Gunman's girlfriend pleads guilty to killing 6-year-old boy in road rage shooting on 55 freeway

 A Costa Mesa woman's boyfriend pleaded guilty to shooting and killing 6-year-old Aiden Los back in 2021 due to road rage on April 26. 

26-year-old Wynne Lee was sentenced to four years in jail after pleading guilty to carrying a gun in a car. However, she was handed four years' worth of credit for time served awaiting trial and for decent behavior according to The Orange County Register. 

Lee had been out on bail under GPS surveillance immediately after arrest.  Defendants situated on court-ordered home arrest results in the same account for times served and for good behavior as those who remain arrested under trial. 

Lee made direct with the court to Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard M. King, who had not been offered any guarantees about her sentence before the plea. The four-year sentence is the maximum under the law that the judge had handed down according to NBC Los Angeles. 

Lee softly agreed that she understood everything she said and what her sentences were.

Lee's electronic monitoring system has been removed by the judge as of Friday's hearing. 

Lee confirmed to aiding her boyfriend, Marcus Eriz escape arrest through Eriz's involvement in the crime. She also admitted to possessing Eriz's gun stored in the car. 

Judge King stated that Aiden's death was shameful and violent including a vulnerable victim of Aiden's mom. Lee didn't have a criminal record. 

Lee and Eriz were driving Lee's Volkswagen Golf Sportwagen on their route from their Costa Mesa apartment to the job site, Highland Auto Repair.

Joanna Cloonan, Lee's mother was driving her son from their home in Costa Mesa to Calvary Chapel Preschool in Yorba Linda. 

Lee accelerated behind Cloonan's Chevrolet Sonic in the carpool lane and quickly brake-checked the Sonic while Lee displayed a "peace sign" at her. 

This angered Cloonan and she waved a middle finger at her which caused Eriz to shoot at Cloonan's car. 

The gunshot penetrated the back of the Sonic and hit Aiden who died shortly after. 

It took the police more than two weeks to find the suspects. 

 Banners positioned under the freeway stated, "Who shot Aiden?"

California highway patrol investigators and other officers sent flyers regarding Aiden's suspects close to the 55 Freeway and the prize for finding the suspect amounted to $500,000.

Lee and Eriz were eventually arrested thanks to a tipster and their excuse for not turning in was that Eriz didn't want her wife, Lee to get into trouble with authorities.  

Lee was originally in denial regarding the shooting speaking to Eriz before the police would not know that it was you who shot the boy. 

Eriz was unaware whether there was a boy in the car or not. 

A juror back in January sentenced Eriz to second-degree murder and 40 years in prison.

Lee received credit for the duration served and decent behavior, "while sitting at home instead of doing time in jail is disgraceful," Orange County District Attorney, Todd Spitzer said. 

“Her behavior is despicable and I, along with our entire Orange County community, am outraged that the state Legislature continues to water down our laws to give criminals charged with egregious crimes break after break,” the DA added.

Man and woman found dead in murder-suicide at Anaheim senior apartment complex

 

(Brian Lawrence, Anaheim Police Department)

According to CBS News, Brian Lawrence, an Anaheim man suspected of shooting an apartment complex killed a 59-year-old woman before ending his own life on April 25.

"Anaheim police were directed to Tyrol Plaza Senior Apartments, 891 S. State College Blvd, on a report of a shooting about 3:40 p.m," Anaheim police Sgt. Jon McClintock said.

The complex is adjacent to Boysen Park according to The Orange County Register. 

"Police found the victim 59-year-old Ana Monterrosa of Anaheim, suffering from at least one gunshot wound and later learned the man accused of shooting her resided at the complex," McClintock said.

"The shooting occurred in a common space of the apartment complex," McClintock said. It is unknown if the shot happened inside or outside.

Unfortunately, Monterrosa later died at the hospital. 

 "The suspect, identified as 67-year-old Brian Lawrence, went back to his apartment after the shooting," McClintock said.

Around 9:30 p.m. investigators and SWAT teams were directed to the apartment complex approximately six hours after shooting Monetrrosa. SWAT officers went inside Lawrence's apartment finding out that he suicided himself. 

"Lawrence and Monterrosa knew each other through living at the apartment complex," McClintock said.

Joe Guerrero told OnScene TV, a freelance video news organization that occasionally works with the Southern California new group, that he's resided at the apartment complex for about five months and was chatting with the previous complex manager, Monterrosa, when the suspect appeared in the office. 

“She was getting paint for my room,” Guerrero said. “The guy came up to her and shot her four times. I just couldn’t believe what happened. He looked at me and then took off, so I told the other ladies in the office to call 911 because I didn’t have my phone.”

Guerrero remembered that the suspect uttered three words to Mentorrosa before shooting her approximately three feet away. 

"Police evacuated several residents while investigating the shooting, but helped them back into their homes later Thursday night," McClintock said.

40-year-old DUI female driver crashes into a couple in Anaheim

 The DUI 40-year-old female driver from Garden Grove with three prior DUI convictions was sentenced to 15 years for life for the crash and related offenses on April 13, 2024, according to the Los Angeles Times. 

Todd Spitzer, the Orange County District Attorney, stated that it was significant for officers to avoid cynicism. 

“We need (victims) to remind us so we don’t get calloused,” Spitzer said. “I never want to lose my humanity doing this work. … I don’t want to be numb.”

"Orange County residents are united in fighting crime," Spitzer said. 

“I feel very strongly we’re so united about keeping our community safe to the best of our ability,” Spitzer said. 

James Alvarez remembered the frightening moment he spotted a sport utility vehicle slam into his pregnant wife while walking on a sidewalk in Anaheim during the night about 4 years ago according to The Orange County Register. 

James and his 23-year-old wife, Yesenia Lisette Aguilar, took daily walks regularly during her pregnancy. 

“The only difference that day was we took a different route,” Alvarez said. “We took the long way home.”

He witnesses his wife scream from the shopping plaza as the SUV loses control. 

 “I closed my eyes, thinking this is how our lives would end,” James said. 

Suddenly, his wife was separated from James, one of the speakers of the Orange County District Attorney's Office's yearly ceremony for crime victims on April 22 located in Santa Ana.

“I see it so vividly,” he said, choking up. “Seeing her, the person I expected to spend the rest of my life with suddenly gone. … I could not register what was going on.”

James couldn't visit her wife because the accident occurred during a pandemic according to the paramedic. 

“I remember telling the paramedics to save her, and if you can’t, save my daughter,” he said.

When James arrived at the hospital, he found out that his wife died. However, the doctors were able to save his daughter at the intensive care unit. 

Watching his daughter fighting for her life caused James to go on. 

Adalyn Rose, wife of James passed away on Aug. 11 coincidentally is the anniversary of his mom's death. 

Driver encountered with OC officers after his loaner car was accidentally reported stolen

 

Jamie Rodgers still to this day suffers from post-traumatic stress from getting pulled over by police for operating a mistakenly stolen Kia and is suing Kia Cars Pros Huntington Beach for negligence and infliction of emotional stress according to KTLA 5. 

Rodgers drove a 2019 Kia Sportage loaner vehicle from Kia Car Pros Huntington Beach in June 2021. According to The Orange County Register, he had been driving the vehicle for two months because his car was in the dealer for major repairs. 

Rodgers stated that the loaner contract had been accidentally misplaced by falling behind the file cabinet. The dealer realized the car had unpaid tolls so they thought it was stolen. 

The Orange County Task Force responded by pulling over the loaner car, leaving Rodgers scared and confused.  10 minutes later, officers realized their mistake and let him go. 

Rodgers was curious and unaware at first when he saw a swarm of Orange County police cars driving near him on the 73 toll road in Laguna Niguel happening an early morning. 

“They must be looking for somebody,” Rodgers said, who was commuting to his previous job as an athletic trainer at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano.

Due to his traumatic experience of getting pulled over on the freeway, he quit his job as a school trainer and is now a realtor. 

“He’s had to reinvent himself,” Scott Harlan, an attorney for Rodgers, said. “The problem with these things is an unintentional body movement can lead to death.”

The 39-year-old father of two children, Aaron Rodgers, still thinks to this day that the police were searching for a criminal lurking in the bushes near the freeway. However, peering through his rearview mirror, he observed the police cars stopping and drawing their guns behind him.

"You are considered armed and dangerous," the officer said through the loudspeaker. "Do exactly what I saw or you could be shot."

 

Rodgers instantly prayed that he would not be shot. 

“I’m thinking I’m going to get shot," Rodgers said. "I’m a Black man being pulled over in Orange County, I’ve heard too many stories of this happening. I’m thinking, I’m going to be next.”

Top 5 most common types of crime in Orange County

 The Orange County Annual Report 2021 presents the 5 most common types of crime in Orange County.

In 2021, 26,157 deaths were recorded by the Orange County Health Department, Birth and Death registration. 13,560 of those deceased were reported to the coroner which accounts for 52% of total deaths. The total amount of cases accepted is 7,725 deaths.

3,154 of the 7,725 deaths or 41% were certified by the coroner's office. 

2,701 or approximately 86% needed an autopsy to find out the cause of death. 1,022 or 38% died from natural causes out of 2,701 deaths. 17% out of 1,524 accident deaths involved traffic collisions. 937 of the accidental deaths died of overdose in 2021. 

Of the 91 homicide deaths during 2021 most incidents involved gunshots (59%) and males (85%). 27% of the total homicide deaths happened in Anaheim and 24% occurred in Santa Ana. 

 11%, or 341 cases, and asphyxia (36%) died of suicide.  Gunshots accounted for (28%) of the suicides. Twenty-year-olds and fifty-year-olds accounted for  32% or 110 deaths, and males surpassed females at 77% vs. 23% in the order given. 

Strangely, only 18% of the deceased left a suicide message in 2021 which is more than in 2020 (16%). 42 (70%) of the 60 undetermined deaths had an unknown cause of death accompanied by 8 (13%) were caused by overdose.

1,524 of the 7,725 deaths were caused by accidents. 91 of the total deaths were caused by homicide. 1,115 of those dead died of natural causes. 341 of them were caused by suicide. Lastly, 60 were undetermined. 

Orange County's new screening process benefits the police and individuals in crisis

According to The Orange County Register, the Orange County Sherriff's Department will ask the 911 caller, "Is the person you are calling about an immediate danger or safety hazard?"

"Are they committing a crime?"

"Are there weapons involved?"

A mental health expert or deputy will respond to the call depending on a "yes" or no" response. The Orange County Health Care Agency and the sheriff's department are vital to distinguishing between police work on typical crime and mental health crises.

The dual-track response system is critical and beneficial for the county's largest police agency, and local health officials and divides criminal and social problems according to ArcaMax.

Veronica Kelly, Director of Orange County Health Care Agency's Behavioral Health division and OC Links, a piece that connects individuals in crisis to counselors and various service providers hints that, "I think, to the public, this could seem like a big change. But, we have always worked closely with the sheriff's department.

Residents of Orange County should feel safer and secure thanks to Kelly's agency staff for developing 911 "decision tree" screening questions as stated by county health workers who have worked with police agencies for numerous years to decrease violence by or to officers.

“The instinct for everyone, when something happens, is to call 911, and have the cops come first. But they’re not (mental health) clinicians,” Kelley said.

“They get training, they learn how to de-escalate. But as we’ve seen throughout the country, sometimes interaction involving someone in mental crisis and police can result in violence,” she added.

“That impacts individuals, on both sides.”

Thankfully, Irvine, Anaheim and Huntington Beach have partnered up with Be Well, an independent nonprofit that guides mental health professionals to aid police while working with the mentally ill and homeless.  

The police have guided individuals to shelter or sobriety while suppressing public intoxication. 

Santa Ana Councilmember, Phil Becerra, implied on behalf of Orange County that  "This community is compassionate. We have more shelter, beds and services than anybody in the county."

The new 911 quiz could drastically affect countless lives.

The sheriff's department equips police services for 13 cities around Orange County spanning approximately 25% of the county's 3.1 million residents. The dispatcher receives approximately 10,000 mental health issues and housing calls.

“I think it’ll be potentially life-saving and also save the county money,” said Eve Garrow, a senior policy analyst with the ACLU of Southern California who focuses on homeless issues.

“If law enforcement is not required, then it should not be deployed.”

Numerous experts believe that ensuring police officers are focused on dealing with crime and mental health professionals interlinked with social problems is extremely effective for residents and saves taxpayers money. 

Replying "yes" to six out of 12 questions instructed by dispatchers will allow an officer to be sent to the scene. Similarly, any call sent to OC Link- a situation where mental health staff starts the procedure of trying to respond and help the caller – is returned to the sheriff’s department if the county health worker feels that’s justified. Even the caller’s tone of voice can be cited by a dispatcher to request an officer's response.

“Deputies will still be involved at the same level,” said Sheriff Department spokesman Sgt. Frank Gonzalez.

“Our deputies are trained to handle, and welcome, all kinds of calls and situations.”

Gonzalez hinted a goal will be met when new screening can steer deputies away from non-criminal problems and assist other safety concerns.

“Our basic mission is to protect the community,” he said. “We’ll go down any appropriate path, or any direction, to do that.”

 

Orange County billboard warns that "Crime doesn't pay in Orange County"

Todd Spitzer, Orange County District Attorney, recently launched a county-wide public safety campaign slogan called "Crime Doesn't Pay in Orange County," according to Fox 11 Los Angeles. The campaign consists of billboards, bus advertisements,  bumper stickers and digital marketing focused clearly on the message to potential criminals: "If you steal, we prosecute." 

The billboards are adjacent to several Los Angeles and Orange County highways. Spitzer started the campaign because most suspects arrested for theft in Orange County aren't locals according to ABC7 Los Angeles. 

The billboards are erected temporarily for about four weeks and are funded through federal asset forfeiture dollars instead of taxpayer money. Spitzer prioritizes combating crime and supporting public safety in Orange County and Los Angeles. 

According to Spitzer, the felons will be faced with full prosecution. He establishes a specialized task force for prosecuting burglaries completely from filing to conviction due to an uptick in crime.

The public safety advertisement campaigns are displayed on public transit buses in Los Angeles, Norwalk, Glendale and Long Beach. Bumper stickers and digital advertisements are accessible to cell phone users in Orange County, San Diego, Riverside and Los Angeles. 

About 38 million individuals are going to see the advertisements in just four weeks. The DOJ and the Department of Treasury Asset Forfeiture permit money confiscated from criminal operations to be used by police to pay for advertising to prevent crime.

"There is nothing more important than public safety," said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer according to Fox 11 LA. "My job – and the job of my prosecutors, investigators, and staff – is to keep you – and your loved ones safe. 

"When the risk is far less than the reward, it’s no surprise that criminals are committing smash and grabs, residential burglaries and simply walking out the front door of stores with arms full of stolen merchandise," Spitzer said.

"While you’re standing in line waiting to pay for your items. Crime doesn’t pay in Orange County. If you steal, we will prosecute. It’s that simple."

Anaheim fugitive ex-con arrested in dog kicking case

Joseph Michael Sanders, a 34-year-old fugitive with a criminal history has been reserved for suspicion of kicking a small dog and police are asking for the public's help in searching for the dog according to The Orange County Register.

"Sanders was arrested around 6:30 p.m. Thursday," Anaheim Police Department Sgt. Jon McClintock said. 

"Sanders was seen kicking the dog on April 7, near Brookhurst Street and the 5 Freeway," police said. 

McClintock thanked the public for the tips, and the police are still searching for the dog. If anybody is aware of the dog's location, please call the police at  714-765-1900 according to ABC7 Los Angeles. 

Sanders has a long record of arrests and sentences for burglary, vandalism, theft and domestic violence probation officers stated in court records.

During the recent cases, he pleaded guilty in Feb. 2023 to carrying a loaded unregistered gun in public, a felony, and misdemeanor resisting arrest. 

"Sanders was placed on two years of formal probation and convicted to 45 days in jail and sentenced to 60 days in jail in June 2023 for violating a trial period and another 90 days in jail in February 2024 for another probation violation," according to court records.

Officials said Sanders had failed to report again during a probation violation filed in September. 

Man receives 11 years for DUI car accident that left three returning from Bible study in Placentia died

Mario Armando Paz. Jr., a 25-year-old man from Santa Ana, pleaded guilty on April 18, 2024,  and was quickly convicted to 11 years in jail due to being an intoxicated driver that left 2 adults dead including a 10-year-old girl who was departing from a Bible study meeting in Placentia according to The Orange County Register. 

The drunk driver pleaded guilty to three counts of gross vehicular homicide while drunk, one count of  DUI inflicting severe injury on victims and a count of DUI with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or more according to ABC7 Los Angeles. 

The criminal complaint stated that his blood alcohol content was 0.14 and was charged for running the red light and driving recklessly according to the complaint.  

According to Placentia police Sgt. Joe Connell, the four deceased accident victims that took place on Jan. 25, 2023, were 10-year-old Lucero Lopez of Anaheim; the girl's stepfather, 36-year-old Alberto Vicente Lopez of Anaheim and 65-year-old Georgia Ramirez of Placentia.

Placentia Police Department officers responded at 8:45 PM due to a car collision on the corner of Orangethorpe Avenue and South Melrose Street, where officers found out that the drunk driver of the black Honda Accord slammed into the back of a white Ford van which the victims were thrown out. 

"Numerous other cars were involved in the collision authorities," said. Approximately eight people were injured according to police.

Three victims were transported to UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange with severe injuries, and two children were brought to Children's Hospital Orange County, where Lucero was pronounced dead., said police.

"Lopez and Ramirez were pronounced dead at the scene," authorities said. 

"A church staff was driving the victims home in a van from a Bible study group, " Connell said. 

An ex-marine from San Juan Capistrano is sentenced to nine years for firebombing Costa Mesa Planned Parenthood

(Courtesy of U.S. Department Of Justice)

Currently, 24-year-old Brannon has agreed to plead guilty in Nov. 2023. 21-year-old Batten and Ergul also agreed to plead guilty at the beginning of this year and have not been convicted yet. 

 

Evidence from the court shows that Brannon had white supremacist literature including photos of him displaying a Nazi salute with his friends. 

Brannon admitted what he did was stupid and told the judge that he wouldn't argue with the facts of the case.

Brannon comprehends the public's viewpoint of his actions as horrible and terroristic. He knows the judge wouldn't understand if he altered his thinking.

"All I can do is live my life better," he said. And to do better for the world and others."

A former U.S. Marine from San Juan Capistrano, Chance Brannon, recently carried out a firebombing attack on a Costa Mesa Planned Parenthood on the morning of March 13, 2022. Brannon later texted his Floridan friend, Xavier Batten, that he completed the arson according to The Orange County Register.

Judge Cormac Carney sentenced Brannon to prison for his role in the firebombing on April 15. 

Brannon has been in federal prison since his arrest in June 2023 and has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, destruction of property by fires and explosives, possession of an unregistered device, and a count of purposely damaging a reproductive health service building. 

Judge Carney was asked by a U.S. attorney to sentence Brannon to up to 8 years in jail. In addition to providing Brannon more time, "this sentence protects the public from future violence," Carney said.

Furthermore, "It takes into consideration the nature and circumstances of Mr. Brannon's offense and his personal history and characteristics," Carney said.  

FBI agents took more than a year to search for Brannon and Ergul. Court records revealed that a witness came forward shortly after the agency published suspect photos in Jan. 2023. A federal grand jury charged all three men for the arson in July 2023.