Safeway Parking Lot Robbers Were Targets of Gang Hits

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Safeway Forest Hill 3 Forths

A man arrested in connection with the armed robbery of a Pacific Grove grocery shopper Friday is a former Nuestra Familia gang member who has been a target of slaying attempts by the gang since 1997.

At 7 p.m. Friday, a 37-year-old woman was loading groceries into her car in the parking lot of the Safeway store on Forest Avenue in Pacific Grove. The woman felt someone tugging at her purse from behind, officers said, and she turned to face a man in a black ski mask pointing a revolver at her.

The man took the woman’s purse and jumped into a car driven by a woman, police said. The car sped off on the Holman Highway before officers arrived. But a witness described the car and a partial license number to police, said Cmdr. Darius Engles.

Safeway Parking Lot Robbers Were Targets of Gang Hits

Gang Members Rob Woman In Safeway Parking Lot

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Safeway Forest Hill 3 Forths

Pablo Castaneda, 39, of Salinas, and Darlene Marie Garibal, 23, of Gonzales, were arrested in connection with the armed robbery of a 37-year-old Pacific Grove woman in the parking lot of a Safeway store on Friday night.

Police simultaneously arrested Frank Anthony Olvera Jr., 41, of Salinas, and Tom Ralph Mejia, 20, a transient, on suspicion of associating with people on parole and with other gang members.

The arrests came after police, going on a partial license plate number, traced the suspects to a home in the 600 block of Hawthorne Street in Monterey around 11 a.m. Sunday.

Gang Members Rob Woman In Safeway Parking Lot

Bingo Hall Heist Hatched In Jail

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Seaside police Lt. Ron Allen said taped telephone conversations in Monterey County Jail between parolee Marcus Crooms, 24, and his girlfriend Michele Chioino, 26, revealed a conspiracy to commit a robbery that investigators say turned out to be the bingo game heist at the popular community center in Seaside.

Crooms and Chioino pleaded not guilty Thursday at their arraignment in Salinas. Both were charged with four felony counts of robbery. Each count was coupled with a gang enhancement. Both were also charged with conspiracy to commit robbery. One enhancement for a prior prison sentence was attached to Crooms’ charge.

Using vaguely coded language, Crooms gave instructions to Chioino to coordinate and buy supplies for a robbery, according to law enforcement documents. Crooms mentioned that the robbery should focus on two men manning a table, the documents say.

Miguel Hernandez, Chioino’s attorney, said she is being unfairly persecuted because of the criminal histories of some members of her extended family. One of those people is Patrick Hernandez Chioino, who in 2002 went on a 22-hour shooting and crime rampage that included robberies, carjackings and a police shoot-out in Watsonville.

“I believe the Seaside Police Department has gone way beyond proper decorum and are singling her out because of her name. I believe they are harassing her,” Hernandez said.

Michele Chioino
Michele Chioino

Marcus Crooms
Marcus Crooms

Bingo Hall Heist Hatched In Jail

Northridge Mall Says It’s Gangs Are Not It’s Problem

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In the light of the violent fights and shootings at the mall, the management stated that the gangs are the city’s problem.

Well when you cater to and hire gang members, gang wannabes and sell gang attire in the way it is worn by gangs, part of the problem is yours.

Northridge Mall is not a safe place for me or my family. Won’t find me there.

No Salinas Northridge

Northridge Mall Says It’s Gangs Are Not It’s Problem

Abused Turkey Rescued In Pacific Grove

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Turkey Rescued

 

The biggest turkeys in this story just might be human. Those would be the people who apparently decided to raise Aussie in their backyard in Pacific Grove.

“It’s likely they were preparing her for Thanksgiving,” said Beth Brookhouser, director of community outreach at the Monterey County Society for the Prevention.

But the strange way the locals were going about it may have cooked their goose. The SPCA is now investigating whether they were guilty of animal cruelty. Seems they tied Aussie to a tree by her foot and left her there, out of reach of any water or shade. She was tangled up in some patio furniture and panting heavily when a passerby caught sight of her last month.

At that moment, the hapless turkey was suddenly transformed into a lucky duck.

The person who found her called Pacific Grove Animal Control, which rescued her and brought her straight to the SPCA.

They couldn’t fix her up completely. She’ll never be able to fly because her wings had been cut at the “wrist joint.” But the feathers she’d been pulling out of her tail — in a sign of distress — have started growing back.

Brookhouser estimated that Aussie is less than 2 years old and said she should live to be about 6. And she’ll spend that time safely ensconced at the SPCA.

 

Abused Turkey Rescued In Pacific Grove

Man Thought Police Cruiser Was A Taxi In Santa Cruz

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Dane Ludwig

19-year-old Dane Ludwig was arrested Saturday night after he jumped into a stopped patrol car, mistaking it for a cab he had summoned.

Deputy Esther Beckman had stopped a bicyclist near Brommer Street. While she was talking to the cyclist, a man who had been drinking and ingesting cocaine got into the front passenger seat of her patrol car thinking it was a cab.

The bicyclist rode off repeating, “Dude, that was a trip” The would-be fare was jailed on suspicion of being under the influence.

Man Thought Police Cruiser Was A Taxi In Santa Cruz

November Heatwave Giving Tourists False Impression

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Pacific Grove — all of Monterey County, in fact — has not been living up to its reputation lately.

“I thought it was going to be chillier,” Gatling said, in an understated reference to the bright sunshine and mid-70s temperatures of what turned out to be the warmest Nov. 15 in Monterey since 1949.

The record surprised plenty of other people, too.

After all, Central Coast locals have been waiting for a heat wave like this — well, OK, a warm wave like this — since September. But it didn’t come, and didn’t come, until most everybody had just about given up on it.

November Heatwave Giving Tourists False Impression

P.G. Audit Finds Problems

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The audit found that the city is not in as good financial shape as many thought, with unfunded liabilities and transfers of money between accounts putting the city’s finances in jeopardy.

According to the audit, the city of Pacific Grove has more than 22 million in unfunded liabilities.

The Calpers employee pension plan is almost $19 million. Workers’ compensation, liability insurance and retiree health insurance add another 3.5 million.

P.G. Audit Finds Problems

David Bindel Owes $30,000 Back Rent On Old Bath House

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Old Bath House

The owner of The Old Bath House Restaurant in Pacific Grove, which closed Nov. 5, owes the city $30,000 in back rent, according to Pacific Grove’s city manager.

David Bindel, who ran the restaurant in the city-owned, oceanfront building overlooking Lovers Point, was being charged $5,000 a month.

“He hasn’t paid us since May,” said Pacific Grove City Manager Jim Colangelo. “The lease expired in the spring, and we’ve been on a month-to-month with him. We don’t know why he hasn’t paid.”

Bindel said he slacked on paying rent because he was frustrated with the city since it wouldn’t help pay for the necessary upgrades to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Bindel has since moved on to real estate management.

David Bindel Owes $30,000 Back Rent On Old Bath House