After serving 20 years in prison for murder,  a 54-year-old man was sentenced to 44 years in prison for robbing a Lake Forest bank and then fleeing from police nearly two years ago, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.

Chandler Graham, of Los Angeles, was found guilty of second-degree robbery, assault with a firearm, evading while driving recklessly, unlawful taking of a vehicle and possession of a firearm by a felon after he led police on a pursuit following an armed robbery on Sept. 21, 2015, according to a news release from the DA’s office.

Graham is accused of robbing a credit union in Lake Forest at gunpoint, officials said. He was wearing a disguise and “fled in a vehicle he did not have permission to drive,” the release stated.

A high-speed pursuit ensued along the northbound 5 Freeway, with Graham allegedly throwing the gun and stolen cash out of the window while his vehicle narrowly missed other cars and collided with the curb at one point, the DA’s office said. He allegedly ran through red lights and stop signs during the chase.

Graham was arrested in Tustin after he stopped the car in the road, with no one apparently injured during the pursuit.

The firearm and bank funds were recovered by police, the release said.

The incident took place four months after Graham was released from prison on parole. He was convicted of second-degree murder for a fatal head-on collision that happened during a high-speed chase in 1995, according to the release.

In that case, Graham was drinking in his car when a police officer approached him. He fled in his vehicle and led police on a pursuit, eventually crashing into the victim’s car.

The victim —  a father of three and great-grandfather — died in the collision. He was on his way to have lunch with his wife of 40 years when the crash occurred, officials said.  He and his wife were celebrating his last day of work before retirement.

Graham was released from prison 20 years later, in 2015, because the panel for the Board of Parole Hearings found that he “would not pose an unreasonable risk of danger or a threat to public safety if released from prison,” a news release from the O.C. DA’s office said.

The DA’s office said it opposed Graham’s release.

A man who fatally stabbed a fellow concertgoer at a punk rock show in Santa Ana was sentenced Monday to 11 years in prison, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said.

Juan Angel Rivera, 23, was convicted by a jury of voluntary manslaughter in the killing of Nathan Joe Alfaro, 23, on March 3, 2016.

The men were among many who attended a show that night at Underground DTSA in the 200 block of East 3^rd Street.

According to Santa Ana police, Rivera and Alfaro were involved in a confrontation in the middle of a mosh pit about 10:30 p.m. when Rivera pulled out a knife and stabbed Alfaro multiple times in the torso, then left with a group of people.

See the full story on LATimes.com.

The homeless living along a riverbed near Honda Center in Anaheim are being evicted from the area Monday. Elizabeth Espinosa and Chip Yost reports for the KTLA 5 News on July 17, 2017.

A man who was armed with a knife was fatally shot by officers responding to a domestic dispute call in Santa Ana Friday morning, police said.

Police were sent to the 2400 block of South Olive Street about 3:47 a.m. regarding a family disturbance, Santa Ana Police Department Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.

Yahir Breito is shown in an undated family photo.

Two arriving officers were "confronted by the suspect” in the front yard, Bertagna said, adding that the man had a knife.

An officer-involved shooting occurred in which the suspect, identified by family as 22-year-old Yahir Breito, was struck multiple times, Bertagna said.

Breito was taken to a local hospital, where he later died.

"A family dispute, obviously you don't know what you're going into with volatile situations," said Betagna. "In this case somebody was armed which makes it even more difficult for the officers."

A knife was found at the location, Bertagna said.

Breito's brother, Marcos, told KTLA that his brother's death could have been avoided.

"How can they feel threatened when my brother only has a knife. Everything could have been easily fixed just with a Taser," said Marcos. "With the Taser, my brother would have been down and that's it."

No officers were injured in the incident.

KTLA's Alexandria Hernandez and Mariel Turner contributed to this report.

A man who led police on a high-speed pursuit on the streets of Santa Ana died Sunday night in a crash that also left his 9-year-old daughter critically injured.

Police investigate a deadly pursuit in Santa Ana on July 24, 2017. (Credit: KTLA)

Police received a call at 10:22 p.m. reporting a man brandishing a firearm at a restaurant on McFadden Avenue, said Santa Ana Police Department Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.

Officers spotted a vehicle matching the description given by the caller at South Standard and East Warner avenues and attempted to stop it, but the driver fled, Bertagna said.

Police lost sight of the vehicle after speeds topped 80 mph as it traveled westbound on Warner Avenue, Bertagna said.

A short time later, officers came across the scene of a crash involving the same vehicle, which had apparently crashed into a light pole on Warner Avenue and then careened into a brick wall surrounding the back yard of a home in the 1700 block of West Pendleton Avenue.

The driver, later identified by police as 43-year-old Juan Rodriguez of Costa Mesa, died at the scene, Bertagna said.

Official also noticed a 9-year-old girl trapped in the back seat of the vehicle.

Orange County Fire Authority personnel at the scene rescued the girl from the vehicle, despite live wires “flopping around” at the scene, Bertagna said.

The girl was transported to Children’s Hospital Orange County in critical condition and was later listed as stable.

Inside the vehicle, investigators discovered $13,000 in cash, a loaded gun and half a pound to a pound of narcotics, Bertagna said.

The driver was wanted on three outstanding warrants for narcotics sales, Bertagna said.

Detectives are on the hunt for a man believed to have robbed multiple fast-food restaurants in Orange County, including a Jack in the Box in Santa Ana on Monday and a McDonald's in Costa Mesa on Tuesday.

The string of armed robberies began earlier this month, investigators say.

On Monday about 8:30 p.m., the robber was caught on video entering a Jack in the Box at 820 N. Harbor Blvd. in Santa Ana. He held up a handgun, passed a note to an employee and demanded money, according to a news release from Santa Ana Police Department.

After the robber leaned casually over the restaurant counter, the money was handed over and the man disappeared, the video showed.

It was the third robbery of a fast-food restaurant on Harbor Boulevard within the previous week, Santa Ana police said.

The very next day, about 4:20 p.m. Tuesday, an armed man robbed a Costa Mesa McDonald's at gunpoint while also passing a note to an employee asking for money, a news release from Costa Mesa police said.

Authorities believe it is the same man, saying he could be behind a number of other robberies at Orange County restaurants. Locations in Orange, Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, Garden Grove, Westminster and Fountain Valley have also been hit, police say.

The suspect is described by Santa Ana police as a Hispanic man around 25 to 30 years old with a medium-to-heavy build,  short curly black hair and thick-rimmed black glasses. He's about 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet 1 inch tall.

Anyone with information about the robberies is urged to contact local police.

Three Orange County inmates who cut through steel bars and rappelled off the rooftop of a maximum-security facility in Santa Ana early last year used a cellphone camera to film their daring escape, video obtained by KTLA on Wednesday showed.

Bac Duong, Hossein Nayeri, and Jonathan Tieu, left to right, are shown in photos released by OCSD.

The approximately 15-minute video was released by an attorney for Adam Hossein Nayeri, one of the escaped inmates. In addition to showing how he and two other inmates -- Jonathan Tieu and Bac Duong -- were able to break out of the jail, the footage also detailed what the three men did while on the run for more than a week.

The video began with a montage of a press conference by Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, followed by various news reports of the jail escape; included in the footage was information provided by the Sheriff's Department on how the trio managed to get out.

It then cut to a screen with block letter imposed over a background that read, “So … What really happened?" After, a man who identified him as Nayeri speaks.

"My name is Adam Hossein Nayeri," he said in voice-over. "You know, a lot of people like to credit us with some Houdini escape act all in eight minutes flat."

According to the Sheriff's Department, the three men broke out of the Men's Central Jail on Jan. 22, 2016, after hatching an elaborate escape plan over a period of weeks and possibly months.

They used tools to cut through metal and rebar, climbed into a plumbing tunnel, and rappelled down the side of the facility with a makeshift rope, officials said at the time.

The escapees made their way through the cut screen to a plumbing tunnel, according to authorities. (Credit: OCSD)

The three were last seen during a count at 5 a.m. that Friday morning, and were discovered missing that same day around 9 p.m. A grainy surveillance video released the same weekend they escaped showed the moments before they descended from the multistory facility's rooftop.

Nayeri called the version of events "an interesting myth," before offering his take on what happened.

"In reality, it is true, we did leave that module after count. Not the one they're claiming though -- I left that mod at least eight hours earlier the night before."

When they fled, they had a duffel bag and backpack filled with a number of items, including industrial-strength rope and a toolbox, as well as clothes and shoes, he said.

After the voice-over concludes, the video – set to Queen’s “Under Pressure” – purported to show the jail the morning of the escape.

Editorial note: Due to copyright reasons, music has been removed from the video embedded in this article.

Then, the actual escape is shown. In the footage, Nayeri is seen as the first to crawl in the cut-through vent and into a plumbing shaft within the jail walls, stopping to give a thumbs-up. As he did so, the “Mission Impossible” theme began to play on the video.

The inmates cut through more bars in order to gain access to the unsecured rooftop of the jail, which they then repelled down with the aid of a rope. The video, however, does not show how they got to the ground.

From left to right; Jonathan Tieu, Hossein Nayeri and Bac Duong; are seen in separate court appearances on Feb. 1, 2016. (Credit: KTLA)

The video then cut to photos from Santa Cruz, where the trio fled -- along with Long Ma, a taxicab driver they allegedly kidnapped after the escape. Later, Nayeri and Tieu are seen in the city of San Francisco, where the pair were eventually captured on Jan. 30.

Duong was not with the two in the Bay Area, having turned himself in to authorities in Santa Ana two days before Nayeri and Tieu were apprehended.

Nayeri addressed Duong's surrender in the video, calling him “the first man in history to try and collect reward money on himself.”

All three faced additional charges in connection with the escape, including kidnapping and vehicle theft.

“You know, we cost the taxpayers a lot of money," Nayeri said at the end of the video. "People work hard to learn a living. But more than that, we scared the hell out of people and caused a lot of anxiety and fear. At the end of the day, I can’t say I felt good about that."

He went on to criticize Orange County law enforcement, calling them “the reality distortion club" before the video ended.

The Sheriff's Department has responded to the video's release, emailing the following statement to KTLA on Wednesday: "The video released today contains footage that is part of an ongoing investigation and is consistent with information OCSD has already supplied verbally to the media.  We will not provide additional comment on a video narrative that seeks to make light of criminal actions."

A man died, and two other men were critically injured, inside an apartment  in Santa Ana on Wednesday where first responders found the white, powdery substance fentanyl, a powerful opioid, strewn across one of the bedrooms, police said.

Officers responded to an emergency call from an apartment located at the Villa Del Sol Apartment Homes, located in the 800 block of South Fairview, at about 10 a.m., the Santa Ana Police Department reported.

Inside the home police found a woman and three children in one of the bedrooms who were quickly escorted outside. They also located a deceased 30-year-old man, and transported two other men, ages 18 and 25, who were in critical condition to a hospital. The two men were upgraded to stable condition as of 3 p.m., police said.

"This is because the trend of drug dealers using fentanyl to cut their narcotics with. It's very dangerous and an issue for all law enforcement and fire across the nation," Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.

First responders found the white, powdery substance on a table inside of one of the bedrooms, and were handling it with "caution."

"Based on the decedent bleeding from the nose and the things they observed, we train people to immediately evacuate the apartment and call the Hazmat unit," Bertagna said.

Aerial images from Sky5 showed a hazardous material crew on scene working to determine what the white substance was, which was later confirmed to be fentanyl.

Police told KTLA drug paraphernalia was found inside the apartment and said it's possible the men were fatally and critically injured due to a fentanyl overdose.

Bertagna said the women, children and first responders were all decontaminated. The children were later placed in child protective services.

KTLA's Meghan McMonigle contributed to this story.

New video released Friday by John Wayne Airport shows the exact moment a small twin-engine plane crashed on the 405 Freeway in Santa Ana in June and burst into a fireball.

The video from a security camera at an airport parking lot shows the white Cessna 310 barreling toward the freeway and crashing onto the pavement on the morning of June 30.

As the aircraft smashes into the freeway and narrowly avoids hitting dozens of vehicles traveling on both sides of the interstate, a flash can be seen, followed by a large ball of fire.

Video from a second airport camera shows the blaze transforming into a mushroom cloud of black smoke.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.

A man forced himself through the window of a Santa Ana apartment and dragged a young woman to the ground in an attempt to sexually assault her, prompting a search for the attacker and a warning from police about leaving windows open.

A man wanted in a July 30, 2017, attempted sexual assault in Santa Ana is depicted in a police sketch.

The incident occurred early Sunday in the 3200 block of Main Street, Cpl. Anthony Bertagna of the Santa Ana Police Department said Wednesday. The area is filled with many apartment complexes.

A college student fell asleep on the couch but was awakened about 12:30 a.m. by a sound at the window, which had been left open due to the heat, the corporal said. The young woman saw a man at the window and that the screen had been removed.

The man simulated a handgun and told the young woman to come to the window, threatening to shoot her, a police news release stated. The victim refused and got up – and then the man forced himself through the window.

"As she stood up, he enters the apartment, immediately grabs her physically by the back of the head, and starts to throw her towards the ground," Bertagna said.

The commotion woke up the victim's mother, who rushed into the room and screamed for help. The attacker fled.

The assailant was described as Hispanic, 25 to 30 years old, 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall, and 170 to 190 pounds. He had short, dark hair and a mustache, police said.

It's not clear if he actually had a firearm, Bertagna said.

Police produced a sketch of the assailant that they planned to hand out to residents in apartment complexes in the area.

They’ll be warning people to keep their windows closed despite the heat, especially for those who live in first-floor dwellings.

A driver led officers in Santa Ana on a short pursuit that ended in a crash and the man's arrest.

Chip Yost reports for the KTLA 5 News at 6 on Aug. 2, 2017.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office is asking for the public’s help identifying potential additional victims of a man accused of raping two teenagers, officials announced Wednesday.

Alejandro Hernandez Garcia is shown in a photo released by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office on Aug. 9, 2017.

Alejandro Hernandez Garcia, 41, of San Juan Capistrano faces, counts of forcible rape, sodomy by force, rape by use of drug, sexual penetration by foreign object and forcible oral copulation.

Garcia is accused of approaching a 16-year-old girl in San Juan Capistrano on July 13, 2016, and sexually assaulting her after pulling her into a garage, officials said.

On Aug. 18, 2016, he is suspected of going up to a 19-year-old woman who was lost in Santa Ana, giving her an alcoholic beverage laced with an illegal drug and sexually assaulting the victim in the back seat of his car.

He apparently returned to the first victim’s neighborhood almost a year later, when she recognized him and alerted the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Garcia was arrested on Aug. 1. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 18 and faces 98 years to life in prison, according to the DA’s office.

Anyone with additional information or who believes they have been a victim can call Supervising Investigator Eric Wiseman at 714-347-8794.

Police are asking the public for help identifying a man suspected in a series of cellphone store robberies in Orange County.

A man suspected in several robberies at Verizon stores in Orange County is seen in an image provided by the Santa Ana Police Department.

Investigators believe the man seen on surveillance images during a robbery at a Verizon Wireless store in the 1700 block of East 17th Street on Aug. 10, is also responsible for hold-ups at two other Verizon stores.

During the 17th Street robbery, a man entered the store about 9 p.m. with a black plastic rolling tote box and pulled out a gun that was tucked in his waistband, the Santa Ana Police Department stated in a news release.

The man ordered the victims to get on the floor of the rear inventory room while he loaded his tote with cellphones, tablets and cash.

The robber was described as a Hispanic man weighing 220 to 250 pounds, and standing between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet tall.

Robberies at Verizon stores on July 14, in Garden Grove, and on February 25, in Seal Beach, are believed to have been committed by the same man, according to the Police Department.

Police released surveillance images of the man in hopes someone can identify him.

Orange County Telescope, an astronomy store in Santa Ana, was about the only local store that was still selling protective eyewear for viewing the Aug. 21 solar eclipse as retailers across the nation underestimated demand.

Unable to secure eclipse glasses? You could always make a pinhole camera using just card stock, foil, tape and a paper clip.

Chip Yost reports for the KTLA 5 News at 3 on Aug. 17, 2017.

A man wearing dark clothing and carrying a drone climbed up a 153-foot water tower in Santa Ana and apparently opened a valve in the million-gallon tank, prompting a nearly three-hour standoff with police Tuesday afternoon.

A man who climbed a Santa Ana water tower is seen on Aug. 22, 2017. (Credit: KTLA)

Firefighters and police were called to the tower, at 1400 Penn Way, about noon, according to Sgt. Anthony Bertagna with the Santa Ana Police Department.

The man was seen tying something to a railing and then climbing up to a height about 40 feet, where he appeared to try to open a large valve to let water out of the tank, the sergeant said.

“The subject was not responsive to officers and appeared agitated and irrational,” Bertagna said.

About 2 p.m., aerial video from Sky5 showed the man at the very top of the tower, which had water leaking from it. He was alternately lying on his side next to a backpack and seeming to adjust a white drone he was holding.

He appeared to smash his drone onto the water tower.

Just before 2:45 p.m., the man began to descend a ladder and walked along a catwalk, and then continued to climb down the tower. He was taken into custody by waiting police officers and then placed on a gurney. He was eventually wheeled to a waiting ambulance.

Police said on Twitter that he was taken to a hospital for evaluation and booked and would be placed on a 72-hour hold.

Santa Ana police take a man into custody after he climbed a water tower on Aug. 22, 2017. (Credit: KTLA)

Police didn’t know what the man’s motive was.

Bertagna initially said the man was wearing all black, but Sky5 video showed him apparently wearing a brown T-shirt and black pants.

A landmark visible from the 5 Freeway, the tower was built in 1928 and stands 153 feet tall, according to the Orange County Register. The tank, which reads “Downtown Orange County," holds a million gallons and supplies about 800,000 gallons of water to the area, the Register reported.

Nearby Davis Elementary School was placed on "lockout" due to the police activity.

KTLA's Jennifer Thang contributed to this article.

A man was arrested and booked on a felony charge of pointing a laser at an aircraft after he was spotted pointing one at a police helicopter in Santa Ana, authorities said.

Mary Beth McDade reports for the KTLA 5 News at 10 on August 22, 2017.

Police in Santa Ana are investigating separate robberies that recently occurred at gas stations.

Surveillance video released by the Santa Ana Police Department on Aug. 25, 2017, shows a man sucker punching a clerk during a robbery.

In the most recent incident, a man sucker punched a clerk as he took money out of the register, surveillance video showed.

The robbery occurred about 2:45 a.m. on Aug. 14 at a gas station mini mart along Grand Avenue.

The man allegedly told the clerk that he had a gun and that he would come back and kill the victim if he reported the incident to police, authorities told KTLA.

Santa Ana Police Corp. Anthony Bertagna said no gun was seen during the incident.

Another armed robbery occurred at a Chevron gas station about 6:05 p.m. on July 29.

Two men entered the convenience store; one of the men forced his way behind the counter while armed with a gun

Santa Ana police released this image of a man involved in a robbery on July 29, 2017.

and demanded money while the other man held the door shut so no one could go in or out.

The first man is described as being between 25 and 25 years old, with muscular build, between 5 feet 7 to 5 feet 10 inches tall and weight about 180 to 200 pounds.

He was wearing a black and white or silver Raider’s cap, sunglasses, a black short-sleeve shirt, brown shorts and black sneakers, police said.

The second man was described as being the about the same age and height, but is believed to weigh between 160 and 170 pounds. He was wearing gray long-sleeve pullover over a white shirt and black sneakers.

There is no indication that the robberies are connected.

A part-time wresting coach at Santa Ana High School has been arrested after allegedly having “a sexual relationship” with an underage female student, local police said Wednesday.

Jaime Oredain, 34, is also an activities director for the school and was arrested on charges of felony statutory rape, oral copulation and digital penetration Tuesday night, the Santa Ana Police Department said.

Jaime Oredain, 34, appears in a photo released by the Santa Ana Police Department on Aug. 30, 2017.

A press release from police said Oredain allegedly engaged in “consensual sex” with a 17-year-old girl at the school and “many of the sexual encounters occurred on campus during school hours.” 

Once Oredain knew he was being investigated, police said, he fled and told schools officials he was headed for San Antonio, Texas.

A video he posted on Instagram made friends and family think he may be suicidal, police said.

Oredain was made aware of the police investigation and immediately fled. He told school officials he was moving to and posted a video on Instagram that made friends and family believe he was suicidal. Police responded to Oredain’s home to check on his welfare but he fled before police arrived. 

After an extensive search, officers located Oredain in the riverbed near the 4000 block of west Segerstrom Avenue. Oredain was arrested without incident and booked at the Santa Ana Jail for . 

Santa Ana police are searching for additional witnesses on Friday after a man was videotaped being brutally beaten with a hammer and a skateboard in a park.

Kimberly Cheng reports for the KTLA 5 News at 10 on September 1, 2017.

Santa Ana police on Tuesday released surveillance video in their search for a man who assaulted a clerk and trashed a 7-Eleven in Santa Ana after being denied both the use of the clerk’s cellphone and an after-hours purchase of beer.

Police released this image of a man sought in connection with an assault and vandalism at a 7-Eleven in Santa Ana.

The incident occurred at the 7-Eleven located at 1020 S. Bristol St., about 2:36 a.m. Aug. 25. It began when the suspect entered the convenience store several times, asking to use the phone, according to a Santa Ana Police Department news release.

The store manager told KTLA the man demanded to use the clerk’s personal cellphone. He then left and returned, demanding to buy beer after 2 a.m. California law prohibits alcohol sales between 2 and 6 a.m.

“It was 2:30 in the morning and they were following the rules of the state,” police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said. “The rest you see is the result of his tantrum.”

The clerk told the man he would call police if he didn’t leave, store manager Rajev Tendon said. But the man “became destructive” and assaulted the clerk, according to the release.

Surveillance video from inside the store then showed the man shoving items off the counter near the cashier, before apparently exiting the business. The clerk stands on the counter, holding a long object; Tendon said the clerk was trying to defend himself.

The footage cuts out, and then shows the man smashing and destroying the storefront’s glass windows and doors.

The man’s assault of the clerk occurred off camera, Bertagna said. The clerk didn’t want to return to work, Tendon said.

The vandalism caused approximately $2,000 worth of damage to the 7-Eleven, police said.

Anyone who knows who the assailant is, or has information about the case, is asked to contact Investigative Specialist L. Delisle at 714-245-8647 or ldelisle@santa-ana.org. Those who would like to remain anonymous can contact Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855-847-6227.

KTLA’s Melissa Pamer contributed to this article.