Sacto 9-1-1

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: A deputy district attorney in El Dorado County was arrested last year for driving under the influence. What was the outcome of that case?
Submitted by: Anonymous, Sacramento

ANSWER: Deputy District Attorney Gloria Mas was arrested in the early afternoon of July 25, 2011, at the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office after witnesses said she drove into the parking lot there, appearing to be intoxicated.

A woman suffered minor injuries trying to save her two small dogs from a fire that spread from the garage to the living quarters of a Carmichael home this evening.

Assistant Fire Chief Walt White said Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District crews were called to 2800 block of La Colina Way at 6:35 p.m. and arrived to find the home's garage burning.

He said a man and woman were at the house when the fire started. The man was outside barbecuing and the woman was inside the home. The woman discovered the fire when she opened the door from the house to the garage.

A sprinkler system was credited with extinguishing a fire at a Rancho Cordova cabinet manufacturing business Monday night, but fire officials said the unmonitored system caused extensive water damage.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District crews were dispatched at 11:04 p.m. to a report of water coming from a building occupied by River City Millwork Inc. at 3045 Fite Circle. Crews arrived to find water flowing under the doors of the large commercial tilt-up building. After forcing their way inside, firefighters found that a small fire at a work station had activated a sprinkler head and the fire had been extinguished.

No one was in the building when fire crews arrived.

A Sacramento man has been sentenced in federal court in Juneau, Alaska, for his role in a drug conspiracy that authorities say involved deliveries of oxycodone from Sacramento to Juneau.

Marquis Thomas, 31, of Sacramento was sentenced Friday to five years of probation.

Also sentenced in the case were Juneau residents Brent Maki, Sally Jean Maki, Michael Travis Miller and Jason Rivera.

By David Ruiz
druiz@sacbee.com

An inmate suffered multiple stab wounds today in an attempted homicide at California State Prison, Sacramento, officials said.

The inmate - whose name is being withheld - was attacked in the main exercise yard in B facility, one of the three general population maximum-security yards at the prison, according to a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation news release.

The victim was transported to an area hospital, where he was listed in stable condition, the release said.

Two suspects have been identified by prison officials, who also found an "inmate-manufactured weapon" they believe was used in the stabbing. The names of the two suspects are also being withheld.

The release said the victim is serving a 45-year sentence that began Jan. 17, 1997, for robbery, possession of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm in Los Angeles County.

The incident is being investigated by the prison's Investigative Services Unit, the release said.

Sixty-year-old Robert Lee Syas has been sentenced to 26 years to life in prison for the beating and stabbing death of Pamela Johnson in February 2011.

A Sacramento County jury convicted Syas of first-degree murder earlier this month after less than a half day of deliberations. He was sentenced today by Superior Court Judge Greta Curtis Fall.

Syas had an on-and-off relationship with Johnson, 55, and friends and family said he had been abusive toward her. Twice in the two months before Johnson was killed, sheriff's deputies had responded to Johnson's apartment regarding domestic assaults by Syas.

On Feb. 5, 2011, Syas attacked Johnson in her Arden Arcade apartment with a hammer and knife, killing her with multiple blows to the face and head and stab wounds to her neck and back, according to a Sacramento County District Attorney's Office news release. DNA evidence found on the victim and Syas was analyzed by the District Attorney's crime lab, linking Syas to the murder.

By David Ruiz
druiz@sacbee.com

Sacramento Metro Fire Department and the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department suspect arson is the cause of an apartment fire in the Arden Arcade area, officials said Tuesday.

Firefighters responded to an single-story apartment fire at 2597 Darwin St. Monday night, a news release said. Upon arriving, firefighters found one unit completely engulfed.

Metro Fire Captain Chris Greene said fire was coming "out of the bedroom, living room and front windows."

By David Ruiz
druiz@sacbee.com

Still burning cigarette butts are believed to be the cause of a Rancho Cordova fire which almost reached a home, Sacramento Fire Department officials said.

According to a press release, firefighters responded Monday morning to several calls of visible flames at 2732 Payette Drive. They encountered a fence on fire and began extinguishing the flames.

Firefighters checked inside the home to see if the fence fire caused any damage inside, the release said. The home had mild damage and small amounts of smoke.

There was no question in Dept. 17 this morning of who killed Monica Anderson.

Instead, attorneys in the Sacramento Superior courtroom debated in their opening statements whether Lan Anh Le stabbed her 26-year-old lover in a premeditated, calculated attack on March 13, 2010 or in a fit of passion.

Deputy District Attorney Anthony Ortiz warned jurors that they would see gruesome evidence during the trial, but argued that the case is a "straightforward" murder case.

The public is invited to attend a meeting conducted by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department's Youth Services Unit to learn more about gangs and their influence on youth.

The community gang awareness symposium is scheduled for 6-8 p.m. Thursday at the Jose Rizal Community Center, 7320 Florin Mall Drive.

The meeting will include an overview of gangs in the area and resources available to prevent the influence of gangs through the Sheriff's Activities League and Southgate Parks and Recreation.

By David Ruiz
druiz@sacbee.com

Two men were arrested Tuesday in Sacramento after a car chase that ended in a collision with another vehicle, California Highway Patrol Sgt. Lori Harmon said.

At 9:35 a.m., an officer spotted a silver sedan without license plates at Auburn Boulevard and Fulton Avenue, Harmon said. She said the officer then pulled the car over near the intersection of Fulton Avenue and Edison Avenue.

While the officer was leaving his vehicle to question the driver, the suspect drove away, Harmon said. The officer returned to his car and pursued the vehicle.

The suspect then drove eastbound on Whitney Avenue, reaching speeds over 60 miles per hour, Harmon said, adding that the officer stopped his pursuit when he felt the chase would be a danger to himself and the public.

A Clovis man pleaded no contest Monday in Fresno County Superior Court to two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while driving intoxicated in the November deaths of two people, including a Sacramento woman.

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/07/30/2929656/clovis-man-pleads-no-contest-in.html

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: What is the status of the Richard Johnson sentencing that was scheduled for July 26 for rape of a child under 14?
Submitted by: Vince, Sacramento

ANSWER: The probation hearing and sentencing for Richard S. Johnson that was scheduled for July 26 has been continued to Aug. 31, according to Sacramento Superior Court online records.

Firefighters are mopping up after a fire damaged an apartment unit in the 2600 block of Darwin Street in the Arden Arcade area.

Assistant Chief Walt White said the department responded to the report of a structure fire at 6:13 p.m. Firefighters arrived to find a fire inside a corner apartment unit, at Darwin Street and Bluebird Lane.

White said no one was found inside the apartment, which was supposed to be unoccupied. He said the property manager reported that the previous tenant, a woman who had been evicted two days ago, was seen leaving the area shortly before the fire was discovered.

The cause of the fire, which was contained to the one unit, is under investigation.

A federal grand jury in Sacramento has indicted three people, including two Elk Grove residents, for trafficking in counterfeit DVDs.

The 23-count indictment charges Kristin Caldwell, 30, and William Brown, 28, both of Elk Grove, and Xavier Johnson, 31, formerly of Elk Grove, with wire fraud and trafficking in counterfeit goods, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

According to the indictment, from 2008 to 2011, the defendants imported DVDs containing counterfeit copies of children's movies and marketed them over the Internet. The three are alleged to have falsely advertised that they had located a limited supply of scarce Disney DVDs that were otherwise unavailable for purchase. They are accused of importing thousands of bootleg copies of the movies directly from factories in China and selling them as if they were legitimate DVD's.

The former president of the El Dorado County Deputy Sheriff's Association has been sentenced to five years in state prison for embezzling more than $300,000 over six years from the association.

Attorney General Kamala D. Harris and El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson announced the sentencing of Donald Philip Atkinson, a retired El Dorado County sheriff's sergeant. Atkinson pleaded no contest last month and was sentenced today in El Dorado Superior Court on three felony counts of embezzlement, elder fraud and perjury.

He was ordered by the court to pay more than $400,000 in restitution. While in state prison and on parole, Atkinson has agreed to pay $1,000 per month from his retirement fund to the victims.

A driver sought in a hit and run crash was taken into custody by Sacramento police this afternoon after a pursuit by police and local bounty hunter Leonard Padilla.

Padilla said he and his driver, Reuben Salgado, were traveling north on Highway 99 near Fruitridge Road when they saw a vehicle coming up behind them weaving in and out of traffic.

"He whipped past us," Padilla said, estimating that the driver was traveling 100 mph.

By Ed Fletcher

eflecther@sacbee.com

The friends and family of a recent high school graduate from Rocklin who died in a motorcycle accident over the weekend will honor his memory with a candle light vigil Monday evening.

The candle lighting for Thomas Christian Daniels, 18, is set to start at 8:30 p.m. at Whitney High School in Rocklin, where he was a standout football player.

Daniels died after crashing his 2005 Honda motorcycle on Saturday evening. The accident occurred at 6:20 p.m. as Daniels was traveling west on Highway 193 near Newcastle. He crossed the double yellow line to pass another vehicle and struck at 2009 Dodge Ram pickup head on, said Nico Bonfilio of the California Highway Patrol.

He said speed was a factor in the accident, but the full accident report was not yet available.

Friends have created a Facebook page to honor his memory. Numerous friends wrote about his infectious smile, his good cheer and his workman-like attitude on the football field.

Four cases of suspected arson are under investigation in Grass Valley following a series of fires that occurred overnight.

The first call came into the Grass Valley police dispatch center at 11:30 p.m. Sunday reporting a fire at 404 S. Auburn St. Police and firefighters arrived within minutes and found the structure in flames, according to a Police Department news release.

About 12:24 a.m. today, a second report of a fire was received, this time at 114 Neal St, the former Tribal Weavers building. Police were able to extinguish the fire, which resulted in minor damage.

A driver suspected of hitting and killing a man who was visiting with a friend while standing on the side of Winding Way four months ago, then fleeing the scene has been arrested.

The California Highway Patrol announced the arrest in hit-and-run crash that killed one man and injured another March 22.

Steve Hernandez, 38, of Sacramento was arrested Sunday by Sacramento police officers investigating a stolen vehicle report. During an interview with CHP investigators at the Sacramento County Jail, Hernandez admitted being the driver at the time of the collision, a CHP news release states.

By Ed Fletcher
efletcher@sacbee.com

An El Dorado Hills woman remains in critical condition after her vehicle rolled off the Rubicon Trail, causing a 2-acre forest fire and stranding as many as 300 other Jeeps participating in the Jeepers Jamboree.

Rachel Anne Gray, 21, was part of a large caravan of off-road enthusiasts driving northbound on an El Dorado County road early Saturday evening when the 1961 Jeep Willy she was driving careened off an embankment near Cadillac Hill, said officer Dan Stark, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

The vehicle overturned several times, ejecting Gray and a 34-year-old male passenger from Pilot Hill before catching fire, Stark said.

Both Gray and the passenger were transported to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, he said.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

Sunday's death of Harison Long-Randall has Sacramento District Attorney Jan Scully's office reviewing the possibility of filing homicide charges in the hit and run case.

Scully spokeswoman Shelly Orio said this morning that the office is reviewing "possible homicide charges" but that the degree of a new filing has not been determined.

The suspect, 31-year-old Paul William Walden, originally was charged with nine counts, including driving under the influence, cruelty to animals and hit and run.

Sacramento is in the top 10 when it comes to watercraft thefts.

Miami led the nation by a wide margin with 210 watercraft stolen in 2011. Sacramento finished tied with Seattle in sixth place with 40 stolen watercraft, including sailboats, fishing boats, airboats, houseboats and yachts.

The rankings were released today by the industry-supported National Insurance Crime Bureau, which reported 6,070 watercraft thefts nationwide last year, a 9 percent decline from 2010.

By Debbie Arrington
darrington@sacbee.com

A wildfire that torched 134 acres east of Murphys has been 100 percent contained, Cal Fire officials said Sunday morning.

Called the Penn Fire, the blaze broke out Wednesday off Skunk Ranch Road, near Pennsylvania Gulch in Calaveras County.
The fire destroyed one building and its cause is still under investigation.

Four fire crews and a total of 68 fire fighters had been working the blaze.

A man who was killed when his motor scooter crashed into a telephone pole on Fair Oaks Boulevard Friday night has been identified by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office as Alva Deane Haught, 54.

After the 9:30 p.m. collision, Haught was transported to Mercy San Juan Medical Center, where he was declared dead. A Carmichael resident, he is survived by two sons.

Anyone with information on the crash is asked to call the CHP office at (916) 338-6710, or the dispatch center at (916) 861-1300.

See the original story.

A Carmichael man died this evening when the motor scooter he was riding struck a telephone pole along Fair Oaks Boulevard.

The single-vehicle crash occurred about 9:30 p.m. California Highway Patrol spokeswoman Officer Lizz Dutton said the man, believed to be in his mid-50s, was eastbound on Fair Oaks Boulevard east of Marshall Avenue in Carmichael on a Honda Elite motor scooter when he apparently drifted off the roadway.

The scooter hit a fence around a telephone pole, and the rider then hit the pole. Dutton said the man was wearing a helmet.

He was transported to Mercy San Juan Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The man's name has not been released pending notification of family.

Dutton said investigators would like to speak with anyone who may have witnessed the crash. Anyone with information is asked to call the CHP office at (916) 338-6710, or the dispatch center at (916) 861-1300.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: What became of Dennis Mains, convicted for murdering his wife, Pamela Wales?
Submitted by: Brian, Carmichael

ANSWER: Dennis Robert Mains was sentenced in March 2011 to 50 years to life in prison for killing his wife.

According to stories in The Bee, Mains shot Pamela Wales, 61, twice in the head April 25, 2008, as she slept in the guest house the couple shared behind her daughter's home on Jana Maria Court in Citrus Heights.

Prosecutors said Mains killed his wife because she wanted to divorce him.

Mains pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but a Sacramento County jury determined that he was sane when he shot his wife and convicted him of first-degree murder.

Mains, 62, is in Mule Creek State Prison in Ione.

Three residents of the Olivehurst area have been arrested in Nevada County, accused of arranging a date with a Grass Valley man with the intent of robbing him.

Shortly after 8 p.m. Thursday, Grass Valley police responded to the parking lot of the Station House in the 1300 block of East Main Street regarding the armed robbery of a 64-year-old man. Witnesses told police that three people fled in a vehicle, leaving behind the injured victim. Police broadcast a description of the vehicle to area law enforcement agencies, and it was stopped by Nevada County sheriff's deputies in Penn Valley minutes later, according to a Police Department news release.

Taken into custody were Ryan Weeks, 25, Debbie Sutton, 32, and a 16-year-old.

The man initially accused in a fatal stabbing in Arden-Arcade earlier this month has been released from custody as prosecutors decide whether to file charges.

James Matthews, who turns 24 on Saturday, was released from the Sacramento County Main Jail after being held 72 hours on suspicion of murder in the July 18 death of Richard Gonzalez. Law requires that suspects be charged within 72 hours of their arrest or be released.

Matthews claims he acted in self defense, according to authorities.

Shelly Orio, spokeswoman for the Sacramento County District Attorney's office, said this week that prosecutors are still investigating the case and have not yet decided whether they will file charges.

Shortly before 8 p.m. July 18, sheriff's deputies responded to reports of a stabbing at an apartment complex at 1530 Fulton Avenue. There, they found the 20-year-old Gonzalez with fatal stab wounds.

Detectives identified Matthews as their suspect and arrested him several hours later in south Sacramento County, where he had fled after the stabbing.

Sheriff's homicide Sgt. Jim Barnes said Matthews maintained he acted in self defense because he became "afraid" of Gonzalez during an altercation with the victim. Barnes said some witness statements match Matthews' account, but said it will be up to the DA's office to decide Matthews' level of culpability in the case.

The Yolo County sheriff's Animal Services Section is asking the public's help in solving a case of extreme animal cruelty involving the torture and death of a dog in West Sacramento.

At 2 p.m. Thursday, Animal Services officers responded to a call at 1720 Merkley Ave. near Westacre Road regarding a dog that appeared to have been tortured and then killed. A probation officer working with a yard maintenance crew found the 3- to 5-year-old, small, tan and white male Chihuahua mix with its legs bound together and its mouth tied shut, according to a Sheriff's Office news release.

The dog, a stray with no known owner, identification or microchip, was examined by an Animal Services veterinarian. Based on the veterinarian's preliminary examination and X-ray, it was determined that the dog's neck had been broken, authorities said.

Anyone with information pertaining to the case is asked to call the Yolo County Sheriff's Office, Animal Services Section at (530) 668-5287, or the West Sacramento Police Department at (916) 617-4900.

A woman who shot and killed a man early last year at a North Highlands apartment complex has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge John P. Winn made the finding June 29 on Tiffany Renee Henry, 45, who had been charged with murder in the Jan. 13, 2011, killing of Titus Eugene Tufts, 21.

Winn ordered Henry to be evaluated at Napa State Hospital and returned to court if she recovers her ability to assist in her own defense.

According to testimony at Henry's Feb. 17 preliminary hearing this year, she had become embroiled in an argument with Tufts at a liquor store earlier in the day and then shot him later in her apartment complex in the 5100 block of Andrea Boulevard.

A man who shot and killed an ally of his in a 2006 brawl in the Antelope area was sentenced today to 45 years to life in prison.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Troy L. Nunley imposed the term on Andrey Bernik, 35, for the April 12, 2006, shooting death of Yury Dovgan, 19, during a fight in the parking lot of the Carl's Jr. on Watt Avenue at Antelope Road.

Bernik and Dovgan were on the same side in a fight involving an estimated 30 people that began as a business dispute involving Bernik's father. Nunley said at the sentencing today that Bernik "brought a gun to a knife fight."

Woodland police are investigating two fights involving several combatants Thursday night in parking lots east of downtown.

Officers were dispatched at 10:38 p.m. to a convenience store at 1400 East Main St., where 10 people were fighting. Officers arrived within minutes of the call, but the people involved had scattered.

At 10:53 p.m., officers went to Woodland Memorial Hospital to speak to two 18-year-old Woodland residents, who were treated for injuries that were not life-threatening.

The Sacramento Police Department has announced an arrest in connection with a 2003 homicide in the Meadowview area.

Brian Keith London, 39, was was arrested today at Sacramento Police Department headquarters and booked into Sacramento County Jail on suspicion of murder in the death of Chateamer Hornes, 27. He is being held without bail.

Police responded to a 911 call about 10:54 p.m. Sept. 2, 2003, regarding a shooting in the 7500 block of Eddylee Way. Officers arrived to find Hornes lying on the front lawn of a home. Hornes had multiple gunshot wounds and was later pronounced dead at an area hospital.

The Sacramento County Probation Department credits an automated license plate reader for the arrest of a parolee and recovery of a stolen vehicle.

Deputy probation officers were conducting routine home visits Wednesday in a vehicle equipped with an automated license plate reader when they discovered a stolen license plate affixed to a 1991 BMW, according to a department news release. They watched as a man got into the vehicle and drove it to another location.

At that point, the probation officers contacted the driver, identified as 47-year-old John Edward Moore (pictured), a parolee. Officers determined that the vehicle was stolen and subsequently arrested Moore, who was on parole for vehicle theft.

The Sacramento Police Department will conduct a motorcycle safety enforcement operation this weekend in an effort to reduce motorcycle-related accidents and fatalities, and to educate the community about how to safely share the road with motorcycle traffic.

Friday through Sunday, police officers will be at various locations throughout the city keeping an eye out for traffic violations that often contribute to motorcycle collisions, according to a Police Department news release.

Officials cite Office of Traffic Safety reports that motorcycle fatalities have been on the rise in California, increasing 175 percent in the previous decade, from 204 people killed in 1998 to 560 killed in 2008.

Woodland police announced the arrest this evening of a suspect in a Wednesday night assault and robbery.

Victor Vargas Vargas, 26, of Woodland was arrested on suspicion of robbery and conspiracy and booked into Yolo County Jail. Police said additional suspects are being sought.

Officers were dispatched at 7:26 p.m. Wednesday to the 1200 block of Donnelly Circle regarding a robbery that had just occurred. They contacted the victim, a 21-year-old Woodland man, who reported that he was sitting in his car when he was approached by about five people. He said two of the people assaulted him and stole his cell phone and iPod, according to a Police Department news release.

Officials said the victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

One man was wounded and another was taken into custody this morning after an argument led to shooting.

Sacramento police spokesman Sgt. Andrew Pettit said the shooting was reported at 11:43 a.m. on Crosby Way, north of El Camino Avenue and west of the Capital City Freeway. The men were involved in a dispute over a woman that ended with one man allegedly shooting the other multiple times, he said.

The man who was shot was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The other man was detained, and Pettit said police were searching for a weapon.

Three people have been arrested on suspicion of identify theft in a case involving the use of skimming devices.

Gagik Verdyan (photo, top left) , 34, Mihran Hakobyan (photo, top right), 27, and Karine Khachaturyan (photo, left), 20, were taken into custody Wednesday by detectives with the Sacramento County Sheriff's High Tech Crimes unit. Each is being held in lieu of at least $2 million in bail.

After a monthlong investigation, sheriff's detectives along with officers from the California Highway Patrol, Sacramento Police Department, San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department and the Federal Bureau Investigation, recovered thousands of credit card numbers, hundreds of counterfeit California ID cards, numerous counterfeit credit cards, and skimming devices, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.

A parolee was taken into custody and his female passenger was transported to a hospital with injuries after they led police on a vehicle chase through south Sacramento this afternoon.

Sacramento police spokesman Sgt. Andrew Pettit said police were assisting parole agents who were looking for a parolee, believed to be armed, in the 2100 block of 60th Avenue. Shortly after 1 p.m., the man was seen in a vehicle pulling out of a residential garage.

Pettit said officers tried to get the driver to pull over, but the man instead drove off with police in pursuit. The chase ended at Franklin and Big Horn boulevards in the Elk Grove area when the fleeing vehicle crashed into a concrete embankment. Pettit said the driver was taken into custody by a police dog.

He said the woman in the vehicle was taken to an area hospital with what appeared to be moderate injuries, including a broken leg, suffered in the crash. The man was being treated for injuries sustained in his encounter with the police dog and was to be booked into Sacramento County Jail. His name has not been released.

The Sacramento Sheriff's Department announced the arrest today of a third suspect in the death of a man found fatally shot in the Elverta area in March.

Wendy Fong (pictured), 33, was booked at the Sacramento County Main Jail on suspicion of murder in the death of 33-year-old Anthony Ortega, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. She is ineligible for bail at this time.

At 2 a.m. March 28, deputies responded to a report of a man lying motionless along the roadway in the 1700 block of Kasser Road. They found Ortega, who had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.

By David Ruiz
druiz@sacbee.com

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office held a press conference today to generate public awareness on the disappearance of 19-year old Linnea Lomax, who went missing one month ago today.

Sheriff John D'Agostini said there have been no new developments on the search. However, he said he believes that Lomax is still alive.

Lomax, 19, was last seen June 26 around 1 p.m. on the 800 block of Howe Avenue in Sacramento County. She is described as a white woman, 5 feet 2 inches tall, and 100 pounds. She was last seen wearing faded green pants and a dark hooded sweatshirt with the word "Sweden" on the front.

A mother has been arrested for child neglect after her two year old nearly drowned Wednesday in a Garden Highway apartment complex pool.

Choonhwa Lee, 43, was booked into Sacramento County Jail on suspicion of endangering the life of a child.

The little boy, who was administered cardio pulmonary resuscitation by a neighbor, was initially listed in critical condition. However, police said Thursday that the boy had recovered enough to be released from the hospital.

Sacramento County sheriff's investigators are wrapping up their excavation of an Arden-Arcade backyard, saying they are confident the missing woman's body is not there.

"We feel comfortable leaving believing there are no human remains to be found here," said sheriff's Deputy Jason Ramos.

After consulting with specialists from the Sacramento County District Attorney's Crime Lab, investigators determined they had acted appropriately based on alerts from cadaver dogs but that further digging would not yield any more evidence in the case of Regina Garcia, missing since 2008, Ramos said.

A man who killed two people in a car crash in Folsom earlier this year while he was driving under the influence of nitrous oxide pleaded no contest today in Sacramento Superior Court.

Michael Dean Sharp, 22, is likely to be sentenced to nine years and eight months in state prison as a result of the plea he entered in front of Judge Geoffrey A. Goodman.

The judge scheduled Sharp's sentencing for Aug. 31.

Human bones have been found near a homeless encampment in Redding.

A community clean-up crew being supervised by Redding police found the remains on Wednesday while the workers were clearing away a camp near the Sacramento River. The camp was on the east side of the river near the Cypress Street Bridge, according to a police press release.

Evidence at the scene was processed by police investigators, the Shasta County Coroner's Office and the Human Identification lab from California State University, Chico.

Police said there is no further information related to identification or cause of death. Additional details will be released after the skeletal remains are analyzed, police said.

Sacramento police have released statistics from a drunk driver checkpoint earlier this week that shows they contacted more than 1,200 motorists.

The late night checkpoint Tuesday at Five Star Way and Del Paso Road near Power Balance Pavilion resulted in 1,204 vehicles contacted, 49 citations issued, six drivers screened for possible drunk driving and three arrested for suspicion of DUI.

In addition, according to a police activity log, Elijah Odums, 22, was arrested on suspicion of having a loaded gun and various vehicle code violations. Police say that an officer working the DUI checkpoint tried to stop Odums' vehicle.

Police allege he was driving at a high speed and tried to avoid the checkpoint. Odums, police said, eventually ran from his vehicle and was arrested.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: Dennis Martinez, 32, of Woodland was arrested for theft from an 88-year-old woman. He was supposed to be sentenced May 23 by Yolo Superior Court Judge David Rosenberg. Can you tell me what his sentence was?
Submitted by: Laura, Sacramento

ANSWER: Dennis Lee Martinez was sentenced to 3 years and 8 months in state prison after pleading no contest to felony charges involving theft from an 88-year-old disabled woman, according to the Yolo County District Attorney's Office.

The victim and her daughter hired Martinez to do yard work over a three-day period, officials said. On the third day, the elderly woman, who is legally blind, let Martinez in the house to use the bathroom while her daughter was away. The woman later discovered that Martinez had stolen her late husband's wallet and had begun using his credit cards at different locations.

Martinez is incarcerated at Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy.

Sacramento police seek the public's help in identifying a man believed to be a suspect in a home invasion robbery at a senior apartment complex two weeks ago.

About 3 a.m. July 12, a woman was asleep in her second-story apartment in the Eskaton retirement complex in the 3200 block of Freeport Boulevard. A man entered her apartment by gaining access to the balcony, then removing a screen from an open window.

Police said the man ransacked the apartment before awakening the resident and demanding money. He took some of the woman's valuables, then fled via the balcony and onto Freeport Boulevard.

A West Sacramento man has pleaded no contest to two counts of child molestation.

Dmitry Dudkin, 27, molested an elementary-school-age girl from 2009 to 2011. The crimes were discovered when the youngster went to school with hickey on her neck, according to a Yolo County District Attorney's Office news release.

The victim told police that Dudkin showed her pornography and asked her to perform various sexual acts on him. She also told authorities that Dudkin took pictures of her with his cell phone. The Yolo County High-Tech Crimes Task Force analyzed Dudkin's computers and cell phones and found provocative photos of the victim, officials said.

Dudkin is to be sentenced Aug. 24 by Yolo Superior Court Judge Stephen Mock.

A Sacramento County jury has convicted a 63-year-old man for raping and sexually assaulting two women.

On April 2, 2011, Edward Charles Gellock lured a homeless woman into his apartment promising her a warm, dry place to sleep. Once she was inside his apartment, Gellock beat, choked and sexually assaulted her, according to a Sacramento County District Attorney's Office news release. Two weeks later, on April 23, he beat, choked and raped his In-Home Supportive Services worker, officials said.

Gellock was convicted Tuesday and is to be sentenced Aug. 24 by Sacramento Superior Court Judge David De Alba.

By Marjie Lundstrom and Sam Stanton
mlundstrom@sacbee.com

The mother of a missing 2-year-old boy saluted reporters and photographers in court Wednesday with her middle finger before pleading guilty to six counts of violating probation.

But the plea agreement by Tanisha Edwards, 36, did nothing to solve the agonizing mystery over what happened to Baby Dwight, who hasn't been seen alive since April 2010.

Edwards, who has been in jail since March, has told authorities conflicting and often nonsensical stories about what happened to her baby.

She faces up to three years in jail on the probation violations when she is sentenced later this month. So far, none of the criminal charges against her has been related to the child's disappearance.

At Wednesday's court hearing, Edwards glowered at media representatives, made the obscene gesture and held up a tattered paperback titled "Betrayed" to shield her face from the cameras. The book is about a female "fledgling vampire," according to on-line book reviews.

Before the prosecutor could call witnesses, Edwards agreed to plead guilty to six of 13 counts of violating her probation following a 2008 felony arrest for illegally possessing ammunition. In two of the counts, she admitted failing to appear in Juvenile Court, which has been trying to locate the missing child.

Bee photos by Manny Crisostomo: Tanisha Edwards, 36, gestured to the media as she appeared Wednesday, July 25, 2012 in Sacramento Superior Court. She agreed to plead guilty to six counts of violating probation. Her son Baby Dwight has not been seen alive since April 2010. The photos, top to bottom, appear in the sequence they were taken.

More coverage

• Sacramento County wants to force mom to give details on 'Baby Dwight'
• Missing baby feared dead; Sacramento County deputies criticize CPS

A woman dubbed the "Bad Hair Bandit" because of wigs she used as disguises pleaded guilty today to committing bank robberies in four states.

Cynthia Lynn Van Holland, 48, a former prison nurse from Idaho, pleaded guilty in federal court in Sacramento to 21 counts of bank robbery, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

According to court documents, Van Holland committed robberies California, Washington, Oregon and Montana. During the early stages of the investigation, the Seattle Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation dubbed the suspect the "Bad Hair Bandit " because she used a series of unusual wigs and disguises in the robberies.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

Sacramento County Sheriff's investigators are wrapping up their excavation of an Arden-Arcade back yard after a full day of searching for evidence in the case of a woman missing since 2008.

A sheriff's deputy will keep watch over the site tonight, and detectives and crime scene investigators are expected to return early Thursday for further excavation.

The case involves Regina Garcia, who was 33 years old when she was reported missing from the residence, in the 1600 block of Stewart Drive, said Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy Jason Ramos. He said the execution of today's search warrant was the result of several pieces of information that came together in recent months and piqued the interest of detectives.

"Further investigation recently has resulted in us wanting to take a closer look around," Ramos said.

Placer County sheriff's deputies said they have arrested a man who used Facebook to promote house parties where underage drinking was rampant.

Zachary C. Fischer, 19, was arrested on charges related to a large July 16 party in the 8200 block of Quartzite Circle in Granite Bay. When deputies arrived they found hundreds of young people under drinking age consuming alcohol.

Partygoers threw bottles at deputies when officers broke up the party. The person who lived at the home was arrested on suspicion of contributing to the delinquency of minors and one partygoer was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence as he left the gathering.

By Ravali Reddy
rreddy@sacbee.com

Authorities are still investigating last week's jewelry heist in which an unknown number of robbers used a forklift to break into a jewelry store located on Garden Highway in Sacramento.

According to Sacramento police, alarms were set off when the suspects used a forklift stolen from Leroy Greene Middle School to smash into the front wall of Midamar Jewelers before taking off with a large safe containing an undisclosed amount of property. The stolen safe has been identified as a Spartan 2000.

The middle school in question is located about a mile from the store and the forklift is believed to have been stolen around 5:30 a.m. on Monday, July 16, the day of the heist.

Midamar Jewelers, which is located near Chevy's on the river, sustained significant damage and has been boarded up for the time being. The owner, Daniel Pheasant, does have plans to rebuild the store, Fox40 News reported.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

The suspect in last week's hit and run in Carmichael made a second, brief appearance in Sacramento Superior Court this morning but did not enter a plea in the case and was ordered to return to court Aug. 29.

Paul William Walden, 31, faces charges of hit and run, driving under the influence and cruelty to animals in an incident July 16 in which a speeding car ran down a young couple in a crosswalk and killed the woman's four beloved dogs.

Walden, who authorities say was driving on a suspended license at the time of his arrest three days later, has a lengthy criminal and DUI record and is being held in the Sacramento County Jail without bail.

Thirty-two ex-offenders graduate today from a Sacramento County program that helps them transition back into society.

The program teaches ex-offenders to avoid conflict. Franklin Jones, a graduate of the Adult Day Reporting Center program, said he has learned how to make the right decisions and to avoid old habits.

"I now slow down and gather my thoughts while making choices, solving problems, dealing with situations," Jones said.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: In the '90s there was a killing committed by Douglas Randall Carlyle. The victim was David Dukes. Were these two friends and what were the details of the crime?
Submitted by: Michael, Roseville

ANSWER: Douglas Randall Carlyle was arrested in November 1999 at his home in the Arden Arcade area.

A man wanted on warrants for domestic violence and narcotics offenses was arrested this afternoon after Citrus Heights police located him in the attic of an apartment complex.

Officers responded to the 7700 block of Greenback Lane regarding a report that a wanted suspect was in the area. The officers received information that 37-year-old Shem Ortiz was inside an apartment and had two outstanding warrants for his arrest, according to a Police Department news release.

Officers confirmed the Ortiz was in the attic of an apartment in the complex. After negotiations with officers, Ortiz came out of the attic and was taken into custody without incident, officials said.

Ortiz was arrested on a domestic violence warrant out of Sacramento County and a narcotics warrant out of Placer County. He was booked into Sacramento County Jail.

An 11-year-old Woodland boy reported missing early this afternoon has been found safe and has been reunited with his mother, according to police.

The boy, identified as Justin Harris (pictured), was reported missing from his home in the 300 block of North Street about 12:45 p.m. Woodland police said he was considered at risk because of required medication and his age.

After an eight-hour, door-to-door search and following up on numerous leads, police reported this evening that the youth was found in good condition near his grandmother's house about three miles from his home.

A North Highlands man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Sacramento to burglary of a U.S. Post Office and theft of U.S. mail from four post offices in El Dorado County.

According to court documents, 55-year-old Steven Joseph Rohner on March 26 of this year broke into the post office at 5221 Deer Valley Road in the community of Rescue and stole mail from the registered mail bags. On Dec. 31, 2011, he broke into a contract mail carrier truck and stole registered mail bags for the El Dorado, Diamond Springs and Shingle Springs post offices. Rohner stole more than $14,278, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

The case resulted from an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with the assistance of the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department.

Rohner is to be sentenced Oct. 30 by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez.

Two men identified by law enforcement authorities as members of the Sureno gang have been arrested in Yuba County on suspicion of illegal cultivation of marijuana.

Deputies developed information for a warrant after receiving a citizen complaint of individuals shooting on property in the 11000 block of Hill Road in Loma Rica, according to a Yuba County Sheriff's Office news release. They served the warrant about 6:30 this morning. During the search, deputies seized 494 marijuana plants, about 1 pound of processed marijuana and three firearms, officials reported.

Two men were found at the site and arrested. The Sheriff's Office identified them as David Navarro, 18, of Loma Rica and Jacob Villa, 18, of Wheatland, both validated gang members. Neither man had recommendations for medicinal marijuana, officials said.

The men were booked into the Yuba County Jail on suspicion of illegal cultivation, conspiracy and gang enhancements.

The Yuba County Sheriff's Office announced the arrest of a Penn Valley man in connection with a string of thefts in the Bullard's Bar area.

John Schrecongost, 37, was taken into custody Monday, and officials reported the recovery of approximately $10,000 in stolen property.

The investigation began June 20 when a man reported the outboard motor was stolen from his boat in the Dark Day upper parking lot at Bullard's Bar, according to a Sheriff's Office news release. About two weeks later, a man reported that someone broke into his car and stole several items from the vehicle. Authorities received additional reports of someone stealing gas from vehicles in the parking lot.

The Sacramento Police Department will conduct a sobriety and driver's license checkpoint tonight at Del Paso Road and Five Star Way in the North Natomas area.

Beginning at 8 p.m. and continuing for five to seven hours, motorists traveling through the intersection will be stopped by uniformed officers who will check for drivers impaired by alcohol or drugs. They will also check to make sure all drivers have a valid driver's license.

The purpose of the checkpoint is to promote public safety, increase awareness of the dangers associated with drinking and driving, and to deter potential impaired and unlicensed drivers, officials said.

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

The man suspected of shooting his daughter's boyfriend in north Sacramento on Monday night has been booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on suspicion of attempted murder, according to police.

Police identified the man as 50-year-old Michael Dean Raner, pictured at left. He is ineligible for bail.

The 41-year-old victim, whom police identified only as the boyfriend of Raner's daughter, remains in critical condition, according to police Officer Michele Gigante.

By Denny Walsh
dwalsh@sacbee.com

A Chico man serving a mandatory 10 years in prison for growing marijuana has had 21/2 years cut off his sentence by federal prosecutors who are notoriously hard-nosed about pot dealers.

Bryan James Epis, (pictured) an inmate at the Terminal Island Federal Correctional Institution in Southern California, should now be released in early 2014 instead of September 2016.

Epis, 45, who was one of the first in the state to establish a cannabis club after passage in 1996 of California's law permitting medicinal use of pot, has been locked in a pitched battle with law enforcement for nearly 20 years over his cultivation and use of marijuana. He was found guilty in June 2002 by a jury in Sacramento federal court of conspiracy to manufacture 1,000 or more plants at his home within 1,000 feet of Chico High School. But for much of the intervening time, he was free pending efforts to overturn the conviction.

U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner said today a recent U.S. Supreme Court opinion may have made Epis' challenge more viable.

"As set forth in the settlement agreement, Bryan Epis claimed that his trial attorneys rendered ineffective assistance to him with respect to their advice concerning the United States' pretrial plea offer," Wagner said in a prepared statement. "As also detailed in the agreement, his trial attorneys did not refute that claim, and under recent Supreme Court precedent, Epis therefore might have been entitled to some relief."

U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. signed off this morning on the settlement agreement hammered out in weeks of negotiation between Epis attorney John Balazs and Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel Wong, who is known as one of California's toughest marijuana prosecutors. The rare pact vacating a sentence that had been upheld by federal appellate judges required approval from the highest levels of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.

Fire officials are warning that the American River is running swiftly and cold after they rescued a man pinned by rushing water against an abutment of the Watt Avenue Bridge.

Sacramento fire and Metro fire personnel responded about 4:30 p.m. Monday to the river at Watt Avenue. There, they set about to help a rafter who had fallen into the water and become pinned against the bridge abutment.

The rafter, whose head and chest were above water level, could not move in the strong current, according to a Metropolitan Fire District press release.

Firefighters first got a life vest and rope line to the man. A crew in a Metro fire boat rescued the rafter and brought him to shore.

He was transported to the hospital for medical evaluation.

Robbers held up a hotel early this morning near Arden Way and the Capital City Freeway.

Sacramento police responded to the Hilton Sacramento Arden West Hotel, 2200 Harvard St., about 3 a.m. on a report of a robbery inside the lobby. A police activity log said that four men, wearing masks and wielding guns, entered the hotel.

The robbers demanded cash from the front desk employees. A police spokesman said a security guard was ordered to the floor.

The robbers fled in a light-colored 1980s sedan.

Highway 65 between Lincoln and Sheridan was closed this morning due to a collision between two vehicles.

The crash occurred about 5:30 a.m. on the highway near Nader Road when a small pickup and another vehicle collided. Two people had to be extricated by rescue workers, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The crash backed up some traffic in both directions as the highway was closed to allow a medical helicopter to land. Motorists were detoured off the highway at Nader Road.

The highway re-opened at about 7 a.m.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: Did Darrel Miller and Torrey Adams ever get sentenced for the murder they committed on Mack Road?
Submitted by: Papajoe, Sacramento

ANSWER: Separate juries in June convicted Darrell Miller and Torrey Levarr Adams of second-degree murder in the Dec. 20, 2010 drive-by shooting death of 20-year-old Antonne Nelms.

One person has been taken to the hospital and another is in custody following a shooting in North Sacramento.

Sacramento Police spokeswoman Officer Michele Gigante said officers responded at 9:05 p.m. to a report of shots fired in the 100 block of Stanford Avenue. They found a man who had been shot in the upper body. He was transported to an area hospital and is reported in critical condition, Gigante said.

A suspect in the shooting is in custody. Gigante said police are trying to determine what led to the shooting.

The names and ages of the victim and suspect have not been released.

Sixteen lightning-sparked fires have burned 78 acres in El Dorado and Amador counties.

What fire officials have dubbed the Amador Lightning Complex started at 11: 30 p.m. Sunday and was reported 20 percent contained this evening. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported that more than 1,800 lightning strikes hit the two counties in the past two days.

Cal Flre spokesman Daniel Berlant said the agency has responded to about 50 fires throughout Northern California as a result of lightning strikes Sunday and today. The largest single fire burned 75 acres near Copperopolis in Calaveras County.

A 20-year-old mother was arrested Sunday afternoon after she left her 2-year-old daughter unattended in a south Sacramento motel room.

Sacramento police spokeswoman Officer Michele Gigante said employees of the Royal 8 Inn on Stockton Boulevard found the child alone in the room at 11:23 a.m. Sunday, and contacted police. The room's occupants were to have checked out at 11 a.m. Gigante said the little girl was alone but unharmed.

About 2 p.m., a 911 call was received from the mother, identified as Angelique Williams (pictured), who said she couldn't find her child, Gigante said. Police investigating the incident took Williams into custody.

By Denny Walsh

dwalsh@sacbee.com

Former California Correctional Officer Bobby Joe Kirby was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb to 18 months in prison peddling cellphones and tobacco to inmates at the Lassen County minimum security camp.

The venture paid Kirby $15,635 before an inmate snitched him off to prison authorities. He was charged and pleaded guilty in Sacramento federal court to fraud-by-wire that deprived the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation of his honest services.

Kirby, now a 54-year-old resident of Reno, received payments in the form of wire transfers from inmates' families and associates in return for the contraband he smuggled into the California Correctional Center in Susanville. When he was arrested, Kirby was in possession of wire receipts and a new cellphone. He confessed that he had been accepting $150 for each cellphone that he smuggled to an inmate.

Firefighters were mopping up a fire outside of the Yolo County community of Guinda today.

Good overnight progress was reported on the fire that as of 8 a.m. today was 95 percent contained. The blaze, which began Saturday morning, had burned 520 acres.

Overnight, firefighters had good success in building containment lines around the fire and extinguished hot spots. Today firefighters would work to mop up remaining hotspots.

No structures were destroyed.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

With the families of last Monday's hit and run incident in Carmichael staring holes in his back, the suspected driver in the case made his first court appearance this afternoon in a brief hearing.

Paul William Walden, 31, stood stone-faced in the cell inside a courtroom at the Sacramento County Jail, never once turning to look at the families of 23-year-old Gemily West or 21-year-old Harison Long-Randall.

"All cowards go to a corner," Chris Randall, Harison's father, said after the hearing.

Officials today touted the success of the Amber Alert program, which this month marks its tenth year of operation statewide.

The program began in Texas in 1996 after the abduction and killing of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman. The program was enacted regionally in California in 1999 and on July 31, 2002 was adopted statewide.

"The State of California needed a system to assist in recovering our children safe and sound," said former state Sen. George Runner, who wrote the original bill to create the state's system.

One of four men who tried to swim across the American River near Hagan Community Park on Saturday apparently drowned, officials said today.

The Sacramento County coroner's office reported that Michael Emerson Berry, 23, died at 4:31 p.m. Saturday. It listed his cause of death as accidental.

According to witnesses, Berry failed to cross the river and was pulled under the water by the current. "I tried to swim and catch him and he went under," Chris Crotte, the victim's friend, told CBS13. He identified his friend as Michael Berry, the TV station reported.

Two armed men robbed the Carl's Jr. in the 4000 block of Foothills Boulevard in Roseville today and herded several employees into the restaurant's freezer, Roseville Police said.

Roseville Police Sgt. Karl Dyer said two men entered the restaurant at 9 a.m. armed with a gun and a knife and forced the manager to open the safe.

The men wore gloves and bandannas during the robbery and fled with an unidentified amount of cash.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: There was a person charged last year for running a Ponzi scheme and a real estate scam. His name is Michael Bolden. Can you give us an update on that case?
Submitted by: Tony, Rancho Cordova

ANSWER: The case involving Michael Bolden and others indicted by a federal grand jury last September has yet to go to trial and federal court online records do not list a trial date.

Three Elk Grove residents pleaded guilty today in federal court in Sacramento to charges arising from a mortgage fraud scheme.

The guilty pleas by Ali Khalil, 32, Amanullah Khalil, 39, and Wahidullah Khalil, 27, were announced today by U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner.

Ali Khalil, a former Elk Grove police officer who holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and structuring financial transactions to evade currency transaction reporting requirements, according to a federal Department of Justice news release. Amanullah Khalil, who described himself as a businessman and entrepreneur, pleaded guilty to making false statements on a loan application. Wahidullah Khalil, a former banker who also holds a bachelor degree in criminal justice, pleaded guilty to structuring financial transactions to evade currency transaction reporting requirements.

Information provided by the public shortly after the Robbers fire started last week led to today's arrest of a 28-year-old Sacramento man, according to fire officials.

Bryon Mason (pictured) was arrested on suspicion of recklessly causing the fire that began about 3:30 p.m. July 11 off Yankee Jims Road near the north fork of the American River in Placer County. Bail is set at $100,000.

Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said investigators determined that the fire was started by a pyrotechnic device.

"That first day, we received numerous reports from people who allegedly had information (about how the fire started), and that's what helped us get to this point," Berlant said.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steve White today sentenced Theresa Harper to 15 years to life in prison for her husband's Aug. 20, 2009, beating death of their 22-month-old son, Paul Harper Jr.

Theresa Harper, 26, pleaded no contest to second-degree murder May 29 to the killing for failing to protect her child from the long-standing abuse of her husband, Paul Harper Sr. 31.

Paul Harper Sr. also had been scheduled to be sentenced today. White rescheduled the sentencing for Aug. 31 after Harper, who also pleaded no contest to second-degtree murder, asked to change his plea and fire his attorney, Kenneth L. Rosenfeld.

After a brief hearing behind closed doors, Harper agreed to the continuance, and Rosenfeld said outside the courtroom he will continue to represent him.

According to documents filed in the case, Harper beat the boy to death after he felt that the child had been "mean mugging" him in their South Avenue apartment in Del Paso Heights.

Dominique Lavance Givens pleaded no contest today to voluntary manslaughter in the July 16, 2009, shooting death of Sevon Boles in an apartment complex on Sunnyslope Drive in south Sacramento.

Givens, 25, of San Francisco, had been awaiting a retrial after a Sacramento Superior Court jury could not reach a verdict on May 31. Judge Michael W. Sweet scheduled Givens' sentencing for Aug. 24. Givens is expected to receive a 21-year term.

A second defendant in the case, London Ramon Shaw, 24, had been scheduled for sentencing today on his second-degree murder conviction in the killing of the 26-year-old Boles. Sweet rescheduled his sentencing for Aug. 24 on the request of defense attorney Russell W. Miller, who said he has not been able to review Shaw's probation report.

Authorities have not been able to determine what caused the dispute at the Willow Pointe apartment complex that resulted in the fatal shooting.

By Jing Cao
hcao@sacbee.com

As new information continues to emerge from the fatal shootings in Aurora, Colo., local police authorities say they don't to add security measures to Sacramento-area theaters.

"At this point, this appears to be a random act," said Roseville Police Lt. Marc Glynn. "Unless the movie theaters reach out to us with concerns, we don't expect to add any extra security."

During the midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises," suspect James Holmes, 24, originally from San Diego, reportedly opened fire on moviegoers at Aurora's Century 16 theater. Twelve people are confirmed dead, and many more are wounded.

Sacramento police spokesman Sgt. Andrew Pettit said that although there won't be organized security measures added to theaters in the area, police encourage people to call in should they notice someone who shows signs of distress or potential of hurting themselves or others.

He said the police expect to debrief about the incident and analyze the response of Aurora police to the incident and learn from it.

"There's always the anticipation of people thinking about it," Pettit said, referring to the potential for copycats.

He said the police have trained for situations like the shooting. Though, traditionally, they would wait for S.W.A.T. teams, he said the police have learned to go in and try to eliminate the threat immediately.

"The message is, you don't want to cause a panic to people," he said. "This looks like an isolated incident that happened halfway across the United States. This will be another reminder that as a community, we need to pull together and take care of one another."

Authorities seek the identification of a serial armed robber who hit places in at least six cities since May 30.

A Sacramento County Sheriff's Department news release describes the suspect as a male between the ages of 20 and 25 and between 6-foot1 and 6-foot-5. He weighs about 190 to 200 pounds. During the robberies, he wore a dreadlock-style wig.

On June 26, he targeted three GameStops in the Sacramento area in less than an hour between about 6 and 6:30 p.m, sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos said. In each location, he showed the store employees a small, chrome handgun and demanded money.

Two U.S. Marines and their suspected woman accomplice are believed to have worked together to rob a pregnant woman who was walking on a trail in Redding.

Redding police have obtained arrest warrants for the two Marines suspected of committing robbery and assault on June 20. The woman believed to be involved has been arrested.

Lance Swann, 20, of Laguna Niguel, and Jeffrey Thomas Walton, 20, of Ventura, both Marines, have been detained at Camp Pendleton by Naval Criminal Investigative Services, a Redding police news release states.

Crews battling the Robbers Fire in Placer County had the blaze 90 percent contained this morning.

According to the CalFire Website, full containment is expected Saturday.

According to a Placer County press release, as of 10 a.m., all closed roads will be open, but only to residents and other local individuals. These roads are Yankee Jims Road at Canyon Way and at Gillis Hill Road. This also applies to Yankee Jims Road and Small Hope Mine Lane on the east side of fire.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: No too long ago, Thomas B. Hammond, a former president of the Fair Oaks Chamber of Commerce as well as being a financial a certified financial planner, was arrested for operating a Ponzi scheme. What was the outcome of the trial?
Submitted by: Christianright, Sacramento

ANSWER: Thomas Brown Hammond, a Fair Oaks investment adviser, was sentenced in June to four years and nine months in federal prison in connection with a Ponzi scheme that involved stealing money from clients' retirement accounts.

A report of man firing a gun in front of a Rocklin home this evening drew SWAT officers but ended peacefully with no arrests or injuries.

Rocklin Police Lt. Lon Milka said the gun proved to be a pellet gun.

Milka said officers were called to the 2200 block of Quarry Way at 5:30 p.m. They were told that a man had walked into the front yard of his home and fired a shotgun or rifle, then walked back into the house.

The Sacramento Police Department is asking the public's help in identifying suspects in four robberies that have occurred since late June.

• About 3:19 p.m. June 28, a group of people committed a strong-arm robbery at a fireworks stand a 65th Street and 14th Avenue.

• About 3:22 p.m. June 28, a strong-arm robbery occurred at a fireworks stand near 65th Street and Fruitridge Road.

Davis police report that their search for a suspect in recent vehicle burglaries in the city has ended with the arrest of the man in Solano County.

Michael Cordell (pictured), 44, is believed to have been the passenger in a pickup truck that Davis officers stopped about 6 a.m. June 11 after receiving a report of individuals looking into vehicles in the 1800 block of Picasso Avenue.

Two men were inside the truck. As officers stopped the vehicle, the passenger got out of the truck and ran off, according to a Police Department news release.

Grinding work to remove bolts in an operation to salvage lumber from a barn may have sparked a fire in a pear orchard in the Sloughhouse area Wednesday afternoon, according to fire investigators.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District crews responded at 4:57 p.m. to a report of a fire at 7801 Sloughhouse Road. When they arrived, firefighters found a large barn at the rural pear ranch well involved in fire. They called for assistance from the Cosumnes and Wilton fire department to combat the fast-moving blaze.

The fire destroyed two vacant bunkhouses and two barns that were not in use, all of which were reportedly scheduled for demolition, according to a Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District news release.

The California Highway Patrol reports that most southbound lanes of Interstate 5 at Freeport Boulevard are expected to be closed until about 6 p.m. due to a collision involving a big-rig truck.

The collision, which sent one driver to the hospital with minor injuries, was reported at 2:18 p.m. California Highway Patrol spokesman Officer Michael Bradley said a big-rig car carrier and a Cadillac collided and ran into the center divide, sending sand barrels and sand across the freeway. Interstate 5 initially was closed in both directions, but northbound lanes were soon reopened.

Bradley said all lanes except the fast lane are closed in the southbound direction while California Department Transportation crews clean up the roadway.

A Sacramento Superior Court jury today convicted Jaivonne Flenory-Davis of first-degree murder in the July 11, 2010, shooting death of 14-year-old Lanajah Nachelle Dupree at an Auburn Boulevard teen party.

Judge Patrick Marlette scheduled a Sept. 7 sentencing date on Flenory-Davis, who is now 21.

According to testimony at trial, Flenory-Davis went to the party with a friend and the two of them were confronted by an estimated 10 to 15 gang members. After a fist fight broke out, Flenory-Davis retrieved a hand gun from a car and fired into the crowd, killing Dupree, a Sparks, Nev., resident who had been visiting friends in Sacramento.

Another bullet struck a second girl in the arm and then pierced her abdomen. Jurors convicted Flenory-Davis of attempted murder in that shooting. They also found that the shooting took place for the benefit of the Guttah Boys/Starz Up street gang.

By David Ruiz

druiz@sacbee.com

Galt High School vice principal, Robert E. Rappleye Jr., 61, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon last Friday, Angels Camp police officials said this week.

The vice principal's alleged weapon of choice? A golf club.

On July 13, Rappleye, an Elk Grove resident, and others went golfing at the Greenhorn Creek Golf Course in Angels Camp. Rappleye became frustrated at the slow pace of a group of golfers playing ahead on the 18th hole, the press release said.

A husband and wife in the group ahead approached Rappleye to talk about the problem. Witnesses say the husband became angry when Rappleye used foul language directed to the husband's wife, according to the release.

The argument turned violent when Rappleye swung one of his golf clubs at the husband, the press release said. The husband tried to block the swing with his left arm, injuring him. Rappleye swung a second time with the husband turning his back to defend himself. Rappleye struck the husband's left shoulder blade, the press release said.

Audrey Kilpatrick, chief business official for Galt Joint Union High School District, said the district has cooperated with the police investigation. She would not say whether Rabbleye is on leave, but she confirmed he is currently considered an employee for the district.

Jury selection in the 1980 Davis "sweethearts" murder case will begin Wednesday in Sacramento Superior Court.

Following a lengthy process to pick the 12 jurors and at least four alternates, the attorneys' opening statements will then take place Sept. 4, Judge Michael W. Sweet said in court today.

Richard Joseph Hirschfield, 63, is facing murder and sexual assualt charges in the abduction and stabbing deaths of UC Davis students John Riggins and Sabrina Gonsalvez, both 18. The pair were kidnapped after a Dec. 20, 1980, showing of "The Nutcracker" in Davis. Their bodies were recovered two days later in a ravine 30 miles to the east near Lake Natoma.

Judge Sweet is expected to tell jurors the trial likely will last through Jan. 31, including the death penalty phase, if Hirschfield is convicted in the guilt phase.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

The California Highway Patrol announced the arrest this morning of a suspect in Monday night's hit and run accident in Carmichael that left a young couple severely injured and killed four dogs they were walking.

Paul William Walden, 31, of North Highlands, was arrested at 1:22 a.m. today after the CHP pulled him over at Bainbridge and Salazar drives on suspicion of drunken driving. Walden was driving a 1987 Nissan Maxima and officers noticed damage to the vehicle.

He subsequently told investigators he was driving the car that hit the couple, the CHP said, but Officer Todd VanLindt said Walden claimed he did not know at the time that he had hit anyone. He explained that he had seen a man and a dog but did not believe he had struck them, VanLindt said.

Sacramento County detectives are looking for a sexual assault suspect.

On July 16, just before 7 p.m., a woman walking along the Arcade Creek trail near American River College in the north part of Sacramento County was attacked by a man.

According to a Sheriff's Department press release, he grabbed her and said he intended to rape and kill her. The victim was able to break free, and the suspect subsequently fled.

Moses Stanley Trotter did not make a court appearance today in his continued arraignment on murder charges in the Sunday night killing in Fair Oaks of 79-year-old Carole Jane Sturgis.

Trotter, 32, is being housed in the psychiatric ward of the downtown jail. Assistant Public Defender Norm Dawson said in Sacramento Superior Court today that an "overload" in his office will prevent it from representing Trotter. Judge Tami R. Bogert then assigned the case to the county's conflict defender panel.

Trotter was arrested when neighbors found him wandering naked and bloody in the neighborhood near Sturgis' home on Olympic Way. The coroner's office today listed blunt force injuries as the cause of Sturgis' death.

Bogert scheduled Trotter's next court date for Aug. 10.

Sacramento police said today that they are still looking for thieves who took lighting and sound equipment from an outdoor stage in William Land Park.

Wednesday afternoon, it was reported that thieves took the production equipment from the William A. Carroll Amphitheatre where the Sacramento Shakespeare Festival presents plays in the open air in the evening.

The festival's website said that the stolen equipment was valued at nearly $30,000.

A suspect has been arrested for the fatal stabbing of a 20-year-old man in an apartment complex in Arden Arcade on Wednesday.

Sacramento County Sheriff's detectives took James Matthews, 23, into custody around midnight Wednesday and booked him into the Sacramento County Main Jail. He has been arrested on suspicion of homicide. He was arrested in the south part of Sacramento County.

According to the Sheriff's Department spokesman, Deputy Jason Ramos, deputies were called to the Emerald Place apartments at 1530 Fulton Ave. at around 7:45 p.m. Wednesday. In a breezeway of the complex, they found the victim with stab wounds to his upper body. Emergency medical personnel pronounced the victim deceased.

The name of the woman fatally shot Wednesday in south Sacramento on the 7900 block of Loucreta Drive has been released by the Sacramento County Coroner's office.

She has been identified as 38-year-old Lisa Bisher.

Bisher was on the street with a man around 3 a.m. Wednesday when another man and woman left their residence and approached them. A confrontation between the men ended with the woman from the residence shooting Bisher in the upper body, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: A few years ago, a woman was shot and killed when she was getting off her shift at a local alarm company. I worked there for a few years. What happened to all the people that were involved?
Submitted by: Marty, Sacramento

ANSWER: Si Choy Saeturn, 28, a dispatcher at Astro Security Co. and the mother of a 10-year-old girl, was four months pregnant when she was gunned down in the firm's parking lot about 10 p.m. Dec. 29, 2005.

A woman taken into custody after fleeing the scene of collision is also a suspect in the burglary of a Woodland supermarket, according to Woodland police.

Police officers and firefighters responded to a traffic collision at the intersection of West Lincoln and Ashley avenues about 3:30 this afternoon. Witnesses told officers that one of the drivers, described as a white female with red hair, had left the scene on foot westbound on West Lincoln Avenue. The woman, later identified as 23-year-old Dezaray Murrietta of Woodland, was located, detained and identified as the driver of the vehicle that allegedly caused the collision, according to a Police Department news release.

The driver of the other vehicle, a Nissan pickup truck, was identified as a 17-year-old Woodland youth. He was taken by ambulance to Kaiser Hospital in Vacaville, where he was treated for injuries and later released, police said.

A small barn and two small outbuildings have been destroyed in a grass fire that is burning on rural acreage at 7801 Sloughhouse Road in southeast Sacramento County.

Assistant Chief Scott Clough of the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire Department said tree cutting activities ignited a fire that spread to grass and the buildings. The main barn was saved and the fire has been diverted from a house on the property, he said.

The three-alarm fire has burned between 3 and 4 acres and is being fought by crews on the ground as well as a helicopter.

By David Ruiz
druiz@sacbee.com

Sacramento detectives are searching for a man accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old woman Friday in North Highlands, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department reports.

Early that day, the victim was walking near Kirkby Way and Walerga Road, according to a department news release. She was then approached on foot by a man. The woman tried to leave, but was attacked and sexually assaulted by him, the press release said.

The man is described as being in his 20s, approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall with a medium build and dreadlocks, and was wearing a dark-colored jacket.

After the assault, the man fled north on Walerga Road.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Sheriff's Sexual Assaults Bureau at (916) 874-5070.

By David Ruiz
druiz@sacbee.com

Sacramento resident David Adebayo, 65, has been missing since Wednesday, according to a police report filed Thursday with the Sacramento Police Department.

Adebayo is described as 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 165 pounds with salt and pepper black hair. He was last seen in the Natomas area of Sacramento.

Daughter Darnisha Kittling said her father probably went missing about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday during his daily routine of picking up cans and taking them to nearby recycling plants. She said her father would also walk around the Natomas Marketplace shopping center for can collection. He has done this for roughly 15 years, she said.

A Citrus Heights woman has pleaded no contest in Sacramento Superior Court to embezzling from her employer.

In 2010-11, Jewel Taheerah Carbone, 34, was an escrow clerk at Fidelity National Title Co. As part of her duties, Carbone oversaw the collection and disbursement of monies from various escrow accounts. She illegally diverted funds from 22 escrow accounts into her personal bank accounts, resulting in a theft of $42,950, according to a Sacramento County District Attorney's Office news release.

Carbone is to be sentenced Aug. 31 by Superior Court Judge Lloyd Connelly.

According the District Attorney's Office, Carbone will be placed on five years probation and ordered to serve up to one year in county jail, of which 90 days must be served in custody and the remainder on a sheriff's work release program. She also will be ordered to pay restitution.

By David Ruiz
druiz@sacbee.com

Amador County resident Johnny Irvin Walters was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of child molestation, Amador County Sheriff officials said. Walters, 38, worked as a correctional officer at Mule Creek State Prison.

According to a news release, the Amador County Sheriff's Office received a report June 2 from the parents of a 14 year old girl claiming their daughter had been molested by Walters.

During the initial investigation, multiple sources informed detectives about Walters' tendency to host parties where minors were served alcohol. Detectives found photographs on social networking sites which verified the claims, the news release said.

An 11-year-old boy reported missing from his Carmichael home has been found safe.

Elijah Cowan (pictured), who was discovered missing from his apartment in the 2500 block of Gunn Road early Tuesday has returned home and has been reunited with his mother, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office.

The boy had been considered at risk because of his age.

A Roseville man arrested in June on suspicion of sexually abusing a child has since been accused of additional offenses related to the sexual abuse of minors.

Roseville police detectives arrested 45-year-old Michael Scott Nodine (pictured) on June 26 on suspicion of sexually abusing a child over a period of more than 10 years. Since his arrest, he has been charged with two additional offenses involving the sexual abuse of children, according to a Police Department news release. He is being held in Placer County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

Detectives are continuing to investigate Nodine's activities and contacts with children, and believe he may have molested other youngsters. Potential victims may include boys or girls ranging in age from 5 to the mid-teens, officials said.

By David Ruiz and Cathy Locke
druiz@sacbee.com

A week after it began in rugged terrain northwest of Foresthill, the Robbers Fire was reported 75 percent contained this evening, and full containment is expected on Saturday.

Mandatory evacuations were lifted this morning for both the Brushy Creek and Yankee Jims communities. Mandatory evacuations for residents living on Kings Hill Road are still in place.

Yankee Jims Road reopened between Canyon Way and Gillis Hill Road, according to a news release from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. That strip of Yankee Jims Road is open to residents, with a sheriff's deputy checking identification or utility bills for verification. East of Gillis Hill Road is a complete closure, meaning no one can pass.

Yankee Jims Road is also open east of Small Hope Mine Lane. To the west of that intersection, only residents can pass.

A complete closure is in effect for Shirt Tail Canyon Road at Big Dipper Road, near the Iowa Hill community. That area is still under careful watch by fire department services, said Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant.

The fire has burned 2,650 acres. Cooler temperatures have aided the firefighting effort.

With the lifted evacuations, the Foresthill High School evacuation center for Placer residents also closed this morning. The evacuation last week affected roughly 200 residents, said Placer County public information officer Robert Miller.

The evacuation center served more as a meeting ground for the community than as an overnight refuge, said Red Cross spokesperson Trista Cunningham. "We had three to six people staying overnight, but our community briefings drew in about 200 to 300 people," she said. Briefings involved CalFIRE, Red Cross, and Placer County officials updating residents on the fire.

Residents who are in need of assistance can call The Red Cross at (916) 993-7087 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. After hours calls can be made to (855) 891-7325.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

The victims in Monday night's hit and run crash remain hospitalized today as the California Highway Patrol continues seeking the driver that ran them down in a crosswalk.

Harison Long-Randall, 21, who lost a leg in the crash, is listed in critical condition at Mercy San Juan Hospital. His girlfriend, Gemily West, 23, is in fair condition, spokeswoman Melissa Jue said this morning.

The couple were struck down in a crosswalk Monday night about 10 p.m. at Engle Road and Garfield Avenue. The CHP is searching for a 1986 or 1987 Nissan Maxima with light-brown metallic paint. Investigators say the vehicle is missing its driver's side mirror and has damage to the left side running lights and turn signal light.

Highway 99 in South Sacramento has re-opened after being shut down for hours this morning due to a water main break.

For about four hours, northbound 99 was also closed near 12th Avenue, but that direction of the highway into Sacramento re-opened at about 6:45 a.m.

It took another hour for water to be pumped from southbound lanes of the highway. The southbound lanes opened at about 7:45 a.m.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: I used to live a couple doors down from a really nice family on Mack Road. The family had a son who was in and out of trouble and last I heard around 1986 was charged with shooting another boy at a Franklin Boulevard night club. I think his name was James Williams. Is he still causing his family pain and worry, or has he cleaned up his life?
Submitted by: Wondering, Sacramento

ANSWER: In February 1986, James Stanley Williams, 25, was sentenced to 13 years in state prison for the shooting death of 24-year-old Robert Lee Herman.

Twenty-three people were arrested Saturday in connection with the Rafters Gone Wild event on the American River and adjoining parkway.

The massive party, publicized via social media, degenerated into rock throwing and fights in the early evening.

Sacramento County sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos said one patrol vehicle was damaged when an individual who had been arrested and handcuffed ran toward a patrol car and launched himself onto the windshield, hitting it with his shoulder and cracking it.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department is asking the public's help in locating an 11-year-old boy who went missing from his Carmichael home overnight.

Shortly after 4 a.m. today, Elijah Cowan (pictured) was reported missing from his apartment in the 2500 block of Gunn Road. Authorities said he is considered at risk because of his age.

Cowan is described as African American, 5 feet tall and weighing about 80 pounds. He has black, curly hair and may be wearing a black jacket.

The man accused of murder in the Sunday night slaying of a 79-year-old Fair Oaks woman was arraigned today in the psychiatric ward of the downtown Sacramento County Jail.

Moses Stanley Trotter, 32, did not enter a plea in the death of Carole Jane Sturgis in her Olympic Way home. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Tami R. Bogert appointed the Public Defender's Office to represent Trotter and set his next court date for Thursday.

Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Grippi said his office filed the murder case against Trotter today.

Sacramento Police have a suspect in custody in connection with a North Sacramento homicide last week that led police to surround a nearby residence for nine hours.

Police found Wesley Wheeler dead in the alleyway behind Cook's Ace Hardware at 2125 Del Paso Blvd. just before 2 a.m. on July 10. Witnesses told police that several people had fled into a nearby residence, a triplex on El Camino Avenue.

Police officers and a special weapons and tactics unit surrounded the building and called over a loudspeaker for those inside to come out to the street. Several people left the house throughout the morning, and police detained them. Around 11 a.m., officers entered the building with a police dog, after detonating tear gas canisters inside.

They found no one there.

A man is dead after a traffic collision today on Bradshaw Road in Elk Grove.

Just before noon, witnesses told police, a white Kia Rio traveling southbound veered into the northbound lane, colliding with a a white Dodge Grand Caravan, said Elk Grove Police Department spokesman Chris Trim.

Paramedics pronounced the driver of the Rio, a man in his late teens or early 20s, dead at the scene. Trim said it is unclear why his car entered the oncoming lane. The man's name has not been released pending notification of family.

The driver of the Grand Caravan and his female passenger both sustained major injuries and were transported by ambulance to local area hospitals, Trim said.

The collision is under investigation, and anyone with information is asked to call the Elk Grove Police Department Traffic Bureau at (916) 478-8148.

By Denny Walsh
dwalsh@sacbee.com

U. S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner announced this morning what he described as the largest recovery - $122.5 million - ever obtained by the government for damages caused by a wildfire.

In what Wagner described as a "creative' settlement, he said the defendants in the government's lawsuit will pay $55 million in cash and Sierra Pacific Industries Inc., targeted as the most culpable defendant and the largest private landholder in California, will convey 22,500 acres of its land to the United States.

Wagner said that land is conservatively valued at $3,000 an acre.

A preliminary hearing has gotten under way in Sacramento Superior Court for six defendants charged with murder in the Dec. 14, 2010, shootout at a south area barbershop in which a young mother was killed while protecting her 2-year-old son.

Another man who is believed to have instigated the gunfire died when his targets fired back at him at Fly Cuts 'N Styles on Stockton Boulevard. In testimony today, a sheriff's detective said that a bystander who had already been grazed inside the barbershop avoided more serious injury when one of the gunmen in the shootout aimed a pistol at him and fired but that the weapon did not go off.

Named as defendants in the case are Lonnie Orlando Mitchell Jr., 25; his brother, Louis James Mitchell, 20; Charles Barksdale, 31; Larry Dean Jones Jr., 30; Dominique Marcell Lott, 29; and James Leo Carney III, 33.

By Bill Lindelof and Sam Stanton
blindelof@sacbee.com

The California Highway Patrol has released a description of the car that plowed into a man and a woman last night in Carmichael, killing their four dogs and severing the man's leg.

The CHP is looking for a 1986 or 1987 Nissan Maxima or Stanza that investigators believe is a metallic light brown color.

The vehicle is believed to have damage to the driver's side near the front bumper area, will be missing the driver's side rear-view mirror and will have its clear and amber colored running lights broken.

A week after they were forced from their homes by the Robbers Fire, residents of the Brushy Creek and Yankee Jims areas will be allowed to return to their residences.

Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said evacuees will be allowed back into these areas beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday. Homes in these areas, he said, account for a majority of the 170 residences that had been threatened by the fire

The cooler weather has allowed firefighters to make progress in corralling a stubborn Placer County wildland blaze.

The Robbers fire, which started July 11, was 60 percent contained as of late this afternoon, Berlant said.

Total acreage burned is 2,650 acres. The onset of cooler weather, higher humidity and lack of major wind has helped firefighters.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection announced this evening that the Robbers Fire is now 45 percent contained. This morning, the fire had been only 30 percent contained, according to the department.

The fire has burned 2,600 acres, destroying one home and four outbuildings.

Fifteen helicopters, two air tankers, and about 2,200 firefighters have been deployed to combat the fire.

For more information, call CalFIRE at (530) 823-4083 or check tomorrow's Bee.

By Barbara Barte Osborn
Bee correspondent

TRUCKEE -- Truckee Police Department officers arrested a New York City man Sunday on suspicion of causing a wildfire with an illegal campfire.

Officers and firefighters from the Truckee Fire Protection District responded at 3 p.m. to reports of a vegetation fire behind the Old Gateway business complex in west Truckee.

By Barbara Barte Osborn
Bee correspondent

TRUCKEE -- A Truckee man has been arrested and jailed for investigation of attempted murder following the stabbing Sunday of a man inside the town's Safeway supermarket.

Jayson Allen Maglaya, 34, was also booked for parole violations.

The victim, a 33-year-old Truckee resident, was transported to Tahoe Forest Hospital by ambulance following the 5:30 p.m. incident. He had been stabbed twice.

His wounds don't appear to be life threatening at this time, according to a Truckee Police Department report.

Sacramento County Sheriff's Department officials say a young man reported missing has been located.

Alexandre Gaston, 22, had been reported missing from his apartment near Garfield and Madison avenues. He was considered at-risk due to his mental condition and was thought to be suicidal, according to a sheriff's department press release. Officials said Gastron returned home safely over the weekend.

A murder trial got under way in Sacramento Superior Court today for three men accused in the drive-by shooting of Deandre James Ellison in his driveway last year in Del Paso Heights.

Jesse Cornejo, now 23, his younger brother Adam and a third defendant, Isaac Vasquez, are charged in the Jan 19, 2011, shooting of the 20-year-old victim in the 900 block of Carmel Avenue. Adam Cornejo and Vasquez were juveniles at the time of the shooting. They are being tried as adults.

Deputy District Attorney Valerie Brown told jurors in her opening statement that the shooting was gang-related and preceeded by dirty looks the defendants flashed at the victim and four people with him in his car. Defense lawyers said the shooting resulted from a traffic dispute and that it was a passenger in Ellison's car who fired first.

An electronic skimming device has been found at an ATM in Auburn.

The device was found at about 3 p.m. Sunday at the US Bank at 730 High St. when an Auburn couple tried to use a bank card at the machine. After completing what they thought was a transaction, one of the residents noticed that the card slot appeared loose, according to a police press release.

The couple's concern was reported to police. Officers checked other ATMs for similar devices, however, none were found.

By Ravali Reddy
rreddy@sacbee.com

Mercy San Juan Hospital officials confirmed today that a second passenger involved in Wednesday's United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) bus crash died from her injuries on Friday. The driver of the truck that collided into the bus died at the scene.

Laura Sue Weiderholt, 48, of Woodland had been transported to Mercy San Juan Hospital by a California Highway Patrol (CHP) helicopter after the accident. A CHP news release said Weiderhold "suffered from multiple extremity injuries, including broken bones, and head trauma."

The first passenger to die in the crash was Sara Rae Johnson, 35, of Davis. Johnson worked as an assistant for UCP. Her cause of death is being reported as blunt force head, neck, and chest injuries.

By Bill Lindelof and Diana Lambert
dlambert@sacbee.com

The Sacramento County Coroner's office has released the name of the woman killed by an intruder into her Fair Oaks home on Sunday.

She was identified as 79-year-old Carole Jane Sturgis.

Also this morning, Sacramento County sheriff's deputies identified the man they believe killed Sturgis. Moses Stanley Trotter, 32, of Fair Oaks was booked into Sacramento County Jail on suspicion of homicide.

The Douglas County Medical Examiner's office on Sunday identified a cyclist who died after a crash on Donner Pass Road as 53-year-old Larry Sage of Truckee.

Rudy Bein of the medical examiner's office in Nevada said Sage died in a Reno area hospital after the accident.

Truckee Police said the crash occurred at 9:35 a.m. Friday near South Shore Drive.

The cyclist was wearing a helmet but suffered massive head injuries, police said.

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

The Robbers fire, which has consumed one home and three outbuildings in Placer County, has grown to 2,250 acres but remains 20 percent contained, the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported today.

Nearly 2,000 firefighters from San Diego to Siskiyou County are battling the blaze, which is burning in areas that are remote, steep and overgrown with heavy brush and timber.

"Every afternoon when the temperatures heat up and get to their peak, the fire becomes very active," Berlant said. "That's when we see it making its run through some of these steep areas."

A boy shot to death Saturday night in North Highlands has been identified as 17-year-old Angel Yanez.

The Sacramento County Coroner's office said today the North Highlands resident died shortly after 8 p.m. on Gay Way north of David Drive.

Sacramento County Sheriff's officials responded at 8 p.m. Saturday to reports of shots fired in the 4000 block of David Drive and, upon arrival, found the teenager's body.

A crash at All-American Speedway in Roseville has claimed the life of one person, a spokesman for the Placer County Sheriff's Department said today.

Sgt. Bill Walton said the department received a call about 7:45 p.m. on Saturday reporting the fatality. The car was confiscated by the Sheriff-Coroner's office as evidence.

"I don't know if it was the driver or a bystander" who was killed, Walton said.

By Barbara Barte Osborn
Bee Correspondent

A 21-year-old Colfax man was taken into custody Friday evening after he allegedly stole a vehicle and led officers on a short, high-speed chase in Truckee.

According to a news release from the Truckee Police Department, the man stole a utility truck from within the Coldstream Valley recreation area, which is part of Donner Memorial State Park.

When confronted by state parks police, the man refused to stop and led the parks police, joined by Truckee police units, on a chase, ramming the state parks police vehicle in the process, authorities said.

The suspect then rammed through a large gate at the Coldstream access point and entered Interstate 80.

The chase continued on I-80 for a short distance until the stolen vehicle became disabled -- either from the collision with the gate or spike strips deployed during the chase.

The man, whose name is not yet available, was taken into custody without further incident. The California Highway Patrol is investigating the incident.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

The Robbers Fire in Placer County continued to grow today, destroying the first structures since it broke out Wednesday.

CalFire officials said the fire had burned one home and three outbuildings, although the could not say immediately where the burned structures had been.

Despite those losses, firefighters were making progress getting a handle on the blaze.
The fire had burned 1,950 acres by tonight and still was threatening 170 homes in areas near Iowa Hill, Foresthill and other communities. But CalFire officials said the fire containment had grown to 20 percent from only 10 percent on Friday night.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: What stage are Vera Kuzmenko and others in regarding the case of mortgage fraud, Russian American ID theft and tax scams?
Submitted by: Edward, Sacramento

ANSWER: Vera Kuzmenko, a tax preparer, is one of more than 60 people who have been indicted in federal court in Sacramento in a mortgage fraud case.

Davis police are looking for a Dixon man suspected of being involved in recent vehicle burglaries.

About 6 a.m. Wednesday, police responded to 1809 Picasso Ave. regarding a report of individuals looking into vehicles. As officers arrived, they stopped a pickup truck that was leaving the area.

Two men were inside the truck. The passenger opened the door and ran off as officers stopped the vehicle, according to a Police Department news release. The driver was taken into custody and later identified as Eric Buenafe, 46, of Dixon.

A 16-year-old Woodland youth was arrested this afternoon, suspected of stabbing a 17-year-old boy.

At 1:59 p.m., Woodland police were dispatched to the area of 90 W. Woodland Ave. regarding a report of a stabbing that had just occurred. They were told the suspect had left on foot, heading west on West Woodland Avenue.

Yolo Gang Task Force officers, who were in the area, intercepted the suspect near the intersection of Cottonwood Street and West Woodland Avenue. One officer chased the youth on foot while the other Woodland officers went the the victim's location.

Cynthia Van Holland, a former prison nurse from Idaho, was arraigned today in federal court in Sacramento on 21 counts of bank robbery.

Van Holland, 48, was arrested following the robbery of a Bank of the West branch in Auburn on Aug. 15, 2011. She is accused of robbing 21 banks in four states -- California, Washington, Oregon and Montana -- beginning in December 2010. The suspect in the robberies was dubbed the "bad hair bandit" by the Federal Bureau of Investigation because she used a series of unusual wigs and disguises in carrying out the robberies.

An alert witness saw a woman running to a car after the robbery in Auburn and noted the license plate number. Shortly afterward, Placer County sheriff's deputies arrested Van Holland and the driver of the vehicle, Van Holland's husband, Christopher Alonzo.

Van Holland pleaded not guilty at her arraignment before U.S. District Judge Kendall J. Newman, according to a federal Department of Justice news release. Her next court date is scheduled July 25 before U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller.

Gov. Jerry Brown has assigned five specially equipped National Guard helicopters to join the fight against the Robbers Fire, which continues to pose a threat in remote Placer County.

The five UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and the trained National Guard members that come with them will join the ranks of the roughly 1,400 firefighters and personnel already battling the blaze.

So far, the fire has scorched 1,100 acres and continues to be active on its southeast flank, which is known as the Yankee Jims community. Daniel Berlant, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said the fire burned right up to homes in that community Thursday night, but an aggressive defense by firefighters kept the properties safe.

Sacramento police seek the public's help identifying a suspect pictured in a surveillance photo (left) during the robbery of a Subway sandwich shop last week.

A man entered the Subway shop in the 1900 block of Stockton Boulevard shortly after 7 p.m. July 5 and ordered a beverage. When the employee opened the register, the man grabbed her by the shirt, brandished a handgun that he took from his waistband and demanded money, according to a Police Department news release. The employee handed over an undisclosed amount of cash, and the man left on foot.

The man was described as white, 40 to 50 years old, 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighing about 175 pounds, with medium-length brown hair.

Police ask anyone with information about the robbery to call the dispatch center at (916) 264-5471 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 31-year-old man has been sentenced to 31 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges related to six armed robberies and a sexual assault.

Between May 16 and June 1, 2011, Kenju Osborne committed six armed robberies at businesses throughout Sacramento County, according to a District Attorney's Office news release. In each robbery, he pointed a handgun at the employees and demanded their money and personal property. During one robbery at the Pavilions shopping center, Osborne sexually assaulted a female employee.

Detectives from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department worked with police in Sparks, Nev., to apprehend Osborne after he attempted a robbery in Sparks, officials said. DNA analysis by the District Attorney's Crime Lab identified Osborne as the suspect in the Pavilions sexual assault and robbery.

Osborne was sentenced by Sacramento Superior Court Judge Geoffrey Goodman.

A man accused of murder in the stabbing death of a transvestite prostitute in Miller Park 32 years ago pleaded guilty Thursday to voluntary manslaughter and is slated to be sentenced to five years and eight months in prison.

Robert Lee Blockton, who is now 59, admitted to the Nov. 3, 1980, killing of Charles Redmond, who was 22. Blockton's sentencing has been scheduled for Sept. 25.

Blockton was arrested in 2010 on a cold DNA hit. He had since suffered a stroke that impaired his ability assist in his own defense and prompted Judge Gary S. Mullen in December to order Blockton evaluated in Napa State Hospital. Blockton was returned to Sacramento County in April.

A motorcyclist died when his vehicle collided with a car having trouble making a U-turn in Arden Arcade Thursday night.

The California Highway Patrol reported that the driver of a Dodge Charger was traveling northbound on Howe Avenue about 9:50 p.m. Thursday at Wyda Way when he stopped in the left hand turn lane and prepared to make a U-turn.

When traffic was clear on southbound Howe Avenue, he began to make the U-turn. However, the CHP said in a press release, there was not enough room to complete the U-turn and he stopped with his car facing in the southwest direction on southbound Howe Avenue.

A man was arrested for allegedly punching a police officer in the face after a foot chase through midtown.

A citizen called about 8 a.m. Thursday to say that Gregory Stephenson, 56, wearing only shorts, was running in and out of traffic while talking to himself near 16th and K streets.

Stephenson bolted when officers arrived, running into a nearby business where he grabbed the arm of a woman customer, police said.

Eventually, officers caught up with him. In a struggle, Stephenson punched an officer.

Fellow officers helped take Stephenson into custody, booking him for suspicion of assault on a police officer . He was released from jail today, according to the Sacramento County Jail website.

The fire that has scorched more than 1,000 acres of wildland and threatened homes near Foresthill is still burning this morning but its march has at least temporarily slowed.

However, fire officials are worried that the afternoon will bring hot winds that could push the fire toward houses despite the best efforts of more than 1,800 firefighters.

Dubbed the Robbers fire, it began about 3:20 p.m. Wednesday near the east bank of the north fork of the American River and burned eastward, toward Iowa Hill. Since then, aerial and ground efforts to quell the blaze have been on-going.

Overnight, the fire was relatively quiet. That was in contrast to Thursday when the fire made several different runs in various directions, the most aggressive being in the southeast direction toward the Yankee Jims area.

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.

QUESTION: What are the details of the crime that happened Jan. 29, 1996 that involved Richard Emmett Ward and John Wiley.
Submitted by: Ryleigh, Citrus Heights

ANSWER: Richard Emmett Ward of Fair Oaks was arrested on suspicion of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon on Jan. 29, 1996.