Theo Lacy

OC DREAMers to Demand OC Sheriff Sandra Hutchens Stop Collaborating with ICE

It's been one hell of a busy week for any and all things immigrant! From the Gang of 8's framework for immigration reform to the Deporter-in-Chief Barack Obama's own speech on the subject in Las Vegas, politicians have been putting their dos centavos in. After Inauguration Day banner drops along the ... More >>

[UPDATED with 300 Groups Demand Closure:] Theo Lacy Facility Outed as Among the Worst Immigration Detention Centers in the U.S.

See the Update No. 2 at the end of this post on 300 groups calling on the president to close troubled immigrant holding facilities, including Theo Lacy's.See Update No. 1 on the ACLU of Southern California citing the Detention Watch Network report in calling for the closure of Orange County's immigr ... More >>

OC's Scariest People 2012!

Child molesters, Shaheen Sadeghi, serial killers, Dana Rohrabacher and so many more!

Local Record Review: 'Visions of the Sun' by Cham Kerem

Cham Kerem Visions of the Sunhttp://soundcloud.com/chamkerem-ninos-muertosSee Also:*Local Record Review: 'Time' by Immortal Minds*Local Record Review: 'We Are Locally Grown' by Locally Grown Collective*Local Record Review: 'The Radical Era' by Sacred BlasphemyThe SanTana-based hip-hop collective of ... More >>

Eric Miller Sentenced to Six Years For John Chamberlain Murder

The last of the nine former Theo Lacy Jail inmates charged in the Oct. 5, 2006 murder of John Chmaberlain, a fellow prisoner suspected of being a child molester, has been sentenced to prison. Miller, 26, of Huntington Beach, received a punishment of six years in state prison for his role in the murd ... More >>

Stephen Carlstrom Sentenced In John Chamberlain Murder

​Stephen Carlstrom was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison today for the Oct. 5, 2006 murder of John Chamberlain, a fellow Theo Lacy Jail inmate facing trial for possessing child pornography. He was one of six prisoners who were convicted of the murder at Orange County's Superior Courthouse la ... More >>

Jared Petrovich, Garrett Aguilar: Life In Prison for John Chamberlain Murder Trial Defendants

​Jared Petrovich and Garrett Aguilar, two of six former Theo Lacy Jail inmates charged in the Oct. 6, 2006 beating death of John Chamberlain, a Rancho Santa Margarita software engineer facing trial for possessing child pornography, were sentenced to 15 years to life in prison today. The alleged sh ... More >>

[UPDATED W/SWIFT CAPTURE]: William Scott Woodin, Theo Lacy Jail Inmate, Escape Artist

Orange County Sheriff's DepartmentWilliam Scott Woodin's Booking Photo​UPDATE, Jan. 6, 3:15 P.M.: Well, that didn't take long. According to a story on the KABC website, Orange County Sheriff's deputies captured William Scott Woodin at a park in Lake Forest yesterday. That makes Woodin's spectacul ... More >>

Worker at Irvine Burger King Arrested for Repeatedly Stealing Lunch Money from Disabled Woman

Lucero​It seems Chik-fil-A isn't the only fast-food chain with asshole workers in Irvine. Yesterday, Irvine PD arrested Burger King employee Luis Maximino Lucero Ballinas after a weeks-long investigation in which they discovered he had repeatedly stolen money from a disabled woman.The woman's par ... More >>

The Chamberlain Files

The inside story of covering—and becoming part of—the county's most disturbing jailhouse murder case

Jason Chapluk Gets All Chapluk-ed Up

One of the two sheriff's deputies on duty the night of John Chamberlain's jailhouse murder wimps out on the witness stand

John Chamber Murder Trial Day Six: "All Kinds of Humiliation"

John Chamberlain's booking photo​As the first full week in the trial of the bloodiest jailhouse murder in Orange County history draws to a close, one thing is clear: of all the five defendants charged in the Oct. 5, 2006 murder of John Chamberlain, the Rancho Santa Margarita man the suspects belie ... More >>

John Chamber Murder Trial Days Four & Five: "A Culture of Fear"

John Chamberlain's booking photo​If there's one thing both prosecutors and defense attorneys seem to agree about in the trial of five former Theo Lacy Jail inmates charged with the brutal Oct. 5, 2006 slaying of John Chamberlain, it's this: there was a "culture of fear" inside F-Barracks West, the ... More >>

John Chamberlain Murder Trial Day Three: Deputy Taylor's Partner Speaks

John Chamberlain's booking photo​You could tell that Orange County Sheriff's Deputy Jason Chapluk was nervous. Okay, maybe not as nervous as he was on that security footage from the night of Oct. 5, 2006 when he and fellow Theo Lacy Jail guard Kevin Taylor were bouncing around the guard tower insi ... More >>

The John Chamberlain Murder Trial Begins

[Moxley Confidential] Some defense lawyers claim the deputies made their clients do it

Profiles in OC Pioneers Who Were Klan Members: Sam Jernigan and Jesse Elliott, Orange County Sheriffs

Baby Klan will do for an image until we get a logo for this series...​Orange County has never exactly excelled in electing the best sheriffs. There was Theo Lacy, who most likely participated in the lynching of Francisco Torres, and James Musick, who paraded around Mexicans during court hearings s ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Immigration Detainee Dies at Theo Lacy Jail

​Remember that cover story that ran in the Weekly a few weeks back about suicides and strange deaths inside Orange County Jails? The one that mentioned how the Sheriff's Dept. is filling up empty bunks with hundreds of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees? Well, now we can add an IC ... More >>

The John Chamberlain Jail Killing: Another Defendant's Account

A harrowing exclusive interview with Michael Garten, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the jailhouse-beating case

The John Chamberlain Jailhouse Murder: One of the Accused Speaks

Stephen Carlstrom still can't believe he's facing trial and the jail's guards are not

Judge in Jailhouse Murder Case Failed to Disclose Conflict; DA Should Drop Case, Motions Claim

Jared Petrovich​The case of the brutal Oct. 5, 2006 murder of John Derek Chamberlain, an inmate at Theo Lacy Men's Jail who died at the hands of inmates who believed he was a child molester, is already sensational enough. Although only nine inmates have been charged in his death, both the suspects ... More >>

Is There an App For Stopping the Baddies Following You From the Apple Store?

Courtesy of Orange County Sheriff's DepartmentArrested were (clockwise from top right): Garzon Omar David Diaz; Louis Carlos Lopez and John Marlon Rodriguez.​The three Los Angeles men above have been arrested in connection with more than 80 burglaries and car break-ins targeting customers they'd a ... More >>

Distant Karma Catches Up With the Brotherhood's Brenice Lee Smith

Forty-Year-Old Fugitive Monk/'Hippie Mafia" Case Gets More Goofy

Brenice Lee Smith and Friends circa 1972​Orange County Sheriff's Department inmate number 2537327, better known as Brenice "Brennie" Lee Smith--or Dorje to his family and fellow Buddhist devotees--has been behind bars for almost two months now thanks to a pair of nearly 40-year-old hash smuggling ... More >>

Crime Time: Double the Fun Starring [Alleged] Skeevy Teachers, Fake Cop Robbers and Ryan Seacrest's Strange Stalker

It's the Weekly's weekly round-up of local police calls--actually the Weekly's TWO weekly round-up as an attempt is made to make up for lost vacation time.Left courtesy of E! Entertainment, right courtesy of Orange Police DepartmentRyan Seacrest (left) gets paid another visit from his No. 1 Army spe ... More >>

Crime Time: Methed Mom, Nitrous Oxide, a Full Moon, a Gutted Black Cat and a Skateboarding Giant Ax Carrier

It's our weekly Weekly roundup of Orange County police calls--with suspect mugs!TUESDAY, JULY 7Courtesy of Cypress Police DepartmentAlison Le Anne EbertAt Least She Left the TV On Officers responding to an anonymous, 4:45 a.m. report of child abuse in a home in the 8500 block of La Homa Street in Cy ... More >>

Another Sheriff's Employee Who Tarnished Badge Leaves OCSD

In light of the Orange County Register report on Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Taylor, the lead jailer at the center of inmate John Derek Chamberlain's October 2006 death by stomping, finally leaving OCSD, it's worth comparing his future with that of the killers many believe he egged on. The Weekly's Nick ... More >>

Another Witness Weighs In on the Jailhouse Beating of Ex-Kiss Guitarist Mark Leslie Norton

DA's Office Says Alleged Jail Beating of Former Kiss Guitarist Referred to Sheriff's Department

Theo Lacy Unmasked: Was Ex-Kiss Guitarist Mark St. John a Victim of Brutal Jailhouse Justice?

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

I CAN HAZ JUSTISS????

A grand jury report and numerous articles have detailed the barbaric system of jailhouse (in)justice administered by the deputies at Theo Lacy jail. Pretty much everyone involved acknowledges that deputies routinely condoned, authorized, facilitated, ordered, and/or ignored the beating of inmates ... More >>

OC Sheriff's officials call deputy in Jail Murder Probe "Lazy" and a "Bully"

According to his colleagues and superiors, the deputy at the center of Orange County's bloodiest jailhouse murder—a man who claims he was watching television when two dozen inmates beat a suspected child molester to death just yards away—is “lazy” and showed a pattern of behavior described b ... More >>

Jared Petrovich Admits His Role In the Killing of John Chamberlain. But Why Did He Target the Guy?

An Open Letter to DA Tony Rackauckas Regarding the Jailhouse Murder of John Chamberlain

Jail Deputies Officially Off the Hook for Bloodiest Jail Murder in County History

At a press conference this afternoon at the District Attorney's headquarters in Santa Ana, DA Tony Rackauckas announced that a nine-month grand jury investigation by his agency failed to uncover any evidence to charge any Orange County Sheriff's Department personnel for the most bloody murder in the ... More >>

Orange County's Bad Sheriffs: A Brief History

With the world going ga-ga about our federally indicted sheriff Mike Carona, what better time to take a trip back and revisit the county's more-jerkish sheriffs? Just a brief history, ma'am: THEO LACY (1891-1895; 1899-1911): Presided over the last lynching in Orange County history. LOGAN JACKSON ( ... More >>

QWM (Quarterbacking While Mexican): USC Edition

By law, I'm not allowed to say anything nice about the University of Southern California--I'm a UCLA grad (fire Dorrell!), and many of the lords of Orange County (from Theo Lacy to John Wayne to Mike Schroeder) attended Troy. But I always liked current Trojans quarterback Mark Sanchez, not just beca ... More >>

Blind Spot

For OC jail inmate John Chamberlain, jailhouse justice served as judge, juryand executioner

Letters

'Keep It Up. You Rock. Dont Ever Change. All That Crap.'

The Trials of Billy Joe, White Supremacist

Gang leader and murder suspect says he was brutalized by jail deputies

Strange Fruta

The Inevitable Death of Francisco Torres

Open Big House

Nick Schou gets inside OCs toughest jail

The Kid is Free!

Arthur Carmona released from jail 10 years earlyand two years too late

Live Fast, Die Young

The rise and hard fall of rockabilly barber Jake Bricks