Results tagged “Highland” from News 24/7

Two members of a Los Angeles-area street gang were found guilty today in a home invasion robbery at a Highland apartment complex.

A jury found Singa Rudolph Jones and Corvell Taris Staples, both 19, guilty of one count each of home invasion robbery and special allegations that a firearm was used and that the crime benefitted a street gang, according to prosecutors.

The verdicts were announced today in San Bernardino Superior Court, confirmed Deputy District Attorney Dan Detienne. The men face a maximum of 29 years in state prison when they are sentenced May 28, Detienne said.

Sheriff's deputies are looking for a man who robbed a CVS Pharmacy in Highland on Easter.
 
The suspect, who was wearing a black sweatshirt with the hood pulled over his head, forced himself into the manager's office in the rear of the pharmacy at 27310 Baseline Street in Highland.

He told an employee he had to use the bathroom about 9:45 p.m. Sunday, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's department news release. The employee opened the door for the man then turned to go back into the office.

Instead of going into the bathroom, the robber forced his way into the office, grabbed the employee by the hair and pushed her to the ground, keeping his back to the video surveillance camera the entire time.

The robber told the employee "I have a gun. If you scream, I'll kill you" as he held her down, according to the news release. He took an undisclosed amount of cash and put it into a bag before leaving the store. 

Sheriff's deputies from the Highland station got to the pharmacy while dispatchers were airing the call,  but the robber had already left the area, according to the news release.

Anyone with information about the robbery or the suspect can call the Highland Police Department (909) 425-9793. Callers who want to stay anonymous can call the Wee-Tip Hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME.

- lori.consalvo@inlandnewspapers.com

It's that time of year again when the city celebrates its beginnings as a humble citrus town.

The annual Citrus Harvest Festival is slated from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Palm Avenue and Main Street.

This is the 13th year the city has held the family-orientated street fair and history festival in its Historic District.

A Highland fire destroyed a detached garage and displaced four people Friday night

Firefighters had the 5:12 p.m. fire, at Fourth Street and Del Rosa Drive, under control at 6:05 p.m., said a Cal Fire dispatcher. No one was injured.

The damage to the garage and the contents inside added up to about $50,000.

The Red Cross was called because the four people, including a one-year-old child and a seven-year old were displaced from the nearby house.

No one was injured in a Friday evening fire in Highland.

The fire to a detached garage or carport at Fourth Street and Del Rosa Drive was reported at 5:12 p.m. and contained by 5:34 p.m., said a Cal Fire dispatcher.

The cause was unknown.

A woman, who helped an inmate boyfriend attempt a hit from inside a state prison, missed out on a lighter sentence after she allegedly broke more laws while she was released from custody.

Erika Julia Hernandez, 29, had pleaded guilty to one count of solicitation to commit murder in February and was set to receive a five-year sentence under a plea bargain she reached with prosecutors in San Bernardino Superior Court, according to court records.

Hernandez requested to be released on her own recognizance, and the court granted it. However, the defendant was told she could receive the full sentence, 13 years, if she broke any of the conditions of her release.

A 23-minute police pursuit through the streets of San Bernardino finally came to an end at 12:20 p.m. in Highland.

A few minutes before noon, police noticed a stolen car in San Bernardino near Baseline and Stoddard Avenue and tried to pull over the driver, said Sgt. Jarrod Burguan.

The man didn't pull over and led police on a pursuit through downtown and then back up to Baseline at speeds that reached 70 miles per hour at some points.

The man finally gave up in Highland and was arrested.

A San Bernardino man who faced charges in the shooting deaths of two men in May 2004 -- one of them was a co-defendant's stepfather -- was sentenced to state prison last week.

Jamar Lynn Franklin, 24, was sentenced to 10 years plus 15 years to life in state prison Thursday in San Bernardino Superior Court as part of a plea bargain reached with prosecutors in January.

Franklin pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and a special allegation for the use of a handgun on Jan. 15, according to prosecutors. A second murder count that had been charged to Franklin was dismissed as part of the agreement.

Franklin shot and killed the stepfather of co-defendant Chad Swanson in May 2004. Swanson believed Stacey Weldon, of Highland, had been physically abusing his mother.

A Highland man suspected of fraudulently using credit cards taken from a badly beaten church pastor was sentenced to two years in state prison as part of a plea bargain.

Allan Gomez was suspected of using credit cards that belonged to pastor James Dennis Warman who was violently attacked while putting up Christmas decorations at a Highland church in December.

Gomez, 20, pleaded guilty to one felony count of possession of stolen property on Thursday as part of an agreement with prosecutors in San Bernardino Superior Court, according to court records.

The District Attorney's Office has declined to file charges against a Sheriff's reserve deputy who shot a 25-year-old Beaumont man last year in Highland.

The report by Chief Deputy District Attorney Ben Gonzales found the Reserve Deputy Harold Rank was legally justified in shooting Troy Eugene Decker, 25, on Nov. 30 at  Alice and 14th streets. The report found Rank was acting in self defense.

The incident began that afternoon when Decker's brother reported to deputies that  Decker had taken his pickup truck without his permission, according to the report.
Deputies found the truck. When Decker, 35, got in, Rank tried to block him. Rank told  Decker to get out of the truck and put his hands up. Decker instead put the car in reverse and backed up away from Rank quickly enough to make the tires screech and smoke, according to the report.

Then Decker stopped because he was blocked by another patrol car and started accelerating forward toward Rank who was outside his car. Rank fired four shots at  the truck after Decker did not stop, according to the report. After a short pursuit,  deputies finally took Decker into custody. He had been shot once in the bicep, breaking his arm. Blood samples showed amphetamine in his body.

According to the report, Decker, who was on parole, said he panicked and didn't want to go back to prison.

Decker now faces charges of assault on a police officer, unlawful taking of a vehicle and unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle, according to the report.

Sheriff's deputies have arrested a 25-year-old Highland man in the Feb. 1 fatal shooting of Frank Galvan, a 19-year-old San Bernardino resident.

Ivan Sanchez was hosting a birthday party that night in the 25500 block of Walker Street in Highland, according to a Sheriff's news release.

After a group of people "crashed" the party, a fight started and shots were fired. Galvan tried to get away before he was shot by Sanchez, authorities said.

After hearing a number of gunshots shortly before 1 a.m., deputies went to the home and found Galvan in the street. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sanchez was booked at Central Detention Center on suspicion of the shooting. He is being held without bail.

Sheriff's investigators believe there may be other suspects in the case.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call (909) 387-3589 or WE-TIP at (800) 78-CRIME to remain anonymous.

Two people were arrested on suspicion of robbery and attempted murder during a narcotic-related transaction in Rancho Cucamonga.

Dandre Taylor was arrested about 2 p.m. on Feb. 20 at the intersection of Highland and Boulder Avenues in Highland, according to a San Bernardino County Sheriff's news release.  Taylor was taken into custody and his bail is set at $1,000,000.

Avery Myles, 35, of San Bernardino was taken into custody Feb. 13 - the day of the shooting, according to the news release. The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office later filed charges and his bail was set at $1,400,000.   

Both suspects were booked at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

Sheriff's deputies arrived about 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 13 in the 6000 Block of Fontaine Place after receiving reports of shots fired. 

Officials found a 38-year-old man lying in the front yard of a residence with multiple gunshot wounds, according to the news release.  The Pasadena resident was flown to a local hospital for treatment.

Sheriff's deputies found about $100,000 in cash at the scene, according to the news release.
Because the investigation is still ongoing, Sheriff's deputies have chosen not to release the victim's name.

lori.consalvo@inlandnewspapers.com

Redlands police arrested a 30-year-old Rialto man early Saturday morning after he drove through a DUI checkpoint late Friday, crashed his car and ran to his girlfriend's house in Highland.

Around 11:30 p.m. Friday, Bryant Jones was drove his Dodge Charger into the checkpoint on Orange Street near San Bernardino Avenue. He told an officer he had a suspended driver's license and then instead of going into a "screening" area as directed, he drove away, according to a Redlands news release.

Redlands police decided not to pursue Jones because he drove through a red light, into oncoming traffic lanes and was going 100 miles per hour during his escape, according to the release.

Sheriff's deputies soon called Redlands police with information that Jones crashed and overturned his car when he reached Boulder Avenue via Orange Street. Then he ran on foot to his girlfriend's house, where police found him.

Jones did have a suspended license for driving under the influence, in addition to more than $300,000 worth of arrest warrants for DUI.

He was taken to Central Detention Center in San Bernardino.

A gang member was ordered held over for trial Thursday in a foiled plot with his girlfriend to kill another member of the gang while in state prison. 

 

Defendant David Martinez, 34, reportedly called his 29-year-old girlfriend, Erika Hernandez, from Calipatria State Prison in July to order the killing of another member of the gang, according to Redlands police.

 

After listening to witness testimony, Judge Douglas N. Gericke determined sufficient evidence was presented by prosecutors during a preliminary hearing in San Bernardino Superior Court to hold Martinez to answer charges stemming from the plot to kill a 26-year-old Highland man last July.

A 13-year-old boy was shot Tuesday night in Highland when he went downstairs to get
something out of a car, officials said. His wounds do not appear to be life threatening.

A man and two women got into an argument at the complex in the 7400 block of Elm Street shortly before 6:30 p.m., said sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller Then the women got into a car and drove northbound quickly on Elm and exchanged "several rounds of gunfire" with the man, according to a sheriff's news release.

As the car, which is described as a light-colored sedan, drove by, the 13-year-old was shot.
Anyone with information should call Highland detectives at (909) 425-9793 or 1 (800) 78-CRIME to remain anonymous.

A San Bernardino man who was suspected of killing two men in 2004 took a plea bargain today as lawyers were set to begin jury selection for his upcoming criminal trial, according to prosecutors.

Jamar Lynn Franklin pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and a special allegation for the use of a handgun, court officials said. He faces 25 years to life in state prison when he is sentenced.

The defendant agreed to the plea bargain today in San Bernardino Superior Court, confirmed Deputy District Attorney Steve Sanchez. A second murder count, which had been charged to Franklin, will be dismissed under the terms of the agreement.

Tuesday's high winds combined forces with power lines to start a small fire near a vacant house in Highland at 2:07 p.m.

The fire did not damage the house but lit up a large palm tree and burned up the front lawn and overgrown vegetation in front of the house at 25461 Flamingo Rd., said a Cal Fire dispatcher.

The fire was under control in about 15 minutes.

The Highland Design Review Board on Tuesday reviewed a development plan for 133 homes on about 22 acres on the southeast corner of Greenspot Road and Orange Street.

Concerns centered around street right-of-ways, drainage and a proposed trail and open space, and how the project relates to another neighboring development approved by the city a couple of years ago, said John Jaquess, Highland's community development director.

City staff will prepare a packet for the Planning Commission to review at an upcoming meeting, likely in March, Jaquess said.

In other news, the board approved a sign program for a new Farmer Boys restaurant and a stand alone retail building on a 1 1/2-acre parcel of land on the northwest corner of Fifth Street and Palm Avenue.

The restaurant is currently under construction.

Read more at Highland Now.

joe.nelson@inlandnewspapers.com

The family of a Highland boy killed in a DUI-related collision in the Cajon Pass on New Year's Day is holding a car wash to help cover the cost of the boy's funeral.

Evion Yanez, 4, died about 2:55 a.m. New Year's Day after he was pinned between the Mitsubishi Montero he was riding in and a lightpole on southbound Interstate 15, just south of Kendall Drive. He, his uncle, his uncle's girlfriend and their 3-year-old daughter were returning from a family New Year's Eve party in the High Desert when a 25-year-old San Bernardino man, suspected of driving drunk, made an unsafe lane change and clipped the back of the Mitsubishi, said California Highway Patrol Officer Joe Ramos.

The impact of the collision caused the driver of the Mitsibushi to lose control of the vehicle, which rolled about eight times before striking the lightpole. Evion died at the scene, and the woman passenger identified as Victoria Valencia suffered major injuries and remains hospitalized at Loma Linda University Medical Center, said Erica Rodriguez, Evion's aunt.

The Highland Senior Center offers non-credited university classes, including brain fitness, bible study, making common sense out of uncommon science, writing, oil painting, wood carving, sign language, and much more.

Registration will  be held from 9-10 a.m. on January 9. A small fee may apply for some classes.  No pre-registration is required.

For more information call (909) 862-8104.

Read more at Highland Now.

joe.nelson@inlandnewspapers.com