May 24, 2013 (La Mesa) –La Mesa Police responded to a robbery report at 1:24 a.m. at the USA gas station in the 7900 block of University.  A suspect wearing a Spiderman mask pulled a black, semi-automatic pistol out and told a customer to lie on the floor, then began kicking the customer, according to police.

The suspect demanded money from the clerk.  The masked man was last seen running northbound on La Mesa Boulevard. The loss was approximately $300 and the clerk was not injured. The male customer left on a bicycle after the robbery and before police arrived; he has not been located.

May 20, 2013 (La Mesa) – A man who reportedly choked his girlfriend until she lost consciousness and threw her against a closet is under arrest for stabbing his girlfriend’s brother.  

La Mesa Police received a report of the stabbing at 1:43 a.m. in the 7100 block of Waite Drive.  When officers arrived, they found the brother, 21, lying near a sidewalk and rendered treatment. A perimeter was set up and the suspect, Mark Hernandez Cervantes, 28, of San Diego surrendered shortly after.

During the investigation, officers learned of the altercation between the suspect and his girlfriend prior to the stabbing.  When she regained consciousness, the victim called her mother, who came to the apartment with the young woman’s brother.  The female victim did not require medical attention. 

May 15, 2013 (Bonita) – A man has been arrested for sexual assaulting a teenager in the 3200 block of Bonita Road at 10:48 on May 13. The victim reportedly fought off the attacker and flagged down a motorist who gave her a ride.  They called law enforcement while maintaining visual observation of the subject, who was on foot.

The victim reported that she believed the suspect grabbed her with the intent of pulling her into the bushes to be sexually assaulted. The suspect, a 20-year-old African American man, was captured after briefly attempting to elude deputies in heavy vegetation, according to Sgt. D.M. Ting.

May 11, 2013 (San Diego) – An armed gunman tried to abduct a women in the College area shortly after midnight  According to an alert sent by San Diego State University police, the suspect approached the victim in the 5800 block of Linda Paseo at 12:18 a.m. and asked if she was alone. He displayed a black handgun and told the victim to “get in the car.”

She refused and was not injured. The suspect was last seen walking toward College Avenue. He may be driving a black Ford F-150.  He is describe as a white, 6 feet 1 inches tall, wearing a blue T-shirt, blue jeans, a tan jacket, possibly white shoes, and rectangular glasses.

By Miriam Raftery

May 6, 2013 (La Mesa) -- Xusha Brown Jr., 22, of El Cajon has died of a gunshot wound to his head.  Brown was one of two victims in a drive-by shooting that occured on I-8 east near State Route 125 shortly after 3:30 a.m. Sunday.

"The senseless murder of young Xusha Brown Jr. offends the conscience," Sycuan Chairman Daniel Tucker said. A $50,000 reward has been offered, including $40,000 from the tribe, for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer

By Miriam Raftery

May 4, 2013 (Sacramento) – The State Senate Public Safety on Thursday voted 5-2  to defeat SB 779, a measure authored by Senator Joel Anderson (R-Alpine) and sponsored by the California District Attorneys Association.  The bill sought to speed up executions in California through several means, including bringing back the gas chamber. The bill sparked strong outcry from human rights activists who denounced the method as inhumane.

California voters narrowly defeated a bill in November that would have outlawed the death penalty.  The punishment remains on the books, but due to two judicial rulings finding prior methods inhumane, the state has been left unable to carry out executions  since 2006, despite death penalty verdicts.

May 2, 2013 (El Cajon) -- Jerry Lee Hickethier, 32, is charged with assault with a deadly weapon against a police officer following a dramatic police pursuit in which he intentionally struck two police cars.

The chase began at Naranca Avenue and Oro Street at 5:46 p.m., when a veteran sergeant with El Cajon Police department saw Hickethier run a red light. When the officer tried to stop the vehicle, the driver failed to yield to the lights and siren.  According to police, ie stopped suddenly, thrust the vehicle into reverse and intentionally rammed the police vehicle, causing moderate damage.

April 26, 2013 (Lemon Grove) – At 2:39 p.m. today, a suspect drew a pistol and ordered three employees to the ground in the AT&T store on Federal Boulevard in Lemon Grove. A second suspect  then entered the store.

“The clerks were threatened with the gun if they did not cooperate,” said Sgt. Carlos Medina with the Sheriff’s Department.  Employees were ushered into the back of the store and into a bathroom. Meanwhile the thieves opened a safe and stole about 30 electronic devices, including phones and computers, along with cash.

April 21, 2013 (San Diego) – San Diego State University (SDSU) police have issued an alert to warn students of a man who grabbed a woman, 20, who was walking in the south alley of 5600 Montezuma Road just off campus this morning at 3 a.m.  The suspect is described as an Asian male, tall with spiked hair,  in  his mid-20s, wearing black-framed glasses, a white shirt and light jeans.  He fled in a black four-door BMW toward Campanile Drive.

According to police, the suspect  walked up to the victim, grabbed her arm and leg and attempted to pull her. She suffered no injuries and no weapon was used in the incident.

April 19, 2013 (Boston)-- The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released photos from video surveillance of suspects believed to have left bags or backpacks containing the bombs that killed three and injured 176 at Monday's Boston Marathon. One supsect has been named: Dzhokar Tsarnaev, 19. View more photos here.

Nearly 200 runners from San Diego were registered for the race, including 18 from East County.

April 13, 2013 (Santee) – A Santee security guard who told Sheriff’s deputies that he was shot at in his vehicle and fired back has been arrested for filing a false report, negligent discharge of a firearm and planting evidence.

Lance Wright, 22, an employee of Bravo 3 Security, called 911 shortly before 4 a.m. on April 5 to report that while driving on Woodside Avenue near Highway 67 in Santee, he saw flashing lights.  Wright claimed that as he pulled over, a red Suburban drove by and shots were fired at him, so he fired back.

Residents spread word through social networking of crimes and more, strengthening bonds in close-knit community

April 12, 2013 (Eucalyptus Hills) --A hidden surveillance camera in Lakeside captured a mail thief in action last night, ECM has learned.  View the video.   Property owner Dennis Richardson, an award-winning ECM photographer,  has posted the video on his Facebook page and on the community’s Brush Fire Partyline website. He is hopeful that alert neighbors and law enforcement will lead to arrest of the thief, whose vehicle is also shown in the video.

 “Eucalyptus Hills is a very safe neighborhood with proactive people who have a huge network of communications – Facebook, e-mail and just neighborly across the fence,’ Richardson told ECM. “We can get the word out to a lot of people really quickly. Everybody is on the lookout and knows what to look for, so our neighborhood is safer than most.”

April 6, 2013 (San Diego State University) – This morning at 2:03 a.m., two SDSU students were confronted by two robbers armed with handguns.  The victims were on Cuicacalli Walk near the Cuicacalli front desk.  The thieves stole wallets, a cell phone, ATM cards and a backpack. 

The suspects, both African-American men in their late 20s, were last seen running toward College Avenue.   The first suspect was about 6 feet 2 inches tall with an athletic build, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with red SDSU lettering on the front. The second suspect was about 6 feet 3 inches tall with a thin build and thick eyebrows; he was wearing a black beanie.

April 5, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – As darkness nears, a search intensifies for a woman suspected of abducting a 3-week-old baby, her niece, from the 9100 block of  Valencia Street in Spring Valley, the Sheriff’ s office has confirmed. 

 A black SUV belonging to the suspect, Deborah Ann Fowler, 46, was found abandoned in the 10000 block of Vine Street in Lakeside.  A multil-agency search team is scouring banks of the San Diego Riverbed including transient camps.

According to ECM news partner 10 News, the child's grandmother has custody of the infant, Anissa Von Goerlitz. She told deputies she awoke after a nap around 11:30 to find the child missing and believed the three-week-old baby may have been taken without permission by an aunt. The aunt's vehicle was seen in Lakeside.

April 5, 2013 (Spring Valley)--The Lemon Grove Sheriff's Station wants your help in finding two men who tried to kidnap a 17-year-old girl in Spring Valley just before 11 a.m. yesterday. According to the Sheriff, the teen girl was walking near the intersection of Kenwood Drive and Campo Road when she was approached by two African-American men. The suspects drove up in an older burgundy four-door car and offered her a ride saying: "Hey beautiful, need a ride?"

The girl declined. The passenger then got out of the car and grabbed the victim from her arm and shoulders in an attempt to get her into the car. The girl fought him off and ran away. The suspects were last seen driving westbound on Campo Road, toward the Wendy's. The girl suffered minor injuries.No weapon was used during the attempted kidnapping.