Author: Robert Lopez

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca argued with a Republican congressman from Indiana during a hearing Wednesday when the lawmaker questioned his relationship with an Islamic nonprofit group.



Baca was in Washington testifying before the House Committee on Homeland Security when he was questioned by Rep. Mark Souder about attending fundraisers for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, officials said.



The group, according to Souder, espouses radical speech — an assertion that angered Baca.



"The sheriff gets his ire up when politicians begin to use their bully pulpit for personal attacks," Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said.



The exchange between Baca and Souder was recorded by a reporter for KPCC-FM (89.3). To hear the recording, click here.



"There’s a substantial difference between protected speech and government officials going to fundraisers for organizations that do speech that is radical. And Sheriff Baca, you’ve been 10 times to the fundraisers for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which even the FBI has separated themselves from," Souder said, according to the recording.



Baca shot back, citing his service in the Marines and support of Israel, according to the report. "The security of Israel has always been at the forefront of my thinking," he said. "And for you to associate me somehow through some circuitous attack on CAIR, is not only inappropriate, it is un-American."



Whitmore said department records show that Baca attended two CAIR fundraisers in recent years.



"Just because they are Muslim Americans does not mean they want to destroy Israel or the U.S.," Whitmore said.



— Robert J. Lopez

Thirty members of the the Vagos motorcycle gang were arrested Wednesday in Riverside County in an ongoing investigation against the group, which authorities described as "an extreme" threat to law enforcement officers.

About 400 officers took part in the multi-agency operation, targeting 73 locations and seizing weapons and illegal drugs, authorities said.

"They represent an extreme threat to law enforcement," Riverside County Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco said in an interview. "The goal is to eliminate this threat."

Citing the ongoing probe, Pacheco declined to say whether any members of the gang had planned to target law enforcement personnel.

In Lake Elsinore, authorities found a methamphetamine lab at the home of one of the Vagos members.

The Vagos have at least 600 members in the Western U.S., half of them in California, authorities said. About 100 members are in Riverside County.

Pacheco said the group, which he described as the largest motorcycle gang in California, should expect continued law-enforcement actions.

"This is just the beginning," he said.

–Robert J. Lopez

The historic Angels Flight was closed temporarily Tuesday night for routine maintenance, one of several shutdowns that will occur during the upcoming weeks as workers fine-tune the system, officials said.

The funicular cars were out of service about 7:30 p.m. but were expected to be running later Tuesday night, said John Welborne, president of Angels Flight Railway.

He said workers were taking advantage of a slow night to make adjustments to the system.

Angels Flight reopened Monday after it was closed following a  accident that left one person dead and seven others seriously injured in early 2001.

Welborne said about 2,900 rides were recorded Monday on the downtown railway. "It was a huge crowd," he said.

— Robert J. Lopez

Photo: Rail car closed for service Tuesday night. Photo: Bill Sheehan / Los Angeles Times

A fatal vehicle collision Tuesday evening snarled traffic on the southbound 5 Freeway near the 710 Freeway in East Los Angeles, authorities said.

At least three vehicles, including a big-rig truck, were involved in the accident, which was reported about 5:15 p.m., the California Highway Patrol said.

Investigators were at the scene trying to determine a cause. No other details were available, the CHP said.

— Robert J. Lopez

A man suspected of cultivating marijuana in his Woodland Hills home was arrested Tuesday after officers came to his aid when he had been beaten in a home-invasion robbery.

Ryan Fraser, 32, was booked on suspicion of growing marijuana about 5:30 a.m. and was being held in lieu of $30,000 bail, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

Police found about 70 plants and a sophisticated lighting, ventilation and watering system, said Sgt. Cathy Riggs of the LAPD’s Topanga station.

The man was attacked about 9:15 p.m. Monday by at least two suspects who stormed into the home in the 22600 block Mulholland Drive, the LAPD said.

The attackers fled with an undisclosed amount of money. Officers who arrived at the home found the growing operation, LAPD Officer Karen Rayner said.

— Robert J. Lopez

Authorities in Northern California were searching for leads Tuesday after a human head and two arms were found on a stretch of the Feather River known as "Beer Can Beach."

The body parts belong to a white male who appeared to have been at least 45 years old, said Lt. Butah Uppal of the Sutter County Sheriff’s Department.

The two limbs were discovered Saturday by fisherman. Sheriff’s deputies searching the area the following day found the head in some berry bushes, Uppal said.

Deputies combed the surrounding area with search dogs but found no other body parts. Uppal asked anyone with information to call investigators at (530) 822-7307.

— Robert J. Lopez

Map: Approximate area where the body parts were found. Credit: Los Angeles Times

A Pacoima man who was standing in his front yard with friends and family was shot dead, police said Tuesday.

Jorge Rueda was with the group in 11400 block of Magee Avenue when someone fired from a distance around 11:30 p.m. Monday. Rueda was taken to a local hospital, where he died a short time later, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

Since January 2007, at least 30 homicides have been reported in Pacoima, according to a Times database.

Police said detectives have yet to find a motive for Rueda’s slaying. Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Eric Jones or Det. Joshua Byers at (818) 834-3115.

— Robert J. Lopez

Red dots show homicides reported in Pacoima since January 2007. Credit: Los Angeles Times Homicide Report

A San Diego man who allegedly deserted the Army was arrested as he crossed back to the United States after he was refused entry into Canada, authorities said Tuesday.

Robert Lucas, 20, was taken into custody last week at the Pacific Highway Port of Entry in Blaine, Wash., the Department of Homeland Security said.

Canadian border officials denied Lucas permission to enter that country when his name turned up on a law-enforcement database with a warrant for alleged desertion.

Lucas is stationed at Ft. Leonard Wood in Missouri. He was turned over to local authorities while awaiting extradition back to the Army, the Homeland Security Department said.

— Robert J. Lopez

Los Angeles police found a marijuana-growing operation in a Woodland Hills residence Monday night after coming to the aid of a man who was beaten in a home-invasion robbery, authorities said.



The man was attacked about 9:15 p.m. by at least two suspects who stormed into the home in the 22600 block Muholland Drive, the Los Angeles Police Department said.



The attackers fled with an undisclosed amount of money. Officers who arrived at the home found a growing operation. "There are some plants in several of the rooms," Officer Karen Rayner said.



She said LAPD narcotics units were responding to the scene. No other details were available.



— Robert J. Lopez

Photo: Map of the scene. Credit: Los Angeles Times Mapping L.A.

A man wanted in connection with an attempted carjacking and impersonating an officer in San Jacinto was arrested Monday by investigators who used a cellphone left at the scene to track him down.



Jeremy Phillips, 32, was confronted by investigators in a parking lot outside a motel in Hemet about 11 a.m, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said. Phillips ran to a pickup and tried to leave, authorities said, but was arrested in the parking lot.



The Sheriff’s Department said Phillips approached a woman on March 1 in San Jacinto, telling her he was police officer and ordering her to get out of her vehicle.



The woman drove off as Phillips followed for a short while, flashing his headlights from low to high beam, according to authorities.Detectives recovered the cellphone at the scene.

–Robert J. Lopez

Photo: Jeremy Phillips. Credit: Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

A Los Angeles physician described as a prolific provider of prescription drugs was convicted Monday on more than a dozen felony counts, authorities said.



Carlos Estiandan, 68, was convicted on 13 counts of unlawful controlled substance prescription by a Superior Court jury after two days of deliberation, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said.



"The conviction in this case illustrates a serious social problem where unethical, greedy medical practitioners aid and abet the self-inflicted harm of those addicted to prescription drugs," Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said in a statement.

According to Cooley’s office, the Drug Enforcement Administration labeled Estiandan the "single, most prolific provider of prescription drugs," second only to John Hopkins University in the total number of prescriptions written in 2008.

The charges stemmed from a three-year undercover operation during which a
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy was able to obtain 12 prescriptions
from Estiandan without an examination, according to the district
attorney.

Estiandan faces up to 11 years in state prison.



–Robert J. Lopez

A former Redondo Beach police officer was sentenced Monday to three months in County Jail after pleading guilty to embezzling more than $70,000 from a police officers association, authorities said.



Glen Tomatani, 40, was also sentenced to three years probation and one year of Gamblers Anonymous, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said. He will begin serving his jail sentence April 20. He pleaded guilty last month.

Tomatani could have received up to four years in state prison, the district attorney said in December when charges were filed.

Tomatani was president and treasurer of the Redondo Beach Police Officer’s Assn. He embezzled $72,388 from the group between May 2004 and May 2008, prosecutors said. He also embezzled $3,000 from the city of Redondo Beach, according to prosecutors.

Tomatani paid $75,388 in restitution before his sentencing, the district attorney said. He was relieved of duty in November 2008 when the funds were discovered missing. He resigned from the department in October 2009.

— Robert J. Lopez

A Palm Springs man who wore a Marine Corps uniform with medals and bragged about fighting in a battle in Iraq was sentenced Monday to a year of probation, authorities said.



Steven Douglas Burton, 39, was also ordered to pay a $250 fine and a $25 sentencing assessment by U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips in Riverside, authorities said.



In his plea agreement, Burton admitted to wearing the uniform and medals on several occasions, including at least two Halloween parties and his 20-year high school reunion in Martinez in the Bay Area, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Joseph Akrotirianakis, who prosecuted the case.



Burton pleaded guilty in December to violating a federal law prohibiting the unauthorized wearing of a U.S. military uniform. The medals that he wore on his uniform included the Navy Cross, authorities said.



He bragged to friends about serving in Afghanistan and fighting in the battle of Fallouja in November 2004.



In issuing the sentence, Phillips took into consideration that Burton did not wear the uniform for financial gain or to enter a military base, according to Akrotirianakis.

–Robert J. Lopez

Photo: Steven Douglas Burton. Credit: Marine Corps Times.

Two men were shot and killed and a third was wounded Thursday night in Moreno Valley, authorities said.



The shooting occurred about 6:15 p.m in the 21000 block of Bay Avenue. One victim died at the scene. A second was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said.



While investigators were at the scene, they discovered a third victim who had run to a nearby store after he was wounded, Deputy Melissa Nieburger said.



The man was taken to a hospital. His condition was not known.

No suspects were in custody. Detectives were at the scene Thursday night interviewing witnesses and gathering evidence.

[Updated 11:09 p.m.: Detectives are investigating whether the men were among a group of immigrants being held against their will at a home near the shooting, Nieburger said.]

— Robert J. Lopez

Two women and a man were being treated for burns Thursday night after they were splashed with an unknown chemical while walking on a street in Panorama City, officials said.

The victims were in the 13600 block of Cantara Street about 9 p.m. when the incident occurred, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

The three were taken to a hospital and were listed in stable condition, the Fire Department said.

Their names and ages were not released.

Los Angeles Police Department officers were at the scene investigating. No additional details were available.

— Robert J. Lopez

Photo: KTLA

Map: Neighborhood where the incident occurred. Credit: Los Angeles Times Mapping L.A.

A Garden Grove man who was the victim of a home-invasion robbery was arrested Thursday afternoon on suspicion of growing marijuana at the residence, police said.

Dennis Edgar Chailland, 62, who was booked at the Orange County Jail, was among three people at the home in the 12800 block of Magnolia Street when at least two masked attackers stormed in Wednesday night, the Garden Grove Police Department said.



One of the victims was pistol-whipped and suffered minor injuries.



The attackers were taking the marijuana plants when one of the victims broke free and escaped, Lt. Kevin Boddy said. The attackers fled with one wallet, a laptop and other items.



Boddy said police found 60 marijuana plants of various sizes at the home.

— Robert J. Lopez

A man convicted of molesting three girls in Costa Mesa will be arrested on new federal charges when he is released Friday from California state prison, authorities said.

George Joseph England, 65, was convicted of molesting the girls in 1977 but fled and remained a fugitive until he was taken into custody in Miami in 2005 on unrelated federal charges of carrying a false passport.

England will be turned over to FBI agents when he is set free from Corcoran State Prison, Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas said Thursday.

Rackauckas said he found out about an arrest warrant being prepared by federal authorities just as he was set to hold a news conference to alert residents that England was to be released after serving a little more than three years behind bars.

"This man spent a lifetime using young girls for his own perverse sexual gratification and never showing any remorse for the emotional and psychological damage he left his victims to carry," Rackauckas said in a statement.

He added that he was "sickened" that his office had been denied any legal recourse by a judge to "keep this child molester locked up away from children."

England was sentenced in September 2006 to three years to life in prison.

Rackauckas did not say what federal charges England will face. Judy Orihuela, a spokeswoman for the FBI in  Miami, said Thursday evening that she could not comment because charges had not been filed.

England served in the Army in Vietnam from 1963 to 1966 and returned to that country to work as a civilian contractor. In 1972, he came back to the U.S. with a 5-year-old Vietnamese girl who had been living in an orphanage.

Authorities said England used the girl to lure the three other Costa Mesa girls, ages 8 to 10, into his motor home, where he molested them.

Prosecutors alleged that England also sexually assaulted the Vietnamese girl for 11 years, causing her to become pregnant several times and have abortions.

She also gave birth to a child who was turned over for adoption, according to prosecutors. England was not charged in connection with those alleged assaults because he had persuaded the girl not to testify against him, prosecutors said.

— Robert J. Lopez

Photo: George Joseph England with his attorney at a 2006 court hearing. Credit: Daily Pilot.

An Orange County prosecutor has released photos apparently taken by convicted killer Rodney James Alcala to help determine whether women displayed in the pictures were victimized.



Deputy District Atty. Matt Murphy told the Orange County Register that Alcala, a freelance photographer, used his camera to gain the trust of some of his victims.



Alcala’s photos were posted Tuesday on the Register’s website. "We’d like to locate the women in these pictures," Murphy was quoted as saying.



Alcala was convicted last month of slaying 12-year-old Robin Samsoe, who lived in Huntington Beach, and killing four Los Angeles County women between 1977 and 1980. The women were sexually assaulted, tortured and strangled, prosecutors said.



On Tuesday, a jury recommended that Alcala receive a death sentence for the five murders.



Anyone with information on the women in the photos is asked to call Huntington Beach Police Det. Patrick Ellis, at 714-375-5066.

— Robert J. Lopez

Photo: Huntington Beach Police Department

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Los Angeles police found more than 1,500 hens and roosters at several Sylmar residences Wednesday in an investigation of a suspected cockfighting operation.



Officers arrived at the residential trailers and homes in the 13400 and 13500 blocks of Borden Avenue about 6 a.m. and found the animals, the Los Angeles Police Department said.



The LAPD’s animal cruelty task force led the operation, which also included personnel from other city agencies, Officer Cleon Joseph said.



No arrests were made in the ongoing investigation.



— Robert J. Lopez

Map: Neighborhood where LAPD officers conducted the cockfighting investigation. Credit: Los Angeles Times Mapping L.A.