Wonder what those cops were doing on Hawthorne Boulevard? Wonder about that fire truck and that smoke?

Let us know, and we'll get Stephanie Walton on it. She not only knows everything in her role as our "Ask Us" columnist, she keeps the Lights & Sirens column flashing and blaring in the print edition. She also handles the police blotters.

You can 1) leave us a message at 310-543-6611, 2) fax us at 310-540-6272, 3) mail us a letter to Lights & Sirens, Daily Breeze, 5215 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, CA 90503-4077. Include your name, address and daytime phone number.

More from City News Service:

SANTA MONICA (CNS) - Santa Monica police today sought two suspects in
connection with the killing of a 28-year-old Gardena resident, authorities
said.
   Officers were sent at 9:53 p.m. Saturday to the 2000 block of Court 19
to investigate reports of shots fired, said Sgt. Renaldi Thruston of the Santa
Monica Police Department. Court 19 is an alley between 19th and 20th streets,
according to the watch commander's office.
   Police were not immediately able to locate any victims or witnesses, but
a few minutes later, a hospital spokesperson reported that a gunshot victim
had been admitted there.
   The victim, identified as Byron Lopez, -- taken to the hospital by
friends -- died of his wounds, Thruston said.
   Detailed descriptions of the suspects were not available.
   Anyone with information about the crime was asked to call detectives at
(310) 458-8451, or the watch commander at (310) 458-8427. Those who want to
remain anonymous may call (800) 782-7463.

By HANS LAETZ
   City News Service
   MALIBU (CNS) - Clutching a small stuffed dog, an 11-year-old Topanga
Canyon girl calmly told a Malibu jury today that she can barely remember what
it's like to see, since she was left near-blind and suffering from a painful
condition that her parents and doctors claim was caused by a rare, severe
allergic reaction to Children's Motrin.
   ``It's hard to remember what seeing is like, when you haven't been able
to see for a long time,'' Sabrina Johnson testified during the trial of her
family's lawsuit against Children's Motrin manufacturer Johnson & Johnson and
its subsidiaries.
   She and her father testified that Sabrina's eyes were so painful in any
dim light that she once chose to spend several weeks inside a box at her
grandparents' house, near a Florida eye clinic.
   ``It was not a very fun Christmas,'' Sabrina said. ``Since I was in a
box, I was one of the presents.''

It's ironic, in a way, that an appeals court is doing exactly the thing that this New Mexico man wants to protest with his legally-rejected name change. 

Federal prosecutors today charged a Saudi Arabian man with organizing and directing the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole. An article is posted at dailybreeze.com.

Here's what prosecutors sent to us:



The Defense Department announced today that charges have been sworn against 'Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri of Saudi Arabia. This swearing brings to twenty the number of detainees who are in some stage of the military commission process.

The charges allege that Mr. al-Nashiri participated in the planning and preparation for the attack on the USS Cole in the Port of Aden, Yemen, on Oct. 12, 2000. It is alleged that two men dressed as civilians piloted what appeared to be a small, civilian garbage barge up to the ship. The two men allegedly made friendly gestures to several crewmembers aboard the ship before detonating explosives concealed within their boat. The attack killed 17 sailors, wounded 47 sailors, and severely damaged the ship. It is alleged that al-Nashiri was involved in the following actions, among other things:

Two Torrance women are in Washington state today, where their mother's boyfriend, who is charged with the mother's murder, will be in court. It appears their mom, Baerbel Roznowski, 66, was planning to sell her suburban Tacoma home and move to Los Angeles to get away from her boyfriend, Chan Ok "Paul" Kim, 68. Just before her death, police served a restraining order on him.

The (Tacoma) News Tribune has the whole story. 

You know it's going to be a weird story when, during your regular round of morning calls to the local police departments, one of them asks you if anyone else has reported finding a goat ... with three legs.

This just landed in my e-mail inbox:

I read your story on Oscar Medrano and was amazed at the remarks.  As the article stated he pleaded "no contest", however it goes on to say and I quote "Medrano began sexually abusing the female relative in 1999, when she was 9 years old".   You have no proof of this he  pleaded no contest and you have made him out to be guilty.  Its amazing how the justice system works in America if you have money you can prove your innocent however if you do not the media makes you out to be a criminal.  You and your paper are a disgrace to this community and to the art of reporting the news.  You make up stuff yet you claim to report the news.  The City of Gardena has had a lot of terrible people running the show and a lot of baggage.  Although these individuals are no longer in charge, you never reported any of their crimes or affairs.  You closed your eyes and turned the other way.  Why because they support your paper and the relationship they had with people like Larry Altman at your paper.  In other words you and that entire paper can be bought.  You might has well call yourself "Star Magazine" as your news is full of holes and it is nothing but gossip trash made up by people who want to get even with others.  

If you were wondering what that helicopter was doing hovering over Hermosa Beach, police officers were looking for a burglar who ran from a house.

Sgt. Paul Wolcott said the man was inside a home in the 600 block of Gould Avenue when the resident arrived home and surprised him about 2:30 p.m. He pushed past her and ran, jumping over fences.

A Redondo Beach police dog found him hiding in a yard IN the 500 block of 24th Street about 5 p.m. He had stolen jewelry on him.

Deputies will conduct a sobriety and driver's license checkpoint from 7 p.m. tonight to 3 a.m. Saturday on Avalon Boulevard north of 169th Street in Carson.

Former Gardena City Councilman Oscar Medrano Jr. pleaded no contest today to one count of lewd and lascivious acts on a minor and one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14. He was immediately sentenced to eight years in state prison.

Medrano took a deal offered by prosecutors instead of going to preliminary hearing, during which details of his crimes would've come to light in the courtroom. Had Medrano been convicted at trial of the nine 12 counts he was charged with, he would've faced a maximum of 34 years in state prison, according to prosecutors.

We'll have a story posted soon on www.dailybreeze.com and a more complete story, hopefully with local reaction, in tomorrow's Daily Breeze.

Former Gardena City Councilman Oscar Medrano is scheduled for a preliminary hearing this morning in Torrance Superior Court on charges he sexually abused a young female relative.

Check back here later for an update.

Gardena police have identified a man killed in a collision with a suspected drunken driver as 21-year-old Khalib Zaire Turner, 21. Yesterday, we were told he had a Hawthorne address, but police today said he lived in Compton.

Turner died in the 11:50 p.m. crash Tuesday at El Segundo Boulevard and Normandie Avenue.

John Henry Guerrero, 24, of Torrance was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and vehicular manslaughter, police said.

I did a Web search on Turner and found his name listed as a student in an El Camino College English class and found his MySpace page, which was private. This photo accompanied it.

Inglewood Mayor Roosevelt Dorn, once a Superior Court judge, was charged today in connection to a low-interest loan the 72-year-old received from the city in 2004. The District Attorney's press release is after the jump.

A former sheriff's deputy who was assigned to the Carson station was sentenced today to three years probation and ordered to register as a sex offender and undergo sexual offender counseling. Joseh Mican Abadia Carlos, 32, was arrested in March after being charged for coming to a Hawthorne gas station to meet a 13-year-old girl he met in an online chat room. Instead, he met member so of the South Bay Internet Enforcement Task Force.

The seven-year veteran was terminated from his job after he was charged.

During a long and emotional sentencing hearing today, family of the former couple known as Lavell and Denise Gatewood cried over the wreckage that is their lives since Gatewood tried to kill Mrs. Gatewood in December 2006. His family maintains he is a good but troubled man who had no intention to kill his wife of 20 years. She and her family mourned the man they once knew as loving and kind, and spoke of how his three children are left fatherless - and praised God that they still have their mother.

Deputy District Attorney Jodi Link, a veteran of these types of cases, said the thought this was the "saddest" sentencing she'd ever seen. More than one family member lamented the fact that there are "no winners" here. Defense attorney Winston McKesson asked Torrance Superior Court Judge James Brandlin to reduce the conviction to assault, but Brandlin said the verdict is supported by the evidence.

Brandlin sentenced Gatewood to 29 years to life in prison - a few years shy of the maximum prescribed by law.

June 26 is the United Nations' International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

The day is supposed to raise awareness of the major problem that illicit drugs represent to society. Countries all over the world commemorate the day with anti-drug activities.

Here's a message from the 1980s. (The video doesn't match the sound, but that makes it even more special.)

If you are one of these kids, send an email to tell us about that day.

 

During yesterday's preliminary hearing for two Latino men suspected of shooting at a black family as they drove through Harbor Gateway looking at cars for sale, the defense attorneys hit hard on the topic of whether or not the family engaged in any gang activity. There's always been this suspicion that one or more of the passengers were gang members, who maybe flashed their own gang signs or displayed a weapon. They all denied any such notion on the witness stand.

While Ernesto Murillo, a known East Side Torrance gang member, is the believed shooter - things are a little murkier for his co-defendant, Ismael Torres. Torres, who listened to the proceedings through a Spanish-language interpreter, is not known to law enforcement. He has no tattoos and doesn't dress the part of a gang banger. His mother was in court, and she wiped away tears in the hallway as her son was led back to the lock-up in shackles.

In the long run, it really doesn't matter - legally or morally - if the family were or are gang members. Certainly, 6-year-old Laverya Elzy and his two toddler cousins don't prowl the streets late at night looking to score crack, carjack or kill. No one deserves to be shot at, and those that pull the trigger over something as lame as "they were driving slowly in my territory" need to be prosecuted and locked up like the animlas they are.

 

Torrance police will display stolen property next week in the hope of findings its owners.

They've got handbags, televisions, watches, desk top computers, coins and other items that have gone unclaimed. It was recovered during investigations over the last six months.

If you think you're stuff might be among the loot, you'll need receipts, police reports or serial numbers to claim it.

The viewing will be from 8 a.m. to noon July 2 at the station, 3300 Civic Center Drive.

For more information, call Detective Doug Hath at 310-618-5624.

Prosecutors are still deciding whether they will seek the death penalty for Jonathan Fajardo and four other 204th Street gang members accused of killing friend Christopher Ash in Carson because they thought he snitched to the police about the slaying of 14-year-old Cheryl Green in the Harbor Gateway. The District Attorney's Special Circumstances Committee is also still considering whether Fajardo and another man accused of killing Cheryl will be sent to death row if convicted, too.

The five defendants in the Ash murder case were in a downtown courtroom today for a trial, but it was postponed because there is a motion a pending on whether or not to try the two cases together. Deputy District Attorney John Ramseyer told Judge Steven Van Sicklen that Fajardo is representing himself in the Cheryl murder case.

Everyone comes back to court Sept. 3 for the consolidation motion.

Fajardo and Ernesto Alcarez are charged with capital murder for killing Cheryl, who is black, as she stood with friends and family on Dec. 15, 2006. Authorities believe they shot the group in retaliation for an earlier shooting.

 

He's known as "America's Toughest Sheriff" and today he took action against "The Big Has-been."

Upset about former Laker Shaquille O'Neal's rapping rant against Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant,  Maricopa, Ariz. County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has revoked O'Neal's special deputy's badge that he issued to him in January. (If you remember,  Shaq worked for the Port police in San Pedro before he was sent off to Miami.)

The AP reported that Arpaio got pretty angry about the Phoenix Suns center's use of a racially derogatory word (it rhymes with "bigger") and other foul language in a rap video mocking this year's MVP. Arpaio promoted Shaq to the rank of colonel in his largely ceremonial posse earlier this month.

Shaq -- or whatever he calls himself now -- was seen in a video posted on TMZ.com rapping that "Kobe couldn't do without me." The guy who didn't get out of the first round because he's old, fat and can't move rips Kobe for not being able to win a championship without him.

He also says Kobe ruined his marriage, and suggests that Kobe "tell me how my ass tastes" -- repeatedly.

O'Neal claimed he was "freestyling" and he's fine with Bryant.

O'Neal served as a reserve officer with the Miami Beach Police Department while he was with the Heat and volunteered with the Tempe Police Department after being traded to the Suns in February.

(Yeah, I'm a Kobe guy.)

This guy is God. Seriously.

He's also Lucky. And a bit unlucky.

His name is God Lucky Howard, 39. He got arrested in Tampa for dealing cocaine.

Here's the full story by the Tampa Tribune's Howard Altman (no relation).

And then there's this one:

In Alton, Texas, an inmate tried to escape from the city's jail by crawling through the air ducts, but crashed through the ceiling -- into the police chief's office!

Oops. Here's the rest from AP:

Police say 17-year-old Jesus Albert Suarez Chavez and 22-year-old Roman Orozco Martinez tried to escape through air conditioning ducts of the Alton city jail around 3 a.m. Saturday, but had been spotted by a dispatcher monitoring security video.

One of the inmates fell through the ceiling into the office of Police Chief Baldemar Flores, who wasn't there at the time. The second inmate was trying to get into the vent.

Flores said he didn't know which inmate fell through the ceiling, only that the vents were very small.

Chavez and Martinez are charged with burglary of a vehicle, evading arrest, resisting arrest, assault on a public servant and making a terrorist threat. They are now being held in the Hidalgo County Jail.

The U.S. Coast Guard sent us this message. So don't panic on Wednesday.



LOS ANGELES - Harbor residents of Los Angeles and Long Beach will see increased law enforcement activity this Wednesday and Thursday as area emergency responders participate in a 2-day U.S. Coast Guard led counterterrorism exercise. The exercise is designed to test the Area Maritime Security Plan that was mandated by the Maritime Security Transportation Act of 2002 (MTSA).

The exercise will take place in both the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and include simulated bombings that law enforcement and fire agencies will respond to in real-time. The U.S. Coast Guard, FBI, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Los Angeles Police and Fire Departments, Long Beach Police and Fire Departments, Los Angeles Port Police, Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach along with maritime industry will be participating in the joint agency exercise. Port facilities will also be testing their own security plans in response to a Coast Guard ordered increase of the Maritime Security (MARSEC) level.

Here's a couple of items from the Redondo Beach Police Department's list of Recent Law Enforcement Events:

6-16-08 (Wednesday):
At approximately 11:30 p.m., three people were walking in the 2400 block of Vanderbilt Lane when they were approached by two occupants of a dark-colored SUV. While the driver remained in the vehicle the other two subjects demanded money, phones, and property from the victims as one of the subjects placed a makeshift knife to the throat of one, and the other subject punched one of the victims several times in the head. After acquiring property from the victims the subjects fled the area. A short time later three subjects committed a similar type of crime in the city of Hermosa Beach and were subsequently arrested after a short pursuit.

6-20-08 (Friday):
At 10:22 p.m., officers responded to the reports of a loud party in the 1800 block of Pullman. Officers arrived and located a residence where a party was taking place with well over 100 guests. While conducting their investigation one of the officers observed a fight taking place just inside the living room. The officers saw one of the subjects in the fight fall to the ground and begin to get kicked in the head. As the officers entered the residence to intervene one of the officers was attacked by the same person who was kicking the person on the ground. The officers sustained minor injuries taking the subject into custody. He was subsequently booked at the Redondo Beach Jail.

Michael Trevis, a former police chief in Huntington Park with 30 years experience in law enforcement, will take over as police chief at El Camino College on July 1.

Before his job in Huntington Park, Trevis served as chief in Maywood, and held leadership positions at the Bell Police Department.

He also worked as a police officer in the Los Angeles and Pasadena unified school districts.

Trevis takes over the position a year after the death of Police Chief Michael D'Amico. Former Hawthorne Police Chief Stephen Port took the position on an interim basis.

Trevis has an associate's degree in administration of justice from East Los Angeles College, a bachelor's degree in public administration and a master's degree in organizational leadership from the University of La Verne.

An 8-year-old boy killed in a crash on the San Diego Freeway in Carson on Sunday night has been identified as Brandon Lundy of Palos Verdes Estates.

If anyone knows Brandon's family, please contact me at 310-543-6655 or larry.altman@dailybreeze.com.  I have been unable to locate them.

 A short story will appear in Tuesday's paper about the crash.

It already appears on dailybreeze.com, but will be updated later.

About a minute after I posted the previous item about the driver's license checkpoint in Gardena, I got this comment from William Smith:

"What type of public service is this by warning offenders that they will
be cited?

With so may illegal drivers on our roads all you are doing is giving
them a free get out of jail card.

Great job you idiot."

May I respond, Mr. Smith?

I don't mind if you ask me a question or comment on my reporting, but don't write in and call me names. (Sticks and stones.)

We have answered people's questions on this issue time and again. Here it is once more:

The California Supreme Court used to require police to publicize sobriety checkpoints before they could hold them. It was called "advance publicity." We used to run the notices for free as a public service.

A number of years ago, the court reversed itself on that requirement. Police, however, continue to call us and ask us to publicize the information. They believe the information about sobriety checkpoints is a deterrent for drunken driving. They also take the news reports from the paper and Web into court to show judges that the information was publicized and drivers should have known better.

Officers apply the same logic to driver's license checkpoints.They figure if you know they conduct checkpoints, and you might lose your car for 30 days, you'll go get a license.

Here's a little extra background:  That item on Wednesday's checkpoint was posted today about two minutes after I got off the phone with Gardena police Officer Sergio Borbon, who asked me to publicize it. I typed it as I spoke to him.

Thanks for reading the blog.

Officers will conduct a driver's license checkpoint from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday in the southbound lanes of Vermont Avenue at 170th Street in Gardena.

Violators without valid licenses will be cited and their cars will be towed.

(Oh, and if you are drunk, they'll get you for that too.)

My colleague Andrea Woodhouse just let me know that her datebook says today is "Hug a Cop Day."

I've never heard of this, but I did find some references to it on the Internet. I just couldn't find an explanation for it. I also noticed that May 24 was apparently the international hug-a-cop festivity.

So, if you call for the aid of a cop today, or even if a cop gives you a ticket, give him or her a hug. Be nice. Show a little love.

This is the closest video I could find about hugging cops:

Levar Haney Washington was sentenced today to 22 years in federal prison for his part in prison-hatched terrorist plot to target local Israeli and Jewish organizations.

We'll have the full report in tomorrow's Daily Breeze.

Levar Haney Washington, one of four men whose plot to attack terrorist targets was thwarted after their arrest by Torrance police officers for a string of gas station robberies, is scheduled to be sentenced today in federal court in Santa Ana. Washington, 29, of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in December and prosecutors will ask that he be sentenced to 24 years and seven months in prison today.

Two other men pleaded guilty to the plan that was hatched behind prison walls. A fourth man was found mentally incompetent to stand trial. The full City News Service story advancing today's hearing is after the jump. Photo via Fox News.

...these clowns are robbing banks in Los Angeles Lakers caps. The guy on the left hit three banks in Santa Monica, Hawthorne and Anaheim and then tried again to rob a Washington Mutual bank in Hawthorne. He ran when he was recognized.

Not too long after, the guy on the right showed up and robbed the same bank. Both wore the caps, claimed to have bombs and used black bags to carry away the loot. FBI officials have dubbed the man on the left the "Backpack Bomber Bandit." The guy on the right is believed to be his partner. Let's call him the "Backpack Bomber Bandit's Buddy."

If you know who they are, call the FBI at 310-477-6565.  Don't let these guys mess with the Lakers!

Full story coming soon to dailybreeze.com and Saturday's print edition.

**UPDATE: A friend of mine just reacted this way: "This is a good thing, dude. It means we've arrived. A few years ago, all the robbers were wearing Spurs gear. Go Lakers!"

Our pages at the Daily Breeze are filled with stories about shootings and gangs and other horrible things. We just received this press release from the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Department. We should all move there.

Type of Incident: Found Horse
Date and Time of Incident: Sunday June 15th, 2008
Place of Occurrence: Nipomo in the area of Pomeroy & Olympic
Details of News Release:

On Sunday June 15th, Sheriff's deputies in the south county area of San Luis Obispo were alerted to a stray horse that had been spotted in the area of Pomeroy and Olympic in Nipomo.

Deputies located the horse several hours later at Osage and Eucalyptus.

No owner as yet has reported the animal missing and authorities are asking the public's in identifying the owner.

The horse is described as a mustang gelding, approx. 15 hands high, 8-9 years of age, black in color.

Persons having any information regarding the horse should contact Rural Crime Unit Deputy Darren Davidson at 805-781-4550. No charges are pending against the owner. Deputies want simply to return the animal after proper identification.

I've posted a number of comments about the murder-suicide that occurred Sunday at the McDonald's on Central Avenue in Carson. Stephen Meriwether shot Krystina Reed and then killed himself.

I've received comments that included disparaging remarks about both           Reed and Meriwether.

Keisha Oguynn, Meriwether's first cousin, has had enough of it and sent this today. I am posting it in its entirety. I tried to say this in a blog entry the other day, but Keisha did a much better job:

"This has gone extremely too far. Has everyone forgotten that two people died? It's not about who was right vs. who was wrong. Six children are left without a parent. Two families are grieving the exact same way. Name calling and finger-pointing aren't going to bring neither Stephen or Krystina back.

I am a first cousin of Stephen, and I'm saddened and heart-broken by this tragedy. The facts are irrelevant at this point; it happened and we can't change that.
 
The two people who are now dead are the ONLY people who knew the "truth" about their relationship. Stephen told his version of their relationship, and Krystina told her version. We on the outside looking in, don't really know what led to this tragedy. So everyone please stop passing judgment, and let them rest in peace. It's not solving anything, and it's not going to bring them back.

I would like to send my apologies and deepest sympathy to the family of Krystina. Let's please move on and put an end to this for once and for all."

Devan Jackson, the bystander shot in the leg in the April 11 gunbattle between police and a gang member at the El Segundo theaters, has finally found a job.

Remember how he was fired from his position at an El Segundo travel agency a few days after he was shot in the leg, causing him to miss work?

Well, Devan let me know today that he's working on clients' cases for attorney Larry H. Parker of  "Larry H. Parker got me $2.1 million" fame. Devan is finishing up his first week at Parker's office in Long Beach.

Devan and I have e-mailed each other a few times since I interviewed him and he's definitely a good man.

Although he still has a bullet in his leg, he's on the road to complete recovery.

He sent this along today:

"I knew I would be OK. God is capable of getting you through anything. You must just keep faith. Mom always tells me things will get better before they get worse."

Friday, June 20, 2008

Police wake man at 3 a.m. to warn of unlocked door LAKEVILLE, Minn. (AP) - A Lakeville man says he feels violated after two police officers woke him up at 3 a.m. to tell him his door was unlocked. Their surprise visit was part of a public service campaign to remind residents to secure their homes to prevent thefts. Usually, officers just leave notices on doors. But they went further in Troy Molde's case on Thursday. Police entered the house where four children under 7 were having a sleepover, and then went upstairs to Molde's bedroom. The officers told Molde his garage door was open, the TV was on, the keys to his truck were left in the ignition and the door to his house was ajar. A police spokesman says the intrusion was justified because the officers' initial door knocks went unanswered, and they wanted to make sure nothing was wrong. He says the kids inside - Molde's two sons and two nephews - were afraid to wake their dad, so the officers went upstairs. 2008-06-20     15:20:19 GMT

Joe, the brother of the 16-year-old arrested for shooting his cousin in Harbor City on Wednesday, continues to dispute what police said about what happened.

"Your story is still messed up. First of all there wasn't an argument between my cousin and my brother. The f----- police don't know s---. They are just assuming of what happened. That's why the whole justice system here in Los Angeles is all messed up. Once again there was never any heated argument between them. They were close. It was just a stupid accident basicially kids being stupid."

Ray Gen, an El Camino College trustee, sent this recently about our coverage of the forum held after a student was sexually assaulted on campus. (I went on vacation and forgot to post this.)

"Thank you Mr. Altman for your coverage of the forum we had (June 3) I thought your article covered well our campus' response and the programs we have in place in regards to safety at El Camino College.

I wish to also thank Brad Graverson for his photos. I thought the photo of
the bike officer was especially compelling.

Again - many thanks."

Reader Bob Henning sent this about the Harbor City shooting:

"Very sad and tragic. Another gang banging piece of garbage may not make it. Chalk one up for the people. I have become so desensitized to the whole gang epidemic that I am actually GLAD when I read about them being killed. Good riddance."

Today is International Surfing Day and this is a crime blog, so here's the trailer for "Point Break."

There wasn't much mystery to what Daniel Ramsey was going to receive for robbing, kidnapping and sexually assaulting two women and a young girl in two different Lawndale crimes. It was clear that Judge Eric Taylor, in sentencing Ramsey to 156 years plus two life terms, wanted to give Ramsey every minute in prison that the law would allow. But there were some interesting points that had to be debated about what the law would allow before Ramsey was sentenced.

One of the main issues the attorneys argued was whether or not the charges of rape and sodomy were two different actions or one crime. The law says that, if it can be determined that the attacker had any time to reflect on his actions and stop them, then there was a break and thus, two different crimes. That was how Deputy District Attorney Jodi Link and Taylor saw it, but not defense attorney Kevin Greber.

 

We just received a report that the two Los Angeles police officers who contended that City Councilwoman Janice Hahn pressured the department to remove them from their foot beats in Watts because they were tough on gang members lost their federal lawsuit today.

According to City News Service, jurors ruled against officers Ryan Moreno and Chuck Garcia, who claimed they were taken off the gang detail for criticizing the department.

Garcia and Moreno maintained in their suit filed in U.S. District Court that they had kept gang members out of the Jordan Downs Housing Development in South Los Angeles and were responsible for more than 300 arrests, detentions and stops in a year.

That resulted in numerous complaints against them by gang members and their supporters, they said.

Hahn told Daily Breeze reporter Gene Maddaus in May that the task force the officers were assigned to was intended to help improve the relationship between the police and the community, but at least 20 complaints were filed against Moreno in a year.

 "The complaints that would come up the most were complaints about disrespect, even name calling," Hahn said. "You would hear from the community that it was very difficult to work with LAPD when these two officers are doing X, Y and Z - being antagonizing and disrespectful. It just kept coming up from everywhere."

The officers said the complaints were an orchestrated effort to remove them from their beats.

Jurors sided with the city and department.

Gene's earlier story follows:

Capt. Dave Lindsey of the LAPD's Harbor Division told me at 4:30 p.m. today that he double-checked with detectives and found that the 16-year-old Harbor City shooting suspect and his 21-year-old wounded cousin are "documented gang members." That means police officers have encountered them before and listed their names in their files as known Harbor Area gang members.

The family says otherwise. What can I tell ya.

The wounded man, meanwhile, was declared brain dead at noon today. He remains on life support.

I spoke earlier today with the older brother and a sister of the 16-year-old boy who allegedly shot his 21-year-old cousin in the head Wednesday in Harbor City.

They disagreed with the police account of what happened and said neither the teen nor the cousin is a gang member.

As I reported earlier, police said the teen and cousin were arguing about their neighborhood gangs. The teen, police said, was an associate of a Harbor City gang, and the cousin is a member of a Wilmington gang.

During the dispute, the teen pulled the trigger and shot his cousin in the temple, police said.
The teen admitted to the shooting, but said it was an accident.

That sixth foot found on a Canadian beach was actually some mischief maker's joke, police said today. It turned out to be a "skeletonized animal paw" that had been placed in a sock and athletic shoe.

So they still have five feet from unknown sources.

The British Columbia Coroners Service didn't take this joke very well.

"It is the position of BCCS that this type of hoax is reprehensible and very disrespectful to the families of missing persons," a statement said. "It fuels inappropriate speculation and creates undue anxiety for families and communities while wasting valuable investigative time and resources that could be spent on the main investigations."

Here's the full story on the CNN site.

El Segundo police just issued a press release that applies to everybody in California about the "hands-free" law that takes affect on July 1. I just got myself a "bluetooth" device for about $25 at Best Buy. Works fine.

Here's the release:

DON'T GET CAUGHT "RED-HANDED"

GO HANDSFREE, "IT'S THE LAW"

Wireless Telephone Laws Aim to Increase Traffic Safety

Two new laws regarding the use of wireless telephones while driving take effect July 1, 2008. Both laws are designed to increase traffic safety by reducing distractions inside vehicles and increasing driver awareness.

23123 CVC prohibits a person from driving a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone unless that telephone is specifically designed and configured to allow hands-free listening and talking and is used in that manner. This law does not prohibit dialing, nor does it address text messaging. However, a driver can be pulled over and cited, if, in the officer's opinion, the driver was distracted and not operating the vehicle safely. Text messaging while driving is unsafe at any speed and is strongly discouraged.

Six veteran Los Angeles Superior Court judges, including the presiding judge, are spending a week handling traffic court matters at the Metropolitan Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. They are hoping to help reduce a backlog of cases that has drivers waiting about six months until their first court appearances. They're expected to motor through about 2,250 misdemeanor or infraction traffic arraignments in four courtrooms.

Los Angeles Superior Court Presiding Judge (and Palos Verdes Peninsula resident) J. Stephen Czuleger, Civil Department Supervising Judge Lee S. Edmon, Judge Elizabeth Grimes, Civil Department Assistant Supervising Judge Rex Heeseman, Judge Jane L. Johnson and Judge Ann I. Jones were expected to start hearing cases this morning.

Another severed foot washed up on a British Columbia beach. This time it's a man's black Size 10 Adidas sneaker.

Police will conduct a sobriety and driver's license checkpoint from 8:30 p.m. Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday in the soutbound lanes of the 600 block of Palos Verdes Boulevard in Torrance.

Torrance police will be joined by officers from other agencies.

Police said the goal is to contact and educate drivers about the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, and to remove impaired and irresponsible drivers from the roadway to reduce the number of people killed or injured in alcohol-related traffic collisions.

By the way, if you are down in Orange County on Friday night, sheriff's deputies will conduct extra patrols to track down drunken drivers in San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point.

Don't drink and drive and you won't have a problem like this guy:

There wasn't even an twinge of surprise in me when I saw a report in the Los Angeles Times this morning that the Dept. of Children and Family Services investigated allegations in 2005 of possible neglect of a young boy, but closed the file without follow-up. Now, that boy is 5-years-old and clinging to life - his mother, her live-in girlfriend and their babysitter all charged this week with corporal injury to a child and child abuse. They allegedly held his little hands to a burning stove, scorched his body with burning cigarettes and nearly starved him to death.

 

Police detained two teenage spectators at the Gardena High School graduation ceremony Wednesday when they tried to force their way past a security checkpoint, authorities said.

The teens exited the seating area and tried to return to the campus, but were stopped by off-duty police officers working security, Los Angeles Unified School police Chief Larry Manion said.

"They tried to push their way through, forcing the officers backward," Manion said.

No one was injured. Officers opened an investigation into whether the teens battered the officers, but had not decided Wednesday afternoon whether to arrest the teens.

The officers were believed to be from the Los Angeles Police Department.

I'll have a story up soon on a shooting that occurred earlier today in an apartment in the 1600 block of Lomita Boulevard in Harbor City.

Police told me two cousins got involved in an argument over their gang affiliations. One is an associate of a Harbor City gang and the the other is a member of a Wilmington gang. I guess each figured one is better than the other.

Anyway, the 16-year-old pulled the trigger on his revolver and shot his 21-year-old cousin in the temple. The wounded man is in extremely critical condition and likely won't survive, police said.

The teen claims it was an accident, but LAPD investigators aren't so sure. They arrested the on suspicion of attempted murder.

Prosecutors dropped a weapon posession charge today for a man jailed while waiting trial in connection to his 4-year-old daughter's Rancho Palos Verdes cliff death.

Cameron Brown, 46, was charged with one felony count of custodial posession of a weapon after a jailer found a razor blade in a book Brown borrowed from the jail library, according to Deputy District Attorney Dennis Lockfield.

Lockfield said the case was dismissed because he did not believe it could be proved that Brown knew about the razor.

Brown is being held without bail as he awaits a retrial for the Nov. 8, 2000, death of his daughter, Lauren Sarene-Key. Authorities believe Brown threw the girl over Inspiration Point to avoid paying child support payments. Brown maintains the girl slipped while throwing rocks over the cliff.

A Torrance jury deadlocked nearly two years ago on murder charges. Brown, whose case was transferred to a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, is scheduled for a pretrial June 30.

I received an email asking for updates about the conditions of the two El Segundo police officers wounded in April in the gunbattle with a gang member at the Pacific theaters.

Officer Scott O'Connor and Lt. Ray Garcia remain off work, recovering at home. As I reported before, Garcia requires several surgeries during the next year to repair damage to his jaw.

"They both plan to return to work when they are able to," El Segundo police Lt. Bob Turnbull said.

The officers were shot while interceding in a dispute between ex-convict Jonathan Taylor, 24, and theater employees. Taylor became upset when he was denied a ticket refund, pulled a gun and began shooting. The officers killed him.

O'Connor was hit in the shoulder and arm.

Hawthorne resident Devan Jackson, who was in line for tickets, was wounded in the leg. He also is recovering at home and told me recently he is off his crutches.

A lawyer is jailed for reading Maxim magazine in court, a judge sues for falling down in the courthouse and a firefighter who set her father's house on fire claims discrimination when she's fired from the job... these are just some of the nine cases that the bloggers over at cracked.com believe are "insane" and show that the "U.S. Legal System is Screwed."

Officially, in public and on the record ... I have no comment on that conclusion. But I laughed my ass off at some of these write-ups.

A thief caught after breaking into a German supermarket, despite being handcuffed to a railing, was arrested again after running to the police station to ask for help in removing the cuffs.

Even Keion Green, Gardena's most slippery suspect, wasn't this dumb.

A man using the payphone outside a liquor store at 162nd Street and Hawthorne Boulevard last night was shot twice, but sheriff deputies said today he is recuperating in a hospital and expected to survive.

No motive or suspects are established yet and the investigation is ongoing, according to the Sheriff's Department. The suspect sped off in a car southbound on Hawthorne Boulevard, and disappeared.

This is a photograph of Stephen Lee Meriwether, the gunman who killed a woman at the McDonald's restaurant on Central Avenue in Carson and then killed himself. Earlier entry.

It's the strangest thing, but feet keep washing up on British Columbia beaches.

They found another one, bringing the total to five. The others were right. This is the first left foot to show up.

Alejandro Alvarado produced the gun, loaded it and handed it to his cousin with directions to shoot the Mongol King dishwasher. Today, following a preliminary hearing, Alvarado was ordered to stand trial for killing 21-year-old Erasmo Antonio Artero-Santos.

Artero-Santos and the cousin, Victor Hernandez, had an ongoing feud, possibly over Hernandez's girlfriend, who worked at the restaurant. Hernandez was arrested the day after the Feb. 18, 2007, shooting, but Alvarado evaded capture by fleeing to Mexico. He was arrested in south of the border in December and extradited to Los Angeles in April to face murder charges.

The full story on the preliminary hearing will be in tomorrow's Daily Breeze.

I spoke this morning with people who knew both Krystina Reed and Stephen Meriwether, the man and woman who died in the murder-suicide at the McDonald's in north Carson on Sunday.

Deputies are still investigating what happened, but believe Meriwether shot Reed and then killed himself to culminate a troubled domestic situation.

I spoke to Amrys Magee, a 38-year-old man who intended to marry Reed next week. In a soft voice, he said he had dated Reed about seven years ago and fathered a now 6-year-old son with her.

They broke up, he said, and she started her relationship with Meriwether. When that ended, she reunited with Magee.

"We were going to get married in my pastor's office," Magee said.

He described Reed as a Christian woman and devoted mother to her three children.
(I learned later she had a previous husband who committed suicide.)

Magee said he did not know why Meriwether was with Reed in Carson, but said he was abusive to her.

"He was pretty possessive in the relationship and he was pretty much in the stalker mode," Magee said.

The murder case for Japanese businessman Kazuyoshi Miura made its way to Torrance this week. Court officials met with members of the Japanese media, which is covering the scandalous case en masse, to make preparations for Miura's next proceeding which, by the way, is July 18 - not July 17.

Here's a sign of the times.

Someone drove off with 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel stolen from a gas station in Burbank.

The gas was stolen sometime early Friday from the Exxon station at 2417 N. San Fernando Rd, Burbank police Lt. Armen Dermenjian said.

"Due to the quantity of the fuel stolen, we believe a fuel tanker truck was used," Dermenjian said.

Sheriff's homicide Lt. Dave Coleman told me today that the killings at a McDonald's 

restaurant in Carson on Sunday were indeed a murder-suicide. (He killed her and then shot himself.)

The victim was identified as Krystina Reed, 31. The shooter was Stephen Lee Meriwether, 37. The pair apparently lived in the Long Beach area, but previously knew each other in Arizona, where they had a relationship.

Something went bad between them. It became deadly Sunday, but detectives had not figured out what exactly they argued about or why they were in Carson. The restaurant in on Central Avenue on the Compton border.

One thing investigators learned was Reed was set to get married in a week to someone other than Meriwether. Detectives planned to talk to the intended spouse.

On Sunday, they argued about something. She ran into the McDonald's to seek cover. He followed her to the back and committed the murder-suicide.

A story will appear in the Daily Breeze and dailybreeze.com.

If anyone knows these folks and can shed some light on all of this, send me an email at larry.altman@dailybreeze.com.

Former West High School coach Michael Smith pleaded no contest today to one count of false imprisonment in exchange for three years probation. He must also pay $1,145 in fines and undergo a year of sexual offender counseling as part of the plea deal he made with Torrance city prosecutors.

Smith was arrested and charged with two sexual battery and one simple battery misdemeanors after it was accused of putting tape over at least five girls' mouths, handcuffing them and wrapping their hands and feet in separate incidents. There was also a charge of sexual battery for an inappropriate touching on the football field in 2005 involving a different girl.

All the sex-related counts were dropped in the deal, sparing Smith from having to register as a sex offender. There were also seven girls named in a protective order that Smith must stay away from.

After Smith's arrest in December, the walk-on coach for nine years was also accused of forcing boys to kiss him on the cheek before he would give them their team jerseys. No charges were ever filed from that alleged incident.

The full story will be in tomorrow's Daily Breeze.

Two days before the Los Angeles Police Department was to begin its new controversial policy to make gang and narcotic officers' incomes public, a federal court judge on Friday told the department to hold off.

Here's our PSA for the day. Assemblyman Ted Lieu will be available to discuss legislative issues concerning "you and your children," according to his mailer, while the kiddos will be fingerprinted for free.

The first event will be June 21 at the Torrance Farmer's Market at Charles H. Wilson Park, 2200 Crenshaw Blvd. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The second event will be June 28 at the Redondo Beach Library Main Branch, 2nd Floor, 303 N. Pacific Coast Highway from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Kids will also get free public safety and fire safety coloring books at the events. Local law enforcement agencies will also be on hand. More information is available by calling Lieu's District Office at (310) 615-3515.

Brandon Blaxland, 20, previously pleaded no contest to one count of assault with a deadly weapon, and was sentenced today to two years in state prison, per his deal with prosecutors.

Blaxland stabbed a 17-year-old during a dispute on March 8, 2007, on Belmont Lane near Flagler Avenue. The whole thing apparently began during a telephone conversation the night before in which the victim admitted he threatened Blaxland. It appears they were fighting about a girl.

It's not clear whether some kind of fight was pre-arranged, but Blaxland and three friends approached a car that held the victim and three teenage girls and somehow forced the victim out. Another teen, who was charged in juvenile court, hit the victim with a baseball bat before Blaxland stabbed him in the back with gardening shears.

The case was originally suspected of being a hate crime because of the derogatory anti-homosexual slurs neighbors heard the boys yelling.

I'm checking the outcome of the juvenile court case, and will have that along with the full report on the sentencing in tomorrow's Daily Breeze.

With my morning cup o' Joe, I was doing my routine scan of the Daily Breeze and was struck by the oh-so-high number of sex-related crimes we had to report on this morning. I do this for a living, and even I'm a bit flabergasted!

First, there's the principal held in a porn bust, then there's the suspect held for two Torrance sex assaults, a different Torrance man facing child porn charges for sexually explicit images of babies and a teacher found having sex with a student in a Carson parking lot.

You add all that with other stories in the last few days, like the judge from RPV who had sexual photos on his Web site, the San Pedro physician charged with sexual battery and the flower store manager who paid boys to take pictures of themselves ... and don't you just feel like you need to take a long shower?

 

Two-time death row inmate Rodney Alcala received a blow from the State Supreme Court today, which ruled that prosecutors in Orange and Los Angeles can try the suspected serial killer at one time for five murders. Two of the slayings have South Bay connections:

•  Charlotte Lamb, 32, of Santa Monica, who was found strangled in the laundry room of an apartment in the 600 block of Illinois Court in El Segundo on June 24, 1978. The manager found her nude, except for a few pieces of jewelry and one shoe, according to Daily Breeze reports at the time. Police said they believe she was killed at the building, but there were no witnesses and none of the residents knew her.
• Georgia Wixted, 27, a nurse at Centinela Hospital in Inglewood, was found on Dec. 16, 1977, in her Malibu home naked with a hammer near her body. Blood found at the crime scene linked Alcala to her murder in 2003 and charges against him for her death were filed in Los Angeles then.

The 32-page Supreme Court opinion is available here. Photo of Alcala via the Orange County Register.

Deputy District Attorney Paul Guthrie thinks the 8th time will be the charm for Ruben Vargas, who is expected to be sentenced to 16 months in prison for leaving the scene of an accident. His truck went into a Hermosa Beach house, injuring a sleeping 5-year-old inside.

Proceedings actually got underway today, as both sides began haggling about restitution. In the end, Judge Eric Taylor agreed that the family should get the full $66,192.16 they're asking for - but there's a hold-up because it's not clear how much Vargas' insurance company has paid them, and for what.

Vargas' attorney tried arguing that his client shouldn't pay the full restitution, maintaining Vargas wasn't driving when the truck crashed, only that he drove away. None of that is very clear, but Taylor agreed with Guthrie that it's a moot point since Vargas, has, in fact, pleaded no contest.

Despite RPV resident Judge Kozinski's attempt to keep the sexually explicit images from his now-famous and controversial Web site under wraps, these things have a way of getting out. Patterico, a locally popular blog maintained by an anonymous Los Angeles prosecutor, has an interview with the tipster who let this cat out of its bag, as well as links to some of the photos.

My warning to you: Some of you may find the photos offensive - so don't click on them! Some of you may be at work - you might not want to click on them, either!

A former Sizzler restaurant employee who took what he knew about the operation and turned it into a crime business was sentenced to 440 years to life in prison Thursday. Derrick Oden, 41, used a gun to hold up three South Bay Sizzler locations and one other restaurant. He hit the Lomita location twice, and tried but failed one additional time.

A handprint taken from a plastic bag found near one robbery and DNA from a baseball cap recovered near another crime linked Oden to the heists.

Because he has two strikes and used a gun, the time kept piling up as Torrance Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold pronounced sentence. It didn't help that each sentence for each count are to be served consecutively. The sentence is a personal record for Deputy District Attorney Paul Guthrie "by far," he said.

Arnold said he was impressed by Oden's intelligence, but not by the way he chose to live his life.

Look for the full report in tomorrow's Daily Breeze.

The fallout from Alex Kozinski's Web site continues, and the closely-watched obscenity trial he was presiding over is now on hold while prosecutors figure out if there is some kind of conflict to having the chief judge of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals presiding over the proceedings.

The obscenty trial itself was interesting, but this just added a whole new level of prurient interest.

Traci Rene Anderson, the former bookkeeper at Church of the Beach Cities, pleaded no contest Monday to embezzling $170,000 from her employer, authorities said today. Most of that money was earmarked for the needy and poor. Needless to say, the church feels devastated and betrayed.

The licensed minister and mother of one teenage son, who also helped teach Bible studies, is on her way to state prison, where she will be a guest during her two-year sentence.

We'll have the full story in tomorrow's Daily Breeze.

Prosecutors filed two sexual battery misdemeanor counts today against Dr. Zeljko Zic, a San Pedro endocrinologist and a Rancho Palos Verdes resident. The complaint doesn't offer much detail, except to say there are two different female victims who he allegedly touched in a sexual and unwanted way. The first alleged incident was July 25, 2007 and the last one was March 27.

The Deputy District Attorney in Long Beach who filed the case isn't giving up much, so I'm working on finding out more details about the alleged crimes. Whatever I get (or don't get) will be in tomorrow's Daily Breeze.

Legal troubles are to Dr. Lawrence Saks like Botox is to Beverly Hills socialites -- they just can't seem to stay away from each other. Saks, who practices in Torrance, was arrested earlier this week and is scheduled to appear in federal court today on mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering charges.

Health reporter Melissa Evans, who covered this story for today's Daily Breeze, made an interesting observation while researching Saks. In 1995, we did a feature story on Saks removing tattoos, at no charge, from kids who want to leave the gang life behind them. It's possible that this "do gooder" charity was really community service that the court ordered him to do after he was convicted in a 1990 case.

Photo via CosmeticSurgery.com

The final tally for Preston Sawyer and Kareem Douglas goes like this:

• Six armed robberies
• Sawyer and Douglas each accused of participating in four
• Sixteen victims, which equals 16 robbery counts total
• Eight officers testified

It was a long, but very stream-lined and organized preliminary hearing yesterday for the two Hawthorne men. They are only a fraction of what police believe is a "crew" who work together to pull off similiar heists.

Douglas' mother was in court yesterday, and she told me that her son is a good boy who got hood-winked by his friends and the police. She wanted to tell me more before her son's attorney told her that talking to me will do nothing good for him. (As an aside, that attorney and I have some history and I'm pretty sure she ranks me right up there with pond scum.)

The Metropolitan News Enterprise, a legal trade paper, has the scoop on Judge Steven Van Sicklen, who is leaving his post as supervising judge of the criminal courts to ensure a courtroom in Torrance.

Felicia Ellen Jones pleaded guilty to two Manhattan Beach bank robberies today. In exchange for her plea, prosecutors will drop charges she held-up two other banks. She returns to court Sept. 17 for sentencing. She faces a maximum 40 years in prison, but will likely not receive so much time.

We'll have the full report in tomorrow's Daily Breeze.

The full story of the Torrance flower store manager who paid boys for naked pictures of themselves is up here. Information about Ralph Ulibarri can also be found on the Megan's Law Web site, along with other registered sex offenders in the area. It's a good site to check every once in a while...

Also, my colleague Larry Altman (who is on vacation this week - hi Larry!) just called to say he wrote about Ulibarri in the early 1990s. Turns out, Ulibarri was a part-time teacher's assistant at Will Rogers Middle School in Wilmington Lawndale when he was arrested for fondling a boy. He was also a Hawthorne Boy Scout troop leader. He served time in prison for the crime.

Ulibarri made the Daily Breeze again in 2001 when he was arrested again for pornography and drugs found in his house. His Hollyglen home in Hawthorne was searched after he failed to register as a sex offender, which he had to do because of the 1992 conviction.

The irony of this is that Keion Green told Gardena police officers he ran because he didn't like being confined. Green was a two-time domestic violence convict who was on probation May 7 when he escaped from custody twice after his girlfriend accused him of punching him in the face repeatedly.

Green ran once while handcuffed after his initial arrest, then again when he was taken to a hospital.

Instead of a preliminary hearing today, he opted to take a plea deal and was sentenced to four years in state prison. The lesson: the more you run, the longer you're trapped.

Full story in tomorrow's Daily Breeze.

I'm still fleshing out - so to speak - the details on this case. But basically a registered sex offender who worked as a manager at a Torrance flower shop pleaded no contest today to paying at least one teenage boy to take naked pictures of himself. He paid the boys $40 to $60 per photo, depending on how much he liked them, according to prosecutors.

He got two years in prison. Look for the full report in tomorrow's Daily Breeze. 

City News Service is saying that Felicia Ellen Jones, the purported Weathergirl Bandit who held up four South Bay banks, is scheduled to plead guilty today in federal court. She was expected to go on trial this week. We'll let you know.

Alexandria Williams, 20, is charged with robbing - or trying to rob - four different people during three armed street hold-ups in Torrance, Carson and the Harbor Gateway. Her preliminary hearing was today, and we'll have a full report in tomorrow's Daily Breeze.

The petite Culver City woman didn't seem too ruffled, though, by the possible 47-year, four-month prison sentence she could face if convicted of all the crimes. She waved to her supporters in court, smiled and mouthed things to them - including compliments to one woman on her yellow sundress. When the woman left before the hearing ended, she made three loud kiss noises to Williams, who smirked in response.

There's sadness over at the Inglewood Police Department.

An officer who served as a Marine in Iraq was killed in a freeway crash earlier this week.

David Eric Frizelle, 29, of Hawthorne died Monday in the crash on Interstate 40 near Ludlow, the San Bernardino County Coroner's Office said.

Frizelle was riding east at 6 p.m. on his 2008 Honda CBR 600RR near milepost marker 62 when he drove into the back of a Federal Express tractor-trailer rig in front of him, California Highway Patrol Officer Taj Johnson said.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Frizelle had worked for Inglewood for a couple of years after serving in the Iraq war.

Received this question from inside the Breeze building today:

Q. Have you heard anything about why a helicopter was circling Manhattan Beach from 2:15-2:45 a.m. last night?

A. Officers were searching for two auto theft suspects. The search began just before 2 a.m. Friday when the suspects abandoned their car at Highland Avenue and 19th Street.
Officers from Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, El Segundo and Hawthorne searched. A sheriff's helicopter circled above.
One suspect was found.

Three unlucky gentlemen were arrested in Inglewood last week when they took their personal business outside the home.

Vice officers trying to stop lewd and lascivious conduct at Edward Vincent Jr. Park, 700 East Warren Lane, conducted an undercover investigation on May 31 to target people engaging in illegal activities, Inglewood police Sgt. Robert Pessis said.

Six people were arrested. Three were later charged with lewd-conduct related offenses. The conduct included solo and non-solo activity.

The men were identified as Abraham Marin, 47, of Los Angeles; Clay Kayron, 37, of Inglewood; and Johnny Lockhart, 62, of Los Angeles.

Inglewood police said vice officers "will continue aggressively targeting lewd and lascivious activity in and around Edward Vincent Park." As a deterrent to others, police released arrestees' names to the media.

NBC's Dateline will take a look at a prominent Harbor Area case in its June 13 broadcast.

Adolph Laudenberg, now 81, was sentenced to life in prison last year for killing 43-year-old San Pedro resident Lois Petrie in 1975.

Laudenberg is suspected in the deaths of Catherine Medina and Anna Catherine Felch in the San Pedro area in 1974, and Leah Griffin in San Francisco in 1975.

The killings had been unsolved for decades and were the subject of a Daily Breeze story in 2002.

In 2003, Los Angeles police detectives tied Laudenberg to the crimes after his former daughter-in-law told officers he confessed to killing four women.

They arrested him after collecting a coffee cup from a restaurant and tying his DNA to Petrie's death.

Q. Hi Larry. Last Wednesday (June 4) around 9 a.m., two women were handcuffed by Torrance police outside the Target in Torrance. I was just wondering what, if any, were they arrested for. I also noticed that these the same women were being followed by a man inside Target. I didn't put anything to it at the time.

Thank you and keep up the good work.

Mario Oliveros III

A. Shoplifting. The man following the women inside the store was a loss prevention officer. Police were called to the store and arrested the women on suspicion of petty theft.

Things are a bit slow this week on the crime and courts beats here in the South Bay. But in the area, there are lots of interesting things going on. Here are some noteworthy crime/court stories from the Los Angeles Times today:

• Judge orders chronically late lawyer jailed in Compton
• California will fight court ruling on medical marijuana
• Dismay greets D.A.'s report on string of missteps that led to killing
• Santa Monica teacher faces 9 more abuse charges
• Band teacher at Foshay Learning Center accused in child pornography case
• O.C. grand jury urges cities to enforce spay, neuter laws

Sigh. Through these "postponement" entries, you kinda get a taste of how the court beat goes. Daniel Ramsey was scheduled to be sentenced today for robbing and kidnapping a Lawndale woman and her 11-year-old daughter, who was tied up during the July 5, 2006 ordeal, and for raping a 19-year-old college student in her Lawndale home several days later.

But for the third time, his defense attorney had a scheduling conflict, and it looks like Ramsey will be back Thursday. Ramsey was convicted of 10 counts on March 14 and faces life in prison when he's eventually sentenced.

It's awfully quiet here in the South Bay today, so check out this video released by the Hartford, Conn. police. Police Chief Daryl Roberts vented his frustrations to reporters the other day about the callous response -- or lack of response -- of residents to a hit-and-run last week. The entire scene was caught on surveillance video.

The videotape shows the 78-year-old victim lying injured the middle of the street as motorists and pedestrians pass by his paralyzed body.

"I'm ashamed to say our city has a toxic relationship with ourselves," Roberts said.

The raw video without any commentary is after the jump.

*UPDATE: Yeah, OK, I guess I fell for it. Our very informed Ask Us Lady, Stephanie Walton, pointed out that this whole "today is the day" warning has circulated on the Internet for years. The Registry information I posted is legit, but there's no apocalyptic telemarketing list being released today ... or any other day. Snopes has more. Ha. Ha.

Today is the day that cellular telephone numbers go public, so that telemarketers can start pestering you wherever you are. Don't even get me started. You can stop it - I just did, and it was quick. Call (888) 382-1222 from your cellular telephone to register the number on the state Attorney General's Do Not Call Registry. You can also do it online by clicking here. That link also has information about how to report a company that violates the ban.

Sometimes, stories like this come across the news wire, and I just don't even know where to begin. First, we have a lady, who dresses like a man, upset that she was mistaken for a man. Second, she's even more ticked that she was called an 'it" by Beverly Hills Hotel security and told to leave the ladies room. Third, her attorney is Gloria Allred.

I can already hear the keyboards inside late night television writing rooms getting a good workout.

So here's your warning:

Police will conduct a sobriety and driver's license checkpoint from 8 p.m. Saturday to 4 a.m. Sunday in the northbound lanes of Crenshaw Boulevard at Rocket Road in Hawthorne.

If you wonder what happens when you get stopped for drunk driving and taken to jail, take a look this video of St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa when he got popped in Florida during Spring Training last year.

Grumbling about cable service, including how expensive it is and how cable companies have a monopoly on TV watching, is as American as apple pie. And so are lawsuits. Today, Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said he plans to sue Time Warner for making false and misleading statements to customers, according to a wire story in the Daily News.

"The 25-page lawsuit claims the company violated its franchise agreement by having subscribers spend hours on hold with customer service representatives and allowing excessive repair work delays," the report states.

Last year, Time Warner took Redondo Beach to court to fight a $61,000 bill for failing to submit monthly records on call volumes and wait times on the customer service line. It looks like the legal dispute has settled, though.

The special circumstances murder case against Japanese national Kazuyoshi Miura is much, much, MUCH bigger ... at least for the Japanese media. Since Miura was charged earlier this year with the 1981 killing of his wife for insurance money during a visit to Los Angeles, the public information officers at the Los Angeles Superior Court and District Attorney's office have had their hands full trying to keep a pack of voracious news hounds well-fed. Every single event in the case is big news as competing media agencies try to out-do and out-scoop each other. Every court apperance is a circus.

As of today, the spectacle will call the South Bay "home." Judge Steven Van Sicklen has the case, and he is moving to Department F of the Torrance Courthouse to replace Judge Francis Hourigan, who retired recently. With Van Sicklen, comes the case.

Miura, who is currently incarcerated in his home nation, where he was convicted in 1994 for the same crime, has appeared via satellite television links at previous court hearings. His next court date is July 18. His bail status and a claim of double jeopardy are the current topics of litigation. Miura is represented here by famed defense attorney Mark Geragos. 

Photo: Associated Press

A Florida bank robber was seeing red Monday when a dye pack hidden inside the wad of stolen cash exploded in his pocket.

The whole thing was caught on surveillance tape. Watch for the red cloud in this AP report:

The District Attorney's Office put this release out today about that Long Beach mom who took her kids along while she sold heroin.


Mother suspected of taking kids on drug deals charged

LONG BEACH - A Long Beach mother suspected of taking some of her eight children along when she sold heroin was charged today with multiple counts of child abuse and selling a controlled substance, the District Attorney's office announced.

Enedina Cardona, 36 (dob 5-14-72), is scheduled to be arraigned after 1:30 p.m. at Long Beach Superior Court, Dept. J. She is charged in case NA078544 with three counts of selling a controlled substance and one count of possession for sale of a controlled substance -- all felonies. In addition, she is charged with 12 misdemeanor counts of child abuse. Prosecutors are asking that bail be set at $120,000.

Cardona is charged with selling heroin on three occasions, May 19, 27 and 28. On May 19, she allegedly had three children -- her 3- and 6-year-old sons and her 13-year-old daughter -- in her car when she sold drugs to undercover police. On May 27 and May 28, she again allegedly had the two youngest boys in the car during a drug transaction. Her eight children range in age from 3 to 16.

The case has been assigned to Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Hight to prosecute.

Photo by the Press-Telegram.

State athletic officials in Georgia are investigating whether a Catersville high school pitcher and catcher conspired to hurt an umpire.

If you watch the video, you can see the catcher duck as the pitch comes in. It hits the ump right in the face mask.

Did they do it on purpose? Some believe they were upset that that the umpire called several teammates out on strikes.

More coverage

The State Supreme Court spoke, and now they're speaking again: There will be no delays for the law allowing same-sex marriages in California. I imagine, if they could've written it, they would've tacked on a "'Nuff said" for all their naysayers. Here is the press release and order:  gaymarriage.pdf

Q. Any results of the Rosecrans DUI checkpoint on Saturday in MB? -- Stev.

A. Manhattan Beach police Sgt. Bryan Klatt said officers screened the occupants of more than 1,500 cars. They arrested 10 drivers on suspicion of driving under the influence. One was underage and one was a repeat offender.

Officers cited seven unlicensed drivers and towed 11 cars.

"We screened a lot of cars," Klatt said. "It was definitely worthwhile."

Barney Villa wrote to me about the recent death of former sheriff's Sgt. Mike Foster:

"We met several years ago, I was Mike's partner on the Burglary
Apprehension Team, Lomita Sheriff's Station. We later worked together
on the Arson Explosives Detail-Hazardous Material Team.  Mike is truly
missed, stories such as yours recently in the Daily Breeze remind me of
the great Cop, Husband, Father and most importantly friend to many that
he was.

Thank you Larry, It was very kind of you to acknowledge Mike."

For some reason, I can't find the results for the judicial elections anywhere on dailybreeze.com. So I will put them here, after the jump, or you can click on the County Registrar-Recorder's Web site to see them there. And, District Attorney Steve Cooley hung on to his job.

Investigators today released a sketch of a man who sexually assaulted a 19-year-old El Camino College student on May 23.

He is black, 18 to 22 years old, with a dark complexion. He is about 5 feet 5 inches tall, with a medium build, short black hair in a fade cut, and is clean shaven.

He has crooked teeth, two prominent dimples, acne above his left eye brow, wore a white T-shirt and blue jeans, and had a large imitation round diamond earring in his left ear lobe.

More information is coming soon to dailybreeze.com and the Wednesday print edition.

The Los Angeles Police Department announced Tuesday that a fund had been established to aid the Carson family that lost three children in a crash in Los Angeles last month.

Donations can be made to the Luna Family Foundation, Bank of America Account #2162566318. The fund was established by the Decron Properties Corporation, which employs the children's father, Ignacio Luna.

You can go to any Bank of America branch and make a donation with that account number or send a check to 9001 Lincoln Blvd., Westchester, CA 90045.

The crash occurred May 27 at Crenshaw Boulevard and Florence Avenue.

The three children -- two boys, Alexis Ayala, 4, and Carlos Luna, 12, and one girl, Tanya Ayala, 7 -- were killed when a speeding sport utility vehicle ran a red light and struck their van. Both vehicles exploded into flames.

The occupants of the other SUV died at the scene.

A private funeral service will be held for the children on Friday.

Ryan Castillo, who videotaped a co-worker using the restroom, pleaded no contest today in an "open" plea - meaning no plea deal was in place, he was just throwing himself at the mercy of the judge. Torrance Superior Court Mark Arnold put off sentencing until Castillo spends 90 days in county jail, beginning June 24. This ensures he doesn't get released early since his case is still open.

Castillo, 30, will also be sentenced to two years in state prison, which will be stayed pending successful completion of five years probation. Terms of his probation includes 30 days of work for the California Dept. of Transportation, 52 weeks of sex offender counseling and no contact with the victim or the Gardena company where they worked.

He pleaded to one felony count of unauthorized access to computers and three misdemeanors of invasion of privacy by secret filming.

The Associated Press is reporting today supporters of a Constitutional amendment that would define marriage as "one man and one woman" have gathered enough signatures to put the initiative before voters in November.

Long Beach police have identified the two men shot and wounded over the weekend during a suspected burglary, and one is a Gardena resident.

In recent weeks, Daily Breeze political reporter Gene Maddaus has followed the saga of Rep. Laura Richardson's mortgage woes. Here, Gene guest blogs about how the rising political star advocated for changes in laws that, we now know, would've helped her. Gene writes:

Last November, Rep. Laura Richardson attended a Congressional subcommittee hearing on the mortgage crisis.

Now that we know she had already defaulted on two of her homes, and was about to default on a third, some of her comments at the hearing take on a different meaning than they had at the time.

Richardson criticized Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for failing to do more to stop the crisis, and made specific requests for changes in state law.

 

Here's some items from a Redondo Beach police report I received today:

Wednesday 5/28:

08:00 hrs - Two RBPD off-duty sergeants were in the area of 200 N. Harbor Drive. A citizen advised them that a male was burglarizing a vehicle in an adjacent parking structure. Suspect was located and, after a brief struggle, the off-duty officers were able to arrest him. Suspect, Yuji Ono, a local transient, was turned over to RBPD patrol and booked on suspicion of burglary.

15:00 hrs - RBPD located a vehicle parked on the 500 block of S. Prospect that had previously been reported stolen elsewhere in Redondo Beach. It was located using an Automated License Plate Reader. Vehicle was recovered and held for CSI processing.

Two women who stole an elderly woman's purse by ambushing her with pepper spray in her Torrance driveway were sentenced today to prison. Janelle Chambers, who actually did the spraying and snatching, got five years. Her friend, Precious Williams, who drove the car, got four years in prison. The young women told police they were desperate for money to buy food and diapers for their children.

Judge James Brandlin gave them the minimum. As always, watch for the full story in tomorrow's Daily Breeze and at dailybreeze.com.

Remember that movie "Point Break" where the robbers covered their faces with masks of presidents?

Those are called disguises.

So, it's unclear what went through these guys' minds when they went about finding masks to obscure their faces.

Police in Arvada, Colo. have released a surveillance video and photos showing two robbers

committing a crime May 16 in women's thong underwear. One wore blue. The other picked green.

The lingerie covered only their chins, noses and mouths.

Here's the video:

Judicial candidates are largely unknown