September 25, 2022 (San Diego) -- The House of Representatives has unanimously passed the bipartisan Human Trafficking Prevention Act, introduced by Congressman Darrell Issa (R-San Diego) along with Reps. Mace, Jeffries and Bass. The legislation will require display of National Human Trafficking Hotline information in restrooms of all U.S. ports of entry, airplanes, airports, trains, train stations, busses, and bus stations so that victims or anyone who notices a potential victim of human trafficking can reach out for help.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
September 23, 2022 (Lakeside) – California Highway Patrol seeks witnesses to a hit-and-run accident last night on State Route 67 southbound near Woodside Avenue in Santee. The CHP also needs help to identify the male victim.
A CHP sergeant conducting an enforcement stop of a blue Nissan Altima on Interstate 8 west of Interstate 5 around 12:34 a.m. noticed front end damage from a recent crash. Bas on information from the enforcement stop, CHP units found the victim on the shoulder of SR 67 around 12:44 a.m.
He had sustained major injures consistent with being struck by a vehicle. Medical aid was administered; however, the man was pronounced deceased on scene due to the extent injuries, says Officer Travis Garrow.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
September 21, 2022 (San Diego) – The California Highway Patrol is seeking witnesses to a shooting at 3:50 this morning in the aqueduct near the State Route 94 westbound ramp from Home Avenue in the Fairmont Park area.
San Diego Police Department arrived on scene and located a 35-year-old Hispanic male with multiple gunshot wounds. The victim was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, says Officer J. Matias with California Highway Patrol.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
September 20, 2022 (San Diego) -- The San Diego County Sheriff's Department is warning the public about a phone scam involving con artists posing as deputies.To sound convincing, the caller identifies himself as a currently employed deputy. The storyline involves a missed court appearance.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
September 17, 2022 (Lemon Grove) -- Ernest Kelly, 32, has been arrested and charged with a murder that occurred during a deadly fight on September 12 in Lemon Grove.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
September 12, 2022 (Lemon Grove)—The Sheriff’s Homicide Unit is investigating a pair of homicides that occurred in Lemon Grove yesterday and today.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
September 12, 2022 (Lakeside) - Families, neighbors and their supporters gathered in Lakeside on Blossom Valley Road to protest five sex offenders secretly placed in their neighborhood in the past couple of weeks.
In a story that happens all too frequently in East County, approximately 100 residents and community members expressed their surprise, fear and outrage at finding out that their quiet, family-friendly community was housing convicted sex offenders. Not one, or two, but five – all in one home.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
September 8, 2022 (San Diego) --The California Highway Patrol (CHP), El Cajon Area, will conduct a driving under the influence (DUI) and driver license safety checkpoint on September 9, somewhere within the unincorporated area of San Diego County.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
September 4, 2022 (El Cajon) – The El Cajon nonprofit License to Freedom has been counseling nine children in a Syrian refugee family traumatized first by war in their homeland, and now by the death of their mother, who was found shot in the family’s home. In an interview with East County Magazine originally aired on KNSJ radio,
Dilkhwaz Ahmed, founder of License to Freedom, provides an update on the children’s situation, also sharing information on the stresses facing refugee families. The children’s father, Abdulhannan Abdurazaq Al Rawi, has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge.
“It’s so hard,” Ahmed says, when asked how the children, ages 2-17, are doing. “In a situation like that, the community gets together.” She says other Syrian refugees in the community worked to help the children, as did people in the Sudanese community, since the babysitter is from Sudan. “One of their close friends, a family from Syria, decided to take the kids, and they have seven kids,” Ahmed said. “The wife was best friends with the mom…it’s heartbreaking.”
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
August 31, 2022 (Lakeside) – A suspected gang-related shooting in Spring Valley on August 18 led SWAT teams to search homes in Lakeside and Santee today. The search found a stash of weapons and resulted in arrests of four individuals.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
August 29, 2022 (Spring Valley) – The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified a man who was fatally shot on August 16 shortly before 9:30 p.m.near Jamacha Blvd. and Thayer Drive. The victim is Jorkim Rose, 32.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
Photo via U.S. Department of Justice: Erik Herrera in Senate Parliamentarian’s office
August 29, 2022 (El Cajon) – Erik Herrera, 34, of El Cajon has been found guilty of felony and misdemeanor charges for his actions during the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection. News of his arrest and trial came as a shock to this editor, who had hired Herrera for freelance photography work locally just months before.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
UPDATE AS OF 8/27: Bills have released Matt Araiza following allegations.
By Miriam Raftery
August 25, 2022 (San Diego) – Three current or former San Diego State University Aztecs football players, including one who is now a pro football player with the Buffalo Bills, are accused in a civil lawsuit of gang-raping a 17-year-old girl during an off-campus Halloween party last year.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
August 27, 2022 (San Diego) -- On August 16, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department announced a series of changes aimed at keeping deadly fentanyl and other drugs out of jails to prevent inmate deaths. The action followed a unanimous vote by County Supervisors the same day to approve funds aimed at reducing jail deaths including purchasing body scanners, staff incentives, wellness teams and access to Naloxone to save inmates who overdosed.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
August 26, 2022 (El Cajon) – A San Diego woman, 23, has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol after driving the wrong way on State Route 52 that resulted in a crash, killing an El Cajon man, 49.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
August 26, 2022 (Ramona) – The San Diego Sheriff tweeted a video today seeking public help to identify suspects in a Ramona Crime. The Tweet states: Do you recognize anyone in this surveillance video? They are suspected in a burglary at a business in the 2000 block of Main Street in Ramona on August 12. If you have any information, call@SDSORamona Detective Sobczak at (760) 738-2488 or @sdcrimestoppers at (888) 580-8477.
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
August 24, 2022 (La Mesa) – Good job, La Mesa drivers. A DUI checkpoint conducted by the La Mesa Police Department Saturday night of 427 vehicles found nobody driving under the influence. No arrests were made for DUI or any other criminal charges.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
August 23, 2022 (Fallbrook) – Jacob Daniel Oberg, 29, is under arrest after San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies found Molotov cocktails, or handheld firebombs, in his vehicle this morning.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
Update: The suspect's last name as Al Rawi, not Al Wari. The earlier misspelling was provided by El Cajon Police based on a a translation error. Friends of his have voiced shock at his arrest and doubts about the accusations against him, calling him a good father and pillar of the Syrian community locally who has helped other refugees, 10 News reports.
By Miriam Raftery
August 22, 2022 (El Cajon) -- Abdulhannan Abdurazaq Al Rawi is under arrest for allegedly shooting and killing his wife, 37, in the bedroom of their El Cajon home at 1599 Soma Place. The couple's nine children, ages 2 to 17, were in the home at the time, according to Lieutenant Randy Soulard with EL Cajon Police.
Dilkhwaz Ahmed with License to Freedom, an El Cajon social services agency supporting refugees, posted on Facebook tonight “Please pray for these kids who lost their mom today. Out team of therapists and myself stayed with them all day to make sure they have a safe place to go. If you would like to support them, please let me know. They are refugees from Syria.”
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
Update August 21, 2022: The victim has been identified as Joseph "J.C." Curtis, 44, a father of four who lived nearby the gas station.
August 12, 2022 (La Mesa) – La Mesa Police are asking for public help to locate a man suspected of shooting and killing another man this morning in front of the Speedway Express gas station at the corner of University and Park avenues.
Officers responded to multiple calls reporting the shooting. They found the victim on the sidewalk and immediately provided aid. The victim, a 44-year-old man from La Mesa, was transported to Sharp Memorial Hospital, but “tragically was pronounced deceased,” says Lieutenant. Katy Lynch.
She adds, “Initial information gathered by investigators has revealed that the victim and suspect were involved in a verbal altercation that turned into a physical fight. The suspect then shot the victim several times before fleeing the scene in a dark colored smaller SUV or similar style vehicle, westbound on University Avenue.”
The suspect is described as a Black male adult in his early to mid-30s. He was wearing a dark shirt and blue jeans and was accompanied by a heavy-set Hispanic female.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
August 20, 2022 (El Cajon) – El Cajon Police Department seeks public help to identify a suspect in a fatal shooting last night.
Officers responding to a report of one or more gunshots found a man with a gunshot injury in the parking lot at 441 Dominguez, El Cajon.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
Judge weighs unsealing redacted affidavit to show justification for granting search warrant
By Elijah McKee and Miriam Raftery
August 18, 2022 (Washington D.C.) – Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) removed over 20 containers including 11 sets of classified documents during a search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on August 8. Trump’s removal of documents from the White House and his handling of top secret information has potentially serious national security implications, as well as potential criminal liability, though thus far Trump has not been charged with any crime.
A property receipt made public this week reveals that the documents found by the FBI include four sets marked “top secret,” three sets of “secret” documents, three “confidential” sets, and one set of “top secret and sensitive compartmented information (TS/SCI). The latter is a category that even some people with top secret clearance cannot access, such as nuclear secrets and details on U.S. intelligence gathering operations overseas.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
August 17, 2022 (Spring Valley) – A 32-year-old man has died after being shot in the upper torso last night.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of gunshots at 9:30 p.m. at the intersection of Jamacha Blvd. and Thayer Drive in Spring Valley. They found the victim and provided emergency treatment in an effort to save his life until paramedics arrived and transported the man to a local hospital, where he died.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
August 16, 2022 (San Diego) – The FBI San Diego division today announced that it has located at least 17 potential human trafficking victims, including a minor, as part of the nationwide “Operation Cross Country XII” operation. The national FBI-led effort partnered with agencies across the U.S. to recover 141 adult and 84 minor victims of human trafficking, including 37 missing children; the youngest victim was 11 years old.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
August 10, 2022 (El Cajon) – County officials today launched the county’s first “safe parking” lot at the site of a former homeless encampment as 1297 North Magnolia Avenue in unincorporated El Cajon.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
Update August 9, 2022 -- The victim died August 6 at a hospital. The autopsy report ruled the death a homicide caused by a gunshot wound to the head. A press release from the Sheriff states that at request of family, the department is not releasing the victim's name at this time. He was a Ramona resident.
By Miriam Raftery
August 5, 2022 (Ramona) – The Sheriff’s department has opened a homicide investigation into the shooting of a 59-year-old man in Ramona.
Deputies found the victim on the ground with gunshot wound to his upper torso near the side yard of a home in the 1800 block of La Brea Street in Ramona.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
August 3, 2022 (El Cajon) – Today, the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) announced that El Cajon Police have arrested a former district employee on felony and misdemeanor charges, following an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
August 3, 2022 (El Cajon) – Joshua Lee Martinez, 32, of El Cajon has been arrested after allegedly stabbing a man in the head aboard a trolley near the Marshall Avenue station in El Cajon.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
August 3, 2022 (San Diego) — San Diego Humane Society’s Humane Law Enforcement team is asking for the public’s help in a felony animal cruelty investigation. The case involves a kitten who was allegedly thrown from the passenger side of a moving car in Carmel Mountain Ranch on Sunday, July 31. The grey sedan was reportedly traveling westbound on Camino Del Norte, near Carmel Mountain Rd., at around 7 p.m.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
UPDATE: Head coach Brady Hoke has said that the Aztec football staff will assist with the investigation in any way they can. He has said that SDSU football will hold the athletes accountable.
East County News Service
August 2, 2022 (San Diego) – San Diego Police and San Diego State University have launched investigations into five Aztec football players, who are accused of raping a 17-year-old girl during an off-campus house party on October 16, 2021.
Error message
Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
Recent comments