Fields of murder and three counts of attempted murder for the killing of Razaghzadeh, 24, and injuring three of his friends at the Halloween party on Rogue River Drive in the Larchmont-La Riviera area.

Q: Several years ago a man died in an altercation having to do with a road rage incident at Arco Arena after a Kings game. Was anyone ever arrested in this case and if so what was the outcome? - mkline2408, Roseville

A: Mark Leidheisl died after a fight following a Sacramento Kings game on April 20, 2005, but the Sacramento County District Attorney declined to file charges against the two men he fought, The Bee reported.

Prosecutors said Leidheisl, 39, was drunk and possibly under the influence of opiates,

Leidheisl, a bank senior vice president, first attacked one man and then another before being punched in the face, according to the statement from Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully. That blow sent him to the pavement, where his head slammed against the asphalt. He died two days later of a severe brain injury.

In another twist on an old scam, a New York woman was introduced to Placer County this week when she found herself the target of con artists.

Osnat Edrich immediately knew something was amiss Tuesday when she received a check for $2,980 purporting to be from the county of Placer and bearing the address 2980 Richardson Drive, in the county government center in Auburn.

Edrich said she had never heard of Placer County or Auburn and had no idea why she would receive such a payment, until she received an email announcing her "first official assignment" and directing her to "get it done ASAP."

The man killed Thursday in a traffic collision in southern Sacramento County has been identified as Jesse Rene Venegas, 25, of Elk Grove.

The Sacramento County coroner this morning released the identification.

The crash happened on Gerber Road west of Power Inn Road.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District interim Fire Chief Kurt Henke has been appointed to the position full-time, the district's Board of Directors announced late Thursday night.

Henke had served as interim Fire Chief since the April 1 departure of former Chief William B. Sponable, according to a district release. Sac Metro Fire officials announced on March 11 that the agency would be severing ties with Sponable.

Henke was hired as Deputy Chief of Operations for Sac Metro Fire on Oct. 1, 2009, according to the release. Prior to that, he held the position of Assistant Fire Chief, and manager to the Suppression and Fire Prevention divisions, for the City of Vallejo Fire Department.

A 25-year-old man was killed this evening and four other people were injured in a traffic collision on Gerber Road, east of Palmer House Drive.

California Highway Patrol spokesman Officer Michael Bradley said the crash occurred about 8:15 p.m. The 25-year-old man was driving an Acura and coming out of the Save Mart parking lot onto Gerber Road at a high rate of speed when his vehicle was broadsided by a Chevy truck that was eastbound on Gerber.

Bradley said the driver of the Acura, whose name has not been released, was pronounced dead at the scene. The three passengers in his vehicle were identified as the man's nephews, who were age 15 and younger. Bradley said they were taken to UC Davis Medical Center with minor to moderate injuries.

The driver of the truck was taken to Kaiser South Medical Center with unknown injuries.

An El Dorado Hills man was indicted today on three counts of federal tax evasion.

A federal grand jury returned the indictment against Briant Benson, 54.

According to the indictment, Benson failed to file income tax returns for calendar years 2004, 2005 and 2006, despite having incomes of $870,000 $838,000 and $206,000, respectively. The resulting tax due was approximately $622,000, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

One man died and his older brother was taken to the hospital following a shooting this afternoon in a small shopping center at Northgate Boulevard and San Juan Road in south Natomas, according to Sacramento police.

Police responded about 4:45 p.m. and found two men -- a 20 year old and his 19-year-old brother shot at the strip center

The 19-year-old man man was pronounced dead at the scene, while his 20-year-old brother was taken to a local hospital. The extent of his injuries was unknown at 6 p.m.

A Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy shot a pit bull that was charging at him this morning near a north Sacramento homeless camp, according to a sheriff's department release. The dog is expected to survive.

The incident occurred at about 10:15 a.m., outside a homeless camp near the Camp Pollock area at Del Paso Boulevard and Northgate Boulevard, the department reported.

The deputy, a five-year veteran of the department assigned to the Sheriff's Work Project detail, was supervising a group of inmates who were cleaning up homeless and transient camps in the area, according to the release. The deputy was preparing to check a camp for the presence of illegal campers prior to bringing inmates into the area, when he was confronted by the pit bull.

Two Grass Valley residents have been arrested after Nevada County sheriff's deputies responded early this morning to a report of a seriously injured man.

Deputies, who were called to the 13000 block of Ballantree Lane in the Grass Valley area at 3:36 a.m., suspected foul play and began an investigation involving the major crimes unit, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.

The victim was taken to Sutter Roseville Medical Center via air ambulance and is listed in critical condition, sheriff's officials said. The man's identity has not been released.

By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com

Former UC Davis anti-violence coordinator Jennifer Beeman pleaded no contest today in Yolo Superior Court to two felony counts of embezzlement and keeping false accounts.

In a plea agreement with Yolo County prosecutors, she faces a likely sentence of probation when she goes before a judge again on June 2.

Beeman, the former director of the UC Davis Campus Violence Prevention Program was arrested Dec. 10 and charged with nine felonies related to embezzling or misusing public funds.

Sacramento County Sheriff's detectives arrested today the sixth and final suspect in the south Sacramento barbershop shootout that left two people dead last December, according to a sheriff's department news release.

Larry Dean Jones, Jr., 29, was taken into custody today at about 1:30 p.m. without incident, in Sacramento County, according to the release. (Photo at left is a jail booking from a prior arrest of Jones.)

Detectives from the Sheriff's Major Crimes Bureau and Gang Suppression Unit arrested Jones without incident at a residence in the county, the release states.

Yolo County law enforcement agencies will team up in an effort to keep drunken drivers off the road during UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, police said.

Police, sheriff's and California Highway Patrol officers will be patrolling throughout the city of Davis, looking for signs of impaired driving, according to a Davis Police Department news release.

Officials warn that drunken drivers often face jail time, loss of their driver's license, higher insurance rates, attorney fees, time away from work and other expenses.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

The Sacramento County grand jury and District Attorney Jan Scully have launched a probe of plans by Isleton to allow a massive medical marijuana growing operation to open in the small Delta town, The Bee has learned.

Isleton officials - from the city council to the police chief - were served with subpoenas issued Wednesday night and have been told to appear before the grand jury as witnesses starting April 27.

The officials said they know little about the investigation other than it is apparently aimed at the city's deal with Delta Allied Growers, which plans to open a 4,000-square-foot cannabis growing operation in Isleton and has agreed to pay 3 percent of its proceeds - or at least $25,000 a month - to city coffers.

A Sacramento man who strangled his wife and dumped her nude body in the American River Canyon is due a parole hearing this month.

A Placer County Superior Court judge on May 10, 1995, sentenced Mark William Follis, now 55, to 22 years to life in prison.

Two people discovered the body of Susan Follis, 32, on April 10, 1995 when they stopped to enjoy the view.

Burglars struck a longtime family-owned jewelry store in downtown Sacramento early this morning.

The thieves smashed the front door of the Grebitus & Sons store at 10th and L streets with rocks about 2 a.m., a store spokesman said.

While the glass did not completely break, the burglars were able to get the door off the hinges.

A rash of catalytic converter thefts in El Dorado County has focused on Toyota trucks in the Cameron Park area, Sheriff's Office officials report.

The El Dorado County Sheriff has taken 15 theft reports - averaging more than one per day - between March 29 and April 10, according to Lt. Bryan Golmitz.

All of the vehicles have been Toyota pickup trucks manufactured between 1989 and 1999.

The Sacramento Sheriff K9 Association is selling tickets to its annual K9 Comedy Night fundraiser, to be held Monday, April 25.

Deputy Brian Amos said money raised will go toward medical treatment for retired K9s Dantes and Kaleo. (Left is Sacramento County Sheriff's Department photo of Kaleo in 2007.)

Tickets for the event at the Punchline Comedy Club are $15 and can be purchased online at www.ssdk9.com/shopping. The night will feature three comedians and a raffle after the show. Punchline is at 2100 Arden Way, Suite 100.

The Association is also seeking donated items for the raffle. Anyone interested in donating an item, or who has questions about the event, can contact info@ssdk9.com.

- Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

Q: A relative of mine, Kathleen Neff, disappeared in 1980 and her body was found later in Sacramento County? Was anyone ever arrested? - Anonymous, Sacramento

A: No one has been arrested in her homicide, according to The Bee archives and available records. (At left is photo of Neff released by her family in 1980.)

Neff, 21, disappeared after dropping her car off for service at a dealership on Florin Road near Franklin Boulevard on Oct. 16, 1980, The Bee reported.

Pheasant hunters found her body was found almost a month later in a drainage ditch off Elliott Ranch Road, approximately six miles south of the dealership. The badly decomposed body was clad only in a pair of socks.

The California Highway Patrol says the arrests of three men found with Home Depot merchandise Wednesday may help solve thefts from the big box stores stretching from Salinas to Oroville.

The CHP said their big break began when an officer stopped a black Cadillac at 7:25 p.m. Wednesday in Marysville for an expired vehicle registration. During a search of the car, five boxes of Dewalt and Makita drill sets from Home Depot were found.

Officers calling from the scene of the stop discovered that the Yuba City Home Depot had suffered a theft on Tuesday and that an Oroville Home Depot had been hit about one hour before the traffic stop.

An Auburn man has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting his wife and threatening to kill her and their 2-year-old daughter, the Auburn Police Department reported.

Last Friday, an Auburn Police officer met with an 18-year-old woman who reported being assaulted by her husband, later identified as 24-year-old Tyler Monsen (left), according to an Auburn police news release.

The victim claimed that she had gone to Monsen's residence on April 5 at his request to discuss financial matters after he had allegedly threatened to kill her and their daughter if she did not comply, the release states.

Woodland police are investigating an early-morning fight outside a local bar in which one man was stabbed.

Police were called to the Stag Bar at 500 Main St. at 1:47 a.m. today. When they arrived, they found a 25-year-old Robbins resident with non-life-threatening wounds to the back of the head and leg. A preliminary investigation indicated the victim may have been attacked by three men, who left the scene before police arrived, according to a Police Department news release. No description of the assailants was available.

The victim was treated for his injuries at Woodland Memorial Hospital. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Woodland Police Department at (530) 661-7800 or (530) 666-2411.

A Yuba City man has been arrested on charges of receiving, distributing and possessing child pornography.

A federal grand jury in Sacramento on April 7 returned the two-count indictment against Joseph Wood, 61.

The indictment alleges that Wood received and distributed images via the Internet depicting the sexual exploitation of minors and possessed other similar images when law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at his house.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

Before authorities released word that they had arrested a 77-year-old Reno man in four slayings going back to 1977, they alerted law enforcement officials in Sacramento and elsewhere months ago to review cold case homicides for possible connections.

Piquing their interest was the fact that all four of Joseph Naso's alleged victims had first and last names starting with the same initials, and detectives went to work checking their files.

"They went through homicides as well as female missing person's reports and got no matches with the name alliteration," Sacramento sheriff's spokesman Jason Ramos said today.

By Melody Gutierrez
mgutierrez@sacbee.com

A Sacramento special education teacher was arraigned today on six counts of lewd acts with a 7-year-old boy and one count of communicating with a 14-year-old boy with the intent to commit a sexual offense.

Preston Howard Lewis, 50, was placed on paid administrative leave Sept. 3 from Sacramento City Unified School District, where he is a teacher at Sam Brannan Middle School near Riverside Boulevard and South Land Park Drive.

The alleged abuse of the 7-year-old occurred between 2004 and 2005, according to the criminal complaint filed by the District Attorney's office. Preston is accused of communicating with the 14-year-old between March 1, 2010 and Sept. 1, 2010.

By Mark Glover
mglover@sacbee.com

Sacramento businessman Abdelmajid M. Hamid has been sentenced to two years in state prison after pleading guilty to two felony counts of tobacco tax evasion.

The state Board of Equalization identified Hamid as the the owner of Cheaper Wholesale, a retailer and distributor of tobacco products in Sacramento.

Hamid was charged with evading California tobacco products tax by purchasing untaxed tobacco products from outside the state, failing to possess a California tobacco product distributor's license and failing to report his untaxed tobacco products.

A killer dubbed "Batgirl" for her tattoos and who murdered a Sacramento man in 1991 has been denied a parole by the state Board of Parole Hearings. She also was barred from seeking another parole hearing for seven years, records show.

A Sacramento Superior Court judge sentenced Michelle Cummiskey, now 40, to 25 years to life in prison plus one additional year for extreme violence for the slaying of Philip Inhofer, 58.

Cummiskey stabbed Inhofer 32 times, bludgeoned him with a blunt object and stuffed his body into the closet of his South Natomas mobile home on March 5, 1991. She placed a plastic bag over his head and took his red 1975 Mercedes.

A man has recovered enough from injuries to be booked in jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.

Robert Reese left, 42, was booked Tuesday into Sacramento County Jail and is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

On March 25 deputies responded to an apartment complex in the 5000 block of Marconi Avenue to a report of a man firing an automatic weapon and then going back into his apartment.

When deputies arrived at the apartment complex and knocked on the apartment door, Reese walked out.

Deputies said he advanced toward them holding a knife over his head. Two deputies fired their guns at Reese, striking him once in his upper body.

Reece was hospitalized for his injury and was recently cleared to be jailed.

Sacramento County sheriff's deputies are searching for three men suspected of robbing an Arden-Arcade Jack in the Box at gunpoint, a sheriff's department spokesman said.

The sheriff's department received a call just before 8 p.m., from a customer inside the restaurant at Arden Way and Bell Street saying that three black males wearing black clothing and masks had entered the restaurant and put a gun to his daughter's head, said sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

The caller said the men took his wallet and then robbed the business at gunpoint as well, Ramos said.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

A 56-year-old employee of a midtown spa was arraigned today on charges that he sexually assaulted an unconscious client at the spa, authorities said.

Appearing before Sacramento Superior Court Judge Lawrence G. Brown today, Tyrone Michael Dwyer was charged with one felony count each of rape of an unconscious victim, oral copulation with an unconscious victim and possession of obscene material depicting a minor under the age of 14.

He is being held at the Sacramento County Main Jail in lieu of $230,000 bail.

The Elk Grove Police Department has announced that the public may now file a variety reports with the department via the Internet.

The service will allow people to file a report at a time that is best for them without having to wait for an officer to respond or return a phone call, according to a Police Department news release. People filing reports also will be able to print a temporary copy of the report upon submitting it.

The report will be reviewed by police personnel and once it is approved, the person who filed it will receive an email with a copy of the report attached at no cost. The report will transfer into the records management system and receive the same investigation and statistical analysis it would if it had been taken by a police officer, officials said.

A Woodland man pleaded guilty today to federal charges that he failed to register as a sex offender.

According to the plea agreement, Travis Marshall Grey, 28, was court-martialed in July 2007 after receiving depictions of child pornography. As part of his sentence, Grey was ordered to register as a sex offender. The branch of the military Grey was serving in was not given.

In June 2010, he was arrested by the Woodland Police Department for unrelated offenses, and police discovered that he had failed to register as required, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

An El Dorado Hills man and his mother have pleaded guilty in Sacramento federal court to money laundering and concealing a felony, respectively, in connection with the man's fraudulent application for a loan to purchase a $2.75 million home in Shingle Springs.

Anthony Portillo used his mother's name - Betty Gracia - and credit history to obtain the loan, according to court papers.

The papers show that Portillo, 41, submitted his mother's bank statements, which had been falsified to reflect large account balances ranging from $700,000 to $1 million.

When federal agents asked Gracia, 61, about the amounts, she lied and said she had a large income, according to the papers.

The two are scheduled to be sentenced June 27, by U. S. District Judge William B. Shubb.

- By Denny Walsh
dwalsh@sacbee.com

A Los Gatos man has been sentenced in Placer County Superior Court to five years in prison for a plot to seek revenge for a perceived wrongdoing by a contractor who built a retaining wall for him.

Udi Fishman, left, 60, a mechanical engineer and rental property owner, was convicted by a trial jury on Feb. 1 of first-degree residential burglary with a finding by the jury that people were present in the home during the commission of the crime. He also was convicted of attempted false imprisonment, possession of a deadly weapon - a billy club - and two counts of illegal use of tear gas. The jury acquitted him of attempted murder and attempted kidnapping.

Fishman disguised himself as a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. worker, drove to the Auburn-area home of the contractor and used bear spray on the man's wife and her brother-in-law, according to a Placer County District Attorney's Office news release. He then physically fought with the brother-in-law before being stabbed with a knife by the female victim.

Dog sought that bit woman outside Davis restaurant

Officials are asking for the public's help in finding a dog that bit a woman outside a Davis pizza restaurant on Friday.

The 24-year-old woman was bitten by the unattended dog, which was tied up outside of Woodstock Pizza in Davis at 219 G Street, according to the Yolo County Sheriff's Department Animal Service Section. The woman was bit on Friday between 2 and 2:30 p.m. She was treated for the bite at a hospital.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A Sacramento Superior Court jury today convicted Joseph Raymond Buttelo of voluntary manslaughter in the Oct. 31, 2008, shooting death of Gustavo Lopez on Lerwick Road.

Before returning the voluntary manslaughter verdict, jurors first acquitted Buttelo, 21, of murder in the killing of his 18-year-old victim in the shooting near Morse and Whitney avenues. The panel also convicted him of attempted voluntary manslaughter on another victim after acquitting him on a count of attempted murder.

The jury acquitted Buttelo of all charges in a separate shooting incident on two additional alleged victims that had taken place two weeks earlier.

By Anita Creamer
acreamer@sacbee.com

With more than 6 million adults aged 65 and older expected to navigate California's streets and highways by 2020, the California Highway Patrol is launching a public awareness program to educate senior drivers and help them remain safe on the roads.

The statewide education campaign, funded by a federal grant in collaboration with the Department of Motor Vehicles, will focus on keeping older adults safe and mobile. As part of the grant, CHP plans to establish committees from public and private groups - including health professionals, aging advocates, transportation specialists and law enforcement officers - to assess the most pressing needs of seniors on the road.

The goal of the new Keeping Everyone Safe program is to lower by 5 percent the number of traffic accidents caused by older California adults.

Call The Bee's Anita Creamer, (916) 321-1136.

Gov. Jerry Brown has reversed the state Board of Parole Hearings decision to grant a parole to a 49-year-old Yolo County child killer.

Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig praised the decision to keep Christopher Fowler behind bars. Fowler was scheduled to be paroled to Yolo County.

"Our community cannot risk having a man who savagely killed a baby for no apparent reason living back among us," Reisig said in a news release.

A "ghost bike" memorial reminds students of the death of one of their own outside Sacramento State University.

The ghost bike, a riderless bicycle painted white and anonymously left tied to a traffic pole at the university entrance, is in memory of student Arlene Sasse, 22, who was hit by a car while crossing J Street near the entrance to the campus in the early hours April 1. Police said Tuesday they are still investigating the crash.

Next to the ghost bike are flowers, notes and a copy of The Bee story about Sasse's death.

Traffic signal data will be analyzed to find out who was at fault in a collision that resulted in minor injuries to three students on a bus Tuesday morning in Elk Grove.

The accident occurred about 7:20 a.m. when an e-tran Elk Grove city bus collided with another vehicle at Franklin Boulevard and Elk Grove Boulevard.

"At this point, based on a witness statement, it appears that the four-door sedan did have some type of right-of-way violation," said Elk Grove police spokesman Chris Trim. "Whether it is red light or failure to yield, that will be determined. We will be pulling the data from signal lights to determine there were no malfunctions and that the information we received from witnesses matches up with signal light information."

Sacramento police are investigating a shooting that injured one man, who was found wounded and driving his car in Natomas, a police spokesman said.

Officers received a call at about 10:25 p.m., from a man saying that he had been shot while in his car, said Sacramento Police Department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong. The man was unsure about where he was, but officers were able to locate him near Arena Boulevard and Stemmler Drive in Natomas, Leong said.

The victim, a male in his 30s, had suffered multiple gunshot wounds, but told police he did not know where the shooting had occurred, Leong said. He was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Photo Credit: Courtesy, Sacramento Police Department. Photo Caption: Sacramento police investigate a vehicle in which a man was found shot in north Sacramento Monday night.

The man who died in a motorcycle crash late Sunday afternoon in Citrus Heights has been identified as Brandon Graham Roth, 21, of Granite Bay.

Lt. Ray Bechler of the Citrus Heights Police Department said Monday that witnesses to the crash, which occurred at 5:51 p.m., were still being interviewed. But he said initial accounts indicated that excessive speed was a factor.

Roth was northbound on Sunrise Boulevard just north of Arcadia Drive, when he lost control of the motorcycle, Bechler said. Roth slid off the bike and struck the median. The motorcycle flipped and struck a palm tree.

Police say that somebody left a water bottle bomb in an Auburn driveway over the weekend.

Auburn police officers were called to the 400 block of Riverview Drive on Sunday where a citizen reported finding a water bottle with a chemical odor and BBs inside. A Placer County Sheriff's Department explosive ordnance department deputy responded and disposed of the device.

Police said the homemade devices can cause injury from explosion, including severe burns. Police said there is no information to release on why the bottle was left in the driveway.

Three people hit by a suspected drunken driver suffered major injuries Sunday night in a Yolo County crash, according to the California Highway Patrol.

A car traveling eastbound on Highway 128 outside of Winters near Pleasants Valley Road about 7:30 p.m. crossed over the double yellow line when the driver, Fernando Ramirez, 31, of Esparto, made an unsafe turn, a CHP press release states. His car struck another vehicle driven by Megan Espinosa, 19, of Vacaville.

The CHP said that Ramirez displayed "signs and symptoms" of intoxication and was arrested on felony driving under the influence causing injury. He suffered major injuries.

Espinosa and two passengers in her car, Tiffany Canerday, 17, and Michelle Canerday, 21, both of Vacaville, suffered major injuries.

The name of the two-year-old boy who apparently slipped into a backyard pool and drowned Sunday evening during a family gathering in Elk Grove has been released by the Sacramento County Coroner.

He was identified as Christopher Ramirez of Sacramento.

Paramedics were unable to revive the child, who was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The boy was visiting family with his parents on Sage Glen Way when the drowning occurred, Elk Grove Police spokesman Chris Trim said.

By Tony Bizjak
tbizjak@sacbee.com

A fatal motorcycle crash has forced closure of Sunrise Boulevard in Citrus Heights for several hours Sunday evening, police report.

The crash occurred at 6 p.m. The victim's identity has not been released. Officers investigating the crash have closed Sunrise northbound at Arcadia Drive, and southbound at Sayonara Drive. Police said the motorcyclist lost control in a solo crash. Police said at 9 p.m. they did not yet know when the road would reopen.

Call The Bee's Tony Bizjak, (916) 321-1059.

By Tony Bizjak
tbizjak@sacbee.com

Burglars made away with $3,000 in cash and other merchandise sometime Saturday night after breaking into the College Glen Little League snack bar building on La Riviera Drive, police and league officials report.

It was the one night of the year that league officials left that much money in the till, said Jason Piccione, league vice president. He estimated the total loss, including stolen goods and damage, at nearly $6,000.

The thieves broke an exterior lock, then, once inside, bashed through an interior wall to get to the cash, Piccione said. The empty safe was found later Sunday at Sara Park near Rogue River Drive.

By Tony Bizjak
tbizjak@sacbee.com

A 50-year-old Sacramento man was arrested this weekend for mayhem, felony assault and animal cruelty when he allegedly swung a hammer at his pet pit bull, but hit a friend in the face instead.

The man, identified by police as Theodore Saunders, had been drinking "large quantities of alcohol," according to the police log. So was his friend, who was taken to a hospital with a serious eye injury, police Sgt. Norm Leong said.

The attack Saturday night started inside a house on the 2500 block of San Fernando Way, and spilled outside. The man initially began punching his dog.

A motorist suspected of hitting an Elk Grove Police Officer conducting a traffic stop Saturday was arrested today on suspicion of felony drunken driving, police said.

Matthew Layug, 24, of Sacramento, was being held in lieu of $60,000 bail for investigation of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and causing injury.

The officer, initially reported as having either a broken right leg or ankle, was recovering today from surgery at an area hospital, police spokesman Officer Chris Trim said.

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

A San Francisco man was being held on $100,000 bail in Redding today after he was arrested on suspicion of hijacking an Amtrak bus Saturday night, Redding police said.

The suspect - Robert A. Fender, 43 - was arrested after a foot chase near the Redding bus terminal, police said.

Quick-thinking by the bus driver, who threw a kill switch on the outside of the bus, apparently prevented the suspect from driving away from the Redding Area Bus Authority station in the 1500 block of Yuba Street, according to police spokesman Cpl. Bart Langley.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

An Elk Grove police officer suffered an injury to his leg tonight after he was struck by a car - possibly driven by an intoxicated driver - while conducting a traffic stop, according to authorities.

The injuries are not life-threatening and appear to involve a broken leg or ankle, said police spokesman Officer Chris Trim. The officer, whose name was not released, is being treated at an area hospital.

The collision occurred about 9:40 p.m. today, after two officers assigned to traffic enforcement pulled over a vehicle on Big Horn Boulevard just east of Bruceville Road, Trim said.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

Kevin Cairns, owner of Dante's on the River, east of Pollock Pines, was released on bail Friday after three weeks in jail.

Cairns had been jailed unexpectedly on $250,000 bail at his first court appearance March 15 related to charges of assault with a deadly weapon and felony vandalism for incidents in November and February.

He was denied a bail reduction April 1 but had his bond reduced to $87,000 Friday, which he was able to post with the assistance of friends, Cairns' wife Nancy said.

A Sacramento resident sustained knife wounds Friday after surprising a potential burglar, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department reported.

The victim reported arriving home to the 4300 block of 48th Street shortly before 8:20 p.m., to find the suspect breaking a window, said sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos. The suspect cut the resident with a knife and took off running, jumping over a nearby fence.

The victim originally gave chase, then went to a neighbor's house and called authorities, reporting elbow and finger wounds, Ramos said.

Two men were sentenced today in connection with a 2008 gang-related shooting.

Lue Thao, 22, was sentenced by Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Raul Thorbourne to 27 years to life in prison after being found guilty by a jury of premeditated attempted murder, shooting into an inhabited motor vehicle and assault with a firearm.

Co-defendant Alex Lee, 20, was sentenced to seven years in prison after being found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon and firing into an inhabited vehicle.

A man convicted of evading a Sacramento police officer by driving recklessly in July has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison under California's "three strikes" law, the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office reported.

In July, a Sacramento police officer was attempting to make a traffic stop of Vontre Knight for running a red light when Knight sped away, according to a District Attorney's Office news release. During the pursuit on Highway 99, Knight entered a highway on-ramp driving the wrong way.

He later fled from the car and was found hiding in the bathtub of a stranger's home, the release states.

A 67-year-old man convicted of sexually abusing a relative has been sentenced in Sacramento County Superior Court to 140 years to life in prison, according to a Sacramento County District Attorney's Office release.

Clive McGaw was convicted by a jury in March of three counts of sexual abuse with a dependent adult and one count of failing to register as a sex offender, according to the release.

In 2008, McGaw was observed by staff at the UC Davis Medical Center kissing and being groped by a woman with Down syndrome, the release states. Staff later learned the woman was a 25-year-old relative of McGaw.

A 53-year-old man has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in Kings Beach.

Silvestre Calderon Marquez was sentenced Wednesday by Placer County Superior Court Judge Larry D. Gaddis. Marquez pleaded guilty last month to a felony count of continuous sexual abuse of a minor, according to a Placer County District Attorney's Office news release.

Prosecutor Tracy Lunardi said Marquez had moved into a home with the girl's family, and the sexual abuse of the child occurred form December 2009 to March 2010.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

The Sacramento County Jail is now offering families a way to send messages to inmates through email, saving them the hassle of waiting in long visiting lines at the jail.

In a program that began April 4, the Sheriff's Department said family members can use the online inmate information system at www.sacsheriff.com to look up the person they want to contact, then click on the "email this inmate" link.

The emails will be printed out and delivered to inmates, generally the next day, the Sheriff's Department said.

Inmates have no access to computers and if they choose to reply to messages they must use the Postal Service.

The department said messages that appear to be business solicitations or advertisements will not be delivered, and it noted that there is no privacy accorded in the system; every email will be read by jail staff before being delivered.

The department says no taxpayer money is being used to provide the service. All costs are being covered by the inmate welfare fund.

The man the FBI calls Sacramento's "Bucket List Bandit" is still on the loose and agents need help in finding him.

Agents say the Bucket List Bandit takes a bad surveillance photo because although he looks like he's 70 on security video, but he is probably about 50 years old.

His picture was taken when he held up the Bank of the West, 4001 Manzanita Ave., in Carmichael on March 24. The robbery occurred just after noon when the bandit entered the bank and handed a teller a note demanding cash.

He took the loot and fled but there is no description of a getaway vehicle. He was described as about 5 feet, 9 inches with black and gray hair. He wore a zippered gray pullover sweater, tan pants and a blue Tommy Hilfiger baseball hat with gold lettering.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI at (916) 481-9110 or the Sacramento Sheriff's Department at (916) 874-5115. In addition, callers may remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward up to $1,000 by calling Crime Alert at (916) 443-4357.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Two Sacramento teens have been arrested after they allegedly stole an Elk Grove man's car and led police on a chase that reached speeds of 100 mph, according to an Elk Grove Police Department release.

Officers responded to the area of Grisham Way and West Stockton Boulevard at 12:44 p.m. Thursday, regarding a carjacking, according to the release.

The victim, a 21-year-old Elk Grove man, told police he was trying to sell his 1997 Buick on Craigslist, and had agreed to meet with a potential buyer at the WinCo Foods on Sheldon Road, according to the release.

Upon meeting the buyer -- later identified as Romalas Ross, 19, of Sacramento -- the victim allowed him to test-drive the vehicle.

With the car's owner in the front passenger seat, Ross drove down West Stockton Boulevard toward Grisham Way, and then stopped the vehicle, the release states. An unidentified male then approached the passenger's side of the vehicle armed with a shotgun, pointed it at the victim and ordered him out of the vehicle.

The armed suspect, later identified as a 17-year-old Sacramento resident, got into the front passenger seat and Ross drove away at a high rate of speed, the release states.

As Elk Grove police officers responded to the call, they were notified that a city of Elk Grove Code Enforcement officer was driving behind the stolen car onto northbound Highway 99 at Bond Road.

Officers caught up with the car and attempted to conduct an enforcement stop, but the driver did not yield and a pursuit ensued that reached speeds of up to 100 mph.

When the stolen vehicle attempted to exit at Florin Road, it spun out of control and crossed over a lane of traffic before coming to a stop in a grassy area, the release states. The driver fled on foot and was taken into custody.

The suspect in the front passenger's seat remained there, was ordered out of the car and was taken into custody without incident, the release states.

Officers searched the vehicle and found a loaded shotgun, which was later determined to be stolen, according to the release.

Ross was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail, while the 17-year-old was transported to Sacramento County Juvenile Hall.

Ross was booked on suspicion of felony carjacking, receiving stolen property and conspiracy, and his bail has been set at $110,000.

The stolen vehicle was returned to the victim.

An identity theft pioneer has received a two-year state prison sentence in Placer County for making life miserable for a Florida man.

Joseph Daniel Oscar Kidd, 56, was sentenced Friday in Placer County Superior Court after pleading no contest to identity theft and welfare fraud.

Kidd assumed the name of Larry Edward Smith in 1993 after he obtained the real Smith's date of birth and social security number.

Kidd moved to Auburn and was arrested numerous times for drugs and once for forgery.

"He's been convicted in seven prior Placer County cases under the victim's identity of Larry Smith," said prosecutor Joe Hoffmann of the Placer County District Attorney's Office.

Meanwhile, the real Larry Smith was tormented by Kidd's theft of his identity. Smith, 67 and a resident of Florida, has had liens placed against tax refunds, been denied medical care, had his driver's license suspended and once was stuck in jail for eight days under an arrest warrant because of Kidd's crimes in California.

Prosecutor Hoffmann plans to help Smith even more.

"I am petitioning the court to find Larry Smith factually innocent in all 7 prior criminal cases that involved Mr. Kidd," Hoffmann said in a district attorney's press release.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

In a surprise move today, Phillip Garrido entered a not guilty plea to charges that he kidnapped Jaycee Lee Dugard.

His wife Nancy entered the same not guilty plea after the judge indicated there were irregularities in the grand jury process that indicted the couple in September.

Stephen Tapson, Nancy Garrido's attorney, said the plan earlier this week was for Phillip Garrido to plead guilty but that a last minute hitch over the manner in which the grand jury selection was handled prompted the decision to plead not guilty.

A crackdown on cellphone-using drivers resulted in 220 tickets being written this week.

The California Highway Patrol and local police and sheriff's departments statewide conducted the crackdown Monday and Tuesday. The effort was mounted to stop drivers from texting and talking while behind the wheel, hopefully cutting down on the number of drivers weaving, running red lights, clogging traffic lanes and causing accidents.

The two-day "Distracted Driving" campaign produced the following results in the Sacramento region:

Three teenage boys were held up in broad daylight earlier this week in Auburn.

The boys were walking along High Street near College Way about 2 p.m. Monday when a dark gray or black sedan pulled up and a passenger armed with a knife got out. The robber took a cell phone from one of the boys.

Auburn police described the robber as white, 20 to 25 years old, with a goatee and brown hair. He was wearing a blue and black baseball cap and a long blue t-shirt.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sacramento Metro firefighters assist the coroner as they look at the victims of a fatal fire in Stephen Drive. Andy Alfaro, Sacramento Bee.

The Sacramento County Coroner said the victims of an overnight fatal fire in North Highlands are a 37-year-old woman and an 8-year-old boy.

Coroner's deputies listed the victims as Laura Fernandez of North Highlands and Wilfred Villarruel of North Highlands.

It was unclear whether the two were related but Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District Assistant Chief Scott Cockrum said last night that they could be mother and son.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sacramento Metro firefighters assist the coroner as they look at the victims of a fatal fire in Stephen Drive. Andy Alfaro, Sacramento Bee.

By Matt Kawahara
@mkawahara@sacbee.com

A house fire in North Highlands left two members of a five-person household dead Wednesday night.

The victims were believed to be a female adult and male juvenile -- possibly a mother and her child, said Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District Assistant Chief Scott Cockrum. Their identities were not immediately available.

Fire crews responded to the residence at 4061 block of Stephen Drive just before 8 p.m., and found the garage fully engulfed by flames, said Sac Metro Deputy Chief Brian Rice.

An Auburn-area martial arts instructor has been arrested on suspicion of committing lewd acts with a child.

Auburn Police Department detectives arrested Matthew Barraza, 31, on Monday following an investigation. He is accused of committing lewd acts with a 14-year-old who was one of his martial arts students, according to a Police Department news release.

Barraza was booked into Placer County Jail with bail set at $250,000.

A 66-year-old graduate of Del Oro High School in Loomis has been sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to take anger management classes for one year for making criminal threats against the school's head football coach.

Dennis Blaine McLin was angry because players at the school had continued to wear a jersey number that was supposed to have been retired in 1961, according to a Placer County District Attorney's Office news release.

He was sentenced Friday after pleading no contest to a felony count of stalking and a misdemeanor charge of making criminal threats.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A carjacking and chase in south Sacramento this afternoon left one man shot and hospitalized, a Sacramento Police Department spokesman said.

The incident began at about 2 p.m. Wednesday at an AutoZone in the 6100 block of Mack Road, police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said.

A man drove up to the AutoZone in his teal Cadillac with 22-inch rims, got out of the vehicle and left it running because it has a bad battery, Leong said. He then saw the car being driven away by a black male adult in his 20s with short twisted hair, Leong said.

The murder trial of Jennifer Dalton - accused of killing her ex-husband in 2009 - is underway after attorneys gave their opening statements this morning.

Dalton faces a murder charge in the July 2009 shooting death of Craig Dalton, 39, at Jennifer Dalton's Elk Grove home.

Before Sacramento Superior Court Judge Timothy M. Frawley, Deputy District Attorney Chris Ore argued in his opening statements that Jennifer Dalton, angry over a failed marriage and financial woes, had been planning the shooting for months.

A Sacramento County jury has found 24-year-old Roy Houston guilty of murder in a Feb. 17, 2005 shooting that prosecutors have described as a gang-retaliation killing.

Slain in the North Sacramento shooting was 21-year-old Donald McCall. Jurors also found Houston guilty of the attempted murder of Randall Hudson and Joseph McCoy, and found to be true the special circumstances of using a firearm, shooting from a car and committing the crime on behalf of a gang.

For a separate March 2005 incident, jurors also convicted Houston of the attempted murder of Kenneth Bell. They found to be true special circumstances of using a firearm and shooting at an occupied vehicle.

The Yolo County Coroner's office has released the name of the 72-year-old woman who died Monday in an apartment fire in Woodland.

She was identified as Sandra Kay McLane.

Woodland firefighters responded at 2:23 p.m. to a structure fire in one unit of the Colonial Terrace Senior Apartments at 59 West Lincoln Ave. Crews quickly extinguished the fire and found McLane in the front room of her apartment.

The Sacramento County Coroner has released the name of the jogger struck by a pickup Monday in Elk Grove.

She was identified as Teresa Hess, 53, of Elk Grove. She was pronounced dead 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Elk Grove police say Hess was jogging across Laguna Boulevard when hit by a pickup truck.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

One woman has been arrested and Auburn police seek the public's help in locating a second woman in connection with a fraudulent credit card transaction at a local business.

The two women, identified as Regina Yuvienco and Karina Santiago, are accused of attempting to purchase electronics equipment with a fraudulent credit card at an electronics store on Grass Valley Highway in Auburn.

When the credit card transaction was declined, the suspects told the store clerk that they would call the customer service number for the credit card company to obtain an approval, according to Police Department news release.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

The Sacramento Police Department asks the community's help in identifying two people sought in connection with a residential burglary and vehicle theft that occurred last month.

Between 7:30 a.m. and 2:20 p.m. March 14, someone burglarized a home in the 8200 block of Grandstaff Drive in the south Sacramento area. The intruders stole personal items, including a spare key to a vehicle that was not at the home at the time of the burglary.

At 10:30 p.m. March 18, the victim discovered that his vehicle had been stolen. Because there were no signs of forced entry, detectives to believe that the spare key, stolen during the burglary, was used to steal the vehicle, according to a Police Department news release.

Sacramento police need help in finding thieves with a stolen backhoe who tried unsuccessfully to break into a bank ATM on March 21.

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 took the backhoe from a construction project at 7th Street and North B Street that night. The thieves drove the backhoe north on the bike trail to the bank where they repeatedly struck the cash machine.

The thieves were not able to get any money from the machine, but they did significantly damage the ATM and the building.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Alert at 443-4357. Tipsters may remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward up to $1,000.

Sacramento police said a passenger hit a Regional Transit bus driver in the face and then fled Monday afternoon.

Police said the teen rider had caused problems on the bus earlier in the day. He boarded again about 4 p.m. Monday and refused to pay his fare.

Another bus passenger fronted him his fare but then the teen refused to take a seat. The driver told him several times to sit down.

That prompted the teen to strike the driver in the face and then exit the bus near Stockton Boulevard and Fruitridge Road.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A 72-year-old woman died Monday afternoon in an apartment fire in Woodland, according to a Woodland Fire Department news release.

Woodland firefighters responded to a structure fire in one unit of the Colonial Terrace Senior Apartments at 59 West Lincoln Ave. at 2:23 p.m., according to the release. Crews quickly extinguished the fire and found the victim in the front room, the release states.

The fire did not spread to any of the other 47 units on three stories of the apartment complex, the release states. However, the complex was evacuated. The Red Cross is helping two residents who were displaced by the fire, and all other residents will be able to return to their apartments tonight, according to the release.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

The Sutter County Sheriff's Department is investigating as a homicide the death of a Live Oak man.

The sheriff's dispatch center received a 911 call at 5:38 p.m. Sunday reporting an unresponsive man in the 9300 block of North Butte Road in Live Oak. The Live Oak Fire Department located a man, identified as Marvin Leon Hammons, 64, who had suffered a gunshot wound, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.

California Department of Justice criminalists conducted a forensic examination of the crime scene, and Sutter County detectives initiated an investigation into what is being treated as a homicide, pending an autopsy.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Sutter County Sheriff's Department at (530) 822-7307, or contact "Leave a Tip" on the sheriff's website at www.suttersheriff.org .

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

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

Accused kidnapper Phillip Garrido is expected to plead guilty Thursday to the 1991 abduction of 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard in a bid to show compassion for Dugard as well as his wife, Nancy, one of the lawyers in the case told The Bee today.

Stephen Tapson, Nancy Garrido's attorney, said this afternoon that a deal was reached last week that calls for Phillip Garrido to enter a guilty plea and spend the rest of his life in prison. However, Tapson said he expects Nancy Garrido to face trial unless El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson agrees to a compromise that might allow Nancy Garrido to be released from prison in 30 years or so.

Neither Pierson nor Phillip Garrido's public defender, Susan Gellman, could be reached immediately today.

Elk Grove police say a woman jogging across Laguna Boulevard suffered life-threatening injuries when hit by a sport utility vehicle this morning.

The woman, who carried no identification, was thrown 50 feet on impact. She was not responsive when taken to a local hospital.

Police said that at about 8 a.m. the woman stepped off the curb on Laguna Boulevard near Laguna Park Drive and was hit by the SUV. The SUV was traveling eastbound on Laguna Boulevard.

Eleven people were arrested and dozens of live, dead and wounded roosters were found at a Rio Linda cockfighting operation, the Sacramento County Sheriff's department reported.

Deputies were called 3:30 p.m. Saturday when a citizen reported that cockfighting was occurring at property in the 1500 block of Q Street. When deputies arrived, dozens of men bolted from a detached garage.

Inside, the deputies found a wooden pen they believe was being used as a cockfighting ring. Also recovered were razor-sharp spurs both on and off the roosters.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

One lured a little girl from a park by promising her a baby duck, then brutally raped and killed her.

Another shot a 33-year-old woman and her 14-year-old daughter to death so he could steal the family's bright pink 1923 Model T Ford.

Yet another killed three men with claw hammers because, he said, an implant in his head created voices telling him to do it.

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

Two adults and a child were injured today after a small pickup truck slammed into a sports utility vehicle and overturned it as it was heading back onto Highway 50 from the shoulder, the California Highway Patrol reported.

CHP Officer Trevor Shields said the impact occurred about 10:30 a.m. on the shoulder of eastbound lanes of the freeway west of Mather Field Road after the driver of the pickup lost consciousness while traveling at between 55 mph and 65 mph.

The driver of the SUV, who had a child in the car with her, had just received a speeding ticket from the highway patrol and was in the process of driving away from the officer when she was hit from behind, Shields said.

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

Woodland Police are seeking help from the public in their investigation of stabbings that injured three people after 1 a.m. Saturday in the driveway of the Tractor Supply Store on Matmor Road in the city.

Police initially responded to a call about a fight with a person who was covered in blood at E. Main Street and Matmor. No one was at the location when authorities arrived, according to the report from police Sgt. Steve Guthrie.

A short time later, however, a call from Woodland Memorial Hospital to police reported two adults and one juvenile from Woodland who apparently were injured in the encounter.

By Carlos Alcala
calcala@sacbee.com

Sacramento police arrested three juveniles with the assistance of a helicopter and dog Friday after a pair of burglary reports in the vicinity of 54th and M streets.

Officers responded quickly to an initial burglary report around 8:45 p.m. and saw a suspect who fled on foot out of sight.

Officers established a perimeter with the aid of a helicopter and witnesses who reported additional running subjects.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

A conspiracy to cash stolen checks in three counties has led to the arrests of six people, including three members of a West Sacramento family, the Yolo County Sheriff's office reported.

The suspected conspiracy came to light after a burglary March 23 at the Ceja Reyes Farm Labor Contractors office on Highway 13 near Knights Landing.

About 500 blank payroll checks were taken in the burglary, sheriff's officials said.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

A burglar alarm paid off for a Stockton Boulevard business early today.

The alarm went off between midnight and 1 a.m. at a business in the 1700 block of Stockton Boulevard, according to a Sacramento Police Department report.

The alarm company notified police that it heard crashing sounds at the business.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

Sacramento police arrested a man wanted on a felony assault warrant Friday after he tried to clean up his act in the wrong way.

After reports of a fight, police attempted to handcuff the suspect in the area of Lemon Hill Avenue and the 65th Street Expressway.

The man ran off with one hand in the handcuffs.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

The California Highway Patrol and local law enforcement agencies are urging motorists to hang up and drive and are promising a crackdown on distracted drivers this month.

California elected and public safety officials will gather at the CHP's training academy in West Sacramento Monday to promote the effort.

The parents of a driver who died in a distracted driving crash will be there, along with the vehicle that the victim was driving.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

Auburn police have arrested a pair of teens they believe stole a friend's ATM card, and then tried to use it at the friend's workplace.

The 16-year-old victim reported the attempted use of his card to Officer Stan Hamelin on March 26.

The teen's co-workers at the Taco Tree on Oakwood Drive in Auburn told him that two people tried to use his card March 13 to buy less than $10 of food.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Woodland police have arrested a man in connection with a Feb. 19 assault outside a local pharmacy.

Surinder Singh, 34, of Woodland was arrested today on suspicion of assault with intent to commit rape, according to a police department news release.

Officers were dispatched at 2:47 p.m. Feb. 19 to the CVS Pharmacy at 7 W. Main St. for a report of an attempted kidnapping.

A homeless man was pepper sprayed after he refused to give identification as he tried to buy a beer and then got into a fight with another homeless man in an east Sacramento store.

Police said the man entered a store in the 3400 block of Folsom Boulevard just after noon Thursday and tried to purchase a beer. The clerk insisted on identification but that enraged the customer, according to a Sacramento Police Department report.

He told the clerk that he was an American, and, as such, he didn't need to show any ID. Then he tossed a cup of water at the clerk.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A judge today dropped his order that Facebook demonstrate why it shouldn't be held in contempt of court for failing to respond to a subpoena in a Sacramento gang-beating case.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael P. Kenny also quashed the subpoena sought by defense lawyers that would have forced Facebook to turn over a juror's musings on the social networking web site that the panelist posted during the gang trial.

The actions came while lawyers for the defense and the juror, Arturo Ramirez, set their sights on an upcoming appellate court battle that still could make the postings public.

The name of a Sacramento State student who was killed this morning when struck on her bicycle has been released by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office.

Arlene Sasse, 22, was hit by a vehicle while crossing J Street in front of the university in the intersection of Carlson Drive and J Street about 1:45 a.m.

The driver was traveling westbound on J Street and did not see Sasse, whose bicycle did not have a light or reflectors, police said.

Laguna Boulevard in Elk Grove has re-opened after a driver ran into the median and struck several trees.

The driver was initially thought to be suffering from life-threatening injuries, but Elk Grove police report she will likely survive.

Police were called to the scene of the crash about 4 a.m. on Laguna Boulevard between Bruceville Road and Di Lusso Drive.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Sacramento police investigated a shooting in south Sacramento late Thursday night that sent one man to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Officers responded to reports of a shooting outside a residence in the 7700 block of Detroit Boulevard in the Meadowview neighborhood at about 11:39 p.m. Thursday, Sacramento police Sgt. Sherry Bell said.

Responding officers learned that the victim, a man in his late 20s, had returned home to the residence and spotted a suspicious vehicle on the street, Bell said. The victim pulled his car onto the front lawn of his residence in an attempt to get closer to the front door, Bell said.

The name of the Sacramento man who died Wednesday morning when his vehicle fell from a transition road onto southbound Interstate 5 following a collision has been released by the Sacramento County Coroner.

He was identified as Scott Michael Peterson. The coroner's department listed his age as 30 years old.

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