Crime & Courts

You wonder what all those police officers are doing in Wilmington over near Denni and Opp?  A helicopter is circling around.

I'm told that the police have surrounded the neighborhood in search of a burglary suspect who is believed to be hiding somewhere in there. He was caught breaking into a home and ran.

Officers think they have him contained inside their perimeter.

Coroner's officials examined the body of the man found in a pickup truck parked outside a Hawthorne church yesterday and have determined him to be a homicide victim.

The cause of death is "Gunshot wound of back," according to Chief Coroner Investigator Craig Harvey.

The victim, who was decomposing, has not been identified. He is white and believed to be in his 40s. The man is currently listed as John Doe No. 171.

I ran the license plate number of the 2006 Chevrolet Silverado yesterday. The DMV told me the vehicle is registered to Mark Lawton Wanamaker. A records search found a 47-year-old man with that name with an address in Santa Rosa, and previous addresses in Redondo Beach and San Pedro. I have no other information than that, and don't know whether he is the victim.

Sheriff's detectives have put out no further information today on the case and haven't returned my messages.

The body was discovered at 118th Place and Felton Avenue about 1 p.m. Wednesday.

If you've driven through the intersection of Sepulveda Boulevard and Figueroa Street in Carson lately you might have seen a billboard with four young faces on it.

The billboard cries "Stop the Killing," and displays four victims of crimes, three of which are unsolved.

It's from the community group Justice for Murdered Children. Members of the group, Carson city officials and family members of the four victims will speak at a news conference Friday morning.

I'm planning to be there.

These are the victims:
 

Jahaira Keys, 17, who was shot to death May 3, 2007 outside Biistro 880, 880 E. Dominguez St.

Keys had attended a private party when scuffling broke out. As security tried to break up the fight, a car pulled up, and a woman got out and opened fire on the crowd.

D'Ancee Barnes, a 3-year-old who was struck by a car and killed March 18, 1989 as he crossed Van Ness Avenue in Los Angeles. The female driver stopped, looked at the boy lying in the street, got back into her car and took off.

Dwayne Jackson Jr., who was shot to death in front of his home at Fernrock Street and Tajuata Avenue in Carson on Oct. 18, 2001. Suspected gang members in a car with a lighted sign on the roof that said "taxi" pulled up and motioned him over to them. When he got close, a guy inside pulled a shotgun and killed him.

Jennifer Pierre, 21, who was beaten to death by her boyfriend. Her body was found under bushes in Rancho Palos Verdes on March 17, 1998. The boyfriend, Johnny Ricardo Guisa, 26, was found guilty and sentenced to 26 years to life in prison.

By the way, the photo above was changed slightly. The actual billboard (seen below in a photo taken by Dwayne Jackson's mom Jackie) changed the places of the victims.

Get your sun block and well, put it everywhere, because a judge has ruled that it's OK to be nude at San Onofre State Park after Labor Day. 

The LA Times said today that Orange County Superior Court Judge Sheila Fell ruled Wednesday that state parks officials can cite sunbathers and swimmers in the buff only if a member of the public complains. (I think that's if you misbehave while you're naked.)

The California Department of Parks and Recreation sought to ban nudity in an effort to deter lewd behavior at San Onofre's Trail 6 near Camp Pendleton.

Nudity has been OK at that beach for a long time.

Here's the Times story. 

And yes, I posted this one because we are beach people in the South Bay, not just to shamelessly attract readers. (But if it happens to get clicks, well.....)

Oh, and just a hunch, but I bet you won't see people with bods like Misty May-Treanor or Michael Phelps down there. I'll bet it gets pretty scary.

A decomposed body was discovered a few minutes ago in a truck parked near a church in the 11800 block of Felton Avenue in Hawthorne.

The Sheriff's Department is on its way to investigate, along with Hawthorne PD.

I'm told the car, a black pickup truck, was reported missing recently in Orange County. So far, they don't know whether the body is male or female.

We'll have more later.

All together now:

This is it. This is it.

This is life, the one you get

So go and have a ball.

 

This is it. This is it

Straight ahead and rest assured

You can't be sure at all.

 

So while you're here enjoy the view

Keep on doing what you do

So hold on tight we'll muddle through

One day at a time, One day at a time.

 

So up on your feet. Up on your feet

Somewhere there's music playing.

Don't you worry none

We'll just take it like it comes.

 

One day at a time, one day at a time.

One day at a time, one day at a time.

One day at a time, one day at a time.

One day at a time, one day at a time.

Ok, now serious:

Actress Mackenzie Phillips, who gained fame on the TV show "One Day at a Time" was arrested at about 10 a.m. today at Terminal 4 at LAX.

Police told AP that Phillips was going through security for a flight to New York when screening turned up a small amount of heroin and cocaine.

Phillips, 48, is no stranger to drug abuse. She lost her job on TV  because of it and went through rehab.

Phillips is the daughter of John Phillips, founder of The Mamas and the Papas pop group.

I'm still waiting to hear when former Manhattan Beach police Sgt. Shawn Shelton will be moved from a prison in Nevada to Natchitoches, La. to face murder charges. Shelton, who was convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a boy in Las Vegas, is charged with killing 19-year-old Justin James of Winnfield, La.

Prosecutors contend he drugged James with a combination of Xanax, morphine and cocaine in an effort to sexually assault him. The drugs proved lethal.

I just became aware that James' sister, Destiny, has created a MySpace page in memory of her brother. I've said before that I keep in touch with James' mother, Lisa, who has waited for years for charges to be brought and court proceedings to begin. The page is called Justice for Justin. I noticed she lists her brother as "22 years old." He would have been 23 in January.

There's lots of photos and music in his memory.


Click below to read my original story on James' death from 2006.