Some mallgoers in a Santa Clarita Valley neighborhood were surprised by a trio of motorcyclists riding through the food court Saturday night.  

The chaotic scene unfolded at the Town Center Mall in Valencia where three suspects on two dirt bikes, likely juveniles, were captured on cellphone video obtained by KTLA cruising through the food court area at a relatively high speed.  

A restaurant manager at the mall, Chris Hernandez, said the fast-driving suspects evaded mall security, which was slow to respond.  

“It was loud. I saw the motorcycles come up through the mall,” the restaurant manager told KTLA’s Sandra Mitchell. “To me, it’s a big no, no because there’s little kids all over the place and somebody’s going to end up getting hurt.”  

Other mall employees who spoke to KTLA say this is not even the first time that dirt bikes riders have made their way inside the mall.  

“They’re very bold,” Matthew Montano, who works at a restaurant in the mall, said. “It’s usually happened in the last year, though, a little frequently.”  

So far, authorities with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department have not made any arrests, though Sgt. Guillermo Martinez said the three suspects could face felony charges if caught.  

“People are there for the shopping experience. They’re not going to expect having a motorcycle ride right past them,” he told KTLA. “That could be threat of serious danger, injury to them as well as to the riders of the motorcycles.”  

Just an hour after the mall incident, a teenager on a motorcycle who was reportedly driving in the wrong way in traffic at the intersection of Railroad Avenue and Oak Ridge Drive was killed.  

Several posts on social media report that it was one of the drivers in the mall motorcycle incident, though law enforcement officials have yet to confirm that.  

What officials with the sheriff’s department did say, however, is that they will be increasing patrols in the area.  

“We will be out there, and we will take a zero-tolerance approach,” Sgt. Martinez told KTLA. “If we see it, we will either cite, confiscate, arrest or impound depending on what the circumstances are, but we are ramping up enforcement.”  

Authorities added that they are seeing more of this type of dangerous activity, especially since e-bikes, many of which resemble dirt bikes, have become more common and that deputies on motorcycles and ATV’s will be enlisted to chase the suspects down.  

SAN MARINO, Calif. (KTLA) – An investigation is underway after firefighters battling a house fire in San Marino discovered the body of a woman inside, officials announced Monday.  

Fire crews responded to reports of the blaze in the 2000 block of Lorain Road just before 10 a.m., according to a news release from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.  

Sky5 captured aerial footage of the incident, with neighbors telling KTLA’s Jennifer McGraw that they saw fire coming from the rear of the home, near the kitchen.  

It wasn’t until after firefighters knocked the flames down that they made the gruesome discovery.  

“It’s definitely not normal, it’s pretty uneventful around here,” one neighbor told KTLA. “I’ve lived here all my life, and I can say this is not common at all. I think I’ve probably seen two big crimes happen in my 21 years of living here.”  

Responding L.A. County Sheriff’s homicide investigators quickly learned that a husband, wife and their two children live in the home and were working to figure out what the caused the fire and if there’s been any reports of violence at the home in the past.  

“The only thing we’ve been told is that there was a petty theft call and a wild animal call, but nothing of any domestic violence nature,” Lt. Steve DeJong told reporters.  

Authorities added that the woman’s family is cooperating with the investigation and that they are trying to determine if the fire was simply a horrific accident or involved potential foul play.  

Surveillance cameras in and around the property may provide investigators with that information, though officials have to obtain search warrants before getting the video.  

“Due to the sensitivity of [the investigation], we are going to wait before we make any statements about what we’re uncovering,” DeJong said.  

TURLOCK, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed a $322 billion budget without a deficit, a welcome change after two years of significant budget shortfalls in the nation’s most populous state.

But the budget Newsom announced Monday is mostly a placeholder as California waits to see if incoming President Donald Trump will follow through on threats to revoke billions in federal dollars, which could force lawmakers to make painful cuts to essential programs. About a third of California’s budget relies on funding from the federal government, including tens of billions to provide health care services. Trump takes office Jan. 20, and Newsom must sign the final budget by the end of June.

California lawmakers already opened a special session to consider giving a fresh $25 million to Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office to defend against or take on potential legal challenges from the Trump administration. Fights are likely between California and Washington, D.C., over climate policy and immigrant rights. State senators have also proposed additional funding to provide free legal services to immigrant communities.

Newsom’s administration plans to provide more details on the budget proposal on Friday, the deadline to present it to lawmakers. Newsom announced the numbers early before heading out of state for former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral services.

Newsom said he’s proposing little new spending, but the budget does allow the state to fully implement the country’s first universal transitional kindergarten program, which will make such school free for some 400,000 4-year-olds in California. That’s an effort Newsom has championed since 2021. His plan also includes doubling the state’s film and TV tax credit to $750 million annually to bring back Hollywood jobs that have gone to New York and Georgia.

He said good planning in the last budget allowed the state to avoid a major shortfall this year.

“Last year, we endeavored to make this year’s budget a nonevent,” Newsom said.

The governor’s office also estimates tax revenues for this year are $16.5 billion above projections, thanks to the booming stock market and rapid income growth for high-income Californians.

That has helped the state weather the sluggish economy with limited job growth and ongoing weak consumer spending.

California’s economy is the fifth largest in the world. Last year the state faced an estimated $46.8 billion budget deficit and in the year before, a $32 billion budget shortfall. The state also saved $1.2 billion over two years by eliminating roughly 6,500 vacant positions in state departments and another $3.5 billion from cutting travel budgets and modernizing IT systems, Newsom said.

Still, such deficits have forced the state to pare back or delay some of its progressive policies that were fueled by record-breaking surpluses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Newsom poked at Trump’s planned Department of Government Efficiency, to be run by Elon Musk, by noting he created an Office of Data and Innovation designed to streamline government back in 2019.

“Our D.O.G.E. is spelled O.D.I.,” he said.

Unlike most states, California taxes capital gains — mostly money made from investments and stocks — the same rate as money made from wages and salaries. The result is nearly half of the state’s income tax collections comes from only 1% of the population. That has led to unpredictable, large swings in revenue in California’s budget.

In November, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office warned the state will face double-digit shortfalls in the next five years. That could curtail California’s ability to shield its programs from Trump’s attacks.