Killing and Gunplay Mar New Year’s Eve

The arrival of the new year in Orange County was a study in contrasts. While some communities were quiet, others, especially the larger municipalities, had an unusual amount of violent activity.

The most serious incident occurred in Santa Ana when a man was stabbed to death by three assailants who may have been trying to rob him, a police spokesman said.

Police said Ramon Alarcon Martinez, 27, stepped outside his home at 1605 Raymar St. about 7 p.m. Tuesday to get some fresh air. He was attacked by the three men as he stood in his driveway.

Martinez was taken to Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, where he died of a single stab wound to the chest. Police said they have no suspects.

For the Anaheim Police Department, New Year’s Eve and morning was hectic. The department had all its officers on duty and, in a five-hour period beginning an hour before midnight, made 30 arrests.

“The guys on the graveyard shift said it was one of the worst New Year’s they had ever seen,” Sgt. Jack Jansen said.

During the night, Anaheim police responded to 79 calls of people shooting rifles or handguns in the air. Of the 30 people arrested, five were for firearms offenses and 21 were arrested for alcohol-related offenses, Jansen said.

One bullet even knocked out a window at the police headquarters. There were no injuries in any of the Anaheim incidents.

“We’re still going through the paper work,” Jansen said at midday.

Santa Ana police also reported numerous cases of people firing weapons but there were no injuries or major property damage.

In Orange, meanwhile, a security officer for the Rancho Santiago College District was shot at shortly before midnight. According to Sgt. John Higley of the Orange Police Department, security officer Thomas Burner was sitting in his patrol car in the parking lot of the Rancho Santiago Adult Learning Center at 541 N. Lemon St. when shots were fired at him.

Bullet Hit Car

Higley said one of the four bullets fired at Burner hit the patrol car. Burner was not hurt and police have no suspects.

The California Highway Patrol also had a busy night, but a spokeswoman said it was a “fairly normal” New Year’s Eve. She said CHP officers arrested 42 people for drunk driving.

Most other municipalities in the county experienced routine evenings. A Huntington Beach police spokesman reported “a lot of traffic and a lot of drunks,” but nothing unusual.

The most notable event of the night in Irvine occurred when a small deer was run over and killed by an unknown motorist on Michelson Drive.

“That’s all we had,” a police spokeswoman said.