Articles Tagged with orange-county

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A Dana Point resident who allegedly made millions of dollars in purchases through fraudulent means at several businesses in San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange counties is facing 89 charges for the schemes.

Over a nine-month period last year, businesses in three Southern California counties were the victims of a forced-sale scheme consisting of the perpetrator purchasing expensive merchandise with credit cards; some of which were fake and others were inactive. The standard authorization process that the credit card machines typically issue was surpassed by the customer requesting that the sales associate enter the transaction by hand or telling them to force the sale through.

When the transactions were processed by the credit card companies the merchants received notification that the payment was not approved.

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A 42-year-old man has been arrested after being identified as the possible perpetrator of stealing personal property from inside of classrooms at three different Orange County schools.

On January 11, a teacher at Irvine Baptist Church noticed that her wallet was missing from her purse, which she had left inside of an unoccupied classroom. She reported that her wallet contained money, her driver’s license, and a bank card.

The culprit’s image was seen when a review of the church surveillance video showed a man entering the classroom and shuffling through the woman’s bag before taking her wallet and exiting the room. The offender’s car, a white Chevy Malibu, was also seen in video footage from a parking lot camera.

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When a Garden Grove woman was pulled over for reckless driving on Saturday morning, police discovered she was carrying a rather large quantity of prescription narcotics in the vehicle.

Shauna Kester had been driving near the Festival of the Arts grounds in Laguna Beach when she was reportedly seen by an on-duty officer while operating the vehicle erratically. With the assistance of another patrolman in the vicinity Kester was pulled over.

The officers requested that Kester step out of the vehicle, and they began to question her. She disclosed that she had been smoking marijuana earlier in the evening. The officers then searched her car and located a cosmetic storage case containing hundreds of prescription pills comprised of over fifteen different kinds of medication.

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46-year-old Juan Manuel Rodriguez is employed as an Orange County probation officer. While on assignment with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Tactical Apprehension Team he has been suspected of taking money from the residents of the homes where he assisted in serving search warrants.

On August 8 Rodriguez visited a residence in Santa Ana in order to serve a search warrant. The person being served was distracted during the period that Rodriguez was inspecting their identification card, and they claimed that $150 had gone missing from their wallet. The victim alerted one of the sheriff’s deputies on site immediately after noticing the money was gone.

According to prosecutors, sheriff’s officials made the decision to organize a sting operation two days after the incident was reported in an attempt to apprehend the offender. A vehicle was rigged with a hidden surveillance camera and $1,200 was planted inside.

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In an email exchange that turned sour, a former student of Soka University allegedly sent an instructor links to a menacing vlog he had recorded. In the video the man spoke of his desire to execute a mass shooting. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department announced that he was apprehended on Monday.

David Kenneth Smith attended Soka University, a private college in Aliso Viejo, nearly a decade ago. In 2008 he was accused of smoking marijuana and he was handed down disciplinary actions for his alleged infraction.

The instructor on the receiving end of the email exchange with Smith was involved in assigning the consequences for the marijuana use. Orange County Sherriff’s Department deputies reported that when the accused became discontented with the correspondence he sent a link to a YouTube video containing footage of himself laying in a bathtub while holding a semiautomatic pistol against his chest as he spoke about the university. In the video Smith discussed the way university staff was regularly unkind to him, and he claims during his enrollment there he was wrongfully fined for and accused of violations he did not commit.

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In the early morning hours on Saturday, a man driving pickup truck slammed into a marked Santa Ana police car. He is suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Police Commander Jeffrey Smith reported that 54-year-old Santa Ana resident Ignacio Roldan-Peralto and a female passenger were driving in a 2014 Chevrolet Silverado when a collision occurred. As Roldan-Peralto was making a left turn he slammed into a police vehicle as it was traveling through an intersection. The officer driving the cruiser was in the midst of responding to a call.

When the impact occurred it caused sizeable damage to both vehicles. The officer was transported to a local hospital by the Orange County Fire Authority. He was treated for minor injuries and has been declared in good condition. The officer’s name has not been released at this time. Roldan-Peralto and his companion did not sustain any injuries.

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A former beauty queen, Mrs. Orange County, is suspected of sharing explicit images of a 4 year old family member with a Southern California Marine. 25 year old Meaghan Breanna Alt was charged on Friday with possessing pornography and committing lewd acts on a child.

Alt appeared for a brief hearing on Friday afternoon in a courtroom at the Orange County Jail complex in Santa Ana; however she did not enter a plea on her charges. If found guilty she could face up to 14 years in state prison.

Alt showed no signs of emotion during her short time in the courtroom, she was seemingly calm and answered the judge clearly with a “yes” when asked if she understood the charges.

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According to investigators, 37 year old Stephen Garcia flashed Orange County female bus riders. Garcia, who has a lengthy record dating back a decade of indecent exposure cases, pled guilty on Tuesday to two felony counts of indecent exposure with prior convictions. He was immediately sentenced to three years in prison.

An anonymous tip about a man flashing women on the northern Orange County bus lines prompted an investigation. Investigators viewed surveillance video and after a three week investigation they arrested Garcia, according to the sheriff’s department.

Investigators said Garcia exposed himself at least four times on the buses. He would “flash” women while he sat in the back of the bus.

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A man who had been working as a youth pastor at Grace Community Church in Lake Forest, Orange County has just been sentenced to two years in state prison and lifetime sex registration, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s website. He plead guilty to two felony counts of sexual battery by restraint and two misdemeanor counts of sexual battery. The assaults are alleged to have occurred last year and involved four separate female victims. Some of the assaults occurred on the Orange County church property. The victims spoke to the man during his sentencing in court, describing their suffering in a “victim impact statement.” Under California’s Marsy’s Law, every adjudged victim is given this right to confront her perpetrator.

If you or a loved one are charged with sexual battery or are the victim of sexual battery seeking help with a victim impact statement, please contact Orange County criminal defense attorney Staycie R. Sena at (949) 477-8088 for a consultation now.

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The FBI has charged 5 men and 4 corporations with illegally exporting high-tech microelectronics to Iran, in violation of the International Emergency Powers Act. Three of the men, including one from Aliso Viejo, were taken into custody in Houston, Texas. Two other men are believed to be out of the country.

The Iran-based company Faratel and Smart Power Systems in Texas were allegedly building uninterruptible power supplies and shipping them off for use by the Iranian Ministry of Defense, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the Iranian Centrifuge Technology Company. According to the FBI these electronics can be used in military equipment such as surface to air and cruise missiles. The indictment states the items would be shipped to a company in Taiwan, then on to a company in Turkey, which would then send them to Iran.

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