Sacto 9-1-1

A stubborn 11-acre grass fire in River Bend Park that flared again this morning due to windy conditions has been contained by Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District firefighters.

Firefighters battled the blaze last night and were performing mop up duties this morning when the blaze along the American River erupted in brush and grass again. About 10:45 a.m. the fire was contained once again by firefighters.

A total of 19 engines and two water tenders responded to the park near Bradshaw Road and Highway 50. The park was closed this morning so that firefighters could put out the blaze.

Two Rancho Cordova homes were damaged this afternoon in a fire thought to have started between the houses.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District crews responded about 4:30 p.m. to reports of black smoke and fire coming from a house on Azalea Garden Way, south of Douglas Road and east of Sunrise Boulevard. The person reporting the fire didn't know whether anyone was inside, according to a Fire Department news release.

The first firefighters to arrive searched the houses for occupants and began working to extinguish the fires. Their efforts were complicated by a compromised gas meter, officials said.

Rancho Cordova police say that a woman who went missing on Monday has returned home.

Jenith Pasion, 45, (pictured) who has diminished mental capacity, left her residence Monday afternoon, according to a police press release. A police spokesman said this morning she returned home and is safe with family.

One person was killed and several were injured when multiple cars slammed together at the intersection of Folsom and Sunrise Boulevards in Rancho Cordova just before 11:15 p.m. Friday, police said.

Authorities said the accident was triggered when a Volvo sedan traveling westbound on Folsom Boulevard at "an extremely high rate of speed," collided with a Range Rover SUV traveling southbound through the intersection.

The collision then initiated a chain reaction, causing three other cars to be struck, according to reports.

Law enforcement is accepting for disposal potentially dangerous and unwanted prescription drugs on Saturday at four sites in Sacramento County.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency have set up four spots to bring the unwanted medicines from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

The locations: Sheriff's Garfield Station, 5510 Garfield Ave., Sheriff's Florin Station, 7000 65th Street, Rancho Cordova Police, 2897 Kilgore Road and Antelope High School, 7801 Titan Road.

Studies reveal that most of the prescription drugs that are abused come from family and friends, often out of the home medicine cabinet, according to a sheriff's press release.

Collection sites will accept any medicines in capsule and tablet form. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked, according to the sheriff's department.

A Rancho Cordova man died early Sunday morning after he reportedly lost control of his car on Auburn Folsom Road in Placer County.

Matthew Bohling, 29, was driving a blue Honda Civic northbound on Auburn Folsom Road about 1:57 a.m., approaching Eagle View Lane, when he lost control of the vehicle, traveled across the southbound lanes and off the roadway, according to a California Highway Patrol news release.

After leaving the roadway, the Honda struck two concrete poles, a fire hydrant and a tree, officials said. Bohling was pronounced dead at the scene by South Placer Fire District personnel.

CHP officials said the cause of the crash is under investigation, and it has not been determined whether alcohol or drugs were factors.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District firefighters rescued a dog that fell down a steep hillside on Wednesday along the American River.

Twelve-year-old Bandit was out for a morning stroll with his owner in the Gristmill Park area of Rancho Cordova. Part of the trail gave out, sending Bandit down the hillside into some thick bushes, said Capt. Jon Rudnicki.

His owner realized he could not get to Bandit so firefighters arrived to execute a rescue. Firefighters carefully made their way to the dog and placed him in a basket.

The frightened pooch snapped at the firefighters, so a towel was placed over his head to protect them from a bite, according to Rudnicki. The basket was slid up the hill and then Bandit was carried to the owner's car.

A 47-year-old woman was struck and killed by a light rail train this morning between the Sunrise and Hazel stations.

The incident happened about 6:30 a.m. today on the tracks along Folsom Boulevard near Mercantile Drive, which is just east of the Sunrise station. A Regional Transit spokeswoman said that woman was walking a bicycle on the tracks.

Crossing arms were down at Mercantile Drive and bells were ringing when the person walked into the path of the train, the RT spokeswoman said. The woman's name has not yet been released.

Trains were operating through the area again at 10:30 a.m.

A Rancho Cordova man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Sacramento to engaging in child sexual exploitation.

According to court documents, Brandon Marks, 25, attempted to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity. In addition, between April and June 2012, he received and shared child pornography, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

Marks is to be sentenced May 15 by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District firefighters today rescued two small dogs from a burning Rancho Cordova mobile home.

The dogs were last reported in critical condition at a pet hospital where they were transported after firefighters administered oxygen to the pets.

The first firefighters at the scene of the 10:30 a.m. fire on Redcoat Lane near Routier Road reported heavy smoke coming from the double-wide mobile home. Crews began to put out the fire and search for two dogs reported to still be inside.

Crews found the dogs, removed them to safety, and began resuscitation. No mobile home residents or firefighters were injured.

Fire damage was estimated at $25,000. Cause of the fire is under investigation.

PHOTO CAPTION: Firefighters administered oxygen to the pets. Sacramento Metro Fire

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department reports that a North Highlands man who disappeared from his home Wednesday night has been found and is safe.

John Killins, 55 (pictured), who deputies say has a diminished mental capacity, had last been seen at 10 p.m. Wednesday at his North Highlands home in the 3600 block of Turner Drive.

Killins typically uses a bus pass to ride Regional Transit.

Two men were arrested early today in Rancho Cordova, accused of stealing copper wire from several businesses.

John Whitlock, 30, and Casey Solano, 24, were booked into Sacramento County Jail with bail set at $20,000 each.

Rancho Cordova police officers responded to the 9900 block of Horn Road about 4 a.m. after a security guard reported that two men were on the roof of a business. When police arrived, the two suspects, later identified as Whitlock and Solano, ran from officers, according to a Police Department news release.

A man who spent time at a Rancho Cordova residence has been sentenced in federal court in Sacramento to 14 years and two months in prison for distributing child pornography.

Joseph Cantrelle, 61, who lived most recently in Vacaville, also will be subject to 10 years of supervised release following his prison term, according to a federal Department of Justice news release. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell.

According to court documents, law enforcement agents searched residences where Cantrelle stayed in Napa and Rancho Cordova. They found that Cantrelle maintained on his computer a collection of approximately 561 videos and 4,079 still images depicting minors engaged in various types of sexually explicit conduct. He shared and posted the images from his computer to others on the Internet.

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

QUESTION: Has anyone been arrested in connection with the shooting death of Jorden Benedict last April in Rancho Cordova?
Submitted by: Just Curious, Rancho Cordova

ANSWER: Investigation of the case remains open, but no arrests have been made, according to Sgt. Jason Ramos, Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman.

By Kim Minugh, Bill Lindelof and Dan Hill
kminigh@sacbee.com

Law enforcement officials say that the man killed in Rancho Cordova on Monday by Rancho Cordova police was shot after hitting officers with inordinate strength.

A press statement by the police department said that the man was large of stature and had begun to overpower the officers when one of the officers drew his service handgun and shot him at least one time in the upper body.

The officers immediately called for medical assistance, but the man later died. He was identified this morning as 35-year-old Paul Tereshchenko of Sacramento.

Applications are being taken for a free, ten-week class that provides an overview of the criminal justice system.

The 13th Citizen Academy Class, established by the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office, seeks to answer community questions and build bridges between the criminal justice system and ethnic, racial and faith-based communities.

The course is held Tuesday evenings from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. beginning April 9 at the Sacramento Police Department headquarters, 5770 Freeport Blvd.

Members will learn about racial profiling, gang and hate crimes, in-car cameras and police internal affairs departments. Scheduled this year are a tour of the county jail and a police dog demonstration.

Application forms are at http://www.sacda.org/community. Call Cecile Velasco at (916) 874-7428 for more information.

A Rancho Cordova teenager who had been missing for several days has been located and reunited with her family, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.

Ciera Buckley (pictured), 15, had last been seen at her home Sunday in the 9800 block of Lincoln Village Drive. Authorities said she was considered to be at-risk because her disappearance is inconsistent with her normal behavior.

Rancho Cordova police and Sacramento County East Division sheriff's deputies will become a larger presence in some schools through a bonding program now underway.

The "Adopt-A-School" program endeavors to strengthen ties between law enforcement, schools and the community. The effort, which began last week, focuses on 19 schools.

Officers will be making stops during regular patrol duties to visit campuses. They will attempt to cultivate working relationships with students, teachers, classified staff and principals, according to a Rancho Cordova police press release.

In addition, officers will conduct presentations about the role of the police officer, emphasize the importance of class work and stress the importance of staying away from drugs and crime.

The program supplements the police presence at schools that already have School Resource Officers. Other responsibilities of officers in the Adopt-A-School program may include assisting school staff in counseling sessions and serving as mentors to students.

Schools involved in the program include Cordova Gardens, Cordova Meadows, Cordova Villa, Navigator, Peter J. Shields, Rancho Cordova Elementary, White Rock, Williamson, Sunrise, A.M. Winn, Abraham Lincoln, Mather Heights, Sierra Enterprise, James W. Marshall, Sequoia, Isador Cohen, Golden Empire, Gold River Discovery and O.W. Erlewine.

SMUD is warning a phone scam continues to be perpetrated on its business customers.

Around the holiday season, some customers reported getting phone calls by someone pretending to represent the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. The caller threatened to shut off a home's or business's electric power unless the customer pays a past-due bill immediately at a payment facility.

The scam attempts were reported by several business customers, the utility said. SMUD said this week that those fraudulent calls continue to be made.

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

QUESTION: Is there any update on the triple homicide that happened in Rancho Cordova a couple of months back? Last I heard, Denis Bukhantsov's brother was in custody. What has happened since he was arrested?
Submitted by: Sunshine, Sacramento

ANSWER: Grigoriy Bukhantsov, 20, remains in Sacramento County Jail awaiting trial for the October slaying of his sister-in-law and two of her children.

Sacramento County Sheriff officers arrested two people in Dixon after a high-speed chase that began in Rancho Cordova this morning.

Officers responded to a victim who reported being struck with a gun near Folsom Boulevard and Bradshaw Road around 5:00 a.m. when suspects fled in a vehicle driving westbound on Highway 50, Sgt. Jason Ramos said.

Sheriff's deputies pursued, and the chase reached speeds as high as 100 mph as it followed Interstate 80 through three Sacramento, Yolo and Solano counties. CHP provided air support and as many as 10 sheriff's officers joined the chase, Ramos said.

A father is suspected of hiding shoplifted booze and DVDs in his toddler's stroller, according to Rancho Cordova police.

Danny Williams, the father of the child, and his friend Deaire Jeffries, are suspected of stealing the items from the CVS Pharmacy in the 3300 block of Zinfandel Drive Tuesday afternoon.

Employees told police that the two men pushed a baby stroller around the store with Williams' child along for the ride before paying for one item. They were later caught outside the store with merchandise hidden in the stroller.

Williams' child was taken into protective custody. Williams, 26, and Jeffries, 31, were booked into jail on suspicion of burglary and child endangerment.

A 17-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with the death of a man found in a vehicle in Rancho Cordova last week with a gunshot wound.

The suspect was taken into custody near the scene of the crime earlier today and was booked into Sacramento County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of murder, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. Authorities did not release the youth's name because he is a juvenile.

Shortly before 8 a.m. Jan. 2, Rancho Cordova police officers responded to the area of White Rock Road near Laurel Crest Drive regarding a report of an unresponsive man inside a vehicle. They found 29-year-old Lucas Esteban-Enrique, who had been shot while driving down the street. He was transported to a hospital, where he died the following evening.

A Rancho Cordova man shot in his car on Wednesday has died, according to the Sacramento County Coroner's office.

Lucas Esteban-Enrique, 29, was found behind the wheel of his car near the intersection of White Rock Road and Laurelhurst Drive about 8 a.m. Wednesday. When deputies arrived on the scene they found Esteban-Enrique's car stopped against a curb.

He was unresponsive behind the wheel and when paramedics removed him from the car it was discovered he had a gunshot wound. He was transported to a hospital and died at 6:50 p.m. Thursday.

Deputies canvassed the neighborhood to come up with any information that might lead them to a suspect. Deputies learned there were several gunshots heard before the car was found rolled to a stop at the curb.

A sheriff's spokesman said they have no suspects.

A 21-year-old man killed Tuesday when he lost control of his vehicle at a high rate of speed and crashed at an historic schoolhouse has been identified by the Sacramento County Coroner.

Elijah Nehemiah Riley of Elk Grove was the driver of a vehicle that crossed eight lanes of traffic on Bradshaw Road and crashed into a play structure at historic Edward Kelley Preschool. He died at the scene.

The cause of the 3 p.m. crash is under investigation, but it appears Riley "may have had a medical condition," a sheriff's department spokesman said at the time of the accident.

The California Highway Patrol is asking the community's help in the search for a vehicle involved in a hit-and-run collision that left a pedestrian dead on Christmas Eve.

The collision occurred about 5:10 p.m. Dec. 24 on a westbound Highway 50 onramp in Rancho Cordova. Investigating officers believe the vehicle was traveling on the Highway 50 westbound onramp from southbound Sunrise Boulevard when it struck a woman in the roadway as she was crossing the onramp in a westerly direction, according to a CHP news release.

The pedestrian, identified by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office as Yvonne Janell Raphael, 65, was then struck by two other vehicles, which remained at the scene. The first vehicle, however, fled.

A new digital red-light photo enforcement camera system has been installed at Zinfandel Drive and White Rock Road in Rancho Cordova and is scheduled to go "live" at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

For a period of 30 days, red-light violators will be mailed a warning notice. At 12:01 a.m. Jan. 28, red-light violators at the intersection will begin to receive citations by mail.

The citation will include a referral to a website where the violator can view the still and/or video images of the violation. The violator should be able to clearly see where the vehicle was in relation to the intersection's limit line, and the green,yellow and red lights, according to a Rancho Cordova Police Department news release.

Officials said the red-light photo enforcement program is intended to promote increased safety. They say studies have shown a significant reduction in red-light-related crashes at intersections with photo enforcement.

A 65-year-old pedestrian was killed Christmas eve when she was hit by a vehicle while crossing a Highway 50 onramp in Rancho Cordova.

The female pedestrian was walking across a Sunrise Boulevard onramp to westbound Highway 50 about 5 p.m. Monday when a vehicle hit her and did not stop. The California Highway Patrol is still looking for the hit-and-run driver.

After the initial striking of the woman by the unknown driver, her body, still in an onramp lane, was struck by a motorcycle and a car.

The CHP reports that the fatal injuring of the pedestrian occurred at dusk and that the street lights were inoperable. The Sacramento County Coroner's Office has not released the name of the pedestrian.

Sacramento Metro Fire Department personnel rescued a deer caught in the Folsom South Canal at Sunrise Boulevard and Sun Center Drive in Rancho Cordova on Monday.

Sacramento Metro firefighters were able to help the deer out of the canal and were evaluating the condition of the animal.

"We're not sure how long the deer was in the water," said Capt. Chris Quinn.

Fire officials asked the Department of Fish and Game to respond.

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

QUESTION: Sometime in the early '90s, a young man named DeVarr Williams was killed in Lincoln Village. What were the details?
Submitted by: Rich, Citrus Heights

ANSWER: DeVarr Williams died in February 1994, a week after he was shot as he stood outside a liquor store in the Lincoln Village area.

A new digital red-light photo enforcement camera system has been installed at Zinfandel and Olson drives in Rancho Cordova and is scheduled to go "live" at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

For a period of 30 days, red-light violators will be mailed a warning notice. Beginning at 12:01 a.m. Jan. 12, red-light violators at this intersection will receive citations by mail, according to a Rancho Cordova Police Department news release.

The citation will include a referral to a website where the violator can view the still and/or video images of the violation. The violator should be able to clearly see where the vehicle was in relation to the intersection's limit line, and the green, yellow and red lights.

Police say the system is intended to increase traffic safety, citing studies that have shown a significant reduction in red-light-related crashes at intersections with photo enforcement camera systems.

Citizens have until Feb. 6 to apply to serve on the 2013-2014 Sacramento County Grand Jury.

Applicants must be at least 18 years old, U.S. citizens and reside in Sacramento County. The grand jury serves from July 10, 2013 to June 30, 2014.

To get an application questionnaire and view a fact sheet, go to www.sacgrandjury.org or call the grand jury coordinator at (916) 874-7559.

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office has identified the man whose body was found outside of a Rancho Cordova pet clinic last week as 55-year-old Jeffrey Rozenski.

Rozenski, whom authorities described as a transient who frequented the Rancho Cordova area, had been fatally stabbed.

A passerby alerted authorities after finding his body outside a pet clinic at 2890 La Loma Drive the night of Nov. 26.

Sacramento County sheriff's deputies later arrested 28-year-old Tywan Johnson on suspicion of murder in connection with the death.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department has identified the suspect arrested today in connection with the death of a 55-year-old man in Rancho Cordova on Monday night as 28-year-old Tywan Johnson.

Deputies arrested Johnson on suspicion of murder. They allege he fatally stabbed the victim, who has not yet been identified by the coroner's office, in a dispute over money.

The two were acquaintances, said Sacramento County sheriff's Sgt. Jason Ramos.

Johnson, who was arrested at his home in Sacramento County, had several outstanding warrants for his arrest from the Sacramento Regional Transit District for allegedly evading fares, according to jail booking records.

The victim's body was discovered outside of a pet clinic on La Loma Drive about 8 p.m. Ramos said he was a transient who frequented the Rancho Cordova area.

Authorities were alerted to the stabbing after a woman who saw the man's body flagged down a firefighting crew. They found the man on the ground with a bicycle.

Information from a witness and evidence at the scene prompted detectives to identify Johnson as the suspect, Ramos said.

Johnson previously faced just one criminal case in Sacramento County. According to Superior Court records available online, Johnson pleaded no contest in 2005 to a misdemeanor count of petty theft.

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

QUESTION: In the late 1980s or early '90s, a teenager was found killed outside of Mather Air Force Base by the canal off of Douglas Road. What were the details of this crime and what was the outcome of the person responsible for it? I know the suspect robbed the victim's parents house on base to make it look like the victim did it.
Submitted by: Rich, Citrus Heights

ANSWER: Jeffery Michael Creagan pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the execution-style slaying of a friend, 17-year-old Clarence Dixon, on July 2, 1990.

A Sacramento Superior Court jury today convicted three men of robbery and murder in the Dec. 29, 2008, shooting death of a man who prosecutors say was targeted for the $16,000 he won gambling at an Indian casino.

The verdicts came in against Derrick Dwayne Sam, 34, Shannon Shorter, 36, and Genneledward Miles Jr., 30, for the murder, robbery, abduction and torture of Timothy Lance Brodie, 30. Prosecutors said Brodie was shot and killed in the parking lot of a Rancho Cordova apartment complex when he tried to escape after he had been abducted and beaten in an effort to force him to disclose where he hid his winnings.

Sentencing for Miles has been scheduled for Dec. 21 in front of Judge Maryanne G. Gilliard. Sam and Shorter are slated to be sentenced by Gilliard on Jan. 11.

The third fire traced to electrical problems in 30 days has prompted a suburban fire district to caution homeowners about doing electrical repairs themselves.

On Thursday at about 3:30 p.m. Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District firefighters were called to the 8100 block of Dunes Court, near Highway 99 and Calvine Road, where a garage was engulfed in flames. Crews stopped the fire from spreading into the home and also rescued the family dog and cat.

The residents of the home were away at the time of the fire. Arson investigators determined "the cause to be electrical in nature," according to a fire district press release.

A man wanted on an out-of-county warrant has been taken into custody in Rancho Cordova after he initially failed to respond to law enforcement officers seeking to arrest him.

Some residents were concerned when they saw officers massing at Mitchell Middle School at 2100 Zinfandel Drive. Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Jason Ramos said the school was used as a staging area for deputies, including SWAT officers who were called when the man did not respond to requests to come out of a residence in the 2000 block of Zinfandel .

Ramos said it was known that two juveniles were in the home, and authorities were concerned about a possible hostage situation.

A motorist died last night on Sunrise Boulevard when her car went out of control and struck a tree.

Rancho Cordova police responded to the accident on Sunrise Boulevard north of Douglas Road about 9:30 p.m. Paramedics were also dispatched.

The driver, who has not been indentified pending notification of family, was pronounced dead at the scene.

A preliminary investigation revealed that her car was northbound on Sunrise Boulevard when it veered toward the right shoulder of the road and struck the curb. The car then abruptly turned toward the center median where it hit a tree.

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

QUESTION: In fall 1985, two women went to work at an office along east Highway 50. It was a Saturday, so, I surmise, they were intending to catch up on some uncompleted tasks. They were killed by the custodian, I believe. I have been haunted by the fact that they were doing extra but were killed doing their job. Was the killer caught and what happened to him?
Submitted by: Robert, Sacramento

ANSWER: Timothy Pride, a janitor, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for fatally stabbing two female co-workers at Progressive Casualty Insurance in Rancho Cordova on the Labor Day holiday in 1984.

The California Highway Patrol reports that a 78-year-old Folsom man suffered moderate injuries this morning when the van he was driving collided with a freight train locomotive near Folsom Boulevard and Watt Avenue.

The silver Chrysler Town and Country van was westbound on Folsom Boulevard in the left-turn lane at the Watt Avenue intersection, and a Union Pacific Railroad locomotive was westbound on the Union Pacific tracks approaching Watt at 10 mph, according to a CHP news release.

Officials said the driver of the van failed to see the railroad crossing arms in the lowered position blocking traffic on northbound and southbound Watt Avenue. The man drove through the crossing arm, striking it with the windshield portion of the vehicle, and traveled directly into the path of the oncoming train. The locomotive struck the left side of the van, and the van spun out of control away from the railroad tracks as the train came to a stop, authorities said.

The van driver was transported to U.C. Davis Medical Center.

CHP officials said the collision is under investigation.

Weary and choked with emotion, the family of the young mother and two toddlers slain in Rancho Cordova spoke for the first time publicly about the victims at a press conference Thursday.

"She cared a lot for me, for all of us, for our parents, for our family," said Denis Bukhantsov, the husband of Alina Bukhantsov, 23, who was brutally killed in their home along with their children, Emmanuela, 3, and Avenir, 2.

His brother, Grigoriy Bukhantsov, a 19-year-old high school dropout, is being held on three counts of murder in the bloody attack.

A memorial fund has been set up for the surviving family members whose loved ones were slain in a bloody attack in Rancho Cordova on Tuesday afternoon.

The Denis Bukhantsov Memorial Trust Fund, set up in the name of the victims' husband and father, was set up through Premier West Bank. The account number is 82804765. There are several branches in the Sacramento region, including one at 9340 East Stockton Boulevard in Elk Grove, 95624.

The fund will benefit the family of 23-year-old Alina Bukhantsov and her two children, 3-year-old Emmanuela and 2-year-old Avenir. Denis Bukhantsov found their bodies in the family's Rancho Cordova duplex on Tuesday afternoon.

The couple's youngest child, a 6-month-old boy, was found safe in another room.

Sacramento County sheriff's detectives arrested Denis Bukhantsov's brother, 19-year-old Grigoriy Bukhantsov, on suspicion of three counts of murder. He is scheduled to be arraigned Friday.

Denis and Alina Bukhantsov, top photo, take a ride in a buggy in West Sacramento during their wedding on April 26, 2008 (Photo by Sacramento wedding photographer Sergey Bidun). Above, a recent photo of Grigoriy Bukhantsov, 19, was provided by a family friend.

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office has released the names of the three victims found slain in their Rancho Cordova duplex on Tuesday afternoon.

They are 23-year-old Alina Bukhantsov and her children, 3-year-old Emmanuela and 2-year-old Avenir.

PHOTO GALLERY: Mother, two children slain in Rancho Cordova home

Alina Bukhantsov's brother-in-law, 19-year-old Grigoriy Bukhantsov, is accused in the crime. He was arrested early this morning on suspicion of three counts of murder, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.

All three of the victims had injuries "consistent with sharp force trauma," said sheriff's Sgt. Jason Ramos. They were found dead in their De Soto Way duplex about 3:30 p.m. by the husband of the woman, who is also the father of the children.

It is his brother who is the suspect in the brutal killings.

By Kim Minugh and Ed Fletcher
kminugh@sacbee.com

Sacramento County Sheriff's Department officials are looking for a minivan they believe was stolen from the Rancho Cordova duplex where three bodies were discovered this afternoon.

The van is a white Chrysler Town and Country van with a California license plate of 6LFY276.

Authorities believe the van was stolen from the duplex where a young mother and her two toddlers were found dead.

Deputies were called to a home in the 10100 block of Desoto Way after the woman's husband, who is also the children's father, came home and found the bodies, said Sgt. Jason Ramos. The man didn't have access to a phone and went to a neighbors house for help, fearing that possible attackers were still in his home. The neighbor then called 911 about 3:30 p.m., Ramos said.

Deputies arriving at the house found the the bodies of the woman, described as being in her 20s, and a 3-year-old girl and 2-year-old boy dead in one room. A third child, a 6-month-old boy, was found crying but unharmed in another room, Ramos said.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

Sacramento County Sheriff's Department officials have confirmed that three bodies found Tuesday afternoon inside a Rancho Cordova home are that of a woman and her two young children.

Deputies were called to a home in the 10100 block of Desoto Way after the woman's husband, who is also the children's father, came home and found the bodies, said Sgt. Jason Ramos. The man didn't have access to a phone and went to a neighbors house for help, fearing that possible attackers were still in his home. The neighbor then called 911 about 3:30 p.m., Ramos said.

Deputies arriving at the house found the the bodies of the woman, described as being in her 20s, and two children -- a girl, 3, and a boy, 2 -- dead in one room. A 6-month-old boy was found crying but unharmed in another room, Ramos said.

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

QUESTION: A friend of mine was murdered in Sacramento in 1985, named Gary Wells. Was his murderer ever caught and what happened to him? I believe his name was Dwayne Richardson. What actually happened that night?
Submitted by: sin dawg, Sacramento

ANSWER: Dwayne Michael Richardson pleaded guilty in the 1984 shooting death of 19-year-old Gary Wells.

Motorcycle thefts were down last year in the U.S., despite increased sales, according to an insurance industry group.

A report by the National Insurance Crime Bureau released today said 2011 motorcycle thefts are down six percent from the year before. A total of 46,667 motorcycles were reported stolen in 2011, compared with 49,791 in 2010.

The decrease in thefts came as sales were slightly up. Sales increased to 440,899 motorbikes in 2011 from 439,678 in 2010, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council.

A Rancho Cordova woman reported missing earlier today has returned home and is OK, according to police.

Rancho Corodva police said Marcella Stapleton, 51, went missing from her residence in the 2900 block of Routier Road Thursday morning. Police said she was considered to be at risk because she is emotionally and mentaly unstable.

PHOTO CAPTION: Marcella Stapleton

Sacramento Metro Fire officials are blaming electrical wiring for a fire that engulfed a Rancho Cordova duplex, displacing a family with four young children.

The incident at 3325 Routier Road in Rancho Cordova began at 7 a.m. Firefighters found heavy smoke and fire coming out of the attic of the duplex, according to a press release from the department. No injuries were reported. The fire was estimated to have caused $120,000 in damage to the structure and $25,000 in personal property damage.

The fire - deemed electrical in nature - started at the back of the vacant duplex, traveled up the wall and engulfed the shared attic space, according to the release.

A man was killed and two women were injured this afternoon in a collision between a school bus and a sport-utility vehicle near Rancho Cordova.

California Highway Patrol Officer Jasper Begay said the crash occurred at 3:50 p.m. A 1996 Jeep Cherokee was westbound on Jackson Highway when the driver ran a red light at Sunrise Boulevard, Begay said. An Elk Grove Unified School District bus traveling southbound on Sunrise, with only the driver on board, struck the passenger side of the Jeep.

Begay said the male passenger in the Jeep died at the scene. His name was not released pending notification of family.

The California Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal collision that occurred this shortly before 4 p.m.at Jackson Road and Sunrise Boulevard.

According to the CHP website, the collision involved a school bus and a Jeep.

Details were not immediately available. Return to www.sacbee.com for more information.

A man who shot and killed a woman's ex-boyfriend pleaded no contest Monday to voluntary manslaughter charges in Sacramento Superior Court.

Isaac Merciful Martinez, 21, entered the plea in the July 10, 2010, shooting death of Damien Burkholder in the 3000 block of Laurelhurst Drive in Rancho Cordova.

Martinez entered the plea after testimony had begun in his murder trial in front of Judge Michael P. Kenny.

Besides the voluntary manslaughter, Martinez admitted to gang and gun enhancements that will are expected to extend his total sentence under the plea arrangement to 31 years. Kenny scheduled Martinez' sentencing for Oct. 19.

According to court testimony, Martinez was in his car making out with a woman when Burkholder, her ex-boyfriend, showed up and a fight ensued.

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

Sacramento County Coroner's officials have identified a man shot to death in Rancho Cordova late last week as 33-year-old Clifton Riddle.

Sheriff's officials found Riddle in his car at the 2400 block of Moraine Circle on Thursday night after he called them to say he had been shot.

Riddle was taken to a hospital with injuries from multiple gunshot wounds to various parts of his body, Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Jason Ramos said.

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office has identified the second victim fatally shot in a Rancho Cordova apartment Tuesday night as 68-year-old James Anthony Angelonis.

Angelonis and his caregiver, Sandra Foster, were fatally shot by two unknown assailants who ran into a West La Loma Drive apartment about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The attack was witnessed by an 11-year-old girl who hid in a closet during the shooting, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.

The suspects, who were described only as wearing dark clothes, have not been identified.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call the Sheriff's Department at (916) 874-5115 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP.

Sheriff's deputies are searching for assailants in the neighborhood around West La Loma Drive in Rancho Cordova after two people were fatally shot in an apartment this evening.

Sgt. Jason Ramos said deputies were called to the area about 8:45 p.m. He said an 11-year-old girl had gone from her home to an apartment across the street at 2086 West La Loma. As she entered the apartment, two individuals rushed in behind her, knocking her to the floor.

The girl got up and ran from the apartment. As she ran back across the street to her own apartment complex, she heard two gunshots. She told her family what happened and they called 911.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire Department officials say that earlier fire damage to the Value Inn in Rancho Cordova was so extensive it was hard to tell whether Monday afternoon's fire actually resulted in any new damage to the troubled structure.

The fire, at 1:33 p.m., was the fifth fire at the 10271 Folsom Blvd. building in the last two years, said Michelle Eidam, a firefighter paramedic with the department.

There were no injuries as a result of the one-alarm fire at the building officially deemed inhabitable, but believed to be home to a number of squatters, Eidam said.

The city has been trying over the last two years to get the building demolished, said Rancho Cordova Vice Mayor Linda Budge. The location at the corner of Folsom and Mather Field and its proximity to transit makes it a site with "unlimited opportunity," she said.
- Ed Fletcher

A teenager who was reported missing in Rancho Cordova more than a week ago has been found safe.

Sacramento County sheriff's officials reported that 16-year-old Fatima Scott returned home Monday and has been reunited with her family.

Scott, who had been staying with her family at a motel on Point East Drive, was reported missing Aug. 23. She was considered at risk because she was without needed medication.

Rancho Cordova police need help in finding a teenager who has gone missing.

Fatima Scott, 16, who had been staying with her family at a motel on Point East Drive in Rancho Cordova, is considered at-risk because she is without needed medication.

Scott was last seen riding light rail in downtown Sacramento at about 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

She is described as black, 5 feet 6 inches tall and about 135 pounds. She was wearing a pink shirt and blue jeans. Her head is shaved but she does wear a blond and black wig.

Anyone who has seen Scott is asked to call police at (916) 874-5115.

PHOTO CAPTION: Fatima Scott

Fire officials are investigating the cause of a fire that destroyed the garage of a vacant residence in Rancho Cordova early this morning.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District crews were dispatched to a report of flames at a house in the 3300 block of Romford Way. They arrived to find the garage on fire and already collapsing, according to a Fire District news release.

Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the garage, preventing it from spreading to the house or attic. No other structures were damaged.

A bicyclist sustained serious injuries in a collision with a vehicle outside the Mather Field light rail station in Rancho Cordova this evening.

Sacramento Sheriff's Department spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos said the collision occurred just before 8:45 p.m. at the intersection of Folsom Boulevard and Mather Field Road. The bicyclist, a teenage boy, pulled into the eastbound lanes of Folsom Boulevard against a green light, Ramos said. He was struck and dragged along the road 50 to 60 feet.

He was transported to the University of California, Davis Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

Ramos said there was no indication that intoxicants were involved in the collision, and that the driver appeared to have been obeying all traffic laws.

The Sacramento County Coroner's office today released the name of a man deputies believe shot into a motel room before then turning the gun on himself.

He was identified as Patrick Michael Ewing, 34, of Rancho Cordova.

Sheriff's SWAT officers evacuated the Extended Stay America motel at 10721 White Rock Road after receiving a report that a man who had been staying at the motel for several days had fired shots into another room about 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

The Sacramento County Coroner's office has released the name of a woman who died Thursday afternoon in a head-on collision on Jackson Road, south of Mather Airport.

She was identified today as Rajnita Devi Singh, 31, of Rancho Cordova.

Officer Jasper Begay of the California Highway Patrol said the collision occurred about 12:25 p.m. Singh was westbound on Jackson Road just west of Excelsior Road when she began weaving in and out of the opposing traffic lane, he said. She then veered left, colliding head-on with an eastbound Chevy Silverado pickup truck.

A man who reportedly fired shots into a Rancho Cordova motel room early this evening was found dead in another room hours later.

Sacramento County sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos said indications are that the 34-year-old man died of a self-inflicted gunshot.

Sheriff's SWAT officers evacuated the Extended Stay America motel at 10721 White Rock Road after receiving a report that a man who had been staying at the motel for several days had fired shots into another room about 5:30 p.m.

Arson is suspected in a fire at Sheepherder Bar and Grille in Rancho Cordova.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District personnel were called to the restaurant at about 4:45 a.m. today to find a storage shed and an exterior wooden staircase on fire.

The fire was quickly extinguished but not before causing an estimated $12,000 in damage.

Cause of the fire is being investigated, but authorities found indications that the blaze was intentionally set, a press release states.

A 2007 Bee restaurant review said that Sheepherder was originally built as the Citrus Inn in 1913, or maybe 1912 -- the historical record is unclear.

Former Sacramento County sheriff's Deputy Kelly Smith will serve 120 days in jail and complete a drug diversion program as part of her sentence for drug possession and identity theft charges, according to authorities.

Smith, a 23-year veteran who had been assigned to the Rancho Cordova Police Department as part of that city's contract with the Sheriff's Department, resigned from the agency last month, said sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

In June, Smith, 43, pleaded no contest to the felony charges that she refilled an elderly man's hydrocodone prescriptions without his knowledge of consent and then kept the pills for her own use. She had befriended the man, prosecutors alleged, to get access to his prescriptions.

Smith has enrolled in a drug diversion program and will serve 120 days in jail, as well as five years of probation under the sentence imposed by Sacramento Superior court Judge Kevin McCormick.

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 man is receiving medical attention after being removed from the American River at River Bend Park in Rancho Cordova this afternoon.

At 4:41 p.m., the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District received a report that a man had jumped from a raft into the river and had not surfaced.

A fire boat found the man, who had been caught in a fast-moving current, tangled in submerged trees, said Battalion Chief Kyle Johnson.

Crews took him from the water about 5:20 p.m. after he had been underwater for at least 40 minutes, and administered CPR, Johnson said. The man was transported to the UC Davis Medical Center.

No details about his conditions are currently available.

A federal grand jury in Sacramento has indicted four men -- from Rancho Cordova, Sacramento, Folsom and Oroville -- charging them with attempting to entice a minor to engage in prohibited sexual conduct.

The men were identified while they were online seeking to have sex with minors, according to a federal Department of Justice news release. In each case, the men allegedly traveled to meet a fictional minor and were met instead by law enforcement officers.

Brandon Marks, 25, of Rancho Cordova was indicted June 21 and charged with attempted enticement of a minor, as well as two counts of receipt and two counts of distribution of child pornography. Nicholas Perry, 34, of Sacramento and Eric Johnston, 21, of Folsom were indicted today and charged with a single count of attempted enticement of a minor.

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

QUESTION: In December 2011 Thomas Tanke was found to be guilty of embezzlement. I have found no updates on the case. What, if any, was the outcome for conviction, time served, etc.?
Submitted by: Cindy, Sacramento

ANSWER: Thomas Tanke, the former vice president of a Rancho Cordova construction company, was found guilty in federal court in November of stealing more than $110,000 from the firm.

A jury found Tanke guilty on two counts of mail fraud and five counts of bank fraud.

Tanke initially was to be sentenced March 2, but according to online court records, the sentencing hearing has been postponed to July 6. He's being held in Sacramento County Jail.

According to a story in The Bee, Tanke, 68, claimed that at least part of the money was compensation in lieu of a higher salary, but the owner of Azteca Construction Inc., Rafael Martin, said that was not true.

According to a trial brief filed by the prosecutor, between February and June 2004, Tanke diverted seven checks to his own business bank account even though they were issued by third-party purchasers of equipment and were payable to Azteca, Martin or Construction Equipment Rental & Services, an entity owned by Martin's wife that leased equipment to Azteca.

Tanke also caused approximately 23 Azteca checks to be issued as payments to his personal creditors, and in some instances submitted invoices to suggest that the payments were for legitimate company expenses, according to the brief.

He was accused of using company checks to pay for items including jewelry and an expensive bicycle.

A Sacramento County sheriff's deputy has pleaded no contest to felony drug possession and identity theft charges after she befriended an elderly victim and refilled his prescription drugs without his knowledge, according to authorities.

Kelly Curran Smith, 43, entered the plea today as part of an agreement with the Sacramento County District Attorney's office that will send her to jail for 120 days and to a drug diversion program, according to a news release from the DA's office. She also will be placed on probation after she has served her time.

Smith and her attorney, Jeffrey M. Schaff, declined comment.

Smith is a 23-year veteran deputy assigned to the Rancho Cordova Police Department. Smith was placed on paid administrative leave when the investigation began in March, and she remains employed by the department, said sheriff's Deputy Jason Ramos.

Smith befriended a 90-year-old man and then began to refill his prescription painkillers without his knowledge. She then picked up the pills and kept them for her own use. She was arrested in May.

Smith will be sentenced Aug. 6.

The two defendants in a 2011 drive-by shooting that left three young men dead in Rancho Cordova received multiple life sentences this morning in Sacramento Superior Court.

Judge Helena Gweon sentenced the driver, Francisco Delgado, 21, to three terms of life without parole in state prison. She also sentenced the shooter, Saul Isidro-Aucencio, 25, to three terms of life without parole, in addition to a definite term of 16 years and eight months and an indefinite term of seventy-five years to life. In addition, she required the men to pay a total of about $40,000 in restitution.

Delgado and Isidro-Aucencio were convicted by separate juries on May 31 of three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Jamir Miller, 15, Richard "Bubba" Ward, 16, and Robert Corpos, 20.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District firefighters were kept busy Sunday -- a day when the mercury hit 100 degrees.

At 10:24 a.m. crews responded to 8294 White Sands Way to find heavy fire and smoke coming from the garage of a home. Inside the garage, two vintage automobiles were on fire.

Crews were able to limit the spread of fire into the home. Firefighters located the resident of the home, who suffered minor burns and respiratory problems.

A 19-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a recent series of robberies in Rancho Cordova.

Xavier Lomba, 19, was taken into custody this morning at his Rancho Cordova home and booked into Sacramento County Jail, according to a Rancho Cordova Police Department news release. He is being held on $100,000 bail.

He is accused of six robberies. The first occurred May 17 at the Chevron gas station at 2358 Sunrise Blvd. and the most recent was reported Sunday at CVS Pharmacy at 3301 Zinfandel Drive. The other robberies occurred May 22 at that Subway sandwich shop, 3581 Mather Field Road, and at the Liquor and Food store, 10401 Folsom Blvd.; May 29 at the Wienerschnitzel restaurant, 11070 Coloma Road; and June 6 at the Pizza Guys restaurant, 2351 Vehicle Drive.

A man fled officiers following a traffic stop and holed up in an Rancho Cordova apartment for nearly three hours this afternoon has been identified as Freddy Esquivel (pictured), 25.

Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos said the incident began shortly before 3 p.m. when a Rancho Cordova patrol officer stopped a vehicle at Pedro and Luveta ways. Three people were in the vehicle and, two of the occupants, a male and a female were detained. The other individual, a passenger in the front seat identified as Esquivel, ran from the vehicle.

Esquivel ran through yards, jumping fences, and was tracked to an apartment complex in the 10700 block of Le Ann Drive, where he entered the residence of a woman believed to be an acquaintance. Ramos said the woman came out of the apartment and confirmed that Esquivel was inside.

A handful of faculty and staff members at Cordova High School have been allowed back on campus after authorities detonated a suspicious object on campus.

The object was found to be inert. However, authorities had treated as a potential threat out of an "abundance of caution," said Stephen Nichols, spokesman for the Folsom Cordova Unified School District.

Sacramento County sheriff's Deputy Jason Ramos described the object as a "pretty well constructed hoax device" - an object made to look like a real bomb, complete with a blinking red light.

A campus custodian found the object about 10:30 a.m., prompting an evacuation of part of the campus. School is not in session; however, some faculty and staff members were inside the school when the object was found, and some children were playing soccer at the school, Ramos said. They were all been cleared from the area.

The sheriff's bomb squad responded and, unsure if the object was a real explosive device, detonated it. It was then determined to be some canned beverages wrapped in foil and duct tape, Ramos said.

Two brothers reported missing from their Rancho Cordova home have been found.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department reports that Andie Her, 13, and Christopher Her, 11, are safe and unharmed, and are being reunited with their mother.

The boys had been last seen about 8 a.m. Sunday when they were believed to have walked away from their apartment in the 2800 block of Paseo Rio Way near Folsom Boulevard.

They were considered at risk because of their young age and because there was no known reason for their disappearance.
PHOTO CAPTION: Andie Her, left; Christopher Her, right

Two Sacramento Superior Court juries returned first-degree murder convictions today against two street gang members in the shooting deaths of three bicyclists last year in Rancho Cordova.

Judge Helena R. Gweon set a June 22 sentencing date for defendants Saul Isidro-Aucencio, 25, and Francisco Ignacio Delgado, 21. The two face life in prison with no chance of parole on the juries' special-circumstance findings that the pair committed the Feb. 13, 2011, drive-by, multiple murders of Robert Corpos, 20, Richard Ward, 16, and Jamir Miller, 15.

According to evidence at trial, Isidro-Aucencio had been assaulted in an apartment complex earlier in the day. In retaliation, Isidro-Aucencio, armed himself with an AK-47 assault rifle, and he and Delgado got in a car and hunted down their victims in the 10100 block of Malaga Way. The three who were shot had nothing to do with the earlier attack on Isidro-Aucencio.

A Sacramento jury convicted a man Wednesday of stalking a former juvenile dependency court referee and assaulting two of his children by driving a van at them at their Rancho Cordova home.

John Thomas Parlante, 46, will be sentenced June 27 for the Feb. 17 incident at the residence of the former referee, Daniel Madden Horton. Authorities believe Parlante was upset at the Horton for a ruling in a child dependency matter.

The assault took place a day after local news agencies reported that Madden had been arrested on misdemeanor charges of enticing underage girls to strip for an adult magazine.

Nobody was injured because sheriff's detectives who were serving a search warrant on Madden's residence thwarted Parlante -- who had an axe in his car -- before he made contact with anybody.

Sacramento County sheriff's deputies are continuing their search today for two vehicles associated with the discovery of man's body after a fire in an Arden-Arcade apartment Sunday.

They also seek to narrow the time frame for when 60-year-old Stephen Sieck was killed, authorities said.

Sieck was found dead Sunday afternoon after firefighters arrived to extinguish a blaze at his Shelby Ranch Road apartment. Authorities initially described his death as suspicious but later classified it as a homicide.

A man and woman were taken into custody after gunshots were fired during a police pursuit this morning in Sacramento County.

The incident began about 8:10 a.m. in the Arden Arcade area when police tried to pull over the driver of a suspected stolen pickup.

Officers followed the suspects to a neighborhood near Howe Avenue and Highway 50 where gunshots rang out, although a California Highway Patrol spokeswoman said that it was unclear if officers fired or if the suspects in the pickup fired a weapon. The spokeswoman also said the pickup came dangerously close to ramming officers.

Officers then chased the suspect vehicle to the South area. Near French and Gerber roads, the suspects in the pickup ran from officers.

Eventually, after nearly two hours of searching, both a man and a woman were taken into custody. Their names were not immediately available.

Photo caption:Sheriff's deputies and a K9 dog search fort suspects at the Cedarwood mobile home park on Gerber Road in Sacramento Tuesday morning. Photo by Randy Pench / rpench@sacbee.com

Sacramento police K-9 Bodie is still in stable but critical condition after being shot Friday in a confrontation with an auto theft suspect, officials said Saturday.

The suspect was shot and killed by the officer handling Bodie after the dog was shot.

The suspect has not been identified, nor has a female arrested in connection with the car theft.

Bodie received another transfusion overnight. He is being treated by the Sacramento Veterinary Referral Center in Rancho Cordova.

Bodie, the Sacramento Police Dog that was shot by a suspect yesterday, rests at the VCA Sacramento Veterinary Referral Center in Rancho Cordova. His condition has been upgraded from critical to serious and stable. May 19, 2012. Sacramento Bee/Autumn Cruz

A free community safety event in Rancho Cordova on Saturday will bring together first responders and others.
The "Proven Insurance Services Community Safety Saturday" occurs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Proven Insurance headquarters, 2721 Citrus Road. Among the activities scheduled at the event sponsored by Capital Insurance Group:
- KlassKids Foundation will provide digital photo ID and fingerprint kits for children.
- The California Highway Patrol will operate a child safety/booster seat inspection station.
- Sacramento Police Department volunteers will provide safety information.
- Sacramento Metro Fire Department will bring along a fire engine.
- The California Department of Boating and Waterways will be encouraging safe boating practices with educational materials and by raffling off 30 life jackets.
- The American Red Cross will provide information on flood and earthquake preparedness and other information.
A raffle will be conducted at the end of the event with prizes such as a solar flashlight, emergency radio and a roadside emergency kit. In addition, four grand prize winners will be chosen to receive a Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch.

Cameras on the cars of Sacramento County probation officers have snagged another stolen vehicle - this time a 2011 Chevrolet Silverado pickup.

Cameras on two probation department cars automatically focus on license plates of cars and trucks as officers go about their regular duties on the streets of Sacramento County. More than 3,000 license plates can be scanned in an hour.

Every so often they get a hit, matching a vehicle with cars and trucks on a statewide list of stolen vehicles. Since April 2010, the department has found 193 stolen vehicles using the plate-matching technology.

Sacramento County is forming a volunteer parks ranger program to help fill the enforcement gap caused by budget cutbacks to staff.

Once formed, the reserve rangers would not be paid but would perform similar duties as salaried rangers.

A county staff report notes that the number of paid rangers has been reduced from 25 to 14 positions. At the same time, the public has continued to call upon rangers for safety and enforcement needs.

In a news conference this afternoon, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones formally introduced his new anti-gang "Impact Division," and announced preliminary results from the team's efforts.

Since the division began its work in January, gang detectives assigned to the division have seized more than 100 guns, some of which are pictured at left, and arrested nearly 125 suspects, Jones said.

In addition, deputies have seized 4.3 pounds of cocaine, 153 pounds of marijuana, 29 grams of heroin and almost a pound of methamphetamines, Jones said.

"Can I say we've beaten the gang problem? No," said Jones, flanked by commanders from partnering agencies. "We have a lot of work to do."

But Jones said he has high expectations for the division and believes it is off to a strong start.

"Hopefully it gives people optimism we are taking the youth violence problem seriously," Jones said.

Last fall, the Sheriff's Department was awarded a $11.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's COPS Office. The money was to fund a collaborative anti-gang approach that Jones said he began crafting after he took office in 2010.

The division is made up of 31 sheriff's employees and 10 officers from outside agencies. Those partnering with the Sheriff's Department are: Police departments from Elk Grove, Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova and Galt; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's Special Service Unit; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and homeland security.

Jones also announced a new tipline for information about gang-related activity. The tipline is also designed for youths who want help getting out of the gang life, Jones said. That number is (855) 2NO-GANG, or (855) 266-4264.

"It's never too late to turn around," Jones said.

To those who have no interest in changing their habits, Jones had a message: "We will find you, we will identify you, and we will arrest you."

The division has a three-pronged approach: gang suppression, intelligence and youth outreach. To read more about the Impact division, go here.

Photos show some of the guns seized by members of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Impact Division. Photo by Bee staff writer Kim Minugh.

A Rancho Cordova woman has died from injuries suffered in a crash on Highway 99 in South Sacramento on Saturday night.

The California Highway Patrol said that Gloria Woods, 41, was observed driving recklessly on southbound Highway 99 about 8 p.m. She apparently turned around and headed northbound, according to a CHP spokesman.

Once near the Turnbridge Pedestrian Crossing, between Florin Road and 47th Avenue, she lost control of her vehicle at a high rate of speed. Her car hit the center median and then careened across the northbound lanes, where the vehicle hit a guardrail, rolled over and then crashed through the soundwall.

She was taken to the hospital and was pronounced dead on Monday.

Saturation patrols on surface streets and Sacramento freeways are scheduled for Cinco de Mayo.

The deploying of saturation patrols to cut down on drunk driving begins at 7 p.m. Saturday. Friends gather to celebrate the Mexican holiday with barbecues, beer and margaritas, but be careful after the party ends, warned law enforcement.

"Everyone, including hosts, local bars and restaurants must be sure to promote designated sober drivers in advance, before the festivities begin," said Citrus Heights Police Chief Chris Boyd.

The greatest number of DUI deaths and injuries occur late Saturday night and early Sunday morning, according to a press release from the police department.

A woman was taken into custody for allegedly cutting her brother with an electric fan.

A Sacramento County Sheriff's Department watch summary said about 6:40 p.m. Thursday police were called to Terra Loma Drive in Rancho Cordova.

When authorities arrived, they discovered that Tabitha Dean, 43, and her 41-year old brother had both been drinking when an argument began.

Some time during the argument, Dean allegedly struck her brother on his legs with a running electric fan, producing a large laceration, according to the watch summary.

She was taken into custody but has since been released from Sacramento County Jail.

The Sacramento County Coroner's office has released the name of a teenager shot to death last night in Rancho Cordova.

Jorden Benedict, 19, of Rancho Cordova was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday night.

Benedict was shot about 9 p.m. Tuesday not far from W.E. Mitchell Middle School in Rancho Cordova. Police found him in the street next to the sidewalk on Campana Way east of Biscay Way, said Sacramento County sheriff's Deputy Jason Ramos, who also is a spokesman for Rancho Cordova police.

Benedict had suffered a gunshot wound to his upper body, Ramos said.

Few details about the shooting were available today. Witnesses did report seeing a dark-colored vehicle drive away from the area of the shooting, Ramos said, though it was not clear how many people were in the car or who they were.

Detectives do not know the motive for the shooting, Ramos said.

Efforts by The Bee to reach Benedict's family today have not been successful.

Benedict was on probation after pleading no contest in 2010 to a second-degree robbery charge, a felony offense for which he was sentenced to a year in jail, according to Sacramento Superior Court records online. A felony assault with a deadly weapon charge associated with that case was dismissed, records show.

At that time, a misdemeanor petty theft charge also was dismissed, according to the online records.

This post was updated by Bee staff writer Kim Minugh.

An early morning fire at a vacant Rancho Cordova motel was probably caused by a homeless person, according to investigators.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District firefighters responded to the motel at 10271 Folsom Boulevard about 5:30 a.m. When firefighters arrived, four rooms were burning.

Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze at the motel, the scene of other fires since the First Value Inn closed nearly two years ago.

Arson investigators determined the fire began in a downstairs room on the back side of the complex. A squatter staying in the room likely caused the fire, according to a fire district press release.

A motorcycle collided with an SUV at a Rancho Cordova intersection Friday, killing the motorcyclist, according to a spokesman for the Sacramento Sheriff and Rancho Cordova police.

The SUV driver appears to have been legally traveling through a green light at the intersection of Bradshaw and Gore roads at 7 p.m. when it was hit by the motorcycle, going north through the intersection.

The Sacramento County Coroner's office have identified the victim as Christopher Shurrum, 32, of Sacramento.

The crash is under investigation by Rancho Cordova police.

Homicide detectives have taken over the lead role in the investigation of missing 22-month-old Dwight Stallings.

However, Sacramento County sheriff's officials stressed that giving homicide detectives command of the search for the little Dwight, does not mean that it is a death investigation.

"Due to the unusual circumstances present in this case, the decision was made that homicide detectives would be better equipped to handle the investigation from this point forward," said a press release this morning from the department.

First order of business for homicide is a morning meeting with volunteers in the south area. The volunteers will help detectives hand out and post flyers with Dwight's picture and information about the case.

A Sacramento man is headed to prison for of making counterfeit checks.

U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. today sentenced Oliver A. Chapman III, 44, to four years and five months in prison for making and possessing counterfeit, forged securities.

According to court documents, law enforcement agents found Chapman in a Rancho Cordova motel room where he was using a laptop computer and stolen financial information to create fraudulent checks. Agents found $123,857.89 in completed checks that were counterfeit, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

The case resulted from an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service.

Grant Line Road in rural eastern Sacramento County will remain blocked until at least early afternoon after a big rig broke off a power pole.

The accident happened about 4:30 a.m. when a big rig driver failed to negotiate a curve when he was traveling northbound on Grant Line Road south of White Rock Road. The truck hit a power pole and lines started to arc.

The lines lowered and blocked Grant Line Road. The driver was not injured.

It is estimated that Grant Line will remain closed until at least 2 or 3 p.m., according to a Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Alternate routes are Douglas Road, White Rock Road or Sunrise Boulevard, according to California Highway Patrol officer Rich Wetzel.

A rural stretch of road often used by commuters between Folsom and Rancho Cordova is blocked this morning after a big rig sheared off a power pole.

The accident happened about 4:30 a.m. when a big rig driver failed to negotiate a curve when he was traveling northbound on Grant Line Road south of White Rock Road. The trailer hit a power pole and lines started to arc.

The lines lowered and were still blocking Grant Line Road two hours later. The driver was not injured.

No estimate was available for when the road would re-open. Alternate routes are Douglas Road, White Rock Road or Sunrise Boulevard, according to California Highway Patrol officer Rich Wetzel.

PHOTO CAPTION: A SMUD worker evaluates the situation before a power pole can be lifted from atop a big rig. Randy Pench/Sacramento Bee

Police in Sacramento and Rancho Cordova will be on the lookout for impaired and unlicensed drivers Friday night.

The Sacramento Police Department will conduct a sobriety and drivers license checkpoint at Florin Road and 24th Street beginning at 8 p.m. and continuing for five to seven hours. Motorists traveling through the checkpoint will be contacted by uniformed officers, who will be looking for alcohol and/or drug-impaired drivers. Officers also will check to make sure all drivers have a valid driver's license.

The Rancho Cordova Police Department Traffic Unit will conduct a checkpoint at an undisclosed location within the Rancho Cordova city limits from 7 p.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday. Authorities warn that motorists caught driving impaired can expect jail, license suspension and insurance cost increases, as well as fines, fees, DUI classes and other expenses that can exceed $10,000.

A St. Patrick's Day and night crackdown on drunken driving in Sacramento County resulted in nearly a dozen DUI arrests.

Sacramento's DUI Task Force was made up of officers from Sacramento, Folsom, Citrus Heights, Twin Rivers and Rancho Cordova police department. The task force's next enforcement operation is planned for Cinco de Mayo.

Results of the St. Patrick's Day saturation patrols:

DUI arrests: 11

Citations: 22

Non-DUI-related arrests: 1

Vehicles towed: 6

Sacramento County Sheriff's department officials say the body found in a Rosemont park this morning is that of a juvenile female.

A sheriff's spokesman said the victim was found about 6:30 a.m. today at Rosemont Community Park, near Mayhew Road and Kiefer Boulevard.

Her body was found in a dugout area of a baseball field. The girl had suffered trauma to her body but detectives have not labeled her death as a homicide.

Detectives are working to identify the girl, whose body was found by a woman walking in the park, which is adjacent to Albert Einstein Middle School. Sheriff's deputies have enlisted the help of the school's resource officer, a Sacramento police officer, to help in identification.

Deputies will be checking attendance records to see who did not show up for school today.

"We don't know for sure if she is a student there but we are checking schools in the area and cross-referencing missing person reports," said sheriff's department spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos. "Hopefully we will have her ID'd fairly quickly."

A teenage boy who failed to return home from school Monday afternoon is now back with his family.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department said early this morning that Edward "Eddie" Lewis 16, has returned home. He was unharmed.

The teen had last been seen at Rosemont High School in the 9500 block of Kiefer Boulevard about 2:45 p.m. Monday. Sheriff's officials said he was considered to be at risk due to a diminished mental capacity.

A 42-year-old Rancho Cordova man was arrested Friday evening after he led authorities on a pursuit while chasing a social worker who had taken his children into protective custody, according to authorities.

The pursuit came two days after Joseph Angel Rodriguez's first arrest this week. On Wednesday afternoon, Sacramento County sheriff's deputies arrested Rodriguez, pictured at left, on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly hit his 19-year-old son with a baseball bat during an argument, said sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

On Friday, a Child Protective Services case worker went to Rodriguez's home on Mills Acres Circle in Rancho Cordova to take his other children into protective custody, based on Wednesday's incident, Ramos said. Deputies accompanied the CPS worker, as is standard for such calls.

Nobody was inside the home, but while deputies and the case worker were there, four of Rodriguez's children walked up, Ramos said. As the case worker was putting the kids in a car, Rodriguez drove up, left his car running in the street and began arguing with authorities, Ramos said.

As the case worker left, Rodriguez ran to his car and sped after the case worker's car. Deputies followed suit, Ramos said.

The Rancho Cordova Police Department and Police Activities League are seeking bicycle donations for a bike rodeo.

The event is scheduled April 28 as part of Kids Day in the Park.

Bike rodeo participants will learn about bicycle safety and maintenance, and how to fit bike helmets. They also will have an opportunity to run through a bike safety course. Afterward, each youngster will be entered in to a chance to win a free bicycle and helmet.

A group that provides train rides to boys and girls has had a vintage tractor stolen that was essential to keeping their Rancho Cordova excursion railroad in good running order.

The Sacramento Valley Live Steamers, a nonprofit organization runs a scale-model steam train in Hagan Community Park, has been delighting children since the early 1970s with train rides through the trees with glimpses of American River.

The railroad line has endured vandalism and the theft of tools and track before, but never something like what happened last week when somebody took their vintage tractor.

A week ago, somebody broke into a locked shipping container and took the group's red-orange 1951 Ferguson farm tractor with a front loader. The tractor is used for a variety of tasks, including carrying gravel ballast that is used under the tracks.

The group is in the process of replacing track. That's when the sturdy workhorse comes in handy.

But now it is gone, apparently driven away down the bike trail.

"I'm told that the transmission is worth $1,000 on its own," said Bill Yoder, president of the Live Steamers. "As heavy as that thing is, they will probably chop it up and sell it for scrap."

Yoder wanted help in making the public aware of the theft in hope that somebody spots the hard-to-hide tractor. The group has offered a $1,000 reward for its return in good condition.

Any information about the stolen tractor should be provided to Rancho Cordova Police, Yoder said.

Starting in March, the group plans to start excursion runs again. Yoder will use his small tractor to move gravel.

PHOTO CAPTION: The stolen vintage tractor. Sacramento Valley Live Steamers

A man who allegedly accosted people outside the home of a former juvenile dependency court referee arrested earlier this week was taken into custody this morning after he was observed by Sacramento police officers waiting to serve a search warrant.

Sacramento County sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos said a preliminary investigation indicates the John Parlante (pictured), 46, may have been the recipient of an unfavorable decision in Referee Daniel Madden Horton's court sometime in the past few years.

Horton was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of trying to entice underage girls to strip for an adult magazine. A court spokeswoman said he resigned from his court referee job last weekend.

Two reputed street gang members were ordered today to stand trial for murder in last year's shooting deaths of three bicyclists in Rancho Cordova.

Saul Isidro-Aucencio, 25, and Francisco Ignacio Delgado, 21, were held over by Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael A. Savage for the Feb. 13, 2011, killings of Robert Corpos, 20, Richard Ward, 16, and Jamir Miller, 15.

The judge scheduled their trial for April 10.

A man who murdered a woman in Rancho Cordova during a sexual assault last year was sentenced today to life in prison with no chance of parole.

Demetrius Shaffer, 33, also was sentenced to seven additional 15-to-life terms by Sacramento Superior Court Judge Maryanne G. Gilliard for another sexual attack on a second female victim.

"Mr. Shaffer has lived a predatory, perverted life," Gilliard said from the bench in sentencing Shaffer. "For that, he will spend the rest of his life behind bars."

Jurors last month convicted Shaffer for the sex killing of Rajneet Kor Singh, 37 (pictured). According to testimony at trial, he had met up with her in the early morning hours of Jan. 1, 2011, and the two of them then went to the Rancho's Club Casino on Folsom Boulevard.

Singh's body was discovered the same day about a block from the casino.

Sacramento police today arrested a county juvenile dependency court referee on suspicion of trying to get two women he thought were underage girls to strip for an adult magazine.

Sacramento Juvenile Dependency Court Referee Daniel Madden Horton, 47, was booked into the downtown jail at 5:05 p.m. today. No charges had been filed on him as of today, but a criminal complaint is likely to be filed as soon as Thursday, according to documents obtained by The Bee.

Horton was in the process of being booked late this afternoon and was unavailable for comment. District Attorney's officials also declined comment. He has resigned from his job in the Juvenile Dependency Court, according to courts spokeswoman Ginger Sylvester.

In a case summary Sacramento police presented to the District Attorney's Office, detectives are asking prosecutors to charge Horton on three misdemeanor counts.

An observant resident is credited with alerting Rancho Cordova police to suspicious activity that led to the arrest two juveniles and the recovery of stolen property.

Police were dispatched to the area of Cregan Court and Pericles Drive shortly after 1 p.m. Monday after a citizen reported seeing to males enter a residence through the back yard and later leave through the garage. The caller reported that the two were pulling a wagon with a safe inside as they left the area.

As officers responded, a burglary alarm call also was pending for a residence on Pericles Drive. On of the officers called the homeowner and verified that a safe was inside the residence, according to a Police Department news release.

Sacramento Sheriff's deputies returned a pair of toddlers to their mother after they were found wandering in Rancho Cordova.

The children were found by an unidentified woman around 9 a.m. in the 2600 block of Capitales Drive.

They were clad only in diapers and appeared to be 2-year-old twins.

Deputies were directed to El Parque Circle, after a woman who recognized the children and told officials the parents lived there.

The children were reunited with their mother, but Sheriff's officials have asked Child Protective Services to evaluate the home situation.

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office has identified the three people killed early this morning in a yead-on collision with a vehicle traveling in the wrong direction on Highway 50 near Gold River.

According to the California Highway Patrol, a man identified as Oliverio Lopez, 41, died inside a Pontiac SUV that was struck about 12:45 a.m. by a Honda CRV that was eastbound on westbound Highway 50. Two women in the rear seat of the SUV, Francisca Temblador Raymundo, 58, of Mexico, and Margarita Temblador de Lopez, 53, of Sacramento, were ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene.

The driver of the SUV, Gustavo Sandoval-Gonzalez, 31, of Sacramento and a rear-seat passenger, Pedro Cornejo, 59, also of Sacramento, were reported in critical condition at area hospitals late this afternoon.

Rancho Cordova has selected its new police chief from a trio of Sacramento County Sheriff's Department captains.

The city has chosen Rosanne Richeal to be its top cop. Richeal, a 20-year law enforcement veteran, was the first woman to command the Sacramento County Jail, the first female motorcycle officer for the sheriff's department and also served as a K-9 officer, according to a city press release.

She once served as Assistant Police Chief for the Rancho Cordova Police Department. Prior to entering law enforcement, she worked as an emergency medical technician.

An arraignment has been scheduled for Thursday at 1:30 p.m. on the suspect who was arrested in the Monday morning shooting death of Cordova Recreation and Park District superintendent Steve Ebert.

The suspect, Dupree Pierre Barber, 47, will appear in Sacramento Superior Court in front of Judge Lawrence G. Brown.

No complaint had been filed as of late this morning, according to the court system's online records.

A 47-year-old man arrested today in Monday's shooting death of a Rancho Cordova parks superintendent has been identified as Dupree Barber (pictured), a former district employee.

Steve Ebert, 59, superintendent of the Cordova Recreation and Park District, was fatally shot as he arrived for work at the district office in Hagan Community Park early Monday.

Dupree was arrested this morning on suspicion of murder after he flagged down a police officer in West Sacramento and said that police in Rancho Cordova were looking for him, according to Sacramento County sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

A man was found shot to death this morning, slumped over in the driver's seat of his still-idling car in a Rancho Cordova park.

The man's body was found in the car in Hagan Community Park about 6 a.m. by a citizen who noticed the car stopped with its lights on partially in the roadway that winds through the park.

The citizen got out of his vehicle and noticed numerous bullet holes in the driver's side door and the side window shattered.

A Sacramento jury today convicted Demetrius Shaffer of murder in last year's sex killing of Rajneet Kor Singh.

The Superior Court panel also found Shaffer guilty on seven other counts of sexual assault on a second victim in an attack that took place on Thanksgiving Day 2010.

Judge Maryanne G. Gilliard scheduled the sentencing on the 32-year-old defendant for Feb. 16.

Jurors began deliberations today in the rape-murder trial of Demetrius Shaffer who is charged in the New Year's Day 2011 strangulation death of Rajneet Kor Singh in Rancho Cordova.

Shaffer, 33, also is charged with seven additional sexual assault charges on a second victim.

Deputy District Attorney Thienvu Ho told a Sacramento Superior Court jury that Shaffer raped and killed Singh when she refused his sexual advances after he had given her methamphetamines and gambling money. Her body was found about a block away from the Rancho's Club Casino on Mills Park Drive and Folsom Boulevard.

Assistant Public Defender Michael Nelson said a jealous boyfriend killed the 37-year-old victim.

Attorneys delivered their opening statements today in a murder trial over the torture killing of a Sacramento man three years ago.

Defendants Derrick Dwayne Sam, 33, Genneledward Miles Jr., 29, and Shannon Raymond Shorter, 35, are on trial for the Dec. 19, 2008, shooting death of Timothy Brodie, 30, who was killed in an apartment complex on Laurelhurst Drive in Rancho Cordova.

According to police and prosecutors, Brodie had won $16,000 at an Indian casino prior to his death. They said Brodie knew Sam through a marijuana growing and distribution ring they operated together. An autopsy showed that Brodie had been beaten in his legs and on his head before he was shot and killed while trying to escape.

Rancho Cordova officials announced that two speed feedback signs have been installed this week near Mills Middle School and the intersection of Coloma Road and Chase Drive.

The signs, which alert drivers to the speed limit and the speed they are traveling, are intended to encourage motorists to slow down around the school.

The signs originally were proposed at a neighborhood traffic management meeting, attended by approximately 70 residents, to discuss safety concerns, according to a city news release.

Since Rancho Cordova incorporated, officials said, several improvements have been made to improve safety along Coloma Road, including bike lanes, sidewalks, medians, and road resurfacing and paving.

A 37-year-old man was arrested last week after he allegedly broke into a Rancho Cordova business and, while being apprehended, tried to choke a police dog, according to authorities.

Officers were responding to a suspicious subject call the night of Jan. 5 when they received additional information that the subject was breaking into the Weight Watchers at 3231 Zinfandel Drive, according to a Sacramento County Sheriff's Department report.

(The Sheriff's Department provides police services to the city of Rancho Cordova through contract.)

A Sacramento man dubbed by law enforcement officers as the "skateboard bandit", was sentenced Monday for a series of bank robberies.

U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb sentenced Jared Sung Yoon Herdt, 30, to eight years in prison, as well as three years of supervised release following his time in prison.

According to court documents, Herdt pleaded guilty to five bank robberies, including one at the Bank of America, 2010 Goldfield Drive, in Rancho Cordova on April 25, 2009. The other four were committed between Jan. 5 and Feb. 24 2009 in Modesto, San Jose and Santa Clara, and in Springfield, Ore.

By Phillip Reese

preese@sacbee.com

Sacramento County law enforcement officials arrested nearly 70 motorists for allegedly driving while intoxicated on New Year's Eve and early New Year's Day. That's a typical haul on one of the busiest party nights of the year. The heaviest concentration of arrests this year were in downtown Sacramento and South Sacramento.

Read more here.

Five people were rescued from burning apartments in a complex on Mills Park Drive in Rancho Cordova this evening.

Assistant Chief Scott Cockrum of the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District said the fire was reported about 7 p.m. in second-story apartments in the approximately 30-unit complex.

When firefighters arrived, he said, a grandmother with three children was on an apartment balcony screaming, "Save my babies. Save my babies." He said a passerby rescued the children, who were handed down from the balcony.

The Sacramento County District Attorney's office has received grants totaling $1.37 million to fight drug-impaired driving.

"These grants will enable us to prosecute drug-related driving offenses with the same level of expertise and success as alcohol-related DUI cases," said District Attorney Jan Scully.

Funding includes:

-- $435,000 to buy an instrument for the crime lab to test for drugs such as Xanax, Valium, Ambien and marijuana in drug-impaired driving cases. Funding also includes a portable breath testing instrument and employee overtime costs for crime lab staff to help at DUI checkpoints.

-- $935,000 to expand a program that prosecutes DUIs that result in death or serious injury. With the additional funding, the unit will expand to include drug-impaired driving cases.

The two grants come from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A DA press release said that a recent study showed that 23 percent of all fatally injured drivers tested positive for drugs.

Firefighters have contained a fire in an abandoned two-story house in Rancho Cordova.

The fire at 10710 Luella Court was reported about 9 p.m. Assistant Chief Scott Cockrum of the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District said the house was abandoned and boarded up, but firefighters searched the building for possible squatters. No one was found inside and no injuries were reported.

Cockrum said fire was reported on both the floors of the house. He said an investigator is on scene, but the cause of the fire has not been determined.

Twenty-four firefighters responded.

By Denny Walsh

dwalsh@sacbee.com

The former vice president of a Rancho Cordova construction company was found guilty Tuesday in federal court of stealing more than $110,000 from the firm.

On the sixth day of trial, a jury of seven men and three women adjudged Thomas Tanke guilty on two counts of mail fraud and five counts of bank fraud.

The 67-year-old Tanke, a resident of El Dorado Hills, testified that at least part of the money was compensation in lieu of a higher salary, but the owner of Azteca Construction, Inc., Rafael Martin, told the jury that was not true.

U.S. District Judge Edward J. Garcia ordered Tanke, who has been on pretrial release, taken to jail pending sentencing on March 2.

"Frankly, I think the defendant is in denial" and a flight risk, judge said. "The evidence against him is overwhelming."

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

Residents will have an opportunity to meet Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones one-on-one during a Monday event in Rancho Cordova.

The "Sheriff's Chat" will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Larry Canfield Community Room of the Rancho Cordova Police Department headquarters, 2897 Kilgore Road in Ranch Cordova.

Those who attend will have a chance to ask questions or raise concerns with Jones on a first-come, first-served basis, as time permits, according to the Sheriff's Department.

The Sheriff's Department provides police services to the city of Rancho Cordova through a contract, so Jones can also answer questions or address issues related to the Rancho Cordova Police Department as well as the Sheriff's Department.

A Rancho Cordova teen probably fell asleep while driving on Interstate 80 in Davis, causing her to twice careen wildly across the freeway and into a tree.

The California Highway Patrol is asking anyone who might have witnessed the accident that caused major injuries to Nicole Francisco, 18, about 5 a.m. Saturday morning to contact the CHP's Woodland office.

The CHP said in a press release that Francisco was driving eastbound on I-80 west of Mace Boulevard at about 75 mph in the far right hand lane when for unknown reasons her car drifted across all lanes of traffic onto the dirt center median. Francisco's car then swerved back across I-80 onto the dirt shoulder where it hit a big tree and a fence.

A peregrine falcon stolen in Rancho Cordova has been recovered in good condition.

The bird - in need of antibiotics because of recent foot surgery - had been taken from a car that was parked overnight Thursday while the falcon's owner waited for freeways to clear so he could drive back home to Reno.

It was in a pet carrier, hooded and with its feet wrapped.

By Carlos Alcala
calcala@sacbee.com

The owner of a stolen peregrine falcon is appealing to the public to be on the lookout for the banded bird, taken from a truck in Rancho Cordova overnight.

"Someone stole it from the car in the pet carrier, almost for sure without knowing what they had," said Martin Stiasny of Reno.

Stiasny had brought the bird to Roseville for surgery on its feet and was unable to return last night because of snow on Interstate 80.

A 17-year-old Cordova High School student was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries this afternoon following a fight with rival gang members in front of the school.

Sacramento County sheriff's spokesman Officer Jason Ramos said a call was received about 3:20 p.m. from a woman who said a teen had been beaten by individuals with a baseball bat and the assailants had fled.

Ramos said the 17-year-old told deputies that he brought the bat to school because he feared he would be jumped by rival gang members. Two members of the rival gang confronted him after school, wrested the bat from him and stuck him in the arm and hip before running off toward Hagan Community Park.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire and California Highway Patrol officials are reporting a major accident with injuries affecting traffic on Highway 50 at Zinfandel Road.

The bulletins refer to as many as five participants involved, with at least one overturned vehicle.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

Sacramento Coroner's officials have released the identity of the man shot and killed Friday by a Sacramento Sheriff's deputy in Rancho Cordova.

The man is identified in the coroner's death register as Antonio Lopez Gonzalez, 36, of Sacramento.

A Sacramento County sheriff's deputy fatally shot a suspect in Rancho Cordova this afternoon, according to authorities.

The shooting was reported behind the Mills Shopping Center in the 10000 block of Folsom Boulevard, said sheriff's Deputy Jason Ramos. The shooting occurred after a call was made to the Sheriff's Department regarding suspicious activity, Ramos said.

The man was transported by ambulance to a local hospital, where he was declared dead, Ramos said.

All lanes are open but traffic is still slow on Interstate 80 to the San Francisco Bay area from Sacramento more than six hours after an early morning crash involving a chicken-hauling big rig.

The 2 a.m. crash occurred on westbound I-80 just west of Lagoon Valley Road between Vacaville and Fairfield. The center divider was opened shortly before 3 a.m. to let traffic slowly pass as chickens were picked up from the roadway.

An estimated 5,000 crated, live chickens were on the truck but only a small portion of the hens fell onto the roadway.

A 27-year-old bicyclist was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries following a collision with a vehicle at Bradshaw and Gore roads in Rancho Cordova late this afternoon.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department responded about 4:50 p.m. to a report of a collision involving a car and a bicycle. Witnesses told deputies that the motorist was traveling northbound on Bradshaw in the far right lane and was approaching Gore Road, on a green light, when the bicyclist, traveling westbound on Gore Road, entered the intersection against a red light, said sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

He said the driver was unable to avoid the bicyclist, who was struck by the front of the car and then hit the windshield, before striking the pavement. Ramos said the bicyclist suffered significant injuries, including head trauma. He said investigators found no sign of a helmet at the scene and believe the bicyclist was not wearing one.

Two Sacramento County residents were arrested in Woodland, suspected of stealing vehicle batteries.

At 9:40 p.m. Tuesday, Woodland police officers were called to the Target Warehouse, 2050 E. Beamer St., regarding a report that two people had been seen in a restricted area taking batteries out of construction vehicles.

Officers arriving at the scene established a perimeter and immediately detained a woman identified as Ana Tomak, 18, of Rancho Cordova, according to a Police Department news release. A second suspect ran off into an adjacent thistle field.

Another instance of violence has occurred in connection with a marijuana grow -- this time in Rancho Cordova.

Rancho Cordova police said that just before 11 p.m. a Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy heard gunshots ring out near Coloma Road and Ranchito Court. While deputies searched for the source of the gunshots, they were waved down by a man with a bleeding hand.

It appears that a bicycling arsonist continues to set fires along the American River Parkway.

Over the weekend, about nine grass fires were set along the bike trail between River Bend Park and Haggin Park. The possible arsonist was a white male with short hair, wearing gray pants and shirt, riding a 10-speed-type bicycle.

This morning, Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District firefighters were kept busy responding to more brush and grass fires around River Bend Park. Again, a male adult was seen on a bike in the area.

A fire believed to have been started by a cigarette discarded outside a residence, caused significant damage to a Rancho Cordova home this evening.

Assistant Chief Scott Cockrum of the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, said firefighters were called about 6 p.m. to a house in the 2200 block of Green Blossom Court. They arrived to find the attic of the home well involved with fire.

Although firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the fire, the attic area suffered significant damage.

The California Highway Patrol will conduct a bicycle rodeo Sept. 17 in Rancho Cordova.

The rodeo is intended to educate the public about bicycle and pedestrian safety. Bicyclists will have an opportunity to make sure their helmets fit properly, have their bicycles inspected and test their skills on an obstacle course. Those who don't have bicycles are invited to bring their scooters.

The event is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Rancho Cordova City Hall, 2729 Prospect Park Drive.

The CHP's Rancho Cordova Office is presenting the rodeo along with local partners and supporters including the city of Rancho Cordova, Folsom Cordova Community Partnership and the 50 Corridor Transportation Management Association. Funding for the program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

A punch shattered an 83-year-old man's hearing aid in his ear last week after he asked a fellow bus rider to move from the senior citizen seating area, according to sheriff's authorities.

Paramedics who responded were not able to remove all the bloodied pieces from the elderly man's ear which they believed were lodged deep in his ear drum and possibly needed to be removed surgically, according to Sacramento County Sheriff's Department report released today.

The man was transported to the hospital.

A man who was found unresponsive Friday on the bank of the American River downstream from Sunrise Boulevard died at a hospital later that day.

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office website identified him as Frank Clifford Gould, 50, of Rancho Cordova. The website lists the cause of death as undetermined but rules out homicide.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District firefighters received a report about 1:30 p.m. of a body floating in the river. A rescue boat crew and helicopter located the man, who was partially on shore. Rescue crews administered CPR and transported him to Mercy San Juan Medical Center.

The public is invited to attend a grand opening of the new facility of the Rancho Cordova Police Department and Sacramento County Sheriff's Department East Division on Wednesday, according to a sheriff's department news release.

The facility is at 2897 Kilgore Road in Rancho Cordova, according to the release.

Tours will be given from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5:30 p.m., the release states.

Sacramento County sheriff's deputies are still investigating what likely was the accidental shooting of a 10-year-old girl at a Rancho Cordova residence this morning where deputies had cleared a large party just 30 minutes earlier, according to authorities.

The girl suffered a non-life-threatening wound when a bullet struck her right hip and exited the other side, said sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos.

Nobody has been arrested in connection with the shooting, which occurred about 12:15 a.m. today on El Parque Circle.

Two grants to the Sacramento County DA's office will help speed up crime lab turnaround time for analyzing DNA evidence and replace forensic equipment.

The grants, which total $687,000, are much needed after years of budget cuts to her department, said District Attorney Jan Scully. The cuts have reduced both staff and equipment, she said, and the monies will help cut forensic work backlog.

The grants:

-- State Department of Justice DNA backlog program: $586,429 will fund crime lab analysts, consultants for case screening, training and equipment purchases.

-- Cloverdell Forensic Science Improvment program: $100,625 will be used for equipment and analytical system upgrades.

Coroner's officials have released the name of a fisherman found dead in the American River the day after he was reported missing.

Ronald Peeters, 54, was found in the river near Harrington Way Friday.

His body was recovered by Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District officials.

Peeters truck had been found at River Bend Park at the close of the day Thursday, the same day he was reported missing and a day after he left his Orangevale home.

The cause of death was listed as undetermined.

The Rancho Cordova Police Department will hold an open house Wednesday to celebrate the opening of its new police station.

Members of the department will lead public tours of the building at 2897 Kilgore Road (see map) from 3 to 5 p.m. The event will feature several law enforcement exhibits, and barbecued hotdogs will be served in the parking lot.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 5:30 pm. Participants will include members of the City Council, Police Chief Doug Diamond and Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones.

Two teenagers have been arrested after leading officers on a pursuit through Rancho Cordova early Wednesday morning.

Abraham Lopez (pictured), 18, and a 17-year-old youth were arrested on suspicion of felony evasion of a peace officer, unlawful possession of a concealed, loaded firearm and resisting arrest.

The incident began shortly after 1:30 a.m., when a Rancho Cordova police officer attempted to stop a vehicle in the area of Paseo Drive and Folsom Boulevard. The driver sped away and led officers on a pursuit that lasted several minutes and reached speeds of approximately 60 mph, according to a Rancho Cordova Police Department news release.

Investigators with the Contractors State License Board's statewide investigative fraud team and Rancho Cordova police officers today arrested an unlicensed operator with a history of using contractor licenses not issued to him.

Charles Peter Maffia, 67, of Rancho Cordova was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail, with bail set at $40,000, according to a Contractors State License Board news release. He is to be arraigned Thursday in Sacramento County Superior Court.

Maffia is accused of fraudulent use of an incorrect contractor license, contracting without a license, illegal advertising and violation of probation. He was already on formal probation for fraudulent use of a contractor license number following a 2006 arrest on this an related charges.

A Sacramento man whom authorities dubbed the "skateboard bandit," pleaded guilty today to a serial bank robbery.

Jared Sung Yoon Herdt, 30, also agreed to pay restitution for the robberies, according to a federal Department of Justice news release. He is in federal custody pending sentencing.

According to court documents, Herdt pleaded guilty to robbing the Wells Fargo Bank at 2010 Goldfield Drive in Rancho Cordova on April 25, 2009. He pleaded guilty to robbing four other banks - in Modesto, San Jose, Santa Clara and Springfield, Ore. - during January and February 2009.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District officials seek the public's help identifying the people responsible for a series of grass fires in the Rancho Cordova area.

Firefighters have responded to 12 intentionally set fires in the area over the past three weeks, according to a district news release.

Investigators believe the fires are related because of their proximity to one another and their occurrence in the late evening.