Chargers, DB Elijah Molden agree to 3-year, $18.75M deal

• February 21, 2025

The Chargers have signed defensive back Elijah Molden to a multi-year contract extension, the team announced Thursday. The team did not disclose terms of the deal, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that it was a three-year, $18.75 million contract with $13.5 million guaranteed.

Molden, the son of former Chargers cornerback Alex Molden, was acquired in a trade with the Tennessee Titans prior to the 2024 season. Molden became a key piece of the Chargers’ secondary last season, starting 12 games after being acquired in August.

Molden played several spots in the secondary for a defense that led the NFL by allowing just 17.7 points per game. He registered career-highs in tackles (72), interceptions (three), pass breakups (seven) and fumble recoveries (two).

A third-round draft pick in the 2021 NFL Draft (100th overall), the former University of Washington standout has started 28 of the 48 games he has played in during his four seasons with the Titans and Chargers. He has 209 tackles (132 solo), 15 passes defensed, seven tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and five interceptions, including a pair returned for touchdowns.

​ Orange County Register 

Appeals court describes Huntington Beach’s voter ID law as “problematic”

• February 21, 2025

A California appeals court says Huntington Beach’s bid to create a citywide voter ID law is “problematic.”

Last year, voters in Huntington Beach approved Measure A, which called for a change in the city charter to require voter identification in city elections as soon as 2026. But California, like other states, sets voting rules, and it does not require voter ID. In April, a month after the vote, the California Attorney General filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court, seeking to block the city from moving forward on voter I.D.

The new order about the city’s voting rule, issued Tuesday, Feb. 18, by a three-judge Fourth District Court of Appeal panel, is the latest step in that broader legal challenge. It isn’t binding but it is the first indication that the city law might be struck down.

In addition to questioning Huntington Beach’s right to create voting rules, the appeals court also wants the Superior Court to reconsider an earlier ruling to effectively dismiss the case.

Specifically, the panel indicated that they disagreed with Superior Court Judge Nico Dourbetas’ ruling that the case was not “ripe for adjudication,” writing instead that the issue was a “present controversy.” The appeals court ordered the superior court to say if it will modify its dismissal and if not, the appeals court said it is prepared to take its own action in the case.

The appeals court also disagrees with Huntington Beach’s argument that it has “a constitutional right to regulate its own municipal elections free from state interference,” describing it as “problematic.”

In the state’s suit against Huntington Beach, California Attorney General Rob Bonta described the voter ID law as illegal, and said it would confuse voters and delay planning for the 2026 elections.

On Thursday, Bonta said he is encouraged by the language used by the appeals court.

“Our priority remains the same: making sure that Huntington Beach’s Measure A is struck down as quickly as possible,” Bonta said in a prepared statement.

Huntington Beach City Attorney Mike Vigliotta, who was appointed to the job on Tuesday, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The appeals court gave the lower court ten days to respond. A hearing has been set for the case in superior court for Tuesday, Feb. 25.

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County scores and player stats for Thursday, Feb. 20

• February 21, 2025

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Scores and stats from Orange County games on Thursday, Feb. 20

Click here for details about sending your team’s scores and stats to the Register.

The deadline for submitting information is 10:45 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 p.m. Saturday.

THURSDAY’S SCORES

BASEBALL

SOCAL SHOWDOWN

Servite 2, Great Oak 0

Ser: Kwon (W, 4.2IP 2H 0R 4K). Cernius (Sv, 1IP 0H 0R 2K) 2H, 2R. Scott RBI.

NEWPORT ELKS TOURNAMENT

Costa Mesa 3, Portola 0

CM: Rothschafer (W, 4IP 1H 0R 5K). Jackson (Sv, 3IP 1H 0R 1K). Comte 2-3. Navarro 2-3, RBI.

Other Newport Elks scores

Crean Lutheran 6, Northwood 5

NONLEAGUE

Orange 7, Santa Ana 7

SOFTBALL

SOCAL’S FINEST TOURNAMENT

JSerra 4, Santiago/Corona 2

JS: Lamb HR. Stephens ground-rule RBI 2B. Edwards 2-3, HR, 2RBI. Escobar (6IP 2H 15K).

NONLEAGUE

Beckman 6, Northwood 1

El Modena 8, Capistrano Valley 3

Segerstrom 3, San Clemente 2

El Toro 7, Tesoro 4

Rosary 6, Yorba Linda 5

Edison 23, Laguna Hills 0

Kennedy 5, Cerritos 1

Brea Olinda 5, Valencia 1

LB Wilson 8, Katella 4

Whitney 9, Western 3

Sonora 5, St. Paul 0

Santa Margarita 3, Kapa’a 0

BOYS TENNIS

NONLEAGUE

Beckman 8, Redlands 0

Beckman 7, King 1

Oxford Academy 14, Gahr 4

Santa Margarita 10, Tesoro 8

Whitney 10, Mater Dei 8

GIRLS BEACH VOLLEYBALL

NONLEAGUE

Buena Park 5, Jordan 0

Santa Margarita 3, Huntington Beach 2

GIRLS LACROSSE

NONLEAGUE

Mater Dei 18, Chaminade 9

​ Orange County Register 

Son changes details in testimony about the night his father, an OC judge, shot his mother

• February 21, 2025

The son of an Orange County Superior Court judge on trial for murder in the shooting death of his wife told the jury a slightly different story on Thursday, Feb. 20 from the one he told investigators hours after the killing.

During the second day of Judge Jeffrey Ferguson’s murder trial, his adult son, Phillip, offered a description of an argument that night between his father and his mother, Sheryl Ferguson, and a timeline for the shooting that at times appeared at odds with the prosecution’s arguments and the son’s own earlier interviews with police.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Seton Hunt told jurors during the prosecution’s opening statements on Wednesday that a heated argument between the judge and his wife ended with the wife — angered at her husband pointing his finger at her to mimic a firearm — allegedly telling him something to the effect of “Why don’t you use a real gun?” and the judge immediately responding by pulling a .40 caliber Glock from his ankle holster and fatally shooting his wife.

Phillip, the couple’s then 22-year-old son, was the only other person in the room at the Anaheim Hills home when the shooting occurred, making him a key witness in his father’s ongoing trial. Speaking to a detective the night of the shooting, Phillip appeared to describe witnessing both his father pulling the weapon out of his holster and firing the gun.

“She (the mother) goes ahead and says ‘why don’t you pull a real gun on me’ or something like that,” The son said in a portion of the recorded interview played during the trial. “I turn around and that is when I see my dad pull out his gun and aim it at her and fire.”

The detective who spoke to Phillip that night also testified that the son previously described the shooting as happening immediately — “a second” — after the mother’s alleged comment about using a “real gun.”

But Phillip during his testimony on Thursday denied seeing his father actually pull the gun from the holster or aim it at his mother. The son testified that he was trying to open a sliding glass door and turned around just before the gun fired. He also described a longer delay — up to 30 seconds — between the mother’s alleged comment and the shooting.

“I saw the gun elevated in the air and saw it discharge,” Phillip testified.

It isn’t clear how the son’s testimony will play into the defense theory of the shooting. Attorneys representing Ferguson are waiting until later in the trial to present their opening statements to the jury. But other defense attorneys formerly involved in the case previously described the shooting as a “terribly unfortunate discharge.”

His parents had been arguing all evening about finances, Phillip testified, including while the three of them ate at a restaurant near their house and after they returned home to watch episodes of the television show “Breaking Bad” together in their family room.

Hunt, the prosecutor, during his opening statement told jurors that the son was so unnerved by the argument that he got up to retrieve a replica sword. But during his testimony, the son described his parents “bickering” that night, not having a shouting match. And he told the prosecutor he couldn’t recall if he grabbed the sword before or after the shooting.

“Did your dad at any time say or do anything that was threatening toward your mom before the gun went off?” Defense attorney Cameron Talley asked.

“Not that I recall,” the son responded.

“This didn’t strike you as some unusually volatile argument?”

“No.”

The son described staying with a family friend and then at a hotel in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. But Phillip — who was home from college for the summer with his parents when the shooting occurred –  acknowledged that he had since mended his relationship with his father and has lived at times with him in the Anaheim Hills home.

Immediately after the shooting, Judge Ferguson texted a clerk and a bailiff assigned to the courtroom he had presided in at the Fullerton Courthouse, telling them “I just lost it, I just shot my wife, I won’t be in tomorrow. I will be in custody. I’m so sorry.” One of the first officers who arrived at the Ferguson home testified that he heard the judge say, “I did it” and “shoot me.”

Among the many comments Ferguson was recorded saying while in police custody were remarks to himself about how he might address the jury at his own future trial.

“I killed her,” Ferguson said, in a video that was shown in court to Ferguson’s actual jury. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, convict my ass. I did it.”

Testimony in the trial resumes on Friday and is expected to continue into next week in a Santa Ana courtroom. A Los Angeles County judge is presiding over the trial, in order to avoid a conflict of interest with Ferguson’s Orange County judicial colleagues.

​ Orange County Register 

16 arrested in alleged auto insurance fraud scheme; officials warn of ‘vehicle hostage’ scams

• February 21, 2025

A probe into auto insurance fraud across Southern California has led to arrests of 16 people involved in an alleged scheme that preyed on car accident victims in the Inland Empire, and has prompted the California Department of Insurance to warn drivers about tow truck companies holding vehicles hostage for cash.

Also see: Vehicles taken ‘hostage’ in insurance fraud scheme, authorities say

The investigation began in November 2022, after a CHP officer, who was assisting a victim of a “bandit tow” to locate their vehicle, contacted the Inland Empire Automobile Insurance Task Force, the CDI said in a statement.

Investigators discovered that a non-sworn employee of the California Highway Patrol, Rosa Isela Santistevan, 56, of Irvine, allegedly was selling traffic collision reports, according to the statement. Santistevan allegedly sold these reports to the ringleader, Andre Angelo Reyes, 37, of Corona.

Reyes then allegedly passed these reports, containing personal information about accident victims, to his associate Esmeralda Parga, 27, of Pomona, officials said. The task force ultimately seized more than 3,500 CHP traffic collision report face pages from Parga’s residence.

Parga would impersonate the insurance company and contact the parties involved in the collision, authorities alleged. She coordinated having their vehicle towed to a repair center that she claimed had been approved by the insurance company.

Tow truck drivers from JR Tow in Los Angeles and B&M Tow in La Verne, who allegedly participated in the scheme, would pick up vehicles in Riverside County and tow them to Certified Auto in Buena Park, owned by Anthony Gomez, 36, of Jurupa Valley. It was not immediately known if the tow trucks were from a legitimate business, or if they drivers were operating independently.

Once the vehicles arrived, Certified Auto demanded cash payment from the insurance companies in order to release the vehicles. The American Automobile Association shared multiple auto claims in which a group of companies were transporting vehicles they insured to body shops, and keeping the vehicles until a large amount of money was paid in cash.

Search warrants revealed evidence showing the ring allegedly committed other types of insurance fraud, including collusive collisions.

The ring was accused in 2024 of similar schemes in San Bernardino County, involving two California Collision locations, in Ontario and Montclair.

The task force determined that the ring illegally collected over $216,932. The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office has also charged Reyes and Diana Villa Pineda, 34, of Corona with tax evasion totalling $136,408.

In order to avoid being a victim of this scam, the California Department of Insurance urged drivers to be aware of these warning signs: a tow truck showing up within minutes of accident, even before a company was called; the two truck driver telling you which body shop the car will be taken to rather than asking where you want the vehicle to go; the tow truck driver tells you someone will contact you by phone or asks you to sign documents;the two truck driver requests a rideshare for you.

Drivers who believe they may be in a situation like this to verify the tow truck with your insurance company or wait for CHP to verify the tow truck was dispatched by CHP

​ Orange County Register 

28-year-old man pleads guilty to sexually assaulting 2 underage teens in OC

• February 21, 2025

A 28-year-old man pleaded guilty on Thursday, Feb. 20 to sexually assaulting two underage teen girls in Orange County.

Ian Carter Wallinger pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, according to court records. As part of the plea deal with prosecutors, 10 other felony sexual assault counts were dismissed and Wallinger is scheduled to be sentenced on March 28.

When he was charged in July of 2018, a prosecutor said authorities spent months attempting to track down Wallinger, who was charged then with 18 felony sex crime counts, including one count of forcible rape.

Wallinger’s city of residence was not provided. It was also unclear where in the county the crimes occurred.

The assaults on the victims who were 15 and 16 years old occurred between May and September of 2017, the prosecutor said.

The investigation began when one of the girls came forward to authorities and alleged she was raped by the defendant, according to the prosecutor.

​ Orange County Register 

Doctor faces charges of raping a woman in Anaheim who he met on a dating app

• February 21, 2025

A 54-year-old doctor was behind bars on Thursday, facing charges of raping a woman in Anaheim who he met on a dating app.

Alain Johnny Nguyen was charged Wednesday, Feb. 19 with rape, forcible oral copulation, robbery, false imprisonment, and assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, all felonies, as well as a misdemeanor count of possession of methamphetamine, according to a criminal complaint.

Nguyen met the 26-year-old victim through a dating app, police said. Nguyen was accused of attacking the woman after she went to his home around 5 p.m. Sunday, police said.

Nguyen is scheduled to be arraigned March 7.

​ Orange County Register 

Couple cooks up great date with a shopping trip in a Kia Sorento Hybrid

• February 21, 2025

A great date is even better when it starts with a great ride; just ask Ashley Rodriguez, an expert on creating fun dates in Southern California and beyond. Her tips and videos on social media as @firstdateguide highlight tasty restaurants, romantic getaways and fun experiences, earning her 1.4 million followers on TikTok and 157,000 on Instagram.

Rodriguez said she’s learned over the years that successful dates don’t have to be complicated or extravagant. For instance, she and her boyfriend Paul Castro (@paulsfoodhaul) recently had a great date making homemade pozole after a fun shopping trip in a 2025 Kia Sorento Hybrid.

The couple loved the quiet ride, powerful acceleration and great cargo space in the Sorento Hybrid, along with cool tech features like the available 24” combined Panoramic Displays with Navigation and Bose® Premium Audio System with Bluetooth.

Saving money on gas without sacrificing performance was another big plus, Rodriguez said. The Sorento Hybrid gets an EPA-estimated 36 MPG in city driving and has a turbo-hybrid powertrain with 227 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque — the kind of power that makes it easy to merge onto busy SoCal freeways.

“We’re constantly in a car and traveling all over, so feeling comfortable, enjoying the journey and knowing you’re getting great mileage makes a big difference,” she said.

To get what they needed for Castro’s homemade pozole, the couple visited a few stores, including their favorite bodega in Santa Ana, where parking can be a challenge. The Kia Sorento Hybrid’s available 360° Surround View Monitor helped take the guesswork out of maneuvering into tight spaces, Rodriguez said.

“I loved being able to see the cars around me and feeling confident that I had all the room I needed,” she said. The Sorento Hybrid also has an available Blind-Spot View Monitor that displays a live video feed of rear blind spots on the vehicle’s digital dashboard — a feature that helped the couple avoid a run-in with a stray shopping cart.

Once the shopping was complete, the Sorento Hybrid’s fold-down third-row seat left plenty of cargo space to hold all the supplies, and then some. The spacious hybrid-electric SUV has 75.5 cu.ft. of cargo room behind the first row of seats and up to 40 cu.ft. behind the second row.

“We live in a third-floor condo and use a fold-up cart to haul our groceries so we can avoid making multiple trips back and forth to the car,” Rodriguez said. “It was so nice to fit that cart and everything else we needed into the Sorento Hybrid, and still have room for more.”

She said she and Castro have been dating for five years and enjoy cooking together. Castro’s pozole — a hearty soup with cabbage, spices, fresh garlic, hominy, chicken and guajillo chilies — is their go-to recipe when the weather gets cold.

Rodriguez grew up in Southgate and started @firstdateguide in 2017 after graduating from California State University, Long Beach with a degree in communications. She initially focused on posting photos on Instagram, but expanded into video as TikTok was just taking off.

Rodriguez said her content appeals not just to couples, but to anyone who wants to have fun experiences with someone they love, whether it’s a friend, sibling, parent or grandparent.

“It’s really about being together and trying new things as a way to connect and feed your relationships,” Rodriguez said.

She and Castro practice what they preach, taking time to celebrate moments big and small. Sharing experiences together is what it’s all about, whether it’s a date night at home or enjoying time together on the road, she said.

“We recently started listening to audiobooks as a fun thing to do together when we’re driving,” Rodriguez said. “That’s another reason why we loved the quiet ride and amazing sound system in the Kia Sorento Hybrid. It made our date feel extra special.”

This article was produced by Skyline Studio, the in-house creative agency for Southern California News Group and The San Diego Union-Tribune. The editorial staff of SCNG and the U-T had no role in this post’s preparation.

​ Orange County Register