Crime & Courts

This should spark plenty of discussion about "the good ol' days when I was a kid."

A 7-year-old Hawthorne boy filed a claim against the city of Lawndale because he broke his elbow rolling down a hill at William Green Elementary School in Lawndale. The claim, submitted on the boy's behalf by Cohan Law Group of Beverly Hills, cited "negligent and lack of supervision by school staff" because they "failed to make sure rolling down a hill would be safe for the children." It blames the teacher for allowing kids to roll down the hill on top of each other.

The boy underwent surgery to repair his elbow. The claim estimates more than $250,000 in damages.

The City Council rejected the claim last night, clearing the way for the boy to file a lawsuit.

A San Pedro woman who worked as a probation department employee has been charged with having sex with teenage boys held at Juvenile Hall.

Kimberly Hald, 35, was arrested at her home June 25. She faces 16 counts of sexual misconduct.

Police said there are three victims.

"It's illegal to have sex with a confined person and a confined minor," Los Angeles police Detective Jeff Allen said. "Basically she is a person of authority, and not only that, she is obviously an adult and they are not."

Full story later on dailybreeze.com and in Wednesday's Daily Breeze

We've all seen the stories from time to time about the kid who finds a bag of money and turns it in to the police. The kid is usually hailed a hero for his honesty. Often if the money is returned to the person who lost it, the kid gets a reward.

So, that said, after parking outside a market on Sunday evening, I noticed a white envelope on the ground when I got out of my car. On it, someone had written "$9,500."

I picked it up. "Please let there be money inside," I thought to myself. I was disappointed it was empty.

I suspect that the envelope once contained money that belonged to the market, and I hope whoever last held the envelope had already deposited the cash  in the bank. Hopefully nobody lost it.

I admit I'm not sure what I would have done if it contained $9,500. That would have made life a lot easier.

Would I have turned it in? Probably. We've all watched The Twilight Zone. I'd probably have faced some horrible consequences if I didn't. And, oh the guilt of wondering who it belonged to. I'd worry some old man had lost his life savings. Or worse, it belonged to some drug dealer who would never stop looking for it.

But, wow. No more car payments. A week's vacation someplace.

I wonder what I would have done.

Here's the top of what I just filed:

A former Manhattan Beach church intern pleaded no contest Monday to a misdemeanor sexual battery charge for groping an 18-year-old co-worker.
Clifford Ames Jr., 28, of Gardena was then sentenced to 40 days of community service on a Dept. of Transportation work crew and three years probation.
He must also register as a sex offender.
Ames changed his plea just as he was about to go to trial before Torrance Superior Court Judge Hector Guzman.
Earlier Monday, Guzman ruled that a jury could hear about two prior incidents of Ames being accused of sexually assaulting boys when he was still a juvenile.

Here's some stuff from Redondo Beach's Recent Law Enforcement Events report issued today:

Monday 06/30
08:45 - RBPD Patrol responded to a report of a burglary-in-progress in the 1700 block of Marshallfield Ln. Investigation revealed that the ex-girlfriend of the victim resident had made entry via a window and took several items she claimed belonged to her, and then fled the scene. The victim's wife was at home and called the police. Officers observed the ex-girlfriend leaving the area in her vehicle and detained her. She was subsequently booked at RBPD for burglary.

13:36 - A 25 year old suspect was at his 71 year old grandmother's residence in the 2300 block of 190th. Suspect demanded her ATM card and when she refused to give it to him, he struck her with his fist, knocking her unconscious, to the ground. Suspect fled but was located by RBPD Patrol at Lilienthal Parkette. He was arrested and booked for assault and Elder Abuse.

Jimmie Lunceford, convicted of making criminal threats and stabbing a Redondo Beach police dog, was not sentenced as scheduled,. A hearing date last week and then one today were both postponed because the judge called-in sick.

Oh, and that motion for new trial his attorney wanted to file? He didn't.

More haggling over restitution and some unanswered questions led a judge to postpone sentencing today for the 8th time for Ruben Vargas, facing 16 months in prison for leaving the scene of an accident.

In case you missed it because you were busy celebrating Independence Day on Friday, we ran a profile about a Palos Verdes Peninsula resident who is a gun rights lawyer - and how recent developments on that front have left him right in the thick of things.

During an interview last week, Chuck Michel and I talked a little bit about applying gun philosophies to the home, especially when children are there. He said some interesting things about it. For one, he doesn't let his sons play with "toy" guns because they encourage sloppy and unsafe handling. Both his kids have gone through gun safety classes, which mostly teaches how to stay away from guns and notify an adult if you see one.

So, while his kids weren't exposed early-on to firearms, they still picked up a lot from pop culture. He mentioned you can't even get away from guns on the Disney Channel. One day, when one of his sons was still quite young, he bit his quesadilla into the shape of a gun and pretended to shoot it.

His philosophy is that guns are so prevalent, like it or not, we better figure out how to co-exist safely with them. He realizes that this doesn't always make him the most popular guy in the room, but he's got his reasons.

Nothing says Independence Day like spirited criminals. Happy 4th!