U Haul

The latest trend in Southern California police pursuits, it seems, is using a U-Haul. For the second time in a week, chase-captivated residents flipped on their televisions Wednesday night to watch authorities in hot pursuit of a stolen U-Haul truck. This time, police were after a shirtless man they say took off from Riverside. An officer responding to an alarm at a U-Haul facility on Spruce Street Wednesday night arrived to find a man driving off in the truck, Riverside police Lt. Val Graham said.

The latest trend in Southern California police pursuits, it seems, is using a U-Haul. For the second time in a week, chase-captivated residents flipped on their televisions Wednesday night to watch authorities in hot pursuit of a stolen U-Haul truck. This time, police were after a shirtless man they say took off from Riverside. An officer responding to an alarm at a U-Haul facility on Spruce Street Wednesday night arrived to find a man driving off in the truck, Riverside police Lt. Val Graham said.

Brooke Berman makes a left off Sunset Boulevard onto Larrabee and begins to recount, warmly, a home she once occupied in West Hollywood. "This was one of the best apartments I've had in L.A.," she says as we approach a place a few blocks from Book Soup, her tone suggesting a period of extended bliss. "I lived here for two months. " She pauses. "But it was a really awesome two months. " That doesn't sound like much time. But it constitutes a veritable long-term lease for Berman, a playwright, screenwriter and sort of urban Bedouin who has spent most of the last two decades hopscotching through neighborhoods in New York and Los Angeles.

Nobody doubts that Bonnie Sheehan loves dogs. For the last 15 years, she has dedicated her life to finding homes for those that might otherwise be euthanized at local animal shelters. But the economic downturn made her work more difficult, according to volunteers from her nonprofit operation, Hearts for Hounds. As Sheehan started taking in dogs faster than she could give them away, the number of animals grew at the Long Beach facility she used, often far beyond the 75 allowed by the city.

Re "Danger in Tow," a three-part series, June 24-26 The Times is to be lauded for its series on U-Haul International Inc. I have used its trailers and tow dollies several times and have found only two facilities that knew what they were doing when hooking up the equipment and verifying that I was informed regarding requirements for safe towing. I always check inflation pressures, light operations, etc. by myself as soon as I have driven away from the rental facility. I do hope your investigation and reporting will result in either regulatory legislation, increased scrutiny by highway safety law enforcement or a guilty conscience by U-Haul management.

A King County jury has awarded $15.5 million to a Renton woman who was disfigured and blinded in February 2004 when part of an entertainment center flew from a rented U-Haul trailer and crashed through her windshield. Maria Federici's lawyers had sought $38 million in damages. Jurors found U-Haul most liable, ordering it to pay two-thirds of the award, and said the driver who was towing the entertainment center, James Hefley, should pay the rest.

A Sylmar man arrested for allegedly stealing a loaded U-Haul trailer and a car from a Sylmar motel is a suspect in at least six similar thefts in the last year, police said. Roberto Perez, 23, was arrested at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday after police, alerted by neighbors, caught him unloading the contents of the trailer into an apartment building on San Fernando Road, said Detective Jim Atwell of the Los Angeles police.

U-HAUL CUSTOMERS who have seethed over botched reservations were vindicated last year when a California judge ruled that the company had engaged in "unlawful and fraudulent business practices." Ruling in a class action, Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Samuel S. Stevens struck at U-Haul's practice of booking reservations for trucks and trailers without knowing if it will have the equipment when and where customers need it.

A motorist in a U-Haul van lost control Sunday, striking two power poles and downing electrical lines that caused the closure of both sides of South La Brea Avenue in southwest Los Angeles, authorities said. The accident occurred just after 1 p.m. near the intersection of La Brea and Veronica Street, just north of Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area.

Nobody doubts that Bonnie Sheehan loves dogs. For the last 15 years, she has dedicated her life to finding homes for those that might otherwise be euthanized at local animal shelters. But the economic downturn made her work more difficult, according to volunteers from her nonprofit operation, Hearts for Hounds. As Sheehan started taking in dogs faster than she could give them away, the number of animals grew at the Long Beach facility she used, often far beyond the 75 allowed by the city.

Brooke Berman makes a left off Sunset Boulevard onto Larrabee and begins to recount, warmly, a home she once occupied in West Hollywood. "This was one of the best apartments I've had in L.A.," she says as we approach a place a few blocks from Book Soup, her tone suggesting a period of extended bliss. "I lived here for two months. " She pauses. "But it was a really awesome two months. " That doesn't sound like much time. But it constitutes a veritable long-term lease for Berman, a playwright, screenwriter and sort of urban Bedouin who has spent most of the last two decades hopscotching through neighborhoods in New York and Los Angeles.

U-Haul International Inc. has settled charges that it tried to fix truck rental prices with rival Avis Budget Group Inc., the Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday. U-Haul, which is owned by Amerco, had publicly and privately reached out to Budget several times from 2006 to 2008 to try to push up rates for one-way truck rentals, the FTC said. The FTC said U-Haul Chief Executive Edward Shoen learned in 2006 that Budget was pushing down some rental rates, prompting him to try to collude with rivals on prices.

Alisha Nicole Mankin was wanted for a misdemeanor when she fled a police stop last month in a stolen U-Haul truck and led police on a televised 90-mile chase along the region's busiest freeways at rush hour. After pleading guilty to felony evading of a police officer, she could receive up to a year in state prison, or probation, when she is sentenced in Ventura County on March 13.

A motorist in a U-Haul van lost control Sunday, striking two power poles and downing electrical lines that caused the closure of both sides of South La Brea Avenue in southwest Los Angeles, authorities said. The accident occurred just after 1 p.m. near the intersection of La Brea and Veronica Street, just north of Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area.

Amerco's U-Haul International Inc. must pay $84 million to a man who was injured when the truck he rented ran over him, a Texas jury said Friday. The man, Talmadge Waldrip, 74, parked the truck on a "slight incline" and the parking brake failed, said his attorney, Ted Lyon. Waldrip said U-Haul failed to maintain the truck, causing the accident. "The truck's parking brake did not work at all," Lyon said. "He stepped out of the truck and it rolled right over him."

U-Haul International Inc. has settled a class-action lawsuit that had accused the equipment rental giant of deceiving California customers through its reservations policy. The settlement came amid U-Haul's appeal of a court ruling that found it had engaged in fraudulent business practices. In the 2006 ruling, Santa Cruz Superior Court Judge Samuel S. Stevens barred U-Haul agents from promising "confirmed reservations" for one-way equipment rentals in California.

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful," wrote 19th-Century tastemaker William Morris. This good advice was easier to follow when labor was cheap. Today's homeowner--eager to restore an old house, add distinction to a bland one or create a neoclassic--soon learns that period architectural details are hard to find and cost a small fortune to duplicate.

This bustling port was supposed to be just a whistle-stop for Lana and Joe Reid. The San Jose retirees were en route to the tourist hotbed of Puerto Vallarta, where they were planning to buy a home near the water. But their detour through Mazatlan turned out to be a date with destiny. They were drawn to the street life of the historic downtown. They strolled the oceanfront walkway known as the malecon. They watched the fishing fleets skipping across the bay to the seafood canneries.

A King County jury has awarded $15.5 million to a Renton woman who was disfigured and blinded in February 2004 when part of an entertainment center flew from a rented U-Haul trailer and crashed through her windshield. Maria Federici's lawyers had sought $38 million in damages. Jurors found U-Haul most liable, ordering it to pay two-thirds of the award, and said the driver who was towing the entertainment center, James Hefley, should pay the rest.

U-Haul International Inc., the nation's leading provider of rental trailers and trucks, is inspecting its vehicles more frequently since The Times raised questions about the company's maintenance practices earlier this year, according to employees, managers and dealers. Interviews, internal bulletins and a recent field survey of U-Haul equipment indicated that management is pushing employees and dealers to be more vigilant about inspections.