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"Get out of the car and put your hands on your head!" shouted one of six uniformed SMPD officers to a young female driver in a stolen white Prius C. They had been trailing the Prius for ten minutes, a few minutes after an Uber Eats delivery guy reported that someone had driven off with his car. The vehicle, which belongs to the Company, is part of a trend noted recently by the SMPD, said an officer who spoke to us off the record, because he was not authorized to speak to the...

In what is quickly becoming a conspiracy theory wrapped in an enigma buried in a prison graveyard, reports out of Sing Sing prison say that Jeffrey Epstein's final prison roommate has died of yeah, right, Covid-19. The convicted pedophile's last roommie, whose name is reportedly Efrain Reyes, was moved away from Epstein when the latter was put on suicide watch. It didn't work; Hillary got to Jeffrey anyway. Reyes, 51, was found dead on Nov. 27 inside his mother’s apartment i...

A Lancaster father of four has been charged with decapitating his teenage son and daughter and abusing his other two boys last week, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said. Taylor allegedly held two younger children hostage, 8 and 9 years of age, after decapitating his 12 and 13 year old children. Their mother appears to also have been present in the home. "Maurice Jewel Taylor Sr., 34 faces two felony counts each of murder and child abuse under circumstances...

Police captured a bank robber who used a shotgun to rob the Wells Fargo Bank on Main Street in Santa Monica Tuesday morning. Aaron Koehler-Marsh, 27, from Bend, Indiana, had used a shotgun to obtain an unspecified sum of money from a teller, just after 9 AM. "Upon arrival, officers observed the suspect inside a vehicle exiting the bank parking lot. Officers conducted a high-risk traffic stop at the intersection of Neilson Way and Bicknell. The as yet unnamed suspect was taken...

Courts & Rulings Juvenile justice reform's legal challenge impacts Santa Cruz child murder case Adrian "A.J." Gonzalez, now 21, was arrested and charged with murder as a 15 year old. The California Supreme Court will soon weigh a case with implications for whether Gonzalez and others like him should face the adult or juvenile justice system. Oral arguments begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday in San Francisco in the "O.G. vs The Superior Court of Ventura County" case, challenging the...

Here we go again. For anyone just now tuning in, I'm located here at the California Institution For Women in Corona, California. Earlier this week, all California state prisons were placed on quarantine and began mandatory testing of all state prison inmates... My housing unit got tested 3 days ago. Presently, my unit has about 85 women. It can hold 120. Anyway, I had a sense that Covid-19 might be present in my housing unit. There's been a lot of coughing in my building...

As of Tuesday Dec. 1st, all California prisons went into a "quarantine" lockdown coupled with mandatory testing of ALL inmates. This is to brace for the covid-19 surge impact. As Governor Gavin Newsom essentially locks down the entire state, he labels state prisoners among highest priorities in receiving the coming vaccine doses, according to multiple news reports. Will you take the vaccine? I doubt I will. But, thanks to the Governor, I have that choice! Thanks, Gavin!! You R...

The SMPD announced that it busted into a house in Santa Monica Monday, seizing weapons and drugs from a suspected cocaine dealer in North Hollywood. Guadalupe Zuniga was arrested for narcotics arresting. He was also arrested in 2019 on the same charge. The SMPD press release, written by Myesha Morrison, follows. Santa Monica PD's Special Investigations Unit (SUI) along with the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) concluded a long-term investigation into a high-level...

November was a tough time for Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) founder Wayne Hsiung. At the start of the month, the animal liberation extremist lost his bid for Mayor of Berkeley, California by about 40%. If you're too loony for Berkeley, that's saying something. Then, at the end of the month, he and his organization lost a civil suit and countersuit. In January 2017, DxE filed a lawsuit accusing Diestel Turkey Ranch, a family-owned farm that supplies Whole Foods, of violating C...

A 27-year-old Missouri man pleaded no contest today to setting a fire inside the Westfield Century City Mall last year, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced Friday. Nicholas Kyle Oates, 27 entered the plea to one count each of arson and assault with a firearm and admitted an allegation of personally using a firearm. Deputy District Attorney Joy Roberts of the Arson and Explosives Unit said Oates was immediately sentenced to seven years and four months...

Two defendants face possible life sentences for extorting a transgender woman. On October 4, Javier Trimin-Rodriguez aka Golden, 22, and Margarita Valencia aka Inquieta, 23, extorted the transgender woman and Trimin-Rodriguez stabbed her with a knife. A third defendant, Donoban Fonseca, 24, is also charged in the stabbing. Trimin-Rodriguez and Valencia face additional allegations of committing the crimes in association with a criminal street gang. Trimin-Rodriguez faces...

A 70-year-old man pleaded guilty today to illegally donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to the campaigns of eight local politicians that led to the approval of an apartment complex to be built in the Harbor-Gateway area, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced. Samuel Leung (dob 10/13/50) entered his plea to one felony count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was immediately sentenced to formal probation for five years and must perform 500...

In an attempt to limit the spread of Covid-19 in courthouses, the Los Angeles County Superior Court announced Wednesday that it would extend the time for criminal trials, under emergency powers granted by California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye under Government Code 68115. Los Angeles County, which has escaped the kind of coronavirus statistics seen in greater New York, has recently seen diagnosed cases skyrocket to around 5000 per day. The County has...

Alleged cop killer whose 1988 conviction was overturned sent to state hospital for psychological evaluation A San Bernardino Superior Court judge on Thursday, Nov. 19, remanded Dennis Mayfield to Patton State Hospital, where he will undergo a neuropsychological evaluation to determine whether he is competent to be retried for the 1986 fatal shooting of a Rialto police sergeant. At first reluctant to send Mayfield to Patton because it could, according to defense attorneys,...

What good would it be to have your own women's prison weekly columnist if I held back on some of the most interesting and least known elements of what goes on in this place? I've given this a lot of thought and decided to share some of what I've observed in this place. So please, just for a moment, allow me to take your mind off of COVID-19 and entertain your imagination. We've all been aware of the EDD unemployment fraud. Millions upon millions of dollars going out to...

Most people here just float along, knowing their release is comming on a specific date. I don't get that luxury. I dare not imagine the undetermined, unknown day of my release. How old will I be? Where will I live? Who will, if anyone, pick me up at the gates? Will I die in prison?? These questions whisper in my mind as I hammer away at my goals. Goals set by the parole commissioner I met with in December 2019. College. Vocational training. I'm in 10+ self-help classes by...

Courts & Rulings Governor Newsom appoints 10 to Los Angeles Superior Court Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday made 10 appointments to the Los Angeles Superior Court, among 19 selections for judgeships statewide. Placed on the bench in this county are: Rita L. Badhan, Alicia Y. Blanco, Robert E. Sanchez DuFour, Carla L. Garrett, Ronald O. Kaye, Elizabeth Potter Scully, David W. Swift, Hernan D. Vera, Wendy L. Wilcox and Bryant Y. Yang. Metropolitan News-Enterprise Court dismisses...

Two men have been charged in a 41-count criminal complaint for allegedly submitting thousands of fraudulent voter registration applications on behalf of homeless people, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced today. Carlos Antonio De Bourbon Montenegro (dob 9/9/67), aka Mark Anthony Gonsalves, and Marcos Raul Arevalo (dob 3/15/86) were each charged in case BA491333 with one count of conspiracy to commit voter fraud, eight counts of voter fraud, four...

In an appearance on FoxNews, newly elected George Gascón laid out initiatives for his first term as Los Angeles County District Attorney Los Angeles District Attorney-elect George Gascón outlined the initiatives for his upcoming term including stopping the practice of trying minors as adults and ending the use of the death penalty. After serving eight years as district attorney for San Francisco, Gascón was elected as the new Los Angeles County district attorney, replacing Ja...

The owner of an El Monte toy import business pleaded no contest today for manufacturing and possessing more than $1.4 million in counterfeit goods, including plush toys, backpacks and playing cards, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced. Wan Piao (dob 8/31/82), aka Edison Piao or Edisson Park, entered the plea to two felony counts of counterfeit of registered marks and was immediately sentenced to three years of formal probation, plus 90 days of...

Dear Santa Monica Observer: There was an annoying helicopter hovering low above my SM residence for about an hour today. I assumed it was LAPD so checked SMPD twitter to see if there was any police activity. I was surprised to see no activity, however there was a tweet from SMPD announcing a new SMPD helicopter patrol to provide "situational awareness." Another tweet complaining about the noise gave the helicopter's call sign as N6605. I've supplied a link that gives N6605's...

The Santa Monica PD issued a press release saying that "there may be concerns about the possibility of any kind of disruption during the week of our national elections. "Currently, we have no intelligence to indicate Santa Monica will be a place of unrest. However, we also know that things can change rapidly and are actively monitoring the situation," says the press release, written by Lt. Joseph Cortez, SMPD PIO. Some view the boarding up as a tacit admission that US...

California Court of Appeal takes unusual course of issuing apology: Div. Three of the Fourth District Court of Appeal yesterday did something courts seldom do: It issued an apology to counsel for having wasted their time. Acting Presiding Justice William W. Bedsworth wrote the opinion, which was not certified for publication. The appellant is Bernard Raymond Pearle-Van Pelz, an inmate at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. Metropolitan News-Enterprise...

Courts & Rulings Officers who arrested man for photography have immunity The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed an order denying summary judgment to three Department of Veterans Affairs police officers who were sued by a man they arrested on two consecutive Sundays in June 2016 for taking photographs at the Great Lawn Gate entrance to the Los Angeles National Veterans Park, in alleged violation of a regulation, holding that they are entitled to qualified immunity...

The Santa Monica Police Department has announced the arrest of two suspects in the looting of the REI store in downtown Santa Monica, following the George Floyd riots. SMPD was heavily criticized for failure to prevent looting the evening of May 31, 2020 in downtown Santa Monica. Police chief Cynthia Renaud has replied that she had about 100 officers on duty that evening, and half of them were assigned to prevent the destruction of the Santa Monica pier, perhaps by fire. The...