A bail bondsman who allegedly abducted a customer at gunpoint and held him until he paid off a debt is slated to be arraigned on Friday in Riverside.

Damion Paul Perkins, 36, is charged with kidnapping for ransom, assault with a deadly weapon and using a firearm during a felony. He’s being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center in downtown Riverside.

An investigation into the alleged abduction was initiated last month by the California Department of Insurance, which licenses bail agents. Officials said that in July of this year, Riverside-based Bail Bonds United, co-owned by Perkins, posted a bond for a man who failed to pay the up- front premium on the surety after being released from jail.

With the help of an unidentified male accomplice, Perkins went to the customer’s residence on August 9 to collect the debt and allegedly ordered the victim out of his home at gunpoint in front of his children, authorities said. Perkins allegedly handcuffed the man and placed him in the back of his vehicle, then drove around, demanding that the victim come up with assets to cover the unpaid premium.

Officals alleged, the man eventually obtained additional money and illegal drugs from his family, which he turned over to Perkins as payment, prompting the defendant to release him.

If convicted, Perkins could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“Bail bond agents must abide by the law when they collect payments from customers — and they definitely may not kidnap their clients at gunpoint, or else they will wind up behind bars, requiring the services of their own bail bond agent,” said California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner earlier this week.

Top Cop Busted for Steering Towing Fees

Kevin Harold Segawa, 39, surrendered to authorities today in Riverside at the District Attorney’s office and was charged with bribery, filing a false affidavit, embezzlement by a public officer, perjury, failure to file an arrest warrant and destroying or concealing evidence, according to John Hall of the District Attorney’s Office.

The allegations stem from actions that allegedly occurred from 2005 to 2008. Segawa is accused of illegally sending the bulk of the college’s towing business to a man named Morgan Allen McComas, 40, who is also charged in the case.

McComas was charged with bribing an executive officer and misappropriation of funds, Hall said.

Both men will be booked at Robert Presley Detention Center; their bail was set at $25,000 each, according to Hall.

McComas allegedly bribed Segawa to get 85 percent of the school’s towing business, while three other tow company operators divvied up the rest of the calls among them in violation of the informal tow rotation policy that was in place.

The school towed around 1,200 vehicles during the time under investigation.

Hall said investigators estimate that McComas’ company, Pirot’s Towing, may have earned as much as a half-million dollars from tow fees.

During a 13-month probe into the case, officers told District Attorney investigators that Segawa directed or influenced them to tow vehicles and to use Pirot to do so, Hall said.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, some gifts McComas gave Segawa include a motorcycle; rims and tires for his personal pickup truck; about $120 in free lunches at a Riverside restaurant; tickets for a box seat at the Del Mar Racetrack; and $75 in food and drinks at a 2006 Christmas party.

Segawa is suspected of failing to disclose any of the gifts.

The two counts of destruction or secreting a police report and destroying or concealing evidence stem from Segawa’s arrest of a college
employee accused of embezzlement, Hall said.

An officer directed by Segawa to write a supplemental report of the incident cast Segawa in an unfavorable light and e-mailed the report to the chief. That e-mail was later deleted and the supplemental report was never submitted to the District Attorney’s Office, investigators determined.

The employee was never charged.

Segawa is also accused of seizing an ice cream cart in Menifee — off campus — turning over the vendor to immigration authorities for deportation, taking the ice cream home to his refrigerator and giving the surplus to a neighbor.

The chief never signed or filed an arrest ticket, Hall said.

The case is being prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Office’s Public Integrity Unit.

Booking and arraignment information was not immediately available.

La Quinta police arrest mother of naked wandering toddler

La Quinta police arrested a mother after a naked 1-year-old girl was found wandering near a busy intersection of Eisenhower Drive at Calle Durango at 9:11 this morning. The little girl was not hurt.

About 40 minutes after citizen saw the toddler, officers found the toddler’s mother about a block away. Police said Ashley Weinberg, 24, of La Quinta, was under the influence of prescription medications. Weinberg was arrested on suspicion of felony child neglect and booked into the Indio Jail, the sheriff’s department said in a news release.

La Quinta Police Department said parents should take such safety measures as using child safety door locks, to prevent children from wandering away from home.

Police ask for anyone with information about the case to call 760-863-8990 or Crime Stoppers at 760-341-STOP.

–Dayna Straehley

3 arrested in Southwest Justice after deputies get break in burglary case

Three people were arrested Saturday in Lake Elsinore as part of an investigation into several commercial burglaries in the area.

James Everett Jones, 37, Tina Jean Dillon, 40, and Robert Allen Straus, 27, were taken into custody after evidence was found at a home in the 15000 block of Grand Avenue linking them to the burglaries, the Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

Deputies responded to a call on May 20 from Lowe’s Home Improvement in Lake Elsinore of a woman trying to get a cash refund for merchandise that had been stolen from the store, the department said.

The woman fled in a black Honda Civic driven by a man. Surveillance cameras caught images of the woman and of the car, giving deputies their first major break in the case.

The two were identified as Dillon and Jones, and a search of their home turned up more evidence linking them to other burglaries and commercial thefts, the department said.

Also during the search, Straus was found to be in possession of burglaries tools and drug paraphernalia, the department said. He was also determined to be in violation of his parole.

Jones and Dillon were booked into the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley. Jones faces charges of burglary and being under the influence of a controlled substance, according to court records. Dillon faces those charges as well as petty theft.

Dillon’s bail was set at $5,000, Jones’ at $10,000, jail records indicated.

Straus was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside on a charge of being under the influence of a controlled substance and a parole violation. He’s being held without bail.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Lake Elsinore Sheriff’s Station at 951-245-3300.

–Steven Barrie

The Press-Enterprise

Immigration checks expand at Riverside jails

Everyone booked into Riverside County jail will now face an immigration check as part of a new federal program that started in the county Tuesday.

Known as “Secure Communities,” the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement program aims to identify and deport more dangerous criminals who are in the United States illegally.

Digitally scanned fingerprints are being submitted to a federal immigration database. Anyone booked who has had prior contact with immigration authorities could be investigated by ICE agents.

The effort began in late 2008 and is operating in more than 150 counties across the United States, including San Bernardino County, where it launched last month.

Immigrant advocates, alarmed by the rapid expansion of Secure Communities, say such programs operate with little public scrutiny and give officials discretion to target a broad range of people, including those who have not been charged with or convicted of a crime.

David Venturella, executive director of the Secure Communities management office in Washington, D.C., said by phone that the new system takes the burden off local law enforcement to identify potential illegal immigrants and places it back on ICE.

“This is not a program that casts a wide net. We’re focused on individuals who get arrested by local law enforcement,” he said. Some local jails already have deputies who are trained to enforce immigration law. But interviewing inmates to identify potential illegal immigrants is labor intensive, Venturella said. Those who are arrested often give false names and have no identification, making it difficult to determine their immigration status.

“By taking people’s biometrics, you make it impossible for people to use aliases,” said ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice. “Fingerprints don’t lie.”

Arden Wiltshire, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, said Secure Communities helps to catch deportable felons. Before, they might have “slipped through a loophole because we didn’t know who they were,” Wiltshire said.

“It’s going to be a benefit to the community,” she said.

LIMITED RESOURCES

Jails already are fingerprinting each person booked and running prints through an FBI criminal database. Now, the digitally scanned prints also will be sent to a Department of Homeland Security database that includes details about previous deportations and information on those who have applied for visas, permanent residency or citizenship. The database has information on some 110 million people, Venturella said.

When the system finds a fingerprint match, ICE agents investigate whether the person might be in the country illegally. If ICE agents choose to pursue deportation, they notify local law enforcement within a few hours.

ICE officials say they do not have the resources to pursue every case in which someone’s immigration status is suspect. They place priority on dangerous criminals, defined as those charged with or convicted of “major” drug offenses, national security crimes, and violent crimes such as murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery and kidnapping.

So while the system has the potential to identify many more undocumented immigrants, not all of them will land in immigration court.

Kice said that because the program is part of a broader strategy to increase the number of incarcerated and at-large illegal immigrants being identified and deported, she could not estimate the cost of Secure Communities. But she said from fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 2010, Congress appropriated $550 million to aid ICE efforts to identify and remove “criminal aliens.”

PROFILING concerns

Kice said Secure Communities should allay the racial-profiling concerns of some immigrant advocates because it does not single out certain individuals for immigration checks.

“The process is blind,” she said. “It overcomes a lot of concerns.”

Pedro Rios, director of the American Friends Service Committee in San Diego County, where Secure Communities was launched last May, said that while the ICE review process might be blind, racial profiling can still come into play during arrests.

Although ICE officials emphasize criminality, Rios said there have been cases where people are found not guilty — or not charged at all — and immigration authorities continue efforts to deport them.

He said the most egregious case he has heard of involved a 17-year-old San Diego County boy who was accused of attempted murder but acquitted. Instead of being released to his family, he was turned over to ICE.

Rios said the boy was brought to the United States from Mexico as a baby and speaks little Spanish. His parents are not involved in his life and he has no connections in Mexico, Rios said. An aunt had agreed to take custody of the boy upon his release, but when she arrived to pick him up he was already in ICE custody.

After a few days of trying to locate him, the aunt contacted Rios’ organization. They learned he was transferred to an immigration detention facility in Illinois. Rios said they tried to help the aunt to find legal assistance there, but he does not know what became of the boy.

Kice pointed out that ICE does not make the final decision about whether someone will face deportation. In a case such as the one Rios described, she said, the individual would have the right to go before an immigration judge.

Rios said the recently passed Arizona law cracking down on undocumented immigrants casts ICE programs in a different light.

“It’s really interesting now with the debate about immigration in Arizona heating up,” he said.

By comparison, enforcement programs such as Secure Communities have been labeled as “OK,” Rios said. In his view, Rios said, “this is a more silent way to detain people. In some ways, these are much more dangerous because fewer people know about them.”

By SARAH BURGE
The Press-Enterprise

Probation, weekend jail for puppy beating

A former firefighter from Riverside County convicted in the fatal beating of his neighbor’s puppy was sentenced Friday to three years of probation, 90 days of weekend jail time and 400 hours of community service working with dogs.

Glynn Johnson apologized to the Toole family for the beating of their 6-month-old German shepherd mix, Karley.

Johnson was convicted in January of felony animal cruelty and using a deadly weapon. In November 2008, he used a 12-pound rock to beat Karley after she bit him repeatedly, he testified during the trial. The 50-pound dog had a fractured skull, a broken jaw and other injuries and had to be euthanized.

At Friday’s sentencing, the Riverside courtroom was packed with animal rights activists and Johnson’s supporters. Some animal advocates wore purple ribbons for Karley; others had on T-shirts that read, “Firefighters against animal abuse.”

Judge J. Thompson Hanks announced the sentencing after statements by the Toole family, Johnson and Johnson’s family.

Jeff Toole addressed Johnson directly.

“If she did this to you, her punishment would be death. And if I were a judge, that would be the punishment for you, too,” Toole said. “You’re a danger to society, and you need to be locked up before you hurt someone else. We’ve lived in fear, wondering what you’d do next. As far as your remorse, I don’t buy it.”

Johnson’s family begged for leniency and requested probation for the former Los Angeles County assistant fire chief, who took a medical retirement after he was charged in the cruelty case. He faced a maximum sentence of four years and four months in state prison.

However, Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Will Robinson asked the court for probation and 365 days in Riverside County jail.

Hanks said he received numerous letters both in support of Johnson and condemning him. He said Johnson had no prior criminal record and had worked for the benefit of the community as a firefighter.

“You don’t see this kind of outpouring from the community in many cases, including the death of children,” Hanks said. “As a judge, I have to balance. I have to consider the conduct of the individual who did it and the appropriate punishment.”

Johnson, who lives in the Woodcrest area south of Riverside, was ordered to work out his community service with the Humane Society or another dog-oriented organization. He also was ordered to attend a 16-week anger management program. His attorney, John Sweeney, said he is appealing the conviction.

Activists booed as Johnson left the courtroom, calling him “evil” and “puppy killer.”

Families’ Pleas

Johnson’s wife and daughter apologized to the Toole family and said they, too, have endured stress in the wake of the dog’s death. They said Glynn Johnson, a 30-year veteran firefighter, retired under a dark cloud and already has paid for what he did.

“I would not be who I am today without my father,” said Erika Johnson, 28. “I stand here an adult, but I still need my father’s guidance and support. He’s been the model that I can be anything I want despite any adversity.”

Johnson told the court he loves animals and that he always has had pets, including dogs and horses. He has spent his career as a firefighter helping others and he would continue to do so, he said. A retired Anaheim fire chief spoke on his behalf.

Johnson expressed remorse to the Toole family.

“I am extremely sorry for the stress I have caused in your lives,” he said. “I would do anything to go back and change what happened. I don’t hate animals. I love animals. I would never destroy an animal for no reason.”

After Johnson spoke, Jeff and Shelley Toole and their son, Brandon, each read letters to him, saying he had ruined their lives by killing Karley.

By JOHN ASBURY
The Press-Enterprise

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