Crime

Thursday’s Traffic Ticket Rodeo Scores 116

by The Editors on June 24, 2011

012710 -2Yesterday (June 23, 2011) the Carlsbad Police Department was joined by “special detail” officers from San Diego, La Mesa, Chula Vista, Oceanside, Escondido, and National City police departments for what they called a “high profile traffic enforcement detail” on the streets of Carlsbadistan.

Approximately 15 locations in Carlsbad were the focus of the traffic enforcement efforts. The locations selected were those where speeding and other traffic violations have been a problem in the past. . . The operation was conducted between 0715 and 1115 hours. Approximately 166 citations were issued for violations including speeding, red lights, and unsafe moving. Additionally, 6 vehicles were towed for unlicensed or suspended driver licenses.

Great work. Maybe next time officers can focus a little attention on drivers who blaze right through pedestrian packed crosswalks on Carlsbad Blvd. For more info, follow the jump. [click to continue…]

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Valley Middle School Clear After Bomb Scare

by The Editors on May 12, 2011

Vms LogoCarlsbad’s Valley Middle School was on lockdown this morning (May 12, 2011) from 10:50 AM to 11:17 AM after one student reportedly mentioned a bomb on the campus. Parents of students at Valley received the following text after the school was cleared and reopned.

Students are safe. VMS was on lockdown from 10:50 until 11:17 as a preventative measure after an unconfirmed report by a student of the possibility of a bomb.

According to the Carlsbad Police Department one student was in custody for “making a threat” following the lockdown. This is the second bomb scare in Carlsbad in a little over a week. The first was on May 4, 2011 when a “suspicious device” was found at the Cole Library.

Hopefully this one was simply a misguided middle school prank, as 10News is now reporting.

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City Offices Back Open After Bomb Scare

by The Editors on May 4, 2011

4Dc19Fcc6C1F8.ImageThe City of Carlsbad Offices and the Cole Library were closed this morning from 8 to 11 AM after maintenance workers discovered a “suspicious device.” Police were called, the bomb squad, and fire department arrived and news helicopters hovered overhead. According to a story in the North County Times,

The gray-colored object was about 10 inches long and 2 inches wide, and was connected with wires to a 9-volt battery, Lt. Kelly Cain said.. . . “It looked suspicious enough to call the San Diego bomb squad,” he added

After using a robot to destroy the device the library was reopened about approximately 11 AM. Who put it there and why is still being investigated. For the rest of the story click the link.

[Link: North County Times]

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Carlsbad Police Nab Empty Panga At Ponto

by The Editors on May 4, 2011

Boat 5FhiresOn Friday morning, April 26, 2011 Carlsbad Police found an empty “abandonded panga-style boat” near Ponto Landing. You know, the almost weekly drop off point for Mexicans entering the country illegally.

Investigators say the Ensenada-based vessel which came ashore in Carlsbad was originally supposed to make landfall farther north. However, the smugglers had to abort the plan after the boat developed engine trouble.

Carlsbad officers reportedly alerted agents from the Los Angeles Border Enforcement Security Task Force (LA BEST) and U.S. Border Patrol and those agents used the information to clamp down on the illegal alien smuggling ring that has been running illegals into the country for month. In all four arrests were made. For the rest of the story, follow the jump. [click to continue…]

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Sunday Morning Village Faire Stabbing

by The Editors on April 12, 2011

A 37-year-old man was reportedly stabbed multiple times during an attack in the courtyard of the Village Faire near The Coyote Bar before 1 AM on Sunday, April 9, 2011, according to a story in the San Diego Union Tribune. Police were notified by Tri-City Hospital after the man came in for treatment.

Once officers arrived, he told them two men had stabbed him in the courtyard of The Coyote, a bar on Carlsbad Village Road near Carlsbad Boulevard. The man did not tell police what prompted the attack, the spokesman said. . . Police later found blood about 500 feet away outside the Daily News Cafe on Carlsbad Boulevard. It was unclear if those bloodstains were connected to the stabbing, the spokesman said.

The unnamed victim described the assailants as two large white men. More blood on the streets of Carlsbad.

[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]

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Carlsbad Police Investigate Valley St. Homicide

by The Editors on March 31, 2011

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Valley Street in the heart of Carlsbad school zone is closed from Magnolia north to Chestnut this morning (April 1, 2011) after Carlsbad Police responded to reports of a disturbance and found a man’s body in a detached garage at a home on the east side of Valley just north of Brady Circle at around 1 AM, according to NBC San Diego.

San Diego 6 has reported that the man died as a result of a stabbing.

A possible suspect vehicle is described as a silver single-cab pickup truck with palm trees in the bed and as many as three people inside. . . Police have been called to the same address on Valley Street before. In August, a police report was filed on domestic abuse battery charges.

This morning at 7 AM the Carlsbad Police Crime Scene Unit was on location as were live satellite trucks from five San Diego news stations. Follow the jump for more photos. [click to continue…]

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The Story Behind A Madison Street Shooting

by The Editors on March 23, 2011

CbkOn the evening of April 4, 2009, Juan Carlos Balderas, 21, of Encinitas was found shot dead in an empty lot on Madison Street in Carlsbad. It appeared that an Encinitas gang member had been shot in Carlsbad. But when police arrested three other suspected Encinitas gang members for the crime the question arose: why would Encinitas gang members come to Carlsbad to shoot one of their own.

A story in today’s San Diego Reader, Revenge — Served Cold in Carlsbad, tells of the downside of gang retaliation. Read it and you’ll understand.

[Link: San Diego Reader]

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Body Found In Oak Ave. Apartment

by The Editors on February 15, 2011

Screen Shot 2011-02-15 At 5.39.27 PmA police investigation is in progress in the 900 block of Carlsbad’s Oak Avenue (behind Albertson’s) after the body of an elderly man was discovered in an apartment building this afternoon (February 15, 2011) according to a story on 10News.com.

Police were notified by a member of the apartment’s management. . . Police are conducting an investigation and said the death is considered suspicious.

[Update February 16, 2011: Police now say there were “no signs of foul play” in the death of the elderly man found yesterday afternoon, according to CBS8.com]

[Link: 10news.com and CBS8.com]

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Westfield’s Plaza Crimeo Real Mall

by The Editors on December 21, 2010

PcrThe Westfield Plaza Camino Real seems to be one big pile of problems for nearly everyone lately. If it isn’t empty spaces, or huge department stores that sit empty like hulking relics to a lost form of commerce, it’s the incessant crime that seems to occur around the mall.

Last month, on Black Friday, a Zumiez store employee was robbed at gun point in the parking lot, then on Saturday night (December 18, 2010) a woman had her car stolen at gun point according to a story in the North County Times.

Police said the 20-year-old victim had just left the mall shortly before 9 p.m. when the suspect, described as a black man about 30 years old, asked her for her car keys. He told her he would shoot and brandished a handgun. . . The woman got out of her car, gave the suspect her keys and the man drove away in an unknown direction in her red 2004 Nissan 350Z. . . .her car has a Michigan license plate BXN8034.

Maybe Westfield should just throw in the towel and tear the place down. Just a thought.

[Link: North County Times]

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Wrestling Mask Robbers Strike Plaza Camino Real

by The Editors on November 28, 2010

A Zumiez employee at Carlsbadistan’s Westfield Plaza Camino Real was robbed at gun point on Friday night (November 26, 2010) at approximately 11:30 PM, according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The employee told authorities that the suspects were wearing “wrestling-type” masks over their faces and were carrying large semi-automatic handguns. They ran northbound through the parking lot of the shopping center, located at 2525 El Camino Real.

The robbers got away with the employee’s personal property and a Zumiez bank deposit but there were no injuries.

[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]

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