BRIEFLY IN PUBLIC SAFETY

Painting stolen from wall

An unknown suspect walked into a North Laguna gallery in the 300 block of North Coast Highway at 3:39 p.m. Feb. 4, when it was open for business, and stole a painting off the wall, Laguna Beach Police Sgt. Jason Kravetz said. The $3,900 painting was selling on consignment. The stolen oil painting is described as 3 feet by 5 feet.

Huntington Beach man’s screams result in arrest

A Huntington Beach man was arrested at Aliso Beach at 9:10 p.m. Feb. 6 after a police officer on foot patrol heard a male screaming, Kravetz said.

The office went over to the bus bench where the man was to see if he was OK, and a records check revealed a $500 warrant for a Huntington Beach Municipal Code violation.

Arrest leads to endangerment charges

A Laguna Beach man was accused of violating a restraining order after police pulled over a woman on suspicion of DUI at 10:21 p.m. Feb. 6 on Coast Highway near Montage Resort Drive, Kravetz said.

Matthew Halloran Pierovich, 37, was in the vehicle with Mari Pierovich, 45, of Dana Point, who was eventually arrested on suspicion of DUI.

“Once arrested, she became uncooperative and tried to get out of her handcuffs,” Kravetz said. “There was a male in the passenger seat who has a restraining order against him.”

The person being protected by the restraining order was the woman driving the car.

The man was subsequently taken into custody for violating the court order.

In addition, once police got them to the station, it was discovered that the woman had left her young juvenile children home alone.

“We went to retrieve them [the children],” Kravetz said.

“She was then charged with child endangerment.”

Man punched outside own birthday party

An Anaheim man was arrested on suspicion of punching a man who refused him a cigarette at 1:22 a.m. Saturday outside a bar in the 200 block of Ocean Avenue, Kravetz said.

The victim, who was celebrating his birthday at the bar, was outside smoking, when the suspect, Jimmy Galindo, asked for a cigarette. When the victim refused, the suspect allegedly punched him in the face and ran into another bar. The victim called police and when police arrived the suspect fled. He was caught on Forest Avenue and arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor battery.

Urns and tree stolen

The owner of a building in the 1500 block of South Coast Highway reported that three urns and a tree were stolen from the front area of the building at 7:09 a.m. Saturday, Kravetz said.

Each of the urns had a tree inside, but the suspects dumped out two of the trees and only took one of the trees. The value of the loss is $506.

Man accused of felony DUI after rollover

An Aliso Viejo man was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI after he was pulled from his Dodge Ram, which had overturned at El Toro and Laguna Canyon Road at 10:49 p.m. Saturday, Kravetz said.

When police arrived to investigate a report of a solo rollover crash, the driver, William Vann, 29, had been helped out of the vehicle by good Samaritans who stopped to help.

Officers smelled alcohol on the driver and arrested him on suspicion of felony DUI, because this was his fifth DUI arrest, and he has four other DUI convictions, Kravetz said. He was also charged with driving on a suspended license. Bail was set at $50,000. Vann was slightly injured in the rollover.

Party bus fails to navigate Third Street hill

A large “party bus” got stuck at the bottom of the Third Street hill at 12:56 a.m. Sunday, and two big-rig tow trucks were called to get it out of the roadway, according to police records.

“We will be sending them a bill for our time spent on this call,” Kravetz said.