Recently in Weird Category

From Daily News wire services:

GLENDALE - A 58-year-old woman accused of hitting a Bob Hope Airport security agent while trying to take applesauce and other snacks for her elderly mother through security got a reprieve today from a judge who said the case would be dismissed if she stayed out of trouble for six months.

Nadine Kay Hays, of Camarillo, was captured on airport video that shows her getting into a tussle with a Transportation Security Administration agent while trying to take a cooler containing the snacks through airport security last April. Hays and her b93-year-old mother were heading to Nashville for a family wedding.

But Hays was instead arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor battery for her scuffle with the security guard.

"Officers come up and they cuff me, and they put me in the police car, and by now I'm hysterical because I've never had an encounter with the law," Hays told KTLA5.

Hays insisted that she had checked with the TSA previously to see if she could take the snacks aboard the plane, and was assured that she could because of her mother's medical condition. But the agents at the airport said the food couldn't go on the plane, prompting an argument and then a tug-of-war with the blue cooler, she said.

"And at that point I said, 'The ice chest belongs to me, give it to me,' and a tug-of-war, that was kind of the scene in the airport," she told Channel 5.

Hays said she eventually got the cooler back, threw the food away and passed through security. But she was arrested a short time later.

In court today, Glendale Superior Court Judge Frederick R. Rotenberg told Hays that he would dismiss the case in six months if she stayed out of trouble. He set another court date for Oct. 18.

"This should have happened a year ago," Hays' attorney, Mary Frances Prevost, told KTLA. "She should never have been arrested. She was arrested at the airport with her elderly mother. She was strip-searched at a jail. This should never have happened."

Hays told the station her family and friends kept encouraging her to accept a plea bargain, but she refused.

"The toughest part was they all wanted me to take the plea bargain, but I said no I can't do it," she told Channel 5. "And if nothing else, it's an example that I've set for my family."

Hays told the station her mother died three weeks ago at age 94.

Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton has been awarded the honorary title of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire -- one step below knighthood -- for his help with policing throughout Britain. The rare honor by Queen Elizabeth was announced Thursday.

On Monday evening a man was killed in the parking structure at the Beverly Center. Los Angeles Police Department homicide detectives are investigating the murder.

On May 18, 2009, at 3:11 p.m., officers from Wilshire Area responded to a call for service at the Beverly Center, located at 8500 Beverly Boulevard. When they arrived, the officers found an adult male suffering from several gunshot wounds.

The Los Angeles Fire Department was notified and transported the victim to a local hospital where he died a short time later.

During the investigation, homicide detectives identified the suspect who left the scene before the officers arrived. The suspect, Aubrey Louis Berry, a 23-year-old male, from Georgia was arrested for the murder at the Los Angeles International Airport. Berry is being held on $1 million bail.

Wilshire Area homicide detectives are handling the investigation and are still looking into the motive for the murder.

The victim's identity has not yet been confirmed, pending verification from the Los Angeles Coroner's Office. The victim was identified by friends, family and his publicist as the rapper Dolla, whose real name was Roderick Anthony Burton II.

Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact Wilshire Homicide Detective Frank Carrillo at (213) 473-0446. During off-hours, calls may be directed to a 24-hour, toll-free number at 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (527-3247). Callers may also text "Crimes" with a cell phone or log on to LAPD and click on Web tips. When using a cell phone, all messages should begin with "LAPD." Tipsters may remain anonymous.

Sometimes you gotta wonder what people are thinking.

VAN NUYS - A man accused of firing several rounds from an assault weapon into a parking lot following a domestic dispute pleaded today, the District Attorney's Office announced.

Deputy District Attorney Isidoro Baly of the Van Nuys Branch Office said Amir David Tamado Nejad, 28, of Woodland Hills pleaded no contest to two counts of assault with an assault weapon and admitted special allegations of personal use of an assault weapon. The defendant also admitted a prior strike, a 1998 conviction for conspiracy to commit a drive-by shooting.

Judge Richard Kirschner ordered the defendant to return for sentencing on June 15 in Department G of Van Nuys Superior Court. Nejad is expected to be sentenced to 26 years and eight months in state prison.

Following a domestic dispute between Nejad and his girlfriend on May 25, 2008, the defendant fired five rounds into a parking lot where his girlfriend and a security guard stood. During a search of his apartment, police discovered 12 firearms and more than 200 pounds of ammunition.

A 46-year-old man accused of stealing $100,000 from the Union Rescue Mission, then setting a fire to cover up the crime, pleaded, six days into his on-going jury trial.

Deputy District Attorney Sabrina Corsa said Alvin Synder pleaded no contest to one count each of first-degree residential burglary, grand theft of personal property, arson of property and attempt to burn a structure.

The defendant additionally admitted the allegation that a person was present in the dwelling at the time of the burglary and that the dollar-amount of property taken exceeded $65,000. Synder also admitted one prior strike conviction and four prison priors.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Monica Bachner ordered the defendant to return for sentencing on June 30, 2009, in Department 129 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. The defendant remains in custody and is being held without bail.

Synder pleaded open to the court, meaning the plea agreement was not part of a negotiated settlement with the District Attorney's Office. The defendant faces a maximum prison term of 21 years.

The charges stem from an incident on December 2, 2007, during which Synder broke into a safe in the cashier's office of the Union Rescue Mission and took $100,000 in cash and jewelry. A fire was set in a backroom of the office to destroy evidence, according to authorities. The defendant was arrested the next day.

The Union Rescue Mission - a homeless shelter, temporary residence and church for hundreds of individuals and families - houses a safe where clients deposit money and jewelry for safekeeping. The Union Rescue Mission accommodates up to 800 people on a given night.

An office worker cleaning a fridge full of rotten food created a smell so noxious that it sent seven co-workers to the hospital and made many others ill. Firefighters had to evacuate the AT&T building in downtown San Jose on Tuesday, after the flagrant fumes prompted someone to call 911. A hazmat team was called in.

pasadenastarnews.com

A Florida woman is accused of making more than $8.5 million from an online prostitution business that claimed to employ porn stars and fashion models.

Michelle Braun appeared Monday in federal court in Orange County and was allowed to remain free pending her next pretrial hearing next month.

The Boca Raton woman is accused of charging clients $50,000 or more to spend the night with adult film stars, models, and actresses. Prosecutors say she used her travel business, Global Travel Network Inc., to launder the money.

pasadenastarnews.com

So what do you do when you put out a call for guns in exchange for gift cards during a recession but run out of gift cards in the first two-hours of the event?

Call in the calvary.

Los Angeles' citywide gun buyback program was called an unexpected success after nearly 1,700 firearms were collected Saturday from owners who'd been promised anonymity, "no questions asked" and - very important - $100 gift cards.

In a way, the effort proved too successful: So many people showed up at collection sites with handguns and rifles in their trunks that organizers ran out of the Ralphs and Visa gift cards in the first two hours.

Some people went ahead and turned in weapons without the financial incentive. But an untold number of drivers left in a huff.

Cops this morning are saying they're waiting for an autopsy to be conducted on two men who drowned yesterday in a Sylmar pool before they rule the case out as a crime.

Paramedics were sent to 13378 N. Borden Ave., near Tyler Street, at 7:07 last night, said d'Lisa Davies of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Firefighters found the men, thought to be in their 30s, at the bottom of the pool, pulled them out, and pronounced them dead, Davies said.

Batman star Christian Bale was arrested Tuesday on allegations of assault, police said. dailynews.com

There's a police angle to the IndyMac takeover deal.

Police ordered angry customers lined up outside an IndyMac Bank branch to remain calm or face arrest Tuesday as they tried to pull their money on the second day of the failed institution's federal takeover.

You'll like this one. Cops in a small Georgia town are charging motorists caught in a police pursuit a surcharge to help cover the police officers' fuel costs. They hope to genterate an additional $26,000 a year. Apparently this isn't the only police force changing habits due to high gas prices. Other agencies like Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, are getting out of their cars and hoofing it or hopping on bikes.

In South Fayette, also in Pennsylvania, officers have been told not to sit parked up with air conditioning on.

The local police chief told his patrols: "If you want to stay cool, park under a tree."

A check a while back to see if the LAPD has followed suit. Nope. LAPD officers have not gotten out of their cars due to the rise in gas prices. But stay tuned. The city still is in a big budget crunch.

Well apparently, he is only co-starring in cartoon films. Check out his kid-oriented website.

Cities and counties are battling manhole-cover thefts, a crime spree that police tie to the weak economy. Hundreds of 200-pound covers have disappeared in three months in California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Georgia as scrap metal prices pop up.

The spokesman for the state's Justice Department forwarded me the state's significant cases for May. Included are big weapons, drugs and fraud cases. Enjoy.

CACHE OF WEAPONS AND AMMO FOUND IN PROBATIONER'S RESIDENCE

Special Agents with the Bureau of Firearms (BOF) checked the Armed Prohibited Person System and noted that a subject, Tom Powell, was listed as owning three firearms; however, due to previous criminal conviction he is prohibited from possessing and owning firearms. When agents determined that Powell was on searchable probation out of San Benito County, they conducted a search of his residence and located over 1,300 rounds of ammunition and a large gun safe. Powell told officers he had sold all of his weapons but he could not produce any records regarding the sales. A locksmith was called to the residence and opened the safe where agents retrieved five rifles, four handguns and one shotgun. Powell was arrested while other agents continued the search of the house. Located in the attic were additional weapons, including an unregistered AR-15 assault weapon, a 12-gauge shotgun and a revolver.

COMMERCIAL BRIBERY SCHEME AT CAL CASINO

While Special Agents from the Riverside Office of the Bureau of Gambling Control (BGC) were investigating several management employees of the Pechanga Resort and Casino, the Agents uncovered evidence that floor supervisor, Kathy Zhou, who was recently suspended from her job, was charging casino job applicants $3,000 each to falsify their job applications to secure employment. Agents monitored a telephone conversation between Zhou and one of her "customers," during which she instructed the individual not to say anything to DOJ agents. Zhou admitted to the witness during this conversation that she lied to the agents when they questioned her, and was admonishing everyone involved to "keep their stories straight." Zhou was arrested on charges of commercial bribery and obstructing a criminal investigation.

In a bloody weekend of violence, a dozen people were killed - six in the San Fernando Valley in mostly gang-related crimes.

The victims were killed in five incidents in the central-eastern parts of the San Fernando Valley. Two were gang related, two were unknown and one was a bizarre rear-ender car crash that left the driver and a passenger dead and resulted in the arrest of a DUI suspect.

dailynews.com

The Times today has a fascinating story about a new movement called OpenCarry.org, a group founded by a couple of Virginia-based gun owners tired of concealing their weapons and encouraging gun owners to openly carry their pistols. Many consider it a badge of honor and feel quite brave, even when encountered by armed cops ready to fire their weapons. Well, I don't know about that. But the story reminds me of an old Johnny Cash tune that offered a bit of sage advice,

Don't take your guns to town, son
Leave your guns at home, Bill
Don't take your guns to town.

Police are looking for a man who has gone on a string of cash tray robberies at five businesses.

A serial robber is on the loose, and police are asking for the public's help tracking the suspect down.

The bandit is believed to be responsible for at least five robberies over the past two months in the Mid-City Wilshire and Hollywood area. The robberies occurred at various times of day, and the man pointed a handgun at the clerk each time.

The suspect is described as a White male 25-30 years of age with brown hair. He stands between five feet seven and five feet nine inches tall.

* April, 29, 2008 - At 10:20 p.m., a man wearing a camouflage cap and a grey hooded sweatshirt, walked into the Ardmore Liquor store located at 3rd Street and Ardmore Avenue, picked up a pack of gum and took it to the counter. When the cashier opened the register, the man removed a gun from his waistband, grabbed the entire cash drawer and fled in a burgundy 80's Toyota Camry.

* May 1, 2008 - At 2:50 a.m., the suspect entered a Denny's restaurant located at Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue, where he pointed a handgun at the clerk and demanded money. The suspect grabbed the entire cash register drawer and ran.

* May 3, 2008 - At 3:20 a.m., the suspect walked into the same Denny's restaurant, this time wearing a wig. He pulled out a handgun, demanded the employee to turn over the money and again took off on foot with the cash register tray.

* May 31, 2008 - At 11 p.m., the suspect walked up to a parking lot attendant near the Beverly Center at La Cienega Boulevard and 3rd Street and robbed the employee at gunpoint once again, the suspect got away with the entire cash register tray.

* June 2, 2008 - At 2:45 p.m., the bandit entered a Chinese restaurant at 2nd Street and Western Avenue. As before, the suspect pulled out a handgun, ordered the clerk to hand over the money and fled with the cash register tray.

Anyone with information about these robberies is urged to call Wilshire Robbery Detective Luis Corona at (213) 922-8266. On off hours, weekends, and holidays calls may be directed to the toll free number 1-877-LAWFULL (529-3855).

This just in, from Foothill Division ...

PACOIMA - A suspected carjacker got a taste of his own medicine Tuesday morning after stealing a GMC truck and crashing it into parked cars including a mail truck, before being beaten and detained by citizens on the street, police said.

dailynews.com

On the 40th anniversary of Robert Kennedy's slaying at a Los Angeles hotel, The San Francisco Chronicle writes about the conspiracy theories that abound in the case.

Examples:

-- Sirhan fired his .22-caliber revolver from a few feet in front of Kennedy, according to police, yet Los Angeles County coroner Thomas Noguchi reported that the fatal shot was fired less than one inch from Kennedy's head, behind his right ear. Of the four shots fired at Kennedy, all came from the rear. None of this was raised at Sirhan's trial because his defense was based on the theory that he suffered from "diminished capacity" rather than on any challenge of prosecutors' evidence.

-- Sirhan's revolver held eight rounds; a radio reporter's tape recording of the shooting has sounds of what one audio expert describes as 13 shots. Sirhan never had a chance to reload before bystanders tackled him. Two of the sounds on the tape are what forensic experts call "double shots," which means two shots so close together that they couldn't have come from the same revolver.

-- Several witnesses saw a security guard just behind Kennedy draw his revolver, and one reported seeing him fire it.

-- Over the years, Sirhan has told investigators who interviewed him in prison that he was in a hypnotic trance during the shooting and can't remember it at all. He said he could not remember writing, "RFK must die." He did not respond to an interview request for this story.

sfgate.com

From the LAPD blog:

A police officer's weapon accidently discharged while attempting to pull over a vehicle with armed suspects inside on May 26, 2008.

The incident unfolded at around 6:30 p.m., when an undercover police unit working a detail to apprehend career criminals was conducting surveillance on an armed and dangerous vehicle in the 9000 block of Telfair Avenue, in Pacoima. The plain clothes unit needed uniformed officers to make the stop and summoned for a patrol unit.

After the suspect's vehicle turned into a driveway of a nearby home, Officer Claudia Avila and her partner pulled behind them exited the vehicle and drew their weapons to conduct a high-risk stop. While holding her duty weapon with her right hand, Officer Avila attempted to put the vehicle in park with her left hand and accidently discharged her weapon.

Neither the officers nor the suspects were injured. Both suspects were taken into custody and charged for a crime unrelated to the officer involved shooting.

Force Investigation Division will handle the incident. Officer Avila has been with the Department for two years and one month.

Earlier, I mentioned the story of the rise in thefts of gas from cars. Today, the New York Times has a piece about the rise in thefts of discarded frying oil from restaurants. Things are getting weird out there, my friends. Anyone got anything more bizarre, let us know.

Here's a funny one. It wasn't exactly pistols at 30 paces, but police say a security company supervisor and a restaurateur
shot each other with Tasers in a "bonehead" confrontation over parking. Officers said neither man needed medical attention after the Saturday confrontation, but Harvey Epstein, co-owner of Mamacitas restaurant, was arrested on suspicion of felony menacing and using a stun gun.

A college student whose friend was being questioned in a hit and run found himself charged with
assaulting an officer with a curious choice of weapons: M&Ms.

Sean McGuire was arrested early Sunday at a convenience store after Drake University security guards noticed the colored candies falling on the ground around the officer. When the officer turned around, an M&M hit his shoulder, according to a police report.

McGuire claimed he threw the candy because he was "sticking up for his friend," who apparently was the man suspected in the accident, the report states.

McGuire, of Glenview, Ill., was released from jail Sunday after posting $1,000 bond. A telephone call to his cellphone Monday wasn't immediately returned.

Earlier, I wrote about some of Los Angeles' oldest murder cases from the turn of the century. In one of them, a man named John Slovinski shot himself with a shotgun. He had been arraigned in a case involving attempted extortion through what was called a badger game. And I put out a call to readers asking if they knew what that was, to weigh in. Well, thanks to Mick O, who found the description on good ol' wikipedia.

Here's something you don't hear about every day... A little Friday weirdness to go with your Cheerios ...

Three teenagers were arrested after two of them told police they dug up a secluded grave north of Houston, removed the skull from the coffin and converted it into a marijuana bong. Police found a grave in the city of Humble that had been disturbed, but were still investigating the rest of the teens' story, Houston police Sgt. John Chomiak said.

A Glendale man was taken for $100,000 by a scam artist in return for a deed of trust in the home at 5541 Calera Avenue in Covina. Frank Girardot, over in the San Gabriel Valley, has the scoop.

U.S. border authorities no longer apprehend illegal immigrants only as they enter the country. Now they're catching them on the way out. At random times near the Tijuana-San Diego border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have been setting up checkpoints, boarding buses destined for Mexico and pulling off people who don't have proper documentation, latimes.com.

Chowhound food blog reviews the Police Academy eats ... A little lead with chowder anyone? Yeah, in addition to shooting paper targets, you can eat there too.

As I sat in the bunker-like dining room, I could see a team of men in desert camouflage uniforms eating huge portions of food. And at other tables were groups of men and women in various uniforms depicting their deployment. Gunfire rang out every so often.

This was breakfast at the LAPD Police Academy in Elysian Park.

The grounds are very bucolic, with gardens and fountains. The 1920's architecture is historically significant, and the people are friendly in an old-LA way.

The diner is not run down, per se, but certainly has not been updated recently. There's a selection of normal diner food, bacon and eggs, pancakes, etc.

chowhound

A 52-year-old man who was doing yard work Thursday at a relative's Riverside home was later found dead inside the backyard's underground septic tank. The man occasionally stayed with the relatives in the 1600 block of Oxford Street and was last seen working in the backyard about 10 a.m., according to a news release by the Riverside Police Department.

The Times reports.

SAN DIEGO -- Authorities say a woman who escaped from a Detroit prison 32 years ago has been arrested in San Diego, where she was a wife and mother living under a false name. U.S. Marshals say 53-year-old Susan Lefevre was taken into custody Thursday in the Carmel Valley area.

This morning you read about a man who held up a McDonald's in the Valley, now we've got the great Karaoke thieves. A little robbery potpourri.

Los Angeles police are looking for two men who were caught on a surveillance camera robbing a Karaoke business at gunpoint on April 14.

The robbery occurred in broad daylight, shortly after 3 p.m. when the pair entered the DJ Karaoke Box located at 4121 West Olympic Boulevard. One of the bandits approached the counter posing as a customer and acted as a lookout. Moments later, the other bandit walked up to a female employee standing behind the counter, showed a handgun, and demanded she open the cash register and turn over the money. The cashier complied with the suspect’s orders because she feared for her life, police said. The suspect grabbed an undisclosed amount of cash, a carton of Marlboro Light cigarettes, and a personal cell phone, and placed them in a white shopping bag with handles.

After taking the personal items and cash, both suspects walked out the back door and fled in a 2002-2005 grey, four-door Nissan Altima.

The gunman was described as a 20-25 year old Korean, and was wearing a white long- sleeve shirt and black pants. The second suspect, also described as Korean, was wearing a blue flannel shirt that he used to shield his face and conceal his identity.

No shots were fired and the cashier was not injured.

Surveillance footage and still photographs of the suspects are available through Media Relations Section.

Anyone who recognizes the suspects is asked to contact Wilshire Robbery Detectives Tae Hong or Webster Wong at (213) 922-8205/8231. During weekends and off-hours, call the 24-hour toll free number at 1-877-LAWFUL (1-877-529-3855).

ENCINO - There was a robbery at a McDonald's in Encino overnight and cops were looking for the culprit who dropped some of the loot on a nearby sidewalk as he fled from the scene, authorities said.

The robbery in the 15700 block of Ventura Boulevard near Haskell Avenue was reported around 11:10 p.m. Wednesday, a sergeant from the Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley Station said.

dailynews.com

An inter-agency police auto theft task force uncovered a cache of machine guns, stolen cars and motorcycles and a hunting dog breeding operation run out of a home in Sylmar and didn't publicize it when the story broke in 2006.

Here's the story in a nutshell, given to me by the good folks from the Task Force for Regional Auto Theft Prevention (TRAP) - West Team. TRAP is a team of cops which investigates commercial vehicle theft and fraud countywide.

The case began July 27, 2006, at 9 p.m. when LAPD Mission Division patrol officers found a stolen Nissan Altima parked in front of a home in the 13000 block of Parkland Circle in Sylmar. The thief had stolen the car by stealing someone's identity from a lost wallet. And the suspects used his information to purchase vehicles.

The next day, at 8 a.m., TRAP detectives saw the suspect, identified as Don Park, leave his residence, get into a Nissan Maxima - which turned out to be stolen - remove the sun shade and back out of the driveway.

Detectives confronted Park and later determined that five other vehicles at the residence were also stolen.

Park faces auto theft, making a false financial statement and identity theft charges at a court hearing set for next month.

A search of Park's residence turned up 45 firearms, large amounts of ammunition, ballistic vests, police scanners, and 11 automatic assault weapons/machine guns in an upstairs bedroom that had been converted into a storage room.

Police found an additional cache of ammunition in the living room cabinet. Additional weapons charges were also filed against Park.

In the garage of the home, detectives discovered three stolen motorcycles, taken from a locked motorcycle dealership on Hollywood Way in Burbank. The suspects had cut the chain to a locked gate in August 2004 afterhours.

Police also found that Park had been allegedly illegally breeding hunting dogs at his residence and had previously been cited by Animal Regulation officers for the activity.

Eleven dogs were confiscated and held pending the investigation.

Park has a prior felony conviction for robbery with a gun and was sentenced to 92 months in the state prison. Park had previously been deported to Korea after completing his sentence. Park entered the country and illegally set-up residence, police said.

Cops are going to hold a press conference this afternoon to alert the public about crooks who are posing as DWP workers and ransacking houses. Today at 3:30 p.m. at Louise Park, which is on the southeast corner of Louise Avenue and Sherman Way, in Van Nuys, LAPD Deputy Chief Michel Moore, the Valley's top cop, Capt. Jim Miller, who heads Van Nuys Division, and Lt. Steve Harer, who heads detectives at Van Nuys, will join the city's aging chief, James Don, to raise awareness about the issue.

LAPD investigators want to reveal how these suspects are operating. They also hope to enlist the public’s help in apprehending them. The suspects’ mode of operation is as follows: Two men show up at the front door of a residence claiming to be from the LADWP with a need to check exterior electrical wires. As the victim and one of the suspects remain outside for the alleged wire check, the other suspect enters the victim’s home and removes property.

I wrote a story about this late last year ...

Not a whole lot of fun at the crazy chicken last night...

CANOGA PARK - Chicken was on the menu, but last night at an El Pollo Loco a restaurant employee and a pregnant woman got a little more after a hit-and-run driver lost control of her vehicle and crashed into the side of the fast food restaurant, leaving them injured.

The crash occurred on the southwest corner of Topanga Canyon and Roscoe boulevards around 11:15 p.m. Monday.

A female driver in a dark-colored sport utility vehicle was traveling southbound on Topanga Canyon Boulevard, and apparently lost control while trying to turn westbound onto Roscoe Boulevard, Brady said.

dailynews.com

Wonder what this guy's nickname's going to be in prison ...

A Long Beach man has been convicted of federal smuggling charges for bringing into the United States several extremely rare iguanas after stealing them from a nature preserve in the Republic of the Fiji Islands.

Jereme James, 34, was found guilty yesterday of one count of smuggling and one count of possessing the endangered animals. The evidence presented during a three-day trial showed that James stole three hatchling Fiji Island banded iguanas (Brachylophus fasciatus) and brought them to the United States in violation of federal and international law.

dailynews.com