It's the Weekly's weekly round-up of local police calls–now with more stabbings and [alleged] drunken-driving politicians . . .
MONDAY, JULY 27
Cash and Carry A man walked up with a Trader Joe's bag in hand to a teller at the Wells Fargo branch near Alicia Parkway and Charlinda Drive in Mission Viejo around 12:45 p.m. He asked for and received cash before walking out. Surveillance cameras revealed the robber appeared to be his mid 20s, 5 feet 6, 130 pounds, with short hair and wearing a dark button-up shirt.
Who Said Friendship is Dead? A man was driving west on Westminster Avenue when he struck the two women crossing Harbor Boulevard just after 10 p.m. One woman got in a nearby parked car and drove off, leaving her injured friend at the scene. The second woman was treated at UCI Medical Center in Orange for several broken bones. The unidentified driver who struck the ladies was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
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TUESDAY, JULY 28
Grand Theft GameStop Three men walked into
GameStop in the 600 block of Camino de los Mares, San Clemente after 11
a.m., armed with what appeared to be a black pellet gun or handgun. Two
employees were tied up before the robbers fled with cash and
merchandise. The workers manage to free themselves and provide these
descriptions: the three men were Latino, in their 20s and 5-foot-4 to
5-foot-8. The gunman rocked a powder-blue dress shirt. The second wore
a black baseball cap and blue jeans. Robber three wore an orange
baseball cap with a powder-blue shirt and blue jeans. He was also
carrying a black backpack.
The Night of the Garden Grove Shoot
'Em Ups Police were called just after 9 p.m. about gunfire in the 11000
block of Cynthia Circle, Garden Grove. There officers found two
juveniles who had been shot in the legs. They were treated for
non-threatening injuries at a local hospital. The gunmen were described
as two males between the ages of 16-20 wearing dark clothing. Around 11
p.m., police received another call about shots fired, this time in the
12600 block of Keel Avenue. Officers arrived to find no victims or
shooters, but they did round up six bullet casings. The shootings are
probably not related.
Give Money, Get Stabbed A 20-year-old man
was walking at Edna Park at 2140 Edna Drive, Santa Ana, around 11:30
p.m. when he was approached by three men who had bandanas covering
their face. One man whipped out a handgun and demanded money. As the
20-year-old was doling out a small amount of cash, the other two men
started kicking him in the mouth and knocking him to the ground. As the
victim tried to fight back, he was stabbed in the upper body. He
managed to run away to eventual treatment at a local hospital. The
gunman was described as 6 feet tall with a thin build. The
knife-wielder was 5 feet 9 with a heavy build. The third robbed was
wearing a brown sweatshirt.
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 29
Unwelcome
Guests A security guard at Villa del Sol apartments, 810 South Sullivan
St., Santa Ana, was attending a resident meeting when two kids
approached him after 7 p.m. and said they saw “suspicious guys” milling
about. The guard approached two men to ask if they lived at the
complex. They first refused to stop, then one turned around and fired
two shots at the guard before fleeing to a nearby mobile home park. The
gunman was described as a 19- to 22-year-old Hispanic, 5 feet 6, 150
pounds, wearing white and gray flannels. His pal was about the same
age, height, weight and ethnicity with short black hair and wearing
black clothing.
Maybe He Should Try Texaco? A 43-year-old
Riverside man got in his car after making a purchase at a Chevron gas
station at 1501 South Broadway St., Santa Ana, around 7 p.m. when
another man came up to him, pulled off a gold chain from his neck and
stabbed him in the arm. The robber-attacker then jumped into another
car driven by a third man, who sped off. The robber was described as
Hispanic, about 22, 5 feet 4 to 5 feet 6 with a medium build, black
hair and a mustache. He was wearing a red and white T-shirt. There was
no description of the get-away driver, but he was steering a green
four-door vehicle.
[
THURSDAY, JULY 30
Cursed By the Curfew
A joint effort by the City of Orange, Orange Police Department and the
county District Attorney's office resulted in 29 children between the
ages of 12 and 17 being picked up in a curfew sweep at the Block at
Orange and “gang-injunction safety zones” west of the 55 freeway,
Eisenhower Park and Highland Street between Lincoln Avenue and Palmyra
Avenue, and west of the 55 near Parker Street, La Veta Avenue, Hoover
Avenue and Wilson Avenue. Kids are not supposed to be out without adult
supervision after 10 p.m. Some of those netted by the sweep were out
alone as late as 2 a.m., authorities said. Violators were held at
police headquarters until their parents came to pick them up.
[
FRIDAY, JULY 31
Bouncer
Pounced On Someone hit a bouncer at a bar in the 200 block of Main
Street in Huntington Beach with a glass and dislocated his shoulder
around 12:30 a.m. before fleeing in a white Avalance with flames in the
rear window. He'll likely require plastic surgery.
Why Deputies
Deserve a Raise A homeowner apparently did not like it that sheriff's
deputies were breaking up his party at 3 a.m. in the 100 block of
Avenida Miramar, San Clemente. Like Mr. Burns, he “released the
hounds”–the hounds in this case being pit bulls–on the officers.
Prize
Found in Garbage Workers at Rainbow Disposal in the 17100 block of
Nichols Street, Huntington Beach, called the cops just after 7 a.m.
when an unloaded, “old and bent” shotgun was found to have been tossed
in the trash.
If the Van's a-Rockin' Don't Bother . . . You Know
Two people were either brawling or having sexual intercourse inside a
van parked near the San Clemente pier just after 3 p.m. Hey. Wasn't
that a scene in Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke?
[
SATURDAY, AUG. 1
Alcohol,
Marines, Mustang and Tree Don't Mix One Marine was killed and another
was facing vehicular manslaughter charges after a 2003 Ford Mustang
made a U-turn and accelerated to 60 mph in a 35 mph zone before
slamming into a tree on Avenida Vista Montana in San Clemente around 2
a.m. Two other unidentified Marines in the car were taken to a hospital
but later released. The dead man was indentified as Cpl. Edmond K.
Vandecasteele IV, 22, an ammunition technician at Camp Pendleton who
hails from New Hampshire. The driver, Andrew Steuber, 24, of Wisconsin,
was being treated at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo. Alcohol was a
factor in the crash, according to deputies.
[
SUNDAY, AUG. 2
Alcohol,
City Councilman, Benz and Power Pole Don't Mix A black S550
Mercedes-Benz driven by Westminster City Councilman Andy Tuan Ngoc
Quach collided with a car with three people in it on McFadden Avenue
before the Benz slammed into a power pole in the 8800 block of McFadden
around 2 a.m., knocking out power to nearly 300 households for more
than 12 hours. The 37-year-old Quach was arrested on suspicion of
drunken driving, and the Orange County Register reported the
councilman–who took responsibility “for everything”–has a history of
prior traffic citations.
Stop a Fight, Get Stabbed A 42-year-old
man was standing by the south side of the Home Depot store at 800 North
State College Blvd., Anaheim, around 4 p.m. when a fight broke out
between a day-laborer and a homeless teen. When the man tried to break
up the fight, he was allegedly stabbed by the teen, who was described
as white, 16 to 18, short, slender with dark spiky hair.
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.