Crime Blotter June 19-July 8: Probationer Arraigned on Drug Charges

Facial recognition

When the cops recognize you, that’s typically not a good sign.

Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a Carmichael apartment complex last week for an unspecified call for service. When they arrived at the Rutland Drive property, just before 10 p.m. Friday, one of the deputies recognized Lonnell Battiste, a 54-year-old man currently on probation.

According to the sheriff’s department summary report of the incident, Battiste was submitted to a probation search, with officers turning up cash, cocaine and heroin. At Battiste’s residence, deputies found a scale with a glass plate on it covered by a chunky rock-like substance determined to be cocaine, a couple of used glass smoking pipes and 19 morphine pills for which Battiste lacked a prescription.

Battiste was booked at the county jail on a host of charges, but has since been formerly charged with only two, both of them felony drug counts. During his arraignment in Sacramento Superior Court on Tuesday, Battiste was also assigned a public defender, according to online court documents. His next hearing is July 21.

Asleep at the wheel

Deputies interrupted the nap of a suspected car thief who was passed out in a stolen car on a Carmichael lawn last month.

Around 3 a.m. June 28, Sergey Igorevech Ushakov, 24, of Sacramento was found asleep at the wheel of a stolen Mercedes Benz E350 by deputies reporting to a service call regarding a suspicious vehicle. The Benz was parked on a neighbor’s lawn in the 6000 block of Templeton Drive. According to a sheriff’s department report summarizing the incident, the engine was running and the vehicle was in gear; what kept it from moving was the unconscious suspect’s foot lying on the brake pad.

Ushakov awoke and briefly struggled with deputies when they reached into the car, “but was quickly taken into custody,” said department spokesman Dep. Jason Ramos.

A search of Ushakov turned up a glass smoking pipe commonly used for narcotics in his pants pocket, the report noted.

“The smoking pipe contained white residue and burn marks, indicating that Ushakov was probably passed out after coming down from a methamphetamine high,” Ramos said.

The owner of the car confirmed that it had been stolen from in front of his Rocklin residence. Authorities believe Ushakov used a spare key taken from another car belonging to the victim, which had been burglarized prior to the theft of the Mercedes.

Authorities were also able to return property belonging to a second theft victim, living in Sacramento, including a digital camera, keys and club membership cards.

Ushakov, who was arraigned on three felony counts and assigned a public defender two days after his arrest, is slated to appear for a scheduling conference at Sacramento Superior Court on July 27.

Locked and loaded

An armed Sacramento man was arrested during a routine traffic stop last month in Carmichael.

Deputies pulled over the vehicle being driven by John Dino Ciciliot, 50, at Garfield Avenue and Stately Oak Lane around 8:30 p.m. on June 19, according to a sheriff’s department report.

The report says Ciciliot was arrested for being under the influence of narcotics, but that wasn’t the extent of the officers’ findings. Deputies found live ammunition during their search of Ciciliot’s person and two loaded firearms concealed in his vehicle.

Ciciliot was arraigned last week in Sacramento Superior Court on two felony charges and assigned a public defender. His next hearing is July 19.