BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS Substitute teacher’s...

BRIEFLY IN

THE NEWS

Substitute teacher’s hearing continued

A pretrial hearing was continued from Thursday to Dec. 13 for a

35-year-old substitute teacher accused of sexually assaulting several

female students.

Todd Jerome Haluch of Huntington Beach faces a total of 17 felony

counts of sexual assault and one count of witness intimidation. He

was first arrested Sept. 13 after a therapist who treated one of the

victims told police about it. Haluch posted $250,000 bail the same

day.

But a second warrant with four fresh charges issued Sept. 26 led

to another arrest Sept. 30. Haluch is now in Orange County jail in

lieu of bail on that second warrant.

Haluch pleaded not guilty on Oct. 16 to all charges.

Three arrested after gang incident

Costa Mesa Police arrested three people Wednesday night following

a gang-related incident in which the suspects reportedly pointed a

loaded handgun at two other people, officials said.

Cristian Calderon, 21, of Costa Mesa and two other teenagers,

whose names were not released because of their ages, were traveling

in a green Ford Explorer at about 10 p.m., Costa Mesa Police Lt. Dale

Birney said.

They stopped at a red light at the intersection of Placentia

Avenue and Wilson Street when another car pulled alongside, he said.

The two teenagers sitting in the back seat of the Explorer then

reportedly pointed a shotgun and a handgun at the victims from inside

the car, Birney said.

“The victims tried to drive away, but said the three people

followed them,” he said.

They finally drove around several residential neighborhoods until

they “lost them” and then reported the incident to the police, Birney

said.

Helicopter officers later spotted the Explorer near Pomona Avenue

and 18th Street and alerted officers on the ground, he said.

“Our officers then made a stop and found a loaded handgun on the

back seat of the vehicle,” Birney said.

Police did not find a shotgun.

All three were identified as members of a Costa Mesa gang and were

arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, he said. They

will also face charges of possessing a loaded firearm and being

involved in a gang.

Birney said Calderon made a $10,000 bail, but the two teenagers

are being held at Orange County juvenile hall. No shots were fired

and no one was hurt in the incident, he said.

Police lead county in DUI arrests

The Orange County chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving

declared Costa Mesa Police Department the “top DUI arresting police

department” in the county on Thursday. Eight out of 10 officers who

received the Century Award from the organization for making the most

DUI arrests in the year 2001 were from Costa Mesa.

The following Costa Mesa Police officers were presented with the

awards at a ceremony at the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in

Yorba Linda on Thursday: Anthony Yannizzi; Daniel Miles; Jose Rene

Torres; Victor Bakkila; Stephanie Mattiaccia; Joyce La Pointe; Dennis

Dickens; and John Elliott. The other two awards went to California

Highway Patrol officers.

Collectively, Costa Mesa Police officers made 821 DUI arrests last

year. Each of the officers made more than 100 arrests.

Costa Mesa Police Chief Dave Snowden said he is “proud of the work

his department does.”

“It just shows that we take the problem [of driving under the

influence of alcohol or drugs] very seriously,” he said.

-- Deepa Bharath