[UPDATED with Insanity Plea:] Anthony Nicholas Orban, Ex-Westminster PD Detective, Blames Rape of Waitress on Meds for Stress From Iraq War


UPDATE, JULY 20, 10:36 A.M.: Eight months ago, the Weekly reported that Anthony Nicholas Orban's defense attorneys seemed to be cooking up an insanity plea to charges that the then-Westminster Police detective abducted a waitress in Ontario and raped her with a gun to her head in nearby Fontana.

Last week, Orban pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the felony counts that could draw him a sentence of life in prison if convicted.
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Wait . . . what? The strapping fellow on the opener page is insane? Let's take a closer look:


OK, Orban defense attorney James E. Blatt, you got us.

The stakes are high. If Blatt's client, a 32-year-old Irvine resident, is found not guilty by reason of insanity, he would likely receive an indefinite sentence in a
state mental hospital as opposed to a life term in the joint. That conceivably means he could later be released from the hospital following treatment.

The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reports that the plea Orban entered Friday at West Valley Superior Court in Rancho Cucamonga means his trial will consist of two phases: one to determine if he is guilty of the crimes, and a second to rule on whether he's nuts.

Blatt last year tipped his hand to an insanity-plea defense spurred by the anti-depression cocktail of medications his client was prescribed to deal with Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome allegedly suffered after serving with the Marines in Iraq.

A 25-year-old waitress at the Dave & Buster's at the Ontario Mills shopping mall endured much suffering of her own on April 3, 2010. As she reached her SUV after her shift, she was abducted by a stranger who forced her into her vehicle, drove her to the lot of a Fontana business and choked her,
repeatedly slapped her, punched her, rubbed her face with a handgun, gagged her with the gun barrel, twice threatened to kill her, ordered her at gunpoint to give him oral sex and photographed her with a cell phone while raping her.

A text message the attacker sent with the photo read, “Look what I'm doing.” But that was followed by a call to his cell that seemed to snap him out of the old ultraviolence and produce an appy-polly-loggies for what he had done.

After he got dressed and left the vehicle, she bolted out and asked an employee at a nearby business to call the police. When cops arrived at the scene, they did not find the attacker but they did find Orban's police service revolver in the SUV. His arrest swiftly followed.

It turned out Orban had been drinking in Ontario that day with Jeffrey Thomas Jelinek and–like his pal–the Chino state prison guard was originally charged with sexual assault and kidnapping and facing a life sentence under the
theory he aided and abetted the crimes, even though he was not present for the rape.

Jelinek pleaded guilty to reduced charges in April in exchange for agreeing to testify against Orban. Jelinek was sentenced to five years and four months at a correctional facility run by his former employer.

Blatt tells the Daily Bulletin the defense
does not dispute Orban abducted and raped the waitress. But he reportedly said his client suffered a “psychotic break from reality”
brought on by being over-prescribed the anti-depressant Zoloft and the anti-seizure medication Neurontin. (Would that not make whoever over-prescribed the drugs as much of an accessory as Jelinek? Just sayin' . . .)

The paper also quotes Orban's prosecutor, San Bernardino County Deputy District Attorney Debbie Ploghaus, as saying the ex-cop's plea does not change her case one bit, that she believes Orban was sane at the time of the crimes he's now apparently admitted to, drugs or no drug, and that he's guilty as charged.
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UPDATE, NOV. 10, 2010, 10:16 A,M.: Through court documents in the kidnapping and rape case against Westminster Police Detective Anthony Nicholas Orban, his attorney tipped his hand to a defense involving Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome allegedly
suffered after Orban served with the Marines in Iraq.

We now know attorney James E. Blatt
is fine-tuning that defense with the equivalent of innocent by reason
of insanity–the insanity spurred by the anti-depression cocktail of
medications the Irvine resident was taking to deal with his demons.

How insane? Orban allegedly gagged a
25-year-old waitress he did not know with his fingers, choked her,
repeatedly slapped and punched
her, rubbed
the woman's face with his pistol, put the barrel of the gun in her
mouth, twice threatened to kill her, ordered her at gunpoint to give him
oral sex and snapped several photos of her with his cell phone as he
raped her.

A teaser for a segment on tonight's Channel 5 news at 10 p.m. includes snippets of interviews with Blatt and Tracy Orban, wife of the accused, saying a powerful drug cocktail made the cop snap.

It
was Tracy Orban's call to police about her husband's service revolver
and his friend's truck being missing that led to the unraveling of
events that landed Anthony Orban and state prison guard Jeffrey Thomas Jelinek, both 30 and friends since high school, behind bars in lieu of $2 million bail each.

According
to the Ontario Police report: Orban and Jelinek ate lunch April 3 at
Chili's restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga, where they drank margaritas.
Both had their service weapons with them.

Next, they went to Boston's restaurant on Fourth Street, where they
shared a pitcher of beer before heading to GameWorks at the nearby
Ontario Mills shopping mall, where they downed another pitcher.

They were standing in the parking lot outside Dave & Buster's, which
is also in the mall and where a 25-year-old woman and single mom was finishing her
four-hour waitressing shift around 5:15 p.m. Orban decided they should “go meet this chick.” But, after catching a
glimpse of the pair out of the corner of her eye, she paid little
attention to them and texted as she walked to her car.

After she unlocked her SUV with a keyless remote and started to
enter
the driver's side front door, she heard the passenger side door open.
She looked up to see Orban point a silver handgun at her and order her
into the car. Jelinek, who is a Chino Men's Institution prison guard,
asked his friend what he was doing, and Orban replied not to worry about
it.

The woman told Orban he could have anything he wanted if he
would let her go, but he replied, “Just drive.” He told her to head
home, which she informed was in the High Desert. Driving north on the 15
Freeway, Orban told the woman he was going to let her go, getting her
to exit the freeway at Base Line Road. Driving east on Base Line into
Fontana, they parked in front of a self-storage facility.

With
his handgun in his lap, he asked the woman about her child, having
noticed a child's car seat in the back seat, and other personal details.
He smiled while she answered and asked if she was scared. He also said
he had one thing to do before she could go.

Orban then ordered the woman to perform oral sex on him before forcing her into the back seat, where he joined her by climbing between the two front seats. He demanded she undress, then raped her for about an hour. At times during the assault, he stopped to play with his service revolver and take photos with his cell phone. Before taking one photo, he told the woman to smile. “Look what I'm doing,” read the text message under one photo police later retrieved.  

The cop received a phone call during the assault, and whatever the person on the other end was saying, it seemed to scare Orban, who suddenly asked the woman where they were and why she wasn't wearing any clothes. He told her to put her clothes on and apologized. Once she got dressed, he stuck his fingers in the woman's throat and gagged and choked her.

The phone suddenly distracted Orban, allowing the woman to bolt out of the vehicle and flee to a nearby liquor store, where she told employees to call police. Orban, meanwhile, called Jelinek and asked to be picked up at a nearby gas station.

Orban took the woman's car keys, but he left in the woman's car his gun with his name engraved on it. 

The cop told his buddy Jelinek to erase the messages on his cell phone. When interviewed after his arrest, Orban claimed he didn't remember the incident. He still had the woman's key's on him.

Channel 5 anchorman Micah Ohlman said during the morning news teaser segment for tonight's report that Orban's defense will not deny the kidnapping and rape happened. Ohlman also mentioned that there is no legal precedence for an anti-depressant cocktail being tied to an innocent by reason of insanity plea.
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UPDATE, APRIL 13, 2010, 7:27 A.M.: Anthony Nicholas Orban–a 30-year-old
Irvine resident who served in the Marines, fought in the Iraq War and
was recently promoted to detective in the Westminster Police
Department–is one sick fuck, if the allegations contained in an Ontario
police report are to be believed.

How sick?

Orban allegedly gagged a
25-year-old waitress he did not know with his fingers, choked her,
repeatedly slapped and punched
her, rubbed
the woman's face with his pistol, put the barrel of the gun in her
mouth, twice threatened to kill her, ordered her at gunpoint to give him
oral sex and snapped several photos of her with his cell phone as he
raped her.

Spotting a baby car seat in the back of the woman's
car, Orban is also accused of asking about the victim's child and, after
receiving a phone call in the middle of the hour-long attack, acting
scared, telling the woman to get dressed and apologizing.

The details are contained in a police report that is based on interviews with the victim, the suspects and police investigation:

  • Orban came to
    the Ontario apartment of Jeffrey Thomas Jelinek, his friend since high school, between 10 and 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 3.

  • Jelinek, who is a Chino Men's Institution prison guard, ate lunch together
    at Chili's restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga, where they drank margaritas. Both had their service weapons with them.

  • Next,
    they went to Boston's restaurant on Fourth
    Street, where they shared a pitcher of beer before heading to GameWorks
    at the nearby Ontario Mills shopping mall, where they downed another
    pitcher.

  • They were standing in the parking lot
    outside Dave & Buster's, which is also in the mall and where the
    25-year-old woman was finishing her four-hour waitressing shift around
    5:15 p.m.

  • Orban decided they should “go meet this
    chick.” But, after catching a glimpse of the pair out of the corner of
    her eye, she paid little attention to them and texted as she walked to
    her car. 

  • After she unlocked her SUV with a keyless remote and started to enter the driver's side front door, she
    heard the passenger side door open.

  • She looked up to see Orban point a silver handgun at her and order her into the car.

  • Jelinek asked his friend what he was doing, and Orban replied not to worry about it.

  • The woman told Orban he could have anything he
    wanted if he would let her go, but he replied, “Just drive.”

  • He told her to drive toward her home, which she informed was in the High Desert.

  • Driving north on the 15 Freeway, Orban told the woman he
    was going to let her go, getting her to exit the freeway at Base Line Road.

  • Driving east on Base Line into Fontana, they parked in front of a self-storage facility.

  • With his handgun in his lap, he asked the woman
    about
    her child, having noticed a child's car seat in the back seat, and
    other personal details. He smiled while she answered and asked if she
    was scared. He also said he had one thing to do before she could go.
  • Orban ordered the woman to perform oral sex on him, then
    ordered her into the back seat, where he joined her
    by climbing between the two front seats.

  • He ordered her to undress, then
    raped her for about an hour.

  • At times during the
    assault, he stopped to play with his service revolver and take photos
    with his cell phone. Before taking one photo, he told the woman to
    smile.

  • “Look what I'm doing,” read the text message under one photo police later retrieved. 

  • Orban
    received a phone call during the assault, and whatever the person on
    the other end was saying, it seemed to scare the cop.

  • He asked the woman where they were and why she wasn't wearing any clothes.

  • He told her to put her clothes on and apologized.

  • Once she got dressed, he stuck his fingers in the woman's throat and gagged and choked her.

  • As he got distracted by his phone, she fled to a nearby liquor store and told employees to call
    police.

  • Orban called Jelinek and had him pick him up and a nearby
    gas station. He took the woman's car keys.

  • But Orban left his gun, which has his name engraved on it, in the woman's car.

  • Orban told Jelinek to erase the messages on his cell phone.

  • When he was interviewed after his arrest, Orban claimed he didn't remember the incident.

  • At the time of his arrest, Jelinek had the keys to the woman's car.

Orban
and
Jelinek
have pleaded not guilty to the laundry list of criminal charges filed
against them and have asked that their respective $2 million bails be
reduced. They could get life in prison if convicted.

The Ontario
Police Department, which feared the pair could be tied to other
attacks, issued a public plea for information after the arrests of Orban
and Jelikek. That has produced at least one promising investigative
lead to another incident, according to police.

Orban's arrest has deflated morale within the Westminster Police Department, according to an Orange County Register report. Police Chief Mitch Waller says in the piece that Orban, who has been placed on paid administrative leave,
had always been a good officer with an exemplary record.

Waller revealed his department is
now investigating allegations that Orban had an extramarital affair
with a department dispatcher.

Westminster police were tipped to
the possible affair by Ontario police.
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UPDATE, APRIL 7, 2010, 10:35 A.M.: In a 14-page felony complaint filed Tuesday by the San Bernardino
County district attorney's office, Anthony Nicholas Orban is charged with kidnapping,
rape, forced oral copulation, penetration with a foreign object, forced
sodomy and making criminal threats; and Jeff Jelinek is charged with
kidnapping, rape and being an accessory after the fact.

If convicted, each faces a sentence of 25 years to life
in prison on the rape charge. They are scheduled to be arraigned today
in Rancho Cucamonga. Prosecutors have
asked that bail for both be raised from $1 million to $2 million. They
are being held at West Valley Detention
Center
in Rancho Cucamonga. They have been placed on paid leave of absence by
their respective agencies. 

Jelinek
gets the rape charge because his actions aided the
crime, Deputy Dist. Atty. Debbie Ploghaus tells the Los Angeles Times. “What makes it so heinous is the fact that [Orban] is a police officer
and his job is to protect people and this is what he's doing,” she reportedly said. “They are both law enforcement officers.”

ORIGINAL POST, APRIL 7: Westminster Police Detective Anthony Nicolas Orban told his wife he lost his service revolver.

Then
the gun turned up in the car of a 25-year-old woman who was carjacked
and kidnapped in Ontario Saturday before being forced to strip and
gunpoint before being brutally raped in Fontana.

Orban, 30, has now been arrested for the crimes, and police fear there may be other victims out there.


“This is an absolutely
vicious attack,” Ontario police Sgt.
David McBride tells the
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. “We kind of feel the way it was orchestrated, it may
not have been the first time. We're concerned. We want to make sure the
public can feel safe calling us or (someone) who may have been a victim
of a similar crime.”

Anyone with information about the attack or who feels as if they were victimized by the pair previously is
asked to call Ontario police at (909) 395-2908.


The
woman was walking to her car in the Ontario Mills shopping mall parking
lot around 5 p.m. Saturday when she was confronted by two men. As she
got in her car, one man entered the passenger side and ordered her at
gunpoint to drive off as the second man stayed behind.

The woman was told to drive north on the 15
Freeway and then pull off into a commercial complex along Base Line Road in
Fontana. The gunman there forced the woman to disrobe before raping her at gunpoint.

After about two hours in the car, the woman managed to break free and call 9-1-1.

Her attacker had fled, but he left his revolver behind.

Ontario Police say around this time Orban called Jeff Thomas Jelinek, a 30-year-old Chino men's prison guard, to come pick him up in Fontana.

Orban then called his wife and said he lost his gun.

The Mrs. called Ontario Police to report her husband's service revolver was missing.

Officers
investigating the missing gun met Orban and Jelinek at Ontario Mills,
but something seemed screwy about both men's statements, according to
Ontario Police.

Meanwhile, cops investigating the rape in Fontana found the revolver and traced it back to Orban.

The officers at the mall then arrested Orban and Jelinek.

Orban,
who has been on the Westminster police force for five years and was a detective assigned to the
investigation bureau at the time of his arrest, was held on suspicion of rape,
carjacking, kidnapping and false imprisonment.

Jelinek, who has worked for the state Corrections Department for four years as a correctional officer, was held on suspicion
of carjacking and as an accessory to the crime.

The woman was treated at a
local hospital and released.

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