Four adults are without a home following a two-alarm fire in a duplex unit in North Sacramento earlier today.
Battalion Chief Jay Glass of the Sacramento Fire Department said the fire started in the garage of a duplex in the 3200 block of Western Avenue. A car was parked inside.
He said residents of the unit were able to get out of the home before firefighters arrived.
A cab driver and four passengers were injured this evening in a collision at Howe Avenue and Feature Drive in the Arden Arcade area.
California Highway Patrol spokeswoman Officer Lizz Dutton said a Toyota Camry was southbound on Howe Avenue about 7:25 p.m. as a cab northbound on Howe turned left onto Feature Drive. Dutton said officers have not determined which vehicle ran a red light.
The passengers in the cab, two adults and two children, ages 10 and 11, were from Arcadia in Southern California. Dutton said one of the adults, a 40-year-old woman, was not wearing a seat belt and suffered cuts to her face. The other adult, 22, suffered a bloody nose. The children and the cab driver complained of pain. All were taken to UC Davis Medical Center with what appeared to be minor injuries, Dutton said.
The California Highway Patrol on Thursday will launch a 10-month campaign to promote pedestrian and bicycle safety in north Sacramento County.
As part of the grant-funded Traffic Safety Corridor project, officers will conduct a public awareness campaign in schools throughout the area as well as increased enforcement efforts to increase safety, according to a CHP news release.
"Pedestrian and bicyclist safety is about educating the motorists as much as it is about informing those who travel by foot or by bike," Capt. Tracy Sturges, commander of the CHP's North Sacramento Area office, said in a written statement.
A 27-year-old man suspected of stealing copper wire was arrested today after Sacramento police responded to an activated alarm in the 3500 block of Auburn Boulevard.
The incident occurred at 6:41 a.m. and when officers arrived, they discovered that a burglary had occurred. The perpetrator had left, but police found a backpack at the scene which they traced to Steven Trotter.
Officers contacted Trotter at his residence, where they found tools used in removing and stripping wire, according to a Police Department news release.
Trotter was arrested without incident.
A 65-year-old man pleaded no contest today to murdering his wife last year in front of his 10-year-old daughter, prosecutors said.
Sy Choy Saeteurn entered his second-degree murder plea in Sacramento Superior Court in front of Judge John P. Winn, who scheduled the sentencing for Dec. 28.
Saeteurn is facing a 16-to-life prison term for fatally stabbing Muang Saeteurn, 60, inside the couple's home in the 8000 block of Pinot Noir Way, near Elk Grove-Florin Road and Calvine Road.
A 139 percent mark-up on three years of work two maintenance firms provided for the Sacramento library system "doesn't past the smell test," a forensic accountant testified today.
"Just look at the numbers, sir," the accountant, former state Department of Justice financial crimes auditor Edward Hudson said, when asked by defense attorney Robert Saria what didn't seem right with the amount.
Two firms controlled by defendant Janie Rankins-Mayle billed the library authority $1.3 million for maintenance work it contracted out for $562,000, prosecutors have charged.
Two women had their belongings snatched away from them in separate incidents overnight in midtown Sacramento.
The first incident occurred in the 1800 block of Broadway about 9:15 p.m. when a woman noticed a man near her car, perhaps pretending to talk on his cellphone. The woman placed her purse on the driver's side floorboard when the suspect ran toward her car, according to a police activity log.
The man then reached into the car and grabbed the purse. In defense, the woman threw her bag of food and hot soup at him.
The Sacramento County Coroner's Office announced this morning that it has been unable to determine what exactly caused the death of the man who died in Sacramento police custody after allegedly shooting a Twin Rivers police officer.
However, the coroner's office noted in a press release that it is the opinion of the office that Tyrone Smith's death is a "direct result of a combination of factors including Mr. Smith's physical exertion at the time of arrest and his pre-existing medical condition."
That pre-existing condition included asthmatic bronchitis; truncal obesity; hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease; unspecified psychiatric illness and cannabinoid intoxication.
By Bill Lindelof and Carlos Alcalá
blindelof@sacbee.com
The name of an El Dorado Hills boy who died after being shot with a pellet gun has been released by officials.
He was identified Wednesday as 10-year-old Keegan Swinney.
El Dorado County sheriff's deputies responded about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to a report of a shooting on Waterman Court in El Dorado Hills.
The Sacramento County Coroner's Office has released the name of a hit-and-run victim killed in midtown Monday night.
The man has been identified as Thomas Francis Dennis Ferguson, 33, of Sacramento.
Sacramento police need help in finding the driver of a vehicle that struck and killed Ferguson. Firefighters were the first to respond to 19th and S Streets about 9:40 p.m. Monday where Ferguson was found in the roadway.
The death of a man who was hit by a truck on a Sacramento freeway earlier this week is being investigated as a suicide.
About 8 a.m. Monday the pedestrian was hit by a large truck on northbound Interstate 5 just north of Garden Highway in the Natomas area.
The California Highway Patrol reports that the Sacramento Police Department believes the man committed suicide. The 61-year-old Elk Grove man stopped his car on the right shoulder, stepped out and jumped in front of a big rig, witnesses told officers.
A Yolo County Sheriff's Department deputy did not suffer injury when he rolled his car near Dunnigan early this morning, according to the CHP.
The California Highway Patrol said the deputy overturned his car into a ditch near County Road 7A and County Road 89. The deputy was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
A big rig has been uprighted on Interstate 5 and moved out of the way after it crashed onto its side near Twin Cities Road early this morning.
The northbound lanes of the freeway were closed for about an hour, but reopened at 7:08 a.m. The truck driver lost control of his truck about 2:30 a.m. and the trailer, carrying food products, ended up on its right side on the shoulder of I-5.
The driver suffered minor injuries.
A new digital red light photo enforcement camera has been placed at Elkhorn and Don Julio boulevards in the Foothill Farms area and is scheduled to go "live" at noon today.
The camera system was installed by the Sacramento Metropolitan Red Light Photo Enforcement Detail. For the first 30 days, warning notices will be mailed to red light violators. Beginning Dec. 30, red light violators will receive citations by mail.
The citation will include a referral to a website where the violator can view the still and/or video images of the violation. The violator should be able to clearly see where the vehicle was in relation to the intersection's limit line, and the green, yellow and red lights, according to a Sacramento County Sheriff's Department news release.
Sacramento Federal Bureau of Investigation officials re-released surveillance photos of a bank robber today in hopes more exposure would help them identify the suspect.
Officials expressed frustration that they have not been able to identify the suspect despite the clarity of images, featured above, captured during the Jan. 31 robbery of a Bank of America on Watt Avenue.
A former boys basketball coach will be going to prison for more than four years after he was convicted of molesting six victims, according to authorities.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Marjorie Koller sentenced Melvin Flemings, 22, today to four years and four months in prison, according to the District Attorney's office.
Last month, Flemings, who was a walk-on boys basketball coach at El Camino High School until earlier this year, pleaded no contest to six felony counts of using minors to prepare sexually explicit photographs and videos.
Flemings met his victims while coaching at El Camino High and with the Sacramento-area Amateur Athletic Union league, with which he is no longer affiliated, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department previously told The Bee.
By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com
A Sacramento judge today declared a 58-year-old man about to go on trial for murder as incompetent to assist in his own defense and scheduled a hearing for next month to determine the defendant's placement options.
Robert Lee Blockton had been charged with murder in the Nov. 3, 1980, stabbing death of Charles Redmond, 22, described by authorites as a transvestite prostitute. A night watchman initially identified Blockton as walking away from the scene of the stabbing but testified "I don't know" at a preliminary hearing to pick out the defendant again, court records said. Charges were then dismissed on Blockton due to insufficient evidence, according to his attorney, Assistant Public Defender Sue Karlton.
A 31-year-old Sacramento woman and her 34-year-old boyfriend were killed Sunday in a collision with a suspected drunken driver in Clovis, according to authorities.
The collision occurred at a Clovis intersection about 2 a.m. Sunday, Clovis police say. The Fresno County Coroner's Office identified the victims as Jessica Matthes of Sacramento and Keith Smith of Clovis.
The driver of the car that allegedly struck them, 29-year-old Larry Garcia of Clovis, was arrested later that day on suspicion of two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of driving under the influence causing great bodily injury, said police spokeswoman Janet Stoll-Lee.
Sacramento police need help in finding the driver of a pickup truck that struck and killed a pedestrian Monday night.
The 33-year-old man was walking at 19th and S streets when he was hit, police said. A citizen called in when the body was discovered on the ground about 9:40 p.m.
The hit-and-run motorist was driving a Chevrolet or GMC full-sized pickup, which could have front end damage, police said. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Alert at (916) 443-4357.
Catalytic converter thefts continue to be committed in Roseville.
Police put out a warning earlier this month that thieves were sliding under Toyota trucks and SUVs and cutting free the expensive emission control devices. Catalytic converters contain metals that are recycled by thieves.
The theft of the devices continues with three reported stolen during the nighttime hours from Toyota 4Runners:
-- Nov. 24-25, from a 4Runner in an apartment complex lot in the 2800 block of Quail Ridge West.
-- Nov. 26, from a 4Runner in the 1400 block of Valley Glen Drive.
-- Nov. 25-26 from a 4Runner in the 2100 block of Dorrington Drive.
-- Just before 2 a.m. Nov. 25, a patrol officer checking a stopped minivan on Lucian Court found a man hiding in the back seat. Also in the van, pipe-cutting tools and a hacksaw -- implements that could be used to steal catalytic converters. The 33-year-old Sacramento man was booked on suspicion of possessing burglary tools.
The safest place to park Toyota pickups and 4Runners is in a locked garage, say police.
PHOTO CREDIT: A catalytic converter awaits installation at Muffler Tech in Sacramento. Hector Amezcua/Sacramento Bee
A man suffered a collapsed lung when he was stabbed on his way to a grocery store in Woodland on Monday night.
Robert Felix, 30, of Woodland told police that he was walking to the store when two men in a car pulled up at Elliot and West streets and started yelling at him about 8:45 p.m. Monday. They also threw a glass bottle at Felix, he told officers later at the hospital.
Felix ran and the two men got out of their car and gave chase. They eventually caught up with Felix and stabbed him twice in the torso.
After they fled, Felix used his cellphone to call his girlfriend who took him to the hospital. Felix could not provide a description of either the men or their car to Woodland Police officers.
Redding police say someone attempting to steal copper pipe and wiring caused natural gas and water leaks in a vacant building early this morning.
A citizen flagged down a police officer about 4:16 a.m. to report a large amount of water leaking from the former Ace Automotive building at 2150 East Street in downtown Redding.
The officer found the front glass door of the business was broken out and a strong odor of natural gas was coming from inside the building.
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department's Civil Bureau has established a new link on the department's public website that allows people to access information regarding civil cases.
The Civil Bureau deals with the civil process, serving summons and complaints, small claims documents for civil lawsuits, restraining orders, bench warrants, evictions and other notices or orders from the courts.
It also handles levy on wages, bank accounts, vehicles or other assets in cases involving judgments against a debtor.
Sacramento police are searching for two men who assisted a woman in the alleged kidnapping of her estranged husband Saturday morning.
The husband and wife were separated, and the husband was living with his stepdaughter in the 7300 block of 21st Street.
At 7:27 a.m. Saturday, the estranged wife, identified as Carmen Basulto (pictured), 43, showed up at her daughter's residence with two armed men, who forced the victim from the home at gunpoint, said Police Department spokeswoman Officer Laura Peck. The daughter witnessed the incident and called police.
The defense rested today in the child molestation trial of Tommy Gene Daniels, the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Rio LInda.
Prosecutors are expected to call three rebuttal witnesses on Tuesday to counter defense witnesses who provided character testimony on behalf of Daniels.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Trena H. Burger-Plavan tentatively scheduled closing arguments for Thursday.
Two men were hospitalized and others are sought following an assault in El Dorado County.
El Dorado County Sheriff's deputies at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday responded to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon on the 6000 block of Outingdale Road in the Somerset area. When they arrived, they were directed toward a residence where they found the victim, identified as Ricky Laybourne, sitting on the ground, bloody and semi-conscious.
Deputies determined that Laybourne lived in the garage at 6150 Outingdale Road. He and the landowner, Robert Dickson, had been involved in a tenant-landlord dispute. Laybourne believed the landlord had sent individuals to harass him and intimidate him into leaving, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. During an encounter with the unidentified individuals, Laybourne was hit several times with a blunt object, officials said.
Sacramento County Undersheriff Mark Iwasa will be the next police chief at California State University, Sacramento, officials announced today.
Iwasa, 49, will retire from his current post at the end of December and will assume his new role Jan. 3, officials said.
In 1990, Iwasa earned a bachelor of arts in economics with a minor in criminal justice from Sacramento State University. He returned to earn a master's in public policy and administration in 1993. He has 27 years of experience with the Sheriff's Department.
Iwasa replaces interim Chief Ken Barnett, who has been leading the department since former Chief Dan Davis retired in November. His new annual salary will be $144,000, campus officials said.
Sheriff's Capt. Rick Book, who heads the North Division, will become undersheriff, said sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos. Book, 48, has 27 years of experience with the Sheriff's Department.
The Sacramento County Coroner's Office has identified the man who was fatally shot in North Sacramento early Friday morning as 46-year-old James Hiter.
Hiter, of North Highlands, was shot in the 300 block of Bell Avenue before 4 a.m. Friday. He died at the scene.
The motive for the shooting remains under investigation, and Sacramento police have not identified any suspects.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Alert at (916) 443-4357.
The adopted daughter of Tommy Gene Daniels reluctantly testified today that her father had disappeared down a hallway for 15 to 20 minutes on the afternoon the pastor was accused of molesting a 5-year-old girl in his Citrus Heights home.
Deputy District Attorney Kimberly Macy got the 22-year-old witness to admit on cross-examination that she told police Daniels had slipped out of the living room of his home for that time period on the afternoon that prosecutors charge he molested the girl.
Daniels' daughter testified she believes the statement she gave to police a month after the alleged July 5, 2005, molestation was inaccurate.
"I believe it was five to 10 minutes," the woman who was 15 years old at the time of the alleged molestation told a Sacramento Superior Court jury on Tuesday. "He said he was going to the bathroom...Now that I'm older I remember things better."
Macy continued to confront the woman with the report written by Citrus Heights police after her August 2005 interview, which prompted the witness finally to say, "It could have been 15 to 20 minutes."
The time frame is crucial to corroborating the previous trial testimony of the alleged victim, who is now 12. The girl testified on the first day of trial that she had been sleeping in a rear bedroom off the hallway when she was molested and that the intruder whom she identified as Daniels came in and molested her twice.
Daniels testified last week that he did open the door to the bedroom but only to let a cat inside.
The pastor of the First Baptist Church of Rio Linda, Daniels, 49, is accused on 12 counts of of molesting five girls in his home on Wapiti Place in Citrus Heights between 2003 and 2005. His attorney, Michael L. Chastaine, is expected to conclude his defense as early as Tuesday.
A pedestrian was hit and killed this morning on Interstate 5 in Sacramento when he reportedly walked into a traffic lane.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene about 8 a.m. on northbound I-5 just south of Interstate 80. He was struck by a semi truck and trailer rig, according to initial reports on a California Highway Patrol traffic incident page.
Three lanes were blocked as the Sacramento County Coroner arrived.
Traffic is slow coming into Sacramento this morning on Interstate 80 due to several crashes.
Three separate crashes on westbound I-80 between Greenback Lane and Madison Avenue occurred shortly after 7 a.m. and temporarily stopped all freeway traffic. Traffic congestion was backing up all the way into Roseville.
Tow trucks were dispatched to haul away vehicles on the right shoulder of the roadway and in the center divider, said California Highway Patrol Officer Rich Wetzel.
By Whitney Mountain
A 12-year-old boy and a man in his 20s were shot Sunday at around 8 p.m Sunday in the Rosemont area, Sacramento County sheriff's spokesman Jason Ramos said.
The Sheriff's Department received several calls reporting multiple shots fired just after 8 p.m. on the 2900 block of Norcade Circle.
Ramos said both victims were shot in the upper body and taken to a hospital with injuries that officials said were not life-threatening.
Sheriff's officials do not have any suspects but are canvassing the area. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department at (916) 874-5115.
A woman who was found dead in the parking lot of a Fulton Avenue apartment complex Thanksgiving night likely died accidentally, according to Sacramento County sheriff's officials.
Initially, sheriff's detectives categorized the death of the woman, identified by the coroner's office as 41-year-old Shannon Stephenson, as suspicious, in part because she was found with some trauma to her face.
But upon further investigation, detectives suspect Stephenson accidentally fell, hit her head and suffered fatal injuries as a result, said sheriff's Deputy Jason Ramos.
It started with a reported assault at Johnny's Cathouse bar in the 1700 block of California Street in Redding shortly after midnight, according to the Redding Police Department.
Before it ended, up to 50 patrons would join a bar brawl while, outside, hundreds of people gathered on the street, police said today.
The first call came at 12:18 a.m. when a 24-year-old Redding woman said her domestic partner had assaulted her inside the bar. She sustained cuts above her left eye and upper lip.
An Auburn woman was assaulted with a baseball bat, kicked and restrained with duct tape on Thanksgiving morning by two intruders at her home, Auburn police reported today.
Police said the intruders, a man and a woman, wore dark clothing and gloves. They entered the woman's home about 2 a.m. and confronted the victim in her bedroom, demanding a specific item, which police did not divulge.
Officer in Charge James Dalton, in a written report of the case, noted that the man referred to the resident by a name other than her own.
By Darrell Smith
One man was arrested on a parole violation Saturday and Sacramento police were seeking another man on drug allegations after reports of weapons inside an Oak Park home.
Police were called to a house in the 3100 block of Fourth Avenue about 5 p.m., said Sacramento Police spokesman Sgt. Andrew Petit.
Two unidentified men inside the abandoned house fled. Police caught one of the pair, a parolee, and took him into custody, Petit said.
The second man eluded police, and for a time, police believed the man may have returned to the home. Police later determined he was not in the house and the man remained at large Saturday night, Petit said.
By Darrell Smith
A Sutter County man found dead Saturday morning on the front yard of a home in Live Oak apparently stabbed himself to death distraught over a recent drunken driving arrest.
The body of Lakhbir Singh, 36, of Live Oak, was found with multiple stab wounds to his chest about 7:17 a.m. in the 9200 block of Larkin Road, about four blocks from his home, said Lt. James Casner of the Sutter County Sheriff's Department.
Next to Singh's body, deputies found a kitchen knife and a bicycle. There were no signs of a struggle, Casner said.
Burglars were allowed to walk off with a Sacramento business' equipment Friday afternoon, after employees thought they worked there, police reported.
Two men walked into the business in the 1100 block of Second Street through a back gate, according to a report in the Sacramento Police Department log.
The men walked out with equipment from the business and employees told police they thought the suspects were additional employees.
The suspects were described as white males in their mid-20s, about 6 feet tall and 180 lbs.
No additional details were available.
Rocklin police are trying to determine whether a man arrested earlier this week is connected with recent burglaries in the area.
On Monday, Rocklin detectives, with the assistance of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, arrested Tomas Gabriel Rios (pictured), 23, of Sacramento following a vehicle stop in Sacramento County.
Detectives recently had contacted Rios and found him to possess several items of suspected stolen property. An ongoing investigation led to the identification of several pieces of stolen property, including a police Taser and items from two residential burglaries in Sacramento and Placer counties, according to a Rocklin Police Department news release. Several dozen pieces of jewelry suspected of being stolen also were found in Rios' possession, police said.
Categories: Placer County, Property Crime, Rocklin, Sacramento, Sacramento County
Homicide detectives are investigating the death of a woman in her 40s, who was found dead in the parking lot of the Alpine Terrace Apartments in the 1200 block of Fulton Avenue on Thursday evening.
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department responded to the complex after a resident found the victim lying motionless and called for help.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. A Sheriff's Department press release said a preliminary investigation yielded no witnesses or information surrounding the circumstances of the death.
Firefighters rescued a 51-year-old woman trapped in her burning North Highlands home on Friday morning.
The woman was being given CPR as she was transported to UC Davis Medical Center, a Sacramento Metropolitan Fire official said.
The fire at Don Julio Blvd. and Larry Way is contained and under investigation.
Photo caption: Firefighters work at the scene of a fire on Don Julio Blvd. on Friday morning. Photo by Robert Petersen / Special to The Bee
Sacramento police said a man was killed earlier this morning in the 700 block of Bell Avenue.
Witnesses first reported a hit-and-run at 3:50 a.m. on Norwood and Bell avenues in Sacramento after seeing a man lying in the street and a car drive off.
Police and fire crews arriving at the scene found a man suffering from at least one gunshot wound to the midsection, said Sacramento police spokesman Sgt. Andrew Pettit.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
Sacramento police said a stabbing in front of Macy's at the Arden Fair Mall around 2:30 a.m. this morning was gang related. The victim exchanged words with the suspect before he was stabbed in the midsection. The victim, who is expected to survive, was taken to an area hospital.
By Ed Fletcher
Sacramento sheriff deputies are investigating the death of a woman reported early Thursday evening at a Fulton Avenue apartment complex as a homicide.
The woman, who has yet to be identified, was found lying motionless at around 7 p.m. in the parking lot of the Alpine Terrace apartments on the 1200 block of Fulton Avenue, authorities said.
Sacramento photographer Robert Petersen sent these photos Thursday of Sacramento firefighters rescuing a family whose mini-van had swerved of Highway 99 near 47th Avenue and landed in a watery ditch.
A CHP dispatcher confirmed the accident occurred around 11 a.m. Peterson said a CHP officer at the scene reported two children, ages 5 and 7, were riding in the mini-van along with an adult male and female. All four were taken to an area hospital, though none had major injuries.
The CHP officer said the mini-van appeared to roll over twice before landing at the bottom of the canal. Traveling south on Highway 99, the driver had swerved to avoid an accident between two other vehicles.
By Bee Metro Staff
One of three Grass Valley teens whose vehicle overturned on Interstate 80 east of Reno on Wednesday was killed in the accident, the Nevada Highway Patrol reported.
Alcohol is believed to be a factor in the 7:24 a.m. accident 19 miles east of Fernley, the NHP said.
Trooper Chuck Allen said a gold 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee, being driven by 18-year-old Kevin A. Mass, was headed west on the highway when the vehicle drifted toward the center median. The driver over-corrected, Allen said, sending the Jeep into a broadside skid before it rolled serveral times and came to stop.
Taylor S. Barney, 18, was thrown from the car and died at the scene, Allen said.
Mass and a second passenger, Max Talbott, 19, sustained minor injuries and were transported by ambulance to Renown Regional Medical Center.
No other vehicles were invovled in the crash and the accident is under investigation.
A California State University, Sacramento, student reported to police Tuesday that she was the victim of sexual battery while she was in the campus library the day before, according to authorities.
The victim said she was in the University Library when she was approached by an unknown man who asked to draw her about 4:15 p.m. Monday, according to a news release from campus police.
As he was drawing her, he touched the victim's buttocks and leg several times, police said. The victim felt uncomfortable and left. She reported the incident to police the next day.
The suspect was described to police as a black man in his late 20s or early 30s, about 6 feet tall, weighing about 150 pounds and with short, black, twisted hair. He had an African accent and was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt, black jacket and cream-colored pants.
Police are pursuing leads and have a possible suspect identified. However, they are asking that anyone with information about this incident call police at (916) 278-6851.
A mystery man who could not speak because of major injuries suffered when he was hit by car on Monday has recovered enough to provide hospital caregivers with his name and age.
The man, Richard Rosco, 43, of Sacramento, was walking from the east side of Watt Avenue near American River Drive about 11 p.m. Monday when he was struck by a car traveling at about 45 mph. The driver, who was not injured, was not at fault, authorities say.
Rosco walked directly into the path of the car and was thrown onto the windshield, before falling to the ground, according to the CHP. He was taken to the UC Davis Medical Center with skull fractures, broken legs and brain swelling.
Rosco initially was not able to speak and carried no identification.
The California Highway Patrol put out a plea Tuesday asking for the public's help in identifying the injured man.
A youngster playing with matches is being blamed for a fire that displaced a family from their Woodland home.
The American Red Cross is providing emergency lodging for the family of two adults and a child after the fire at a home in the 1300 block of Oak Avenue Tuesday.
Woodland Fire Department firefighters responded to the single-story structure about 4:30 p.m. When they arrived, heavy smoke was billowing from the rear of the home.
Crews attacked the blaze and ventilated the attic, bringing the fire under control. Fire damage was contained to a small portion of the attic and a back exterior wall where the fire originated.
No injuries were reported.
A 32-year-old man was arrested Monday at Sacramento International Airport after he reportedly concealed bags of crystal methamphetamine in his underpants, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department reports.
About 4:30 a.m., sheriff's deputies assigned to the airport responded to a security checkpoint in Terminal A. Transportation Security Administration personnel had detained Enrique Garcia after he refused to submit to a secondary screening while attempting to travel on an outbound flight, according to a department news release.
An investigation revealed that Garcia had concealed the crystal methamphetamine, which was detected during the screening process. Garcia was taken into custody and transported to the Sacramento County Main Jail.
He was booked on suspicion of unlawful possession of methamphetamine for sale and transportation of methamphetamine for sale, and is being held on $1 million bail.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Timothy M. Frawley today rejected an effort by 11 Occupy Sacramento defendants to have their curfew violation cases dismissed.
Attorneys for the 11 defendants arrested during protests last month at Cesar Chavez Plaza said the law enforcement actions taken against them violated their free speech rights.
Frawley set the trial dates on the 11 defendants for Dec. 13.
By Denny Walsh
The former vice president of a Rancho Cordova construction company was found guilty Tuesday in federal court of stealing more than $110,000 from the firm.
On the sixth day of trial, a jury of seven men and three women adjudged Thomas Tanke guilty on two counts of mail fraud and five counts of bank fraud.
The 67-year-old Tanke, a resident of El Dorado Hills, testified that at least part of the money was compensation in lieu of a higher salary, but the owner of Azteca Construction, Inc., Rafael Martin, told the jury that was not true.
U.S. District Judge Edward J. Garcia ordered Tanke, who has been on pretrial release, taken to jail pending sentencing on March 2.
"Frankly, I think the defendant is in denial" and a flight risk, judge said. "The evidence against him is overwhelming."
By Rick Daysog
rdaysog@sacbee.com
FBI agents arrested the head of a mortgage rescue operation that allegedly defrauded homeowners in Placer and Merced counties.
A federal grand jury indicted 44-year-old John Marcus Desenberg, formerly of Newbury Park, Calif., on 10 counts of mail fraud on Thursday.
Federal prosecutors said that Desenberg, who headed a company called Creative Lending Solutions, operated a fraudulent "fresh start" program that offered to keep distressed homeowners in their residences at a cost of $15,000 to $20,000.
By Andy Furillo
A pastor accused of child molestation took the witness stand in his own defense and denied that he ever sexually abused any kids.
"No, absolutely not," Tommy Gene Daniels replied when asked by his attorney if any of the allegations are true that five children lodged against him in Sacramento Superior Court over the past two weeks.
Daniels, 49, the pastor of the Rio Linda First Baptist Church, testified only 10 minutes under direct questioning from defense lawyer Michael L. Chastaine.
The defense lawyer asked for details on one girl's story, a 12-year-old who testified that she was molested July 5, 2005, while she slept in a bedroom in the Daniels home in Citrus Heights were she had been in day care. The girl testified she fell asleep on the living room floor, was carried to a bedroom and that a man she identified in court as Daniels came in and touched her vagina.
The CHP needs help identifying a mystery man who cannot speak because of major injuries suffered when he was hit by car on Monday.
The red-haired man was walking from the east side of Watt Avenue near American River Drive about 11 p.m. Monday when he was struck by a car traveling at about 45 mph. The driver, who was not injured, was not at fault, authorities say.
The man walked directly into the path of the car and was thrown onto the windshield, before falling to the ground. He was taken to the UC Davis Medical Center with skull fractures, broken legs and brain swelling.
Elk Grove police plan increased patrols in the city's shopping centers beginning Friday and continuing through Christmas Eve.
The shopping centers have historically been the site of increased criminal activity during the holiday season, police said.
Police offer these tips for shoppers:
• Keep packages and other valuables in the car trunk.
• Avoid carrying a lot of cash.
• Carry a purse under your arm with the strap across your body.
• Place wallets in the inside pocket of jacket or front pants pocket.
• Be watchful of surroundings.
• After dark, shop with a friend.
• Try to park in well-lit areas.
• Check the car interior before getting inside.
• Lock car doors and windows even if you are only planning to be out of the vehicle for a few minutes.
Woodland police responded to an armed robbery at a Dollar Tree store this evening, according to authorities.
The robbery at the Pioneer Avenue store occurred just before 7:30 p.m., according to a Woodland police press release. After using a firearm to steal an undisclosed amount of cash, the suspect ran to a late 80s, gray or light blue Toyota pickup with an extended cab, the release states.
The suspect fled northbound on Pioneer. Officers attempted to find him but were unsuccessful, according to the release.
Police said that an Occupy Sacramento protester was cited for spitting in the face of a fellow protester.
Police said that about 11 p.m. Sunday two Occupy Sacramento demonstrators got into an argument in the vicinity of Ninth and I streets. One of the protesters, Judah Hartley, allegedly spat at a 24-year-old man who later told police he wanted to sign a citizen's arrest.
There have been ongoing problems between Hartley and other Occupy Sacramento protesters, according to a daily police activity log. Hartley was cited and released.
The wife of the Rio Linda pastor accused of child molestation told a Sacramento Superior Court jury today that she believes her husband is innocent.
Brenda Daniels testified that if she thought her husband Tom had molested any children, "I'd take the kids out of the house and I'd call police, because it's not OK."
Tom Daniels, 49, is facing 12 counts involving five children in incidents that prosecutors say took place in 2003 to 2005 in a day care/foster care home his wife ran in Citrus Heights.
Under questioning from defense attorney Michael L. Chastaine, Brenda Daniels said one of the alleged victims reported an accusation about her husband to her. Daniels, a "mandatory reporter" who is required to forward such allegations to police, said she didn't because "I didn't believe her."
When Deputy District Attorney Kimberly Macy pressed Daniels on her failure to report the allegations, the witness said, "I've known Tom since I was 13-years-old. He never showed any signs of being a molester."
The trial recessed at the noon break until Tuesday. Brenda Daniels is scheduled to resume her testimony then.
Police say they suspect alcohol played a role Sunday night when an SUV ran into a mobile home in Woodland.
The crash occurred about 10 p.m. when the sport utility vehicle struck the mobile home in the 900 block of Bourn Drive. The SUV also appeared to have hit the south sound wall along East Gum Avenue.
Nobody inside the home was hurt. However, the SUV's driver and her passenger suffered cuts and bruises.
The accident is under investigation.
Authorities are asking neighbors to watch out for vandals, thieves and arsonists on school campuses during the Thanksgiving break, which for many schools begins today and continues all week.
"Most of our schools are surrounded by homes, and we need those neighbors to join us in protecting these valuable and sometimes vulnerable community centers," said Sacramento Police Lt. Katherine Lester, head of the Sacramento City Unified School District's security services.
The district notes that theft of copper from heating and cooling systems is especially costly to school districts.
Sacramento City Unified security can be called 24 hours a day at (916) 643-7444.
By Whitney Mountain
wmountain@sacbee.com
Four people were arrested near Redding on Sunday morning after one man allegedly stole a firefighter's vehicle from a fire station.
Sgt. Mike Thomas of the Redding Police Department said police have already linked the suspects to more than a dozen crimes.
"They were on quite the crime spree," he said.
The suspects were nabbed in a joint operation between Anderson and Redding police.
By Tony Bizjak
tbizjak@sacbee.com
Two men were critically injured in a shooting incident early Sunday downtown, Sacramento police said.
The shooting took place just before 2 a.m. in the 900 block of 3rd Street, near J Street. Police said the victims' injuries were not believed to be life threatening. Both were shot in the upper body.
Police units responded to the scene and arrested a suspect a few blocks away. The 23-year-old suspect had left the scene running, police said. Officers said they saw him dump a gun while fleeing. Police have not released names of the persons involved.
A man was arrested at Sacramento International Airport Saturday after routine X-ray screening revealed a loaded handgun in his carry-on, Transportation Security Administration officials said.
The man, booked on a Southwest flight to Tampa, told security he forgot the unregistered .40-caliber Glock G23 was in his bag.
There were 10 rounds of ammunition with the weapon.
A taxi driver trying to collect his fare was assaulted by a passenger Friday afternoon, but managed to avoid having the attacker take his wallet, according to the Sacramento Police Department activity log.
The passenger took the cab to the 5500 block of Mack Road at about 3:20 p.m.
On arrival, he got out and attempted to walk away without paying.
A pizza driver delivering to Del Paso Heights was assaulted and robbed at about 2 a.m. this morning.
Police were called to the 3700 block of Clay Street after the driver was held up at gunpoint by multiple assailants.
Suspects not only took the victim's money, but escaped in his car after taking his keys and the pizza, as well.
Sacramento police are looking for a pair of suspects who they believe robbed three people at gunpoint in two incidents Friday.
In the first incident, a man and woman were walking near 59th Street and Broadway at about 6 p.m. when two men robbed them.
The assailants then fled in a dark-colored sedan.
A 19-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide in what Woodland police characterized as a gang-related assault.
Officers were dispatched at 2:14 p.m. Thursday to the county Department of Employment and Social Services at 25 N. Cottonwood St. regarding a report that a man was being assaulted by several people.
Police found the victim, a Woodland resident, inside the building. Medical personnel transported the man to Woodland Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The three men convicted of murdering Natomas High School assistant football coach Salvador Heredia-Arriaga during an apartment robbery last year were each sentenced today to life in prison with no chance of parole.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette imposed the terms of Dejohn Wayne Murray, now 19, Maurice Edward Reed, 21, and Kenneth Oliver Owens Jr. 24, for the March 26, 2010, shooting death of the 26-year-old victim in an apartment on River Plaza Drive in South Natomas.
"The three of you are an aberration," Marlette told the three defendants. "You are so far out of the norm you're not going to walk with free people again."
Friends and relatives of Heredia-Arriago described him at the sentencing hearing as a passionate law student as well as a coach and substitute teacher who would have gone out of his way to help the three people convicted of his murder.
"My brother never brought harm to another individual and was a stand-up guy," his brother, Richard Heredia-Arriaga, a graduate student at USC, told a packed courtroom before the judge sentenced the three defendants.
Salvador Heredia-Arriaga was shot and killed when he walked into a robbery after going to visit two of his friends in their apartment.
By Rick Daysog
rdaysog@sacbee.com
Federal prosecutors have obtained nine more indictments in connection with an alleged mortgage fraud ring that took nearly $16 million from several lenders.
A federal grand jury on Thursday issued mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering charges against members of a family that allegedly submitted phony loan documents to purchase homes that later went into foreclosure.
Those charged include Rio Linda residents Irina Markevich, 26; Alex Markevich, 36; Sergey Pukhkan, 50; and Marina Pukhkan, 49.
A man was arrested for filing a false police report after he called police to report he heard 15 to 20 gunshots fired and saw multiple people down in the Richards Boulevard area Thursday evening.
As it turns out, the man wanted quick response and help mediating a verbal argument. He got it: 10 police cars and the police helicopter responded to the call, said Sgt. Andrew Pettit, a spokesman for the Sacramento Police Department.
The caller, Howie Brown, 41, was booked into Sacramento County's Jail late Thursday and released Friday.
"You talk about a drain on resources," Pettit said.
The body of a man found floating in Lake Natoma has been identified by the Sacramento County Coroner's office.
The body of Kristopher Crisalli, 35, of Folsom, was found about the 11 a.m. Thursday upstream from Nimbus Flat, near the Iron Point Road access to the lake.
A kayaker used a rope to recover the body and then called police. Folsom police said that Crisalli has been missing since Nov. 9 when he left his School Street home on a bike.
He was considered an "at risk" missing person. Police said the body appeared to have been in the water for days.
A Sacramento Superior Court jury convicted Andrey Bernik today of second-degree murder for the April 12, 2006, shooting death of Yury Dovgan after a massive fight in the parking lot of Carl's Jr. on Watt Avenue at Antelope Road.
Judge Troy L. Nunley scheduled the sentencing on the 34-year-old defendant for Jan. 27.
According to testimony at trial, Dovgan, 19, and Bernik were both on the same side and drove together to the fight that was prompted by a business dispute involving the defendant's father. During the melee that involved as many as 30 people, Bernik fired the shot that fatally wounded Dovgan, authorities said.
A man died from injuries suffered when he jumped on Thursday from an elevated portion of Highway 50 onto Folsom Boulevard near Sacramento State.
A Sacramento police activity summary said the man was running in traffic and throwing rocks at vehicles about 3 p.m. Thursday. He then jumped from Highway 50 near State University Drive where the highway crosses over Folsom Boulevard.
No further information was immediately available.
Changes in deputy shifts have allowed the El Dorado Sheriff's Office to add to its Special Enforcement Detail, which handles duties that deputies can't because of call demand.
"They run from call to call," said Lt. Bryan Golmitz, speaking of the regular shift deputies.
The enforcement detail will come into an area, "when we start to see a trend," Golmitz said.
For example, handling ongoing calls would not allow deputies to stake out an auto burglary hot spot, he said.
A woman died in a two-vehicle crash last night in the Robla area.
Sacramento police said that the collision occurred at Dry Creek Road and Pinedale Avenue about 10:30 p.m. Two people in each car suffered injuries, including a young woman who later died, according to the Sacramento County Coroner's Office.
Coroner's deputies identified her as Olga Kuznetsova, 20, of Sacramento.
One vehicle was southbound on Dry Creek Road and another traveling northbound. The collision occurred when the northbound vehicle, in which Kuznetsova was a passenger, made a left turn in front of the southbound vehicle, police said.
Sacramento police are investigating the death of a 23-year-old man stabbed in the early morning hours over the weekend at a downtown parking garage.
Coroner's deputies identified the man as Vanthoeun Som of Sacramento.
Police said that officers were hailed regarding a fight that had just happened at a 14th and K parking garage about 1:45 a.m. on Sunday. Police responded to the scene and found three stabbing victims.
Som, one of the stabbing victims, died Thursday morning from his injuries.
Police said the motive for the confrontation between suspects and the victims is not known. Two suspects fled the scene, but police had little description of the pair.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Alert at (916) 443-4357. Tipsters may remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward up to $1,000.
The Sacramento County Coroner's office has released the name of the young man killed last night in the Hagginwood area.
He was identified as Javier Ruiz, 22, of Sacramento.
Ruiz was shot and killed and two others were wounded near Los Robles Boulevard and High Street in the Hagginwood area, said Sgt. Andrew Pettit, police spokesman.
The call came in at 6:05 p.m. Thursday from the 1300 block of Los Robles Boulevard.
The two victims who were injured suffered non-life-threatening injuries, Pettit said.
Last night, the victims had not given police a suspect description, he said.
Lodi police on Thursday arrested a 14-year-old suspect in a fatal shooting and charged him with murder and a gang enhancement.
Police did not identify the teen because of his age.
Investigators are searching for another suspect, Jorge Rodriguez, 18, in connection with the shooting, said Lodi Police Sgt. David Griffin.
The shooting happened Wednesday a few blocks from downtown Lodi, near Pine Street and Central Avenue.
Police identified the murder victim as Shedley Frazier Jr., 20 of Lodi.
They suspect the shooting was gang related.
-- Hudson Sangree
Sacramento Police Department officers are responding to a double shooting Thursday night in the Valley Hi area.
Officers responded at about 9:30 p.m. to the 8200 block of Arroyo Vista Drive near Methodist Hospital.
A female victim found in the back yard was shot once in the chest, according to initial reports. A second victim was also shot and found in the living room.
Emergency crews were responding.
Sacramento Police detectives are investigating a homicide and multiple shootings that occurred about 6 p.m. in the city's north area.
A man was shot and killed and two others were wounded near Los Robles Boulevard and High Street in the Hagginwood area, said Sgt. Andrew Pettit, police spokesman. Investigators are on the scene.
The call came in at 6:05 p.m. from the 1300 block of Los Robles Boulevard, he said.
California State Parks officials and Folsom police are investigating after a man's body was found floating in Lake Natoma this morning.
Rich Preston, acting superintendent of the Folsom State Lake Recreation Area, said a kayaker found the body about 11 a.m. upstream of Nimbus Flat, near the Iron Point Road access to the lake.
Officer Sharon Blackburn, spokeswoman for the Folsom Police Department, said the kayaker used a rope to tow the body to shore and then called police.
Three people suspected of involvement in a counterfeiting ring were arrested early this morning in Rocklin.
Rocklin Police Lt. Terry Roide said the department has handled more than 20 counterfeit check cases in the last three months, and neighboring jurisdictions have been affected as well. Rocklin investigators have been working with the Sacramento Valley High Technology Task Force to identify individuals in what Roide characterized as a large-scale counterfeit operation.
In most cases, he said, the counterfeiters appear to have approached someone on the street and quickly prepared a counterfeit check for the individual to cash. Many of the checks were for business accounts and written for typical of those for payroll checks.
The prosecution completed its case today against a Baptist pastor accused of child molestation by calling an expert witness who cited studies that he said undermined some publicly held "distortions" of child sexual abuse.
Anthony J. Urquiza, director of the UC Davis Medical Center's CAARE Diagnostic and Treatment Center for abused and neglected children, said it is common for children to keep their victimization secret. He said they also feel helpless about their molestation and entrapped by it. He testified it is not uncommon for them to delay reporting sexual molestation or maybe even retract their allegations after they make them.
Urquiza testified in the case of Tommy Gene Daniels, 49, the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Rio LInda. Five girls have testified in the trial that they were molested by Daniels while receiving foster care and day care services in his Citrus Heights home.
On cross-examination by defense attorney Michael L. Chastaine, Urquiza said it also is extremely rare for children to fabricate allegations of sexual abuse. He said studies have shown that only 1 percent to 6 percent of child sexual abuse allegations made to law enforcement turn out to be false.
Chastaine began his case today by calling a girl who lived in the Daniels home nine years ago. She said nothing sexually inappropriate ever happened to her there. The girl's mother also testified on Daniels' behalf, saying her daughter benefited from her stay in the home.
Daniels will testify in his own defense, Chastaine said in an interview.
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Activities League is looking for donations of frozen turkeys to provide for teens who participate in their Friday night basketball program and their families.
Youths can compete in a 3-point competition this Friday night to win a frozen turkey for their families. However, the goal is to give a turkey to every eligible kid who shows up, said Sacramento County sheriff's Deputy Cary Trzcinski, who leads the program.
The SAL was created about six months ago as a way to build relationships between law enforcement and youths in the communities they serve, Trzcinski said. The league's primary activity is an "open gym" basketball session held most Friday nights in Oak Park.
Homicide detectives have arrested a fugitive in the brutal killing eight years ago of a man whose body was found in the south area.
In September 2003, police made two arrests in the murder of Andrey Tsurkanu, 23, who was found dead along Unsworth Avenue near Florin Perkins Road. He had been beaten, pistol-whipped and stabbed.
Detectives arrested Gagik Karapetyan and Ararat Manukyan on suspicion of homicide.
Gagik Karapetyan was convicted of murder and sentenced to 15 years to life, according to online court records. Manukyan pleaded no contest to being an accessory to a crime and was sentenced to a year in jail and four years probation, records show.
Since then, police have been looking for looking for Karapetyan's sons, Daniel Karapetyan and Yegizar Karapetyan both young men at the time.
Investigators said in 2003 that Tsurkanu was involved in a quarrel with several people at Lucky Sales/A Saturday Auto Auction, 8588 Unsworth Ave., that may have been about disrespect, police said.
Investigators learned that the brothers fled the country. Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation traced the suspects to various countries.
Daniel Karapetyan was believed to have lived in Armenia before moving on to Russia, France and Belgium, police said today. FBI agents were contacted by Belgium authorities when he was arrested on unrelated charges.
The FBI extradited him to the United States and custody was transferred to Sacramento police detectives on Wednesday. The final suspect, his brother Yegizar, remains at large.
PHOTO CREDIT: Daniel Karapetyan/Sacramento police
A pedestrian was struck and killed by a motorcycle last night on Norwood Avenue in Sacramento.
Sacramento police said that they were called about 6 p.m. Wednesday to the scene of the crash just north of the Interstate 80 overpass. Police said the man in his 40s was attempting to cross Norwood Avenue between the Interstate 80 overpass and Jessie Avenue.
He was struck while walking in a northbound lane of Norwood by a man driving a motorcycle. The pedestrian was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The accident is under investigation. Police said the motorcyclist suffered mild to moderate injuries.
The California Highway Patrol is reminding motorists to buckle up before taking to the road.
The CHP will be paying particular attention to drivers and passengers who aren't wearing seat belts during a Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement campaign beginning Friday and continuing through the Thanksgiving weekend.
The minimum cost of an adult seat belt violation in California is $142, and up to $445 for not properly restraining a child younger than 16 years old. If the parent is not in the car, the driver is issued a ticket.
Categories: Amador County, El Dorado County, Placer County, Sacramento County, Sutter County, Yolo County
Four people have been arrested in connection with what Woodland police said appeared to be a gang-related drive-by shooting.
Officers were dispatched about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday regarding a report of shots fired in the 1300 block of Donnelly Circle. When they arrived, police found a white, four-door vehicle that had crashed into Gonzales Park.
Witnesses told officers that the car had been driven by a residence on Donnelly Circle and several male passengers leaned out and fired multiple gunshots at two male victims. Police said the rounds penetrated an occupied residence, but no one was injured.
Sacramento Fire Department investigators seek the public's help in identifying the people responsible for a series of fires at a North Sacramento restaurant.
Los Nopales Taqueria, at 2885 Norwood Ave., has been targeted at least three times over a four-month period, according to a Fire Department news release.
The fires were reported at 4:04 a.m. July 15, 2:32 a.m. Sept. 9 and 9:39 a.m. Nov. 4. Fire investigators have determined that two of the fires were deliberately set.
Anyone with information regarding the fires is asked to call the Sacramento Fire Department Arson Tip Line, (916) 808-8732, or Crime Alert, (800) 222-7463, or (916) 443-4357.
By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com
A Yolo County jury just sentenced Marco Antonio Topete to death for the murder with special circumstances of Yolo Sheriff's Deputy Jose Antonio Diaz.
The verdict was read aloud in Department 3 before Judge Paul K. Richardson.
Topete was convicted last month of first-degree murder in the Father's Day 2008 shooting of Diaz on on a dirt road near the rural town of Dunnigan.
Photo Caption: Marcos Antonio Topete, right, is escorted by a Yolo County Sheriff's Deputy from the Yolo County Superior Court after being given the death penalty. Photo by Lezlie Sterling
A Carmichael woman who walked away from her home on Tuesday has been found.
Susan Schrader, 69, left her Moraga Drive home on foot in the early morning hours on Tuesday. She had never been reported missing before and was considered at-risk due to a medical condition.
The Sacramento Sheriff's Department reported today that she has been located and is safe.
The Sacramento County Coroner's Department has released the name of a man hit and killed this morning on the Capital City freeway.
He was identifed as Richard Hicks, 29, of Elk Grove.
The California Highway Patrol said he crashed his car alongside the Capital City freeway and then ventured into the traffic lanes where he was struck and killed by an unmarked Ford Crown Victoria driven by a Sacramento police officer.
The incident occurred about 2 a.m. when Hicks, driving a Ford Mustang traveling eastbound between Arden Way and El Camino Avenue, lost control of his car and spun out, hitting the fence along the right shoulder.
The man got out of his car and was standing in a freeway lane when he was hit by the Sacramento police officer's car. The officer, who had been traveling at about 65 mph, saw Hicks walking within the lanes and swerved to the right to avoid a collision but Hicks moved into the vehicle's path.
The officer was not injured.
A man who provided private music instruction to children in the Sacramento area has been arrested on suspicion of possessing child pornography.
Robert Michael Broadfoot (pictured), 29, was taken into custody this morning by detectives assigned to the Sacramento Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
In August, Broadfoot was identified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Miami as someone who had received child pornography over the internet, according a Sacramento County Sheriff's Department news release.
By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com
A 33-year-old career burglar from Sacramento who won medical parole earlier this month has been returned to custody after his behavior in a long-term care facility made it clear that he no longer qualified for the new parole program, officials said today.
Peter Post, who was serving a 31-year sentence for first-degree burglary out of Sacramento County, became the first inmate under the new program to be returned to custody after officials determined his condition no longer made him qualified for the program, corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said.
Post won medical parole under a new state law on Nov. 3 and was sent to a long-term care facility in San Diego County. By Nov. 5, however, parole agents warned that Post had been making lewd gestures to nurses at the facility and two days later he was transferred to a secure facility where he will be guarded along with other ill inmates.
The second of two women found dead last week in a Sacramento apartment has been identified by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office as Linda Lockwood, 53, of Sacramento.
Lockwood and 24-year-old Meridith Lopresti were found dead Thursday night in an older apartment in the 2900 block of 26th Avenue.
The cause of death for both women is listed as undetermined on the Coroner's Office website, which indicates that homicide has been ruled out for the time being.
A man accused of shooting his wife and two sons to death has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Geoffrey A. Goodman made the finding last Thursday on Kouei Wang Saetern, 48. He is accused in the Nov. 8, 2010, shooting deaths of his wife, Chio Chong Saechao, 46, and their sons Jerry Wang Saetern, 22, and Vern Cheo Saetern, 19.
Saetern will now be placed in Napa State Hospital until he is able to understand the proceedings against him. Competency hearings will take place every three years until he is deemed fit to stand trial.
Attention Toyota owners: Roseville police say there has been a rash of catalytic converter thefts -- including a few at the mall.
The expensive emission control devices are being stolen from under Toyota pickups and sport utility vehicles. Among the recent thefts:
-- At the Galleria Mall, catalytic converter thefts were stolen from a few vehicles parked near Nordstrom about 5 p.m. Saturday. A man in an older red pickup truck was seen near one of the thefts.
-- In the 7600 block of Malta Drive in northern Roseville between midnight and 6 a.m. on Friday someone took the converter from a 1998 Toyota Tacoma pickup parked on the street.
-- At the Martha Riley Community Library on Pleasant Grove Boulevard in western Roseville between around 8 p.m. on Nov. 9 a thief removed a converter from a 1989 Toyota pickup.
Police advise parking high-profile Toyotas in the garage. If someone is spotted suspiciously looking at the undercarriage of a vehicle, call 911, police said.
Auburn police arrested a man in a grocery store suspected of breaking in and illegally shopping after-hours.
Police said they responded overnight to a burglar alarm call at a small grocery in the 600 block of Auburn Folsom Road. They found the front door of the business ajar and a security gate open.
While officers checked around the building, they spotted a man inside gathering items and carrying them around the store. Officers confronted and arrested him.
Kevin Scott Stovall Jr., 31, of Auburn was booked into Placer County Jail on suspicion of burglary.
PHOTO CREDIT: Kevin Scott Stovall/Auburn police
The Sacramento County Probation Department announced that it has been awarded a grant to step-up supervision of individuals repeatedly convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
The $360,000 grant awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety will help fund special probation supervision measures targeting high-risk, felony and repeat DUI offenders, according to a Probation Department news release.
"Over the past year, multiple probation home searches of repeat DUI offenders have resulted in the recovery of methamphetamines, a still producing 84 proof alcohol, a loaded handgun, a MAC-10 machine gun and ammunition, and the revocation of a dozen of mature marijuana plants," Chief Probation Officer Don L. Meyer said in a written statement.
A 20-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the death of his mother at a Foothill Farms apartment Saturday.
Angelo Wright (pictured) was taken into custody by Sacramento County sheriff's detectives about 1: 15 p.m. today. He was booked into Sacramento County Jail on suspicion of murder and is being held without bail, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.
Sheriff's deputies were called to the 5400 block of College Oak Drive about 5:20 p.m. Saturday regarding a woman found injured inside an apartment. Deputies found a woman who had suffered trauma to her upper body. She was later identified as Lisa Barber, 42, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are searching for a man who robbed a bank just before noon today on Foothills Boulevard in Roseville.
Officers were called to River City Bank, 4001 Foothills Blvd., at 11:52 a.m. regarding a robbery in which a man approached a bank employee and gave her a note demanding money, according to a Roseville Police Department news release. The robber implied that he had a gun, but police said no weapons were seen.
The bank employee gave the robber an undisclosed amount of cash, then left. No injuries were reported.
One of two women found dead Thursday night in a Sacramento apartment has been identified by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office as Meredith Lopresti, 24, of Sacramento.
A spokeswoman for the Coroner's Office said the name of the other woman, age 53, is still being withheld pending notification of family.
The cause of death for Lopresti is listed as undetermined. Homicide has been ruled out for the time being, the spokeswoman said.
Denny Walsh
A California corrections officer confessed Monday in Sacramento federal court to smuggling cell phones and tobacco into a Northern California prison in return for cash payments.
According to a written plea agreement, Bobby Joe Kirby received $15,635 in bribes via MoneyGram and Western Union from persons associated with inmates at the Lassen County facility between June 2010 and June 2011.
He pleaded guilty to depriving California of his honest services through the use of interstate wires.
Kirby, 53, and a resident of Reno, was a corrections officer at the California Correctional Center in Susanville. He was paid $66,849, including overtime, in 2010.
He was allowed to remain free Monday on a $25,000 unsecured bond pending sentencing Feb. 6 by U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb.
Two men were arrested Sunday night on suspicion of drug and parole violations after leading Woodland police on a pursuit that covered more than six miles.
The incident began about 6:42 p.m. when officers were dispatched to the 700 block of Sixth Street regarding a report that an individual with a gun was fleeing the area in a vehicle following an argument.
Upon arrival, a police K-9 officer spotted a vehicle quickly leaving the area and attempted to stop it on Fifth Street, between Pendegast and Cross streets, according to a Police Department news release. The driver led officers southwest through town on residential streets. Near the intersection of Pendegast and West streets, the occupants threw from the car items that officers later discovered were illegal drugs, officials said.
The Sacramento Police Department has arrested a 52-year-old man after receiving a complaint that he sent sexually explicit emails to a 14-year-old.
Phillip Colwell (pictured) is accused of unlawful communication with a minor, communicating with a child for the purposes of sexual contact and possession of child pornography.
Police received the complaint Oct. 17 from the child's parents and determined that Colwell knew of the child's age, according to a Police Department news release.
Posing as the 14-year-old, detectives continued contact with Colwell and set up a meeting with him. Officers and detectives followed him as he arrived at the meeting location under the pretense of engaging in sexual activity with a 14-year-old.
Colwell was taken into custody without incident. Officers found computer files with multiple images of child pornography in his possession, according to the news release.
Police believe there may be additional victims and urge anyone with information to call the Sexual Assaults Unit at (916) 808-0584 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-4357, or text a tip to 274637. Enter SACTIP followed by the Tip information. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
A robber in his 50s grabbed cash from a teller this morning and fled a Fair Oaks Boulevard bank.
The robber entered the Bank of the West, 2569 Fair Oaks Blvd., near Fulton Avenue, about 9:15 a.m. Monday and walked up to a teller window. He then grabbed a wad of cash that a teller was counting and took off.
"This is a robbery," he said. "If you move or do anything I will shoot you."
By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com
The man who allegedly shot a California Highway Patrol officer before being fatally shot by an Elk Grove police officer was licensed by the state as a security guard, according to state records available online.
Sacramento County Sheriff's officials today said Richard Bernard Bisbee, 68, was a man whose life seemed to be spiraling out of control to the point that he was potentially suicidal.
At an afternoon press conference, Sgt. Jim Barnes, head of Sacramento County Sheriff's homicide division, said his department is still trying to determine why Bisbee shot the CHP officer, but "It looks like there might have been some sort of emotional breakdown."
He said officials have an undated letter by Bisbee that they described as possibly being a suicide note.
"His life was starting to unfold, and he didn't know how to get out of it," Barnes said, explaining that interviews with friends and family of Bisbee revealed a man who wasn't close to family and who kept to himself.
Sheriff Scott Jones said Bisbee applied for and was issued a permit to carry a concealed weapon in May 2010, during the term of Jones' predecessor, John McGinness.
Bisbee also had a state-issued license to carry a firearm on duty, as well as a permit to carry a baton, Bureau of Security and Investigative Services records show.
Bisbee's three permits were current, and online records show no actions against Bisbee by the state.
A 12-year-old girl testified today that Rio Linda Baptist preacher Tommy Gene Daniels molested her six years ago at his Citrus Heights home that also served as his wife's day care center.
The girl said she was taking a nap in a bedroom at the Daniels' residence when "Tom...tried to wake me up by touching me inappropriately."
She is one of five victims prosecutors intend to bring to the stand in the trial against Daniels, 49, the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Rio Linda.
By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com
Duewa Lee, the 35-year-old woman suspected of torturing her boyfriend's 12-year-old daughter after he went off to prison over the summer, made another brief court appearance today as the girl's family members said the victim is recovering with a foster family and is back in school.
"She's doing better than everybody expected," the girl's uncle, Melvin Smith, said after the court hearing. "You don't see scars on her hand or her face."
Smith and other family members were allowed to see the girl two weeks ago for an hour during a visit supervised by Child Protective Services, which took custody of the girl after she escaped her alleged abuser. The girl's grandmother, who is seeking custody, has another meeting scheduled with her today, family members said.
By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com
A Yolo Superior Court judge today dismissed a juror from death penalty deliberations in a cop-killing trial because he found her language skills to be lacking.
The woman was one of 12 jurors who last month swiflty convicted defendant Marco Antonio Topete of the first-degree murder of Yolo Sheriff's Deputy Jose Antonio Diaz in June 2008.
On Thursday, the woman, identified only as juror number 11 sent a note to Judge Paul Richardson saying she had been raised in a foreign country and was unable to see the death penalty phase from an American perspective. She worried she was "dragging others juries down." She asked to be replaced with an alternate juror.
The Sacramento County Coroner's Department has released the name of a woman killed in her College Oak Drive apartment over the weekend.
She was identified as Lisa Marie Barber, 42, of Sacramento.
The search goes on for a suspect wanted in her death. Detectives said they are seeking the public's health in finding Angelo Wright, 20, said spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.
By Loretta Kalb
A California Highway Patrol officer was shot and a suspect was killed Sunday evening in a shooting on Highway 99 just south of Elk Grove Boulevard, officials said.
The suspect was shot and killed by Elk Grove police who responded to the incident around 5:30 p.m., officials said.
The unidentified CHP officer was taken to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in South Sacramento, where he was in surgery for wounds that did not appear to be life threatening, CHP Officer Mike Bradley said. Hospital spokesman Edwin Garcia said the officer was in critical condition.
By Whitney Mountain
Sacramento police have arrested a second suspect in an assault on a woman last month that was caught on a video that went viral on the Internet.
Police said Donnell Wade, 19, was taken into custody without incident at around midnight Saturday near Omaha Court and Seyferth Way in South Sacramento after officers responding to an unrelated weapons call saw him fleeing. Wade was booked Sunday at Sacramento County jail on a charge of felony battery in lieu of $100,000 bail.
A warrant for Wade's arrest was issued after he and Rasaan Zawadi, 21, were suspected of attacking a 42-year-old woman at midday Oct. 1 near Center Parkway and Mack Road. Zawadi was arrested Oct. 13 in an unrelated incident on suspicion of assault with gang enhancement.
The Sacramento Police Department asks anyone with information about Wade to contact Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP (4357) or text in a tip to 274637 (CRIMES). Enter SACTIP followed by the tip information. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
Sheriff's Homicide detectives have identified a suspect in the slaying death of a woman whose body was found in her apartment Saturday evening.
Detectives said they are seeking the public's health in finding Angelo Wright, 20, spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos reported today.
Sheriff's deputies found the woman's body after responding to a call at about 5:20 p.m. at the 5400 block of College Oak Drive in north Sacramento.
A panhandler at the busy freeway off ramp at 16th and W streets was beaten and robbed by two other panhandlers who said he was occupying "their spot," according to the Sacramento Police Department.
The victim, who was not identified, was panhandling at the ramp around 5:45 p.m. Friday when two men confronted him, the police activity log reported.
The men then assaulted him and stole his wallet and cash.
An 18-year-old man has been arrested after gunshots were fired at a home in the 900 block of Lincoln Avenue in Woodland on Thursday night.
Woodland police responded about 10:30 p.m. to a report of shots fired and discovered that several gunshots had been fired at an occupied residence. The occupants, all adults, were not injured.
Detectives arrived at the residence about 12:30 a.m. to assist in the investigation and learned that the suspects in the shooting were driving a white minivan with brown trim, according to a Police Department news release. While officers and detectives were still at the scene, a van matching the description drove by the residence.
A woman who died following a Monday morning collision on Interstate 5 in Sacramento has been identified by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office as Carol Marie Kennon, 65, of Elk Grove.
California Highway Patrol spokeswoman Officer Lizz Dutton said Kennon was a passenger in a red Corvette that was southbound in the far left lane of I-5 near Garden Highway about 9:45 a.m. A big rig truck and another passenger vehicle were traveling in lanes to the right of the Corvette, when, witnesses said, the Corvette began weaving and the driver lost control.
The Corvette traveled into the adjoining lane, where it was broadsided on the passenger side by the big rig, then clipped by the other passenger vehicle. All three vehicles went out of control and traveled off the freeway onto the Garden Highway offramp, Dutton said.
West Sacramento fire officials were unable to identify the cause of an odor that sent one person to the hospital early this afternoon.
Acting Battalion Chief Scott Pfeifer said that about noon, employees of businesses in an industrial park area along Riverside Parkway and Reed Avenue reported an ammonia-like smell that caused some people to complain of respiratory problems.
When firefighters arrived, the odor had dissipated. Pfeifer said fire crews spent about an hour contacting businesses in the area but were unable to locate the source of the odor.
He said an employee of one area business was taken to a hospital after complaining of feeling ill.
Missing teen Sergio Jimenez was found last night in Yuba City, according to the Yuba City police department.
Sacramento police directed any calls on exactly where Jimenez was found and where he has been staying for more than a week to Yuba City police. A Yuba City police spokesman was not immediately available.
Sacramento police officials announced Thursday that they had reclassified the missing 17-year-old Natomas youth as a runaway after a family member encountered him in a Yuba City Walmart store Wednesday.
Sergio Jimenez was reported missing by family members Nov. 2, after he failed to return home from Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep High School, where he is a senior. Since then, hundreds of volunteers along with officers and detectives from the Sacramento Police Department have searched the area around the school, including a nearby canal.
On Wednesday, a family member saw Jimenez in a Walmart store in Yuba City and had a brief conversation with the youth about why he was in the community, according to a Sacramento Police Department news release. Jimenez said he was visiting, then walked away. The family member was in a powered wheelchair and was unable to follow the teenager.
Jimenez's aunt in Sacramento was immediately notified and called police. Officers retrieved the video footage from Walmart for review. Jimenez's aunt was shown the footage and identified the youth as her nephew.
Officers and detectives searched the Yuba City area, specifically the shopping center where Jimenez was last seen.
The deaths of two women in South Sacramento remains a mystery this morning.
The women, one in her 50s, the other in her 20s, were found dead late Thursday night in a older apartment in the 2900 block of 26th Avenue.
Firefighters first suspected carbon monoxide poisoning, but a test of the premises was negative for the odorless gas. Firefighters called police to the scene and an investigation was conducted through the night.
Patrol officers did not see any trauma to the bodies of the women. Detectives were summoned and they concurred that there was no evidence that pointed to homicide.
However, detectives still want to talk with a citizen who called 911 and left the area. He is wanted by police to shed light on what he saw before calling 911.
"The coroner did not see any signs of trauma so the cause of death is pending an autopsy," said police spokesman Sgt. Andrew Pettit. "We are still not ruling out carbon monoxide."
A Sacramento woman pleaded guilty today in federal court to four counts of bank fraud and a single count of possessing stolen mail.
According to the plea agreement, Polly Ann Conner Bautista, 54, in 2008 took over the identity of postal customers that she found in stolen U.S. mail she had obtained. She used the false identities to obtain money, goods and services by fraud.
In the fall and winter of 2008, Bautista posed as other people to negotiate stolen checks with associated stolen identification information at numerous Sacramento County banks and businesses, according to a federal Department of Justice news release. On Dec. 12, 2008, law enforcement officers searched her residence and found a cache of stolen financial instruments, including checks, credit card account numbers and victims' personal identification information. They also found stolen U.S. mail belonging to further victims.
The Folsom Police Department announced that is has been awarded an $180,000 traffic safety grant for a yearlong program aimed a preventing deaths and injuries on the city's roadways.
The grant awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety will help fund equipment purchases and special traffic enforcement measures.
Grant-funded activities will specifically target speed and intersection violations that are the greatest contributors to injury collisions in the city, according to a Police Department news release.
Sacramento police officials announced that they have reclassified a missing 17-year-old Natomas youth as a runaway after a family member encountered him in a Yuba City Walmart store Wednesday.
Sergio Jimenez (pictured) was reported missing by family members Nov. 2, after he failed to return home from Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep High School, where he is a senior. Since then, hundreds of volunteers along with officers and detectives from the Sacramento Police Department have searched the area around the school, including a nearby canal.
On Wednesday, a family member saw Jimenez in a Walmart store in Yuba City and had a brief conversation with the youth about why he was in the community, according to a Sacramento Police Department news release. Jimenez said he was visiting, then walked away. The family member was in a powered wheelchair and was unable to follow the teenager.
Three Elk Grove men pleaded guilty today in federal court in Sacramento to mail fraud for a mortgage fraud scheme.
According to court documents, Glenn Watkins, 31, Kevin Watkins, 26, and Frederick Davis, 41, participated in a scheme allegedly orchestrated by co-defendant Jake Weathers, 35, also of Elk Grove, in which they changed their names to Muslim-sounding names to obtain new credit and to conceal poor credit histories and other liabilities.
For instance, Glenn Watkins legally changed his name to "Rasheed Khaleb" to fraudulently purchase two homes, according to a federal Department of Justice news release. Once the homes fell into foreclosure, he legally changed his name to "Jason Johnson."
A fire destroyed a motor home at an Orangevale church Thursday afternoon, according to a Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District spokesman.
The location, 9129 Central Ave., is listed as the address of Cornerstone Bible Church.
Assistant Chief Scott Cockrum said the fire caused some damage to the back of a portable church building.
The fire was caused by an unattended scented candle fueled by two five-gallon propane tanks, Cockrum said. There were no injuries, but the motor home was a total loss, said Cockrum, who said smoke from the fire could be seen for several miles.
By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com
Yolo Superior Court Judge Paul Richardson ordered jurors to stop deliberating Thursday on the sentencing fate of Marco Topete - convicted of the murder of Sheriff's Deputy Jose Antonio Diaz -
after a juror sent a note saying she was unable to agree with other jurors.
The panel has been deciding since Wednesday whether to sentence Topete to life without parole behind bars or the death penalty.
The unidentified juror said: "I have tried my best but now I see I am dragging other jurors down."
Two girls reported missing this morning from Hillsdale Elementary School in North Highlands have been found and reunited with their families.
Officer William Cho, a spokesman for the Twin Rivers Police Department, said the two fourth-graders were found at PFE and Walerga roads in Placer County. He said the girls apparently walked there from the school after being directed this morning to go from one classroom to another. When they failed to show up in the second classroom, school officials contacted police about 10:35 a.m.
Officers searched the schoolgrounds, as well as the surrounding neighborhood and area parks. They were assisted by a California Highway Patrol helicopter.
By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com
A Sacramento Superior Court jury today awarded three plaintiffs $73 million in damages in a negligence lawsuit against the Ford Motor Company over a church van crash seven years ago that killed two people and injured two more.
The awards included $50 million in punitive damages for what the jurors agreed was "despicable" conduct on the part of the automaker. The jury made its of "malice and oppression" over Ford's failure to warn its customers and dealers that it had a defective tire on its 15-passenger, E-350 Econonoline van that the plaintiffs charged was unsafe in its own right.
Sacramento police said that it appears that missing Natomas teen Sergio Jimenez is in the Yuba City area.
Pollice said Jimenez, 17, who has been missing for a week, was seen at a Walmart Wednesday night in Yuba City by a relative who then called the boy's aunt.
Sacramento police today showed store security video of the boy to the aunt who confirmed that it was her nephew.
A male passenger was cited after Transportation Security Administration officers found a loaded handgun in a carry-on bag Wednesday at Sacramento International Airport.
The passenger booked on Southwest Airlines flight 1119 to Orange County said he forgot the .22-caliber Smith and Wesson handgun was in his bag. The firearm contained five rounds of ammunition with one round in the chamber.
The weapon and ammunition were confiscated by Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies.
The chief for the embattled Twin Rivers Unified School District police force has been placed on administrative leave.
Christopher Breck, who has been chief since spring 2008, was placed on leave on Wednesday. A police department spokesman said he could not provide any more information because the matter is a personnel issue.
Breck was placed on leave the same day it was learned that the police force would curtail traffic stops and vehicle tows. The policy change comes after a rocky few weeks for the department.
A wreck on Highway 99 on Wednesday appears to have been caused by a driver misjudging the approach of an oncoming vehicle, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The accident occurred just before the commute hour between Yuba City and Sacramento and slowed traffic about 15 miles north of Sacramento.
A driver of a pickup traveling southbound on Highway 99 about 3:30 p.m. began a left turn to eastbound Sankey Road in front of a van headed northbound on Highway 99.
Sacramento County Sheriff's Department homicide detectives would like to speak to the occupants of a vehicle who may have witnessed a fatal shooting at Watt and Marconi avenues Monday night.
Sheriff's officials said the vehicle is not believed to be associated with the shooting, and the occupants are sought as possible witnesses, not suspects.
About 7:15 p.m. Monday, deputies responded to calls reporting shots fired in the parking lot of a Raley's supermarket at Watt and Marconi avenues. When they arrived, deputies found a man, later identified as Clark Walker, 34, with two gunshot wounds to his upper body. Walker died at the scene.
By Melody Gutierrez
mgutierrez@sacbee.com
In the face of public pressure, the Twin Rivers Unified School District police department will rein in traffic stops and vehicle tows, The Bee has learned.
School district officials told The Bee on Wednesday that they will narrow the focus of the police department to allow for more concentration on school sites and officer safety.
The police force's new traffic policy will be to only stop vehicles when there is a threat to the public, such as speeding, reckless driving or failure to stop at a stoplight or stop sign.
A man convicted of the 1983 murder of his girlfriend's 22-month-old son will stay in prison for at least three more years.
The Yolo County District Attorney's Office announced that a panel of two Board of Parole Hearing commissioners made the decision Tuesday.
Last year, the board granted Christopher Fowler parole but was reversed by Gov. Jerry Brown on April 7 of this year. Tuesday's parole hearing took place at California Training Facility in Soledad, where Fowler is in prison.
An Elk Grove home caught fire today after a resident fell asleep with a candle burning on her dresser, according to authorities.
That resident, another occupant and their four dogs escaped safely from the fire on the 9500 block of South Coast Lane, according to a news release from the Cosumnes Community Services District. One resident checked for smoke inhalation.
After the resident fell asleep in a bedroom, the candle apparently ignited other materials on the dresser. There was no smoke detector in the room, the release states.
The resident awoke to see flames and tried to extinguish them before dialing 911.
The Sacramento District Attorney's Office dismissed murder charges today against one of two defendants in the Feb. 8, 2010, sex killing of a 17-year-old girl in Van Maren Park in Citrus Heights.
Tyler Espinoza, now 19, had been accused along with co-defendant Anton Adolf Johnson, 20, in the beating death of Rebecca Renee Layson. Johnson still faces charges in the case. His preliminary hearing is scheduled to continue Tuesday in Sacramento Superior Court.
A D.A.'s press release said Espinoza, who was Layson's boyfriend, had initially made "several incriminating statements" when he spoke with investigators. Authorities later confirmed he was "highly intoxicated" the night of the killing, had blacked out and "just started filling in the facts and lying to detectives," the press release said.
A candlelight vigil will be held Thursday evening for a 17-year-old Natomas youth who has been missing for a week.
Sacramento City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby and the family of Sergio Jimenez will sponsor the gathering from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Peregrine Park, 3031 Guadalajara Way in North Natomas.
Sacramento police this afternoon searched a drainage canal near Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep High School on Del Paso Road for any signs of the high school senior or his belongings. Police Department spokesman Sgt. Andrew Pettit said there is no evidence at this point that Jimenez (pictured) is the victim of foul play. But family members say the youth has no history of running away.
By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com
A 22-year-old man faces four years in prison after a Sacramento County jury convicted him Tuesday of attempting kidnapping and battery of an elder, according to the District Attorney's office.
The convictions stem from a July 2011 attack on an 80-year-old woman who was walking in her River Park neighborhood about 10:30 p.m. Waigwa followed her for three blocks, then grabbed her and stifled her screams with his hands, according to a news release from the DA.
Waigwa took the woman across the street to Caleb Greenwood Elementary. A woman driving by saw the struggle and pulled over to help, the release states. The woman got the victim into her car and then called 911 while following Waigwa as he fled into the neighborhood.
By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com
A Sacramento County jury convicted a 45-year-old man today of forcible oral copulation, rape sodomy and kidnapping to commit rape, according to the District Attorney's office.
Jurors also found true allegations of kidnapping and attacks against multiple victims by Charles Wayne Dempsey, the DA's office said in a news release.
Already convicted of raping four women in Texas, Dempsey then raped two women in Sacramento County in September 2000, the release states. The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and the DA's Crime Lab were able to make a connection to the Texas rapes through DNA and identified Dempsey as the suspect.
Dempsey is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 2. He faces up to 175 years to life in prison.
The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District is reminding residents of the requirement to install carbon monoxide monitors in single-family homes after two people at a Fair Oaks residence were taken to the hospital this morning possibly suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.
At 11:30 a.m., fire district crews were called to the 4000 block of Quail Meadow Way regarding a report that a man was unconscious and a second individual was complaining of a headache in a home. The caller said he believed the medical problems may have resulted form carbon monoxide poisoning.
Fire crews arrived to find a gas-powered electrical generator operating in an enclosed attached garage, according to a fire district news release. Using air monitors, they found elevated levels of carbon monoxide inside the house. Both the occupants were taken to the hospital for further evaluation.
Carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas produced from incomplete burning of carbon-based materials such as wood or gas. If undetected, it can cause illness and death.
The whilstleblower who unearthed what prosecutors have since described as a kickback scheme in the city-county library authority testified today that the system's former director "reacted badly" when first told about the alleged improprieties.
Diana Boerman, a senior accounts payable technician for the library authority, said she first shared her suspicions with former library director Anne Marie Gold in October 2005 on the suggestion of one of her union representatives.
"Ms. Gold reacted badly," Boerman told a Sacramento Superior Court jury, under questioning for Deputy District Attorney Mike Blazina. "She threw her hands up in my face and said she didn't want to hear anything about it."
Fire investigators say they can't rule out that a water heater was the cause of the fire at two Citrus Heights busineses on Monday.
The water heater, located in a storage area at the back of the building, could not be eliminated as the cause of the fire that heavily damaged a Tuesday Morning store and the Hoss Lee Salon Academy.
Additional scientific testing needs to be completed to tie down the exact cause. An estimated $2 million in damage was sustained to building and contents.
Lodi has picked a 51-year-old Arizona man to be their next fire chief.
Larry Rooney, a deputy chief for the Peoria, Ariz., Fire Department will be Lodi's next chief if his contract is approved by the City Council on Nov. 16. He succeeds interim chief Dan Haverty, who has served Lodi's fire department since May after the retirement of Kevin Donnelly.
Rooney is scheduled to begin his duties in January. He will be paid $145,000 a year.
Rooney has worked for Peoria since 1984, beginning as a firefighter. He served as president of the Arizona Fire Chiefs Association from 2008-11.
By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com
Residents will have an opportunity to meet Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones one-on-one during a Monday event in Rancho Cordova.
The "Sheriff's Chat" will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Larry Canfield Community Room of the Rancho Cordova Police Department headquarters, 2897 Kilgore Road in Ranch Cordova.
Those who attend will have a chance to ask questions or raise concerns with Jones on a first-come, first-served basis, as time permits, according to the Sheriff's Department.
The Sheriff's Department provides police services to the city of Rancho Cordova through a contract, so Jones can also answer questions or address issues related to the Rancho Cordova Police Department as well as the Sheriff's Department.
The City of Folsom is offering a $500 bounty to catch thieves who steal copper and other city property.
"Copper wire theft from light poles cost the city about $110,000 in the past two years," said Lorraine Poggione, municipal landscape services manager.
In addition, she said, replacing brass drain covers, brass sign lettering, whole signs, plaques and art has cost nearly $30,000 during the same time period.
Other theft of city property has included playground equipment, tools and vehicle parts.
The CHP said they have arrested the driver of a big rig whose truck overturned in Colusa County, killing a passenger.
The California Highway Patrol said Fernando Martinez, 39, of Williams, Colusa County, driving northbound Sunday night on old Highway 99W south of Arbuckle towing two bottom dump grain trailers when his truck drifted onto the right shoulder.
The truck rolled, ejecting passenger Luis Rodriguez, 39, of College City, Colusa County. He was flown to the hospital where died from his injuries.
Two arrests of Occupy Sacramento protestors were made early this morning outside the old City Hall in downtown.
The protestors were arrested about 4 a.m. Both were using sleeping bags, one preparing to stay through the night on the grass and the other on the sidewalk, police said.
The old City Hall is just across I Street from Cesar Chavez Plaza where campers have pitched tents for weeks now.
A man sought by Auburn police for allegedly selling a borrowed car on Craigslist has been located.
Investigators identified Jeffery Cerniglia, 29, as the suspect and discovered that he was already in Placer County Jail on unrelated charges, according to an Auburn Police Department news release.
Police said a 55-year-old woman on Oct. 6 loaned her car to an acquaintance who said his name was Jeff Keller, or Kellar.
The Sacramento County Coroner's office has identified the man shot to death in a Raley's parking lot Monday night as 34-year-old Clark Lamonza Walker.
Walker was found shot to death in the lot, located at Watt and Marconi avenues, about 7:15 p.m. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
One witness told Sacramento County sheriff's deputies that light-colored pickup truck sped from the scene after the shooting, said spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos. No further description is available, and Ramos said detectives are still looking for witnesses to the shooting.
Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call the Sheriff's Department at (916) 874-5115 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP.
Folsom police have released a sketch of a man suspected of sexual battery near a Folsom apartment complex in September.
The afternoon of Sept. 1, a teenaged girl was walking on a bike trail behind a Blue Ravine Road apartment complex when an unknown man approached her, tried to engage her in conversation and then grabbed her breast, said Folsom police Sgt. Jason Browning.
The girl ran to Folsom Middle School, where she asked for help, Browning said. School officials then contacted police.
A Sacramento Superior Court jury today convicted Donald Joseph Fernandes of first-degree murder in the Jan. 24, 2010, hammer attack on his girlfriend, Karen Ann Curtin. It took the panel four and a half hours of deliberations to reach a verdict.
Judge David De Alba scheduled Fernandes' sentencing for Dec.16. He faces a 25-to-life term.
According to evidence at his trial, Fernandes, now 37, struck Curtin, 50, ten times in the head with the hammer. Fernandes testified that Curtin came after him with the hammer during an argument the morning of the assault, but that he blacked out and could not recall beating her.
That car doing 100 mph on the Capital City freeway Monday afternoon was full of suspected burglars and their loot, according to sheriff's deputies.
Two young men and two 16 year olds inside the car were eventually taken into custody after the driver lost control with a deputy in hot pursuit. In the car, deputies found two televisions, a guitar and other items taken in residential burglaries.
The incident began about 1:30 p.m. Monday when the sheriff's department got a call about a home burglary in the 3800 block of Dell Road. The burglars were said to have left the scene in a blue Toyota sedan, a car similar to one used by burglars in another break-in earlier Monday.
By Cathy Locke and Bill Lindelof
clocke@sacbee.com
Sacramento County Sheriff's Department deputies have canvassed an Arden Arcade neighborhood as part of an investigation into the fatal shooting of a man Monday evening in a supermarket parking lot.
Sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos said deputies responded at 7:18 p.m. Monday to a report of shots fired with a man down in the Raley's supermarket parking lot at the southeast corner of Watt and Marconi avenues.
He said deputies arrived within a couple of minutes and found an African American man, who appeared to be in his 30s, face down in a parking stall. He had suffered two gunshot wounds to his upper body and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
The Sacramento Police Department continues to search for a 17-year-old boy who has been missing since last week.
Police seek the community's help in locating Sergio Jimenez (pictured), who was last seen about 3 p.m. Wednesday while attending Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep High School in the 3700 block of Del Paso Road. Officers searched the surrounding area that day, and when the teenager was still missing Thrursday, they notified the media and released Jimene's photo to aid in the search.
Police say they have followed up on several tips, and officers have contacted friends and family members in the Sacramento area and other parts of California.
By Cathy Locke and Hudson Sangree
clocke@sacbee.com
Several hours after fire erupted at a Tuesday Morning store in Citrus Heights -- sending up a huge plume of black smoke that could be seen across the region -- firefighters poured thousands of gallons of water on the store's smoldering remains.
At one point late Monday afternoon, the dramatic orange flames and billowing smoke attracted dozens of spectators to the busy Citrus Heights shopping area during the evening commute.
The fire - near Sunrise Boulevard and Greenback Lane - started at about 4:15 p.m., when two clerks and six customers were in the outlet store, fire officials said. All managed to get out and were unharmed, they said. Authorities said the cause of the fire was under investigation.
A Sacramento man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Fresno to conspiring to sell counterfeit music and movie CDs and DVDs.
Eleazar Gomez Ortiz, also known as Eleazar Ortiz Gomez, 28, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement and traffic in counterfeit labels, illicit labels and counterfeit documentation and packaging, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.
According to the plea agreement, from January to November 2010, Gomez procured several thousand counterfeit music CDs and motion picture DVDs on a regular basis from a warehouse in San Jose. Gomez, along with co-conspirators, then sold the counterfeit CDs and DVDs to the public at the Galt Market, a flea market in Galt, and other flea markets in the Sacramento area.
El Dorado County sheriff's deputies are looking for a man who robbed the Umpqua Bank in Cameron Park this morning.
No one in the bank at 4011 Plaza Goldorado was injured during the robbery, which occurred at 9:43 a.m..
Bank employees told sheriff's deputies that the man approached the merchant teller with a small sign that had writing on it. The man demanded money and when the teller said there was no more, he pulled a handgun and began waving it around, according to a Sheriff's Office news release.
A 23-year-old man was arrested Sunday afternoon after he was found hiding on the grounds of an Auburn church, where he allegedly had stashed an AK-47 rifle and other items stolen from a nearby home.
A resident of Bridle Court in Auburn called the Placer County Sheriff's dispatch center shortly after 4 p.m. to report that a friend who had previously stayed in the home had returned without permission and stolen an AK-47 rifle, cash, medical marijuana and electronics, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. Witnesses reported seeing the suspect, Ryan Thomas Bailey (pictured), leaving the residence minutes earlier, carrying a bag and other items.
The Bridle Court home is close to St. Teresa of Avila church on Atwood Road. Several deputies responded to the area of the church, where approximately 50 people were attending mass. A church official was contacted, and the church was placed in lockdown.
By Andy Furillo
Prosecutors have filed adult charges against the 16-year-old accused in the Oct. 30 beating death of a man in a Howe Avenue apartment complex.
Deandree Darcell Johnson has been charged with one count of robbery, another count of second-degree robbery and one of burglary as well as murder in the case that stems from the early-morning assault on Chris Salomonson, 24.
Johnson was arraigned last week in Sacramento Superior Court and the Public Defender's Office was appointed to represent him. He did not enter a plea. He is scheduled to return to court on Nov. 17.
The Rio Linda man accused in the axe murder of a victim he wrongly suspected of breaking into his house pleaded not guilty today by reason of insanity.
Deputy District Attorney Sheri Greco said Steven Zinda entered a dual plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity to the March 20 killing of David Valdez, 20, in a field at Q and Second streets near the defendant's home.
Zinda, 30, is due back in court Dec. 20 when the doctor's reports on his case are expected to be completed.
Photo caption: Steven A. Zinda listens to proceedings during a preliminary hearing in Sacramento Superior Court on Tuesday, October 25, 2011. Photo by Randall Benton / rbenton@sacbee.com
Sacramento police said a man died after being hit twice by a vehicle driven by the same motorist over the weekend.
Tory Small, 38, of Sacramento was pronounced dead early Saturday morning from injuries suffered when he was hit at Main Avenue and Kelton Way near Norwood Avenue. He was struck while crossing the intersection by a driver who then drove away, police said.
Police said the driver then returned to the scene and hit Small again. The incident is under investigation.
The driver, Aseng Saechao, 25, was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter while intoxicated and hit and run.
Roseville investigators have arrested two men allegedly involved in a marijuana sale gone bad outside a Galleria Boulevard restaurant.
Narcotics police arrested brothers Sterling Mario Harlan, 33, of Roseville and Austin Tanner Harlan, 19, of Citrus Heights on suspicion of selling marijuana. During the arrest on Thursday, detectives confiscated about a pound of marijuana.
The Harlans are suspected of trying to sell marijuana in the parking lot of the Galleria Boulevard restaurant on July 5 to a group of men from the Bay Area. The buyers robbed the sellers at gunpoint and drove away, police said.
A Rancho Cordova teen probably fell asleep while driving on Interstate 80 in Davis, causing her to twice careen wildly across the freeway and into a tree.
The California Highway Patrol is asking anyone who might have witnessed the accident that caused major injuries to Nicole Francisco, 18, about 5 a.m. Saturday morning to contact the CHP's Woodland office.
The CHP said in a press release that Francisco was driving eastbound on I-80 west of Mace Boulevard at about 75 mph in the far right hand lane when for unknown reasons her car drifted across all lanes of traffic onto the dirt center median. Francisco's car then swerved back across I-80 onto the dirt shoulder where it hit a big tree and a fence.
Categories: Davis, Rancho Cordova, Sacramento County, Traffic accidents, Yolo County
By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com
Sacramento County Sheriff's Homicide detectives have arrested a 42-year-old suspect in connection with the stabbing death of a woman found last week in her Foothill Farms apartment.
Authorities today said Delina Lynn Williams, 42, was taken into custody Saturday about 9 p.m. and is being held without bail in the County Jail for investigation of murder.
The body of 27-year-old Jessica Brock was found in her Emerald Oaks apartment in the 5100 block of Andrea Boulevard at 10 a.m. Wednesday by her mother and her mother's boyfriend, who were concerned when they had not heard from her. A complex manager called deputies.
A peregrine falcon stolen in Rancho Cordova has been recovered in good condition.
The bird - in need of antibiotics because of recent foot surgery - had been taken from a car that was parked overnight Thursday while the falcon's owner waited for freeways to clear so he could drive back home to Reno.
It was in a pet carrier, hooded and with its feet wrapped.
By Mark Glover
mglover@sacbee.com
Local, state and overseas firefighters will participate in a training session/demonstration Sunday in Citrus Heights, a precursor to an international competition.
The session, open to the public, is set for 10 a.m. at Fire Station 21 at 7641 Greenback Lane. It is expected to last two hours.
Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District Battalion Chief Walt White, firefighters from the Hayward Fire Department and members of the New Zealand Fire Service are preparing for the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge championships to be held Nov. 18 in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Two men who died in motor vehicle accidents Friday afternoon have been identified by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office.
The Coroner's death register said George E. Olsson, 80, was the victim of a Wilton crash at 3:45 p.m.
Sheriff's officials reported Friday that Olsson was killed when a car driven by his wife, identified as Virginia Olsson, went into a ditch and struck a tree.
A Shasta County Sheriff's Office correctional officer discovered a jail inmate in his cell shortly after midnight this morning, hanged with his bed sheet, Redding police reported.
The officer and jail medical staff attempted first aid until an ambulance arrived.
Charles David Berlinghoff, 45, was taken to a Redding hospital where he was pronounced dead.
An 81-year-old Wilton man died this afternoon in a single-vehicle crash on Green Road east of Sunflower Road.
The accident occurred about 2:20 p.m. California Highway Patrol spokesman Officer Michael Bradley said the man's wife, also 81, was driving a 2006 Chrysler Sebring. She told officers she thinks she dozed off. The car ran into a ditch and hit a tree.
Both were transported to Kaiser South Medical Center, where the husband was pronounced dead. His name has not been released.
Bradley said the couple are 50-year residents of the Wilton area.
A Sacramento man was arrested by Placer County sheriff's deputies after he was found passed out in a car that was full of stolen property, illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia.
Deputies were called to the Walgreen's parking lot on Douglas Boulevard in Granite Bay about 11:40 a.m. Thursday. When they arrived, they found Yevgeniy Gorlachev, 24, slumped over in the driver's seat with the engine running. He woke up when deputies asked him if he was OK, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.
Officials said a search of the vehicle turned up heroin, a syringe, a glass pipe with methamphetamine inside, and marijuana and a pipe stashed in the fuse box.
Three Placer County men were arrested Thursday after they were found stripping copper wiring in a field west of Roseville.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. workers called the Placer County Sheriff's dispatch center at 9:43 a.m. to report that three men were loading copper wire into the trunk of a car in a field off Dyer Lane. The men did not see the first deputy drive into the field until the deputy was about 200 yards away, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.
The suspects were identified as Shane Michael Quinlan (left photo), 20, of Auburn, and Denis Michael O'Brien (center photo), 48, and Joseph Michael Taylor (right photo), 27, both of Colfax. They initially told deputies that they were just looking for a place hang out. But items around the car included knives, numerous bundles and rolls of stripped copper wire, and gloves, according to the news release. 
Richard Lalo Ramirez was sentenced today to 40 years-to-life in prison for the May 24, 2009, shooting death of Christopher Richard Montejano,.
Ramirez, 32, received the term from Sacramento Superior Court Judge Gary S. Mullen. Ramirez was convicted of second-degree murder July 19 in the killing of the 20-year-old victim on 18th Avenue in Oak Park.
Ramirez, intoxicated on tequila, shot Montejano six times. Authorities said the two were involved over a dispute over Montejano's belief that Ramirez had disrespected the victim's estranged girlfriend.
By Sam Stanton and Kim Minugh
sstanton@sacbee.com
At least one Roseville police officer, two Sacramento sheriff's deputies and a Sacramento police officer have been implicated in the ongoing federal investigation into whether area police illegally sold weapons, officials and sources told The Bee today.
Roseville police Sgt. Cal Walstad confirmed to The Bee this morning that one officer had been placed on administrative leave Thursday, the same day that federal agents conducted at least four searches of officers' homes in the Sacramento area.
Walstad would not reveal the identity of the officer or give further details.
The Bee previously has confirmed that two deputies also were placed on leave as a result of the investigation, which the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has confirmed is continuing.
A 24-year-old Sacramento gang member convicted of murder in the Memorial Day 2008 shooting death of a man who had been holding his baby in his arms was sentenced today to 50 years to life in prison.
Superior Court Judge Kevin J. McCormick imposed the term on Jose DeJesus Gonzalez for the May 26, 2008, killing of Jose Isabel Guerrero, 47, (pictured)
in the front yard of his home on Lindley Drive in a north side neighborhood nicknamed "The Flats."
According to evidence at trial, Gonzalez and a group of Norteno gang members had confronted Guerrero because the victim's stepsons were reputed to be Surenos. A fight ensued and one of the gang members pistol-whipped Guerrero. Authorities said the gun popped loose and that Gonzalez picked it up and shot Guerrero in the head.
Gonzalez denied shooting Guerrero. Co-defendant Jaime Torres, 24, also was convicted and sentenced to the same 50-to-life term. Jurors acquitted Gonzalez' younger brother, Juan Carlos Gonzalez, 23. Four other members of Gonzalez' gang also were convicted in the case.
By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com
Sheila Caceres, the 31-year-old day care operator accused of felony child neglect in the death of a 2-month-old baby, made her first court appearance this morning but did not enter a plea and left the courthouse without speaking to reporters or the mother of the deceased child.
Caceres, a one-time Sacramento County day care operator of the year, is charged in the February death of Avin Rominger, who authorities say was left alone in the upstairs of her day care home in the Mather area.
Sacramento sheriff's officials believe Caceres found Avin limp and cold but panicked and left him upstairs until Avin's father, Dave Rominger, arrived to pick him up. She then pretended to find Avin unconscious for the first time and ran downstairs telling Rominger to call 911, authorities have said.
By Carlos Alcala
calcala@sacbee.com
The owner of a stolen peregrine falcon is appealing to the public to be on the lookout for the banded bird, taken from a truck in Rancho Cordova overnight.
"Someone stole it from the car in the pet carrier, almost for sure without knowing what they had," said Martin Stiasny of Reno.
Stiasny had brought the bird to Roseville for surgery on its feet and was unable to return last night because of snow on Interstate 80.
Transportation Security Administration agents boarded Amtrak trains in Sacramento today to conduct one of their periodic VIPR operations, officials said.
The searches of trains are performed by the agency's Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response team, said Nico Melendez, spokesman for TSA,
The agency has conducted 60,000 of these over the past six years on a scheduled, but not publicized basis, Melendez said.
Redding police have arrested two suspected burglars after a resident came home and struggled with one of the intruders.
Police originally received the report as a fight in the 3400 block of Panorama Drive.
It turned out that Angel Urban, 23, had come home around 10 p.m. with his girlfriend and found two men in the residence.
One of the suspects threw a bag of items at the victim and fled.
Three youths were stabbed this afternoon in what Sacramento County sheriff's officials said appeared to be gang-related fight.
Sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos said calls were received about 4:30 p.m. reporting a fight on the Florin Road overpass of Highway 99. The callers reported seeing several people pull over in a car. One of the occupants got out of the car and got into a fight with three boys who were walking along the street.
At some point, Ramos said, a knife was produced and the three youths suffered multiple stab wounds, none of which was life-threatening.
The California Highway Patrol and Shasta County Sheriff's Department have released the names of officers involved in two shooting incidents that occurred on Interstate 5 last week.
Six CHP officers and a sheriff's deputy were involved in the Oct. 27 incident near Castella that shut down southbound I-5 for hours. Albert Anthony Smith, 42, of Medford, Ore., was shot after leading law enforcement officers in a pursuit that covered approximately 50 miles.
CHP officers involved in the shooting were identified as Lt. Joseph Micheletti, Sgt. Anthony Gummert, and Officers Brian Hoskins, Michael Barham and Eric Degraffenreid, all of the Mount Shasta office; and Offer Eric Mallory of the Yreka office. They have between five and 24 years experience, according a news release from the Redding Police Department, the agency designated to investigate the shootings. The seventh officer was Deputy David Eoff of the Shasta County Sheriff's Department, who has seven years experience.
The Sacramento Police Department seeks to locate a teenager who failed to return home from school Wednesday.
Sergio Jimenez (pictured), 17, was last seen at school in the Natomas area but did not make it home, according to a Police Department news release. His family told police that he has never done this before.
Jimenez is described as 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 145 pounds. He was last seen wearing a gray and blue sweater, and black jeans. He also wears glasses.
Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is asked to call the Police Department at (916) 264-5471.
The postmaster for the small Lassen County community of Bieber was arrested today on suspicion of embezzlement.
Kristina Michelle Morris, 38, of Bieber was arrested on a criminal complaint alleging felony embezzlement, theft of U.S. money and theft of U.S. money orders, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.
Morris appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan, who granted her bail on condition that she post a $10,000 bond. She did not enter a plea.
By Denny Walsh
dwalsh@sacbee.com
The ordinance banning Occupy Sacramento protestors from the park across the street from City Hall during late night and early morning hours appears, at this early stage of a legal challenge, to be constitutional, a federal district judge decided today.
U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. said the ordinance does not appear to contravene First Amendment guarantees of free speech and assembly, contrary to arguments by attorneys for the protestors.
England said the ordinance "as drafted and applied," does not discriminate against the views of park occupiers and it regulates in a reasonable way as to the "time, place and manner" of demonstrations.
A 71-year-old woman who had been reported missing from her board and care home in North Sacramento has been found safe.
Sacramento police received a call about 7 p.m. from a local hospital advising that Sandra Sunada (pictured) had been located.
Police said Sunada walked away from her board and care home in the 1000 block of Acacia Avenue about 1:20 p.m. Wednesday. She was en route to a fast food restaurant on Marysville Boulevard but did not return.
A transient man pleaded guilty today to second-degree murder of a fellow transient in 2000, according to the Placer County District Attorney's Office.
Michael Elijah Adams is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 15 for killing 46-year-old John Semler Owens, whose body was found on a gravel service road in Roseville on Jan. 21, 2000, according to a news release from the DA's office. Owens had suffered blunt force trauma to his head.
Early in the investigation, police identified a suspect who gave the name Michael A. Thomas. Police later learned his real name was Michael Elijah Adams, but were not able to find him, the release states.
Four dozen Occupy Sacramento defendants charged with misdemeanor curfew violations pleaded not guilty today and had future court dates set for them by Sacramento Superior Court judges, officials said.
The protesters who had been arrested in late-night demonstrations at Cesar Chavez Plaza over the past month claim that the city's curfew codes violate their First Amendment rights to free speech and peaceful assembly. The park demonstrations have been part of a national movement against income disparities and other issues.
Coroner's officials have released the names of the victims of two homicides discovered Wednesday in Sacramento County.
In the first, a woman's body was discovered in her apartment on Andrea Boulevard in Foothill Farms.
Her body had sustained extensive trauma, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.
The driver of a Lincoln sedan turned into the path of an oncoming Fiat convertible on Highway 49 Wednesday, killing the passenger of the Fiat and seriously injuring its driver, the California Highway Patrol reported.
The Lincoln driver, Shawn Martin, 47, of Auburn, was not injured.
The driver of the Fiat, Maureen Turpen, 80, of Grass Valley, was taken to Sutter Roseville Medical Center with major injuries.
Police will respond if you report a possible DUI - at least, they did in Marysville, police reported Wednesday.
Marysville Police reported getting a call around 7 p.m. Tuesday from a citizen worried about a small, brown car with Nevada license plates driving erratically.
An officer found the car a few minutes later and stopped the driver for a sobriety check.
A woman was killed when, for unexplained reasons, she got out of a car traveling in the fast lane of the Capital City Freeway Wednesday night.
Just before 10 p.m., the Toyota was in the left lane of northbound Capital City Freeway near Cal Expo, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Rich Wetzel.
The woman, seated in the right front passenger seat, opened the door and jumped out, according to passengers, Wetzel said.
Two Sacramento men were arrested today in connection with the theft of a catalytic converter from a disabled vehicle left on Highway 99.
According to the California Highway Patrol, Officer Scott Pierson, at the beginning of his shift, observed a disabled and abandoned Volkswagen Cabriolet on northbound Highway 99 south of 47th Avenue. He stopped to check the vehicle, noticed a flat tire on the left side and left a freeway warning tag on the car.
About 11:15 a.m., he observed that someone had worked on the vehicle, with the right side of the car raised in the air. Because the flat tire was on the left side, this seemed unusual.
A 91-year-old Grass Valley man died this morning in a collision on Grass Valley Highway near Auburn.
The collision occurred about 11:40 a.m. According to the California Highway Patrol, a black Lincoln LS 4D sedan driven by a 47-year-old Auburn woman was in the center two-way left-turn lane, southbound on Grass Valley Highway north of Locksley Lane, intending to turn left into a driveway. At the same time, a red Fiat convertible driven by an 80-year-old Grass Valley woman was traveling northbound on Grass Valley Highway north of Locksley Lane.
The Fiat was traveling about 45 mph in the right lane approaching the Lincoln, when the Lincoln turned directly in front of the Fiat, according to a CHP news release.
A 17-year-old boy shot this afternoon in the south Sacramento area has died.
Law enforcement officers are trying to piece together events that led to the shooting.
Sacramento Sheriff's Department spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos said deputies responded to the area of Southwest Avenue and Nina Way about 1 p.m. after receiving a report that occupants of two vehicles were shooting into the air or at each other.
Usually if you leave your car open near the jail, you'll find something missing.
Sacramento Police reported that a pair of visitors to the Sacramento Main Jail wound up driving a sleeping drunk around after he crawled into their unlocked van.
An unidentified 19-year-old man went with his grandmother to the jail to visit his father, who was incarcerated.
An 18-year-old Elk Grove man led police on a 7 1/2-mile auto chase late Tuesday after an officer tried to stop him for a violation of the vehicle code.
Cedric Antwine did not yield when the officer activated the patrol car's lights and siren around 10:45 p.m., according to a release from police.
Instead, they followed him on Elk Grove and Sacramento streets and Highway 99 until his car was disabled by striking a raised traffic island.
By Sam Stanton
Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones will take part in a live chat with Sacbee.com readers Thursday from 11 a.m. to noon, giving area residents a chance to ask the county's top law enforcement official questions about crime and other issues.
Jones, (pictured) who is in his first year as sheriff, will be in the Bee newsroom taking questions that readers can submit by returning to the Sacto 9-1-1 blog during the live chat.
The Sheriff's live chat is the first in a monthly series of such events The Bee has planned with law enforcement leaders from throughout the region. Sacramento Police Chief Rick Braziel is scheduled to participate in the second on Dec. 12.
The young woman found dead in her Foothill Farms apartment this morning had suffered a violent assault, authorities said.
Sacramento County sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos declined to discuss the injuries that likely killed her, saying only that her body showed "extensive trauma."
"She's clearly been the victim of a violent crime," Ramos said.
The woman, whose name has not been released, was found about 10 a.m. by her mother and her mother's boyfriend, Ramos said.
The couple had stopped by the woman's Andrea Boulevard apartment over the weekend because they had not heard from her in awhile, Ramos said. They did not get a response at her door, but were not concerned because they did not see her car and assumed she was out, he said.
Another 19 participants in the Occupy Sacramento movement made their first court appearance today on charges that they violated late-night curfews at Cesar Chavez Park.
An official with the City Attorney's Office said 49 defendants have now been identified over the past several weeks from the 11 p.m. and 12 midnight arrests that have taken place in the park during the local version of the "occupy" campaign.
Supervising Deputy City Attorney Gustavo Martinez said officials from his office will meet today with defense lawyers representing the protesters. Martinez said the defense attorneys "apparently are going to present a proposal to us on how to resolve the cases."
By Carlos Alcala
calcala@sacbee.com
An "elderly" resident of an apartment near Interstate 80 and Madison Avenue was taken to a hospital after experiencing breathing difficulty while firefighters were battling a blaze at her residence, said Sacramento Metro Fire Asst. Chief Dale Turner.
The fire broke out this morning in one downstairs unit of a four-unit complex at 4612 Ashdale Court and had spread to an upstairs unit and into the attic by the time firefighters arrived.
Residents of all four units will be displaced by fire damage.
The woman taken to the hospital began to experience breathing troubles while firefighters were on scene, probably from smoke and previous medical conditions, Turner said.
Roseville police and fire, Placer Sheriff's Department and Rocklin police are holding an emergency preparedness exercise in conjunction with Sutter Roseville Medical Center today.
The exercise, blocked out for all morning, will include SWAT team operations, but the public is advised that it is only a training activity.
The exercise is taking place in the area of the hospital.
Sacramento Fire Department crews are on the scene of a house fire in North Natomas.
The fire is in a home at 5401 Banderas Court and radio communications indicate adjacent homes are being evacuated.
No further details are available at this time.
Three people have been arrested following a shooting and standoff in the Antelope area early this morning.
Just after midnight, Sacramento County sheriff's deputies were called to Mercy San Juan Hospital in Carmichael, where an 18-year-old man was being treated for a gunshot wound to his upper arm. The man said he was driving in an Antelope neighborhood when he was shot by two individuals in another vehicle.
The victim was able to provide deputies with information regarding the identity of the suspects, leading them to a residence in the 3800 block of Hunters Glen Place, where they found the suspect vehicle.
Sacramento Sheriff's officials, including a SWAT team, have ended a two-hour standoff in Antelope peacefully.
Officers detained at least three people, men and women, who were in a house where deputies believed suspects from an earlier shooting had been holed up.
After receiving a description of a car involved in an earlier shooting, deputies went to a home on Hunters Glen Place in Antelope and were told the suspects were inside.
However, the occupants of the house would not come out and officials called in SWAT, believing the suspects were armed.
Over time, radio communications indicated deputies could see people moving inside the home during radio communication.
At about 7:45 a.m. officers began removing handcuffed suspects from the home.
Sacramento Sheriff's deputies are trying to get two suspects out of a home in the 3800 block of Hunters Glen Place in Antelope, according to a release from Sheriff's Deputy Jason Ramos.
Officers went to the home seeking the suspects who were believed to have been involved in a non-fatal shooting earlier.
A victim in the shooting gave a description of the vehicle involved, which led deputies to the home.
When officials arrived, a woman came out and confirmed the suspects were inside, but they would not come out.
Officials are assuming the suspects are armed and a SWAT team is on the scene and a command post has been set up nearby.
A Yuba City man died when his car went off Highway 99 and into an irrigation ditch late Tuesday, California Highway Patrol officials reported.
Daniel C. Loehrer, 56, of Yuba City, was driving southbound on the highway, south of Yuba City, when his Acura went off the road for unknown reasons, according to the CHP accident report.
The car went into the ditch, overturned and slid on its roof in about a foot of water.
Fire personnel had to use cutting tools to get to Loehrer, who was not wearing a seat belt, according to the report.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
In a departure from the norm for law enforcement, the Placer County Sheriff's Office will be on the lookout for kids who are obeying the law.
Deputies in the North Auburn area will give kudos to kids they see wearing bike helmets, and using crosswalks, sidewalks and bike lanes. The "Caught You Doing Something Good" program will allow patrol deputies to reward youths for law-abiding behavior, according to a Sheriff's Office news release.
The Sheriff's Office has partnered with the Dry Creek 76 Gas Station and Food Mart, 3960 Grass Valley Highway. Deputies will give children a "reward" card that can be redeemed for specific products at the store, such as beverages and popsicles.
The Sacramento branch of the NAACP has asked the FBI to investigate the Twin Rivers Police Department for allegations of misconduct and abuse of authority, according to a news release from the branch.
NAACP representatives also have asked the FBI for an "in-depth analysis to be done on the scope of duties, authority and boundaries" of the Twin Rivers school police force.
"It's imperative that the FBI gets involved immediately, and address the concerns of the Sacramento community, get answers, and establish open communication," the news release states.
But FBI officials say their agency typically does not conduct such wide-ranging reviews, and that this likely won't be an exception.
Instead, the FBI can investigate specific allegations of misconduct by police officers, said Special Agent Steve Dupre, a spokesman for the Sacramento FBI office. He said residents who feel they have evidence of Twin Rivers police abusing their authority should come forward directly to the FBI.
"If they feel they're a victim, they're more than welcome to contact our office and file a complaint," Dupre said. "I don't think we would be able to initiate an investigation based on this media advisory."
A dispute over payment for a business transaction led to a chase and collisions that closed a portion of southbound Interstate 5 for about four hours early Monday, according to the California Highway Patrol.
At 2:53 a.m., the CHP's Woodland-area office received a report of a traffic collision on southbound I-5 just south of County Road 102 involving a 2011 Nissan Juke and a 2012 Ford Focus.
Following an investigation, CHP officers determined that the collision was the culmination of a dispute that began when a 30-year-old Stockton man answered and online escort advertisement posted by Martin Andrade, 21, of Sacramento. The Stockton man drove to Andrade's residence, where the business transaction took place. Leaving an undisclosed amount of money, the Stockton man then left the residence.
A 16-year-old boy was arrested Tuesday night in connection with the fatal assault of a 24-year-old man early Sunday in a Howe Avenue apartment complex, authorities report.
Christopher Salomonson died Monday morning after an the assault, according to authorities.
Shortly after midnight Saturday, Sacramento County sheriff's deputies responded to the Fairlake Apartments on Howe Avenue after callers reported that a group of men had beaten someone in the parking lot. Deputies arrived to find Salomonson unconscious.
He was transported to a local hospital. His family ended life support Monday morning.
Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies found a deceased male in the back of a parked cargo van after being called in by a worker at a nearby store.
Deputies went to 8701 Greenback Lane in Orangevale at 7:37 a.m. after a WinCo store employee said he thought there was a body in the van.
Sacramento police are investigation a shooting late Monday that sent one man to the hospital.
The man told police he was walking down the street at 62nd Avenue and Tamoshanter Way near Florin Road when he heard shots and then realized he had been hit.
He fell to the ground and remained there until others came to his aid.
Woodland Police arrested three men today after an auto burglary victim tried to detain a man stealing his stereo equipment.
Police went to the 1400 block of Towse Drive at 1:40 a.m. after receiving a report of a vehicle burglary.
