Author: Shelby Grad

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s
office has quietly filed assault charges against three sheriff’s
deputies accused of punching and kicking a jail inmate after he was
disrespectful to a guard, according to court records.



Prosecutors
have built their case around a sheriff’s deputy who told investigators
he witnessed the beating and later met with other deputies to discuss
how to cover it up, the records show.

The charges mark a rare
criminal filing against deputies working in the jails: It is the third
excessive-force prosecution of jail deputies in a decade, according to
law enforcement records and interviews. Inmates frequently allege that
deputies have used excessive force, but law enforcement officials say
such cases are difficult to prove or prosecute.

Inmate Gabriel
Vasquez had a fractured cheekbone and injuries to his left ear, rib
cage and face in the January 2006 incident. Sheriff’s investigators
initially discounted his claim that deputies caused the injuries,
concluding that they were either self-inflicted or caused by other
inmates, according to court records.

Read the full story here.

–Jack Leonard

The 7.2 Mexicali earthquake has produced more than 100 aftershocks in the last 15 hours, including many small temblors in California.

Many of the aftershocks have occurred on the California side of the border just above the epicenter near Mexicali. Residents in Calexico and other parts of Imperial County and San Diego County reported feeling them. There have been other aftershock farther north in Riverside County, around the Salton Sea.

A 4.1 temblor struck off the coast of Malibu on Sunday afternoon.

Dozens of the aftershock measure stronger than magnitude 4.0. Two in Ocotillo, Calif., which is near the border, measured 5.0 — including one that hit Monday at 6:33 a.m.

"This is very typical for a 7.2 earthquake." said Caltech scientist Kate Hutton.

On Sunday, Caltech officials said it was probable that the Mexicali temblor could produce an aftershock of 6.0.

Residents of Calexico in the Imperial Valley were jolted awake as a 3.1-magnitude earthquake struck at 4:12 a.m. Monday.





Lights flickered and some light poles swayed as the aftershock struck
the California border town. There were no immediate reports of injuries
or property damage.





The quake was centered about 34 miles south-southwest of Calexico, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

— Shelby Grad in Los Angeles and Tony Perry in Calexico, Calif.

Map credit: USGS

"All fire stations completed their district drive-through assessment with
no significant damage or injuries reported. LAFD had a slight increase in
911 call load mostly associated with automatic alarms and stuck
elevators. Again no significant damage or injuries reported," the LAFD said in a statement.

San Diego County officials also said they found no significant
damage. There were reports of people stuck in elevators. LAFD officials
said they found broken elevators — but no one stuck inside. Rides were
temporarily
closed at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim.

The temblor struck at 3:40 p.m. about 108 miles east of Tijuana. In Los
Angeles, the shaking lasted for several seconds.

Jeniffer Haynie, 59, of Hemet was sitting by the side of her bed reading the newspaper and got up when the ground began moving.

“When it first started it felt like I was on a roller coaster,”
Hayne said in a phone interview. “It slowed down, then it picked up
even faster for about a minute.”

As the ground shook, she said, she grabbed her Brussels griffon,
Chewbacca, and told him to hang on. The quake lasted for about a
minute, Hayne said. “That’s a long time for an earthquake,” she said.

This part of Baja California — near Mexicali — has experienced
regular seismic activity — mostly small quakes but also some strong
ones. Guadalupe Victoria has recorded numerous minor quakes in the last few weeks.

Hundreds of people so far have
reported it on the "Did You Feel It" reporting system at the U.S.
Geological Survey.  Tell us if you felt it too.

— Richard Winton in Pasadena, Ruben Vives, Alan Zarembo, Rong-Gong Lin II and Shelby Grad in Los Angeles and Tony Perry in San Diego

Map: Above: Shaking intensity maps. Below: Main quake an suspected aftershocks. USGS 

A magnitude 3 earthquake struck the Santa Monica Bay this afternoon, a short time after a magnitude 7.2 temblor struck Mexicali.

[Updated, 5:36 p.m.: Caltech seismologists upgraded the Santa Monica quake to magnitude 4.1 and said it’s connected to the Mexicali temblor.]

The bay quake occurred about six miles south of Malibu around 4:10 p.m. There were no reports of damage or injuries.

Since the Mexicali quake, there have been other temblors around California, including several in Northern California and one in Julian, a backcountry town in San Diego County. There have also been aftershocks of the Mexicali quake centered in Mexico.

The part of Baja California struck today has experienced
regular seismic activity — mostly small quakes but also some strong
ones. Guadalupe Victoria has recorded numerous minor quakes in the last few weeks.

Caltech seismologists were still studying the details of the
temblor, trying to connect it to a specific fault. They said it’s
possible that the quake was so large that it ruptured all the way into
California.

[Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that the Malibu quake occurred two hours after the Mexicali quake.]

— Shelby Grad

Map: USGS Quake intensity analysis.

The earthquake that struck near Mexicali this afternoon was upgraded to a preliminary magnitude of 7.2, but there were no reports of major damage or injuries in San Diego or Los Angeles. There have also been several aftershocks in the last hour.

[Updated, 5:09 p.m.:  Information about quake damage in Mexico remains sketchy. According to Reuters, there have been reports of people trapped in elevators, collapsed retaining walls and power outages in and around Mexicali.  Telephone lines were down and items fell off of shelves and bookcases, according to reports.

In San Diego County, officials said no injuries have been reported so far.  But authorities are looking into reports of shattered glass and items falling off of shelves.]

The
Los Angeles Fire Department said their preliminary inspections of major infrastructure — such as tall buildings, freeway bridges and stadiums — found no problems.

"All fire stations completed their district drive-through assessment with
no significant damage or injuries reported. LAFD had a slight increase in
911 call load mostly associated with automatic alarms and stuck
elevators. Again no significant damage or injuries reported," the LAFD said in a statement.

San Diego County officials also said they found no significant damage. There were reports of people stuck in elevators. LAFD officials said they found broken elevators — but no one stuck inside. Rides were temporarily
closed at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim.

The temblor struck at 3:40 p.m. about 108 miles east of Tijuana. In Los
Angeles, the shaking lasted for several seconds.

Jeniffer Haynie, 59, of Hemet was sitting by the side of her bed reading the newspaper and got up when the ground began moving.

“When it first started it felt like I was on a roller coaster,” Hayne said in a phone interview. “It slowed down, then it picked up even faster for about a minute.”

As the ground shook, she said, she grabbed her Brussels griffon, Chewbacca, and told him to hang on. The quake lasted for about a minute, Hayne said. “That’s a long time for an earthquake,” she said.

This part of Baja California — near Mexicali — has experienced
regular seismic activity — mostly small quakes but also some strong
ones. Guadalupe Victoria has recorded numerous minor quakes in the last few weeks.

Caltech seismologists were still studying the details of the temblor, trying to connect it to a specific fault. They said it’s possible that the quake was so large it ruptured all the way into California.

Hundreds of people so far have
reported it on the "Did You Feel It" reporting system at the U.S.
Geological Survey.

— Ruben Vives, Rong-Gong Lin II and Shelby Grad in Los Angeles, Richard Winton in Pasadena and Tony Perry in San Diego

Shaking intensity map. USGS

An earthquake estimated to be magnitude 6.9 struck in the Guadalupe Victoria area of Baja California this afternoon, shaking skyscrapers in San Diego and Los Angeles.

[Updated, 4:40 p.m.: Caltech seismologists said the latest preliminary estimates place the magnitude at 7.2. That number could change as more data come in.]

The Los Angeles Fire Department said it was going into "earthquake" mode, checking buildings and bridges for possible structural damage and checking reports of people stuck in elevators. Rides were temporarily closed at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim.

There were no reports of major infrastructure damage in Los Angeles, but reports were still coming in from San Diego and Mexico. San Diego fire officials were responding to at least one report of a damaged building.

There were no power outages in Los Angeles as a result of the quake.

"LAFD has all resources on radio watch and checking their
district to ensure safety for all citizens. Firefighters from your 106
neighborhood fire stations are providing a complete survey of 470 square
miles in the greater Los Angeles area and are examining transportation
infrastructures, large places of assemblage (Dodger Stadium, universities) apartment buildings, power lines, etc, from the ground and
the air to ensure safety," the department said in a statement.

The temblor struck at 3:40 p.m. about 108 miles east of Tijuana. In Los
Angeles, the quake lasted for several seconds. It was felt across
Southern California.

This part of Baja California — near Mexicali — has experienced regular seismic activity — mostly small quakes but also some strong ones. Guadalupe Victoria has recorded numerous minor quakes in the last few weeks.

The quake left nerves rattled in Southern California. A shopper in Buena Park told KABC-TV Channel 7 that he was at a supermarket when the temblor hit. There was no damage in the store, he said, but people ran out in fear. He heard others say they saw electric poles moving.

Hundreds of people so far have
reported it on the "Did You Feel It" reporting system at the U.S.
Geological Survey.

— Rong-Gong Lin II, Ruben Vives and Shelby Grad in Los Angeles, Richard Winton in Pasadena and Tony Perry in San Diego

A 6.9 earthquake struck Baja Calfornia this afternoon, rattling a large swath of Los Angeles and Southern California.

The temblor struck about 3:40 p.m. about 108 miles east of Tijuana. In Los
Angeles, the shaking persisted for several seconds. It was felt across
Southern California, with skyscrapers shaking in San Diego. There were
no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

This part of Baja California has experienced regular seismic activity — mostly small quakes but also some strong ones.

The temblor this afternoon prompted reports to local authorities in
Los Angeles and Orange counties, and dozens of people so far have
reported it on the "Did You Feel It" reporting system at the U.S.
Geological Survey.

— Ruben Vives and Shelby Grad

By restoring some 1920s bungalow courts slated for demolition, the
Hollywood Community Housing Corp. created homes for low-income people
with special needs. Now that work is being recognized with a Los
Angeles Conservancy Preservation Award.



The Hollywood Bungalow
Courts project is one of eight that the conservancy recognized. One
other residential project, the Rudolph Schindler Bubeshko Apartments in
Silver Lake, also was honored.

In Hollywood, three bungalow
courts on Serrano Avenue were to be replaced with condominiums, but the
Community Redevelopment Agency stepped in, and they were spared, along
with a bungalow court on Kingsley Drive. All were Mission Revival and
Spanish Colonial Revival in style, with central courtyards.

Original
details, including pull-down tables, were kept. Some units were adapted
for wheelchair access, and all of them were updated and repaired.

Read the full story here.

–Mary MacVean

Photo: Carly Caryn

The iron chain falls with a clang as the old man steps into the dark,
deserted hallway of Linda Vista Community Hospital. Lights flicker and
a stench of mold hangs in the air. Down the main corridor, a lone metal
gurney rests against a wall.

More than a century ago, the
six-story building in Boyle Heights opened to much fanfare as Santa Fe
Coast Lines Hospital. The Mission-style building — with verandas, a
dome tower and sweeping views of downtown Los Angeles — catered to
railroad workers across the Southwest. Patients were cared for by a
surgeon who once tended to Howard Hughes; they drank fresh milk from
the hospital’s own Jersey cows.

They were brought into the
lobby in wheelchairs, taken up an elevator operated by the simple
pressing of a button and delivered to a heated room that could swiftly
be evacuated by automatic fire escape.

"So complete and unique
are the automatic features of the new hospital that it will not be
strange if all who enter therein for treatment are healed
automatically,"announced a 1904 newspaper article.

Now
the wheelchairs are gone, the elevators broken. The heating-and-cooling
system hasn’t worked for 16 years. Jesus Mena walks the halls alone —
flashlight in hand, keys clinking on his leg — like an orderly making
his final rounds. The 73-year-old watches over a building that in less
than two decades went from community hub to haunted house.

Read the full story here.

–Emeralda Bermudez in Boyle Heights

Photo: A crew member is silhouetted against the exterior of Linda Vista
Community Hospital during a film shoot at the allegedly haunted site in
Boyle Heights. The abandoned hospital, where railroad workers with
tuberculosis once were cared for in furnished tents, has been used as a
location for the movies "Outbreak," "End of Days" and "Pearl Harbor"
and the pilot episode of the television show "ER." (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A new Los Angeles Times/USC poll has found a shift in California voter sentiment away from proposals to take away all
social services from illegal immigrants, including access to schools and emergency medical
treatment, from illegal residents.

Large majorities in the poll
supported two alternative proposals: one that would couple stronger
enforcement at the border with a temporary worker program, and one that
would combine stronger border enforcement with a path to eventual
citizenship for illegal residents who perform community service, pay
back taxes and learn English.

The support for both a
guest-worker program and a citizenship option were notable partly
because they come at a time when California voters remain deeply
pessimistic about the state’s economy.

The Los Angeles Times/USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
poll surveyed 1,515 registered voters from March 23 to 30. It was
conducted by a bipartisan team of polling companies based in the
Washington, D.C., area: Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, a Democratic firm, and American Viewpoint, a Republican firm. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

The poll asked whether voters supported "implement stronger
enforcement at the border and
prohibit those here illegally from
benefiting from any taxpayer-funded social services, including
emergency room treatment and
public education for children
here illegally." In response, 31% said they strongly support and 32% said they strongly oppose.

In 1994, California voters approved Proposition 187, which cut off many of those benefits to illegal immigrants. It was later ruled unconstitutional.

Explore all the poll questions here. Check out Times reporter Evan Halper’s entire story here.

— Los Angeles Times

Photo: Isaac Chang of the Minuteman Project, left, argues with a
counter-protester at a rally in San Francisco by the group to demand
the resignation of the mayor. Credit: Jeff Chiu / Associated Press

The four people killed at a San Fernando Valley restaurant were "targeted," Los Angeles Police Department officials said.

All of the victims were men, said Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese,
commanding officer of operations at the Valley bureau. He said three of
the men were pronounced dead at the restaurant, another later died at a
local hospital. Two others were also wounded and are expected to
survive.

"We don’t have a crazed gunman running around North Hollywood that
presents an immediate threat to public safety, to anyone in their homes
or businesses in the area," Albanese said. "However, this is also not a
random act of violence, this was an intentional act."

The Hot Spot Cafe, a Mediterranean restaurant on Riverside Drive, was
packed with customers when a man walked in and opened fire around 4:40
p.m., according to police officials.

Investigators
were also trying to determine the exact number of shooters and whether
the gunman walked into the restaurant or was inside the
restaurant shortly before the gunfire broke out. They snapped photographs outside the restaurant, including the sidewalk and parked cars, as well as inside. Riverside Drive was closed off
between Colfax and Irvine avenues.

"This is a peaceful community that
doesn’t usually have to experience this kind of a shocking crime," said
Councilman Paul Krekorian, whose district includes North Hollywood. "We will get to the bottom of this," Krekorian said.





Law enforcement sources, who asked not to be identified because of the ongoing investigation, said they believed the shooting might have
involved Armenian gangs.





But they also said they have no evidence that the victims were
involved in gangs, noting that the case was in its early stages. The shootings come after a series of killings in the last two weeks that have diminished gains made this year in reducing the city’s homicide rate.

— Ruben Vives in Valley Village

Most students in the Chinese language class at Cedarlane Middle School in Hacienda Heights have never heard of Confucius.

"Con
what?" asked Ricardo Ramirez, 11, who loves to impress classmates with
his loud and clear greetings of "Hello!" and "I love you!" in Mandarin.

But
a proposal to bring more resources to his school’s Chinese program has
sparked heated debate over whether the Chinese government — in the
ancient philosopher’s name — should have a role in helping American
schoolchildren learn. It’s a controversy that lays bare tensions in a
community that has undergone a major demographic shift and is now more
than a third Asian.

In January, the Hacienda La Puente Unified
School District board voted 4 to 1 to adopt a new Chinese language and
culture class at Cedarlane next fall, at no cost to the district.



Confucius Classroom is paid for by the Chinese government’s Chinese Language Council International, also known as Hanban.

"I
am not against the teaching of foreign languages, but this is a
propaganda machine from the People’s Republic of China that has no
place anywhere in the United States," said John Kramer, 73, a former
superintendent of the district who has been vocal in the debate.

Read the full story here.

–Ching-Ching Ni in Hacienda Heights

Photo: Ricardo Ramirez, Alexis Perez, Emily Cowan and Rafael Chavez, from
left, practice their Chinese. Most students in the class are Latino. (Katie Falkenberg / For The Times / March 25, 2010)

The incidents, which were not related, come after a series of killings in the last two weeks that
have nearly erased impressive gains made this year in reducing the
city’s homicide rate. Between March 20 and March 30, 19 people were
killed, bringing the number of homicides in the city this year to 70, as of
Tuesday.

Before the rise in
violence, the LAPD had been posting double-digit decreases in the
homicide rate compared to last year, in which a record low 314 people
were killed.

— My-Thuan Tran and Andrew Blankstein in Los Angeles, Ruben Vives in Valley Village

Photo: KTLA

Watch video report from KTLA here.

A gunman opened fire at a restaurant in Valley Village on Saturday afternoon, killing four people and wounding another.

Around 4:40 p.m., a lone gunman entered a restaurant on the 11650 block of Riverside Drive, said Los Angeles Police Officer Rosario Herrera.

Three people were declared dead at the scene, police said. Two victims were taken to a local hospital, where one later died, according to police.

The suspect, a white male in his 30s, is still at large, Herrera said.

“At this moment, it is an ongoing investigation,” she said. “We are unsure of the motive and we don’t know exactly how it occurred.” 

Law enforcement sources, who asked not to be identified because the investigation is ongoing, said they believe the shooting might have involved Armenian gangs. But they stressed that they have no evidence the victims were involved in gangs, noting that the case is in its early stages.

The sources said the man attacked in a matter of moments.

[Updated at 7:35 p.m.: The shooting occurred at the Hot Spot Cafe, a Middle Eastern restaurant that customers have described as a mom-and-pop operation.]

— My-Thuan Tran and Andrew Blankstein

Photo: KTLA

California voters have a generally positive view of the massive federal healthcare package signed into law by President Obama last month, providing a potential boost statewide to the Democrats who pushed it through Congress, according to a new Times/USC poll.

Republican leaders, campaigning against the bill, have warned Democrats that their votes would weigh them down in November’s elections. Although that may be true in more conservative parts of the country, the opposite appears to be developing here.

By a margin of 46% to 29%, California voters surveyed said they would be more likely to vote for a politician who had supported the health bill. And just over half the voters polled said they believed the country would be better off because of the bill. 

On another hot-button issue, immigration, the poll found a continued sharp polarization between Democrats and Republicans, but also a shift of voter sentiment away from proposals to take away all social services, including access to schools and emergency medical treatment, from illegal residents.

Read the full poll here.

Photo: Dozens of volunteer dentists work on participants in the Remote Area Medical expedition last year at the Forum in Inglewood. Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times

San Diego police have arrested a man who allegedly led them on a pursuit through the city’s streets in a stolen ambulance.

A 52-year-old man drove the ambulance away from Sharp Memorial Hospital early Saturday morning, authorities said.

The ambulance belongs to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, department spokesman
Maurice Luque told Channel 5 News San Diego. Luque said paramedics had taken a patient to Sharp and when they came back outside, "no ambulance. Ambulance missing.” Fire dispatchers were able to track the ambulance by GPS and informed police.

Officers were able to stop the driver using a spike strip.

Paul John Sos was arrested  on suspicion of drunken driving, auto theft, evading police and driving with a suspended license, San Diego police told Channel 5.

–Shelby Grad

The Long Beach Police Department is investigating both Jesse James and a photographer after an altercation earlier this week that was caught on tape.

On the video, which was broadcast on KTLA News, James yells at the paparazzo to leave the area near his business. The photographer claims a friend of James’ slashed his tires

James, who is married to Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock, has been followed by photographers after reports that he had several affairs surfaced earlier this month.

Nancy Pratt, a spokeswoman for the Long Beach Police Department, said James was under investigation for vandalism and the paparazzo for stalking.

"An investigation into the incident is ongoing," Pratt told KTLA.

The incident occurred Thursday. Ever since reports of James’ and Bullock’s marital problems were revealed, the paparazzi has been camping out at James’ home in Seal Beach. Neighbors have complained to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department about the photographers, but authorities have said the paparazzi have a right to be there.

— Shelby Grad

In a legal battle that pits old industrial uses against urbanization,
Culver City is challenging an environmental impact report approved by
Los Angeles County that could allow 600 new wells to be drilled in a
local oil field over the next 20 years.





A week ago, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Chalfant
upheld Culver City’s 6-month-old moratorium on new drilling in the
northern section of the 85-year-old Inglewood Oil Field, which is
within city limits. City officials said the moratorium was needed to
provide time for development of new drilling regulations aimed at
addressing health issues.





Chalfant had been expected on Monday to rule on a separate lawsuit
filed by the city asking that he scrap the county report related to
plans to drill new wells, in part because none of the 1,000-acre
field’s existing 1,463 active, idle and abandoned wells has undergone
such a review.

Instead, a hearing on the matter was pushed back to June 3 to give
parties more time to negotiate a settlement.

If the county report is
invalidated, a new one will be required before new drilling can occur.

Read the full story here.

–Louis Sahagun

Photo: Oil facilities in the Baldwin Hills. AP

Erin Andrews, the ESPN reporter who last month was at the center of a Los Angeles court case involving a man who secretly videotaped her, has now been the subject of death threats, her attorney said.

Andrews, who is appearing on ABC’s "Dancing with the Stars," is now under protection. Her attorney, in a statement released to the media, did not specify the threats but said the FBI has been notified.

"It is unfortunate that
there are sick people who prey on the fears and threaten the well-being
of others," Marshall Grossman said.

In court, Andrews told the judge: "He stalked me, he terrorized me
— this will never be over for me, and I don’t want it to ever be over
for you," she said, referring to Barrett.

"You are a sexual predator, a sexual deviant," she told Barrett,
saying she lives in a state of fear and needs security at work and
home. "They should lock you up and throw away the key."