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Regional Roundup
Pursuit suspect's mental competency questioned
Criminal proceedings against a man who allegedly led Lodi police on two pursuits, including one in a stolen patrol car, have been suspended while his mental health is evaluated.
Erving Martinez, 23, of Antioch, remains jailed on $270,000, and he will appear in court Tuesday for a hearing on the matter. He last appeared in Lodi court Wednesday, where the case was halted after concerns arose about whether he is competent to stand trial, according to San Joaquin County court records.
Martinez was arrested June 17 near Interstate 5 and Hammer Lane in Stockton, miles from the beginning of a pursuit at the Lodi Safeway. Someone in the parking lot, at Kettleman Lane and Lower Sacramento Road, told a passing Lodi police officer that a man had just made off with a large amount of liquor.
Police tried to stop the vehicle, which sped up and headed to Stockton, continuing even after a minor hit-and-run. When the car stopped at Hammer Lane in Stockton, Martinez allegedly started to run from the car and Officer Jose Nuno tried to tackle him.
The 401-pound Martinez simply pushed Nuno to the ground and got in his patrol car, police said at the time. After allegedly driving over curbs and briefly heading the wrong way on Interstate 5, Martinez fled from the patrol car and hid in a home where he had told the residents he was being chased by criminals.
Parolee accused of raping woman
Two months after he was released from prison, a 22-year-old man is back behind bars, accused of raping a woman he met at a party in northern San Joaquin County.
Jason Blasingame was booked into the San Joaquin County Jail on Thursday morning, hours after he allegedly met the 21-year-old woman at a gathering, according to a Sheriff's report.
The woman got in Blasingame's vehicle and they drove to a place near Highway 99 and Morada Lane. There he allegedly raped her, according to the report.
The incident happened exactly two months after Blasingame was released from state prison after serving time on a drug conviction, according to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records.
In that previous case, Blasingame was originally arrested in September 2006 after allegedly dragging his girlfriend around an Acampo house by her hair, holding a gun to her head and pulling the phone from the wall.
A judge ruled that there was enough evidence to warrant a trial in that case, but ultimately Blasingame reached a plea deal with prosecutors in January 2007: He pleaded no contest to felony drug possession in a separate case, and other charges were dropped.
Blasingame was then sentenced to three years in prison, including the time he'd already spent in jail.
He is now jailed without bail and will appear in court Monday.
Sheriff's spokesman Deputy Les Garcia declined to give more details about the new investigation, including where the gathering had been held, out of concern that it could reveal the victim's identity. He also did not know the city where Blasingame lives.
Local ag students win scholarships
The Lodi District Grape Growers Association will give a total of $8,000 to five local students, all of who plan to either study agriculture in college or work in agriculture-related fields.
Scholarship winners include: Joe Castaneda, who now attends California State University, Fresno; Rodrigo Sandoval, a future University of California, Davis student who just graduated from Galt High School, Katelyn Titus, a former Linden High School graduate who will attend California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in the fall, Michael Olagaray and Brett Warmerdam, both of whom graduated from St. Mary's High School and will also go to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.
Of the $8,000 coming from the LDGGA Jim Kissler Memorial, Casteneda, Sandoval and Titus will receive $2,000.
Olagaray and Warmerdam both received $1,000.
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Mad Dog wrote on Jun 28, 2008 3:12 AM:
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