By Miriam Raftery

May 9, 2021 (San Diego) – San Diego County’s Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a measure to increase public notification regarding locations of registered sex offenders and proposed placements of sexually violent predators in communities. Supervisor Joel Anderson introduced the measure, which was amended at the request of Supervisor Jim Desmond to also include Native American communities.

Anderson says that existing notifications “do not provide adequate notice to communities where sex offenders will be located.” In a written statement to the board, Anderson indicated that after sending questions to the District Attorney and Sheriff regarding the placement process and notification procedures, “there are inconsistencies and omissions in the answers we received.”

Crimestoppers offers reward for information leading to arrest in felony animal cruelty case.

Source: San Diego Humane Society

May 3, 2021 (San Diego) — San Diego Humane Society’s Humane Law Enforcement is asking for the public’s help in a felony animal cruelty case, involving a severely emaciated puppy who was found dead in a crate on a residential sidewalk in Encanto.

East County News Service

April 30, 2021 (San Diego) -- The San Diego County Sheriff's Department is rolling out a phased approach to resuming in-person visits beginning Saturday, May 1.  

East County News Service

Photo: Creative Commons image via Bing

April 27, 2021 (Spring Valley) – San Diego resident Karmen Dionne Anderson, 40, known as Karmen Hicks, has died of a gunshot wound she received Saturday night while seated in a parked car in Spring Valley.

On Saturday, April 24 around 11:30 p.m., Sheriff's deputies responded to a report of the shooting in the 3600 block of Bancroft Drive in Spring Valley. When deputies arrived, they learned a woman had been shot while seated in a parked vehicle, but she was no longer at the scene.

By Suzanne Potter, California Public News Service

April 23, 2021 (Stockton) – California is putting the final touches on longstanding plans to close the state's juvenile prisons and start serving all justice-involved youth at the county level. The last three state juvenile facilities, two in Stockton and one in Ventura, will stop accepting new youths on July 1, and close in 2023.

Dan Macallair, executive director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice based in San Francisco, said rehabilitation efforts work best at the local level.

By Jonathan Goetz

Photo credit: Google & partners

April 18, 2021 (Spring Valley) – Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a shooting around 5:30pm, Thursday, April 15, in Spring Valley. Upon arrival to the 1500 block of Presioca Street, they found David Martinez, 67, lying in the street, with trauma to his upper body. He was pronounced dead at the scene, says Lt. Thomas Siever.

According to an update by Siever, Martinez' autopsy Friday found the preliminary cause of death to be gunshot wounds to the head, and manner of death, a homicide.

East County News Service

April 9, 2021 (La Mesa) – Scott Satterfield of Spring Valley, 61, was arrested April 7 by the La Mesa Police Department on charges of felony hit and run.  An investigation found that Satterfield struck and killed 18-year-old Jok Joseph Jok on February 27, then fleeing the scene of the accident on Bancroft Drive.

Detectives from the La Mesa Police Department’s Investigations and Traffic Divisions, working with San Diego County Crime Stoppers, the media, and our community, were able to identify Satterfield as the suspected operator of the vehicle that struck Jok. The white pickup truck depicted in the previously released photographs has been located and is in police custody for evidence processing, according to a press release issued by LMPD.

By Miriam Raftery

March 26, 2021 (San Diego) – Unlike licensed and regulated cannabis dispensaries, illegal marijuana dispensaries have had negative impacts on communities, neighboring businesses and consumers, the Sheriff’s department warns. Recently, several have been involved in shootings and other serious crimes; moreover there is no state oversight to test products being sold and assure they do not contain pesticides, herbicides, or that they are not laced with other drugs.

“Unregulated pot shops attract criminals involved with other illicit drugs and are often the catalyst for violent crime, property crime and financial crime that affect us all.  Products sold at unlicensed cannabis facilities are cultivated and manufactured using processes which may be harmful to consumers and are often marketed toward children,” warns Sgt. Mark Knierim.

By Miriam Raftery

March 24, 2021 (El Cajon) – El Cajon Police have arrested 28-year-old Isaiah Ugaitafa for violent assaults in which he broke down the front doors of homes and attacked two residents, says Lt. Randy Soulard. He is charged with three felonies: hot prowl burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, and elder abuse.

On Friday, March 19 at 2:15 p.m., officers responded to a home in the 400 block of South First Street, where a man had been seen by several residents acting strangely and talking to himself. A short time later, the suspect was seen breaking down the door of an elderly man’s home and attacking the senior with a metal pole, striking him in the face before fleeing the scene.

East County News Service

March 18, 2021 (Poway) -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) San Diego Violent Crimes Task Force and San Diego Police Department are seeking the public’s assistance to identify a suspect believed to be responsible for a bank robbery in Poway.

On March 17 at approximately 4:15 p.m., a Black man believed to be in his mid-20s entered the Wells Fargo Bank  at 10675 Scripps Poway Parkway. He was wearing a green sweatshirt and a black “beanie type” hat on his head, with the hood of the sweatshirt pulled up.  He is approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall.

The robber presented a message to the teller demanding money from the bank.  After receiving a sum of cash, he fled on foot.  

The robber’s lower face was covered by a light blue paper COVID-19 face mask.

By Miriam Raftery and Rick Nothano

Photos by Rick Nothano

March 12, 2021 (Spring Valley) – Two shooting victims have been hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries resulting from gunfire outside of an illegal marijuana dispensary in Spring Valley Wednesday night.

Sheriff’s detectives from the Rancho San Diego station responded to multiple calls of gunshots at 8:33 p.m. near Dolores Street and South Barcelona in the Casa de Oro neighborhood, an area where numerous illegal dispensaries have previously been raided and shut down.

Deputies found a 22-year-old shooting victim along with evidence of a shooting outside a dispensary at 9966 Dolores Street, unit 107, as well as a firearm, says Sergeant Karen Bloch.