Evidence Tampering Suspected in Shootings (Daily Bulletin 08172006)

I knew this was coming out, the two juveniles had a helper at home that was trying to erase their involvement in the crime. it is sad however because being a PROBATION OFFICER, you know what the laws of evidence are, and that if you are trying to wash the evidence from clothing that your son was "knowingly" wearing during a crime, that is Evidence tampering!!

Her career is done, and I am sorry I don't feel sorry for her. I feel that she should have been mad at her child for putting her in the position that she was in, but instead she decides to join her child in the crime and that was wrong.

So that was why in my previous BLOG Remark that no wonder why the children are acting the way that they do, because the parents are just taking the blame and trying to hide it from them, keeping the responsibility from them. So the Juveniles were crying out for some kind of Discipline attention that they were not getting!!

Bye Bye Mom!!

BSRanch

Evidence tampering suspected in shootings
Probation officer, her son and his friend arrested
By Joe Nelson & melissa Pinion-Whitt, staff writers (daily bulletin)

RIALTO - In a four-day period, Alvin Molina Jr. watched helplessly as both his son and wife were arrested on suspicion of crimes he is still trying to fathom.

The National Guardsman who recently returned from a 16-month deployment in Afghanistan and whose wife, Debra Molina, is a supervising probation officer at San Bernardino Juvenile Hall, is still trying to understand what went wrong.

"I'm devastated. My wife and son are in jail. Where does it end?" Molina said Wednesday at his home. "I'm pretty distraught. There's gotta be a mix-up with this somewhere."

Police arrested Debra Molina, 51, about 8 a.m. Wednesday at her residence on suspicion of tampering with evidence sought in a criminal investigation involving her 16-year-old son, Alvin Molina III. She was booked into the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, where she was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail, said Cpl. Kurt Kitterle, of the Rialto Police Department.

The Molinas' son and his longtime friend, Steve Torres, 17, are each charged with two counts of attempted murder in the Friday-morning shootings of Mary Ortega and Alex Martinez on Cactus Avenue near Interstate 210 in Rialto. They also face special allegations of premeditation and using a gun in the crimes that make them eligible for life in prison if convicted. They pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Fontana Superior Court, prosecutor Lyle Scollon said.

The two boys took orange cones, pylons and road construction signs that were being used for construction work and blocked off Cactus Avenue near Interstate 210 about 1:30 a.m. Friday, according to police reports filed in court in support of an arrest warrant.

When Mary Ortega approached the makeshift roadblock in her Chevy Suburban, the boys allegedly emerged from under the overpass and started throwing rocks at her vehicle. She started driving away when several gunshots rang out. Bullets shattered the rear window of the SUV. One bullet grazed Ortega's neck. Her passenger, Alex Martinez, suffered gunshot wounds to his wrist. He was taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton for treatment. Ortega refused medical treatment, records show.

Police say the boys returned the following night to try and pull off the same stunt. Police officers say they set up surveillance and from 11:30 p.m. Friday to 1:30 a.m. Saturday, watching as the boys scaled the wall separating Cactus Avenue from Tahoe Street, where Molina lives. The boys allegedly started blocking off Cactus Avenue with the cones, pylon and rope when police moved in. Police say the boys ran.

It didn't take long for police to find the boys, who ran into Molina's home, they say, one of two in a small cul-de-sac.

Debra Molina identified herself to police as a county probation officer and initially gave the officers consent to search her home. When police spotted a pair of gray athletic shorts on the floor of her son's bedroom, believed to be the same ones officers saw him wearing outside, she terminated the search, reports show.

In the hours that followed, police say she washed her son's shorts, even though she was instructed not to disturb anything in her son's room. Police say she managed to wash them in the presence of two officers who stayed at the home to secure it while the search order was being signed.

"Debra Molina admitted that she was trying to help her son and washed the shorts," Cpl. Nicholas Borchard wrote in a report. "She stated she waited until both of the officers were in the hallway and then asked if she could use the restroom. While in the restroom she grabbed a couple of towels and other items and then went into the bedroom and picked up the shorts and concealed them under a towel."

She subsequently placed the shorts in the washing machine with the towels, the report said.

"She admitted she remembered our conversation and stated she was sorry, not fully thinking her actions through," Borchard wrote.

Scollon said in a telephone interview Wednesday that Debra Molina can face up to three years in prison if convicted, but he doesn't believe the mother of four will do any prison time.

‘'She has no record. It's probably a probation case," Scollon said.

Her husband said she has worked for the San Bernardino County Probation Department for about 10 years, working as a supervisor and custody specialist at juvenile hall. Her colleagues arrived at her home Monday and informed her she was under investigation, and ordered her to surrender her badge.

Michelle Scray, deputy chief probation officer for the county, would only confirm Debra Molina's employment Wednesday but would not disclose how long she has worked for the county nor her position title. She said it was a confidential personnel matter that is under investigation.

Alvin Molina said the stress has been taxing on his family, especially his wife, who recently underwent surgery for a brain aneurysm. On Monday, after her colleagues came to her home, and she relinquished her badge, she got into her car and blacked out, somehow managing to back over her foot and crash into another car parked in the driveway. She suffered a broken ankle and had a cast put on Tuesday, he said.

In a written statement to police, Torres admitted to participating in the prank with his friend, but denied using a gun.

"I know I've done wrong and don't feel to (sic) happy about it cause when everything is happening everything is fun but when the punishment comes its (sic) not," Torres wrote. "Me and Alvin both decided to throw rocks and make a road block but just as a prank not a accident (sic). I wasn't planning to hurt people or scare people. I was just planning to have fun . . . We didn't have a gun never ever ever had a gun (sic)."

Police seized a 9mm Beretta with a 15-round magazine that allegedly belongs to Alvin Molina from the family's home. It was sent to the sheriff's crime lab for ballistics testing.

Now, Alvin Molina must grapple with how to keep his family's spirits up. He and his wife also have a 26-year-old son, Pierre, and a 9-year-old son, Amir. He's been trying to renovate his home.

That will have to wait, as Alvin Molina contemplates how he will hold the family fort down, maintain a job and figure out how to get his wife out of jail. He's trying to come up with the money to post bond on his wife's $50,000 bail.

"That's a lot of money for me. I only get so much every two weeks," Molina said. ‘I'm waiting to hear from the attorney to see what we can do next."

But he remains optimistic.

"It seems like it's going to be a long road, but I got my family here to support me, so I'm happy about that," he said.