Plane crash ignites fire near Tehachapi; evacuations ordered

A small plane crashed near Tehachapi on Sunday morning, killing one person and igniting a fast-moving brush fire that destroyed a home and led to evacuations. 

Kern County Fire Department spokesman Cary Wright said the six-seater Cessna 210 crashed in Blackburn Canyon, northeast of Los Angeles, the Associated Press reported. The Bakersfield Californian reported that one person was killed.

Amid dry, windy conditions, the crash sparked a raging brush fire that quickly grew to 150 acres. About 225 firefighters and four aircraft are working to contain the blaze.

Officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for 30 homes under threat.

ALSO:

Five dead in L.A. County traffic accidents over holiday weekend

Sheriff's Explorers seek witnesses in slaying of one of their own

Seven suspected gang members jailed in Santa Ana crime spree

-- Garrett Therolf

New allegations prompt call for sweeping changes at L.A. Coliseum

New revelations about practices at the organization in charge of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum have prompted calls for a shake-up at the troubled agency.

City Councilman Bernard C. Parks called Saturday for the dismissal of the top two managers working for  the Coliseum Commission because of a growing scandal over the private business dealings of stadium officials.

Parks, a member of the commission, spoke out after a report in Saturday's Times said the Coliseum's technology manager directed stadium business to a firm he founded. The Times report cited records and interviews.

In an email to other commissioners, Parks, whose council district includes the Coliseum, said the panel should fire interim General Manager John Sandbrook and Finance Director Ronald Lederkramer as well as the technology manager, Leopold Caudillo Jr.

Another Coliseum employee, David Shea, named in state records as an agent of the private firm, should also be ousted, Parks said.

"We as a commission need to make this our … #1 priority," Parks wrote in his email.

ALSO:

Shock over allegations that professor led motorcycle gang

Spreckels mansion death was a suicide, investigators conclude

San Diego lifeguards to watch for sharks over Labor Day weekend

-- Paul Pringle and Rong-Gong Lin II

Photo: The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Man found stabbed to death in his apartment

Los Angeles police are investigating the stabbing of a middle-aged man found dead in his apartment, authorities said.

Los Angeles Police Department officers were dispatched to the man's home on the 400 block of South Le Doux Road near Cedars-Sinai Medical Center late Saturday after friends reported him missing. When they arrived, they found the man dead, LAPD spokesman Cleon Joseph said. 

No other information was immediately available. The victim's name was not released by the coroner.

ALSO:

Five dead in L.A. County traffic accidents over holiday weekend

Sheriff's Explorers seek witnesses in slaying of one of their own

Seven suspected gang members jailed in Santa Ana crime spree

-- Garrett Therolf

Image: Map shows location of Saturday's finding in purple, as well as 18 other homicides (in red) since January 2007. Credit: Homicide Report

Two students wounded at party near USC campus

Two USC students were wounded, one critically, when gunshots were fired at a party near the campus early Sunday.

The shooting occurred about 2 a.m. at an apartment complex in the 1200 block of West 37th Place, said Los Angeles Police Officer Cleon Joseph.

Several students confronted a stranger who appeared to be stealing items. The stranger brandished a gun and fired multiple rounds, hitting a male student in the chest and wounding the hand of a female student.

The male student was reported to be in critical but stable condition after undergoing surgery at a hospital, Joseph said. The female student's injuries were non life-threatening. No names were released.

The shooter fled, and no arrests have been made, Joseph said.  

ALSO:

Shock over allegations that professor led motorcycle gang

Spreckels mansion death was a suicide, investigators conclude

San Diego lifeguards to watch for sharks over Labor Day weekend

--Carla Rivera

Image: Map shows location of Sunday's shooting in Exposition Park. Source: Google Maps

Five dead in L.A. County traffic accidents over holiday weekend

A fiery crash on the 110 Freeway and several other traffic accidents have claimed the lives of five people on Los Angeles County streets and highways so far over the Labor Day weekend, authorities said.

A motorcyclist was killed Sunday in a crash on Topanga Canyon Boulevard near the Pacific Coast Highway about 2:30 p.m., the California Highway Patrol reported. The victim was pronounced dead at a  hospital. Investigators were still on the scene, and no further details were available.

Also, a man died early Sunday when he was trapped under a flaming 1971 Chevy Monte Carlo that had been stopped on the shoulder of the southbound 110 Freeway near 52nd Street.

The 2:40 a.m. incident began when the 18-year-old driver of a 2008 Smart car slowed to avoid rear-ending a vehicle directly ahead, swerved onto the right shoulder and struck the Monte Carlo. Both vehicles burst into flames.

The Monte Carlo rolled over and fatally injured one of three men who had been standing near the car after it had broken down, the CHP reported. Two other victims were taken to hospitals, one in critical condition and one with lesser injuries.

The driver of the Smart car sustained scrapes and was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder and driving under the influence, the CHP said. Names of the suspect and victims were not released.
  
About 11 p.m. Saturday, a pickup truck driven by a 17-year-old male overturned on the 710 Freeway, killing a female passenger and injuring three others. The accident occurred in the northbound lanes just south of the 91 Freeway, the CHP reported. No names were released.

A 23-year-old man driving a Honda Accord died late Saturday when he hit a power pole and tree on Somerset Ranch Road near Paramount Boulevard in South Gate.  

The accident occurred about 10:50 p.m. when the driver exited the 105 Freeway at a high rate of speed, collided with another vehicle and slammed into the pole and tree, said South Gate Police Sgt. Mario Saldivar.

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. A female passenger was in stable condition at a hospital with minor injuries. No names were released.

And a 43-year-old Irvine man was killed while trying to cross the eastbound lanes of the 101 Freeway after crashing his car near Laurel Canyon Boulevard about 9:40 p.m. Saturday, officials said.

The man had been driving west in a black Lexus when he drifted off the shoulder, struck a guardrail and came to rest in the number one lane, the CHP reported.

He got out of the car, tried to run across the freeway and was hit by a BMW driven by a 76-year-old Encino man. The driver of the Lexus was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was not released. The BMW driver was unhurt.

Reader photos: Southern California Moments, Day 247

Mind the gap: Diego Amador sneaks a photo of a museum-goer posing for a photo at LACMA on Aug. 26.

Every day of 2011, we're featuring reader-submitted photos of Southern California Moments. Follow us on Twitter and visit the Southern California Moments homepage for more on this series.

Cajon Pass fire expected to be contained Monday

A 1,200-acre brush fire that has burned for two days in the Cajon Pass, destroying several structures and forcing 1,500 residents to evacuate, was expected to be fully contained Monday, officials said.

The fire broke out Friday about 12:45 p.m. in the Oak Hills area west of Highway 15 and quickly spread south into the area’s dry vegetation, San Bernardino County Fire spokeswoman Tracey Martinez said.

On Saturday, 900 firefighters deployed to the scene and were able to save hundreds of homes. The cause of the fire was unknown.

Two homes and several sheds and storage containers were destroyed, while two other homes were damaged, according to Bob Poole of the U.S. Forest Service. One firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion, Poole said.

Portions of Highway 15 were closed, and traffic was snarled due to the holiday weekend and travelers making their way through the Cajon Pass, the gateway to Las Vegas and the Colorado River.

By Sunday morning, firefighters had the blaze 80% contained, and all mandatory evacuations had been lifted. North and southbound lanes were open on Highway 15, but officials warned that some lanes may be closed. Officials expected the fire to be contained by Sunday at 6 p.m.

Air quality officials issued a smoke advisory Sunday for the San Bernardino and San Gabriel mountain areas, cautioning residents to exercise caution and avoid unnecessary outdoor activities in any area directly impacted by the smoke.

ALSO:

Campaign treasurer jailed on mail fraud charge

Sheriff's Explorers seek witnesses in slaying

San Diego lifeguards to watch for sharks over Labor Day weekend

-- Teresa Watanabe and Corina Knoll

Elected officials notified of possible campaign fund fraud

Several clients of Kinde Durkee, a prominent campaign treasurer who was arrested Friday on a federal fraud charge, have reported that they were contacted by the FBI or U.S. attorney’s office about the criminal investigation.

Durkee was arrested from the office of her business, Durkee & Associates, in Burbank on one charge of mail fraud and is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Los Angeles. She had served as campaign treasurers on hundreds of political campaigns over the years, working for federal, state and local candidates.

Officials have so far said only that the charge relates to Durkee’s work for a California Assembly member but have not disclosed which member or when.

Assemblyman Jose Solorio (D-Santa Ana) said Sunday that the FBI notified him Friday that Durkee might have embezzled from his campaign. He declined to comment further on the details pending Durkee’s arraignment.

“I hired her because she was regarded as a highly respected professional and for decades the treasurer for the campaigns of many prominent elected officials in the state,” Solorio said in a statement.

Bill Carrick, a longtime campaign consultant for U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), said he had received a call from the U.S. attorney’s office Friday saying that Durkee was going to be arrested on charges relating to her work for a California state campaign. Carrick described the call as a courtesy notice and said he was unsure whether Feinstein’s campaign account was involved.

Earlier, state Sen. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) said the FBI notified him of the arrest Friday evening and told him that his campaign fund might have been the victim of embezzlement of a “substantial amount,” possibly totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Durkee had been fined by the Fair Political Practices Commission several times in connection with campaign reporting violations. In 2008, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s public integrity unit served a search warrant on Durkee’s office in connection with an investigation into a committee called Citizens for Dependable and Reliable Leadership, for which Durkee served as treasurer. Dave Demerjian, head of the integrity unit, said that investigation was closed.

The committee was fined $2,000 by the City Ethics Commission for failing to submit copies of campaign mailers in a timely way for the public to review.

Representatives of Durkee & Associates could not be reached for comment.

-- Abby Sewell

Campaign treasurer jailed on mail fraud charge

A federal fraud charge against a Burbank accountant who has served as treasurer on hundreds of political campaigns centers on her work for a California state Assembly member, authorities said Sunday.

Kinde Durkee was arrested Friday afternoon at the office of her firm, Durkee & Associates in Burbank, and is charged with one count of mail fraud, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. The arrest was first reported by the Orange County Register.

Durkee is scheduled to appear in court in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The prosecution's complaint against her "focuses on transactions involving the account of a single member of the Assembly, but our investigation is continuing," said Laura Horwood, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Sacramento. The complaint itself hasn't been released.

Horwood declined to identify the Assembly member whose account was allegedly involved or the period of time during which the conduct allegedly took place.

Durkee has served as campaign treasurer on hundreds of federal, state and local political campaigns, including those of Sen. Dianne Feinstein and a number of California state legislators and Los Angeles City Council members.

State Sen. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) said the FBI notified him of the arrest Friday evening and told him his campaign fund might have been the victim of embezzlement of a “substantial amount” of funds, possibly in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Correa said the phone call Friday was his first indication that there were any potential issues with Durkee, whose services he has used for more than 15 years. “At first I thought it was some kind of sick joke,” he said.

Los Angeles Councilman Dennis Zine said Durkee has worked for his campaign committees for more than 15 years as well and that, until recently, he had experienced no issues. He recalled that after finding an erroneous expenditure -- for about $1,000 in printing costs -- on one of his campaign forms a couple of months ago, he contacted Durkee and she immediately admitted it was an error.

Zine, who said he had not been contacted by investigators, said he would undertake an audit of his campaign records to look for questionable charges.

ALSO:

Shock over allegations that professor led motorcycle gang

Spreckels mansion death was a suicide, investigators conclude

San Diego lifeguards to watch for sharks over Labor Day weekend

-- Abby Sewell

Seven suspected gang members jailed in Santa Ana crime spree

Seven people were in jail in Santa Ana on Sunday in connection with a crime spree that included the attempted murder of two men, a carjacking and a car crash following a police chase.

Edgar Bustos, 19, Francisco Castillo, 23, Andrew Chavez, 21, Lorenzo Flores, 23, Javier Galvin, 18, Yasmine Ramos, 19, and a 17 year-old juvenile were booked on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, carjacking, robbery and evading police.

All of the suspects were believed to be gang members working together, Santa Ana police Cmdr. Steve Colon said.

The events began Thursday about 10:30 p.m. when a passenger in a blue Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck opened fire and wounded two young men riding bicycles in the 300 block of Hathaway Street. Both victims, whose names were not released, were struck in the leg and received non-life-threatening injuries, Colon said.

At about 1:30 a.m Friday, several of the suspects allegedly pulled a gun on a 16-year-old boy at a Chevron station at Broadway and Edinger avenues and stole his car. The victim was not hurt.

Later that morning, at about 9 a.m., police observed a suspicious vehicle near Bristol Street and Borchard Avenue. After making eye contact, the driver fled and led police on a 6-minute pursuit before crashing into two cars at First and Fairview streets. No one was injured.

Police arrested Bustos, Ramos and Flores and determined the vehicle had been stolen. An investigation led to the arrest of the other suspects, Colon said.

ALSO:

Shock over allegations that professor led motorcycle gang

Spreckels mansion death was a suicide, investigators conclude

San Diego lifeguards to watch for sharks over Labor Day weekend

-- Carla Rivera

Detectives search Irvine business in slaying of Internet executive

Orange County Sheriff's Department homicide investigators searched an Irvine business Friday in connection with the death of Christopher Ryan Smith of Laguna Beach, an official confirmed.

With a warrant, authorities searched a business in the 18000 block of Sky Park Drive around 11:15 a.m., a Sheriff's Department official said Saturday, according to the Daily Pilot.

Smith, a 32-year-old Internet executive, was allegedly killed by his business partner, Edward Younghoon Shin of Irvine, in their San Juan Capistrano office. Shin is also accused of using Smith's email account to message Smith's family in Oregon. The emails said Smith was traveling in Africa.

Shin was arrested last week and charged with Smith's killing. The charges capped an investigation that began several months ago.

ALSO:

Shock over allegations that professor led motorcycle gang

Spreckels mansion death was a suicide, investigators conclude

San Diego lifeguards to watch for sharks over Labor Day weekend

--Britney Barnes, Times Community News

Photo: Christopher Ryan Smith. Credit: Smith family.

Crime alerts for Highland Park, University Park

Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in eight L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times’ Crime L.A. database.

Four neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Highland Park (A) was the most unusual, recording seven reports compared with a weekly average of 3.2 over the last three months.

University Park (D) topped the list of five neighborhoods with property crime alerts. It recorded 23 property crimes compared with its weekly average of 15.2 over the last three months.

One neighborhood triggered alerts for both violent and property crime.

Alerts are based on an analysis of crime reports for Aug. 25–Aug. 31, the most recent seven days for which data are available.

— Ben Welsh, Thomas Suh Lauder

Woman brings some green to her Huntington Beach neighborhood

Shirley Knopf still walks regularly past the school where she taught for 14 years. But this summer, she was starting to have trouble recognizing the front of it.

Hawes Elementary School, where Knopf taught computer classes until 1997, had become overgrown with tall weeds that nearly obscured the camellia trees around the main entrance. So Knopf, the vice president of the Huntington Beach Tree Society, got out her shovel and went to work enlisting the community.

"You couldn't even see the plants," Knopf said. "It was just a weed fest."

When students return to Hawes on Tuesday, they will find the weeds gone, mulch embedded and dozens of new trees and bushes around campus. Knopf, Hawes PTA President Miriam Lazur and her husband Andy spent the last three weeks working in the hot sun with gloves and shovels to make the school presentable for the new year.

Along the way, they had a few allies. A nearby resident donated $1,000 to the Tree Society to help start the project. A local Eagle Scout spruced up a corner of the parking lot with a bay laurel tree and lantana bushes, and planted nine eucalyptus trees in neighboring Hawes Park.

ALSO:

BPA ban passes California state Senate

Mountain lion killed in attempt to cross 405 Freeway

Sierra magazine ranks UC Irvine among top 10 green schools

--Michael Miller, Times Community News

Photo: Shirley Knopf with the HB Tree Society, works on beautifying the front of Hawes Elementary School on Monday. (SCOTT SMELTZER, HB Independent / August 31, 2011)

Surfer found dead off San Onofre as high waves pound coast

A surfer was declared dead after he was found in the ocean off San Onofre on Saturday as Southern California beaches continued to experience high surf and dangerous rip currents.

The National Weather Service said the high-surf advisory will continue through Sunday afternoon, though waves will be smaller than in previous days.

Late last week, high surf flooded some beach parking lots and streets, producing waves of 10 to 13 feet along Newport Beach and 20 feet at the Wedge, also in Newport Beach. On Sunday, waves could top 6 feet, officials said.

Photos: Surf's up

"You should have very good, strong swimming abilities and fins if you're going to even think about going in the water at this point," Section Chief Garth Canning of the Los Angeles County Fire Department's lifeguard division told The Times on Thursday. "Most of the surf that we're seeing up and down the coast is beyond most people's ability."

Swimmers should talk to lifeguards before entering the water to make sure it is safe, Canning said, because even 5- to 6-foot waves can have a face that is up to 10 feet high. If you get stuck in a rip current, swim to the side to avoid being swept out to sea.

The high surf came from a southwest swell that originated off the coast of New Zealand.