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A big drug bust happened around 9am Sunday morning when a female driver approached the interstate 8 inspection facility in Pine Valley. For some reason, the woman wouldn’t roll down her window for routine questioning. Essentially creating the circumstances for her own downfall, her strange behavior tipped off the officers to inspect her vehicle. A drug detecting dog alerted them to the presence of some type of contraband; heroin and methamphetamine were hidden in her dashboard in a non-factory compartment. Authorities seized the large amount of drugs, with a total weight of 24.91lbs – a street value estimated to be just over half a million dollars. The female driver, whose name was not released, was taken into custody and is expected to face federal charges of possession of controlled substances. The Border Patril seized her car and now has it in their custody for further inspection.

Sources:
“Large Drug Bust In East County” – San Diego 6, The CW

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Authorities from the U.S. and Mexico successfully stopped and captured a boat attempting to smuggle approximately one ton of marijuana in the international waters about 150 miles southwest of San Diego, according to officials. The boat was originally detected by a standard Border Patrol aircraft on Thursday morning and notified Coast Guard officials. The Coast Guard responded by sending a C-130 Hercules aircraft and crew to support the Coast Guard Cutter, Terrapin, sent to intercept the suspicious boat in international waters. The Terrapin is an 87-foot patrol boat and is based out of Bellingham, Washington. The crew of the Terrapin is formally trained to handle situations like this and when they got aboard the boat in question, they found three suspected smugglers and ninety bales of marijuana. The haul of drugs weighed approximately two-thousand pounds and were hidden on a fairly small boat called a “panga.” The suspected smugglers stated they were nationals of Mexico and were turned over to the Mexican Navy, along with the drugs and the boat. On August 1st, the Coast Guard captured two other pangas with four other suspected smugglers carrying about twelve-thousand pounds of marijuana.

Sources:
“Coast Guard: Boat Carrying 1 Ton Of Marijuana Captured” – Times of San Diego

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A study was conducted to determine drug usage among the youth booked into Juvenile Hall in San Diego. The study revealed marijuana use is at a record high among the youth coming through, with more than half of them testing positive for the drug through urinalysis; fifty-three percent to be exact. The last study, in 2000, found forty-two percent of those who were booked into Juvenile Hall tested positive for pot, an eleven percent difference. The youth were questioned along with being drug tested and were asked a series of questions to determine their level of experience with substances. According to the study, ninety-percent responded that they had tried marijuana before with an average age of 12 as the earliest they had come in contact with it. Eighty-eight percent said it was easy to come by the drug, with only sixteen-percent admitting pot was bad for them; compared to 34 percent for alcohol and 58 percent for tobacco. Not only had these kids experienced the drug, some admitted to having ridden in a vehicle driven by someone under the influence and going to class drunk or high. There is a growing belief that marijuana isn’t that bad for you and it is affecting today’s youth and their decision making process.

Sources:
“Marijuana Use Among Juvenile Hall Youth At High: Study” – NBC 7 San Diego

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Every year for three decades, the UCSD has held a music festival called the Sun God Festival. Students attend and relax, getting a day to relieve tensions before returning to the classroom and studies. As of late, however, the administration has become concerned with increased drug use happening at the festival and the poor decisions students are making; mixing drugs with alcohol. This year a San Diego student, Ricardo Ambriz, fatally collapsed in his dorm room after attending the festival all day. Witnesses heard Ambriz talking “gibberish” before he collapsed, and as he left the festival around midnight, he was “reaching his hands into the air attempting to grab at things.” The level of abuse has increased since 2012, with 21 people being hospitalized in 2012 and 48 people this year, 2014. Witnesses say earlier in the day Ambriz admitted to taking some type of drug and continuously drank alcohol throughout the day. During the autopsy, the medical examiner performed toxicology tests and found a drug called 5-APB or “Benzo Fury,” a drug derived of MDA, which has been linked to amphetamines. The festival website has added information and warnings about drugs and mixing drugs with alcohol. A police investigation produced no information as to where Ambriz may have gotten the drug.

Sources:
“UCSD Student Dies Of Overdose After Attending All Day Music Festival” – LA Times

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A man from San Diego, Christopher Cheatum, was supposedly vacationing in Florida when he got into some trouble for driving under the influence. Cheatum was drunken driving when he started taking his vehicle in circles around fuel pumps at a Love’s gas station on County Road 255 in Madison County, Florida. This strange behavior alerted nearby law enforcement and they quickly approached the scene, leading Cheatum to attempt to escape. Luckily, deputies caught him quickly before he could get onto the roads and harm himself or others. Officers say he reeked of alcohol and his speech was all over the place in slurs. Cheatum was swiftly arrested for DUI and taken into custody. Apparently he partied a little too hard on his vacation and hopefully he learned his lesson and found himself a good lawyer!

Sources:
“California Man Arrested In Madison County For DUI” – WTXL TV

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An interesting series of events leading up to a murder occurred last year around September 24, but the man at fault was just convicted of second degree murder on Friday. Jeret Thomas Needham, 43, started an altercation with a man he has just hired as a temporary assistant to help with wrestling coaching at Madison High School. The victim, Robert Colegrove, apparently refused to get out of a chair when Needham wanted him to and it drove him to ridiculous lengths; committing murder. After Colegrove wouldn’t get out of the chair, Needham exited the premises and on his way out was heard muttering over and over again “shouldn’t have done that.” Later in the day, he returned with a gun and camped out behind Colegrove’s backyard fence. According to Needham, Colegrove saw him behind the fence and was walking toward him with a knife saying “I’m going to kill you.” Needham fired his handgun and fatally shot Colegrove once in the heart. Needham, the former Madison High School wrestling coach, had his lawyers claiming it was self defense, but the jury didn’t quite buy it; they did, however, lower it to second degree murder verus first degree murder.

Sources:
“Wrestling Coach Convicted Of Second-Degree Murder” – San Diego 6, The CW

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A tragic shootout occurred in St. Louis last week when two men opened fire at each other in public streets. During the shootout, which happened just outside of an apartment complex in the 1900 block of Hodiamont Avenue, 46 year old Juliette Cleveland-Davis was walking with her three grandchildren when one of the bullets struck her in the middle of her chest; rendering her dead at the scene. Her three grandchildren, ages 4, 5 and 7, were fortunately unharmed, but sadly had to watch their own grandmother succumb to the violence. The two men responsible for the exchange of bullets are Errick Owens and Tommy Dora Jr., both being held without bond while they await trial. Owens, 20, who lives on the 7400 block of San Diego avenue in North St. Louis county, was the first one captured and charged; murder and armed criminal action. The second man, Tommy Dora Jr., resides on the 5900 block of Ridge Avenue and was captured Saturday evening and charged with the same crimes. The two men are also suspected to have been firing at a third person who has yet to be identified by authorities.

Sources:
“Second Man Charged in Shooting of St. Louis Grandmother” – Post-Dispatch

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Ever been convicted of a misdemeanor or a felon and have had – or still have – trouble finding a job because of it? Not many employers are willing to look past a “yes” after asking if you’ve ever been convicted; luckily, you have an option. The state of California has a legal procedure put into place to “expunge” your criminal history; most of it, that is. The word expunge in it’s definitive form means to erase or get rid of completely, which isn’t exactly what it means in the legal sense of the word. You might be asking, “If an expungement doesn’t erase everything completely, then what does it do?” Well my friend, more than you might think; it restores a myriad of benefits. With an expungement, a plea of “guilty” or “no contest” can be changed to a plea of “not guilty”! As a result, your case is then dismissed by the court and all records of your case will reflect it. When granted an expungement, you can write on an application for employment that you have never been convicted – except for government jobs. Expungements can also improve credit ratings, help with housing, loan applications and restore student loan qualifications. There are some things, however, an expungement cannot do, such as erase your record completely, restore a suspended driver’s license and reinstate firearm rights. With the help of our law firm, applying for an expungement is simple; we do the work and the payout is infinite. It’s an affordable option put in place to help those with unfortunate mistakes in their past start working on a different path and be able to finally work hard to accomplish goals. The process of applying for and receiving and expungement is fairly simple with the help of a great lawyer; please don’t hesitate to contact us for a consultation or any questions you might have!

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At Jay-Z and Beyonce’s Rose Bowl concert in Pasadena, an interesting altercation occurred between a man, woman and the woman’s boyfriend. The man, later identified to be 25-year-old Roberto Alcaraz-Garnica, apparently copped a feel on the wrong girl; her boyfriend was extremely unappreciative. The woman’s boyfriend confronted Alcaraz-Garnica directly about his actions and a fight broke out, and a violent one at that. According to police, Alcaraz-Garnica, the man accused of groping the woman, bit part of one of the boyfriend’s fingers off! He was immediately arrested and taken into custody on suspicion of sexual battery and “mayhem,” held on $100,000 bail. Authorities are unaware if Roverto Alcaraz-Garnica has a lawyer or if one needs to be provided to him. The woman and her boyfriend were not charged, but police did make 10 other various arrests during Saturday’s concert. Roughly 55,000 fans attended this particular concert and the same turnout was expected at the second concert Sunday. Hopefully no fingers were lost.

Sources:
“Fingertip Bitten off At Beyonce/Jay-Z concert in San Diego” – CBS 8

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On July 11, 2011, the body of Rebecca Zahau was found bound with ties and hanging from a balcony at Spreckels mansion in Coronado. A message was also left on the outside of the mansion in black paint reading “She saved him. Can you save her.” Before she died, her boyfriend’s 6-year-old son fell and suffered fatal injuries while she was the only one there to watch him. Because of the overwhelming guilt she must have suffered, police ruled her death as a suicide; not explaining any of the eerie aspects of the crime scene. Zahau’s family, however, didn’t buy it – a wrongful death lawsuit was opened in July of 2013. According to the family, the ten million dollar lawsuit is to prove her death was the result of homicide, even going so far as to list suspects. In the files of the lawsuit the family named Zahau’s boyfriend’s brother, her boyfriend’s ex, and the ex’s sister. They believe on the morning of July 13, 2011, the three defendants came together and conspired a plan and made an agreement to murder Rebecca Zahau. The day before the murder took place, the two females involved confronted Zahau about the little boys death; attacking her with a blunt object and rendering her unconscious, supporting their capabilities of violence. The family of Zahau is desperate to prove Zahau suffered a wrongful death and that she was not depressed, suicidal, nor did she blame herself for the little boy’s death.

Sources:
“Amended Lawsuit: Rebecca Zahau Beaten, Strangled and Hung From A Balcony” – NBC 7 San Diego

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