The night of January 26, 2010, a 17-year-old gang member was arrested in Santa Ana, Orange County for carrying a loaded weapon. The incident occurred when police spotted the teen riding a "beach cruiser" and "acting suspicious."
When the officer tried to stop the teen, he jumped off the bike and ran. Police found him later hiding while carrying a loaded .38 caliber revolver.
California prohibits any individual from carrying a concealed firearm upon his or her person or within any vehicle under his or her control or in which he or she is an occupant. Under California Penal Code Section 12025, carrying a concealed firearm is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison, OR by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), OR by both fine and imprisonment if: (1) The firearm and ammunition are in immediate possession. Notably, a weapon that is loaded can be transported in a car if it is in a locked container like a carrying case or in the trunk of the car. It can only be carried on the person if the individual is going to or from a vehicle and the weapon must still be in a locked case.
Criminal Law Updates by the Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo (714) 547-4636
On January 6, 2010 in Orange County, Christopher Ontiveros, a history teacher at Oxford Academy, pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual acts with a 17-year-old student in his class. Several explicit text messages have been discovered, implicating Mr. Ontiveros.
The history teacher started out by tutoring the young female student after school and then later counseling her on medical issues, and eventually, spent time with her outside of school. The student told police that Mr. Ontiveros kissed her once at the end of the last school year and once school resumed in September, the relationship grew more intimate. In one of his numerous texts, he wrote, "Maybe there's many ways to prove myself, but one for sure is when I get to hold u and share this ecstatic love making, it's real and binds us."
The Orange County District Attorney has charged Mr. Ontiveros with three felony counts of sexual penetration by foreign object of a minor (California Penal Code Section 289), one felony count of oral copulation of a minor (California Penal Code Section 288a), one felony count of distributing harmful sexual material to a minor, one felony count of contacting a child with intent to commit sexual penetration, and one misdemeanor count of sexual battery. If convicted, Mr. Ontiveros faces a maximum sentence of six years in state prison.
Criminal Law Updates by the Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo (714) 547-4636
This video, OC in Two, is produced by the Orange County Register and includes information about this case.
Chidi Uzomah was arrested October 30, 2009, for stalking television and radio personality--Ryan Seacrest--at his workplace of E! News in Los Angeles. Uzomah was carrying a three-inch folding knife, but was captured before he got anywhere near the "American Idol" host. Uzomah, a Special Forces reserve, is the same man who attacked Seacrest's security guard just last month outside Orange County hospital during a charity event. A judge had placed Uzomah on three years probation for the prior incident and ordered him to stay away from Seacrest by issuing a temporary restraining order.
For this incident, on November 17, 2009, the judge granted Seacrest a permanent restraining order against Uzomah, which prevents him from coming within 100 yards of Seacrest, his home, his car and his workplace for the next three years. In addition, Uzomah is not allowed to have any direct or indirect contact with Seacrest. He is currently being held on felony stalking charges.
California Penal Code Section 646.9 (a) states that "Any person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows or willfully and maliciously harasses another person and who makes a credible threat with the intent to place that person in reasonable fear for his or her safety, or the safety of his or her immediate family is guilty of the crime of stalking, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment, or by imprisonment in the state prison."
Subsection (b) further states that any person who violates the above section when there is a temporary restraining order already in place shall receive imprisonment in the state prison for two, three or four years.
