NO NEW REMAINS FOUND IN SPEED FREAK KILLERS SEARCH: LINDEN (AP) — Authorities say they did not find any new human remains during a search of private property in the Central Valley that authorities felt may have been linked to the so-called Speed Freak Killers.
San Joaquin County Sheriff's spokesman Deputy Les Garcia says that sheriff's officials and FBI agents did not turn up anything during an excavation of the property in Linden on Tuesday. Garcia did not specify where the search was conducted, except to say it was near Highway 4.
Officials were searching for the remains of possible victims of Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog, who they say went on a methamphetamine-fueled killing spree in the 1980s and 90s. The two childhood friends have been linked to at least a dozen homicides.
Shermantine is now on death row and Herzog hanged himself in January after a bounty hunter told him Shermantine was disclosing locations of victims.
EAGLE SCOUT STEALS $24K FROM SCOUTS STORE: SANTA ANA (AP) — An Eagle Scout has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for stealing $24,000 from a Southern California Boy Scouts of America store he managed.
Orange County prosecutors say 30-year-old Christopher Robert Lanphar was also ordered on Tuesday to pay restitution and he was placed on three years' probation.
The Boy Scout store's assistant manager uncovered the scheme and Lanphar pleaded guilty to theft.
Lanphar took items from display shelves, scanned them into the computer register as returns and credited his personal checking and credit card accounts.
SF POLICE SAY 26 ARRESTED WHEN BUILDING CLEARED : SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Police have released details of arrests made when officers and sheriff's deputies cleared a building owned by the Catholic archdiocese in San Francisco that was occupied during May Day protests.
San Francisco police Sgt. Daryl Fong says 26 people were arrested when authorities went into the building at Turk and Gough streets around 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Most of the arrests were for trespassing, but 34-year-old Jesse Nesbitt was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and other other charges when police say he threw a brick that hit a bystander in the face.
Police say of the 26 people arrested, six had been arrested previously during earlier protests at the same building.
The arrests Wednesday morning came after about 200 people took over the building on Tuesday.
BURNED COUPLE SETTLES WILDFIRE SUIT FOR $6M: SANTA BARBARA (AP) — A badly burned Santa Barbara couple has settled their wildfire lawsuit against a property owner for $6 million.
Lance and Carla Hoffman were overtaken by flames and nearly killed in the November 2008 Tea Fire, which was started when partying college students left a campfire unattended in the Montecito hills above their rented home.
The wildfire destroyed more than 200 homes.
The couple's lawsuit claimed Mary K. Robinson and the trust in her name took no steps to prevent trespassing on the property.
Their lawyer David Nye says the Hoffmans have undergone dozens of surgeries and medical bills have reached nearly $5 million.
MAN CHARGED WITH ID THEFT FROM SHREDDED DOCUMENTS: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities say a man charged with stealing identities in Southern California made use of shredded documents.
The Los Angeles Times says 49-year-old Grant Lind is accused of piecing together 2-inch-long strips of shredded documents from trash bins to get the bank account numbers.
Prosecutors say he stole the information from about 20 different victims in the Santa Clarita area, including a church, and used it to print $16,000 worth of counterfeit checks.
His girlfriend, 46-year-old Tammy Combe, faces a single charge.
Lind was arrested for ID theft and check fraud in Ventura County in February.
CALIF. GOVERNOR, FIRST DOG CAMPAIGN FOR PET PLATES: LOS ANGELES (AP) — The governor and his first dog are stepping up to the plate.
In April, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill giving pet lovers more time to sell specialty license plates. Supporters need to pre-sell 7,500 plates before the pet lovers plate can be cast. The campaign needs to sell about 3,000 more plates.
On Wednesday, Brown and his Welsh corgi, Sutter, appeared at a Petco store with actor Pierce Brosnan and TV "Dog Whisperer" Cesar Milan to promote plate sales.
Money from sales will be used to pay for free or low-cost spay and neuter programs around the state. Supporters say that will help reduce the pet population and decrease the euthanasia rate.
Using his own dog and cat as models, Brosnan painted the artwork for the plate.
