Local News

November 19th, 2009

Operation Clean Sweep-Results

On Friday, November 13, 2009, and Saturday, November 14, 2009, the Escondido Police Department conducted a major, multi-agency operation directed towards arresting offenders for various warrants, narcotics, weapons, and prostitution violations. The operation was conducted from 4:00 PM until 2:00 AM both days and approximately 90-100 officers participated each night.

Along with officers from Escondido PD, officers from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, San Diego County Probation Department, California Department of Corrections, Alcohol Beverage Control, ICE and the Regional Auto Theft Task Force were also represented. The purpose of this operation was to focus on offenders who are likely to commit crimes during the holiday season.

The following statistics were generated during the two day operation:

• (56) subjects were arrested for felonies, misdemeanors and active warrants
• (125) field interviews were conducted
• (74) citations were issued
• (22) vehicles were impounded
• (2) drug-related search warrants served
• (1) stolen vehicle recovered
• (12) sex registrant compliance checks were conducted
• (4) parking citations were issued
• Over (100) probation and warrant enforcement checks were conducted

Get Home Safely For the Holidays by Buckling Up

Make sure everyone in the family gets home safely this holiday season by buckling your seat belt every trip, day and night. That’s the message that the Escondido Police Department told drivers as part of the 2009 holiday Click It or Ticket mobilization, November 17 - 30. Officers were out in force looking for anyone – driver, passenger or child – not properly restrained.

Given the years of public awareness campaigns, including hundreds of Click It or Ticket highway signs, no warnings were given out. The Click It or Ticket campaign relied on heavy enforcement and education as a means to help save lives on California’s roadways.

“There is absolutely no question that seat belts save lives,” said Police Chief Jim Maher. “Buckling up will not only save you a heavy fine, it can also save your life.”

Currently California has a seat belt usage rate of 95.4 percent, but that still means over 1.5 million people in the state are not buckling up. Properly restrained drivers, passengers and children have a 50 percent better chance of surviving a crash than unbelted occupants. Those ejected from vehicles in crashes or roll-overs are up to 35 times more likely to die than restrained occupants.

“There are no excuses. Nothing is worth risking the lives of you or your family,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the California Office of Traffic Safety. “This should be the season of joy and thanksgiving, not tragedy.”

More than 175 local law enforcement agencies statewide and the CHP participated in this year’s Click It or Ticket mobilization

Medical Examiner Names Hit-Run Suspect in Oceanside Collision

The Medical Examiner on Tuesday released the name of a suspected hit-and-run driver who died after apparently losing control of his pickup truck while speeding away from the site of a weekend collision in Oceanside. Gabino Aguilar-Hernandez was identified as the driver, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office.

As Aguilar-Hernandez, 35, sped away southbound in northbound traffic lanes, he lost control of his truck and veered off the roadway, the Medical Examiner's Office reported.

The Tacoma pickup apparently mounted a curb and possibly rolled over before striking a large building at El Camino High School. Aguilar-Hernandez, who lived in Vista, died at the scene.

North County Couple Plead Guilty in Handling $500,000 in Drug Profits

Peter Carlo Mertens, the former owner of Diamond Golf Co. in Vista, admitted to the charges of conspiracy to launder money and structuring illegal financial transactions for his handling of $500,000 in drug profits between 2003 and 2005.

U.S. District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz accepted his plea. He faces a maximum of 30 years in prison and $1.25 million in fines. Mertens’ wife, Bettina Thakore, also pleaded guilty to illegally structuring cash transactions. The maximum sentence for that charge is 10 years in prison.

Diamond Golf manufactured and sold golf clubs. An indictment issued in 2008 charged Mertens along with two accountants for the company, William Hamman and Wayne Joseph Fernandes, with accepting the cash profits from a drug dealer, Ian Mahon, and issuing business checks from the company in exchange for a 7 percent fee. Mahon was sentenced to two years in federal prison in 2006.

Sentencing for Mertens and his wife is set for February.

$50,000-$75,000 Goes Up in Smoke as Fire Destroys an Escondido Motorhome

Monday morning observers could see smoke from miles away as a motorhome, a lean-to and some storage sheds caught fire. The blaze was reported around 7:45 a.m. on Stanley Avenue near North Ash Street. It took about 16 Escondido firefighters about 30 minutes to contain the fire, which destroyed the motorhome that displaced a family of three.

Southbound lanes of North Ash Street were closed at Stanley and the northbound lanes were closed at Lehner Avenue, according to the California Highway Patrol. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

$400,000 Loss in Rancho Bernardo Fire

A home on Avenida Marabella off Camino Ramillete caught fire and was reported at 2:44 a.m. Sunday and by 3:15 a.m., it was out. The fire started in the kitchen of the home, the dispatcher said. No injuries were reported but two people were displaced.

Oceanside City Politics Up for Grabs

Oceanside electors are scratching their heads, wondering what is to happen to their city council once all the political hashmarks are counted.

One Oceanside councilman isfacing a recall vote, another has accepted a state job offered by Governor Schwazenegger, political factions are gnashing their teeth at one another, and the electorate sits on the sidelines wondering who’s right, who’s wrong, and how do you tell the difference?

The balance of power, which is presently leaning toward the conservative side, could well change. Councilman Jerry Kern is embroiled in a political fistfight to beat back a union-funded recall drive, and Councilman Rocky Chavez will be sworn in as undersecretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs early next month. Chavez will vacate his council seat by the end of November.

Kern, Chavez and Jack Feller were part of a conservative, three-member voting bloc that has dominated the council since Kern was elected in November 2006.

Now, even if Kern survives the recall vote Dec. 8, that bloc will disintegrate, as Chavez's departure will level the playing field — with Kern and Feller on one side and Mayor Jim Wood and Councilwoman Esther Sanchez on the other. As expected, Mayor Jim Wood, considered to be part of the liberal faction, along with Councilwamn Esther Sanchez, has come out in support of the recall of Kern. Wood knows if Kern is recalled the odds are good that Woods and Sanchez could promote their candidate in a subsequent three-candidate race to fill his seat. Their candidate is most probably Chuck Lowery, whom most observers agree would be a political ally.

The power shift would then swing from a present 3-2, conservative majority to a 4-1, moderate-to-liberal majority that would take a different approach to development, the city budget and city employees. The 4-1 scenario could happen if Lowery joins Wood and Sanchez in appointing Chavez's successor.

The Dec. 8 recall ballot will have two parts, one asking whether Kern should be recalled — a yes or no vote — and the other asking to select from a list of three replacement candidates.

Lowery is running against Rex Martin and Rick Kratcoski in that race. Lowery clearly has the edge. He finished third in the November 2008 council election behind incumbents Sanchez and Feller. He pulled in 19,000 votes, giving him good name recognition with the electorate, and is the only candidate among the recall challengers who has put money into his campaign.

The firefighters union has raised $114,000 to unseat Kern, who angered the group after he and Chavez set up a meeting with the fire chief and a private company interested in taking over the city's ambulance service.

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