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

That Walled-In Feeling A man crashing his black Toyota Corolla into
a wall at the Shell gas station at Lake Forest Drive and Trabuco Road in Lake Forest produced 6:30 a.m. 9-1-1 calls from witnesses. As deputies were enroute, witnesses watched the Corolla continue moving through the station and across the street before stopping in a shopping center, where the driver got out and tried to change a tire. After deputies rolled up, Gregory Hopkins, 53, of Lake Forest, was arrested on suspicion of
drunken driving and taken to jail.

Through Rain or Sleet or Hailing Bullets . . . Sheriff's deputies were called just before 3:50 p.m. about the mail carrier
who works Columbia in Aliso Viejo having either been shot at with a BB gun or pellet gun or smacked around with a baseball bat. Upon further investigation it was learned the mail carrier's vehicle had been hit several times, not the mail carrier.

Move Over, Santa Ana: 2 Stabbings in 2 Days for Costa Mesa A 16-year-old boy was standing near a bus stop on Harbor Boulevard near Victoria
Street in Costa Mesa just before 5 p.m. when he started arguing with another teenage boy. At some point, the 16-year-old was stabbed in
the abdomen, and he was later reported in stable condition at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, where he underwent emergency surgery. His attacker remained at large. As reported in the last Crime Time, a 28-year-old man visiting a friend in Costa
Mesa was stabbed several times the day before during a fight outside his friend's
Walnut Street home. The 28-year-old was treated at the same hospital and no arrests had been made at press time.

Old Yeller Sheriff's deputies received a call just after 6 p.m. from a resident in the 24100 block of
Hollyoak in Aliso Viejo about a neighbor who was yelling that he wanted “a sergeant
to blow somebody's head off.” The spectacle had been going on for 20 minutes by the time deputies were called.

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TUESDAY, NOV. 24

You Want Tortillas With That? A resident of Blazing Star in Irvine called police around 7 a.m. to report that someone had poured salsa and beans on the family car and toilet papered the home.

FRIDAY, NOV. 27

Wild Time at Freeway Intersection A car got off the 5 freeway at Culver Drive in Irvine around 11:30 a.m. and began to move through a green light, but it stopped as a 79-year-old man stepped off the curb and began walking across the street. Grandpa still got pissed that the driver dared obey the green light and began yelling at the 47-year-old man and his teen daugher inside. The elderly even struck the car. Oh no, he didn't! That caused the 47-year-old to get out of his car and push the grayhair, who fell to the ground. Dad helped gramps up and stayed by him until police arrived. The 79-year-old then complained of pain to his right hip, arm and hand. No arrests were made although detectives may still forward the cast to the district attorney for possible prosecution.

Keeping the Home Fires Burning A noontime arson fire caused significant damage to a house in the 500 block of South
Fonda Street in La Habra, and police patrolling the area later found the home's former resident nearby, nursing minor burn injuries. Lynne Barton, 54, was arrested on suspicion of arson and held in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Off-Key Sheriff's deputies received a call just after 8:30 p.m. from a resident of Wisteria Place in Aliso Viejo reporting that a man was singing along to loud karaoke–poorly.

SATURDAY, NOV. 28

Here's Your Dessert An unidentified 28-year-old man and his friend were leaving a restaurant in the 2600 block of South Hotel Terrace in Santa Ana around 1:30 a.m. when a dark-colored sports utility vehicle drove by. The driver stared intently at the first man before pulling out a gun, shooting him in the
torso and driving away. The friend drove the
28-year-old to a hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. Police believe the shooting was gang related.

Three-Man Wrecking Crew A 45-year-old man was sitting on a curb in the 800 block of South Bristol Street in Santa Ana around 10:30 p.m., talking
on his cell phone when he was approached from behind by three other men. One
stranger threatened the caller with a knife and demanded money, and when he replied that he had none, the trio took his wallet and cell phone. Responding officers later saw three men matching the suspect descriptions walking in the 1200 block of West McFadden
Avenue. Two ran off as the cops closed in, but Mynor Mejia, 25, of
Santa Ana, was not so lucky, getting popped on suspicion of robbery. In the middle of Mejia's arrest, a 16-year-old walked up and said he had been stabbed in the upper torso
at about 10:45 p.m. by three attackers matching the same descriptions. As he was waiting outside a nearby liquor
store his older brother had gone into, the trio took positions to jump him, which they did. As the teen tried to help fight the men off his brother, he was stabbed. The teen managed to get treated at the hospital and released in time to come upon Mejia's arrest, which was amended to include a charge of assault with a deadly weapon. As he went to jail, his two partners remained at large.

SUNDAY, NOV. 29

Spray and Pray A young man walked through an unlocked door into Faith Lutheran Church,
34381 Calle Portola, Dana Point, just after 4 a.m. and apparently grabbed a fire extinguisher for protection. He walked into the pastor's office and was startled to discover the pastor was there, working on a sermon. (And you thought you had crappy hours.) The would-be burglar then sprayed the office with extinguisher and fled. The pastor was stunned but not injured. His attacker was described as an 18-year-old wearing a black hooded
sweatshirt and jeans.

MONDAY, NOV. 30

Wheely Big Crime Spree Anyone who sells used bikes in Huntington Beach may be a suspect as the city experienced a spate of bike thefts and related crimes today. At about 8:45 a.m., a man took a little girl's bike that had been locked to a utility pole near Adams Avenue and Brookhurst Street. Just after 10 a.m., two men in work truck pulled up at Pacific Coast Highway and Brookhurst, pulled a man off his bike and started fighting him. It's unclear if they also managed to get the bike, but another man reported his $350 Schwinn Skyline that had been chained to Huntington Beach Pier was stolen a little over an hour later. Four or five people were seen cutting the chains off bikes locked near the old movie theater near PCH and Main Street just after 6 p.m. And it all actually started the day before, around 11 a.m., when a $150 black beach cruiser and $500 mountain bike were stolen in the 1700 block of Florida Street.