East County News Service

Photo: Courtesy of ECM news partner 10 News

March 3, 2015 (Lakeside) – Sheriff’s deputies trying to serve an eviction notice at an apartment in the Riverview Villa Apartments on Woodside Avenue in Lakeside this morning made a gruesome discovery.

March 2, 2015 (El Cajon) – A dark Toyota Tercel occupied by two Hispanic men in their 20s that left Sycuan Casino shortly after 3:30 a.m. The Toyota reportedly followed a couple in a pickup truck, then opened fire just before the vehicle entered eastbound I-8 from the West Main Street onramp.  The driver of the pickup was struck by a bullet in his shoulder.

By Miriam Raftery

February 25, 2015 (El Cajon) – El Cajon Police announce the arrest of a woman accused of posing as a customer at a hair salon at 437 East Main Street on Wednesday, then robbing an employee at gunpoint after receiving treatment at the salon.

East County News Service

February 20, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – Two men suspected of a series of 15 commercial burglaries in La Mesa from are under arrest.  Both are also connected to burglaries in El Cajon and Oceanside, according to a statement issued by La Mesa Police.

East County News Service

February 14, 2015 (El Cajon ) – An armed gunman robbed Weisfield Jewelers in the Parkway Plaza Shopping Mall in El Cajon Wednesday night.

Council also heard city’s quarterly financial report and filled Parking Commission vacancy

By Janis Russell

February 13, 2015 (La Mesa)- At the La Mesa city council meeting Tuesday,  former Police Chief Ed Aceves presented the quarterly crime report-and some good news:  crime last year declined from 2013. Chief Aceves said the crime rate overall is down, “the lowest it’s been since 2011.”

He also presented  charts.  One showed that in 2014, there were no homicides.  However there were  16 rapes, 68 robberies, and 124 aggravated assaults (assault with some type of injury). The aggravated assault  had the biggest increase from 2013. 28 robbery cases were cleared, or solved, in 2014.

East County News Service

February 6, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – Eugene Niggel has been charged with first degree murder and domestic violence resulting in the death of Linda Sue Irwin.  Irwin was admitted to Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa on November 19, 2014 with blunt force trauma. She was transferred to Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, where she later died of her injuries.

February 3, 2015 (Rancho San Diego)--The Rancho San Diego Sheriff’s Station is holding a Coffee with the Community event on Tuesday, February 17th  from 8-10 a.m. at Dolci Café Italia (2650 Jamacha Road, Suite 121) in Rancho San Diego.

By Hayden Parsley

January 31, 2016 (San Diego) - In San Diego, the second most trafficked illegal commodity is human lives (after narcotics). Our county has become a hub for this deplorable practice, but now a new taskforce has been formed to combat this crisis.

January 27, 2015 (Lemon Grove) Community outreach is a priority of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. Members of the community should feel comfortable bringing problems related to safety and security as well as deputy-community relations to his staff, the Sheriff says.

By Hayden Parsley

January 23, 2015 (Lakeside) – Elaina Rose Welch, who was arrested following the deaths of her child and boyfriend on the Barona reservation last week, was released from jail Thursday.

Tribal police responded to a call about an attempted suicide and the Sheriff’s department responded to a call reporting her baby was dead. The police spoke to a man, now known to be her boyfriend, Julio Ricardo Monggiotti; who then entered the home and a shot was heard. Welch exited the home and dropped a shotgun on the road.

When the police entered the home they found the corpse of her baby hidden in a freezer and Monggiotti dead with gunshot wounds to his chest and wrist. This incident had prompted much of the area to be shut down and even SWAT intervention. (See our prior story here.)

East County News Service

January 22, 2014 (Lakeside) – Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of vandals who used paint and epoxy glue to damage a mailbox and signs.  The suspects were caught on video on January 16 bewteen 1:25 and 2:45 a.m. in the 11000 block of Valle Vistas Road in Lakeside’s Eucalyptus Hills neighborhood. 

A reliable source told ECM that  around the same time, El Capitan High School and Lakeside Farms Elementary School also suffered major damage from vandals who put epoxy in door locks, among other damage. 

By Miriam Raftery

January 17, 2015 (Washington D.C.) – Last September, East County Magazine reported on alleged abuses of a federal policy that allowed local law enforcement agencies to keep 80% of cash and other assets seized – even when no criminal charges were filed.  Critics contended the system led to corruption.

January 14, 2015 (Jacumba Hot Springs) – Gary Snavely, a sexually violent predator, has released from a state mental hospital on January 12^th and is now living in Jacumba Hot Springs (at 45612 Old Highway 80). 

The decision to release Snavely and place him in Jacumba was made by the Department of State Hospitals and the San Diego Superior Court.