Crime

A fire started early Thursday morning at West Coast Rubber Recycling, but was contained to the pile of material where it started, the fire chief said.

Police on Thursday arrested a 35-year-old Hollister man suspected of stabbing an unidentified 34-year-old Hollister man in the eye, according to police.

A pre-school teacher from Hollister was charged Thursday on suspicion of 10 misdemeanors after a fellow teacher reported that she had dosed toddlers’ sippy cups with sleeping pills, authorities alleged.

A daycare employee from Hollister who attempted to drug several children under her care was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment, police said. 

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, is scheduled to serve about 28 months.

March 20

Talks of contract mergers are brewing again for area fire and police departments.

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.