Los Angeles, Ca
4 busted with 'hundreds of pounds' of stolen avocados from Southern California farm
Four Los Angeles County residents were arrested and booked into jail on conspiracy charges after they were pulled over with hundreds of pounds of stolen avocados in their vehicle.
The arrests were made possible thanks to a county-wide neighborhood watch program called Farm Watch, a partnership with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and hundreds of local farms, ranches and nurseries.
On Sunday around 2:40 p.m., sheriff’s deputies from the FIllmore station responded to a ranch on the 3000 block of Telegraph Road that had reported a major avocado theft.
The victim was able to provide detailed information about the suspect vehicle, which was located by patrol officers as it attempted to flee the area.
A traffic stop was conducted which led to the identification of four suspects: David Melchor, 18; Jesus Pozos, 23; Valentin Pozos, 33; and Epifania Pozos, 37. All four are residents of Norwalk in L.A. County, officials said.
Inside the vehicle, deputies discovered “hundreds of pounds of stolen avocados,” which were returned to the rancher.
The four suspects are described as an agricultural theft group that may have targeted other businesses in the Santa Clara Valley, officials said.
All four were booked into the Ventura County Pre-Trial Detention Facility to await felony charges for agricultural theft and conspiracy, as well as misdemeanor trespassing charges.
They are due in court on June 11 and are being held on $10,000 bail each, jail records show.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office encourages members of the agriculture community to join the Farm Watch program to receive electronic alerts and information about latest crime trends.
Closing arguments were held today in the civil trial to determine the financial responsibility for the deaths of 11-year-old Mark Iskander and 8-year-old Jacob Iskander, who were hit and killed while crossing the street with their family in Westlake Village in September of 2020. Jurors will decide how much responsibility two defendants bear for the […]
Los Angeles, Ca
Sticker shock not just affecting World Cup match ticket prices, but parking costs too
Many people who are going to a World Cup match this summer, including the author of this article, forked over some serious money to get inside the stadium to see some action. And while prices for the matches themselves have attracted most of the (negative) attention online, there is another fee that is creeping up on […]
Los Angeles, Ca
Ballots burned, vote center vandalized in possible acts of election interference, Los Angeles County officials say
Ballots were found burned and a voting center in Long Beach was vandalized in what could be two separate acts of attempted election interference ahead of the June 2 primary election, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder announced Sunday.
The burned ballots were discovered inside an official ballot drop box at the Department of Public Social Services-Civic Center in Los Angeles, during routine ballot collections, according to the county registrar-recorder.
“Staff identified a limited number of vote-by-mail ballots that appeared to have sustained fire-related damage,” the county registrar-recorder said.
The fire happened sometime between the last ballot collection on Saturday and first ballot collection on Sunday, resulting in a “small number” of affected ballots, officials said.
On Sunday morning, vandalism was found at the voting center in Cesar E. Chavez Park in Long Beach. Election workers responded and voting operations were not disrupted, according to the county registrar-recorder.
The county registrar-recorder said that it is “carefully reviewing both incidents and working to identify any voters who may have been affected.”
Voters whose ballots were affected by the fire will be contacted directly and given information on how to recast their vote. Replacement ballots are a possibility, the county registrar-recorder said.
The county registrar-recorder has filed reports with the Los Angeles Police Department following the incidents. Los Angeles County Clerk Dean Logan issued a statement Sunday reminding the public that attempts to disrupt voting, damage election infrastructure, interfere with voters, or vandalize election facilities “will not be tolerated.”
“Our responsibility is to protect voters and ensure every eligible voter has the opportunity to cast a ballot,” Logan said. “Any attempt to interfere with voting or election operations is taken seriously. We will continue working closely with law enforcement and other partners to safeguard the voting process and ensure voters can participate with confidence.”
The public is encouraged to report any suspicious activity involving election materials, election facilities, or voting operations to the county registrar-recorder by calling (800) 815-2666.
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