A 29 year old Los Angeles Police Officer was arrested Friday for driving under the influence of alcohol after his car plunged off the 60 freeway in Diamond Bar. The car ended up in a McDonald’s restaurant drive through with its driver, Jonathon Chel trapped inside the car. I’m not sure how many times I have said this, but I often tell my clients and potential clients, “Don’t give the pricks a reason to contact you”. When I say this I am normally referring to minor driving offenses like speeding, tinted windows, cracked windshields, expired registration and a litany of other minor …

Yesterday two Santa Maria residents left their 4 year old daughter sleeping in their car as they went off to gamble at the Chumash Casino. After the girl woke up, she appears to have gotten out of the car and started walking around the casino parking lot, in search of her parents. Casino security was notified. Security personnel called the sheriff’s department who located the girls parents, Petra Zaragoza and Bulmaro Reyes. The two parents were promptly arrested on charges of felony child endangerment and booked at the Santa Barbara County jail. Charges such as child endangerment generally carry special punishments which …

Two men were arrested yesterday in Camarillo after they were scene trying to hitchhike in the area of Ventura County between Camarillo and Moorpark along Santa Rosa Road. They were “spotted” by an off duty sheriff’s deputy who reported their presence to additional authorities. Sheriff’s units converged on the two men who were suspects in an earlier residential burglarywhich lead to the suspects leading police on a long chase through extensive open land in the area. The two men were last observed in the area of Leisure Village in Camarillo. I suppose the 19 and 21 year old African American men …

Another pair of weekend DUI checkpoints were conducted starting last night and running through early this morning in Ventura County. Funded by a grant paid for by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, the two separate checkpoints yielded a total of one, yes one, DUI arrest in about 6 hours of operational time. Countless man hours were put into the two checkpoints which were staffed by officers and cadets from the Ventura Police Department. Officers associated with the checkpoints indicated that another 5 people were arrested for not having valid driver’s licenses or driving while their licenses were suspended or revoked. …

Los Angeles Police arrested a man in Hollywood Tuesday after he (allegedly) smashed the window of a police car, stole a computer and walked away. The incident took place about one in the afternoon in the area of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland. Multiple witnesses saw the incident and at least one videotaped the man in his brazen daytime activities. The suspect was described as “very angry” as he took what appeared to be a metal pipe and smashed the window of the unoccupied police car. The man, who was not identified by police, was arrested shortly thereafter and faces charges …

I am going to start this blog by saying that I am NOT a cop hater. I worked for a small police agency while I was in college and that was one of several experiences that tended to spark my interest in criminal law. In law school I worked for a local criminal prosecutor and am still friendly with some of the people I met and worked with decades ago. I believed then, as I still do today, that most police officers are generally good and honest people who are working at a difficult job. As a defense attorney it …

Xavier Domic Smith, a 20 year old rap artist was charged with multiple felonies in Los Angeles County on Friday. Smith, also known as “Lil Za” was recently arrested when sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant a Justin Bieber’s gated Calabasas home. Sheriff’s officials indicated that as a result of the search they recovered MDMA, also known as ecstasy and Oxycodone, a strong prescription pain medication in the possession of Smith. Smith was taken into custody and not immediately charged as he posted bail shortly after his arrest. While in sheriff’s custody at the Lost Hills, sheriff’s station, Mr. Smith is said …

Soulja Boy was arrested in Granada Hills, California with a loaded firearm in his possession according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The rap star whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way was a passenger in a car which was pulled over for what was described as a routine traffic stop in the north San Fernando Valley. Soulja Boy was alleged to have had a gun on his person and was arrested and booked in a Valley jail shortly after 4:00 a.m. Soulja Boy posted bond and was released with a date to appear in court in the San Fernando in about three weeks. …

Two Mexican nationals were arrested yesterday at the United States/Mexico border in Texas after they were found carrying 90 fraudulent credit or debit cards which are suspected to be part of the huge theft of information from United States Target stores. Police officers conducted a search of the two individuals and later found 22 more cards. I am not a math major, but that seems to leave about 109 million or so cards still out there. Federal authorities including the United States Secret Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and banking investigators indicated to the press that “it is too early to …

The fact that David Cassidy was arrested for (his third) DUI does not really interest me. What does interest me and should interest many of my clients and potential clients’ are the circumstances around his arrest. The California Highway Patrol indicate Mr. Cassidy was pulled over near the Los Angeles International Airport about 9:40 p.m. Officers indicated Cassidy made a right turn against a sign posted “No right on red”. This is where it gets interesting to me. I often tell my clients the same thing: Don’t give the cops a reason to pull you over. By this I mean try to …