Once again, it's the Weekly's weekly round-up of Orange County police calls…
MONDAY, JUNE 22
Breaking Up the Boredom of a Bank Line: Shortly after noon, a man clutching a backpack threatened to blow up the Bank of America branch near Westcliff Drive and Irvine Avenue in Newport Beach, tossed a bag inside and walked away. Employees and customers evacuated the building and the Orange County Sheriff Department's bomb squad kept it closed for two hours while inspecting the bag. Meanwhile, an employee had followed the man and pointed him out to cops. Police arrested 55-year-old Ronnie Richard Spain on suspicion of making terrorist threats. The bag wound up containing clothes, papers and personal effects, but nothing that go boom.
Stuck-a in a Yucca Closet: A man broke into a Yucca Avenue home in Irvine through an unlocked window shortly before noon, told a 12-year-old boy to stay put in a closet and later fled. It was unclear whether any goods were taken, but after an intensive, multi-agency search of the area netted Jason Bisbal, 38, of Mission Viejo.
TUESDAY, JUNE 23
Probably Not The Next Mother of the Year: Around 12:45 a.m., a Costa Mesa police officer on patrol spotted a 4-year-old walking alone. The child directed the officer to a relative's home, which led to a visit to the child's home, where it was discovered the 4-year-old and a 10-year-old sibling had been left alone since their mother split for the night about 9 Monday. At 10:20 the next morning, Jessica Zepeda, 27, finally returned home, where she was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment.
Wonder What Tipped Them Off He Was Suspicious? Police responding to a security guard's call of suspicious activity in the community gym at Sierra Vista apartments, 2965 Champion Way, Tustin, peered inside after 1 a.m. and saw a figure hiding behind exercise equipment. Once inside, they were treated to a greater sight: a 45-year-old man dressed in a miniskirt, stockings and heels looking at porn on a computer. Not only that, he was sweating profusely and talking fast, according to the officers, who searched his backpack and allegedly found marijuana, a marijuana pipe, methamphetamine and a glass meth pipe. Stephen Murdoch was arrested on suspicion of narcotics possession, but just wait until the fashion police get ahold of him. I mean, come on: no pearls?
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24
Who Was That Masked Man? A man wearing a ski mask and carrying a
revolver walked into the Bank of America at 548 W. 19th St., Costa
Mesa, just before 3 p.m., pushed a patron to the side and demanded
money from two tellers, who filled a bag with about $1,500 before the
gunman ran away. He was described as 25 to 30, 5 feet 10 inches tall,
wearing a black, hooded sweatshirt with writing on the front.
How to Pick the Wrong Guy to Mess With (Allegedly): Two brothers
who'd just watched the Angels game at Angels Stadium with two friends
and a girlfriend got into a fight with a man who turned out to be an
off-duty Anaheim police officer attending the game with his wife and
children. The officer called 911 on a cell phone around 10:20 p.m. and
reported he'd been choked, three men would not leave him alone and they
were trying to get into his car. Witnesses later said the 38-year-old
officer, who was not identified, was hit over the head with beer
bottles before he pulled out a gun and started firing. Carlos Velazquez,
a 25-year-old Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, was left paralyzed on
one half of his body from a bullet that hit his spinal cord. His family
told the Orange County Register his throat will need to be reconstructed. His brother, Jose Velazquez,
22, of Ontario, was treated and released from UCI Medical Center in
Orange for a gunshot wound to his upper arm. Both were arrested on
suspicion of felony assault with a deadly weapon. Their family claims
the brothers have no criminal record. The third man was not found. The
officer received medical treatment at a local hospital, was released
and was placed on paid administrative leave while the DA's office sorts
all this out.
THURSDAY, JUNE 25
Is This What They Mean By “Pulling a Heist”? At least two men broke into
a liquor store at 5201 E. Orangethorpe Ave., Anaheim, some time before
4 a.m., tethered an ATM machine to a truck outside and pulled away to yank the money machine out of
the business. The alarm began ringing inside the store around 4 a.m.,
and officers arrived to find a metal security gate had been cut open
and the ATM machine had been left in front of the store–with its
cash drawer emptied. The store owner later estimated $500 was inside.
The surveillance camera inside the store caught at least some of the
job.
FRIDAY, JUNE 26
The Coroner Was Busy: It was MURDER! As was this. And possibly this.
SATURDAY, JUNE 27
Missing Man Formation: Mission Viejo's Kaleidoscope Entertainment
Center was shut down and evacuated around 9 p.m. Saturday after a man
threatened to commit suicide in public. The unidentified chap
apparently told his girlfriend that he would shoot himself or have
police shoot him at the center, prompting her to call sheriff's
deputies a wee bit concerned. Combing the center for the man after
customers were shooed away, he was not found but his car was parked
there. By tracking his cell phone, he was discovered in Dana Point at
11 p.m. before being taken to Mission Hospital and placed on 72-hour
watch. Deputies had no idea how he managed to get to Dana Point.
SUNDAY, JUNE 28
Who's Got $1,200 These Days? He Does Now: A woman called police just
before 5:30 p.m. to say her purse with $1,200 inside was missing from
her Seventh Street house in Huntington Beach, which had been unlocked
due to ongoing construction. Footage from several security video
cameras around the pad revealed a man had entered through the front
door, snagged the purse from the kitchen table and left with it concealed
under his waistband. He was described as white or Hispanic, 40 to 45
years old, about 5 feet 9 inches to 6 feet tall, partially balding, and
with a heavy mustache, dark short hair and a light to medium build. He
was wearing a white or light-colored T-shirt and shorts.
MONDAY, JUNE 29
Mighty Slow Day at GGPD: Shortly after 9 a.m., police were called to an
abandoned auto dealership at 13650 Harbor Blvd., Garden Grove, where a
man was apparently sleeping inside a two-story building. An
unidentified homeless man was arrested for misdemeanor trespassing
after nine squad cars pulled into the lot. Police justified that show
of force to the Register by saying the building was large and required
many officers to search it.
Wham, Bam, Thanks for the DUI, Ma'am: A Kia Rio collided with a box
truck just before 10:30 a.m. on the southbound 405 freeway north of
Fairview Road in Costa Mesa. The California Highway Patrol reported
there were no injuries, the truck was gone by the time officers
arrived but that the Kia driver's was not. Jesse Meza, 26, of Mission Viejo,
was arrested on suspicion of DUI.
Look What I Found: Orange County Fire Authority officials responding to
a call in the 2500 block of Main Street in Irvine around 7 p.m. just
happened to come across a man in a van parked at a food court. He was
dead. Police later said there were no signs of foul play, and the 40ish
man had obviously been there for awhile. If you've been to Irvine, you
understand.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.