Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s son was hired to be a deputy seven months after his father took office
The son, an Army veteran, was hired by the department in June despite a record that department watchdogs said would generate scrutiny.
Deputy union accuses O.C. Sheriff’s Department of disciplining employees solely for invoking 5th Amendment right
Orange County Sheriff’s Department leaders have threatened to discipline deputies solely for invoking their 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination, according to a federal lawsuit filed Friday seeking to halt the practice. Arguing that the constitutionally-guaranteed right against self-incrimination applies to law enforcement like everyone else, the union representing Orange County sheriff’s deputies alleges that the…
Mother of former UCLA player sues city of Los Angeles for wrongful death
The mother of a former UCLA basketball player who killed himself at the end of a barricade in a Sherman Oaks home in 2018 is suing the city of Los Angeles, faulting the Police Department for its tactics. Liza Stazel’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, filed this week, claims negligence and wrongful death and seeks…
Man who ripped out rival’s eyeball in heated attack faces life in prison
Isaac Manuel Orozco faces life in prison after being found guilty of aggravated mayhem, attempted aggravated mayhem, burglary and assault with a deadly weapon.
Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller, the former MMA fighter, pleads guilty to vandalism
Former mixed-martial-arts fighter Jason “Mayhem” Miller pleaded guilty this week and was sentenced to a year in jail for smashing a large marble table at his onetime girlfriend’s La Habra residence and violating a protective order to stay away from her, according to court records. Miller, 38, pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony count of…
Foreign license plate doesn’t mean driver’s cheating
Q. I was driving along the 91 Freeway, approaching the 241 toll road, when I noticed a car in front of me with Mexican license plates. I was wondering what would happen if a vehicle from outside the United States used the toll roads. Would the toll roads try to mail out a fine for…
Fast-growing web of doorbell cams raises privacy fears
By AMY FORLITI and MATT O’BRIEN The woodsy community of Wolcott, Connecticut, doesn’t see a lot of crime. But when the police chief heard about an opportunity to distribute doorbell cameras to some homes, he didn’t hesitate. The police who keep watch over the town of 16,000 raffled off free cameras in a partnership with…
A community planned to boost child care. Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the bill to do it
Some of the governor’s supporters are baffled by his decision to block two Bay Area cities from raising local taxes above state limits, exemptions he said were unneeded.
A folk art trash palace in the shadow of Hearst Castle
For five curmudgeonly decades, Art Beal collected trash and constructed his fantastical ad hoc home on a Cambria cliffside. But is it art or an eyesore? And what will become of it?
Trump administration backs off threat to audit California wildfire fighting agreement
After a series of tense exchanges over California wildfires, the Trump administration and the state have agreed to continue their firefighting partnership under existing reimbursement rates.