By Miriam Raftery

January 4, 2018 (Ramona) – The woman found dead at 24478 Del Amo Road in Ramona yesterday has been identified as Samantha Hayes Benegas, 21, of El Cajon. Deputies responding to a 911 call reporting a murder suicide also found Bryan Kinkle, 35, of Ramona nearby with a serious wound; he was airlifted to a hospital but is not expected to survive according to Lieutenant Rich Williams with the Sheriff’s homicide unit. 

The County Medical Examiner’s officer has completed an autopsy on Benegas and found cause of death was a gunshot wound. 

By Miriam Raftery

January 4, 2018 (Aguanga) – Jeffrey Scott Littrell, 48, of Warner Springs has been arrested for felony driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter.  Last night around 7:15 p.m., Littrell was driving his Ford pickup southbound on State Route 79 north of Chihuahua Valley Road when he struck a 5-year-old man walking alongside the highway.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo courtesy of ECM news partner 10 News

January 3, 2018 (Ramona) – Sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 caller reporting a murder suicide at a home on 24478 Del Amo Road in Ramona shortly after noon today.  Inside, they found a dead woman and a wounded man who was air lifted to a local hospital in serious condition.  The man’s injuries are considered life threatening, says Lieutenant Rich Williams with the Sheriff’s Homicide Detail.

East County News Service

December 30, 2017 (La Mesa) — La Mesa Police are investigating a suspicious death of a 58-year-old man who was a patient at Grossmont Hospital, Patch.com reports.

Lt. Vince Brown indicated hospital staff reported the incident to police shortly before 2 p.m. on Thursday, December 27^th.  Detectives were sent to the scene, but no hospitals are considered subjects of the investigation, he told Patch.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo courtesy ECM news partner 10 News

December 29, 2017 (La Mesa) – A La Mesa man called 911 last night at 11:30 to report that he had filled his home with gas and planned to blow it up.  La Mesa Police swiftly evacuated neighbors, some in pajamas.

ECM news partner 10 News was at the scene and got video of the man emerging from the home after police knocked on the door.  He went back inside but after a 45 minute stand-off, staggered out front and collapsed briefly.  Police carried him to the street, where he revived and was taken into custody.

East County News Service

December 28, 2017 (Spring Valley)—Sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call reporting a shooting last night shortly before 7 p.m. last night at the intersection of Concepcion Avenue and San Francisco Street in Spring Valley.  When deputies arrived, they located an adult male victim with traumatic injuries, inside a vehicle.

“The victim was treated and rushed to a local hospital by San Miguel Fire Department. His injuries are life-threatening,” says Lieutenant Rich Williams. “Multiple subjects were seen running from the vehicle at the time of the shooting. Detectives would like to speak to those subjects.”

East County News Service

December 23, 2017 (El Cajon) – “The internet has enabled endless positive opportunities for time saving applications, navigation and access to news and information that could never be possible without it.  But it also provides access for predators to monitor and interact with unsuspecting juvenile and adult victims,” says Lieutenant Rob Rainsweiler with the El Cajon Police Department. “In this case, an El Cajon Police Detective was able to locate these two suspects who were using the internet to arrange to have sex with what they believed was a 13 year old girl.  They arranged to meet her at a hotel in El Cajon where they were contacted and arrested. “

The suspects arrested are Amer Jamil Mansour, 60, and Salman Dawood Salman, 63. 

By Miriam Raftery

December 19, 2017 (El Cajon) – El Cajon Police have arrested two adults and a juvenile in connection with the December 12^th stabbing death of Kyle Khamphan and the attempted murder of a juvenile victim, says Lt. Rob Rainsweier, public information officer for ECPC.

East County News Service

December 13, 2017 (El Cajon) – A 20-year-old man is dead and a 17-year-old has been treated for stab wounds following an altercation in the 700 block of East Park Avenue in El Cajon around 7:30 last night.

By Ken Stone, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association.

November 23, 2017 (San Diego) - Sheriff Bill Gore recalls sitting at work this summer, listening to Carl DeMaio on his KOGO radio talk show.

Even though the former San Diego City Council member was an early endorser of Gore for sheriff in 2010, DeMaio “really blasted me” over permits to carry a concealed weapon, Gore told a Republican women’s club this week.

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By Miriam Raftery

November 20, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – San Diego County Gun Owners (SDCGO), a political action committee promoting Second Amendment rights, has long opposed what it contends is an undisclosed internal policy on who can qualify for a concealed carry weapon (CCW) permit. SDCGO says that Sheriff Bill Gore routinely denies CCW permits to law-abiding, trained county residents who qualify under state law for a CCW.

By Miriam Raftery

November 15, 2017 (El Cajon) – An El Cajon judge has sentenced John David Sanchez, a former Uber driver, to over 80 years in prison after Sanchez pled guilty to 34 counts of raping or sexually assaulting nine unconscious women and teenage girls as young as 13.  Superior Court Judge Evan Kirvin called Sanchez a sexual predator.

But according to a law firm specializing in sexual assaults committed by ride-share drivers including Uber and Lyft, such crimes are far from rare. 

East County News Service

November 13, 2017 (Alpine) - A suspect who fled from Sheriff’s deputies after allegedly trying to steal gas or tampering with county gas pumps on Tavern Road in Alpine this morning has crashed the Toyota Camry he was driving and wound up air lifted to a trauma center.

By Miriam Raftery

November 11, 2017 (Spring Valley) -- Exotic Warehouse, an illegal marijuana clinic in Spring Valley was raided Thursday following multiple complaints by concerned citizens, says Sergeant Matt Cook with the Sheriff’s Department.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo courtesy ECM news partner 10 News

November 7, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – A man suspected of savagely stabbing a female delivery driver, 35, this morning at a convenience store in La Mesa has been taken into custody.  Sheriff’s deputies are investigating whether he may be linked to another woman found stabbed this morning in El Cajon.

The chilling sequence of events began shortly after 3 a.m. when a Frito Lay delivery truck driver was stabbed repeatedly outside of the 7-Eleven store on Avocado Boulevard in unincorporated La Mesa.  She staggered into the store, where she collapsed after telling a clerk she’d been attacked, 10 News reports.