Documented gang member Dionicio Crespin Torrez Jr., 24, pleaded not guilty to murder, Friday, March 17 at the Vista Courthouse in connection with the murder of an Escondido woman who drove through a violent gang turf confrontation on the way home from Bible study. Torrez could face the death penalty. Superior Court Judge Cynthia Freehand denied bail citing “the allegations and my concern for public safety.” “On…
No news was bad news as Escondido police renewed its call for somebody, anybody to come forward with information related to the slaying of a 55-year-old Escondido woman on her way home from church Tuesday night. A beloved wife and church worker, Catherine Kennedy was struck in the head by gunfire when she passed near some kind of crossfire between rival gangs in the 1800 block…
Escondido Police Department’s great reveal about its Jan. 28 DUI/Drivers License checkpoint took some reading between the lines to get the rest of the story. Nowhere in Lt. Mike Kearney’s “Sobriety Enforcement Results” was the most pertinent subject of a DUI/Drivers License checkpoint revealed in so many words. Which is to say, yet again, the sobriety enforcement roadblock yielded no DUI suspects. “Checkpoints are placed…
A long-simmering family feud over money boiled over early Wednesday when a 73-year-old Escondido man killed three relatives and critically wounded a fourth, according to police. Ali Zafar, of Escondido, was arrested on suspicion of homicide shortly after the shootings inside an apartment in Fontana, police Sergeant Kevin Goltara said. The 73-year-old shooting suspect surrendered to authorities at the property, police said, adding that the…
People may have behaved badly this year, but they’re behaving a lot less badly around San Marcos, about the same around Escondido and somewhat greater around Valley Center than last year. Overall, crime rates in these three communities combined dropped this year compared to last year, bucking a trend that found overall countywide rates rising. This, according to mid-year 2016 crime statistics compiled by SANDAG and…
The Border Patrol says it has arrested two men they believe tried to smuggle $3 million in cash into Mexico from California. The agency says its agents tracked and stopped a Kia Forte in Escondido on Tuesday and found nearly $34,000 stashed in the car’s center console Authorities say another car sped off as the first vehicle was stopped but it was later found abandoned…
Think Escondido should have a citizen’s review board for its police department. Think again. Escondido officials this week rejected the recommendation of the San Diego Grand Jury to establish a citizen’s police review board. Following investigation into “several citizen complaints regarding police behavior in local jurisdictions,” the Grand Jury called on Escondido along with El Cajon, La Mesa, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Chula Vista and Coronado to…
Shhh…Spoiler alert. Not really, The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department wants everyone to know something is happening there, but the location shall remain hush-hush undisclosed. Joining a countywide trend, Sheriff’s deputies will conduct the following: “On Friday, August 19, 2016 from 7:30 p.m., to Saturday, August 20, 2016 at 2:30 a.m., deputies from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department’s San Marcos Station will be conducting a…
Del Dios vehicle plunge A woman was seriously injured after her SUV plunged nearly 300 feet down a canyon along Del Dios Highway near the Lake Hodges dam Wednesday night, authorities said. Del Dios Highway was closed in both directions between Camino de Estrellas and the dam for several hours while a tow truck retrieved the vehicle and CHP officers investigated the crash. Witnesses told…
Luckiest guy at San Marcos It’s one thing to get hit by a speeding commuter train. Safe to say, it’s a whole ‘nother thing to get hit by the train, get up, walk away and still be at large. Such was the case, and fate, of an unidentified man who was struck by a train Thursday night near Palomar College in San Marcos. Like the…