Brea Creek, Buena Park | News, Crime, Lost Pets, Free Stuff (2024)

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON2+ weeks agoAgency⚠️ NEW SCAM ⚠️ Beware of fake websites that claim to provide utility setup services. Scammers are using these websites to steal your personal information and money. Learn how to spot and avoid them here: https://energized.edison.com/stories/fake-website-poses-as-utility-setup-service159Like

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE3 days agoAgencyAn Important Message from Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer Three Los Angeles County Men, Including Third Striker, Charged with Special Circ*mstances Murder of 69-Year-old New Zealand Woman During Fashion Island Robbery Three Men Eligible for Death Penalty for Dragging Tourist to Death Under Getaway Car; Good Samaritan was Shot at While Trying to Apprehend One of the Suspects. Full Press Release: https://bit.ly/3L9vRLM SANTA ANA, Calif. – A third striker and two other Los Angeles County men have been charged with special circ*mstances murder for throwing a 68-year-old New Zealand woman into the street after robbing her at Newport Beach’s Fashion Island and then running her over with their getaway car, dragging the woman nearly 65 feet under their vehicle before leading police on a high-speed pursuit. The woman’s husband tried to stop the driver from running over his wife after he was thrown to the ground and had a gun pointed at him as two of the men tried to steal his watch. Leroy Ernest Joseph McCrary, 26, of Los Angeles, Malachi Eddward Darnell, 18, of Los Angeles, and Jaden Cunningham, 18, of Lancaster, are eligible for the death penalty if they are convicted of the special circ*mstances murder of 68-year-old Patricia McKay in the commission of a robbery with a felony enhancement of causing the death of an elder over the age of 65. In addition to the special circ*mstances murder charge, McCrary has been charged with one felony count of attempted second-degree robbery, and one felony count of evading while driving recklessly. McCrary has prior felony convictions for residential burglary in 2018, criminal threats in 2020, and robbery in 2023, all in Los Angeles County. Darnell has also been charged with one felony count of second-degree attempted robbery, one felony count of attempted murder, and one felony enhancement of personal use of a firearm and one felony enhancement of personal discharge of a firearm. Cunningham has also been charged with one felony count of attempted second-degree robbery. “Our entire community extends its deepest sympathies to the loved ones of Patricia McKay and to the entire country of New Zealand as we mourn her senseless death in the commission of a crime that should have never happened. Lawlessness and violence will not be tolerated in our society,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Our shopping centers and malls have become hunting grounds for criminals who are stalking innocent shoppers to rob them blind because our Governor and our Legislature refuse to hold anyone accountable for their actions. Actions have consequences and it shouldn’t have to result in the death of an elderly woman just enjoying a day of shopping with her husband for our elected leaders in Sacramento to realize that this is the product of their soft-on-crime policies which encourage criminality while sacrificing public safety. This is Orange County and we refuse to accept this is the new normal. Criminals will be held accountable and violence will never be acceptable.” On July 2, 2024, New Zealand tourist Patricia McKay and her husband were waiting for a ride after they had finished shopping at Newport Beach’s Fashion Island when a white Toyota Camry pulled up next to the couple and two men in masks jumped out and attacked McKay’s 69-year-old husband, putting a gun to his head and demanding his watch as they forced him to the ground as bystanders ran away. When the suspects, later identified as Darnell and Cunningham, were unable to get his property, Cunningham is accused of attacking McKay, who was holding several shopping bags. Cunningham is accused of throwing McKay to the ground and dragging her into the street in front of the getaway car being driven by McCrary as he stole her shopping bags. With McKay lying in front of the Camry, McKay’s husband jumped in front of the vehicle trying to stop his wife from being run over, but McCrary is accused of accelerating forward with Darnell in the vehicle, pushing McKay’s husband out of the way and running over McKay and dragging her body 65 feet. While McCrary was dragging the woman under the car, Cunningham, who was running to try to catch up to the getaway car, was pursued by a Good Samaritan who attempted to stop him from getting back in the vehicle. Darnell is accused of shooting out at the getaway vehicle at the Good Samaritan. McCrary is accused of slowing down to allow Cunningham to jump back in the getaway vehicle and then drove away. Cunningham was arrested after bailing out of the vehicle in Cypress and McCray and Darnell were arrested in South Gate after a police pursuit. All three defendants are currently being held without bail. Senior Deputy District Attorney Mark Birney of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.952Like

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE2+ weeks agoAgencyAn important message from Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer Chilean Nationals in the United States on ESTA Visa Waiver Charged in Head-on Collision in Wrong Way Pursuit on Freeway After Burglarizing San Juan Capistrano Home Full Press Release: https://bit.ly/45msc6B SANTA ANA, Calif. – Two Chilean nationals in the United States on a visa waiver from the Department of Homeland Security have been charged in connection with a head-on collision while driving the wrong way on the freeway while being pursued by law enforcement after burglarizing a San Juan Capistrano home. Jorge Navarretecorvalan, 32, and Alejandro Tobarfuentes, 32, were arrested on Saturday, June 8, 2024 after crashing their Mini Cooper head-on into a Toyota Camry while driving northbound in the southbound lanes after narrowly missing hitting an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy who had tried to pull their vehicle over. The driver suffered serious injuries. Navarretecorvalan has been charged with one felony count of first-degree burglary, one felony count of evading a peace officer while driving opposite of traffic, one felony count of driving the wrong way on a divided highway causing injury or death, and one felony count of possession of a forged identification card. Tobarfuentes has been charged with one felony count of first-degree burglary, one felony count of possession of a forged identification card, and one misdemeanor count of possession of burglary tools. Navarretecorvalan faces a maximum sentence of eight years in state prison while Tobarfuentes faces a maximum sentence of six years and eight months in state prison. Just before the head on collision Tobarfuentes and Navarretecorvalan are accused of working together to break into a San Juan Capistrano home to steal a safe, designer handbags, and jewelry. When the two men were arrested, they identified themselves using Venezuelan identification cards which law enforcement determined were fake and they were in fact Chilean nationals. Tobarfuentes and Navarretecorvalan entered the United States through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization System (ESTA) Visa Waiver Program which is administered through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. For $21, applicants from countries which participate in the ESTA program can be granted unlimited access to the United States, up to 90 days at a time, for a two-year period. Applicants are granted access within 72 hours of applying for an ESTA visa waiver. Chile refuses to provide the criminal background checks for their residents as required by the ESTA program requirements. In 2022, 350,000 Chilean nationals entered the United States through the ESTA visa waiver program without background checks. In May 2023, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer began sounding the alarm regarding the loophole in the ESTA visa program which continues to be exploited by organized crime rings in Chile to enter the United States to commit residential burglaries throughout the United States. “Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has the power to immediately and unilaterally suspend Chile from the ESTA visa waiver program until it complies with the requirement to provide criminal background checks for their citizens,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Instead of holding Chile accountable and preventing a direct pipeline for organized crime to shuttle thieves into the United States, Secretary Mayorkas’ inaction is resulting in Americans continuing to be terrorized by criminals who are stalking them in their homes and waiting for the perfect moment to break their back sliders and steal their most prized possessions. With every pane of shattered glass, they are shattering another’s family’s sense of security and they are putting everyone on the road at risk as they will do anything and everything to escape from law enforcement. This has to stop – and it has to stop today.” Deputy District Attorney Alex Shaaban of the Gangs Unit is prosecuting this case.532Like

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE2+ weeks agoAgencyAn important message from Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer Registered Sex Offender Charged with Sexually Assaulting Mother Walking with Her 5-year-old, Baby, Chasing Two Teenage Girls with His Penis Exposed in Two Separate Attacks in an Hour Full Press Release: https://bit.ly/3yS2dHV SANTA ANA, Calif. – A 30-year-old registered sex offender has been charged with sexually assaulting a mother while she was walking with her five-year-old daughter and baby near a Santa Ana market an hour after chasing two teenage girls with his penis exposed. Moises Hernandez, 30, of Costa Mesa has been charged with one felony count of sexual penetration by force, one felony count of lewd act upon a child, two felony counts of indecent exposure, one misdemeanor count of battery and one misdemeanor count of resisting an officer. Hernandez faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in state prison if convicted on all counts. On June 4, 2024, two 15-year-old girls were walking in Santa Ana when a man later identified as Hernandez stopped his bike and approached them with his penis protruding from his pants. The girls ran away, but Hernandez chased after them, eventually trying to block the girls from running away by standing in a doorway of a nearby apartment building. He groped one of the girls as she ran away from him. About an hour later, Hernandez sexually assaulted a 36-year-old woman who was walking with her 5-year-old daughter and her baby stroller near Bristol Street and McFadden Avenue. He also is accused of grabbing the 5-year-old girl by her neck. Hernandez rode off on his bicycle but was later arrested by the Santa Ana Police Department. Hernandez was previously convicted twice of indecent exposure as well as sexual battery. He is a registered sex offender. “Sexual predators will never stop preying on vulnerable victims for their own twisted pleasures until they are arrested,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “No mother should have to worry about being sexually assaulted in front of her young children while walking down the street in broad daylight and teenage girls shouldn’t have to run from a registered sex offender exposing his male genitalia as he chases them. Thankfully the Santa Ana Police Department was able to quickly identify and arrest this predator to get him off our streets.” Deputy District Attorney Austin Neiman of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.254Like

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE2+ weeks agoAgencyAn Important Message from Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer Man Charged with Murder, Attempted Murder for Shooting 13-year-old Boy to Death, Shooting 16-year-old Boy in Head Who Had Looked out His Window During Drive-by Shooting Full Press Release: https://bit.ly/3xjv5bM SANTA ANA, Calif. – A 27-year-old man has been charged with murder and attempted murder for shooting a 13-year-old boy to death and shooting a 16-year-old boy in the head during a drive-by shooting in the middle of the day in front of an elementary school. Parents who came to pick up their children from school were greeted by crime scene tape at the pickup gates. Raymond Mario Jimenez, 27, of Santa Ana, has been charged with one felony count of murder, one felony count of attempted murder, one felony count of shooting into an inhabited dwelling, and six felony enhancements for shooting a firearm causing great bodily injury or death. He faces a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole if convicted on all counts. On June 5, 2024, at about 12:15 p.m., two 13-year-old boys were shot at during a confrontation on Pine Street in Santa Ana and the boys began running toward their apartment building on Bishop Avenue a few blocks away. Minutes later, a man, later identified as Raymond Mario Jimenez, drove up to the boys, stopped in the street, and opened fire. Thirteen-year-old Daniel Vargas was shot in the head. Vargas was taken to OC Global, but he died a few days later. The other teenager was not hit, but a 16-year-old boy who looked out his kitchen window during the shooting was shot in the head. He survived the shooting and was taken to Children’s Hospital of Orange County. Jimenez is scheduled to be arraigned July 10, 2024, at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana in Department C5. Senior Deputy District Attorney Mallory Miller of the TARGET/Gangs Unit is prosecuting this case.369Like

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE4 days agoAgencyAn Important Message from Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer Newport Beach Man Convicted of Stabbing Gay Former High School Classmate to Death in 2018 Hate Crime Murder Full Press Release: https://bit.ly/3W9OmFX SANTA ANA, Calif. – A Newport Beach man has been convicted of a hate-motivated murder for stabbing his gay former high school classmate to death during a late-night rendezvous in a Lake Forest park after reconnecting on a dating app for men seeking men with the 19-year-old pre-med college student. After a nearly three-month trial, a jury convicted Samuel Lincoln Woodward, 26, of Newport Beach of first-degree murder along with a hate crime enhancement and personal use of a knife for stabbing 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student Blaze Bernstein to death on January 2, 2018, while Bernstein was home from winter break visiting his parents. He faces a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole in state prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced October 25, 2024. On January 2, 2018, Bernstein made dinner with his family and then, after responding to messages from Woodward on a dating app, he arranged for Woodward to pick him up a few doors down from his parents’ home just after 11 p.m., leaving his glasses, keys, and wallet behind. Less than two hours later, Bernstein’s body would be buried in a shallow grave in a Lake Forest park after having been stabbed 28 times by his former high school classmate who had led him to believe they were in the park for a romantic encounter. At 2:38 a.m., after having killed Bernstein, buried his body, and cleaned up, Woodward sent a text to a friend, “hey man, life is good.” Bernstein’s parents reported him missing the next day after he missed a dentist appointment. His body was discovered a week later buried in Borrego Park after heavy rains had washed away some of the dirt covering his makeshift grave. While Bernstein was missing, his parents went through his online activity and found that the last person he had communicated with was Samuel Woodward, Bernstein’s former classmate at the Orange County School of the Arts. Woodward told the Bernsteins that he had met up with their son but that he had walked off into the park with an unknown person and he never saw Blaze again. Bernstein’s blood was found on a knife belonging to Sam Woodward that had his father’s name engraved on it and blood droplets were found on a skull mask that prosecutors argued Woodward wore to represent his allegiance to Atomwaffen, a Neo-Nazi and hom*ophobic group that he traveled to Texas to train with after studying their teachings. Woodward continued to draw pictures related to Atomwaffen and their beliefs following his arrest for Bernstein’s murder. Investigators also discovered what prosecutors called a “hate diary,” which detailed Woodward’s online activities to lure gay men and boys into believing he was “bi curious,” and then unfriending them. The diary contained numerous slurs referring to gay men. “I am eternally grateful for the unwavering commitment and perseverance of Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker in her pursuit of justice not only for 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein, but for every victim of hate. This was not a crime committed in the heat of passion; it was planned, it was carried out, and it was attempted to be covered up and Walker painstaking walked the jury through every piece of evidence that proved it. Every one of the 28 stab wounds inflicted on 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein was an act of hate that was carried out over and over again not just to kill Blaze, but to send a message,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Samuel Woodward is someone who educated himself on how and who to hate, who surrounded himself with other people full of hate, and carried out the ultimate act of hate – brutally stabbing someone to death because they embody everything you hate simply because of who they love. Hate will never be tolerated here in Orange County – and instead of a symbol to be revered by other haters, he is a symbol of how society will never tolerate those who terrorize the most vulnerable members of our society through hatred and fear.” Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.92Like