SCV felony suspects return to court
A handful of Santa Clarita Valley felony suspects returned to court on Thursday, all of whom were given follow-up court appearances in the coming months.
Nicholas Morales
Nicolas Morales, 46, of Canyon Country, who was arraigned on 27 felony counts more than two years ago, appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court Thursday.
Morales is charged with: nine counts of forcible oral copulation; six counts of rape; five counts of sodomy by use of force; four counts of sexual penetration by foreign object; and one count each of assault with intent to commit a felony, attempted sodomy by use of force and attempted kidnapping to commit another crime.
The felony complaint also includes multiple victims and allegations that he used a knife.
Morales was arrested in Alhambra on Feb. 23 by officers of the Alhambra Police Department, court records show.
He is scheduled to return to court on March 19 for a pretrial setting.
Nicole Thibault
Nicole Thibault, 31, is charged with murder, attempted murder and assault connected to allegations that she stole a pickup and crashed it on the 210 freeway, killing Fontana resident Daniel Castillo and injuring others.
Thibault was arrested on Jan. 31, 2018, after having recovered in a hospital for more than a week after the fatal crash on Jan. 22, 2018.
In April 2018, Thibault entered a plea of not guilty to 14 felony counts in relation to the wrong-way crash.
She is set to return to court Feb. 25 for a pretrial setting.
Daniel Cierzan
Daniel Cierzan, 24, was arrested July 31 of last year following a two-year-long investigation into the disappearance of his uncle, William John Cierzan, 58.
The 24-year-old defendant has been charged with one count of murder.
Cierzan’s uncle had disappeared on Jan. 26, 2017, from his home near the intersection of Seco Canyon Road and Bouquet Canyon Road. Blood had been found outside the home and detectives believed an assault had occurred.
When Will Cierzan’s wife, Linda Cierzan, returned home a little later that morning, she found no sign of her husband but located a prepared dinner, his jacket, his credit cards and money in his wallet.
The 58-year-old’s remains have yet to be found.
Cierzan is expected to return to court March 23 for a prelim setting.
David Charles
David Charles, 59, faces two counts of attempted murder and one count each of injuring a spouse, mayhem, child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to produce great bodily injury or death, assault with a deadly weapon, a car, and assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, Ricardo Santiago, spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a previous Signal story.
The charges against Charles stem from an investigation that started with a domestic violence call on Sept. 3, 2019, in Canyon Country.
After deputies arrived on the scene, Charles is alleged to have fled the scene by getting into a car with his teenage child and driving the wrong way on Highway 14, eventually crashing head-on with at least one other vehicle — then running, along with his child, across four lanes of the highway to Soledad Canyon Road, where he was hit by a car, officials said.
The teen child was not physically injured in the incident, according to officials.
Charles is scheduled to return to court on March 2 for a preliminary hearing setting.