James Tappon and Christopher Garcia are dead. They might still be alive if others had been more careful or a bit less hotheaded. Were they killed unnecessarily? Most certainly. Were they murdered? Should those critically involved be held accountable? What will society – in this case the Morongo community – decide? Or will it decide at all? With what moral authority can it speak?
On On October 31 at 3:01 p.m., Frank Stiffens, 68, of Yucca Valley was driving his 2009 Dodge Durango north and Tappon, 69. was driving a 2015 Fort Fiesta south on Yucca Mesa Road north of Sunflower Drive.
From what California Highway Patrol investigators can piece together, the Durango drifted across the solid double yellow line and the left front of Stiffens’ vehicle smashed into the left front ofTappon’s car, resulting in major damage to both vehicles. Stibbens was seriously injured. Tappon, into whom the driver compartment had folded, was killed.
Stibbens, who was hospitalized, has, based on investigators’ conclusions, been charged with murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and two counts of driving under the influence causing injury. Upon his release from the hospital, he was jailed at West Valley Detention Center, and is being held on $1 million bond.
Stibbens was arraigned before Judge Sarah Oliver on Wednesday morning November 5. Prosecutors presented a folder relating to Stibbens containing the CHP’s preliminary findings with regard to the October 31 collision and Stibbens driving/vehicle code/criminal history in San Bernardino County.
Inn 2007, he was charged and convicted of violating PC273.5(A)-M: inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, a misdemeanor, for which he was sentenced to 180 days in jail.
In 2011 he was charged with VC23152(A)-M: driving under the influence, a misdemeanor, and pleaded no contest to the charge in 2012.
In 2011, he was charged and convicted with driving under the influence and convicted.
In 2012, he was charged with driving while intoxicated and driving without a license and with driving while his license was suspended for driving while intoxicated. In 2013 the driving while intoxicated and driving with a license that was suspended for driving while intoxicated charges were dismissed and he was convicted of driving a vehicle without a license.
In 2020 he was charged with driving under the influence and driving while his license was suspended for having driven under the influence. He entered a guilty plea to VC23103(a)-M: wet reckless driving, a misdemeanor. Wet reckless driving is a plea reduction provided by the court in driving under the influence cases. Stibbens obtained this disposition by agreeing to attend and complete the Senate Bill 38 alcohol rehabilitation program.
In 2024 he was charged with driving while his license was suspended for driving under the influence and with speeding. In 2015, both of those charges were dismissed.
During the November 5 arraignment hearing, Judge Oliver heard his not guilty pleas to PC187: murder; PC191.5(A)-F,: gross vehicular manslaughter; VC23153(A)-F, driving under the influence and causing bodily injury, as well as his denials of the sentencing enhancements/special allegations of having been previously convicted of driving under the influence, and a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury while driving intoxicated. She confirmed continuing his bail at $1 million and appointed the public defender’s office to represent him.
He is to appear before Judge Oliver on November 12 for a pre-preliminary hearing before Judge James Taylor for a preliminary hearing on November 13.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME CASE
NUMBER CIV SB 2529637
TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner JOSE ANTHONIO RUIZ/MELITON CRISTOBAL BETANCOURT filed with this court for a decree changing names as follows:
JOSE ANTHONIO RUIZ to JOSE ANTHONIO CRISTOBAL RUIZ
THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.
Notice of Hearing:
Date: December 1, 2025, Time: 08:30 AM, Department: S 26
The address of the court is Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, San Bernardino District-Civil Division, 247 West Third Street, San Bernardino, CA 92415
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this order be published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel, once a week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing of the petition.
Dated: 10/17/2025
Judge of the Superior Court: Gilbert G. Ochoa
Abrianna Rodriguez, Deputy Clerk of the Court
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on October 17, 24 & 31 and November 7, 2025.

FBN20250009652
The following entity is doing business primarily in San Bernardino County as
LANDCARE PRO 525 EAST RALSTON AVENUE SAN BERNARDINO, CA 92404: HECTOR RAMIREZ
Business Mailing Address: 525 EAST RALSTON AVENUE SAN BERNARDINO, CA 92404
The business is conducted by: AN INDIVIDUAL.
The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: N/A.
By signing, I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime (B&P Code 179130). I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.
/s/ HECTOR RAMIREZ, Owner
Statement filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 10/09/2025
I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office San Bernardino County Clerk By:/Deputy J9965
Notice-This fictitious name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14400 et seq., Business and Professions Code).
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on October 17, 24 & 31 and November 7, 2025.

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Little more than a fortnight after Big Bear Lake officials blindsided those living within one of the city’s residential districts by undertaking the construction of a garbage dump in their neighborhood, residents have struck back, hitting the city manager and senior city administrators with a series of moves they did not anticipate.
Over the weekend of October 11/12, word was spreading among a handful of residents in Big Bear Lake that the city was closing out its Clean Bear Site #2, located at 39690 Big Bear Boulevard, and was going to replace it with one to be sited on two lots owned by the city near the corner of Lark and Cienega roads, adjacent to an existing residential neighborhood.
The Clean Bear program in the City of Big Bear Lake provides drop-off locations for residents and tourists – that is tenants and guests of owners of residential properties within the city – who cannot use curbside trash service. The sites accept household refuse, recycling, green/yard waste, pine needles, E-waste and ashes.
That the city properties adjoining Lark and Cienega roads was jarring to those who lived in the neighborhood, which included the aforementioned Lark Road and Cienega Road, as well as Cienega Court, Moab Lane and the area around the Sacred Heart Camp and Retreat. Residents of the area had not been alerted to any items on the city’s planning commission and city council agendas referencing development projects in the area or mention of an alteration of the city’s zoning maps or codes that would have presaged development in the general or specific area. As their had been no hint of any development proposal, including those in compliance with the area’s residential zoning or proposals of any other type, dismay and panic ensued. Continue reading →

San Bernardino County and its 24 municipal jurisdictions are on the brink of suffering a second heavy blow as the result of Jashanpreet Singh’s irresponsible wielding of the Freightliner tractor and trailer he was hauling on October 21.
That day, as the 21-year-old Singh was at the wheel of the semi-truck barreling westbound on the 10 Freeway in the number four lane west of the 15 Freeway, he did not brake at all and ran into the back of and obliterated a white Kia Sorento that had been at a full stop for several seconds before the impact and continued with considerable force into the back of a white pickup truck, which careened to the left as the Freightliner continued unabated into the back of another semi-tractor-pulled trailer, the rear of which momentarily lifted into the air upon impact. The only somewhat-diminished momentum of the Freightliner carried it forward as it careened to the right across two lanes of traffic where it ran into the front of a disabled tractor connected to a long flatbed trailer and the back of the service truck in front of the disabled tractor that were in place on the shoulder of the freeway. The disabled tractor’s front hood was draped open forward and appeared to have been clipped and destroyed along with major elements of the truck’s engine in the collision. A man engaged in repairing the disabled truck was severely injured as a result. Both passengers in the Sorrento were killed and pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of a Toyota Tacoma severely injured in the crash was transported to a hospital, where he died.
A 43-year-old driver of a Dodge Avenger sustained major injuries, while a 57-year-old passenger in a Chevrolet 2500 had a minor injury, according to the California Highway Patrol. Continue reading →

A man engaged in an intense argument with his wife that escalated into gunfire used one of the guns in his possession to fatally shoot with a single shot one of the first deputies to arrive on scene during the noon hour on Monday, October 27.
The man, identified as Angelo Jose Saldivar, 47, was captured less than an hour later, after he fled on a motorcycle in a mad dash on the 210 Freeway westward into Los Angeles County and then reversed course in what was an apparent effort to ditch pursuing authorities, only to have an unanticipated run-in with the side of a vehicle driven by an off-duty deputy, a colleague of the many he had just killed.
Saldivar survived the collision, despite having been launched forward over the hood of the car he had collided with and then impacting the ground on his back while being carried forward by his momentum at a speed nearing or exceeding 60 miles per hour and then being hammered by his tumbling motorcycle. It is anticipated that the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office will charge him with first degree murder and seek the application of the death penalty pursuant to a sentencing enhancement relating to having killed an on-duty police officer once Saldivar is released from the hospital where he remains in stable condition.
The sheriff’s department dispatch center received multiple calls from the neighbors of Veronica Garcia Saldivar, also known as Veronica Garcia Zaragosa, a resident of the condominium complex at 12346 Hollyhock Drive in Rancho Cucamonga, which is part of the residential component at the north end of Victoria Gardens, at around 12:30 pm on Monday, October 27. Those calling reported hearing loud yelling and intense arguing, with two caller’s relaying that they believed they heard gunshots. Continue reading →

A recently intensified crackdown on railroad cargo theft carried out by a multitude of agencies and entities, including the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad Police has had significant success, while revealing a large international and familial component among the perpetrators.
Investigators have learned that the thieves have previously succeeded because they had inside information about railroad company operations.
According to the Association of American Railroads, “In recent years, organized criminal groups have increasingly targeted the nation’s railroads using sophisticated tactics and technology to commit cargo theft. While these attacks occur across every freight provider and in every region, collectively the result is rippling supply chain disruptions and costly delays that impact American families.”
A statistic quoted by the Association of American Railroads is that in 2024, total costs to the nation’s largest railroads from theft exceeded $100 million.”
Railroad industry sources and law enforcement professionals report that a substantial amount of railroad cargo theft takes place as a consequence so-called “inside jobs,” that is, with the assistance of those who work with the railroads themselves or as part of the rail infrastructure and support network. Those having specific knowledge of the placing and timing of the shipment by rail of high-value goods is a common vulnerability and a major factor in the success of organized rings who target rail cars for theft.
The Sentinel can report that a breakthrough in the effort to deter railroad theft has been made with investigators’ discovery that organized crime is employing individuals who assume relatively low-ranking and even temporary positions with rail companies or at rail terminals and rail yards to obtain information about what goods are being transported on which trains and in specific rail cars, together with information about when and where the trains are to remain stationary for an extended period.
Somewhat ironically, law enforcement has succeeded in obtaining inside information about how the galère of thieves were able to obtain internal information about the various railroad companies’ operations. Continue reading →