Man suspected in robbery arrested after crash

LA HABRA – A man suspected in a La Habra robbery was arrested Wednesday after crashing a stolen car into a tree on the Cal State Fullerton campus, police said.
A strong-arm robbery was reported in a La Habra parking lot about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, with one man demanding personal property from another man, then forcing him to drive to an ATM in a 7-Eleven store, where the victim unsuccessfully attempted to withdraw money, La Habra police Lt. Jeff Swaim said. The robber had the victim drive him back to the parking lot, Swaim said, releasing him and fleeing.
La Habra investigators tracked a man they suspected of carrying out the robbery to Fullerton. As they conducted surveillance of the man, they saw him begin to drive away in a BMW about 5:20 p.m. Wednesday, Swaim said, leading police to attempt a traffic stop.
The man refused to pull over his vehicle, kicking off a brief pursuit that ended when he reportedly crashed into a tree at Cal State Fullerton. The man attempted to flee on foot but was stopped by a police dog.
The man, who authorities have not identified, was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police say the BMW the man was driving is believed to have been stolen.

 

Man charged in $4.7 million fraud caught

A La Habra man wanted after he failed to show up for a court hearing on fraud charges was taken into custody in Nevada this week.
John Arthur Walthall, 55, is facing charges of wire fraud. Federal prosecutors allege that Walthall took nearly $5 million from a Laguna Niguel couple in their 80s.
Walthall was expected to appear in court June 27 for a hearing after prosecutors alleged he was exaggerating a medical condition to avoid trial.
Instead, Walthall failed to show for the hearing, and his attorney, James Riddet, told City News Service he had been unable to contact his client for a month.
Walthall is accused of taking $4.7 million from the couple, telling them to invest in technology to find gold in abandoned mines. Prosecutors allege Walthall instead used the money to cover his own expenses, including child support and alimony.
FBI agents received information that Walthall had been living in Mesquite, Nev., and contacted police agencies nearby, said Laura Eimiller of the FBI.
Walthall was taken into custody by the Mesquite Police Department while he was pumping gas, she said. He is being held in Las Vegas and is expected to be extradited to Los Angeles.

 

Can a single punch kill you?

Guys, show of hands, who has been in a fistfight? And now, keep your hands up if you thought you were risking your life.
I’m betting a fair number of hands went up after the first question and down after the second.
But for anyone who thinks black eyes and chipped teeth are the worst outcomes of trading punches, recent news stories from around Orange County and the rest of the nation might be cause for pause.
Two weeks ago, Fullerton resident Jason Clifton Baird, 24, was arrested in connection with the death of Long Beach resident Brian Christian Williams, 31. Police say Baird – who is shown above, and who didn’t return a call for comment – punched Williams one time, causing him to fall and strike his head on the pavement. The next morning, Williams was found not breathing, and paramedics pronounced him dead a short time later.
“It’s never taken into consideration that, yes, you can KILL someone with a blow to the face/head using only your fist as a weapon,” said a comment on the story by reader SecondChance.
“Many may think that as long as there’s no weapons being used that this can’t happen. I’m sure this guy did not consider it, and my guess he is in total shock at this outcome and what he now faces.”
On Thursday, Huntington Beach resident Jeffrey Charles Sherwood, 26, was arrested in connection with critical injuries suffered by an unidentified 29-year-old man. Police say Sherwood – who could not be reached for comment – punched the victim, causing him to fall and strike his head on the ground.
Neither Baird nor Sherwood has yet been charged, and according to court records, neither man has any violent criminal convictions in Orange County.
“The problem with getting involved in a fight is you don’t know the outcome before it starts,” said Dr. Jim Keany of Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo. “You may be that one rare individual” who suffers serious injuries or death.
I assume Keany is correct in the sense that most fights don’t result in major injuries. But in a country of more than 300 million people, even rare outcomes add up.
A check of recent news stories turns up the case this month of a 17-year-old Indiana boy who reportedly died after being punched once on Independence Day. In Oklahoma, two men died in separate fistfights last month, one involving just a single punch.
Earlier this month, a tourist died after being hit once in the jaw in a Las Vegas casino. “One punch,” police homicide Lt. Lewis Roberts told The Associated Press. “He was out. Never got back up.”
Alcohol is major risk factor, Keany said, as is not seeking help immediately after suffering head trauma. In Williams’ case, police say he was at a party about 3 a.m., and that after being punched, friends laid him on a couch until the next morning, when he was found dead.
“Any change in their mental status, even if you think it could be explained by alcohol, it should be checked by a doctor,” Keany said.
I asked Tom Clanin, a media expert at Cal State Fullerton, whether movie and TV fight scenes give viewers the idea that brawling is no big deal. He said there’s not a lot of hard research on the subject but offered these insights:
“I’d like to know what (Williams’) friends were thinking and how much they had been drinking. They might have thought he was knocked out like they see on TV and would come to soon. TV shows don’t explain the concussion that occurs or the possible bleeding in the skull. It could also be that alcohol played a bigger role than the entertainment industry in both what triggered the fight and how people reacted afterward.”
Criminal liability in these sorts of incidents is determined on a case-by-case basis.
In 2007, Newport Beach resident Weston Scott Kruger stole a pornographic magazine from a liquor store and shoved the pursuing market owner, who hit his head on the ground and died a day later. Kruger received 25 years to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder.
In 2009, Buena Park resident Brian Powers died after being punched and hitting his head on a concrete step at Angel Stadium. Police say Powers was the aggressor, and no charges were filed. “It was just one of those flukes where the guy fell back and hit his head,” said Anaheim police spokesman Rick Martinez.
I asked Sgt. Andrew Goodrich of the Fullerton Police Department what his colleagues see in terms of fighting, and if there’s any way to discourage it.
“We have a lot of fights in our downtown area on many of the busy (nights),” Goodrich said, suggesting there are a half-dozen serious injuries each year. “At closing time, a lot of guys are taking their shirts off and getting into shouting matches. We try to have a visible, active presence to discourage that sort of thing.”
I can speak from experience on all of this. After my bachelor party four years ago, a friend became involved in an argument with a fairly big guy, and I ran over to keep the peace, which is the last thing I remember. The guy laid me out cold, my head hit the asphalt, and my friends took me home to rest. The next couple weeks were spent in and out of the ER, nauseous and in throbbing pain, as I recovered from a concussion and fractured skull. Turns out I was lucky.

 

Man held in crash that killed passenger

FULLERTON – A 23-year-old man is behind bars accused of driving under the influence when he lost control of his vehicle, resulting in the death of his female passenger, police said Tuesday.
The fatal crash happened about 1:17 a.m. Sunday when police say Justin Drake was speeding westbound on Malvern Avenue near Woods Avenue. Drake apparently lost control of his 2006 Mazda at a curve in the road, struck a tree and a retaining wall, said Fullerton police Sgt. Andrew Goodrich.

His passenger, 21-year-old Kelly Pham of La Mirada, was critically injured and taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where she died at 6:44 a.m., according to a coroner’s press release.
Drake was taken to a hospital to be treated for his injuries. He was released from the hospital Monday afternoon and booked at Orange County Jail on suspicion of felony driving under the influence. He is being held in lieu of $100,000.
According to jail records, he is scheduled to make his first court appearance Tuesday.
Anyone with information about the accident was asked to call Investigator Darryl Bermender at 714-738-6813.

 

Nearly $70,000 in marijuana found hidden in car

AN CLEMENTE – Two men suspected of smuggling about 114 pounds of marijuana were arrested near San Clemente after Border Patrol officials found more than two-dozen bundles hidden in their car, authorities said Thursday.
Agents aided by a police dog found the estimated $69,000 worth of marijuana hidden in a passenger door of a 1998 Dodge Dakota about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to a U.S. Border Patrol news release.
The two occupants of the car, who authorities identified only as Mexican nationals, were arrested. They and the drugs were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Border Patrol officials said.
The drug bust was one of several smuggling attempts discovered in Southern California this week.
An hour before the San Clemente-area arrests, Border Patrol agents at an I-8 checkpoint in the southeastern San Diego County community of Pine Valley reportedly seized 146 pounds of marijuana in an auxiliary fuel tank in the bed of a Ford F-150. A 29-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of smuggling the marijuana, which authorities estimate was worth about $88,000.
A day later, Border Patrol officials reported discovering more than 40 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, worth nearly $750,000, hidden in two vehicles at the Pine Valley checkpoint. Two men were arrested and turned over to the DEA, officials said.

 

Employee sentenced for embezzling $82,000

SANTA ANA – A woman who admitted to embezzling tens of thousands of dollars from a Santa Ana sign and graphics company was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison and ordered to repay the stolen money, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said.
Rebecca Labelle, 54, of Chino was accused of using her position as an office manager and accountant at Clarke & Associates to steal more than $82,000 over a 15-month period, reportedly using the money to pay her mortgage and credit card bills.

 

Man charged with robbing Portsmouth bank held on $75g bail

PORTSMOUTH — The Maine man charged in the Monday robbery of a Citizen’s Bank insulted a prosecutor after his arraignment at Portsmouth District Court this morning, where he was ordered held on $75,000 cash bail.

An affidavit states that Thomas Gould, 46, of 6 Gould Lane, Berwick, Maine, was planning on turning himself in to police before officers arrested him at the Motel 6 on Gosling Road Tuesday night.

Police allege Gould had cased two other area banks before stepping into the Citizen’s Bank in the Shaw’s Supermarket on Woodbury Avenue. While at the Citizen’s Bank, police said, Gould placed a bag on the counter and told the teller it contained a bomb.

He demanded money and fled in a red Chevrolet Cobalt with cash, police said.

Officers received a tip on Tuesday that Gould was staying on the fourth floor of a Motel 6 less than a mile away from the Citizen’s Bank. He was arrested there and brought to Portsmouth District Court the following morning.

Gould began yelling in the courtroom during his arraignment when prosecutor David Colby began listing Gould’s alleged criminal history. Gould claimed the criminal history reported was actually his father’s criminal record.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about so you shouldn’t say anything,” he said before later calling Colby “a piece of [expletive]” as he was led out of the courtroom.

While in court, Colby also told the court Gould was allegedly suffering from depression, attributing the information to a family member.

Gould is unemployed. Acquaintances of Gould told authorities he was planning on flying to Florida on July 20, authorities said.

Colby had asked to set Gould’s bail at $100,000 cash, saying Gould was a danger to the community and a possible flight risk. Judge Sawako Gardner set Gould’s bail at $75,000 cash.

Gould is facing a felony count of armed robbery and is scheduled for a July 27 probable cause hearing.

 

Jury weighing whether women were raped or had consensual sex

SANTA ANA – A man showed a similar pattern in raping two women about nine months apart, assuming that he had gotten away with the first sexual assault, a prosecutor told an Orange County jury Monday.
One of the women Jaime Zamora Ramirez, 42, of Costa Mesa is accused of raping was a minor, who was an illegal immigrant from Mexico whom he supervised at a Fountain Valley dry-cleaning service, prosecutors said.
” ‘I’ve already gotten away with the first (rape),’ ” Ramirez thought, Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker told jurors in her closing arguments. ” ‘No one’s going to believe (the second victim), like no one’s believed (the first).’ ”
Ramirez is charged with two felony counts of forcible rape with a sentencing enhancement allegation for forcibly raping multiple victims.
The defense attorney for Ramirez, who faces a possible 130 years to life in prison if a jury convicts him of the rapes in 2008 and 2009, told jurors the sex Ramirez had with both women was consensual.
“What is the truth behind the lie?” Senior Deputy Public Defender Celia Laureles said, asking the jury to assess the credibility of both women who testified during Ramirez’s trial and weigh whether they were complaining witnesses or victims.
She said both women did not report the crime immediately and filled in the gaps in their accusations by lying on the stand or as they detailed their separate encounters with Ramirez.
“They both had sex with him because they wanted to,” Laureles said.
Before jurors began deliberations in the case Monday afternoon, Walker told them the women who didn’t know each other have nothing to gain by accusing Ramirez of rape.
The 17-year-old victim, the prosecutor said, was “a child in another country” who knew what the consequence of reporting her boss was, even as she needed a job.
In the Oct. 12, 2008, incident, Ramirez is accused of knocking on the door of a friend’s apartment in Anaheim and asking for a beer.
After briefly walking away, according to the allegations, Ramirez returned to the woman’s apartment, forced her onto the bed and raped her. The defense says the sex was consensual and the woman did not have to let Ramirez in after he showed up at her doorstep about 3 a.m.
The woman had changed into pajamas, not lingerie, taken off her makeup and was ready for bed, the prosecutor countered.
“That’s not what women do when they’re excited to have a rendezvous with someone,” Walker said.
On July 11, 2009, Ramirez is charged with raping the 17-year-old, who worked at First Class Cleaners in Fountain Valley, where he was the manager.
The defense contested her age, saying there was no evidence of it produced at trial, while the prosecutor said the victim was never asked to show a birth certificate or a driver’s license.
Ramirez told a co-worker to have the minor employee help with “special deliveries,” prosecutors said.
He then told the co-worker to drive the teen to his Costa Mesa home to pick up some paperwork after the day’s deliveries, prosecutors said.
Once at his home, Ramirez lured the girl into his room, locked the door and raped her, prosecutors alleged.
Ramirez faces a sentencing enhancement for an earlier strike conviction for vehicular manslaughter in 1992, prosecutors said, and because of it Superior Court Judge Kazuharu Makino would have discretion to double the 65 years Ramirez faces if convicted.

 

Authorities seek possible victims of massage therapist

Prosecutors are asking for the public’s help in identifying other people who might have been assaulted by a male massage therapist believed to have sexually assaulted three of his clients while working in Seal Beach.
Jason Michael Elliott, 28, of Sunset Beach was charged Monday on three felony counts of assault with intent to commit a sexual offense and, if convicted, faces a maximum sentence of eight years in state prison, according to a statement by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Elliott is out of custody on $100,000 bail and was scheduled for a court appearance Friday.
From Aug. 4, 2009, to April 29, 2010, prosecutors allege, Elliott sexually assaulted three female victims while employed as a masseur at a Seal Beach Massage Envy, at 12340 Seal Beach Boulevard.
By early July 2011, Elliott was no longer registered as a certified massage therapist through the California Massage Therapy Council, prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Elliott sexually assaulted a 30-year-old woman Sept. 30, 2009, while providing a spa treatment; a 33-year-old woman Nov. 8, 2009, while performing a massage; and a 21-year-old woman April 28, 2010, while giving her a massage treatment.
A woman reported an assault on Nov. 8 to the Seal Beach Police Department. Upon further investigation, police linked Elliott to the other assaults and Massage Envy terminated his employment.
Prosecutors said Elliott continued to provide massage services at other massage establishments, including one in Mission Viejo.
Detectives arrested Elliott on July 8.

 

Freeway-blocking band faces music in court

Three self-described hardcore musicians from Orange County are scheduled to be arraigned Thursday for a publicity stunt last fall that blocked morning traffic on the 101 freeway.
Police arrested the three members of Westminster-based “Imperial Stars” in October after they parked a truck across three lanes of the freeway and started performing on its roof. They later said the stunt was intended to raise awareness of homeless children, as well as promote their music.
Prosecutors didn’t buy it. The three men – Christopher Roy Wright, 33, David Paul Hale, 31, and Keith R. Yackey, 32 – each face one felony count of conspiracy and misdemeanor counts of public nuisance and false imprisonment.
“This was a well-orchestrated commercial stunt perpetrated by these defendants and their accomplices with no concern for the lives or well-being of thousands of innocent victims who were caught up in the prank,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said in a written statement in November 2010 after he filed charges.
The group, which describes itself as a hardcore hip-hop and rock band, performed a song it calls “Traffic Jam 101” during its freeway stunt. YouTube videos showed the band performing even after a police officer climbed onto the truck to get them down.
“We’re sorry for the inconvenience,” Yackey said after band members posted bail shortly after their arrests. “We know people might have missed appointments or meetings, but we feel passionate about our cause.”
He said most commuters seemed supportive of what he called a “novelty event” on the freeway. “It seemed like about 90 percent of them honked and held their thumbs up, saying, ‘Way to go guys, that’s awesome,'” Yackey said.