A Santa Ana woman was arrested Monday in connection with a weekend assault that left a 23-year-old woman critically hurt and unconscious on the sidewalk outside a crowded Santa Ana nightspot, according to the O.C. Register.
The victim, Kim Pham, is brain dead, according to the OC Weekly. They also reported that her sister posted this message on her Facebook page:
Our beloved sister, daughter and friend Kim (Annie) Pham passed away on Sunday, January 19, 2014 at 12:36 PM. Kim is currently on life support because her wishes had always been to help others by being an organ donor.
At this time, we ask for privacy to mourn for our loss. Thank you for all your love, support, and prayers and we are still fighting for Kim. Stay strong.
Love, Kim’s family
The incident occurred about 12:20 a.m. outside the Crosby in the 400 block of North Broadway, said Cpl. Anthony Bertagna, a spokesman for the Santa Ana Police Department, according to the Los Angeles Times.
In related news I am told that the Santa Ana City Council will be meeting in closed session tomorrow night before the City Council meeting and one of the items they will be reviewing is the state of the bar scene in Downtown Santa Ana.
At some point I hope that the SAPD and the OCDA will look at Pham’s murder as the hate crime that it so obviously was. Is it safe for Asians to venture into our Downtown area now?
The agenda for tomorrow’s Santa Ana City Council meeting also references that a Police Department Video Monitoring Center is going to be built by Siemens, Inc. Maybe we will finally get some security video cameras in the Downtown area?
Why was it obviously a hate crime?
Prove that it’s not.
“Obviously”??? Great reporting not biased at all
This is a blog. Feel free go pay for a subscription to the Register if all you want is watered down news.
I heard it was aliens disguised as hispanics. Prove that it wasn’t! By far the worst possible answer that you could have responded with.
The hate must go both ways then because Asian girls yelling “Beaner” at Latins is quite common. Also, drunk kids emerging from Crosby, to fight or puke in the street is a nightly occurance.
Our downtown is clearly broken. It may be time for Santa Ana to be marketed as something other than a binge drinking destination.
WRONG! Nothing is broken! Focus on the crime and not the f’n city or the Crosby. Grow up, pull your head out.
I’m also wondering why it is “obviously a hate crime.”
I’ve spent some time dining/drinking in DTSA. On the occasions that I have been there, I’ve noticed two things: 1) I feel just as safe there as I do in downtown Orange or Fullerton (two other cities I know pretty well) and 2) amoung the different races of people that hang out in DTSA, Asians are not in the minority. There have been times when the bar I was in was at least 80% Asian people.
In fact, I was driving past the Crosby when this incident occurred. I had to stop in the street, eventhough the light was green, because there were so many people in the street. The police and ambulances had not arrived yet, but I could tell that something was happening. From my vantage point in my car (directly in front of the Crosby) I saw the girl on the ground unconcious, I saw the security guards, and I saw people running away. None of the people I observed appeared to be gang members. More like hipsters.
Of course, I wasn’t there in the mix while the incident occurred, so I don’t know what was said or how the fight went down, but neither does the blogger. I think before we go pointing fingers or making assumptions, we should first get the facts.
“As I drive away from the mural, down the path where the aroma of sweet flowers conquer the air and the trees’ willowy branches kiss the earth, I look around me and see in the vastness of the green grass plains, many other families and individuals at their loved ones’ graves. Some are weeping, some are praying, some are lost in thought. But I know one thing we all share; it is the honorable way in which we commemorate the precious souls of our loved ones.” – “Beyond the Oversized White Gates” by Annie Kim Pham
“As i drive away from the mural”
I like that Anonymous and Annie Kim Pham!
Maybe there will be more memorial collaborations at Artwalk like there was for Kelly Thomas and the murdered Santora mural.
There is so much irrational hate and injustice going on in the OC.
A culture in decline unless we get to work fast on fixing it.
Nothing broken.
KTLA is reporting the first suspect is:
Elizabeth Robles
Age: 20
Bail: 50K
Weight: 170 lbs
They are also referencing the slur yelled out by one of the female attackers.
More proof will emerge as additional suspects are arrested. I am sure of it. It won’t be long before the mainstream media is calling this a hate crime.
The OC Register says this about the Crosby – “The Crosby, a foodie favorite that transforms into a music venue at night, is one of several bars and restaurants ..”
The Crosby is NOT a “foodie” place – no way – it has really crappy food just to get around regulations required of a bar.
NOT! The pizzas are fabulous!
There are many tragedies in this story, but the most glaring one is the that there were so many warnings to City Council that this is exactly the kind of thing that would happen given the free reign on bars and the lax security by DTI’s so-called “Clean and Safe” program, which turns a blind eye to excessive drinking and fighting downtown.
It’s not surprising, because there are only three guards in the whole downtown at night, and their bosses at Downtown Stink pay them to hush up problems. Ever tried getting one of the “C&S” rent-a-cops to call SAPD to report a disturbance? Good luck! Clean and Safe is dirty.
It’s time to audit DTI’s Clean and Safe records to see what else they are not reporting to the SAPD. Public intoxication. Bars recklessly selling alcohol. Drug dealers. Crime. Graffiti. You bet.
The Crosby is at fault, too, for all the reasons already stated. Why didn’t they stop the fight? Where’s the 911 call? Where’s the call to Clean and Safe? The police station is only a few blocks away and DTI’s bike guards are supposed to be closer.
It’s also true that Asians are not the minority at the downtown bars, and that they get stumble drunk every weekend. That is what DTI is marketing has achieved. You can’t blame college kids for wanting to get blotto, but you can hold responsible the bars that let it happen and profit from creating a public safety hazard. We mourn Kim Pham, but what about the innocent Mexican mother who was killed in front of her family by a drunk White hit-and-run driver while crossing the street on a Sunday afternoon? Seems like White people flee murder scenes too, and this also happened near the Crosby.
DTI charges the city $400,000 for “Clean and Safe” to keep the heat off of abuses by local bars. Time to do what the bartenders downtown need to learn to do when people pass their limit. Cut ’em off!
Hey ass head, check your facts! THE CITY IS RUNNING THE CLEAN AND SAFE! PART OF THE DEAL BETWEEN THE TWO ENTITIES! DUMB ASS! You are clueless!
DTI is running Clean and Safe w/ $400K of tax payer money as part of deal. Check your facts.
Except that two Asian patrons have been brutally murdered in 3 years and the hipster restaurants have terrible health records.
WRONG! They did not get $400k! It was SPLIT between the loser Mexican team and DTI. CHECK YOUR FACTS! Idiot!
Sounds like your racist ways could use some clean up. Go back to your rock.
“.. but what about the innocent Mexican mother who was killed in front of her family by a drunk White hit-and-run driver while crossing the street on a Sunday afternoon? Seems like White people flee murder scenes too ..”
You cannot make an equivalency here – she was attacked by a pack of rabid coyotes.
And what do YOU call a drunk driver that kills a mother in front of her kids and then speeds off like a coward? A respectable Irvine resident? Shame on you, Seamus MacDuff.
Strategic Planning Focus Group @ Santiago Park Lawn Bowling Club House, 510 E. Memory Lane The Santa Ana City Council is undertaking a strategic planning process to identify goals, projects and resource needs for the City during the next five years. An important aspect of this process is input from community stakeholders concerning Santa Ana’s strengths/opportunities, weaknesses/threats, and key priorities that the City Council should consider. The focus group will be facilitated by professionals from Management Partners, a consulting firm specializing in helping local governments throughout the country. Given that space is limited at the focus group, we ask that you please RSVP as soon as possible but no later than August 26th by emailing achristensen@santa-ana.org or by calling 714-647-6900.
The real Wolf Pack here r the Chase family. This bunch took millions of taxpayer dollars in the 1980’s to “transform” the downtown into a “family friendly” Latino environment. Instead they used the money to buy up property and swindle their Mexican biz partners outta cash. Once the gov agreement ran out, bam! Back to bringing in the drunks and displacing an entire population they had already cashed in on.
Read Mr Chase’s interviews. He says repeatedly that as a majority holder in DTSA he can do whatever he wants w downtown. Well, Ryan you now have blood on your hands. You changed this once safe community into a nightly bar brawl. Anyone living in DTSA can hear the fights breaking as soon as the bars close. You can practically set your watch by them.
Those $400,000 from “Clean & Safe” should be taken away fron DTI & given back to largely Mexican merchants who pay into it. I’m sure they would provide more daytime programming & healthier cultural options for our youth than hitting the clubs.
Grow some balls City of Santa Ana. DTI is in breech of contract. They keep our community Dirty & Unsafe…covered in puke & brimming with drunks. How many more people have to die for you to see that the whole DTI farce was an epic fail?
I don”t believe the Chase family has anything to do with the
Crosby Property
or Chapter One property.
Or Proof property.
Broadway between 5th and 2nd. This is the Epicenter of the Latino – Asian Drama on weekend nights. The Chases can not be used as everybody’s scapegoat.
However, they are “family” friends with the new owner of the Santora (home of proof bar).
Let’s see what the Santora turns into. ?
The Chases run Downtown Inc., which runs Clean and Safe, which is responsible for the downtown “security.” They are also the ones who get the reports from the clean and safe patrols, which many claim are not reported to police.
The Downtown Inc. marketing machine promotes the bars that get patrons crazy drunk, so they fight every weekend. $400,000 to create a problem $5,000 to address it.
Also, the suspect is 20. What’s a 20-year old doing drinking at The Crosby?
Well, i will say this about “Clean and Safe”.
When in the hell was the last time somebody took a power washer to the sidewalk strip of Broadway between 3rd and 2nd st.
Who’se responsibility is that?
Downtown Inc. or The City of Santa Ana?
It is looking very very disgusting.
Bitch, bitch, bitch. That area is filthy because of PEOPLE! Call the city.
WRONG! You disgruntled former employee.
WRONG AGAIN! Why are you so stupid?
Reward offered: http://blogs.ocweekly.com/stickaforkinit/2014/01/kim_pham_santa_ana.php
Why hasn’t the city council of Santa Ana come out and offered a reward or condemned this murder? Goes to speak volumes of the latinos who supposedly run the city council. They are only contributing to the problem by looking the other way and saying nothing.
They aren’t looking the other way. However if you are unconvinced, you can go give them a piece of your mind at their council meeting tonight. Tuesday 5:45 p.m.
If anyone is looking to do away with a bunch of misinformed idiots that are so damn jealous they have lost the fight against Downtown…blow up this blog. Done. We won! The blood will wash off the hands. At least their hands are helping to find the criminals.
Oh yes. We’re blowing up. We’ve had 40,000 views in the past 3 days.
Anonymous DTI employee, the blood WILL NOT wash off your hands.
my hands are clean, your’s are stained. This year in Downtown is going to be EPIC. Hey, how is that Sam Romero loser doing these days? Did he finish packing up all his stupid cross crap? Tell him no one says, ‘hi.’
Hey Editor, appreciate you calling it as it is.
Thank you!
my .2 cents…sure nobody cares, and I’m sure I will get A TON of backlash for even writing this.
I was at The Crosby that night, sitting by the window as I am an avid people watcher. I am also a regular at The Crosby since they opened about 6 years ago. I have done my due diligence and reported what I saw to police and to lawyers. (this is just my view of things) I whiteness a group of girls accidentally bump into a group Kim Pham was in while taking a photo. Kim then started to go after the girls (yell and charge forward). One girl turned around and yelled back. A couple other people went up to the girls and started yelling. I didn’t see who threw the first punch, but then I saw a melee of people fighting. My question…why did
I am 80% sure this wasn’t the first time, for those invalided, visiting The Crosby. Every once in a while there are those who get a little to rowdy and getting kicked out of the DTSA establishments. Im sure those involved did have liquid courage in them, or maybe they were just provoked and turned into the hulk. In any case, nobody will every know why the fight began.
This is just one unfortunate event that happened in DTSA. This was not a racial issue of Hispanics vs Asians. If that was the case then why aren’t there more blog posts about African Americans being bullied in HB; bars in HB are known as White Supremacist bars. Or what about the shooting 2 years ago in the DTF soho parking structure, this was a Caucasian guy who shot a hispanic guy. Does that mean Hispanics shouldn’t go to DTF?