escondido crime

Blowing up ATM machines crime does not pay, DOJ says

Chad Lee Engel was sentenced in federal court on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2023 to 138 months in prison for blowing up ATM machines to steal the money contained inside, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California. Engel, 50, of Chula Vista, pleaded guilty in July 2022, admitting that he participated in conduct outlined in the original indictment, including his part in causing…


People Behaving Badly: Mid-COVID Madness

People Behaving Badly has seen more than its share of miscreants and foolish hooligans through the years. Now in its 10th edition at this quality online media outlet, this approach to crime, and sometimes punishment, focuses on the strange and unusual, gruesome and innocently hilarious, along with the usual share of death, destruction and eternal damnation. In the age of covid, a new category of…


Revenge nude porn strikes out Jacque Jones

Former San Diego High and Major League Baseball standout, and San Pasqual Valley resident, Jacque Jones discovered a pitch he couldn’t beat when he struck out on a charge of posting revenge nude photos of an ex-girlfriend. Jones was alleged to have distributed multiple photos of the woman following an argument over a sweatshirt. A 12-member jury trial Feb. 19-23 mainly focused on one nude…


73-year-old Escondido man suspect in Fontana triple homicide

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…


Local crime rates fall, county rates rise

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…


Border Patrol seizes $3M in Escondido

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…


Alleged I-15 freeway on-ramp killer arrested

The freeway on-ramp killer, alleged, has been found and arrested. A seemingly routine Las Vegas traffic stop one week ago yielded the alleged killer of a woman found dead around 1 p.m. June 13 in a car to the side of the El Norte Parkway I-15 north entrance lane, Escondido police said Tuesday. Elizabeth Antoinette Perez, 38, of Fontana was found slumped over her black…


Police return to scene of apparent homicide

 “It’s a complex  case. We’re still working on it.” — Escondido police Lt. Ed Varso on death of woman found murdered in car on freeway ramp Monday. Escondido police Thursday morning closed the Interstate 15 on-ramp at El Norte Parkway for a second time in four days continuing to comb for clues in the murder of a 38-year-old woman driver just now identified as Elizabeth…


People (and bodies of water) behaving badly — Valley of Discovery edition

Night time was not the right time to party early Thursday at the normally quiescent San Marcos cul-de-sac in the 600 block of Helmsdale Road, off Kirkwall Drive near Palomar College. An intimate gathering of about 10 people erupted in an argument that led to gun shots, injuring a 20-tear-old female bystander as two men grappled over a loaded pistol. One man pulled out the…


Hard losing your best friend when you’re 21

(Editor’s Note: Hayfork is about as far as one can go from Escondido and remain in California, a distance of approximately 700 miles. Yet, two Escondido men were caught up in a recent incident resulting in the death of one. Jason Paul Brady, 40, who attended Orange Glen High School, immediately confessed to police to the April 4 murder of Amanda Patton, 21, and James…