Arrests Los Angeles

Former respiratory therapist Efren Saldivar was formally charged Wednesday with six counts of murder, which could carry the death penalty, for allegedly injecting the paralyzing drug Pavulon into elderly patients at Glendale Adventist Medical Center over an eight-month period. Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said his office will not decide whether to seek that penalty against Saldivar--for the special circumstance of "multiple murder"--until after a preliminary hearing.

Almost three years after respiratory therapist Efren Saldivar told authorities he was an "angel of death" who had killed as many as 50 patients, the former Glendale hospital worker was arrested Tuesday and accused of murdering at least six people under his care. Glendale Police Chief Russell Siverling said that six murder counts will be filed today against Saldivar, 31.

A would-be rapist fell two stories from a parking garage roof early Thursday after a woman fought him off and witnesses chased him to the edge of the roof, police said. Rodney Bogans, 43, suffered a broken ankle and a broken wrist after he fell while trying to jump an 8-foot gap between rooftops, authorities said. He was discovered hiding behind a tree and arrested on suspicion of attempted rape, Officer Charles Rodriguez said.

An Encino man was arrested on suspicion of fraud Wednesday for allegedly hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of assets when he declared bankruptcy, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Larry Lee Reed, 66, faces eight counts of bankruptcy fraud, Assistant U.S. Atty. Angela J. Davis said. According to Davis, Reed filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 1997, claiming $11,000 in assets and more than $70,000 in credit card debt.

With the help of a bloodhound, police arrested a 25-year-old USC student Tuesday on suspicion of raping a woman in a Koreatown parking garage. On Saturday, police found a backpack and a 3-foot samurai sword in the garage where the rape occurred at 11 a.m. Thursday. Officers returned after residents of the apartment building complained about a suspicious man. Inside the backpack, police found a name and address, a university schedule and financial aid materials, said Det. Tom Murrell.

The erratic career of Todd Marinovich could be over after the Arena Football League quarterback was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of drug possession. Los Angeles police, who arrested Marinovich after stopping him at 2:20 p.m., said the drug may be heroin. Marinovich, 31, was booked at Parker Center police headquarters in downtown Los Angeles and later released on $10,000 bail.

Four men and a woman were arrested Thursday for allegedly running an illegal telemarketing boiler-room operation that tricked investors into buying stock in a phony latex glove company, federal prosecutors said. The suspects, all officers or employees of Woodland Hills-based Assured International Inc., cheated hundreds of investors from around the country out of $1.4 million, according to the U. S. Attorney's Office. Those arrested Thursday were identified as Sam E.

A jewelry store owner who planned to close his business at the end of the month was shot and killed by robbers shortly before noon Thursday, authorities said. In what police called "a robbery gone wrong," two men walked into Sunrise Jewelers in the 8900 block of Tampa Avenue about 11:20 a.m. and attempted to rob the store. They shot the store owner several times in the chest and face with a handgun, police said, leaving rings and necklaces scattered on the floor around him.

Three San Fernando Valley high school students pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges they sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl after she had passed out drunk at a daytime party. Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Jack Gold ordered that the three boys--ages 14, 16 and 17--remain in custody. The boys' parents also attended the arraignments in Sylmar Juvenile Court.

Robbers shot and killed the owner of a jewelry store shortly before noon Thursday in a busy Northridge shopping center. Two men walked into Sunrise Jewelers on Tampa Avenue and shot the owner several times in the chest and face, police said, leaving jewelry scattered on the floor. Police arrested Gaik Papazyan, 27, on suspicion of murder and held him in lieu of $1 million bail. Two other suspects were still at large Thursday night, police said.