Local News

FRESNO - Shortly after 6:00 pm last Wednesday, a Fresno County Sheriff’s deputy was responding to a call for service in Fresno, when he noticed a green Ford Ranger pickup truck make an illegal U-turn on Olive Ave. near Highway 99. The deputy was driving in the left lane and eventually pulled up alongside the driver of the pickup, who was in the right lane and stopped for a red light at the intersection of Olive and Parkway.

As the light turned green, the driver of the pickup made another illegal U-turn from the far right lane. The deputy tried to swerve out of the way, but could not avoid the pickup which crashed into his passenger door. The driver then tried to flee. The deputy caught up to the pickup about a quarter mile away and got the driver to pull over and stop.

SAN FRANCISCO - The Trump administration settled with the plaintiffs last week in the first legal challenge to the president’s original executive order, which sought to bar travelers from certain majority Muslim countries from entering the United States and to dramatically curtail the admission of refugees. The settlement ensures that all travelers who were barred from the country on the basis of the ban and have not since returned to the United States are informed of their right to reapply for a visa and provided with a list of free legal services organizations that can help them do so.

The settlement came in the case o Darweesh v. Trump, which was filed as a nationwide class-action in federal district court in New York City on the morning of January 28, 2017, only hours after the first Muslim ban went into effect. The ban had plunged airports across the country into chaos as the Trump administration haphazardly implemented its discriminatory policy, leading to the separation of families and exclusion of refugees fleeing persecution. By the evening of January 28, the court had issued a nationwide injunction prohibiting the Trump administration from removing anyone from the country on the basis of the Muslim ban. As a result, the administration’s effort to bar Muslims and refugees from the country was halted barely 24 hours after it went into effect.

FRESNO - Southeast District Officers Keosoy Saechao and Chadwick Chang from the Fresno Police Department where conducting proactive patrol in the area of Orange Avenue and Lowe Avenue. Officers conducted a traffic stop on 34 year old Brandon Sepulveda from Fresno while riding his bike and being in violation of vehicle code laws. Sepulveda refused to stop and rode away from the officers but was subsequently arrested just a short distance away.

While conducting a search incident to Sepulveda’s arrest officers found a Chiappa 1911 22LR semi auto handgun loaded with seven rounds in the magazine. Sepulveda a self-admitted Bulldog gang member who stated he is homeless, is a prior felon and is on active felony Post Release Community Supervision probation for narcotic sales. Sepulveda was released from Fresno County jail on August 26th, 2017 for having a no bail warrant issued by probation for absconding.

FRESNO COUNTY - The Fresno County Search and Rescue (SAR) team and the California Highway Patrol will attempt a recovery operation along Highway 180 and the Kings River today. Officers and deputies will be working to extract two bodies from a car located in the river. The bodies are presumed to be that of a 28 year old man and 24 year old woman, both residents of Thailand who were enrolled as exchange students at the University of South Florida.

It was on the night of July 26th that the California Highway Patrol and Fresno County Sheriff’s Office were notified of a traffic accident. A vehicle traveling on Hwy. 180 near Convict Flat and Horseshoe Bend went through a guard rail, off a 500 foot cliff and into the Kings River. CHP immediately contacted the Sheriff’s Office and asked deputies to search the canyon for a vehicle. Members of the Sheriff’s Office performed a search the next day and did locate a red car in the river; a 2016 Hyundai Sonata.