Email Author MATT COKER

Awards

• 2011 - Southern California Journalism Awards/LA Press Club, published February 4, 2010

  "Douchebag Does Sundance"

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2012 Stories by MATT COKER

• Online Fund Started for Carpenter-Olivo Family That Lost Everything in Orange Fire

  published Jan 11, 2012

  Last Friday, grandmother Patricia Carpenter, mother Shannon Olivo and her children--17-year-old Jonathan, 13-year-old Ariana and 6-year-old Jacob--lost everything when fire destroyed their mobile home... More >>

• 44-Year-Old Man's Body Turns Up at Green Waste Site

  published Jan 11, 2012

  Having been referred to as human waste, I can sympathize with the former 44-year-old man from Artesia found in Rainbow Disposal's green waste transfer site in Huntington Beach Tuesday afternoon.How he... More >>

• Irvine International Film Festival Is Full of Hidden Gems

  published January 12, 2012

  Jack Kaprielian and Kevin Derek love movies, but they gravitate less toward Hollywood blockbusters and more toward short, foreign or... More >>

• Karen Elaine Hanover, Once Looking at 40 Years in Spoofing Case, Gets 6 Months in Jail

  published Jan 11, 2012

  Karen Elaine Hanover, a 44-year-old Seal Beach real estate saleswoman convicted for using "spoofing" technology to impersonate FBI agents threatening business clients over the phone, was sentenced th... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Live Nude Model in Laguna Beach!

  published Jan 11, 2012

  Laguna Beach Police got a call about photographer shooting two women, one of whom is topless, at Cliff Drive at Diver's Cove, where  . . . . . . Hey, where'd you gor Sorry, Charlie, you'll have ... More >>

• [UPDATED with 2nd Arrest:] People are Sought (and Found) in Violent Circle K Beer Robbery

  published Jan 10, 2012

  UPDATE, JAN. 10, 4:03 P.M.: A 17-year-old boy was arrested this morning for allegedly being the second robber who participated in a violent beer theft from a Circle K market in Garden Grove last week... More >>

• Aida Arroyo, Michael Burgin and Adam Weick, Gang Members Who Hit OC Jewelers, Convicted

  published Jan 10, 2012

  Three more members of a San Diego street gang have been convicted for their roles in two Orange County jewelry store robberies, with two learning their fate from a jury today and the third having ente... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Catherine Kieu Becker, Accused of Chopping Off Hubby's Pecker, Indicted by Grand Jury; Update on Headline Weiner, er, Winner

  published Jan 10, 2012

  See the update on page 2 with our headline winner for this case.rORIGINAL POST, JAN. 5, 3:48 P.M.: One of Orange County's most bizarre (and, for half of the population, painful) stories of 2011 concer... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Ahmad Siddiqi, Marine Afghanistan Interpreter Accused of Killing DoD Interpreter Soraya Faroqi and Her Unborn Child, to be Arraigned

  published Jan 10, 2012

  An Orange County District Attorney's office statement on Wednesday's scheduled arraignment of Ahmad Siddiqi fills in some holes about the murder of Soraya Faroqi and her unborn child.Currently, the Ma... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  [UPDATED with Victim I.D., Arraignment:] Arias Dolores Fagan, OC Homicide No. 1: Parolee Ean Keith Brown Held for Her Murder

  published Jan 10, 2012

  UPDATE, JAN. 10, 9:56 A.M.: Third-strike parolee Ean Keith Brown is scheduled to be arraigned in Santa Ana this morning for the strangulation murder of Dolores "Arias" Arias Dolores Fagan, who was vis... More >>

• Gary Samuel Cochran, Who Filmed Video of 8-year-old Girl Having Sex, Gets 26 Years

  published Jan 10, 2012

  Gary Samuel Cochran, a registered sex offender who was among 55 men nabbed after a multi-agency probe into child pornography exchanged via peer-to-peer networks like Limewire, was sentenced Monday to... More >>

• Augustin Sanchez Goes From Cuddling Ex-Girlfriend to Cuddling Jail Bunk Pillow

  published Jan 10, 2012

  Face it, we've all drunk dialed our exes, or driven by their addresses or possibly even gone up to the step, knocked on the door and proceeded to make asses out of ourselves.But Augustin Sanchez took ... More >>

• "Dying Son Bandit" Spins Sad Tale to Bank Tellers He Robs

  published Jan 09, 2012

  I hope the man dubbed by the FBI the "Dying Son Bandit" really does have a son who is dying.Wait, that didn't come out right. I don't hope anyone is dying. Actually, that applies to most people. But I... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Sloane Steven Briles Cuts Deal to Avoid Jail for Tossing 7-year-old Son Off Harbor Cruise Boat

  published Jan 09, 2012

  Over the objections of prosecutors, Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert Fitzgerald today sentenced Sloane Steven Briles to three years probation, a year in a child abusers treatment program and ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  [UPDATED with More Details:] Bernie Cervantes "Chino" Villegas, Toting BB Gun, Killed by Police

  published Jan 09, 2012

  UPDATE, JAN. 9, 12:20 P.M.: Anaheim Police say Bernie Cervantes "Chino" Villegas was not walking along Ball Road toting what turned out to be a BB rifle with a wooden stock but through a West Ball Roa... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Michael Kamrava, Octomom Nadya Suleman's Fertility Doctor, Files for Bankruptcy

  published Jan 09, 2012

  Michael Kamrava, the Beverly Hills fertility doctor who lost his medical license last year partly due to his controversial treatment of Octomom Nadya Suleman of La Habra, has reportedly filed for bank... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Richard Nixon's 99th Birthday Draws Friends, Family and Hugh Hewitt

  published Jan 09, 2012

  If Richard Nixon had not gone to that great pen of paranoia in the sky already, he would be at his library and birthplace in Yorba Linda more than just in spirit today to celebrate his 99th birthday.H... More >>

• What We Learned in OC, January 1-6

  published Jan 07, 2012

  For our recent look back at 2011 via Navel Gazing posts, we added what it was we learned from the news items. Shall we see how long we can keep the string going in 2012rGlad you agree. Feel free to ad... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Stop the Presses!!! Orly Taitz Wins a Motion!

  published Jan 06, 2012

  Orly Taitz won a court motion in Georgia this week and, after consulting my ass and the sky, monkeys are not flying out of my butt and pigs still cannot fly.It happened, oddly enough, not in Florida b... More >>

• Orange County Logs 836 DUI Arrests and No Fatalities Over Winter Holiday Crackdown

  published Jan 06, 2012

  The final numbers are in from "Avoid the 38"--as in avoid the 38 Orange County law enforcement agencies that coordinate strategies to take you off the road if you're driving drunk. Over the Winter Hol... More >>

• Carla Ann Brennan Pleads Guilty to $262k Student-Loan Scam, Gets 7 Years in Joint

  published Jan 06, 2012

  Carla Ann Brennan, who vaulted to first runner-up in one of last year's Ugly Police Mugshot of the Week lists with the pose at right, was sentenced to seven years in state prison after pleading guilty... More >>

• California Dream Act Repeal: EPIC FAIL!

  published Jan 06, 2012

  Supporters of a state initiative to repeal the California Dream Act Governor Jerry Brown signed into law last year announced today they failed to obtain the 500,000 signatures required to get a propos... More >>

• [UPDATED with Killer Revealed:] Christine Lauren Bennett, 2011 OC Homicide No. 71: Found in Condo

  published Jan 06, 2012

  UPDATE, JAN. 6, 8:47 A.M.: According to Christine Lauren Bennett's family, Alexei Ocana fatally shot his 27-year-old ex-girlfriend in an Anaheim Hills condo Dec. 30 before turning the gun on himself.T... More >>

• [UPDATED with Motive Revealed Online:] Dylan James Austin, 2011 OC Homicide No. 66: Quiet Park, Loud Commotion, Stabbing Death

  published Jan 05, 2012

  UPDATE, JAN. 5, 4:50 P.M.: Police and prosecutors have not officially divulged what Jesse Shockey and Dylan James Austin were arguing about before 16-year-old Shockey allegedly stabbed 19-year-old Aus... More >>

• Karen Anne Christiansen Gets 4+ Years for Corruption Tied to Newport-Mesa Schools Chief

  published Jan 05, 2012

  Karen Anne Christiansen, the former Beverly Hills School District official who received racy emails and secret financial bonuses from future Newport-Mesa Unified School District Superintendent Jeffr... More >>