Soccer coach arrested for lewd acts
A 50-year-old El Segundo girls soccer coach – who was arrested on suspicion of committing lewd acts with a minor—was free on bail today.
David Tinoco was arrested Monday at Recreation Park in El Segundo after agreeing to meet with the 15-year-old girl, said El Segundo police Lt. Raymond Garcia.
Elephant weevil found
A shipment of Australian oranges bound for Florida was seized at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex, because an elephant weevil was found in the shipping container, Customs and Border Protection agricultural inspectors said today.
According to CPB, it was the first case of the grape-vine-ravaging pest being found in the United States, Lee Harty of CPB said. The container, bound for Fort Pierce, Fla., was fumigated Friday and released.
Cruelty to animals arrest
Actor Andrew Bryniarski, who played a steroid-using football player in the 1993 movie “The Program,” was arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty for allegedly hoarding dogs, police said today.
Bryniarski, 43, and girlfriend Jennifer Abram, 34, were arrested in the 2300 block of Third Street, in Santa Monica’s Ocean Park neighborhood, about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, according to Santa Monica police and broadcast reports.
Gunfight in downtown
A murder suspect wounded in a gunfight with police near downtown Los Angeles after he led them on a chase in a stolen car for more than an hour was hospitalized in critical but stable condition today.
The chase ended at Bixel and Seventh streets about 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, with the suspect being shot after a collision with another car, said Los Angeles police Officer Rosario Herrera of the Media Relations section.
Thief steals from homeless pets
A woman who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from Long Beach’s animal welfare agency was sentenced today to three years in prison for embezzling.
Jongluck Mutrais, 59, of Orange, was ordered to pay $600,000 to Long Beach’s Animal Care Services Bureau and about $48,000 to the state’s Franchise Tax Board, though it was unclear if she had the ability to pay.
Loan scam
Five Los Angeles County and Orange County residents are among 11 people indicted for allegedly victimizing several thousand people in a loan modification scam that promised to save financially distressed homeowners from foreclosure, but instead caused many to lose their homes.
Crystal Taiwana Buck, 37, of Long Beach; Catalina Deleon, 35, of Glendora; Hamid Reza Shalviri, 50, Montebello; Albert DiRoberto, 59, of Fullerton; and Michael Lewis Parker, 34, of Pomona, who remains at large; are facing multiple felony counts, including mail fraud and conspiracy, for allegedly helping perpetrate an 18-month scheme that netted $7 million in ill- gotten gains, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Gas prices stay high
The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Los Angeles County was unchanged today, remaining at $4.176, one day after falling one-tenth of a cent.
The average price has not changed by more than two-tenths of a cent for 10 consecutive days, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service.