Crime

Arnaldo Mateo Hernandez – also known as Arnaldo Gomez – was set for a doctor’s evaluation Thursday on the felony charge, lewd and lascivious acts with a child under age 14. Hernandez failed to appear at the hearing – after appearing at all prior hearings – and is now a fugitive. The suspected victim's father, meanwhile, faces a battery charge after an altercation with Hernandez outside the courthouse last month.

Jorge Diaz, the homeless man accused in the March 2011 homicide of 72-year-old Francisco Rojas at a Hollister cemetery, was sentenced to six years in prison and, with credits, will serve about 28 months, according to public defender Gregory LaForge, who represented him.

A Loyalton man died in a solo-vehicle accident Saturday on Fairview Road south of Rosa Morada Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Jorge Diaz, the homeless man accused in the March 2011 homicide of 72-year-old Francisco Rojas at a Hollister cemetery, had his sentence hearing delayed again.

With 22 years spent in the Watsonville Police Department and many relationships built in Santa Cruz County, the San Benito County sheriff was hit especially hard when he learned about the two officers killed on duty in late February.

March 6

David J. Quiroz, the Hollister man accused in the killing of 25-year-old Heather Carroll, had his latest hearing delayed until later this month.

The San Benito County Sheriff's Office has been reorganized to shore up management without adding any additional personnel or increasing the budget.

The San Benito County Fire Protection Committee will meet Thursday, at 8:30 a.m., at Hollister City Hall, 375 Fifth St., in Hollister. The committee includes representatives from the County of San Benito, Hollister and San Juan Bautista, as well as representatives from the fire agencies that service the county and cities.

Authorities have released the identify of the man found killed in a Hollister home Feb. 5, but remain mostly quiet on details in the case that a police captain called “complicated.”