U.S. Justice Department officials have launched an investigation into whether the Orange County district attorney’s office has routinely denied accused criminals fair trials by using jailhouse informants to secretly gather evidence.

The undisclosed role of snitches in several high-profile cases has roiled the county’s criminal justice system and raised questions about the conduct of prosecutors and sheriff’s jailers. Earlier this year, a panel established by Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas released a highly critical report saying a “failure of leadership” in his office led to the scandal.

Justice officials announced the investigation Thursday, saying the inquiry would scrutinize whether changes are needed to the long-running practice of deploying informants to surreptitiously extract information from defendants.

Investigators will search for patterns of widespread violations of the Constitution’s 6th Amendment — namely whether defendants were denied their right not to be questioned without their attorney present. They will look as well at whether prosecutors have adhered to strict rules that require them to disclose evidence that is favorable to defendants.

Click here to read the full story on LATimes.com. 

An 81-year-old former missionary from Tustin was sentenced to nearly two decades in state prison for sexually assaulting three girls under the age of 10, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.

A booking photo of Douglas Dale Whinery was provided by the Tustin Police Department in April 2016.

At the time of the crimes, Douglas Dale Whinery was a former pastor and missionary and was actively involved at Olive Crest Church in Santa Ana, Foothill Family Church in Foothill Ranch, and Grace Church in Yorba Linda, the DA’s office said.

He was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Thursday after pleading guilty to seven felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14. He had a sentencing enhancement for abusing multiple victims.

In one case that occurred between January 2005 and June 2006, Whinery invited a 9-year-old girl and her sister to California to go to a local theme park. Whinery molested the girl while she was in his care.

Then, in November 2011, Whinery befriended a 10-year-old girl and her 8-year-old relative while they were in a Tustin park. He “groomed” them, taking the victims to school and inviting them to church, and getting to know a family member.

He sexually assaulted both victims while he was alone with them — in crimes that occurred until March 2016. Whinery was arrested by Tustin police on March 30, after the youngest girl told a family member about the assaults. The family member contacted police.

Multiple other victims whose allegations did not result in charges were prepared to testify against Whinery, the DA’s office said. The alleged assaults went back as far as 40 years.

In court, one victim said she cannot “move forward.” She said she had contact churches Whinery worked at, but no one believed her story or tried to investigate, the DA’s office said.

“I try to imagine what it may have looked like had Dale Whinery never existed. Would I have been afraid? Would I be chronically sad?” she said. “Here is what I do know: I am a survivor. I know God has a purpose here on earth for me, whether it be to make sure you finally rot in jail or to tell my stories so others can survive too.”

Orange County jury on Wednesday decided a serial killer should be executed for the abduction and murder of four women.

Representing himself at his trial in Santa Ana, Steven Dean Gordon did not dispute his responsibility for the deaths of the women, who had been working as prostitutes in Anaheim and Santa Ana in late 2013 and early 2014.

Nor in his closing argument to jurors Tuesday did Gordon, 47, disagree with a prosecutor’s argument that he ought to be executed for his crimes.

“If you kill four people like this in cold blood, you deserve to die — I believe that,” Gordon told jurors. “My actions were evil and horrible, and you’re gonna get your justice very shortly.”

Click here to read the full story on LATimes.com.

A Huntington Beach real estate agent was charged with murder Wednesday in the deaths of two women whose bodies were found in a field after a fire the suspect allegedly set at one victim’s home in Westminster.

Westminster police released this photo of Christopher Ireland on Jan. 2, 2016.

Christopher Ken Ireland, 37, was charged with four felony counts — two counts of murder, arson of an inhabited dwelling and aggravated mayhem — a prosecutor with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said.

He was arrested New Year’s Day, hours after Orange County firefighters responded to a fire at a home in the 5000 block of Northwestern Way. There, evidence pointed to Ireland, Westminster police said.

The next day, Monday, the bodies of Yolanda Holtrey, 59, and Michelle Luke, 49, of Huntington Beach, were found in the brush near a strip mall in Newport Beach.

Ireland had attended a New Year’s Eve party at Holtrey’s home, which was later set ablaze, a relative of Holtrey said. Holtrey and Luke worked with Ireland’s wife at a Stein Mart in Huntington Beach, said the relative, who did not want to be identified.

Yolanda Holtrey is shown in a photo left outside her burned Westminster home on Jan. 3, 2017; a relative confirmed it showed her.

It’s not clear if the women were killed before or after the fire began, but police said investigators think the women were killed at the home.

The mayhem charge is related to “severe injuries” to the right side of Luke’s head, prosecutor Jim Mendelson said outside the courthouse.

“It has to do with the nature of the injuries — dismembering or … causing somebody to lose an organ or a major body part or a major body function,” Mendelson said.

The autopsy is not complete and the motive remains under investigation, he said.

A high school water polo and swim coach was charged Friday with the sexual assault of three female students between the ages of 14 and 16, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office reported.

Joshua Owens is seen in a photo released by the Buena Park Police Department on Nov. 22, 2016.

Joshua Christopher Owens, 23, of La Palma, was charged with one felony count of oral copulation of a minor under 16, one felony count of digital penetration of a minor and six misdemeanor counts of child annoyance, according to an OCDA news release.

Prosecutors said at the time of the alleged crimes, Owens was employed as a part-time water polo and swim coach at Kennedy High School in La Palma, as well as a seasonal lifeguard in Long Beach.

According to prosecutors, between September 2014 and April 2015 Owens is accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl by orally copulating and digitally penetrating her, as well as touching her breast.

Between January 2016 and June 2016, prosecutors said the defendant is accused of molesting another teenage girl by touching her breast and masturbating in front of her.

Between March 2016 and June 2016, Owens is also accused of sexually assaulting a third teenager between, by kissing her with sexual intent on multiple occasions, prosecutors said.

Owens was arrested on Nov. 21, 2016.

He is currently out of custody on $50,000 bond.

If convicted as charged, Owens faces a maximum sentence of three years and eight months in state prison plus six years in county jail.

A youth pastor has been sentenced to six years in state prison for sexually assaulting two boys at church events in Aliso Viejo, the Orange County District Attorney’s office announced.

A courtroom gavel is seen in a file photo. (Credit: Brian A. Jackson/Thinkstock)

Brandon Ernis Lee McDade, 31, of Mission Viejo, pleaded guilty to one felony count of committing lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14, two felony counts of committing lewd acts upon a child between the ages of 14 and 15, and one misdemeanor count of child annoyance, the DA’s office said Monday.

Prosecutors said at the time of the crimes, McDade was a youth pastor at Grace Hills Church in Aliso Viejo.

The crimes took place at the church and also at a movie theatre in Orange County, the DA’s office reported.

McDade was also sentenced to mandatory lifetime sex offender registration.

An Ontario woman who was jailed after being accused of harassing, stalking, pretending to be the wife of her ex-fiance, and placing ads online soliciting “rape fantasies” was in fact framed by the woman she was accused of impersonating, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

Michelle Hadley speaks after charges against her were dropped in court in Fullerton on Jan. 9, 2017. (Credit: KTLA)

Michelle Hadley, 30, was behind bars for several months following her arrest in July, according to inmate records. She was charged with felony stalking, attempted forcible rape, violating a protective order and assault, facing a sentence of life in prison if convicted, prosecutors said at the time.

But on Monday, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas announced that Hadley was the victim in the case. She has been exonerated.

Instead, another woman -- identified as 31-year-old Angela Maria Diaz of Phoenix, Arizona -- faces a slew of charges after allegedly framing Hadley for stalking and attempted rape, the DA's office said in a news release.

Diaz has also allegedly faked cervical cancer and a pregnancy, pretended to be an attorney and forged doctor’s notes, the release stated.

Hadley walked out of court in Fullerton Monday after the case against her was dismissed. She teared up as she spoke to gathered news media.

"Obviously, this has been a huge nightmare for me," Hadley said. "Probably the most traumatic experience of my life, and I'm glad it's finally over."

At a news conference, Rackauckas described Hadley as an "innocent victim of a diabolical scheme."

Angela Diaz is pictured in a photo released by the O.C. DA's office.

“As important as the filing of charges against Ms. Diaz, is the dismissal of the previous complaint and full exoneration of Michelle Hadley,” Rackauckas said in the release. “This is a very detailed case. I wanted to make sure, however, that Ms. Hadley is cleared in every possible way – in the courtroom and in the court of public opinion. It should be clear in the media and in cyberspace. Ms. Hadley is an innocent victim of a diabolical scheme.”

Diaz has been married to a man, identified only as "John Doe," since February 2016. Hadley had a relationship with the same man, described over the summer by the DA's office as an agent with the U.S. Marshals Service, from August 2013 to August 2015.

Diaz and Doe married after meeting via a dating website in January 2016. In May, Diaz told her husband that she was pregnant with twins, the DA's office said.

About two weeks after announcing her pregnancy, Diaz went to the Anaheim Police Department and allegedly falsely reported harassing messages that she said were from Hadley. Diaz is accused of sending herself those emails in an effort to make it appear they were sent by Hadley.

Diaz then allegedly applied for, and obtained, a restraining order against Hadley by signing under penalty of perjury that she had been threatened by the other woman, according to the release.

"On many occasions from June 1, 2016, to July 13, 2016, Diaz is accused of falsely filing police reports with APD, calling for officers to respond to the home she shared with John Doe. The defendant is accused of making false claims that Hadley made threats against her life and the life of her unborn child," the release stated.

Also in June, Diaz allegedly posed as Hadley to respond to online advertisements that she wanted to engage in sex acts resembling rape, according to prosecutors. Diaz is also suspected of posting an ad stating she wanted to engage in "rape fantasies."

Diaz allegedly sent responders photos of herself and details about her own daily routine. She is also accused of telling them to have forcible sex with her, even if she screamed or resisted, the release stated.

At least two men who planned to travel to her residence to participate in the "rape fantasies" were intercepted by law enforcement, authorities said.

Diaz allegedly told Anaheim police at the time that she was being stalked by Hadley, and was not involved in the solicitations.

The Orange County DA's office included this slide in a Jan. 9, 2017, presentation of the allegations against Angela Diaz.

Later that month, in an apparent effort to bolster her claims against Hadley, Diaz called 911 and allegedly falsely reported that a man had entered her garage and attempted to rape her, prosecutors said. She showed police redness around her neck and breast, and arrived with a torn shirt, the DA's office said, providing photos of Diaz at the time she made the report.

Hadley was arrested by Anaheim police later that day -- on June 24 -- and then released the next morning on $100,000 bail.

After Hadley's arrest, Diaz allegedly reported that the threatening emails stopped. However, after the victim's release, she began repeatedly sending threatening herself emails and -- pretending to be Hadley again --  resumed responding to "rape fantasy" ads, according to the release.

The language in the emails became more violent, and the defendant tried to make it appear her life was being threatened by the victim, the DA's office said.

A booking photo of Michelle Hadley was released by the Orange County District Attorney's Office on June 18, 2016.

Hadley was again arrested on July 14 and held on $1 million bail. Her re-arrest and increase in bail were allegedly due Diaz's false statements regarding the latest round of alleged email threats.

Hadley said her friends and relatives supported her, never believing she was guilty of the crimes of which she'd been accused.

She remained in jail until Oct. 7, "at which point sufficient evidence had been ascertained through extensive investigative efforts and the cooperation of the victim’s attorney," according to the DA's office. "OCDA and APD sought the victim’s immediate release on her own recognizance from custody while continuing to investigate Diaz."

Meanwhile, Diaz is also suspected of forging a paycheck from Orange County on Sept. 6 and trying to cash it, authorities said. She allegedly altered another check from her employer, trying to add $2,000 to the total, on April 22, the DA's office said.

Diaz was arrested on Jan. 6 in Phoenix.

Angela Diaz is shown in a booking photo released by the Orange County DA's office on Jan. 9, 2016.

Diaz was charged last week with the following: two felony counts of kidnapping; two felony counts of false imprisonment by menace, fraud, or deceit; one felony count of perjury; one felony count of grand theft; two felony counts of forgery; two felony counts of possession of a forged check over $950; one misdemeanor count of falsely reporting a crime to a police agency; and 21 misdemeanor counts of falsely reporting a crime to a peace officer.

If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of 12 years and eight months in state prison, plus 11 years in county jail.

Diaz is still awaiting extradition from Arizona, and a court date has yet to be set.

KTLA's Melissa Pamer contributed to this article.

A woman accused of framing her husband’s ex-fiancee in a “rape fantasy” plot on Craigslist pleaded not guilty on Friday to more than two dozen charges.

Angela Diaz is shown in a booking photo released by the Orange County DA’s office on Jan. 9, 2016.

Angela Diaz, 31, faces 10 felony charges that include kidnapping, false imprisonment, perjury and forgery, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office. She is also charged with 22 misdemeanor counts of falsely reporting a crime.

Diaz was extradited Thursday night from Arizona to Orange County. She is scheduled to appear in Orange County Superior Court on Jan. 24 for a hearing.

Diaz was arrested on Jan. 6  in Phoenix, where she lives, in connection with creating the Craigslist ad and making bogus claims against Michelle Hadley.

Click here to read the full story on LATimes.com. 

A Huntington Beach police detective stole money out of a collection of donations intended to buy a gift for a retiring colleague, prosecutors alleged Thursday.

Mario Ricci, 48, of Los Angeles, is accusing of stealing donations from an envelope during a weeklong period in December 2016, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced.

The day the collection started, other officers noticed money was missing. The next day, police began documenting the denominations and serial numbers of the bills collected. When Ricci was leaving several days later, he was found to be in possession of the bills that had been documented, the DA’s office said.

Ricci was a detective with the Huntington Beach Police Department at the time of the alleged theft, the DA’s office said.

It’s not clear if he’s still employed by the department. The city’s website lists him as an officer in the detective bureau.

Ricci has been charged with one misdemeanor count of petty theft. His arraignment is set for March 6 in Westminster.

He faces up to six months in county jail if convicted as charged.

A Huntington Beach man killed two women at a New Year’s party at a Westminster home while his family waited outside, and then returned to set fire to the home and dispose of the victim’s bodies, prosecutors said.

Westminster police released this photo of Christopher Ireland on Jan. 2, 2016.

The new details in the grisly case against Christopher Ireland, a 37-year-old real estate agent, were revealed Friday as the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced he had pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, arson and aggravated mayhem.

He was arraigned Friday after being charged Jan. 4.

Ireland is accused of killing 59-year-old Yolanda Holtrey and her friend, 49-year-old Michelle Luke, at Holtrey’s home in the 5000 block of Northwestern Way on Jan. 1. A motive for the crimes has not been disclosed.

Holtrey and Luke worked with Ireland’s wife at a Stein Mart in Huntington Beach, a relative told KTLA.

At 1:20 a.m. on New Year’s morning, he allegedly killed the two victims, “striking them each multiple times with a sharp instrument,” the DA’s office said.

He also allegedly disfigured Luke’s ear — a crime that the prosecutor alluded to earlier this month when explaining the mayhem charge.

Yolanda Holtrey is shown in a photo left outside her burned Westminster home on Jan. 3, 2017; a relative confirmed it showed her.

His family awaited him outside, and Ireland left the bodies and drove away.

He returned at 3 a.m., lined his vehicle’s trunk and dragged the women’s bodies to the trunk just before 4:30 a.m., the DA’s office said. He then allegedly used an accelerant to set fire to Holtrey’s home and drove away about 5 a.m.

As neighbors called 911 to report the fire, Ireland allegedly drove the end of a dead-end road in Newport Beach and dumped the bodies in a vacant lot.

Firefighters responded to the home, noticing blood on furniture and the floor, as well as accelerants.

The bodies were found the next day; Ireland was arrested by Westminster police.

At a minimum, he faces life in prison without parole if convicted. He is due back in court in Westminster Feb. 16.

A former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy has been ordered to spend 180 days in jail and five years on probation after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a 12-year-old Costa Mesa girl.

Jovanni Argueta pleaded guilty on Jan. 11, 2017 to sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl. (Credit: Costa Mesa Police Department)

Jovanni Argueta, 26, pleaded guilty Jan. 11 in Orange County Superior Court to committing a lewd or lascivious act with a minor younger than 14 and attempted unlawful sexual intercourse, both felonies. He also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disobeying a restraining order, according to court records.

Argueta, a Los Angeles resident, entered the guilty pleas as part of a deal with prosecutors for a reduced sentence. As part of the deal, prosecutors dropped one felony count of luring a child with intent to commit a specified crime.

Click here to read the full story on LATimes.com.

One person was killed in an officer-involved shooting in Santa Ana Sunday evening, officials said.

Officers were patrolling the 400 block of South Birch Street, described by Cpl. Anthony Bertagna as a “high gang activity area” when they came upon a “suspect” who ran away from the area.

“Something led to an officer-involved shooting,” Bertagna said. He told the Orange County Register that the suspect was killed in the incident.

The scene was being processed by investigators and officials from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office were also at the scene, Bertagna said.

An appellate court judge Tuesday reversed an Orange County trial judge’s controversial reduced sentence of a man convicted of raping a toddler in 2014.

Kevin Jonas Rojano-Nieto is shown in a booking photo distributed by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Kevin Rojano-Nieto was facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years to life in prison for sodomizing the 3-year-old girl in Santa Ana. But the judge said that sentence would be “cruel and unusual punishment” given the circumstances of the case. Judge M. Marc Kelly instead sentenced Rojano-Nieto to only 10 years in prison, causing wide-spread outcry. Orange County officials called for Kelley to resign.

Kelly was ordered to impose the 25 years to life in prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration.

“This was a good day for child victims of brutal sex assaults and the people of Orange County,” District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said in a statement. DA officials called the original sentence “illegal” in a news release.

The original incident occurred on June 4, 2014, when Rojano-Nieto was in a detached garage playing video games and the victim walked in, officials said.

He locked the garage door, sexually assaulted the victim and covered her mouth when her mother went to look for her.

Rojano-Nieto continued to assault the girl after her mother left to continue looking for her, officials said.

The defendant eventually let the victim out of the garage and she told her mother she was in pain. She was examined at a hospital where it was determined that she had been sodomized, officials said.

Rojano-Nieto was arrested two days later and was eventually found guilty in December.

A man and woman residing in Ladera Ranch were hit with numerous felony charges Thursday in connection with a prostitution business prosecutors say they were operating for nearly two years at luxury apartments in Irvine.

Fadi Chaiban, left, and Tina Saunders are shown in booking photos released Feb. 2, 2017, by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

The man authorities call the “brother ringleader,” 53-year-old Fadi Boulos Chaiban, is accused of pandering at least 29 women to commit prostitution, according to a statement from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. In addition to one felony pandering charge for each woman, Chaiban was charged with three felony counts of pimping and two felony counts of conspiracy to commit pandering, officials said.

Co-defendant Tina Lorraine Saunders, also 53, was charged with one felony count each of conspiracy to commit pimping, conspiracy to commit pandering, pimping, and pandering, the DA’s office said.

Prosecutors say Chaiban ran a “sophistical brothel operation” at various high-end apartment complexes in Irvine between April 2015 and January 2017, recruiting adult women to work for him by posting internet ads to meet potential victims. Saunders is accused of aiding Chaiban’s operation by renting an apartment for him to use as a brothel, authorities said.

Both were taken into custody on Tuesday as they were leaving their home, officials said, and Chaiban is accused of possessing more than $469,000 in cash in a storage locker at the time of his arrest.

Law enforcement located several luxury apartment buildings in Irvine where Chaiban allegedly arranged for clients to pay for sex, according to the DA’s office. During their probe, investigators saw dozens of men enter and exit the apartments in 30-minute and one-hour intervals before victims left in the evening, the release states.

Chaiban collected cash earnings left behind in the apartments by victims at the end of each day, keeping the majority for himself, according to prosecutors. He is also accused of maintaining a detailed client list.

The “ringleader” allegedly took sexually explicit photos of more than 28 different victims that were posted to websites commonly used to advertise prostitution, as well as a website he ran. Chaiban is additionally accused of pretending to be a woman online to communicate with clients and set up prostitution dates, authorities said.

If convicted, Chaiban faces a maximum sentence of 45 years and four months in state prison, while Saunders faces a maximum of six years in state prison, the DA’s office said. His bail has been set a $3 million and hers has been set at $500,000; both must prove bond money is from a legal and legitimate source.

The investigation is ongoing and officials are seeking potential additional victims. Anyone with information can contact Irvine Police Detective Hall at 714-765-1904, or OCDA Supervising Investigator Frank Reynoso at 714-347-8560.

A Costa Mesa man found guilty of killing his former girlfriend after listening to a Guns N’ Roses song was sentenced to 50 years to life on Friday, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced.

Thomas Wilhelm is seen in a file photo.

Thomas Michael Wilhelm, 53, was convicted last November on a felony count of first-degree murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal discharge of a firearm causing death, according to a DA’s news release.

Wilhelm entered his neighbor’s home on the evening of July 8, 2012, and stole a handgun, prosecutors said. He then returned to his residence with the intent to kill his ex-girlfriend and business partner, 45-year-old Christine Murray, the release stated.

The pair lived together at a home in the 2900 block of Redwood Avenue, along with her son, who was 8 years old at the time, according to transcripts of the grand jury indictment.

Approximately 11 minutes before she was killed, Murray sent a text message to a friend stating that Wilhelm was drinking alcohol while he loudly played the Guns N’ Roses song “Used to Love Her” and sang along to the lyrics, “I used to love her, but I had to kill her,” prosecutors said.

Wilhelm went into Murray’s bedroom and chased her into the bathroom. He then pulled out the gun and proceeded to shoot the victim six times, the release stated.

After, he ran back to the neighbor’s home and stole a shotgun, firing a single round into the ground in an unsuccessful attempt to shoot himself.

Murray was unconscious when she was found by Costa Mesa Police Department officers, who responded to the home after a third party called 911 after hearing the shotgun discharge in the neighbor’s backyard. She had been shot multiple times in the chest, and later died at a hospital.

Wilhelm was arrested, and the weapons were recovered by police.

The motive may have been over a business dispute, a DA official said months after the fatal shooting.

A man was charged with financial elder abuse and forgery after stealing over $500,000 from a 95-year-old woman with dementia living in a senior care facility, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s office.

Thomas Chapman Hood, 68, was charged with 19 felony counts of forgery, one felony count of first degree residential burglary to commit larceny and financial elder abuse, and one felony count of theft from an elder, with sentencing enhancement allegations for non- accomplices being present during residential burglary, aggravated white collar crime over $500,000, and property loss of over $200,000, OCDA said in a press release.

Hood was employed as a part-time assistant to the trustee of the 95-year-old’s bank accounts and worked from the home office of the trustee’s secretary in Orange, prosecutors said.

Hood allegedly stole the check books from the home office on March 1, 2015 while the secretary and homeowner were in the other room, according to prosecutors.

The secretary and trustee did not authorize Hood to use the check books of the 95-year-old, identified as Jane Doe in a press release.

A drunken driver who was convicted of killing a sleeping man by crashing into the victim’s Mission Viejo home was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison, Orange County District Attorney’s Office officials said Friday.

Kourosh Keshmiri is seen in a booking photo provided by OCSD after his December 2013 arrest.

Kourosh Keshmiri, 30, was found guilty of second-degree murder on Dec. 12 in connection with the 2013 incident.

Keshmiri had previously been convicted of DUI in 2010 and on Friday he also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of alcohol with a prior and driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 or higher with a prior.

Keshmiri had previously been convicted of DUI in 2010.

During the 2013 incident, Keshmiri was going over 86 mph in a 25 mph neighborhood, officials said. He lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a home, driving into the front bedroom where Kenneth Jackson, 60, was sleeping. Jackson died at the scene, officials said.

During victim impact statements in court Friday friends said Jackson served in the Peace Corp.

A 24-year-old woman was sentenced to seven years in state prison on Thursday after running a red light and striking two pedestrians, leaving one dead.

Caroline Sujin Kim, pleaded guilty on Dec. 29, 2016, to one felony count each of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, evading a peace officer while driving recklessly, and hit and run causing permanent injury or death, with a sentencing enhancement for fleeing the scene after committing vehicular manslaughter, according to an Orange County District Attorney press release.

She was also ordered to pay restitution, officials said.

In October 2013 Kim was speeding on Whittier Boulevard in La Habra around 8:50 p.m. when she drove through a red light at the Rigsby Street intersection, prosecutors said.

She then crashed into two pedestrians, 38-year-old Sandra Cellabos and 43-year-old Michelle M., who were crossing the street in a crosswalk.

Anaheim's police chief on Thursday said criminal charges could still be sought against "any and all" involved in a caught-on-video incident in which an off-duty LAPD officer fired a weapon during a struggle with a 13-year-old boy earlier this week.

Cellphone video recorded by a witness shows an altercation between an off-duty LAPD officer, right, and teens in Anaheim on Feb. 22, 2017.

Speaking at a news conference in the early afternoon, Chief Raul Quezada said the incident was part of an "ongoing dispute" involving multiple juveniles walking across the officer's lawn, which escalated Tuesday afternoon into a confrontation between the teen and off-duty officer.

During the initial confrontation, the officer alleged the boy said he was going to shoot him, according to Quezada.

The juvenile walked away, and the officer decided to try and detain him pending police arrival.

"While physically detaining the juvenile, several houses away from where the initial incident began, several other juveniles became involved and a physical altercation ensued," the police chief said.

At that point, two juveniles allegedly assaulted the off-duty officer and knocked him to the ground. After the second alleged battery, and after the group surrounded the officer, he drew a handgun and fired a single shot, according to Quezada.

Related: Video Shows Anaheim Struggle Between Boy, 13, and Off-Duty LAPD Officer Who Fired Weapon; Officer on Administrative Leave

Multiple witnesses gave statements to police that the officer was not shooting at anyone, but discharged his weapon at the ground instead, he said.

Officers arrived after receiving a 911 call regarding the incident.

From there, everyone present at the scene was interviewed, including the off-duty officer, his father and 18 juveniles.

Noting a "high degree of consistency" in the information obtained from interviewing the 18 juveniles, police arrested a 13-year-old and 15-year-old, the police chief said.

Cellphone video recorded by a witness shows a teen apparently striking at an off-duty LAPD officer as the officer holds onto another teen in the hedge on Feb. 22, 2017.

“Clear and compelling evidence” supported the allegations that the 13-year-old made criminal threats and engaged in battery, as well as the 15-year-old’s involvement in an assault and battery, according to Quezada.

The 13-year-old was booked at juvenile hall, and the 15-year-old was released to his parents, he said. The younger teen was also later released pending further investigation.

His family has retained an attorney, according to his mother.

The officer was "processed," which included taking some clothing and forensic swabbing, according to the police chief.

“With regard to the off-duty officer, while the evidence was clear and compelling that he did detain the juvenile, and discharged his firearm, there was insufficient evidence at the time to prove the officer’s actions rose to the level of a criminal act," Quezada said.

Still, he added, criminal charges could be brought against "any and all" of the involved parties.

In an interview shortly after his release Wednesday, the 13-year-old told his side of the story to KTLA, saying the incident began when the officer yelled at a girl.

"I said, 'Hey, that's not how you treat a lady,'" the boy said, standing outside the Theo Lacy detention facility in Orange with his mother. "And then he came at me. ... He hit me. I ran to the street to run away from him, and he got me."

A neighbor who witnessed the incident backed up his account, saying she heard the boy standing up for the girl.

Demonstrators kneel in front of an Anaheim police formation to protest a confrontation between an off-duty LAPD officer and a group of teenagers. (Credit: Marcus Yam / L.A. Times)

“This cop is just irate, starts charging after this poor kid and from one thing to the next, it just went from, ‘Hey, don’t talk to her,’ to this kid being dragged," she told KTLA in an interview Thursday.

In the video footage, an adult wearing sunglasses -- the officer -- and a teenager shout and scuffle as a crowd of youths gather around to watch.

"Let go of me," the teen yelled as the officer holds onto his sweatshirt. "I'm only like 13."

In the video, the officer says that the teenager threatened to shoot him; the boy denies it, saying the man misheard him when he actually said he'd "sue him."

The neighbor who witnessed the confrontation corroborated this part of the boy's account.

“He just kept on saying, ‘I’m going to sue you.’ I heard ‘sue’, not ‘shoot,'" the woman said.

Then a young bystander intervenes, charging at the officer and knocking him over a row of bushes, the footage showed. Another teen races in and tries to punch the adult.

As more teenagers gather around, the officer pulls out a gun and fires a single shot, prompting the crowd to scatter.

Hundreds of people gathered in Anaheim on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017 to protest an off-duty LAPD officer firing his weapon during a struggle with a teen. (Credit: KTLA)

No one was injured by the gunfire, and the officer admitted to discharging his weapon, according to the Anaheim Police Department.

Quezada said he viewed footage of the incident that circulated and said that, as a father and a police chief, he was "disturbed" by what he saw.

Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait was also "deeply disturbed" and "frankly angered" over what the footage showed, he said during the news conference.

"This has been a blow to our community," Tait said of the incident.

He added the city was committed to a full and impartial investigation.

Los Angeles Police Department Assistant Chief Michel Moore, who was also among the speakers at Thursday's news conference, shared a similar sentiment, saying Chief Charlie Beck has watched footage of the confrontation.

“Chief Beck has seen portions of the videos that have been released, via YouTube and other sources, as I have, and we share in a concern that has been expressed earlier," he said after Quezada and Tait spoke.

According to an LAPD statement, the unidentified officer has been placed on administrative leave.

Detectives from the Force Investigation Division will conduct an investigation to "determine whether the use of deadly force complied with LAPD's policies and procedures," the statement read.

Moore was asked about the officer, but said he could not release details about him. He declined, for instance, to specify how long the officer had been with the department when asked by a reporter.

Quezada also addressed protests that had turned violent in the city the night before.

Anaheim police arrest a protester. Police said at least 24 people were arrested during demonstrations Wednesday night. (Credit: Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Providing an updated number on arrests, he said 23 individuals -- 18 adults and five minors -- were taken into custody as a result of the protest at Euclid Street and Palais Road on Wednesday night.

An earlier figure from the department had the number of arrests at 24, including six juveniles.

All had been arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor offenses, including failure to disperse, resisting arrest and battery on a peace officer, according to Anaheim police Sgt. Daron Wyatt.

About 200 to 300 demonstrators took part in the protest, which began in the Anaheim neighborhood where the confrontation took place before, Quezada said.

The group was calling for charges to be filed against the officer, organizers said.

Violence erupted at one point, with some protesters gathered around the officer's home shattering windows, damaging cars and spray-painting a neighbor's garage door.

There were also several reports of windows being smashed at residences and on cars in the neighborhood, according to Wyatt.

Quezada said while he supported people's rights to protest, "those rights ... do not include the destruction of property, the disruption of the quiet enjoyment of neighborhoods or any acts of violence."

The former city manager of Fullerton was hit with two misdemeanor charges Friday in connection to a crash he was involved in on election night,  officials said.

Former Fullerton City Manager Joseph Felz is shown in a photo from the city’s website.

Joseph Burt Felz has been charged with one count each driving under the influence and hit and run with property damage, according to a statement from the Orange County District Attorney’s office.

The former public official was allegedly driving drunk in a residential area of Fullerton on the night of Nov. 8, 2016, when prosecutors say he drove over a curb and hit a tree. Someone who witnessed the crash alerted authorities, and the Fullerton Police Department located Felz near the scene, according to DA’s officials.

He is accused of unlawfully failing to stop his vehicle immediately.

At the time, Felz was still working as city manager for Fullerton, but he announced a voluntary leave of absence on Nov. 15 before later stating he decided to retire on Dec. 31, according to the Orange County Register.

Felz, 58, faces a maximum sentence of one year in county jail if convicted as charged, prosecutors said.

He is scheduled to be arraigned April 3 at the North Justice Center in Fullerton.