Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

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The OC Sheriff is investigating a misidentification by the OC Coroner’s Office

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Contact: Lt. Lane Lagaret, 714.904.7042, LLagaret@ocsd.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UPDATE: OCSD Investigating Misidentification by OC Coroner Office

SANTA ANA, Calif. (June 26, 2017) – The decedent who was previously misidentified as Frank M. Kerrigan, 57, has been positively identified by fingerprints. The Coroner Division is attempting to locate and notify family therefore we will not be releasing the name of the decedent at this time. Until his family can be found or all efforts are exhausted, his body will remain interred at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery.  Continue reading→

Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens to retire at the end of her current term

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Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens to retire at end of current term

Endorses Undersheriff Don Barnes as her successor

Santa Ana, CA – – Sandra Hutchens, Sheriff-Coroner of Orange County, announced today that she will not seek reelection in 2018 and is endorsing Orange County Undersheriff Don Barnes.

“At the end of my current term, I will have spent almost 40 years in law enforcement and over 10 years as Sheriff of Orange County,” said Hutchens. “It has been a great honor and privilege to serve as Sheriff and I would not even consider retiring if there was not a highly qualified and electable candidate ready to serve. Continue reading→

OCSD statement on ACLU of Southern California’s Jails Project Report

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Orange County, Sandra Hutchens, Santa Ana Leave a comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Lt. Lane Lagaret, 714.904.7042, LLagaret@ocsd.org

OCSD statement on ACLU of Southern California’s Jails Project Report

SANTA ANA, Calif. (June 27, 2017) – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California released a report today on the Orange County jail system managed by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. The report presents a purposely distorted view of the Orange County Jails. The ACLU’s findings are largely based on interviews and surveys of former inmates. While inmates certainly have a perspective to offer on our jail system, the failure to include the perspective of law enforcement has resulted in a report that only tells one side of the story. Continue reading→

Former Santa Ana resident on trial for allegedly murdering a prostitute in 2007

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Santa Ana has had a problem with prostitution for some time – and the prostitutes have been at times targeted by murderous criminals. The trail of one of those suspects, Jose Esteban Cardenas Zuniga, a 41-year old resident of Mammoth Lakes, started today, according to the O.C. Register.

Zuniga is charged with killing a then 25-year old prostitute, Yacshicka Watts, whose body was found at a Santa Ana business park, early in the morning, on Oct. 20, 2007, by transients. Continue reading→

What can we learn from the embarrassing soccer fight in Santa Ana on Sunday?

Posted on by Posted in Crime, mexico, Santa Ana, Soccer 5 Comments

A friendly game between former players of two professional Mexican soccer clubs on Sunday afternoon, June 25, at Eddie West Field in Santa Ana turned violent when dozens of fans rushed the field and began beating each other, forcing authorities to suspend the match, according to the O.C. Register.

The “game of legends” featured former Club America and Pumas players was supposed to benefit Santa Ana-based United Soccer Talents Foundation, which supports soccer players. Continue reading→

Santa Ana woman heading to prison for pimping women in Irvine brothels

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ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE

June 23, 2017

Case # 14HF0182

WOMAN SENTENCED TO THREE YEARS IN PRISON FOR PIMPING WOMEN OUT OF IRVINE BROTHELS

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A woman was sentenced yesterday to three years in state prison for pimping women out of luxury Irvine apartments operating as brothels.

Defendant: Jian Zhen Zhu, 42, Santa Ana

Pleaded guilty to the court on Nov. 15, 2016, to felony counts: Continue reading→

Santa Ana man arrested after allegedly kidnapping and dragging a woman on the 55 Fwy.

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Jorge Hugo Molina , a 39-year old Santa Ana man, is facing kidnapping and domestic violence charges after police say he dragged a woman into a vehicle, according to the O.C. Register.

On Sunday, 6-18-17, Fountain Valley police officers responded to a possible kidnapping and domestic violence incident in the 16000 block of Harbor Blvd. Continue reading→

A reminder that only safe and sane fireworks are allowed in the City of Santa Ana on the 4th of July

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Community: Only “Safe and Sane” Fireworks are Permitted in the City of Santa Ana / Solo Se Permite “Safe and Sane” Fuegos Artificiales

SANTA ANA, CA – As Independence Day approaches, we would like to remind our community that only fireworks bearing the “Safe and Sane” seal are permitted to be used within the City limits, during the following days and hours only:

• Saturday, July 1, 2017 – 12:00 pm (noon) to 10:00 pm
• Sunday, July 2, 2017 – 10:00 am to 10:00 pm
• Monday, July 3, 2017 – 10:00 am to 10:00 pm
• Tuesday, July 4, 2017 – 10:00 am to 9:00 pm Continue reading→

A 17-year old Santa Ana male was arrested in Corona today after fleeing in a stolen car

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Auto Theft Suspects Arrested after Pursuit

Corona PD CR #17-7016

Today, at 10:04 AM, Riverside PD’s air unit, Air-1, alerted Corona Police Dispatch to a pursuit of a stolen Honda Civic in the area of Hidden Valley and I-15. Corona units took over the pursuit of the Civic, which had been reported stolen to Buena Park Police earlier today, when it exited the 91 freeway at Main Street.

The driver, a 17 year-old male from Santa Ana, and the passenger, a 19 year-old male from Orange, were taken into custody without incident when the Civic stopped on Lilac Street near Via Santiago. Continue reading→

Santa Ana’s public schools are once again offering free breakfast and lunch to kids this summer

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THIS SUMMER IN SANTA ANA, NUTRITIOUS BREAKFAST AND LUNCH MEALS AT NO CHARGE!

SANTA ANA, CA – June 21, 2017 -School is out and everyone is looking forward to enjoying an unforgettable summer full of fun and games among friends and family. In the City of Santa Ana, CA, all of the students receive meals each school day at no charge. Unfortunately, many young children are at risk of experiencing food insecurity during the summer. The summer time can be a challenging time to find adequate nutritious meals as offered during the regular school year. Continue reading→

The SAUSD never built the pools they promised at Godinez and Century High Schools

Posted on by Posted in Education, John Palacio, Politics, Santa Ana, Sports, Youth Activities 2 Comments

The saddest picture of the year – Godinez H.S. kids practicing water polo on their school lawn

At the last meeting, SAUSD Board President John Palacio publicly admitted that the SAUSD never built pools at Century High School and at Godinez High School, despite promises to do so. Unfortunately, the SAUSD is not good at properly managing Bond Measure money to build new facilities so some schools go without while other schools get new sports amenities. For example, Segerstrom High School is currently inexplicably replacing their existing score board in the gym with a brand new $70K video score board!

Century High School’s Swim and Water Polo Teams were traveling to Santa Ana High School to use their pool, but eventually both of these teams disbanded. The Coach and Athletes at Godinez High School have to use the pool at Valley High School but they do not have access to the pool until after 5 pm. The students sometimes do not get home from practice until after 9 pm which is not good for them! Continue reading→

The SAPD is investigating the death of a Santa Ana man who had been arrested

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: Death Investigation

Christian Isaac Arias (30) Santa Ana

On Saturday, June 10, 2017, SAPD Officers encountered Christian Arias, an adult male, in the area of 1300 West 1st Street. Arias displayed symptoms of being under the influence of a controlled substance and/or alcoholic beverage(s). The officers detained Arias without incident and requested medics for a medical evaluation. Continue reading→

David Valentin selected as the new acting interim police chief of the SAPD

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Cynthia Kurtz, David Valentin, Jim Schnabl, Santa Ana 1 Comment

We finally have some very good news to report about the Santa Ana Police Department – a once proud agency that was wrecked by former SAPD Police Chief Carlos Rojas and our lame Santa Ana City Council majority. The current interim City Manager, Cynthia Kurtz, has appointed a new acting SAPD police chief selecting Deputy Chief David Valentin and returning the current acting police chief, Jim Schnabl, to his administrative duties.

This is truly fantastic news and I hope Valentin gets the permanent job. He is already the Deputy Chief in charge of Field Operations which includes the Patrol Division, Homeland Security, Traffic Division, Emergency Management and the SWAT team. Continue reading→

Free Summer Solstice event set for June 24 at Mother’s Market in Santa Ana

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On Saturday, June 24, Mother’s Market & Kitchen’s Santa Ana store located at 151 E. Memory Ln. will be holding a “Summer Solstice” event from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will feature many giveaways and free product samples and demonstrations from various store categories, including supplements, body care, grocery, food, produce, as well as tastings from Mother’s juice bar, kitchen and bakery. Continue reading→

Did Waste Management pay for Benavides’ vote to extend the city’s $35M trash contract?

Posted on by Posted in David Benavides, Politics, Santa Ana, Waste 2 Comments

Do you recall that our Santa Ana City Council completely screwed up and forgot to get bids for our city trash contract, which is worth over $35 Million Dollars?  Well guess what? Councilman David Benavides has accepted over $25K in donations to KidWorks – which hired Benavides to be their Executive Director.

While these donations are not technically illegal what really stinks is that Benavides is, according to our sources, planning to vote to extend the trash contract to Waste Management with NO competitive RFP (request for proposal). In other words they appear to have paid him to roll over and hand them back millions of city dollars. Continue reading→