Orange County
May 2, 2012
OC taps reserves to pay for realignment prisoners
Orange County is tapping into its reserves to cover a Sheriff's Department budget shortfall blamed mostly on the state's prisoner realignment program.
The Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to take $11.4 million from reserves to cover much of the department's deficit...
LINK - KTVN.com
November 10, 2011
Police: Woman kidnapped by ex-boyfriend found unharmed
Police arrested a parolee accused of kidnapping his ex-girlfriend from a Santa Ana apartment and taking her to a vacant home in Perris, where she was found unharmed.
Police got a call at 8:40 p.m. Monday from a woman reporting that her 24-year-old daughter had been kidnapped by an ex-boyfriend from an apartment complex in the 3900 block of West Fifth St., Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.
The woman's mother told police her daughter jumped out of her car as they were arriving at the complex and ran into the apartment to use the restroom. But by the time the mom got there, her daughter was gone...
LINK - OCRegister.com
February 22, 2011
Man shot by officer arrested for mail theft
A parolee who was shot by an Anaheim police officer has been arrested for investigation of stealing mail.
Sgt. Bob Dunn says 27-year-old Travis Mock, who is hospitalized under guard with a gunshot wound, was arrested Friday for investigation of theft of U.S. mail and possession of stolen property. The Orange County Register says the Santa Ana man has also been placed on a parole hold...
LINK - SFGate.com
May 5, 2010
Officials: Fears of molester lie in legal limbo
Law enforcement officials organized a public meeting to quell the fears of Fullerton residents that a convicted child molester and parolee was spending time in their neighborhood.
Eric Hinnenkamp, 45, owns a house near Laguna Lake Park left to him by his parents. Jessica's Law prevents him, as a sex offender, from residing in the house so near to the park, where children gather.
The California Constitution, however, guarantees him a right to own and maintain his property.
Officials said the residents' concerns about the sex offender are, essentially, in legal limbo. About three dozen people attended the meeting Tuesday at the Fullerton Police Department...
LINK - OCRegister.com
February 23, 2010
Parolee crashes after brief pursuit
A parolee took police on a short pursuit before she crashed into a car waiting at a red light Saturday night, authorities said.
Ciera Stoelting, 21, of Santa Ana, was injured in the crash and taken to a hospital, where she was booked on suspicion of evading arrest, possession of narcotics and parole violation, police Cmdr. Steve Colon said.
The extent of her injuries isn't clear, but they apparently were not life-threatening. The people in the other car waiting for a red light at Bristol and 17th streets were not injured, nor were any officers, police said...
LINK - OCRegister.com
February 9, 2010
Gov’s early inmate release plan causing trouble in Orange County
Orange County Sheriff officials are continuing to release jail inmates early under a new law even while lawmakers and law enforcement officials around the state scramble to block or modify the law.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Sacramento have called for repealing and modifying parts of the law – including an assemblyman who helped author the law.Meanwhile, the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs' Association filed a lawsuit trying to get a state order to block the early release of inmates in county jails.
In Orange County, officials were among nearly 20 counties in the state that decided to apply the law retroactively, releasing the first inmates the same day the law went into effect. About the same number of counties have decided that the law does not apply retroactively. Others are assessing the law's impact…
LINK - OCRegister.com
February 5, 2010
Early inmate release returns spousal abusers, prostitutes, car theives & drug offenders to comm
A new state law allowing for the early release of inmates includes those who have been convicted of crimes ranging from misdemeanor spousal abuse, vehicle theft, and felony assault with force likely to produce great bodily harm.
Inmates doing time for misdemeanor assault and battery, prostitution or embezzlement also stand to benefit under the new law – in addition to lower-level drug and DUI offenders.
The new law, which went into effect Jan. 25 and has resulted in the early release of nearly 300 inmates in Orange County, applies only to "low-risk" offenders, but the category is broad…
LINK - OCRegister.com
February 4, 2010
Early inmate release in the O.C. - almost 300 in first week!
County officials have released nearly 300 inmates early under a new state law that reduces the amount of time inmates serve behind bars, officials said.
Passed by the legislature in September, the law – which caught some local officials off guard – allows "low-risk" inmates to earn credits for good behavior and completing other programs to reduce their sentences. In state prisons, the inmates may earn up to six weeks for each year served, saving the state about half a billion dollars, officials said.
In county jails, said Deputy County Council Nicole Sims, the law allows inmates to have their sentences cut by up to half….
LINK - OCRegister.com
February 3, 2010
Parolee tased, arrested for assaulting girlfrind, threatening to kill her and family
A parolee – accused of assaulting his girlfriend –was tracked by GPS through two cities and arrested at a Laguna Hills El Torito, officials said.
According to police reports, Ronnie Ray Osorio, 22, of Santa Ana was being tracked by his parole officer on an ankle bracelet Tuesday after going to his girlfriend's home in Lake Forest on Monday night. There he is suspected of assaulting her and threatening to kill her and her family said Lt. Steve Doan, chief of police services for Laguna Hills.
"He returned to her house again on Tuesday and she refused to let him in," Doan said…
LINK - OCRegister.com
January 27, 2010
O.C. officials wary of state prisoner release
State officials this week began releasing the first of 6,500 inmates from state prisons — a move designed to save the state money.
Orange County law enforcement officials said the move is merely shifting the burden to local governments.
The move will allow low-risk offenders and those convicted of nonviolent crimes to earn credits in prison to reduce their time served – up to six weeks for each year served. Credits earned by prisoners for such things as fighting forest fires and completing drug and alcohol programs…
LINK - OCRegister.com
December 12, 2009
Former parolee killed in shoot-out at WalMart parking lot
An autopsy was pending Saturday on a man fatally shot by four or five Anaheim police officers in a Wal-Mart parking lot after he evaded officers.
The shooting occurred around 3:30 p.m. Friday at the Anaheim Plaza in the 400 block of North Euclid Street, said Sgt. Rick Martinez of the Anaheim Police Department.
"Our undercover officers received information that a known former parolee was in the area in a green Suburban," Martinez said…
LINK - KTLA.com
December 3, 2009
OC Register advocates for “Paycheck (deception) Protection” to return to the ballot
California Attorney General Jerry Brown's office was expected today to authorize signature collection for a 2010 ballot measure that would make it illegal for public employee unions to automatically deduct money from members' paychecks and use that money for political campaigns. A similar "paycheck protection" initiative was placed on the ballot in 2005 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger but failed along with the governor's other reform measures. This time around, the political climate is much different, and paycheck protection could pass. We hope it does.
Backers of the initiative, including the Lincoln Club of Orange County, Tea Party activists and a number of private citizens, filed the request to qualify the initiative for the 2010 ballot. It would amend the California constitution to (a) outlaw automatic deductions from public employees for political activities and (b) disallow labor unions and other entities that receive such monies from using them to influence politics…
LINK - OCRegister.com
October 7, 2009
Non-sworn jail guard plans advance despite union protest
Supervisors this morning gave the go-ahead to plans for staffing a new type of non-sworn jail guards despite protest from the sheriff's union president who said the plans could compromise the safety of inmates and guards.
Supervisors voted 4-1 to move forward with the program — part of Sheriff Sandra Hutchens' plan to trim costs by replacing sworn deputies at the jails with less expensive civilians. Today's vote gave a blessing for the department's plan to staff the first 50 Correctional Services Assistant jobs and assign a general representation unit under the Orange County Employees Association.
Chairwoman Pat Bates voted against the plan, saying she thought the new positions should be filled safety officers, not civilians…
LINK - FreedomBlogging.com
October 1, 2009
American Police Force official has extensive criminal record
Michael Hilton of American Police Force arrived in Hardin with promises of Mercedes police cars and expertise in operating prisons. He delivered the cars last week, but may have learned about prisons following a 1993 conviction for grand theft.
Public records from police and state and federal courts in California show that Michael Anthony Hilton, using that name and more than a dozen aliases over several years, is cited in multiple criminal, civil and bankruptcy cases, and was sentenced in 1993 to two years in state prison in California.
Hilton pleaded guilty in March 1993 to 14 felonies, including 10 counts of grand theft, one count of attempted grand theft and three counts of diversion of construction funds, according to Orange County court records. He was sentenced to two years in prison, but it is unclear how much time he served…
LINK - Missoulian.com
September 30, 2009
Fleeing parolee gets bitten by sheriff’s dog
A man on parole for burglary was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of resisting arrest after fleeing from authorities during a traffic stop.
Anthony Edward Pugh, 21, of Mission Viejo, allegedly fled the scene after being pulled over in a car with another person near El Toro Road and Painted Trails at 1:48 p.m.
Dep. Darren Sandberg, of the Orange County Sheriff's Department, could not confirm whether Pugh was a driver or passenger, but said Pugh "split on foot" when the car was pulled over.
Sandberg did not know why the car was originally stopped…
LINK - OCRegister.com
September 25, 2009
Anaheim officer shoots, gravely injures suspect during struggle in car
An Anaheim police officer making a routine traffic stop early this morning shot a 21-year-old parolee in the head after struggling with the man in his vehicle as he tried to speed away.
Authorities are still sorting out exactly what happened during the wild confrontation shortly after 2 a.m. in the vicinity of Santa Ana and Bond streets. "There's a lot of speculation at this point," said Sgt. Rick Martinez, an Anaheim police spokesman.
Martinez declined to release the names of those involved…
LINK - LATimes.com
May 11, 2009
O.C. may lose millions for jailing illegal immigrants
President Barack Obama's plan to redirect federal funds to the southwest border could mean Orange County stands to lose nearly $6.5 million in funds to house illegal immigrants with criminal convictions – while the state could lose $110 million.
Local and state officials have joined members of Congress who are up in arms about Obama's announcement last week to kill a program that has provided about half a billion dollars in federal funds to states and local municipalities for the incarceration of illegal immigrants with criminal records.
"We expect that we are going to have to fight a battle that we are too familiar with fighting," said H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the state's Department of Finance…
LINK - OCRegister.com
February 27, 2009
Court Throws Out Lawsuit by Orange County Board of Supervisors to Slash Deputy Sheriff Pension Benef
Superior Court Judge Tosses Out County Legal Case Against Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs (AOCDS) and Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS) to Overturn 3% at 50 Pension Benefit for Deputies
LOS ANGELES – Rejecting legal arguments by the County of Orange that Deputy Sheriff pension benefits in Orange County are unconstitutional, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Helen Bendix today threw out of court a lawsuit by the Orange County Board of Supervisors to overturn 3% at 50 pension benefits for Orange County Deputy Sheriffs (County of Orange v. AOCDS & Board of Retirement, Case #BC389758), two months before the case was scheduled to go to trial.
The County of Orange had filed the controversial lawsuit last February after three different outside law firms they had hired for legal counsel had each warned them they could not win such a case. Meanwhile the Orange County Board of Supervisors, as of December 2008, have rung up almost $1.3 million in legal bills in their legal effort.
"The Deputy Sheriffs, their families, and especially those deputies who no longer work, are pleased — but not surprised — by the Court's decision to throw out the County's case," said Wayne Quint, President of the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs (AOCDS). "The County spent hundreds of thousands of dollars getting opinions from three different outside law firms that all predicted this outcome. Now that they have spent over one million dollars of taxpayer money on this lawsuit, we only hope they will not lay off any more county probation officers to finance an appeal."
Continued Quint, "To quote County Supervisor John Moorlach — who has been driving this Don Quixote type effort — in a speech he made in 2000 to the Orange County Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, 'County agencies should become more accountable to taxpayers for the lawsuits they file. …every time you hire an attorney, the only person who wins is the attorney.' "Well – the county's attorneys have made out like bandits in this case – almost $1.3 million so far, at a time the county is suffering a fiscal crisis. It is unfortunate."
COUNTY OF ORANGE LEGAL COSTS
FOR DEPUTY SHERIFF PENSION LITIGATION
(through December 2008)*
As of December 31, 2008, the County of Orange has spent a total of $1,291,442.70 in legal costs associated with the Board of Supervisors' litigation effort regarding Orange County Deputy Sheriffs' pensions (although the county has not yet released billings for Oct. 2008).
Law Firm Amount Paid
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP $ 99,598.40
(Jan. 1, 2006 to Dec. 1, 2007)
Reish Luftman Reicher & Cohen $125,561.04
(Jan. 1, 2007 to Dec. 1, 2007)
Snell & Wilmer LLP $ 57,713.00
(June 30, 2007 to Dec. 1, 2007)
Kirkland & Ellis LLP $1,008,570.26
(June 1, 2007 to December 31, 2008)
———————————————————————————
TOTAL LITIGATION COSTS BY COUNTY $1,291,442.70
Kirkland & Ellis Billings
$ 138,461.10 (October 2007)
$ 82,753.25 (November 2007)
$ 60,004.56 (December 2007)
$ 106,538.09 (January 2008)
$ 38,202.72 (February 2008)
$ 133,317.84 (March & April 2008)
$ 65,123.57 (May 2008)
$ 95,405.18 (June 2008)
$ 61,424.67 (July 2008)
$ 21,231.07 (August 2008)
$ 52,559.88 (September 2008)
(***Missing***) (October 2008)
$ 72,609.49 (November 2008)
$ 80,938.84 (December 2008)
$1,008,570.26 (October 2007 – December 2008)
* As per records provided by the County of Orange County Counsel's office (Missing Oct. 2008)
December 24, 2008
O.C. plans 60 more layoffs amid protests
Faced with a gaping budget deficit, Orange County officials disclosed plans Tuesday to lay off nearly 60 Probation Department employees and to start releasing some juvenile criminal suspects rather than holding them in juvenile hall.
Word of the cutbacks came the same day that 1,000 angry workers stormed the Orange County Hall of Administration to protest previously announced plans to lay off 210 social services employees.
The social services cuts stem from a steep reduction in state funding that county officials said left them with no option but to eliminate jobs. In addition to the layoffs, the county has disclosed plans to require 4,000 social services employees to take two weeks off without pay next year….
LINK - LATimes.com (The Los Angeles Times)
November 15, 2008
Orange County jails need 43% more guards, report says
A consulting firm hired by Orange County supervisors to study the county's troubled jail system says more than 450 new guards are needed to ensure the "safety and security" of inmates.
The recommendation by Crout & Sida Criminal Justice Consultants calls for boosting Sheriff's Department staff at the county's five jail facilities from 1,067 to 1,521 — a whopping 43%.
The report, released Friday, comes as the county is considering an across-the-board 7% cut in spending due to revenue shortfalls brought on by the economic downturn and the state budget crisis…
LINK - LATimes.com
July 29, 2008
Parolee Allegedly Crashes Truck, Stabs Witness
A 29-year-old parolee allegedly crashed a stolen pickup truck in Santa Ana Monday and stabbed one of three witnesses, police said.
The suspect, Jorge Perez, was arrested and booked on suspicion of assault, possession of a stolen vehicle and outstanding parole violations, according to Cpl. Jose Gonzalez of the Santa Ana Police Department.
Police were called around 8:45 a.m. to the scene of a traffic accident in the 2600 block of South Orange Avenue. The suspect had crashed a stolen vehicle into a parked box-trailer truck, Gonzalez said…
LINK - CBS2.com Orange County/Santa Ana
June 17, 2008
$2.5M payout doesn’t keep Anaheim man from gang
Jose Luis Munoz couldn't stay away from gang life, even after a $2.5 million payday.
The 23-year-old Anaheim man received the money from a lawsuit against the city and police. He had been on foot and was struck from behind by a police cruiser while surrendering after a brief chase in 2005.
He was released from prison in October. A gang member, Munoz already had lost four years to Juvenile Hall and prison.
He said in December while waiting for the check from the city that he was eager "to do the right thing." He was going to move out of his gang-plagued neighborhood, buy a house for his mother…
LINK - SacBee.com (The Sacramento Bee - Associated Press)
June 16, 2008
Overtime policies push 100 sheriff’s officers over $150,000
Over the past decade, Orange County officials transformed the post of sheriff's deputy into a six-figure job based on the belief that overtime was cheaper than hiring new officers. The department's reliance on overtime enabled most of its sworn officers to earn more than $100,000 in 2007. More than 100 earned over $150,000.
That cost $41.7 million in overtime, on top of the $318 million the county spent on deputy salaries, health insurance and retirement benefits. The overall budget and salaries have doubled since 1997, but overtime expenditures have tripled.
Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson defended the spending, saying overtime is 9 percent cheaper than hiring additional deputies and paying their salary and retirement. The department says overtime saved it $9.7 million last year…
LINK - OCRegister.com (The Orange County Register)
