Assaults Orange County

An identical twin whose plot to kill her sister made headlines around the world sobbed uncontrollably Friday as a judge sentenced her to 26 years to life in prison. Despite her emotional, last-minute protest of innocence, Jeen "Gina" Han, 24, dubbed "the evil twin," received the maximum sentence. "It is obvious Miss Han is a danger to society, particularly her own family," said Orange County Superior Court Judge Eileen C. Moore. "All of her family have been victims of her crimes."

A 17-year-old girl recounted Thursday how she pretended to flirt with a UC Irvine student, chatting with him on the Internet about punk rock and agreeing to meet at a shopping mall, where police arrested him on suspicion of raping her friend. Elizabeth, a high school senior from Huntington Beach, said she contacted the suspect online Sunday, three days after the man allegedly enticed her 15-year-old friend via the Internet into a date that authorities say ended in a brutal attack.

Authorities on Wednesday identified the man shot to death a day earlier by Garden Grove police and confirmed that he was unarmed when he was killed during a home invasion. Jarred Joe Arnett, 19, of Garden Grove was killed after leading police on a high-speed chase in a stolen car and then barging into the mobile home of a retired couple for refuge, according to Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Ron Wilkerson.

An appeals court Thursday overturned the assault convictions of two members of south Orange County's "Slick 50s" gang, saying a judge deprived them of a fair trial by repeatedly criticizing the defense in front of the jury. The ruling by the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana voids prison sentences handed to Jesse Grist and Joshua Carlsen for a beating and stabbing at a 1998 party in Aliso Viejo.

Back in 1875, a beekeeper named Frank Carpenter built an adobe hut in a leafy glade tucked into a canyon in the Santa Ana Mountains. The canyon was called Black Star for the deep vein of lustrous coal discovered there. Today, a solitary beekeeper still carefully places white wooden hives along Black Star Canyon's twisting ravines and jagged crests.

The echoes ring with a haunting similarity: A 21-year-old Cypress man with everything to live for who grew so troubled when he broke up with his girlfriend that he committed himself to a psychiatric hospital. A 33-year-old Anaheim man who could not cope when his girlfriend told him goodby. A 41-year-old Huntington Beach man, despondent over recent split with his girlfriend. In each case, love became an obsession. In each, that obsession turned violent.

David Rothenberg is bound for the Pipeline, an acre of concrete craters in Upland where hordes of teen-age boys flock every day to ride, "tube" and "shred" the walls on skateboards. The most famous burn victim in America and his driver are temporarily lost on a freeway cutting through the Inland Empire. "Uh, I think we passed it," David mutters in that aren't-adults-dumb-sometimes tone that 11-year-olds have.

An identical twin whose plot to kill her sister made headlines around the world proclaimed her innocence and then sobbed uncontrollably Friday as a judge sentenced her to 26 years to life in prison. Despite an emotional, last-minute plea for leniency, Jeen "Gina" Han, whom police had dubbed "the evil twin," received the maximum sentence in a bizarre case that many have likened to a television movie of the week. Orange County Superior Court Judge Eileen C.

On Main Street, everyone has a story about the skinheads. Shawna Sakal, whose family owns a surf shop, remembers the black store clerk harassed by young toughs. Curtis Maddox recalls the four meaty arms jerking out of a passing car in Hitler-style salutes. Lance Lee, a sales clerk at Beachcomber's Surf Shop, tells of the man who came in the other day looking to sell his surfboard. "It had swastikas all over it," Lee said. "We bought it, but we had to paint them over."

At 16, "Tomboy" is wanted for burglary. She has dyed amber hair, a knife-cut tattoo on her forearm that says "I love Tuan" and a way of hunching her shoulders that tells adults to drop dead. She sits in silent fury under arrest in a lawn chair outside a motel room packed with 16 Vietnamese-American teens. Inside, a police search is turning up a switch-blade, a holster for an automatic, high-caliber bullets, a stun-gun, and what police think is stolen property.

The investigation into a bloody melee between rival motorcycle gangs at a Costa Mesa swap meet has been stymied by tight-lipped participants, Orange County Sheriff's Department officials said Saturday. Detectives were trying to determine the amount of property damage and the number of injuries resulting from the brawl, which erupted at an Orange County Fairgrounds exhibition building shortly after 8 p.m. Friday. "The problem is we've got no willing victims," Lt. Larry Abbott said.

Investigations into a bloody melee between rival motorcycle gangs at a Costa Mesa swap meet have been stymied by tight-lipped participants, Orange County Sheriff's Department officials said Saturday. Detectives were trying to determine the amount of property damage and the number of injuries resulting from the brawl, which erupted at an Orange County Fairgrounds exhibition building about 8 p.m. Friday. "The problem is: We've got no willing victims," Sheriff's Lt. Larry Abbott said.

Two men stole jewelry and a small amount of cash after entering a Stanton home Monday and tying up three residents at gunpoint, Orange County sheriff's authorities said. The robbers, who wore black stockings over their faces, entered the home in the 8100 block of Laguna Court through a back door at about 10 a.m., took the items and fled in a red Honda Prelude, sheriff's spokesman John Fleischman said. One of the men carried a handgun, he said.

They are the types of violent break-ins that often leave police confounded and victims with lasting scars. Home-invasion robbers strike fast, preying on both rich and poor, during daylight as well as after dark. Victims often refuse to report the crimes for fear of reprisals or mistrust of police. Now Orange County is launching a first-of-its-kind study that seeks to enter the minds of bandits who specialize in the violent raids.

Former basketball star Dennis Rodman has gotten on the bad side of Newport Beach police again, this time for allegedly spraying a restaurant full of people with a fire extinguisher. "It appeared that someone had said something that he didn't like," police Lt. Doug Fletcher said of Sunday's incident at a Hooters restaurant. Rodman entered the restaurant about 5:45 p.m. carrying a fire extinguisher, witnesses told police. He did not appear to be intoxicated, Fletcher said.

Former basketball star Dennis Rodman has gotten on the bad side of Newport Beach police again, this time for allegedly spraying a restaurant full of people with a fire extinguisher on Sunday. Witnesses told police Rodman entered a Hooters restaurant about 5:45 p.m. carrying a fire extinguisher. After spraying the room, police said, he got into a shoving match with one patron, then left. The case remains under investigation, Lt. Doug Fletcher said Tuesday.

Mark Richard Hilbun, the former postal worker accused of two murders and five shootings during a two-day crime spree in Orange County last week, interrupted his own lawyer's presentation Monday and insisted that he immediately plead not guilty to 13 felony charges. Public Defender David Biggs was seeking a postponement from Orange County Municipal Judge Blair T. Barnette when Hilbun interrupted and said: "No, I want to be arraigned today."

As a former gang member, Ralph Rodriguez knew all about the code of silence. He understood the pay-back. He knew what could happen to rats who cooperate with police. He knew that when it comes to wars of the barrio, pity the fool who treads where he doesn't belong. Burdened with all that knowledge, Rodriguez had some serious thinking to do the night of Sept. 16 as he paced the corridors at AMI Medical Center of Garden Grove. Two hours earlier, around 7:40 p.m.

Police say an arrest is imminent in the Friday night stabbing of a man at the Block of Orange during what has become a monthly informal gathering for deaf people from throughout Southern California. The victim and suspect, both of whom are deaf, had been attending the gathering that draws crowds of as many as 600 deaf people to the mall. The victim, whose arm required five stitches, and the 19-year-old suspect were gang members who knew each other from jail, Orange police said.

Back in 1875, a beekeeper named Frank Carpenter built an adobe hut in a leafy glade tucked into a canyon in the Santa Ana Mountains. The canyon was called Black Star for the deep vein of lustrous coal discovered there. Today, a solitary beekeeper still carefully places white wooden hives along Black Star Canyon's twisting ravines and jagged crests.