Suspects

An Argentine high court suspended a controversial decision to grant bail to high-profile defendants accused of torturing and killing dissidents during the 1976-83 dictatorship. The court instead sent the cases to the Supreme Court after prosecutor Raul Plee appealed the ruling. The decision will keep the suspects behind bars until the Supreme Court ruling, at a date still to be determined. On Thursday, a three-judge panel ordered the release of suspects including former navy officer Jorge Acosta, who was convicted in absentia in Italy for the killings of three Italians, and Alfredo Astiz, the so-called Blond Angel of Death accused in the disappearance of two French nuns and the founder of the famous human rights group Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo.

Saudi authorities have indicted 991 suspected militants on charges they participated in terrorist attacks in the kingdom over the last five years, Interior Minister Prince Nayif ibn Abdulaziz said. Authorities had been reluctant to hold trials in terrorism cases that could result in death sentences until they had shown the public that every effort had been made to give the men a chance to repent.

A man was shot and killed early Sunday in an alley behind the 100 block of Newburgh Street, authorities said. The 23-year-old was shot several times in the upper torso about 1:14 a.m., and authorities were still searching for suspects, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Derrick Thompson. Investigators suspect the victim was an Azusa 13 gang member, Thompson said. -- -- Ari B. Bloomekatz

Two Riverside County men with suspected links to a white supremacist gang have been charged with attempted murder in the Nov. 14 beating of a Latino in Hemet that police described as a hate crime, authorities said Saturday. The two men, Justin Tyme Hayes, 21, and Darrin Peter Thibault, 24, both from the Hemet-San Jacinto area, were also charged with committing a violent crime for the benefit of a criminal street gang, police said. Hayes was arrested Nov. 18. Thibault was apprehended Friday along with several other suspects after a five-week investigation.

Re "One Crime, a Million 'Hispanic' Suspects," Commentary, Aug. 26: I read the article with the same amount of consternation with which it was written. I have lived in L.A. all my life and still can't understand why there are the often-used ethnic descriptions of "Latino/Latina," "Hispanic," etc. I understand Luis Torres' complaint when he says why not describe height, weight, eye color, type of vehicle, direction of flight, etc. Unfortunately for the police, no two people are exactly alike even if they are from the same ethnic group, gene pool, etc. Better detail on crime perpetrators would help the general public in helping the police, instead of saying a generic "Hispanic" or "Latino" male is being sought by the police.

A shootout between soldiers and gunmen in northern Mexico left six suspects and a military captain dead, Mexico's Defense Department said. Soldiers responded to a report Friday night that armed gunmen were hiding out in a house in the northern city of Chihuahua, the department said in a statement. The six suspects have yet to be identified. Capt. David Mendoza was killed.

Marlene Ramirez and Frank Garcia didn't have a lot, but they were devoted to their 4-month-old son Andrew, relatives said Monday. "He was their life," said Veronica Munoz, Ramirez's cousin. On Monday, Garcia, 21, a warehouse worker, and Ramirez, 18, were making funeral arrangements for their baby, a day after he was killed and two others wounded in what police say was a gang-related shooting in Van Nuys. The killing happened about 1 a.m. Sunday in the 14300 block of Kittridge Street as the young couple were preparing to drive home from a friend's baptismal celebration, Los Angeles police said.

Two men suspected of robbing a street vendor selling Valentine's Day gift baskets died Sunday morning when their car crashed into a parked vehicle during a brief police pursuit south of downtown Los Angeles, authorities said. The incident began about 4:30 a.m., when two men allegedly stole merchandise from a vendor set up at San Pedro Street and Adams Boulevard. Officers responded to a 911 call, and the suspects' Nissan sped away, soon crashing near Central Avenue and 27th Street.

A three-week undercover investigation of a large-scale auto theft ring resulted in the arrest Friday of a 20-year-old transient on two counts of grand theft, Irvine police said Saturday. Joseph Albert Millray was booked into the Costa Mesa Jail with bail set at $10,000. Irvine police Sgt. Scott Cade said other suspects in the ring have been identified and more arrests are expected. Cade said the suspects took orders for specific makes and models of automobiles and motorcycles.

The first day in court for the 6,000, the accused looters and arsonists from the riots of '92, is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. sharp. "Where are the bodies?" asks assistant public defender Stan Efron, waiting in a fifth-floor courtroom. "We can't do anything until we get the bodies. And the paperwork. Then the bodies have to match the paperwork."