Assaults Los Angeles County

Two men who allegedly raped a woman at gunpoint surrendered to sheriff's special weapons teams Saturday after barricading themselves in a West Hollywood apartment for 5 1/2 hours. The two men, both in their 20s, ended the standoff about noon after holing up inside an apartment in the 1200 block of Orange Grove Avenue about 6:30 a.m., said Deputy Diane Hecht of the sheriff's information bureau.

Singer Rick James, who with his girlfriend is already facing charges of sexually assaulting a woman, remained in custody Tuesday in lieu of $750,000 bail after surrendering to authorities on new charges that he and his girlfriend recently assaulted a second woman. James, 44, who was free on $50,000 bail in the first case, and his girlfriend, Tanya Anne Hijazi, 22, are accused of assaulting a 34-year-old West Hollywood woman Nov. 3 after she joined the couple in a hotel room at the St.

Sheriff's deputies searched Tuesday for a lone gunman who shot and wounded a 49-year-old state industrial accident investigator and his 4-year-old daughter outside a Norwalk day-care center. Investigators say they are looking into the possibility that the shooting Monday night of Joel Foss and his daughter, Adriana, was an outgrowth of a Cal/OSHA investigation that Foss was involved in.

There was a punch, no question. A high school football player ran after a referee and struck him. As the player was restrained by a teammate and a coach, the referee fell, his glasses smashed, his left eye bleeding. Everyone at Beverly Hills High watched in disbelief. Millions have seen the punch replayed on television news and magazine shows. What triggered it? Why did Kumasi Simmons, an honor student at Compton Centennial High, punch referee Ken Smotrys, 34, in the Oct. 20 game?

Two surfers were convicted Wednesday of battering a third during a competition last year in Malibu, concluding a two-week trial that exposed the seething rivalries that sometimes boil beneath the surface of a sport many perceive as a peaceful communion with nature. A Superior Court jury in Malibu found both Lance Hookano, a world-renowned long-board surfer, and Joseph Tudor, the father of another top surfer, guilty of felony assault and battery.

A city councilman charged with breaking into his former girlfriend's house and threatening her and her new boyfriend told a Pasadena jury Thursday that he entered through a window but had a right to be in the house. Edward Rodarte, 26, a school police officer, faces charges of burglary and making terrorist threats. Yvette Turriaga and Josh Alvarez told jurors that they arrived home about 3 a.m. on Sept. 26 and went to bed.

Twin sisters originally charged with attempted murder pleaded no contest Monday to assault with a deadly weapon for trying to shoot their grandfather. Prosecutors agreed to the plea bargain, under which Marla and Ramona Hidalgo could be sentenced to up to 24 months in prison, because their grandfather, Raymond Hernandez, refused to cooperate. Deputy Dist. Atty. Barbara Block said the 73-year-old man was "very adamant" about not testifying against his granddaughters.

As soon as students at West Covina High School heard of the shootings at the Teschner home, they knew it had to be Matt Walker. As a senior last year, Walker would spend his class time sketching gory death scenes that at times involved dismembered women. He covered his body with tattoos, including a shrouded skeleton bearing a scythe on his left arm and the words, "100% Crazy" on the inside of his lower lip.

A world-ranked surfer and the father of another top surfing competitor have been charged with beating a man who refused to leave the waters off Malibu after a surf contest had started. Lance Henry Hookano, 34, of Oahu and Joseph David Tudor, 43, of San Diego failed to respond to letters and telephone calls from the Los Angeles County district attorney's office after felony assault charges were filed Oct. 28. As a result, arrest warrants have been issued.