Look Back: Riverside County Closes Out 2010
The year 2010 was laden with a myriad of newsmaking events, from near-fatal and fatal attacks on police officers to high-profile dismissals and the murder of a teenage girl, bringing Riverside County into national focus.
The year began with attempts on police officers’ lives in Hemet. On New Year’s Day, members of the Hemet-San Jacinto Gang Task Force discovered that a gas line had been routed into their headquarters, exposing them to risk of explosion.
A series of life-threatening attacks followed over the next six months. A zip gun was rigged to a gate at the headquarters facility, firing and narrowly missing a Hemet police officer when he opened it. Booby-traps were wired to officers’ patrol units, a bazooka was rigged to fire a missile into the Hemet police station, and arson fires destroyed an evidence storage facility and code enforcement vehicles.
Nicholas John Smit, 40, and Steven Hanson, 37, were charged in July with perpetrating four of the attacks. The pair expressed open hatred for the police department, according to investigators. Smit had been convicted of a drug possession charge and was reportedly angry about having to serve time.
In February, Riverside police Chief Russ Leach crashed his city-owned vehicle after a night of heavy drinking and taking prescription drugs. The morning after Super Bowl Sunday, the career lawman was pulled over by his own officers and appeared on a dashboard camera to be disoriented and unsteady on his feet.
Police supervisors arranged a ride home for the chief, who resigned a few days later, citing medical reasons. He pleaded guilty in March to misdemeanor DUI and was sentenced to home detention and probation. The scandal led to the early departures of two high-ranking RPD officers. A career LAPD officer, Sergio Diaz, was hired to replace Leach.
Controversy raged days after the primary because of a slow vote tally that impacted a number of races. The drama intensified when a civic group sued the county in behalf of 12,563 voters whose ballots were not counted because they had been inadvertently left on a crate in a Moreno Valley postal station on election day.
A judge ruled the voters had been disenfranchised and ordered that the votes be tallied.
The election snafus led to calls for Registrar of Voters Barbara Dunmore’s ouster. The Board of Supervisors allocated more than a half-million dollars in additional resources to Dunmore for the Nov. 2 general election.
However, election night problems persisted, prompting Executive Officer Bill Luna to fire the registrar on Nov. 9.
In mid-July, the abduction and murder of 17-year-old Valley View High School student Norma Lopez spawned community outrage and mourning in Moreno Valley. The teen was on her way to a friend’s house, taking a shortcut through a field, when she was taken.
Her remains were found five days later, about 2 1/2 miles from where she was grabbed. Witnesses reported a green sport utility vehicle speeding away from the location of the abduction. No arrests had been made by year’s end.
Concerns over the construction of a mosque in Temecula sparked protests and pleas to the city in July and August to withhold approval for the structure. A number of residents voiced opposition to the 25,000-square-foot Islamic Center of Temecula Valley because of its size and symbolism.
The Temecula Planning Commission unanimously approved the mosque in December. Opponents are expected to appeal the decision to the city council. Groundbreaking is expected in three months.
In September, a federal judge in Riverside ruled — after a two-week, non-jury trial — that the Defense Department’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy barring open homosexual military service was unconstitutional. Judge Virginia Phillips’ decision was appealed, preventing the gay ban from being lifted. However, the issue appeared moot after Congress voted to overturn DADT, and the president signed the legislation in December.
In November, the slaying of a Riverside police officer shocked the city. Officer Ryan P. Bonaminio, a Riverside native and an Iraq war veteran, was gunned down while chasing a suspected truck thief. The alleged gunman, Earl Ellis Green, was captured two days after the shooting, allegedly in possession of Bonaminio’s sidearm. Green’s rap sheet spans more than 20 years, with at least seven felony convictions. The district attorney said he was an example of a failed judicial system.
Late December rainstorms walloped the Inland Empire, triggering widespread flooding and hundreds of emergency calls. At least three deaths, including a pilot whose plane crashed near Moreno Valley, were attributed to the severe weather.
The county declared a local emergency and was planning to seek reimbursement for the millions of dollars in storm-related damage from the state and federal governments.
News Channel 3 and KESQ.com tracked all of these events and more through 2010, and we look forward to being your #1 source for news on-air, online, and on-the-go in 2011.
