Man charged with aggravated kidnapping for ransom petitions for release as OC reduces jail population
By Mary Stringini
Man charged with aggravated kidnapping for ransom petitions for release as OC reduces jail population
The first Orange County inmate has petitioned to be released on his own recognizance following a judge’s order Friday that ordered the Orange County Jail’s population be reduced by half.
ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. - A man charged with aggravated kidnapping for ransom and extortion is the first Orange County inmate to petition to be released on his own recognizance following a judge’s order Friday that ordered the Orange County Jail’s population be reduced by half.
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SANTA ANA, Calif. The sheriff in Orange County, Calif., is fighting a court order aimed at slashing the population of inmates in the county due to the coronavirus.
Sheriff Don Barnes pushed back against the Orange County Superior Court, which ordered the reduction of the county’s jail populations by 50% on Friday in an effort to achieve proper social distancing and prevent further spread of COVID-19, KABC News reported.
“I have no intention of releasing any of these individuals from my custody,” Barnes replied. “We are going to file an appeal and we’re going to fight it and if the judge has any intent of releasing any one of these individuals, he will have to go through line by line, name by name and tell me which ones he is ordering released.”
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Renowned bond investor Bill Gross had trouble remembering dates, details and prior testimony when he took the stand Monday in a civil harassment trial against a neighbor.
However, Gross was certain of one thing: that neither he nor his “life partner,” former professional tennis player Amy Schwartz, had harassed their next-door neighbors by playing loud music late at night while they were trying to sleep including and especially the theme song from “Gilligan’s Island.”
Rather, he said it was neighbor Mark Towfiq, a wealthy tech entrepreneur, who harassed them by constantly taping the couple on his iPhone recordings that Towfiq testified were done to capture the loud music.
Last week, the county reported 62 fatalities, up from 41 and 26, respectively, in the two previous weeks.
Prior to this month, the record for ICU patients in Orange was 245 during a mid-July surge. Overall hospitalizations have been breaking records daily since Dec. 2.
Orange County, which had 53% of its ventilators available as of Monday, is awaiting its first shipment of vaccines, expected to arrive Wednesday. About 25,000 doses are expected, according to Orange County CEO Frank Kim.
The county has the necessary deep freezers and dry ice available to store the medicine, he said, noting that frontline hospital workers are expected to be among the first to receive the Pfizer vaccine.
Officials Outraged After Judge’s Order to Release Half of Orange County Inmates
Officials in Orange County, California, are outraged after a Superior Court judge ordered Sheriff Don Barnes to release 50 percent of the inmates at county jails due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
The order to release half of the county’s inmates was issued by Orange County Superior Court Judge Peter J. Wilson Dec. 11 after a lawsuit was brought in front of the court by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of inmates who claim to be at high risk of COVID. The plaintiffs in the case include jail inmates who are medically vulnerable or suffering from significant underlying health conditions.