Seal Beach police go bald for cancer

Buzz the Fuzz looked to raise money for Relay for Life

By JAIMEE LYNN FLETCHER

The Orange County Register

Head hair is not the only hair Seal Beach PD’s Phil Gonshak loses at Chris Hendrix’s hands. Photo by Wayne Mah/The Orange County Register

 

SEAL BEACH- Police officers shaved their heads in the annual Buzz the Fuzz to raise money for the Seal Beach/Los Alamitos Relay for Life.

Saturday’s event at the municipal pier included an auction, a dunk tank where residents could try their luck drenching one of the city’s finest and the Angels cheerleaders who visited to cheer the officers on.

Firefighters from the Orange County Fire Authority were also on scene collecting money in their boots to donate to the Relay.

The Relay for Life will be on July 25 and 26 at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base. The 24-hour event honors cancer survivors, pays tribute to families who have lost someone to the battle and looks toward raising funds to go toward research to find a cure.

For more information on the Relay and to learn how to get involved call 714-904-0253.

Excalibur Bail Bonds Inc.

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(714) 870-9300

 

Panel: 3-year suspension for Greg Haidl’s sex case lawyer

Joe Cavallo, also convicted of soliciting referrals from county jail, could practice law again in December ’10.
By RACHANEE SRISAVASDI

Joe Cavallo, an attorney who defended the son of a former high-level sheriff’s official on sexual-assault charges and was later convicted of illegally soliciting client referrals, should be suspended from practicing law for at least three years, a state professional panel recommended.

The State Bar of California – an arm of state government that decides on civil discipline for the state’s lawyers – has recommended that Cavallo be placed on probation for five years.

As a condition of that probation, Cavallo cannot practice law for a three-year term and would have to apply to practice law after that time, according to Russell Weiner, an attorney for the State Bar.

The decision – which will be reviewed by the state Supreme Court – would mean that Cavallo could be practicing law as soon as December 2010, since three-year suspension would be retroactive to when his law license was initially suspended in December 2007.

Cavallo, who had hoped for immediate reinstatement, said he was “shocked and disappointed” by the decision. He said he has been acting as a volunteer legal consultant for other attorneys.

“I’m not going to appeal their decision,” Cavallo said today. “I’ll be back in a courtroom on December 18, 2010.”

“But I’m thankful that I still have my license, and will be able to practice,” he also said. “I look forward to being back in the courtroom and fighting aggressively for my clients.”

In its ruling, the State Bar court decided that Cavallo’s conviction “involved moral turpitude.”

“He was so worried about the financial health of his practice that he allowed his business concerns to take priority over his ethical and professional duties, even in the face of criminal violations,” the panel said.

Cavallo is best known for representing Greg Haidl – the son of former Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl – during two sexual-assault cases in 2004 and 2005. Greg Haidl and his two co-defendants – who were caught on videotape sexually assaulting a teenage girl at Don Haidl’s Newport Beach home – were ultimately convicted and sent to prison.

Cavallo, once a close friend of former Sheriff Mike Carona, testified as a prosecution witness in Carona’s recent public-corruption trial. He told jurors that Carona once told him how to make illegal contributions to Carona’s campaign.

Other than his appearance at the Carona trial, Cavallo has been mostly out of the news since October 2007 – when he pleaded guilty to illegally paying off bail bondsmen to get him clients in the Orange County Jail.

He ended up being sentenced to 180 days in jail, which he served in home confinement.

Excalibur Bail Bonds 1-866-635-5245

Judge rules ex-Sheriff Carona must go to jail while he appeals

Mike Carona is to begin serving his 66-month prison sentence in July.

By RACHANEE SRISAVASDI

The Orange County Register

 

SANTA ANA – Former Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona, who was hoping to remain free while appealing his conviction, must turn himself in to federal custody July 24 to begin serving his 5 1/2-year sentence, a federal judge ruled today.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Guilford denied Carona’s motion to stay free while he asks the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider his case.

Carona wants his conviction overturned, arguing that prosecutors should have notified his then-criminal defense lawyer before secretly recording Carona talking to ex-Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl on Aug. 13, 2007.

That conversation – played repeatedly during Carona’s public corruption trial – was the basis of his witness tampering conviction in January. Guilford then sentenced Carona to 66 months in prison last month.

In his four-page ruling today, the judge said he does not think Carona is a flight risk or a safety danger, and he did not think Carona sought to remain free to just delay his sentence.

But Guilford ruled that he does not believe Carona’s attorneys will win in their quest to get the tape – and conviction – thrown out.

Guilford had agreed with defense attorneys that prosecutors violated ethical rules, but not enough to keep the jury from hearing the recordings.

“Excluding these tapes, which would likely make it impossible to convict the Defendant for what he said on the tapes, would be very harmful to the justice system,” Guilford wrote. “The Court finds that this issue does not meet the Ninth Circuit requirement for release pending appeal.”

Carona was in court this morning for a hearing on the matter. The judge’s decision came down in the afternoon.

Carona has to surrender to federal custody July 24. He will have to serve at least 85 percent of his sentence.

Carona’s attorney, Brian Sun, said he would appeal the judge’s decision.

“We are obviously very disappointed in the court’s ruling,” Sun said in a prepared statement. “We do plan to appeal Judge Guilford’s ruling to the Ninth Circuit (U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals) in view of our belief that the record strongly supports Mr. Carona remaining free on bond during the pendency of his appeal.”

For FREE Bail Bond information please give us a call at 1-866-635-5245

O.C. may lose $6.5 million for jails

President would cut program for jailing criminal illegal immigrants.

BY CINDY CARCAMO

The Orange County Register

Orange County sheriff’s deputies process inmates at the central jail at the Sheriff’s Department headquarters building in Santa Ana. Orange County could lose nearly $6.5 million a year after the Obama administration announced a plan to end federal payments to states and communities for jailing illegal immigrants.

MICHAEL GOULDING, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

 

President Barak Obama’s plan to redirect federal funds to the southwest border could mean Orange County stands to lose nearly $6.5 million in funds to house illegal immigrants with criminal convictions – while the state could lose $110 million.

Local and state officials have joined members of Congress who are up in arms about Obama’s announcement last week to kill a program that has provided about half a billion dollars in federal funds to states and local municipalities for the incarceration of illegal immigrants with criminal records.

“We expect that we are going to have to fight a battle that we are too familiar with fighting,” said H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the state’s Department of Finance.

About $400 million will still go to communities in fiscal year 2009 for the jailing of illegal immigrants who have been convicted of at least one felony or two misdemeanors. However, the $950 million authorized for fiscal year 2010 was scrapped by Obama’s budget.

In Orange County, the latest proposal is just one more bit of bad news for officials at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which is already in economic dire straights.

“The department is facing a mountain of economic challenges in the upcoming fiscal year and we would hope that Congress would see to it that we wouldn’t have to add another $6 million to that challenge,” department spokesman John McDonald said.

The department booked 12,515 inmates in 2008 who qualified under the program guidelines. That’s about 19 percent of the estimated 65,000 inmates booked each year at county jails.

The money funds deputies’ salaries, food for the inmates and other costs associated with the holding of these particular inmates, McDonald said.

“We’ve made a lot of budget cuts already. For instance, we closed the tents at the Musick facility,” he said about the closure of the 360-bed unit at the James Musick jail in February. Sheriff’s officials estimated that the closure would save them $1.2 million a year.

The federal money also pays for about 11 cents on the dollar in the cost of housing illegal immigrants with Immigration and Customs Enforcement holds, California Department of Corrections spokesman Seth Unger said.

As of March, California prisons held 22,063 inmates with confirmed or potential immigration holds. That’s about 13 percent of the 168,000 total inmate population, Unger added.

It’s an issue that transcends party affiliations, with Congress members Loretta Sanchez, D-Garden Grove, and Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, both condemning the move.

“Eliminating this funding will greatly undermine the efforts of our law enforcement officials in combating these criminals,” Sanchez said in a written statement. “As long as state law enforcement officials are doing the work to secure our borders and protect local communities, they must receive appropriate compensation.”

U.S. Department of Justice officials contend the program doesn’t help community officials address crime.

“The (program) provides a partial subsidy for the cost of incarceration in state prisons and county jails of illegal aliens who already have committed crimes, but does not help states and communities combat crime,” Department of Justice spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz said in a written statement. “Instead, the budget provides $2 billion in DOJ resources to help curtail illegal immigration and combat the violence associated with trans-border gangs and illicit gun and drug trafficking.”

The Obama administration has said the money for the program would be better used for border security and immigration enforcement, directly addressing illegal immigration along the southwest border. In addition, administration officials said the program gives state and local communities too much leeway on how the money can be used that may not necessarily fall within the realm of housing criminal illegal immigrants.

The administration’s proposal faces an uphill battle in Congress, especially among congressional members representing border states such as California and Texas, which have significant illegal immigrant populations, Rohrabacher’s spokeswoman Tara Setmayer said.

“Well, frankly we wouldn’t be in this problem if we were controlling our borders, but we’re not,” Rohrabacher said.

The program has been on the chopping block before, Setmayer said.

“It’s one of those issues that is just not politically viable for border states,” she said.

The Bush administration proposed to cut the entire program before, and it was met by strong opposition. However, with each reintroduction, the amount of funding allocated for the program has diminished.

For now, sheriff’s officials are waiting to see what happens.

“We’re hoping it doesn’t impact us at all,” McDonald said.

For FREE Bail Information Call EXCALIBUR BAIL BONDS at 1-866-635-JAIL That’s 1-866-635-5245 or visit us online at http://www.excaliburbailbonds.net or at http://www.myspace.com/excaliburbailbonds

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Excalibur Bail Bonds joined walk to raise awareness of mental illness

Saturday May 2nd, 2009 Check-In:  9:00 am Start Time:  10:30 am VENTURA BEACH PROMENADE 450 Harbor Blvd, Ventura (between Crowne Plaza Hotel & Aloha Steakhouse) The 5K Walk follows an easy and pleasant route that starts at the Promenade Park (Crowne Plaza Hotel) and proceeds westward with beautiful ocean vistas. The turnaround point is at the end of the path, where it meets Main Street.  The Walk then returns and ends at the starting point. NAMIWAlks Ventura County is a Rain or Shine event!

FORMS & DOWNLOADS FOR SPONSORSHIPS Walk Information Sheet – summary for sponsors & team captains NAMI Fact Sheet – information on NAMI nationwide Sponsorship Brochures – the 8-page color brochure Sponsorship Form – sponsor confirmation details FOR TEAM CAPTAINS Walk Information Sheet – summary for sponsors & team captains NAMI Fact Sheet – information on NAMI nationwide Team Captain Signup Form – for all Team Captains Business Team Packet – information for Business Team Captains Family Team Packet – information for Family Team Captains Team T-Shirt Information – create a T-shirt for your own team FOR INDIVIDUALS Registration Form – FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS Sample Fundraising Email – for Walkers Letter Writing Packet – instructions and sample letters

DIRECTIONS Click here for PRINTABLE DIRECTIONS From US-101 Southbound: Take the VENTURA AVENUE exit Turn RIGHT onto EAST THOMPSON BLVD Turn RIGHT onto SOUTH CALIFORNIA ST From US-101 Northbound: Take the CALIFORNIA STREET exit Turn LEFT onto SOUTH CALIFORNIA STREET CARPOOLING IS STRONGLY ENCOURAGED Parking is available in the City Parking Structure east of the Crowne Plaza Hotel at $8.00/day A Limited number of Parking Validations are available See Printable Directions above for more parking information

Here’s what you can do:

** HELP NAMI VENTURA COUNTY GET SPONSORS
Getting Walk Sponsors –     Click here to read how to proceed
Sign up Sponsors – see “Sponsorship Form” and other materials in the box above

** FORM A WALK TEAM
1. Form a Team to include your family, friends, church, business, department, community organization etc.
2. Register as a Team Captain – Click here to go the NAMIWALKS Registration Website
3. Or Register by mail –  see “Team Captain Signup Form” in the box above
4. Create your Team web page
5. Send email to invite others to join your Team

** REGISTER TO WALK
1. Join an existing team or register as an individual walker – Click here to go the NAMIWALKS Registration Website
2. Create your own web page online
3. Or Register by mail – see “Signup Form” for individuals in the form above
4. Contact or send email to friends, family, co-workers and others to support your Walk

** SUPPORT A WALKER
Make a donation online to show your support for a Walker – Click here to go the NAMIWALKS Registration Website
Make a general donation to NAMI Ventura County

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE NAMIWALKS ONLINE REGISTRATION WEBSITE

If you can’t walk, that’s cool!  Come anyway and show your support for those persons whose lives are affected by mental illness.

On Saturday May 2nd 2009 Excalibur Bail Bonds joined Ventura county’s NAMI organization on thier sponsored walk to raise awareness of mental illness. It was a a 5k walk that started and ended at the Ventura Pier.  Candace Jackson explains why she was walking.

Some of you know, our son Mat developed a brain disorder called Schizoaffective Disorder in his Freshman year in college. We have a great deal of hope and faith that the battle against mental illness will be won. With NAMI’s help, it will happen!

I am the team captain for Love Stories which is sponsored by Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village. Last year we raised nearly $5,000. The reason I am walking is because I believe very strongly in NAMI and the work they do. I am a Family to Family teacher and vice president of the NAMI Ventura County Board. I see first hand how the information that we teach gives such help and hope to families that have loved ones that are ill with a brain disorder. I also see the relief families experience when they realize that they are no longer alone in their struggles!  

To make fundraising and my job as team captain easier, I setup a team page and a personal fundraising page on the NAMI website. Once registered, the website provided a letter which I customized with my own story and emailed to friends and family inviting them to join my team or donate to my effort. It automatically includes a direct link back to my team page and walker page making it quick and easy for people to respond. For those without email, I used regular mail, telephone and face to face contact to invite them to participate.

This walk is so important. Get involved. The stronger NAMI gets, the louder our voice becomes.

 

Click here to visit Candace’s team page and walker page.

http://www.excaliburbailbonds.net

myspace.com/excaliburbailbonds

The Lipstick Bond Girls get their man

MORNING READ: TV now wants a part of OC’s fugitive hunters clad in pink.

By TOM BERG

The Orange County Register

After a short chase in a Garden Grove park Lisa, left, and Teresa Golt of Lipstick Bail Bonds lift a handcuffed Robert Jozsa, 46, up to his feet. Jozsa had not shown up for his court appearances.

LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Part 2: The women at Lipstick Bail Bonds write $2 million in bonds each month. When a client jumps bail, they risk losing it. That’s when they become bounty hunters.

ANAHEIM We’re hot on the trail of a heroin dealer when an informant calls with a tip on another fugitive. An easy pick-up.

Lisa and Teresa Golt, co-founders of Lipstick Bail Bonds, spin their car around and race to Eastgate Park in Garden Grove.

“This guy is more important,” says Lisa.

Why? She pulls a slip of paper from her pocket.

“I live with this,” she says. “I sleep with this. It’s with me at all times.”

She’s holding a “forfeiture list” of Lipstick clients who’ve failed to appear in court. The twins have six months to turn them in or forfeit bail – sometimes more than $100,000.

They’re close to forfeiting a $30,000 bail on Robert Jozsa, so he’s priority one. And, soon, they spot him sitting in his truck.

Lisa parks. As she walks up to the truck and asks him to sign some bail paperwork, her twin, Teresa, hides nearby, just in case.

Good idea. Because that’s when Jozsa bolts.

TV’s BOND GIRLS

TV loves chases. TV loves babes. TV loves criminals. Put them all together and what do you have?

“Let’s say they have a great chance,” says L.A. producer Gentry Stanley, president of Big Lightening Productions and Dap Studios, who soon plans to start filming the Golt sisters and their employees, and then pitch the footage as a reality show.

The premise: cameras would follow the “Lipstick Bond Girls” and weave in a competition featuring other women who think they have what it takes to use pink handcuffs professionally.

“We’re not just bimbos out there going, ‘Oh my God. You gotta stop!” says Lipstick agent Dawn Wickwire who, with fellow agent Kimberly Shepherd, act as decoys while the Golt sisters, former LAPD officers, tackle and subdue the fugitives.

Women approach them all the time: “Oh, you’re a bounty hunter? Like ‘Dog?’ I want to be a bounty hunter.”

But few understand what it takes: Sleep four hours a day. Work seven days a week. Get shoved, punched and kicked. Risk losing every bail bond you write. And work without a gun.

Unfortunately for the Golt twins, they once got caught working without something else.

BIG BROUHAHA

They got fired from the LAPD, the whisper campaign goes. They’re not licensed.

Both untrue. The twins did get reprimanded by the LAPD. And they did get arrested in 2000 for issuing bail without a license. But the story goes back further, to 1998.

That’s when fellow LAPD officer Brian Brown was murdered by a gangbanger. At his funeral, the twins got into a spat with then Police Chief Bernard Parks, whom they felt questioned their friend’s integrity. They later started a petition to ban Parks from officers’ funerals.

And, they say, they paid the price.

Four months after Lisa got her bail license in December, 1999, it was revoked without notification. Police arrested her. She eventually pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor charges while Teresa, caught riding with her, pleaded guilty to one charge – for which she was fined $500.

They admit their mistake. Records show they’re licensed in good standing today. And they retired, with pensions, from the LAPD.

Don Keith, a retired member of L.A.’s Fire and Police Pensions board, verified the Golts’ pensions, adding: “They were wonderful officers when they worked for me.”

Long Beach Police Sgt. Gordon Collier calls them the “sweetest, kindest girls I ever met,” – the kind of people, he adds, who’ll pick up an injured dog, take it to the vet and pay the bill themselves. “They’re legitimate.”

“Now, we’re so by-the-book,” Teresa says. “We assume, every day, someone is watching us.”

Including bail jumpers, like Robert Jozsa – now hightailing it across Eastgate Park with the Golt sisters in pursuit.

PINK HARLEYS

The chase begun like this “Hey Robert, it’s Lipstick, what’s up?”

“I know, I owe you money,” Jozsa replied. “I’ll get it later.”

That’s when he started running. But, halfway across the deserted park, Teresa tackled him and secured him with their trademark pink handcuffs.

“I thought I could run,” he says later, as they drive him to the Downey Police Department.

“I guess I smoke too much.”

It’s past 10 p.m. as the sisters pick up the trail of their fugitive heroin dealer. A tipster said their guy was partying in a bad neighborhood, but that was a few hours ago.

“If he comes out all gonzo, we’ll taze him if we have to,” Teresa says. “We want to go home too.”

Soon, the sisters are pounding on a back door. Confusion erupts. Yelling. Barking. Neighbors rush out. It’s tense.

But it’s the wrong house.

Now they’re apologizing and turning to neighbors in the yard. The scene unfolds in maybe five minutes, but their experience shows – a calm under pressure. And, as they leave, they urge his friends to tell their client to get to court.

“Or we’ll be back, again and again. Nobody wants that.”

It’s now after midnight and the Golt sisters are celebrating with agent Kimberly Shepherd.

“Would you rather pay $30,000, or do what we just did?” Teresa asks, referring to the night’s tackling capture. “I need my martini.”

And, indeed, they have reason to celebrate. A meth “tweaker” they chased a few weeks earlier is in jail. Their lost heroin junkie will be in jail by morning.

The Lipstick Bond Girls, as they call themselves, clink glasses of their favorite drink: pink lemon drop martinis.

Why not? Their pink Hummer put them on the map, and the $20,000 worth of pink swag they give out every month keeps them on the map. And they’re about to add pink Harleys to their fleet of 21 pink vehicles.

Pink, they can attest, works.

“We’re not into clothes,” Teresa says. “We don’t go shopping. We don’t travel or go out or do anything. We put everything into our business. Our ultimate goal is to be a household name, like Domino’s pizza.”

With that, she pays her bill – and, on the table, leaves a pink pen and pink chap-stick with their logo.

You never know who’s going to need bail someday.

 

These bounty hunters wear lip gloss

MORNING READ: Twin sisters, former cops, turn heads and cause friction in the bail industry.

By TOM BERG

The Orange County Register

Bail agent Kimberly Shepherd of Lipstick Bail Bonds takes a phone call while picking up an iced coffee in Santa Ana. Arrangements are made to got the Orange County Sheriff’s Intake and Release Center in Santa Ana to post a bond for someone that was arrested.

LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

ANAHEIM This is a dirty business: meth addicts, heroin pushers, wife beaters, gang-bangers, liars, cheaters, bail jumpers…

Always bail jumpers.

That’s where Kimberly Shepherd, driving a hot-pink 2003 Hummer, and Dawn Wickwire, riding shotgun, come in. They’re bounty hunters. And their cell phones never stop ringing.

“All right, we’re going to rock ‘n roll,” says Kimberly, a former airline stewardess, accelerating down Euclid. “We’re going to a tweaker pad.”

In this case, the tweaker/methamphetamine user is supposedly a Nazi Low Rider gang member who carries a dagger. He recently was released on a $100,000 bail – money the ladies of Lipstick Bail Bonds don’t want to forfeit.

They carry no guns, but they plan to bring him in anyway. A hundred grand is a hundred grand. And besides, they carry pepper spray in cute little pink canisters (“this will definitely drop someone,” says Dawn), and pink handcuffs.

We stop first to pick up the tweaker’s former girlfriend. She says he’s planning to run to Idaho. She’s chain-smoking, chain-talking, and torn between turning him in and remaining loyal. But she co-signed his bond. She’s on the hook, too.

En route, the girlfriend calls a friend: “We’re looking for Billy. I can’t tell you who I’m coming with because I don’t want Billy to know.”

Whoops. Dawn is less than pleased.

“No, no, no! No more calls!”

We meet up with the rest of the team – Teresa and Lisa Golt, sisters and owners of Lipstick Bail Bonds. The Golts are the muscle behind fugitive captures. Kimberly and Dawn are the decoys.

The plan: Dawn will knock on the door. Smile; look pretty. She’ll ask Billy to come to the car to sign some bail papers – a formality. He’ll look her over and, sure, he’ll go outside.

“Men are so predictable,” she says.

The Golt sisters, former LAPD officers, will hide behind the Hummer.

We slowly cruise toward the address.

“God, my stomach is in knots right now,” says Dawn. Then she steps out of the vehicle and disappears down a side path.

All we hear next is screaming.

NO CALLS

Now they’re rock stars.

People honk, wave, scream at the gaudy pink Hummer with lip decals on the sides. Every month, they hand out $20,000 in pink freebies – chap-stick, tank tops, hoodies emblazoned with their logo. Waitresses step out of restaurants to say hi. Little girls write. They’ve got five offices, 21 pink vehicles and a reality show in the works.

But it wasn’t always like this. Once, they were blackballed. Vandalized. Even arrested. Rumors swirled about them.

Now? They’re getting national and international press. The Today Show and Good Morning America are calling.

And why not? They’re TV’s “Dog” – with lip gloss and cleavage.

Behind the pink veneer, however, lie old-fashioned American values: Work hard. Be honest. And spend your money wisely.

Identical twins Teresa and Lisa are not only the muscle around here. They’re the brains and backbone. They began volunteering with the Long Beach police at 15; joined the police reserves at 18 – worked three jobs to support themselves.

“No one should pay your way,” says Teresa. “You’ve got to work. That’s why we had no life.”

They joined the LAPD at 21 and worked undercover vice. No guns. No badges. Talk your way out of trouble. Then it was South Central – “the best place to learn police work,” they say.

In 1999, they quit to become private investigators. For six years they chased fugitives for other companies.

“We saw the money they were making and thought: We could be better,” Teresa says.

Over a few glasses of merlot, they named themselves Lipstick Bail Bonds. They bought a $65,000 Hummer, opened shop and waited for the phones to ring.

But absolutely no one called.

ROUGH START

Dawn rushes back to the Hummer.

“Man, that scared me. The place was trashed. Totally dark inside. Windows busted. Some girl screaming. A guy dead-bolted the door, twice. People screaming, ‘Get the (expletive deleted) out of here,’ and ‘He ain’t (expletive deleted) home.’ ”

The team drives to a nearby Spires Restaurant to talk.

“We built this business from scratch,” Teresa says. “I don’t want to give up a $100,000 bond to some tweaker.”

The twins will surveil the house overnight. But Dawn can’t stay: “I have a dinner engagement tonight. And I have to get my nails done before tomorrow morning.”

Therein lies the secret of Lipstick’s success. Without decoys Dawn and Kimberly, the twins would have no marketing. And without twins Lisa and Teresa, the decoys would have no business.

Together, they’ve touched a nerve in this he-man business.

Sometimes, a raw nerve.

They’ve had tires slashed. Nasty notes glued to windshields. Crank calls. Threats.

“There are men who have been doing this 20 years. They say, “Here are these chicks in their pink cars,” Theresa says.

“They hate it that women are bail bonds.”

But the truth is most people arrested are men. And most people bailing them out are women. And those women like dealing with … other women.

Still, Lipstick has had to overcome two big hurdles in the bail bond business. One was getting their foot in the door. Remember when no one was calling? Well, at that time, their Hummer was garden-variety canary yellow.

merlot may have been involved again when they decided to paint the Hummer pink. Friends said they were crazy. But they did it, and the attention it drew was immediate and profitable.

“The Hummer is what made us.”

Another problem, however, went deeper than car color. It stemmed from sudden departure from the LAPD after 10 years. And the fact that the sisters once were arrested…

For illegally writing bail bonds.

 

Former court employee admits embezzlement

Woman wrote two checks to herself worth more than $13,000 from court account.

By EUGENE W. FIELDS

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

SANTA ANA – A former executive assistant at Orange County Superior Court has admitted embezzling more than $13,000 from the Superior Court Association.

Betty Duenas, 37 of Lake Elsinore, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of felony grand theft and was sentenced to three years formal probation and 400 hours of community service, in addition to having to pay $13,067.99 in restitution.

Duenas, who worked for the court’s chief financial and administrative officer, wrote two checks payable to herself for $6,852.99 and $6,215, respectively, on July 16, 2007 and Oct. 9, 2008, the District Attorney’s Office said. Duenas then altered account books and records to indicate the checks had been used to pay other invoices.

The 2007 theft was discovered by a Superior Court employee in May 2008 after receiving an unpaid invoice, which records showed that Duenas had paid, according to District Attorney’s Office.

The Superior Court Association pays the costs for judicial meetings and activities.

For FREE Bail Bond Information please contact Excalibur Bail Bonds Inc. at (619) 234-8600 or (714) 870-9300 or Toll Free at 1-866-635-5245.  No matter when you call you will always get a professional licensed agent.  We are here to help get you through your situation so you and your family can get back to your personal lives as quickly as possible.  We understand that good people can find themselves in bad situations. 

Sheriff begins taking away concealed weapons permits

Hundreds of letters have been sent out advising current permit holders of impending revocation.

BY NORBERTO SANTANA JR.

The Orange County Register

Sheriff Sandra Hutchens answers questions about concealed weapons permits Tuesday before the Board of Supervisors.

Register file photo

The Sheriff’s Department has begun the process of revoking hundreds of concealed weapon permits across Orange County.

This week, department officials confirmed that 146 letters have been sent out advising current license holders that their permits to carry firearms in public – called CCWs – are being revoked. There are currently 1,024 permit holders.

“The Department has determined that your identified risk does not meet the good cause threshold as required under the new CCW policy based upon the information you provided. As a result of this determination, the Department’s present intention is to revoke your CCW license,” reads the form letter sent out this month.

The letter, sent out under the signature of Captain Dave Nighswonger, advises current holders that if they feel that additional information should be considered they have roughly one month to provide additional good cause information for the department to consider before the revocation becomes final.

This week, county supervisors grilled Sheriff Sandra Hutchens during her 120-day update on the reorganization of the agency about the status of the concealed weapons review.

Hutchens acknowledged to supervisors that she had indeed tightened requirements for the permits but highlighted the fact that no current license had yet been revoked.

But it seems unlikely that those who are getting the letters won’t be revoked.

“Most of them are not coming back with the information we need,” said Nighswonger. “A lot of them are arguing the second amendment (to the U.S. Constitution),” he said.

Nighswonger said many of the current revocations listed their reason for having a concealed gun as “avid shooter.”

That no longer qualifies under Hutchen’s new standards.

Under state law, a Sheriff has discretion to issue concealed weapons permits. And under the administration of former Sheriff Mike Carona – whose federal corruption trial starts on Oct. 28 – guidelines for issuing concealed weapons permits were loosened.

Records reviewed by the Orange County Register show that concealed weapon permits soared under Carona, from 38 in 1998 to 468 the next year. By 2006, it was up to 1,400, a four-fold increase.

When Carona took over in 1998, Orange County ranked 34th in terms of the numbers of permits granted. By 2006, Orange County was ranked number nine.

However, the Register also found numerous instances where campaign donors received the permits. A Register analysis of Carona campaign contributions from 1996 to the end of 2001 shows that at least 95 contributors – who gave at least $68,000 – got licenses.

Indeed, the federal indictment against Carona details one specific instance where a wealthy contributor was granted a license under questionable circumstances.

Hutchens has said that connection prompted her to review the policies and tighten the standards.

Her revisions, and the revocation letters, have enraged gun activists who are pressing county supervisors to take action.

“There’s a lot of business owners and a lot of gun owners that have had CCWs that have never met Mike Carona or contributed,” said Greg Block, a Huntington Beach-based firearms instructor and activist.

He and many activists suggest a different standard: “If you are not a convicted felon, you should be able to get able to get a CCW in California,” Block said.

 

In Santa Ana: ‘We will make a stand’ against gangs

More than 100 residents pledge to fight gangs after 13-year-old is gunned down outside high school.

By DOUG IRVING

The Orange County Register

SANTA ANA Teachers, preachers, children and parents joined hands Monday afternoon and pledged to take back their neighborhoods from the gangs that have killed 11 so far this year – most recently a 13-year-old boy.

More than 100 people gathered just blocks from where Rodrigo Valle was gunned down outside Santa Ana High School. They applauded recent police efforts to crack down on gangs, but said the solution had to begin at home and in the community.

Organizers of the event said it was the beginning of a 100-day action plan to get people involved in improving the lives of children and teenagers. They passed around sign-up sheets with checkmark boxes that included “Gang Intervention Class Training,” “Grass-roots organization” and “Become Mentor.”

“It does not start with city government,” said Councilwoman Michele Martinez, who helped organize the rally. “It does not start with the Police Department. It starts with our own home. It starts in the community.”

Gangs in Santa Ana and in other big cities around the state have been recruiting younger kids, Police Chief Paul M. Walters has said. He has talked about seeking another gang injunction; the first such injunction issued in the county targeted Santa Ana’s Santa Nita gang.

Last month, police arrested 85 people during a three-day sweep that targeted neighborhoods hard-hit by gang violence.

On Monday, church leaders vowed to get more involved in the fight to keep kids out of gangs. Neighbors said they would keep pressure on City Hall for more youth programs and better parks.

Jane Russo, the superintendent of the Santa Ana Unified School District, said it was time to “roll up our sleeves and do what we need to do.”

And Pastor Kevin Brown asked those gathered to join hands and declare: “We will make a stand and we will continue to stand … until gang violence is stamped out in this city.”

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