By Miriam Raftery

April 12, 2022 (San Diego)  - Jerrell Lacy, 38, of San Diego is the latest person to die in custody locally.  

By Miriam Raftery

April 5, 2022 (La Mesa) – A prisoner who had a medical emergency during an appearance at the El Cajon Courthouse  yesterday was taken by ambulance to Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa. He escaped from the hospital at 6:30 p.m., prompting a helicopter search, and was found in a creek near the trolley tracks a half hour later.

By Miriam Raftery

Updated 5:30 p.m. with preliminary autopsy results.

March 30, 2022 (San Diego) – Derek Baker, 56, an inmate found beaten in his cell in the San Diego Central Jail on March 12, died today of his injuries. Sheriff’s homicide detectives identified Baker’s cellmate, 28-year-old Patrick Ferncase, as the assailant. The case has been referred to the District Attorney to file charges against Ferncase.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left: Screenshot via ECM news partner 10 News

Photos below by Robert Gehr

March 26, 2022 (El Cajon) – Jesse Nunez, a bail bondsman was shot in the face while attempting to find a wanted man yesterday afternoon at an abandoned building at 333 West Lexington Avenue in El Cajon. The shooter was not the person sought by the bail bondsman, says Lieutenant Will Guerin with the El Cajon Police, who added that squatters were occupying the building and two men ultimately surrendered after a brief stand-off.

The wanted fugitive, Jesse D. Tansey, remains at large, 619 news reports. He was being sought for failing to appear in court on charges that included drug dealing and possession of a firearms.

An ECM photographer says he repeatedly called ECPD to report break-ins at the property, as well as apparent drug sales.

By Miriam Raftery

March 19, 2022 (San Diego) – Today the California Highway Patrol announced the arrest of Thomas Evans III, 47 of La Mesa. He is charged with the murder of Saundralina Williams, 27, who was shot while driving her white SUV on State Route 94 in Spring Valley on March 5 near the Kenwood Drive exit. 

Williams was the mother of three young children and a resident of National City. 

Suspected killer, a neighbor, later died in a fire

East County News Service

Source: San Diego Sheriff’s Department 

Photos:  Diane Lynn Dahn was brutally murdered in 1988.  After 33 years, investigators believe the killer was her neighbor, Warren Robertson, who later died in a fire.

March 16, 2022 (Santee) -- On May 2, 1988, Diane Lynn Dahn did not arrive at work for her shift at the San Diego Transit Corporation. A coworker went to Diane's apartment in the 8700 block of Graves Avenue in Santee and discovered her body inside her bedroom at around 1:30 p.m. Her 2-year-old son was found wandering in the apartment complex.

By Miriam Raftery

March 16, 2022 (Spring Valley) – A 13-year-old girl has reported that a man grabbed her from behind and inappropriately touched her on Friday, March 11 around 4 p.m. at the intersection of Conrad Drive and Campo Road in Spring Valley as she was walking home from Spring Valley Academy. Other students yelled at the man, who walked away toward Conrad, and the student went home.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left to right:  Leonard Trinh, Nadia Keilani and Sherry Thompson-Taylor

March 15, 2022 (San Diego) – Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed three San Diego Superior Court judges to fill vacancies created by retirements. 

East County News Service

March 15, 2022 (Spring Valley) – The Sheriff’s Rancho San Diego station will host a coffee with the community on Wednesday, March 16 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Spring Valley Community Center at 8735 Jamacha Blvd., Spring Valley.

Source: Rancho San Diego Sheriff substation

March 10, 2022 (Spring Valley) -- Take a good look at this sketch.  The man you see here is suspected of approaching a student and demanding she get in his car while she was walking to school in the Casa de Oro area of Spring Valley.

By Miriam Raftery

March 5, 2022 (Spring Valley) – State Route 94 is shut down this morning for investigation of a car-to-car shooting that injured a woman who was driving a white Ford Edge. She was traveling west on 94 just east of Kenwood Drive, along with two male passengers, at 5:40 a.m. when an unknown vehicle pulled p behind and opened fire.

“Several of the rounds penetrated the vehicle and the female driver was struck.  This caused driver of the Ford to veer to the left and crash into the center median,” says Officer Travis Garrow with the California Highway Patrol. “The unknown vehicle fled the scene westbound on State Route 94.”

Source:  San Diego County Sheriff

March 3, 2022 (Spring Valley) - Detectives from the Rancho San Diego Sheriff's Station are releasing sketches of the men believed to be involved in at least one of two child luring incidents in Spring Valley.

March 2, 2022 (Spring Valley) -- Detectives from the Rancho San Diego Sheriff's Station want the public's help in identifying and locating a man accused of trying to lure children into his black vehicle near a school in Spring Valley.

One of the children also told detectives the car may have tinted windows and a scratch on the rear bumper.Between February 17 and February 28, there have been at least two incidents of a man attempting to lure children into his car. The children told detectives the person who followed them is a black man between 30 and 40 years old driving a black car, possibly a Dodge Challenger or Charger. 

The children also told detectives the driver had a passenger whom they describe as a white man between 30 and 40 years old. 

Pilot program starts at Las Colinas

Source:  San Diego County Sheriff's Department

March 1, 2022 (San Diego) - Sheriff's Deputies are now using body cameras at Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility in Santee. The first body cameras were deployed on Friday, February 25.

Source: County News Service

Photo: close-up of 38 caliber revolver handgun with safety trigger lock.

February 25, 2022 (San Diego) – Starting today, a new County of San Diego ordinance requiring that all guns be safely stored takes effect. It requires all guns in homes or structures near a home to either be secured with a trigger lock or be locked away in a container.