Chino Hills teacher arrested after report of sex with student

A 30-year-old band teacher at Chino Hills High School was arrested on suspicion of having sex with a 16-year-old female student, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

Justin Wallin, an employee of the Chino Unified School District, was arrested and booked Thursday at the West Valley Detention Center on suspicion of unlawful sexual intercourse, oral copulation and sexual penetration with a foreign object, the sheriff’s department said.

Sheriff’s Deputy M.J. Higgins and Chino Hills police Detective Kathy Oros investigated the girl’s report Wednesday that she was sexually involved with her band teacher. Her parents discovered sexually explicit text messages on her cell phone sent by Wallin, police said, and after reviewing their phone bill discovered more than 8,000 more text messages from him to the girl’s phone. Police said they engaged in various sex acts in Chino Hills and Chino.

Detectives said they are concerned there may be other victims and ask that anyone with information call Oros at 909-364-2061 at the Chino Hills Police Department or their local law enforcement agency.

By DAYNA STRAEHLEY
The Press-Enterprise

Teen arrested as murder suspect

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Fontana police arrested an 18-year-old man in connection with the death of his pregnant girlfriend, police said.

Police have not yet found the body of Anyssia Katherine Escamilla, 17, of Bloomington, who disappeared May 11. Her boyfriend, Jesus Francisco Avitia, was arrested about 1:30 p.m. Friday and is being held at West Valley Detention Center on suspicion of murder, police said.

Escamilla’s parents reported her missing when she didn’t return home from school. When the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department began investigating, Avitia told them Escamilla was dead and had died in Fontana, police said. The investigation is continuing.

–Leslie Parrilla

The Press-Enterprise

Fire hydrants uprooted for valuable metal parts

A man dressed in an orange fluorescent vest showed up in a white utility truck, turned off water to a fire hydrant on the street and appeared to work on it.

What could be wrong with that?

Authorities now believe the man was a metal thief, hauling off entire 80- to 100-pound hydrants or cannibalizing them for their bronze and brass parts and selling them as scrap metal for about $1.60 a pound.

Replacing them can cost the public agencies between $1,000 to $1,800 each.

Since early April, 45 hydrants — 25 from one water agency — in San Bernardino and Riverside counties have been reported stolen or vandalized for their metal.

“When I heard about the incidents from our employees, I couldn’t believe it,” said Eldon Horst, general manager of the Jurupa Community Services District, which had 16 hydrants stolen or damaged since April 12.

On Wednesday a Riverside County man believed to be responsible for the brazen daytime thefts and vandalisms was jailed, said an investigator with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

Brian Burian, 45, was taken into custody at his home in the Riverside County community of Rubidoux, west of Riverside, after the owner of a Colton scrap yard identified him as the person who sold him scrap metal, said Deputy Roger Young.

Young, who investigates metal thefts, said his inspection of the scrap metal determined it was from a dismantled fire hydrant.

A scrap yard can be charged with a felony for buying a fire hydrant or parts of one. But in this case, the parts had been cut up so as to make them nearly unrecognizable, Young said.

“A layman wouldn’t be able to tell it was a hydrant,” he said. “It was just pieces of brass and bronze.”

Burian is being held at West Valley Detention Center on suspicion of receiving stolen property. He is due in court this morning.

Young said employees of the West Valley Water District in the city of San Bernardino, which had at least 25 hydrants vandalized, played a crucial role in cracking the case by staking out an area plagued by thefts.

On Tuesday, employees followed a truck seen in the Agua Mansa area on the border between Riverside and San Bernardino counties to Burian’s home and notified Young.

“They did awesome work,” Young said. “Without their help it would have been hard to stop this guy.”

Young said West Valley officials estimated their losses at between $50,000 and $80,000.

Burian was arrested in connection with the San Bernardino incidents, Young said.

“I believe 100 percent that he’s involved in the Riverside County thefts as well,” Young said.

Lt. Art Gonzales said Thursday the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department was seeking an arrest warrant for Burian in connection with one of the thefts after he was identified by a witness. The investigation is continuing.

“He has not been ruled out in the other 19 incidents,” Gonzales said.

Water company officials in both counties said the person responsible had expertise in shutting off the water supply to the hydrant before removing it and hauling it away.

The Rubidoux Community Services District had three hydrants taken and a fourth vandalized for its metal parts, said Steve Appel, the assistant general manager.

Young said witnesses in the San Bernardino incidents reported that the man wore an orange fluorescent construction vest and drove a white utility truck.

Gonzales said a witness in one of the Riverside thefts told investigators that when he approached the man tampering with the hydrant, the man said he was refurbishing it.

Burian has multiple convictions in both counties for receiving stolen property, drug possession and burglary.

By SANDRA STOKLEY
The Press-Enterprise

Police: ‘Morale low’ after officer charged in rape

RANCHO CUCAMONGA – The details of the crime are shocking enough.

A 25-year-old woman, in what authorities are calling a random attack, is kidnapped in daylight after walking to her car and being confronted by two men – one pointing a loaded gun at her.

The woman is ordered to drive to a nearby industrial park with one of the men, who then savagely rapes and beats her at gunpoint, threatening to kill her if she doesn’t comply, according to police and prosecutors.

Consider that two off-duty law enforcement officers – including a Westminster detective – are accused as the culprits, and the crime becomes even more difficult to comprehend.

Westminster police continue to reel from the arrest of one of their own following Saturday’s attack in Fontana, recoiling at the thought that a man sworn to protect the public could carry out such a crime.

“It caught us all by surprise,” said Westminster Police Chief Mitch Waller. “The morale right now is low. We take our position of trust very seriously and our officers are concerned of how the community will view this department.”

Waller, who became police chief in January and has been with the department for 26 years, said he has never had to deal with an issue of this magnitude.

“At this point they are allegations, but from what I know, the evidence against our officer is mounting,” Waller said.

Anthony Nicholas Orban, 30, a five-year officer with the Westminster police, and Jeff Thomas Jelinek, 30, a state prison guard at the Chino Institute for Men, face life in prison if convicted of the crime that unfolded in the parking lot of the Ontario Mills Mall on Saturday afternoon.

The two close friends, who have known each other since high school, have pleaded not guilty to an 11-count criminal complaint that accuses Jelinek of being the lookout for Orban, who police say carried out the sexual assault.

The two men were arrested after Ontario police traced a gun found in the woman’s car to Orban.

Waller said Orban, who has been placed on paid administrative leave, had always been a good officer with an exemplary record who was recently promoted to detective.

“Since we found out about this, we have been compelled to go back to his employment record, background record and polygraph test results,” Waller said. “We are checking to see if there were any red flags we missed, and we haven’t seen any,”

As part of an internal investigation, Waller said the department is also looking into allegations that Orban had an extramarital affair with a department dispatcher. Waller said the department learned about the possible affair from Ontario police.

Orban and Jelinek are being held at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga in lieu of $2 million bail.

Waller said that the department hired a consulting firm to conduct intensive training on policing ethics after a Westminster sergeant was terminated in September 2009 for using a state database to look up names and license plates for his personal use.

Last month, the former sergeant, William Arganda, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor unlawful disclosure of DMV records and domestic violence.

Waller said the rape accusation against Orban has left officers feeling betrayed by one of their own and concerned about the victim. “If the allegations are true, no woman should ever be subjected to such brutality,” he said.

Crimes of random violence by police officers are unusual, an expert said.

“It’s statistically bizarre to have an officer assault a woman in broad daylight and rape her like this case alleges,” said Ronald Huff, a criminologist at UC Irvine. “This is really rare.”

Huff said that if you hear about a cop sexually assaulting a woman, it’s usually involves a prostitute or a traffic stop in a remote location.

“The crime is a random act of violence that could have happened to anyone, which is scary enough, but the fact it was committed by an off-duty officer, whose job it is to protect the public from crimes, makes this case especially horrific,” said San Bernardino County Deputy District Attorney Deborah Ploghaus, who is prosecuting the case.

Both Orban and Jelinek had been drinking throughout the day, Ploghaus said. Results of intoxication tests still are pending.

“You can’t take one instance and say all cops are like that,” said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. “Every walk of life has a bad apple. Every profession has a bad apple and unfortunately there in no foolproof system to weed out the bad ones.”

“If the allegations are true, they are totally disgusting,” Amormino said. “Anyone who tarnished the badge … should be punished even more.”

In an interview, Orban’s attorney, James E. Blatt, hinted that a possible defense he will build for his client is that the alleged crime was an “aberration,” but he declined to elaborate.

Huff said police officers have stressful jobs and have higher incidences of alcohol abuse, domestic problems and divorce.

“That has to do with the hours they work and the stress they are under, but that doesn’t justify raping a woman,” Huff said. “If the allegations are true, I don’t know what could explain it unless his judgment was severely impaired by alcohol or drugs or both.”

Blatt said Orban’s wife and other relatives, colleagues and friends are shocked at the charges filed against the former Marine and Iraq War veteran.

Jelinek’s court-appointed attorney, San Bernardino County Deputy Public Defender Renae Carpenter, could not be reached for comment.

Three other recent cases with Orange County connections involve law enforcement officers charged with violent crimes.

Huntington Beach police officer James Roberts III, 33, is charged with 20 counts of sexually and physically assaulting his former wife and a former girlfriend. He was initially charged in September 2009 and is awaiting trial.

In December 2008, Long Beach police officer Orlando Mendez, 26, of Anaheim was charged with assaulting his ex-girlfriend and two of her friends after chasing them in his car and firing shots into the air while off-duty. He pleaded guilty in 2009 and was sentenced to six months in jail.

In October 2008, Los Angeles Sheriff’s deputy Robert Avery McClain, 34, was accused of sexually assaulting his wife and savagely torturing another man at the man’s Irvine apartment after his wife announced she was leaving him. He is still awaiting trial.

Ontario detectives are concerned that there may be other victims. They are asking that anyone who has information to contact the Ontario Police Department at 909-395-2908.

The investigation is still pending and no other possible victims have been identified, said Ontario police spokesman Sgt. David McBride.

Register News Researcher Michael Doss contributed to this story.

By DENISSE SALAZAR and GREG HARDESTY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Teens’ MySpace Prank Leads To Arrest

A group of boys who posed as a 15-year-old girl for an Internet prank ended up helping California police arrest a 48-year-old man who tried to meet the fictitious teenager for sex, authorities said.

The five boys had created a fake profile of a girl on MySpace.com — a social networking Web site — to cheer up a friend who had recently broken up with his girlfriend. Soon after, a man began sending messages to the “girl” and their conversations began to have sexual overtones, said Fontana police Sgt. William Megenney.

The man also sent the “girl” his picture and arranged to meet her at a public park in Fontana, 65 miles east of Los Angeles. The boys went to the park and, when the man arrived, they called police.

“He admits to detectives he was going to go up there, meet this 15-year-old girl and have sex,” Megenney said.

Michael Ramos, 48, of Fontana, was booked into West Valley Detention Center on Monday for investigation of felony attempted lewd and lascivious conduct with a child and for an outstanding warrant, Megenney said. He was being held at the West Valley Detention Center on $105,000 bail, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Web site.

The California arrest is the fourth case in two weeks involving the extremely popular MySpace site.

On March 3, the FBI arrested two men in what prosecutors said were the first federal sexual assault charges involving MySpace. The unrelated cases involved Connecticut girls who were 11 and 14, the FBI said.

And, in February, a middle school student in Costa Mesa, Calif., allegedly threatened a female classmate on MySpace. The posting asked “Who here in the (group name) wants to take a shotgun and blast her in the head over a thousand times?” The student who allegedly posted the message is facing suspension from the school. Twenty other students in the Internet group were suspended from school for viewing the Web page, school officials said.

Authorities nationwide have expressed concern that the popular site puts children at risk for abuse, but the CEO of MySpace said the site remains safe. He encouraged parents to teach children the same commonsense rules on the Internet that they learn in the real world.

“If you go to the mall and start talking to strange people, bad things can happen,” Chris DeWolfe, a co-founder of the site, said in a telephone interview. “You’ve got to take the same precautions on the Internet.”

Church services are popular at West Valley Detention Center

RANCHO CUCAMONGA – Inmates clad in blue and orange jumpsuits gather into common rooms at West Valley Detention Center on Sundays to hear the word of God.

With Bibles in hand, inmates are greeted by volunteers with a warm welcome and a firm handshake. An hour-long service begins with a prayer, is followed by a sermon and concluded with reflections on what they discussed.

For some it may play as a sense of normalcy as inmates are treated to a similar experience that many people receive every Sunday at their respective congregations.

It also serves as an opportunity to get closer to God and also search for forgiveness for their crime.

Alfredo Garcia, 35, is one of about a dozen inmates from the center’s Protective Custody unit who attends Sunday church services.

Before being sentenced to jail, Garcia said he was active in his local church community and attended services has a way to grow and learn life lessons.

“When they (the volunteers) visit, I usually come,” he said. “I want to keep learning how I can make myself better and to forgive myself for what I did.

“And hopefully for others to forgive me for what I did.”

Services are offered four times a day on Sundays, twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon.

Services are led by volunteers from local churches, including Chaplain Gary Gonzales of Pure Rock Community Church in Beaumont.

Gonzales has been volunteering at West Valley since 1983, helping to spread the word of God to those looking to find religion or continue their religious education.

Many inmates can relate to Gonzales’ message as he was in jail before being released on three years parole in the 1970s.

“I can relate to the daily struggles they themselves might be going through and who are trying to figure it all out,” he said. “It’s an everyday responsibility and they must be willing to make it right, instead of denying something.”

Gonzales said he received the message of God after he headed straight to a Christian men’s home after receiving his parole.

On Sunday, he led a service at the center’s General Population unit, but said he returns to the center every Tuesday to speak to inmates on a one-on-one basis if he is asked.

“They make a request to talk with (me) and I pray with them,” he said. “It’s a way for others to talk with me in a quiet environment because sometimes they want to discuss something they don’t want other (inmates) to know.”

At this Sunday’s service he encouraged inmates after they finish sentence, to follow parole instructions and pay any fines necessary.

“I was in jail for a few months waiting for my trial to start. I was lucky that God didn’t allow me to go to jail, but it was a big wake-up call,” he said.

Registered sex offender arrested held in West Valley Detention

Big Bear Lake teen runaway found after traveling to Nevada with man she met on MySpace

Big Bear Lake, April 30, 5:30 p.m.: Ryan Michael Long, 22, was arrested

April 22 for crossing state lines with and having sexual relations with a 14-year-old runaway from Big Bear Lake. He is currently being held at the West Valley Detention Center in San Bernardino. The bail is set at $500,000, according to Tiffany Swantek of the Big Bear Sheriff’s Department.

The Rockford, Ill., resident was arrested on charges of child stealing at the Big Bear Lake Sheriff’s station on April 22. The charges filed against him also include oral copulation with a person under 16, sexual penetration with a foreign object and unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor more than three years younger, according to San Bernardino County Superior Court records. Each charge filed is a possible felony carrying a sentence of one to eight years.

The two met on MySpace.com, a social networking site, according to detective Craig Harris. Long’s MySpace page depicts Long smoking and drinking and has his status listed as single, his religion listed as Wiccan.

Long is in custody at West Valley Detention Center in San Bernardino. Because he crossed state lines with the juvenile, he is subject to federal charges, as well. “The FBI are going to trail our case and then file additional charges at that time,” Swantek said. His court date is set for May 4 in Big Bear, Swantek said..

She was listed as a runaway juvenile. Right now, no. It is considered kidnapping becuse he is an adult. The kidnapping is a child 14 or under with the intent to commit lewd and lascivious acts. He admitted to detectives during interrogation that he was a registered sex offender in Illinois. His records are not public information because the crime he committed was while he was a juvenile, according to Harris.

There is currently a message on Long’s MySpace page claiming to be from his sister threatening the life of the girl who he was involved with. His mood is listed as “killin hoe’s [sic].” The last update to the page was on April 29. Long was in jail at the time, according to Swantek.

The above story is an update on the story below:

On April 21, Big Bear Sheriff’s deputies responded to a runaway juvenile call in the city of Big Bear Lake, according to Tiffany Swantek sheriff’s service specialist of the Big Bear Lake Sheriff’s Station. The 14-year-old female left a note for her parents saying that she was leaving home with her boyfriend. Deputies investigated the girl’s phone records and found numerous calls to and from Ryan Michael Long, a 22-year-old male from Rockford, Ill. The two met on MySpace.com, an internet social networking site.

Police officers contacted Long and told him that the girl was reported as a runaway and that he needed to return the juvenile to her family in Big Bear Lake. During the investigation, deputies discovered that Long is a registered sex offender in Illinois, according to detective Craig Harris. Big Bear police officers coordinated with deputies from the Baker, Calif., Sheriff’s substation who detained Long and returned the juvenile to her family.

The 14-year-old and Long were interviewed by police officers. The two admitted they had corresponded by computer, text messaging and cell phone calls for several months. The two also revealed that they had engaged in various sexual activities in Long’s vehicle in both California and Nevada.

Long was initially released once the juvenile was returned to her family, Harris says. But it was then found out that he was a registered sex offender in Illinois and he was arrested in Baker. “The girl did not know he was a registered sex offender,” Harris told The Grizzly. “He had told her that he had been in jail from when he was 15 to 21, but he told her it was for selling drugs at his school. She was a little shocked to find out.”

The district attorney’s office filed numerous charges against Long, each carrying prison sentences ranging from one to eight years. Long traveled across state lines with the juvenile, which is a federal offense carrying a minimum prison sentence of 15 years. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been notified and is pursuing federal charges.

By ARRISSIA OWEN TURNER
Reporter

Inmate found hanging in West Valley jail cell by his T-shirt

An inmate at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga died Monday, three
days after a deputy discovered him hanging by his white, cotton T-shirt in his jail
cell, officials said.

At 11:20 p.m. Friday, a deputy found 23-year-old Lucerne Valley resident Alvaro
Ortega hanging in his cell, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Arden Wiltshire.

Ortega, who had 11 counts pending against him, was taken to Kaiser Permanente
Hospital in Fontana and pronounced dead at 10:55 a.m. Monday, said coroner’s
spokeswoman Sandy Fatland.

The autopsy will be conducted by Riverside County officials because the death took place in the Sheriff’s Department’s custody.

Ortega was arrested on Jan. 18, 2008 and being held on $250,000 bail, Wiltshire said.

Ortega was charged with eight counts of robbery, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of attempted robbery.

By Jason Pesick on January 14, 2009 4:45 PM

San Bernardino County Settles Strip Search Lawsuit

Officials Deny Wrongdoing, But Agree To A $25.5 Million Settlement. Thousands Of Ex-West Valley Detention Inmates Could Benefit

By Joe Mozingo and Maeve Reston, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

San Bernardino County officials have agreed to pay $25.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that said jailers conducted illegal strip searches, sometimes in front of inmates and deputies of the opposite sex.

As many as 160,000 inmates may have been subjected to the searches over three years, attorneys for the plaintiffs said, and each could get several hundred dollars, depending on how many apply for the award. The settlement is one of the largest in the nation to resolve the issue balancing jail security concerns and inmates’ privacy rights.

Between May 2003 and December 2006, sheriff’s deputies strip-searched many inmates they processed into the two central jails, even if there was no reason to suspect them of smuggling contraband, the plaintiffs’ attorneys said at a news conference in Los Angeles.

Inmates were forced to bend over and spread their buttocks so deputies could see their body cavities, and some had their genitals inspected, according to the lawsuit. “These are pretty humiliating things for people who were arrested for all sorts of things, including very minor offenses,” said attorney Barry Litt.

San Bernardino County spokesman David Wert said the county denies wrongdoing and disputes the allegations in the suit.

County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt said San Bernardino County agreed to settle the suit to avoid the risks of litigation and noted that insurance would pay for most of the settlement. The department changed its policy last year after the lawsuit was filed so that the only people being strip-searched are those suspected of carrying contraband, Wert said.

Sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller said the searches were done for jail security. “Strip searches were never conducted with the thought of embarrassment to anyone; it was all to ensure the safety of all persons,” she said.

The agreement requires the county to contact current and former inmates who may have been subject to searches. The agreement is expected to become final after a court hearing in February.

The suit was filed on behalf of six women and one man who were searched at the West Valley Detention Center or the Central Detention Center. They were accused of crimes including violation of a restraining order and failure to appear in court in a drunk driving case.

It alleged that the searches violated their constitutional right to due process, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, and the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. It also alleges that the group strip searches violated state privacy laws.

The settlement names five groups of inmates who were searched illegally: those transferred between county jails before they were arraigned, federal inmates searched upon arriving at a county jail, inmates who had been in custody of another law enforcement agency, inmates who were ordered released and brought back to jail for processing, and inmates searched in groups.

Litt said that in December, a federal judge ruled that jail officials had violated the rights of inmates who were being strip-searched before their arraignments as well as those the courts had ordered released.

The judge found the procedure was an unreasonable search, Litt said.

Plaintiff Betty Welch said she was forced to strip three times with others at the West Valley Detention Center in July 2005, in view of male inmates and sheriff’s deputies not involved in the search. Some could watch through a large window in the hallway. She had been arrested for failure to appear on a drunk driving charge.

“That’s a violation,” she said.

The first time she was searched was when Adelanto police brought her to the detention center.

Welch appeared in court on July 25. Before she was taken to court, she was strip-searched, and after the judge ordered her released, she was taken back to West Valley and searched a third time.

Welch, 52, said inmates were forced to squat for at least a minute. She has steel rods and plates in her legs from a car accident and was in pain. She said another woman was eight months pregnant and was having trouble breathing.

Elroy Hardy said he was searched in a hallway of the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga with more than 40 other inmates.

Hardy, who was in custody in March 2005 for allegedly violating a restraining order, said the inmates were forced to stand naked, shoulder to shoulder and bend over with their backs to the guards while they were searched.

Hardy said female deputies and jail trustees were watching or walking through the area as they escorted other inmates or delivered bedding.

San Bernardino County Sheriff Gary Penrod, who was named in the lawsuit, was not available for comment.

The other four county supervisors did not return calls for comment.