Police Detectives

Investigators for both sides in an alleged rape at the Kennedy estate are roaming nightclubs trying to assemble a portrait of the woman who says she was attacked. Private investigators hired by the Kennedy family and police detectives have been talking with acquaintances of the woman, employees at her favorite nightclubs and those who were with her the night before the alleged assault. More than 100 people have been interviewed.

A 28-year-old El Monte man has been arrested on suspicion of using Molotov cocktails to spark a fire at a church, police said Wednesday night. A cross at the New Hope Community Church was set ablaze Tuesday afternoon and received minor damage before the flames were doused by firefighters, according to the El Monte Police Department. Police said Alexander Basham was arrested at the scene and that evidence allegedly tied him to the crime.  The suspect "was seen holding onto several bottles with rags sticking out of them," police officials said in a statement.

In cool, crisp sentences, the police homicide detective offers a rapid analysis of the unsolved case. "I know who did it. I can't prove it. It just bothers me to no end because I don't have the physical evidence. But everything, as far as I am concerned, points to this one individual," Santa Ana Police Detective Irma Vasquez says of the murder committed earlier this year. Her job is somber, frustrating, unpredictable and filled with long days.

Huntington Beach police have arrested six additional suspects on charges related to the disturbance at the end of the  U.S. Open of Surfing  in July. According to a statement from police, the arrests bring to 20 the number of people who have been taken into custody in connection with the melee July 28, when attendees of the surfing competition took to the streets of downtown Huntington Beach and caused several thousands of dollars in damage, the Huntington Beach Independent reported.

Linebacker Mike Green's future with the Chargers was in doubt Thursday following his arrest on drug charges, which left coaches and teammates stunned and angry. "I'm mad . . . I'm very upset," said Coach Don Coryell after learning of Green's arrest Wednesday, when detectives found about a gram of cocaine in his car. "He has hurt himself and the team," Coryell said. "I believed he was a gung-ho player who thought more of himself." Veteran linebacker Linden King shared Coryell's wrath.

David Dionisio was in trouble and he knew it. He fidgeted, squirmed and tapped his feet, rolled his eyes and and swiveled his head to avoid looking at the dignified, bespectacled man across the table.

A 2-year-old girl who rode her tricycle into her grandmother's pool was well enough to leave the hospital Thursday, just 24 hours after the incident, hospital officials said. "She's a very lucky little girl," said Corrine Alkofer, spokeswoman for Children's Hospital of Orange County in Orange. Thea Shannon toppled into the pool about 3 p.m. Wednesday. Her grandmother, Joan Skinner, had left Thea in the care of the toddler's uncle while she ran an errand, police said.

Police Sunday night found the body of a missing 8-year-old Woodland Hills girl in the apartment of a man who was arrested earlier in the day in connection with her disappearance and killing. Los Angeles Police Lt. George Rock said officers found Nicole Parker's body in Hooman Askahcapana's apartment, which is in the same Ventura Boulevard complex where the girl stayed with her father, about 11 p.m. Askahcapana, 22, was booked on suspicion of murder, police detectives said.

Three Boston police detectives and four former detectives were indicted Tuesday on charges that they took bribes from bar and restaurant owners in return for protection against enforcement of liquor laws. All seven were charged in the federal indictment with racketeering and various federal extortion charges, officials said.

Two men convicted of impersonating police detectives to cheat grieving families out of thousands of dollars have been sentenced to prison. A Superior Court judge in Norwalk on Friday sentenced Frank Kegel of Simi Valley to 10 years and Martin Pelayo of Whittier to 22 years in prison. Kegel and Pelayo were convicted last month of defrauding two Spanish-speaking families between October and November 2007.

Re "34-year wait for justice is over," Nov. 8 What an outrageous and grotesque miscarriage of justice. Kash Delano Register languishes in prison for 34 years for a murder he didn't commit, while those who put him there - an eyewitness who evidently perjured herself and the police detectives and prosecutors who allegedly ignored or withheld exculpatory evidence - are not punished for their actions. There must be consequences for liars and cheats in the criminal justice system, and I'm not referring to the defendants.

Police have released all four men detained for questioning and scaled back their manhunt for a gunman who ambushed two police detectives outside the Wilshire Division station early Tuesday. No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting, which occurred about 4:30 a.m. just outside the LAPD Wilshire substation at 4861 W. Venice Blvd. The undercover burglary detectives were in an unmarked car waiting for the security gate to open at the station's parking lot. More than a dozen rounds were fired from behind and one detective suffered a minor head injury either from a bullet or shattered glass and the other detective suffered a minor injury to their hand, officials said.

A man convicted of murder in the killing of an off-duty Huntington Beach police officer while driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs was denied parole last week. The Board of Parole Hearings denied Richard Gonzales, 63, a three-year parole after recommending he continue receiving self-help, as he "poses a risk of returning to his drug and alcohol abuse and poses a risk of violence and danger to society," according to a release by the Orange County district attorney's office.

A 10-year-old girl who disappeared overnight from her Northridge home was apparently dropped off at an intersection in Woodland Hills, police said. Someone recognized her and alerted a nearby police officer, LAPD Cmdr. Sharon Papa said. No additional details were immediately available until detectives have had a chance to talk to Nicole Ryan, who was reported missing by her parents early Wednesday. Papa said police are reviewing surveillance video from businesses in the area of Oxnard Street and Canoga Avenue for clues.

As authorities scoured Southern California for an ex-Los Angeles police officer suspected of shooting three officers, killing one, officials broadened the alert to include the entire state Thursday morning, and authorities in Nevada were warned. The California Highway Patrol originally issued a "blue alert" for nine Southern California counties, warning that suspect Christoper Jordan Dorner, 33, was considered "armed and extremely dangerous," early Thursday. Shortly after 9 a.m. that alert was broadened to the include the entire state.

Los Angeles police detectives Tuesday arrested four people at a Las Vegas casino in connection with a quadruple homicide at a Northridge house over the weekend. The four people were taken into custody without incident at the Silverton Hotel and Casino, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck announced at a news conference. Beck declined to answer specific questions about the case, including any possible motive for the slayings. Photos: Four killed in Northridge shooting But law enforcement sources told The Times the killings appeared to stem from a dispute over personal property, although they would not say what kind of items were involved.

A 24-year-old Canoga Park man was found dead Wednesday morning in a park less than 10 blocks from his home, Los Angeles Police detectives said. A gardener at Lanark Park at Lanark Street and Topanga Canyon Boulevard called police about 7:15 a.m. to report a body propped against a tree in a grassy area of the park, said Detective Bob Hart. Police detectives have identified the man as Javier Contreras, but said they have not determined the cause of death.

Anaheim police late Tuesday were investigating the shooting death of a woman in the 1600 block of East Redwood Street earlier in the evening, police said. Details were not immediately available, but Anaheim Police Lt. Vince Howard said the shooting occurred about 8 p.m. There was no one in custody late Tuesday, and the investigation was continuing. Howard added that "it looks like (police detectives) know who the suspect is."

Anaheim police detectives didn't have to go far to find the latest victims of an apparent embezzlement scam. For five years, Cindy Ann Su'a sat in the Anaheim police union as officer manager, quietly stealing more than $360,000 from the organization's accounts, prosecutors charged Wednesday. She altered her paychecks, sometimes doubling her pay, and paid her bills from the Anaheim Police Assn.'s bank accounts, Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Marc Labreche said. "She was stealing our money and hiding the mail so we'd never find out … it was a shock," said Kerry Condon, the union president and a veteran homicide detective, who prosecutors credit with uncovering the alleged scheme.

The affair began unconventionally. Mitchell Graves, a veteran Santa Ana detective, was searching the home of a suspect in a street shooting, when he came across photos of the gang member's fiancee. The detective, the lead investigator on the case, began calling the woman, according to court records, even as he continued to investigate her fiance on suspicion of attempted murder. He flirted with her during interviews, told her that he had enjoyed going through her underwear drawer and repeatedly asked her to dinner.