Police Car

A Metro Blue Line train inexplicably ran a stop signal on Wednesday before it struck a Long Beach police car and injured an officer and 10 passengers, according to onboard videotapes reviewed by accident investigators. Two tapes indicate that the southbound train rolled through the red signal about 1 p.m. and collided with the patrol car in the intersection of Long Beach Boulevard and 16th Street, Long Beach police said Friday. Officials for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Blue Line's operator, said they could not comment on the videotapes or other specifics of the accident because investigations were pending.

Hemet police on Tuesday found a "suspicious device" attached to a city police car, four days after two men were arrested in connection with a series of violent attacks against authorities in the small Riverside County city. The device, which the Sheriff's Department's bomb squad rendered harmless, was found during a routine check of all police cars and could have been attached to the vehicle at any time over the last two months, said Lt. Duane Wisehart. "Investigators believe they have the suspects in these attacks in custody and that this device was simply not discovered until today," Wisehart said in a statement released by Hemet police.

As usual when the topic is immigration, there's lots of heat out there and very little light. The anti-illegal immigration law in Arizona has been called Nazi-like by Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony and condemned by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, but it's been hailed by others around the country as a triumphant breakthrough. So, readers are asking me, which side am I on? I'm on the side of a federal reform bill that controls the border, provides legal crossings when employers need help and recognizes that it would be cheaper and better for society to have current illegals come clean and pay fines than to round up and deport them.

Two police cars apparently lured into an intersection in the violent city of Ciudad Juarez on Friday were ambushed by gunmen. At least seven officers were killed in the brazen midday attack, along with a 17-year-old passerby. Two other injured officers were hospitalized and under heavy guard, said public security spokesman Enrique Torres, to prevent gunmen from attempting to finish the job. All but one of the dead officers were from the U.S.-trained federal police force. The seventh was a municipal policewoman.

Authorities are investigating whether an early morning fire Monday at a Hemet police shooting range was yet another attack on the department, which has been hit with repeated booby traps over the last three months. The fire at the remote training facility off Warren Road broke out shortly after 2 a.m. Much of the building was destroyed in the blaze. "In light [of] the incidents involving our department over the past three months, we are investigating the possibility that this is related, but we will not speculate at this point until the investigators are able to complete their work," said Hemet Police Capt.

The Ford Crown Victoria police car, which for nearly three decades has been the star of high-speed chases and an unwelcome sight in rearview mirrors, is being phased out. Ford unveiled its new patrol car, the Police Interceptor, at an event Friday at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway attended by fleet buyers and law enforcement officials. The new car was designed to be faster, safer and stronger, and will come packed with advanced technology. But for some at the unveiling, it was a nostalgic occasion.

A Toyota Camry that had pulled over for a police car with its siren blaring was rear-ended by a Nissan pickup Wednesday morning in the San Fernando Valley, with the impact sending the truck careening onto nearby railroad tracks, where it was struck by a Metrolink commuter train, authorities said. A 38-year-old Sun Valley man driving the pickup and a child younger than 2 in the Toyota were critically injured. The child had been strapped into a car seat in the back, authorities said.

A San Bernardino man was shot and killed by police after he attacked an officer and pointed a stun gun at him during a traffic stop, San Bernardino police said Tuesday. About 6:30 p.m. Monday, officers spotted a man running from their police car toward a vehicle parked in an alley on North Wall Avenue, Lt. David Harp said. Police approached the vehicle and asked the four occupants to step out. One of the men, identified as Cedric James May, 22, emerged from the back seat, tried to grab an officer's baton and gun, and finally got hold of the officer's Taser and pointed it at the officer's face, Harp said.

Gunmen opened fire on a police car, killing one officer and wounding three others. Tijuana's drug war has seen at least 18 policemen slain so far this year. State Atty. Gen. Rommel Moreno Manjarrez said he was creating a special investigative group to stem the attacks on police, which he said are part of an intimidation campaign by organized crime. "Today, unfortunately, the criminals are trying to pressure authorities by killing police officers," Moreno said.

Nearly 50 police officers were questioned in the disappearance of a top Mexican customs official in the port city of Veracruz, authorities said Wednesday. The investigation targeted traffic police in Veracruz, where customs administrator Francisco Serrano disappeared Monday night from the scene of an apparent traffic collision. Forty-seven police officers were held for questioning by federal authorities.