Fountain Valley Police Department

Cops Raid Illegal Fountain Valley Pot Grow

Southern California Edison (SCE) apparently doesn't like it when you illegally tap into the company's electrical grid to power your indoor marijuana grow. So when it realized that whoever was living at the house in the 10700 block of El Rubi Circle was was pirating an inordinate amount of electricit ... More >>

Kevin E. Harris Threat was "Laughed Off" by Cops: Tipster Who Feared Costa Mesa Bomber

Now that Kevin E. Harris has been exposed as a bomb maker who seems to have tried to lure Costa Mesa police officers and paramedics to his Mesa Verde home, where the 52-year-old later blew himself up, Sean Lear has a question for local law enforcement:How come you laughed me off a few years ago when ... More >>

John Calicchio of EuroMasters Classic Cars Allegedly Sold Porsches He Didn't Own

The owner of the since-shuttered EuroMasters Classic Cars in Fountain Valley is scheduled to be arraigned in Santa Ana this morning for allegedly embezzling the sale proceeds of rare and vintage vehicles sold on consignment. John Calicchio, 63, of Costa Mesa, could be garaged in state prison for 1 ... More >>

John Tran Nguyen, High School Basketball Coach, Cops to Sex with Underage Student

A former high school coach for the girls basketball team pleaded guilty Thursday to having a sexual relationship with a female student during the 2010-11 basketball season that began when she was 14.John Tran Nguyen, 21, of Fountain Valley, copped to felony unlawful intercourse and was sentenced to ... More >>

Sergio O'Cadiz: El Artist

The Mexican maestro was a popular painter in Orange County for decades. Now, his family is fighting to keep his legacy alive

[UPDATED with Driver's I.D.:] Fullerton Police Kill Christopher Shull After Chase

See the update at the end of this post identifying the driver.ORIGINAL POST, AUG. 28, 10:21 A.M.: A police chase that began early today on the 5 freeway near the 91 freeway interchange ended at a (literal) dead end near Palo Verde Avenue and Artesia Boulevard in Bellflower around 3 a.m., when an off ... More >>

[UPDATED with Reda Safieddine Charged:] Valle Valeriano, OC Homicide No. 29: 187 of 17 y.o. Outside 7-Eleven

See Update No. 4 at the end of this post disclosing Reda Safieddine has been charged with murder and what was used to kill Valle Valeriano.See Update Nos. 1-3 identifying Safieddine and Valeriano and providing social-network details on the suspected killer.ORIGINAL POST, AUG. 13, 3:45 P.M.: A 1 ... More >>

Donald Ray Shipley Accused of Raping One 10 y.o. Girl and Sexually Assaulting a Second

A 71-year-old Fountain Valley man was arrested and charged today with forcibly raping one 10-year-old girl and performing lewd acts on and possessing pornographic images of a second 10-year-old girl.Donald Ray Shipley faces a laundry list of felonies and sentencing enhancements that, with a convicti ... 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.

Sobering Times for Pill Poppers: "Generation Rx," National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day

Prescription drug abuse by South County teens has been a hot topic lately thanks to the documentary Behind the Orange Curtain making its world premiere May 2 at the Newport Beach Film Festival and, due to a sell out, getting a second showing May 3 in the huge Big Newport theater.That makes a couple ... More >>

Miguel Antonio Mendoza Draws Light Sentence for Texting Boys Nude Photos of Himself and Trying to Sex Up 11 y.o.

​Miguel Antonio Mendoza, a former afterschool aide who based on his police mugshot from two years ago at right did not look much older than some of his boy victims, was sentenced today to 180 days in jail for sending nude photos of himself to the lads and trying to meet the youngest boy, age 11, f ... More >>

John Tran Nguyen, Ex-Basketball Coach, Accused of Unlawful Sex with 14 y.o. Student

​Authorities are reaching out to the public for possible victims of John Tran Nguyen, a 21-year-old  former high school basketball coach who is facing criminal counts for allegedly having been involved in an ongoing sexual relationship with a female student since she was 14. Currently out on ... More >>

Patricia Ann Serrano, 43, Accused of Having Sex With Son's 12-Year-Old Friend. Twice

​A 43-year-old woman has been charged with having sex with her son's 12-year-old friend, and authorities are putting the word out in case there are other young victims. Patricia Ann Serrano, 43, of Fountain Valley, is accused of having unlawful sex with the boy on two occasions last month, once i ... More >>

John Rodriguez, Serial Penis Flasher, Gets Year in Jail, 5 Years Probation, Lifetime Sex Offender Rap

​John Rodriguez, tried for stroking his penis at girls walking to school and grabbing one of them, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges today and was sentenced to a year in jail, five years of probation and lifetime registration as a sex offender.The 6-foot-1, 350-pound, 20-year-old dental assist ... More >>

[UPDATED with Gun Was Her Gift to Him:] Uyennie Ton, OC Homicide No. 44: Fiancé Philip Ngoc Nguyen Accused of Shooting Her in Head

​UPDATE, OCT. 10, 3:47 P.M.: The gun Philip Ngoc Nguyen used to kill his fiancée Uyennie Ton had been her gift to him, according to a prosecutor.Meanwhile, the Orange County District Attorney's office has corrected its original account, stating that Ton did not live in the Fountain Valley trailer ... More >>

[UPDATED with 5th Victim:] John Rodriguez Accused of Being Serial Flasher of Penis to Schoolgirls

​UPDATE, SEPT. 8, 10:55 A.M.: Due to media coverage of the indecent exposure charges against John Rodriguez, a fifth female has come forward to accuse the 20-year-old Santa Ana dental assistant of flashing his penis at her as she walked to school, prosecutors say.Rodriguez, who is scheduled to be ... More >>

[UPDATED with Mistrial:] Mary Katheryn Sharpski, Her Lover and His Butcher Friend Tried for Machete Attack on Her Husband

The wife​UPDATE, JUNE 2, 10:06 A.M.: The murder trial of the wife and lover accused of getting a butcher to kill her husband with a machete--which, ironically, is the name of the new John Grisham novel--has ended in mistrial.After deliberating for two days, the four-man, eight-woman jury informed ... More >>

[UPDATED with Medical Trial Delay:] Mary Katheryn Sharpski, Her Lover and His Butcher Friend on Trial for Machete Attack on Her Husband

Michael Calvin Shores II​CORRECTED UPDATE, MAY 9, 12:25 P.M.: Today's trial for three accused of conspiracy and the attempted murder of a Fountain Valley man by machete was recessed again until at least tomorrow. Michael Calvin Shores II experienced the pains and shortness of breath during Friday' ... More >>

Miguel Antonio Mendoza Accused of Sexually Assaulting Boy and Distributing Porn to Minors

​Do you know this man?More importantly, do your boys know Miguel Antonio Mendoza, 20, of Orange?The former part-time aide in Villa Park Elementary School's afterschool program is accused of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy and using a cell phone application to distribute pornography to ot ... More >>

OCMS Healing Leaves and Homes Tied to the Fountain Valley Medical Pot Clinic Are Raided

​OCMS Healing Leaves and two Garden Grove homes connected to Fountain Valley medical marijuana dispensary were reportedly raided last week.

Vo Duong Tran, Ex-FBI Agent Who Staged Home-Invasion Robbery, Gets 30 Years

​United States District Judge Andrew J. Guilford in Santa Ana sentenced 42-year-old former FBI special agent Vo Duong Tran to 30 years in federal prison for scheming to commit a home-invasion robbery at a Fountain Valley residence he mistakenly thought was a drug "stash house."

Ex-Hospital Employee Guilty of Stealing $300,000 From Cafeteria Cash Registers

​A former executive assistant who stole more than $300,000 from cafeteria cash registers at a Fountain Valley hospital got a three-year prison sentence this week.

$3.6 Million Fraud Plot Used Several Mortgages on Same House

Not the home in question but an amazing facsimile.​A married couple from Fountain Valley and a Newport Coast mortgage broker are scheduled to be arraigned in a Santa Ana courthouse this morning for their alleged roles in a $3.6 million fraud scheme that involved several mortgages being taken out o ... More >>

Crime Time: Indoor Pot Farming, Bandits on Bikes, Satellite Surveillance Pleas, Teen-on-Teen Stabbings and a Whole Lotta Armed Robberies

It's the Weekly's weekly round-up of local crimes and police calls--now with waaaaaay more armed robberies, bike-riding/-taking bandits and indoor pot busts. ​MONDAY, NOV. 16Wee Hour Party Goes to Pot During a party in a home in the 700 block of Maplewood Avenue in Fullerton, a resident whipp ... More >>

It's a Quick Read 27

Orange County Register: Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement agents, Inglewood police and members of a multi-agency task force surveilling Gerardo Medina Hernandez say they watched him pull packages from two compartments built into the front wheel wells of his 2005 Volkswagen sport utility ve ... More >>

Walking the plank

RODMAN REELED IN

Bye Bye Birdie