Criminal Assault

Lawrence Witsoe, Tustin Attorney, in Federal Court for Trying Fix Client's Misdemeanor Case

Trial is scheduled to begin right now in federal court in Santa Ana for a Tustin criminal defense attorney accused of conspiring with a Rialto police officer to fix a misdemeanor assault and battery case at John Wayne Airport. Lawrence Witsoe is charged with conspiracy to solicit and receive a bribe ... More >>

Mark Eric Hibner, Veteran LA Deputy, Allegedly Assaulted Woman Complaining He Cheated on Her and Threatened to Kill His Baby Mama Ex

If the case against a veteran Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy proves anything, it's that those who wear badges have no problem getting trim. Mark Eric Hibner, a 22-year LASO veteran, was scheduled to be arraigned in Fullerton today on charges he repeatedly assaulted a woman he had a relationship ... More >>

Bunch of Latinos Assault Black Woman on OCTA Bus; Sheriff's Investigators Won't Call it Hate Crime

Cal State Fullerton student Amaryah Tarkington headed home on an earlier December evening to finish up her part of a group project. The finals week task, due the very next day, was one she never got the chance to complete. The 29-year-old took an Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) bus fro ... More >>

Alfonso Calderon Held in Serious Beating at Skyhi Clothing Co. Customer Appreciation Party

Santa Ana Police arrested a 21-year-old at his girlfriend's Huntington Beach residence this morning for allegedly beating another young man into a coma and permanent brain damage during a "streetwear" clothing company party late the night of Sept. 30.Alfonso Calderon was being held in lieu of $25,00 ... More >>

[UPDATED with Arrest of Joseph Robert Suess:] Unidentified Man, OC Homicide No. 29: Stabbed in Anaheim Alley

See update at the end of this post on the arrest of Joseph Robert Suess.ORIGINAL POST, AUG. 30, 9:10 A.M.: Anaheim Police received an anonymous call shortly after midnight today about a possible burglary in progress in the 800 block of North Zeyn Street near Anaheim Boulevard.Officers arrived short ... More >>

Joshua Rich, Arrested Anaheim Protester, Sued Police for Alleged Beating in 2005

Click here for our Anaheim police shooting archivesOn July 24, Joshua Rich was the first demonstrator arrested outside of Anaheim City Hall during a protest against the police shootings of Manuel Diaz and Joel Acevedo. The 37-year-old Anaheim resident was the demonstrator rumored to h ... More >>

Ian "Uncle Creepy" McCall's Arrest Extends Orange County's MMA Crime Wave

Are octagon-shaped jail cells in Orange County's future?It's worth asking as the local crime wave tied to mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters continues with Ian "Uncle Creepy" McCall's recent arrest in Irvine for outstanding warrants.

Kasey Kahl of The Bachelorette Poses for Sad Police Mugshot in OC to Go with "Pretty" One

When Kasey Kahl posed for the booking photo at right in January, it was dubbed the "prettiest mug shot" Fresno Police officers "ever [saw] come into their station."It's doubtful sheriff's deputies working the Orange County Jail beat are saying the same thing about the mug posed for this weekend by t ... More >>

Man Arrested for Allegedly Using McDonald's Fries As A "Dangerous Weapon" Against 11-Year-Old Step-Daughter

Taco Bell customers aren't the only fast-food restaurant patrons that get on the news for behaving badly. The Smoking Gun obtained a police report that a 26-year-old man in Massachusetts has been arrested for "assault and battery with a dangerous weapon." The weapon? McDonald's fries.After going thr ... More >>

[UPDATED with Suicide Attempt Alleged:] Brinda Sue McCoy, Oceanside Police Chief's Wife, Guilty of Firing Gun at Cypress Cops

See update No. 3 at the end of post about Cypress Police reportedly confirming Brinda McCoy tried to take her own life.See update No. 2 at the end of post about McCoy hospitalized after being found bleeding in her Cypress home.See update No. 1 at the end of post about the maximum sentence McCoy face ... More >>

Charles Patrick Drew, Sex Offender Accused of Brutal Murder, Faces More Charges

The Orange County District Attorney's office today filed additional charges against Charles Patrick Drew, the 62-year-old transient, two-striker and registered sex offender accused of committing OC's eighth murder of the year. Joining the previously filed felony count of special circumstances murder ... More >>

Minh Tam Thi Phan, 50, Accused of Violent Rock and Shoe Attack on Woman Owed $100k

Don't make Minh Tam Thi Phan raise her shoe.Or knock your brains out with a rock.The San Diego County 50-year-old is scheduled to be arraigned in Westminster today on charges she tried to murder a woman she owed $100,000 by violently beating her with a rock and shoe.

Carlos Rosario Gonzales Murdered over OC Club's No-Fondling-the-Strippers Rule

​After spending three hours inside a Santa Ana strip club with his friends on an October 2006 afternoon, Carlos Rosario Gonzales couldn't bring himself to obey the club's rule: Don't fondle the strippers.Worse, Gonzales couldn't appreciate that the club's security wanted to eject him when he becam ... More >>

Arash Riazati Convicted in Iranian-American-on-Latinos Hate Crimes

​An Irvine man accused of unprovoked Iranian-American-on-Latinos hate crimes reportedly pleaded guilty to charges that will have him spending 120 days in detention and three years on probation.Sure beats seven years in state prison, which is what 33-year-old Arash Riazati was possibly looking at h ... More >>

Catherine Kieu Becker and Lorena Bobbitt, Meet Virginia Valdez

Courtesy of Palm Springs Police DepartmentVirginia Valdez​Lorena Bobbitt famously sliced off the pecker of then-husband John Wayne Bobbitt while he slept in 1993.The case got fresh, uh, legs when Catherine Kieu Becker was accused last year of slicing off the pecker of her husband as he was waking ... More >>

Ali Achekzai, International Serial Rapist, Gets 61 Years to Life

​International serial rapist Ali Achekzai, who was convicted of six felony counts last month after Orange County authorities had the 34-year-old extradited from Austria, was sentenced today to 61 years to life in state prison. Before the former Ladera Ranch resident learned his fate, one of three ... More >>

Matthew Bransetter, Nolan Wickham, Get 3 Years Prison Time For Anti-Semitic Assault

Matthew Bransetter & Nolan Wickham's Booking PhotosCourtesy Orange County Sheriff's Department​Two Rancho Santa Margarita men were sentenced to three years in state prison Dec. 2 for an assault earlier this in a Coto de Caza park. On the evening of April 6, 2011, Matthew Gregory Bransetter, 19 ... More >>

[UPDATE: One Officer Charged With Second-Degree Murder, Another with Manslaughter] Kelly Thomas Killing Announcement Draws Huge Media Crowd ... and Protesters

DA T-Rack​UPDATE 11:00 a.m.: Gustavo here. Before the press conference even began, veteran attorney John Barnett (whom you'll remember helped to represent the Haidl gang) announce to reporters that his client, Fullerton Officer Manuel Ramos, had surrendered himself to face charges on second-degree ... More >>

[UPDATED with Sentence:] Kenneth Anthony Huskey Sexually Assaults Women and Children in 3 States, Pushes Pregnant Woman onto Surf City's Main St.

Huskey's Sin City booking photo​With a name like Huskey, he has to have spent time in Alaska.And with a name like Kenneth Anthony Huskey, he has to be a dick.He was convicted in 2003 of sexually abusing a minor in his hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada. That led to sex offender registration in Alaska a ... More >>

[UPDATED with Sentence:] Sean Paul Delacerda, LA County Sheriff's Deputy, Gets 13 Years for Assaulting Ex-Girlfriend

​UPDATE, JULY 25, 8:26 A.M: Sitting on top of his ex-girlfriend so she could not escape and holding his hand over her mouth so she could not scream, Sean Paul Delacerda put the barrel of a gun he'd just placed a bullet in into his mouth and pulled the trigger.Click.The gun did not fire, but th ... More >>

Jason Michael Elliott Accused of Giving 3 Women Sexed-Up Massages; More Victims Sought

​Authorities are seeking possible victims of a masseur who worked throughout Orange County and is facing charges of sexually assaulting three women while working at Massage Envy in Seal Beach. Jason Michael Elliott, 28, of Seal Beach, could get eight years and eight months in state prison if conv ... More >>

[UPDATED with 17 More Swept Up:] 26 Charged with Carrying Out Mexican Mafia Orders in OC Jail

​UPDATE, JULY 14, 5:01 P.M.: Besides the 26 Mexican Mafia members the District Attorney's office is prosecuting as a result of the Orange County Jail crimes uncovered through "Operation Black Flag," 17 Costa Mesa gang members were swept up by federal indictments related to the investigation.The in ... More >>

[UPDATED with Conviction:] Michael Jason Wilson Tried as Adult for Facebook War That Ended Bloody

​It is officially knife day here at Navel Gazing HQ.Earlier we brought you the wifey-pooh who allegedly sliced off her estranged husband's dick with a knife before tossing it into the garbage disposal and flipping the on switch.Now comes word from the DA's office of a Laguna Beach teen's convictio ... More >>

[UPDATED with Charges Dropped:] Russell Elliott Accused of Stabbing Pal at Bachelor Party

​UPDATE, JUNE 29, 1:33 P.M.: Riverside County prosecutors declined to file charges against Russell Elliott, the 28-year-old Santa Anan accused of stabbing his friend and soon-to-be groom at his bachelor party in a Palm Springs hotel room last week. The marrying man, who was not identified, suffere ... More >>

Sean Paul Delacerda, Deputy Who Put Gun in His Mouth, Assaulted Ex- and Posed for Ugly Mug

​UPDATE, APRIL 15, 2010, 10:43 A.M: 27-year-old Sean Paul Delacerda has been convicted of assaulting an ex-girlfriend with a firearm after accusing her of cheating and violently holding her against her will at gunpoint in her apartment.But the Fullerton resident, who is looking at up to 18 yea ... More >>

Sodom and Gomorrah Witnesses Wrecked OC Trial?

Murdoch: Aliens are living inside me.​The proof that the witnesses against him were not human was obvious to Michael Craig Murdoch during his 2010 trial in Orange County Superior Court for felony assault with a deadly weapon (a beer bottle) and battery causing serious bodily injury.In court, Murdo ... More >>

UPDATED: Machete Used In Sunday 'Ninja' Attack at South Coast Plaza

Bring your wallet, not your machete​A 19-year-old plumber with blond hair and blue eyes is sitting in Orange County Jail this morning after police say he used a 25-inch machete to attack a man Sunday night in the parking lot of Orange County's most internationally acclaimed shopping center: South ... More >>

[UPDATED with Conviction] Gaylord Tootsie Daney, Up on Holding Pot, Guilty of Punching His Lady Lawyer

​UPDATE, MARCH 25, 3:15 P.M.: The maximum penalty Gaylord Tootsie Daney faced for a misdemeanor possession of less than an ounce of marijuana was a $100 fine.No jail time is given for the pot rap, but the 46-year-old Santa Ana man is being sent to state prison for two years.That's what happens whe ... More >>

Felicia Marie Moberly Allegedly Punches Security Guard and Spits on Deputy at Pot Clinic

Talk about smoke monsters!​A woman who became increasingly agitated while failing to obtain marijuana from several dispensaries in Lake Forest Tuesday evening was confronted by a security guard--who she promptly punched in the face, according to sheriff's deputies.And, after deputies responded to ... More >>

Daniel Chomina Wins Ugly Police Mug of Week . . . and Four Years in Prison for Hitting Man With Butt of Gun and Kidnapping His Own Daughter

​Daniel Chomina had our ugly police mug judges with his smirk.However, what he did to warrant the booking photo--and ultimate conviction--was also ugly.After bringing his 3-year-old daughter to his ex-girlfriend's for a custody exchange in July 2009, the 29-year-old Garden Grove man became enra ... More >>

[UPDATED] Brinda Sue McCoy in Deep Doodoo and Lucky to Be Alive: Wife of Oceanside Police Chief and Former Cypress Mayor Accused of Shooting at Cops

​UPDATE, JAN. 31, 4:47 P.M.: Don't know how we missed this one last week, but 47-year-old Brinda Sue McCoy pleaded not guilty in a Santa Ana courtroom Wednesday to firing one of her husband's guns at police officers who were trying to talk her out of suicide during a three-hour standoff in the cou ... More >>

Eric Gunderson of Newport Beach Sits in Canadian Jail Facing Charges of Assaulting Girlfriend He Met on an Internet Dating Site

​Have you seen the Internet dating site commercial where a love-struck woman and hunky man bonk heads, slip onto furniture and further batter one another accidentally when they try to get frisky with one another?That was a cakewalk compared to what happened to a Canadian woman, allegedly at the ha ... More >>

Thomas Andrew Spence Took Hands Out of Undone Pants and Assaulted Deputy: Charges

​A female Orange County Sheriff's deputy spotted a man in bushes near a Laguna Niguel garden center Wednesday with his hands in his pockets and his pant undone. So, she confronted him. A foot chase followed and, when she caught up with him, he allegedly tried to take her firearm and physically str ... More >>

Crash First, Ask Questions Later

Notorious Anaheim cop Scott McManus resurfaces in yet another civil-rights lawsuit

Arash Riazati Charged With Unprovoked Iranian-American-on-Hispanic Hate Crime

​As if Hispanics don't feel ganged up on already (see Arizona, every "Racist OC Register Fustercluck of the Day," every other Navel Gazing comment), now they apparently have to worry about Iranian-Americans.Or, at least the one from Irvine charged with a hate crime.

Huntington Beach Police Chief's Troubled Daughter Accused of Stabbing Husband

Chief Ken Small​OC Weekly previously praised Huntington Beach Police Chief Ken Small for opting out of using cameras at intersections to catch red light violators.He also did the right thing in firing Officer James Roberts III,  who has been charged with battering, sexually assaulting and in ... More >>

Matthew Van McDaniel Gets 9 Years in Prison for Recklessly Driving Drunk Into Jail

​Otis, the town drunk from The Andy Griffith Show, famously used to lock himself into a jail cell when he got too tipsy. Perhaps that's what 25-year-old dancer and former jailee Matthew Van McDaniel was trying to do just after 2 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 10, at the James A. Musick Correctional Facility ... More >>

The Man Who Killed for Porn: Convicted!

Weston Scott Kruger​The man who had to have his print porn is going to prison. Can a guy trade cigarettes for pornography?

Sean Paul Delacerda, Deputy Accused of Placing Bullet in Gun, Putting Gun in His Mouth, Pulling Trigger, Assaulting His Ex-

Courtesy of Orange County District Attorney's OfficeSean Paul Delacerda​A Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy was charged by the Orange County District Attorney's Office this week with assaulting his ex-girlfriend by pointing a gun at her--right after having put a bullet in the weapon, sticking th ... More >>

Gaylord Tootsie Daney, Up on Holding Pot, Allegedly Punches His Lady Lawyer

Courtesy of Orange County District Attorney's OfficeThe charges pile up on Gaylord Tootsie Daney. ​Gaylord Tootsie Daney--yes, Tootsie--is alleged to have broken two bedrock rules of polite society. That's not a reference to the marijuana possession and, now, felony assault charges against the 45- ... More >>

DA Objects to Gang-Assault Sentences

​The Orange County District Attorney's office objected today to a judge striking the "strikes" for a third-striker gang member who was on parole when he and two other men assaulted a fourth man who told the trio to stop tagging a wall in Santa Ana with graffiti last summer.At least the judge was c ... More >>

79-Year-Old Arrested for Kicking Cop in the Nuts (Twice) Threatens to File Civil Rights Complaint

​Remember that "78-Year-Old Man Arrested for Kicking Cop in the Nuts (Twice)" in October?Two things: 1) He's 79. b. He claims to be the victim of "horrible injustice," that he "was treated like an animal" and that he will file seek "justice" via a federal civil rights complaint.

Crime Time: Alleged Rummy Mommy, Ex-Cop Robber, Sticky Fingers, Douches on (and Taking) Bikes and Really Bad Karaoke Singers

It's the Weekly's weekly police blotter--now with more alleged rummy mommies, ex-cop robbers, sticky fingers, douches on bikes and really bad karaoke singers.MONDAY, NOV. 23 Insert car here.​That Walled-In Feeling A man crashing his black Toyota Corolla into a wall at the Shell gas station at Lake ... More >>

Crime Time: Boozy Mom, Asshole Cop, Thieving Aliens, Fast-Acting Pharmacist and Lotsa Stabbers

It's the Weekly's weekly round-up of local police calls--now with more boozy moms, asshole cops, fast-acting pharmacists, apartments full of thieving aliens and loads of stabbings!Courtesy of Costa Mesa Police DepartmentCraig Anthony McVay, 48, of Garden Grove, was in the midst of three years probat ... More >>

Did Alleged Attack on Self-Described Snitch Happen the Way He Says?

Badgering and Blunders

Judges misconduct could set OC man free from six-year prison sentence

Phu Fighter

Gangster beats girl over sexual equipment quip

Police Put the Smackdown on Mexican Kids

Getting calls from my various Chicano yaktivist pals, and they're saying the kids are marching out of Westminster, Garden Grove, and Anacrime. Reports of police beating up kids on Bristol and Warner in SanTana, although the kids supposedly through rocks. Pendejos. Off to take pictures. . .

Reality Check

LBC Gay-Bashing Gets Straight Victim

Rage Among the Weight Machines