Friday, March 19, 2004

3 wounded outside Garden Grove cafe


The shooting is the second within a week at an Orange County cafe.
GARDEN GROVE - Three men were wounded, none seriously, when a fight broke out in a cafe parking lot just before 3 a.m. today, police said.
The shootings marked the second time within the past week that a suspected gang fight has resulted in a shooting at an Orange County cafe. A 21-year-old Cerritos woman was killed, and four others were wounded when a gunman opened fire inside a Cypress cafe at 1:30 a.m. last Saturday.
The latest shooting occurred about 2:49 a.m. at Mae's Cafe, located on Trask Avenue about 2 1/2 blocks east of Magnolia Street.
A group of men in their 20s confronted another group in their 20s inside the business, and the two sides then squared off in the parking lot, police said. At least two shots rang out, injuring the three victims.
One man was shot in the back of the neck. Another had a bullet graze his head. Both were taken to a hospital, and a third victim sought treatment on his own for a hand wound, police said.
The names of the victims were withheld for their protection, police said. No arrests had been made, although police have seized a white compact car believed to have been used by someone involved in the fight.

Bomb scare at Disneyland a false alarm


Officials take precautions after a suspicious object is discovered near the Autopia ride.
By CINDY MURPHY and JEFF COLLINS
ANAHEIM - The Tomorrowland area of Disneyland opened 30 minutes late this morning after a park landscaper found a suspicious package at the bathrooms near the Autopia ride.
The Orange County sheriff's bomb squad declared the incident a false alarm after deploying a robot equipped with an X-ray that determined the object was not an explosive.
"We don't know whether it was an elaborate hoax or just something left behind," said John Nicoletti, Anaheim city spokesman, who was at the scene.
The incident did not delay Disneyland's scheduled 9 a.m. opening, but patrons were unable to visit such Tomorrowland attractions as Club Buzz, Innoventions and Starcade until 9:30 a.m.
Officials said that the landscaper found the object around 7 a.m. at the bottom of a staircase. He notified security personnel, who in turn called police. Police summoned the bomb squad.
Melissa Brunicari and her boys are turned away from Tomorrowland during a bomb scare this morning. They planned to spend an hour at Tomorrowland before meeting friends at California Adventure. People were told the park was having technical difficulties.

Woman killed in Anaheim crash


A woman was killed early Thursday when the car in which she was riding collided with a pickup at an Anaheim intersection, police said. Quynh Ngoc Luong, 20, of Garden Grove died at the scene. The crash between a Mitsubishi Montero and a Ford F-150 pickup occurred at about 2:10 a.m. at Brookhurst Street and Ball Road, Sgt. Rick Martinez said. The driver of one of the vehicles ran a red light, Martinez said. The two drivers sustained moderate to serious injuries. Two young men riding in the Montero with Luong sustained minor injuries, Martinez said. – John McDonald

Last of man's wrecks killed Anaheim woman, police say

By RITA FREEMAN
LAKE FOREST – Jason Hyman crashed his Isuzu Trooper two times before hitting May Tran's Honda Accord earlier this week in a collision that resulted in the Anaheim woman's death, authorities say. Hyman, an 18-year-old Huntington Beach resident, was arrested Monday night after he broadsided Tran, 40, on the driver's side of her car, Orange County sheriff's Sgt. Fred Furey said.
The last accident happened at about 10:25 p.m. at Muirlands Boulevard and Lake Forest Drive. Furey said Tran was turning left from Muirlands onto Lake Forest. Hyman was eastbound on Lake Forest and ran a red light, Furey said. Furey said Hyman crashed his vehicle in two other spots Monday night before colliding with Tran.
In the first accident, at 9:50 p.m., Hyman was eastbound on Lake Forest Drive near Jeronimo Road when he crashed into a wall. Furey said Hyman had two passengers, who escaped injury.
According to authorities, the teenager left the first accident scene and struck another wall a short time later at Lake Forest Drive and Moulton Parkway in Laguna Hills.
Hyman then crossed back over the San Diego (I-5) Freeway, returning to Lake Forest, where he collided with Tran, Furey said. She was was pronounced dead at Mission Hospital.
Hyman, who complained of pain, was treated at the hospital, then arrested.
He has been charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and driving under the influence and causing bodily harm – both felonies – and with three misdemeanor counts of hit and run with property damage.
He remains in custody at the Orange County Jail, with bail set at $100,000, officials said Thursday. He will be arraigned April 2 at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach. He could serve up to 10 years in prison.

Suspect in killing of teen arrested


A man alleged to be a gang member is jailed in Arizona in connection with O.C. shooting.
By ERIKA I. RITCHIE
WESTMINSTER – Anh Tran's cell phone began vibrating during his second-period biology class at La Quinta High School.
Ten minutes later, he checked his voicemail. It was his mother, calling to say that a suspect in his brother's killing had been arrested.
"I was so happy," Ahn, 15, said Thursday. "First I thought about revenge and then I realized that his punishment would be to suffer in jail. Now, my brother can rest in peace."
Westminster police last week arrested the final suspect in the slaying of Minh Cong Tran, 14, who was shot in what detectives call a case of mistaken identity.
Jason Aguirre, 29, of Garden Grove, allegedly a gang member, was charged with murder and is being held in lieu of $1 million bail. Tempe, Ariz., police detained Aguirre after a disturbance and called Westminster detectives when an arrest warrant was found.
Five other suspects were arrested shortly after the killing. Westminster Detective Brian Carpenter said investigators believe that Aguirre shot Minh Tran after mistaking him for a rival gang member.
Detectives said they spent two months watching Aguirre's gang after the August 2003 killing.
"It was a fluke that he was picked up in Tempe," Carpenter said. "He was involved in a fight where he was the victim."
Minh Tran was shot to death after he and his brother, uncle and cousins went to Alerto's, a Mexican restaurant, to get his favorite food: a $3 fish taco.
Though Minh loved the restaurant, Anh was fearful.
"I knew that gangs hung out there at night," he said.
Open all hours, Alerto's is frequented by gangs, police confirmed. Officers have responded to more than 300 calls from the restaurant since 1998.
Once there, Minh noticed a pretty girl and a rough-looking guy with her.
Minh's group finished eating and found two carloads of men waiting for them outside, Anh said. They got into the uncle's Acura Integra and drove away. The two other cars fell in behind, their bright lights on.
Anh had a bad feeling.
"My uncle is new here and he didn't know (anything was wrong)," he said. "I told him to drive into a neighborhood."
A wrong turn trapped them in a cul-de-sac, Anh said. A guy got out of one of the other cars and started shooting.
"I was sitting right behind my brother," he said.
Minh was shot in the stomach and neck and died.
Six months later, Anh said his family - his parents and 9-year-old sister - isn't the same.
"It's more quiet," he said. "Minh was carefree and he lived his life to the fullest. He loved playing computer games. His goal was to become a dentist and help my parents.
"Now my mom worries about me because I'm the only brother left."
Saturday, March 20, 2004

90-mph chase leads to arrest


An Anaheim man Friday led authorities on a 90-mph chase from Irvine to Carson after motorists saw him hit his ex-girlfriend and drag her into his car, Irvine police Cmdr. Jeff Kermode said.
Irvine police said they followed Marvin Umberto Gil, 25, up the San Diego (I-405) Freeway from Sand Canyon Avenue to Harbor Boulevard, where Gil released the bruised and scratched woman before fleeing again.
California Highway Patrol officers joined the chase at the Los Angeles County line.
Gil stopped near the Wilmington Avenue exit. Officers fired beanbags at Gil to subdue him.
He was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and battery.
- Jennifer Muir

Judge postpones child-murder trial


The trial for the Lake Elsinore man accused of sexually assaulting and murdering 5- year-old Samantha Runnion was postponed Friday until summer after defense attorneys said they needed more time to prepare.
Alejandro Avila was scheduled to go on trial in April after two pretrial hearings on whether relatively new DNA techniques could be used against him.
Superior Court Judge William Froeberg on Friday delayed the hearings until July 12 at the request of Deputy Public Defenders Denise Gregg and Phil Zalewski.
Samantha was kidnapped from in front of her mother's Stanton town house in July 2002.
- Larry Welborn

Friends hope 'no one forgets' special teacher


Colleagues aim to help family of Jill Chavez, a popular Sycamore Junior High teacher who died of leukemia.
By LAURA RICO
ANAHEIM – Friends and colleagues of Jill Chavez are rallying to support the husband and four daughters of the popular teacher at Sycamore Junior High School, who died Sunday of complications of leukemia.
Chavez, 38, who taught math and computing for 2 1/2 years, became a teacher to spend more time with her daughters after working for BDS Marketing in Irvine as a human-resources manager.
Margo Serna, a friend and co-worker, said losing Chavez is heartbreaking. "I've cried so much, I don't think I can cry anymore," she said. Serna, a life-sciences teacher, was Chavez's mentor when she started teaching, "although she didn't really need one," she said.
Serna praised the Orange resident's ability to bring abstract ideas to life for struggling students. "She liked to take math problems and relate them to football," she said.
The Jill Chavez Support Fund was started by Mike Matheny, president of Maruman Golf USA in Temecula. The company held a benefit golf tournament March 12, raising $38,000 for a college fund for Chavez's daughters and for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Matheny's wife and Chavez were close friends.
"Jill and my wife were pregnant at the same time," he said. "I remember them standing side by side and comparing bellies."
In January, around the time she was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia, Chavez earned a master's degree in education with an emphasis in instructional technology from National University in Costa Mesa.
Jennifer O'Hearn, an English teacher at Anaheim's Sycamore, studied with Chavez and remembered her as diligent and motivated.
"She was the leader of our study group, pulling us along the whole way," O'Hearn said. She said Chavez pursued her graduate degree to be eligible for a pay increase.
"Everything she did was for her daughters, and she wanted to make more money so she could better support them," O'Hearn said.
O'Hearn and Serna organized teachers and staff members to prepare meals for Chavez's husband and children when she became ill. "On Tuesday and Thursday we deliver meals to Tommy and the kids, and we hope we can continue for the rest of the school year," said O'Hearn. The school also organized a blood drive in January to honor Chavez.
Michael Derbish, head of Sycamore's business department, is creating a memorial page in the yearbook, collecting pictures of Chavez with her children and students.
"It's a representation of what she meant to the campus, what she held dear. I hope that no one forgets her," Derbish said.
John Lombardi, Sycamore's intramural director, played baseball with Chavez's husband at Cypress College and knew her for almost 10 years. When Chavez was in the hospital, Lombardi asked her whether she had any students she wanted to single out and send messages to. Lombardi did not expect Chavez's response.
"She looked at me, totally surprised, and said, 'No, John, I just love them all the same.' "
Chavez is survived by her husband; their daughters, Ciera, 11, Shyla, 7, Madison 5, and Skylar, 3; her mother; one brother; and a sister.
Jill Chavez
Sunday, March 21, 2004

A reluctant hero 'adapts and overcomes'


A year after the war, Tustin veteran who lost a limb shuns the spolight and applies his sergeant's words of advice.
By TOM BERG
TUSTIN – Crutches lean against one wall. Smoked-down Camel cigarettes clutter the coffee table. But what catches your eye lies on the couch - a lifelike, 3-pound silicone forearm and hand, so real that light-blue veins appear to traverse the wrist with wisps of hair on top.
"It's just cosmetic," says reluctant war hero Robert Acosta, 20, of Tustin, placing the prosthetic limb in your hands for inspection. "I have a hook, too."
In a week marked by TV specials, magazine cover stories, protests against and parades for the 1-year-old war in Iraq, there is surprisingly little fanfare in Acosta's sparse, second-floor apartment.
He has enough reminders of the war.
A Los Angeles anti-war rally called him to march Saturday. A counter-rally, to support the troops, called him to march as well. He declined both, as well as a request to appear on "Oprah Winfrey."
"I don't want to be paraded around," says the former Army specialist who lost his right hand in a July grenade attack. "Both sides were calling me to go, man. I don't want get involved with that. My friends are still there, and I fear for their safety, but I'm not for the war at all. You know what? I'm against the war."
As he contemplates the first anniversary of the war - which has claimed the lives of more than 570 U.S. troops and injured more than 3,000 - he clings to these words: "Adapt and overcome."
That's what his sergeant used to say when his unit, the 1st Battalion of the 501st Regiment in the Army's 1st Armored Division, arrived at the Baghdad Airport last May. No showers? Adapt and overcome. Hate the food? Adapt and overcome. Temperatures of 132 degrees? Adapt and overcome.
"My hand is never going to grow back," he says. "You've got to realize that what you've lost is lost. You need to find the next best thing, a prosthesis or whatever it takes, and just adapt and overcome. You've got to find that within yourself. Nobody is going to do it for you."
Acosta lost his hand July 13 in Baghdad. It was his day off, but the ammunition specialist decided to tag along with a buddy driving off base to pick up ice for the unit's bottled water. Soldiers daily bought ice from the hundreds of Iraqi vendors lining the street outside the base, and Acosta often took candy to give to the kids who greeted the Humvee. On this day, a teenager threw a hand grenade in his window. As he grabbed it to toss back out the window, it exploded in his hand.
"It gets harder to talk about as time goes by," he says. "I guess I'm fine talking about it, but later on it sticks with me and I keep thinking about it. Just the reality that it actually happened to me and I'm actually missing my right hand. It's weird."
The explosion also fractured his right ankle, broke his right leg and shattered his left leg from the knee down, requiring more than 12 reconstructive surgeries.
After Acosta appeared in an Orange County Register story Oct. 2, he received an avalanche of cards, calls and mail. He appeared on CBS' "48 Hours," CNN and the BBC. He appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Washington Post and dozens of other newspapers.
Well-wishers organized a welcome-home parade and offered him jobs and speaking engagements. Hundreds of women wrote him letters while anonymous donors left him checks for more than $1,000.
"Of course, at the beginning you think this is cool," he says of the attention. "But I guess your conscience comes out and you think: 'Oh, what am I doing? This is not cool at all.' "
Not that he doesn't appreciate the support. He does. It's just that such a spotlight can overwhelm a 20-year-old who joined the Army to find focus in life, only to watch it blow up, literally, in his face.
"I'm really thankful for what people did," he says. "So many people wrote. Hundreds of people just wanted to say hi, wanted to talk. This woman came to the house and dropped off an envelope with $1,500 in it, with no return address, nothing. It's so weird. What do you say to that? All you can say is thank you."
He was touched by the gen erosity. But it was a request of his own generosity that touched him deepest – a request to speak to teens in juvenile hall at the Joplin Youth Center in Santa Ana.
"That was an experience," he says, "because these kids are from where I'm from - Santa Ana, a place where opportunities aren't really out there for kids like myself. That's why I joined the military. I feel like I connected with them. I didn't hold back. They told me that I was the only person they ever paid attention to. That was an honor. They listened to me."
Acosta, now on full military disability, plans to attend college and work as a counselor or teacher - something his occupational therapist at Walter Reed Army Hospital thinks fits him.
"He puts on this tough-guy thing, but he's a very sensitive and caring person," said Harvey Naranjo, who helped Acosta learn to accept his handicap the way he does with all his patients - by befriending them. "Every now and then he calls to check how I'm doing, and I'll call to see how he's doing," Naranjo says.
Before school, however, Acosta plans to visit his girlfriend, a UCLA student who's studying in Madrid, for a vacation in Europe.
"Everything you have, don't take it for granted," is the lesson he says he carries on the first anniversary of the war. His girlfriend was supposed to be on the March 11 train that was bombed, killing 202 and wounding more than 1,800.
"It hit home because I thought I was done with that," he said of bombs and violence. "I thought I didn't have to deal with that any more."
DAILY CHORES: Robert Acosta irons his shirt in his Tustin apartment. Acosta, who was an Army specialist in Iraq, lost his arm when a teenager threw a hand grenade into his vehicle in July.
‘IT’S JUST COSMETIC’: That’s what Robert Acosta says of the prosthetic hand that he acquired after a hand-grenade wound. It’s the hook he uses to accomplish tasks.
AT EASE: Robert Acosta smokes a cigarette while waiting for the cable-television installer. Acosta has appeared on CBS’s “48 Hours,” CNN and the BBC, and several major newspapers have carried his story.
MEMENTOS: Retired Army Specialist Robert Acosta’s beret and uniform.

Shooting cluster raises gang specter


Three attacks in Garden Grove leave two men critically injured and may be connected, police say.
By ZAHEERA WAHID
GARDEN GROVE – Two men were critically injured in the third shooting in a single day, and police are investigating whether the crimes could be the work of rival gangs.
Garden Grove police Sgt. Paul McInerny said that having three suspected gang-related shootings in one day is "unusual" enough to warrant a closer look.
"We're investigating the possibility that somehow maybe these are all related," McInerny said. "We haven't had that kind of activity for a while."
Two men in their mid-20s were shot in the head in the latest incident, at about 9:25 p.m. Friday while driving near the intersection of Crosby Avenue and Flower Street, police said.
Someone fired into the driver's side of the car, sending a bullet into the driver's head and then into the passenger. Residents in the area heard the gunshot, but there were no witnesses to identify the shooter, McInerny said.
At 3:19 p.m. Friday, a 22-year-old Garden Grove man was arrested on suspicion of firing a gun into two cars parked outside Cafe Hien in the 10500 block of McFadden Avenue.
Witnesses led police to a home on Glenhaven Drive, where they arrested Thanh Dinh. Dinh was hiding in the bedroom, where police found a .45-caliber Ruger in a trash can, McInerny said.
The first shooting, which occurred about 2:50 a.m. at Mae's Cafe on Trask Avenue, involved a confrontation between two groups of men in their 20s. Gunfire broke out, wounding three men.
Police believe the shooting was the result of an earlier fight in Long Beach, McInerny said. No one has been arrested.
McInerny said investigators don't believe there is a connection between the Garden Grove shootings and a shooting that killed a woman and injured four others at a Cypress cafe last weekend.
Tuesday, March 23, 2004

Seal Beach bartender fighting deportation


The popular server had been convicted of aiding and abetting the killings of two British soldiers in Northern Ireland in 1988.
By GREG HARDESTY and JENNIFER KANNE
A popular bartender at an Irish pub in Seal Beach is fighting deportation because increased homeland security reviews determined recently that he had served eight years in prison in connection with the 1988 deaths of two soldiers in Northern Ireland.
Sean Kelly, who tended bar, spun Irish yarns and crooned ballads at O’Malley’s in Seal Beach, appeared today before a U.S. immigration judge in San Pedro, said Virginia Kice of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The judge scheduled a hearing from April 20-22 to review a motion seeking to halt his deportation, Kice said.
Kelly, 35, served 8 1/2 years in prison after a conviction for aiding and abetting the deaths of two British soldiers in 1988. He immigrated to the United States in 1999, and was granted permanent U.S. residency in 2001.
But he was arrested in February at Los Angeles International Airport while returning from a family visit back to Northern Ireland, apparently because of increased scrutiny given foreign travelers in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Kelly has been held without bail since his Feb. 25 arrest.
He is charged with being inadmissible to the U.S. because of his conviction for a "crime of moral turpitude," Kice said.
Police in Northern Ireland said Kelly was among those who pulled one soldier from a car during a funeral for an IRA leader and took him to a nearby park.
The soldiers were beaten and subsequently taken away to be shot.
Kelly was sentenced to life in prison but was freed after 8 1/2 years under guidelines for political prisoners, according to court documents

Eight injured in five-vehicle crash on PCH


By CINDY CARCAMO
LAGUNA BEACH – A five-vehicle crash on South Coast Highway left eight people injured Monday afternoon, police said.
The accident occurred at about 4:30 p.m. when a pickup pulled out of Point Place and collided with a sport utility vehicle headed south on Coast Highway, Laguna Beach police Sgt. Eric Lee said.
The impact pushed both vehicles into the northbound lanes, where they collided with two other cars and a bicyclist, Lee said.
The pileup sent all four vehicles crashing into a parked dump truck.
Two people were taken to Mission Hospital and one to Saddleback Memorial Hospital. They suffered nonlife- threatening injuries.
Five other people were treated at the scene.
The crash closed all lanes for about 40 minutes.

Man wounded in car dies


GARDEN GROVE – A Santa Ana man has died from gunshot wounds sustained when assailants fired into a car Friday night.
Nhan Chuong, 24, died at 10:02 p.m. Saturday at UCI Medical Center in Orange, Deputy Coroner Joseph Luckey said.
Chuong was one of two men critically injured at about 9:25 p.m. Friday while driving near Crosby Avenue and Flower Street, Garden Grove police said.

Man convicted of murder attempt


An Orange man was convicted Monday of attempted murder for his part in the kidnapping and shooting of a Laguna Niguel dentist.
Mynor Rolando Cordon- Suchtiz, 25, faces multiple life terms when he is sentenced June 25, Deputy District Attorney Frank Carroll said.
Paul Janosik, 39, was kidnapped Feb. 5, 2002, from West First Street in Santa Ana and taken to the University of California, Riverside. He was shot in the head and arm before his attackers fled with his car.
Janosik cannot recall the attack and can no longer practice dentistry, Carroll said.
Two other suspects, Marco Monroy and Antonio Coyazo, both 21, await trial.
- Rachanee Srisavasdi

L.A. County man killed in Huntington truck crash


HUNTINGTON BEACH – A man died Sunday night after he apparently lost control of his car and slammed into a signal pole, police said.
Armando Huerta, 36, of Azusa was driving west on Edinger Avenue when his Ford F-150 pickup veered onto the sidewalk at the northeast corner of Edinger and Springdale Avenue at about 10:35 p.m.
A passenger, Jose Carmen, whose age and hometown were not released, was transferred to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he was treated for nonlife-threatening injuries, police said.
An autopsy was scheduled to determine the cause of Huerta's death.
The accident remains under investigation, police said.
Thursday, March 25, 2004

Soldier remembered as 'man of courage'


300 attend service for Yorba Linda man, 21, killed while on patrol in Baghdad.
By CINDY ARORA
ORANGE – It wasn't long ago that Kris Brattain and his little brother Joel pretended to be soldiers using their house as a battlefield.
"I will always remember us as kids playing army and you wearing brown spots of shoe polish on your face," he said. Brattain, 27, spoke to his brother, now gone, and the crowd gathered Wednesday at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery. Joel K.
Brattain, 21, of Yorba Linda died on the battlefield in Iraq on March 13.
The memorial service for Brattain drew about 300 people – family, friends and veterans, some who never met the young soldier.
"I remember pinning his wings to his uniform. He had grown up to be a man of courage and pride," said his father, Gary Brattain. "When he shipped out, he understood that he might (make) the ultimate sacrifice. He didn't want to, but he wasn't scared. His life was short but well-lived. Honor his memory by doing the same."
The private first class was killed when an explosive device struck the military vehicle in which he was patrolling in Baghdad with two other Army sergeants. Brattain, from a tight-knit blended family, leaves behind a wife, six brothers and sisters, and a Siberian husky named Hailey.
His tour in Iraq was supposed to end by early April. The night before he died, Brattain's wife Andrea, 21, bought a ticket back to Fort Bragg, N.C., where he was stationed.
After boot camp, Brattain was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 504th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. He left behind his wife – whom he married six months ago – for Iraq on Jan. 11.
Brig. Gen. Richard Rowe presented Andrea Brattain with medals earned by her late husband – a Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Good Conduct Medal, and a Combat Infantry Badge. Rowe also had been to memorials in Boston and Utah this week for the two sergeants killed alongside Brattain.
Michael Hitchens took the day off work to attend the memorial service. The Garden Grove resident never met Brattain, a man remembered for his bright smile, giving nature, and most of all his love for his wife and family.
But Hitchens and Brattain both served the country and that was enough.
"I never met him but we wore the same uniform," said Hitchens, an Army reservist, who attended the service in uniform. "I thought it would be appropriate to come and pay my respects."
The funeral concluded with the traditional 21-gun salute followed by the playing of taps.
Bob Stern, an Army veteran who was in the same division as Brattain only more than a half century earlier in World War II, said he and his wife, Jackie, also didn't know Brattain. They came to thank him.
"We wanted to be here today for him," said Jackie Stern. "He gave his life for freedom; it's the least we could do."
Joel K. Brattain

Cypress man goes on trial today for murder


He faces a possible death sentence if convicted.
LOS ANGELES - Opening statements are scheduled today in the trial of a Cypress man who's a co-defendant in a Hollywood slaying in which four people were killed in a possible land dispute.
Pravin Govin, 34, of Cypress and his brother, Victor Govin, 36, of Studio City could face the death penalty if convicted of capital murder for the May 2002 slayings at a Hollywood Hills home.
A third defendant, Carlos Amador, 27, pleaded guilty last October to four counts of second-degree murder and agreed to testify in the Govins' trial. He is expected to be sentenced April 28 to four concurrent 15-year-to-life terms.
The three were charged in July 2002 with the deaths of Gita Kumar, 42; her 18-year-old son, Paras, and 16-year-old daughter, Tulsi; and her 63-year-old mother-in-law, Sitaben Patel.
The victims were discovered after a May 4, 2002, blaze at their home at 2833 Lakeridge Drive.
Martin Pomeroy, the Los Angeles Police Department's interim chief at the time, told reporters shortly after Amador and the Govin brothers were arrested that "There was an ongoing dispute between the Govins and the Kumar family."
The elder Govin's Studio Place Inn is next door to the Universal City Inn, one of several such properties owned by Harish Kumar, who was not home when his family perished in the blaze. He returned to find the house in flames and called 911.
LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division Capt. Jim Tatreau said shortly after Amador and the Govin brothers were arrested that "The nature of the dispute that we know of - and we're not saying that this is the entire motive for this crime - is a dispute regarding some land that the two hotels apparently shared."
He said there was a "record of this concern and efforts to do something about this piece of property for a long period of time."

Fatal crash closes El Toro Road


The accident had closed westbound lanes of the thoroughfare between Marguerite Parkway and Pheasant Run, an official says.
By JENNIFER KANNE
LAKE FOREST – A fatal crash closed a portion of El Toro Road for about five hours this morning, ending just after the morning commute, officials said.
The single-car accident occurred at about 3:55 a.m. today between Marguerite Parkway and Pheasant Run, said Lt. Dave Wilson of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
The male driver of a red 1992 Nissan Sentra drove off the north side of the street, across a ditch, over a bike trail and head-on into a eucalyptus tree. The driver, who appeared to be in his 20s, suffered head and chest injuries and died at the scene, Wilson said. There were no passengers.
Westbound lanes of El Toro Road didn't reopen until around 9 a.m., Wilson said.

Motorcyclist killed on 91 Freeway


A 25-year-old Costa Mesa man dies after he’s thrown from his bike, then is struck by several cars.
By JENNIFER KANNE
ANAHEIM HILLS – A motorcyclist died Wednesday night after losing control on the westbound Riverside (91) Freeway.
Christopher Forest O’Neil, 25, of Costa Mesa lost control of his red-and-black 2002 Suzuki at about 10:30 p.m. while driving east of Imperial Highway, according to a California Highway Patrol dispatcher.
After he was thrown from the motorcycle, O’Neil was hit by several vehicles. He died at the scene

2 officers, suspect hurt in chase


Police dog corners a man accused of burglary hiding in an Anaheim home.
By VIK JOLLY
ANAHEIM – Aurelia Olalde knew something was wrong when she stepped outside Wednesday morning and saw her house surrounded by police and a helicopter hovering overhead.
She had no idea a man had sneaked into her house and was hiding from police in one of her closets as she baby-sat 2-year-old Natalie Carrillo.
But the police dog knew.
Santos Joel Medina, 34, who earlier ran from police, was taken to the hospital for treatment of a bite he received when cornered by the canine inside the home, said Sgt. Rick Martinez. Medina was later booked into city jail on suspicion of burglary, providing false identification and resisting arrest. Bail was set at $50,000.
Two officers were injured during the events that began to unfold after police received an 8:20 a.m. call about a "suspicious car" in the 1300 block of Hickory Street.
Officers approached Medina and began talking before Medina decided to run, Martinez said.
One officer, who was not identified, suffered a broken hand, scrapes and cuts to his arm and legs when he and Medina struggled briefly, Martinez said.
Medina then broke into the home nearby in the 1300 block of South Palm Way and hid, Martinez said.
Another patrolman, responding to the call, crashed his motorcycle into the back of a car on his way to the scene and was hospitalized. Also not identified, he was bleeding from the face and may have dislocated bones, Martinez said.
Olalde, 42, was catching her breath on the porch of the home after the commotion. "I was scared," she said.
The baby's uncle, Manuel Gamboa, shook his head.
"Out of all these homes, the only one he liked was this one," said Gamboa, 44.

Suspect arrested in clerk's slaying


Parolee is jailed in connection with a Jan. 30 killing during a robbery at a 99 Cents store.
By CINDY CARCAMO
HUNTINGTON BEACH – A Marina del Rey parolee is in jail on suspicion of killing a cashier during a robbery at a 99 Cents Only store.
John S. Nilsen, 46, was arrested at his home at about 2 p.m. Wednesday, Huntington Beach Sgt. Dave Bunetta said.
Police believe that Nilsen fatally shot Shawna Wolfgram, 19, on Jan. 30 at the Beach Boulevard store. Nilsen allegedly demanded money from Wolfgram, shot her and ran away with cash from a drawer, police said. Charges are pending. Bunetta said investigators don't think Nilsen and Wolfgram knew each other. "At this point we don't know what the motive is," Bunetta said.
He wouldn't disclose what led investigators to Nilsen.
Police said Nilsen is on parole for a string of crimes in Newport Beach on Jan. 15, 1988.
He was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted of 19 felonies, including robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and auto theft. Bunetta did not disclose when Nilsen was released from prison.
Wolfgram's family couldn't be reached for comment.
The 99 Cents Only chain offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Wolfgram's killer.
It's not clear whether the reward came into play in the arrest or whether it will be granted.
Janice Ventura, a company spokeswoman, was happy to hear about the arrest.
"We were hoping that this would happen soon, and it did," Ventura said. "We hope he's the one and that justice is served."
Friday, March 26, 2004

Police are seeking panty bandit


Most attacks have occurred in Irvine, police say.
By JENNIFER MUIR
IRVINE – Police are looking for a Huntington Beach man suspected of knocking down young women, then attempting to steal their underwear.
Alvaro Flores, 27, is suspected of most recently assaulting a young woman at the Parkwood apartment complex in Irvine at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday. She was not injured.
"Unlike the other cases, he actually took the panties with him," Sgt. Tom Allan said. It was the first time the suspect managed to remove the underwear, police said.
Police said that up to 40 women have been victims of similar assaults in several Orange County cities since December 2000. Other victims have identified Flores as their attacker, police said. Some of those cities have issued arrest warrants for Flores.
Fountain Valley police arrested him Feb. 23, 2003, on suspicion of sexual battery and two counts of burglary. Irvine, which has reported approximately half of the attacks, has not issued a warrant for Flores, but is seeking him for questioning.
In most cases, the suspect has approached a woman who is entering or leaving an apartment complex carport, then lifts up or pulls down her clothing and attempts to remove her underwear. When the victim begins to struggle, the attacker runs away. Most victims have been wearing a skirt or dress.
The suspect strikes on weekdays when most people are leaving for work or coming home. The victims usually are carrying large items, like groceries or laundry.
The suspect has been described a Hispanic man, about 5 feet 7 inches tall, approximately 150 pounds, with dark hair and eyes.
The assailant is not Orange County's first "panty bandit," according to Register reports.
A San Juan Capistrano man was arrested in May 1993 on suspicion of stealing a dozen pairs of women's underwear in 10 separate burglaries. Police discovered William Allen Abrahamson's fetish when an officer patted him down and found a pair of panties and a bra stuffed in his shirt.
He was also suspected of stealing framed photographs of women, photo albums, and workout videos featuring women in leotards.
A Moreno Valley man was captured in 1988 after stealing women's panties during a string of robberies in Orange County. Bruce Lyons served 15 years in prison after authorities in Los Angeles found 10 pairs of women's panties in his car during a robbery investigation.
Hilla Israely, an associate sociology professor at the University of California Fullerton, said sexual assailants are often compelled to steal objects from their victims as a sign of their dominance.
"Usually when we think about the power relationship we think of the idea of women being the property of men," Israely said. "Very often we find that theft is associated with rape. Those who steal something from women often represent the attitude of being patriarchal or powerful over women."
Alvaro Flores, 27

Suspected killer could face death penalty


The Orange County District Attorney’s Office announces that it has filed capital-murder charges against John Steadman Nilsen, who’s accused of killing a clerk.
The man accused of killing a 19-year-old clerk during the 99 Cents Only store robbery could face death if convicted, the District Attorney’s Office has announced.
John Steadman Nilsen, 46, of Marina del Rey has been charged with murder during an armed robbery, a "special circumstance" allegation that makes the Jan. 29 slaying a capital crime.
His court appearance today on those charges has been postponed until April 8, the District Attorney’s Office said.
A tall, lanky bandit wearing a knit cap shot and killed Shawna Wolfgram on Jan. 29, reportedly when the woman screamed after he demanded money from the cash register of the Huntington Beach store.
Police took Nilsen into custody Wednesday, saying only that witness interviews and a review of the case file led to the arrest. The bandit’s image was captured by the store’s 16 surveillance cameras, and police circulated a composite drawing of the suspect.
State prison records showed that Nilsen had been out of prison just 3 1/2 months when Wolfram was killed. He had served 12 years of a 25-year sentence stemming from a string of Newport Beach robberies in 1988.
Before that, he’d served two earlier state-prison sentences for robbery and gun possession, prison records show.
Surveillance photo shows 99 Cents Only store bandit moments before he shot and killed Shawna Wolfgram in January. John S. Nilsen, 46, of Marina del Rey faces a possible death sentence if a jury decides he's that man.

Motorcyclist arrested after 24-minute chase


Pursuit ends when man runs out of gas, police say.
GARDEN GROVE - A man trying to elude authorities was arrested today after his motorcycle ran out of gas at the end of a 24-minute pursuit from Garden Grove to San Clemente, police said.
The chase began about 1:20 a.m. when officers with the Garden Grove Police Department’s gang-suppression unit saw a man leaving "a problem house known for gang and drug activity" near Euclid Street and Century Avenue, said Garden Grove police Sgt. Tom DaRe.
"The driver of the motorcycle saw officers, instantly fled and threw unknown objects on the ground, which have not been recovered," DaRe said.
Officers pursued the motorcyclist, who sped from the residential neighborhood onto the Garden Grove (22) Freeway and the Santa Ana (I-5) Freeway at speeds of 100-110 mph, DaRe said.
The pursuit ended in San Clemente on Interstate 5 near Avenida Vista Hermosa when the motorcycle ran out of gas, the sergeant said.
After a "minor struggle," officers arrested the motorcyclist, whose name was not immediately released, DaRe said.
"He was resisting arrest, not giving his hands up," DaRe said.
The suspect was booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of felony evading, he said.
California Highway Patrol officers and Orange County sheriff’s deputies assisted in the pursuit.

Man killed in El Toro Road crash


The Orange County Register
LAKE FOREST – A driver was killed early Thursday when he crashed into a eucalyptus tree off El Toro Road, authorities said.
The single-car accident occurred about 3:55 a.m., Orange County sheriff's Lt. Dave Wilson said.
Cory Shelmidine, 32, of Mission Viejo was driving a Nissan Sentra between Marguerite Parkway and Pheasant Run when it left the pavement, crossed a ditch and a bike trail, and hit the tree.
He died at the scene.
There were no passengers in the vehicle.

Costa Mesa man killed in crash


The Orange County Register
ANAHEIM HILLS – A man was killed Wednesday night after losing control of his motorcycle on the westbound Riverside (91) Freeway, authorities said.
Christopher Forest O'Neil, 25, of Costa Mesa was riding the 2002 Suzuki motorcycle east of Imperial Highway at about 10:30 p.m. when the accident occurred, a California Highway Patrol dispatcher said.
O'Neil was thrown from the motorcycle and was hit by several vehicles.
He died at the scene.

Woman's killer gets life sentence


A man convicted of sexually assaulting, robbing and murdering his girlfriend's mother was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Ricky Hendrickson was convicted Feb. 6 of first- degree murder for the March 31, 2003, slaying of Carol Holm, 62, of Anaheim Hills. Her body was found in a locked closet in the Rowland Heights mobile home her daughter shared with Hendrickson, prosecutor Donald Jakubowski said. Holm worked as a real-estate broker in Yorba Linda. Hendrickson did not speak during his sentencing in Pomona Superior Court. Holm's ex-husband and daughter attended the hearing. – City News Service

Church founder faces sex charges


A man who started a church in a Garden Grove garage and is accused of engaging in sexual acts with two boys was charged Thursday with lewd conduct, child annoyance and providing pornography to minors. Oscar Mendez, 37, faces up to 66 years in prison if convicted of the charges, most of which carry the enhancement of substantial sexual conduct with the boys, ages 9 and 10. The molestations allegedly occurred at Mendez's Santa Ana apartment. Mendez is the self-proclaimed pastor of Iglesia Candelero de Oro. Police said Mendez befriended the boys and their families under the pretext of offering spiritual guidance. - City News Service
Saturday, March 27, 2004

Woman shot by police after chase


A woman was shot by police Friday night at the end of a car chase that wound from Fountain Valley to Santa Ana, authorities said.
The chase ended at the intersection of Warner Avenue and Harbor Boulevard at about 7 p.m., when the woman's Volkswagen Beetle clipped another car.
Maria Jaramillo, who was working at the drive-through window at Donut Star, said she heard officers talking to the driver. She saw the woman get out of the car and then she heard gunfire.
The woman was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange. She suffered serious wounds, Santa Ana police Lt. Baltazar De La Riva said.
No other details were released late Friday.
- Cindy Carcamo

Class opened students' eyes to struggle


Magnolia freshman earns first place in art show for her entry on experience of boat people from Vietnam.
By PATRICK VUONG
The Orange County Register
ANAHEIM – Surrounded by nothing but ocean, a silhouette stands on a boat, stretching to the sky and praying for help. In America, a family awaits with open arms.
This dual image is depicted in "Reaching for America," three-dimensional artwork by Magnolia High School freshman Sally Yunker that captures the struggles of Vietnamese boat people.
Her shadow box - a combination of metal wire, cardboard, paint and clay - earned first place in her category at Magnolia's annual art show Thursday. It's also the culmination of the Anaheim Union High School District's effort to incorporate Vietnamese-American history into its art classes. The program kicked off last month.
Students listened to a firsthand account of a former boat person, and watched a documentary on the more than 1 million Vietnamese refugees who risked their lives to flee their country's communist regime since the late 1970s.
After a week of additional research, the students created either a shadowbox or an altered book - a type of pop-up tome - to depict one of two themes: the boat people's experience; or racism and hate crimes in the United States.
Yunker, 14, of Anaheim said the curriculum opened her eyes to a part of history that's rarely taught, although relatives of her classmates and friends went through it.
"I was disturbed by the film showing the struggles of all the people who died trying to come to America," she said. "And I realized how much I take for granted living here in America."
After Thursday's art show, her mother, Patti Yunker, said the school's program impressed her.
"They're learning not just about the artwork but about something with meaning and something they'll always remember," she said.
Teacher Melanie Art, who presented Sally Yunker with a certificate and the $75 cash prize, is pleased the students took to the new curriculum.
"It just blows me away that it's not covered in our history books," she said.
Members of the nonprofit Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance came up with the idea to teach about the boat people in Southern California classrooms because of the large refugee population in the area.
The community group co-sponsored the program and provided the prizes for the top three artists. In addition to Yunker's $75, senior Natalie Phan, 18, won $50 for her second-place shadowbox. Alma Sanchez, also an 18-year-old senior, earned $25 for her third-place altered book.
All three winners also received certificates of recognition and art supplies.
"They did a wonderful job. You could tell they were impacted by the class," said Art, who helped judge the artwork with Michael Matsuda, a school district administrator and member of the alliance.
Phan said the program strengthened her appreciation of her family's heritage: "Being Vietnamese, it gave me a deeper connection."
WINNER: Magnolia High freshman Sally Yunker’s artwork on the separation and struggles of Vietnamese boat people earned first place at the school’s annual art show.

Clerk's slaying a capital crime


The man accused of killing a 19-year-old clerk during a 99 Cents Only store robbery could face the death penalty if he's convicted, the District Attorney's Office announced. John Steadman Nilsen, 46, of Marina del Rey is charged with murder during an armed robbery, a "special circumstance" allegation that makes the Jan. 29 slaying a capital crime. His court appearance Friday on the charges was postponed until April 8, the District Attorney's Office said. A tall, lanky bandit wearing a knit cap shot to death Shawna Wolfgram, reportedly when the woman screamed after he demanded money from the cash register of the Huntington Beach store. Police took Nilsen into custody Wednesday, saying only that witness interviews and a review of the case file led to his arrest. – Jeff Collins

Police seek Huntington Beach man in panty-bandit case


Man accused of attacking women to try to steal their underwear.
By JENNIFER MUIR
IRVINE – Police are looking for a Huntington Beach man suspected of knocking down dozens of young women, then attempting to steal their underwear.
Alvaro Flores, 27, might have most recently assaulted a young woman at the Parkwood apartment complex in Irvine, investigators said. The woman was not injured in the attack, which occurred at about 5:45 p.m. Thursday.
It was the first time the suspect managed to remove the underwear, Sgt. Tom Allan said. "Unlike the other cases, he actually took the panties with him," he said. Up to 40 women have been victims of similar assaults in several Orange County cities since December 2000. Some victims identified Flores as their attacker, police said. Fountain Valley police arrested him Feb. 23, 2003, on suspicion of sexual battery and burglary. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years' probation and 90 days in jail.
Irvine has reported about half of the attacks. In most cases, the suspect approached a woman who was entering or leaving an apartment complex's carport. He lifted up or pulled down their clothing and tried to remove their underwear. When the victims began to struggle, the attacker ran away. Most victims wore a skirt or dress.
The attacker strikes on weekdays when most people are leaving for work or coming home. The victims usually are carrying large items such as groceries or laundry.
The man has been described as Hispanic, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and 150 pounds. He had dark hair and eyes.
The assailant is not Orange County's first "panty bandit."
A San Juan Capistrano man was arrested in May 1993 on suspicion of stealing a dozen pairs of women's underwear during 10 separate burglaries. Police discovered William Allen Abrahamson's fetish when an officer patted him down and found a pair of panties and a bra stuffed in his shirt.
He also was suspected of stealing framed photographs of women, photo albums and workout videos featuring women in leotards. The District Attorney's Office charged Abrahamson, but the disposition of the case could not be determined Friday. A Moreno Valley man was captured in 1988 after stealing panties during a string of robberies in Orange County. Bruce Lyons served 15 years in prison after authorities in Los Angeles found 10 pairs of panties in his car during a robbery investigation.
Hilla Israely, an associate sociology professor at California State University, Fullerton, said sexual assailants often feel compelled to steal objects from their victims as a sign of dominance.
"Those who steal something from women often represent the attitude of being patriarchal or powerful over women," she said.
Saturday, April 10, 2004

Santa Ana police arrest 15 day laborers


Officers cite the men after complaints of drinking, urinating in public. They turned 10 of the men over to immigration officials.
By CINDY ARORA
SANTA ANA – Ten day laborers were turned over to immigration officials Thursday after being arrested by Santa Ana police officers on suspicion of drinking and urinating in public. The Santa Ana Police Department picked up 15 day laborers from the Auto Zone shopping center at McFadden Avenue and Standard Street after receiving complaints about the men from businesses and residents in the area, Police Department spokesman Mario Corona said. Five of the men were cited and released, but 10 others were handed over to immigration officials for not having identification that could be confirmed, Corona said. The Police Department generally does not call immigration officials when arrests are made, but they couldn't ignore the fact that so many didn't have proper identification, Corona said. "We aren't just trying to take action; we are trying to send a message," he said "This is obviously the last resort, but there had to be a punishment for the crime." Auto Zone workers said they are accustomed to seeing the laborers congregate daily in their parking lot. A group of more than a dozen men drink beer and wait for work there, employee Miguel Fernandez said. "Everyone thinks they are just innocent people just trying to make a buck," Corona said. "But when people are walking their kids to school and have to watch them urinate in public, we had to take action."
Fernandez said the presence of the laborers sometimes drew complaints from Auto Zone's customers.
"I never felt that they were bugging us, but they were always here, hanging around, drinking," he said. "They'd do more than urinate in the back, and we'd have to tell people to walk carefully."

Body of woman found in O'Neill Regional Park


RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA – A woman missing since Monday was found dead in a remote area of O'Neill Regional Park, authorities said. The body of Susan L. Hobbs, 51, of Lake Forest was discovered at about 4:45 p.m. Friday, Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said. The cause of her death is under investigation. Hobbs appeared to be despondent before her disappearance, but it was unclear whether she committed suicide, he said. Hobbs' husband contacted police at 5 p.m. Monday, saying she was upset after a job interview. Searchers searched the park after her car was found parked there Thursday afternoon. A helicopter spotted the body face down under shrubs about three-quarters of the way up a steep slope near the Vista Trail campgrounds. She was 40 to 50 yards off the main trail, Amormino said.
Several items were scattered around Hobbs' body, but Amormino would not specify what they were.

Students fight to stop gender harassment


By SARAH TULLY
WESTMINSTER – In fourth and fifth grade, boys would insult Moises Garcia when he hung out with the girls instead of playing basketball or soccer during recess.
Once, two boys followed Garcia home, yelling at him, calling him names and taking a book out of his backpack because they thought he was gay.
School administrators didn't do anything to stop the harassment, Garcia said.
Garcia and two other local students called Friday for the Westminster School District to adopt the state's anti-discrimination law.
Three board members have refused to adopt the law's revised definition of "gender," saying the definition is immoral. The three women could not be reached for comment Friday.
"It saddens me to think that other children will not feel safe to be themselves, but instead feel fear in school," said Garcia, 18, a Brea Olinda High senior who is now openly gay.
The California Safe Schools Coalition called the media briefing Friday to bring attention to the harassment students face in schools - what the law is supposed to prevent.
In a 2004 survey, about 27 percent of the state's middle and high school students reported that they were harassed because they weren't masculine or feminine enough.
State law defines gender as a person's actual or perceived sex. The three students said they each consider themselves their biological gender, but they have faced harassment because of how other students perceive them.
Mattye Dane, a junior in the ACCESS independent study program, said she is often taunted because she likes to play sports and wear masculine clothes.
Dane said a teacher once yelled at her, saying "You kind of people don't belong here," when she wore swim trunks and a T-shirt for a school swim class, instead of a bathing suit.
Another time, classmates insulted her while discussing gay marriage in a class. Dane said the teacher didn't respond to the insults and instead reprimanded Dane when she walked out of class.
"It seems like anything to do with sexual preference gets swept under the carpet," said Dane, 16, who is an open lesbian.
Justine Halstead, 15, a sophomore at Marina High in Huntington Beach, said she was once called in to the school office, along with her girlfriend, to be told to stop holding hands. Although administrators said the same rule applied to opposite-sex couples, Halstead said she saw heterosexual couples making out at school with no repercussions.
She was also told to change her research topic - homosexuals and school.
"I think it sends a very strong message," Halstead said. "If students see the administration and people are keeping them safe, they will think twice about it (harassment)."

Worker crushed by metal discs


Two metal discs weighing 2,000 pounds each fell out of a truck and onto a worker Friday morning, killing the man, authorities said. The Orange County coroner's office identified the victim as David Cronin, 58, of Riverside. The accident occurred in the back parking lot of Cronin's workplace, American Metal Bearing, on Acacia Street in Garden Grove, fire Battalion Chief Nick Booker said. Cronin was standing next to a co-worker when he opened the truck's rear doors and the two 2 1/4-inch-wide discs and two metal rings fell on him. Firefighters needed forklifts and chains to lift the materials off Cronin, Booker said. Cronin died at the scene. - Laylan Connelly
Thursday, April 15, 2004

New chapter begins


By GREG HARDESTY and LAYLAN CONNELLY
IRVINE – The 6-foot, 270-pound Army reservist - "Big Sexy'' to his fellow soldiers - stood at attention as a superior saluted.
Behind his back, his beefy hands clutched a bottle of baby formula.
"I'm ready to be a father," Sgt. Vincent Sifuentes, 32, said later as he cradled his 6 1/2-month-old son, Vincent Jr., who Dad had seen only briefly after his birth.
On Wednesday, a whole new chapter began for Sifuentes and 41 other men and women of the 163rd Ordnance Company, based in Los Alamitos, when the soldiers were reunited with their families after spending 14 months in Kuwait and Iraq.
The emotional reunion, at the Irvine-Tustin U.S. Army Reserve Center, came against a grim backdrop of escalating violence in Iraq, which since April 3 has claimed the lives of 34 Marines from Camp Pendleton.
"Freedom isn't free, I'll tell you that," said Spc. Ryan Beutler, 25, of Mission Viejo, surrounded by jubilant relatives who admired his chiseled body and fingered his combat patch and his rank pin.
"There is a price to pay for freedom," Beutler said. For members of reserve units who are used to weekend duty only once a month, deployment can be a rude jolt. And in this conflict, the military is leaning especially hard on reserve and National Guard units. As of Feb. 25, 155,028 such troops were mobilized.
For one glorious day, the struggles on both sides - of homesick soldiers living in 12-person tents and relatives back home coping with new challenges - took a back seat to celebration.
"So, how you doing?" Spc. James Ryan, with tears in his eyes, said as he embraced his mother, Tracey. He turned 21 in Iraq.
"I love you," Tracey Ryan told her son.
The soldiers saw limited action during their longer-than-expected deployment. Three were injured in vehicle-related and other accidents, but no combat-related injuries or fatalities occurred, Capt. Christian Werthmuller said.
Most soldiers, who expected to return home after six to eight months, were based in Kuwait.
They spent their days unloading ammunition from ships and delivering it by trucks to storage sites in Iraq and delivering bombs to Air Force facilities.
For Mary Fisher, an Irvine insurance broker, the past 14 months have been tough for her and her son, Sgt. Christian Morrish, 24.
Fisher lost her first son, Richard, to leukemia when he was 6 weeks old, and she wasn't about to lose another son.
As a compromise, she let him join the Army Reserves. It hasn't been a picnic.
"It's not about glamour, about going to great places," said Fisher, of Carlsbad. "It's about doing your job. And even though they weren't getting shot at every day, their lives were hell."
Morrish got sick from dysentery in Iraq and dropped about 30 pounds.
On a brief visit home in November, his fiancée dumped him because she couldn't deal with the separation.
"I think we tend to become anesthetized to what's going on over there," Fisher said. "I don't want to minimize what is happening. We owe our soldiers that."
Relatives have struggled with change.
White-haired Jeanne Wilhelmy's husband of 34 years died in October from a heart attack.
Their son, Spc. Gerald Wilhelmy, 31, was able to come home for a few days to help with funeral arrangements.
During the Christmas season, Jeanne Wilhelmy suffered a breakdown because of the loneliness.
"It (was) tough to have nobody," said Wilhelmy, a 65-year-old Irvine resident.
On Wednesday, she saw her son, an Irvine High School graduate, get off one of two buses at 12:40 p.m. under brilliant sunshine.
The 42 soldiers had flown into John Wayne Airport after decompressing at an Army base in Texas for a few days.
A screaming crowd waved flags and jabbed the sky with signs.
Wilhelmy embraced her son.
"We have a lot to discuss when we get home," he said, clasping her hand.
Change has been a constant in the life of Marna Alejandre, 32, of Corona since her husband of eight years, Joseph, 32, left.
He was working at a Trader Joe's when he got his orders.
"I learned how to become friends with everyone at Home Depot," said Marna Alejandre, who grew up in Westminster. "I fixed sprinklers, did other home repairs. ... I had to become more self-reliant."
To fill the evenings, Alejandre enrolled in a German class at a community college. And she "discovered'' downtown Riverside.
"Sitting around and moping doesn't help anybody," she said. "I had a choice to feel down about his situation, which I had no control over, or to make the most of my time."
For Joseph Alejandre, 12-hour workdays in the Kuwaiti desert sometimes made it seem like he was wasting his time.
He hopes it's been worth it.
"I'm just a small piece of the puzzle,'' he said. "As far as the big picture, I don't know if we're accomplishing anything.''
Alejandre's 14-month absence put a strain on his marriage. He said he looks forward to readjusting to his home life.
"It'll be weird living with just one person," he said, his lips heavily smudged with his wife's red lipstick and his stomach hankering for a Double Double from In-N-Out.
Amy Pomeroy, 20, of San Diego said she will have to relearn how to live with her husband, Ryan, who she married just four months before he was deployed.
Since Pomeroy has had to live alone, she's become more independent. She took care of their apartment after it flooded, pulling out all the furniture.
She paid the bills on time, she said proudly, and has started college.
She looks different than 14 months ago; her hair has grown out, and what used to be blonde is now mostly red with a few highlights.
"I'm very nervous about living with him again," she said.
The soldiers of the 163rd will be free to return to their families for good Sunday after a three-day debriefing.
They then will be on leave for two months before having to report back to reserve duty of one weekend a month.
At least for now, they are not eligible for deployment to war for three years.
The Army reservists have their old jobs waiting for them – it is required by federal law – but while serving in Iraq, money was tighter for some.
Wilhelmy, a truck driver, took a decrease in pay while serving as a reserve.
As a driver, he brings home $40,000 a year. As a reservist, he earns about $4,000 less. Some employers make up the difference in salaries. Annual pay for reservists serving overseas can range from about $33,000 to as much as $100,000 for specialists such as doctors.
As for Sifuentes, he is eager to dig into diaper-changing duty and give his wife, Denise, a bit of a break.
"She's been doing this all this time," he said. "It's going to be both of us now. I'm going to change him, nurture him and raise him.
"Be a dad.''
HAPPY TO BE HOME: Army Reserve soldiers from the 163rd Ordnance Company, including Sgt. Matt Olson, left, who returned early due to injury, howls with joy at reuniting with Spc. Ryan Beutler, right, at the Irvine-Tustin U.S. Army Reserve Center Wednesday.
WARM WELCOME: Lena Nusimow had a kiss waiting for Spc. Temujin Powers on his return Wednesday at the Irvine-Tustin U.S. Army Reserve Center after 14 months in Kuwait and Iraq with the 163rd Ordnance Company as an Army reservist.
CHEERING: A flag-waving Amy Velasquez of La Habra stretches out her arms as she waits to greet her cousin Oscar Astorga, an Army reservist with the 163rd Ordnance Company on Wednesday.
FINALLY!: Still carrying her American flag, Amy Velasquez of La Habra finally gets to hug her cousin, Army reservist Oscar Astorga, on his return with the 163rd Ordnance Company on Wednesday.
WELCOME HOME: Denise Sifuentes holds her son as Sgt. Vincent Sifuentes gives him a kiss.
Army Reserve soldiers from the 163rd Ordnance Company returned to the Irvine-Tustin U.S. Army Reserve Center after 14 months in Kuwait and Iraq.
Saturday, May 1, 2004

SEAL of approval


In a ceremony as rare as he is, Bill Pozzi says goodbye to the Navy.
By BARBARA KINGSLEYand THERESA WALKER
It's not as if Bill Pozzi was trying to dodge the draft in the late 1960s, like some of his friends who would whack each other's joints with pool sticks to fake "old football injuries" for the draft board.
No, Bill Pozzi wasn't averse to getting drafted. He was averse to getting killed. So he volunteered for the Navy reserves, certain that it would be safer than the infantry.
His choice would lead to more than 30 years of service crouching in the jungles of Vietnam, bobbing in the ocean awaiting for Apollo 12's splashdown and finally camping outside one of Saddam's palaces.
On Friday, the onetime hot-rodder who essentially backed into the military was honored in a special retirement ceremony rare for reservists. About 150 people attended the outdoor celebration at the Naval Amphibious Base on Coronado Island, near San Diego, to witness the last salute from Chief Warrant Officer 3 William R. Pozzi. Those who came to say goodbye spanned his Naval career, from graying high school buddies who enlisted with him to the young men he managed to keep supplied with water, fresh fruit and twice-a-day mail deliveries in Iraq. His departure marked a bittersweet moment for Pozzi. "It's terrible because I've got another war left in me," said Pozzi, looking brilliant against the blue sky in his dress white uniform. "I don't want to go away."
The Navy essentially had to drag Pozzi away from the battlefield after he fell off a truck under fire and injured his shoulder, ankle and hip in April 2003. His shoulder still is so torn up he has to use his left hand to lift his right to shake hands.
He regrets nothing. He told his friend, Robert Pfeiler of Costa Mesa, that he wouldn't take a million dollars for his time in Vietnam and Iraq. He likes the intensity.
"It was all so fresh and new, and we could make all the rules as we went," said Pozzi of the first days of the Iraq war. "It's important to be there in the front and be there when it's so exciting, so very very exciting." In Iraq, he met the challenge of working 20 hours a day to develop and equip 75 tactical vehicles to assist the Navy SEALs in rapid mobility. And he was the resourceful point man for building and supplying the operating base from which the SEALs deployed, along with special forces from Poland. He got his hands on a tractor and cleared the land. He set up tents with floors and air conditioners. He scrounged in the nearby palace, calling it "Home Depot," to find fixtures for sinks and showers. First Class Petty Officer Scott Bettner recalled how Pozzi went around asking the guys what he could get them from the military exchange in Baghdad, saving them a trip that could take all day. "Basically he would wait in line for six hours so a guy could get a thing of Gatorade," Bettner said. Pozzi also took the time to collect money for a Catholic orphanage in Baghdad, challenging Navy and Army personnel to outdo each other and winding up with a couple thousand dollars.
During the Vietnam war, Pozzi initially found himself on a submarine. An engine guy, he got so greasy in the World War II-era sub that his head slid off the pillow at night. When he heard they were looking for Navy SEALs, he didn't know what that was. He thought it sounded like the 1960's TV show "Sea Hunt." Beaches. Women. Beer. He signed up.
In Vietnam, he shared foxholes with fellow SEALs and Marines who embraced the "warrior" mentality.
By the time Iraq rolled around, he was way too old for combat, so Pozzi volunteered as a supply guy, in charge of getting necessities for the front-line warriors, who were 30 years his junior. They liked him so much the commanding officer wanted to name the camp after Pozzi. He preferred they name it Camp Jenny Pozzi, after his eldest daughter, who is in ROTC at the University of California, Santa Barbara and might someday head to Iraq.
Warrant Officer Pozzi managed to beg his way into 21 combat missions, including the one that got him injured.
He was always big on volunteering. After returning from Vietnam, he volunteered to rescue the Apollo 12 capsule off American Samoa. Miserable duty: waiting and working in the water for four hours breathing compressed air. He'd remove his air piece, throw up in the ocean, put it back in again.
The only ones who looked worse than he felt were the astronauts, who emerged from the churning seas with faces the color of clover, Pozzi recalls. He was the first SEAL to meet the astronauts and his name was mentioned on TV. His mother memorialized the occasion with a new color set.
But it's combat that truly gets Pozzi's blood churning. He worked the underwater demolition unit from Danang to Antoy Island in southern Vietnam. He put on a wet suit with other SEALs and surveyed the beaches ahead of the Marine landings.
He also ran patrols. He remembers the first time he looked into the eyes of an enemy, raised his gun and pulled the trigger a nanosecond before the other guy pulled his.
"For me, there's a primeval need to take that chance and see what you'd do - to see if you'd run away or prosper," Pozzi said. "You think you know yourself, but when you're put in a situation like that you really learn what your physical and emotional status is."
After Vietnam, he owned several businesses (including Apollo Moving) and raised four kids. But he always longed to return to combat.
Then came 9-11 and Iraq. "He is so proud of being in the Navy," said his wife, Barbara Breazeale. "He said, 'It's better I go than my children.'"
Milestones in the history of the SEALs
The Navy SEALs traces its lineage to World War II, when Scout and Raider units cleared the way for advancing Allied forces in North Africa, Sicily and Normandy. Some other highlights:
• In 1943, the Navy creates Naval Combat Demolition Units of hand-picked sailors and Marine Raiders. Later, Scout and Raider units of the Atlantic and NCDUs of the Pacific consolidate into one outfit known as “Frogmen.”
• During the Korean War, the Frogmen use their skills for the Inchon landing and conduct demolition raids on bridges, tunnels and harbor facilities. They clear obstacles from some rivers and harbors used by U.N. forces.
• In 1962, President John F. Kennedy orders U.S. military to train units in unconventional warfare. The Army forms Green Berets; the Navy forms SEAL (Sea, Air, Land) Teams One and Two. The SEALs train in counter-guerilla warfare, long-distance reconnaissance, supply interdiction and raids. In concert with the Navy Special Boats Units, the SEALs patrol the Mekong Delta and rivers, streams and tributaries of South Vietnam.
• Since Vietnam, SEALs operations include Grenada, 1983; Persian Gulf, 1987-90; Panama, 1989; Kuwait, 1990-91; Somalia, 1992-93; Afghanistan, 2001; and Iraq, 2003 to present.
AISLE OF WHITE: CWO William R. Pozzi, wearing his dress uniform, salutes as he leaves the stage near the end of his Navy retirement ceremony, held Friday at the Naval Amphibious Base on Coronado Island near San Diego.
1969: Bill Pozzi, front, was the first frogman to plunge into the Pacific near American Samoa to retrieve the crew of Apollo 12 on Nov. 24. The photographers mate’s images of the moon walkers were published in Time magazine.
2004: In another era, Navy Seal Bill Pozzi rode the Swift Boat while in Vietnam in 1968-1969. More recently, Pozzi volunteered as a supply guy in Iraq, getting necessities to front-line warriors. After 21 missions, he was injured and came home.
A SOLDIER'S SOLDIER: Bill Pozzi was so popular with the troops he helped during his time in Baghdad, his commanding officer wanted to name their camp after him.

2 O.C. Marines earn Silver Stars


Two U.S. Marines from Orange County will be awarded the Silver Star on Monday for gallantry in action during the war in Iraq.
Officials at Camp Pendleton said Friday that Cpl. Timothy C. Tardif, 22, of Huntington Beach will be honored for heroism "while serving as a squad leader for his platoon during an ambush in Iraq on April 12, 2003."
Staff Sgt. Adam R. Sikes, 27, of Aliso Viejo is being honored for heroism "while serving as a platoon sergeant during the battle of Al Tarmiya," also on April 12, 2003.
Both men are members of the 1st Marine Division.
Officials noted that the Silver Star is the third-highest combat-only decoration awarded by the U.S. military.
- Gary Robbins

Signs of Asians' cultural influence are pointing south


By ANH DO
I am driving in the thickness of downtown Los Angeles traffic when I see the sign, a piece of cardboard, boldly boosting: "OC Asians, build and build. Show your strength, show your will!''
Chinatown is sprucing up for May's Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month.
The owner of a hair salon is offering celebration specials, so children's cuts are free when both Mom and Dad go for a trim. Huge burlap bags of short-grain rice are for sale in a strip mall bursting with red-gold posters advertising events set up by Asian or Pacific Islander groups from Hollywood to La Habra.
But what's with this O.C. sign, which someone has posted next to the ads?
I tried to track down its author, but no one seemed to know his or her identity. The cursive scrawl gave no clue.
Then I came across Howard Low, 47, a computer analyst, who moved to Orange County four years ago. "Asians have been gaining influence, as Asians have been heading south,'' he says.
The L.A. riots in the '90s spurred them to look for safer locales, and the housing boom in Riverside County lured them.
On the way to inspect those new homes in Temecula, he and his family discovered - Yorba Linda. They stopped for lunch and saw a ranch- style place with a shady porch in a neighborhood with other Taiwanese, and they were hooked.
Low grew up near Ord and Hill streets, in a sea of Chinese banners and architecture and a short walk from some of the most popular dim sum eateries. He never thought Orange County and its Asian population would grow.
But grow it did – to the tune of 387,011, according to the 2000 Census, a 59 percent increase compared to 1990.
The sign I saw from my car is just one example that Asian influence is shifting to Orange County. Consider:
Asians and Pacific Islanders represent 14 percent of the O.C. population, and are the fastest-growing group in the county.
O.C. ranks third in the total number of Asians and Pacific Islanders in California, just ahead of San Diego County and right behind Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties.
O.C. has the fourth-largest population of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the nation, after Honolulu, Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties.
And across the United States, O.C. ranks second in the number of businesses owned by Asian and Pacific Islanders, totaling nearly 45,000 and bringing about $15 billion to the area.
While the number of businesses opening in Chinatown continues to dip, merchants in Koreatown in Garden Grove or Little Saigon – spanning Santa Ana, Westminster, Fountain Valley as well as Garden Grove – struggle with space shortages.
"I've been waiting for a prime spot for months to open a fusion cafe,'' says Melissa Mai, who would like to leave the San Fernando Valley for the right "square footage'' on Bolsa Avenue near a Vietnamese tofu factory. "We are living in a time when O.C. is on the map.''
One of the people who might know that best is Mary Anne Foo, head of the increasingly visible Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance, where she works with Chamorro, Pakistani, Japanese, Malaysian and other men and women. Her group runs programs with at least 25 other nonprofits to push for policy and funding for health care, youth and community development. The alliance's work reaches 15 types of Asians and Pacific Islanders.
"It's amazing. It's exciting. The organizations in Los Angeles come to us constantly to see how they can partner with us and mentor us,'' Foo observes. "People are paying attention and we are so lucky.''
Those noticing include some powerhouses in Asian activism in Los Angeles, from the Asian Pacific American Legal Center to Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality. They send supporters and lobbyists to OCAPICA to listen to their polling and voting suggestions.
Today, everything in O.C. connected to voting is translated into Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean. The Chinese and Vietnamese have proven to be swing votes in hotly contested races for local offices. And the influence is evident at colleges such as the University of California, Irvine, whose the student roster is more than 50 percent Asian.
Low, for one, believes he made the right move.
"You want to be in a haven that gives you room to expand, to be creative and to grow a community,'' he says. "Who knows how much we can build if Asians link with Latinos regularly?''
His co-worker, Mario Sepulveda of Anaheim, agrees.
He asks: "What's stopping us from working together?''
Tuesday, May 4, 2004

'Everybody's big brother' mourned


Being a soldier was just one more way a Costa Mesa native, killed in an Iraqi explosion, helped others.
By ERIC CARPENTER and BRIAN MARTINEZ
When friends of Army Spec. Trevor Win'E saw the stern look on his face in the first official military photos he sent home, they didn't believe it was really him.
"That was the first time any of us could remember seeing him when he didn't have a big grin on his face. He was literally always smiling growing up," said Mary Lallande, a longtime family friend and Win'E's high school guidance counselor.
On Monday, friends and family relied on the many happy memories they had of Win'E to endure the pain of mourning his death.
Win'E, 22, a Costa Mesa native who lived briefly in Orange before joining the Army in 2002, was killed over the weekend in Iraq.
He was traveling with his convoy near Tikrit on Friday when his armored military vehicle hit an explosive device, the Department of Defense said. He died of his injuries Saturday.
Win'E (pronounced win-ay) became the 10th Orange County resident known to be killed during the war in Iraq, which grew bloodier Sunday when 11 U.S. service members died in various parts of the country.
Win'E served with the Army's 24th Quartermaster Company, based in Fort Lewis, Wash. His death came two years to the day after he officially entered the Army.
On Monday, friends and family gathered at the Win'E home near Old Towne Orange. Deborah Win'E, Trevor's mom, called her son "a very special person," but said that she was too distraught to talk about his life in detail.
News of his death circulated quickly through the Costa Mesa neighborhoods where he grew up and at Calvary Chapel High School in Costa Mesa, where he graduated in 2000.
"He was everybody's big brother here," said Nancy Hamilton, his senior English teacher. "It's really hard for us to believe we won't see his smiling face again.
"He had a heart for serving others. In class, he didn't like to talk about himself; it was always, 'What can I do to help?'"
Lallande said she talked to Win'E shortly before he left for Iraq.
"I asked him if he was scared," she said. "He said he did have fears, but more importantly, he had a job that he'd been training so long to do. He was eager to go do it."
Friends recalled Win'E as a handsome, polite and extremely kind person - both compassionate and competitive.
He played on school ice and in-line hockey teams, often organizing late-night practices so the team would first have time to finish homework and have dinner with family.
When not on a team, he liked being around water, to scuba dive and fish. In the winter, he loved to snowboard.
"He was one of those guys that if you ever met him you wanted to be his friend," said Steve Gameros, who lived next door to Win'E on Mandarin Drive in Costa Mesa.
Gameros said Win'E would drop by when he was remodeling his house, just to lend a hand and help with the heavy lifting.
He found time to play with Gameros' 1-year-old daughter, tickle her and make her laugh.
"He would stop and talk to people no matter how busy he was," Gameros said.
Several other neighbors recalled Win'E's charming personality. "We love Trevor and his family" read one sign in the window of a former neighbor's house on Mindanao Street. The window of an SUV in the driveway was painted with "I love you Trevor."
Richie Ruggiero, 23, who grew up playing in soccer leagues with Win'E, said he had gone through a full range of emotions after learning about his friend's death.
"It's weird, you grow up together, and then he's gone," he said. "When I first found out, I was in shock. Then I got mad for a while. Then I got sick to my stomach."
Win'E was the youngest of three siblings, including an older sister, Tracy, and older brother, Todd, who also served in the military.
Hamilton said that during Win'E's senior year, he sometimes stayed after class to talk about his brother and his concerns for Todd's safety in the Air Force.
But he idolized his big brother and wanted to do what he could to serve, too.
"I thought Trevor was a hero back then," she said. "And he's a hero now."
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Trevor Win’E

Little Saigon's history tapped


Oakland Museum of California comes calling for mementos and memories of Vietnam War era.
By PATRICK VUONG
WESTMINSTER – Orange County's Vietnamese-Americans are encouraged to lend artifacts and offer input for an exhibit about the Vietnam War's impact on the state.
Developing what will be the first national touring exhibition on the topic, officials from the Oakland Museum of California announced Wednesday to Little Saigon's media that they're looking to borrow documents and personal items from South Vietnamese troops, re-education-camp survivors and Vietnamese refugees called "boat people."
They're also searching for mementos like restaurant menus and business signs that represent Little Saigon's blossoming in the late 1970s and early '80s.
"We recognize the importance and size of the Vietnamese community here, and we know it's important to come here and talk directly to the community," said Barbara Henry, the museum's education curator.
Orange County is home to more than 135,000 Vietnamese - the largest population outside of Vietnam.
Officials said the Vietnamese refugee experience will be a key part of the exhibit, which will also cover the state's economics, politics and military industry.
The community outreach is also the museum's way of avoiding a repeat of a controversy that brewed last fall when museum officials fired consultant Mimi Nguyen, who said that what the museum gathered for the exhibit didn't accurately represent the Vietnamese-American experience and contributions.
The museum has since formed an advisory board that includes Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians.
Four years in the making, the six-month exhibit - called "What's Going On? California and the Vietnam Era" - will debut in August and be divided into 11 time periods, from the 1950s to now.

Man won't fight deportation order


A Garden Grove man will not appeal a judge's order to deport him to Vietnam for postwar atrocities in a re-education camp, his attorney, Louis Piscopo, said Monday.
An immigration court judge ruled that Thi Dinh Bui, 62, tortured and starved fellow inmates as an enforcer for communist guards before immigrating to the United States in 1994. Bui, who maintains his innocence, and his family will not appeal because they don't want him lingering in federal custody, Piscopo said.
Piscopo questions whether his client could be deported because the United States doesn't have an extradition treaty with Vietnam. Immigration officials said they'll work to get travel documents to send him back.
- Patrick Vuong

Man on bike killed by car in Anaheim


ANAHEIM – A bicyclist was killed Sunday when he was hit by a car, police said.
The collision occurred shortly after 6 p.m. near the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Olive Street.
Police said Jack Gledhill Jr., 79, of Anaheim was riding his bicycle along Lincoln, about 40 feet east of the intersection with Olive, when he was hit by the car and pushed into the intersection.
Investigators didn't arrest or cite the driver, described only as an Anaheim man in his 20s.
The accident remained under investigation

Eight arrested in killing of man


Two may be connected to racist gang, but police say Huntington slaying was not a hate crime.
By JOHN McDONALD
HUNTINGTON BEACH – Police arrested eight people over the weekend in connection with the slaying of a Laguna Niguel man, officials said Monday.
The body of Cory Lamons, 26, was found under a pickup's camper shell when the vehicle was stopped in Riverside County during a surveillance April 6. Investigators had followed the pickup from Huntington Beach.
The reason for the surveillance was not disclosed, but three people taken into custody at the time included two suspected members of a white racist gang.
Huntington Beach police have refused to release the motive for the killing or say how Lamons died. Officials said the crime took place in Huntington Beach, but they refused to disclose the location.
Authorities did say that although the suspects might have connections to a racist gang, Lamons was white and there is no known hate-crime aspect to his death. Lamons had a criminal record but was not believed to be a gang member, officials said.
Four people were taken into custody during the vehicle stop - two in the pickup and two in a car following the truck.
No charges were filed at the time, but three of those taken into custody when the body was found were held on unrelated offenses. Billy Joe Johnson, 40, of Costa Mesa and Suzanne Miller, 24, of Mission Viejo were both wanted for the sale of methamphetamine. Jason Karr, 38, of Riverside was wanted for a parole violation.
They were charged with murder and related offenses Friday. The fourth person, Erin Brooks, 19, of San Juan Capistrano, who was released after the stop, was arrested for conspiracy to commit murder.
Four other people - Julie Ann Parker of Huntington Beach, Patrick Carroll of Huntington Beach and Logan Stewart of Capistrano Beach, all 24, and Craig Tanber, 26, of Rossmoor - also were charged with murder.
Authorities said more arrests might be made.
The eight suspects are scheduled to appear in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana on Monday.
Saturday, May 8, 2004

'I'm not betraying anyone'


Ex-O.C. resident targets critics of his return trip to Vietnam, seeing economy as key to stronger nation.
By PATRICK VUONG
By the time he was 35, Nguyen Cao Ky had already commanded an entire air force and led a nation as the South Vietnamese premier.
Now four decades later, he leads a quieter life in Hacienda Heights, watching news broadcasts with his morning coffee. An avid golfer, the former Huntington Beach resident hits the links three times a week because “when you’re hooked, it’s like a disease.”
But now Ky has been thrust back into the spotlight. His Lunar New Year return to his homeland in February – after nearly 30 years – enraged many in Vietnamese communities across the United States.
Thousands in Orange County demonstrated against his monthlong trip. They branded him a traitor. They called him the C word: communist – the worst expletive in Little Saigon. His critics said his visit legitimized a government that continually violates human rights and oppresses its people.
Ky disagreed, saying the best way to overcome his former enemies is to meet face-to-face with communist officials and offer them a different perspective.
The former fighter pilot likened himself to Gary Cooper in “High Noon,” a 1952 film in which Cooper’s lawman tries to find allies in his fight against bandits but ends up going solo because the others are too afraid.
He hopes to visit Vietnam again, but doesn’t know when.
On Thursday, Ky granted his first interview with English-language media to talk in depth about the trip and respond to the criticism.
He invited the Orange County Register to the Westminster home of a friend, where Ky was visiting with old comrades and acquaintances, including a Vietnamese professor and journalist from Denmark and a former South Vietnamese pilot now living in San Jose.
Wearing spikeless golf shoes and white slacks, the effusive Ky spent nearly two hours candidly answering questions – using Vietnamese at first, but switching to English when a Register photographer arrived.
Q: What were your reasons for returning to Vietnam?
A: In recent years, there have been hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese returning home and some of them have told me how the country’s changed, but I wanted to see with my own eyes how it’s changed.
Another reason is that the Vietnamese government invited me home. They said they wanted to forget the conflict of the past, the hatred and need to kill each other. ... A third reason was to see what people back home thought about me.
Q: How long did it take to plan this trip?
A: In truth, the Vietnamese government has been talking to me about a return for eight or nine years, but they never officially invited me.
They said, “With so many Viet kieu (expatriates) visiting their homeland, we won’t oppose it if you want to return like others have.” I told them, “I’m not like other people. If you think I can return to help my country in anyway, I will. But to go as a tourist, to do business or for any other reasons, I’m not going to go.”
Last year, a Vietnamese official met me in San Francisco and for the first time he invited me. ... They wanted me to return immediately, but I said I needed time to prepare so it took about five or six months after that meeting before I flew back.
Q: Some critics think you went back to negotiate business deals with the communists.
A: That is totally untrue. They think I’m like regular Viet kieu, to go back to do business or go back to support the communist regime. Before I went, they used that speculation to protest.
But after I returned to Vietnam, I held a press conference in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) and any time I met anyone I told them why I was there – everyone knew. They saw that I wasn’t there to do business or support communism.
That’s why there’s no uproar in the (Little Saigon) community now because they understand why I was there and what I was doing.
Q: Did you meet with Vietnamese officials?
A: Yes, in southern Vietnam, and after a few days in Central Vietnam and in Northern Vietnam. I had many opportunities – both official and non-official.
Q: What did you talk about?
A: We never talked about political ideology. Only about the economy. I told them my own experience as a premier and I told them what should be the new direction of the future. That is to build the economy to make a strong country and spread the wealth among the people.
But I emphasized that once the country becomes wealthy and the people have an education and wealth, the politics should follow. ... (Vietnam) is on the path to becoming like America – capitalist, free market. But during this transition time, you cannot expect a political system like you have here or in France or in England.
Q: Do you think the officials agreed with your thoughts?
A: I don’t expect just one visit, one talk (and) I can change their minds 100 percent. But my feeling is they’re listening to me. Don’t forget, I was premier when those guys were very young, so they see me as a senior, so they listen.
But most important, they now really want to be friends with America, to have very close ties and relations with America. They’re so young and isolated. They don’t understand America and Americans. That’s why they need my experience with America. ... What you see now is not a revolution but an evolution, step by step.
zQ: Did you expect backlash from the trip?
A: Yes. Before I went, I did think about what the reaction would be in Vietnam, overseas and all over the world. This trip wasn’t something only Vietnam would notice, the whole world would notice. ... During the Vietnam War, I was the leader of South Vietnam and the whole world knew that. So my return, throughout the world, would be a big story. ... I expect criticism or a bad reaction from those people. It’s not a surprise.
Q: What do you think of your critics?
A: They said they’re fighting for a free and democratic society where people can speak and freedom of the press and all that. But in reality, they are worse than any dictatorship or regime. They are not allowing anyone to voice a different opinion. Automatically, you’re a communist, you betrayed the country.
So what happened in this so-called Little Saigon, the capital of anti-communism and refugees? You have this minority trying to impose their own thinking.
Q: What in Vietnam surprised you most?
A:I had no youth (in Vietnam) ... Then because I was a pilot, I could see the whole country. ... When you flew over the countryside all you saw was destruction. There was no highway, no bridges, no life.
But today, after 30 years, I come home and I see new bridges, new highways, new construction, housing, factories, hotels. In every part of the country. ... And I see 83 million Vietnamese together trying to rebuild the country. That’s the first thing that caught (my eye) and made me feel very, very happy.
Q: Garden Grove and Westminster city leaders are considering adopting policies to discourage Vietnamese government officials from visiting their cities. What do you think about that?
A: You live in America and such actions are against the American Constitution. Someone reminded me of something that happened back in the 1970s about the Klu Klux Klan. One day they wanted to march through the Jewish community in Chicago and the Jewish community was against it. But according to American Constitution, they had to allow the KKK to organize a march through their community.
If you’re an elected official of a city or a state, you have to make sure that you respect your own Constitution.
Besides, I think, why? Why are you afraid communist officials are coming here? You can go ... and meet them and tell them what you have in mind, and the thing you have against them.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
A: One message to the Vietnamese overseas and especially my former comrades in arms: When you look at my past I was recognized not only by Vietnamese but the whole world that I’m the No. 1 anti-communist. So there’s no reason why today, at my age, suddenly I change my mind and go along with communism.
I am the same patriot soldier as I was 30, 40 years ago, serving my country. Nationalist or communist, I do not belong to any camp. That’s why I’m not a politician. Everything I do, from when I was young to today, is to serve my country. I’m not betraying anyone.
NO CONFLICT: Nguyen Cao Ky of Hacienda Heights, at a friend’s Westminster home Friday, says he is still anti-Communist despite critics’ remarks.
‘SAME PATRIOT’: Nguyen Cao Ky of Hacienda Heights was South Vietnam’s premier almost 30 years ago. His return to his homeland in February enraged many Vietnamese Americans.

Car chase ends in driver's arrest


A man who led Corona police on a car chase at speeds of up to 110 mph was arrested Friday night after crashing in Anaheim, the California Highway Patrol reported. The man, whose name was not released, drove away at about 6:45 p.m. after nearly hitting a Corona police officer with his car and crashing into several parked vehicles, the CHP said. He apparently lost control of the car on the Riverside (91) Freeway and went off the road near the Lemon Street exit, the CHP said. Corona police and CHP officers arrested the injured man at the scene. The severity of his injuries was not released. – Cindy Carcamo

FBI hunts robber of Anaheim bank


Police are looking for a bank robber after a string of holdups, including a heist in Anaheim, the FBI reported. The robber has hit banks in Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange counties since September, officials said. The robber, described as a man in his 30s who wears business attire, robbed a Washington Mutual in Anaheim on Jan. 2, the FBI said. The robber usually makes verbal threats about a weapon or a bomb. He shows the teller a gun in his waistband or jacket pocket and orders the teller to put money in an envelope he places on the counter, the FBI reported. Anyone with information about the man is encouraged to contact the FBI at (858) 565-1255.
- Cindy Carcamo

Convict wanted in '96 slaying arrested after years as fugitive

Man's true identity was revealed in fingerprint check after being held on suspicion of DUI.
By JOHN McDONALD
GARDEN GROVE – A 34-year-old man whose 1994 homicide prosecution ignited protests by Asian-American activists has been captured after eight years as a fugitive in a 1996 gang-related slaying in Garden Grove.
Tu An Tran, who is also suspected in a killing in France, was arrested April 30 on suspicion of drunken driving in San Gabriel.
Police said he gave a false name, but a fingerprint check identified him as Tran, who is wanted in the July 29, 1996, slaying of Nhan Minh Tran, 26, a beauty school student from Huntington Beach.
A second victim was wounded in the 1996 attack, which occurred in the parking lot outside the Quan Triky Restaurant at 13452 Brookhurst St., in Garden Grove.
Two others, Duy Quang Pham, 32, and Binh Quoc Luong, 43, have been convicted in the killing of Nhan Minh Tran.
Police said that Tran had fled the country after the 1996 slaying and has since used various false names.
He has re-entered the country repeatedly to participate in violent gang activity in Orange County and Los Angeles, police in Garden Grove said. He also has been implicated in the fatal stabbing of a cafe patron in France.
Tran also is wanted for violating probation in a controversial 1994 manslaughter conviction that resulted from a fight with a security guard.
Prosecutors accused Tran and suspected gang member Kinh Van Chu of assaulting a security guard who had thrown them out of a Westminster pool hall. The guard fatally shot Chu, and Tran was charged with being an accomplice in a felony that resulted in a death.
The case sparked a controversy after Asian-American rights groups accused Westminster police of insensitivity for identifying Tran as a member of a Chinese gang to which Chu reputedly belonged, based on his tattoos.
Tran is Vietnamese, not Chinese. He maintained the tattoos were in honor of his dead mother.
His case drew support from the Alliance Working for Asian Rights and Empowerment, or AWARE, and the Asian Pacific Community Services. The two groups protested, accusing police of cultural ignorance in linking him to the crime through supposed Chinese gang tattoos. Supporters argued that tattoos honoring one's late mother is a common Asian custom.
He pleaded guilty to manslaughter after eight months in jail and was sentenced to probation.
Tran now is charged with murder, robbery and violating his probation.
Police also have arrested Nicoletta Tangavelou, 26, of Los Angeles on suspicion of harboring Tran and concealing and aiding a fugitive. She is being held on $1 million bail.

Police seek 3 men in Cypress bank robbery


By JOHN McDONALD
CYPRESS – Three men held up a Bank of America branch Friday morning, ordering customers to the floor and assaulting a bank employee, police said.
The robbery began about 10:30 a.m., when the men entered the bank, 9801 Walker St., and displayed guns, police said. One employee was ordered at gunpoint to open the vault.
Another employee was assaulted, police said.
The trio fled with an undisclosed amount of money. They were wearing bandanas over their faces and dark clothing, police said.
No getaway car was seen.
Saturday, June 12, 2004

Shootout in Baker Canyon


Sniper killed, two deputies wounded.
By JEFF ROWE, CINDY ARORA, JAN NORMAN and BRIAN MARTINEZ
Sheriff's deputies killed a man today who shot and wounded two deputies during a four-hour gunbattle in the hills of Baker Canyon that escalated to gunfire between the alleged sniper and at least two sheriff's helicopters.
The shooting started after a man fired at two workers at a green-waste processing plant in Baker Canyon. Deputies responded to that call, and the man began shooting at them.
The first deputy, Jerry Larson, is recovering at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana after being shot in the right arm and left shoulder with a .22-caliber rifle. Doctors removed one bullet, the second passed through his arm. After surgery he asked for a ham sandwich, said sheriff’s spokesman Jon Fleischman.
The second deputy, David Tilstra, was piloting a sheriff's helicopter when he was shot in the leg, according to Sheriff Mike Corona. He praised Tilstra for continuing to pilot his helicopter for an hour after being shot.
The shots that killed the sniper came from the second helicopter. The sniper is still unidentified.
People who live in the remote area east of Irvine Lake and north of Silverado Canyon Road said dozens of officers fired from ridges at the suspected shooter, who apparently was holed up in a creek bed.
"It’s like a war scene," said Dan Dulac, who lives in the canyon and operates a lawn and tree waste recycling business called Baker Canyon Green Recycling. A reporter could hear gunfire as Dulac was talking on the phone.
Police closed Black Star Canyon Road at Silverado Canyon Road, and told residents and visitors not to expect access before 6 p.m.
Larson was one of several deputies who responded late this morning after Mark Ferguson, general manager of the recycling plant, called 911 to say he and one of his workers, Pablo Lera, had been fired on by a man wearing dark green trench coat and a mask. Ferguson said the shooter first fired at Lera and then him, missing them both by inches. Lera dove into the back of Ferguson’s truck and Ferguson roared away, Ferguson said.
The deputies were then shot at from behind trees, Fleischman said.
Nearby, the first of what was to be a gathering of several hundred people for a church gathering had begun to assemble. Police began turning arrivals away and told organizers they better reschedule. Down in Silverado Canyon, the first two dozen of an expected 200 VW bus enthusiasts waited to begin their annual overnight camping expedition in Black Star Canyon. Folks had driven in from Arizona, Colorado and Oregon to camp and attend a VW bus show scheduled Sunday at the Verizon Amphitheater.

Hit man gets life in prison


Dennis Earl Godley pleaded guilty in the shooting deaths of a Huntington Beach couple on Ortega Highway in 1999.
By LARRY WELBORN
A contract killer smiled broadly and joked with his attorney Friday after he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing two Huntington Beach doctors on a lonely stretch of Ortega Highway in November 1999.
Dennis Earl Godley, 34, pleaded guilty last month to two counts of first-degree murder after prosecutors decided they would not seek the death penalty.
"He was relieved," said Assistant Public Defender Denise Gragg. "He was glad to get this over with, glad his family didn't have to go through the ordeal of a trial, and glad that the victims' families didn't have to go through a trial."
Superior Court Judge William R. Froeberg sentenced Godley without fanfare to two consecutive life terms for the shooting deaths of Huntington Beach anesthesiologist Kenneth Stahl, 57, and optometrist Carolyn Oppy-Stahl, 44.
Godley was brought into the courtroom in a mustard-colored jail jumpsuit with his hands shackled to his waist. He carried along a Louis L'Amour novel to occupy his time in the holding cell while he waited for the 10-minute sentencing.
Deputy District Attorney Dennis Conway contended that Godley's on-again, off-again girlfriend Adriana Vasco introduced him to Kenneth Stahl, with whom she was also having an affair. Kenneth Stahl then paid Godley $20,000 to kill his wife so that he wouldn't have to go through an expensive divorce, Conway contended.
But, Conway argued during Vasco's trial last year, Godley killed both doctors when he confronted them at a pre-arranged isolated turnoff on Ortega Highway near Caspers Regional Park on Oppy-Stahl's birthday in November 1999. Vasco was convicted of first-degree murder last year and was sentenced to life in prison. She is appealing.
Gragg revealed for the first time Friday that had the case gone to trial, she would have argued that Vasco, a former medical assistant to Kenneth Stahl as well as his lover, pulled the trigger on Oppy-Stahl first.
Godley, she said, then shot Kenneth Stahl in the chaos that followed. Gragg declined to elaborate.
Froeberg issued the sentence without commenting after he reviewed a probation report that recommended maximum penalty.
"It is clear he agreed to murder an innocent victim, a woman he didn't even know, apparently for financial gain," said Deputy Probation Officer Louise D. Hoffman. "Instead of just doing that, which was horrific enough, he took a second life before fleeing the state."
Godley left for his native North Carolina shortly after the double slaying and was arrested a year later.
Hoffman also reported that Godley's father was serving a lengthy prison term for safecracking during his childhood and that his mother was married several times while he was being raised primarily by his maternal grandmother.
The District Attorney's Office dropped the death penalty in May after learning about the child abuse Godley had experienced, Conway said.
With the death penalty out of the way, Godley pleaded guilty, accepting that he would never be paroled from prison.
"I was proud of Mr. Godley today," Gragg said. "He stood up and took responsibility for what he has done."
Froeberg also reviewed comments submitted by relatives of the two victims.
"Whenever I hear a piece of music my son loved, or run into one of his patients ... or I use the walking stick he gave me, my heart again feels empty," said Bobbie Stahl, Kenneth's mother.
Ophia Sokolowski, Carolyn Oppy-Stahl's mother, wrote, "I miss hearing her soft voice telling me about her life as an optometrist.
"It has been three years," Sokolowski added, "and the pain does not go away."
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