PARENTS JAILED FOR SHACKLING TEEN TO CHAIR: TWENTYNINE PALMS (AP) — Investigators say a Southern California couple has been jailed for shackling their teenage son to a chair in the living room each night for about six months.
San Bernardino County sheriff's investigators say the 17-year-old boy is in good health and he's in the custody of a family member.
Sgt. Jason Radeleff tells KCDZ radio that the boy told a family member that his parents had handcuffed him and pinned him with padlocked chains to a chair in the living room of the family home in desert Twentynine Palms.
The teen was released each morning.
Deputies arrested his 63-year-old mother Virginia Smith on Thursday. The boy's father Douglas Smith surrendered on Saturday.
They were booked for investigation of child cruelty. They are in jail with bail set at $100,000 each.
BODY OF MISSING INNER TUBE RIDER FOUND: CHICO (AP) — The body of a Northern California man has been found a week after he went missing while riding an inner tube on the Sacramento River.
The body of 20-year-old Brett Michael Olson was found on Sunday in the river near the Butte-Glenn county line.
Glenn County sheriff's deputies searched the river for a week.
Olson disappeared during a Sept. 2 river event.
The California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, student had joined thousands of other college students in a float down the river that takes place annually around the beginning of the school year.
OFF-DUTY OFFICER SHOOTS SUSPECT IN OAKLAND: OAKLAND (AP) — Oakland police say an off-duty law enforcement officer shot and wounded a man who tried to rob him near Lake Merritt.
The shooting occurred around 1:30 a.m. Monday. According to police, the officer told investigators he was out walking when he was approached by the suspect, who he said was armed and demanded money.
He perceived a threat to his life and opened fire.
Police spokeswoman Johnna Watson says the suspect was in stable condition at the hospital. Neither he nor the officer has been identified.
The agency the officer works for has also not been disclosed.
Watson says investigators recovered a replica firearm at the scene.
MAN HELD IN ABDUCTION OF CHILDREN APPEARS IN COURT
REDWOOD CITY (AP) — A man accused of kidnapping his two children and taking them on a stolen yacht has told a judge that he was trying to protect them from an abusive home.
Christopher Maffei, 43, did not enter a plea on Monday to charges of kidnapping, child endangerment and burglary. He is due back in San Mateo County Superior Court on Sept. 17.
Maffei is accused of forcibly taking his 3-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son from their grandmother while the children's mother was in court seeking a restraining order against him.
Police say Maffei took a yacht from an Alameda marina and headed south along California's coast.
Authorities say the Coast Guard, FBI and police caught up with him near Monterey after a fisherman reported seeing him in the vessel, and Maffei surrendered without incident.
MOODY'S SAYS CALIF. PENSION FIX IS POSITIVE STEP: SACRAMENTO (AP) — Moody's is calling California's pension reform plan a positive development for the state and local governments.
The ratings agency said Monday that the bill helps the credit outlook for California and local governments, many of which participate in state plans.
Lawmakers approved a pension reform bill last month that significantly reduces retirement benefits for new workers.
Moody's says cities and counties will save the most because employees will have to start paying half their retirement costs.
The California Public Employees' Retirement System estimates the fund will save between $42 billion and $55 billion over 30 years. The California State Teachers' Retirement System pegged its savings at $22.7 billion over 30 years.
Moody's assigns California an A1 rating, which is the second lowest in the nation ahead of Illinois.
USDA BUYING MEAT AGAIN FROM HANFORD SLAUGHTERHOUSE: HANOFRD (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is buying meat again from a Central California slaughterhouse that's been at the center of an animal cruelty investigation.
A statement the USDA issued Monday says that Central Valley Meat Co.'s improved oversight for animal welfare prompted the government to reinstate purchases for federal feeding programs.
Officials with the Food Safety and Inspection Service concluded last week that there was no evidence of sick cattle entering the food supply after an undercover video showed workers kicking and shocking downed cattle in an attempt to herd them to slaughter.
The USDA will conduct quarterly audits at the Hanford company until it successfully completes four audits in a row.
The government suspended its purchases last month after seeing the video recorded by the animal welfare organization Compassion Over Killing.
COMMUNITY MEETINGS ON VIOLENT ARRESTS: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck has ordered his 21 stations to hold community meetings to discuss recent videotaped violent arrests that have raised questions about use of force by officers.
One of the videos shows officers tackling a Venice skateboarder who they say resisted arrest.
Another shows a handcuffed woman slammed to the ground during a Tujunga arrest. The woman was pulled over for holding a cellphone while driving.
The third involved a South Los Angeles woman who died after being placed in a police car. Police say the squad car camera shows a female officer stomping on her genitals during the struggle.
JUVENILE HALL OFFICER ARRESTED FOR BAR SHOOTING
COVINA (AP) — Investigators say an off-duty Southern California juvenile hall officer shot a man during an argument at a Covina bar.
Michael Sanchez, 53, was arrested Sunday and he was booked for investigation of attempted murder. Bail is set at $1 million.
The Los Angeles County Probation Department officer works at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey.
Covina investigators say Sanchez shot the 34-year-old man during an argument on Aug. 26 at Katie Jakes Bar & Grill.
Surveillance video led to the arrest.
WILD WEATHER BRINGS FLOODING TO SOUTHERN CALIF. : LOS ANGELES (AP) — Monsoonal moisture and warm temperatures were expected to bring more thunderstorms to the desert and mountain areas of Southern California on Monday after a round of wild weather that caused flash flooding and left several thousand homes without power.
Thunderstorms dumped rain and caused flash flooding on Sunday in northern Los Angeles County, while lightning strikes sparked a small fire in the San Bernardino National Forest.
Strong winds produced a blinding dust storm in the Borrego Springs area and knocked down power lines that forced the closure of a portion of Interstate 10 near Palm Springs for a couple of hours.
The wind gusts also downed trees in inland San Diego County and cause a power outage to about 4,000 homes in San Bernardino County.
A Temecula woman was killed Sunday after she lost control of her pickup truck on a freeway in heavy rain.
