PD report: 112 felony arrests, 1,334 traffic citations

By Doug Spoon, Editor

Menifee Police Department officers made 112 felony arrests and 192 misdemeanor arrests from July through September, according to Menifee PD records.

During his quarterly report to the Menifee City Council last week, Chief Pat Walsh reported that 34 of the felony arrests were for assault and nine were for stolen vehicles. There were six rapes reported in the city, Walsh said.

Officers also responded to reports of 423 traffic collisions, including 32 with injuries. A total of 1,334 traffic citations were issued – a 176 percent increase over the same time period last year. In addition, there were 172 administrative code violations.

“We’re adding a lot of technology,” Walsh said. “We’re going to add another 12 cameras in the next week or two, and we’re asking the officers in the street where we should put those. They’re having an incredible impact. We’re making arrests almost daily based on that technology.”

Walsh also addressed the issue of increasing speeding and accidents on the main east-west route that begins with Domenigoni Parkway and continues through Newport Road and west to Railroad Canyon Road. There have been three fatality collisions on that route in the last couple weeks.

“I’ve reached out to CHP and RSO and we’re going to try to put a long-term mission together from Leon Road, maybe even farther east than Leon, into our town,” Walsh said about efforts to increase traffic enforcement there. “People are driving very fast. We want to hit from there to Railroad Canyon and really send a message that it’s not a freeway.”