Sheriff S Officials

A sheriff's deputy fatally wounded a suspected car thief in Artesia early Sunday after the man refused to drop a screwdriver and stepped toward the deputy, sheriff's officials said. The encounter began when deputies responded to a call that a man was looking into cars near Ibex Avenue and 175th Street. A deputy who searched the area saw a man matching the description of the suspect sitting in the cab of a pickup truck parked in a driveway and ordered him out of the vehicle, a sheriff's spokeswoman said.

Orange County Sheriff's deputies asked for help Monday in identifying a woman found dead last week in an orange grove east of Irvine. Farmhands found the fully clothed body of the woman, who is believed to be between 18 and 24 years old, about 3:45 p.m. Thursday as they were inspecting an orange grove east of Trabuco Road between Jeffrey Road and Sand Canyon Avenue. The woman, who authorities said may have been dead for a week, was apparently killed by a powerful blow to the head, said Lt.

Thirty-five friends and relatives of a black Hawthorne man who was slain by a sheriff's deputy after being mistaken for a Latino robbery suspect demonstrated outside the Lennox sheriff's station on Saturday, saying the sheriff's own investigations have failed to deliver justice. The emotional, homemade protest--including the victim's mother, sister and his 11-year-old and 10-year-old daughters--featured allegations of racism and demands that a murder charge be filed. "Daddy, I'm Fighting for You," read 10-year-old Temika Donel's sign.