Sting Operation

After the judge publicly scolded prosecutors, a former LAPD officer convicted of fondling a woman and improperly touching another while in uniform was sentenced Wednesday to 90 days in custody. The sentence outraged victim advocates in the courtroom, who thought of it as a slap on the wrist. One of the ex-officer's victims left in tears. "He held a position of public trust, and he abused that position," said Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Anne H.

A Riverside County sheriff's deputy was arrested Friday and charged with forcing two women to have sex with him to avoid being arrested. David Gregory Kushner, a five-year veteran of the department, surrendered without incident after an arrest warrant was issued. He was freed after his father posted $500,000 bail. Kushner, 33, faces three counts of forced oral sex, two counts of rape, one of sodomy and two of kidnapping with intent to commit rape.

Mohammed M. Hossain liked to picture himself as a classic example of thrift and the American dream. He once told an interviewer that as a high school student in Bangladesh he looked at a map and imagined coming to America. "Since I have been here, opportunity kissed my feet," he said. "Hard work has done the rest."

A woman who is awaiting trial with her husband for allegedly running an Internet prostitution ring out of their home when they lived in Redondo Beach was arrested Monday on suspicion of pimping, authorities said. Police arrested Jill Ellen McGrath, 36, who had been out on bail, at her Lawndale home. Redondo Beach Police Sgt.

Bandit tow-truck drivers who illegally seize vehicles from Los Angeles private parking lots then demand motorists pay for their return could soon be jailed and their trucks confiscated. The Los Angeles Police Commission approved a proposal Tuesday that would direct officers to arrest unlicensed tow-truck drivers, who often take vehicles by pretending to have agreements with parking lot owners. "They are basically stealing people's cars," Los Angeles police Capt. Bradley R.

A veteran Los Angeles police officer assigned to undercover drug investigations at Los Angeles International Airport has been charged with stealing more than $2,000 from suspected drug dealers, department officials said Friday. Roger Ramirez, a 23-year member of the Los Angeles Police Department, was arrested Wednesday night after finishing his shift at the airport, LAPD Deputy Chief Art Miller said. He was released on $20,000 bond.

A woman charged with smuggling Mexican women into the United States and forcing them to work as prostitutes at motels near Disneyland has jumped bail, officials said Tuesday. Maria De La Luz Menjivar, 43, of Wilmington failed to appear in court for a hearing last week, prompting a judge to issue an arrest warrant, Anaheim Police Sgt. Rick Martinez said. Menjivar was arrested Feb. 4 after three women reported the alleged sex-slave ring to police.

Undercover LAPD officers posing as citizens trying to report police misconduct were routinely dismissed or stonewalled by fellow officers in a series of stings, according to the federal monitor overseeing reforms after the Rampart corruption scandal. The monitor said in a report -- released this month and now on the LAPD's Web site -- that the officers' failure to properly handle complaints was "outrageous and discouraging."

Revealing the fruits of an elaborate, 18-month-long sting operated with agents of the Russian secret police, federal authorities on Wednesday unveiled criminal charges against three men who they say conspired to sell a shoulder-mounted missile and sought to acquire as many as 50 more. A government affidavit in the case, filed in U.S.

Undercover agents caught two Orange County men trying to illegally export aerospace parts and other military technology to China, including components for fighter jets, attack helicopters and surface-to-air missiles, according to a federal indictment unsealed Thursday. Amanullah Khan, 54, was already in custody in Santa Ana on an unrelated parole violation when he was arrested Wednesday.