The city of Los Angeles is one step closer to enforcing an ordinance that would shut down hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the city. There are currently about 1,000 dispensaries throughout Los Angeles, but if and when the ordinance goes into effect, only the 187 dispensaries that were registered with the city before a […]
Following the alleged rape and murder of 17-year-old Chelsea King, one California lawmaker is proposing legislation to stiffen the state’s existing sex offender laws. The legislation will be named after King, who disappeared on February 25 while running in a park near San Diego. On March 2, her body was found near a shallow grave. It is […]
One attorney and several chiropractors and paralegals were arrested this month for their involvement in a large-scale auto insurance fraud scheme. According to ABC News, the group is suspected of defrauding 19 insurance companies by filing false claims for staged accidents, costing nearly $550,000. Prosecutors say those arrested were part of a larger conspiracy involving more than […]
Manhattan Beach Police detectives have arrested a Westchester couple on suspicion of stealing high-end bicycles, strollers, and motorized scooters and possibly selling the parts for drug money. Arrested were 33-year-old Anthony Taraszka and 31-year-old Michelle Thompson. Both have previously been arrested on similar charges. The most recent arrest came after police investigators found 16 strollers […]
A father and son remain in police custody after they were arrested for stealing credit cards and money from the elderly. Witnesses say the father-son team would watch from the parking lot as their victims went inside the Ralphs supermarket on north Sepulveda Boulevard. While the victims were inside, the two would back their vehicle […]
Back in February we reported that a woman was convicted of setting a bikini dancer on fire during a feud. Last week that woman, 28-year-old Rianne Theriault-Odom, was sentenced to life in prison in Van Nuys Superior Court. In attendance at the hearing was the victim, Roberta Santo-Busby, who tearfully asked the judge to issue […]
An Anaheim man is in police custody after luring a minor into a hotel and raping her. The suspect, 33-year-old Matthew Martinez Casteneda, allegedly used the social networking site MySpace to convince the 12-year-old girl to meet him at the South Coast Plaza mall in Costa Mesa. According to Anaheim police, Casteneda took the girl to […]
A former gymnastics coach has been convicted of having an unlawful sexual relationship with a 16 year old girl. According to Orange County prosecutors, 37-year-old Jason Wayne Scofield met the girl while working as a coach at Wildfire Gymnastics in Tustin. His sexual relationship with the teen lasted from February 2009 through the end of […]
A Los Angeles County jury has recommended life in prison without parole for two men convicted of murdering a man and his stepdaughter on New Year’s Eve in 2006. A judge has scheduled a sentencing hearing for Matthew Ian Koontz, 36, and Jonathan Blackwell, 29. Koontz and Blackwell were convicted in January of first-degree murder […]
Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley’s efforts to crack down on medical marijuana have landed one dispensary owner in the hot seat. The owner of Organica, a medical marijuana dispensary in Marina Del Rey, is facing criminal charges for the illegal sale of marijuana and money laundering. Jeffrey Joseph is accused of passing out flyers […]
A man will stand trial in Los Angeles after admitting to the FBI that he paid to have sex with a 14-year-old girl and several other children in Cambodia. Michael Dodd, 59, is accused of traveling overseas to have sex with a minor. Dodd was in Cambodia teaching English when he was arrested by Cambodian authorities […]
The wife of an Olympic medalist accused of first-degree murder remains in custody after a judge lowered her bail to $1 million. Jane Laut is accused of murdering her husband, Dave Laut. Laut won a bronze medal at the 1984 Olympic games. Laut pleaded not guilty to the charges. Laut initially told investigators that her […]