Crime Beat

EL CAJON PHOTOGRAPHER FOUND GUILTY IN CAPITOL BREACH: FREELANCER SOLD PHOTOS TO ECM IN 2020

By Miriam Raftery

Photo via U.S. Department of Justice: Erik Herrera in Senate Parliamentarian’s office

August 29, 2022 (El Cajon) – Erik Herrera, 34, of El Cajon has been found guilty of felony and misdemeanor charges for his actions during the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection. News of his arrest and trial came as a shock to this editor, who had hired Herrera for freelance photography work locally just months before.


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CIVIL SUIT ACCUSES PLAYERS FROM AZTECS AND BUFFALO BILLS OF GANG RAPING GIRL, 17

UPDATE AS OF 8/27:  Bills have released Matt Araiza following allegations.

By Miriam Raftery

August 25, 2022 (San Diego) – Three current or former San Diego State University Aztecs football players, including one who is now a pro football player with the Buffalo Bills, are accused  in a civil lawsuit of gang-raping a 17-year-old girl during an off-campus Halloween party last year.


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SHERIFF ROLLS OUT CHANGES IN JAILS TO REDUCE DRUG DEATHS AFTER ACTION BY SUPERVISORS

By Miriam Raftery

August 27, 2022 (San Diego) -- On August 16, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department announced a series of changes aimed at keeping deadly fentanyl and other drugs out of jails to prevent inmate deaths. The action followed a unanimous vote by County Supervisors the same day to approve funds aimed at reducing jail deaths including purchasing body scanners, staff incentives, wellness teams and access to Naloxone to save inmates who overdosed.  


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HONDA DRIVER FROM EL CAJON KILLED BY WRONG-WAY DRIVER

By Miriam Raftery

Photo via ECM news partner KGTV 10 News

 

August 26, 2022 (El Cajon) – A San Diego woman, 23, has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol after driving the wrong way on State Route 52 that resulted in a crash, killing an El Cajon man, 49.


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SHERIFF RELEASES SURVEILLANCE VIDEO OF RAMONA BURGLARS

East County News Service

August 26, 2022 (Ramona) – The San Diego Sheriff tweeted a video today seeking public help to identify suspects in a Ramona Crime.  The Tweet states: Do you recognize anyone in this surveillance video? They are suspected in a burglary at a business in the 2000 block of Main Street in Ramona on August 12. If you have any information, call @SDSORamona Detective Sobczak at (760) 738-2488 or @sdcrimestoppers at (888) 580-8477.

View video:  https://twitter.com/i/status/1562935445553500160


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LA MESA DUI CHECKPOINT FINDS NO IMPAIRED DRIVERS

By Miriam Raftery

August 24, 2022 (La Mesa) – Good job, La Mesa drivers.  A DUI checkpoint conducted by the La Mesa Police Department Saturday night of 427 vehicles found nobody driving under the influence. No arrests were made for DUI or any other criminal charges.


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MAN ARRESTED IN FALLBROOK WITH EXPLOSIVE DEVICES IN VEHICLE

By Miriam Raftery

August 23, 2022 (Fallbrook) – Jacob Daniel Oberg, 29, is under arrest after San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies found Molotov cocktails, or handheld firebombs, in his vehicle this morning.


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HUSBAND ARRESTED FOR KILLING EL CAJON MOTHER OF NINE CHILDREN

 

Update:  The suspect's last name as Al Rawi, not Al Wari. The earlier misspelling was provided by El Cajon Police based on a a translation error. Friends of his have voiced shock at his arrest and doubts about the accusations against him, calling him a good father and pillar of the Syrian community locally who has helped other refugees, 10 News reports.

By Miriam Raftery

August 22, 2022 (El Cajon) -- Abdulhannan Abdurazaq Al Rawi is under arrest for allegedly shooting and killing his wife, 37, in the bedroom of their El Cajon home at 1599 Soma Place. The couple's nine children, ages 2 to 17, were in the home at the time, according to Lieutenant Randy Soulard with EL Cajon Police.

Dilkhwaz Ahmed with License to Freedom, an El Cajon social services agency supporting refugees, posted on Facebook tonight “Please pray for these kids who lost their mom today. Out team of therapists and myself stayed with them all day to make sure they have a safe place to go. If you would like to support them, please let me know. They are refugees from Syria.”


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LA MESA POLICE SEEK SUSPECT IN FATAL SHOOTING: $1,000 REWARD OFFERED

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Diane Granander

Update August 21, 2022: The victim has been identified as Joseph "J.C." Curtis, 44, a father of four who lived nearby the gas station.

August 12, 2022 (La Mesa) – La Mesa Police are asking for public help to locate a man suspected of shooting and killing another man this morning in front of the Speedway Express gas station at the corner of University and Park avenues.

Officers responded to multiple calls reporting the shooting. They found the victim on the sidewalk and immediately provided aid.  The victim, a 44-year-old man from La Mesa, was transported to Sharp Memorial Hospital, but “tragically was pronounced deceased,” says Lieutenant. Katy Lynch.

She adds, “Initial information gathered by investigators has revealed that the victim and suspect were involved in a verbal altercation that turned into a physical fight. The suspect then shot the victim several times before fleeing the scene in a dark colored smaller SUV or similar style vehicle, westbound on University Avenue.” 

The suspect is described as a Black male adult in his early to mid-30s. He was wearing a dark shirt and blue jeans and was accompanied by a heavy-set Hispanic female.


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SUSPECT SOUGHT IN FATAL EL CAJON SHOOTING

East County News Service

August 20, 2022 (El Cajon) – El Cajon Police Department seeks public help to identify a suspect in a fatal shooting last night. 

Officers responding to a report of one or more gunshots found a man with a gunshot injury in the parking lot at 441 Dominguez, El Cajon.


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TOP SECRET AND CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS FOUND BY FBI IN SEARCH OF TRUMP’S FLORIDA HOME

Judge weighs unsealing redacted affidavit to show justification for granting search warrant

By Elijah McKee and Miriam Raftery

August 18, 2022 (Washington D.C.) – Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) removed over 20 containers including 11 sets of classified documents during a search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on August 8. Trump’s removal of documents from the White House and his handling of top secret information has potentially serious national security implications, as well as potential criminal liability, though thus far Trump has not been charged with any crime.

A property receipt made public this week  reveals that the documents found by the FBI include four sets marked “top secret,” three sets of “secret” documents, three “confidential” sets, and one set of “top secret and sensitive compartmented information (TS/SCI). The latter is a category that even some people with top secret clearance cannot access, such as nuclear secrets and details on U.S. intelligence gathering operations overseas.


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MAN DIES AFTER SHOOTING IN SPRING VALLEY

East County News Service

August 17, 2022 (Spring Valley) – A 32-year-old man has died after being shot in the upper torso last night. 

Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of gunshots at 9:30 p.m. at the intersection of Jamacha Blvd. and Thayer Drive in Spring Valley.  They found the victim and provided emergency treatment in an effort to save his life until paramedics arrived and transported the man to a local hospital, where he died.


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FBI IN SAN DIEGO RESCUES 17 HUMAN TRAFFICKING VICTIMS AS PART OF NATIONAL ENFORCEMENT OPERATION

By Miriam Raftery

August 16, 2022 (San Diego) – The FBI San Diego division today announced that it has located at least 17 potential human trafficking victims, including a minor, as part of the nationwide “Operation Cross Country XII” operation. The national FBI-led effort partnered with agencies across the U.S. to recover 141 adult and 84 minor victims of human trafficking, including 37 missing children; the youngest victim was 11 years old.


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SUPERVISOR ANDERSON LAUNCHES COUNTY’S FIRST SAFE PARKING AREA FOR HOMELESS

By Shiloh Ireland

August 10, 2022 (El Cajon) – County officials today launched the county’s first “safe parking” lot at the site of a former homeless encampment as 1297 North Magnolia Avenue in unincorporated El Cajon.


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RAMONA SHOOTING VICTIM NOT EXPECTED TO SURVIVE

Update August 9, 2022 -- The victim died August 6 at a hospital.  The autopsy report ruled the death a homicide caused by a gunshot wound to the head.  A press release from the Sheriff states that at request of family, the department is not releasing the victim's name at this time. He was a Ramona resident.

By Miriam Raftery

August 5, 2022 (Ramona) – The Sheriff’s department has opened a homicide investigation into the shooting of a 59-year-old man in Ramona.

Deputies found the victim on the ground with gunshot wound to his upper torso near the side yard of a home in the 1800 block of La Brea Street in Ramona.


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FORMER GRANITE HILLS HIGH TEACHER, ALSO A COACH, ARRESTED FOR SEXUAL MISCONDUCT

By Miriam Raftery

August 3, 2022 (El Cajon) – Today, the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) announced that El Cajon Police have arrested a former district employee on felony and misdemeanor charges, following an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations.


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SUSPECT ARRESTED AFTER STABBING MAN ON TROLLEY IN EL CAJON

East County News Service

August 3, 2022 (El Cajon) – Joshua Lee Martinez, 32, of El Cajon has been arrested after allegedly stabbing a man in the head aboard a trolley near the Marshall Avenue station in El Cajon.


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HUMANE SOCIETY SEEKS HELP TO FIND MOTORIST WHO ALLEGEDLY THREW KITTEN FROM GREY SEDAN: LEFT PARALYZED, ANIMAL WAS EUTHANIZED

East County News Service

August 3, 2022 (San Diego) — San Diego Humane Society’s Humane Law Enforcement team is asking for the public’s help in a felony animal cruelty investigation. The case involves a kitten who was allegedly thrown from the passenger side of a moving car in Carmel Mountain Ranch on Sunday, July 31. The grey sedan was reportedly traveling westbound on Camino Del Norte, near Carmel Mountain Rd., at around 7 p.m.


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FIVE AZTEC FOOTBALL PLAYERS UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR ALLEGED RAPE

UPDATE:  Head coach Brady Hoke has said that the Aztec football staff will assist with the investigation in any way they can.  He has said that SDSU football will hold the athletes accountable.  

East County News Service

August 2, 2022 (San Diego) – San Diego Police and San Diego State University have launched investigations into five Aztec football players, who are accused of raping a 17-year-old girl during an off-campus house party on October 16, 2021.


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COUNTY EXPANDS SUPPORT FOR PEOPLE LEAVING JAIL AND RETURNING TO THEIR COMMUNITIES

By Chuck Westerheide, County of San Diego Communications Office

August 1, 2022 (San Diego) - The County of San Diego was awarded $6 million in Proposition 47 grant funding that will be used to help people returning to their communities after serving time in County jails. The financial support is earmarked for those leaving custody who have a history of behavioral health needs and are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The County will also leverage an additional $4 million for a total program of $10 million.


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NATIONAL NIGHT OUT AUG. 2: MEET YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS

By Miriam Raftery

August 1, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) – Each year, law enforcement agencies around the nation celebrate National Night Out events to help build community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie. Locally, some agencies are hosting their own free family-friendly eventswith giveaways and everything from K9 police dog demonstrations to DJs and face painting. Others, such as La Mesa Police, invite residents to host their own neighborhood events such as block parties or barbecues which police or city representatives will visit to share information on things like crime prevention, as well as field questions and hear concerns.

 

Here's a rundown on some local events:


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BATTLE PITS ADVOCATES ON BOTH SIDES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ISSUE

California Senate now has bill that will dramatically change how crimes are reported

By J.W. August

 

Photo:  CC via Bing

 

July 28, 2022 (San Diego) - The crime statistics don’t lie, not when it comes to domestic violence.  It remains a “top of the list” top-of-mind crime of concern in California.


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DRIVER ARRESTED FOR FATAL HIT-AND-RUN IN EL CAJON

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: CC via Bing

July 28, 2022 (El Cajon) – El Cajon Police have arrested a 22-year-old man who reportedly fled the scene after his vehicle struck and fatally injured a 20-year-old woman. Found with a signal light still hanging off his vehicle, the driver was found to be on a narcotic and faces multiple charges.


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EL CAJON POLICE SEEKS HELP TO FIND OWNERS OF JEWELRY STOLEN BY CAREGIVER

East County News Service 

July 26, 2022 (El Cajon) -- Do you recognize any of these jewelry pieces? El Cajon Police

detectives are working a burglary series associated with elder abuse. Victims who were being cared for by a caregiver had personal items stolen, ECPD reports on its Facebook page


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SUSPECT TRIES TO DISCARD FENTANYL, EXPOSES EL CAJON POLICE OFFICERS

East County News Service 

July 26, 2022 (El Cajon) – Two El Cajon Police officers suffered fentanyl exposure and had to undergo a decontamination procedure today.


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JUDGE APPROVES PREDATOR PLACEMENT IN BORREGO SPRINGS

East County News Service

July 23, 2022 (Borrego Springs) -- Michael Martinez, a 69-year-old man classified by the state as a sexually violent predator, will be released and placed in a home on Running M Road in Borrego Springs


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SHERIFF'S GARDENING AND LANDSCAPING PROGRAM CULTIVATES REHABILITATION WITH JOB TRAINING

Source: San Diego Sheriff

July 14, 2022 (San Diego) -- A Fresh Start Farm Stand was held today at San Diego County Sheriff's Department Headquarters in Kearny Mesa. It is part of a landscaping and gardening program at the Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility in Santee and the East Mesa Reentry Facility in Otay Mesa. People in custody learn about growing their own food, eating healthy, working in teams and responsibility.


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GROSSMONT COLLEGE SAFE AFTER BOMB THREAT

Source:  Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District

July 14, 2022 (El Cajon) - The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and campus security officials have determined that Grossmont Campus is safe, following a bomb threat phoned into the Sheriff’s Department at about 11:30 a.m. today. 


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WOMAN DIES IN CUSTODY AT LAS COLINAS

East County News Service

Photo by Rebecca Jefferis-Williamson

July 3, 2022 (Santee) – Erica Wahlberg, 40, died in a hospital, where she was admitted June 28 after suffering medical distress at the Las Colinas Detention facility in Santee.


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MACHINE GUNS AND DRUGS SEIZED FROM BURGLARY SUSPECT’S EAST COUNTY HOME

East County News Service 

June 28, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) -- A man suspected in a series of burglaries at a self-storage facility is behind bars after stolen items, including firearms, were found in his East County home, says Lieutenant Shawn Wray.


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