O.C. Man Arrested in Suspicion of Murdering Long Beach Woman

A 29-year-old man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of murdering a 23-year-old woman, whose body was found in a Newport Beach office complex.

Nain Isaac Nieto Hernandez was taken into custody in Santa Ana on Wednesday morning in connection with the death of Sarai Alcaraz of Long Beach, a law enforcement official said.

Authorities have not disclosed how Alcaraz was killed or why she and Hernandez were in the business complex shortly after midnight Tuesday.

Police received a call at 12:11 a.m. Tuesday requesting a welfare check, and officers went to the business complex in the 5000 block of Campus Drive, Newport Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella said.

“We had a couple friends who were concerned about their friend. The original caller was female, she was off away somewhere, but had a male friend looking for this missing gal,” Manzella said.

“She (Alcaraz) had stopped responding to phone calls and text messages, so they were concerned for her welfare. They had some idea of where she should be, so helped officers narrow down the area.”

Police declined to say whether the body bore signs of trauma.

Hernandez pleaded guilty in October of 2010 to “knowingly possessing false government documents,” some of which were “illegally obtained” from the Department of Motor Vehicles, according to his plea deal form in court records. He was arrested in Tustin for driving without a valid driver’s license.

Hernandez was initially sentenced to 20 days in jail and 20 days working on a Caltrans crew, but he failed to keep up with payments on the fine and complete the Caltrans work so his probation was revoked in June 2013, according to court records. An arrest warrant was issued for him in June of this year for the same reasons and he was ordered to do 76 hours of community service, which he completed in October.

Hernandez was refunded $1,195 in overpayment of fines last month, according to court records.

--City News Service