SDPD Officer Arrested On Suspicion Of Rape, Kidnapping

SAN DIEGO — A San Diego police officer was jailed on Wednesday on suspicion of rape, assault, kidnapping and other felony charges, one day after the city’s top cop publicly apologized for a recent rash of misconduct cases within his department and pledged to put a stop to such behavior.Daniel Edward

Dana of Escondido, a three year member of the San Diego Police Department, was booked into county jail Wednesday afternoon. The accusations against Dana, which promptly cost him his job, involve alleged on-duty acts committed early Wednesday morning against a 34-year-old prostitute he had recently befriended.

The woman reported that she agreed to meet with Dana, 26, about 3 a.m. on his suggestion, sent via text message, according to SDPD officials. They went to Presidio Park, where the officer allegedly forced her to have sex with him by threatening to arrest her if she refused.

Afterward, the woman reported what allegedly had happened, and the officer was questioned and arrested. As of Wednesday afternoon, he was no longer employed by the SDPD. Department officials declined to say if he voluntarily resigned or was fired.

Dana, who describes himself on the SlideShare website as a married Washington State native and former Marine, was booked on suspicion of multiple rape counts, kidnapping for purposes of rape, assault by a peace officer and oral copulation under threat of authority. He was being held without bail pending arraignment on Friday afternoon.

Dana’s wife Shauna is reportedly expecting their first child.

“I have no comment,” she said from her Escondido home.

The couple’s neighbors were shocked to hear of the allegations against Dana.

“Wow. Wow, that’s crazy,” one neighbor told 10News.

Neighbor Marygail Tobler was at a loss for words.

“I’m very sad and surprised. I think it’s a shock this is happening so often… I know it’s very humiliating for the police department,” she said. “I believe that God will forgive him for that… It breaks people’s hearts.”

Chief William Lansdowne told 10News, “This one stunned me. My anger is deep-running.”

He said many of his 1,900 officers called him Wednesday to voice their outrage as well.

“My officers that have called are as outraged as I am. They’re proud of who they are. They clearly understand this handful of officers have tarnished the very job they cherish,” he said.

When asked about Dana, Lansdowne responded, “There are no complaints. There are excellent appraisals and ratings about his performance in the San Diego Police Department over the last four years. This one’s so unusual. It comes in such a cluster over a period of time. No one’s comfortable in what we’re seeing, nor am I.”

On Tuesday, Chief William Lansdowne and his top command staff held a news conference to address what he called an “unprecedented number” of accusations of impropriety or criminal behavior on the part of SDPD officers over the last three months — 10 cases total, six of which have resulted in arrests of officers.

“I want to personally apologize to every citizen of the city of San Diego, as this behavior is not expected, nor condoned by me or anyone in the San Diego Police Department,” Lansdowne said.

Promising to do everything possible to regain citizens’ confidence and “repair the damage done,” the chief outlined a seven-step program with a goal of “greatly reducing future incidents” of wrongdoing.

The strategies include increased internal-affairs staffing, more ethics training, an around-the-clock complaint “hot line,” a review of the department’s discipline manual and use-of-force tactics, psychological “wellness” assessments during officers’ annual evaluations and a series of meetings with all employees.

The announcement of the plan came three days after SDPD Officer William Johnson, a 12-year department veteran, was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated in the South Bay.

Johnson was off-duty when he was taken into custody by Chula Vista police about midnight Saturday, following a collision that left another motorist with minor injuries. He is working a desk assignment pending the outcome of the case.

Last week, officials announced that an internal investigation was under way into whether an SDPD officer used excessive force while arresting an allegedly drunk and combative man outside a North Park nightspot.

The patrolman, whose name has been withheld, was one of three San Diego police officers who struggled to subdue 38-year-old Shawn Allen McPherren in front of the Alibi bar late on the night of May 1, Executive Assistant Chief David Ramirez said.

A witness captured the arrest with his cellphone camera and later contacted television news stations, which aired the images.

The footage showed the uniformed personnel crouching around McPherren, who was prone on a sidewalk, grappling with him while one of the officers punched him in the midsection or arms a half-dozen times.

The following day, an SDPD motorcycle patrolman pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence and hit-and-run allegations in connection with an off-duty Feb. 22 traffic accident on Murray Ridge Road in Serra Mesa. Officer David Hall, 41, faces up to three years and eight months in prison if convicted of the charges.

In late April, a judge ordered San Diego police Sgt. Kenneth H. Davis, 47, to stand trial on one count of stalking a fellow officer he had dated and three counts of making harassing telephone calls to her. Davis, a 23-year department veteran, could serve up to three years in prison if found guilty of the allegations, which came to light in February.

On April 11, an SDPD patrolman was involved in an off-duty dispute during which he allegedly assaulted a 17-year-old neighbor boy he caught smoking marijuana. The officer, a Mira Mesa resident whose name has not been released by police, has been transferred to desk duty pending the outcome of an internal investigation and a concurrent review by the District Attorney’s Office.

In March, 42-year-old Art Perea, a vice officer with the department, resigned amid accusations of raping a Point Loma Nazarene University student at an El Cajon home. He has not been charged in the case, which remains under investigation.

On March 11, San Diego police Officer Anthony Arevalos, 40, was arrested after a woman accused him of sexually assaulting her following a traffic stop in the Gaslamp Quarter.

Four other women subsequently came forward and made similar allegations against Arevalos, who has pleaded not guilty to 18 felony counts, including sexual battery, false imprisonment, assault under color of authority and receiving a bribe.

On March 24, San Diego police Officer Roel Tungcab was arrested by sheriff’s deputies in the aftermath of a fight with his wife at their Imperial Beach home. Tungcab, 39, faces misdemeanor domestic violence charges.

On March 29, an SDPD officer was videotaped wrestling with an allegedly inebriated and disruptive soccer fan at Qualcomm Stadium.

The 49-second recording, posted on YouTube the following day, shows the officer on the floor of a stadium concourse, struggling to subdue 27-year-old David Rangel of San Diego.

The officer, whose name has not been released, at times used an arm to put Rangel in a chokehold from behind and finally shoved his head onto the concrete, causing a loud smacking sound when the side of the suspect’s face and the palm of his hand hit the floor.

Police officials opened an internal probe into the arrest, which occurred during a Mexico-Venezuela soccer game.

Less recently, a San Diego police officer and his wife were criminally charged for allegedly looting and trashing their foreclosed home in Riverside County out of spite.

Robert Conrad Acosta, 39, and his wife Evette Acosta, 35, were accused last autumn of burglarizing and vandalizing their former residence, a six-bedroom tract home east of Murrieta.

The damage included stones smashed off the facade, dye poured on the carpet, a missing air conditioner and other appliances, destroyed and stolen fixtures, wiring torn out of the walls, uprooted trees thrown in the swimming pool, a missing garage door, a torn-up flagstone patio, walkway and hallway, and spray paint on the walls, according to prosecutors.

Robert Acosta was put on paid administrative leave pending the resolution of the case. He resigned from the department late last year.

Man Arrested In Connection With Circle K Attack

SAN DIEGO — A 19-year-old man was arrested on Friday on suspicion of robbery and attempted murder after he allegedly attacked and seriously wounded a clerk at a San Ysidro convenience store with a butcher knife when the clerk tried to stop him from robbing a customer at the business.

Deputy U.S. marshals arrested 19-year-old Ruben Antonio Moreno, in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Thursday, according to San Diego police. The federal agents escorted Moreno on a flight to Los Angeles International Airport, where detectives from the San Diego Police Department Robbery Unit took custody of him, SDPD Lt. Kevin Ammon said.

Police believe Moreno, then 18, entered a Circle K Store on Dairy Mart Road shortly before 4 a.m. last Dec. 6 and threatened a clerk and a customer with a large kitchen knife before robbing the latter victim.

“The clerk attempted to intervene in that robbery, and the suspect stabbed him multiple times,” Ammon said. “The clerk suffered life-threatening injuries and underwent several hours of surgery at a local trauma center.”

The clerk, who was identified as 35-year-old Oscar Hernandez, instantly recognized Moreno’s picture.

“Yeah, that’s the guy that did his work on me,” said Hernandez.

Hernandez said Moreno stabbed him with a 10-inch butcher knife seven times, including twice in the heart and once on his face.

“I just felt in my mind this is going to be it,” he said.

Hernandez said his injuries were so severe that he has not been able to return to work.

“I can’t work,” he said. “I can’t pick up my little girl… nothing heavy.”

The husband and father of three said he had the perfect opportunity to run out of the store but then a customer walked in.

“I can’t take off,” said Hernandez. “I don’t want to leave. I’m going to put [the customer] in danger now.”

Hernandez said he then grabbed a stool and hit the robber in the back. Then, Hernandez said he slipped on the wet floor he finished mopping when the robber walked over and started stabbing him.

The two wrestled on the ground and at one point, Hernandez said he had the knife in his hand.

“I let the guy go and said, ‘You know what, I’ll let the guy upstairs take of it. I just basically have to survive,’” said Hernandez.

Emergency surgery saved Hernandez’s life but he said his road to recovery has been physically and emotionally challenging.

“I’ve been depressed sometimes I don’t know what to do,” said Hernandez. “Money wise, I get $360 every two weeks. I pay $970 here [for rent].”

Hernandez said he has been threatened with eviction twice since the stabbing because his worker’s compensation payments cover only a fraction of his family’s expenses.

Moreno was booked into county jail in downtown San Diego early Friday morning on suspicion of robbery and attempted murder. He was being held on $700,000 bail pending arraignment, scheduled for Tuesday.

Arrest Made In 1975 Massage Parlor Slaying

SAN DIEGO — Authorities announced an arrest Friday in connection with a 1975 killing at a massage parlor in a then-seedy downtown area now known as the Gaslamp Quarter.

San Diego police detectives traveled to Parchman, Miss., on Thursday to take custody of 57-year-old Leon Johnson, who had been arrested on a warrant charging him with murdering 27-year-old Luz Borrayo in 1975, San Diego Police Department Lt. Ernie Herbert said.

Borrayo’s body was found inside the Twilight Massage Parlor on Nov. 22, 1975 in the 600 block of Fifth Avenue. The victim had been beaten and strangled.

Two years ago, investigators with the SDPD Cold Case Team reopened the case and resubmitted “viable evidentiary items” to the department’s crime lab for renewed analysis. Those reviews resulted in the identification of Johnson as Borrayo’s suspected killer, according to Herbert.

Herbert declined to disclose the type of evidence that allegedly implicated the suspect.

Johnson is being held in county jail in downtown San Diego pending an arraignment scheduled for Monday afternoon.

Accused Serial Rapist Commits Suicide In San Diego Central Jail

A Tierrasanta man accused of seven sexual assaults on women in San Diego over the past year died by hanging today in his cell at the San Diego Central Jail in an apparent suicide, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office and sheriff’s officials.

The body of Thomas James Parker, 39, was found hanging from a sheet around 7 a.m.

by deputies conducting a security check, according to the coroner.

Deputies, the jail’s medical staff, firefighters and paramedics attempted lifesaving measures, but he was soon pronounced dead, said San Diego sheriff’s Sgt. Roy Frank.

Parker was not on suicide watch, said sheriff’s Lt. Julie Sutton.

The husband and father of two children was arrested Wednesday after he allegedly tried to rape a 33-year-old Mission Valley woman in her garage, threatening her with a knife and grabbing her.

The Escala Circle resident screamed and fought back, and the assailant fled.

Parker was captured by police at a shopping center a few blocks away with help from passersby, including two off-duty Border Patrol agents.

Police said he had been linked through DNA and other evidence to seven sexual assaults.

Genetic evidence implicated Parker in at least three of seven home-invasion sexual assaults and robberies that began in June 2008, San Diego police said.

The assaults occurred in Carmel Valley, Tierrasanta, the College area and near UC San Diego, as well as Mission Valley.

Based on DNA evidence and other similarities in the assaults, authorities said they planned to charge Parker with all seven assaults.

Most of the victims were young Asian women, and in all of the attacks, the assailant demanded money before sexually assaulting the women, police said.

Getting the man responsible had been a high priority for the San Diego Police Department.

“Our efforts paid off (Wednesday) when (the) victim decided she was going to fight back against her attacker,” said SDPD Capt. Jim Collins.

Parker had been scheduled to be arraigned Monday.