O.C. couple plead guilty to faking death to get benefits

Santiago and Rosa Carrasco. (Orange County district attorney's office)

A Santa Ana husband and wife pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of faking the man’s death to steal more than $400,000 in death benefits, authorities said.

Santiago Carrasco, 52, and Rosa Carrasco, 54, were accused of traveling to Mexico in the summer of 2004 to obtain a phony death certificate stating that he died of a heart attack there, the Orange County district attorney’s office said.

In September 2004, Rosa Carrasco began collecting death benefits on behalf of her husband, according to prosecutors. She was charged with receiving the money while the couple were living together in Santa Ana.

Rosa Carrasco worked at a retail store in South Coast Plaza, while Santiago Carrasco was a truck driver based out of Fontana.

Prosecutors said the Carrascos were collecting the benefits up until their arrest Aug. 1, 2011.

Each was sentenced to two years in custody and two years of mandatory supervision after they are released, the district attorney’s office said. The couple was also ordered to pay more than $413,000 in restitution.

— Robert J. Lopez, Los Angeles Times

Fitzpatrick resigns from Costa Mesa Planning Commission

Jim Fitzpatrick reacts after hearing that his fellow board members at the Costa Mesa Sanitary District voted in closed session to seek a court order to have him removed from the board Feb. 28. (Scott Smeltzer)

Costa Mesa Planning Commissioner Jim Fitzpatrick resigned from his post Tuesday to keep his seat on the city’s Sanitary District board, according to a letter sent to Costa Mesa Mayor Eric Bever.

“My colleagues feel that I have violated my franchise with the voters and have sued me personally and as a director for allegedly serving in an ‘incompatible’ office as city planning commissioner,” Fitzpatrick wrote. “They are using ratepayer monies to sue me, racking up tens of thousands of dollars in legal bills, with the goal of overturning the results of last election [sic].”

Earlier this year, Fitzpatrick’s fellow directors on the sanitary district took aim at his dual roles, pointing to two separate legal opinions — one from the district’s counsel and another from an outside consultant — which found there was a potential conflict of interest in the two positions.

–Joseph Serna, @JosephSerna, Daily Pilot

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19th Street bridge back on map

The proposed bridge between Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach originally thought to be deleted from Orange County’s master plan is back after a vote by the Orange County Transportation Authority on Monday.

Following a motion by Huntington Beach Mayor Don Hansen and seconded by Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach, the OCTA board voted 17 to 0, with Supervisor Janet Nguyen abstaining, to pull back from deleting the 19th Street bridge from the county’s master plan, which dates back to the 1950s.

The change could be only temporary, OCTA officials said.

The board is expected to take up the issue again within six months, after OCTA staff work with the county, California Department of Transportation, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach on a traffic study to find other congestion-relieving options besides a bridge over the Santa Ana River in Westside Costa Mesa.

–Joseph Serna, @JosephSerna, Daily Pilot

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Costa Mesa continues outsourcing efforts

The Costa Mesa City Council will consider Tuesday whether to outsource five city services, more than a year since the wheels were first set in motion amid furious protests from city workers and local activists.

City staff are recommending Costa Mesa outsource its jail services and street sweeping but keep its animal control, building inspections and video production in-house.

Staff recommend that the city contract with G4S Secure Solutions, a worldwide company owned by Danish security firm Group 4 Falck. According to the city staff report, the city ignored an unofficial offer to partner with Newport Beach for jail services and picked G4S over one other private bidder.

The company’s proposal could save Costa Mesa more than $600,000 annually in the long run, but in the short term it would be about $410,000 because the city would likely have to keep a police sergeant on staff for the first year to oversee the transition to the firm.

–Joseph Serna, @JosephSerna, Daily Pilot

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Newport-Mesa schools take home gold, silver and bronze

Newport-Mesa’s four comprehensive high schools ranked in the top 5% of schools in the country, according to a national journal.

The U.S. News & World Report’s 2012 Best High Schools ranked Corona del Mar the second best school in Orange County with a gold medal. Costa Mesa, Estancia and Newport Harbor received silver medals and Newport-Mesa’s Early College High School, where students take college courses concurrently, was given a bronze medal.

“I think [the rankings] are very representative of the hard work going on at those schools,” said Charles Hinman, Newport-Mesa Unified’s assistant superintendent of secondary education. “The fact that Costa Mesa, Estancia and Newport Harbor are all silver says a lot about the hard work those schools are doing. Obviously, Corona del Mar is a little ahead of the game, but, you know, that’s a mark for everyone to shoot for.”

U.S. News & World Report looked at 22,000 public high schools across 49 states. In California, 2,407 schools were evaluated. The journal measured the schools based on state test scores, Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate test data, and the success of different cohort groups.

–Britney Barnes, @britneyjbarnes, Daily Pilot

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Parolee convicted in sex assault of girl

Matthew Castaneda

A parolee was convicted Monday of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old Santa Ana girl he met on MySpace.

Matthew Castaneda, 35, was charged with meeting the girl on MySpace in November 2009 and attacking her at an Anaheim motel, the Orange County district attorney’s office said.

Castaneda, an Anaheim resident, was a professional wrestler who went by the name of Chippy Sanchez, according to a report in the L.A. Weekly.

In February 2010, Castaneda met the girl near South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa and took a bus with her to Anaheim, according to prosecutors. After walking in various parks, he was charged with taking the victim to Zaby’s Motor Lounge near Disneyland and attacking her.

The girl left the motel and asked to be taken home by a traffic controller with the Anaheim Police Department. She had been reported missing in Santa Ana.

Castaneda was on parole for a 2007 felony domestic violence conviction and restraining order violation, the district attorney’s office said in a statement. In the latest case, he was convicted of one felony count of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one felony count of lewd acts on a child under 14. A jury was unable to reach a verdict on two other felony counts.

Castaneda faces a maximum sentence of 24 years to life in state prison and mandatory sex offender registration. He is scheduled for a hearing June 22 at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.

— Robert J. Lopez, Los Angeles Times

OCC baseball advances to state tourney

The Orange Coast College baseball team celebrates with a dog pile after beating Glendale, 16-1, and clinching a spot in the four-team state tournament. (Courtesy of OCC Athletics)

COSTA MESA — An Orange Coast College baseball team that had been larger than life most of the season, benefited from a healthy dose of mortality on Sunday to win the second championship game of the double-elimination Southern California Super Regional.

The 16-1 triumph over Glendale, which topped the Pirates, 6-3, in the first game Sunday, propels OCC (36-5-1), ranked No. 1 in one national poll, into the four-team California Community College Athletic Assn. State Championship, held Friday through Sunday at Bakersfield College.

OCC will meet Sierra College (25-15-1) in the first round on Friday at noon. Consumnes River (25-16) and Rio Hondo (38-3) round out the field in the double-elimination state tournament.

Sophomore pitcher Eric Salcido allowed two hits in five shutout innings to earn the win and freshman right fielder Bijan Rademacher drove in five runs, including a grand slam that put the Pirates up, 8-0, in the fifth inning to key the clinching victory.

–Barry Faulkner, @BarryFaulkner5, Daily Pilot

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Charlie Palmer to host Second Harvest event at South Coast Plaza

The Second Harvest Summer Food & Wine Event returns to Charlie Palmer at Bloomingdale’s South Coast Plaza from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, an event organizer said.

The event at the Costa Mesa shopping center features award-winning wines and gourmet food, a silent raffle and music by KCRW 89.9 DJ Jason Bentley.

And, because the event is sponsored by South Coast Plaza, 100% of the ticket sales will benefit Second Harvest’s food bank, said Anton Segerstrom, a shopping center executive who serves on the Second Harvest board.

“They can produce about three meals for every dollar,” Segerstrom said. “So when you think about it, that leverage is incredible. It’s not only a good time, but the effect and change they make with one ticket is incredible.”

A presale ticket costs $75 through the Second Harvest website, feedoc.org, and $100 at the door.

Guests will be offered a 10% discount on select wines by the case.

A portion of those proceeds will be donated back by Charlie Palmer to Second Harvest.

–Sarah Peters, @SPeters01, Daily Pilot

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A grandmother’s ties to the New York Philharmonic

Eleanor Reicher shares stories with New York Philharmonic Associate Principal Percussion Daniel Druckman backstage Tuesday night at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Her uncle Saul Goodman was a legendary timpanist who trained Druckman and legions of other percussionists. (Courtesy Chris Lee)

The two strangers leafed through the scrapbook, their memories of a man in common flowing like the airy music that earlier filled the hall.

There they were, backstage at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall after Tuesday night’s Philharmonic Society of Orange County concert, my grandmother and the New York Philharmonic musician reminiscing over the late Saul Goodman.

Goodman was my 96-year-old grandmother’s “Uncle Solly,” but in the world of classical music, he was a giant among timpanists and played with the New York Phil for 46 years. He was also a teacher and mentor to a legion of successful percussionists like Daniel Druckman.

“Saul Goodman was a legend,” Druckman told other musicians backstage as they packed their instruments for their next performance in Los Angeles.

At one time, all of the Philharmonic percussionists trained with him, said Druckman, who was awarded the Saul Goodman Scholarship at Juilliard.

“Now it’s just me” — the last of a generation, he said.

–Mike Reicher, @mreicher, Daily Pilot

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Morningside hit with orders to stop operations

Eight properties operated by Morningside Recovery have received letters from state authorities ordering them to stop operations.

If the two facilities in Costa Mesa and six in Newport Beach don’t comply with the cease-and-desist letters dated April 23, the Newport-based company could incur fines of $200 daily per facility, according to the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.

The letters are among several measures the department has taken to prevent Morningside from continuing normal operations, including a temporary suspension order and documents seeking to permanently revoke the recovery center’s license.

The center received the letters May 1, said Morningside attorney Mary Helen Beatificato.

Morningside allegedly used its sober-living homes, which do not require state licenses, for licensable services that included treatment, counseling and recovery planning, said ADP spokeswoman Suzi Rupp.

Sober-living homes are designed for people recovering from a chemical addiction to live together in alcohol- and drug-free environments to support each other and maintain their sobriety. Such facilities do not need licensing and are protected by federal and state fair-housing laws.

–Lauren Williams, @LAWilliams30, Daily Pilot

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