Lancaster

Pimp Beat 14-Year-Old Prostitute For Failing To Bring In Enough Cash

You hear about pimps and underage girls, but they rarely seem to come out of the shadows. This week the LAPD was shining a spotlight on the war against sex trafficking. Cops say Charles Bland, a 26-year-old from Lancaster, used social media to recruit a teenager before abusing, assaulting and pimpi ... More >>

Michael Scheetz: Teen Girl Sexually Assaulted Following Facebook Friendship -- Cops

A 43-year-old man who cops say traveled to L.A. County to have sex with a 15-year-old he met on Facebook was facing five felony charges this week. Michael Scheetz of Westerville, Ohio was charged yesterday with suspicion of sexual assault and other counts after he met the girl in person over the we ... More >>

Anthony Wayne Smith, Former Raider, Serial Killer?

Former Oakland Raiders defensive lineman Anthony Wayne Smith has been with charged with three unsolved murders, the LAPD announced today. That makes the number of killings he's accused of committing four: He's currently being retried in the 2008 homicide of Lancaster mechanic Maurilio Ponce. Doe ... More >>

Alfonso Ribeiro's 'Carlton Dance' Flash Mob Attempts Record (For Dorkiest Moves): VIDEO

Updated at the bottom with crowd estimates. First posted at 5:30 a.m. Alfonso Ribeiro of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air might do the nerdiest, preppiest dance of all time. But that didn't stop hundreds if not thousands of followers from joining him yesterday at Universal CityWalk and other locales in ... More >>

Sheriff's Department Seeking Information About Body Found Behind Walmart in Lancaster

An intact skeleton was discovered in bushes by a loading dock back behind a shuttered Wal-Mart in Lancaster on July 5 of last year. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, seeking information about the mysterious remains, released this forensic reconstruction today.

Marijuana, Hash House With $1 Million Worth of Drugs Found After Suspect Driving on Suspended License Stopped by Cops

If you've got a $1 million marijuana farm and hash-making operation back at the old casa, you might want to take to the streets with the lowest of profiles. But sheriff's officials allege that Harry Kaladjian's suspended driver's license unraveled a serious pot operation at his residence when they ... More >>

L.A. Sheriff's Creepy New Facial-Recognition Software Matches Surveillance Video With Mug Shot Database

The Lancaster station of the L.A. County Sheriff's Department got a little help from Big Brother in cracking its latest robbery spree: Of three armed robberies in Lancaster over eight days, one of the incidents was caught on surveillance tape. So Sheriff's investigators entered "a clear image of th ... More >>

L.A. County Halts Section 8 Crackdown In Antelope Valley

Lancaster Mayor Rex Parris​Update below: Rex Parris pulls no punches in response. Lancaster and Palmdale have been at war with the Section 8 housing program for the last several years, fighting off what they see as an "inundation" of the urban poor into the Antelope Valley.But today they've lost t ... More >>

Christian Cobian, Unarmed Cyclist, Shot Dead by L.A. County Sheriff's Deputies

Christian Cobian via Facebook​A trip to the corner store turned deadly for 26-year-old Lancaster resident Christian Cobian on Saturday night, when he was pulled over by L.A. County Sheriff's deputies for riding his bike without a headlight. His aunt tells NBC LA that Cobian was at a family bap ... More >>

Sweet-Looking Dog That Bit Young Girl's Face Is Caught Via Off-Road Tracking in Lancaster Desert: He Faces Uncertain Future

For a month authorities have been on the case of a vicious suspect alleged to have assaulted a 3-and-a-half-year-old girl. They even procured an off-road vehicle to track the predator in the Lancaster area, to no avail. The suspect would run off into the desert and allude the long arm of the law. ... More >>

Geo-Tag Technology Used to Track Down Drugs Tossed by Suspect, L.A. Sheriff's Officials Say

LASDGeo-tag, you're it.​Remember the good old days when you'd watch Cops and the bad guys would be leading officers on a chase and dumping bags of white powder out the window and at some point you'd be at the edge of your seat rooting for them? Just a little? Well stop. That game is over. Ev ... More >>

West Hollywood Marijuana Dispensary The Farmacy Robbed of Weed, Cash: Three Suspects Quickly Nabbed

Correction after the jump: A dispensary worker says the suspects were tracked via a stolen smartphone and that they were previously unknown to the shop. Three men were arrested after a brazen robbery of West Hollywood's well-known marijuana dispensary called The Farmacy over the weekend. The heist ... More >>

Stanesha Nicole Allen, Alleged Drunk Mom, Crashed SUV, Leaving Six Kids Injured And 1-Year-Old With Foot Amputation, Cops Say

An alleged DUI crash injured six children near Lancaster.​Updated at the bottom: The District Attorney's office threw the book at her. First posted at 7:04 a.m. on Monday. A 31-year-old mother was drunk when the SUV she was driving flipped and injured six children inside, including a 1-year-o ... More >>

El Chapo Guzman, World's Most Wanted Drug Lord, Just Had 2 Baby Girls Born in Los Angeles: Say Hello to my Little Twins

razon.com.mxHot mama: Emma Coronel.​They're not exactly anchor babies: Mom is an American citizen. Maybe they're more like AK babies, though, because dad is the most-wanted drug lord in the world, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. And his twin girls said hello to life on Aug. 15 at Antelope Valley H ... More >>

Craigslist Classifieds Turn up Stuff Just Stolen From Lancaster Home: Dennis Hyde of South L.A. Arrested

LASDA stolen gun.​When you deal in stolen goods you have to allow time to pass for the hot stuff to cool off, ya' dig? If you've ever seen Heat or any other crime "crew" movie you know that you need a grizzled old white guy with a handlebar mustache who did hard time at "the shoe" (whatever th ... More >>

Public Counsel Sues Lancaster And Palmdale Over "War" On Section 8 Housing

​Update: Lancaster Mayor Rex Parris calls the lawsuit "inflammatory bullshit." More below. Update 2: Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford gives his own defense. A public interest law firm filed a racial discrimination suit today against Lancaster and Palmdale, charging that the cities have declared "war" on ... More >>

Curly Junior Ross Killed by DUI Driver Who Went Wrong Way, With Bloody Car, Through a DUI Checkpoint, Cops Say

LASDThis car, wrong way, through a DUI checkpoint -- allegedly.​Added: Sheriff's officials say the District Attorney's office this week charged the suspect "with Second Degree Murder, Felony DUI, & Hit and Run from a traffic collision." Here's a doozy of a tale out of scenic Lancaster. Sheri ... More >>

Power Outages, Black Ice, Unruly Trees And Tumbleweeds Wreak Havoc On Los Angeles

A distant cousin of the Los Angeles Unruly Tree​Just because the puddles are gone this morning doesn't mean Mother Nature is done having her fun with SUV nation. In the mad dash from our living room to our car this morning, we couldn't help but notice that it's, um, ridiculously cold outside ... More >>

While We Were Thawing Our Toes This Morning, We Noticed That Unemployment Benefits Had Been Terminated For 2 Million Americans

ZastavkiWhad'ya say we all just move to Antarctica​What a bone-chilling way to slide into December. Not to mention the holidays. We woke up this morning after a night of visible breath and twinkly lights to the news that unemployment benefits will likely terminate for 2 million people by th ... More >>

Heat Alert For L.A. County Friday And Saturday

​Summer's late, like Pamela Anderson to an interview, but we'll take what we can get. On Thursday the county of Los Angeles issued a "heat alert," warning that it'll be a blazer Friday and Saturday in L.A. basin, especially for Lancaster and the Santa Clarita, San Fernando and San Gabriel Vall ... More >>

Federal Authorities Crack Down On Pasadena-Based Bloods Gang

streetgangs.com​Thirty-four members of the Pasadena Denver Lane Bloods gang were arrested Tuesday morning following a crackdown by a task force consisting of federal agents and local police. Eleven of the suspects were named in federal indictments of 23 of the members, who were charged with co ... More >>

Dahial Lanarus: 11-Year-Old Littlerock Murder Victim Identified

​Coroner's officials on Wednesday identified an 11-year-old who was fatally stabbed in an attack near Lancaster Tuesday as Dahial Lanarus. Her 14-year-old sister was wounded and a boy of about 16, who Fox 11 News identified as a relative of the girls, was arrested in connection with the violen ... More >>

Warm Enough For You Yet? 'Heat Alert' Issued For Los Angeles' High Desert

​The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health this week issued a "heat alert" for residents of the high desert -- namely Lancaster and the Antelope Valley, where high temperatures were expected to reach the triple digits through Saturday. The department warned that people prone to heat ... More >>

Alleged 'Shutter Island' Stabber Charged With Attempted Murder

​A man who allegedly stabbed a fellow movie patron in the neck with a meat thermometer after the victim asked the suspect's companion to stop talking on her mobile phone was charged Friday with attempted murder, the District Attorney's office announced. Landry Boullard, 39, was also charged w ... More >>

Are Mushrooms L.A.'s Next Medicinal Growth Industry?

HBOCharacters on 'Entourage' hit the 'shrooms.​As the Los Angeles City Council Tuesday cracked down on a burgeoning medical-marijuana retail scene that might or might not have inspired a sprawling residential "grow-house" industry, authorities in Lake Los Angeles busted a rare grow house for ... More >>

Evacuations Ordered For Several Foothill Communities (UPDATED)

National Weather Service​Authorities ordered 64 households in the Paradise Valley area of La Canada-Flintridge to evacuate as storm-caused mud flows threatened a neighborhood above 2524 Ocean View Boulevard. Evacuations of 83 residences in the Riverwood Ranch, Alpine Village, Zachaou Canyon, H ... More >>

Suspect Wanted For Questioning In Station Fire Arrested

A 25-year-old man wanted for questioning in the 160,000-acre Station Fire, which raged in August and September and was only fully contained Friday, has been arrested in connection with a smaller, nearby fire that burned in August, Sgt. David Infante of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department rep ... More >>

Swine Flu Outbreak at Pitchess Jail

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department has confirmed there are 20 cases of swine flu among prisoners at the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic. According to Associated Press, LASD spokesman Steve Whitmore said Wednesday that the first flu case was confirmed two weeks ago at the Men's Central Jail ... More >>

No Room at the Inn for Mongols

These are tough times for the High Desert's hospitality industry. Besides the recession-caused drought of tourist dollars felt nationwide, the city of Palmdale boosted its hotel tax from seven to 10 percent in May and yesterday Lancaster's mayor effectively shut down the struggling Desert Inn to pre ... More >>

They're Heeerrre! Wildfires Strike Angeles National Forest

[Tuesday Update: City News Service reports this morning that the Osito Fire, near Pyramid Lake, is 65 percent contained and only burned 280 acres of brush, less than originally feared.]Four days after the National Forest Service raised its fire-danger alert status to Very High, a wildfire has broken ... More >>

Today in Photographs: July 11, 1987

Boys in the Hoods: Some Lancaster locals express themselves on the day's issues. Herald-Examiner/LAPL

Recession Bonus: Less L.A. Traffic

You always hear people comment on how much easier it is to get to and from work these days, and maybe you yourself have noticed how much lighter freeway traffic seems to be. At first this was written off as a temporary effect of 2008's rocketing gas prices. Then, as the full effect of recessionary c ... More >>

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

Some Came Running Kenya's Wesley Korir set a finish-time record for the 24th Los Angeles Marathon, which got very lucky with cool weather despite its latest start yet in the calendar. L.A. TimesFootball Prospect Shot Dead Dannie Farber Jr., a promising football player who had just graduated from Nar ... More >>

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

Rabbinical Board Breaks Barriers Southern California's Board of Rabbis broke with tradition by selecting a woman and a lesbian as president. West Hollywood Rabbi Denise Eger is the first in both categories in the board's 72-year history. L.A. Times, Jewish JournalGood News But Not Great Cal State No ... More >>

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

Maywood RFD California Attorney General Jerry Brown is seeking a court order to impose and monitor reforms on Maywood's troubled police department. L.A. TimesGetting the Lead Out The Department of Toxic Substances Control has discovered San Fernando warehouses containing jewelry that has higher than ... More >>

Lancaster Jail Lockdown: 6,500 Potential TB Cases

A confirmed case of tuberculosis has prompted a lockdown of the state prison in Lancaster. Both the facility's nearly 4,600 inmates and 1,900 employees will be tested for the disease, which can spread quickly in confined spaces. Quoting prison officials, the L.A. Times reports that the infected subj ... More >>

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

Chris Brown Deal in the Works? R&B singer Chris Brown's attorney, Mark Geragos, may be close to making a plea deal with the District Attorney's office regarding the charges Brown faces in the alleged beating of singer-girlfriend Rihanna. Brown's arraignment has been scheduled for 3 p.m. Monday. ... More >>

The Thomas Crown Affair, Lancaster-Style

Forget Philip Marlowe's line about a tarantula on a slice of angel food. The Antelope Valley Press is more like a crack pipe wrapped in a tea cozy. The newspaper's stories about life in the suddenly hardscrabble High Desert tend to be a mix of the homey ("Cheerleaders Show Spirit at Contest") and th ... More >>

The Breast of Times: Go Topless Protest Day

And other things to do in L.A., August 22-28

Fest-ish Fun

California Prisons' Big Group Hug

Under court order, races must co-exist

Was the Sheriff MIA?

It took nearly a month for deputies to break into the home. The two women were long dead

Pedro Guzman's Return

Wrongly deported to Mexico, a developmentally disabled man is found safe

Lost in Tijuana

A mother’s search for a son, born in East L.A. but deported by County Sheriffs

Ashes to Ashes

Watching Big Brother

Volunteers monitor round two of Ashcroft’s “special registration” program

Feelings of Insecurity

Inside the U.S. roundup of Muslims

Freeways to Perdition

Riding Out the Apocalypse

the best place to bike when the big one hits

The Eleventh Plague

Torrent of shit threatens Lancaster