The 818 Now

DOWNTOWN — A 19-year-old man arrested in connection with the death of his father was ordered Tuesday to stand trial for one felony count of involuntary manslaughter.

Noah Timothy Loock, of Burbank, was ordered to appear Jan. 15 in Pasadena Superior Court for a second arraignment following the 2008 death of his father Timothy Loock, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley.

The incident occurred shortly before 2 p.m. on Nov. 29, 2008, when police responded to a fight at the family home in the 1800 block of North Avon Street, authorities said.

Timothy Loock, 48, was rendered unconscious and transported to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, Burbank Police Sgt. Robert Quesada said.

Noah Loock fled the scene and was taken into custody later that day and booked on suspicion of killing his father, Quesada said.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office filed no charges at that time, and the investigation continued until the Los Angeles County coroner’s office ruled the official cause of death as a homicide, police said.

Coroner investigator Denise Bertone said a Dec. 2, 2008 autopsy revealed that Timothy Loock died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head and neck.

Noah Loock, a 2008 graduate of Burroughs High School, was released from custody on $25,000 bond.

Timothy Loock, an all-league wide receiver for the class of 1978 at Burbank High, went on to coach receivers and defensive backs at his alma mater until his death last season.

From the La Cañada Valley Sun:

A Pacoima man was arraigned last week on charges of mail theft and bank fraud for having cashed stolen checks belonging to two La Cañada Flintridge residents, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman.

Anthony Richard Thurn, 31, was indicted by a grand jury after having been arrested Oct. 2 in Sunland, according to a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. District Court of Central District of California.

Thurn, who is charged with four counts of bank fraud and two counts of possession of stolen mail, remains in custody without bail. He is a parolee with four felony convictions, according the complaint.

“Thurn was arrested and in court was ordered to be held without bond,” said U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Thom Mrozek. “The trial is set for Dec. 8.”

For more of this story, read here

Creative Commons

The urgency to close the courts once every month is a result of the statewide budget crisis.

Harvey Levin/Associated Press photo

The media world has been abuzz recently regarding TMZ founder Harvey Levin — though not for the usual reasons. Los Angeles Sheriff’s deputy investigators recently obtained phone records from the gossip journalist, attempting to find out who provided Levin details about Mel Gibson’s 2006 anti-Semitic rank during a drunk-driving arrest.

First Amendment defenders — if I may be so bold — say this is patently illegal. Law enforcement officials say it’s completely proper. Now, you may virulently disagree with Levin’s ways and methods, but keep this in mind: Most free speech law in this country has been shaped or created by less-than-sympathetic individuals. Besides, TMZ is based in Glendale, and I feel a need to stick up for the locals.

Though I have no idea whether Levin will be speaking about the issue, he will be speaking about something next week at a Radio and Television News Association event. Details are below.

The State of the News Business 2009
10/19/2009 @ 7:00 PM
The Radio & Television News Association of Southern California Presents:

“MAKING OR BREAKING NEWS: THE STATE OF THE NEWS BUSINESS 2009″

Monday, October 19, 2009

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:

Harvey Levin – Founder of TMZ

PANEL MEMBERS:

* Andy Ludlum – Program Director, KNX-1070 Newsradio and KFWB News/Talk 980
* Jose Rios – VP and News Director, KTTV-TV and KCOP-TV
* Kris Knutsen – Managing Editor, Local News Service

MODERATOR: Frank Mottek

WHEN:

* Monday, October 19, 2009
* Hors d’Oeuvres Reception: 6:00 – 7:00 PM
* Program: 7:00 – 8:30 PM
* Dessert Reception: 8:30 – 9:15 PM

WHERE: Lenart Auditorium, Fowler Museum at UCLA

ADMISSION COST: General Admission – $20, Students – $10, UCLA Students & Faculty – Free with Student or Faculty ID

PARKING: Convenient parking in Lot 4 on the UCLA campus.

Enter UCLA from Sunset Blvd. at Westwood Plaza.
Drive ahead to the Parking Information Booth in Lot 4.

PARKING COST: $10. Automated pay stations accept $1 and $5 bills and credit cards.

SPONSORS:

* Western States Petroleum Association
* City News Service
* UCLA

Burbank Police arrested two residents after they led officers on high-speed car chase Tuesday evening and slammed into an unsuspecting motorist, authorities said.

The driver, Suren Ginian, 20, was arrested and booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, hit and run, resisting arrest and evading police. He is being held without bail at the Burbank jail. Passenger Francisco Juarez, 23, was arrested and booked for resisting arrest. His bail was set at $10,000.

Both men are expected to appear in a Burbank courtroom Thursday. A third male suspect remains at large, Burbank Police Sgt. Robert Quesada said.

Neither Ginian nor Juarez had warrants for their arrest, police said. The case is being investigated.

Check out www.burbankleader.com for more.

We’re following up today on the legal battle between a landlord and Scholars Armenian School and Arts Center, which led me hunting for mold.

Not really. It was the school’s principal, Anahit Grigoryan, who did the leading.

We went into the basement of the building, the site where she spotted toxic mold and, eventually, asbestos.

Read the rest of this entry »

Two North Hollywood men convicted of four counts of attempted murder for shooting a Glendale man and his friends on Halloween four years ago were handed lengthy prison sentences Thursday.

Mkrtich Melkonian and Hrant Barsegyan, both 21, were sentenced to 57 years and 16 years in prison, respectively, after a jury in June found the pair guilty. Each of the total seven counts represented the number of victims who were reportedly inside the van that was shot at Oct. 31, 2005.

Melkonian and Barsegyan were inside a black SUV when they got into an argument with Glendale resident Narek Tovmasyan and his six friends. The groups began yelling at each other while driving on Glenoaks Boulevard.

Melkonian got out of his SUV at Glenwood Road and Alameda Avenue, walked toward the van and fired shots at it, hitting a Glendale man in the back. Read the rest of this entry »

CITY CENTER — Attorneys for a former Burbank police detective suing the city for racial discrimination in the workplace filed a second lawsuit against the city Tuesday, alleging that officials illegally disclosed confidential personnel and termination records to the media and members of the public for the purpose of harming the officer’s reputation.

Read the rest here.

Here is a confirmed copy of the July 28 complaint filed by attorneys of former Burbank Police Det. Christopher Lee Dunn against the city of Burbank for invasion of privacy, defamation, negligence and injunctive relief. Case No. BC418792. Story T/K.

CITY CENTER — A judge Tuesday denied a motion to terminate the final 11 months of unsupervised probation for deposed Police Commissioner John Brady, despite glowing letters from city leaders and arguments that he’d suffered enough punishment.

Brady, a well-known civil rights activist and president of the Burbank Human Relations Council, was stripped of his Police Commission membership last month over revelation that he is on unsupervised probation through June 2010 for a drunk-driving offense. It was his second attempt this month at having his probation terminated.

Judge Carlos Velarde ruled Brady must wait 90 days to resubmit his request, taking him out of the running to fill his old position on the police commission. The city clerk’s office is accepting applications through Friday.

“The one thing that upsets me is that if you have a DUI you can be mayor of the city of Burbank or even president of the United States of America, but not volunteer to serve on a small-town police commission,” said David D. Diamond, Brady’s attorney.

Assistant City Atty. Denny Wei argued that little has changed since July 2 when a judge refused to grant the request. He pointed to the seriousness of driving under the influence as well as complications with showing special treatment to noted civic leaders.

Information about the former commissioner’s background was provided to the council in a confidential memo from City Atty. Dennis Barlow after Police Chief Tim Stehr said he learned of the arrest from police officers. Read the rest of this entry »

A 34-year-old Burbank man accused of stabbing his live-in fiancee while their 3-year-old son watched in terror pleaded not guilty to attempted murder Friday in Pasadena Superior Court.

Adolfo Castillo is being held on $550,000 bail in Los Angeles County jail after stabbing his fiancee multiple times in the head and upper body before she escaped and was taken to a local hospital where she remains in serious but stable condition, Burbank Police Sgt. Robert Quesada said.

“He sliced all the way down to the bone,” the victim, Melissa D’Angelo, said Friday in a phone conversation from the hospital. “The back of my head is numb. My whole cranium, I still don’t feel it.” Read the rest of this entry »

Read the denial of claim here.

The city attorney’s office Thursday denied a second claim filed by attorneys representing a former Burbank police detective that alleges city executives illegally disclosed personnel and termination records to the media in an attempt to harm his reputation.

The claim, filed Wednesday, alleges City Atty. Dennis Barlow and Senior Assistant City Atty. Carol Humiston provided the private personnel file and termination notice for former police Det. Christopher Lee Dunn to the Leader “and other members of the press and general public” on July 16, the same day Dunn filed his race discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuit against the city.

The denial of claim is signed by Humiston.

Read more here.

Kevin Muldoon, whose two-man crew was the first to violate the city’s film permit policies since being amended in January, pleaded not guilty Thursday in a Burbank courtroom.

The longtime critic of City Hall and business partner, Steve Schuneman, face misdemeanor charges stemming from a May 1 incident at Bob’s Big Boy where they were capturing footage for their website, livecarshows.com, a collection of man-on-the-street videos of unusual automobiles and the stories behind them.

Both men were appointed public defenders and met briefly with their representatives before offering their pleas. Their court dates are scheduled for mid-September.

Read the rest of this entry »