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LAPD chasing stolen vehicle kidnap suspect live.

California Highway Patrol chief, arrested last year on suspicion of drunken driving and charged with failing to obey a command from a peace officer, is set to assume one of the department's highest-profile jobs. Deputy Chief Gary Dominguez, scheduled to become commander in the CHP's Los Angeles-area division, was not charged with drunken driving, but faced the misdemeanor charge of failing to comply with a peace officer's order after officers had to forcibly remove him from his vehicle. The charge was later dropped when the main witness was unavailable to testify, Pasadena Chief Prosecutor Connie Orozco said in an interview...

Speedy memorial Custom chopper honors fallen officers By Kevin Felt Staff Writer Saturday, April 16, 2005 - SANTA FE SPRINGS -- Soon after California Highway Patrol Officer Thomas Steiner was shot to death outside the Pomona C ourthouse last year, another officer at the Santa Fe Springs station where Steiner worked began thinking of ways to honor his fallen colleague. What emerged was a one-of-a kind custom chopper, powered by lithium-ion technology, that will be used to memorialize not only Steiner but each of the 202 CHP officers who have been killed in the line of duty since 1929. "I...

A California Highway Patrol chief tapped to lead a new workers' compensation fraud unit filed his own contested injury claim before getting the job, a potential conflict that the appointing commissioner said he didn't know about at the time. Chief Brian Kilmer made another injury claim after he took over the fraud unit last fall and after he became the subject of a CHP internal investigation. Kilmer, 44, who returned to work part time this week, has been reassigned to a job reviewing CHP recruitment pending the resolution of his workers' comp cases, CHP Commissioner Mike Brown said Thursday. "You...

POMONA, Calif. (AP) - A 16-year-old boy who admitted shooting to death a California Highway Patrol officer outside a courthouse to impress a street gang was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Valentino Mitchell Arenas pleaded guilty in December to first-degree murder for killing Officer Thomas Steiner, 35, outside the Pomona courthouse on April 21, 2004. Pomona Superior Court Judge Philip Gutierrez issued the maximum sentence. Arenas was not eligible for the death penalty because of his age. During the sentencing hearing, Steiner's wife, Heidi, called Arenas a "cold-blooded" killer. "This was the ultimate hate...

CHP Officer Rams Into SUV With Illegal Immigrants Five People Treated For Minor Injuries POSTED: 10:57 am PST March 10, 2005 SAN DIEGO -- A California Highway Patrol officer rammed his cruiser into a SUV loaded with illegal immigrants on a freeway onramp in El Cajon to bring the vehicle to a stop, authorities said Thursday. The officer and his partner spotted a Chevrolet Suburban speeding west on Interstate 8 and tried to pull it over around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, CHP Officer Brian Pennings said. The Suburban exited at Mollison Street, ran two red lights and got back onto the...

<p>Shots have been fired at the Smith County courthouse. Four shot, two confirmed dead. Suspect is in custody at Highway 271 and Gentry. Stay tuned to KLTV and KLTV.com for more.</p>

The California Highway Patrol's explanation for a high rate of disability claims among its chiefs doesn't add up, according to a report released Thursday by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office. The report recommends that the Legislature require the CHP to investigate why 80 percent of its chiefs get medical pensions, compared to about 60 percent of rank-and-file officers. A CHP report in October noted the discrepancy but suggested it was because chiefs retire at later ages with more years of service - factors that could lead to a higher rate of workplace injuries. But the Legislative Analyst's Office, in its...

Like on KCAL 9 LAPD witnessed drive by shooting, pursuing suspect to Mission Viejo.....

Another of the California Highway Patrol's top administrators claims to have been injured at headquarters in Sacramento shortly before he headed out the door for retirement. Gary Townsend, one of the top three assistants of former Commissioner D.O. "Spike" Helmick, said in a workers' compensation claim that he injured his left foot and ankle as he was moving items out of his office Sept. 30. That was two weeks after the arrival of Helmick's successor, Mike Brown, who was replacing Townsend and other top administrators with his own assistants. Townsend said he put in his paperwork for retirement even before...

WEST COVINA — A 16-year-old boy pleaded guilty Monday to murdering a California Highway Patrol officer from Long Beach outside the Pomona courthouse. Valentino Mitchell Arenas agreed to accept one of two sentences for the April 21 shooting of Thomas Steiner: 50 years to life in state prison or life with no chance for parole. A judge will decide between the two on Jan. 28.

My son was up at midnight finishing a college paper. At midnight there was a very lound knock on at door. This scares the heck out of my son. He peeks through our peep hole to see two CHP officers standing at our door. He opens the door wanting to know what in the world in going on? They quickly inform him that they are there to see him. He correctly refuses to let them in, because he is not convinced that they are really CHP officer Turns out that they were there to accuse my son of causing a...

Hurdles to reducing the high number of disability retirements in the California Highway Patrol are many: Prosecutors won't prosecute. Legislators won't legislate. Fraud investigators won't investigate. Faced with this quandary last spring, CHP Commissioner Spike Helmick threw up his hands in exasperation. "I don't know how someone ever stops it except by drawing a big line in the sand," said Helmick, who stepped down in September. Now some say the time for that big line may be here. Prosecutors, legislators and investigators are aligning to try to change a system marred by an attitude that industrial disability pensions - designed...

VISTA – Jurors began deliberating yesterday in the case of a Poway lawyer accused of not stopping for a CHP officer because she wanted to get her child to school on time. Stacy Taylor, 44, a patent lawyer, is charged with misdemeanor counts of evading a peace officer with reckless driving, child endangerment and resisting an officer. The charges stem from an incident Jan. 16 that started near the gated entrance to Fairbanks Ranch. At some point, Taylor drove away from a traffic stop at Circa del Norte and San Dieguito Road and drove about five miles to Del Mar...

California Highway Patrol Commissioner D.O. "Spike" Helmick, who has criticized fellow officers who too liberally used past injuries to beef up their retirement benefits, is seeking that type of lucrative pension himself. On Friday, neither Helmick nor the state retirement system would describe the injuries involved. But in workers' compensation cases Helmick filed during the past three years, the 59-year-old commissioner said he injured his back falling off his office chair and hurt his knee riding a stationary bike. The cases also cited the cumulative effects of traffic accidents and scuffles. The commissioner is seeking an industrial disability retirement after...

The California Highway Patrol issued four times as many speeding tickets than usual to motorists buzzing along Interstate 80 in Sacramento, Placer and Yolo counties during the agency's most recent "zero tolerance day." On April 28, Valley Division officers handed out 411 speeding citations and 211 tickets for other traffic and vehicle violations. [snip] On a zero-tolerance day, the CHP beefs up the number of patrol units on the roadways. The goal is for drivers to see other motorists being ticketed or notice larger numbers of patrol units and cut their speed, Ward said.

POMONA -- Prosecutors charged a 16-year-old boy with the murder of a peace officer on Friday, alleging he shot and killed a California Highway Patrol officer outside the Pomona Courthouse Wednesday to impress a gang that had rebuffed him in the past. Authorities say Valentino Mitchell Arenas shot 35-year-old Thomas Steiner in the head during a drive-by shooting because he aspired to become a member of a Pomona street gang and wanted to enhance his reputation.

Officer Shot Outside Courthouse Dies POSTED: 3:15 PM PDT April 21, 2004UPDATED: 7:51 PM PDT April 21, 2004 LOS ANGELES -- CHP spokesman Tom Marshall said 35-year-old CHP officer died at a Pomona hospital where he was taken following a shooting outside a Pomona courthouse Wednesday afternoon.Images From Shooting Scene He suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head.The officer is identified as Thomas Steiner. He is a five-year veteran.Reports say the officer leaves a wife and a 3-year-old son.According to CHP Officer Armando Clemente, Steiner was standing in front of the courthouse when a man shot him in the...

LOS ANGELES -- An arrest has been made in the shooting death of a California Highway Patrol officer outside the Pomona courthouse. Images From Shooting Scene The announcement was made during a press conference Thursday morning. Thomas Steiner was shot three times Wednesday afternoon while standing in front of the Pomona South Courthouse. He was 35 years old. With tears in his eyes, Pomona Police Chief James Lewis told a news conference a 16-year-old juvenile was taken into custody early Thursday in Pomona. Lewis says the suspect was looking to kill a police officer. "There is no indication at all...

<p>A motorist was injured Friday when a window of her car exploded as she drove on a stretch of Interstate 580 in the East Bay where a sniper is suspected of firing shots at five other vehicles this week, the California Highway Patrol said.</p>

My daughter just called me, said something is going down on Hwy 15 North, said the Carroll Canyon exit is closed down, saw about 15 motorcycle cops with their lights on go by, now a bunch of border patrol cars with their lights on. Anyone know what's going down?

A two-car motorcade reportedly carrying Gov. Gray Davis raced through northern San Luis Obispo County Saturday night, traveling well above the speed limit on a highway once dubbed "Blood Alley." California Highway Patrol Commissioner D.O. "Spike" Helmick confirmed the two cars were going approximately 90 mph on Highway 46 east of Paso Robles in San Luis Obispo County where a Templeton-based CHP officer tried to pull over the fast-moving duo. The speed limit on the road is 55 mph. "They shouldn't drive that fast," Helmick said, adding he intends to investigate the incident. "The bottom line is we have to...

<p>Eric Luhrs leads fellow California Highway Patrol Officers Tony Pineiro, center, and David Lavezzoli on horseback patrol at the state Capitol. "When people know there's 1,000 pounds behind a horse, they really don't want to mess with that," Luhrs says.</p>

<p>SACRAMENTO (AP) - Nearly 370 California Highway Patrol officers were sent notices Tuesday that they could be laid off this fall because of the state's dire fiscal condition.</p> <p>The surplus notices, a bureaucratic step needed before actual layoffs can be imposed, are being issued this month to nearly 10,000 state workers at more than 70 of the state's 150 departments and agencies.</p>

<p>I am the mother of a daughter in the U.S. Air Force. I'm in my 40's and generally try to conduct myself as a lady. I must admit to feeling _very_ unladylike over the last few weeks. I am absolutely appalled at what is befalling my country and am becoming quite militant in my beliefs. I have always felt that everyone is entitled to his/her opinion. I would fight to my last breath for anyone to be able to express that opinion freely regardless of how idiotic or worthy I personally felt that opinion to be. This is what makes our country great.</p>

<p>SACRAMENTO - When Maria Contreras-Sweet wants a ride to the airport, she rings up the California Highway Patrol. When she is invited to talk to grocers in Palm Springs, the CHP drives her. When she needs to get from her Los Angeles area home to a breakfast in Orange County, the Highway Patrol comes to her door.</p>

<p>The California Highway Patrol rolled out its latest weapon in big rig enforcement Wednesday - a fleet of white Camaros designed to blend into highway traffic.</p> <p>Seventy Camaros - they cost $25,000 each and can reach 160 mph - will be deployed throughout the state, six of them in the Sacramento area.</p>

<p>San Francisco -- An anti-war protest on the Golden Gate Bridge turned ugly Saturday when police stopped northbound traffic to arrest demonstrators, causing a backup several miles long.</p> <p>Authorities arrested 30 of the approximately 150 participants in the march, organized by the All People's Coalition to Stop U.S. Terror and Occupation.</p>

<p>California Highway Patrol officers secured the state offices of the state Department of Information Technology Thursday to prevent removal or shredding of documents related to the unfolding Oracle computer investigation.</p> <p>CHP Commissioner Spike Helmick said at 12:30 p.m. that representatives of the state attorney general’s office were on their way to the offices.</p>