Orange Police Department

Joseph Thomas Brewer Jr., 54, Fatally Shot by Orange Officer in Quiet Neighborhood: Update

See the update at the end of this post identifying the dead man as Joseph Thomas Brewer Jr., 54.ORIGINAL POST, JUNE 13, 7:23 A.M.: The source of gunfire in a quiet, relatively crime-free residential neighborhood of Orange early Wednesday remained a mystery for most of the day before police much late ... More >>

Kwang Choi "K.C." Joy was Possibly in Love with Maribel Manriquez Ramos, Says DA: Update

See Update No. 3 on Page 2 about unrequited love being a possible motive in the case and other details that emerged from today's court hearing. See Update Nos. 1-2 on the next page about the charges against Kwang Choi "K.C." Joy and allegations of past violence in Tennessee.ORIGINAL POST, MAY 20, NO ... More >>

Maribel Manriquez Ramos Confirmed to be Dead Body; Roommate Held in Murder: Update

See Update No. 2 at the bottom of page 2 on the recovered body being identified as Maribel Ramos' and her roommate being arrested for her murder. Update No. 1 on page 2 was about a woman's body being found Thursday in Modjeska Canyon, and police and Ramos' family fearing it was the missing Cal State ... More >>

6 OC Parents Arrested for Allegedly Ignoring Warnings of Children's Chronic Truancies

Earlier today, I posted on Frank Cabada of Santa Ana's Hector Godinez Fundamental High School being among six Latino high school seniors from around the country honored this morning by the Hispanic Heritage Foundation in Beverly Hills. It's unlikely Cabada, a math and engineering whiz, would have ... More >>

[UPDATED with Irvine DUI Stop:] St. Patrick's Day Weekend Sobriety Checkpoints: San Clemente, Tustin, Orange, Laguna Beach

See the update at the end of page 2 with the date and location of Irvine's DUI checkpoint.ORIGINAL POST, MARCH 15, 10:44 A.M.: Beginning tonight and continuing through early Monday, DUI checkpoints and special patrols will be scattered across Orange County due to the gallons of green beer flowing ov ... More >>

[UPDATED with New Arrest Totals:] Tis the Season to be Boozy and Patrolled and Stopped

ORIGINAL POST, DEC. 21, 8:56 A.M.: The Costa Mesa and Garden Grove police departments are conducting DUI checkpoints tonight, while one goes up in Huntington Beach Saturday night. None of the agencies is revealing the location of the mandatory motorist stops aimed at removing impaired and unlicensed ... More >>

Scott Adrian Peterson Gets Jail and Supervision for Illegal Sex with Student

A high school Spanish teacher who copped in August to illegal riverbed sex with a 17-year-old student was sentenced Friday to four years in state prison, but under new state sentencing laws Scott Adrian Peterson will have spent 16 months in jail and three more years under mandatory supervision. The ... More >>

Scott Adrian Peterson, Orange High Teacher, Cops to Illegal Riverbed Sex with Student

Scott Peterson--no, not the creep on death row for dumping his pregnant wife's body into a bay but the Orange High School Spanish teacher-creeper--pleaded guilty Monday to having unlawful, riverbed sex with a 17-year-old female student.Under a court deal, Scott Adrian Peterson, 50, of Anaheim, is ex ... More >>

Shazer Fernando Limas Pleads Not Guilty to Stabbing His Young Family to Death

Shazer Fernando Limas, who is accused of stabbing his girlfriend and their two children to death in Orange on April 13, pleaded not guilty at his continued arraignment today.But a question remains: Where are the boys?

Scottish-Themed Breastaurant Gets OK To Open In Orange

The Register wrote today that The Tilted Kilt, a breastaurant in the same vein as Hooters but with a Scottish theme, has been approved to move into the empty space vacated by Johnny Carino's at the Stadium Promenade Center in Orange at 1625 W. Katella Ave. It will be the first Tilted Kilt in OC. T ... More >>

[UPDATED with Corrected Details:] Arlet Hernandez Contreras, Fernando and Emmanuel Limas, OC Homicides Nos. 12, 13, 14: Shazer Fernando Limas May Face Death Penalty

UPDATE, MAY 8, 4:10 P.M.: A statement on the continued arraignment of Orange 31-year-old Shazer Fernando Limas, who could get the death penalty for allegedly killing his girlfriend and their two young boys, gives new ages for the children.Said originally by Orange Police to have been 2 and 4 years o ... More >>

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 >>

Police Scoop Up 26 OC Teens in Curfew Sweep

​Last night, in what's become an annual scavenger hunt of sorts, Orange County officers nabbed 26 unsuspecting minors who were out past curfew. The event is a curfew sweep, and its goal, according to the District Attorney's office, is "to prevent juveniles from being victims of or participants in ... More >>

[UPDATED with 3rd Mental Check Due:] Sonia Hermosillo, Accused of Tossing Baby to Death at CHOC, Has Competency Hearing

​UPDATE, FEB. 3, 4:17 P.M.: Superior Court Commissioner Vickie Hix today ordered a third evaluation of Sonia Hermosillo to determine if the mother accused of tossing her 7-month-old son off a parking structure to his death is mentally competent to stand trial for murder. Two psychologists reached ... More >>

Suicide by Metrolink Train?

​Suicide by train? That's the assumption of the Orange Police Department when it comes to the woman who was struck and killed by a Metrolink train this morning.

Mario Manuel Castro, OC Sheriff's Deputy, Charged for Driving on Wrong Side of Road with .24 Blood Alcohol Level

​Moxley is doing...something...so I'll step up to the plate and use his Orange County Sheriff's Department bat to smash Sandra Hutchens' crew anew. After all, this one writes itself!On Sept. 30, sheriff's deputy Mario Manuel Castro had a few too many at a Costa Mesa bar while off-duty--like, three ... More >>

Noose Found Hanging Outside Orange County Labor Federation Office This Morning

​If someone was trying to send a message to the Orange County Labor Federation, they certainly caught everyone's attention. A noose was found dangling from the roof of the federations' offices in Orange this morning, according to numerous reports.As of this afternoon, there were no leads on who or ... More >>

Gary Haynes, OC Homicide No. 38: Tossed Off Storage Unit Loft and Left Overnight in Ants and Vomit

​Gary Haynes, 52, of Oceanside, and another man got into a confrontation with a couple in a North Manzanita Storage unit on North Manzanita Street near West Katella Avenue in Orange Saturday night. Haynes was punched and thrown off a loft in the storage locker, where he was left overnight in hi ... More >>

ACLU Demands Data on Mobile-Phone Surveillance From Five Orange County Police Agencies

​Big Brother is not only watching you, he can answer in the affirmative, "Can you hear me now?" The American Civil Liberties Union would like to know how much he's listenening, and by "he," I mean "your local cop shop."The Communist Par . . . er, ACLU of California announced today that demands wer ... More >>

Orange Gang-Injunction Case Headed to Federal Appellate Court

​The saga has trudged on for more than two years now, but Yvonne Elizondo still speaks about the Orange Varrio Cypress' gang injunction with freshness and fervor.A tinge of redness takes to her cheeks as she recalls the day it all started: February 23, 2009. That's the day that ... More >>

[UPDATED with Charges Ditched:] OCDA Boasts First-Ever Case Against Parents of Truants

What truant?​UPDATE, JUNE 21, 4:02 P.M.: Last month, the Orange County district attorney's office announced the first OCDA case against parents of children who have been chronically truant, despite repeated warnings from schools and police.Yesterday, charges against one of those parents disappear ... More >>

OC Law Enforcement Targets Parents of Truants

​Five people were arrested this morning in what the Orange County district attorney's office (OCDA) hails as its first case against the parents of children who have been chronically truant despite repeated warnings from cops and schools. The parents--who face probation, jail and/or fines if convi ... More >>

Orange County Gang Injunction Suffers Major Defeat: ACLU

​A federal judge ruled today that the Orange County District Attorney and Orange Police Department violated due process rights by denying hearings to those the agencies suspected of being gang members, dealing what the American Civil Liberties Union called "a major victory" to those legally oppo ... More >>

[UPDATED] Carlie Rose Attebury, Ex-El Modena High Band Teacher, Gets 16 Months for Unlawful Sex with 15-year-old Boy

​UPDATE, MARCH 4, 2:52 P.M.: Former El Modena High School band teacher Carlie Rose Attebury was sentenced today to 16 months in prison for having sex with a then-15-year-old boy who was her drum major.The 31-year-old Orange resident must also register as a sex offender for life.She was also ... More >>

Paul Rivera, Scott Skallerud and Scott Larson Popped for Bold ATM Heist at Haven Gastropub

​It was a most brazen crime: Around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 7, two men wearing white Hazmat-type get-ups walked into Haven Gastropub in Old Towne Orange, placed the ATM unit on a dolly and wheeled it out.By the time employees realized what had happened--that the joint had been robbed in plain s ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Carlie Rose Attebury, El Modena High Band Teacher, CONVICTED of Unlawful Sex with 15-year-old Boy

​Update, November 24, 7 p.m.: Former El Modena High School band teacher Carlie Rose Attebury, 31, of Orange, was convicted today of four felony county of having sex with an underage male student.She could get up to five years in state prison at her Jan. 7 sentencing, according to prosecutors. ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Ira Gabor Essoe, OC Homicide No. 58: Deputy Was Shot in 1980, Succumbs to Injuries in 2010

​Update, November 19, 12:35 p.m.: Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens has issued a statement about the charges filed against two men Thursday for the murder of Sgt. Ira Gabor Essoe, Jr. in 1980."The criminal justice system will not let the passage of time protect the men who brutally shot and ki ... More >>

Orange County District Attorney on Defense as ACLU Suit Against Gang Injunction is Heard

​Tony Rackauckas is at the center of a lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles this afternoon against the Orange County District Attorney's enforcement of gang injunctions. The formal name of the case is American Civil Liberties Union (ALCU) v. Orange County District Attorney (OCDA) Tony Rackauc ... More >>

Nicholas James Needham, Up on Molesting 5-Year-Old Boy, May Have Harmed Others

​Authorities are looking for other young victims of Nicholas James Needham, a 27-year-old registered sex offender who used to reside in Laguna Beach but most recently was living, working and--according to authorities--molesting in Orange, where he allegedly reached over a public restroom urinal to ... More >>

Fullerton Man Accused of Jerking Off in Female Co-Worker's Water Bottle. Twice

​UPDATE: Booking photo of and more information on the suspect (see end of post) . . . And you thought the Mad Men were degrading to female office workers.A mortgage company employee was arrested today for allegedly jerking off into a female co-worker's water bottle, sickening her.Twice!Four months ... More >>

Fugitive Wanted in Sexual Assault of 9-Year-Old Girl Turns Himself In

Courtesy of Orange Police DepartmentFugitive Ernesto Parraguirre turned himself in today. ​A 20-year-old Anaheim man turned himself in today to Orange Police seeking him for allegedly sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl and threatening to kill her 15-year-old sister. Ernesto Parraguirre, who is ... More >>

Ryan Seacrest Stalker in Court Today

Left photo courtesy of E! Entertainment; right photo courtesy of Orange Police DepartmentRyan Seacrest was allegedly stalked in Orange and Burbank by Chidi Benjamin Uzomah Jr.​A 25-year-old Lakewood resident, who previously pleaded guilty in an Orange County courtroom to assault and weapons charge ... More >>

Crime Time: Is Tobias Fünke the "Blue Note Bandit"?

It's the Weekly's weekly crime round-up--now with more blatant Arrested Development imagery.Could Tobias Fünke be the "Blue Note Bandit" (Wednesday) or the man making "blown" offers (Thursday)?​TUESDAY, DEC. 1Nice Racks! After pulling over a silver 2004 Acura TL four-door at Newport Boulevard and ... More >>

Authorities Trumpet Largest Orange County Curfew Sweep

​About 300 officers from 20 law enforcement agencies made sweeps through various Orange County communities last night and early today and swooped up 67 kids in violation of city curfew laws, the District Attorney's office announced. Curfews begin at 10 or 11 p.m., depending o ... More >>

Crime Time: Rapers! Robbers! Wife Killer! Bad Cops! And a Real Bozo!

It's the Weekly's weekly round-up of local police calls--a day late and many dollars short of paying off the creditors who won't stop calling! Top photos courtesy of Huntington Beach Police Department A BOZO NO-NO: Here's the original suspect description Crime Time received for the Oct. ... More >>

Can the Colectivo Tonantzin and the ACLU Beat Orange's Anti-Day-Laborer Ordinance?

Crime Time: F-Bombers, Tiki Takers, Beatles Fans, Creepy Molesters and Tawny Kitaen on the Loose

FACES OF TAWNY Actress, ex-Anaheim Angel wife, car hood buffer, supposedly reformed druggie and all-around hot mess Tawny Kitaen is shown on a February 2004 Weekly sex issue cover (left); in a booking photo from her April 2002 assault on then husband Chuck Finley in Newport Beach (top right); and wr ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Crime Time: Nekkid Folks, Robber Baby, Strip-Club Stabbers, Loaded Brownie and a Flaming Bag of Poo

Courtesy of Orange Police Department and Orange County Sheriff's DepartmentWe call this collage "Robberies, Solved and Unsolved." Top left: a man hands a teller a note demanding cash at Chase Bank in Orange. Top right: Booking photo of Adam J. Bennett, 20, of Santa Ana, who is suspected of robbing $ ... More >>

Crime Time: Stabbings, Curfews, Drunk Marines, Drunk Councilman and Van's a-Rockin'

It's the Weekly's weekly round-up of local police calls--now with more stabbings and [alleged] drunken-driving politicians . . . Courtesy Orange County Sheriff's DepartmentKnew those Trader Joe's bags were good for something . . .​MONDAY, JULY 27Cash and Carry A man walked up with a Trader Joe's b ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Orange Residents Gathering to Protest Gang Injunctions

A demonstration will be held in Orange Saturday to warn residents they could become victims of racial profiling by the city police department and gang injunctions by the county district attorney.Gang injunctions are similar to restraining orders courts issue to protect potential victims from someone ... More >>

Gay Bowling Night at The Block in Orange Strikes Out

For the past six weeks, folks who like their bowling mixed with lots of hunky gay guys dancing to techno music while being entertained by a Phyllis Diller-impersonating drag queen called "Momma" have been gathering at Lucky Strike Lanes in the Block at Orange. The so-called "Spin Tuesdays" event qui ... More >>

Wheel of Misfortune

Advocate for the disabled Charles Monson was also a medical-marijuana patient—until late last month

Tuesday's Headlines & Surprises

Top U.S. Secrets to Crooks, Idiots and Dopers: The Hill newspaper in Washington, D.C., reports this morning that the Pentagon, the guys running the Iraq War, now want Congress to allow national security clearances for government employees who are “ex-convicts, drug addicts and mentally incompeten ... More >>

Anthrax Schmanthrax

How to Build a Band

As told to Alison M. Rosen

How to Build a Band

Silenced Sonics