San Bernardino County

Margie Carranza, Emma Hernandez Get $4.2 Million for Being Shot by Cops Hunting Dorner

The city of Los Angeles will pay $4.2 million to Margie Carranza and Emma Hernandez, the mother and daughter newspaper deliverywomen who had their small pickup--and, in the case of one, herself--shot up by LAPD cops protecting the Torrance home of a Chris Dorner target.Carmen Trutanich, the LA city ... More >>

[UPDATED with I.D.:] Camp Pendleton Marine Road Rager Sgt. Joshua Brightman was an Online Video Star Already

See the update at the end of page 2 with a national TV program identifying the raging Marine and confirming he's also featured in the school assembly video.ORIGINAL POST, APRIL 4, 1:29 P.M.: San Diego television news stations say they know who an unhinged Marine shown in cell phone video from a Camp ... More >>

FBI Agents Don't Fall For Fake Compartment Trick In Narcotics Loaded BMW

Late one December night in 2009, three individuals riding in a black 1997 BMW 528i on I-15 in San Bernardino County believed a CHP officer stopped them merely for weaving out of a lane, but in truth they'd been under surveillance for hours by a team of undercover FBI agents.Driver Lindberg Villalobo ... More >>

Christopher Jordan Dorner Manhunt Reward Fund to Get $100,000 Boost from City of Irvine

When Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief Charlie Beck announced a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of then-living fugitive Christopher Jordan Dorner on Feb. 10, they were surrounded by other city and police officials from LA, Irvine, Riversid ... More >>

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck Puts His Officers and Victims in Orange County First and Foremost

Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck held a wide-ranging press conference this morning on the Christopher Jordan Dorner case, which plunged Southern California into a nightmare after the former La Palma resident is believed to have killed an Irvine couple out of revenge before taking the ... More >>

[UPDATED with Hot Gassing Defended:] Christopher Jordan Dorner War Is Over!

See the update at the end of page 5 on the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department defending the use of "hot gas," which could have sparked the cabin fire, on the suspect.ORIGINAL POST, FEB. 7, 9:48 A.M.: The word coming out of the Los Angeles Police Department this morning is meant to apply to t ... More >>

Killer of Newport Harbor High Wrestling Star Wants A New Trial

In December 2001, Irvine's Tommy Lee McGuire savagely murdered Matthew Large, a onetime Newport Harbor High School star wrestler turned mixed martial arts competitor, and buried his corpse at Stinky Beach in Humboldt County.Five years later, an Orange County jury agreed with homicide prosecutor Matt ... More >>

[UPDATED with Manner of Death, Court Follow-Up:] Anthony Nicholas Orban, Ex-Westminster Cop Who Kidnapped and Raped Waitress, Found Dead in Jail Cell

See the update at the end of this post about the way Orban died and the court proceeding that was held without him.ORIGINAL POST, OCT. 26, 12:45 P.M.: Anthony Nicholas Orban, the former Westminster police detective convicted earlier this year of kidnapping a waitress in Ontario and raping her in Fon ... More >>

Santa Margarita Water District Sued Over its Lead Role in Mojave Groundwater Project

Environmental groups are suing Orange County's second largest retail water district over plans to pump water Mojave Desert groundwater. Santa Margarita Water District, which serves more than 155,000 residents and businesses in Mission Viejo, Coto de Caza, Las Flores, Ladera Ranch, Talega and its hom ... More >>

[UPDATED with Sentencing Details, Disturbing Testimony:] Anthony Nicholas Orban, Ex-Westminster Cop, Guilty of Violent Rape

See update No. 3 at end of this post for details on sentencing and a disturbing testimony that undercut Anthony Nicholas Orban's Zoloft defense.See update No. 2 at end of this post for details on the jury determining Orban was sane when he kidnapped and raped a waitress at the nose of his Westm ... More >>

Haidl Gang Rape's Jane Doe Gives Key Speech at OC's Victims' Rights March in Santa Ana

She was so excited last night that she didn't get much sleep, but the sexual assault victim known for a decade only as "Jane Doe" in the infamous Haidl Gang Rape case delivered a potent, uplifting speech today at the 4th annual Orange County Victims' Rights March and Rally in Santa Ana.Sharing the s ... More >>

Reps. Gary Miller and Ken Calvert Get Their Assets Handed Back to Them

​The Washington Post compared the annual financial disclosure reports filed by every member of Congress over the past decade to various public records and discovered that nearly 50 senators and House representatives directed millions of dollars in earmarks to projects that could either enhance ... More >>

[UPDATED with Memorial Service Details:] Brian Hayes, Veteran Anaheim Police Officer, Dies in Plane Crash

​UPDATE, JULY 20, 5:25 P.M.: A memorial service for veteran Anaheim Police Officer Brian Hayes, who died in a plane crash with his girlfriend Sunday in Arizona, will be noon Saturday at Calvary Church East Anaheim, 5605 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim.Hayes is survived by his father, Judge W. Michael Ha ... More >>

[UPDATED with Insanity Plea:] Anthony Nicholas Orban, Ex-Westminster PD Detective, Blames Rape of Waitress on Meds for Stress From Iraq War

​UPDATE, JULY 20, 10:36 A.M.: Eight months ago, the Weekly reported that Anthony Nicholas Orban's defense attorneys seemed to be cooking up an insanity plea to charges that the then-Westminster Police detective abducted a waitress in Ontario and raped her with a gun to her head in nearby Fontana.L ... More >>

Orange County Is Top Gun in Crime Guns Traced Here on Per Capita Basis

​When it comes to the total number of guns used in crimes, more can be traced to Los Angeles County than any other in Southern California, but on a per capita basis, Orange County is tops.That's the conclusion of data released by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and rep ... More >>

UltraStar Cinemas Puts the Motion in Motion Pictures

​As the screen flashes images of the runaway train in The Polar Express, my theater seat dips, sways and lunges in sync with the action on screen. A car chase from Terminator: Salvation provides similar movements, although in a more jolting fashion to the lumbar region.No, papa hasn't been dipping ... More >>

Andrew Thomas Gallo, Accused of Killing Angels Pitcher Nick Adenhart and 2 Others, is Not Only Alleged Drunken Driver Up on Murder Today

Andrew Thomas Gallo​Separate murder trials for two alleged drunken drivers begin this morning in Orange County.One you've heard a lot about, the other not so much.Guess that's to be expected when a rookie phenom Angels pitcher is a murder victim in the more talked-about case.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio Nod Enlivens Upstart Philip L. Liberatore's Race to Unseat Rep. Gary Miller

Photo by Beth StirnamanSheriff Joe Arpaio (right) stumps for Orange County sheriff candidate Bill Hunt last November.​Teabaggy sheriff wannabe Bill Hunt is apparently not the only Orange County candidate "Toughest Sheriff in America" Joe Arpaio is squarely behind.

OC is a Killer County

Have a seat; this could take a while.​Serial killer Rodney Alcala received the death sentence for the third time in as many decades today. Could sentence number three mean he'll be mainlining the state's death-cocktail sometime soon? Hardly.

Dubious Mike Carona Pal Loses Golf Course Temper Tantrum Appeal

Some smells just won't go away​The nasty stench of the sheriff-turned-convicted-felon Mike Carona era continues to odorize Southern California. Today, a state court of appeal based in Santa Ana rejected arguments by Raymond Kiu Jin Yi, one of the many dubious characters Carona handed real Orange C ... More >>

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 >>

Best Crime Story of the Week!

Racists Give Birth TooDeputies in California's Inland Empire are on the ball. Searching for criminal white supremacist gang members and their associates, the San Bernardino County officers recently staked out local maternity wards in the area of Hesperia, Winchester and Perris. Why? Because they ant ... More >>

It's a Quick Read 8

Orange County Register: The man who shot himself to death inside Crystal Cathedral two weeks ago thought he was a prophet of God and heard the voices of demons inside his head. Wait, there's more than one of us? The Reg also has video of the dude. . . . A Costa Mesa Police officer and another f ... More >>

'American Idol' Update: No News is Good News

Our two Orange County "American Idol" hopefuls, Mishavonna Henson (left) and Kai Kalama, are still alive after last night's show--mainly, because neither were in this week's first group of 12 to perform live. So there you go. Probably a good thing, too; not too many folks last night impressed, with ... More >>

Cracking Open a Miller

Congressman Gary Miller (R-Diamond Bar) has jack-assed his way back into the news. Seems he owns $20,000 in toll road bonds. What's the big deal? Miller is a big-time toll-road supporter, putting his signature on letters of support to the project as well as garnering earmark after earmark of pork-ba ... More >>

Face to Face Return to Play the Bamboozle Left Fest at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

Best Beef Recall EVER

Chino! Ew!

Wednesday's Headlines & Surprises: Total Idiot

Fatal Femmes! In the July 30 issue of Time, Sean Gregory reports on the Fatal Femmes Fighting Championship for all-female mixed-martial arts caged combat. Need I say more? Well, okay. In an enjoyable read based on the event in a Compton casino earlier this month, Gregory describes the brutality and ... More >>

Angry Asian Rap Stalls Case

VA Tech murders give OC Sheriff pal excuse

Va Tech Murders Give OC Sheriff Pal Excuse

At the insistence of John Barnett, OC 's legendary defense lawyer, a San Bernardino County judge refused to allow opening statements Monday in the jury trial of Raymond K. Yi, a former OC reserve deputy who faces six felony charges for a 2005 gun-related temper tantrum on a golf course. Barnett, fa ... More >>

Something Stinks

You know how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency announced recently they are joining forces to clean up stinky Aliso Creek (finally), which spews its filth into South Laguna's Aliso Beach? Yeah, when have we heard that before? Oh, yeah, eight years ago. Anyway, you'd ... More >>

A Postmortem on the Heat Wave

A story in this morning's New York Times on last month's heat wave makes for grim reading. According to the paper's examination of records, approximately 140 Californians died from the heat during the month of July, "a death toll unlike any the state had seen from high temperatures since 1955, state ... More >>

Diary of a Mad County

Ouch!

Why are county health officials in West Nile Denial?

Rape-Tape Escape?

Haidl defense says the DA altered key evidence in gang-gape case

The Critic

Thanks to his blundering defense, we now know about Gregory Haidls graphic performance on an X-rated DVD

Diary of a Mad County

Diary of a Mad County

Green With Anger

Yorba Linda

Richard Nixon was bored here

Tustin

Not full of hot air

Post-Prop. 215 Stress Disorder

The sad fate of Orange Countys medical-marijuana movement

Whoah, Hype!

Russians, Rockets and the Santa Ana River

A closed weapons plant in the Chino Hills may be leaking hazardous chemicals into the Santa Ana River

Redemption Song

Dave Herrick's strange odyssey through the U.S. war on drugs

Poo Fighters

Once a friend of land developers, Garry Brown has joined the battle to keep OCs beaches free of the brown stuff

Summer Beach & Beer Guide

Smoke on the Water

January-March

The Kids Aren't All All Right