Tag: Santa Ana

Man Convicted of Killing Girlfriend in Santa Ana

SANTA ANA, Calif.—A 44-year-old man was convicted Oct. 12 of strangling and stabbing his girlfriend to death with a screwdriver in their Santa Ana apartment nearly five years ago. Prentis John Hill was convicted of second-degree murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon. Hill is scheduled to be sentenced…


Santa Ana Man Charged for Stealing Over $1 Million in Unemployment Benefits

A Santa Ana man was charged Oct. 5 in a federal court with defrauding California’s COVID unemployment insurance program by using personal information stolen from people with similar names to apply for $1.25 million in benefits. Nhan Hoang Pham, 36, of Santa Ana, was charged with mail fraud, wire fraud, and identity theft connected to…


Man Charged With DUI in Fatal Wrong-Way Crash in Tustin

SANTA ANA, Calif.—A 21-year-old man was charged Oct. 4 with manslaughter and drunken driving in a wrong-way crash that killed a 22-year-old woman on the Santa Ana (5) Freeway in Tustin. The California Highway Patrol received calls that Dylan Erric Robinson was driving a 2015 Toyota Prius northbound in the southbound diamond lane on the…


Man Pleads Guilty to Throwing Rocks at Santa Ana Churches

SANTA ANA, Calif.—A 34-year-old man pleaded guilty to throwing rocks through the windows of two Santa Ana churches and was sentenced to 208 days in jail and freed from custody because he had already served that much time behind bars awaiting trial, according to court records obtained Sept. 30. Omar Rico Olivares pleaded guilty Sept….


Woman Stabbed to Death in Santa Ana; Suspect Arrested

SANTA ANA, Calif.—A 40-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly stabbing a woman to death in Santa Ana as a result of a “failed dating relationship,” police said Aug. 27. The Santa Ana Police Department received a call at 11:41 a.m. Aug. 26 about a stabbing in progress in the 200 block of North Gunther…


Orange County Education Board Appoints New Trustee

COSTA MESA, Calif.—The Orange County Board of Education appointed Jorge Valdes, an attorney and judge pro-tem from Tustin, to fill the vacant seat for Area 1—which covers Garden Grove, Tustin, Santa Ana, and Fountain Valley—during a board meeting Aug. 17. Valdes was one of the three candidates interviewed by the board to replace former Trustee…


Youth Sports Coach Charged With Sexually Assaulting Teen

SANTA ANA, Calif.—A prominent youth sports coach was charged Monday with sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Santa Ana. Christopher M. Flores was charged with four counts of lewd acts on a child age 14 or 15 and two counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object with a victim younger than 16, all felonies….


Santa Ana Uses Federal COVID-19 Relief Funds to ‘Revive’ City

The City of Santa Ana plans to use the second half of its $128 million federal COVID-19 relief funds on community service programs and infrastructure projects, officials said last week. The Santa Ana City Council unanimously approved Aug. 2 a plan to appropriate the second half of the total funds—received in June—to community services through…


Man Charged with Double Fatal Crash in Irvine

SANTA ANA, Calif.—A 20-year-old Irvine man appeared in court Aug. 8 on two murder charges in connection with a drug-fueled fiery crash that killed a couple in Irvine. Jack Frederick Varga Nagl was charged Aug. 3 with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of possession of a deadly weapon—metal knuckles, all felonies, as…


Santa Ana Schools Score Big With Free After School Soccer Program

Eight Santa Ana schools will participate in a free after school soccer program to teach students soccer fundamentals, teamwork, and youth leadership, according to a local soccer foundation. The Orange County Soccer Club Community Foundation started the program, assisted by a donation from the DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation. The 10-week program begins Aug. 29 and…