Suspicion

Three people were arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence Friday night during Costa Mesa’s latest DUI checkpoint. More than 300 drivers were screened at the checkpoint at Newport Boulevard and 22nd Street. Of those, police interviewed 31 drivers for possibly being under the influence and ultimately arrested three. Eight drivers were ticketed for either not having a license or for driving with a suspended one. Sixteen tickets were handed out for various vehicle code violations and nine vehicles were impounded.

A Costa Mesa man police believe to be a transient was arrested Thursday after a woman said she saw him pull a knife on another man. Ron Gardner, 65, was arrested outside of Harbor Radiator, 2129 Harbor Blvd. in Costa Mesa just before 10 a.m. Thursday when he threatened a man there with a knife he kept in his pocket, said Sgt. Bryan Glass. Police said people were aware Gardner slept in an area near the business and Thursday morning he had gone onto the Harbor Radiator property.

Costa Mesa police are investigating if items they found in an Anaheim woman’s car they say are stolen are just the tip of the iceberg, officials said. Authorities arrested Mia Molinari, 21, Sunday morning after stopping her on the southbound 73 Freeway onramp at Bear Street because her black BMW matched the description of a suspicious person leaving the area, said Sgt. Greg Scott. About 6:50 a.m. Sunday a passerby reported a woman acting suspiciously in the 800 block of Paularino Avenue.

Police arrested a man and woman at a Buena Park gas station following a daylight robbery Thursday afternoon at a bank in Costa Mesa. A robber entered First Bank at 3001 Harbor Blvd. at about 3:25 p.m. Thursday and handed a teller a note demanding cash, according to Costa Mesa Sgt. Ron Chamberlin. The robber, who apparently did not use a weapon, fled the bank with a large amount of money. At about 5:30 p.m., Buena Park police arrested Roger Dale Kenney, 51, of Anaheim without incident at a gas station in Buena Park, authorities said.

Sue Doyle COSTA MESA -- A Costa Mesa man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of murder in connection with a Huntington Park methamphetamine lab explosion Wednesday that left one man dead. Huntington Park police, decked out in full riot gear, stormed through a neighborhood in the 800 block of Congress Street with an armored vehicle and arrested Juan Sandoval, 24. Police said they suspect Sandoval had a hand in the death of an unidentified 21-year-old man who died in a hospital early Thursday after his entire body was severely burned in an explosion Wednesday at a Huntington Park apartment complex.

Three men are behind bars and face court hearings Friday on possible drug charges thanks to a tip from a postal worker with a suspicious eye, police said Thursday. Costa Mesa residents Victor Fernandez, 35, Guillermo Vazquez-Sandoval, 29, and Marcos Aguilera-Elorza, 32, were arrested at 6 p.m Wednesday after detectives’ investigation led them to the men’s apartment at 2206 Rutgers Drive. Inside, police found 20 pounds of marijuana and $26,000, which police believe came from drug sales, said Sgt. Bryan Glass.

Deepa Bharath A 27-year-old voice coach accused of repeatedly molesting a Buena Park teenager he met at the All-American Boys Chorus will be arraigned on Oct. 18, officials said Wednesday. Robert Alan Giese of Irvine, who was arrested Friday, faces six felony counts of child molestation, said Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Schroeder. Giese is accused of molesting a 17-year-old boy between May 1, 1998 and May 31, 2002 at his Irvine home, she said.