TimesOC: A new development in the alleged beating of a homeless man by deputies

Good morning and welcome to the TimesOC newsletter.

It’s Friday, April 9. I’m Ben Brazil on rotation with my colleagues, editors John Canalis and Carol Cormaci, to bring you the latest roundup of Orange County news and events.

There’s a new development in the case of a formerly homeless man who was allegedly beaten and Tased by Orange County sheriff’s deputies in 2018.

Deputy Chad Renegar, who allegedly took part in the beating of Jeremy Holloway, was charged in February with falsifying a police report on a separate case.

This week, reporter Meghann Cuniff wrote that U.S. District Judge David O. Carter removed a protective order, allowing Holloway’s attorney full access of the district attorney’s criminal file on Renegar and her to use it in her own case against the deputy.

“Now I can actually freely discuss it in a public forum,” attorney Narine Mkrtchyan told Cuniff.

The development is important because Mkrtchyan believes Renegar also filed false police reports about her client. Cuniff wrote that it may allow Mkrtchyan to challenge Renegar’s credibility if the case goes to trial next month.

The case is also relevant to the much-publicized evidence-mishandling scandal, where Orange County sheriff’s deputies were found to have booked evidence late or failed to book evidence at all but subsequently lied about it in reports.

The alleged beating of Holloway occurred in January 2018 near his tent in O’Neill Regional Park in Trabuco Canyon.

Holloway, a Marine veteran who served in Iraq, was left with bruised ribs and legs, a head injury, a severely bleeding and swollen face, loss of vision, severe pain in his back and periodic loss of consciousness, according to a legal complaint he filed.

Holloway is receiving treatment at a Veterans Affairs hospital near him in Pennsylvania for vision loss, headaches, backache and severe emotional distress, the complaint says.

Orange County sheriff’s deputies in riot gear in 2017.

(Photo by Spencer Grant )

NEWS

— The city of Costa Mesa contends in a lawsuit that a proposed $32-million performing arts complex at Estancia High School needs a more substantial environmental review before the project moves forward. The Newport-Mesa Unified School District approved the project in October 2019 and submitted plans to the state in November, according to the suit.

— Although Costa Mesa resident Jimmy Vivar was born with a degenerative eye disorder, he attained a degree in civil engineering and is now working for the Los Angeles Department of Transportation as a transportation engineering associate. He is an alumnus of the Blind Children’s Learning Center in Santa Ana.

— Costa Mesa police Chief Bryan Glass will retire in September after 26 years with the department. Glass has led the department for 18 months.

— The Laguna Beach City Council voted Tuesday night to repeal the criminalization of certain kinds of speech at council meetings. The decision was controversial, considering it was made on the heels of the censure of Councilman Peter Blake for comments he made.

— An Anaheim man was convicted of second-degree murder after allegedly killing his wife and propping her up on a couch as her kids opened Christmas presents. William Wallace, 39, could face 15 years to life in prison.

— The U.S. Army Reserve is relocating four passenger jets by this summer to the Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos. The South Coast Air Quality Management District is reviewing the impacts of the jets on air quality.

— Santa Ana police will now post hate crime data to the department’s website after the City Council showed unanimous support for the proposal at a Tuesday night meeting. Also on Tuesday night, the council unanimously approved a resolution condemning racism and hate against Asian Americans.

— The majority of victims of human and sex trafficking identified by the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force between 2016 and 2020 were Black and Latino, according to a recent report issued by the task force. The report highlights the last decade of work from the task force, which has grown to include more than 60 law enforcement agencies, victim service providers, nonprofits and other groups.

SPORTS

— A roundup of various school sports from around the county, including a recount of the Huntington Beach High baseball team defeating Marina.

— Former Vanguard University baseball player José Rojas is playing his first MLB season with the Angels.

— Columnist Helene Elliott contends that Angels’ manager Joe Maddon must figure out how to best use pitcher Raisel Iglesias.

ARTS

— An Orange County School of Arts sophomore won the 2021 Orange County Poetry Out Loud title. Elora Sparnicht will now take part in a national finals competition in May.

OPINION

— Grammar columnist June Casagrande wrote about tricky past tense verbs.