Recently in Rancho Palos Verdes Category

A Rancho Palos Verdes street was shut down Saturday afternoon while an ammunition box that a resident recovered while diving near Redondo Beach was examined, authorities said Sunday.

One item in the box, believed to be a flammable substance used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine, caused responding deputies to call arson and explosives experts to the scene, according to Sgt. Roger Digerlando of the Lomita Sheriff's Station.

The substance, red phosphorus, is used in matchbook strike plates and clandestine methamphetamine labs, according to the a Web site for the state Department of Toxic and Substances Control and Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

 

The resident told deputies he went diving Saturday morning and found the box floating in the ocean. He retrieved it, put it in his boat and brought to his home on Littlebow Road.

 

He examined the box's contents and found a red powdery substance, a white spoon and red clay. Believing the substances may be explosive, he contacted deputies, who responded just before 5 p.m.

 

The street was closed for a couple hours before investigators left with the box.

Torrance Superior Court Judge Eric Taylor sentenced Brian Foucher, 32, to 20 years and eight months, plus four life terms, this morning for kidnapping and raping one woman - and trying to do the same to three others - in the South Bay in 2002.

Foucher's history of mental illness, which did not come into play during his jury trial, was the focus of today's hearing.

We'll have a full story up later.

Previously:

Guilty verdicts in South Bay rape/kidnapping trial

How reading the Daily Breeze can get you into trouble

Mona Lisa makes a cameo in South Bay rape/kidnapping trial

A jazz concert on Saturday at Trump National Golf Course will benefit the foundation that bears Los Angeles SWAT officer Randal Simmons' name. Simmons, who hailed from Rancho Palos Verdes and died in a gunbattle in February 2008, worked closely with inner-city kids, and his memory and works lives on through the foundation. To learn more about the concert, visit The Official Randy Simmons Website.

Back in 2007, when Phillip Michael Dorsett went on trial for the June 16, 2005, shooting death of Jesse Fujino, 18, in Inglewood, it struck us as a strange case of a seemingly rich kid from The Hill who found a life of crime down below. I don't remember but the specifics of why, but I do remember there being a lot of fall-out from Dorsett's family after we ran an article about his conviction (after the jump).

Last month, the 2nd District Court of Appeal upheld Dorsett's second-degree murder conviction, but said the prosecutor did not present enough evidence to support the allegation he committed the murder for the benefit of a criminal street gang. The appellate court said he could not be re-tried on the allegations because doing so would be double-jeopardy. The end result, though, doesn't change things much as far as Dorsett's 40 years to life in prison sentence goes.

It's been nearly three years since a Torrance jury couldn't agree on what crime to convict Cameron Brown with. Now, the case is poised once again for trial - this time in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.

Brown is charged with murder for the Nov. 8, 2000, death of his 4-year-old daughter, Lauren Sarene Key, who died after going over a 120-foot cliff in Rancho Palos Verdes. Prosecutors believe Brown, 48, threw the girl to avoid paying child support. He's also facing the special circumstance allegations of lying in wait and killing for financial gain. He is facing the possibility of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Deputy District Attorney Craig Hum, who handled the first 2006 trial, said today that there will be some pretrial motions in the case's new home before Judge Michael Pastor on Thursday. Specifically, Pastor will decide if the jurors in the second trial, like those in the first, will take a field trip to Inspiration Point. Jury selection is expected to begin July 9. Trial should go through mid-September.

Our story on the first mistrial is after the jump.

Previously:

Question: Cameron Brown retrial?

Update: Cameron Brown RPV cliff-death case

Cameron Brown shank case dismissed

 

In a particularly well-done My Turn column, Kristin Lobenstein shares how "run-of-the-mill" burglary is really so much more.

A man dressed in "motorcycle leathers" and a helmet pointed two guns at tellers Monday and robbed a Rancho Palos Verdes bank, sheriff's deputies said.

The robbery at the Union Bank branch at 20 Miraleste Plaza possibly was committed by a member of the so- called Sport Bike Crew, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

In each crime, the bandit wears a motorcycle helmet and outfit.

In Monday's crime, the bandit walked in about 10 a.m. and pointed guns at the tellers, Lomita sheriff's Lt. Greg Ahn said.

Eimiller said he possibly had a third weapon.

"There have been two very similar robberies in Long Beach, and there is one attempt in Los Angeles," Eimiller said.

The gunman did not fire the weapons and no one was hurt.

He was last seen riding away on a sport motorcycle south on Palos Verdes Drive East.

Witnesses described him as white, 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 9 inches tall, with a small to medium build. He wore black clothing and a red helmet with black stripes or tape on it.

Bank photographs of the robbery were not immediately available. Previous 

photographs of a robber in a blue motorcycle outfit and helmet are available on labankrobbers.org in the serial bandits section.

Anyone with information about him is asked to contact the FBI at 310-477-6565.

Tips also can be made anonymously through the Web site.

A man dressed in "motorcycle leathers" and a helmet pointed two guns at tellers today and robbed a Rancho Palos Verdes bank, deputies said.

The robbery at the Union Bank branch at 20 Miraleste Plaza occurred about 10 a.m., Lomita sheriff's Lt. Greg Ahn said.

The man, wearing a complete motorcycle riding outfit,  held a gun in each hand, but fired no shots.

No one was hurt.

He was last seen riding away on a motorcycle south on Palos Verdes Drive East.
Lomita sheriff's detectives and FBI agents are investigating.

The amount of money taken was not disclosed.

The Los Angeles Times' look at 9th Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski's e-mail group, called Easy Rider Gag List, includes some of the jokes and such that the well-respected leagle eagle sent to friends, colleagues and others.

This was one of my favorite lines from the article:

"Other jokes, labeled "P&T" in the subject heading to indicate they were "puerile and tasteless," were cruder and more sexually explicit and used language that defies quotation in a general circulation newspaper. "

You can read the entire report by clicking here.

Previous entries on Kozinski are here.

I received this letter from Andrew Minassi of Rancho Palos Verdes in response to my story about vehicle burglaries at cemeteries.

I knew that theft and robbery are some of the largest crimes that occur on a day to day basis. However, before reading your article I have never even imagined that criminals would act so low as to break in citizen's cars and steal when they are mourning with their lost loved one. I was taken aback when I read the story of the young woman and her mother who visited the grave of her father and realized her car
has been broken into.

As a child, my parents taught me to always have respect for anyone, let alone the dead. Ever since my grandmother passed, I too visit her resting ground at Green Hills Memorial Park, and not once have I ever thought of our car being broken into. While visiting a grave or burial ground, I believe the visitors are in a state of peace, reconnecting with their loved ones while everything is off their mind except the deceased family or friend.