Arrests

With the state Legislature forced to make dramatic cuts in the prison budget and a three-judge federal panel having recently ordered California lawmakers to release as many as 40,000 inmates in response to the scandalous overcrowding of the California state prison system, it seems like an especially inauspicious time for the L.A. County district attorney's office to be spending some of our few remaining tax dollars seeing if it can finally, after all...

Authorities have arrested a man who they say told bank tellers in Utah that he was on a mission to kill President Obama. Daniel James Murray, 36, was arrested Friday outside a casino in Laughlin, Nev., according to the Secret Service. Murray made bizarre statements last month while opening -- and then closing within two weeks -- an $85,000 savings account at Zions First National Bank in St. George, Utah, the Secret Service said in documents filed Thursday. Asst. U.S. Atty.

Unarmed Kurdish rebels in combat dress marched into Turkey from northern Iraq on Monday in a show of support for peace with the Turkish government. The eight rebels, along with 26 other Kurds, were immediately detained by Turkish paramilitary police after crossing the border gate at Habur. They were moved to a military battalion's headquarters for questioning by prosecutors, the state-run Anatolian news agency reported. Earlier, Kurds in northern Iraq celebrated with music and drums as the group left from a refugee camp, the news agency reported.

Beyond triggering a growing chorus of international criticism, China's detention of an Australian mining executive is a reminder that doing business here carries risks not found in other major economies. The controversy has sparked heated exchanges between Chinese and Australian officials in recent days, with Australians complaining that the Chinese have not released any evidence backing the charges against Stern Hu, an iron ore negotiator for mining giant Rio Tinto.

In their rough South Los Angeles neighborhood, Mary Romer and Alma Harvey watched over each other. So back in February 1990, Romer didn't think twice about walking across the street to Harvey's home when another friend called. They were concerned because they had not heard from the 82-year-old, who had trouble walking and was mostly housebound. Romer used a spare key to enter the house. As she crept inside, she called for her friend, but there was no answer.

A notorious ex-paramilitary leader accused by authorities of drug trafficking and gun running was arrested early Wednesday in the northern Colombian jungle, capping a months-long pursuit. The detention of Daniel Rendon Herrera, 43, described by police as Colombia's "most wanted criminal," could set off a violent power struggle within the illicit drug world.

A high school coach who helped launch several professional football careers was gunned down in front of students Wednesday by a former player who may have had psychiatric problems, authorities said. Mark Becker unloaded several rounds into Aplington-Parkersburg High School football Coach Ed Thomas and was arrested in the driveway of his parents' home soon afterward, said Kevin Winker, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Several thousand people held anti-government protests in the Hungarian capital during a national holiday Sunday, and police detained 35 people. Dressed in riot gear, the police chased some of the protesters through the streets of Budapest and prevented them from reaching the parliament building, where violent protests had taken place in 2006. At one point, tear gas was used to drive back a small group of demonstrators that tried to attack police lines near St. Stephen's Basilica.

By the time homicide Det. Dennis Kilcoyne met with Diane Webb last fall to discuss the maddening search for a serial killer who has stalked South L.A. for decades, he was wide open to suggestions. Despite more than a year of chasing leads, Kilcoyne and his team of detectives were no closer to catching the man suspected of sexually assaulting and murdering at least 10 young black women.

A nationally known anti-gang activist was arrested Wednesday on federal racketeering and conspiracy charges stemming from his alleged involvement in one of the most violent street gangs in the United States. Alex Sanchez, executive director of Homies Unidos, a gang-intervention nonprofit with offices in Los Angeles and El Salvador, was among two dozen alleged members or associates of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, also known as MS-13, charged in a 66-page indictment that was unsealed Wednesday.