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Santa Ana repeat DUI driver convicted of killing a retired O.C. Register editor

Posted on August 10, 2022 by Editor Posted in Crime, OCDA, Santa Ana, SAPD Leave a comment

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A repeat drunk driver has been convicted of murder for crashing into and killing an innocent driver while street racing in Santa Ana in 2020. The driver he is accused of racing has been charged with vehicular manslaughter and hit and run causing permanent injury or death.

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Louie Robert Villa, 31, of Santa Ana, was convicted by a jury today of one felony count of murder, one felony count of driving under the influence of alcohol causing great bodily injury, one felony count of driving under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol level of greater than .08, and one misdemeanor count of driving on a suspended or revoked license with a prior conviction. The jury also found true one enhancement of great bodily injury. Jurors deadlocked 10-2 on one misdemeanor count of street racing.

Villa faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life in state prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 7, 2022.

Drivers convicted of driving under the influence in California are required to be given what is known as a Watson advisement that informs them that if they kill someone while driving under the influence they can be charged with murder. Villa acknowledged that he received that advisement after pleading guilty to driving under the influence in 2012.

Ricardo Tolento, 26, of Santa Ana, has been charged with one felony count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence while engaging in a street race, one felony hit and run causing permanent injury or death and one misdemeanor count of street racing. He has also been charged with an enhancement of hit and run. Tolento faces a maximum of 11 years in state prison if convicted of all charges. Tolento is scheduled to go to trial later this year.

Villa was driving a BMW on Thursday, July 30, 2020 when he and Tolento began racing next to each other at the intersection of 17th Street and Bristol Street in Santa Ana around 11:40 a.m. Villa was seen pulling ahead of Tolento’s Infiniti shortly before crashing into a pickup truck making a left turn onto Santa Clara Avenue at Bristol Street.

The crash caused the truck to roll over and burst into flames. Good Samaritans rushed to the victim’s aid and pulled him out of the vehicle. The driver, 67-year-old Gene Harbrecht, of Santa Ana, died at the hospital. Harbrecht was on his way back from lunch when he was killed.

Tolento drove away from the scene of the crash without rendering aid to the victim. He was arrested a short time later by the Santa Ana Police Department. Villa’s car was disabled in the crash and he was arrested at the scene.

“Gene Harbrecht didn’t have to die. He should still be here on this earth, enjoying Angels baseball, Ducks hockey, and living life with his wife, Patricia,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “A repeat drunk driver who had been warned about the dangers of driving under the influence set in motion a fatal chain of events that resulted in a tragedy that never should have happened. Gene’s fate was sealed the second those two speeding drivers accelerated off the limit line, leaving a loving wife without her husband and his friends and colleagues in mourning. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office will vigorously prosecute illegal street racing and driving under the influence cases to the fullest extent of the law.”

In response to a dramatic increase in illegal street racing and street takeovers during the pandemic, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer partnered with members of the Fast & Furious movie franchise to produce an anti-street racing public service announcement to encourage street racers to keep it on the track and off our streets.

O.C. fake doctor who targeted Latinas arrested for conducting dangerous plastic surgery operations

Posted on August 4, 2022 by Editor Posted in Crime, OCDA, Orange County Leave a comment

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A Brea man was charged with multiple felonies for impersonating a medical doctor and performing medical procedures including Botox injections, lip and face fillers, and thread-lift procedures on numerous unsuspecting victims. The fake doctor is accused of targeting Spanish-speaking women to perform the unlicensed procedures.

Authorities believe there may be additional victims and are urging anyone who was treated by Elias Renteria Segoviano to report those procedures to the Orange County District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation by contacting Investigator T. Hoang at 714-834-6538.

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“Medical professionals are highly trained and highly regulated for a reason,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “These women trusted this individual to have the training and the expertise required to perform these medical procedures, and instead they unknowingly put their very lives in the hands of someone who had no idea what they were doing.”

Segoviano, 61, of Brea, has been charged with one felony count of the unauthorized practice of medicine, one felony count of false indication of a medical license, and one felony count of perjury. He has also been charged with one misdemeanor count of misrepresenting self as a licensed medical practitioner, one misdemeanor count of representation of license not issued to him or her, one misdemeanor count of misrepresentation of qualifications, and one misdemeanor count of impersonating a professional nurse or pretending to be licensed to practice nursing.

He faces a maximum sentence of five years and four months in state prison if convicted on all counts.

He is currently being held on $1 million bail. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Segoviano was arrested on July 19, 2022 at his business, Botox in Anaheim, within the Phenix Salon Suites, located at 935 S. Brookhurst St. in Anaheim, California. Segoviano used various social media platforms to advertise his services to potential clients, including videos and postings on Facebook, Tiktok, and other social media platforms. Segoviano used various aliases including “Dr. Elias”, “Dr. Elias Renteria”, “Dr. Elias Renteria M.D.“ and used “ELIASMD” on his vehicle license plate.

Segoviano is believed to have utilized other locations for his unlawful medical practice since 2019 including 339 La Habra Blvd, La Habra, CA. Various business names were used for his unlicensed practice including “Botox in Anaheim,” “Botox in Anaheim- Health and Beauty,” “Neurotoxina Botulinica- Massage Service,” “Threads in Anaheim, “Threads La Habra”, “Botox La Habra,” and “OC Threads, Botox & Fillers.”

Segoviano is accused of performing invasive procedures and injecting victims with potentially counterfeit Botox, fillers, anesthetics, and other medical drugs that placed the public at extreme risk.
Deputy District Attorney Diran H. Tashjian of the Consumer and Environmental Protection Unit is prosecuting this case.

SAPD 2019 Detective of the Year charged with child annoyance

Posted on August 2, 2022 by Editor Posted in Cochino Alert, Crime, OCDA, Santa Ana, SAPD Leave a comment

On Friday, December 17, 2021, the Santa Ana Police Department received notification of potential criminal conduct involving Santa Ana Police Department Detective, Greg Beaumarchais. Upon assessing the information, the Department’s Internal Affairs Unit determined the matter to be criminal in nature and the Police Department took immediate and swift action in referring these allegations to the appropriate local and federal authorities. Our department learned of this information on a Friday, and the following Monday, we directly engaged with federal partners to initiate a criminal investigation.

Detective Beaumarchais was immediately placed on Administrative Leave and will remain on Administrative Leave until the conclusion of the criminal and administrative investigations.

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On August 2, 2022, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced that it has filed one misdemeanor count against Detective Beaumarchais, under California Penal Code 647.6(a)(2) – Child annoyance. If convicted, the charge carries a sentence of up to one year in county jail.

Prosecutors allege that Beaumarchais sent graphic messages to the civilian decoy between December 2021 and January 2022. That person contacted authorities to report that the graphic messages were being sent by someone claiming to be a 45-year-old police officer, according to the OCDA.

The Santa Ana Police Department has fully cooperated, and will continue to cooperate with all agencies in connection with the criminal investigation case.

“Misconduct, of any type, negatively impacts the commitment to public service demonstrated by the overwhelming majority of our officers. Our Department will not tolerate inappropriate behavior or alleged criminal conduct that infringes on the trust provided by the community we are hired to serve. We will ensure a complete, thorough and objective administrative investigation is conducted immediately following the conclusion of the criminal case,” said Chief David Valentin.

Las Vegas man identified as the killer of two women in Orange County

Posted on July 27, 2022 by Editor Posted in Crime, Garden Grove, OCDA Leave a comment

Orange County, Calif. – The cold case murders of two Orange County women have been solved as a result of a joint investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) investigation by the Garden Grove Police Department, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. This is the second Garden Grove cold case murder that has been solved with the help of the Orange County District Attorney’s Investigative Genetic Genealogy unit in the last year.

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On May 21, 1987, Shannon Rose Lloyd, 23-years-old, was found deceased in a bedroom she rented in the city of Garden Grove. An autopsy revealed that Lloyd was sexually assaulted and died by means of strangulation. All leads were pursued, but the case went cold.

In 2003, the Orange County Crime Lab linked Lloyd’s homicide with a 1989 Orange County Sheriff’s Department cold case homicide. The body of Renee Cuevas, 27-years-old, was found along Lambert Road near the El Toro Marine base in the morning hours of February 19, 1989. Detectives refused to give up the search for the killer.

It wasn’t until 2021 that the Orange County District Attorney’s Investigative Genetic Genealogy team identified a possible suspect – Reuben J. Smith, a Las Vegas man who had committed suicide in 1999 at the age of 39. A year before committing suicide, in July 1998, Smith was arrested in Las Vegas for sexual assault and attempting to kill a third woman. DNA evidence from Smith’s arrest and the DNA profile found at the crime scenes of Lloyd and Cuevas’s homicides were a positive match.

“The evil in him. I know if I didn’t fight, I was going to die” said the surviving victim from the 1998 attack. The victim, who did not want her identity disclosed, said “It was horrible. The things that he did, the things that he said. He told me he was going to kill me.” She fought back and was able to escape, but this attack still haunts her to this day.

Tom Lloyd, who is Shannon’s older brother, described Shannon by saying “she was tough. She wasn’t scared of much.” Tom added, “It’s hard for me to fathom how anyone can take another person’s life and just discard them.” Tom is grateful for all the hard work by everyone involved in the solving of his sister’s murder.

“The advancements in DNA science and the work of the IGG Unit has been instrumental in solving our second cold case homicide within the past twelve months,” said Garden Grove Police Chief Tom DaRé. “I know with our continued partnership with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, we will be able to solve many more cold cases and bring closure to the family members of these victims.”

“The outcome of these cases reflects Orange County law enforcement’s dedication to seeking answers and solving complex crimes,” said Don Barnes, Orange County Sheriff-Corner. “It reinforces our commitment to the community that no matter how much times passes, we remain steadfast in our pursuit of justice and the work to bring closure to the victims’ families.”

“The loved ones of Renee Cuevas and Shannon Lloyd have the answers to the question they have been asking for more than three decades,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “The justice that every victim deserves was hidden away in DNA, but with advances in IGG technology combined with the relentless dedication of generations of detectives and the talented prosecutors and forensic scientists at the District Attorney’s Office, we now know who killed Renee and Shannon. Justice does not have an expiration date. Whether a crime happened forty years ago or four minutes ago, the residents of Orange County can have confidence that the law enforcement in this county will not rest until justice is served.”

Reuben J. Smith lived in Orange County in the 1980’s before moving to the Las Vegas area. Anyone with additional information about Smith’s activities when he was living in Orange County is asked to call Garden Grove Police Detective T. Ramirez at 714-741-5839 or Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS.

O.C. domestic violence suspect who endangered his kids during a police standoff is sentenced

Posted on July 21, 2022 by Editor Posted in Costa Mesa, Crime, Domestic Violence, OCDA Leave a comment

Tyler Nathan Thornton, a 38-year-old man, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges stemming from an assault on the mother of his children and an ensuing ten hour standoff with the Costa Mesa Police in November of last year.

Thornton was sentenced to 196 days in jail however he already served that time. He was also placed on four years of formal probation and ordered to perform eight hours of community service and attend classes for domestic violence and child abuse.

Thornton accepted charges of felony resisting arrest as well as corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, and two misdemeanor counts of child abuse and endangerment.

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The woman Thornton assaulted contacted the police at about 12:30 a.m. Nov. 3. She was able to escape from their home at the 3200 block of Dakota Avenue. The couple’s two children remained inside the home with Thornton when the police officers arrived on the scene.

Thornton had a registered firearm and he threatened the responding officers. Police later found a handgun, two long guns and an airsoft replica gun.

Nearby homes had to be evacuated as a SWAT team and K-9 units took positions around the residence. Ten hours later Thornton was finally arrested.

Santa Ana man convicted of beating and torturing his girlfriend

Posted on July 21, 2022 by Editor Posted in Crime, Domestic Violence, OCDA, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Gavin John Duffy, a 45-year-old man, was convicted of beating and torturing his girlfriend, in Santa Ana, on Monday.

Duffy attacked his girlfriend starting on April 13, 2018. He punched her 40 times, pulled her hair several times and even tried to suffocate her with a pillow three times, all the while preventing her from leaving.

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Duffy was convicted of charges including corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, torture, and false imprisonment, all felonies. The jury also convicted him of sentencing enhancements for causing great bodily injury in a domestic violence incident.

Duffy is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 26.

The prosecutor, OCDA Deputy District Attorney Elise Levy, said that Duffy screamed at his girlfriend that she was cheating on him.

Depending on how long Duffy ends up in prison he may not have another girlfriend again.

L.A. man could face the death penalty in 7-Eleven robbery and murder spree in So. California

Posted on July 18, 2022 by Editor Posted in Crime, Los Angeles County, OCDA, Santa Ana 3 Comments

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A 20-year-old Los Angeles man will be charged with three felony counts of special circumstances murder in connection with a robbery spree targeting convenience stores that left at least three dead and another three people wounded across several Southern California counties. The man’s 44-year-old neighbor will be charged with felonies in connection with several of the robberies that occurred in Orange County on July 11, 2022.

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Authorities across Southern California are continuing to investigate numerous other crimes believed to be connected to the pair, including an attempted murder at a Riverside 7-Eleven and robberies in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties.

Malik Patt, 20, of Los Angeles, will be charged with three felony counts of murder with the special circumstance of multiple murder, two counts of attempted murder with the personal discharge of a firearm causing injury, three felony counts of robbery with an enhancement of personal use of a firearm, and one felony count of carjacking while personally armed, Patt will also be charged with two additional special circumstance enhancements of murder in the commission of a robbery and three enhancements for personal discharge of a firearm causing death.

Patt could face the death penalty if convicted. He is currently being held without bail.

Patt’s neighbor, Jason Payne, 44, of Los Angeles, has been charged with three felony counts of robbery and one felony count of attempted robbery in connection with robberies that occurred in Santa Ana, La Habra and Brea and an attempted robbery that occurred on July 11, 2022.

He faces a maximum sentence of approximately 9 ½ years in state prison if convicted. Patt and Payne are scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, July 19, 2022.

“This is a stone-cold serial killer who executed innocent people,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Every time he walked into another donut shop or convenience store, the clerk behind the cash register had no idea the death and destruction that he had already left in his path – and that they could be his next target. He could have taken the money and left them alive, but instead he chose to kill whoever and whenever he wanted. And he would have kept killing if it weren’t for the amazing work of law enforcement to identify these individuals and arrest them so quickly. This is law enforcement at its best – working together to ensure that violent criminals are taken off our streets and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

California state law allows serial murders that occurred in other counties to be consolidated and prosecuted in a single county in the interest of judicial efficiency and to prevent victims from having to endure multiple court proceedings in different jurisdictions.

Patt and Payne were arrested in Los Angeles on Friday, July 15 by Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)’s Orange County Violent Crime Task Force. Over the last five years, the ATF Task Force, which includes ATF agents, as well as Fullerton and Brea police officers and investigators from the Orange County District Attorney’s AB 109 task force , has investigated and arrested individuals and crews committing commercial robbery series, smash-and-grab robberies, home invasion robberies, commercial burglaries, as well as firearm and narcotic offenses that occur within or otherwise impact Orange County. The task force also works regularly with the Santa Ana Police Department.

The following crimes will be prosecuted in Orange County:

On July 9, 2022 Patt is accused of shooting a sleeping homeless man in the head in North Hills in Los Angeles County after robbing a 7-Eleven. The man died from his injury. The Los Angeles County Coroner has not yet released the victim’s identity pending notification of next of kin.

On July 11, 2022, at 3:03 a.m. Patt is accused of robbing a Yum Yum Donuts store in the 2400 block of N. Tustin Avenue in Santa Ana at gunpoint.

Twenty minutes later, at 3:23 a.m. Patt is accused of shooting and killing 24-year-old Matthew Rule after trying to walk into a Santa Ana 7-Eleven in the 300 block of E. 17th Street, but finding it locked. Rule was shot in the head after Patt confronted him and another man in the parking lot.

Thirty-one minutes later, at 3:54 a.m., Patt is accused of robbing 40-year-old Matt Hirsch, a clerk at a 7-Eleven in the 100 block of West Lambert Road in Brea. After robbing Hirsh, Patt is accused of shooting the clerk in the head, killing him.

At 4:55 a.m., Patt is accused of robbing a 7-Eleven store in the 300 block of E. Whittier Blvd. in La Habra and then shooting a man sitting in a vehicle outside of the store. The man was shot in the face, but survived. Patt is also accused of shooting and wounding the 7-Eleven clerk who came out of the store.

Following the shootings, Patt is accused of carjacking a resident leaving his home and then later abandoning the stolen vehicle.

Payne will be charged in connection with the robberies that occurred in Santa Ana, Brea, and La Habra and the attempted robbery in Santa Ana.

“On behalf of the Brea Police Department, we would like to offer our sincere thanks to District Attorney Todd Spitzer and the men and women in his office for their diligence in filing the appropriate charges for the subjects in custody,” said Brea Police Chief Adam Hawley. “We will continue to work closely with them moving forward for the prosecution. Through these collaborative efforts with the District Attorney’s office and the other involved agencies, I believe we will bring justice to the victims and victims’ families. In closing, we again offer our deepest condolences to all those affected by these tragedies. We are with you.”

Senior Deputy District Attorney Seton Hunt of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.

Two suspects have been arrested for this week’s shooting spree at So. California 7/11 stores

Posted on July 15, 2022 by Editor Posted in Crime, Los Angeles County, OCDA, Orange County, Riverside County, Santa Ana, SAPD Leave a comment

Two suspects have been arrested in connection with a number of shootings and robberies at several 7-Eleven stores in Orange County, Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire, according to the OCDA.

The pair was arrested on Friday at 1:10 p.m. at 1900 W. 23rd Street in Los Angeles. The men were identified as Malike Patt, 20, and Jason Payne, 44. Patt is the primary suspect. Both men are Los Angeles residents.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and a task force that included the Brea, Santa Ana and Fullerton police departments, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the OCDA’s Office made the arrests. Both suspects were transported and booked at the Santa Ana Police Department and they will likely be prosecuted in Orange County.

Patt was booked into jail in Santa Ana. Payne was being treated for unspecified injuries before booking. Patt was believed to be the person wearing the hooded sweatshirt who was photographed during several robberies, police said.

The police do not yet know what motivated Patt to attack so many victims at area 7-Eleven stores or what role Payne played in these crimes.

Additional violent armed robberies and a murder in the City of Los Angeles are also being investigated with a possible link to this crime series.

The attacks left two victims dead while several others were injured. One victim, Russell Browning, 60, was shot in the mouth as he sat in his car, resulting in the loss of several teeth. Browning, a truck driver, had purchased milk and doughnuts at the store and was heading to work.

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Here in Santa Ana, 24-year-old Matthew Rule was shot dead in a 7-Eleven parking lot with a gunshot wound to the upper body, at 3:20 a.m. on Tuesday.

The 7-Eleven company offered a $100,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the suspect.

“It is through the hard, diligent, and professional investigative work by our Homicide Unit, along with the invaluable collaborative efforts with all our partner allied agencies, that made these arrests possible. As our condolences go out to all the victims and survivors impacted by these violent crimes, our communities can rest a little easier today knowing that we have resolution to this regional crime series,” said Santa Ana Police Chief David Valentin.

Unlicensed teen driver charged with murder after a high-speed crash in Orange killed 3 passengers

Posted on July 15, 2022 by Editor Posted in Accidents, Crime, OCDA, Orange, Orange County, Santa Ana, Street Racing Leave a comment

SANTA ANA, Calif. – An unlicensed 19-year-old driver who led Orange police on a brief police pursuit at more than 100 miles per hour before crashing and killing three passengers, including a 14-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy, was charged today with three felony counts of murder. Three teenage passengers were also ejected during the crash, but survived.

Azarie Dupree Fuller, 19, of Exeter, has also been charged with one felony count of evading while driving recklessly and causing death, three felony counts of child endangerment by a caretaker, one misdemeanor count for driving without a valid license, and an infraction for speeding more than 100 mph.

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He faces a maximum sentence of 45 years to life plus 14 years if convicted on all counts. Fuller, who remains hospitalized, is scheduled to be arraigned on August 4, 2022. His bail is set at $3,550,000.

On Saturday, July 9, 2022, at around 2:47 a.m., Fuller is accused of coming to a screeching halt in a Nissan Altima near the back of an Orange Police Department vehicle stopped in a turn lane of West Lincoln Avenue just west of Glassell Street. Two officers, including a police trainee, were inside the police car.

Fuller is accused of making a U-turn, turning his lights off, and driving more than 100 miles per hour with an Orange police officer and his trainee in pursuit. Less than a mile after the chase began, Fuller is accused of leaving the road and crashing into multiple poles. The Altima erupted into flames and all seven people in the vehicle, including Fuller, were ejected from the car.

Dayanara Rebolledo, 14, Dominic McGinley, 17, and Gustavo Castro, 26, were killed. Three other passengers, including two 14-year-olds and a 17-year-old, were injured in the crash, but survived.

“This 19-year-old had no regard for the lives of anyone on the road that night – not for the lives of his friends, the lives of the two police officers who tried to stop him, or even his own life,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Two children and a young man lost their lives and they didn’t have to die. And two police officers will have to live the rest of their lives knowing that they did everything they could to save them – and it wasn’t enough to stop someone who was hell-bent on death and destruction. These deaths don’t just destroy individual families; they destroy entire communities.”

Deputy District Attorney Brian Orue of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.

Irvine Chiropractor charged with sexually assaulting seven female patients

Posted on July 14, 2022 by Editor Posted in Cochino Alert, Crime, Irvine, OCDA Leave a comment

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A 60-year-old chiropractor has been charged with sexually assaulting seven female patients while treating the women at an Irvine clinic.

Lincoln Esguerra Carillo also has ties to other chiropractic offices in the counties of Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino as well as the state of Virginia. Authorities believe there may be additional victims and are asking for the public’s help in providing additional information regarding any additional victims or information regarding Carillo to the Irvine Police Department.

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Carillo was arrested in Virginia last week and was transported to Orange County on Monday. He has been charged with seven felony counts of felony sexual penetration by means of fraudulent representation of a professional purpose, four counts of sexual battery by fraudulent representation of a professional purpose, and 12 misdemeanor counts of touching an intimate part of another person.

Carillo is currently being held on $1 million bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday July 15 in CJ1. He faces a maximum state prison sentence of 24 years.

Carillo worked at Twins Chiropractic in Irvine for approximately 4 years. During the course of his employment, Carillo treated a female patient multiple times for chronic neck pain between April and May 2021. During seven of the visits, Carillo is accused of sexually assaulting the woman. The woman reported the sexual assaults to the Irvine Police Department in May 2021.

Through the course of the investigation, Irvine police identified six more sexual assault victims who had been treated by Carillo at Twins Chiropractic between January and August of 2021, including a woman who required chiropractic care after being injured in a car accident.

Carillo is believed to have had ties to chiropractic offices in Artesia, Los Angeles, Fountain Valley, Seal Beach, Long Beach, Irvine, Orange, Upland, Cerritos, Costa Mesa, Placentia, Garden Grove, Riverside and Herndon, Virginia.

Due to Carillo’s extensive connections throughout Southern California and extending to the east coast, authorities believe there may be additional victims. Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Irvine Police Detective Nate Ridlon at nridlon@cityofirvine.org.

“Dr. Carillo exploited the high level of trust we place in our medical professionals, to prey upon his victims,” said Irvine Police Chief Michael Kent. “I am thankful for the brave victim that had the courage to come forward and expose his pattern of abuse. A tremendous amount of investigative work went into identifying and interviewing Dr. Carillo’s patients to locate additional victims and present a case to the District Attorney that would support criminal charges.”

“Vulnerable patients seeking chiropractic treatment for aches and pains should not have to worry about being sexually assaulted,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Chiropractors and other medical professionals are trusted by their patients to treat them with the dignity and respect that they deserve. Instead, this individual preyed on their vulnerability and sexually assaulted them. The Irvine Police Department did an incredible job pursuing a sexual predator and together we will do everything we can to achieve justice for these women.”

Senior Deputy District Attorney Juliet Oliver of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.

The OCDA finally cleared a 30-year backlog of untested sexual assault kits

Posted on July 6, 2022 by Editor Posted in Crime, OCDA, Santa Ana, Todd Spitzer Leave a comment

SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office is proud to announce it has successfully cleared a 30-year countywide backlog of untested sexual assault kits, resulting in hundreds of new DNA profiles being uploaded to law enforcement databases and criminal charges being filed in six cold cases, including providing justice for a couple kidnapped at gunpoint 28 years ago by a man claiming to be a police officer.

“Every one of these untested sexual assault kits represents a victim who deserves justice,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “I have made testing every single kit that could be tested a priority since I was a member of the Board of Supervisors. I want to thank Supervisor Don Wagner and the entire Board of Supervisors for their continued support in making this project a reality. By clearing the backlog, we fulfilled a promise to every victim of sexual assault that the Orange County District Attorney’s Office will never stop fighting for victims and we will never stop fighting for justice.”

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In recent years, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office has been working to address the issues of unsubmitted sexual assault kits from various law enforcement agencies throughout Orange County. Using a $1.86 million grant from the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (“SAKI”), the District Attorney’s Office created Orange County Sexual Assault Forensic Endeavor “OC SAFE” to inventory thousands of sexual assault kits to identify which kits have yet to be tested.

Out of the 6,480 Orange County sexual assault kits inventoried through the OC SAFE program, 3,791 sexual assault kits were identified as being previously untested. Each of those cases were subsequently reviewed and a total of 1,705 were determined to be eligible to be tested by the Orange County Crime Lab.

Sexual assault kits most likely to lead to a filed criminal case were tested first.

In July 2020, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office received an additional $328,305 in additional grant funding from the California Department of Justice to test previously untested sexual assault kits. In September 2020 OC SAFE began sending sexual assault kits to Bode Technology to alleviate the stress on the Orange County Crime Lab of testing the older cases. Bode completed its final test on Friday.

One of the previously untested sexual assault kits that was identified as a result of the SAKI Grant was sent to the Orange County Crime Lab, resulting in the identification of a man suspected in a 1993 kidnapping, rape and robbery.

On the evening of April 4, 1993, Jane Doe and John Doe went on a date. Following their date, they parked on the street in front of Jane Doe’s home in Stanton and sat in the car talking. In the early morning hours, a man walked up to the vehicle where they were sitting and falsely identified himself as a police officer. He told them he was investigating prostitution in the area. While holding a gun, the man got into John Doe’s vehicle and he told John Doe to drive to a different location of Stanton where he proceeded to order John Doe out of the vehicle and then sexually assaulted Jane Doe.

Following the sexual assault, the Defendant ordered John Doe back into the vehicle and the man proceeded to drive John Doe’s vehicle with Jane and John Doe still in the vehicle for several hours. During this time, the man demanded the wallets of Jane and John Doe, taking their credit cards, cash, and their driver’s licenses. He told the couple he knew their addresses from the licenses, and he would kill them if they reported him. Eventually, he dropped John and Jane Doe off in Cypress on the side of the road and took John Doe’s car. Jane and John Doe flagged down a Cypress patrol officer and reported what had happened. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department investigated this case and Jane Doe was taken for a sexual assault examination.

As part of the Orange County District Attorney’s project “OC SAFE,” the Orange County District Attorney’s Office reviewed the case of Jane and John Doe in 2019. Following that review, OCDA submitted Jane Doe’s sexual assault kit for testing by the Orange County Crime Laboratory. Following that testing, the foreign DNA from Jane Doe’s sexual assault kit was uploaded into a national DNA database. In November of 2019, the OCDA was notified that a DNA comparison had identified a known suspect, Michael Ray Armijo, as the contributor of the foreign DNA from Jane Doe’s sexual assault kit.

Based upon the DNA identification, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office filed criminal charges against Michael Ray Armijo. On February 18. 2021, a jury convicted Armijo of two felony counts of kidnap to commit robbery and enhancements for personal use of a firearm. The rape could not be charged because the statute of limitations had expired, but prosecutors fought for the maximum sentence, arguing the rape was an aggravating factor because it added violence and threat of additional violence prior to the robbery. Armijo was sentenced to the maximum sentence of 24 years to life in state prison.

“I fought to secure money at the County so we could solve these crimes because every kit we test represents a human being who deserves justice,” said Orange County Supervisor Donald P. Wagner. “I want to thank District Attorney Todd Spitzer for coordinating with me in the fight to keep our community safe. When we test a rape kit, we tell every Orange County resident that we will not allow these atrocious crimes to go unchecked.”

For detailed information on sexual assault kit testing eligibility and current OC SAFE data, please visit: https://www.occl.ocgov.com/OCSAFE/.

This project was supported by Grant No. 2016-AK-BX-K003 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime, and the SMART Office. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

O.C. woman gets 21 years to life in prison after a fatal DUI crash that orphaned three kids

Posted on June 27, 2022 by Editor Posted in Alcohol, Crime, Newport Beach, OCDA Leave a comment

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A 23-year-old woman plead guilty today to two felony counts of murder for killing a young mother and father and seriously injuring their three young daughters while driving under the influence in December 2020. The family was driving around Newport Beach looking at Christmas lights when they were hit by a car that ran a red light at 75 miles per hour.

The driver, Grace Elizabeth Coleman, 23, of Newport Beach had a blood alcohol level of .22% and left the scene of the collision, leaving the injured children strapped in their car seats with the bodies of their parents. Coleman also refused to take a blood alcohol content test as required by law.

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In addition to the two murder counts, Coleman, also pled guilty to one felony count of driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury, one felony count of driving with a blood alcohol of .08% or more causing bodily injury, and one felony count of hit and run with injury. Coleman plead guilty to three felony enhancements of great bodily injury for causing injuries to all three of the couple’s daughters and one misdemeanor count of driving with a blood alcohol of .08% or more in connection with an August 29, 2020 arrest in Laguna Beach. She admitted having a blood alcohol of .18% at the time of the August 29, 2020 arrest, which was 3 1/2 months before she killed Gabriel Andrade and her husband Henry Saldana-Mejia.

Coleman pleaded guilty in exchange for a court offer of 21 years to life. She faced a maximum sentence of 42 years and eight months to life in state prison. She is scheduled to be sentenced on July 29, 2022 at the Harbor Justice Center in Department H2.

Gabriela Andrade, 28, and her husband, Henry Saldana-Mejia, 27, were driving with their three daughters, ages 1, 4, and 5, near the intersection of Pelican Hill Road and Newport Coast Drive on December 8, 2020. At approximately 7:46 p.m. Coleman is accused of running a red light and crashing into the family’s vehicle, killing both parents and seriously injuring their three daughters who were secured in car seats.

Andrade and Saldana-Mejia were killed and their three daughters were seriously injured in the collision.

Driving around looking at Christmas lights shouldn’t have ended in tragedy, but three young girls are orphans because of the selfish decision of a stranger,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Drinking and driving has real life consequences – and those little girls are going to have to live with those consequences the rest of their lives because someone they never met decided to get behind the wheel of a car while drunk and kill their parents.”

Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.

Fullerton man arrested with enough Fentanyl to kill 12M people

Posted on June 27, 2022 by Editor Posted in Crime, Drugs, Fullerton, OCDA Leave a comment

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A suspected drug dealer has been charged with several felonies for possessing enough fentanyl to kill 12 million people, nearly four times the population of Orange County. California Highway Patrol officers discovered four kilos of the deadly drug inside the man’s vehicle during a traffic stop in Fullerton and a search of the man’s Fullerton home revealed 20 more kilos of fentanyl, $250,000 in fentanyl pills, and 122 grams of methamphetamine. A lethal dose of fentanyl is as little as 2 milligrams.

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Alfonso Gomez-Santana, 60, of Fullerton has been charged with one felony count of sale or transport of a controlled substance and two felony counts of possession of sale with intent to sell. He faces a maximum sentence of 6 years and 8 months in the Orange County Jail if convicted on all counts.

Gomez-Santana was arrested on Wednesday, June 22, 2022 after California Highway Patrol Officers pulled him over near South Lemon Street and Orangethorpe Avenue in the City of Fullerton and discovered four kilos of fentanyl in his vehicle and additional fentanyl and methamphetamine inside his Fullerton home.

“It is unconscionable that someone who has the ability to kill 12 million people is facing just a handful of years in jail,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Fentanyl is a national epidemic that killed more than 100,000 Americans last year and it’s not going to stop unless we have the tools as prosecutors to hold these drug dealers and drug manufacturers accountable for peddling death. Every parent in America should be petrified that one day they are going to walk into their child’s bedroom and find them dead because their child thought they were experimenting with recreational drugs and instead drug dealers sold them a deadly dose of fentanyl. This is not fear-mongering; this is reality – and if we don’t start strengthening penalties for drug dealers it’s going to be the reality for you or someone you love.”

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has been aggressively been combatting fentanyl through education and prosecution.

In November, Orange County prosecutors began administering a controlled substance warning to drug dealers, manufacturers, and distributors that if their drug-related activities result in someone’s death they could be charged with murder. Last month, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office cross-designated an Orange County prosecutor as a federal prosecutor to prosecute fentanyl cases federally in an effort to maximize sentences for drug dealers.

Deputy District Attorney Patrick Moss of the Narcotics Enforcement Team is prosecuting this case.

Former O.C. Probation Officer convicted of stealing money during searches

Posted on June 24, 2022 by Editor Posted in Crime, OC Probation, Orange County, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Juan Manuel Rodriguez, a former Orange County probation officer, was convicted on Thursday of stealing money while helping to serve search warrants by an Orange County Superior Court jury.

The charges included one felony count of grand theft and one misdemeanor count of petty theft. Rodriguez was found not guilty of a second misdemeanor count of petty theft.

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Rodriguez was a deputy Orange County probation officer and was serving as a member of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Tactical Apprehension Team, which serves search warrants, arrest warrants and makes contact with criminals on probation.

Rodriguez was accused by two men of stealing hundreds of dollars from their wallets after a visit on August 8, 2017 to a home in Santa Ana.

Rodriguez got caught when an OC Sheriff’s deputy set up a sting involving a “bait vehicle” that had $1,200 in cash inside of it. Some of that cash was in plain view while some was hidden in compartments. The bait vehicle was then parked near another Santa Ana home where the team was carrying out another unrelated search.

A deputy then asked Rodriguez to search the bait car for evidence. Rodriguez allegedly kept $1,190 in cash from the bait car and told the other officers that he had only found “a couple dollar bills and some Del Taco trash.”

To make matters worse for Rodriguez the $1,190 from the bait car was found by other investigators in Rodriguez’s wallet, along with some Disney and Walmart gift cards that he was accused of stealing from someone who lived at the home the team had been searching.

The two men who complained that their money was stolen later identified Rodriguez out of a photo lineup as the theft suspect

While the jury found Rodriguez guilty of the grand theft count tied to the money in the bait car and the petty theft count tied to the gift cards they did not find him guilty of the petty theft count regarding the alleged theft of cash from the residents during the first search.

Rodriguez’s defense attorney, John Barnett, hilariously claimed that Rodriguez was pulling a prank on his team leader and planned to turn the money in later. The jury did not buy that argument!

Rodriguez apparently no longer works for the probation department. His actions cost him an annual salary of $115K that totaled $179K with benefits.

Anaheim man convicted after a fatal DUI crash that killed a little girl

Posted on June 24, 2022 by Editor Posted in Alcohol, Anaheim, Crime, OCDA Leave a comment

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man who was driving with a blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit when he hit and killed a 6-year-old girl who was playing on the sidewalk was convicted today of the girl’s murder. The driver had already been charged in a 2015 driving under the influence case in which he had been warned of the deadly dangers of driving under the influence.

Maximino Delgado Lagunas, 56, of Anaheim, was found guilty by a jury of one felony count of second-degree murder. He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life.

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Lagunas is scheduled to be sentenced on September 9, 2022 at the North Justice Center in Fullerton in Department N11.

On February 17, 2018, Lagunas left a job site where he had been working as a painter. Lagunas lost control of his vehicle, drove onto the opposite sidewalk, hitting 6-year-old Grace Aguilar and eventually a parked car. Grace died as a result of her injuries.

Toxicology results revealed Lagunas was driving with a blood alcohol level of .22%, more than three times California’s legal limit of .08%

Drivers arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in California can be given what is known as a Watson advisement that informs them that if they kill someone while driving under the influence they can be charged with murder. Lagunas received the Watson advisement in connection with his 2015 conviction for driving under the influence.

“An innocent little girl who was just playing on the sidewalk is dead as a result of the selfish decision by a stranger to get behind the wheel of a vehicle while intoxicated,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “This is a tragedy that should never have happened and Grace should still be alive today. Every time someone drives under the influence of drugs or alcohol, they take the risk that they could kill someone. And this time he did – and it was a little six-year-old girl named Grace.”

Senior Deputy District Attorney Jeff Moore of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.