Santa Ana Ca

A memorial fund has been established for the family of an 8-year-old Santa Ana boy killed in a hit-and-run accident. Sara Jimenez and her three children were walking on Grand Avenue near 14th Street in Santa Ana on Saturday when a car jumped the curb and hit them, killing Marcos Chico, police said. Donations can be sent to Jimenez, c/o Service Employees International Union Local 1877, 1516 N. Sycamore St., Santa Ana, CA 92701.

The violence was shocking enough that Marcos Padilla told his Santa Ana tenants to stay inside and walk to the grocery store only if they absolutely had to. "Everybody is scared, especially for the kids," the manager of Country Club Mobile Home Park said. "We've heard tires screeching, cars coming and shots fired. Any bullet could hit them." Four shootings in three days, including three in 24 hours, have rattled neighborhoods in central Santa Ana.

Thirteen years ago, Robert Rendon's brother was murdered in a gang shooting on Rosita Place in Garden Grove. Last week, around the corner on La Bonita Street, Rendon's 26-year-old son lost a leg in another drive-by shooting. "We're strong people, but this takes a lot out of you," said Rendon, 54, a carpenter who grew up and raised eight sons in the neighborhood, which straddles Westminster Avenue--also called 17th Street--and includes a few blocks of both Santa Ana and Garden Grove.

An autopsy performed on an infant whose body was found Monday between two houses was inconclusive regarding the cause and time of death, police said. Investigators were looking for the girl's mother, who they believe may have lived in one of the houses in the 1600 block of East Palm Street. "The investigation is still ongoing, and detectives are attempting to find the mother to determine what may have happened," said Santa Ana police Cpl. Jose Gonzalez. Because the baby had been dead several days, the coroner wasn't "able to tell us whether it was a stillbirth or born alive," Gonzalez said.

Connie Jones remembers when she and her friends would skip out between Sunday school and church service to buy candy with their saved nickels at the corner store. She would spend all day at Sunday school, in worship service or doing whatever activities the Second Baptist Church of Santa Ana had scheduled. That was in the 1960s, when Santa Ana was the hub of Orange County's black community, when the church served as a refuge and a place of hope.

A labor union pension fund consultant has been sentenced to four months in federal prison and four months of home detention for failing to declare as income a kickback he received on a $7-million loan to a real estate developer. Robert A. Ferrante, 55, of Newport Beach also was fined $10,000 and ordered to pay $243,945 in restitution -- the amount of the kickback -- to the Southern California, Arizona and Nevada Glaziers, Architectural Metal and Glassworkers Pension Plan.

As the prosecution began presenting its case Monday in the hearing of Edward Charles Allaway, a nurse testified that she saw the mass killer become highly agitated while he watched a horror movie at a state mental hospital. Allaway, who killed seven people at Cal State Fullerton in 1976, is seeking release, saying his mental illness is in remission. But nurse Marilyn Luther testified that Allaway became angry and unglued while watching "Night of the Living Dead" in 1999.

The violence was shocking enough that Marcos Padilla told his Santa Ana tenants to stay inside and walk to the grocery store only if they absolutely had to. "Everybody is scared, especially for the kids," the manager of Country Club Mobile Home Park said. "We've heard tires screeching, cars coming and shots fired. Any bullet could hit them." Four shootings in three days, including three in 24 hours, have rattled neighborhoods in central Santa Ana.

Police are looking for the killer of a man found shot to death Sunday in Santa Ana, authorities said Monday. Pedro Teran, 25, was found dead in an alley in the 2500 block of South Baker Street about 8:30 p.m., they said. The crime is being investigated by the Police Department's gang unit.

For years, Orange County civic boosters have argued over where its "downtown" might be: Santa Ana's historic urban core? Costa Mesa's leafy arts complex? Anaheim's bustling Resort District? Now Santa Ana city officials are promoting a massive redevelopment plan they say should end the debate once and for all.

As a respected Mexican diplomat for nearly six years, Luis Miguel Ortiz Haro spent hours each week listening to the problems of Orange County's poorest residents. Now, as a new consul takes the helm of the Mexican consulate in Santa Ana, Ortiz Haro finds himself telling his own tale of woe. Ortiz Haro, 47, a former elected official in Mexico City who had no previous diplomatic experience, was replaced last month in what Mexican officials described as a routine change of consular heads.

A Santa Ana man who was freed from prison after more than a dozen Los Angeles Times columns raised doubts about the evidence was killed early Sunday after a fight erupted at a party and an unknown assailant ran him down with a car, police said. Arthur Paul Carmona, 26, served more than two years in custody after being convicted of two armed robberies on the basis of eyewitness testimony. A key witness later recanted her identification of him, and two jurors said they had doubts about his guilt.

For years, Orange County civic boosters have argued over where its "downtown" might be: Santa Ana's historic urban core? Costa Mesa's leafy arts complex? Anaheim's bustling Resort District? Now Santa Ana city officials are promoting a massive redevelopment plan they say should end the debate once and for all.

Santa Ana police say three shootings in the city in the last week, two of them fatal, are not evidence of a gang war. "Our investigation indicates that these incidents are not related," Police Cpl. Jose Gonzalez said. "They just happened to fall in a week." However, police believe that the assaults are the result of gang activity. Crime in the city is lower than last year. There have been 15 gang-related homicides in Santa Ana this year, compared with 18 in 2006.

A motorcyclist was killed Wednesday in a three-vehicle crash on southbound Interstate 5, authorities said. The accident occurred about 11:30 a.m. south of 17th Street when a 2002 black Ford Mustang traveling at a high speed hit a white Ford F-250 that then hit the motorcycle. The motorcyclist, whose name has not been released pending notification of relatives, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Mustang, Alexander Jakusin, 24, of Aliso Viejo, was arrested.

Government actions in a deportation case involving a Vietnamese refugee family in Santa Ana drew fire Thursday as political and community leaders accused immigration agents of intimidation. Agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency last week arrested the parents and brother of Tam Tran, a 24-year-old UCLA graduate who testified before Congress about the plight of undocumented immigrant students in May.

Santa Ana police say three shootings in the city in the last week, two of them fatal, are not evidence of a gang war. "Our investigation indicates that these incidents are not related," Police Cpl. Jose Gonzalez said. "They just happened to fall in a week." However, police believe that the assaults are the result of gang activity. Crime in the city is lower than last year. There have been 15 gang-related homicides in Santa Ana this year, compared with 18 in 2006.

The executive director of a Santa Ana charter school that left students scrambling when it closed last year funneled more than $12 million in state funds to several businesses owned by him, his supposed wife and their friends, according to an audit unveiled Tuesday night. Financial irregularities were among several questionable acts at the Albor Charter School, which primarily served Latino immigrants and received $25 million in state funds from 2002 until 2006.

The executive director of a Santa Ana charter school that left students scrambling when it closed last year funneled more than $12 million in state funds to several businesses owned by him, his supposed wife and their friends, according to an audit unveiled Tuesday night. Financial irregularities were among several questionable acts at the Albor Charter School, which primarily served Latino immigrants and received $25 million in state funds from 2002 until 2006.

A driver who was killed when officers opened fire Tuesday after a pursuit by Santa Ana police was identified as a parolee from Aliso Viejo, police said Wednesday. Kevin Rene Powell, 41, had a history of weapons and narcotics violations, and an arrest warrant had been issued for felony evading and narcotics violation, Cpl. Jose Gonzalez said. Powell allegedly stole a sport-utility vehicle Tuesday that had a tracking system that gave its position to a company. The company then notified police.