Photo Courtesy: SAPD
Alvar Albert Gonzalez

Staff Reports

Santa Ana – On Fri., Sept. 4, after a joint investigation between the Santa Ana Police Department and the Santa Ana Unified School District Police, Detectives arrested Alvar Albert Gonzalez, 45, of Santa Ana, for possessing/producing obscene matter and unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.

According to the Santa Ana Police Department, the female victim first met the suspect when she was in his class her freshman year at Santa Ana High School. In 2013, Gonzalez arranged to meet the 16-year old victim in his classroom during school lunch breaks. There, Gonzalez allegedly engaged in consensual sexual intercourse with the victim on over nine occasions. This activity was initially not reported.
In 2014, Gonzalez approached a second female student and kissed her. As a result of that incident, Gonzalez was placed on administrative leave by the Santa Ana Unified School District. While investigating this incident, Santa Ana Unified District Officials discovered inappropriate electronic images of youthful looking females on Gonzalez’ electronic media storage devices. Detectives identified one of these females by name, located her, and obtained her statement. Further investigation revealed additional images depicting criminal activity between Gonzalez and the victim occurring in 2013.
At this time, Detectives continue to investigate the possibility that there are additional victims. The Santa Ana Police Department is requesting members of the public to call Detectives if they suspect Gonzalez had inappropriate contact with other students. Please call Santa Ana Police Detectives at (714) 245-8542.
Gonzalez was booked into the Santa Ana Jail, and is being charged with Possessing/Producing Obscene Matter of a person under 18, and Unlawful Sexual Intercourse with a minor).

Photo Courtesy: SAPD
OC Sheriff’s Airship, “Duke,” assists Officers in burglary arrest

Staff Reports

Santa Ana – On Mon., Aug. 31, at approximately 8:50 a.m., a resident reported seeing a suspicious male knocking on his neighbor’s door. When the male received no answer at the door, he went through the side yard to the rear of the residence and out of sight.

Responding officers requested the assistance of Orange County Sheriff’s Airship, “Duke.”

According to the Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD), the suspect – matching the description provided by witnesses – was located by Duke in the rear yard of a residence where two window screens had been removed.

When Duke arrived on scene, the suspect observed the airship and ran out of the yard, entering the passenger side of a vehicle. Duke directed responding units to the vehicle, and a car stop was conducted. The male subject fled from the vehicle and ran through the apartment complex at the northeast corner of Fairview St. and Segerstrom Ave.

The female driver – Bianca Renee McNair, 25, of Santa Ana, was taken into custody without incident at the stop.

A SAPD motor officer located the suspect – Stephone Jawonn Fellows, 27, of Los Angeles – in the apartment complex and had to deploy his taser to take him into custody. Further investigation showed that Fellows had successfully forced entry into the garage of a residence in the 3000 block of South Griset Pl.; however, it appears the crime was interrupted by the arrival of Duke on scene.

Both suspects were arrested for Burglary and Conspiracy to Commit a Crime.

Public assistance requested in identifying additional victims

Photo Courtesy: SAPD
Ruben Olguin

Staff Reports

Santa Ana – On Fri., Aug. 14, at approximately 11 a.m., Santa Ana Police Detectives arrested Ruben Olguin, 51, of Santa Ana, for Lewd Acts with a Child. Olguin was arrested from his place of employment, the Salon De Belleza Nuevo Guadalajara, located at 118 E. 4th St. in Santa Ana.
According to the SAPD, this past July, a 14-year old victim and his mother went to their usual barber – Olguin – at the Salon De Belleza Nuevo Guadalajara. The victim and his mother had been to the same barber several times and trusted him. Olguin took the victim to a private location in the back of the Salon to wash and shampoo the child’s hair. There, it is alleged that Olguin molested the victim while the mother waited in the front of the store.
Olguin is currently being held at the Orange County Jail with bail set at $100,000.
Due to Olguin’s access to children and the public, the SAPD is asking for the public’s help in identifying any additional victims or witnesses who may have observed him acting inappropriately.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Detective Corporal Javier Aceves at (714) 245-8542 or Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS.

Image Courtesy: City of Santa Ana

Staff Reports

Santa Ana – The OC Streetcar project marked its latest milestone this week as the Orange County Transportation Authority Board of Directors agreed to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the city of Santa Ana, outlining the roles and responsibilities associated with the development, implementation, operations and maintenance of the project.
The OC Streetcar is planned for travel through the cities of Santa Ana and Garden Grove, and intended to provide easy connections for people traveling from trains and buses to employment, retail and recreational areas.
According to the City of Santa Ana, the streetcar is scheduled to operate along a route of approximately four miles. The route will run from the Santa Ana train station, through Downtown Santa Ana and the Civic Center, along the Pacific Electric right of way, and connect to a new multimodal transit hub at Harbor Boulevard and Westminster Avenue in Garden Grove.
“This agreement is another big step toward the realization of Orange County’s first modern streetcar,” said Santa Ana Mayor and OCTA Director, Miguel Pulido. “The streetcar will improve the way people move through the heart of our county and provide needed transportation alternatives for a modern work environment.”
Up to seven streetcars are planned to run along the route, stopping at 12 stations. By 2035, the streetcar is expected to carry more than 6,000 riders a day. Initial estimates put the project cost at $250 million, with OCTA pursuing local, state and federal funding.
The streetcar is expected to move into the design phase later this year with construction planned to begin in 2017. On the current schedule, the streetcar would begin running in 2019.
To read the full MOU, visit http://atb.octa.net/AgendaPDF/2729.pdf.

Cast Member attempts to trade park tickets in exchange for sex with minor

Staff Reports

Santa Ana – On July 1, a Disneyland Resort employee allegedly posted an ad on Craigslist seeking women willing to engage in sexual acts in exchange for tickets to the Resort parks.

According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA), the suspect – Darreck Michael Enciso, 27, of Adelanto – is accused of communicating with a Huntington Beach Police Department (HBPD) Undercover Officer, whom he thought was a 14-year old girl, interested in the tickets.  On July 9, Enciso showed up at the designated meeting place on Beach Blvd. in Huntington Beach with condoms and Disneyland park tickets in his possession.

Enciso was arrested and charged with one felony count of attempted lewd acts upon a child, one felony count of contacting a child with the intent to commit a specified sex crime, and one felony count of meeting a minor with the intent to engage in lewd conduct.

Enciso was scheduled to be arraigned on Mon., July 13.  If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of four years and eight months in prison, as well as mandatory lifetime registration as a sex offender.  He is reportedly being held on $100,000 bail at the Santa Ana Central Jail.

The Disneyland Resort reportedly terminated Enciso following his arrest.

The OCDA and the HBPD are seeking the public’s help in identifying potential additional victims of Enciso, who is accused of posting several similar ads on Craigslist.  Anyone with additional information is encouraged to contact Supervising District Attorney Investigator Mark Gutierrez at (714) 347-8794, or HBPD Detective, Angela Bennett, at (714) 536-5960.

Photo Courtesy: SAPD
Ryan Matthew Brown

Staff Reports

Santa Ana – On Sat., July 4, at approximately 9:40 p.m., Santa Ana Police Officers responded to the 2500 block of North Linwood Avenue to assist first responders with a male who was lying in the street, unresponsive.  Officers arrived to find Orange County Fire personnel performing CPR on a 55-year old male.

The victim was transported to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, where he was pronounced deceased.

In their preliminary investigation, Homicide Detectives found that a fight occurred during a large neighborhood Fourth of July party.  The victim was a participant in the fight, but it is unclear is the male sustained an assault injury, or died as a result of a medical condition.  The cause of death is pending autopsy.

Anyone with information regarding this incident as asked to call SAPD Homicide Detectives at (714) 245-8390, or Orange County Crime Stoppers at (855) TIP-OCCS.

In another incident that occurred on Wed., July 1, at approximately 6:47 p.m., SAPD Officers responded to the 900 block of West 17^th Street in reference to a fireworks complaint.  Officers were advised that a resident at a complex had thrown a makeshift bottle bomb at a juvenile victim as he was walking in the alley.

Remnants of the device were recovered at the scene which consisted of a legal firework that was modified to explode inside of a bottle.

At the time of the initial investigation, the suspect – Ryan Matthew Brown, 37, of Santa Ana – fled the scene through the rear of his residence.  Officers returned to the suspect’s home at approximately 10:30 p.m., and took Brown into custody without incident.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department Bomb Squad assisted officers with this investigation, and Brown was booked on felony charges of Using a Destructive Device Causing Bodily Injury, and Willful Cruelty to a Child with Possible Injury or Death.

Staff Reports

Santa Ana – Join the Mayor and City Council for family style fun and a spectacular fireworks show at the City of Santa Ana’s 2015 Independence Day Celebration.  The event will be held at Centennial Park on Sat., July 4, from 4 to 9:30 p.m.

“Santa Ana’s annual tradition on the 4th of July is to have fun, show your patriotism, picnic at the park, enjoy great music, learn about history, and watch a spectacular fireworks show over the Centennial Park lakes,” said Santa Ana Council Member, David Benavides.
The Independence Day celebration will feature live performances by the Full Spectrum Band and Santa Ana High School. The celebration will also feature a History Walk with costumed characters from our nation’s history educating children, a kid’s zone play area with three bounce houses and games, Civil War cannons, and recognition of our Armed Forces. The fireworks show will begin at 9 p.m.  Bring a picnic basket or enjoy the various food vendors throughout the park. Admission is free and guests are encouraged to arrive early to find a spot in the park.
Council member, Roman Reyna, who leads a group of youth to volunteer in helping produce the event, said, “I am particularly thrilled that every year we get Santa Ana Youth more and more involved in these types of events. This is the best way to engage and motivate our youth to become leaders.”
Centennial Park is located at 3000 W Edinger Ave, in Santa Ana.  For more information, contact Enrique Marban at Emarban@santa-ana.org, or call (714) 571-4254.

Anonymous caller sees suspect vehicle shown in TV news story

Photo Courtesy: SAPD
Heriberto Escalera Contreras

Staff Reports

Santa Ana – On Mon., June 15, at approximately 7:30 a.m., a woman entered a 7-Eleven convenience store located at 2242 S. Grand Ave.; her 10-year old daughter waited in the car.

A man parked his van next to the woman’s vehicle and was able to look down into her car and see a wallet in the center console.  The man exited his van, opened the woman’s car door, grabbed the wallet and got back into his van.

The 10-year old got out of her car and opened the man’s van door in an attempt to retrieve the stolen wallet.  The man attempted to close the door, and a struggle between the two ensued with the door opening and closing for about a minute’s time.  Eventually, the man handed the girl the wallet.

As the man was about to leave, the mother exited the store.  When the girl told her mother what had happened, the mother ran up to the suspect and told him she was calling the police.  The girl used her cell phone to photograph the van’s rear license plate as the suspect drove from the parking lot.

The child was not injured, and the wallet – containing cash – was retained by the victim.

On Thurs., June 18, at approximately 4:50 p.m., Officers responded to the Mobile Gas Station at Edinger and Main streets after an anonymous citizen called to report that the suspect vehicle that was shown on TV news of the robbery that occurred at the 7-Eleven on June 15 was currently parked in the gas station lot.  Officers located the subject in question – Heriberto Escalera Contreras, 36, of Santa Ana – in the vicinity and detained him without incident.

Contreras had the keys to the vehicle in his pocket and acknowledged that the van was his.  Officers arrested the subject on an unrelated warrant for Burglary and possession of Methamphetamine. The suspect was also found to have concealed narcotics on his person while being booked into the Santa Ana Jail Facility. Contreras was interviewed by Santa Ana Police Department Robbery Detectives, where he made statements placing him at the robbery scene. Contreras was positively identified by the victim as the suspect in the June 15 robbery.

Photo Courtesy: SAPD
Suspect Justin Thomas Yrrarazaval

Staff Reports

Santa Ana – On Thurs., May 28, at 4:41 p.m., Officers were dispatched to a bank robbery that had just occurred.  The investigation revealed that a Hispanic male suspect – armed with a black handgun – entered the Schools First Bank located at 2115 N. Broadway, demanding money and stating that he had a bomb.  The bank teller complied with the suspect’s demands and an undisclosed amount of U.S. Currency was taken.

The suspect – who was described as a male adult in his 20s, with a dark complexion, brown eyes, scar on his left cheek, wearing a trucker hat, plaid shirt and carrying a backpack – was last seen walking eastbound toward Main Street.

On Fri., May 29, at approximately 9 a.m., a Santa Ana Police Department Officer observed suspect, Justin Thomas Yrrarazaval, 20, of Santa Ana, walking in the 1300 block of North Spurgeon Street. The Officer believed Yrrarazaval was the same suspect he observed on surveillance video during the bank robbery the previous day.

Robbery Detectives responded to the Officer’s location and transported the suspect to the Police Department where he was questioned about his involvement in the Bank Robbery.  Yrrarazaval was then booked into the Santa Ana Police Jail on the charge of Bank Robbery.

Irvine lawyer arrested after accepting money to smuggle a witness out of the U.S.

Photo Courtesy: U.S. Department of Justice
Attorney Ken Zhiyi Liang

Staff Reports

Santa Ana – An Irvine-based immigration attorney has been arrested and charged with attempted witness tampering after agreeing to help a Chinese national flee from the United States after the woman had been designated as a “material witness” in a criminal investigation into “birthing houses” operating in Southern California.

According to the United States Attorney’s Office, Ken Zhiyi Liang, 38, of Irvine, was arrested on the afternoon of Fri., May 15, after accepting $6,000 from the witness in exchange for assisting her abscond to China. In a criminal complaint filed on May 16, Liang was charged with attempted witness tampering.  Liang was scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Mon., May 18 in United States District Court.

The Chinese national had been designated as a material witness in the federal investigation, meaning she was subject to a court order preventing her from leaving the U.S. without authorization from the government or court. Liang had represented the witness in the matter until the court removed him as attorney of record, over his objections, on Apr. 17.

The federal investigation – which became known when authorities executed dozens of search warrants in early March – focuses on so-called birthing houses that “provided services to Chinese nationals, who travelled into the United States from China, for the purpose of giving birth to children so that the children could obtain United States citizenship,” according to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint against Liang.

The affidavit, which was written by a special agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, recounts several video- and audio-recorded calls and meetings between Liang and the witness. During these conversations, Liang outlined a plan in which he would assist the witness by having her board a commercial airliner in the United States without travel documentation, so she could escape to China undetected by federal authorities. At one of the meetings, Liang told the witness that he could guarantee her safe return to China in exchange for a $6,000 fee for himself, and up to $3,000 to pay for help provided by three others.

During the meetings detailed in the affidavit, Liang refused to provide a written contract to the witness and requested that she pay him in cash, delete text messages and call logs, and begin using a prepaid cellular phone for all future communications.

Unbeknownst to Liang, the witness was cooperating with federal agents, who were monitoring the conversations between Liang and the witness. Liang was arrested by federal authorities as he was walking with the witness toward his car, supposedly to begin a trip to a coffee shop in Corona, where he was going to introduce the witness to the co-conspirators, who are not identified in the affidavit. After his arrest, Liang led agents back to his office, where he returned the $6,000 he had accepted from the witness.

According to the affidavit in Liang’s case, the attorney provided assistance to two other material witnesses – LongJing Yi, and her husband, Jun Xiao – who fled to the U.S. on Apr. 4 and were subsequently charged in relation to their flight from the U.S.  Another material witness who allegedly received help from Liang was intercepted at Los Angeles International Airport on Apr. 15.

If convicted, Liang could face a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

Child porn charges to produce explicit photos of young girls abroad

Staff Reports

Santa Ana – A Huntington Beach commercial firefighter pleaded guilty on Fri., May 8, to a federal charge of attempting to produce child pornography.

John McArthur, 57, a California-licensed fire captain – who at the time of the criminal conduct in 2012 worked for a ConocoPhillips oil refinery in San Pedro – pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Josephine Staton.

An investigation revealed that in Jan. 2012, McArthur had online conversations with a person he believed was a 13-year old girl in the Philippines. During those online conversations, McArthur agreed to send money for the purchase of a camera that would be used to take sexually explicit photographs of the girl and an 11-year old friend. McArthur later went to a Western Union agent to transfer the money to the minor.

Unbeknownst to McArthur at the time, the person posing as the 13-year old girl was Robert Oliver Clark, 75, a United States citizen residing in the Philippines. Clark was arrested in September 2014 in a related case, and he has agreed to plead guilty to possession of child pornography. In a plea agreement recently filed in United States District Court, Clark admitted that he “possessed, in his computer hard drive and in his email accounts, 5,443 images and 53 videos of child pornography, including 43 images and 1 video portraying sadistic or masochistic conduct and 16 images portraying toddlers.” Clark, who resided in Texas prior to moving to the Philippines, is scheduled to enter his guilty plea on May 21 in United States District Court in Los Angeles.

During this investigation, law enforcement authorities discovered that McArthur received hundreds of images and several videos of child pornography through his email accounts.

McArthur is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Staton on Aug. 21, at which time he faces a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison.

The investigation into McArthur and Clark was headed by the United States Postal Inspection Service, which received substantial assistance from the U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; and the Los Angeles Joint Regional Intelligence Center.

“Protecting children from crimes of sexual abuse and exploitation is a priority for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service,” stated Robert Wemyss, Inspector in Charge for the Los Angeles Division. “I’m proud of the work of the Postal Inspection Service and our investigative partners to bring child predators to justice. U.S. Postal Inspectors have investigated these crimes for more than a century. While the predators’ use of technology has evolved, the core harm has not changed: a child’s lost innocence. We will not lose sight of this, and remain steadfast in our efforts to investigate, apprehend, and assist in the prosecution of those who seek to exploit children via the U.S. Mail, wherever in the world they may be.”