Results tagged “redondo beach” from Crime & Courts

The Redondo Beach man believed responsible for the murder of a Torrance woman whose body was discovered along a mountain highway made his second court appearance Thursday.

Tony Lopez Perez, 35, appeared in San Bernardino Superior Court for a brief hearing, according to Susan Mickey, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office in that county.
Perez will return to court Dec. 7.

He is charged with one count of murder for the Feb. 15 death of Cori Desmond. The 28-year-old was last seen alive in Redondo Beach after she left a bar.

Perez was allegedly linked to the crime when investigators found evidence in his truck, which an anonymous tipster said he was cleaning vigorously after Desmond's death.

Tony Lopez Perez pleaded not guilty to a single murder charge this morning during his first court appearance for the slaying of a popular Torrance woman eight months ago.

Perez, 35, of Redondo Beach, appeared for the brief San Bernardino Superior Court hearing via a live television connection from the Central Detention Center in San Bernardino, according to Susan Mickey, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's office.

Perez will return to court Oct. 22, Mickey said. He remains jailed without bail.
Perez was arrested Thursday night for the death of Cori Desmond, 28.

Desmond was last seen alive on Feb. 15 by friends at the Bac Street Lounge in Redondo Beach, where she had gone after finishing her bartending job at Beaches in Manhattan Beach.

Her body was found the next day in a bag in the snow along a Running Springs Highway.
Anonymous tips led San Bernardino County Sheriff homicide detectives to Perez, who was seen scrubbing the inside of his truck shortly after Desmond's death.

He sold it to a dealership and detectives later tracked it down and found unspecified evidence inside that they believe proves Lopez killed Desmond.

No details have emerged about the crime, although detectives said they believe the motive was sexual.

A public defender was appointed to represent Lopez, a single father of two who worked as a restaurant manager.

However, no one from the San Bernardino Public Defender's office was available to comment.

Read the complaint here: perez.doc

We've just learned that the suspect arrested in connection to Cori Desmond's slaying is Tony Lopez Perez, 35, of Redondo Beach.

We'll get you more when we know it.

Here's what we know so far

A Los Angeles police officer who used a knife and a gun to threaten a restaurant patron on the Redondo Beach pier was sentenced Tuesday to four years, four months in prison.

David Woon Chong, 39, had previously pleaded guilty to one assault count, and added a no contest plea of making a criminal threat before he was sentenced.

Chong was off duty when he got into a dispute with two fellow diners at Old Tony's restaurant on March 15, 2008.

The 10-year department veteran used a knife to threaten one man, then left. However, he returned a short time later, kicked foot out of the man's hand and pointed the .45 caliber Glock semiautomatic handgun at his head.

He was arrested as he drove out of the parking garage, and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.11, above the state's legal limit of 0.08.

While at a rehabilitation program, he was arrested again for threatening a man during a treatment session.

Prosecutors filed explosives charges on Thursday against two men arrested in connection to an illegal fireworks bust in Torrance.

Brian Flanigan, 40, in whose home the 3,400 pounds of explosives were discovered, is charged with possession of ingredients to make a destructive device and possession of an explosive, according to Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's office.
Patrick German, 39, of Redondo Beach, was charged with one count of possession of an explosive, Gibbons said.

They're both scheduled to be arraigned in Torrance Superior Court on July 8, 2004.
The pair were arrested Wednesday following an investigation that began with a tip in Redondo Beach the previous day.

At Flanigan's home in the 1600 block of Beech Avenue, investigators say they found enough explosives to have destroyed surrounding homes had they ignited.

Redondo Beach police and fire have just made a large fireworks seizure in Torrance on Beech near Crenshaw and Torrance. I'm heading over.

**UPDATE:

Police and firefighters have recovered several thousand pounds of illegal fireworks stored at a house in the 1600 block of Beech Avenue in Torrance. Firefighters say the situation was so dangerous it could've caused a catastrophe had it caught fire.

The seizure occurred early this morning following a tip to Redondo Beach Police Department that the resident was selling fireworks. Firefighters say the resident also was manufacturing home-made fireworks, and discovered 400 pounds of black powder in the house.

"Had he had an accident, and had the garage blown up, it would've leveled and killed the people in every house around him," said Redondo Beach fire Division Chief Steve Hyink.

We'll have photographs, identities and more details soon.

A man who allegedly shot at Redondo Beach police officers as they tried stop him from firing at someone else was charged Tuesday with attempted murder.

Brayon Martinez, 29, of Lawndale, pleaded not guilty in Torrance Superior Court to two counts of attempted murder, assault on a peace officer, evading and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to Deputy District Attorney Paulette Paccione.

The attempted murder counts also carry allegations that Martinez used a firearm.

He has a prior conviction for domestic violence in 2001, according to Paccione. Court records show he was also convicted in 1999 for using violence on a spouse.

Martinez faces the possibility of life in prison, she said. He returns to court July 16.

Martinez was spotted by the officers in the 4500 block of 170th Street as they passed through Lawndale on a routine patrol Saturday night about 11:40 p.m.

He was allegedly firing a gun at a man on the sidewalk, according to the sheriff's department.
He allegedly fled in a BMW, but returned and shot at the officers, who returned fire and struck him in the arm.

Q. Have they found the San Pedro/Redondo Beach Rapist? I live very close to Knob Hill, and saw the cars and helicopters out the day the man kidnapped the schoolgirl from San Pedro. I've been looking for news and updates as I walk the area all the time.

Do you know something? Have you heard anything?

Thanks in advance.

A. Unfortunately no. The last we had anything, the LAPD put out a surveillance video of the car they suspected was used in the crime. That came out about two days later.

We haven't heard anything otherwise.

I called detectives and left messages a couple of times in the days after the crime, but got no response. I haven't called this week because I don't figure to get a call back, but I will try again.

Wish I could tell you more. Hopefully they are working on this one pretty hard.

As soon as we hear anything, we'll report it 

Just got word that, as a result of the Michael Sweet case and maybe some other issues, Redondo Beach no longer participates in the Pacific Coast Conference Football and Cheer Corp. Redondo Beach, Torrance and Palos Verdes it appears have pulled away and are in the process or have completed making their own group.

Raphael Jakim was convicted this afternoon of one count of attending an arranged meeting with a minor with the intent to commit a sexual offense. The Simi Valley married father traveled to Redondo Beach to meet a 13-year-old girl that was really Torrance Detective Dennis Brady.

Brady, the father of his own teenage daughter, was sure to punctuate his online chat with some well-placed kid verbage, including the word "like" and talk about the mall. It was hard imagining the burly, mustachioed police officer participating in a girlie talk. But, it apparently worked, for he caught the predator.

Jakim, who was out on bail, was taken into custody without bail pending his sentencing hearing Friday.

This just in about a hold-up this morning.

Here's some stuff from Redondo Beach, as written by Capt. Tom Krafick

05-21-09 (Thursday):

2000 Block of Artesia Boulevard: At about 2:00 a.m., a victim walking east on the north sidewalk was approached from behind. One of the suspects pushed the victim to the ground. The other suspect removed the victim's wallet from his pants pocket. Both suspects ran in a westerly direction from the incident. The victim did not report the crime for about 30 minutes. Officers were not able to locate the persons responsible for this crime.

5-23-09 (Saturday):

1880 S. Pacific Coast Highway (Longs Drugs): At about 2:30 p.m., an unidentified suspect, observed inside the store on several previous occasions, selected numerous display items including alcohol. The suspect concealed the selected items and left the store. Employees confronted the suspect outside the store. The store manager attempted to take the suspect into custody; however, the suspect resisted, pulled free, and ran. A retired police officer, seeing the initial scuffle, gave chase to the fleeing suspect but lost him. Responding officers contained the area but were unable to locate the suspect.

A Redondo Beach man who attacked his live-in girlfriend with a knife pleaded no contest Thursday and was sentenced to four years in state prison.

John Christopher Mielke, 32, pleaded no contest in Torrance Superior Court to one count of corporal injury on a cohabitant and an allegation he used a knife in the Oct. 11 incident, according to Deputy District Attorney Lana Kim.

Mielke stabbed his girlfriend several times in the arms and legs with a kitchen knife, according to police.

He was charged with a previous attack, but the counts were dropped in exchange for the plea.

Janet Loh of Redondo Beach and her sister, Carola Washburn of Torrance, filed suit against the City of Federal Way, Wash. today claiming the city's police department failed to protect their mother from her boyfriend, who is facing trial for her murder.

We reported on Baerbel Roznowski's death last year, and the controversy surrounding that department's practices when it comes to serving domestic restraining orders. That story is after the jump.

Ironically, a few weeks ago I did a story about a Torrance woman who was held captive and tortured by a man in that same city. I interviewed her victim advocate, who works closely with domestic violence victims in that area, and she felt the Federal Way Police Department handled that and other cases poorly. It didn't make it to print, but her sentiment was that the department "doesn't care about crime victims." Ouch.

Redondo Beach police Officer Ken Greenleaf and his dog "Valor" were the overall champions at the 2009 Redondo Beach Police Canine Trials this weekend.

The pair also joined with officers Corey King and "Dak," and Kevin McCamy and "Kona" to win the team championship.

Twenty-one police officers and dogs from California and Nevada competed in the competition on Friday and Saturday at Redondo Union High School.

The dogs competed in obedience, agility, searching, protection and narcotics enforcement.

A complete list of the winners is available at the Redondo Beach police Website.

There are so many things to say about the 1736 Family Crisis Center - I couldn't possibly fit it all into one newspaper story. If I tried, my editors would ream me, anyway.

But I wanted to make sure everyone knew that the organization is here to help domestic violence victims, and it needs help from everyone to ensure that their mission is accomplished. One way they're doing that is by raising funds at a Texas hold'em poker tournament at Hollywood Park Casino.

Here are some things I learned while reporting this story:

• People who wish to donate items for children can do so through a program set up at Kids Double Time at 715 Torrance Blvd., Redondo Beach. Clothes (including maternity), toys and accessories in good shape can be given to the consignment store and, if you mention 1736, they make a donation to the organization when the item is sold.
• The help they give goes beyond shelter and counseling. For example, in job training, they found that a key hurdle for victims is the inability to look people in the eye. They work with victims on that and have found true success.
• Every penny they spend on every bite of food, diaper or clothing item must be accounted for to their donors and funding sources, keeping the organization honest and it's number crunchers on their toes.

They're hoping to get a final head count to Hollywood Park today for the tournament. So if you're interested in going, let them know.

If you go, write me back and tell me how it was!

If you or anybody you know needs help, call one of their 24-hour hotlines, which you can find by clicking on the 1736 link above.

 

Just when you think there's nothing left in the criminal justice system to shock your senses... a case like this comes along.

Wynford Murray, 35, was sentenced today to 25 years to life in prison for failing to register as a sex offender. The conviction was his third strike, following two 1997 convictions in New York for sexually molesting two girls, ages 3 and 5.

In handing down the sentence, Torrance Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold noted the "fantasy" stories of sex with babies that Murray had in his possession. Arnold began to read them, he said, explaining that he couldn't get past the first page.

The stories were submitted as exhibits to the prosecutor's sentencing papers, so I decided to take a look, too.

Un. Be. Lievable.

I couldn't get past the first paragraph.

Someone sat down to write a story about their 1-year-old blonde niece, with her soft skin and long eyelashes. Then, it got unreadable. I walked out of the courtroom in a bit of a daze.

I don't know if the stories are true or fantasy, but just the fact that some people find this arousing and entertaining is chilling to the core.

This is a good time to remind people that the Megan's Law Database is available with the area's sex offenders. Get to know your neighbors.

Eric Rachmany of Rebelution has apparently been keeping tabs on Matthew Klaus' recovery since he was punched and fell to the floor at the Brixton on Sept. 1. After last week's story, he wrote to me hoping to get in touch with Klaus. Here's his letter:

Denise,

You don't know me but I sing and play guitar in the band Rebelution, the band Matthew Klaus went to go see the night of the incident. I was hoping you might be able to let him know that us 4 in the band have been following his story since it all happened at Brixton in Redondo Beach. We are very happy to know Matthew is alive and recovering. The security was very bad that night at Brixton. We had bottles thrown at us on stage and I remember seeing someone on on the ground after the performance was over. I guess that person was Matthew. If there is any way for you to forward this to him or just let him know that we're thinking about him and his family we'd be very grateful. Thank you very much!

Sincerely,

Eric Rachmany

What I didn't say in the story is why Rebelution meant a lot to Klaus. A little bit before he was injured, he and some buddies went on a surf trip to Costa Rica. They had only one CD with them - a Rebelution album. They listened to it over and over. The band provided the soundtrack for their trip, and came to represent good times. 

Previously:

Update: Road to recovery after Redondo Beach bar fight 

Waiting to get some details on a big crash early this morning in Redondo Beach.

Apparently a Toyota pickup truck with four men inside crashed into a curb and overturned at Diamond and Prospect avenues.

Three suffered minor injuries and were taken to two hospitals, but a fourth suffered major head trauma. He was taken to County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

It happened about 3 a.m. No other vehicles were involved.

Alcohol possibly was a factor, police said.

More later.