Marcus Anthony Eriz, the 26-year-old man convicted of second-degree murder in connection to the 2021 shooting death of a 6-year-old boy on the 55 Freeway, was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison on Friday. The Costa Mesa man was convicted of the crime and related charges in January. Authorities in June 2021 said Eriz was in the passenger's seat of his girlfriend's vehicle on the freeway when a woman, Joanna Cloonan, raised her middle finger at the couple, believing she was cut off. After that, Eriz grabbed a Glock 17 handgun from the back pocket of the driver's seat and fired a single shot ..read more

The rewards for two unsolved murders in Southern California were announced by Governor Gavin Newsom’s office Friday. Leads for the two victims’ cases have gone cold and officials are hoping someone will have further information on their cases. The victims were identified as Victoria Barrios, 18, who was killed in Santa Ana and Alan Schwalbe, 61, who was killed in Costa Mesa. On Aug. 30, 2019, 18-year-old Barrios was walking with two friends when she was shot during a drive-by shooting just after midnight on the 500 block of East Pine Street in Santa Ana. Barrios was found suffering a gunshot w ..read more

An Irvine man is the latest to plead guilty to firebombing a Costa Mesa Planned Parenthood in 2022, joining two others who've already admitted to participating in a politically motivated series of attacks targeting abortion providers and the LGBTQ community in pursuit of an eventual race war. Tibet Ergul, 22, pleaded guilty last month to a misdemeanor count of intentional damage to a reproductive health services facility, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release. He also admitted to a felony charge of conspiracy to damage an energy facility related to potential further incidents w ..read more

An Ontario rideshare driver has been arrested after a woman was struck by a hit-and-run vehicle in Costa Mesa and died two days later. The woman, whose identity has not been released, was struck at about 12:25 a.m. Sunday at the intersection of Newport and Harbor boulevards, the Costa Mesa Police Department said in a news release. The 47-year-old, whose last known address is in Costa Mesa, sustained a life-threatening head injury and was taken to a local hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries on Tuesday. Investigators discovered that the vehicle that hit the woman was operating as a rid ..read more

A stolen vehicle suspect was arrested after allegedly ramming her car into officers in Costa Mesa on Wednesday.  The suspect was identified as Destiny Sherer, 29, by the Costa Mesa Police Department.  Officers spotted the stolen vehicle at around 12:45 p.m. and attempted to pull Sherer over. The suspect did not cooperate and instead rammed into patrol vehicles as she drove away from the scene, police said. Backup was called and a motor officer was the first to arrive. While following Sherer on surface streets, another vehicle struck the officer, causing him to crash in front of a sho ..read more

An Orange County teenager is hospitalized after suddenly falling ill with a rare heart condition that some doctors say has been increasingly affecting young men. Nolan Yearout, an athletic 15-year-old student at Estancia High School in Costa Mesa, was feeling good one day before he fell gravely ill. “He’s been in such good shape,” said Kevin Yearout, Nolan’s father. “[He was] looking forward to baseball.” Kevin said he was initially told the flu had been spreading around school campus at the time Nolan became sick. “We took him to his pediatrician and that’s the first time I heard him complain ..read more

An Orange County nanny was sentenced Friday for molesting 16 young boys and showing pornography to a 17th boy while they were under his care. Matthew Antonio Zakrzewski, 34, of Costa Mesa, faces 705 years to life plus two years and eight months in prison, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. He was convicted on Oct. 3 by a jury of 34 felony counts, including lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under the age of 14, oral copulation of a child under the age of 10, possession of child pornography, using a minor for sex acts, and more. Zakrzewski had worked as a nanny f ..read more

Gayle Anderson reports from the Heroes Hall Museum in Costa Mesa about several Veterans Day events, including the Veterans Day event happening at the museum on Nov. 11. OC Fair & Event Center Veterans Day Commemoration at Heroes Hall Museum Nov. 11 from 2 to 4 p.m. Free admission & free parking 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa OCFair.com Post 9/11 veterans are invited to this ceremony for special recognition. RSVP at OCF.Formstack.com. At the Heroes Hall Museum, we can also see the free exhibit "Valor & Virtue: Jewish American Medal of Honor Recipients," which focuses on all 18 Jewish Ame ..read more

An Orange County nanny was convicted Tuesday of molesting 16 young boys and showing pornography to a 17th boy while they were under his care. Matthew Antonio Zakrzewski, 34, of Costa Mesa, was convicted by a jury of 34 felony counts, including lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under the age of 14, oral copulation of a child under the age of 10, possession of child pornography, using a minor for sex acts, and more. Zakrzewski had worked as a nanny for many families across Southern California. His victims ranged in age from 2 to 12 years old, according to the Orange County District Attorney ..read more

Security video captured a couple allegedly stealing around $17,000 worth of merchandise from Target stores in Orange County. The suspects were identified as Analu Gonzalez, 25, and Alexis De Jesus Garcia, 22, both residents of Anaheim. Video from the Irvine Police Department showed the couple ransacking a Target in Costa Mesa on March 3 and a Target in Irvine on April 2. During the Costa Mesa theft, the couple can be seen wheeling a shopping cart toward the baby formula aisle with a child sitting in the cart seat. The couple begins quickly grabbing products off the shelf and stuffing them into ..read more