Briefs: Robbery suspect unfit for trial
A Marysville robbery suspect was deemed unfit to stand trial Wednesday in Yuba County Superior Court.
Authorities said Roman Zarate, 24, is incapable of aiding his attorney and will be placed in a rehabilitation facility after his next court appearance on Feb. 20.
Zarate is the prime suspect in the Nov. 30 robbery of two woman at the their home on H Street. Police said several thousand dollars in cash were taken.
He was arrested Dec. 6 in Yuba City after police said Zarate swiped a bottle of wine from a grocery store and fled across Highway 99.
Zarate was arrested while vomiting and crying, with more than $1,000 in cash in his pockets and a broken wine bottle in his pants, police said.
Zarate remains in custody at the Yuba County Jail.
Olivehurst
Man stabbed near railroad tracks
An Olivehurst man was stabbed Tuesday night near the railroad tracks between Arboga and Olivehurst Avenue, the Yuba County Sheriff's Department reported.
David Slatten, 41, arrived just before 7:30 p.m. at Rideout Regional Medical Center with superficial stab wounds to his hip and stomach and a cut on his hand, Undersheriff Jerry Read said.
"He was unwilling to provide many details," Read commented.
Slatten told sheriff's deputies he didn't know who stabbed him or why or whether he was stabbed with a knife or some other object.
Slatten was treated at the hospital and released.
In September, Slatten pleaded no contest in Yuba County Superior Court to a drug possession charge and was sentenced to 15 days in jail at two years on probation, according to court records.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Yuba County Sheriff's Department at 749-7777.
Sacramento
Yuba casino wins round in court
A federal judge dismissed Wednesday a request for a temporary restraining order to keep land from being taken into trust for the Enterprise Rancheria casino project.
Judge John Mendez in Sacramento rejected the request by a consolidated group of plaintiffs, finding no immediate harm if the federal government allowed the project's Yuba County acreage to be taken into trust.
Representatives with the casino's sponsor tribe, the Estom Yumeka Maidu, told the judge they would give 30 days notice before doing any work at the project site.
The next hearing is March 20 on a request to issue a preliminary injunction.
