A judge denied bail to a former Hawaiian beauty queen accused of spending more than $160,000 with credit cards under other peoples' names.

Susan Shaw, 35, of Kailua, and who also had a residence in Manhattan Beach, is facing 122 counts of identity theft and related crimes in state court involving 11 Oahu residents. She has been in custody since her arrest May 7.

Deputy City Prosecutor Chris Van Marter argued on Wednesday that Shaw would pose a significant flight risk if she were released on bail. Court records show Shaw flew from Hawaii to China, Canada, California, Nevada, Kansas and New Jersey last year.

Shaw was named first runner-up in the Miss Hawaii International scholarship pageant in 1993. She took over the crown when the winner left to become a cheerleader for the then-Los Angeles Raiders professional football team.

A search of the room she rented in Manhattan Beach turned up potentially more evidence of additional crimes and victims.

A Los Angeles man has been charged with with forging and passing about 40 counterfeit checks, most linked to Manhattan Beach residents' accounts, police said.

Kenneth F. Jones, 40, is facing 24 felony counts, and is held in county jail on $400,000 bail and a probation violation, Manhattan Beach police Sgt. Brian Brown said.

Jones allegedly created and passed counterfeit checks at banks throughout the county. The crimes usually began after victims' mail was stolen, Brown said.

An investigation into the crimes began in September. Jones was arrested April 4 in Los Angeles.

Torrance police and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service assisted Manhattan Beach with the investigation.

 

Each Wednesday, as long as the South Bay police departments keep me supplied with "wanted" fliers, we'll be publishing mugshots of suspects in a variety of crimes, along with surveillance shots and sketches of other baddies, in our print edition.

We'll put them up here as well. Let's call them "Wednesday's Wanted."

Here's today's pair:

Fraud Suspect

Manhattan Beach: Police say this man tried to open a fraudulent credit account on Sept. 7, 2008, at Fry's Electronics using a counterfeit California driver's license.

He was accompanied by a black woman in her 20s. She drove a four-door black mid-1990s Mercedes-Benz. The suspect is black, in his 60s, 6 feet 4 inches tall, 175 pounds, with gray hair and brown eyes.

If you know him, call Detective Michael Rosenberger at 310-802-5127.

Masked Bandit

El Segundo: On Aug. 26, 2008, this man in a painter's mask approached an employee at the Chevron gas station at 601 S. Vista del Mar, racked the slide of a black semiautomatic handgun as if to load it and demanded money. He fled with the cash register tray.

The robber is Latino, 23 to 25 years old, 5 feet 5 inches to 5 feet 7 inches tall, and 160 to 200 pounds. He wore a gray hooded sweat shirt, black pants and cloth gloves

If you know him, contact Detective Vince Martinez at 310-524-2200.

Looks like we have another possible victim of the identity thieves who pilfered $49,500 out of a Lennox woman's bank account.

A Hermosa Beach resident contacted me today and said a woman fitting the description of one of the suspects in my article and blog post looks like the person who withdrew $4,500 from her Torrance business' account at a Washington Mutual Bank branch in Monterey Park in April.

"I have a photo of her and she looks a lot like the heavy woman in your article, however she had sunglasses and a hat," the Hermosa woman said.

The thief tried to withdraw another $4,500 from the same account the VERY NEXT DAY. A bank official thought there was something wrong with that and called the victim. That's when the suspect split.

The victim said the suspect had a fake driver's license with the victim's name and suspect's face.

The bank reimbursed her the lost cash, but she said it cost her a lot of money to clean up her books and protect her accounts.

The victim said the LAPD didn't do much to investigate, so she was glad to call Sheriff's Department Detective Robert Connor today at the Lennox station.

He told me today he's received plenty of phone calls from Daily Breeze readers since the article came out, and has received some good tips to try to identify these women.

I heard from reporter Serene Branson at Channels 2 and 9, who's doing the story tonight on the TV news, so that will broaden the potential audience of people who can identify them.

I met Connor the other day here in the office. I got a good vibe that he'll do all he can to catch 'em.

This one comes to us from the Record Searchlight in Redding. The whistle was blown on this by Hermosa Beach resident who wanted police to help check on his mother's welfare. (Click the headline to link to the full story).

Mother, son in Corning arrested in bizarre case

Two suspected of burning their relative's remains in barbecue, stealing checks

By Jim Schultz

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The FBI has released stats showing crime is down in 2007, but check out this clock that's within the press release. It shows how often crimes occur across the country:

Here's stuff from the Redondo Beach Recent Law Enforcement Events report as prepared by Capt. Jeff Hink:

• On August 2, 2008, Redondo Beach Police Officer's were dispatched to a traffic collision at the intersection of Harriman Lane and Rindge Lane . During the course of the investigation it was discovered that one of the drivers involved in the collision possessed stolen items in his vehicle that were taken during previous vehicle burglaries in Redondo Beach. The suspect was arrested for possession of stolen property and gave consent to search his residence. The subsequent search led to the discovery of additional items that are believed to be stolen.

• On August 6, 2008 a plainclothes Manhattan Beach Police Department detective was in the 2500 block of Artesia Boulevard when he observed a group of male individuals on the sidewalk. He saw one of the males assault one of the other males and grab his iPod from him. The detective broke up the fight, detained the "aggressor" and determined that the suspect had committed a strong-arm robbery when he took the iPod. Ultimately, the juvenile suspect was arrested for robbery and taken to RBPD for booking.

A Torrance woman who became suspicious when she learned her name was used to rent a home in Canyon Country led investigators to a woman who allegedly held herself out as more than 20 different people with stolen identifications.

There wasn't room to get this into the story today about Torrance's crackdown on the methamphetamine business in the South Bay.

These agencies assisted them in the busts:

Gardena Police Department
Redondo Beach Police Department
LAPD Harbor Division
LAPD Gun Detail
LAPD Organized Crime Unit
LASD Carson station
LA IMPACT
Long Beach Police Department narcotics unit
LA County District Attorney's Office major narcotics unit
LA County Probation department
LA County Department of Children and Family Services
California Department of Corrections -- state parole
Southern California Edison Loss Prevention Unit (for indoor marijuana grows)
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Federal Drug Enforcement Administration
FBI Gang Task Force and Joint Terrorism Task Force
U.S. Postal Inspection Service

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's pen was busy today, as he signed into law two measures that will help victims of elder abuse and identity theft.

SB 1343 by Senator Jim Battin (R-La Quinta), gives seniors and disabled adults the right to have up to two support persons with them when delivering difficult testimony in cases of elder abuse. 

"By allowing a friend or family member in the courtroom while giving difficult testimony, elderly and disabled adults will feel more comfortable coming forward and pressing charges to allow justice to be served," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "This legislation not only protects this vulnerable community, but  helps to prevent these types of crimes from happening again."

SB 612 by Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), gives victims of identity theft a better opportunity to obtain justice by allowing identity theft cases to be prosecuted in the county where the victim lives - which is not always the location of where the crime occurs.