Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

[UPDATED with Rescuers Put in Harm's Way:] Kyndall Jack and Nicholas Cendoya Saved

See Update No. 7 on page 3 about a recently concluded press conference giving a complete overview of the latest events in Trabuco Canyon.See Update Nos. 3-6 on page 2 about the man being found alive, the search resuming for the woman, Kyndall Jack being found and airlifted out and how it all happene ... More >>

Lenny Dykstra, Former Pro Baseball Player Out of OC, Gets 6 1/2 More Months in Prison

Santa Ana-born pride of Garden Grove High, pro baseball warrior, Orange County car wash king, crony of CNBC Mad Moneyman Jim Cramer and convicted thief, druggie, conman and sex offender Lenny Dykstra has been sentenced to 6 1/2 months in lockup despite getting into fights with jailers. U.S. District ... More >>

[UPDATED with Conviction and Correction:] Stafford Joel Spicer Arrested on Suspicion of Slaying Long Beach Model in 1985

​See update and correction at the end of this post.ORIGINAL POST, MARCH 10, 2011, 3:52 P.M.: A homicide case may finally be closed--oh, just 26 years after the crime, but who's counting?  Stafford Joel Spicer, 59, of Las Vegas was arrested Tuesday and booked on suspicion of murdering Joanne M ... More >>

Jason Bitz, Killed by Off-Duty Santa Ana Police Officer, is Latest Martyr for Cop Shooting Foes

It's getting so you can't keep those recently killed by Orange County cops straight without a scorecard. Most attention has gone to Kelly Thomas in Fullerton and Manuel Diaz and Joel Mathew Acevedo in Anaheim, so you'll be forgiven if you forgot about 23-year-old Jason Bitz, who was shot dead by an ... More >>

LA Deputies On Beating Johnnie Franklin Jones

[Moxley Confidential] It isn't just the Kelly Thomas killing in which cops believe they have the right to execute a citizen during a scuffle

[UPDATED with Conviction:] Cesar Gomez GUILTY of Brutal Murder of Ashley Nicole Lilly in Upscale Garden Grove Hotel

​UPDATE, SEPT. 22, 3:47 P.M.: 36-year-old El Monte gang banger Cesar Gomez was convicted today of murdering 24-year-old Inglewood prostitute Ashley Nicole Lilly in a swanky Garden Grove hotel in August 2009.A jury found the illegal immigrant who has been deported three times back to Mexico guilty ... More >>

Deverick Deshawn "Dog" Mathis of La Habra Accused of Heading Notorious Crips Pot Ring in Compton

​A La Habra man headed a notorious Crips street gang drug ring that sold marijuana across the country and held meetings on the same Compton block where a second Crips operation sold pot and moved prescription drugs to Louisiana, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles.Deverick Desha ... More >>

The Searchers of G.I. Joe Search and Rescue

The OC group goes into the California wilderness to find the missing—and to honor a brother who was swept away

[BREAKING:] State Supreme Court Affirms Death Penalty for John Famalaro, Killer of 23-year-old Woman Kept in Cold Storage

​The California Supreme Court has confirmed the death penalty for John Famalaro, the phony cop convicted of killing Denise Huber, who disappeared on her way home to Newport Beach from a Morrissey concert in 1991, and keeping the 23-year-old's body in cold storage until it was discovered in Arizona ... More >>

Sean Paul Delacerda, Deputy Who Put Gun in His Mouth, Assaulted Ex- and Posed for Ugly Mug

​UPDATE, APRIL 15, 2010, 10:43 A.M: 27-year-old Sean Paul Delacerda has been convicted of assaulting an ex-girlfriend with a firearm after accusing her of cheating and violently holding her against her will at gunpoint in her apartment.But the Fullerton resident, who is looking at up to 18 yea ... More >>

[UPDATED: Body ID'd as Joe Le] Joe Le, GWC Student, Missing After Being Swept Away in the San Gabriel River

Joe Le (Anaheim)​UPDATE: APRIL 4, 9:11 A.M. The OC Register now reports that the Los Angeles County Coroner's office has confirmed that the body found in the Angeles National Forest near the San Gabriel River was that of Joe Le. His body was found on Sunday.UPDATE: APRIL 3, 7:30 P.M. The OC Regist ... More >>

[UPDATED] Chris McAmis Enters Not Guilty Plea in Lynsie Ekelund Killing

​UPDATE, MARCH 22, 12:44 P.M.: Today, after months of delays, 32-year-old Christopher McAmis entered a plea of not guilty to allegedly murdering and attempting to rape Placentia woman Lynsie Ekelund a decade ago. This was McAmis' fourth appearance at the Superior Court in uptown Whittier since his ... More >>

Denise Huber Case to Again Haunt OC Tonight

​Orange County residents could not help but be haunted by Denise Huber's disappearance in 1991. For years afterward, a painted portrait of the pretty 23-year-old was splashed on a wall facing the connector between the 405 freeway and Route 73--near where her car had broken down before being found ... More >>

Hilbert Pineil Thomas Faces Death Penalty in Double Murder at Stanton Sales Office

​Hilbert Pineil Thomas, a 39-year-old Garden Grove resident accused of killing a mobile home salesman and his secretary in Stanton in 2009, will face the death penalty, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas announced today.Thomas, who is being held without bail on two felony counts of ... More >>

Lynsie Ekelund's Accused Killer Awaits Arraignment

Chris McAmis confessed to murdering the Fullerton College student in 2001. Their families now try to come to grips with the news

BREAKING: Arrest Made in Case of Missing Placentia Woman

Lynsie Ekelund​UPDATE, 8:45 P.M.: OCDA ISSUED A PRESS RELEASE ON THE CASE TODAY. SEE BOTTOM OF POST FOR DETAILS.After nine years of investigation and fears the case had been forgotten, an arrest has been made in the disappearance of Placentia resident and Fullerton College student Lynsie Ekelund. ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Chi Ngoc Bui, OC Homicide No. 40: Run Over for His Casino Winnings

​UPDATE: The third murder suspect is arrested south of Bullhead City, Arizona (see end of post) . . .Chi Ngoc Bui won big the night of Sept. 2 at the Hawaiian Gardens Casino next to the 605 freeway. Little did the 55-year-old Westminster resident know that he was being watched, later followed or t ... More >>

Now We Begin the Real Sheriff Sandra Hutchens Era

​In the waning days of the campaign for sheriff, a resigned but not defeated Sandra Hutchens argued a point to an unreceptive group of voters in Newport Beach, handed the microphone to rival Bill Hunt and said something like "This crowd is yours again."Time and again, Hunt dominated events with pa ... More >>

Bill Hunt's Gangsta Rap

[Moxley Confidential] Sheriff's candidate says he's the victim of a pre-election plot

[UPDATED:] Juri Julie Kibuishi and Samuel Eliezer Herr, OC Homicides No. 19 and 22: Both Executed, He Was Also Dismembered

UPDATE: They have found Sammy Herr's head (details after the jump) . . . Courtesy of Costa Mesa Police DepartmentDaniel Patrick Wozniak has been arrested for Juri Julie Kibuishi and Samuel Herr's murders.​Samuel Eliezer Herr's father went to his 26-year-old son's apartment in Costa Mesa Saturday ... More >>

Sean Paul Delacerda, Deputy Accused of Placing Bullet in Gun, Putting Gun in His Mouth, Pulling Trigger, Assaulting His Ex-

Courtesy of Orange County District Attorney's OfficeSean Paul Delacerda​A Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy was charged by the Orange County District Attorney's Office this week with assaulting his ex-girlfriend by pointing a gun at her--right after having put a bullet in the weapon, sticking th ... More >>

Who Is Craig Hunter?

[Moxley Confidential] And can he get into a runoff in the sheriff's race by being more OC than Sandra Hutchens and less right-wing than Bill Hunt?

Prosecutors Enthusiastically Endorse Sheriff Sandra Hutchens

Prosecutors: Hutchens deserves to win sheriff's race​Out on the campaign trail it often looks like Dana Point's Sandra Hutchens doesn't enjoy politics, but today the appointed sheriff has reason to smile after receiving the "enthusiastic and unconditional endorsement" of the Association of Or ... More >>

Bill Hunt's Remarkable Rise

[Moxley Confidential] Will Mike Carona's ex-punching bag be Orange County's next sheriff?

Bill Hunt Captures Deputy Union Endorsement in Sheriff's Race

Sheriff Hutchens loses deputy vote​The Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs (AOCDS) announced today that Bill Hunt, a challenger to appointed Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, has overwhelmingly won the powerful union's endorsement for the June election.

School Bus Driver Gets 151 Years for Molesting Little Girls

​My name is Terry and I am a school bus driver A creepy school bus driver is who I am And I get 151 years to life in state prisonFor molesting little girls and taking nasty picturesOkay, so as a lyricist, I make a great blogger. And apologies to Cheech Marin for mangling his song. But Terry Shield ... More >>

Joe Arpaio Helps Inject Some Mexican-Hater Money Into Bill Hunt's Campaign for Sheriff

Crime Time: Double the Fun Starring [Alleged] Skeevy Teachers, Fake Cop Robbers and Ryan Seacrest's Strange Stalker

It's the Weekly's weekly round-up of local police calls--actually the Weekly's TWO weekly round-up as an attempt is made to make up for lost vacation time.Left courtesy of E! Entertainment, right courtesy of Orange Police DepartmentRyan Seacrest (left) gets paid another visit from his No. 1 Army spe ... More >>

Crime Time: F-Bombers, Tiki Takers, Beatles Fans, Creepy Molesters and Tawny Kitaen on the Loose

FACES OF TAWNY Actress, ex-Anaheim Angel wife, car hood buffer, supposedly reformed druggie and all-around hot mess Tawny Kitaen is shown on a February 2004 Weekly sex issue cover (left); in a booking photo from her April 2002 assault on then husband Chuck Finley in Newport Beach (top right); and wr ... More >>

Crime Time: Fight Clubs, Stray Bullets, Car Bashings, Cop Gun Theft, 4 Jewelry Heists

  Jewelry heist fever spreads across Orange CountyIt's the Weekly's weekly round-up of local police calls--now with more street fights, bullets flying, dudes getting jumped, cops losing service revolvers and jewelry heists in towns with "Laguna" in the name across the county.   ... More >>

Just Another Orange County Murder: Jasmine Fiore Car Found

UPDATED THROUGHOUT! The final piece in the puzzle explaining how swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore was brutally murdered and mutilated, as well as whether anyone helped now dead murder suspect Ryan Alexander Jenkins kill and/or dispose of the body in a Buena Park dumpster, could have b ... More >>

The FBI, the Islamic Center of Irvine and Craig Monteilh: Who Was Conning Whom?

Orange County Sheriff Was A Democrat

Sandra Hutchens, Orange County's Republican sheriff, registered as a Democrat for as long as a decade in both Los Angeles and OC, according to records reviewed by the Weekly.In an interview for a March profile, Hutchens told me she is a Republican; holds conservative views, particularly on fiscal ma ... More >>

Less Than a Year Since She Was Appointed Sheriff, Sandra Hutchens Has Made Some Powerful Enemies

A Look at Craig Monteilh, Who Says He Spied on the Islamic Center of Irvine for the Feds

[Moxley Confidential] Ron Cedillos Hasn't Told the Whole Story of His Falling-Out With Mike Carona

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Training Day

Police admit they planted a gun at Huntington Beach crime scene

Tapping the Source... and maybe your phone

Perhaps because it's in the Drinking Issue, Cornel Bonca's review of Paula L. Woods' new novel Strange Bedfellows (featured in Selected Reviews from the Weekly on the sidebar) reminded me both of my own experiences with bad novels and my favorite quote from one very good novel, Waguih Ghali's Beer i ... More >>

Girls Trouble

Happy New Year: now youll pay for the sheriffs alleged sex romps

Dr. Death Revisited

In French TV documentary, ex-CIA official admits ties to CIA-cocaine scandal character

No Justice, No Peace of Mind

Parents have dim hopes sons killer will be brought to trialeven though cops know where alleged murderer is

Dudes, It Cant Be My Dope!

Gregory Haidl: From alleged gang-rapist to whiny rich kid

A Tale of Two Shootings

When it comes to cops and crew-cut Latinos, justice isn't blind -- it's suspect

Rave Off

Drug paranoia killed B3Cande desert rave

Sailor Suit

ACLU ready to sue county over Boy Scouts control of Newport real estate

31 Scariest People in OC