L.A. NOW

Death of boy at Crescenta Valley High confirmed

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:48:21 -0800

Glendale Unified School District officials now say that it was a male student who fell to his death at Crescenta Valley High School on Friday in full view of dozens of students, who were evacuated off the campus shortly after fourth period.

Students and school sources initially reported that the student was female. The district posted a statement on its website, saying officials were "saddened to report that an isolated fatal fall occurred this afternoon at Crescenta Valley High School." The dead student was not identified.

"Our thoughts are with the family at this very difficult time. Our first concern is for the well-being of all of our students," Glendale Unified Supt. Dick Sheehan said in the statement. "Together with our supportive community, we will help our students get through this."

Glendale Unified officials have not provided details on how the fall happened, saying only that crisis managers and grief counselors had been sent to the campus.

The fall reportedly took place near the administration building on a concrete plaza area, the Glendale News-Press said. Students converged on the scene and crowded a walkway above the area when it happened, students said.

Hundreds of students, some of them visibly shaken, were waiting on the sports field as parents came to pick them up.

"It’s pretty shocking," said Jeff Choi, 16.

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Student falls to death from Crescenta Valley High building

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-- Jason Wells, Megan O'Neil and Veronica Rocha, Times Community News

Student falls to her death from Crescenta Valley High building

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:57:38 -0800

A female student fell to her death Friday from a three-story building at Crescenta Valley High School, according to Glendale Unified School District officials.

Because of the incident, the school was closed early and students are being sent home.

“There’s been a fall. They’re still investigating the cause of it,” said one district employee, who asked that her name not be used because she is not an official spokeswoman for the district.

The Glendale News-Press reported the fall led to the student's death and was witnessed by dozens of students shortly before 1 p.m. at the school on 2900 Community Avenue in La Crescenta.

No further details were immediately available.

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Madonna stalker's comments led to arrest in Long Beach

D.A.: 'Other potential suspects' in slaying of Rose Parade worker

Ex-San Diego police officer sentenced for demanding sexual favors

-- Sam Quinones

twitter.com/samquinones7

O.C. sheriff's deputy arrested for allegedly having sex with inmate

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:47:13 -0800

An Orange County sheriff’s deputy is facing criminal charges for allegedly having sex with an inmate at a jail facility in Santa Ana, officials said.

Jennifer McClain, 29, was arrested Thursday night while on duty at the center. She was released on her own recognizance and is awaiting a court appearance, said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

McClain, a five-year veteran, is accused of being sexually involved with a male inmate while on duty at the Intake Release Center in November and December. The inmate reported the relationship to a supervisor. He said it was consensual. It was not clear why the inmate decided to come forward, Amormino said.

“It was disheartening because she was a popular deputy and it was a shock to many of us,” Amormino said. “But we do not tolerate this kind of misconduct from anyone who tarnishes the badge.”

McClain is on administrative leave during the criminal investigation and internal investigation.

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-- Esmeralda Bermudez

Movie director Bobby Farrelly's son dies of apparent overdose

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:22:20 -0800

The 20-year-old son of film director Bobby Farrelly, who had small roles in his father's movies "There's Something About Mary" and "Hall Pass," died this week, possibly from a drug overdose, officials said Friday.

Jesse Farrelly, 20, was found unresponsive around 11 p.m. Wednesday in a Costa Mesa apartment and was taken to a nearby hospital, Orange County coroner's officials said. Farrelly was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Coroner's officials have not released the cause of death, saying an investigation was ongoing.

But in a statement, his family said Farrelly had problems with addiction.

"It is with profound sorrow that we accept the passing of our beloved Jesse following his struggle with addiction," the family said in a statement. "We trust that he is now in the hands of our Lord."

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Madonna stalker's comments led to arrest in Long Beach

D.A.: 'Other potential suspects' in slaying of Rose Parade worker

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-- Rick Rojas

Photo: Bobby, left, and Peter Farrelly on the set of "Stuck on You." Credit: Glenn Watson / Twentieth Century Fox.

Commandant orders probe into use of Nazi symbols by Marines

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:02:32 -0800

Reacting to an uproar over Marines from Camp Pendleton posing with a flag showing a Nazi symbol, the commandant of the Marine Corps on Friday ordered an investigation to determine the prevalence of Nazi or "other unauthorized symbols" among scout-sniper squads.

Gen. James Amos also ordered Sgt. Maj. Micheal Barrett, the highest-ranking enlisted man in the Marine Corps, to immediately meet with every senior staff non-commissioned officer and Marine from reconnaissance and scout-sniper units to reinforce the message that the Corps "unequivocally does not condone the use of such symbols."

Amos also ordered the general of training and education to review the sniper school curriculum to ensure it contains prohibitions on the SS symbol and other inappropriate images.

"On behalf of the Marine Corps and all Marines, I apologize to all offended by this regrettable incident," Amos said.

Several Marines from the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion posed for a picture in Afghanistan beside a banner bearing an SS symbol.

The photo was taken in September 2010 in the Sangin district of Helmand province, where the battalion and its scout-sniper squad were supporting Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment from Camp Pendleton.

The photo was posted on a weapons manufacturer website and immediately drew protests. An investigation determined the incident was not racially motivated nor did it indicate any sympathy for Nazis, the Marine Corps said.

The Marines involved were counseled but not punished.

Also on Friday, Amos spoke with Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, to apologize for the picture and emphasize the Marine Corps’ abhorrence of any use of a Nazi symbol. A Marine spokesman characterized the conversation as “positive and cordial.”

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Madonna stalker's comments led to arrest in Long Beach

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-- Tony Perry in San Diego

D.A.: 'Other potential suspects' in slaying of Rose Parade worker

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:59:09 -0800

This post has been corrected. Please see note below.

Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said they are disappointed with the decision not to file charges against a former Tournament of Roses official accused in the 2004 cold-case slaying of a fellow volunteer, but they plan to continue their investigation.

Authorities said Richard Allan Munnecke, 71, remains a "person of interest" in the death of Donna Lee Kelly, 59, whose body was found in the trunk of her car 11 days after she was reported missing in April 2004.

"The appeal our investigators presented is not going to be filed for consideration," said Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida. "The case is still ongoing ... they're still going to try to get the suspect and close the case because that's ultimately the goal."

DOCUMENT: Read the D.A.'s decision not to file charges

The paperwork from the Los Angeles County district attorney's office indicates that they found insufficient evidence to charge Munnecke because the only evidence is a pubic hair found on Kelly's body that matches Munnecke.

Authorities believe that the two had a romantic relationship; however, Munnecke has adamantly denied that their relationship was sexual. He said they were longtime friends.

"This is only evidence tying [defendant] to crime," prosecutor Patricia Wilkinson said in her paperwork declining to file charges. "There are other potential suspects. Insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt."

Munnecke is a widely respected community member, active in numerous civic organizations and his San Marino church. Friends were shocked by his arrest and said Friday that the D.A.'s decision not to file charges makes more sense.

"In my mind it was an inappropriate and untimely arrest," said Diana Peterson-More, vice president of the Pasadena Rotary Club, in which Munnecke was active. "I'm grateful on behalf of Allan and his family."

"I'm someone who does believes in the science; this indicates to me that the science was insufficient or corrupted," Peterson-More said. "Although we're innocent until proven guilty, when people are arrested there's a tendency to have gone through the jury trial in our minds. I hope this doesn't destroy his reputation and standing in the community."

[For the record, 2:10 p.m. Feb. 10: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Kelly's body was found three weeks after she was reported missing. The correct time frame is 11 days.]

Pasadenans shocked at arrest of Tournament of Roses ex-director

Ex-Tournament of Roses director linked to slaying was model citizen

-- Adolfo Flores and Andrew Blankstein

Madonna stalker's comments led to arrest in Long Beach

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:29:38 -0800

Convicted Madonna stalker Robert Hoskins, who escaped from a Norwalk mental hospital last week and was apprehended Friday morning, was likely captured because of comments he made to staff before he left the Norwalk mental institution.

Long Beach police said Hoskins, 54, had made comments to staff at Metropolitan State Hospital that led officers to believe he would be in the north Long Beach area, where he was captured Friday.

They declined to say what those comments were.

At about 8:50 a.m. Friday, officers in north Long Beach spotted a man fitting Hoskins' description walking in the area of South Street and Cherry Avenue, said officials with the Long Beach Police Department.

They stopped him, confirmed his identity and turned him over to the department’s Mental Evaluation Team, which returned him to Metropolitan.

Hoskins was convicted in 1996 of stalking and threatening pop singer Madonna and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to officials with the Los Angeles Police Department.

After his release, he had an additional run-in with police that resulted in his arrest and placement at the state hospital in Norwalk, the LAPD said.

Man once jailed for stalking Madonna escapes from mental hospital

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-- Sam Quinones

twitter.com/samquinones7

Bolsa Chica Road ramp change

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:18:54 -0800

Drivers will have to take a new ramp off the San Diego Freeway instead of the Garden Grove Freeway to access southbound Bolsa Chica Road starting Saturday at 6 a.m. The old ramp closes tonight at 10 p.m.

Ex-San Diego police officer sentenced for demanding sexual favors

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:15:27 -0800

A tearful former San Diego police officer was sentenced Friday to eight years and eight months in prison for his conviction on 12 counts of demanding sexual favors from seven women after traffic stops.

Anthony Arevalos, 41, was convicted in November of stopping women, often in downtown San Diego, for traffic offenses and then offering to let them go if they would engage in sexual contact. An 18-year veteran of the department, he was fired after the charges were filed.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Fraser refused Arevalos' request to grant him probation so he could remain with his children. He wept as he apologized to his victims, his family and the police department.

After the sentencing, San Diego Police Chief Bill Lansdowne issued a statement: “I applaud the Judge for his handling of this difficult case and his thoughtful consideration concerning what punishment was appropriate for someone who so completely violated the public trust.

"I also want to thank the courageous victim who came forward and reported the crime.”

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-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Former police officer Anthony Arevalos. Credit: Fox5 / San Diego

Friends hope arrest won't tarnish ex-Tournament of Roses official

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:15:23 -0800

Friends of longtime Tournament of Roses volunteer Richard Allan Munnecke, 71, are breathing a sigh of relief at the news that because of insufficient evidence he will not be charged with murder in a 2004 cold case.

Munnecke was arrested at his Alhambra home on Wednesday, news that shocked the Pasadena civic community where Munnecke was active.

Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives alleged he had a romantic relationship with Donna Lee Kelly, 59, a Buick saleswoman who was also a longtime volunteer for the Rose Parade effort. She was found dead in the trunk of her car in April 2004, but the case languished for nearly eight years for lack of evidence. Authorities said they were able to test genetic material obtained from Munnecke and that DNA evidence linked him to the killing.

In interviews after his arrest, friends said Munnecke was a well-respected, "consummate gentleman" and that they were shocked by the news.

Ken Hill, president of the Pasadena Rotary Club, said Thursday that he had known Munnecke since they were students at San Marino High School.

"I knew him for over 50 years, we went to high school together and I just never would've thought this of him," Hill said, who is also an auxiliary member of the Tournament of Roses. "I was shocked."

On Friday, Hill said: "My goodness, isn't that something. Yesterday it seemed like it was shut tight. This is good news certainly for him and his family."

Hill said people are quick to jump to conclusions, but that the D.A.'s decision not to charge Munnecke should speak for itself.

"I think we'll just not talk about it. What's the point of going over everything and just making it more than what it apparently was?" Hill said.

"People are going to think what they want to think. As a Rotary Club we have to accept what the law says. We don't judge people on rumor or accusations. I think this is complete."

Pasadenans shocked at arrest of Tournament of Roses ex-director

Ex-Tournament of Roses director linked to slaying was model citizen

-- Adolfo Flores and Victoria Kim

Photos: Richard Allan Munnecke and Donna Lee Kelly. Credit: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department