Around 3 a.m. Friday, authorities were informed that Thomas Richard Heaven — in custody for several counts of a sex-related crime involving a minor — had died, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office.

On Thursday, “Mr. Heaven’s overall condition rapidly began to deteriorate due to his low oxygen levels and at 11:45 p.m., Mr. Heaven was pronounced deceased at the hospital,” the sheriff’s office said.

On March 17, Heaven was transported from the San Diego Central Jail to a local hospital “due to having low blood pressure and a high heart rate,” the sheriff’s office said.

On April 7, he was transferred to another local hospital, where he remained in custody, authorities said.

Heaven was to be sentenced on May 5 in San Diego Central Court for several counts of committing lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14 years of age, according to the sheriff’s office.

Heaven’s family has been notified, and a family liaison officer “will support the family during this difficult time,” officials said.

The Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board representative was notified about Heaven’s death, and the sheriff’s Homicide Unit will investigate.

An autopsy was scheduled for Saturday to determine the exact cause of death.

— City News Service

The post Jail Inmate Dies After Hospitalization For Heart Condition appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Kendall Jamison Clark, 26, of Murrieta admitted the felony charges under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. In exchange for his admissions, prosecutors agreed to drop 25 related counts against Clark.

The plea deal was reached Thursday during a status hearing before Superior Court Judge Judith Clark — no relation to the defendant — who scheduled a sentencing hearing for Oct. 21 at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta. She permitted Clark to remain free on the $250,000 bond that he posted soon after his arrest in October 2023.

His co-defendant, 48-year-old Gabriel Dean Watters of San Diego, is also free on bail and is slated to appear at the Murrieta courthouse for a felony settlement conference on April 4. Watters is charged with nearly a dozen felony offenses, including embezzlement, auto theft and possession of stolen property, as well as a sentence-enhancing white collar crime allegation.

Prosecutors allege Clark engaged multiple owners of luxury vehicles countywide, who rented the pricey rides to him and never saw them again.

“When the owners tried to report the vehicles as stolen, they learned their names had been taken off the titles,” according to a District Attorney’s Office statement.

“Investigators discovered Watters was buying the stolen cars from Clark at prices substantially lower than their real value,” the agency stated. “Watters would meet … Clark at locations throughout Riverside County, pay him for a group of cars and then take the cars to other locations, including Mexico, where he would attempt to sell them again.”

Among the stolen autos: a 2021 Lamborghini Aventador and 2022 Urus, along with a 2021 Porsche Boxter and a 2022 Tesla Model Y.

Personnel from the county’s Auto-Theft Interdiction Detail, a multi- agency task force that focuses on deterring and apprehending car thieves, caught onto the scheme in September 2023, culminating in Clark’s arrest weeks later.

Court records show he had prior convictions for statutory rape and lewd acts.

Watters was taken into custody on Nov. 27, 2023, at San Diego International Airport. He has no documented prior felony or misdemeanor convictions in Riverside County.

The post Murrieta Man Admits Perpetrating Luxury Auto Theft Scheme appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Marvin Alberto Ulloa was arrested Jan. 28 following a weeks-long Murrieta Police Department investigation.

Ulloa is charged with lewd acts on a minor and two counts of forced oral copulation of a child under 10 years old.

He pleaded not guilty last week during an arraignment before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Judith Clark, who scheduled a bail review hearing for Feb. 7 at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta to consider a defense motion for a reduction of the current $1 million bond requirement.

The motion is based on the defendant’s lack of prior criminal history. He’s being held at the Byrd Detention Center.

According to police, investigators were contacted on Jan. 7 regarding possible molestation perpetrated by the defendant on a girl identified in court documents only as “C.F.”

The alleged acts occurred at Ulloa Family Daycare, operated out of a residence in the 27700 block of Hackberry Street, near Clinton Keith Road, police said.

Court papers allege the girl was targeted between July 2020 and July 2023.

“C.F. was particularly vulnerable,” according to the criminal complaint. “It is alleged (the defendant) took advantage of a position of trust and confidence to commit the crimes.”

Detectives spent several weeks investigating the matter before gathering sufficient details to obtain and serve an arrest warrant at Ulloa’s home on Jan. 28.

There was no record of registration for the daycare with the California Department of Social Services.

The defendant has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

The post After ‘Not Guilty’ Plea, Murrieta Daycare Owner Asks For Lowered Bail appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.