BRIEFLY IN PUBLIC SAFETY

Laguna Beach teen arrested in heroin case

Danielle Tina Russ, 18, of Laguna Beach was arrested at 11 p.m. Feb. 23 after her mother caught her attempting to inject heroin, Laguna Beach Police Sgt. Jason Kravetz said. Police allegedly retrieved a syringe filled with heroin, and arrested Russ on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance.

Bus rider accused of spitting on driver

A Hollywood man was arrested on suspicion of battery at 12:32 p.m. Feb. 24 after he allegedly spit on an OCTA bus driver at the downtown Laguna Beach bus depot, Kravetz said.

Police are asking the district attorney to add a hate crime enhancement because the suspect allegedly also hurled racial epithets at the African American driver after being told by the driver that he could not stay on the bus without paying the fare.

Police located the suspect, William James Otsen, 31, nearby and arrested him.

Teen arrested in shoplifting, robbery

A 16-year-old San Juan Capistrano girl was arrested on suspicion of burglary and robbery from three Laguna Beach stores after she was chased and held by a clerk who believed the girl stole merchandise from a shop in the 100 block of South Coast Highway at 1:56 p.m. Feb. 26, Kravetz said.

Police were called to the front of the Laguna Art Museum on a report of two females fighting, Kravetz said.

“We arrived to find the adult store clerk involved in a verbal altercation with a 16-year-old,” he said. “The clerk had chased her from the store all the way to the 300 block of Cliff Drive.”

The juvenile was suspected of stealing a pair of sandals and the clerk was detaining her.

The 16-year-old allegedly started punching the clerk violently, and police said there were visible injuries on both parties by the time they arrived.

When police detained the girl, other stolen items were found in her possession, Kravetz said.

The total of all the stolen items was $196. The girl was arrested on suspicion of three counts of burglary and one count of robbery. The robbery accusation stems from the use of force or fear to steal, Kravetz said.

The girl was taken to juvenile hall. Her name was withheld by police because she is a minor.

Woman says she was conned in gem scheme

A 25-year-old Laguna Beach woman told police she was conned out of $230 by a pair of scam artists she encountered outside a bank on Ocean Avenue at 11:45 p.m. Feb. 26, Kravetz said.

The woman said a man approached her claiming he had been dropped off by a “coyote” and didn’t have any money, but did have diamonds. At that point a female walked up and said she would have the diamonds appraised. She came back a short time later with $25,000, which later turned out to be fake bills. The accomplice took $5,000 for herself and gave the man $20,000.

The man then told the victim he was scared to hold so much money, so he offered to give it to the victim to hold, saying he will call her tomorrow to make arrangements to retrieve it. In order to act in good faith, he told the victim to give him all the money she had. She then turned over $230 to him. A short time later, the victim went through the $20,000 and discovered it was fake.

Arrestee tries to escape city jail, police say

A 29-year-old Westminster man tried to escape from the Laguna Beach City Jail where he had been locked up after police were called to a home in the 1300 block of Temple Hills Drive at 1:05 a.m. Feb. 27, Kravetz said.

Jason Madrid Working was being held on suspicion of public intoxication after a Laguna Beach man called police to his home, accusing Working of beating up his dogs, Kravetz said.

Working was taken to jail, but after two hours in the lockup he charged the jailer when his cell door was open and fled to the outer part of the jail, Kravetz said.

The jailer used pepper spray to try to stop Working, who was eventually subdued when other officers responded.

A charge of attempted escape will be sought against him, Kravetz said.

Homeowner confronts alleged burglar on balcony

A Laguna Beach man foiled an apparent burglary attempt at his home at 8:26 a.m. Saturday in the 500 block of Temple Hills Drive, Kravetz said.

The homeowner was asleep inside his residence when his dog woke up and drew the homeowner’s attention to the balcony. The victim saw a suspect standing outside, about to break the sliding glass window. The victim and the suspect made eye contact and the suspect jumped off the second story balcony and into a palm tree, and then fled into the brush. The victim called the police, who cordoned off the area and conducted a search, but could not locate the suspect.

Man accused of destroying credit card machine

A 45-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of felony vandalism after allegedly destroying a credit card machine at a drug store in the 200 block of Broadway at 12:21 p.m. Saturday, Kravetz said.

The suspect, Charles Neil, who police say is homeless, went into the drug store to fill a prescription and while checking out, allegedly became violent, smashing his fists on the credit card machine, destroying it. The machine is valued at $1,000. Police do not know why Neil allegedly smashed the machine.

Homeless woman held in liquor theft from market

A 32-year-old woman, whom police say is homeless, was arrested on suspicion of stealing three bottles of liquor from a market in the 200 block of Broadway at 9:14 a.m. Sunday, Kravetz said.

The suspect, Hannah Riley, went into the store and put two large beers and a bottle of champagne into her cart, then allegedly exited the store without paying.

A store clerk described the suspect to police and also showed police the store surveillance video.

Police recognized the suspect as a local homeless person and tracked her to Heisler Park where she was with two other homeless men, who allegedly had the bottles of liquor.

Riley was arrested on suspicion of burglary and held on $20,000 bail. The burglary charge was due to the allegation she went into the store with the intent to steal and had no money to pay, Kravetz said.