Last week, the Crime Log looked at the lighter side of crime in 2017. As 2018 begins, it’s time to look at the court calendar to see what lies ahead in continuing Seal Beach cases.
Preliminary hearing canceled, not yet rescheduled
The latest: A pre-trial hearing and a review of bail will be held on Jan. 11, 2018 for two Seal Beach men accused of a hate crime against a gay couple in November 2017, according to the Orange County Superior Court website.
On Dec. 12, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced that Samuel Blake Wickwire, 18, of Seal Beach, had been charged with making criminal threats and battery. A sentencing enhancement alleged the crime was motivated by hatred of the victims.
The maximum penalty is seven years in state prison.
The previous week, prosecutors formally charged Seal Beach resident Wade Rutledge, 27, with assault and threatening a witness.
A sentencing enhancement alleges the crime was motivated by hatred of the victims, a gay couple.
Rutledge could also face a maximum penalty of seven years in state prison.
Rutledge was arraigned Dec. 5.
Rutledge’s preliminary hearing was scheduled to begin Monday, Dec. 18, but was canceled, according to the Orange County Superior Court website. A preliminary hearing has not been scheduled.
Seal Beach Police arrested Wickwire on Dec. 10. SBPD officers arrested Rutledge, on Dec. 3, 2017, on suspicion of robbery in connection with the violent taking of a cell phone.
According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department website, Rutledge is in custody in the Orange County Jail with bail set at $50,000.
According to the DA’s Office, on Nov. 3, 2017, at approximately 7 p.m., Rutledge approached John Doe 1 and his boyfriend John Doe 2 in a parking lot near 10th Street and Ocean Avenue in Seal Beach.
According to prosecutors, Rutledge and Wickwire and their companions reportedly made derogatory remarks about the couple’s same-sex relationship and threatened them with violence if they did not leave.
Prosecutors specifically accused Wickwire of spitting on one of the men.
John Doe 1 called 911 and, according to prosecutors, Rutledge grabbed the victim’s arm, forcing the phone out of his hand, disconnecting the 911 call, and walked back to his friends.
Prosecutors say Rutledge returned the phone but told John Doe 1 to leave and not call the police.
As the victims entered their car to leave, prosecutors say Rutledge shoved John Doe 2 into the passenger seat and slammed the door on his arm while yelling at them to hurry and leave the area.
The DA’s office says detectives are still seeking additional suspects. The most recent information from the SBPD described four suspects in the case. The police descriptions of the suspects are:
• Male, Caucasian, Early 20s, 5’10”, thin build – Grey or black hoodie with red writing, blue jeans.
• Male, Caucasian, Early 20s, 5’09”, thin build – Khaki or green pants, red Converse shoes.
• Male, Caucasian, Early 20s, 5’09”, thin build – Black cap with marijuana leaves, shorts, Vans shoes and white mid-length socks.
• Male, Caucasian, Early 20s, thin build – Black sweat shirt.
Police are asking anyone with information about the case to contact Detective Jeff Gibson at 562-799-4100 ext. 1109.
Hearing set for Jan. 16 in Main street involuntary manslaughter Case
The latest: A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Jan. 16, 2018, for a Seal Beach resident accused of involuntary manslaughter as the result of punching another Seal Beach man in the face, according to the Orange County Superior Court website.
According to the DA’s Office, on July 18, 2017 at approximately 1:20 a.m., Meier was socializing at Clancy’s, a Main Street bar where he is employed, when he allegedly punched 46-year-old James Tinsman once in the face with a closed fist, causing the victim to lose consciousness, fall backward, and strike his head on the pavement outside of the bar.
Witnesses called 911 and emergency medical responders took the victim to a local hospital. Tinsman died later that day as a result of severe head trauma sustained during the assault. In the early morning hours of Aug. 2, 2017, Seal Beach Police arrested Meier.
He was released on $100,000 bail posted on Aug. 8, 2017, according to the courthouse website.
2010 nursing home homicide case continues
The latest: A pre-trial hearing has been scheduled for Friday, Jan. 19, 2018 in the case of an elderly man accused of murdering his wife in a Seal Beach nursing home. Roy Charles Laird has been charged with one count of murder and with one enhancement of personally discharging a firearm, resulting in the 2010 death of his then 86-year-old wife.
The “enhancement” means Laird could be sentenced to 50 years to life rather than 25 years to life, meaning that if he were convicted of murder, he would have to wait 50 years to be eligible for parole. Laird was 88 when he was arrested.
The shooting occurred on Sunday, Nov. 21, 2010 in the victim’s apartment in the Country Villa Healthcare Center just outside of Leisure World.
The DA’s Office reported that the victim was in late-stage dementia.
According to the Orange County Superior Court Web site occourts.org, Laird is out on a conditional release. According to press reports, Laird was released and placed in a nursing home.
No bail has been posted.
Lewd conduct case continues
The latest: A hearing is scheduleld for Jan. 26, 2018, in the case of a former Seal Beach youth sports coach who has been accused of abusing two children, according to the Orange County Superior Court website.
A trial readiness conference is set for Feb. 8 and the jury trial is currently scheduled to start Feb. 15. However, trial dates are subject to change. The jury trial was previously scheduled to start Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017.
According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, Scott Durzo, who owned a youth sports camp business called the Total Sport Camp, was originally charged Friday, May 9, 2014, with nine felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under age 14.
Durzo has been charged with 20 counts involving two victims, identified in court records as John Doe and John Doe 2. According to the complaint filed with the Orange County Superior Court, 18 counts stem from incidents that allegedly occurred between May 1, 2005 and Oct. 3, 2006, involving John Doe.
The complaint also accused Durzo of two more counts of lewd conduct stemming from incidents that allegedly occurred between Jan. 13, 2003 and Jan. 12, 2005, involving John Doe 2, a child of 14 and 15 years of age.”
In June 2014, Durzo was released on $250,000 bail. Electronic monitoring was not a condition of his release.
Hearing for home invasion defendants set for Jan. 31
The latest: A pre-trail hearing is scheduled for Jan. 31 for two Costa Mesa men accused of a home invasion robbery that was reported on Seal Way in August 2017.
A preliminary hearing in the case was scheduled twice last year, but canceled both times.
On Wednesday, Aug. 30, Seal Beach Police detectives arrested Richard Henry Derderian, 33, and Aaron Michael Lipsey, 34, in connection with the Aug. 21 robbery on the 1100 block of Seal Way. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has charged Lipsey and Derderian with first degree robbery, first degree burglary, threatening witnesses and making criminal threats.
Lipsey was released on $250,000 bail on Sept. 20, 2017, according to the Orange County Superior Court website.
Derderian remains in custody, according to the Orange County Superior Court website.
According to the Seal Beach Police Department, on Monday, Aug. 21, at approximately 4 p.m., two suspects broke into a home on the 1100 block of Seal Way in Seal Beach. The three men who occupied the home were tied up and the suspects ransacked the home. The suspects told the victims they had a gun, but no gun was ever seen. A safe was stolen.
Sentencing hearing continues in traffic death of German tourist
The latest: More than a year after he drove his car into another, causing a young woman’s death, the sentencing hearing is scheduled to continue on Feb. 2 for a Seal Beach man to be sentenced for gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
He pleaded guilty on Sept. 17, 2017.
According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, Matthew Ryan Wood, 25, was high on methamphetamine in December 2016, when his pickup truck passed over the painted center median and was struck by a car being driven by German tourist Lisa Schelborn, 19. Schelborn died as a result of her injuries.
According to the DA’s Office, Wood faces a maximum of 12 years in state prison. Wood, 25, pleaded guilty to all charges on Sept. 15. In addition to the manslaughter charge, he also pleaded guilty to transportation for sale of a controlled substance, and possession of a controlled substance with a firearm.
Hearing in misdemeanor sexual battery case February
The latest: A pre-trial hearing on an unspecified is sechdueld for Feb. 2, in the case of a Torrance man accused of misdemeanor sexual battery on a woman at a Seal Beach gas station in July 2017. Adel Rezkallaa, 45, of Torrance, recently pled not guilty to charges of battery and touching an intimate part of another person. A preliminary hearing has not yet been scheduled.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office filed the court case in September. Now prosecutors are asking the public for information about anyone else who might have been victimized.
On Tuesday, July 25 of this year, a woman contacted the Seal Beach Police Department and reported that a gas station employee had touched her in an inappropriate and sexual manner. The victim had reportedly gone to the Unocal 76 gas station, at 13980 Seal Beach Blvd., to buy gas for her car.
According to prosecutors, the victim, a 29-year-old woman, went to the gas station and bought lottery tickets from the cashier, who has been identified as Rezkallaa.
According to prosecutors, Rezkallaa, followed the woman out of the gas station and grabbed both of her breasts from behind. She contacted Seal Beach Police and reportedly identified Rezkallaa as the suspect. After an investigation, Rezkallaa was arrested and taken to the Orange County Jail. He was released on $500 bail on Aug. 10, 2017 according to the Orange County Superior Court website.
