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In 2011, Laguna Hills became the 7th city in the county to pass a law banning sex offenders from city parks and private parks run by homeowners associations. This went a step further than the existing Orange County ban on sex offenders from parks, beaches, and harbors. The DA was optimistic that such a move would increase public safety, especially for children. They were also confident that the ban was constitutional.

The citywide ban instituted by Laguna Hills contained additional provisions, requiring the posting of signs at parks referencing the new law and establishing criteria for waivers. These provisions were meant to help defend the new ordinances in court. The ban of sex offenders from private, homeowners association-owned parks required the associations to specifically request that the law be enforced in their own parks. No associations had made such a request since the ban was instituted.

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On Monday, police received an anonymous tip that a student at Jordan Intermediate School in Garden Grove had a weapon. They responded and discovered an eighth grade student at that school had a .38 caliber semiautomatic handgun in his possession along with a loaded clip in his pocket. Nobody was injured.

The child was arrested and sent to Orange County Juvenile Hall on weapons charges. Police discovered that the handgun was registered to a member of his family. They quickly obtained a warrant and searched his home, where they found a .22 caliber firearm that was not registered. The owner of that gun was cited and released.

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A 23-year old Anaheim man allegedly logged onto Facebook using a profile of a male high school-age student. He would then use the account to persuade underage girls to send him sexually-explicit photos and videos, which he would then use as blackmail, threatening to forward those photos on to other high school students if the girl did not agree to send more. He is alleged to have contacted at least six girls in this manner.

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On April 14, a woman was  admitted to a Pennsylvania hospital for treatment of a condition apparently unrelated to drugs. While she was in the intensive care unit, her multiple cell phones rang frequently, and she was visited by a large number of people, who would stay for only a few minutes. Many of the visitors who came to see her did not even know her last name.

When suspicion of her activities mounted, police were called. They set up an undercover informant to visit her room who was able to buy 30 bags of heroin from the woman. Police quickly moved in to make the arrest. In her hospital room, they found 380 bags of heroin with a street value of approximately $3800, along with $1420 in cash.

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Only one day after the deadly Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting that took the lives of 20 children and six teachers in Newtown, Connecticut, Marcos Gurrola allegedly took out a .40-caliber Glock handgun in a crowded Orange County mall parking lot and fired 54 rounds toward the Macy’s building. He stopped shooting and surrendered when two Newport Beach police officers on bicycles arrived. Gurrola was in possession of six magazines for his handgun, with even more in his car.

He was charged with 54 felony counts of firing a weapon at an inhabited dwelling, 2 counts of assault, plus two firearm enhancements. The reasons for Gurrola’s actions are inconclusive. He reportedly claimed that when he fired his gun, it made him feel better. Police said in 2012 that Gurrola told a detective he fired his gun because he was angry, but was not aiming at anybody.

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With tax day coming tomorrow, it’s tempting to make a few tweaks to reduce the amount of tax you owe to the federal government. But allow yourself to get carried away and you may find yourself in federal prison on tax evasion charges. The former city of Bell chief administrator was convicted of allegedly falsifying losses on his taxes, but that’s only half the story.

As the city administrator, he reportedly misappropriated taxpayer funds to pay himself a salary far in excess of what he should have received, and then claimed more than $770,000 in non-existent losses to the IRS to inflate his take-home pay up to $1.18 million per year.

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When a man applied for a job selling life insurance, his potential employer pointed out a blemish on his background check that indicated he had an outstanding tax lien. Without missing a beat, the man replied that it had been taken care of and he would send proof. Shortly thereafter, a faxed letter was sent to the company indicating that the tax lien’s “amounts in question have been satisfied completely.” It concluded with, “there are no outstanding fees or penalties due, and your record has been cleared of any restrictions or liens.” The letter was signed in the name of a US District Judge.

The company was suspicious and sent the letter to Alicemarie H. Stotler, the judge indicated on his letter. The judge reviewed the letter and saw her forged signature on it. Surprisingly, the judge knew the man, since she once sentenced him to prison for filing a false tax refund claim. She reported the crime and FBI agents who later confronted and arrested the man, who “was cooperative and made a full confession.”

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When a judge orders you not to drive, it’s a good idea to not immediately get behind the wheel as you’re leaving court.

At Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach, individuals charged with driving-related crimes such as DUI were brought before a judge who notified them that their licenses had been suspended. As such, they were no longer permitted to drive. As they were leaving, deputies followed them out of the courtroom to find out how they were getting home.

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The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is warning residents of Orange County to plan ahead for festivities tonight that involve alcohol. The agency will be deploying multiple DUI checkpoints throughout the area with the intention of arresting anybody who is driving a vehicle who is under the influence of alcohol.

Sheriff Sandra Hutchens recommends planning ahead to get a safe ride home at the end of the night. Such plans can include designating a sober driver, using a taxi service, or calling a sober friend or family member to give you a ride home. They also recommend taking car keys away from any individual who appears to be intoxicated so they are unable to drive.

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On March 6, a woman described as “delusional” had taken her three children, ages 3, 9, and 10 from their home on a car ride that nearly ended in death. Her sister says the woman was “talking about Jesus and that there’s demons in my house,” according to a 911 call.

The woman had recently got out of a “domestic violence situation” in a different state, but apparently was having issues of mental illness, prompting her sister to call the police when she feared for the safety of the three children.

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