By Miriam Raftery

January 31, 2025 (San Diego) -- A two-count indictment was unsealed in federal court today charging San Diego Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremiah Manuyag Flores with violating the civil rights of a man in pretrial custody at the San Diego Central Courthouse. Flores is accused of using excessive force that caused a spinal cord injury, then writing a false report to cover up his illegal actions.

He is charged with depriving the individual – identified in the indictment as 57-year-old J.P. – of his right to due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and of falsifying a record in a federal investigation. If convicted on both counts, he could face up to 30 years in prison and be fined up to $500,000, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

By Miriam Raftery

September 21, 2024 (San Diego) – San Diego County’s Sheriff’s department has been under scrutiny for years over its high rate of jail deaths. Despite numerous reforms implemented by Sheriff Kelly Martinez that have reduced the overall number of prisoner deaths, yet another shocking death has sparked a lawsuit against the County—this time, a diabetic man who pleaded for insulin, as did fellow inmates on his behalf. His empty insulin pump beeped for nearly 24 hours before the man was found dead in his jail cell.

Keith Galen Bach, 62, of Chula Vista died in San Diego’s Central Jail a year ago, on Sept. 28. He was arrested Sept. 25 on charges of vandalism and making criminal threats. He was hospitalized briefly due to diabetic-related illness before being jailed; at the time of his arrest he had informed staff he would run out of insulin the next day, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

By Miriam Raftery

Click image, left, to view San Diego Sheriff's video remembering 911

September 11, 2023 (San Diego) – Flags across the nation are at half-mast today to commemorate 2,996 people killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The attacks by hijacked airlines destroyed the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York City, ravaged the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and took the lives of passengers and crew aboard a United Airlines plane bound for the Capitol that crashed in Pennsylvania.

Locally and nationally, first responders today are remembering those who lost their lives, as well as the brave first responders who came to the aid of survivors.

July 31, 2023 (San Diego's East County) -- Join the San Diego County Sheriff's Department for National Night Out on Tuesday, August 1.  Sheriff's Stations and Substations across the county will be hosting family-friendly community events to take a stand against crime. Find details on each station’s event below. 

National Night Out is an annual event that promotes law enforcement-community partnership and neighborhood camaraderie.

Meet your local Sheriff's Deputies and receive public safety resources.  Crime Prevention Specialists will share tips on how to keep your families safe.  Many of our events will feature giveaways and more.

Update 3:15 p.m. -- The seven-hour SWAT standoff has ended. According to the Sheriff's Dept., the suspect, Brandon Andrade, walked out of the house and surrendered after deputies used chemical agents. Mental Health Clinicians with the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT) will evaluate Andrade before he is booked into San Diego Central Jail. He is expected to face three counts of attempted murder charges. The evacuation notification and road closures will be lifted in an hour.

East County News Service

May 25, 2023 (Lemon Grove) – The San Diego County Sheriff's Department is working to peacefully resolve a SWAT standoff in Lemon Grove. A suspect has barricaded himself inside his home and is refusing to come out after firing multiple shots and injuring a neighbor. 

Skyline Drive between Longdale Drive and Palm Street is closed as deputies continue to negotiate with the suspect, who may have other weapons. Deputies evacuated eight homes in the neighborhood. Lemon Grove Early Childhood Education Center was also placed on lockdown as a precaution.

East County News Service

January 9, 2023 (San Diego) – San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputy Cory Richey has been arrested for 13 counts of burglary and three counts of illegal drug possession.

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.

By Elijah McKee

Photos, left to right:  Dave Myers, Kelly Martinez, John Hemmerling, Charles Battle, Juan Carlos Mercado, Gundo Gunderson, Jonathan Peck

May 26, 2022 (San Diego's East County) — A seat of power will soon be filled in San Diego County that has not seen turnover since 2009: the Sheriff. 

By Miriam Raftery

April 18, 2022 (San Diego) – Kelly Martinez is the first woman to serve as San Diego County's Undersheriff. Now she's a candidate hoping to become the first woman Sheriff in our region, aiming to fill the vacancy left by long-time Sheriff Bill Gore’s retirement. Last week, with East County Magazine held an in-depth interview with Undersheriff Martinez, which also aired on KNSJ radio. 

She’s spent 37 years in the department, where the started the Sheriff’s Homeless Assistance Resource Team and Marijuana Enforcement teams. She helped manage the department’s responses through the pandemic and civil unrest. She says she’s committed to investing in improving public safety and jail safety, as well as filling vacancies amid critical staffing shortages.

View video of the full interview. Hear audio version.  Scroll down to read highlights.

By Miriam Raftery

Image: CC via Bing

February 18, 2022 (San Diego) – After revelations that San Francisco police used DNA collected from rape kits to charge a rape victim with a property crime, San Francisco’s District Attorney Chesa Boudin dismissed the charges and called the police actions a violation of the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.

So East County Magazine asked the San Diego Sheriff department whether it has submitted rape victims’ DNA collected at hospitals to a database that could be used to link rape victims to other crimes.

Within hours of our request, Lieutenant Amber Baggs, the Sheriff’s Media Relations Director, sent this response:  “No we do NOT do this.  I read the article as well and checked with our Crime Lab Director. We do not match victim's DNA to other crimes. Thank you for asking so this can be clarified.”

Source: San Diego Sheriff

November 13, 2021 (San Diego) -- The San Diego County Sheriff's Department is partnering with the San Diego County District Attorney's Office, La Mesa Police Department, El Cajon Police Department and the United African American Ministerial Action Council to get unwanted guns off our streets.

Join the Guns For Gift Cards event on Saturday, November 13 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the La Mesa Civic Center, 4825 Date Avenue, La Mesa. Turn in your unwanted gun and receive a gift card ($100 for handguns, rifles and shotguns & $200 for assault weapons).  Remain anonymous.  No questions asked.

By Miriam Raftery

July 21, 2021 (San Diego) —  Why does San Diego County have the highest rate of jail deaths of any other major California county?  Local legislators hope to find out.  On July 1st, the Joint Legislative Audit Committee approved a measure to ask California’s State Auditor to provide independently developed and verified information on inmate deaths in the custody of the San Diego Sheriff’s department.

The request for the audit was introduced by Assemblymember Akilah Weber (D-San Diego) along with other members of the San Diego delegation including Assemblymembers Tasha Boerner-Horvath, Brian Maienschein, Christopher Ward, Lorena Gonzalez, Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins, and Senator Ben Hueso.

“The approval of this audit request may provide answers to the many families who have lost loved ones while in the custody of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office,” said Assemblymember Weber. "A jail sentence should not be a de facto death sentence. We can use this opportunity to uncover the disparities of the department protocol so that we can implement better procedures for protecting the safety of incarcerated individuals.”

Source: San Diego Sheriff, Ramona substation

Photos: Suspect #1 and Suspect #2

November 24, 2020 (Ramona) -- San Diego County Crime Stoppers and investigators from the Ramona Sheriff’s substation are asking for the public’s help in identifying and locating the suspects responsible for a commercial burglary.

On Monday, November 16 at around 10:00 p.m., two unknown suspects forced entry into the Sunbelt Rentals store located at 2055 Main Street in Ramona. The suspects cut a hole in the outer fence of the property and then proceeded to break a window of the business to gain entry inside. The suspects stole several power tools and generators totaling around $15,000.

By Miriam Raftery

October 21, 2020 (Spring Valley) – Sheriff’s deputies responding to a call reporting a shooting Monday night discovered an illegal gambling establishment set up in an outbuilding at 1726 Helix Street in Spring Valley. “It contained approximately fifteen slot machines. Spent shell casings from a firearm were also located in the outbuilding,” says Lieutenant Joel Stranger.

Deputies from the Rancho San Diego station responded around 9:22 p.m. Monday and checked the property, but no shooting victim was found. During the search, one deputy stepped on a board with nails sticking up in an apparent “booby trap,” according to Lt. Stranger.

Sheriff also warns consumers about virus-related scams

By Miriam Raftery

March 18, 2020 (San Diego)—The San Diego Sheriff's department has arrested eight local people for selling hoarded toilet paper, cleaning supplies, hygiene products and protective equipment at price-gouging rates. The suspects, who posted the items for sale online, could be fined up to $10,000 and imprisoned.

It is illegal to price gouge during an emergency. After the state emergency declaration due to COVID-19, when consumers found store shelves emptied of much-needed supplies, deputies began checking out online websites. They found local residents offering items at up to 20 times higher than normal. 

Plain-clothes deputies from the Fallbrook station arranged to meet and buy the excessively priced goods, then arrested the suspects including individuals from unicorporated El Cajon, Escondido, Poway, San Diego, San Marcos, Rainbow, and Vista.

The eight people arrested, who were cited and released pending trial, are: