Drugs and Alcohol: June 2008 Archives

Deputies will conduct a sobriety and driver's license checkpoint from 7 p.m. tonight to 3 a.m. Saturday on Avalon Boulevard north of 169th Street in Carson.

Gardena police have identified a man killed in a collision with a suspected drunken driver as 21-year-old Khalib Zaire Turner, 21. Yesterday, we were told he had a Hawthorne address, but police today said he lived in Compton.

Turner died in the 11:50 p.m. crash Tuesday at El Segundo Boulevard and Normandie Avenue.

John Henry Guerrero, 24, of Torrance was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and vehicular manslaughter, police said.

I did a Web search on Turner and found his name listed as a student in an El Camino College English class and found his MySpace page, which was private. This photo accompanied it.

June 26 is the United Nations' International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

The day is supposed to raise awareness of the major problem that illicit drugs represent to society. Countries all over the world commemorate the day with anti-drug activities.

Here's a message from the 1980s. (The video doesn't match the sound, but that makes it even more special.)

If you are one of these kids, send an email to tell us about that day.

 

This guy is God. Seriously.

He's also Lucky. And a bit unlucky.

His name is God Lucky Howard, 39. He got arrested in Tampa for dealing cocaine.

Here's the full story by the Tampa Tribune's Howard Altman (no relation).

And then there's this one:

In Alton, Texas, an inmate tried to escape from the city's jail by crawling through the air ducts, but crashed through the ceiling -- into the police chief's office!

Oops. Here's the rest from AP:

Police say 17-year-old Jesus Albert Suarez Chavez and 22-year-old Roman Orozco Martinez tried to escape through air conditioning ducts of the Alton city jail around 3 a.m. Saturday, but had been spotted by a dispatcher monitoring security video.

One of the inmates fell through the ceiling into the office of Police Chief Baldemar Flores, who wasn't there at the time. The second inmate was trying to get into the vent.

Flores said he didn't know which inmate fell through the ceiling, only that the vents were very small.

Chavez and Martinez are charged with burglary of a vehicle, evading arrest, resisting arrest, assault on a public servant and making a terrorist threat. They are now being held in the Hidalgo County Jail.

About a minute after I posted the previous item about the driver's license checkpoint in Gardena, I got this comment from William Smith:

"What type of public service is this by warning offenders that they will
be cited?

With so may illegal drivers on our roads all you are doing is giving
them a free get out of jail card.

Great job you idiot."

May I respond, Mr. Smith?

I don't mind if you ask me a question or comment on my reporting, but don't write in and call me names. (Sticks and stones.)

We have answered people's questions on this issue time and again. Here it is once more:

The California Supreme Court used to require police to publicize sobriety checkpoints before they could hold them. It was called "advance publicity." We used to run the notices for free as a public service.

A number of years ago, the court reversed itself on that requirement. Police, however, continue to call us and ask us to publicize the information. They believe the information about sobriety checkpoints is a deterrent for drunken driving. They also take the news reports from the paper and Web into court to show judges that the information was publicized and drivers should have known better.

Officers apply the same logic to driver's license checkpoints.They figure if you know they conduct checkpoints, and you might lose your car for 30 days, you'll go get a license.

Here's a little extra background:  That item on Wednesday's checkpoint was posted today about two minutes after I got off the phone with Gardena police Officer Sergio Borbon, who asked me to publicize it. I typed it as I spoke to him.

Thanks for reading the blog.

Officers will conduct a driver's license checkpoint from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday in the southbound lanes of Vermont Avenue at 170th Street in Gardena.

Violators without valid licenses will be cited and their cars will be towed.

(Oh, and if you are drunk, they'll get you for that too.)

I spoke earlier today with the older brother and a sister of the 16-year-old boy who allegedly shot his 21-year-old cousin in the head Wednesday in Harbor City.

They disagreed with the police account of what happened and said neither the teen nor the cousin is a gang member.

As I reported earlier, police said the teen and cousin were arguing about their neighborhood gangs. The teen, police said, was an associate of a Harbor City gang, and the cousin is a member of a Wilmington gang.

During the dispute, the teen pulled the trigger and shot his cousin in the temple, police said.
The teen admitted to the shooting, but said it was an accident.

Police will conduct a sobriety and driver's license checkpoint from 8:30 p.m. Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday in the soutbound lanes of the 600 block of Palos Verdes Boulevard in Torrance.

Torrance police will be joined by officers from other agencies.

Police said the goal is to contact and educate drivers about the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, and to remove impaired and irresponsible drivers from the roadway to reduce the number of people killed or injured in alcohol-related traffic collisions.

By the way, if you are down in Orange County on Friday night, sheriff's deputies will conduct extra patrols to track down drunken drivers in San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point.

Don't drink and drive and you won't have a problem like this guy:

So here's your warning:

Police will conduct a sobriety and driver's license checkpoint from 8 p.m. Saturday to 4 a.m. Sunday in the northbound lanes of Crenshaw Boulevard at Rocket Road in Hawthorne.

If you wonder what happens when you get stopped for drunk driving and taken to jail, take a look this video of St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa when he got popped in Florida during Spring Training last year.

The District Attorney's Office put this release out today about that Long Beach mom who took her kids along while she sold heroin.


Mother suspected of taking kids on drug deals charged

LONG BEACH - A Long Beach mother suspected of taking some of her eight children along when she sold heroin was charged today with multiple counts of child abuse and selling a controlled substance, the District Attorney's office announced.

Enedina Cardona, 36 (dob 5-14-72), is scheduled to be arraigned after 1:30 p.m. at Long Beach Superior Court, Dept. J. She is charged in case NA078544 with three counts of selling a controlled substance and one count of possession for sale of a controlled substance -- all felonies. In addition, she is charged with 12 misdemeanor counts of child abuse. Prosecutors are asking that bail be set at $120,000.

Cardona is charged with selling heroin on three occasions, May 19, 27 and 28. On May 19, she allegedly had three children -- her 3- and 6-year-old sons and her 13-year-old daughter -- in her car when she sold drugs to undercover police. On May 27 and May 28, she again allegedly had the two youngest boys in the car during a drug transaction. Her eight children range in age from 3 to 16.

The case has been assigned to Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Hight to prosecute.

Photo by the Press-Telegram.

Q. Any results of the Rosecrans DUI checkpoint on Saturday in MB? -- Stev.

A. Manhattan Beach police Sgt. Bryan Klatt said officers screened the occupants of more than 1,500 cars. They arrested 10 drivers on suspicion of driving under the influence. One was underage and one was a repeat offender.

Officers cited seven unlicensed drivers and towed 11 cars.

"We screened a lot of cars," Klatt said. "It was definitely worthwhile."

Barney Villa wrote to me about the recent death of former sheriff's Sgt. Mike Foster:

"We met several years ago, I was Mike's partner on the Burglary
Apprehension Team, Lomita Sheriff's Station. We later worked together
on the Arson Explosives Detail-Hazardous Material Team.  Mike is truly
missed, stories such as yours recently in the Daily Breeze remind me of
the great Cop, Husband, Father and most importantly friend to many that
he was.

Thank you Larry, It was very kind of you to acknowledge Mike."