Laguna Police Department

Police asked prosecutors Friday to file murder charges against a parolee authorities say killed the owner of a Laguna Beach ice cream parlor during a robbery in February. Prosecutors who will review the case had no comment on whether they will charge Manuel Ramirez Rodriguez, a 25-year-old Corona resident arrested last weekend in Oregon. Rodriguez has denied involvement in the Feb. 20 shooting, in which shop owner Simindokht Roshdieh, 53, was killed and her husband, Firooz, 63, was wounded.

Nearly every night in the Temple Hills neighborhood, residents have come to expect a certain rotund raccoon waddling to their back doors, sniffing for scraps left out by the neighbors. Dubbed "Rocky," the friendly raccoon has become a fixture in the area. So on Thursday morning, when Rocky was discovered wedged in a storm drain on Terrace Way, a hairbreadth away from certain death, a neighbor placed a frantic call to Laguna Beach police.

Nearly every night in the Temple Hills neighborhood, residents have come to expect a certain rotund raccoon waddling to their back doors, sniffing for scraps left out by the neighbors. Dubbed "Rocky," the friendly raccoon has become a fixture in the area. So on Thursday morning, when Rocky was discovered wedged in a storm drain on Terrace Way, a hairbreadth away from certain death, a neighbor placed a frantic call to Laguna Beach police.

Police asked prosecutors Friday to file murder charges against a parolee authorities say killed the owner of a Laguna Beach ice cream parlor during a robbery in February. Prosecutors who will review the case had no comment on whether they will charge Manuel Ramirez Rodriguez, a 25-year-old Corona resident arrested last weekend in Oregon. Rodriguez has denied involvement in the Feb. 20 shooting, in which shop owner Simindokht Roshdieh, 53, was killed and her husband, Firooz, 63, was wounded.

Despite some improvements, fire and police departments in Southern California remain overwhelmingly segregated by race and sex and are largely the domain of white males, according to a study conducted by the American Civil Liberties Union. The report, released today, found large disparities between the racial and gender makeup of departments and the populations they serve.

Resident Tom Wall has been named Orange County reserve rookie police officer of the year. Wall joined the Laguna Beach Police Department in 1997. Wall is a retired Marine Corps aviator and owns several small businesses in the county. The award is presented annually by the Orange County chapter of the California Law Enforcement Reserve Coordinators Assn.

I would like to congratulate the "marksmen" of the Laguna Beach Police Department who persevered in their struggle to kill a defenseless immobile buck deer (Sept. 9). May I assume that their 22 rounds established a new record for accuracy and that the first 21 shots did not contribute to the misery he was so humanely being put out of? Unbelieveable! CHARLES R. THOMPSON Newport Beach

A 31-year-old Laguna Niguel man was killed Friday night when he lost control of his motorcycle at a high rate of speed on Coast Highway and hit a parked truck, police said. David Mapes Jr. suffered multiple internal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, said Sgt. Michael Hall of the Laguna Beach Police Department. He was wearing a helmet, Hall added. Mapes was traveling northbound at about 60 m.p.h. in the 32000 block of Coast Highway near 10th Street at 10:05 p.m.

A shooting late Monday night near an ice cream parlor along Main Beach left one woman dead and an Orange County man in critical condition, authorities said. The female victim was declared dead at the scene, and the 63-year-old male victim was airlifted to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo, according to Kathy Keyes, administrative supervisor for the hospital.

A Laguna Beach man died Wednesday while snorkeling off Woods Cove in the 2000 block of South Coast Highway. Richard Varner, 49, was pronounced dead at South Coast Hospital shortly after 5:30 p.m. "We don't know if it was a drowning, heart problem, stroke -- we have no idea," said Sgt. Guy Miller, a spokesman for the Laguna Beach Police Department. He said the incident is under investigation. A snorkeler with Varner noticed him unconscious in the water.

Despite some improvements, fire and police departments in Southern California remain overwhelmingly segregated by race and sex and are largely the domain of white males, according to a study conducted by the American Civil Liberties Union. The report, released today, found large disparities between the racial and gender makeup of departments and the populations they serve.

County Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez and speakers from the Laguna Beach Police Department, Planned Parenthood and the Assn. of Women Against Rape Encounters will highlight an all-day seminar on rape awareness and prevention Saturday at Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills. Four workshops will be presented as part of the program, which will begin at 8:30 a.m. They include: * "Prevention Tools and Techniques," a discussion led by Janna Moore of the Laguna Beach Police Department.