Buena Park Ca

People who travel across town in taxis may still have an occasional hair-raising ride, but under a new policy they can be assured that the reason is not that the driver is impaired by drink or drugs. By September, all 81 drivers who work for the city's nine cab companies will have to prove that they have passed a drug test within the past year, said Police Chief Richard M. Tefank, who drafted the policy earlier this month.

A man accused of killing his wife, model Jasmine Fiore, did not acknowledge the killing in a suicide note left on his laptop computer but expressed his love for her repeatedly and wrote that he was jealous and angry, police said. Buena Park Police Sgt. Bill Kohanek on Tuesday said the 1 1/2 -page "suicide letter" was recovered by investigators from Ryan Jenkins' laptop after the former VH1 reality show contestant hanged himself in a Canadian motel room not far from the border after a pursuit by U.S. authorities.

It just took one tap of the bulldozer to accomplish what neighbors have waited 24 years to see--the crash and fall of the Pussycat Theater's provocative marquee. A crowd of more than 50 people cheered and motorists honked their horns Monday morning as the marquee hit the pavement along Beach Boulevard. "It's a dream come true," said City Councilman Donald L. Bone, who voted to buy the property and sell it to Ted Jones Ford last summer. "It was impossible to ignore.

Buena Park police said Thursday there was a violent struggle in slain swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore's Mercedes-Benz, which authorities recovered in a West Hollywood parking lot. But investigators said they don't know whether she was killed in the car, a San Diego hotel room or somewhere else. Her body was put into a suitcase, and police believe it was dumped in a Buena Park trash bin on Aug. 14. Investigators said they found significant amounts of blood and some hair in the Mercedes.

The weekend shooting death of a 27-year-old man in Buena Park may have been gang-related, police say. The victim, whose name was not released, was walking in the 6300 block of Los Robles Avenue about 7 p.m. Saturday when he was approached by a man who fired two rounds from a handgun. One round struck the victim, who was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he died early Sunday. A witness reported seeing a car slowly following the shooter, who fled on foot.

A Buena Park man accused of killing a teenage neighbor who stole a Halloween decoration from his front porch was convicted Friday of voluntary manslaughter by a jury that concluded the shooting was an accident, not murder. Prosecutors had sought a second-degree murder verdict against Pete T. Solomona, saying he shot his 17-year-old neighbor in a rage over having his plastic pumpkin stolen. The jury, however, said it believed Solomona's story that the gun went off by accident.

A man accused of killing his wife, model Jasmine Fiore, did not acknowledge the killing in a suicide note left on his laptop computer but expressed his love for her repeatedly and wrote that he was jealous and angry, police said. Buena Park Police Sgt. Bill Kohanek on Tuesday said the 1 1/2 -page "suicide letter" was recovered by investigators from Ryan Jenkins' laptop after the former VH1 reality show contestant hanged himself in a Canadian motel room not far from the border after a pursuit by U.S. authorities.

A contestant on a reality TV show was named a "person of interest" by police Tuesday in the case of a 28-year-old swimsuit model whose dead body was discovered stuffed into a suitcase and dumped into a Buena Park trash bin over the weekend. Buena Park police say they want to talk to a Canadian national who was last seen with Jasmine Fiore last week at her Fairfax district home on Edinburgh Avenue. The man, Ryan Alexander Jenkins, a 32-year-old real estate developer from Calgary, reported Fiore missing Saturday.

A businessman who has followed the Rev. Wiley S. Drake's legal troubles with the city offered Thursday to donate a temporary shelter for the homeless to Drake's church. Robert McClure, director of the mortgage company Equibuild Corp. in Irvine, said he would donate a prefabricated modular building to First Southern Baptist Church to help Drake resolve his problems stemming from the housing of homeless people. "As an observer, I fully support his efforts," McClure said.

Wendy Vernon did something Tuesday that most parents do only in nightmares: She signed documents certifying that her three children are dead. "This is a horrible day," she said, choking back tears and holding onto her daughter's doll. "You can't begin to understand. It was the hardest thing I've ever done." Vernon's children -- Amber, 12, and twin 10-year-olds Matthew and Robert -- died Saturday while visiting their father, Todd Vernon, at his home in Santa Clara.

A contestant on a reality TV show was named a "person of interest" by police Tuesday in the case of a 28-year-old swimsuit model whose dead body was discovered stuffed into a suitcase and dumped into a Buena Park trash bin over the weekend. Buena Park police say they want to talk to a Canadian national who was last seen with Jasmine Fiore last week at her Fairfax district home on Edinburgh Avenue. The man, Ryan Alexander Jenkins, a 32-year-old real estate developer from Calgary, reported Fiore missing Saturday.

Consumers trying to warn the public about so-called loan modification scams found themselves tripping an alarm of another sort Wednesday: About 15 of them got stuck in a Buena Park office building's elevator during a demonstration. The failed protest was the latest in a string of tough breaks for a group of about 30 mostly elderly and Latino homeowners who gathered Wednesday outside the offices of a company called Centre Legal.

An attorney and an accountant have been charged in an alleged medical insurance scam in which thousands of patients across the U.S. were allegedly recruited to undergo unnecessary procedures at a Buena Park surgical center in exchange for cash or gifts.

For the second time in six months, Buena Park pastor Wiley S. Drake has called on his followers to pray for the demise of leaders of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Last week, Drake learned that the IRS had launched an investigation into his endorsement of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's presidential bid, an inquiry that Americans United had urged. The endorsement was written on church letterhead and announced during a church-affiliated Internet radio show.

The weekend shooting death of a 27-year-old man in Buena Park may have been gang-related, police say. The victim, whose name was not released, was walking in the 6300 block of Los Robles Avenue about 7 p.m. Saturday when he was approached by a man who fired two rounds from a handgun. One round struck the victim, who was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he died early Sunday. A witness reported seeing a car slowly following the shooter, who fled on foot.

More than 170 Metrolink passengers boarded the first 10 trains to pull into Orange County's 11th and newest station, which opened Tuesday in Buena Park. A contingent of City Council members, city staffers and county Supervisor Chris Norby arose early to take the first train that rolled into the Lakeknoll Drive station at 4:45 a.m.

The City Council unanimously rejected all of the bids Tuesday for the installation of new playground equipment at Carl Brenner Park because they were all higher than the city's estimated cost for the project. The city staff said it will now seek to make changes that will reduce the project's cost. The city staff will return the item to the council agenda when that is accomplished.

The City Council recently followed the city's staff recommendation by rejecting all bids to replace carpet at the Walter D. Ehlers Community Recreation Center. The city received only one bid of $11,897, or nearly $3,000 more than the city's estimate. The project will now be advertised again to solicit additional bids. Councilman Steve Berry was absent from the meeting.

Police on Saturday were looking for three men allegedly involved in the fatal shooting of a fourth man the night before. The victim, whose name was not released, was gunned down about 10:25 p.m. Friday as he walked west on La Palma Avenue near La Costa Circle. Witnesses reported seeing him shot several times by one of two men who approached him, authorities said. The two men got into a green GMC pickup driven by a third man and fled.

A teenage bicyclist who was hit by a drunk driver died Monday, according to police. Jessica Poungchailpuek, 16, of Buena Park was westbound on Crescent Avenue about 4:30 p.m. Sunday when a Chevrolet Suburban ran a red light at 40 mph and crashed into her, police said. She suffered major head trauma and was airlifted to UCI Medical Center in Orange. George Bridgeforth Jr., the driver of the SUV, was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter.