The following Sun Region court cases are working their way through the legal system.
Space limits the number of cases that can be covered in a single article.
• Child Violation Case—The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has charged Denis Lyons, a Leisure World resident, with sexually abusing a child over a two-year period in the early 1990s. Lyons has entered a not guilty plea in the case.
According to the DA’s Office, an attorney representing the accuser in an un-related civil suit reported the crime to the prosecutor’s office in July 2008.
The accuser filed a police report in September 2008, about 16 years after the abuse began.
Lyons, a retired priest, is currently out on $100,000 bail.
The preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled to continue on Tuesday, May 25.
• Seal Beach Child Abuse Resulting in Death Case—A 22-month-old Seal Beach girl identified as Millicent Wilborn died on Dec. 17, 2009. Her twin brother suffered a skull fracture, but lived. There is no evidence that either of their other two siblings were physically abused.
Their mother, Linda Wilborn, has been charged with assaulting a child with enough force likely to cause death.
The DA’s Office described the charge as the “equivalent of murder” because the penalty is the same: 25 years to life.
The preliminary hearing in the case is set for June 18.
• Sunset Beach Murder Case—The murder occurred in 1988. A Sunset Beach resident described as a drug dealer by prosecutors was stabbed to death.
A contemporary newspaper report identified him as an unemployed bricklayer.
Someone set the victim’s apartment on fire after the murder.
DNA identified a suspect in the case in January 2009.
The suspect was identified as Paul Gentile Smith, of Long Beach, a high school friend of the victim.
The case took a strange twist when both Smith and his girlfriend were charged in December 2008 with attempting to hire someone to assault a homicide detective and a witness. The purported fee of $100 was apparently offered to an undercover investigator.
Smith’s murder trial is scheduled to start on Monday, July 12, 2010.
• College Park East DUI Murder Case—The jury trial of the man accused of killing College Park East resident Cathy Busse is on-going and will continue on Thursday, May 27, 2010.
Cathy Busse and her autistic son Sam Busse were bicycling on Seal Beach’s Lampson Avenue on Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008 when they were hit by a truck.
Sam Busse suffered only minor injuries. Cathy Busse died on Oct. 15, 2008.
The Seal Beach Police Department arrested defendant Alex David Trujillo on Oct. 18, 2008.
He was originally charged with DUI murder. Then the DA’s Office filed vehicular manslaughter charges against him. Later, the DA’s Office changed the charge back to DUI murder.
Trujillo is in custody in the county jail.
To make a comment on this story at the Sun Newspapers’ Web site, go to Sunnews.org.
Crime Log Assembled by Charles M. Kelly
The crimes listed in the Sun Newspapers were reported to Seal Beach Police Department, Los Alamitos Police Department and Orange County Sheriff Department between April 19 and May 1, 2010. Only street names are used; times given are reported times, not incident times. Crime Log entries are based on preliminary information. Space limitations make it impossible to publish every incident. Until proven guilty in a court of law, all suspects are considered innocent.
IN SEAL BEACH
Monday, April 19
Forgery—1:03 p.m.—Seal Beach Boulevard—A cell phone call to 911 summoned the Seal Beach Police to Kohls to look into a reported attempt to pass a fraudulent check.
The call resulted in the arrests of multiple suspects.
Tuesday, April 20
Vehicle Burglary—9:13 a.m.—Corsair Way—Point of Entry: rear right window smash. The crime apparently occurred within the previous week prior to the call to police. Loss: a GPS system and stereo. Report taken.
Fire Back-Up—7:20 p.m.—Ocean Avenue—The caller said she had a fire in her garage. She believed she put it out, but was not sure. The Orange County Fire Authority was en route. Everyone who had been in the building was now outside. The caller thought it was possible that something was still on fire.
At 7:25 p.m., the Fire Authority was present.
At 7:26 p.m., police unit 127 reported the situation was C4—meaning no further police services were necessary.
By 7: 34 p.m., the log said that the OCFA had put out a small electrical fire in the garage. Assisted.
Wednesday, April 21
Health and Safety Code Violation—2:25 p.m.—Violet Street and Almond Avenue—The caller said a vehicle on Almond was occupied by three or four male juveniles who were possibly smoking drugs. The caller said there was an on-going problem with juvenile misbehavior in the same area.
Illegal Peddler—6:23 p.m.—Ocean Avenue—A young man claiming to be collecting for charity became verbally abusive when the caller declined to make a donation. He was described as a white man, 18 to 20 years old, wearing a red jacket and shorts, carrying a booklet.
Thursday, April 22
Counterfeit Report—6:44 p.m.—Seal Beach Boulevard—The caller received a $100 bill from a suspect who had left the scene 30 minutes earlier. No suspect or vehicle description. Report taken.
Saturday, April 24
Counseling—8:06 a.m.—Seal Beach Boulevard—A cashier received counseling concerning a customer who took money from the cashier instead of paying for services rendered.
Disturbance—9:53 a.m.—Pacific Coast Highway—Protesters were reportedly blocking both of the driveways at the location so that vehicles could not enter or exit. Both sides of the dispute were counseled. The name and address of the location were blacked out in the log. The subject of the demonstration was not mentioned in the log.
Sunday, April 25
Seagull—7:25 p.m.—Ocean Avenue and 6th Street—The caller reported a seagull that appeared to have a “mangled” wing sitting at the waterline. Referred to Long Beach Police Department. It was after hours for Long Beach Animal Care Services, which has the contract to provide animal control services to the city of Seal Beach.
IN LOS ALAMITOS
Monday, April 26
Suspicious Occupied Vehicle—8:16 p.m.—Los Alamitos Boulevard—The caller reported vehicles pulled over behind the location. One person went underneath one of the vehicles. Officers found the man, whose vehicle was leaking fluid.
Tuesday, April 27
Transient—8:47 a.m.—Katella Avenue—Police received a report that an individual might be sleeping in a vehicle in the parking lot. Officers spoke to man who said he was waiting for a ride to work and taking a nap.
Friday, April 30
Suspicious Person—2:51 p.m.—Cerritos Avenue and Los Alamitos Boulevard—A driver was reported halfway out of a vehicle, yelling and screaming. Officers found the man, who was upset at someone who cut him off earlier. He was counseled.
IN ROSSMOOR
Tuesday, April 27
Shots Heard—2:38 a.m.—Foster Road—No suspect information—Deputies patrol checked the area but were unable to locate anything unusual.
Suspicious Person or Circumstances—6:45 p.m.—Kensington Road—Two teens were found on the roof of the school. They were detained, their parents were notified and they were released.
Wednesday, April 28
Suspicious Person in Vehicle—10:04 a.m.—Donnie Ann Road—The suspicious vehicle that was reported was a carpet cleaning van located in a client’s driveway.
Suspicious Person in Vehicle—2:38 p.m.—Donnie Ann Road—The same carpet cleaning van was still in the area.
Thursday, April 29
Stolen Vehicle—3:11 a.m.—Yellowtail Drive—Someone attempted to steal a vehicle. Report taken.
Suspicious Person or Circumstances—2:57 p.m.—Cortese Drive and Weatherby Road—The caller complained about a woman “not known to the area.”
Suspicious Person or Circumstances—4:59 p.m.—Rossmoor Way and Los Alamitos Boulevard—The same woman was reported and located by officers from the Los Alamitos Police Department.
Friday, April 30
Suspicious Person or Circumstances—1:39:52 p.m.—Martha Ann Drive and Ruth Elaine Drive—An individual was soliciting. He was stopped, detained and warned. He left Rossmoor.
IN SUNSET BEACH
Tuesday, April 27
Disturbance, Mechanical—6:40 a.m.—24th Street—The caller complained about a motorhome with the generator running all night. A deputy contacted the owner and advised the owner of the disturbance.
Thursday, April 29
Vandalism Report—8:34 a.m.—Pacific Avenue—A vehicle was vandalized. No details were available.
Unknown Trouble—11:39 a.m.—Pacific Coast Highway and 6th Street—A warning notice was left on a parked vehicle.
Friday, April 30
Disturbance—1:44 a.m.—Pacific Avenue—Four people on the beach appeared intoxicated and were being loud. Deputies detained the group and evicted them from the beach.
Drunk in Public—9:49 a.m.—Pacific Avenue—Four subjects were seen drinking in a parked vehicle. Deputies patrol checked the area but were unable to locate the vehicle.
Brian Smith of the News-Enterprise contributed to this article.
