530 Crime Watch: Police looking for man in suspected armed robbery of Chevron station
Police looking for man in suspected armed robbery of Chevron station
June 29
Redding police are looking for a man who they said robbed the Chevron gas station on Hilltop Drive at gunpoint over the weekend.
The suspected robbery was reported around 1 p.m. Saturday.
The sales clerk told investigators that he was at the counter when a man entered and approached him. The man pointed a handgun at the clerk and demanded cash, which the clerk gave him, a Redding Police Department news release said.
The man then exited the building and left in a silver hatchback. The vehicle went north on Hilltop Drive, investigators said.
A search was conducted but the man could not be found.
The suspect is described as a white man, in his 30s, 5 feet, 8 inches tall, average build and unshaven. He was wearing a dark T-shirt and dark pants.
The clerk also saw a woman in the vehicle but could not describe her to police, investigators said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Redding Police Department at 225-4200.
Trial ordered for man charged in mother's murder
June 12
A Redding man accused in the stabbing death of his 68-year-old mother will go to trial in Shasta County Superior Court.
The Shasta County District Attorney's Office said a preliminary hearing was held Thursday for 32-year-old Nicholas McKenzie. Judge Cara Beatty ordered McKenzie to stand trial on a charge of murder in the April 10 death of his mother, Joan McKenzie.
Redding police went to Edgewood Drive in the Parkwood Estates neighborhood in east Redding where they found Joan McKenzie with stab wounds. She later died at the hospital.
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Police found Nicholas McKenzie at the intersection of Old Alturas Road and Victor Avenue shortly thereafter and arrested him.
Joan McKenzie worked for the California Department of Health Care Services as a nurse evaluator, according to her obituary.
Nicholas McKenzie will be arraigned June 24 when trial dates will be set.
Man accused of strangling woman with cellphone cord to stand trial
June 12
A preliminary hearing Thursday resulted in a Redding man being held to answer to one count of murder, kidnapping and other charges in the strangling of a woman whose body was found outside a Redding skating rink in October.
Jerome Dzwonek will be arraigned June 25 in preparation for a trial in Shasta County Superior Court, according to the Shasta County District Attorney's Office.
Dzwonek, 21, is accused in the strangulation death of 20-year-old Larissa Cole on Oct. 27, 2019. He was arrested two days later following an investigation by the Redding Police Department. Evidence included the discovery of messages between Cole and Dzwonek on a cell phone that was found discarded in a garbage can.
Sgt. Levi Solada said in October that Dzwonek and Cole were acquaintances, but he did not know further details of their relationship.
In a police interview, Dzwonek said he and Cole smoked marijuana when they arrived at the rodeo grounds and they both passed out. Dzwonek said when he woke up, he saw Cole leaving his car and suspected her of stealing his wallet and car keys, according to the police report.
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Dzwonek said he got out of the car to stop her and saw a phone charging cord hanging from Cole's purse. He chased the woman and used the cord to strangle her, according to the report, leaving her body behind Viking Skate Fun Center off Auditorium Drive, the police report says.
In addition to the murder charge, one special allegation states Dzwonek committed the murder after lying in wait and a second special allegation says he committed the murder after or during a kidnapping.
Pickup rams through wall of Holiday Market in Palo Cedro
June 11
The Holiday Market in Palo Cedro was damaged early Thursday morning after a pickup with two men inside rammed through an exterior wall, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office said.
The incident was reported around 3 a.m. by an employee who was inside the market when an early 2000s white Nissan Frontier pickup came barreling through the wall of the store on Deschutes Road, investigators said.
The employee saw two masked men get out of the truck and enter the store before calling authorities. The worker was not injured.
By the time deputies arrived, the two men had left the business and drove away, investigators said.
The store opened at its regular time of 6 a.m. despite the damage, Holiday spokesman Brad Askeland said.
Askeland said the wall near the entrance was damaged and crews were at the store doing repairs Thursday morning.
The truck rammed the wall multiple times.
"They (suspects) loaded a free-standing Lotto machine that didn’t have any money in it. They may have taken some cigarettes but not sure," Askeland said in an email to the Record Searchlight.
Askeland estimates the store sustained about $15,000 in damage.
The incident was captured on surveillance video. Investigators said the truck sustained damage to its rear end and the rear passenger side of its bed.
Authorities said the two suspects are white, about 6 feet tall. The driver was wearing a blue bandana and blue sweatshirt. His passenger was wearing a gray-hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and white K-Swiss tennis shoes.
Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 245-6540.
Police make arrest in hit and run
June 10
A 33-year-old Redding man was arrested Wednesday following a hit-and-run car crash on Hilltop Drive.
Police identified the man as Hal Kimberly Sutherland and accused him of leaving the scene of the crash. In a statement released Wednesday night, police said officers found him several blocks away from the collision wearing different clothes than those he had been in earlier.
He was booked into Shasta County Jail on suspicion of driving under the influence causing injury, leaving the scene of a crash and violating the terms of his post-release community supervision.
The crash was reported around 3:30 p.m. n the 200 block of Hilltop Drive. It happened when the truck Sutherland was driving was on the southbound lane, attempted to turn left and struck a white van that was traveling north, police said.
The driver and passenger of the van suffered lacerations, and the driver was taken to a local hospital for treatment, police said.
New scam steals unemployment benefits
June 4
Scammers have a new ploy to steal money during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Shasta County District Attorney's Office is warning of a large-scale scam that tries to trick state employment development departments into paying them your unemployment benefits.
Imposters file claims for unemployment insurance using the names and personal information of people who haven't filed claims, the Federal Trade Commission says.
People only find out about the scam when they receive a notice from a state unemployment office or their employer about an application being filed.
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"If this happens to you, it means someone is misusing your personal information, including your Social Security number and date of birth," according to the DA's office.
The district attorney's advice is to act fast and take these steps to protect your credit and finances:
- Report the fraud to your employer. Keep a record of who you spoke with and when.
- Report the fraud to your state unemployment benefits agency. If possible, report the fraud online. An online report will save you time and be easier for the agency to process.
- Keep any confirmation or case number you get. If you speak with anyone, keep a record of who you spoke with and when.
- Visit IdentityTheft.gov to report the fraud to the FTC and get help with the next important recovery steps. These include placing a free, one-year fraud alert on your credit, getting your free credit reports, and closing any fraudulent accounts opened in your name. IdentityTheft.gov also will help you add a free extended fraud alert or credit freeze to your credit report. These make it more difficult for an identity thief to open new accounts in your name.
- Review your credit reports often. For the next year, you can check your reports every week for free through AnnualCreditReport.com. This can help you spot any new fraud quickly.
The DA's office says to report any benefits you receive but haven't applied for to your state's unemployment agency.
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"Don't respond to any calls, emails, or text messages telling you to wire money, send cash, or put money on gift cards. Your state agency will never tell you to repay money that way. Anyone who tells you to do those things is a scammer. Every time," the office says.
Most times the unemployment payments are deposited into the scammers' accounts but sometimes they're put into a real person's account.
In those cases, the imposters might call, text or email you to have you send some or all of the money to them.
"They may pretend to be your state unemployment agency and say the money was sent by mistake. This is a money mule scam and participating in one could cause you more difficulties," according to the DA's office.