Vista
Palm Springs woman pleads guilty
VISTA — A woman who had alcohol and drugs in her system when she plowed head-on into a car and killed two married couples near Pala Casino pleaded guilty Jan. 17 to a DUI causing injury and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
Salesman pleads not guilty to sexual assault charges
VISTA — A door-to-door salesman pleaded not guilty in court Dec. 29 to 14 charges that allege he bound and sexually assaulted two sisters at knifepoint after being let inside their Escondido home to show a demonstration of a cleaning solution. Joshua Thomas Nitkin, 21, who is 5-feet-8-inches tall and weighs 145 pounds, was said [...]
Man pleads not guilty to murdering ex
VISTA — A Fallbrook man pleaded not guilty to murdering his ex-girlfriend the night before her 34th birthday as he faced a judge in a Vista courtroom at his arraignment Nov. 30. Michael David Robles, 43, is charged with first-degree murder and a special allegation charge of lying in wait for the alleged strangulation of [...]
Legal synthetic drug use on the rise
VISTA — A male student at Rancho Buena Vista High School suffered serious seizures in the school bathroom and it was later determined that the “fake drug” Spice had caused the episode, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. “He just started seizing up and went into convulsions,” Vista Detective Earnell Sease said. He [...]
Pharmacy robbery suspect in court
VISTA – Alan Buckley, 19, of Carlsbad pleaded not guilty Oct. 27 to charges that he entered several North County pharmacies, said he was armed with a gun and demanded pills. He also pleaded not guilty to the charge of attempted armed robbery of a man who had just used the ATM at a Chase [...]
Henderson recants insanity plea
VISTA — Dontaye Henderson, 29, was back in court Oct. 25 for a readiness conference after pleading not guilty by reason of insanity at a hearing the previous week. But he changed his plea, again. “Today he withdrew his NGRI (not guilty by reason of insanity) plea and changed it to a regular not guilty [...]
Stutzman to stand trial Nov. 3
VISTA — A sex offender parolee was ordered to stand trial at a hearing Oct. 19 on charges he raped two young women and kidnapped one of them overnight before dropping her off at the apartment complex where he and both victims lived. San Diego County Superior Court Judge K. Michael Kirkman made a finding [...]
Two-year-old case to be retried
VISTA — The district attorney’s office is retrying a case more than two years after a judge declared a mistrial for the woman accused of a drunken head-on collision that killed two North County couples traveling home from Pala Casino. Jurors previously deadlocked in favor of guilt that Deanna Fridley, 27, had been under the [...]
Man must stand trail for murder of bargoer
VISTA — The man arrested in Indiana four days after the March 25 murder of an Oceanside man outside of a Carlsbad bar must stand trial on a murder charges, a judge ruled Oct. 12. During a preliminary hearing at the Vista Courthouse, San Diego County Superior Court Judge Runston Maino found enough evidence for [...]
Driver convicted in fatal hit and run
VISTA — A motorist received a two-year prison sentence on Sept. 12 for leaving the scene of a deadly accident after his truck struck and killed a cyclist who was riding near Leucadia State Beach on April 10. Joseph Ricardo Fernandez, 46, of Fort Bragg, N.C., was convicted in July of a hit and run [...]
