Garden Grove Police

Re "False Witnesses Have Found a Believing Audience Once Again," Feb. 17: Patt Morrison should be commended for her courageous column correctly condemning the Garden Grove police for gross negligence in procedure and lack of any historical insight resulting in an innocent man being jailed for eight months. Apparently the police and the criminal justice system are unaware of, or don't have the mentality to learn anything from, similar cases like the McMartin trial debacle. Douglas Croixford Costa Mesa

He spent more than 40 years in public service, becoming a police chief in Orange County and then serving as mayor of two cities. But late in life, former Garden Grove Police Chief Frank Kessler's fortunes changed in Canyon Lake, a small town near Lake Elsinore in Riverside County, where the 76-year-old was finishing up what would have been his last term as a city councilman.

The Police Department will conduct sobriety checks at an undisclosed location in the city this weekend. Officers will be randomly checking drivers for sobriety from 9 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday, Sgt. Jack Ray said. Checkpoints have been conducted by Garden Grove police frequently this year, with the aim of reducing the number of injuries and deaths caused by drivers who have been drinking. For information, call (714) 741-5898.

A woman died in custody at the Garden Grove police station Friday, hours after she was declared healthy enough to leave a hospital. Police say Renee M. Fonte, who had been arrested for an alleged parole violation, had a heart attack. Earlier that day, police had been called to the 9900 block of Swallow Avenue to check on Fonte, 47, who had been found sleeping in a home being fumigated, according to Lt. Dave Kivler, a Garden Grove police spokesman. When police arrived, they learned that paramedics also called to the scene had taken Fonte to Western Medical Center Anaheim, Kivler said.

Garden Grove police officers will conduct a sobriety checkpoint at an undisclosed location from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Saturday. The checkpoint is intended to keep drunk drivers off the road. Police Sgt. Jack Ray said that with holiday parties this time of the year, people must be especially careful about drinking and driving. He and other officials suggest using a designated-driver system.

Police on Sunday identified the two men involved in an apparent murder-suicide outside the Korea Times newspaper over the weekend in Garden Grove but said they knew of no motive. Suk Joo Choe, 54, and Donald Do Yoon Seol, 64, contract employees of the paper, were in a car parked in the office lot in the 9800 block of Garden Grove Boulevard, when witnesses reported hearing three gunshots about 3 a.m. Saturday, Garden Grove police said.

A Garden Grove police officer shot and killed a man who lunged at officers with a sledgehammer after leading them on a chase through a residential neighborhood Saturday, authorities said. Police were called to Twin Lakes Park near Lampson Avenue and Haster Street about 12:46 p.m. after a caller reported a man "acting strangely," said Lt. David Kivler. When an officer approached the man, whose name and age were not released, he thrust his hands into his waistband and started yelling, Kivler said.

Filled with grief and pride, Mary Dallies wept as she watched a ceremony Thursday in honor of her late husband and four other Garden Grove police officers killed in line of duty. "There's a lot of pain involved because it's still an open wound and it still hurts," said the 29-year-old widow of Officer Howard E. Dallies Jr., who was slain March 9, 1993. "But I'm very proud and it feels good that people honor him, remember him, and miss him as much as we do."

Mayor Harry Dotson said he will meet with officials this week from Garden Grove to discuss a proposal that Stanton contract with its neighbor city for law enforcement services. Dotson said Garden Grove has expressed interest in taking over that territory when Stanton's contract with the county Sheriff's Department expires in a few years. "We have agreed to meet with them, and we will listen," Dotson said last week following a City Council meeting.

An Anaheim man was arrested early Sunday for allegedly assaulting two Garden Grove police officers who tried to take him into custody on suspicion of burglarizing a church, authorities said. Fidel Carlos Del Reao, 25, was booked on suspicion of felony assault against a police officer, burglary and violation of parole, Garden Grove Police Lt. Chuck Gibbs said. Del Reao was being held without bail at the Orange County Jail in Santa Ana.

A man who police said was mentally disturbed died after he was shot with a Taser during a scuffle with officers, Garden Grove police said Thursday. Relatives of Andy Tran, 32, called police about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday because he was acting erratically, Police Lt. Dennis Ellsworth said. When police arrived at the home in the 13000 block of Barnett Way, they spotted Tran trying to enter through a window. Tran met the officers on the lawn and resisted attempts to detain him. Ellsworth said an officer deployed a Taser one time, striking Tran in the thigh.

There's no denying that it sounds wacky: The California Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court decision ordering the police to give back the marijuana seized from a driver during a routine traffic stop. This is likely to generate a wave of "Only in California" jokes, but just because it's wacky doesn't mean it's wrong. In 2005, Garden Grove police officers stopped Felix Kha for failing to yield at a red light.

An off-duty Los Angeles police officer who raised suspicions by the way he photographed children at an Orange County festival is being investigated by his employer and Garden Grove police, authorities said Friday. Ralph C. Lakin, who works at Los Angeles Police Department's Parker Center administrative headquarters, was tackled last weekend by a 5-yearold girl's father, who held him until Garden Grove police arrived.

A Garden Grove police officer shot and killed a man who lunged at officers with a sledgehammer after leading them on a chase through a residential neighborhood Saturday, authorities said. Police were called to Twin Lakes Park near Lampson Avenue and Haster Street about 12:46 p.m. after a caller reported a man "acting strangely," said Lt. David Kivler. When an officer approached the man, whose name and age were not released, he thrust his hands into his waistband and started yelling, Kivler said.

Five alleged gang members were arrested Thursday in connection with the shooting death of a 16-year-old student near a Garden Grove high school, officials said. Jesus Antonio Guererro, a laborer from Santa Ana, and Armando Dejesus Solano, a painter from Garden Grove, both 20, were being held at Orange County Jail in lieu of $1-million bail each. Three boys -- 17, 16 and 14, unnamed because of their ages -- are being held at Orange County Juvenile Hall.

A 16-year-old boy died Tuesday in what Garden Grove police say may have been a gang-related shooting. Police identified the youth as Abraham Ortega of Santa Ana. Though scant details were available late Tuesday, police said the shooting occurred about 3 p.m. in the 13800 block of Harper Street during a fight involving 10 to 15 teenage boys within walking distance of Santiago High School. By the time police arrived, said Lt.

A Garden Grove woman and her live-in boyfriend have been arrested in the death of her 6-month-old daughter, who police say was killed by a blow to the head, police said Tuesday. Garden Grove police said they found numerous inconsistencies in the couple's statements after they brought Diana Hernandez to UCI Medical Center in Orange shortly before her death at 2:10 a.m. Monday. Alma Hernandez, 29, told police that she arrived home from work early Monday morning to find her daughter vomiting.