Dozens of shelter dogs will wait for their forever homes a little more comfortably thanks to a recycling program that repurposes inmate clothing and blankets to make dog beds and chew toys.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department in December donated more than 100 beds and toys to OC Animal Care as part of Jails to Tails – a sustainability program run by personnel at the Theo Lacy facility.

In 2013, Theo Lacy evaluated its practices and looked for innovative ways to divert waste from local landfills, with the Jails to Tails program being among the ideas.

The facility goes through 15 tons of clothing and bedding every year. When inmate clothing cannot be repaired or recycled into machine shop rags, it gets shredded and stuffed into large pillowcase-like pockets made out of old jail bed sheets.   

Since the program’s inception, Jails to Tails has donated more than 700 items to OC Animal Care.

SANTA ANA, Ca. (Jan. 19, 2018) - The Orange County Sheriff’s Department has arrested a woman for murder following a 2016 vehicle collision where she was found to be driving under the influence.

View PDF

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is sending a 39-member Sheriff’s Response Team to Santa Barbara County to aid the community devastated by recent mudslides.

Thirty-three deputies, five sergeants and a lieutenant will provid eemergency mutual-aid to law enforcement in central California. They will learn their specific assignment when they arrive on scene.

The Sheriff’s Department’s deployment, which will later be reimbursed by federal emergency relief funds, will include providing security to areas damaged by heavy mud flow and providing deputies for traffic control and enforcement.

A DUI and Driver’s License Checkpoint held Friday night in Laguna Niguel turned out two arrests for drunken driving and another nine for driver’s license violations.

More than 950 cars passed through the checkpoint on Crown Valley Parkway, west of Greenfield Drive, where deputies screened more than 700 vehicles.

Five field sobriety tests were administered, resulting in two DUI arrests. Seven unlicensed drivers were arrested, along with two drivers with suspended licenses. In addition, three vehicles were towed.

A grant provided by the California Office of Traffic Safety allows the Sheriff’s Department to host various checkpoints throughout the year.

While pulling impaired and unlicensed drivers off the road to keep the community safe remains one goal of these checkpoints, they also serve to educate the public on the dangers of drunken or drugged driving.

High-visibility enforcement using both checkpoints and saturation patrols have proven to lower the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol or drug-related crashes.  Research shows that crashes involving an impaired driver can be reduced by up to 20 percent when well-publicized, proactive DUI checkpoints are routinely conducted.

 

SANTA ANA,Ca. (Jan. 16, 2018) -TheOrange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) will serve as the County’s primaryresponders for remote-area rescues as an agreement with the Orange County FireAuthority (OCFA) for a dual-agency approach expires today.

View PDF

Investigators are seeking the public’s help in identifying awoman accused of shoplifting from two Ladera Ranch retailers on Dec. 7

The woman is suspected of stealing clothing and home goodsfrom two neighboring stores in the 25000 block of Crown Valley Parkway.

If you recognize this woman, please contact Investigator Marshallat 949-315-5871 or kvmarshall@ocsd.org.

A 41-year-old man was arrested after discharging a laser at Duke 1 pilots as they patrolled over San Juan Capistrano Wednesday night.

Duke 1 video captures a man standing outside his car firing the laser at Duke multiple times while the helicopter was overhead at about 7:30 p.m. Jan. 10.

Pilots kept tabs on the man, guiding patrol deputies to his location as he drove toward the 5 freeway. The suspect was contacted by deputies and taken into custody without incident.  

Farhad Naghipour, 41, of Irvine, was arrested on suspicion of felony discharging a laser at an aircraft.

Although OCSD’s pilots are trained to avert their eyes and aircraft from a laser shot, as they did on Wednesday night, these devices pose a serious threat to pilots.  

Some may think these devices appear too small to have a significant impact on an aircraft thousands of feet in the air, but the infrared beam from even a small laser expands as the light projects into the sky.

If the laser shot hits the glass of an aircraft in just the right way, the light refracts, illuminating the inside of the aircraft and potentially disorienting the pilots. Or, if the laser hits the pilot at the right angle, the beam can cause retina damage, headaches, and flash-blindness.

Pointing these devices at an aircraft is a felony in California and became a federal offense in 2012, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which tracks laser incidents across the country.

In March 2015, a man was sentenced to 14 years in prison after pointing a laser at a law enforcement helicopter in Fresno. The stiff penalty, officials said at the time, was handed down in an attempt to discourage others from engaging in the practice.

LAKE FOREST, Ca. (Jan. 10, 2018) - The body of a 19-year-old man found in Borrego Park by Orange County Sheriff’s investigators has been identified as missing person Blaze Bernstein.

View PDF

January is National Blood Donor Month and we encourage you to help out those in need by donating blood. Did you know that every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood? According to Red Cross, around 36,000 units of blood are needed each day. To do our part, we are hosting the Red Cross Bloodmobile at two locations this month:

January 23 from 8am - 3pm

Red Cross Bloodmobile

20202 Windrow

Lake Forest, CA 92630

January 29 from 7am – 5pm

Red Cross Bloodmobile

Theo Lacy Facility

501 The City Dr S

Orange, CA 92868

Donors can walk-in, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) for availability, or visit redcrossblood.org/give to register.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department is seeking the public's assistance in location 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein, who was last seen Jan. 2 in Lake Forest.