News

MADERA – Fire crews responded to a vegetation fire early Tuesday evening that turned into multiple structure fires within minutes. The Fresno River’s overgrown vegetation, which has been on the radar of local officials because of the California Department of Fish and Game’s delays in issuing permits to clean out dangerous flammable vegetation, erupted into flames that quickly spread to a subdivision destroying two homes and damaging two others.

The fire ignited in the Fresno River behind the homes on Riverview Drive between Central Place and Orchard Avenue and consisted of primarily dry brush. This area is also used by many of the city’s local homeless individuals. Cal Fire has not released a cause of the start of the fire, but 15-20 mph winds carried smoldering embers up to the neighborhood above.

MADERA - Madera Police are investigating the second homicide of the year that took place early Sunday evening. A 38-year-old man was stabbed and killed in Central Madera following an altercation with an unknown subject..

At about 6:30 P.M. officers responded to an assault scene at Nebraska Avenue and Riverside Drive. The victim, 38-year-old Andres Espejo of Madera, was walking on Riverside Drive near the Fresno River when he was approached by a vehicle. A male suspect exited the vehicle, approached the victim and a verbal confrontation took place. During the argument, the suspect used a weapon to stab the victim.

FRESNO -  Joseph D. Sanford, 74, of Ceres, aka “Chicken Joe,” was sentenced today to 16 months in prison and a fined $25,000 for conspiring to sell, buy, possess, train, transport, deliver and receive game fowl intended to be used in animal fighting ventures, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Sanford was the owner and operator of Joe Sanford Gamefarm in Ceres, where he bred and sold gamecocks for cockfighting. Cockfighting is illegal under federal law and in all 50 states. Sanford also fought his own roosters.

FRESNO  -   A federal grand jury returned four indictments today against six Fresno residents as a result of Operation No Fly Zone that sought to address a rise in the number of shootings and homicides in Fresno, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. The multi-agency, months-long investigation resulted in the arrests of over 40 individuals, including six federal defendants.

Fresno residents Patrick Anthony Feaster, 23, and Marcus Rashad Newton, 24, are charged in one indictment with one count each of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Both have prior felony convictions and are prohibited from possessing firearms.

FRESNO  -  Six people were arrested in Kern County today following a year-long investigation of a Bakersfield-based drug trafficking organization that distributed methamphetamine and heroin, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. The defendants are scheduled to make an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheila K. Oberto on Wednesday, April 27, at 2:00 p.m.

Those charged in the federal criminal complaint unsealed today are: Jorge Calderon-Campos, 41; Byron Adilio Alfaro-Sandoval, 45; and Johnathan Benjamin Torres, 30; all citizens of Mexico residing in Bakersfield; Jose Angel Beltran-Chaidez, 66, of Bakersfield; and Alberto Gomez-Santiago, 36; and Mark Garcia, 22, of Arvin.

FRESNO  -  On April 22nd a federal grand jury returned an eight-count indictment against Vincent Elliot Porter, 73, of Oakdale, charging him with wire fraud, United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, between 2013 and 2017, Porter owned and operated two Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealerships: Sonora Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, and Lodi Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram. He used his ownership of those businesses to defraud investors of approximately $8 million.