Sacto 9-1-1

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department is seeking the public's help locating a missing 95-year-old man.

Warren Estes (pictured) left his home in the 8500 block of Annette Engel Way in Fair Oaks at 2:30 p.m. today to go to a doctor's appointment and did not return, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. His wife and family are concerned for his safety.

He drives a 1993 green Honda Accord, and left home wearing a red and white tennis-type polo shirt, cream-colored pants and white tennis shoes.

Anyone with information as to his whereabouts is asked to call the Sheriff's Department at (916) 874-5115.

The Citrus Heights Police Department warns motorists to expect traffic congestion in and around Sunrise Mall on Monday night due to the Fourth of July fireworks show at the mall.

The event will start about 6 p.m. and conclude around 10 p.m. Several road closures will be in effect between 9 and 11 p.m. along with recommended detours:

• Eastbound Greenback Lane will be closed at Birdcage Street. Eastbound and westbound motorists are advised to use Madison Avenue.

Folsom police have arrested three people in connection with the robbery of a Beverages and More store this afternoon.

The incident occurred at the store at 2595 East Bidwell St. about 2:40 p.m. A man placed two large bottles of tequila in his shopping cart before meeting two women accomplices at the back of the store, according to a Police Department news release. The women placed the bottles inside their empty purses, and the three left the business without paying for the alcohol, police said.

An employee observed the entire incident and confronted the three suspects, who were in a red Saturn Vue sport utility vehicle, and asked them to return the merchandise. The man allegedly pulled a black semiautomatic pistol, and the employee fled, returning to the store where he called police.

A former civilian Navy employee was sentenced today in Sacramento for stealing more than $300,000 in worker's compensation benefits.

Michael Howell, 59, of Vacaville, a former civilian employee with the Department of the Navy, was sentenced in by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller to 18 months in prison, three years of supervised release and $302,380 in restitution for making a false statement to obtain federal worker's compensation benefits. He pleaded guilty Jan. 13.

According to court documents, between July 2001 and February 2010, Howell defrauded the Department of the Navy by falsely denying that he had outside employment and income so he could receive worker's compensation benefits. While collecting benefits, Howell performed work that was inconsistent with his claimed disabilities, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

A recent survey found that 16 percent of stores in Sacramento County still sell tobacco to minors, according to a news release from the Department of Health and Human Services' public health division.

That's about the same rate seen in 2010, and down from 2009's rate of almost 22 percent, the release states.

A Sacramento jury today convicted a man of second-degree murder in the beating death of his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter three years ago.

Thomas Jerome Martin, now 23, will be sentenced Aug. 19 by Superior Court Judge Michael A. Savage for the Feb. 5, 2008, death of Valeeya Brazile.

The little girl's mother, Mia Holmes, 43, pleaded no contest to child endangerment last year and was sentenced to 12 years in state prison.

Valeeya Brazile had suffered nine rib fractures, bruises to her chest, back, face, scalp and arms as well as internal injuries when Martin and Holmes took her to the hospital.

The case was marked by the testimony of a former Child Protective Services case worker who had Holmes as a client. The employee, Alexis Hince, said she did not make unannounced visits to inspect Holmes' apartment in Fair Oaks because "it was not her practice," according to Deputy District Attorney Rick Miller.

A Modesto family is seeking the public's help in locating a child's walker they left in Sacramento.

After eating lunch Tuesday with his family at the In-N-Out Burger in Natomas, an 11-year-old boy with cerebral palsy left his walker outside the burger joint because he could not get it past some hedges, said police Sgt. Norm Leong.

A pedestrian in his 50s was struck and killed by an Amtrak train in Davis this morning.

The man was hit while on the tracks at the Davis Depot about 9:30 a.m., according to the Davis Police. The train was westbound but details were not immediately available to how the incident happened.

The California Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal crash this morning in south Sacramento County where a car hit a tree.

The crash was reported about 6 a.m. on Twin Cities Road near Hardesty Lane between Elk Grove and Galt. The coroner was called to the spot where a white car was reported to have hit a tree about 20 feet off the road.

The driver, who was not identified pending notification of family, apparently drifted into the vegetation off the side of the road and crashed, a CHP spokesman said.

A Sacramento-based appellate court today ordered the release on parole of an Oroville man doing a 15-years-to-life sentence for second-degree murder.

The appellate court reinstated the Board of Parole Hearings' grant of parole two years ago to Raymond Rodel Walker at his 10th parole hearing.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reversed the board's decision after concluding that Walker's release would pose an unreasonable risk of danger to society.

Twin Rivers Police Department Officer Jason Smith was justified in shooting and wounding a parolee in October, the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office concluded today.

Smith shot Ricardo Sazo, 29, three times after police said Sazo repeatedly reached behind his back toward his waistband during a chase in October.

Sazo filed a lawsuit June 17 in Sacramento Superior Court alleging excessive force and negligence by Smith and the Twin Rivers Police Department.

Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies have arrested two 23-year-old men in connection with the explosion of a device in a residential mailbox early Wednesday morning.

The sheriff's department received a call just after midnight from a resident in the 4300 block of Vulcan Drive in Sacramento, who reported hearing a loud explosion, according to a sheriff's department news release.

A neighbor also called in and reported seeing somebody place an object into the first caller's mailbox just before the explosion, the release states. The neighbor said the suspect then got into a vehicle that fled the scene.

The driver of a Yuba Sutter trash hauling truck died Tuesday afternoon in a collision with a truck hauling two tractors.

The Marysville Police Department at 3:20 p.m. began receiving calls of a head-on collision involving two semi-trucks in the area of Highway 20 between East 22nd and East 17th streets. Officers located a Yuba Sutter trash collection truck that had been involved in a collision with the tractor truck and trailers.

The driver of the disposal truck, identified as Gary Wayne Mathis, 43, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a police department news release. The driver of the tractor and trailers was identified as Ernest Allan Coublucq, 73, of Marysville. He was taken to Rideout Memorial Hospital with minor injuries.

Tam Nguyen wants everyone to know he was just a forgetful traveler in a hurry, not a bad guy intent on terrorism after a loaded handgun was found in his backpack at Sacramento International Airport.

Nguyen, 49, of Sacramento was arrested Tuesday in Terminal B on weapons charges when federal Transportation Security Administration personnel found a loaded firearm in his backpack when his belongings went through an X-ray machine. In an interview with The Bee at the Sacramento County Jail Wednesday morning, Nguyen said he is innocent.

Three people were arrested early this morning after a home invasion robbery was reported at an Arden Arcade apartment.

Sacramento County sheriff's deputies responded at 4:20 a.m. to the robbery report at the Town and Country Garden Apartments in the 2900 block of Marconi Avenue. A man reported that his neighbor had been robbed at gunpoint in his apartment and that the suspects, a man and woman, had left the scene in a white Chevrolet. The victim was not injured, according to the Sheriff's Department news release.

At 4:41 p.m., a deputy spotted a white Chevy Tahoe, which matched the description of the suspects' vehicle, traveling south on Howe Avenue near Hurley Way. Deputies stopped the vehicle and detained two men and a woman. They were identified as Lori Voorhies (above, left), 44, Robert Wynne (above, center), 22, and Richard Kohls (above, right), 30.

A Sacramento judge today convicted Darryl Keith Alexander of second-degree murder in the hit-and-run death of his fiance with his motor home last year in an industrial area north of downtown.

Superior Court Judge Troy L. Nunley found the 51-year-old Alexander guilty following a court trial without a jury. Alexander was charged with running over his fiance, Ginger Willen Ball, 56, while backing up his vehicle following an argument with a man.

According to testimony at trial, Alexander, who had a blood-alcohol level of .19 percent, ran over Ball last July 30 while backing up his vehicle at North A and Ahern streets. Witnesses said he then exited the motor home, pulled Willen out from underneath, but then drove forward and ran over her again.

Nunley scheduled Alexander's sentencing for July 29. Besides the 15-to-life term for the second-degree murder conviction, Alexander, who has three prior serious or violent felony convictions, also faces a 25-to-life term under the state's three strikes law.

The Folsom City Council has approved a new contract with the city's firefighters that includes pension reform.

At the Tuesday council meeting the council approved the new contract with Local 522 fire captains, engineers, firefighters and paramedics that will pay 5 percent of their salary toward the employee portion of PERS retirement beginning July 1. That amount will be increased to 9 percent next January.

A 49-year-old man was arrested at Sacramento International Airport this afternoon after Transportation Security Administration employees determined that he had a firearm in his backpack.

Sacramento County sheriff's deputies assigned to the Airport Division responded to a security checkpoint in Terminal B at 1 p.m. today. During the screening process, TSA personnel reported that they believed a passenger was carrying what appeared to be a firearm in his personal backpack.

A search of the passenger's belongings revealed a loaded handgun at the bottom of the backpack, along with several rounds of live ammunition in a magazine, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.

Davis police reported they are investigating a bank robbery that took place Tuesday afternoon in the downtown area.

Officers responded to a report of a robbery at the U.S. Bank branch at Third and F streets at about 4:13 p.m., police department spokesman Lt. Paul Doroshov said. Officers learned that an unknown woman had walked into the bank, approached a teller and stated she was armed with a weapon, Doroshov said.

The woman apparently then handed the teller a note demanding money, Doroshov said. She was given an undisclosed amount of cash, and fled the bank on foot.

An El Dorado County Superior Court jury has found Nicholas James Denham guilty of murder in the 2008 killing of a Placerville resident, the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office reported Tuesday.

Denham was convicted Tuesday of first-degree murder, robbery and carjacking in the killing of Gerald Cody Ludden, according to a news release from the district attorney's office.

Ludden's body was found under the Mosquito Bridge on June 10, 2008.

A San Francisco man today was found guilty of cultivating marijuana as part of a marijuana growing operation in Sacramento and Elk Grove.

The guilty verdict against Jian Hong Liang, 29, was returned by a federal court jury in Sacramento after a four-day trial before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Garcia.

According to testimony presented at trial, between November 2005 and Sept. 1, 2006, Liang and several other people maintained 21 houses in the Sacramento and Elk Grove areas for the sole purpose of growing marijuana. Agents recovered approximately 13,849 plants and marijuana plant root balls from 20 of the homes, according to a federal Department of Justice news release. Officials said the homes in Sacramento and Elk Grove were acquired through mortgage fraud.

A 16-year-old boy who had been reported as a runaway was arrested this morning following a burglary and armed robbery at a Folsom residence.

Folsom police responded to the 800 block of Willowcreek Drive at 10:52 a.m. The homeowner told officers that she confronted a man inside her house. She said he aimed a handgun at her and told her to go to her room and close the door.

The woman and her boyfriend were able to escape out the back of the house, according to a police department news release.

South Lake Tahoe police will focus their residential neighborhood traffic enforcement operations on the city's Bijou neighborhood for a second week after making 41 traffic-related stops June 23-25.

During the three-day period, police pulled over 16 people for stop sign violations, 16 for speed-related violations and nine for other traffic violations, according to a police department news release. A total of 15 citations were issued and 26 drivers received written warnings. Police said at least one vehicle was impounded because the driver was cited a third time for not having a driver's license.

Because the Bijou neighborhood has a major traffic-related problem, police have targeted it for special enforcement again this week.

The Marysville Police Department announced the arrest of six people in a recent sting operation targeting people who furnish alcohol to minors.

Marysville police officers and investigators from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control created a joint task force and conducted undercover decoy operations focusing on people who buy alcohol for underage drinkers. Six people were arrested during the operation, which ran for about five hours on Thursday, according to a Police Department news release.

Police said those arrested, cited and released after they were observed furnishing alcohol to a minor decoy were Ryan Edward Trocki, 23, of Yuba City; James B. Johnson Jr., 47, of Marysville; David Robert James, 32 of Marysville; Timothy Warren Penn Jr., 26, of Yuba City; Justin Ernest Chisick, 25, of Lathrop; and Jenny Fay Oneal, 33, of Yuba City.

By Denny Walsh
dwalsh@sacbee.com

The operator of a Rio Linda tow truck company was sentenced today in Sacramento federal court to three years and one month in prison for attempting to mislead authorities pursuing him on allegations of interstate vehicle theft.

Gabriel Dean Watters, who lives in Elverta, was found guilty in November by a jury of giving the government a bogus receipt for the purchase of four vehicles. The jury could not agree, however, on whether he stole nine lost or abandoned vehicles in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and a mistrial was declared in 19 of the 21 counts in the indictment.

Folsom police are looking for a man who robbed an Umqua Bank branch this morning.

Sgt. Jason Browning said a man entered the bank at 2779 East Bidwell St. at 9:20 a.m. and handed the teller a note stating that he had a gun and wasn't afraid to use it.

The man then left the bank on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash and was last seen heading toward the intersection of Broadstone Parkway and East Bidwell Street.

Toys for Sunday school kids were taken by thieves who broke into a church storage locker in West Sacramento.

The thieves took an inflatable bounce house and play balls purchased with the spare change donated by church members. The pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters were dutifully tossed into a wheelbarrow at church services each Sunday as the tune "Pennies from Heaven" played.

With more than $1,000 raised over several weeks, the church bought the bounce house and outdoor toys. The balls and hula hoops were used by toddlers to teens after their Sunday school lessons are over and while their parents are still in services at the Center for Spiritual Awareness, 1275 Starboard Drive, West Sacramento.

A driver was distracted when her beverage began to tip, resulting in a crash that caused major injuries to a passenger.

The crash occurred when the 17-year-old driver was on the Interstate 505 northbound onramp from Highway 128 near Winters in Yolo County about 3:15 p.m. Monday at about 50 mph.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

Even after Sacramento District Attorney Jan Scully made it clear she was investigating the planned medical marijuana farm in Isleton last February, operators of the project quietly brought in more than 1,000 marijuana plants and began growing them inside the garages of three vacant homes on the property, a new grand jury report states.

But when federal authorities warned the city and project planners that they could face prosecution, a worker from Delta Allied Growers supposedly used a backhoe to bury the plants 10 to 15 feet underground on the site and all work stopped.

These are among the findings of a Sacramento County grand jury report released today that is sharply critical of Isleton city government and the would-be marijuana growers.

Sacramento State Police Chief Dan Davis will retire in November.

Davis, who has been on the campus police force for a decade, has been chief since Sept. 1, 2009. Before that, he was a lieutenant with the department.

Davis, who started his law enforcement career in 1981, also served on the San Francisco State University force and the Fremont and BART police forces. As Sacramento State's chief, he managed a staff of 21 sworn officers, 5 dispatchers, 30 community service officers, 8 office staff and student assistants.

"Law enforcement has been a challenging and rewarding career," said Davis in a university press release. "But now I'm looking forward to focusing on other matters, such as playing more golf."

Maggie the cattle dog, run over during a livestock drive last week in Sierra County, is getting better -- and canine lovers are paying her vet bill.

Maggie, an 8-year-old border collie, was injured when an impatient driver in a Jeep veered into cattle being driven to summer pasture last week.

"She's continuing to improve," said dog owner and cattleman John Reader. "With time, it appears she is going to be fine."

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

It may be the 21st Century, but cattle crimes still get punished, at least in Sierra County, where officials arrested a man suspected of intentionally plowing through a cattle drive and injuring a highly praised herding dog.

Maggie, an 8-year-old border collie, was among the injured when an impatient driver in a Jeep (Cherokee, not Wrangler) veered into cattle being driven to summer pasture last week.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

A monthlong fire investigation has led to the arrest of a woman suspected of setting fire to an occupied motor home, Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District officials said today.

Sac Metro firefighters responded to a reported vehicle fire May 27 on Den Avenue, off Stockton Boulevard south of the Florin Mall area.

Folsom detectives arrested a Sacramento woman Thursday after linking her to two incidents where cars were broken into in the parking lot of California Family Fitness on Oak Avenue Parkway.

Police believe Angelina Hatch (photo right), 26, of 15th Avenue, was also involved in two other burglaries in the county.

Folsom officials began the investigation after taking two reports Wednesday, in which someone broke windows in vehicles and stole purses, wallets or other valuables.

By Ron Trujillo
rtrujillo@sacbee.com

A 20-year-old man was convicted of first-degree murder in connection with an argument on a light-rail train that escalated into a shooting behind a discount store in Rancho Cordova.

Deandre Brooks was found guilty by jury of killing Juan Carlos Sanchez, 21, of Rancho Cordova, on Nov. 21, 2009, according to a Sacramento County District Attorney's news release today.

Brooks and Sanchez, a father of two young boys, began talking trash on the light-rail train and decided to settle the dispute with a fistfight. But Brooks pulled out a handgun and shot Sanchez six times, including at least once when he was face down on the pavement.

Brooks will be sentenced Aug. 5. He faces a 50 years-to-life sentence.

Editor's note: An earlier version of the story had the incorrect last name of Brooks due to information provided by the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office.

By Denny Walsh
dwalsh@sacbee.com

Steven Navarro of Sacramento was arrested today by federal agents on charges of trafficking in counterfeit Viagra and cultivating marijuana.

Navarro, 29, advertised on the Internet what he represented to be Viagra, a prescription drug used to treat erectile dysfunction, a grand jury indictment says. A year ago, according to court documents, he sold 16 tablets to an FBI informant, and laboratory testing showed that, while the tablets did contain some sildenafil citrate, the active ingredient of Viagra, they were not authentic. The tablets and their packaging looked legitimate and could easily be confused for genuine Viagra, the documents say.

Subsequently, agents intercepted two packages from China addressed to Navarro that contained counterfeit Viagra and, in a search of his residence, found more of the bogus tablets and approximately 400 marijuana plants, court papers say.

Navarro advertised his pills as "100% real" at "the cheapest price around," according to U. S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner. "The pills....were manufactured somewhere in China by an unknown entity," he said. "This case is a reminder to consumers that they should only obtain prescription pharmaceutical drugs by prescription. Otherwise, they may be putting themselves at risk."

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Fireworks sellers have pledged financial support this year for the arrest and prosecution of those who use or sell illegal fireworks.

Dennis Revell, spokesman for TNT fireworks, said that many local police and fire departments have sustained budget cuts. In addition, the Sacramento County District Attorney's office has been forced to lay off prosecutors.

In light of the cutbacks, non-profits who sell the state-approved fireworks are increasing their support to fund patrols to cite or arrest those using or selling illegal fireworks -- and also underwrite their prosecution. An exact amount of funding was not available.

The name of the 4-year-old Rosemont girl who was struck by a pickup truck Thursday night has been released, authorities said.

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office identified the girls as Kristina Kushnirchuk.

She was hit by a pickup truck driven by a neighbor at about 7 p.m. and was pronounced dead at UC Davis Medical Center, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.

Authorities said the girl was playing in the street on the 4100 block of Ashgrove Way when the pickup rounded a corner. She had been playing on a scooter but was on foot when she was struck, authorities said.

Investigators confirmed that pickup's driver was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time. No charges have been filed.

The incident remains under investigation.

The Sacramento Police Athletic League on Saturday will hold its second annual Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser from 7 to 11 a.m at 550 Bercut Drive near Richards Boulevard.

The league supports a program to keep Sacramento's youth away from criminal behaviors. Police officers, members of the community, and local business owners participate with the city's youth in athletic programs including baseball, mountain biking, and rugby.

Admission to the buffet-style meal is $10 for people 16 and older, $5 for people 6-15 and older than 54, and free for kids under 5.

Other donations can be made by calling (916) 808-8285 or by mail to P.O. Box 163599 Sacramento, CA 95861.

Auburn police have arrested a woman on suspicion of purse snatching and are asking if other people have had their handbag grabbed by the same suspect.

Shelly Jump (left), 44, of Auburn was arrested Thursday. Police said they believe she attempted to steal a 24-year-old woman's purse on May 17 along Auburn Ravine Road.

The victim was able to hold onto her purse and run away. An investigation by Detective Dustin McLaughlin led to Jump as the person authorities beleive tried to steal the purse.

McLaughlin arrested Jump near Highway 49 and Elm Avenue on suspicion of attempted robbery and resisting arrest. He asks that anyone with a similar experience involving Jump contact him at (530) 823-4237.

By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com

A 4-year-old Rosemont girl was struck and killed by her neighbor driving a pickup truck Thursday night, authorities said.

She was pronounced dead at UC Davis Medical Center, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.

"It was a tragic incident for everybody," said CHP Officer Adrian Quintero. "It was one of those crashes we hope we never have to go to."

By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com

An armed robber led sportsmen on a golf cart chase Thursday at Haggin Oaks golf course before he opened fire and escaped on foot, Sacramento police said.

Officers later arrested a suspect, identified as Jim Aldridge (left), 45, of Sacramento, and reported that no one had been injured.

The incident began shortly after 5 p.m., when Aldridge allegedly held up a concession cart - a golf cart modified to sell snacks and drinks - near the 10th green at Haggin Oaks, said police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

Sacramento police have identified the masked man who freaked out Land Park parents by loitering at children's sporting events and even outside homes in recent weeks.

But officers confirmed what seemed likely before - that the man isn't doing anything illegal and cannot be arrested, said police Sgt. Norm Leong.

The man, who police did not identify because he is not a suspect, is not on probation or parole and has nothing in his history to bar him from being around children, Leong said.

By Denny Walsh
dwalsh@sacbee.com

A 37-year-old Wilton woman is charged in a federal grand jury indictment unsealed Wednesday with embezzling $27,800 from a job-training program at La Familia Counseling Center in Sacramento, where she worked as an employment training specialist and job developer.

Tammy Pacheco is accused of falsely listing five individuals as participants in an intensive, on-the-job training program. Between Oct. 31, 2009, and Dec. 17, 2009, Pacheco collected money she claimed was used for their training, and then put it in her pocket, according to the indictment and other sources.

La Familia receives federal funds to help people find and qualify for employment.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

The mother accused of killing her infant daughter in a microwave earlier this year was arraigned this afternoon on charges of murder and assault causing death to a child under the age of 8.

Ka Yang, 29, also faces a special circumstance that the murder was intentional and involved torture, which, if found true, could make her eligible for the death penalty or life without parole.

Auburn police have arrested another suspect thought to be involved in the stabbing of a man who tried to chase down two people he believed had broken into his car.

Gavin Rasmussen (left), 20, was arrested after turning himself into authorities at the Placer County Jail on Wednesday. Police earlier arrested Joseph Montgomery, 19.

Police say the incident began Friday before 11 p.m. when a 19-year-old Cool resident discovered his vehicle had been broken into while it was parked. The victim saw a car driving away from the scene and gave chase in his own vehicle.

By Kim Minugh

Quick to exploit the recent tragedy of a Sacramento infant allegedly killed in a microwave by her mother is PETA.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is negotiating with outdoor advertisers in Sacramento to erect a billboard inspired by the March 17 death of 7-week-old Mirabelle Thao-Lo, according to a news release PETA sent to The Bee.

The billboard features a photo of a person sticking a raw pork chop into a microwave, juxtaposed against a photo of a mother pig and her piglet. Between the two photos is the message "Everybody's Somebody's Baby. Go Vegan."

"The billboard serves to remind people that the vast majority of animals killed for human consumption are just babies who have yet to see their first birthday," the news release states.

Roseville police said DNA evidence left behind on a water bottle by a bank robber has led them to a suspect.

Detectives arrested Shawn Todd David Knuckey, 41, of Sacramento, last week on suspicion of robbery. Police believe that on May 14, 2010 he held up the River City Bank inside the Bel Air supermarket, 1039 Sunrise Ave.

A robber wearing a baseball cap and a San Francisco Giants shirt presented a bank clerk a note that demanded money. He was given cash and then left the store.

A man convicted of running down and killing a Loaves & Fishes volunteer will be sentenced in Sacramento Superior Court on July 15.

A jury on Wednesday convicted Jeffrey Crayton Yelverton of voluntary manslaughter and felony hit and run in the death of Loaves & Fishes volunteer worker Thomas William Deollos. Yelverton will be sentenced at 9 a.m. July 15 in Dept. 18.

A news release from the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office said Yelverton had been seen speeding past patrons in front of the homeless service center last March. Loaves & Fishes workers tried to stop him, but Yelverton drove directly toward Deollos, striking him.

Yelverton then drove from Loaves & Fishes at 1321 North C St. to the Arden Fair Mall. There, he claimed the incident was an attempted robbery and that he acted in self-defense.

Deollos died two months later from his extensive injuries.

Sacramento police will conduct a DUI and driver's license checkpoint Thursday evening, according to a police department news release.

The checkpoint will be held at Stockton Boulevard and Lawrence Drive, beginning at 8:30 p.m., the release states. It is scheduled to run for five to seven hours.

Officers will check drivers for signs of alcohol and drug impairment, and for valid driver's licenses.

Funding for the checkpoint is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the release states.

A man who allegedly burglarized the home of a 54-year-old Davis resident Wednesday morning also ended up dragging the victim's dog alongside his vehicle as he fled, a Davis Police Department spokesman said.

The victim told police he had taken his dog for a walk and was returning to his home in the 800 block of J Street at about 8:30 a.m., when he noticed an unknown man loading items from the residence into a vehicle that was backed into the driveway, said Davis police Lt. Paul Doroshov.

The woman accused of killing her baby in a microwave earlier this year repeatedly told authorities that the baby likely was injured during a fall as she suffered a blackout-inducing seizure, and even suggested that she suffered from a split personality, according to court records.

Sacramento police on Tuesday arrested 29-year-old Ka Yang on suspicion of killing her 6-week-old daughter, Mirabelle Thao-Lo, in March. She is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on suspicion of murder and assault resulting in the death of a child under the age of 8.

The investigation began on March 17, when paramedics were called to a home in the 800 block of Rood Avenue and found the infant severely burned. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her mother told family members, firefighters and, later, police detectives that she suffered a seizure while holding the baby as she worked at the computer, according to homicide Detective Thomas Shrum's request for an arrest warrant.

By Ed Fletcher
efletcher@sacbee.com

The Placer County District Attorney's office announced today that they have made an arrest in January 2000 Roseville homicide.

Michael Elijah Adams, a 44-year-old transient suspected of being a member of a violent train-hopping gang, was arrested May 17 in Clark County, Wash., on unrelated charges.

Adams now faces charges related to the January 2000 murder of John Semler Owens, a 46-year-old transient freight-train rider. Owens was found dead Jan. 21 on a gravel service road near the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.

The Bee first reported his connection to the Roseville murder June 4, but the DA's office refused to talk about the case and ordered the Roseville Police Department not to talk about the case.

According to the DA's office, Adams agreed to be extradited to California.

Neighbors are being asked to help protect Sacramento schools now that students are dismissed for the summer.

School will not be back in session until Sept. 6 in the Sacramento City Unified School District. Police say that during the summer, when staff and students are not present on campus, schools are especially vulnerable.

Three people, including a 6-year-old child, were burned in Folsom Monday night when a fire exploded during the removal of an SUV's gas tank.

Firefighters were called to the 100 block of Briarcliff Drive shortly after 9 a.m. When they arrived, firefighters found a Dodge Ram sport utility vehicle was ablaze, a fence was burning and a tree was engulfed in flames.

In what police say is an extremely rare and disturbing case, a Sacramento woman was arrested this morning for allegedly killing her 6-week-old daughter in March by placing her in a microwave oven.

Ka Yang, 29, was arrested at her Sacramento home this morning and charged with homicide after a three-month investigation into what caused unusual burns on the child, Mirabelle Thao-Lo, who was found dead on the afternoon of March 17.

Sacramento police spokeswoman Laura Peck said there have been only three previous cases involving a child being burned in a microwave, and that detectives studied those cases and consulted with medical experts and pathologists before making the arrest.

By Ed Fletcher
efletcher@sacbee.com

Roseville Police are looking for witnesses to a late-night stabbing that occurred early this month in Old Town Roseville.

Just before 2 a.m. June 4, a 21-year-old Olivehurst man was assaulted by five or six men in the 300 block of Lincoln Street. One of the attackers stabbed the victim in the back. The injuries were not life-threatening.

According to witnesses the victim had an earlier altercation with another man at Bar Basic.

The police are looking for anyone who might have been in the area, especially those who may have taken photos. Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Marc Kelley at (916) 774-5073 or crime stoppers at (916) 783-7867. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward if the information they provide leads to an arrest.

A sting has resulted in 11 men being suspected of contracting without a license in Woodland.

Organizers of the sting posed as homeowners and invited workers to a vacant home in Yolo County on June 8 to bid on home improvement projects, including landscaping, fencing and painting.

If a bid cost more than $500 in labor and materials and the suspect was not state-licensed, the men were given a notice to appear in court. The suspects face misdemeanor charges of contracting without a license.

By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com

A former U.S. Marine from Yolo County, who was court-martialed in 2007 for receiving child pornography, was sentenced to a prison term for failing to register as a sex offender, federal authorities in Sacramento announced Tuesday.

Travis Grey, 27, of Woodland, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge John A. Mendez to 10 months in prison followed by supervised release for 10 years, U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner announced in a news release.

"During his term of supervised release Grey will be monitored by a federal probation officer, and he will be prohibited from accessing the Internet and having unsupervised contact with minors. Grey will also be required to register as a sex offender," the statement said.

Grey was court-martialed by the Marines in 2007 for receiving child pornography and ordered to register as a sex offender, federal authorities said.

Woodland police discovered that Grey had failed to register. Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn K. Delaney prosecuted the case.

A two-alarm fire at a south Sacramento apartment complex caused major damage to two units before being contained Monday night.

Crews responded to reports of a fire at the complex at Stockton Boulevard and 66th Avenue, at about 9:30 p.m. The first crews to arrive found heavy fire in one second-floor apartment spreading to a second apartment, said Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District Battalion Chief Ron Denny.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A drug deal gone bad Monday led to the shooting of a man in a McDonald's parking lot in Citrus Heights, police said.

Citrus Heights police received a call of shots fired outside the McDonald's at Sunrise Boulevard and Old Auburn Road at about 6:10 p.m., said Officer Bryan Fritsch. Responding officers found a male victim shot in the shoulder in the parking lot, he said.

The man was transported to a local hospital and was in stable condition late Monday night, police reported.

A Yolo County judge has finalized her ruling in the Broderick Boys case and imposed an anti-gang injunction across the northern part of West Sacramento for the next seven years.

In a final ruling signed Thursday, Judge Kathleen White left her proposed ruling from March mostly intact.

The injunction imposes restrictions on alleged members of the Broderick Boys street gang. Its provisions include a nighttime curfew and a restriction on gang members associating in public.

Convicted murderer Steven Paul Colver is due to have one last reunion with his former 14-year-old lover.

El Dorado County Judge Daniel B. Proud today scheduled sentencing for Tylar Marie Witt, now 16, at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 12, the same time Colver, 21, is due to be sent to prison for the June 12, 2009, slaying of Witt's mother, Joanne M. Witt, 47.

Tylar Witt could be eligible for parole at age 29 in a plea deal for second-degree murder in exchange for testifying against her former 19-year-old boyfriend in his recent trial.

Colver was convicted last week of first-degree murder and special circumstances of lying in wait and killing a witness, factors that stand to imprison him without the possibility of parole.

Authorities say Tylar Witt summoned Colver to her house to kill her mother after Joanne Witt gave El Dorado County detectives the girl's diary as part of a statutory rape complaint against Colver. Prosecutors said Colver brutally stabbed Joanne Witt to death before the teens fled to San Francisco and unsuccessfully tried to kill themselves with cereal and cake laced with rat poison.

- Peter Hecht

An early-morning shooting in Lodi wounded two men, one seriously.

Lodi police said the man most grievously hurt has lost sight in one eye and may be paralyzed.

The man was shot after arriving in his car at the scene of an assault on two other people, a man and a woman, at about 2 a.m. in an alley near the 500 block of East Pine Street. Those two were accosted by three men who asked them if they were gang members.

The pair did not respond and continued to walk down the alley when the man was shot in the back, police said.

Four tourists from Australia escaped serious injury when a car on Interstate 5 crossed the center divider and came hurtling at them at high speed.

The car's driver suffered major injuries. Three of the tourists suffered minor injuries. The fourth was not injured.

The tourists, on vacation in a mini-van, were southbound about 4 p.m. on I-5 near West Street in Woodland when the accident occurred. The California Highway Patrol said it is unclear why a 29-year-old Citrus Heights woman driving north at 75-80 mph cut across the freeway divider and into the southbound lanes.

A man was killed when his backhoe tractor tipped over on him Sunday in Redding.

Joshua Tait Cox, 25, of Redding died when the backhoe tractor tipped over on him when he was excavating dirt on his family's property in the 900 block of Canyon Creek Road. Police dispatched to the scene about 8:30 p.m. discovered that Cox had been thrown from the operator's seat on the tractor and pinned under the canopy.

Cox had been digging in a pile of loose dirt, and the soil collapsed under the weight of the backhoe, causing the tractor to tip.

A family member found Cox and called 911. Cox died at the scene.

By Brad Branan
bbranan@sacbee.com

A young boy was killed this morning when his father accidently hit him in the driveway of their Roseville home, police said.

The man was backing up his sport utility vehicle in the driveway of his home on the 300 block of Hickory Street and didn't see the boy, said Lt. Marc Glynn of the Roseville Police Department. The boy was about 3 years old.

No charges are expected. "This is just a tragic accident," Glynn said.

The father was backing up the vehicle so the family could take a trip, and the boy apparently followed him outside without his father knowing, Glynn said.

A 78-year-old man who may have been trapped while working under his motor home in Citrus Heights has died of his injuries, the Citrus Heights Police Department reported today.

Sgt. Janet Schaefer of the department reported that the man, identified as Louis Robert Jamet, was pronounced dead at Mercy San Juan Hospital Saturday after he was found lying unconscious in the street at the 6800 block of Le Mans Avenue in Citrus Heights.

The Sacramento County Coroner's office put the time of death as 5:30 p.m., about 40 minutes after Citrus Heights Police and the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire Department responded.

Initial reports indicated that Jamet had been working under his motor home just before he was found.

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

A 16-year-old Elk Grove boy died and two other teens were taken to a local hospital after a single-car crashed late Saturday night in the 8600 block of Waterman Road, Elk Grove Police reported today.

The Sacramento County Coroner identified the victim of the fatal car crash as Ryan Richard Boyd, who police said appeared to have been seated in the back of a 1998 Buick Century when it was driven off the roadway and collided with a power pole at about 10 minutes before midnight Saturday.

Elk Grove Police spokesman Officer Christopher Trim said the vehicle then overturned and came to rest on its roof.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

Auburn police have arrested one man and are seeking another in the attempted murder of a victim who was stabbed as he chased a pair of men after discovering his car had been broken into.

Police said they arrested Joseph Montgomery, 19, and are seeking 20-year-old Gavin Rasmussen in connection with the incident.

Police say the incident began Friday before 11 p.m. when a 19-year-old Cool resident discovered his vehicle had been broken into while it was parked. The victim saw a car driving away from the scene and gave chase in his own vehicle.

By Ben Schenkel
bschenkel@sacbee.com

During her attempted getaway from a bar fight, a Redding woman reportedly struck a middle-aged passerby with her vehicle.

The non-fatal incident occurred just before 2 a.m. Wednesday, according to a Redding Police Department news release, outside Bert and Ernie's Bar at 825 Industrial St.

Officers said they responded to a call about an altercation at the bar, involving a number of female patrons. When bouncers tried to intervene, the women reportedly took their dispute to the parking lot.

By Sam Stanton and Ben Schenkel

A 7-year-old Sacramento area boy died at 6:26 p.m. Friday, the apparent victim of a drowning at a pool party, the Sacramento County Coroner's Office reported Saturday.

A coroner's report identifies the boy as Christopher Walters, and fire officials said the boy was the son of a Sacramento Fire Department firefighter who was on duty elsewhere at the time of the incident.

According to the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, emergency responders treated Walters after he was pulled out of a swimming pool at a home in the 15000 block of Wadkins Court in Rancho Murieta.

By Ben Schenkel
bschenkel@sacbee.com

At least two people appear to have been injured in a shooting reported about 11:30 p.m. Friday in the 5800 block of Sampson Boulevard off Fruitridge Road, according to Sacramento County Sheriff's Department officials.

Deputies received calls about the shooting, but by the time they arrived, there were no witnesses or apparent victims, sheriff's officials said. They found only a few bullet casings.

By Ben Schenkel
bschenkel@sacbee.com

Folsom Police have arrested a local man for allegedly downloading child pornography onto his cell phone, according to a news release issued late Friday by the department.

Taylor James, 24, of Folsom, was arrested for "possession of obscene matter depicting persons under 14 years of age." He was booked into the Sacramento County Jail.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A man was shot early this morning during a suspected robbery attempt in south Sacramento, the Sacramento Police Department reported.

Officers responded to the 4800 block of Tangerine Avenue near Mack Road at about 12:25 a.m., after a man called police from that location saying he had been shot, said police Sgt. Sherry Bell. A 29-year-old man was found at the location with a gunshot wound to the lower back, Bell said.

Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies arrested a man Friday after he allegedly stole merchandise from a Kmart in Rancho Cordova, punched a loss-prevention agent at the store and attempted to elude authorities on a freeway on-ramp, a sheriff's spokesman said.

Deputies responded to the Kmart in the 2300 block of Sunrise Boulevard after receiving a call from the store at 4:15 p.m., said sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

Deputies were told a shirtless man had entered the store, picked up a shirt and put it on, Ramos said. When a loss-prevention agent tried to stop the man, he allegedly punched the agent in the face and left southbound on Sunrise Boulevard, Ramos said.

Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones invites the public to attend a "Sheriff's Chat" Wednesday in Wilton.

The event is designed to allow people in the community to meet with Jones to ask questions and discuss concerns regarding the Sheriff's Department and the communities it serves. Those attending will have an opportunity to speak with the sheriff one on one, on a first-come, first-served basis, as time permits.

The event is scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Wilton Service Center, 11080 Jeff Brian Lane, Suite A, Wilton.

Seven Sacramento and Bay Area residents are among 18 people charged in federal court in Virginia for allegedly participating in a nationwide distribution ring smuggling high-quality marijuana from Northern California to mid-level dealers in numerous states throughout the county.

After coordinated arrests Thursday, 17 of the alleged conspirators are in custody, according to a new release issued by Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Officials said Marvin Powers Jr., 39, of Vallejo, remains at large.

According to court documents, the ring is led by Anthony Guidry Sr., 46, of Vallejo, who allegedly trained and worked with three other men as interconnected wholesale dealers of marijuana that they either grew or purchased in California. From 2005 to the present, the conspirators allegedly took orders for various marijuana strains and shipped quantities to suppliers in a dozen states.

By Bee Staff

Audrey Ann Jackson was not sane when she shot Francisco Salvador Perez at a downtown bus stop, a Sacramento Superior Court jury ruled Friday.

During the sanity phase of the trial, the same jury that convicted Jackson of attempted murder June 9, found her sane on felony gun violations.

Perez died 13 months after he Jackson shot him. Jackson had been panhandling near the bus stop at Sixth and J streets when Perez rebuffed her.

Jackson, 50, had pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.

A hearing is scheduled July 22 to determine Jackson's placement, according to a press release from District Attorney Jan Scully's office.

A police officer witnessed a collision between a bicycle and a motorist on E. Main Street in Woodland at 12:45 p.m. Friday.

Due to the severity of the cyclist's injuries, a helicopter was called in and landed on E. Main near East Street to transport the crash victim to UC Davis Medical Center.

The motorist was not injured.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

The South Lake Tahoe Police Department's traffic unit announced the launch of a new program focused on traffic enforcement in residential neighborhoods.

With warmer weather and children out of school, police anticipate an increase in incidents involving bicyclists and pedestrians, as well as complaints from residents regarding speeding vehicles and stop sign violations.

Under the new enforcement program, traffic officers will be deployed two days a week to a pre-determined neighborhood to provide high-profile, dedicated traffic enforcement, according to a Police Department news release. Areas will be selected based on requests from citizens and traffic collision data. At the end of the week, the statistical data will be released on the number of citations and warnings issued, as well as any arrests that were made.

A 9-year-old girl died this morning when the minivan containing her family of seven rolled over on Interstate 5 north of Arbuckle, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Ofelia Castrejon-Reyes, 41, lost control of her 1993 Toyata Previa at approximately 4:30 a.m. while traveling north on the highway just past Hillgate Road. The car rolled across the highway before coming to rest on the right shoulder of the southbound lanes.

Castrejon-Reyes's daughter Brisa Rosales, 9, was ejected from the vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene, said CHP Officer John Waggoner.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Greta Curtis Fall sentenced reputed street gang members Marquel Dixon and Ronald Grant to life in prison with no chance of parole today, District Attorney Jan Scully announced.

Dixon and Grant, along with Marcus Scott Jr., were convicted by separate juries in the killing of Perrell Marquise Waters in 2009.

Scott was sentenced last week, also to life in prison.

In addition to life in prison without possibility of parole, Dixon received an additional 25-year sentence, Grant received 39 additional years and Scott got an added 35 years.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael P. Kenny today sentenced Kristen Gibson to 25 years to life in prison, District Attorney Jan Scully announced.

Kenny found Gibson guilty of first-degree murder in May, after a non-jury trial on charges of killing her newborn by drowning the full-term baby boy in a toilet.

Gibson, 35, gave birth to the baby in the bathroom of her Rancho Cordova home in July 2008.

She cut the umbilical cord with cuticle scissors and drowned the baby.

By Max Ehrenfreund

A 17-year-old boy was the victim of a shooting and of a vehicular assault in Lincoln last night, according to a press release from the Lincoln Police Department.

The youth's single wound, in a lower extremity, was not life-threatening. He was treated and released at Sutter Roseville Medical Center.

A Lincoln woman, Lavada Keen, 37, was arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and harboring or concealing a felon.

Lieutenant David Ibarra explained that an argument broke out between the two juveniles outside a home in the 900 block of First Street. Keen attempted to run down the victim before the suspect shot the victim, according to Ibarra. Multiple shots were fired around 10:45 p.m.

Keen then allegedly fled with the suspect in her vehicle. She later returned to the scene and was arrested without incident.

Officers have not located the 16-year-old shooting suspect, or his weapon.

The Sacramento Sheriff's Department is swearing in a half-dozen on-call deputies who graduated this week from the Sacramento Police Department academy, officials said Friday.

The new on-call deputies - sworn in at an 11 a.m. ceremony - represent a cost savings effort, said Deputy Jason Ramos, spokesman for the department.

On-call deputies can be brought in on an as-needed basis and are not paid benefits, he said.

By Carlos Alcala
calcala@sacbee.com

Sacramento police released video images of what they have termed "a unique suspect vehicle" they believe is connected to the May 19 shooting death of Balbir Singh Dhami.

At the same time, they have released a sketch of the suspect in the shooting, who is described as a short, thin, African American male, who had short hair and a yellow sweatshirt at the time of the shooting.

Dhami and his wife were shot at the door of their Marla Way home.

Dhami was dead at the scene. His wife was treated at the hospital.

A Sacramento Police officer in Del Paso Heights noticed a group congregated around a motorcycle on Nogales Street Thursday at about 6 p.m.

When the officer passed by, one of the people ran into a yard full of dogs.

When officers found him, he was hiding inside a house, but they were unable to find any cause for his flight or reason to arrest him.

By Max Ehrenfreund

Several gunshots were fired in the Parkway neighborhood of south Sacramento this morning. Police have no information about the shooter or a motive.

A woman in the 100 block of Audia Circle heard four to five shots, according to an entry in the Sacramento Police Department's activity log at 12:37 a.m. She found a bullet hole in her garage door and discovered that a window had been shot out.

She did not see any perpetrators, police said.

Department spokesman Norm Leong said that because the department had no more information, police would not be able investigate the incident.

Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully announced Thursday that Bryan Johnson has been convicted of first-degree murder in the November 2007 killing of Sophia Marquez, according to a district attorney's office news release.

Marquez's body was found half-nude near Highway 99 and Martin Luther King Blvd. The 26-year-old, a south Sacramento drifter, had been strangled, The Bee reported.

DNA evidence found beneath her fingernails was used to match Johnson to the crime, according to the release.

Johnson, 45, faces 25 years to life in prison, the release states. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 15 at in Sacramento Superior Court.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department today released the names of 13 people arrested Tuesday in raids of suspected copper theft operations in and around Walnut Grove.

Law-enforcement officials believe the operations may have been responsible for more than $1 million in damages resulting from copper thefts in the area.

Those arrested the allegations against them are:

• Greg Owen, 54, grand theft/burglary

• Stephen Hart, 31, grand theft/burglary/possession of stolen property

• Georgina Hart, 25, grand theft/burglary

• Andrew Boudreaux, 23, grand theft/felony vandalism

• Jose Lopez, 29, grand theft/felony vandalism

• Leland Hanson, 50, grand theft/felony vandalism

• Lance Blair, 63, arrested for outstanding warrants

• Melodie Owen, 27, unlawful possession of a deadly weapon

• Dawn Kilgore, 49, arrested for outstanding warrants

• Robert Shelton, 47, failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements

• Adam Schwartz, 34, possession of stolen property

• Jose Nunez-Duarte, 30, forgery/possession of fictitious note/possession of marijuana

• Luis Lozano-Mena, 25, forgery

By Sam Stanton
sstanonton@sacbee.com

A 78-year-old convicted killer today became the third prison inmate since Wednesday to be authorized for release from prison under the state's new medical parole law.

Juan Garcia Sandoval, who had been serving a 27-year sentence out of Merced County since 1985, was deemed eligible today for release by a panel of the Board of Parole Hearings meeting at North Kern State Prison. Inmates may be granted medical parole if they are found to be incapacitated and would not pose a risk to public safety.

Prison officials are not permitted to release details of their medical conditions, but the law is designed to save the state millions of dollars in the cost of guarding gravely ill inmates.

By Ed Fletcher
efletcher@sacbee.com

California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced today that a six-week statewide sweep resulted in the seizure of 1,209 firearms from people legally barred from possessing them.

The 99 Department of Justice agents involved also seized 155,731 rounds of ammunition.

The sweep looked at people who can't lawfully own a gun including people determined to be mentally unstable and those with active restraining orders.

    

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

State prison officials said today that they had settled Phillip and Nancy Garrido into their new homes after a nearly two-year stay at the El Dorado County Jail while they awaited trial for kidnapping Jaycee Lee Dugard.

Phillip Garrido arrived at Corcoran State Prison today, where he will be processed and kept in a cell away from other inmates while processed. Then, he likely will be placed into custody in the "protective housing unit," where about 14 other high profile inmates such as Charles Manson and Juan Corona are segregated from others at the prison.

That unit is the only one of its kind in the state prison system and inmates in "exceptional placement," meaning they must be kept away from the general population for their own safety. They have the same routine as other prisoners, but have their meals and yard time among themselves.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

Another gravely ill prison inmate was given medical parole this morning, the second in two days to receive the designation after a parole panel found he would not pose a threat to public safety if released.

State corrections officials say John Joseph Swesey, 72, was granted the medical parole designation at a hearing this morning at Wasco State Prison. Swesey had been in prison since December 2006 serving a 24-year, four-month term for burglary, making terrorists threats and being a felon in possession of a firearm. His convictions were from San Luis Obispo.

Mario Haro, 41, has been convicted by a jury of committing a lewd and lascivious act on a child, according to a press release this morning from the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office.

Haro was a friend of the victim's stepfather and fell asleep at the victim's house in Galt after a fantasy football party in August 2008, according to the news release. The victim, 15, awoke early next morning when Haro was fondling her in her bed.

Haro had also molested a 13-year-old girl over a long period of time 15 years ago, the district attorney's office said.

Haro will be sentenced on July 22 at 9 a.m. in Sacramento Superior Court.

The Sacramento Police Department will operate sobriety checkpoints Friday and Saturday nights.

The checkpoints will be at Del Paso Road and Five Star Way on Friday and at 21st Street and Broadway on Saturday. They will begin at 8:30 p.m. and continue for several hours.

A South Lake Tahoe man was arrested early this morning after a standoff that lasted more than six hours, police said.

Stephen Shaver, 44, was taken into custody outside his residence around 1:30 a.m., according to a South Lake Tahoe Police Department press release. No one was injured, and no shots were fired.

Police have made a third arrest in connection with a shooting and robbery in Rocklin early Sunday morning. They are no longer seeking additional suspects.

The arrest last night concludes a round-the-clock, interagency investigation that lasted several days.

Police in Elk Grove will be operating a sobriety checkpoint on Saturday from 8:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.

The checkpoint is intended to remove impaired and unlicensed drivers from the streets. Police will also distribute educational materials on the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol.

A grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is funding the checkpoint.

The Elk Grove Police Department asks anyone who observes an impaired driver to call its emergency line at (916) 714-5111 or to dial 911.

Redding police arrested a man and a woman last night who are suspected of hijacking a pizza delivery man's car.

The victim, who works for Domino's Pizza, was delivering an order to 2751 Fairway Avenue in Redding. A man and a woman met him there, according to a press release from the Redding Police Department.

Three men were shot and a woman was beaten in Rancho Cordova this morning.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department received a call at 3:03 a.m. from the resident of a home at the intersection of Palm Grove Drive and Old Placerville Road, who said he had been shot.

The Rocklin Police Department has arrested a second person and is looking for a third in connection with a shooting early Sunday at the intersection of Sunset and Blue Oaks boulevards.

Police say the shooting occurred at 1:57 a.m. and the victim drove himself to Sutter-Roseville Medical Center, where he was treated for a gunshot wound to the neck.

Jamie Payton, 28, of Weimar was arrested 5:30 p.m. Sunday and booked into Placer County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder and possession of a controlled substance. Detectives seized two vehicles related to the shooting and processed them for evidence, according to a Police Department news release.

More than three out of every four men arrested in Sacramento in 2010 tested positive for recent drug use, according to a federal survey.

The 2010 Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Annual Report, released this week by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, states that 80 percent of men arrested last year in the city tested positive for at least one drug at the time of their arrest, up from 68 percent in 2009.

A fire involving a barn and several vehicles on a rural Elk Grove property has been contained by fire crews, a Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Department spokeswoman said.

The blaze was originally reported as a grass fire at about 3:45 p.m. Wednesday, in the 10600 block of Rau Road, said department Fire Chief Tracey Hansen. First arriving units also found a barn and nearby vehicles fully involved, and the primary residence on the property threatened, Hansen said.

The Folsom Police Department will conduct a checkpoint Saturday night targeting impaired drivers and people driving without a license.

The checkpoint operation will begin at 7 p.m. on Folsom Boulevard between Parkshore Drive and Blue Ravine Road and will continue until 3 a.m. Sunday. The goal is to apprehend people driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, cite unlicensed drivers and educate the public about the effects of impaired driving, according to a Police Department news release.

Uniformed police officers, community service officers and Citizens Assisting Public Safety volunteers will staff the checkpoint.

Elk Grove police have taken a 21-year-old man into custody after he initially retreated into a house when officers tried to serve a warrant for his arrest Wednesday, causing SWAT personnel to respond, a police spokesman said.

Officers originally responded at about 1 p.m., to the 8700 block of Corbally Court to serve a felony arrest warrant for Brandon Gutierrez, wanted on suspicion of probation violation and a weapons charge, said Elk Grove police spokesman Officer Chris Trim.

When the suspect exited the residence and saw officers outside, he ran back into the home, Trim said. Officers attempted to contact him verbally and by phone, but were unsuccessful, he said.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A driver who police say may have inadvertently stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake crashed into a Woodland business this afternoon.

Officers were sent to 11 Purity Plaza at 12:19 p.m. in response to a silent hold-up alarm at Check Max Plus. When they arrived, police were told that there was no robbery, but an employee had activated the alarm after a car crashed into the building.

The entire glass front of the business and part of the surrounding concrete base were broken when a 1992 Toyota sedan crashed into the front of the building, according to a Woodland Police Department news release.

Sacramento police arrested two people Tuesday after officers serving a search warrant confiscated drugs, guns and cash at a Florin-area residence.

Members of the department's problem-oriented police team served a search warrant at 7 a.m. in the 9200 block of Wenlock Court. Inside, officers found a variety of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, hash and an ounce of methamphetamine. They also located 28 guns, including two assault rifles and stolen property taken in recent burglaries, according to a Police Department news release. The team began its investigation after receiving tips from the community regarding criminal activity by the suspects, police said.

Steven Colver is escorted into the courtroom to hear his verdict at the El Dorado County Courthouse in Placerville on Wednesday, June 15, 2011. Randall Benton/Sacramento Bee

By Peter Hecht
phecht@sacbee.com

Steven Paul Colver was found guilty this afternoon of first-degree murder for brutally stabbing El Dorado Hills mother Joanne M. Witt to death in the bedroom of her gated home.

It took an El Dorado County jury less than a day of deliberations to reject the defense claim that Witt that was killed by her then-14-year-old daughter, Tylar Marie Witt.

The girl, now 16, pleaded guilty to second degree murder after telling prosecutors she led Colver to the house shortly before Joanne Witt's killing June 12, 2009.

The jury accepted the prosecution's argument that Colver, now 21, fatally stabbed the mother after lying in wait. It also approved a second special circumstance of killing a witness because Joanne had reported Colver for statutory rape. The special circumstances mean he is not eligible for parole and he was ordered to appear for sentencing Aug. 12.

At trial, Tylar Witt, testified that Colver stabbed her mother to death as she slept after Tylar had called him to their home. She also said she has multiple personalities and had blacked out at the time of the attack.

"I have relief for the family and the friends that they no longer have to deal with this," said prosecutor Lisette Suder, who noted Joanne Witt's body was discovered two years ago today. "It's still in their hearts and in their minds but they can move on."

Colver had bowed his head as the verdict was read. His attorney, Dain Weiner, said he had prepared his client for bad news when the jury returned so quickly. "He knew this was a possibility. He had a moment to somewhat emotionally and physically prepare but clearly he was very emotional," Weiner said.

Colver's mother, Jan Colver, emerged from the historic courtroom in downtown Placerville holding hands with a close friend and crying. After descending the courthouse steps, she was greeted by Norbert Witt, father of the victim, and the pair fell into a hug and cried in each other's arms.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

A 48-year-old robbery convict was granted medical parole from state prison today, marking the first time a new law has allowed for the release of an inmate deemed to be medically incapacitated and not considered a threat to society.

Craig Lemke, a Lake County man serving a 68-year sentence since 2007, was approved for parole at a hearing today, state corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said.

Lemke technically is being held at Pleasant Valley State Prison, but is in a long-term care facility because of his medical condition.

A young couple's dog rescued them from a fire in their garage this morning at 6800 Leatherwood Way in North Highlands.

The couple discovered the fire after the dog's barking alerted them. They called the fire department around 2:30 a.m.

Fire crews extinguished the fire and prevented it from spreading it to the house.

The garage burned almost completely, causing around $50,000 in property damage, said Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District spokesman Scott Cockrum. A new vehicle was inside.

Cockrum said the fire was an accident, possibly the result of improperly stored gasoline.

The Elk Grove Police Department announced that a 30-year-old Sacramento man has been arrested in connection with the June 5 attack on a man in the parking lot of Strike's Family Entertainment Center in Elk Grove.

Joel Olivarez is accused of aggravated battery.

Detectives believe that Olivarez confronted Seth Parker, 26, of Sacramento at 11:19 a.m. June 5. Olivarez allegedly punched Parker in the face during an argument, then fled with a companion. Parker suffered facial fractures.

Sacramento police have arrested a man in connection with a May 31 homicide on Del Paso Boulevard.

The Sacramento Police Department announced Dawayne Lawrence (below), 35, was arrested June 7. He is accused of murdering Adam Steinbach, 27, who was found lying on the roadside at Del Paso and Northgate boulevards shortly after 11 p.m. May 31. Police reported that he was found dead of stab wounds.

Shortly after officers arrived at the homicide scene, they received a call about a vehicle on fire near Academy Way and Kathleen Avenue. It was later determined that the vehicle that was set on fire belonged to Steinbach, according to a Police Department news release.

By Cathy Locke and Max Ehrenfreund
clocke@sacbee.com

Thirteen people were arrested today in raids of suspected copper theft operations in and around Walnut Grove by the Sacramento, Solano and San Joaquin County sheriff's departments.

Photo: Sacramento County Sheriff's SWAT team members stand outside a residence where several supected copper thieves were detained and or arrested following a long investigation. Randy Pench rpench@sacbee.com

Sacramento County Sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos said search warrants were served at three Walnut Grove locations.

The raids were the result of a two-month investigation. Ramos said no arrests were made in Solano or San Joaquin counties, but the neighboring law-enforcement agencies participated because it is believed the targeted operations may have been involved in copper thefts in those counties.

Ramos said late this afternoon that he did not yet have the names the people arrested. They face a range of charges, including burglary, grand theft and possession of stolen property. Some of the individuals also were taken into custody because of previous outstanding warrants, he said.

The Sacramento Sikh Temple is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the man responsible for the attack on Seth Parker outside Strikes Family Entertainment Center in Elk Grove on June 5.

Parker, 26, of Sacramento got into argument with the suspect in the parking lot of the center in the 3400 block of Laguna Boulevard. The suspect punched Parker in the face, then fled with a companion into a nearby residential neighborhood, according the Elk Grove Police Department. Parker suffered multiple facial fractures in the attack.

Parker believes he was attacked because he is gay and that the attack should be investigated as a hate crime. He said at least one of the two men directed homophobic slurs at him after Parker tried to discourage them from bothering his female companions.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Two Roseville brothers pleaded guilty today in federal court in Sacramento to receipt and distribution of child pornography.

According to court documents, in early 2009, law enforcement officials identified computers at the home of Sam I. Coburn, 34, and Matthew J. Coburn, 27, that were trading files of child pornography through an Internet file-sharing service. When law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at the Coburn's home, they found multiple computers with pictures and videos showing the sexual molestation of children, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

Several thousand image files and 573 video files of the sexual molestation of children were on a computer shared by the brothers, officials said. On a laptop owned by Sam Coburn, agents found 242 pictures and seven videos of child pornography that he had downloaded between March 2005 and December 2007.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A Woodland bar and restaurant that has been the focus of numerous police calls and the site of a fatal shooting has lost its liquor license.

The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control announced today that it has posted a notice of revocation at the La Finca bar and restaurant, 534 Bush St., Woodland, because the business had been operating a "disorderly house" and has been a drain on law enforcement services.

The Woodland Police Department has received numerous calls to the site regarding fights, assaults and public drunkenness, as well as the March 6 shooting death of a 30-year-old man outside the business, according to an Alcoholic Beverage Control news release.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

A West Sacramento man was arrested in Woodland this morning after a 12-year-old boy called 911 to report that someone was trying to break into his home.

Police arrived at the home within minutes of the 8:10 a.m. call and arrested Jason Philip Navarrete, 24, on suspicion of residential burglary.

Police say Navarrete had forced his way into the home in the 100 block of Third Street. He first pounded on the door demanding entry and, when there was no response, he forced his way through the back door, walked around and removed a bottle of wine, according to a Police Department news release.

By Max Ehrenfreund
ehrenfreund@sacbee.com

The Rocklin Police Department has announced an arrest in connection with a shooting there early Sunday.

The department received a report of a shooting at the intersection of Sunset and Blue Oaks boulevards just before 2:00 a.m. Sunday. Police detectives detained Jamie Payton (photo right) of Weimar around 5:30 p.m. that afternoon.

On Tuesday the department announced that Payton was suspected of attempted murder and possession of a controlled substance.

By Peter Hecht
phecht@sacbee.com

The lawyer for Steven Paul Colver, accused of murdering El Dorado Hills mother Joanne Witt, argued today that Witt's 14-year-old daughter dreamed of her dying, assaulted her, threatened her with a knife and ultimately killed her.

Imploring jurors in closing statements to find Colver, now 21, not guilty in Joanne Witt's June 2009 murder, Dain Weiner said the single mother was killed by her only child - an unstable 14-year-old plagued by emotional demons.

The Yuba County Coroner's Office has released the name of a man who died after his motorcycle collided with a deer yesterday around 9:10 a.m.

David Crain, a 49-year-old Nevada City resident, was traveling north on a straight section of Willow Glen Road south of Brownsville at about 55 miles per hour. A deer ran into the road and Crain did not have time to react, according to a press release from the California Highway Patrol.

Crain's motorcycle went off the road into a rocky ditch and flipped over, ejecting him.

He was not wearing a Department of Transportation-approved helmet, although the press release said that a helmet might not have prevented his injuries.

The Vallejo Police Department has arrested a special education teacher on suspicion of raping a developmentally disabled student aide.

Jerry Johnson, 57, of Elk Grove, is accused of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old at Loma Vista Elementary School on campus and during school hours. The assault occurred during the latter part of February, said a department spokesman. Police do not know if the incident was isolated or if Johnson committed other assaults.

Johnson was arrested in Elk Grove yesterday around 5:30 p.m. with the assistance of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office.

The second suspect wanted in the April shooting death of a 19-year-old in a south Natomas parking lot has turned himself in, the Sacramento Police Department reported.

Fred Huante, 19, left, turned himself in to authorities at the Sacramento County Main Jail on Monday, said Sacramento police spokeswoman Officer Laura Peck.

Huante had been wanted in connection with the April 14 shooting at Northgate Boulevard and San Juan Road that left Francisco Flores, 19, dead, and Flores' 20-year-old brother with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, police reported.

As many as 10 people were treated by medical personnel Monday evening after a multiple-vehicle collision on Interstate 5 near Florin Road in south Sacramento, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.

The collision occurred just after 6 p.m., said CHP spokesman Officer Michael Bradley. A preliminary investigation indicated the collision occurred when the driver of one involved vehicle overcorrected after trying to make a lane change, Bradley said.

Four ambulances were dispatched to the scene and transported multiple patients to UC Davis Medical Center and Kaiser South Sacramento Medical Center, Bradley said.

A federal jury in Sacramento today awarded $800,000 in damages to two Reno women who sued R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. for sexual harassment and retaliation.

The women, Victoria McCarthy and Katherine Schmitt, worked for R.J. Reynolds Sacramento Division as trade marketing representatives, and reported to trade marketing supervisor Michelle Madsen.

McCarthy and Schmitt in court documents accused Madsen of engaging in "outrageous and inappropriate conduct," including sexual harassment, gender discrimination and obscenity-laden tirades. They alleged that Madsen made comments suggesting that employees' job performance was related to their sexual activity.

After McCarthy and Schmitt contacted the human resources office about Madsen's behavior, human resources officials convened a meeting of employees that Madsen supervised. At that meeting, court documents say, other employees voiced similar concerns about Madsen's behavior and signed a document attesting to her sexual harassment of employees in the workplace.

Sacramento County Sheriff's detectives have arrested a 22-year-old man in connection with the 2007 slaying of 39-year-old John Pogacar near Rancho Cordova, the sheriff's department reported.

Kirk Jared Rivers, 22, left, walked into the sheriff's department Monday afternoon and handed a security officer a note in which he claimed responsibility for the killing of a man in 2007, said sheriff's department spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

Rivers was detained and interviewed by homicide detectives, who determined there was enough evidence to arrest Rivers in connection with Pogacar's death, according to a sheriff's department news release.

A 29-year-old man is expected to survive after being stabbed Monday during a confrontation at a south Sacramento care facility, a Sacramento Police Department spokeswoman said.

Officers responded to a report of a fight between two clients of the facility in the 1600 block of Belinda Way at about 2:30 p.m., said police spokeswoman Officer Laura Peck.

Nighttime games scheduled tonight and Tuesday at the Sacramento Softball Complex have been canceled after thieves stole copper wiring and electrical equipment from Del Paso Regional Park.

Greg Narramore, parks and recreation superintendent with the city of Sacramento, said the theft occurred late Friday night or early Saturday morning. The complex is located near Interstate 80 and Watt Avenue. The thieves took large copper wiring and other equipment linking SMUD power lines to the park's main circuit, he said, adding that wiring and equipment also were stolen from AT&T facilities at the site.

"We have no power. The lights are out and our well - we can't flush the toilets," Narramore said.

The Sacramento Sheriff's Department is investigating a drive-by shooting in North Highlands in which a 16-year-old boy suffered a non-life-threatening wound Sunday afternoon.

Sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos said the department received calls from people in the 3600 and 3700 blocks of Stephen Drive, east of Watt Avenue, about 4 p.m. One was a report of someone in a back yard who had been shot in the head, and another was a report of gang members shooting each other at a nearby school.

Deputies arrived to find a 16-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to the head. Ramos said the bullet appeared to have entered above the ear and exited through the back of the head. However, he said the boy was conscious and talking to deputies at the scene. The youth was taken to Mercy San Juan Hospital.

By Cathy Locke

The Folsom Police Department will conduct a special motorcycle enforcement operation Thursday as part of an effort to continue reducing deaths and injuries.

Extra officers will be on duty, patrolling areas frequented by motorcyclists and where motorcycle crashes occur, according to a Police Department news release. Officers will be cracking down on traffic violations by motorcyclists and other vehicle drivers that can lead to motorcycle collisions, injuries and fatalities.

Motorcycle fatalities had been on the rise in California, increasing 175 percent in 11 years, from 204 deaths in 1998 to 560 death in 2008. That trend has stopped, with data showing a 30 percent decrease in motorcycle fatalities in 2009. Despite the improvement, officials said, California remains one of three states that lead the nation in motorcyclist deaths.

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office has released the name of the Citrus Heights boy who drowned in a swimming pool yesterday evening.

Sacramento Metro firefighters arrived at 6530 Oak Creek Way at 6:21 p.m. yesterday evening. They found two people performing CPR on Tyler Simpson, 5, with help from dispatchers over the phone.

Simpson was transported to Mercy San Juan Hospital but did not survive, fire officials said.

Folsom police arrested Katheran Willis, 24, and James Armstrong, 41, yesterday on suspicion of stealing cash from fast-food restaurants with a simple scam.

According to the Folsom Police Department, Armstrong called the restaurants and pretended to be from their corporate headquarters. He told managers that the restaurants overcharged a customer by $80 and that she would be returning to collect a refund. Then, Willis would go the restaurant, and staff would hand her the cash.

They repeated this scheme at a Subway, a Togo's, a Straw Hat Pizza, and an It's a Grind, according to the department. When Armstrong called the Smash Burger on East Bidwell Street in Folsom, the manager recognized the scam from a police department press release circulated by the Folsom Chamber of Commerce.

Three men were shot Sunday night following an argument at a bar near 15th and R streets, officials said.

Sacramento police said a man pulled out a gun when the argument spilled out into a parking lot across the street from the bar.

One victim was identified as a man in his 20s. Police did not have descriptions of the other two victims. Their injuries were not life-threatening, police said.

The shooter has not been arrested, police said.

The California Highway Patrol is taking over the investigation because the shooting was at a state-owned parking lot, police said.

Bee Metro Staff

A 4-year-old boy died this evening after he was pulled from a backyard pool in the 6000
block of Oakcreek Way in Citrus Heights.

Sacramento Metro firefighters arrived at the home at 6:21 p.m. and found two people performing CPR on the child with help from dispatchers over the phone.

The boy, who was not identified, was transported to Mercy San Juan Hospital but did not survive, fire officials said.

A 16-year old boy was shot in the head during an alleged gang-related, drive-by shooting in North Highlands this afternoon, a Sacramento Sheriff's Department spokesman said.

The boy's wounds are not life threatening, said Deputy Jason Ramos.

The shooting occurred at about 4 p.m. near Channing Drive and Stephen Drive, he said.

No suspects had been taken into custody as of 7 p.m., he said.

Ramos said additional details could be released later tonight.

Rocklin police are still searching for suspects in an early-morning shooting.

Just before 2 a.m., police received a report of a shooting at Sunset and Blue Oaks boulevards, the department said in a news release.

The unidentified victim had driven himself to the Sutter Roseville Medical Center, where he was admitted for treatment, the release said.

Officers searched the area but found no suspects. They canvassed nearby neighborhoods for other victims but found none.

Calls to the Rocklin Police Department seeking additional details were not returned.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Rocklin police at (916) 625-5400.

Bee Metro Staff

It was a busy weekend for Sacramento's downtown police officers. Starting Saturday afternoon and moving into the wee hours Sunday, the officers of Central Command responded to the following incidents. These items are taken from the police blotter.

1:30 p.m., 13th and J streets: Man out of prison for two hours found with crack cocaine

Officers stopped a man for aggressive panhandling. He was acting nervous and wearing prison release clothing. Michael Milligan, 48, kept trying to leave as officers spoke to him. Officers determined that Milligan had just been released from prison two hours earlier. A parole search was conducted and officers located crack cocaine and a narcotic smoking pipe on him.

10:16 p.m., 1900 block of Seventh Street: Intoxicated man stabs himself with butter knife

Officers checked out a report of a man who was intoxicated, off his meds and stabbed himself. Officers located the man on the north side of a park with a butter knife sticking out of his abdomen. They took him to the hospital.

The city of Fresno has launched an investigation to determine whether three uniformed police officers and a few firefighters crossed the line when they posed with bikini-clad models at a car show.

In one photo, two young women are sitting on a firefighter's lap while several models pose next to a firetruck. In another photo, three Fresno police officers stand next to a woman in a bikini in front of a patrol car.

City Manager Mark Scott said: "If these photos are real, it would involve a clear violation of Fresno's Public Safety agencies' ethical and professional standards, and we will deal with them through our existing personnel practices."

The photographs were posted on ClubFlys.com before they were taken down Friday at the request of Police Chief Jerry Dyer and fire officials, said Sal Hernandez, the photographer who snapped the controversial pictures.

Read more at fresnobee.com.

A man shot by California Highway Patrol officers after a chase Saturday night in South Sacramento sustained wounds that are believed to be non-life threatening, a Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman said Sunday.

Deputy Jason Ramos said the Sheriff's Department is investigating the officer-involved shooting.

He identified the wounded suspect as Adrian Olivera-Tahua, 27, of Sacramento.

The incident started when a CHP officer saw Olivera-Tahua's vehicle weaving on southbound Highway 99, Ramos said.

By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com

A convenience store clerk in Redding scared off an armed robber this morning by brandishing a mop.

A Redding Police Department news release recounted events: At about 5:00 a.m., officers responded to a report of an armed robbery at a Circle K store at 2220 Westwood Ave., Redding.

The 31-year-old clerk told officers the suspect had worn a ski mask and wielded a baseball bat and a knife.

The clerk "fearing for his own safety, armed himself with a four-foot-long, wood-handled mop. The suspect grabbed a package of gum and a lighter and fled," police wrote.

Crews have cleared the wreckage of a big rig crash that closed the left lane of westbound Interstate 80 east of Davis for several hours this morning.

A semi truck pulling two trailers went over the center divide east of Mace Boulevard at about 6:30 a.m. The rig was high-centered on the divide, making it difficult for crews to remove it.

There were no injuries, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Sacramento police are investigating an attack on a jogger that occurred Friday evening in the North Natomas area, a police spokesman said.

The victim told police she was running on a trail in the area of Town Center Drive and New Market Drive at about 7:35 p.m., when she was grabbed from behind by a male assailant, who pulled her to the ground and began choking her, Sacramento police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said. She was able to free herself and escape, Leong said.

A 9-year-old boy pulled from a Rancho Cordova pool unconscious and not breathing Friday evening was resuscitated by emergency medical crews and showing some signs of improvement several hours later, a Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District spokesman reported.

Sac Metro Fire crews responded at about 5:15 p.m. Friday to reports of the unresponsive boy at a residential pool in the 11000 block of Pyrites Way, and immediately began life-saving procedures, said fire district spokesman Assistant Chief Scott Cockrum.

The boy was transported to a local hospital, where he was breathing and had a pulse at about 7:30 p.m., Cockrum reported.

It appeared the boy was observed unresponsive in the pool by others at the residence, who pulled him out and called authorities, Cockrum said.

CORRECTION: The fire district originally reported that the boy was 11 years old.

A 23-year-old Nebraska man died Thursday night after his motorcycle collided with a car on Highway 49 in Yuba County, the California Highway Patrol reported.

The collision occurred at about 7:20 p.m., on Highway 49 just south of Marysville Road, according to a CHP Grass Valley Area news release.

The motorcyclist was driving a 2009 Yamaha southbound, and was negotiating a curve in the roadway when for an unknown reason he crossed over into the northbound lane and into the path of a 2001 Subaru being driven by a 68-year-old North San Juan resident, according to the release.

A Sacramento Superior Court jury today convicted Joseph Raheem Williams of voluntary manslaughter in the Feb. 10, 2008, shooting death of Alex Hunter outside the DoubleTree Hotel on Arden Way.

Williams, now 27, a reputed Sacramento street gang member, had been charged with murder in the death of Hunter, who was celebrating his 21st birthday.

Williams is facing a prison term of more than 22 years as a result of the voluntary manslaughter conviction and the sentencing enhancement that he personally used the gun to kill Hunter.

Elk Grove police are asking for the public's help in identifying the suspect in an aggravated battery that occurred late Sunday night outside the Strikes Family Entertainment Center.

At about 11:19 p.m., in the parking lot of the center in the 3400 block of Laguna Boulevard, the suspect allegedly got into a verbal argument with 26-year-old Seth Parker, of Sacramento, and punched Parker in the face, police reported. The suspect then fled with a companion into a nearby residential neighborhood, according to an Elk Grove Police Department release.

Parker suffered multiple facial fractures in the attack.

A 34-year-old woman was arrested Thursday on suspicion of forgery, identity theft and narcotics violations after police and California state parole officers conducted a parole search of an Auburn residence.

Parole officers entered the residence on Easy Way in Auburn and detained Michelle Patton, who was the subject of the search, and her friend, Timothy Briggs, 31, according to an Auburn Police Department news release.

Parole officers informed Auburn police that, during the search of Patton's bedroom, they found narcotics paraphernalia and other suspicious items.

An Auburn police officer found several items of identification that did not belong to Patton, as well as forged money orders, according to the news release. A detective recognized the forged money orders from a case investigated earlier this year. The detective also reported that Patton displayed symptoms of being under the influence methamphetamine.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Greta Curtis Fall today sentenced reputed street gang member Marcus Scott Jr. to life in prison with no chance of parole for murdering a man two years ago.

Scott, 22, was convicted last month in the Dec. 15, 2009, gang-related shooting death of Perrell Marquis Waters, 19.

The sentences on two co-defendants in the case, Marquel Lamar Dixon, 18, and Ronald Delano Grant, 21, were continued.

By Peter Hecht
phecht@sacbee.com

With accused killer Steven Paul Colver on the witness stand, a prosecutor today put a gruesome photo of Joanne Witt's face and her knife-ravaged neck on a projection screen, aggressively challenging his version that he only arrived after she was dead.

A day after Colver testified he nudged the leg of Joanne Witt with his palm to check on her after the El Dorado Hills mother was stabbed by her then 14-year-old daughter, Tyar Marie Witt, prosecutor Lisette Suder bore into him in a blistering exchange over how he happened to touch the victim exactly where male DNA was later found on her body.

"You would admit that face is very obviously the face of a dead woman," the El Dorado County deputy district attorney sternly said to Colve as she gestured to the grim crime scene photo.

"Yes, ma'am," Colver replied.

"So you had to touch her body above the knee to make sure she was dead?" Suder continued.

By Andy Furillo

Defense attorneys for the man accused of murdering a UC Davis couple more than 30 years ago have asked for a delay in his Sacramento Superior Court trial that is scheduled for Aug. 16.

The attorneys, LInda Parisi and Assistant Public Defender Kenneth Schaller, say they need to finish going through approximately 220,000 pages of discovery before they'll be ready to defend their clieht, Richard HIrschfield, 62.

A hearing on their motion to delay the trial was itself continued today to June 24 by Judge Michael W. Sweet.

HIrscshfield is charged with murdering John Riggins and Sabrina Gonsalves in December 1980.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A man in his 20s was shot during a robbery late Thursday in south Sacramento.

The victim was walking with a friend in the area of Mack Road and Center Parkway at about 10 p.m. when they were approached by at least three and as many as five black juveniles who attempted to rob them.

The Roseville Police Department Traffic Unit has scheduled a DUI/Driver's License checkpoint for June 17 at an undisclosed location in the city, according to a police department release.

Officers will check drivers for signs of impairment and for valid driver's licenses. The checkpoint will be held from 8 p.m. June 17 until 2:30 a.m. the following morning, according to the release.

A Gold River businessman and a Southern California lawyer have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Sacramento in a multimillion-dollar bankruptcy fraud and money laundering scheme.

The grand jury on Wednesday returned a 16-count indictment charging Steven Zinnel, 47, of Gold River, and Derian Eidson, 47, of Yorba Linda, with bankruptcy fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering, according to a federal Department of Justice news released.

The indictment alleges that Zinnel used Eidson, who is a lawyer, and others to hide Zinnel's property before and during his personal bankruptcy proceeding. In Zinnel's bankruptcy, he claimed $842,620 in assets, $2,013,896 in secured debt and $4,036,466 in unsecured debt. After the discharge of the bankruptcy, Zinnel, Eidson and at least one other person allegedly laundered funds back to Zinnel's benefit through Eidson's company, her attorney-client trust account and her personal bank account.

Laguna Boulevard near Laguna Main Street in Elk Grove, which was shut down Thursday evening following a multiple-vehicle collision involving a big-rig, has reopened in both directions, an Elk Grove Police Department spokesman reported.

The collision occurred just before 6 p.m., said police spokesman Officer Chris Trim. The big-rig was apparently traveling eastbound on Laguna Boulevard when its driver lost control for an unknown reason and crossed over the center median into the westbound lanes, Trim said.

An estimated four vehicles were involved in the collision, including a Toyota Prius that ended up on its roof, Trim said. Injuries were believed to be minor, with at least one person being transported to a local hospital as a precaution, he said.

A husband and wife have pleaded no contest to felony charges of grand theft in connection with an Elk Grove real estate transaction.

Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully announced today that Carmina McGivern, 32, and her husband Sean McGivern, 31, admitted that they embezzled more than $66,000 from two victims between March and August 2009.

In March 2009, the victims hired real estate agent Carmina McGivern to assist in their purchase of a residence in Elk Grove, and the victims opened an escrow account for the purchase.

The California Highway Patrol Placerville Area has scheduled a sobriety checkpoint for June 17 in El Dorado County.

The checkpoint will begin at 8 p.m., at an undisclosed location in the county, and will continue throughout the evening, according to a CHP release. Officers staffing the checkpoint will evaluate drivers' sobriety, check driver's licenses and hand out literature about the dangers of drinking and driving.

Additional officers will execute roving patrols in the checkpoint area to seek out impaired drivers, the release states.

A Woodland High School student was arrested today on suspicion of possessing a weapon while on school grounds, the Woodland Police Department reported.

According to a police department news release, school officials notified a school resource officer that a person had been seen on campus with a gun and had last been seen walking eastbound on Beamer Street towards Walnut Street.

By Peter Hecht
phecht@sacbee.com

Steven Paul Colver testified this afternoon that his then-14-year-old girlfriend greeted him outside her home after her mother's murder with a bloody kitchen knife in her hand and blood-soaked jeans, telling him, "I did it for us."

In testimony offering a near polar opposite version of Tylar Marie Witt's account of the June 12 murder of Joanne M. Witt, Colver said the girl committed the killing and collapsed in his arms after he arrived. He said she told him, "I did it. I finally did it. My mom is finally gone forever."

Colver, 21, is on trial in a Placerville courtroom for brutally stabbing Joanne Witt to death June 12, 2009, after Tylar Marie Witt called him to her home, hours after the girl's mother gave police her diary as part of a statutory rape complaint.

A homeless woman at a downtown bus stop who shot a man who died 13 months later was acquitted of murder charges today by a Sacramento Superior Court jury.

The panel did convict Audrey Ann Jackson of attempted murder in the Sept. 22, 2008, shooting of Francisco Salvador "Frank" Perez.

A 43-year-old woman arrested in January on suspicion of attempted homicide could be charged with murder.

Lisa Michelle Lea has been in Sacramento County Jail since being arrested by a Galt police Jan. 2. She was booked on suspicion of attempted homicide in the killing of a 71-year-old man at Galt motel on North Lincoln Way where both lived.

A man was killed when his van drifted off Highway 99, hit a tree and caught fire early this morning near Elk Grove.

A California Highway Patrol spokesman said there were no witnesses to the crash reported to them about 12:20 a.m. However, a preliminary investigation revealed that the motorist was apparently traveling southbound just south of Elk Grove Boulevard when the van went off the road.

The van struck a tree and then slid a few feet on the driver's side of the vehicle into another tree. The van then ignited and became engulfed in flames.

An officer who administered CPR and a dispatcher who helped 4-year-old girl whose mother was incapacitated will be honored in Citrus Heights.

The Police Department employees will be recognized in city council chambers tonight. City officials said that the efforts of Officer Vince Young and dispatcher Joel Guess were heroic but both simply say they were just doing their jobs.

Events that led to the recognition:

The CHP will be targeting speeders with radar enforcement today on Interstate 80 in the Sierra Nevada.

California Highway Patrol officers in the Gold Run, Auburn and Truckee areas will be focusing on speeders and people who talk on their cellphones while driving. Teams using radar will be working throughout the day.

"Our message is simple," said Gold Run Lt. Commander John Arrabit. "We want to remind motorists to drive safely this summer so that their loved ones won't have to drive to the hospital or mortuary."

The anti-speeding campaign today will be replayed several times throughout the summer.

In addition, officers from the Valley Division's Commercial Enforcement group will conduct vehicle inspections on big rigs.

A U.S. Coast Guard aircrew and the Del Norte County Sheriff's Office teamed up to rescue six people from a vehicle that ran off the road and overturned near the Klamath River this morning.

The vehicle went off the road about 7:30 a.m. and sheriff's deputies requested the Coast Guard's assistance after determining that medical evacuation was needed, according to a Coast Guard news release.

Two Coast Guard MH-65 dolphin helicopters from Air Station Humboldt Bay arrived at the scene about 9 a.m. and evacuated three people involved in the accident. Because of terrain that officials described as "nearly vertical and very challenging," two of the victims were hoisted from the embankment where they were found. The other victim was loaded onto the helicopter from a landing zone prepared by sheriff's deputies.

A federal jury has found two Sacramento men guilty of wire fraud in connection with a fraudulent investment scheme.

According to court documents, Ronald Wesley Groves, 69, was the co-founder and president of Money Growth Solutions, which operated from approximately April 2005 to April 2006. Donald Charles Mann, 54, was the co-founder and secretary-treasurer.

During the firm's year of operation, Groves and Mann raised about $4.8 million from approximately 642 investors by promising extremely high rates of return on "international bank trades," according to a federal Department of Justice news release. The defendants told investors that the bank trades were a highly secretive investment vehicle known only to a few people around the world.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

Sacramento police Chief Rick Braziel this afternoon decried budget cuts to his department as "devastating" and said the city's residents will bear the brunt of the consequences.

"The loser in all this is the Sacramento community," Braziel told reporters in a news conference.

The City Council voted Tuesday night to cut 163 positions from the Police Department, including 81 filled by sworn officers and 68 filled by civilian employees such as forensic investigators. The move - which appears unprecedented in the agency's history - is part of the city officials' efforts to bridge a $39 million budget deficit.

By Darrell Smith
dvsmith@sacbee.com

More than 300 firefighters vied Wednesday for eight open positions with the Woodland Fire Department, many arriving at the city's community and senior center before dawn for the chance at a job with the agency.

"There's not a lot of hiring in the fire services, so it's a sigh of relief that someone's hiring again," said Jeff Winslow, a volunteer engineer at Winters Fire Department, after turning in his application.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

Jaycee Lee Dugard's first interview since being found alive nearly two years ago will air on ABC in July, shortly before the release of her memoir, the network said this morning.

The interview will be conducted by Diane Sawyer, ABC said.

Dugard was held captive for 18 years by Phillip and Nancy Garrido, who were sentenced to prison last week in a Placerville courtroom.

Dugard, who received a $20 million settlement from the state of California for lapses by parole agents who were supposed to be watching Phillip Garrido, has written a book due out July 12.

Elk Grove police need the public's help in catching two masked bandits who held up a Taco Bell.

The two young men hit the fast food restaurant at 6704 Laguna Boulevard at 9:15 p.m. on May 27. One robber pointed a short-barreled revolver, while his accomplice jumped over the counter.

Employees were ordered to place money into plastic food bags. Both suspects, who were last seen running down Laguna Park Drive, fled with the cash.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

Former real estate executive Michael Lyon was released from jail this morning, online jail records indicate, and will be spending the next several months in detention at his Carmichael home.

Lyon, 55, is expected to be fitted with an electronic monitoring device and allowed to leave home for work, medical appointments and other trips.

But he will be under curfew and required to spend most of his time in the home he shares with a girlfriend.

Two men were arrested for suspicion of drunken driving in a road rage incident on Highway 50 early this morning, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The wild driving began near Sunrise Boulevard on westbound Highway 50 and continued toward the Bradshaw Road off-ramp. Near the Bradshaw Road exit, the trailing car bumped the car in front.

That maneuver only sent the ramming car out of control and caused it to overturn. The car in the lead exited at Bradshaw and stopped, apparently in sight of those in the crashed car.

Woodland police said that they arrested a man hiding in a closet early this morning for allegedly hitting another trailer park resident over the head with a wine bottle.

Officers were called to Bell's Trailer Park, 1224 East Gum Ave., about 12:45 a.m. where two men were reported to be in a fight outside the mobile homes. During the scuffle, a 37-year-old man suffered cuts on his head when he was hit with a wine bottle by his neighbor.

The victim was helped at the scene by medics. Officers searched for the other combatant and found Franco Morales, 28, hiding in a closet inside his trailer.

He was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and booked into Yolo County Jail.

A fight between brothers in north Sacramento County allegedly left one of them hospitalized with multiple stab wounds Tuesday night, a Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman reported.

The California Highway Patrol received a call at about 9:45 p.m. from a woman who said her brother had been stabbed at a residence in the 7000 block of Stanford Oak Drive, sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos wrote in an email.

Sheriff's deputies responded to the location and found a 24-year-old victim with knife wounds to the back of his head, near his collarbone and in his arm, Ramos wrote.

Fire officials say they believe a fire this morning at a Florin Road home was arson and occurred as part of a burglary.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District crews responded to a report of a couch fire in the 8500 block of Florin Road at 8:10 a.m. They arrived to find smoke coming from a two-story home. Inside, they found a couch fully engulfed.

The fire was extinguished and the couch was removed from the house, but the first floor of the home suffered extensive smoke damage, according to a fire district news release. No injuries were reported,

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office has released the name of the man hit last week when he walked in front of a light rail train.

He was identified as Kenneth Jackels, 83, of Rancho Cordova.

Jackels died after being hit by the train about 10:30 a.m. Friday near the intersection of Folsom Boulevard and Olson Drive. A Regional Transit spokeswoman said the train was westbound and Jackels was walking northbound on Olson Drive when he stepped onto the tracks.

The accident occurred near the Cordova Town Center station between Zinfandel Drive and Sunrise Boulevard. The train operator sounded the horn several times and applied emergency braking to no avail.

By Peter Hecht
phecht@sacbee.com

As he prepared to die in a suicide pact after the murder of Joanne M. Witt, Steven Paul Colver penned a heartfelt note to his mother, thanking her for raising him with "a sense of moral justice" and apologizing for failing to "have been a better son."

Jan Colver dabbed tears from her eyes in a Placerville courtroom after hearing - for the first time - her son's message to her. It was found in the trunk of then-19-year-old Steven Colver's car after he and his girlfriend, Tylar Marie Witt, fled to San Francisco following the June 12, 2009 slaying of Joanne Witt, Tylar's mother. The teens had told friends they were fleeing to take their lives so they live together in eternity.

Jan Colver, who was unaware of her son's relationship with Tylar Witt, had strenuously tried to talk her son out of renting a room in the El Dorado Hills home of Joanne Witt and her then-14-year-old daughter. She had offered him a rent-free room at her home in Folsom when her son began looking for a place to stay when his father, Richard Colver, put his El Dorado Hills home up for sale. The Colver parents had divorced eight years earlier.

A man suspected of pointing a potentially blinding laser at a law enforcement aircraft has been arrested.

Don Watson, 43, was arrested early this morning and booked into Sacramento County jail for allegedly pointing a small laser at a Sacramento Police helicopter.

The chopper was up in the air around El Camino Avenue and Del Paso Boulevard about 12:30 a.m. looking for a stolen vehicle when officers saw someone aiming a green laser at them several times. Air 1 was able to direct officers in squad cars to the house from which the beam was originating.

Officers eventually found a laser and Watson.

Yolo County sheriff's deputies said suspected burglars who tried to haul stolen possessions from a home using a U-Haul truck were arrested over the weekend.

Deputies said that a homeowner on County Road 27, just north of winters, on Saturday about 7:30 p.m., surprised three people trying to burglarize their home. The suspects tried to flee and were chased by the homeowner and a family friend in two vehicles.

The homeowner's vehicle was rammed by the truck, causing the airbags to deploy, according to a sheriff's department press release. A passenger in the homeowner's vehicle was injured by the airbag.

Redding police arrested a man they say yelled gay slurs, held a knife to a dog's neck and then repeatedly stabbed the animal's owner.

Andrew Scott Horne, 19, of Redding was booked into Shasta County Jail on suspicion of attempted homicide for stabbing Bowen Thomas Parks, 27, of Redding. Parks was listed in critical condition with stab wounds to his head, left forearm, abdomen and thigh.

Police said Parks and his friends were eating pizza Monday night about 8:30 p.m. on a second-story apartment balcony on Bundy Court that borders a movie complex parking lot. Horne, according to police, was in the parking lot and began arguing with Parks.

A 26-year-old man was assaulted in the parking lot of the Strikes Family Entertainment Center in Elk Grove late Sunday night, the Elk Grove Police Department reported, just days before new parking lot security measures are scheduled to be introduced by the center.

The victim, Seth Parker, of Sacramento, said Monday he believes he was attacked because he is gay.

Officers responded to Strikes in the 3400 block of Laguna Boulevard at about midnight and found the victim had been punched in the face by another man following an argument, said Elk Grove police spokesman Officer Chris Trim.

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office has released the name of the 28-year-old man shot to death by Galt Police Department officers Friday.

Philip Oliver, 28, of Galt, was killed by officers who had responded to a report that Oliver was assaulting his mother at her home in the 100 block of Franston Street.

When officers arrived at about 5:20 p.m., and contacted Oliver outside the house, Oliver allegedly told them he had guns in the house and was going to shoot them, Galt police Lt. Jim Uptegrove said.

by Andy Furillo
afurilllo@sacbeecom

Testimony concluded today in the guilt phase of Audrey Jackson's murder trial for the Sept. 22, 2008, shooting at a downtown Sacramento bus stop of Francisco Salvador Perez, who died 13 months later.

Jackson, 50, a homeless woman who had just arrived in Sacramento from Reno, shot Perez after he cursed her when she panhandled him for money at a bus stop on 6th and J streets.

Supervising Assistant Public Defender Diane Howard wrapped up the defense case by calling a private forensic pathologist who testified there was no way to conclusively determine if the undisputed shooting led to Perez' death.

A Natomas man has been sentenced to 13 years in state prison for his attack on a Sikh taxi driver in West Sacramento in November.

Pedro Ramirez, 42, was sentenced Friday by Yolo County Superior Court Judge Timothy Fall. Ramirez pleaded no-contest March 7 to a felony assault charge and admitted that his attack on cab driver Harbhajan Singh was a hate crime. Ramirez also admitted that he caused great bodily injury to the victim, according to a Yolo County District Attorney's Office news release.

Johnny Morales Jr., 33, of West Sacramento, who had a lesser role in the attack, also pleaded no contest to a felony assault and was previously sentenced to felony probation.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

A mentally disabled Elk Grove woman who had reportedly been missing since Sunday morning has been found in Sacramento, the Elk Grove Police Department reported.

Leslie Vaughn, 24, is being returned to her residence in Elk Grove, the police department reported. Police first announced they were searching for Vaughn this afternoon.

Vaughn had last been seen at about 9 a.m. Sunday when she left a friend's apartment in the 5600 block of Florin Road in Sacramento. She was located unharmed shortly after 4:30 p.m.

OROVILLE -- An Oroville father and his two sons died Saturday after their car went off the roadway on Highway 70 and plunged into the Feather River 35 miles north of Oroville.

Jameson Olson, 35, was returning home from Quincy with Jameson Olson III, 9, and Cody Allen Olson, 16, who was driving, said California Highway Patrol Officer Doug Garrett.

The teenager apparently passed a motor home and returned to his lane when the 2001 Pontiac Firebird began to fishtail on the rain-slicked roadway, Garret said.

Two teenage girls are recuperating after their just-purchased mini-motorcycle collided with a pickup in Sacramento.

Sacramento police said that the little motorcycle had been purchased earlier in the day Sunday by one of the girls' parents. The girl steering the mini-motorbike drove from Hermosa Street onto busy 47th Avenue near Sacramento Executive Airport about 6:45 p.m.

The motorcycle traveled directly into the path of an on-coming full-sized pickup truck. The passenger on the bike jumped off but the driver of the motorcycle stayed on and was hit by the truck.

Both girls were transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

Former real estate executive Michael Lyon is expected to be released from jail this week after a month in custody, and is scheduled to complete the rest of his one-year sentence in home detention.

Lyon reported to the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center on May 7 to begin serving his sentence, and at the time Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said he expected to assess Lyon's case after a month to determine if he could be released to home detention.

Jones did not respond to a request for comment this morning.

Citrus Heights police have arrested a man on suspicion of molesting boys -- and detectives believe other children might also have been sexually abused.

Police on May 17 arrested Ryan Matthew Haley, 30, of Rancho Cordova, on suspicion of child molestation and child molestation by force. He is still in custody today in Sacramento County Jail.

Detectives began an investigation in April that resulted in Haley's arrest. Police allege that the investigation uncovered several other victims.

An 18-year-old man remained hospitalized Sunday with a gunshot wound he suffered while he allegedly tried to hold up a Fruitridge Road convenience store.

Robert Edward Davis faces charges of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon once he is deemed medically fit for incarceration, Sacramento County sheriff's spokesman Jason Ramos said. Davis underwent surgery for his injury, which was not believed to be life-threatening.

Davis was injured during a shooting at Hite's Market in the 3900 block of Fruitridge Road, where a man went in just before 6 p.m. Saturday with a gun, demanded money and left with an unknown amount of cash, officials said. Followed outside by two employees, the gunman turned and fired a shot in their direction, Ramos said. One of the employees, who was armed with a shotgun, returned fire and hit the suspect, the sheriff's spokesman said.

About 20 minutes later, a man with a gunshot wound showed up at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center on Bruceville Road. Ramos said investigators showed a photo of the robbery suspect to store employees, who confirmed that it was Davis who wound up at the hospital with the gunshot wound.

A fire believed to have been started by a pottery kiln damaged the patio and green room of a home on San Nita Way on Sunday afternoon, officials said.

The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District responded at 5:52 p.m. to a fire reported at 7450 San Nita Way, according to a written statement. The fire was extinguished within five minutes, with little damage to the rest of the house. No injuries were reported.

Officials said the homeowner, an 89-year-old woman, said that her her kiln may have started the fire.

A gun-toting robber who stuck up a south area convenience store was shot early this evening by one of the employees, a Sacramento sheriff's spokesman said.

The unidentified gunman had entered Hite's Market on Fruitridge Road near Mendocino Boulevard just before 6 p.m., according to Deputy Jason Ramos. After the robber left the store with an unknown amount of cash, the two employees in the store chased him outside and exchanged gunfire, Ramos said.

About 20 minutes later, a man with a gunshot wound showed up at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center on Bruceville Road, according to Ramos.

Ramos said investigators showed store employees a photo of the robbery suspect and that they were later able to confirm that it was the suspect who wound up at the hospital with the gunshot wound.

The robbery suspect underwent surgery and his condition was unknown, according to Ramos.

Investigators are questioning the employees as a routine part of the probe, Ramos said.

Woodland police arrested a 31-year-old woman today on suspicion of running over her boyfriend with her car after an early-morning argument.

Elena Lund-Tessler, 31, was taken into custody in Davis at 12:40 p.m. following the alleged assault on her boyfriend at 1:55 a.m. in Shiloh Court, according to police.

Officers booked Lund-Tessler for assault with a deadly weapon. Her 33-year-old boyfriend was transported to UC Davis Medical Center with injuries to his arm, leg and hand. Authorities did not release his condition.

Witnesses said Lund-Tessler and her boyfriend were at Kenny's Bar in Woodland when their argument began, according to police.

By Carlos Alcala and Andy Furillo

A man with a beer and a Bible who may have been sitting on the Union Pacific Railroad tracks near 20th and C streets in midtown was run over and killed by a train today.

Authorities did not release details on the death that was reported to Sacramento police at 2:17 p.m. One UP employee who asked not to be identified said the man had a 24-ounce can of beer and the Bible and was sitting in the middle of the tracks underneath a trestle when he was struck by the the three-engine, 4,500-foot train.

One witness said the engineer apparently saw the man from a block and a half away and tried to stop the train well before it struck the victim. Unable to come to a halt, the train dragged the man several dozen feet.

The train cut off east-west access across almost all of midtown for about two hours until coroner's investigators removed the body and UP and Burlington Northern Santa Fe officials got the training moving north again.

By Max Ehrenfreund
mehrenfreund@sacbee.com

A woman hijacked a man's car in South Hagginwood shortly before midnight last night. He had arranged online to have a sexual encounter with her, said Sacramento Police Department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong.

The man picked her up in his car near the intersection of Florin Road and Franklin Boulevard in south Sacramento. They drove north near Rio Linda Boulevard and Eleanor Avenue until she pulled out a knife, according to Leong.

The man jumped out of the vehicle, and the woman drove away.

She is described as an African-American woman in her 20s, weighing about 120 pounds.

By Matt Kawahara and Carlos Alcala
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Galt Police Department officers fatally shot a 25-year-old man Friday after the man allegedly threatened to kill officers who had responded to a report that he was assaulting his mother, the police department reported.

Officers responded just after 5:20 p.m. Friday to a residence in the 100 block of Franston Street after a man called in stating his wife was being assaulted by her adult son, who was armed with a knife, according to a Galt Police Department release.

Upon arriving, officers met the 25-year-old son in front of the house, where he became verbally aggressive and made threats that he would kill them, the release states.

A Sacramento County Superior Court jury has found a 40-year-old man guilty of committing sex acts with a child, the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office announced Friday in a news release.

Mahend Vikash was found guilty of 13 counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14, and one count of attempted lewd and lascivious act by force on a child under 14, according to the release.

By Max Ehrenfreund
mehrenfreund@sacbee.com

Kenneth Tice, 70, of Davis, was sentenced today in the sexual assault of a 21-year-old foreign exchange student at UC Davis.

Tice, who had been homeless at times, met the victim last fall at a homeless shelter where she was volunteering. They developed a friendship and remained in touch after the shelter closed in March.

The two met for dinner on April 5 near Tice's Davis motel. Tice invited the victim to his hotel room after dinner and assaulted her once they were inside.

Tice later sent several emails to the victim apologizing for the assault.

Yolo County Superior Court Judge Stephen L. Mock sentenced Tice to two years and eight months in prison. Tice had been convicted on May 24 of sexual battery and false imprsionment with force and violence.

Elk Grove police are asking for the public's help in identifying two suspects in the armed robbery of a Bank of the West on Thursday morning.

The robbery occurred at about 10:45 a.m. at the Bank of the West in the 8100 block of Sheldon Road, according to an Elk Grove Police Department news release. Two suspects entered the bank and, armed with handguns, ordered everyone in the bank to get on the floor, according to the release.

One suspect jumped over a teller counter and entered the vault area, where he took an undisclosed amount of money, the release states. The second suspect removed money from a teller's drawer. Both suspects then left the bank and were seen fleeing on foot, the release states.

By Matt Kawahara

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office has released the name of the man found stabbed to death along the American River Parkway on the night of May 31.

Adam Michael Steinbach, 29, of Gold River, died from stab wounds to the upper body, the Sacramento Police Department reported. He was found in the area of Del Paso Boulevard and Northgate Boulevard.

Officers were responding to reports that came in about 11:20 p.m. about a noisy disturbance in the wooded area, Sacramento police reported.

Police have not released details about what Steinbach was doing in the area or the circumstances that led to his killing.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

The 6-foot-3, 270-pound man who slammed and slugged a 4-year-old boy to death in North Highlands three years ago was sentenced today to 29 years to life in state prison.

Jonathan Lamar Perry, 29, was handed the term by Sacramento Superior Court Judge Gary S. Mullen for the July 21, 2008, beating death of Jahmaurae Allen in an apartment on Oakhollow Drive.

Perry was living with the boy's mother. According to evidence at trial, he became enraged at the boy over a potty training accident and was further angered when Jahmaurae refused to go to bed.

Jurors also convicted Perry of abusing Jahmaurae Allen's younger brother.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A man who ran a woman's car into a freeway center divider in a traffic confrontation last year was sentenced today to nine years in state prison.

A Sacramento Superior Court jury last month convicted Jesse Kenneth Oran, 33, of gross vehicular manslaughter, Judge Gerrit W. Wood imposed the prison term on him for the May 2, 2010, traffic fatality that killed 22-year-old Tessa Canavarro.

Canavarro had been scheduled to begin her honeymoon the next day.

Authorities said Oran tailgated Canavarro's vehicle and flashed his headlights at her for several miles after an incident on westbound Interstate 80.

Oran was sober at the time of the crash. Canvarro's blood-alcohol level registered at .23 percent.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A mentally disturbed woman who drowned her 3-year-old daughter two years ago was sentenced today to a possible life-time placement in Napa State Hospital.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Marjorie Koller said that if doctors at the psychiatric facility ever find that Anul Malik Ram regains her sanity, the 34-year-old defendant will then be transferred to the state prison system to complete a 15-to-life term.

The dual sentences resulted from Ram's April 29 guilty plea to second-degree murder in the Nov. 15, 2009, drowning death of her daughter, Divya Ram, in the defendant's bathtub. Along with the guilty plea to the second-degree murder charge, Ram also claimed that she was not guilty by reason of insanity in the attempted murder of her then-7-year-old son.

At the time of the killing, Ram had been taking a variety of medications for schizophrenia, depression, anxiety and seizures.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steve White today found Priscilla Ramirez guilty of second-degree murder in the July 21, 2009, shooting deaths of Everett Antonio Taylor and Deshawn Dante Holloway in the Seavey Circle housing project.

White gave his verdict following a one-day court trial for the 21-year-old defendant on May 9. Ramirez was accused of prompting her cousin and another man to kill Taylor, 28, her boyfriend at the time, because he had been seeing other women. Evidence showed that Ramirez had lied to her two accomplices that Taylor had raped and beat her.

The judge scheduled Ramirez for a June 24 sentencing. Two separate juries convicted her cousin, Philip Perez Gonzales Jr., 27, and gunman Michael Leepatrick Armstrong, 23, of second-degree murder on April 15.

Gonzales also is scheduled to be sentenced on June 24. White on May 27 sentenced Armstrong to a 25-to-life prison term.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

The last time Nancy Garrido will ever see her husband likely came at 9:26 a.m. Thursday, as she was being escorted out of a Placerville courtroom and headed off to begin her 36-year prison sentence.

"Love you," she mouthed to Phillip Garrido, who sat shackled in the courtroom jury box waiting for the judge to hand down his sentence of 431 years to life.

She had asked for a final, private meeting with him after they were sentenced, but El Dorado Superior Court Judge Douglas Phimister was having none of it.

The name of a person who died earlier this week in a head-on collision on South Watt Avenue near Elder Creek Road has been released by the Sacramento County Coroner's office.

Her has been identified as Pedro Mendoza Perea, 28, of Sacramento.

Perea was a passenger in a car Tuesday morning that was traveling north on South Watt Avenue that crossed into an oncoming lane and hit a southbound pickup, police said.

Police said they have not yet determined why the car crossed into the oncoming lane.

Three people died near Sloughhouse when their car rolled after leaving the roadway early this morning.

A driver and three passengers were in the 2001 Mazda Millennia traveling north on Sloughhouse Road about 3 a.m when the accident occurred, according to the California Highway Patrol.

When the car got to where Sloughhouse Road intersects with Jackson Highway, the driver failed to stop. The car then traveled over Jackson Highway and into a field.

The Sacramento Police Department said this morning a missing mentally disabled woman has been found.

According to Sacramento police department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong, Carole Slaughter left her home on foot at 9 a.m. Thursday. She had last been seen in the neighborhood east of Grand Avenue and Marysville Boulevard in Del Paso Heights.

Slaughter has a disability limiting her mental capacity to that of a 3-year-old, according to a press statement.

Early this morning she was found about a mile away from last seen in the 3200 block of Del Paso Boulevard in good condition. A security guard had called police to help send her away from a property.

Three Sacramento residents have pleaded guilty to a federal indictment charging them with sex trafficking of a minor, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced Thursday that Deanijiniqe Cail, 23, Christian Demitris Dotson, 20, and Veraniquie Wallace, 40, pleaded guilty to the charges in federal court.

According to court documents, Dotson approached a 14-year-old acquaintance in June 2010 and asked her to be a prostitute. Court documents indicate Dotson took sexually explicit photographs of the girl, which Cail and Wallace posted online, advertising her for prostitution, according to the Department of Justice release.

A Sacramento Superior Court jury has convicted Jose Duarte of first-degree murder in the 2008 death of a 20-year-old woman in her south Natomas apartment.

On Aug. 10, 2008, Alicia Ray was found dead in her apartment on West El Camino Avenue. The apartment had been set on fire and Ray's body was found naked and severely burned with binding around her neck. The cause of death was determined to be strangulation, according to a Sacramento County District Attorney's Office news release.

Officials said Duarte, 24, and Ray had a previous sexual relationship. On the night of the murder, Duarte went to Ray's apartment after he got off work. He gave law-enforcement officers conflicting statements about what happened that night and denied any involvement in killing Ray.

By Bee Staff

The Sacramento Police Department is searching for a missing woman who last seen this morning in North Sacramento.

According to Sacramento police department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong, Carole Slaughter left her home on foot at 9 a.m. and has not been seen since. She who was last seen in the neighborhood east of Grand Avenue and Marysville Boulevard.

Slaughter has a disability limiting her mental capacity to that of a 3-year-old, according to a press statement issued by Leong.

Carole Slaughter is described as black, 46-years-old, 5'4", 150 lbs, black hair, brown eyes. She was wearing a gray t-shirt, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes.

The Sacramento Police Department urges anyone with information pertaining to this missing person to contact us at (916) 264-5471.

Folsom police are warning local businesses of a scam used twice at local eateries in the last week.

On May 30, the Togo's on East Bidwell Street received a phone call from an individual claiming to be in the company's corporate office, who told employees that a customer had accidentally been overcharged by $80 for a food order a couple days earlier, according to a Folsom Police Department release.

The caller advised employees that the customer would be returning to the restaurant to collect the money that she had been overcharged.

The Yolo County District Attorney's Office announced Thursday that Jennifer Beeman, the former head of anti-violence efforts at the UC Davis, has been sentenced to five years felony probation and 180 days in county jail for embezzlement and falsifying accounts.

Yolo County Superior Court Judge Janet Gaard delivered the sentence and also ordered Beeman to pay $9,153.50 in restitution, according to a district attorney's office news release.

Beeman pleaded no contest in April to one felony charge of embezzlement and one felony charge of falsifying government records from the UC Davis Campus Violence Prevention Program, which she oversaw for years as director, according to the release.

Read the grand jury transcripts released today.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

Jaycee Lee Dugard described in terrifying detail last fall how Phillip and Nancy Garrido snatched her off the street and whisked her away for 18 years of captivity.

Grand jury transcripts released moments ago recount her secret testimony that was the basis of the guilty pleas the Garridos accepted in April. The transcripts were released at the request of The Sacramento Bee and other media organizations.

Dugard told the El Dorado Grand Jury that the Garridos' car pulled up beside her the morning of June 10, 1991, "and I didn't think it was weird at the time, but it pulled in kind of close to me. And I thought he was going to ask for directions because he started to say something."

Davis police locked down an elementary school this afternoon while searching for two suspects in connection with the armed robbery of a Motel 6.

The suspects entered the Motel 6 on Chiles Road at about 1:45 p.m., pointed a gun at the clerk and demanded money, according to a Davis Police Department news release. The clerk turned over an undisclosed amount of cash, and the suspects fled on foot south on El Cemonte Avenue, the release states.

By Carlos Alcala
calcala@sacbee.com

An El Dorado County man has been convicted of cockfighting charges following his February arrest, El Dorado County Animal Services officials said Thursday.

Saul Cuevas Ayala of Garden Valley pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charges in late May and was ordered to serve 45 days in jail and three years probation.

He also was levied $700 in fines and $4,200 in restitution costs.

Ayala and another man, Rogelio Reyes-Higareda, were arrested after a routine traffic stop discovered injured game birds and cockfighting equipment in his vehicle.

Reyes-Higareda was not charged, but was deported.

Investigators turned up hundreds of birds on Ayala's property that were euthanized because they were either aggressive or in bad physical shape.

Cockfighting, though a felony in some other states, is a misdemeanor in California.

A dog was recently rescued by a Folsom Police officer from the frigid, swift water below the Rainbow Bridge.

Thor, a brindle Boxer, slipped on smooth granite at the water's edge May 26. A bystander who witnessed the struggling pooch put in a call to Folsom police dispatch, which brought Officer Rob Challoner to the scene.

By Peter Hecht
phecht@sacbee.com

As a defense lawyer bored in on her fascination with television crime dramas, Tylar Marie Witt testified today about the aftermath of her mother's murder - when she closed the windows and blinds, turned on the air conditioning and warned her boyfriend not to touch anything.

In her second day of testimony on the June 12, 2009 slaying of her mother, Joanne M. Witt, the 16-year-old girl told how Steven Paul Colver shielded her with a Sponge Bob Square Pants blanket as she moved around the bed where her mother lay savagely stabbed to death.

She testified in a Placerville courtroom that she took it upon herself to secure the house after the murder because Colver "couldn't do anything. He couldn't touch anything."

Nancy and Phillip Garrido, with their attorneys, Stephen Tapson (front left) and Susan Gellman (back left), listen to testimony from Jaycee's mother, Terry Probyn (not pictured). Photo by Randy Pench.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

Read the grand jury transcripts released today.

In a searing court session this morning, Phillip and Nancy Garrido were sentenced to prison for the kidnap of Jaycee Lee Dugard after her mother and others berated the couple for their crimes.

In the nearly two hours it took to recite the criminal behavior, Phillip Garrido showed absolutely no emotion and looked downward the entire time Dugard's mother, Terry Probyn, addressed him.

Gang graffiti was found sprayed at two Woodland parks on Wednesday.

Police officers were dispatched to City Park, 639 Cleveland St., about 3:40 p.m. There they found the park's restroom and a storage shed had been spray-painted with gang graffiti.

West Sacramento police are planning to conduct a DUI/Driver's License checkpoint on Saturday, according to a police department release.

The checkpoint will begin at 7:30 p.m., at an undisclosed location in the city, according to the release. Officers will check drivers for signs of impairment and for driver's licenses.

Funding for the checkpoint is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the release states.

A DUI crackdown in Sacramento County over Memorial Day weekend resulted in 71 arrests of drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs, according to provisional data from the region's "Avoid the Capital 17" anti-DUI task force.

The DUI campaign included one sobriety checkpoint, two special DUI saturation patrols and officers on routine patrol looking out for impaired drivers from Friday night through Monday, according to an Avoid task force news release. Funding for the campaign was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

There was also one reported DUI-related fatality in Elk Grove, according to the provisional data.

Law enforcement officials will conduct more anti-DUI efforts in Sacramento County and the surrounding region during the Fourth of July weekend and an 18-day campaign in August ending Labor Day weekend, according to the release.

By Bee staff
A Sacramento Superior Court jury today convicted Zang Her of murder and burglary in connection with the death of John Lone Eage in his Carmichael home in 2004, according to a release from Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully.
The jury also determined the murder was committed during a burglary, a special circumstance, according to the release.
No verdict was reached on the charge that Her personally used a deadly or dangerous weapon during the crime, the release said.
Lone Eagle, a 65-year-old real estate foreclosure speculator, died during a home invasion robbery. His employees told The Bee at the time of his death that he kept tens of thousands of dollars in cash in his home office.
Her was arrested Jan. 22, 2009, on a cold DNA hit.
Sentencing was scheduled for July 28.

By Denny Walsh
dwalsh@sacbee.com

After earlier eluding officers in three high-speed car chases, state parolee Anatoliy Rudan was finally cornered and arrested Tuesday, according to U.S. Marshal Albert Najera.

On May 12, the 32-year-old Rudan was spotted in North Highlands driving a stolen Audi S5. He fled when a California Highway Patrol officer attempted to stop him, running red lights at more than 100 mph and losing the officer, Najera said in a press release.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

The man accused of killing three people at a Loomis home over the weekend entered not guilty pleas to all charges at his arraignment in Placer County Superior Court on Wednesday.

Jeremy Ray Baker, 36, of Roseville, was formally charged with three counts of murder and one count of possessing a firearm silencer.

He was also charged with a special allegation of personally and intentionally discharging a firearm causing death or great bodily injury, and a special circumstances allegation of multiple murder.

The latter allegation could make Baker eligible for the death penalty, although that decision has yet to be made, said Placer County Assistant District Attorney Jeff Wilson.

By Darrell Smith
dvsmith@sacbee.com

Lawyers for the state Attorney General's office on Wednesday alleged that tax attorney Roni Lynn Deutch violated court orders by diverting phone calls from would-be customers to family and former employees, who've started their own tax resolution businesses.

Attorneys made the claim at a morning hearing in Sacramento Superior Court to determine whether a court-appointed receiver would continue to operate the firm Deutch shut down in mid-May or whether the California State Bar would assume control.

Deputy Attorney General Conor Moore said the alleged phone referrals from Deutch could generate money that should go to court-appointed receiver Scott Sackett.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

A Sacramento Superior Court jury today convicted Juan Carlos Carranco of second-degree murder in the fatal Oct. 31, 2009, shooting of Carlos Cervantes Jr. at a party in the south area.

Judge Cheryl Chun Meegan scheduled the sentencing on the 18-year-old Carranco, a reputed street gang member, for June 24.

Cervantes, 23, died nearly four weeks after the shooting on Clover Manor Way.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

Phillip and Nancy Garrido are scheduled to finally be sentenced Thursday, nearly 20 years after they couple kidnapped 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard off the street near South Lake Tahoe and held her captive as a sex slave for 18 years.

The 70-seat courtroom inside El Dorado Superior Court is expected to be full as Judge Douglas Phimister sentences the Garridos to terms expected to keep both in prison for the rest of their lives.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

Testimony got under way today in the trial of a homeless woman accused of murder in the death of a man who died 13 months after she shot him at a downtown Sacramento bus stop after he swore at her as she panhandled him.

When Audrey Jackson, 50, asked Frank Perez for spare change so she could catch the bus, "He says, 'Why don't you get a job?' or, 'Why don't you get your family to help you, you 'effing b,' " witness Francisco Garcia testified in Sacramento Superior Court.

Tylar Witt is escorted into the courtroom at the El Dorado County courthouse in Placerville on Wednesday. Photo by Randall Benton

By Peter Hecht
phecht@sacbee.com

Tylar Marie Witt, testifying Wednesday against her former teen lover in the murder of her mother, told of being occupied by three personalities as she endured a tortured relationship with mother, Joanne M. Witt, and later plotted her killing.

She said there was Tylar herself, who was then an unsettled 14-year-old girl, and "Alex," her inner "angel" and "Toby," a demon from Hell who lurked "inside me." "Three souls crowded in one body," Witt testified.

Appearing calm, composed and articulate, Witt, now 16, testified in detail about her emotional condition and about the night she summoned Steven Paul Colver, then 19, to kill Joanne Witt in the bedroom of her gated home in El Dorado Hills.

On the witness stand, she described how she lost her nerve as her boyfriend carried out the killing of Joanne Witt on June 12, 2009 after the mother gave the girl's diary to police as part of a statutory rape investigation.

Students were sent to the principal's office this morning after they allegedly set off small chemical explosions in plastic bottles at Mira Loma High School.

Nobody was hurt in the minor explosions that were set off at the school's running track, a San Juan Unified School District official said.

Scam artists are going door-to-door fraudulently saying they are raising money for Sacramento hospital patients.

The scammers say they are seeking donations to purchase books or other items for patients at UC Davis Medical Center and UC Davis Children's Hospital.

A man was found stabbed to death along the American River Parkway late last night, Sacramento police said.

The man, only described as being in his 30s, was found in an area frequented by the homeless near Northgate Boulevard and Del Paso Boulevard. Reports came into the police department about 11:20 p.m. about some kind of noisy disturbance in the wooded area, police said.

A police sergeant who happened to be patrolling nearby, quickly responded to the scene but it was too late. The man, who has not been identified, died from at least one stab wound.

The Sacramento County Coroner's office has released the name of the man shot by deputies in south Sacramento earlier this week.

He was identified as Miguel Eduardo Negrete, 29, of Sacramento.

Sacramento County sheriff's investigators are trying to piece together the events that led to the fatal early-morning shooting of Negrete by deputies in south Sacramento.