Articles Tagged with felony

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An executive for the cosmetics company Urban Decay has been accused of stealing more than $1 million through bank transfer transactions between the business and fraudulent accounts he created. He is facing felony charges for the allegations.

Irvine resident Ranjeet Reddy Paladugo holds a position as the vice president of finance at the Newport Beach based company Urban Decay. He is suspected of utilizing several banks in order to create fake accounts, which were similarly named after business affiliates of the company, in order to embezzle funds that he transferred from Urban Decay. On July 17 he allegedly stole over $1 million from Urban Decay.

Paladugo purportedly commissioned a transaction in the amount of $598,500 which he transferred through one of the phony accounts. He then transferred that money into his personal bank account. This procedure was repeated again in the same amount, and routed through a second bogus business account. Paladugo is said to have used the stolen money for personal use, including the down payment on a house.

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In October 2016, a Huntington Beach woman took the stand as a witness in defense her boyfriend who was charged with the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl. Her boyfriend was found guilty and sentenced. The woman was arrested on Thursday for allegations of providing false testimony during the trial in order to protect him from a conviction.

Jeffrey Scott Jones, boyfriend of 50-year-old Cynthia Marie Dunaway-Erickson, stood trial for raping a teenage girl living under her care. The victim told her friend’s mother about the sexual assault and the mother reported it to the police. Officers took the girl for a rape examination where DNA was collected and examined. When the sample matched Jones’ DNA he was taken into custody.

Dunaway-Erickson testified on behalf of Jones, and she confirmed the defense’s claim that the semen was discovered inside the girl because she and Jones used the same towel.

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Idaho resident Ashley Nicole Vidrine has been accused of fraudulently advertising a rental property and accepting money from interested prospective tenants while having no intention of renting to them.

Though Vidrine and her husband reside in the townhouse she had listed as available for rent, police estimated she allegedly accepted down payments for the property nearing $3000 since the start of their investigation in early September. When would-be tenants who paid her went to view the property they found no one available, and Vidrine was unable to be reached by telephone. It is unknown at this time whether or not her husband was also a part of the hoax.

Police took 25-year-old Vidrine into custody on Thursday and she faces multiple charges including felony grand theft by deception, and felony computer crime for “Use of a computer or network to obtain money by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises or committing theft.” In addition, Vidrine is charged with one count of misdemeanor petty theft. She is being held in Madison County Jail on a $50,000 bond.

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33-year-old Ah Le Fang resides in Fullerton with his mother Lu Thao, her boyfriend and his sister. Late one evening Fang began arguing with his sister resulting in closing himself into his bedroom and refusing to open the door. When his mother attempted to communicate with him, Fang allegedly emerged from his room with a knife in his hand and stabbed 50-year-old Thao in the stomach, and her 75-year-old boyfriend in the arm. He then ran out of the home.

Thao called 911 to report that she and her boyfriend had been attacked. When Fullerton police responded they discovered she was suffering from a laceration to her abdomen, and her boyfriend with a deep gash on his arm. Both injured parties were transported for medical treatment. Thao’s wound was fatal, and it was reported that her boyfriend was in serious condition.

Despite Fang fleeing he was quickly found by police. Upon investigation the officers also discovered a knife that they speculate is the weapon that was used in the assaults. Fang was taken into custody and he is being held on $1 million bail. He faces charges of felony murder, attempted murder, and a sentencing enhancement for premeditated murder.

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41-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Garcia from San Juan Capistrano, suspected of sexually assaulting two teenage females, is facing seven felony charges for forcible rape and sexual penetration by a foreign object.

The first victim, a 16-year-old girl from San Juan Capistrano, was familiar with Garcia before the assault. He allegedly raped her after forcing her into a garage, and she recognized him nearly a year later when he returned to the neighborhood where the assault took place.

The second incident took place approximately one month later. Garcia was said to have given a 19-year-old woman who was lost in Santa Ana a drink laced with an illegal substance, and then proceeded to rape her in the backseat of his car.

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After a hold-up in a Riverside Carl’s Jr. restaurant and a prior heist at a Riverside Pizza Hut, 28-year-old Jose Felipe Fernandez was charged with two counts of robbery with an enhancement of using a firearm in a felony. Enhancement laws, which vary by state, are typically sought to increase the classification of a conviction to a higher level offense and penalty due to the severity of the crime, or for repeat offenses.

After allegedly holding up the Carl’s Jr., Fernandez tried to flee the scene by driving his car through a nearby field leading the police on a chase that resulted in his arrest after the suspect crashed his vehicle causing it to ignite. The fire from the collision caused approximately 1 acre of brush to scorch before it was contained.

Fernandez has entered a plea of not guilty on all charges, and he is being detained on $1 million bail. Authorities reported that they are still seeking a second suspect who successfully escaped from the scene and remains at large.

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A 32 year old Florida man, Anthony Mendez, was found Monday night allegedly under the influence of drugs and unresponsive with a child in his car. He was arrested on suspicion of child neglect.

Drivers found Mendez unresponsive at the wheel of his car around 7:30 p.m. according to the Collier County Sheriff’s arrest report. The report states that witnesses called 911 and while waiting for deputies to respond, an off-duty firefighter treated Mendez. He had a pulse, but was barely breathing.

A woman that was stopped behind Mendez at a traffic light said that it appeared as though he was sleeping. She tried to wake him but couldn’t. The off-duty firefighter saw the woman pounding on the driver’s side window of Mendez’s car and pulled over to help. The firefighter told officials that when he saw Mendez slumped over the steering wheel, he proceeded to pull the man out in case he needed CPR.

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According to prosecutors, two men were arraigned in Orange County Superior Court on charges of trafficking and attempted pimping of a teenage girl in Costa Mesa.

The two men, one 25 years old and the other 23 years old, also face charges for pimping a woman for sex, according to the Orange County DA office and the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force.

The two men were arrested on Saturday night in Costa Mesa on suspicion of attempting to pimp a teenage girl and a woman between May 2016 and June 2016 in an area of Costa Mesa that is known for prostitution, the statement said.

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A 53-year old registered sex offender in Orange County, California is accused of video recording up a 13-year old girl’s skirt on Sunday, in a La Habra craft store.

A witness claims he saw the man use his cell phone to “presumably view and record underneath a young girl’s dress,” while walking around the craft store and contacted police.

Police initially detained and then arrested and booked the man at the La Habra jail. They then searched his house and allegedly found an estimated 200 additional upskirt videos. An investigating officer explained that websites publish those videos without permission or knowledge of the women and girls who appear in them.

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Michelle Betancourt was sentenced on Tuesday for stabbing her three year old son during a domestic dispute with the child’s father.

In May 2015, Michelle Betancourt of Los Angeles and her child’s father got into a heated argument. The twenty-three year old woman lost control and threw a knife at the man, but it hit her child instead. Neighbors reported terrifying screaming and crying and a woman yelling something about “a lot of blood.” Neighbors saw Betancourt running down the driveway, holding the wounded boy, while screaming hysterically. The boy’s father initially claimed that the boy had stabbed himself.

The boy’s injuries were life-threatening, but he did recover. Betancourt was arrested and charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and personal infliction of great bodily injury. Although police originally claimed the assault was intentional, after thoroughly reviewing the case prosecutors decided they could not file attempted murder charges. Attempted murder requires the specific intent to murder, whereas Betancourt acted wantonly and recklessly. Her attorney insists that she did not intend to harm her child.

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