Will Bruzzo’s Blog

The Orange County jail system debuted their new immigration check program on March 17, 2010. The process uses the Department of Homeland Security database to scan each inmate’s fingerprints. The scan detects those who have had “any contact with the immigration system [and] flags immigration officials” according to the Orange County Register. An immigration hold…

Last Wednesday night, on March 10, 2010, $10,000-$12,000 worth of gear was stolen from locked outdoor storage sheds at Bolsa Grande High School in Garden Grove, Orange County. The young players were shocked to find their mitts, bats, helmets, cleats, catching gear and pitching machine all gone. 80% of these items belonged to the players…

Convicted murder Rodney Alcala has again been sentenced to death for two murders from the 1970’s. The case gained attention outside of Orange County and has been featured in print and television news as Alcala represented himself on his third trial for multiple murders after the prior trials were reversed on appeal. Alcala also defended…

Former Orange County dentist Tony Protopappas convicted of second-degree murder in 1984 has been granted parole by an appellate court. He was convicted for the deaths of three women he had as patients at his Costa Mesa dentistry office. They died from a high dosage of anesthesia. His attorney acknowledges that there are some possible…

At a council meeting on March 9, 2010, Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens offered a proposal to house 838 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees at two of the Orange County jails – Theo Lacy and James A. Musick Facility. Most of the ICE detainees are former federal, state or local inmates who were…

A Huntington Beach High School student, in Orange County California, was arrested March 3, 2010 on two felony charges for possessing an imitation bomb (Penal Code Sections 12301, 12303, 12303.2, and 12303.3) and making criminal threats (Penal Code Section 422). Police were called to the school after a “suspicious” device was found in the student’s…

Richard A. Econ of Lake Forest, Orange County, California was arrested on charges of burglary (California Penal Code Section 459-460)when he walked into Wal-Mart and tried to buy $100 worth of gift cards with counterfeit bills. The Wal-Mart clerk became suspicious after seeing the money, then called the store manager. The clerk then asked to…

Congress is in the process of revising the current policy for sentencing of crack cocaine and powder cocaine crimes. The House of Representatives and Senate each have a bill that targets the discrepancy in sentencing for crack and powder cocaine cases. Explained in an article on Find law, 5 grams of crack has a sentence…

Eamonn Daniel Higgins has been charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud for attending ten different schools in Southern California on behalf of dozens of foreign students. The students, mostly from the Middle East, would pay him to sit in class, take exams and write their papers so their visas would stay in effect. They…

The Orange County Sheriffs Department is investigating one of their own for suspicion of driving under the influence and crashing into a vehicle. On Monday of this week Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Allen Waters was involved in two collisions. The first incident happened in front of City Hall in Dana Point where deputies were called…