February 2010 Archives

News that a Napa man, and former head of a state mental hospital, was arrested for molesting his adopted son in Long Beach for more than decade had barely broken when calls of other alleged victims began flooding into the Long Beach Police Department, police said Thursday.
At least four messages regarding potential victims of alleged child molester Claude Edward Foulk Jr. were left by Thursday afternoon for the lead investigator on the case, said Long Beach Police Lt. Alex Avila.
"That's a lot of calls and in a short amount of time," the lieutenant said, noting that the lead investigator had just returned from Northern California, where Foulk was arrested Wednesday, and had yet to investigate the claims.
News of the 62-year-old former Long Beach resident's arrest broke Wednesday afternoon after he was arrested on the campus of Napa State Hospital, where he served as executive director until the time of his arrest Wednesday morning.
Police and the prosecutor's office said Wednesday they were aware of at least five victims with claims of sexual abuse dating back to 1975 and police believed there were other victims who had yet to come forward.
Sex Crimes detectives began investigating Foulk after one of the five victims, now in his 40s, contacted authorities after coming across his former abuser in Northern California, Avila said Thursday.
"One of the victims, I cannot identify him by name, came across his abuser while in Northern California," Avila said Thursday. "When (that victim) realized that his abuser was working at a mental hospital in a high position of authority with access to abuse others he decided to come forward. He didn't want anyone else to endure the abuse he had endured."
After talking to the first victim to come forward, police realized too much time had passed since those incidents to file a charge, Avila said.
Investigators, however, were able to use the formation that victim gave them -- including the names of other possible victims -- to find the four other victims, including one man in his 20's whose abuse had occurred within the statute of limitations, the lieutenant said.
Avila said having that information and the information of all possible victims, even those whose cases may be past the point of filing, is crucial.
"All that information helps build a stronger case," Avila said Thursday.
In some cases, victims with incidents of abuse that don't fall within the statute of limitations can still testify in court as character witnesses, authorities said.
And police might never have found out about Foulk, Avila and others said, if the first victim had not come forward.
"We were fortunate that one person, years after the abuse, decided to come forward," Avila said. "So often in these cases the victims will live their whole lives with the pain, they never say anything."
Police said Thursday that four of the victims were foster children placed in the care of Foulk, and that the 62-year-old suspect eventually adopted two of the victims.
One of the adopted sons is the man on which authorities based their 35-felony count case, said LBPD Cmdr. Jeff Johnson.
All of the victims were either foster children or friends of foster children taken in by Foulk, said Prosecutor Lesley Klein.
None of the victims were connected to Foulk's work at the Napa State Hospital, the deputy district attorney said.
But police strongly believe Foulk used his expertise in the field of mental health both in Southern California and Northern California to coerce and manipulate other victims, Avila and Johnson said.
California Department of Mental Health officials said they were not notified of the investigation until Foulk's arrest, and noted that he was immediately fired Wednesday.
In light of the allegations, the state department of Consumer Affairs said Thursday that it was working to revoke Foulk's nursing license, which he has held since 1974.
County records showed the Foulk was briefly married in the 1970s, but single when adopted the two boys.
There are no arrests for sex crimes on Foulk's record, Avila noted.
Foulk, who goes by the name Edward or Ed, was arrested by Long Beach police at the Napa hospital campus where he lived at about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, police said.
The 62-year-old defendant was driven to Long Beach by investigators that same day and booked into the Long Beach City Jail on a $3.5 million warrant, where he remained on Thursday.
He is expected to be formally charged at his arraignment at the Long Beach Superior Court this morning, Klein said.
The 35 felony count charge filed against Foulk includes 22 counts of forcible oral copulation, 11 counts of sodomy by use of force, and two counts of forcible lewd acts on a child, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
All 35 counts pertain to the one victim, a former foster child who was 10 when Foulk made a home for the boy in Long Beach in the fall of 1992. That is when the alleged abuse began and it continued through 2003, when the boy moved with Foulk to Walnut, Calif., said Jane Robison, the DA's spokeswoman.
All the victims were boys, police said, and the vast majority of the incidents occurred in Long Beach, though there were incidents documented in Rancho Murieta, a Northern California community, police said.
"The Long Beach crimes date from 1975 to 2004. The Northern California crimes (date) from 2004 to 2006," Long Beach Police Sgt. Dina Zapalski said Wednesday.
As of Thursday, no additional counts had been filed in the case, Klein said.
Klein declined to say whether other counts may be pending if new cases are confirmed, citing the on-going investigation.
If convicted on all 35 counts, Foulk could face more than 280 years in prison, according to the DA's office.

A hearing, used to determine whether a 17-year-old alleged gang member should be tried as an adult in the 2009 slaying of a Long Beach man over the victim's iPod, was postponed once again Thursday.
It marks at least the third delay in case of the defendant, who was 15 at the time of the April 2009 killing of Garrett Norris, 27.
If the defendant, who has not been identified because he is a juvenile, is tried as an adult, he faces the possibility of life without parole if convicted on all counts.
Norris was gunned down in broad daylight while playing basketball with friends on a Saturday afternoon at Orizaba Park, located at Spaulding Street and Orizaba Avenue.
The victim was killed after he tried to stop two alleged gang members from running off with his belongings, which included his iPod, police said.
The USC Engineering graduate, who moved to Long Beach last fall after securing a job with Mercedes-Benz of Long Beach, chased the suspects into an nearby alley, where he was shot in the chest, according to authorities.
Norris was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The 15-year-old youth was arrested within a few days of Norris' slaying and has remained incarcerated at a juvenile detention center since that time.
His fitness hearing is now scheduled for April 12, according to court staff.

[A preliminary hearing was delayed Thursday for two alleged gang members charged in the slaying of a Wilson High School honor student following her school's homecoming game last fall.
Alleged gunman Tom Love Vinson and his co-defendant, Daivion Davis, both 16, are charged with first degree murder for the Oct. 30 killing of Melody Ross, also 16.
The charge against Vinson and Davis includes two counts of attempted murder for the wounding of two other men following the football game and includes a special circumstance allegation that the shooting was carried out to benefit the defendants' gang.
Because of the special circumstance allegation, Vinson and Davis face the possibility of life without parole if convicted on all counts, according to prosecutors.
Both teens have pleaded not guilty and are being tried as adults in the high profile case.
Their preliminary hearing was postponed Thursday and rescheduled for April 15, according to court staff.
Vinson and Davis are accused of shooting into a crowd of hundreds of people streaming out of the gates of Wilson High School at about 10 p.m. following Wilson's homecoming game against Poly High school.
Ross, an innocent bystanders, was standing next to the Wilson campus on Ximeno Avenue, between Seventh and Tenth streets, when she was hit in the side by a single round. She was pronounced dead at a local hospital, police said.
The two Long Beach men, one 18 and the other 20, also hit by the gunfire who survived are believed to be gang rivals of Vinson and Davis and were the intended targets of the shooting, police said.
Ross' killing galvanized many in the community, with local leaders and individuals rallying behind the girl's family in the wake of her tragic death.
However, last week's decision by the family to file a wrongful death claim against the city and the Long Beach school district has sparked some backlash against the Ross family.
The family has up to a year to file suit after the city and the school district rejected their claim earlier this month.
As of Thursday, no such filing had been made with either the school district or the city, officials said.

[A 34-year-old Long Beach man accused of murder and drunk driving in the hit-and-run dragging death of a 1-year-old girl was ordered to stand trial on all felony counts Wednesday.
Disturbing testimony was given in the preliminary hearing for Neely Lejon Dinkins, whose blood alcohol level was measured at .20, or more than double the legal limit at the time of his arrest for the killing of Kaylee Alvarez on Sept. 11, 2009.
Dinkins is charged not only with the death of 1-year-old Kaylee but also the near killing of Kaylee's 2-year-old brother, Oscar, as the children's parents and several other passersby looked on in horror.
The baby and her toddler brother were being pulled across Redondo Avenue at Tenth Street in a little red wagon by their parents at about 8:30 p.m.
Witnesses called to testify Wednesday included Kaylee's mother, who cried at times but was able to testify at length and in detail about the harrowing night.
She and other witnesses recounted for the court how the Dodge Durango, driven by Dinkins, slammed into the red plastic wagon and dragged the two children about a block before Dinkins' was stopped by good Samaritan Ira Cohen.
When the SUV stopped Oscar rolled out from under the vehicle landing at the Cohen's feet, Cohen testified. He snatched Oscar to safety as Dinkins sped off a second time, with little Kaylee still buckled inside the wagon, witnesses testified.
Another good Samaritan followed the SUV as Dinkins wound his way around the neighborhood, dragging the baby for more than a mile before he stopped in the driveway of his girlfriend's home on Wilton Street just off Redondo.
Throughout the incident calls flooded the Long Beach Police Department's 911 center and officers swarmed the area, desperately searching for the SUV.
Dr. Paul Gliniecki, the Los Angeles County Coroner's investigator who conducted the autopsy on Kaylee, testified Wednesday that the girl's cause of death was multiple blunt force trauma caused by being dragged beneath the vehicle.
Extensive wounds were documented on the child's body, from her head to her feet. In several places the skin was worn down to bone and muscle tissue and the child's skull was shattered, the doctor said.
Some of the injuries showed Kaylee's heart was still pumping as she was dragged, suggesting the possibility that she was alive throughout much of the dragging.
"The most significant injury was to the top of the head ... which was torn off," Gliniecki said, adding that part of the child's face, nose and ear and part of one hand were also ground away.
"She was basically dragged across the road until those parts ... were torn away," Gliniecki said.
As witnesses testified to the chilling details Dinkins showed little emotion, though he occasionally looked down.
The single father appeared to have aged significantly since his September arraignment. His once shaved head was covered with closely cropped black hair peppered with gray and silver strands and he looked thinner in his Los Angeles County Jail-issued blue pull-over and pants.
Dinkins is charged with five felony counts, including murder, gross vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence causing injury or death to both Kaylee and Oscar and fleeing the scene of the accident.
An allegation of inflicting great bodily injury applies to a number of the counts and the defendant also has one strike on his record, all of factored into his new bail amount, which was raised to $1.49 million by Long Beach Superior Court Judge Judith Meyer.
Dinkins is scheduled to appear in Long Beach Superior Court's Dept. J on March 10 for arraignment.

The former head of the state's largest mental health facility was arrested at his job in Napa Wednesday morning on a charge of molesting a Long Beach foster child for more than a decade, and is under suspicion of molesting at least four other boys going back to the 1970s.
The 35 felony count charge filed against Claude Edward Foulk Jr. includes 22 counts of forcible oral copulation, 11 counts of sodomy by use of force, and two counts of forcible lewd acts on a child, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
All 35 counts pertain to one victim, a foster child who was 10 when Foulk made a home for the boy in the fall of 1992. That is when the alleged abuse began and it continued until 2003, said Jane Robison, a DA spokeswoman.
The victim, now in his 40s, came forward when he found out Foulk was in charge of Napa State Hospital, which houses the criminally insane and violent sexual predators, Robison said.
Foulk could face more than 280 years in prison if convicted on all counts, she said.
The 67-year-old accused child molester was arrested at the hospital's campus at 8:30 a.m. by Long Beach Police Department Sex Crimes detectives, said Deputy District Attorney Lesley Klein.
The former Executive Director of the hospital, who usually went by his middle name, was arrested on a $3.5 million warrant issued by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office Monday. He was being driven from Napa to Long Beach, where he is expected to be arraigned by no later than Friday, Robison said.
Investigators have found at least four other alleged victims with incidents dating back to 1975, said Sgt. Dina Zapalski, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman.
All the victims were boys, the sergeant said, and all but one were located in Long Beach. The only victim not tied to Long Beach was molested in Rancho Murieta, a Northern California community, Zapalski said.
"The Long Beach victims date from 1975 to 2004. The Northern California victim dates from 2004 to 2006," Zapalski said.
Robison said so far no counts have been filed on behalf of the other victims, primarily due to the statute of limitations. As more information is gathered in the investigation more counts may be filed, she said.
And police said they are still searching for victims and urge anyone who may have been a victim to come forward.
"The investigators have reason to believe that there may be more victims we do not know about," the sergeant said, adding that anyone who is a victim or who knows of a victim should immediately call the Sex Crimes Detail at 562-570-7368.
The arrest of Foulk, who was terminated from his position with the Department of Mental Health immediately upon his arrest, caused a maelstrom of media coverage in the Napa area, officials said.
Nancy Kincaid, communications director for the California State Department of Mental Health, confirmed Wednesday that Foulk was executive director at the state's largest mental hospital until his termination Wednesday morning.
Kincaid said Foulk had worked at the Napa hospital since March 1, 2007.
She said the hospital was not notified of the investigation until Wednesday morning, when police arrived at the campus and arrested Foulk.
She also stressed that none of the victims were tied to his work at the hospital, which was confirmed by police.
Zapalski said all of the victims were known to Foulk, but none of them were connected to the Napa State Hospital.
Investigators, however, declined to release the exact relationship between Foulk and the victims or any further details about the case, Zapalski said.
At the time of Foulk's appointment to Napa State Hospital he was lauded for his lengthy career in mental health services in both the private and public sectors.
Prior to Napa State, Foulk worked for the state Department of Mental Health as the Chief of Program, Policy and Fiscal Support. Prior to that, he held positions as chief executive officer and chief operating officer of private community acute psychiatric hospitals, including CPC Horizon Hospital and Clinic in Pomona and CPC Alhambra Psychiatric Hospital in Rosemead, according to a Department of Mental Health press release.
As executive director of the Napa State Hospital, Foulk oversaw more than 2,300 employees who provide clinical, administrative and support services for the daily activities of the hospital and treatment of more than 1,100 patients who reside at the hospital.
Founded in 1875, Napa State Hospital is one of five hospitals in the state's mental health system and is the only state hospital for mentally ill individuals in Northern California.
It is located on 138 acres in the city of Napa and the hospital provides mental health services to individuals who are civilly committed by county mental health departments and judicially committed by the courts, according to the hospital's Web site.

Police arrested a 15-year-old girl for a brazen armed-robbery carried out in broad daylight Tuesday.
The victim, also a 15-year-old girl, said she was standing in a parking lot in the 1300 block of East Seventh Street at about 9:30 a.m. when the suspect walked up to her and asked her "where she was from," said Sgt. Dina Zapalski, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman.
The suspect then pulled out a knife and threatened to attack the girl if she didn't give up the phone, which the victim was using to call her mother, Zapalski said.
"Fearing for her life, the victim gave up the phone and the suspect fled, Zapalski said.
The victim was able to find someone nearby who helped her call police, the sergeant said.
After giving a description of the suspect, officers located another 15-year-old girl matching the description near Fourth Street and Alamitos Avenue, Zapalski said.
That teen was arrested on a charge of armed robbery. Police declined to release her name, citing her status as a minor.
The cell phone, however, was not recovered, Zapalski added.

A 17-year-old Lakewood youth was charged as an adult Tuesday for the shooting death of a 20-year-old Hawaiian Gardens man, who was gunned down in East Long Beach earlier this month, authorities said.
The defendant, Tyrell Ainsworth, was arrested by Long Beach police last week and was formally charged with one count of murder and one count of personal use of a firearm at the Long Beach Superior Court Tuesday afternoon, said Shiara Davila, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Because Ainsworth was charged as an adult he faces the possibility of a life term in prison, she said.
Long Beach homicide investigators began looking into the case when the body of the victim, James Antonio Withers, was found in the 2300 block of Vuelta Grande around 1:05 a.m. on Feb. 7 after residents reported a person lying in the street.
The victim was shot in the upper body, police said, but not much more was released.
Police announced on Tuesday the arrest of a 17-year-old Lakewood boy for the killing.
The teen was arrested in connection with the slaying on Friday, said Sgt. Dina Zapalski, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman.
Zapalski said the investigation revealed Withers and the suspect were acquaintances and that they had attended a function outside of Long Beach prior to the shooting.
The shooting happened after the two young men went to the Eastside neighborhood and got into an argument, Zapalski said.
Police declined to say what the argument was about or why the pair were in the normally quiet area just blocks from El Dorado Park.
Police declined to identify the suspect, citing his status as a juvenile.
Prosecutors, however, decided Tuesday to direct file the case and charged Ainsworth as an adult, Davila said.
The arraignment, which began Tuesday afternoon, was postponed until March 9, she said.
Ainsworth, meanwhile, will be held without bail at the Los Padrinos Juvenile Detention Center in Downey.

Long Beach Police Cmdr. Jay Johnson will hold the South Division Community Leadership/Downtown Neighborhood Watch meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Members of the public are encouraged to attend the quarterly sessions, which include information on current crime trends in the division and what is being done to address those issues.
The South Division is bordered by Anaheim Road to the north, Cherry Avenue to the east, Ocean Boulevard to the south and the Long Beach (710) Freeway to the west.
The meeting is scheduled to run about an hour and will be held at The Cellar, 201 E. Broadway.
Those who plan to attend should RSVP to Police Service Specialist Mary Antunez via e-mail, at Mary.Antunez@longbeach.gov, or by calling her at 562-570-5829.

An 80-year-old Long Beach man survived a harrowing ordeal when he was car-jacked and kidnapped at gunpoint in East Long Beach, police said Monday.
The victim was pulling out a gated community in the 1100 block of Palo Verde Avenue at about 7 p.m. Saturday when he was approached by two armed suspects who pushed their way into the victim's brand new car, said Sgt. Dina Zapalski, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman.
The victim told investigators that the suspects, who were armed with handguns, forced their way into his 2010 Lexus RX3.
The gunmen drove several blocks with the terrified victim held captive inside his car before eventually dumping the 80-year-old in 6300 block of East Fifth Street, Zapalski said.
"It looks like he was partially (bound), he was able to go to a nearby home where he found help," Zapalski said, adding that the 80-year-old was not hurt.
Police found the victim's car a short time later in Orange County, the sergeant said.
The two suspects, however, remained at large Monday.
They were both described as male whites, in their 30s, about 5'11" and 180 pounds each, she said.
Anyone with information about the incident is urged to call investigators in the Robbery Detail at 562-570-7464.

It was a violent weekend in Long Beach with two stabbings and a shooting logged between Friday and Saturday, police said Monday.
The first incident was reported at about 3 p.m. Friday in North Long Beach when a 21-year-old local was shot multiple times, said Nancy Pratt, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman.
The victim was standing outside a residence in the 10 block of East Plymouth Avenue when a male suspect confronted him and an argument ensued, Pratt said.
During the argument the suspect pulled out a gun and fired multiple rounds, striking the victim repeatedly, Pratt said.
Though the victim was initially listed in serious condition he is expected to survive the attack, which is being investigated as possibly gang-related, she said.
Gang detectives are also investigating a stabbing the happened the following night and that left a 15-year-old Long Beach youth with severe injuries, Pratt said.
Police were called to a local hospital at about 7:25 p.m. Saturday after the badly injured teen arrived at the emergency room, she said.
Police have little information to go on due to the victim's refusal to cooperate, Pratt noted.
Though his injuries are serious he is expected to survive, she said.
A second stabbing was reported at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday in an alley in the 10000 block of East Market Street, Pratt said.
The victim, an 18-year-old Long Beach resident, told police he was walking in the alley when the unknown suspect approached him and attacked him with no provocation.
The 18-year-old was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and Violent Crimes detectives are handling that matter, Pratt said.
Anyone with information on the incidents is urged to call either Gang Enforcement, at 562-570-7370, or Violent Crimes, 562-570-7250.

A 40-year-old Long Beach man who allegedly attacked his live-in girlfriend with a machete was charged with her murder Monday.
Alberto Fonseca was found last Thursday critically injured from what appear to be self-inflected slash wounds. In bed with him was the bloody corpse of his long-term girlfriend, Mireya Lopez Medina, who was pronounced dead at the scene, said Sgt. Dina Zapalski, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman.
Though police did not initially name Fonseca a suspect authorities did say they were looking into domestic violence as a possible motive.
A relative of the one of the two came home around 8:15 a.m. that morning and found the pair in the bedroom of their home in the 1900 block of Cedar Avenue and called 911, police said last week.
The investigation revealed the couple were arguing when Fonseca attacked his long-time girlfriend with the machete before turning the weapon on himself, Zapalski added Monday.
Fonseca was initially listed in critical condition late Thursday, but his condition has since improved.
"It looks like he's going to survive his own stab wounds," the sergeant said.
Once Fonseca's condition was stable, Homicide Investigators Mark McGuire and Greg Krabbe took their case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office for filing.
Fonseca was formally charged with Medina's murder Monday, the sergeant added.

Long Beach's new Chief of Police will be officially sworn-in March 13.
Jim McDonnell, who is still finishing out his tenure at the Los Angeles Police Department, has been meeting with Long Beach Police officers and civilian staff so that he will be ready to "hit the ground running," following swearing in.
The ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Terrace Theatre, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., and is open to the public.
The more than 30-year veteran of the LAPD, who achieved the rank of second in command under former LAPD Chief Bill Bratton, was chosen in January as the replacement for former Chief Anthony Batts.
McDonnell, a married father of two daughters who lives in Long Beach, was selected from a field of at least seven applicants, including five internal applicants made up of the LBPD's highest ranking officers.
Batts announced his decision to become Oakland's police chief in August. At the time of Batts' departure, West said the search for his replacement would be internal due to the caliber of the candidate pool and to save costs.
West changed his mind shortly after the internal candidates filed their applications on the original deadline of Dec. 11, announcing the decision to open the search to outsiders the following Monday.
That move spawned a major controversy within the Long Beach Police Department. Many officers read the decision to open the search after the internal candidates applied as a slap in the face to the department's brass.
While upset with West's decision, the vast majority of officers have expressed a great deal of respect for McDonnell and look forward to working with him, said Long Beach Police Officers Association President Steve James.

This isn't local, but nonetheless is quite interesting.
The Associated Press is reporting that an illegal deer hunt in Nevada cost two California men dearly, pardon the pun, with the pair sentenced to jail time, fined and ordered to forfeit the equipment they used when they killed the animal in 2005.
Forty-year-old Jon Warren of Redding and 57-year-old Alan Jeffers of Anderson were sentenced Wednesday in Nye County after being convicted of illegal possession of a mule deer, a gross misdemeanor.
The Nevada Department of Wildlife says the two were ordered to forfeit their truck, trailer, all-terrain vehicles, and firearms. Warren was sentenced to 45 days in jail. Jeffers was given 60 days. Both were fined $500 and put on probation for three years.
Game wardens say the pair applied for hunting permits in one area, then intentionally hunted in a different area.
So what do you all think? Does the punishment meet or exceed the crime?

Police arrested a 45-year-old Long Beach man Thursday night after he allegedly pointed a gun at another motorist in what the victim called a case of road rage.
Long Beach patrol officers were called to the intersection of 10th Street and Walnut Avenue at about 7:30 p.m. after the victim, a 23-year-old Long Beach woman, called to report a man with a gun, said Officer Jackie Bezart, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman.
The victim told officers the suspect, identified as Medgar Joseph Roy, pulled out a gun and pointed it at her as she sat in her car.
What triggered the road rage incident was not known Friday, Bezart said.
The victim was not hurt, she added.
Officers arrested the 45-year-old suspect and he was booked into the Long Beach City Jail on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, Bezart said.
He was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail Friday and is scheduled for arraignment at the Long Beach Superior Court Monday afternoon, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Inmate Information Center.

One of two roommates was behind bars after a fight between the men left the victim with a sliced arm, police said Friday.
Long Beach patrol officers were called to the suspect and the victim's home, in the 2000 block of Cameron Street, at about 11 p.m. Thursday regarding a stabbing, said Officer Jackie Bezart, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman.
Officers found the two roommates had been fighting when one allegedly pulled out a knife and sliced the other on the arm, Bezart said.
The 43-year-old victim was treated by paramedics at the scene, she said.
The suspect, identified as 57-year-old Robert Arredondo, was arrested on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon and booked into the Long Beach City Jail.
Because Arredondo was on probation he was being held without bail Friday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Inmate Information Center.
He is expected to be arraigned on the felony charge at the Long Beach Superior Court Monday afternoon.

A preliminary hearing setting was postponed Friday for a 19-year-old Long Beach man charged with felony hit-and-run in the near-killing of a prominent local attorney.
Joshua Gasser appeared briefly in the Long Beach Superior Court as his attorney, William Bruzzo, asked for a delay in the matter.
They are scheduled to return to the Long Beach Superior Court March 19.
Gasser and his parents declined comment Friday, but his lawyer said they were all saddened by what had happened to the victim, Lynda Vitale.
"We're very sorry," Bruzzo said. "It's a tragic case."
Gasser was arrested in mid-January after the victim's daughter, Athena Alfaro, spotted the 19-year-old driving a car that matched the description of one in the area when her mother was run down and left for dead.
The 60-year-old Vitale was walking her dog about 7:50 p.m. on Dec. 15 when she was hit as she crossed the intersection of 36th Street and Myrtle Avenue, police said.
Vitale - a highly respected defense attorney who helped launch the City Prosecutor's Domestic Violence Unit - had made it about halfway through the unmarked crosswalk when she was hit so suddenly and so violently that she "never even saw what hit her," police said.
Vitale's daughter was also at court Thursday and said her mother remains hospitalized and is frustrated with her slow recovery, but noted that Vitale is improving.
Vitale suffered extensive injuries - including lacerations on her face, two broken and dislocated shoulders, a fractured elbow, a fractured pelvis and a fractured leg. She underwent several surgeries following the incident and is expected to remain in the hospital for at least another two to three weeks.
Her neighbors never heard the crash or a screech of brakes, but they came running when they heard Vitale's screams and her dog's yelps.
Vitale's German shepherd, Maggie, suffered similar injuries, including a broken leg and fractured pelvis.
Maggie is also recovering and is even starting to use her badly hurt back leg, Alfaro said Friday.
Maggie was able to visit to Vitale in the hospital for Vitale's birthday, a reunion that both Vitale and Maggie thoroughly enjoyed, Alfaro added.
Vitale is highly regarded for her work as a defense attorney and as a prosecutor.
She worked many years as a public defender specializing in cases of women charged with attacking their spouses or boyfriends after years of abuse.
That led Vitale to get a job at the Long Beach City Prosecutor's Office, where she started its Domestic Violence Unit and prosecuted abusers.
She was working as a private practice defense attorney and served as a bar panel attorney, handling many local cases for local defendants unable to afford representation, at the time of the incident.
Gasser lives just a few doors down from Vitale with his parents. He allegedly told his father that he had been involved in a crash, but said nothing of Vitale or the hit-and-run, sources said.
The bumper had been changed on the car when police arrested Gasser and impounded the vehicle. There was still signs of damage to the car's front end, however, and evidence was recovered from the vehicle, police said.

Acting on a complaint about drug sales in a North Long Beach neighborhood, Long Beach police arrested two known gang members late Wednesday.
Officers assigned to the North Division Directed Enforcement Unit arrested the two men after seeing one drive away from a home in the 6000 block of Myrtle Avenue following what appeared to be a drug deal around 9:30 p.m., said Sgt. Dina Zapalski.
Officers stopped the suspect's car near 61st Street and Brayton Avenue. They arrested 39-year-old Tyrone Glover for possession of marijuana for sales and possession of a firearm, Zapalski said.
After getting a search warrant for the residence on Myrtle, officers arrested the second suspect and found more marijuana and guns, seizing a total of three handguns and one shotgun, the sergeant said.
The name of the second suspect was not immediately available Thursday, Zapalski said.
 

A 50-year-old Long Beach woman was discovered stabbed to death in her home Thursday alongside her live-in boyfriend, also stabbed but still alive, police said.
The pair, a long-time couple who lived together in a home in the 1900 block of Cedar Avenue, were found when one of their relatives came home around 8:15 a.m., said Sgt. Dina Zapalski, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman.
The woman, identified as Mireya Lopez Medina, was found with stab wounds to her upper torso and pronounced dead at the scene.
The man, identified only as a Long Beach resident in his 50's, was stabbed in the upper body and taken to a local hospital where he was listed in critical condition late Thursday.
Homicide detectives are investigating the stabbings as a possible domestic violence incident, Zapalski said.
Asked if it could have been a murder/suicide attempt and Zapalski said investigators had not ruled out such a motive.
Zapalski said investigators declined to release the precise relationship of the relative who found the pair, citing the on-going investigation.
She said it was also not yet known if police had been called to the home in the past for domestic violence incidents.
Anyone with information about the stabbings is urged to call Homicide Detectives Mark McGuire or Greg Krabbe at 562-570-7244.
[TAG1]tracy.manzer@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1261.

Trial was postponed Thursday for a Belmont Shore man accused of gunning down a neighbor as the two clashed just outside a popular sports bar and pool hall in 2008.
Stanley Sunghoon Park, 37, was initially scheduled to have his trial begin Thursday. A new tentative start date of April 14 has been scheduled for Dept. 6 of the Long Beach Superior Court, court staff said.
Park is charged with gunning down Michael Martoni, 36, of Belmont Shore on Dec. 4, 2008.
Witnesses said Park shot Martoni twice after the two men got into an alcohol-fueled argument outside of Yankee Doodles, 4100 E. Ocean Blvd., around closing time.
It was also mere steps from where both men lived in the beach community.
Park's attorney, Henry Salcido, said the shooting was in self-defense after the much larger Martoni attacked Park, striking the defendant in the face.
Park faces the possibility of life in prison without parole if convicted on all counts.
He remained in custody Thursday at the Men's Central Jail in lieu of $2 million bail.

A take-over style robbery at a Seal Beach coffee house left some locals shaken Thursday.
The armed robbery happened at about 8:20 p.m. Wednesday at a Starbucks, 2311 Seal Beach Blvd., said Seal Beach Police Sgt. Steve Bowles.
Employees inside the business told investigators the robber walked in, pulled out a gun and forced several employees onto the floor, Bowles said.
After emptying the cash register the gunman fled on foot.
No was hurt and no customers were inside the business at the time, the sergeant said.
Nontheless, some residents were still very alarmed by the brazen crime.
"It's scary, especially because I live right by there and I'm in there all the time," said Seal Beach resident Lisa Edelmen.
The robber was described as Hispanic, 37-50 years of age, 6 feet tall and between 200
and 250 pounds, with dark hair and a mustache. He wore a denim shirt, black pants and
a dark knit cap, witnesses said.
Anyone with information about the incident is urged to call Detective Gary Krogman at 562-799-4100, Ext. 1108.
 

City News Service is reporting Wednesday that a 33-year-old Long Beach man who operated ventures he used to solicit money with false claims of profitable investments in real estate pleaded guilty to a federal wire fraud charge.
Jon Weldon James pleaded guilty late Tuesday to the federal offense related to his Ponzi scheme that collected more than $33 million from his El Segundo-based company that operated under a series of names, including J.W. James and Associates, Inc., and The Cloaking Device, Inc.
Appearing before U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner in Downtown Los Angeles, James pleaded guilty and admitted he defrauded more than 50 people who invested in his real estate-related investments from late 2003 through August 2006.
James offered his investments through face-to-face meetings that included hosting presentations at restaurants, where he urged victims to invest their savings or money from their individual retirement accounts, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
While James told victims that he was using their money to invest in real estate, and sent account statements that purported to show profits to some investors, James invested in only a few properties and made absolutely no profit from any real estate-related investments, prosecutors said.
However, in the hallmark of a Ponzi scheme, James used newly received funds to pay "profits" to early investors.
James also used investor money for personal expenses, which included his wedding and an investment in a recording studio and production company called On the Ball Entertainment, according to prosecutors.
After taking about $33 million from investors, repaying some investors and spending millions on personal and business expenses, James' illegal conduct incurred losses of roughly $11 million, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
James is scheduled to be sentenced by Klausner on May 24, at which time he faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.

A 54-year-old Redondo Beach woman was sentenced to a potential life term Tuesday for the murder of her mother, whose scorched remains were found in the disabled victim's fire-ravaged North Long Beach apartment about seven years ago.
Margaret Garnett, then 69 and in a wheelchair, died Jan. 17, 2003. Her body was discovered after firefighters were called to extinguish a blaze at her apartment in the 2900 block of East 70th Street.
The defendant and the victim's daughter, Valaria Garnett, told authorities the blaze was accidentally sparked by one of her mother's cigarettes. It was a claim the daughter maintained at the time of her arrest nearly five years later in 2007.
But after an extensive investigation, which included a recreation of the fire with a scale model of Margaret Garnett's home and an autopsy report that determined she was dead well before the flames ignited, police and prosecutors were able to prove Garnett killed her mother to avoid the burden of caring for the physically and mentally disabled woman, then torched her body and parts of the home in an attempt to cover up the crime.
Authorities began to suspect the woman's daughter almost immediately due to her strange behavior and clues found at the scene, arson investigators said.
"She had a very bland reaction to her mother's death," recalled now-retired Arson Investigator Richard Birdsall. "She never once asked about her mom's condition ... when we advised her (of the death) it was almost a shrug-of-the-shoulders kind of thing."
It took about eight months for experts from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to come to their final determination, Birdsall said.
Los Angeles County Coroner's investigators ruled the victim was dead before the fire began and that the cause of death appeared to be blunt-force trauma.
Arson investigators also learned from other family members that Margaret Garnett had spent almost 20 years in a state facility due to mental health problems.
About five years before her death, the victim was released from the state-run hospital and her daughter told the rest of the family that she would live with and care for her mom rather than have the family pay for a private convalescent home.
Once convicted killer moved in, she steadily began to isolate her mother from the rest of their family and friends.
Family members told police and fire authorities they feared the suspect was subsidizing her own Social Security and state disability checks with her mother's funds, Birdsall said.
The fire was deemed suspicious from the start, prompting Long Beach police and fire investigators to travel to a fire science lab in Baltimore to conduct a battery of tests, a first for local authorities.
Several rooms of the victim's apartment were reconstructed, including specific details such as furniture and materials contained within the home, in the confines of the ATF's Fire Research Laboratory. Multiple tests were run, including the version of events related to authorities by the suspect, who was at home at the time of the fire.
"We tried to start the fire in the manner which she claimed and there's no way it could happen," Birdsall said at the time of Garnett's arrest.
In a somewhat ironic twist, Garnett's health had taken a turn for the worse in the years following her mom's death and she attended many of her court sessions with the aid of a wheelchair.
Garnett was found guilty of one count of second degree murder and one count of arson on Dec. 1 and was originally scheduled to be sentenced in early January.
She was sentenced to the minimum term required for her second degree murder conviction, which is 15 years to life in prison, and the low term for the arson conviction, which is three years, said Long Beach Fire Department Arson Investigator Pat Wills.
None of her relatives were present and she did not address the court, Wills said.l
She must serve the base term of 18 years before she can be considered for parole, according to court officials.
[TAG1]tracy.manzer@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1261.

Carson's bravest citizens and officers will be honored at "The 4th Annual Distinguished Awards Luncheon" next week.
The luncheon, which is hosted by the Carson Sheriff's Station Foundation and the city of Carson, will recognize a number of citizens and sheriff's deputies who have shown courage in the past year, event organizers said.
"We have officers who put their own safety at risk to protect the public, and we receive invaluable help from residents who report crimes and render assistance to officers in the field," said Carson Sheriff's Station Capt. Bernice Abram. "This annual event commends outstanding individuals for their effort, and also recognizes the partnership between law enforcement and the community that supports effective crime-fighting."
Among the 2010 honorees are the five members of the Violent Crime Suppression Task Force. They are being recognized for crack-downs on gang members in unincorporated areas where illegal activity had reached intolerable levels. Arrests in the affected areas increased by as much as 86 percent compared to the previous year.
The Carson Sheriff's Station, part of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, protects the cities of Carson and unincorporated areas of Gardena, Torrance, Rancho Dominguez and Harbor City.
The Foundation includes residents and business owners who raise funds for equipment for the Sheriff's Station and for community safety programs, according to the foundation.
"The (foundation) was formed five years ago to help bring together the different groups and individuals who have an interest in promoting public safety through preventative measures," said Pilar Hoyos, president of the foundation's board of directors.
The luncheon is planned for Feb. 24th at the Carson Community Center, 801 E. Carson St., and tickets are still available.
For more information about tax-deductible contributions and sponsorships or to purchase tickets call 310-952-1775.

The Center for Working Families will host an "Expungement Education Workshop" Wednesday.
The workshop is designed to help people trying expunge, or remove, adult convictions from their criminal records and/or seal juvenile criminal records.
Those who attend will receive advice on filling out the forms and given information on the process, including how long it takes and what types of convictions can be removed.
The workshop will be held at the center's offices, at 1900 Atlantic Ave., in Long Beach.
For information on the event, call 562-570-WORK (9675).

Due to popular demand, the Los Angeles County Fire Department has announced a new community emergency response class that is free and open to all LA County residents 18 or older:

The County of Los Angeles Fire Department is proud to present this training to the public.

Following a major disaster, police, fire and medical professionals may not be able to fully meet the

demand. People will have to rely on each other to meet the immediate life saving and life sustaining

needs, particularly in isolated neighborhoods that may be cut off from the main roads for a period of

time.

 

The County of Los Angeles Fire Department's Community Emergency Response Team

(C.E.R.T.) program was developed to provide basic training in safety and life saving skills for the

public.

The course curriculum covers the following modules:

February 17, 2010 February 24, 2010 March 3, 2010 March 10, 2010

1. Disaster

Preparedness

2. Disaster Fire

Suppression

3. Disaster Medical

Operations I

4. Disaster Medical

Operations 2

 

March 17, 2010 March 24, 2010 March 31, 2010

5. Light Search &

Rescue

6. Disaster Psychology,

Organization & Terrorism

7. Disaster Simulation

and Exercise

 

The training course will be presented as a series of *seven (7) Wednesday classes. Scheduled class

dates are:

Wednesday, February 17, 24 & March 3, 10, 17, 24 & 31, 2010

6:30 P.M. - 9:30 P.M.

Carson Community Center

801 E. Carson Street

Carson, CA 90745

 

C.E.R.T. training is free of charge

* Optional: To purchase a Backpack/Supply/Equipment bag with

flashlight, gloves, goggles, hardhat and other supplies, fee to be determined.

To enroll, contact:

Anita Kincherlow at (310) 847-7481 or (310) 952-1786

Class size is limited, so enroll today to reserve your seat.

*Students must complete all twenty hours of the course to receive a certificate of completion.

Note: All students must be at least eighteen years of age.

If you were like me this morning and wondering why a chopper kept buzzing the Port of Long Beach and parts of the city's shoreline, here's the explanation:
City News Service was reporting Thursday that a new ship designed to detect chemical and biological weapons was launched to protect the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department said Wednesday it started using the $3 million vessel this week. It is staffed by explosives experts and equipped with tools to screen cargo ships for threats before they enter the nation's busiest port complex.
Experts board the ships and screen for substances used for weapons of mass destruction. Deputies have also added a helicopter to screen for radioactive material, while the ship's sonar system looks for underwater threats, according to the Sheriff's Department.
Ships are also subject to further inspection when they enter the ports, authorities said.

A preliminary hearing was postponed Thursday for a 30-year-old Long Beach man charged with slashing his girlfriend's 7-year-old son to death and also trying to kill her.
Peniamina Tomasi is charged with murder and attempted murder for the Jan. 8 attack that killed 7-year-old Felix Sandoval and that left Sandoval's mother with multiple slash wounds.
The defendant was arrested late on Jan. 8 after police responded to the apartment complex in the 500 block of East Pleasant Street following reports of an injured woman screaming, "He's killing my son."
The bleeding and near-hysterical woman directed police to a man standing in the doorway of a nearby apartment, but the man closed the door and locked it before officers could come inside.
Officers forced their way in and found Tomasi and the 7-year-old boy, who had been stabbed repeatedly. The child was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a local emergency room, police said.
Tomasi's preliminary hearing, which is used to determine whether there is enough evidence to try a defendant on the charge, was rescheduled for March 1 in the Long Beach Superior Court.
He remains in jail in lieu of $2 million bail.

My colleague Ruby Gonzales at the San Gabriel Valley Tribune writes that prosecutors have charged a 14-year-old Pico Rivera boy who is accused of four robberies and shooting a man in
the head during a Feb. 4 drive-in dairy store heist.
The 28-year-old dairy store employee remains in critical condition at a hospital, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sgt. Richard Hernandez.
What prompted the shooting isn't known.
"There was apparently no struggle," Hernandez said.
The teen, whose name wasn't released because he is a minor, was scheduled for
arraignment Tuesday at Los Padrinos Juvenile Court in Downey.
He was charged with one count of attempted murder and seven counts of second-degree robbery, said Shiara Davila-Morales, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Each count of robbery pertains to a victim.
The teen is being held at Los Padrinos.
The age of the suspect surprised deputies, authorities said.
"We all thought it would be some parolee who just got released and was on a drug binge. But the investigation led to this," Hernandez said.
The charges stem from the Jan. 24 robbery of the Mobile station at 8957 Beverly Blvd., the Feb. 1 and Feb. 4 robbery of the Pico Rivera Drive-In Dairy, 9001 Beverly Road, and the Feb. 4 robbery of J & M Liquor, 8940 E. Beverly Blvd.
Detectives said about $750 was taken from the four incidents.
Hernandez said a robber wearing a hooded jacket, bandanna and gloves entered the businesses, demanded money and brandished a handgun. While responding to a robbery call at the liquor store on Feb. 4, deputies were flagged down by a resident about the dairy store shooting and robbery.
They found the wounded employee, deputies said.
The boy was arrested at El Rancho High School last Friday. Hernandez said they found a hooded jacket, bandanna, handgun and bicycle believed used in the robberies at the teen's residence. They also recovered the estimated $80 taken during the last two robberies.

Police are investigating a shooting that left a North Long Beach home pock-marked with bullets Sunday.
Long Beach Police were called to the home in the 100 block of East 69th Street at about 3 p.m. after the shooting occurred, said Sgt. Dina Zapalski.
Witnesses told officers a man was walking between the 100 and 200 blocks of East 69th when a car stopped alongside him and a man got out of the car and confronted the pedestrian.
The pair got into an argument that culminated in the man from the car pulling out a gun and opening fire, witnesses said.
The pedestrian ran from the area, apparently not hit by by the gunfire, Zapalski said.
The gunman got back into the car and fled, she added.
"The only (people to come forward) are the people whose home was hit by the bullets," the sergeant said.
None of them were hit by gunfire, Zapalski said.
Anyone with information about the shooting can call the Violent Crimes detail at 562-570-7250.

A 19-year-old Long Beach woman was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly she ran down the father of her two-year-old child with her car, police said Monday.
Police officers were called to the 1200 block of San Antonio Drive at about 6:15 p.m. Saturday, said Sgt. Dina Zapalski, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman.
That is where they found the 18-year-old victim, in the alley behind his home, the sergeant said.
The preliminary investigation found the 19-year-old suspect went to the home of her baby's father to pick up their two-year-old child. The pair then began arguing and the woman tried to drive off several times with the victim blocking her, Zapalski said.
"At one point she does drive away and she ends up running over the victim," Zapalski said.
Though initial reports listed the victim's injuries as serious, he is expected to survive, the sergeant said.
The woman, identified as Geranemille Tyquiengco, was booked and being held in lieu of $30,000 bail Monday.
She is expected to be arraigned at the Long Beach Superior Court Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Inmate Information Center.

Long Beach Police Department Homicide detectives and Los Angeles County Coroner's investigators are looking into the death of a 55-year-old Long Beach man, whose body was found inside a downtown home Saturday morning.
Long Beach Police were called to the residence in the 300 block of Elm Avenue at about 11:07 a.m. Saturday when the body was discovered, said Lisa Massacani, an LBPD spokeswoman.
The dead man was identified Monday as Walter Hurt of Long Beach.
The Long Beach Fire Department was also called to the location and pronounced Hurt dead at the scene, she said.
Los Angeles County Coroner's investigators are working to determine the cause of death, Massacani said.
Anyone with any information about the case is asked to call Long Beach Homicide Detectives Malcolm Evans or Daniel Mendoza at 562-570-7244.

Long Beach Police officers arrested five people, including two 10-year-olds,  following a break-in at a North Long Beach elementary school Monday afternoon.

Officers were called to Barton Elementary School, 1100 E. Del Amo Blvd., at about 3:30 p.m. Monday after a neighbor noticed people going in and out of the school and called authorities to report the suspicious behavior, said Sgt. Dina Zapalski, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman.

When officers arrived at the school, which was closed for a holiday, they locked the area down and searched the property building by building, Zapalski said.

One 18-year-old and four juveniles, ages 10, 10, 13 and 14, were found with electronic equipment and P.E. equipment and arrested, the sergeant said.

"Who knows what else they would have taken if the officers hadn't interrupted them," Zapalski said.

The name of the adult was not immediately available Monday. The names of the juveniles will be withheld because they are minors, she said.

All four face burglary charges, Zapalski said.

The investigation is on-going, she added.

 

 

Arraignment was postponed Wednesday for a 21-year-old gang member accused of shooting a star Narbonne High School football player at a Compton restaurant last May.
Arlon Watson is due back in Compton Superior Court for arraignment Feb. 9, court staff said.
Watson was was arrested Jan. 27 on outstanding warrants by Los Angeles County Sheriff's
homicide detectives and charged Monday with the May 24, 2009, slaying of 18-year-old Dannie Farber Jr.
Farber, an All-City wide receiver, was shot four times while eating dinner with his girlfriend at Louisiana Fried Chicken in the 1900 block of Rosecrans Avenue.
Watson allegedly approached Farber and asked him his gang affiliation, then shot him after the victim replied that he did not "gang-bang," according to prosecutors.
The criminal complaint includes allegations that Watson personally used and discharged a handgun and that the crime was "committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in association with a criminal street gang with the specific intent to promote, further and assist in criminal conduct by gang members."
If convicted, he faces up to 50 years to life in state prison, according to the DA's Office.
His remains in jail in lieu of $2 million bail.

A Long Beach attorney who pleaded guilty last year to embezzling more than $26,000 from a nonprofit group was sentenced to one year of probation Tuesday.
Lajetta Wright pleaded guilty last year to the charge of embezzlement, a charge that was reduced to misdemeanor status on Tuesday, according to Los Angeles Superior Court staff.
In addition to the year of summary probation, Wright also provided the court with proof that she had finished her required community service and paid the court-imposed $3,000 fine, said court staff and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Wright was convicted of embezzling the funds while working with the Black Women Lawyer's Association of Los Angeles, a non-profit corporation whose mission is dedicated to charitable, educational and community-based services.
According to the group's Web site, the association was founded in 1975 to meet the needs of African-American women working in the legal profession and includes chapters throughout the United States.
The 43-year-old Wright was accused of misusing funds during her term as treasurer for the organization in 2004, and was originally charged with one count of grand theft. Had she been sentenced on the single felony count she could have faced a maximum of three years in prison.
The State Bar of California filed disciplinary charges against Wright in September 2006 in connection with the case and ordered a one-year suspension in August 2007.
Wright was enrolled in the alternative discipline program that the group describes as one "designed to address the substance abuse and mental health problems of attorneys against whom formal disciplinary proceedings have been initiated in the State Bar Court."
Wright attended California State University, Dominguez Hills and the University of West Los Angeles Law School before being admitted to the bar in 2000.
She also served as recording secretary for the BWLA's Los Angeles chapter prior to becoming the organization's treasurer.
Neither Wright nor the BWLA could be reached for comment late Tuesday.

A former Compton pastor pleaded no contest Tuesday to a charge of grand theft for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Double Rock Baptist Church, according to prosecutors.
Eugene Joshua Sims, 48, is expected to received one year in county jail and five years probation in exchange for his plea when he returns to court for sentencing in March, said Deputy District Attorney Tracey Stevens. Stevens is also scheduled to have a restitution hearing at the time and prosecutors are asking that he repay more than $800,000 he stole from the Compton church.
Sims entered his plea just as his preliminary hearing was scheduled to begin at the Compton Superior Court. In addition to the jail time, he has also been ordered to stay away from the church while he is on probation. He can, however, conduct services at other churches, Stevens said.
The criminal complaint states that between March 1, 2000 and Sept. 30, 2008, Sims allegedly set up a private bank account and diverted offerings that members gave to the church into his private account. When church members raised questions Sims allegedly threatened them to keep quiet.
In exchange for his plea, one felony count of witness tampering and one felony count of money laundering will be dropped when he is sentenced, Stevens said.
Sims is scheduled to be sentenced on March 19.

Sentencing was postponed Monday for a 54-year-old Redondo Beach woman convicted of second-degree murder and arson for the slaying of her mother - whose scorched remains were found in her fire-ravaged North Long Beach apartment nearly seven years ago.
Margaret Garnett, then 69 and disabled, died Jan. 17, 2003. Her body was discovered after firefighters were called to extinguish a blaze at her apartment in the 2900 block of East 70th Street.
The defendant and the victim's daughter, Valaria Garnett, told authorities the blaze was accidentally sparked by an errant cigarette. It was a claim she maintained at the time of her arrest nearly five years later in 2007. But after an extensive investigation, which included a recreation of the fire with a scale model of Margaret Garnett's home and an autopsy report that determined she was dead well before the flames ignited, police and prosecutors were able to prove Garnett killed her mother to avoid the burden of caring for the physically and mentally disabled woman, then torched her body and parts of the home in an attempt to cover up the crime.
Authorities began to suspect Valaria Garnett almost immediately due to her strange behavior and clues found at the scene, arson investigators said.
It took about eight months for experts from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to come to their final determination. Los Angeles County Coroner's investigators ruled the victim was dead before the fire began and that the cause of death appeared to be blunt-force trauma.
Arson investigators also learned from other family members that Margaret Garnett had spent almost 20 years in a state facility due to mental health problems. About five years before her death, the victim was released from the state-run hospital and her daughter told the rest of the family that she would live with and care for her mom rather than have the family pay for a private convalescent home.
Once  Valaria Garnett moved in, however, she steadily began to isolate the victim from the rest of the family and friends, relatives told investigators. Family members told police and fire authorities they feared the suspect was subsidizing her own Social Security and state disability checks with her mother's funds.
The fire was deemed suspicious from the start, prompting Long Beach police and fire investigators to travel to a fire science lab in Baltimore to conduct a battery of tests, a first for local authorities. Several rooms of the victim's apartment were reconstructed, including specific details such as furniture and materials contained within the home, in the confines of the ATF's Fire Research Laboratory. Multiple tests were run, including the version of events related to authorities by the suspect, who was at home at the time of the fire.
"We tried to start the fire in the manner which she claimed and there's no way it could happen," now retired Arson Investigator Richard Birdsall said at the time of Valaria Garnett's arrest. "We have proven it could not have occurred ... and we'll prove it in court."
Police and prosecutors did just that, with a jury returning a guilty verdict Dec. 1 for one count of second-degree murder and one count of arson. The trial lasted roughly one month and Garnett was originally scheduled to return to the Los Angeles Superior Court on Jan. 4 for sentencing.
Her sentencing date is now scheduled for Feb. 16.

A preliminary hearing was postponed Monday for a 46-year-old Long Beach man charged with attempted murder in the shooting of a 4-year-old innocent bystander during a gang fight last summer.
James Leland Landrum Sr., who is charged with five felony counts of attempted murder, is scheduled to return to the Long Beach Superior Court in April, court staff said Monday.

Landrum fled the state immediately after the July 22, 2009, shooting - which left 4-year-old Josue Hercules in a coma and fighting for his life for several days - and was detained at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in Sierra Blanca, Texas two days later.

The defendant waived the extradition proceedings in Texas, allowing him to be returned to the Long Beach Superior Court last August. In addition to the five felony counts of attempted murder Landrum is also charged with the personal use of a firearm and that each shot was carried out to benefit Landrum's gang.

The 4-year-old was not the intended target when Landrum allegedly pulled out a gun and began firing, police and prosecutors said.

Witnesses told officers a man came to the neighborhood, in the 2100 block of Earl Avenue, at about 7 p.m. and got into an argument with a group of males and females.

The argument turned physical, and at one point the suspect pulled out a gun and opened fire, police said.

Josue was playing with his older sister and some other children when the shooting broke out. The kids tried to flee but the 4-year-old wasn't fast enough, and one of several rounds struck him in the back of the head.

The bullet slammed into the child's skull, near his neck, and skirted his brain, lodging behind his forehead and near his left eye, his mother said.

After several days of waiting and not knowing if he would pull through, the little boy awoke and appeared to suffer no lasting effects other than a massive scar that skirts the back of his skull.

The charge filed against Landrum alleges the shooting was a willful, deliberate and premeditated attempted murder of the child as well as four others who were in the line of fire that day. Each of the attempted murder charges carries a possible 25 years to life sentence, and if the defendant is convicted on all counts, he could face a lifetime in state prison.

A preliminary hearing was delayed Monday for a 30-year-old Long Beach man accused of slashing his girlfriend's 7-year-old son to death last month.

Peniamina Tomasi is charged with murder and attempted murder for the Jan. 8 attack that killed 7-year-old Felix Sandoval and that left Sandoval's mother with multiple slash wounds.

Tomasi's preliminary hearing was originally scheduled for last week and has been reset twice. It is now scheduled for Feb. 11 in Dept. 3 of the Long Beach Superior Court.

The defendant was arrested late on Jan. 8 after Long Beach police responded to the apartment complex in the 500 block of East Pleasant Street following reports of an injured woman screaming, "He's killing my son."

The bleeding and near-hysterical woman directed police to a man standing in the doorway of a nearby apartment, but the man closed the door and locked it before officers could come inside.

Officers forced their way in and found Tomasi and the 7-year-old boy, who had been stabbed repeatedly. The child was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a local emergency room, police said.

The scene was so disturbing for rescue crews and police officers who handled the call that counseling sessions have been offered for both groups, authorities said.

Counselors were also sent to Felix's school, Dooley Elementary, to talk to classmates affected by the boy's slaying.

Jury selection began Monday in the case of a Los Angeles man accused of beating and stomping a 13-month-old to death before dumping the child's body in a Downtown Long Beach trash bin.
Anthony Jerome Hall Jr. is charged with three felony counts in connection with the slaying of his girlfriend's 13-month-old son, Nathan Cole.
A coroner's investigator, who testified during Hall's preliminary hearing in March of 2009, said the baby was killed after he was slammed against a hard surface, such as a floor or a wall, causing a fatal head fracture; and that the baby was stomped on, causing rib fractures and crushing the child's chest.
Witnesses who testified during the 2009 hearing said they saw the defendant riding the Metro Blue Line from Los Angeles to Long Beach with the baby's body in a trash bag. Once in Long Beach, the battered infant's remains were tossed into a trash bin in an alley near Third Street and Linden Avenue.
Long Beach police officers testified about a message Hall allegedly left on a phone the baby's mother, during which Hall allegedly said he was "sorry" and that he is "not a monster."
According to the calls, Hall became angry with the 13-month-old when he would not stop playing with a phone cord, police testified.
Hall, now 23, was arrested on Sept. 19, 2008, the same day Cole was killed and the same day Cole's remains were discovered by a man who had been sifting through trash looking for recyclables.
At the time of Hall's arrest, police said he was not Cole's father but he was dating the boy's mother and had been watching the child at the time of the killing.
Hall is charged with second-degree murder, assault on a child causing death and child abuse.
If convicted on all counts he faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
Jury selection is scheduled to resume today at the Long Beach Superior Court.