Three reasons to post bail in San Diego for your loved one now

1. The San Diego jail system can be a dangerous place. For people who are not use to this kind of environment and lack street experience and or connections an extended stay can at times prove to be rather hazardous.

2. It always makes a better impression on a judge and possibly jury should it go that far if a defendant is well dressed and relaxed in the appropriate attire rather than an orange jump suit and held in shackles while in court.

3. Being out on bail gives a defendant a better chance to fight his or her case. It puts less stress to “make a deal” and allows the defendant ample time to find suitable legal representation.

Bail Bond Set At $2M For Accused SR-163 Shooter

Stephen Dragasits Suspected In Shootings On SR-163

SAN DIEGO — Bail was set at $2 million Tuesday for a transient accused of opening fire on freeway traffic in Kearny Mesa, wounding a college student and damaging another motorist’s car.

Stephen Joseph Dragasits, 58, faces more than 19 years in prison if convicted.

The defendant had been held without bail since his April 22 arraignment, but Tuesday Deputy Public Defender Euketa Oliver told Judge Theodore Weathers that Dragasits was entitled to have bail set.
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Citing the defendant’s lack of a felony record, Oliver argued unsuccessfully that his bail be set at $1 million.

A readiness conference was set for May 31 and a preliminary hearing for June 13.

Dragasits, who was living in a motor home near the site of the April 5 shootings on state Route 163, was arrested April 20 at a Walmart in the area, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Deputy District Attorney Chandelle Konstanzer told Judge David Szumowski at Dragasits’ arraignment that he is a flight risk who also represents an “extreme danger” to the community.

Dragasits is charged with two counts each of shooting into an occupied vehicle and assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury.

Konstanzer said the 7 a.m. shootings were completely unprovoked,The wounded 21-year-old student, Ashley Simmons, unaware she had been shot, called her mother and told her she was having trouble breathing, authorities said. A bullet had come through the rear passenger door of her Toyota Matrix and pierced her rib cage.

Konstanzer said Simmons suffered a collapsed lung and the .22-caliber bullet lodged in her liver, leading to a one-week stay in a hospital.

Authorities learned a second vehicle had been hit by a bullet on the same stretch of freeway about the same time Simmons was shot. On April 6, a 42-year-old Rancho Bernardo resident reported that his southbound car was shot near the junction of state Route 52.

Dragasits, a New York native who told investigators he was a former Navy man and one-time employee of the county of San Diego, allegedly was linked to the shootings through surveillance and DNA evidence found on a bullet casing picked up after the shooting, CHP Capt. Rich Stewart said.

The gun that fired the rounds, believed to be a .22-caliber Winchester 190 rifle, has not been recovered, Stewart said.

He said that prior to the shootings, Dragasits had been arrested and convicted for throwing rocks at cars on the freeway in the same area.

Stewart said it remained unclear exactly where the gunfire came from, though investigators do not believe the shooter was inside a moving vehicle.

Deputy Public Defender Salvatore Tarantino said the defendant has lived in San Diego County for 35 years.

Shawne Merriman and Tila Tequila: NFL Player Arrested

San Diego Chargers star outside linebacker Shawne Merriman was arrested Sunday and accused of choking and restraining his girlfriend, reality TV star Tila Tequila, as she tried to leave his suburban home.

Tequila, 27, signed a citizen’s arrest warrant, charging Merriman with battery and false imprisonment, San Diego County Sheriff’s Lt. Gary Steadman said.

Both are felonies.

Deputies responded about 3:45 a.m. to Merriman’s house in Poway, north of San Diego, after a woman called to say she was choked by the player and thrown to the ground when she tried to leave, Sheriff’s Department spokesman Jan Caldwell said at a news conference.

Merriman’s attorney, Todd Macaluso, disputed Tequila’s story and said he’s confident Merriman won’t be charged by the District Attorney’s Office.

“There was absolutely no wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Merriman,” Macaluso told The Associated Press by phone. “He essentially was doing what was appropriate under the circumstances in trying to protect the safety of Miss Tequila. There were numerous eyewitnesses that will support his version of the events that transpired at his home.”

Merriman, 25, was taken into custody and booked into the central jail at about 8:30 a.m. He was released shortly after 11 a.m.

Tequila was taken to a hospital. Her condition was not immediately available.
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Caldwell said deputies determined Tequila had been drinking.

Asked if Merriman was trying to keep Tequila from driving drunk, Macaluso said: “We don’t want to comment on her conduct. The bottom line is, he did everything in his power to ensure her safety. He hopes she comes forth and tells the truth.”

Caldwell said she wasn’t sure if Merriman had been drinking. Macaluso said witnesses he spoke with said Merriman had ordered water three or four times when his group was at a downtown San Diego club before going to his house. The attorney said none of Merriman’s teammates were at his house.

Tequila, whose real name is Tila Nguyen, is best known for “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila,” which ran for two seasons on MTV. The bisexual dating show featured men and women vying for Tequila’s affections. She has also modeled for Playboy and other men’s magazines.

Scott E. Leemon, an attorney for Tequila, said in a statement that neither she nor her representatives would comment publicly.

Merriman didn’t return two e-mails seeking comment. His agent, Tom Condon, said he hadn’t heard about the arrest when contacted by The Associated Press.

There had been considerable Twitter chatter between Tequila and Merriman during the last two months. She tweeted several times about going to the Chargers’ game Friday night and a party she held afterward at a downtown club, including:

_ “Im the Head Cheerleader Prom Queen and (at)shawnemerriman is the Prom King! hahaha! LETS GOOO! LIGHTS OUT! SAN DIEGO I WILL SEE U TOMORROW!”

Merriman was the 12th overall pick out of Maryland in the 2005 draft, and had 39 1/2 sacks in his first three seasons. The three-time Pro Bowl selection has been getting back into shape after missing nearly all of last season following knee surgery.

The Chargers, picked by some as Super Bowl favorites, open the regular season a week from Monday night at Oakland. Players had been off since after Friday night’s exhibition finale against San Francisco. They are due back at practice on Monday.

“It’s disappointing to hear about the issue involving Shawne Merriman,” Chargers general manager A.J. Smith said in statement. “We’ll continue to monitor the situation and let the legal process run its course.”

Smith didn’t return a call seeking further comment.

Smith often speaks of signing “character” players, yet the Chargers have had their share of embarrassing off-field problems in recent seasons.

In 2006, there were seven run-ins with the law by San Diego players, including linebacker Steve Foley’s shooting by an off-duty police officer who suspected him of drunken driving.

Merriman was suspended four games for testing positive for steroids in 2006, and linebacker Stephen Cooper was suspended by the NFL for the first four games of the 2008 season after testing positive for a banned stimulant.

Smith reportedly has been unhappy with Merriman’s extracurricular activities, and there’s been speculation the Chargers will let him leave when he’s eligible to become an unrestricted free agent. Merriman has various business ventures and is enamored with the Los Angeles social scene. While on injured reserve last year he flew back and forth to Los Angeles once a week to appear on a football preview show.

San Diego Criminal Threats Charges

Penal codes for criminal threats prosecution

422. Any person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in death or great bodily injury to another person, with the specific intent that the statement, made verbally, in writing, or by means of an electronic communication device, is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out, which, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made, is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to the person threatened, a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby causes that person reasonably to be in sustained fear for his or her own safety or for his or her immediate family’s safety, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison. For the purposes of this section, “immediate family” means any spouse, whether by marriage or not, parent, child, any person related by consanguinity or affinity within the second degree, or any other person who regularly resides in the household, or who, within the prior six months, regularly resided in the household. “Electronic communication device” includes, but is not limited to, telephones, cellular telephones, computers, video recorders, fax machines, or pagers. “Electronic communication” has the same meaning as the term defined in Subsection 12 of Section 2510 of Title 18 of the United States Code.

422.1. Every person who is convicted of a felony violation of Section 148.1 or 11418.1, under circumstances in which the defendant knew the underlying report was false, in addition to being ordered to comply with all other applicable restitution requirements and fine and fee provisions, shall also be ordered to pay full restitution to each of the following: (a) Any person, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity for any personnel, equipment, material, or clean up costs, and for any property damage, caused by the violation directly, or stemming from any emergency response to the violation or its aftermath. (b) Any public or private entity incurring any costs for actual emergency response, for all costs of that response and for any clean up costs, including any overtime paid to uninvolved personnel made necessary by the allocation of resources to the emergency response and clean up. (c) Restitution for the costs of response by a government entity under this section shall be determined in a hearing separate from the determination of guilt. The court shall order restitution in an amount no greater than the reasonable costs of the response. The burden shall be on the people to prove the reasonable costs of the response. (d) In determining the restitution for the costs of response by a government entity, the court shall consider the amount of restitution to be paid to the direct victim, as defined in subdivision (k) of Section 1202.4.

San Diego Agents Available 24/7

We have access to over 200 agents on call throughout Southern California to assist you. Call us now or email us any questions or concerns you may have. If you email us we will get back to you immediately to discuss the specifics of your case.

1-877-279-1999

24/7 Service for all San Diego County Jails

Contacting a Defendant

Please be aware there is no way anybody outside the jail can initiate a direct contact with any detainee. It is just not possible for you or anybody else to call into the jail and talk to your loved one. You must wait for them to call you collect, email, or you can choose to schedule a visit if you wish to not post bail.

If a defendant has called you, let them know you have called Abierto 24/7 Bail Bonds and to not hire or work with another agency. If more than one agency becomes involved, a lot of confusion might occur, which will delay a defendant’s release from jail.

General Information about e-mailing an inmate

* There is no expectation of privacy for e-mail messages. Every message will be reviewed by jail staff; therefore this system should not be used for legal or confidential mail, or any other privileged communications.
* Please limit your correspondence to one message per day in lieu of a conventional letter.
* Messages are limited to a single page and may not contain pictures or other attachments.
* Inmates will not receive the message electronically. The message will be received by jail staff, printed and delivered in printed form to the inmate, generally the following morning.
* Inmates will not be able to respond via e-mail. Outgoing correspondence will continue to be by U.S. Mail.
* When prompted to enter your address, please enter the address that you prefer the inmate to use for any written return correspondence.
* Do not use the inmate email system to solicit business or advertise services. Messages that appear to be unsolicited advertisements will not be forwarded to the inmate.
* E-mail received for inmates who are no longer in custody will not be delivered.

Instructions for Sending an Inmate Message

1. Search for the inmate on the Who’s in Jail site using the inmate’s last name.
2. From the list of inmate(s), click on the inmate’s last name to bring up a detail screen for that inmate. Please note that the last name may not look like a link, but it is.
3. Near the middle of the page is an envelope icon to “Email this inmate.” Click that icon, and you will be directed to an e-mail verification screen.
4. Enter your email address in the verification field and click on “Validate.”
5. Shortly after clicking “Validate,” a new email message should appear in your Inbox from netwebmaster@sdsheriff.org. Open the email, click the link included in the message, and you are ready to begin your message to the inmate. Remember that you will be entering text into a web form, not your email program.
6. When you are done, click “Send” and your message is complete. You should get another email message indicating your message was received. Do not reply to the message as the netwebmaster account is part of an automated system and not regularly monitored.

Visiting hours for San Diego County Jails vary and are subject to change without prior notice.

Inmates are allowed two social visits per week, each visit lasting 30 minutes. For the purpose of counting weekly visits, the week begins on Sunday and ends on Saturday. Inmate workers are allowed additional visit time, but their visit schedule is dependent on their work schedule. Social visits are normally non-contact, conducted through a visit window using telephone handsets.

The following guidelines are important to remember when visiting:

Reservations should be made one day in advance by calling the number listed on the facility visit page.

When calling for a visit reservation, please have the following information available for each visitor:

* Full name
* Date of birth
* Home address
* Telephone number

When visiting, each visitor age 16 and older must have one of the following unexpired types of identification:

* Driver’s license
* Federal, state, local government identification card (any state)
* Military identification
* Passport
* U.S. Immigration identification (including visas)
* Border crossing card issued by the United States Department of Justice
* Current high school identification
* Matricula Consular ID card issued after April 22, 2002 by the Consul General of Mexico

Walk-in visits will be accepted, on a space available basis—and first come, first served—as long as the visitors check in one hour before the visit time. Once a visit is scheduled, no “add-ons” will be made over the phone. Additional visitors may be allowed, up to the maximum of three, by arriving one hour prior to the visit and checking in with the other visitors. Cancellations are not accepted over the phone. Due to security reasons, East Mesa and Facility 8 Detention Facilities do not accept “walk-in” visits.

San Diego Mail Format

San Diego Central Jail
PO Box 122952
San Diego, CA 92112-2952

Vista Detention Facility
325 S. Melrose Dr, Ste 200
Vista, CA 92081

South Bay Detention Facility
500 Third Ave
Chula Vista, CA 91910

Las Colinas Women’s Detention Facility
9000 Cottonwood
Santee, CA 92071

East Mesa Detention Facility
446 Alta Rd., Suite 5200
San Diego, CA 92158

George Bailey Detention Facility
446 Alta Rd., Suite 5300
San Diego, CA 92158

Bail Bond Process

1-877-279-1999

Call 24 hours a day for immediate assistance.

If a friend or family member has been arrested and sent to any San Diego Jail you can call us to begin making arrangements for their release immediately. Most bails can usually be done over the phone and fax machine for your convenience. It is helpful if you have the defendants name, birth date, and city where they have been arrested. If you don’t have this information not to worry we will investigate it for you.

To execute a bail bond in San Diego we will also help you with the following:

* Locate which San Diego detention facility your loved one is in
* Determine co-signers and collateral if needed
* Bail bond forms completed (fax or in person)
* Secure payment (Cash-Credit Card-Check)

We can usually process the paperwork and have a bail bonds agent post the bond with in an hour. Sometimes there can be delays in the booking process or failures in the information systems of the jails that can delay the process. We pride ourselves in making it as quick and painless as possible, as we know how stressful the situation can be.

Bail Premiums

Bail premiums (costs) are regulated by the state of California and are non-negotiable. The cost of a bail bond is 10% of the bail amount. So if the defendant has a 10,000 bail the premium would be $1,000, and is non-refundable once the defendant is released. We do offer a 20% discount to union members, active military and attorney referrals as we have secured special permission by the state to offer this unique discount to those who qualify. Each bail agency is regulated by the State of California and is obligated by these pricing standards. We are one of the few companies that offer any kind of discount to union members and military personal.

Bail Bond Release Procedure

Once the paperwork and payment has been completed we will then go to the San Diego jail where your loved one is at and post bail. Most jails in San Diego take between 2-4 hours to process the paperwork necessary for the defendant to be released. San Diego Central Jail can sometimes take as long as 4-6 hours for a defendant to be released. While other smaller facilities can take as little as 45 minutes.

We will let you know and keep you up to date on expected release times. The facilities in San Diego County are extremely overcrowded and tend to be slow in their processing procedures.

Please be advised that we do everything in our power, and use all our connections to make the process go as smoothly as possible for each of our clients. Just understand that their are some things out of our control.

We have included for your convenience phone numbers, maps, and driving directions to all the San Diego Jails in the right sidebar. Please take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with location and procedures of the facility.

Bail By Fax

We make bailing out of any San Diego County jail very easy.

Please call us toll free at 1-877-279-1999 so we can begin making the proper arrangements and can explain to you all your responsibilities you will have as a co-signer of a bail bond.

To execute a bail bond we will need the following forms filled out completely:

• Bail Bond Application
• Indeminitor Agreement
• Deed of Trust
• Disclosure Statement
• Credit Card Reciept

Fax No. 1-877-227-7710 with completed paperwork

Once you are approved for a bail bond we process the paperwork and will have a bail bonds agent post the bond with in an hour. Occasionally there can be delays in the booking process or failures in the information systems of the jails that can delay the process.

We pride ourselves in making it as quick and painless as possible, as we know how stressful the situation can be.

Payment arrangements can be made in a variety of ways including by all major credit cards, western union, bank transfers, or we can come to you and collect a personal check or cash.

Financing a portion of the bail bond premium is available to those who qualify. We assess every bail bond individually to evaluate the credit worthiness of each case. For more information click on Interest Free Financing.

Once we have received your paperwork and appropriate payment we will then travel to the jail where the defendant is located to post the bail bond. We will let you know how long you may anticipate until your loved one will be released.

In most cases it is best to wait till the defendant gets out and calls you before heading to the jail. There can be significant delays from time to time and jail lobbies are not great places to pass time. This of course is up to you to decide.

Please be advised that we do everything in our power, and use all our connections to make the process go as smoothly as possible for each of our clients. Just understand that their are some things out of our control that can cause small delays.