| For Immediate Release Case # TBA
|
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
TRANSIENT PAROLEE CHARGED WITH STABBING AND ATTEMPTING TO MURDER WOMAN DURING CARJACKING IN GROCERY STORE PARKING LOT
SANTA ANA – A transient man on parole was charged today with stabbing and attempting to murder a woman in a grocery store parking lot after she refused to give him the keys to her car. Ernesto Lucero, 25, a transient known to frequent the Cities of Santa Ana, Tustin and Orange, is charged with one felony count each of attempted murder, carjacking, and aggravated assault with sentencing enhancements for the personal use of a deadly weapon, the personal use of a deadly weapon during a carjacking, and causing great bodily injury. The defendant has a prior strike for a 2005 residential burglary conviction. If convicted, Lucero faces a maximum sentence of life plus an additional 57 years in state prison. The People will be requesting $1 million bail at Lucero’s arraignment today, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010, at 3:00 p.m. in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana.
At approximately 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 2, 2010, Lucero is accused of approaching several people and asking for money in an Albertsons parking lot near Jamboree Road and Chapman Avenue. The defendant is accused of approaching 50-year-old Jane Doe and asking her for money. When the victim refused, Lucero is accused of pulling out a knife and ordering Jane Doe to hand over her car keys. Jane Doe again refused and the defendant is accused of stabbing her twice in the chest. He is accused of then stealing the victim’s car keys and fleeing the scene in her car.
A witness, a Vietnam war veteran and medic, helped the victim by placing pressure on her chest and rolling her onto her side to prevent her lungs from filling up with fluid. Jane Doe was unconscious and non-responsive when emergency personnel arrived. She was transported to Western Medical Center.
The Orange Police Department (OPD) was called to the scene and released information about the crime and a description of the defendant to the media, asking for the public’s help in locating him. At approximately 1:10 p.m., two Villa Park residents who had seen the media coverage contacted the police after seeing a man matching the description of Lucero.
Deputies from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department located the defendant near Cerro Villa Middle School in Villa Park. Lucero is accused of being in possession of a knife in his pocket at the time of his arrest.
Jane Doe, a mother of two, is currently in the hospital in stable condition. Anyone with additional information is encouraged to contact Supervising District Attorney Investigator Anthony Sosnowski at (714) 347-8814 or Orange Police Detective Joey Ramirez at (714) 744-7313.
Deputy District Attorney Lynda Fernandez of the Special Prosecutions Unit is prosecuting this case.