|
Post by Sher on Jul 8, 2005 2:30:14 GMT -5
Police Find Stolen SUV, Kidnapped Toddler Mom Left 2-Year-Old In Running Car POSTED: 3:05 pm PDT July 6, 2005 UPDATED: 5:58 pm PDT July 6, 2005 SAN DIEGO -- An SUV with a sleeping toddler in the back seat was stolen outside a La Jolla sandwich shop Wednesday, prompting an intensive two-hour search before the vehicle was found abandoned with the child inside unharmed. The auto theft-kidnapping occurred in front of Subway in the 2200 block of Torrey Pines Road shortly before 2:30 p.m., according to San Diego police. The 2-year-old girl's mother told investigators she left the keys in the ignition of the SUV, with her daughter in the back seat, when she went into the eatery. "The only reason I came out here was to get a menu for her birthday party and now I don't even have her. She was taking a nap (and) I just went in to get a menu -- came out and (she) was gone," Julie Mitchell said. When she went back outside minutes later, her beige 1997 Toyota 4-Runner was gone, along with the child. Authorities issued a child abduction alert, urging the public to be on the lookout for the stolen vehicle. About 4:30 p.m., a caller reported spotting the SUV at La Jolla Shores Drive and North Torrey Pines Road, just outside the University of California, San Diego. The girl was alone inside the SUV, uninjured. Witnesses said the abductor may have been a tall, white-haired man who had been in the area of the sandwich shop around the time of the crime. They described him as a white man in his 30s or 40s, possibly dressed in women's clothing, a dispatcher said. He remained at large in the late afternoon. www.10news.com/news/4691175/detail.html?subid=22100481&qs=1;bp=t
|
|
|
Post by Sher on Jul 28, 2005 16:16:33 GMT -5
SAN DIEGO -- Two volunteers and a staffer for the annual San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Festival have agreed to resign after police and community groups threatened to boycott the event because the men are registered sex offenders.
The Pride board, which has met on the matter four times, also agreed this week to institute new screening procedures for volunteers and staff who work the event, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
The criminal pasts of the two volunteers were disclosed two weeks ago by James Hartline, a conservative Christian activist who opposes the Pride festival, the Union-Tribune reported.
The staffer later admitted to the Pride director that he also was a sex offender, the Union-Tribune reported.
After learning of the men's criminal records, the Pride board initially decided to allow them to continue to work the event.
However, gay organizations and local politicians, including Deputy Mayor Toni Atkins, urged the Pride board to reconsider, the Union-Tribune reported.
The Pride festival is an annual celebration for thousands of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents. It will start Friday with a rally in Balboa Park.
A parade through Hillcrest is scheduled for Saturday, followed by a festival Saturday and Sunday at Marston Point in Balboa Park.
|
|
|
Post by Sher on Aug 2, 2005 18:48:59 GMT -5
LOS ANGELES -- A man allegedly stabbed five people outside Dodger Stadium in a dispute over the sale of counterfeit T-shirts following a game between the Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals, police said.
The fight broke out Sunday after privately retained security guards hired to crack down on vendors selling unlicensed Dodgers merchandise approached a group of vendors, said police Lieut. Ruben Delatorre.
One of about 15 vendors began "slashing at people" with a knife as fans left the stadium, Delatorre said. The unidentified man then fled the scene.
Four of the stabbing victims were hospitalized.
|
|
|
Post by Sher on Aug 9, 2005 12:24:59 GMT -5
POWAY – A man armed with a handgun robbed the Plowboy Market on Midland Road shortly after 7 a.m. yesterday, said Sheriff's Lt. Dennis Brugos.
No shots were fired, and no one was hurt.
Brugos said the gunman escaped from the market, which is about a quarter-mile north of Poway Road, with about $300.
|
|
|
Post by Sher on Aug 9, 2005 12:25:15 GMT -5
ESCONDIDO – A man with a gun robbed a gas station Sunday night of an undisclosed amount of money, police said.
The bandit wore black clothing when he threatened a clerk and demanded cash at the Shell station on West Mission Boulevard and Nordahl Road about 11 p.m., police said.
No one was injured. No arrests had been made, police said.
|
|
|
Post by Sher on Aug 9, 2005 12:25:34 GMT -5
OCEANSIDE – Police are looking for people who exchanged gunfire between two cars and fired at an officer Saturday night.
While on patrol, Officer Anis Trabelsi saw the occupants of a white sedan and red Ford Mustang convertible trade shots at Weitzel Street and Center Avenue about 10:15 p.m., said Sgt. Leonard Mata.
After the shots were fired, a Hispanic man stood outside the Mustang and shot once in Trabelsi's direction as he called for backup.
The Mustang then sped toward Trabelsi's patrol car, forcing the officer to drive onto the sidewalk to escape injury, Mata said.
No one was injured, and no arrests were made. Police said the shooting may be gang-related. It's not known how many people were inside the two cars.
The Mustang was later recovered in Vista and impounded, Mata said. Police are looking for the white sedan but did not disclose its make and model.
|
|
|
Post by Sher on Aug 9, 2005 12:25:54 GMT -5
ESCONDIDO – Police are looking for a man on suspicion of kidnapping a 10-year-old girl yesterday, officials said.
The girl was walking on North Grape Street and had stopped to tie her shoe about 9 a.m. when she was approached by a man in a newer-model dark green sport utility vehicle.
The man got out of the SUV and asked the girl for help to find the nearest grocery store, said Escondido Police Lt. David Mankin.
Mankin said the man put the girl in the front passenger seat, fastened her seat belt and locked the door. He eventually drove her to Kit Carson Park and walked her to a path.
She escaped and ran away toward Westfield's North County Fair mall, where she was helped by shoppers.
The man is believed to be short, heavy-set, white, in his 40s, with brown-gray hair and a mustache. The girl said the man was wearing a white shirt under a plaid, long-sleeve shirt and green pants.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Detective John O'Donnell of the department's Family Protection Unit at (760) 839-4758.
|
|
|
Post by Sher on Sept 13, 2005 12:53:50 GMT -5
HAYWARD, California (AP) -- Two men who had sex with a transgender teen and then discovered she was biologically male were convicted Monday of her murder but cleared of hate crimes.
Michael Magidson and Jose Merel, both 25, face mandatory sentences of 15 years-to-life in prison for second-degree murder in the killing of Gwen Araujo, who was bound, beaten and strangled.
The jury deadlocked in the case of a third man, Jason Cazares, 25, marking the second time a mistrial was declared in his case.
The victim's mother, Sylvia Guerrero, expressed satisfaction with the outcome.
"Nothing is going to bring Gwen back. I know that. But this is at least a step toward closure," she said.
Araujo, 17, was born a boy named Edward but grew up to believe her true identity was female. The defendants, who knew her as Lida, met her in the summer of 2002. Magidson and Merel had sexual encounters with her, experiences that fueled suspicions about Araujo's gender.
The issue boiled over in the early hours of October 4, 2002, in a confrontation at Merel's house in the San Francisco suburb of Newark.
In the first trial, the three defendants stuck together, with their lawyers attacking the chief prosecution witness, Jaron Nabors, who was also at the house the night Araujo died but was allowed to plead guilty to manslaughter.
But in the second trial, the defendants' united front cracked, with Merel implicating Magidson.
Nabors testified at both trials that Araujo was savagely attacked after her biological identity was revealed when her underwear was pulled aside. He said he didn't see the killing but saw Magidson pull a rope toward the teen's neck.
Magidson testified that he beat and tied up Araujo, adding that while he couldn't remember large parts of the night he was sure he had not strangled her. He said Nabors was the killer and his attorney asked for a manslaughter conviction.
But Merel, testifying for the first time, broke down and cried when prosecutor Chris Lamiero asked him directly if Magidson had admitted strangling Araujo. He testified that Magidson had told him "if push came to shove" Merel should identify Magidson as the killer.
Magidson's sentencing was set for January 6. Attorneys are to discuss setting a sentencing date for Merel on October 28.
Magidson's attorney, Michael Thorman, said his client would appeal the latest verdict.
An autopsy found that Araujo died of asphyxiation associated with head injuries.
Nabors testified that Merel smashed Araujo in the head with a can and hit her with a pan. Merel said he slapped Arroyo and hit her a glancing blow with the pan, but he denied seriously injuring her.
Merel's lawyer, William Du Bois, said he was shocked by the murder verdict, especially since Lamiero had said he didn't think Merel was the killer. If Merel was guilty of anything, Du Bois said, it was felony assault.
Cazares said he was outside the house when the killing took place and only helped bury the body in a shallow grave in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
|
|