La Habra Ca

On New Year's Eve, La Habra police shot and killed Michael Cho in a strip mall parking lot when he allegedly threatened officers with a tire iron. The killing of the UCLA graduate and artist has set off criticism of police not heard in Southern California's Korean American community since the 1992 Los Angeles riots, when shop owners complained that officers never showed up to stop looters, and they picked up guns to defend their stores.

A teacher at a La Habra middle school has been charged with sexually assaulting two male students, Orange County prosecutors said Thursday. Hugh Scott Wilson, 47, of Fullerton was being held on $1-million bail on four counts of lewd acts on a child and eight counts of oral copulation of a minor, the Orange County district attorney's office said in a statement. Wilson, who was scheduled to be arraigned today, could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

An eighth-grade English teacher pleaded guilty Friday to sexually assaulting two students. Hugh Scott Wilson, 47, of Fullerton who taught at Washington Middle School in La Habra, was accused of molesting the boys in his classroom between 1999 and 2005 when they stayed late for help on class projects. He continued to molest one of the boys after he graduated by meeting him in a classroom and at a dance studio in Fullerton, authorities said.

An eighth-grade English teacher pleaded guilty Friday to sexually assaulting two male students. Hugh Scott Wilson, 47, of Fullerton, a teacher at Washington Middle School in La Habra, was accused of molesting the students in his classroom between 1999 and 2005 when they stayed late for help on projects.

A man decapitated his mother with a circular saw and then tried to cut off his own head with the power tool early Monday, La Habra police said. He died of severe neck injuries. It's unclear why Arthur Ruiz, 32, attacked his mother, Guadalupe Ruiz, 60, and then turned the blade on himself, Lt. Jerry Price said. She was found on one bed and he on another in the same room, Price said. Police discovered the grisly scene when they responded to a 911 call at 5:30 a.m.

After almost a decade of court battles and unsuccessful attempts to shut down the only strip club in La Habra, city officials announced this week that they would pay the owner $5.2 million to get out of town. As part of the settlement, the city will buy the property for $3 million. The city made the offer Aug. 6 during the Orange County Superior Court trial of a lawsuit against the city filed by Badi "Bill" Gammoh, owner of the Taboo Gentlemen's Club. The City Council approved the deal Monday.

When Orange County officials decided several years ago that they wanted to give up control of dozens of unincorporated islands to adjacent cities, they underestimated people like Jim W. Smith. A retired pipe fitter, Smith, 62, is an outspoken critic of annexation, having lived peacefully in his ranch-style home for 33 years. But his neighborhood of clean streets and large lots is targeted for annexation to La Habra, a city of 60,000 in northern Orange County.

Fans and employees of Krispy Kreme went from glazed to confused Thursday morning as the chain's La Habra store -- the first on the West Coast -- pulled down its signs, packed up its doughnut mix and shut its doors for good. From opening day in January 1999, the workers toiling inside the tidy white, green and red building fueled a feeding frenzy to the tune of 20 million doughnuts and $9 million in sales in the first year.

A military-style tear gas device was discharged Wednesday at an apartment complex, injuring 10 people and closing down a section of Harbor Boulevard for nearly four hours, authorities said. Curtis Michael Flynn, 26, of La Habra was arrested on suspicion of illegal possession and discharge of the device. He is being held at the La Habra Police Department jail. Residents called emergency services at 11:12 a.m. to report a fire.

Two brothers operating a La Habra liquor market were shot and an employee pistol whipped Friday when five robbers wearing baseball caps and bandanas burst into the store and opened fire, strewing money all over the floor, authorities said. Lal Singh, 38, was in critical condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange while his brother, Kuljinder Singh, 30, was in stable condition at County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, authorities said.