HUMAN HEAD FOUND AMONG RECYCLING DEBRIS: OAKLAND (AP) — A human head has been found in a load of recycling debris at a facility in Oakland.
Workers at California Waste Solutions discovered the heavily decomposed skull Wednesday in a load dropped off for recycling.
Authorities did not immediately determine if the head came from a man or woman, how or how long ago the person had died.
Investigators are looking for any other human remains in the area.
California Waste Solutions processes recycling material from across the San Francisco Bay Area.
3 ARRESTED IN SUSPECTED ID THEFT RING IN SAN JOSE: SAN JOSE (AP) — Authorities say three people have been arrested for operating a sophisticated identity theft ring in San Jose.
The Contra Costa Times reports 35-year-old Toan Nguyen, 27-year-old Kent Do and 33-year-old Mai Huang were taken into custody May 1 on suspicion of identity theft, fraud, grand theft and counterfeiting. They are each being held on $5 million bail.
The newspaper says the Secret Service described the operation as "the most extensive and inclusive" ever seen in the South Bay.
The investigation started last year when an 85-year-old man lost about $100,000 after a checkbook was stolen from his home during a burglary.
Investigators say other victims' information was acquired through burglaries, mail theft and other means.
Police recovered equipment and supplies to make fraudulent credit cards, driver's licenses, counterfeit money, and fraudulent checks.
POWER STRIP BLAMED FOR DEADLY SONOMA COUNTY FIRE: CLOVERDALE (AP) — Fire officials in Sonoma County say a blaze that tore through a mobile home, killing a couple and their young son, started in an overloaded power strip.
Thirty-three-year-old Charles Baynes, his wife, 33-year-old Paula, and the couple's 4-year-old son, Philip, died in the pre-dawn fire in Cloverdale on Monday.
Cloverdale Fire Chief Jason Jenkins told the Press Democrat of Santa Rosa (http://bit.ly/130rnZ1) on Wednesday the power strip fed several extension cords and household electronics.
The fire started in the living room-kitchen area of the double-wide mobile home and spread down the hallway and into the bedroom.
Fire officials have previously said the home did not appear to have working smoke detectors.
Charles Baynes was found on a bed. Jenkins said his wife and son appeared to have been trying to get out.
BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB MEMBER SOUGHT IN HIT-AND-RUN : SAN FRANCICO (AP) — Prosecutors say they want the public's help in finding a former member of the Billionaire Boys Club who is wanted for a San Francisco hit-and-run accident that killed a pedestrian.
San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon said Thursday 52-year-old Reza Eslaminia is wanted on misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in the death of 29-year-old Edmund Ralph Capalla.
Prosecutors say Eslaminia was driving a cab when he ran a red light in the Tenderloin area Aug. 11, causing an accident in which his car spun out of control and hit Capalla while he was in a crosswalk.
Along with four others, Eslaminia was convicted of murdering his father but released in 2000 when his conviction was overturned. Tabloids dubbed the Los Angeles social and investment group he belonged to the "Billionaire Boys Club."
REPORT: OAKLAND'S POLICE LACK ACCOUNTABILITY: OAKLAND (AP) — A report by former Los Angeles police chief Bill Bratton says that high-ranking Oakland police officers are not being held properly accountable for the crimes occurring in the areas they oversee.
Bratton's consulting group on Thursday recommended that the department patrol the city in five districts, each led by a captain who will oversee a group of officers that can respond to crimes more effectively.
Bratton's group believes the city would see a reduction in crime within six months.
Acting Police Chief Anthony Toribio said the department had already established two districts in East Oakland prior to the report's release.
The report was issued a week after a court-appointed overseer criticized department leadership, and a day after Police Chief Howard Jordan surprisingly stepped down citing health issues.
