Free Republic

LOS ANGELES (AP) The longtime boyfriend of a Burbank city councilwoman has been charged with weapons and drug violations in connection with a notorious street gang. Scott Schaffer, companion of Burbank Councilwoman Stacey Jo Murphy, was charged Wednesday and is being held on suspicion of trading guns to a gang member for cocaine. Schaffer's attorney said his client would plead not guilty at his arraignment Monday. Schaffer was arrested July 13 after authorities found a gun registered in his name at the home of a San Fernando Valley gang member. Authorities said Schaffer traded two guns for cocaine. Court papers...

BURBANK, Calif. -- Police took down two Interstate 5 Freeway signs honoring slain Burbank police Officer Matthew Pavelka after they were defaced with a spray-painted "187" and a gang nickname, the Daily News reported on Friday. In gang graffiti parlance, "187" -- the California penal code section for murder -- is a death threat. For Burbank police, who are investigating the case as vandalism, the graffiti opened an old wound, according to the report. "What you have here is an individual who has given his life to a particular cause, and people just vandalize it," Burbank police Sgt. Jay Jette...

BURBANK, Calif. -- Burbank City Councilwoman Stacey Jo Murphy said Tuesday she will stay on the job despite her arrest on suspicion of cocaine possession and child endangerment. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- July 14 Images: Councilwoman Arrested June 29 Images: Vineland Boyz Arrests Police Arrest 22 During Operation Swift Intruder Burbank Councilwoman Accused Of Vineland Boyz Gang Ties -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I cannot comment specifically on the allegations made against me," Murphy wrote in a letter to City Manager Mary Alvord that was read at Tuesday's Burbank City Council meeting. "I intend to do the job you elected me to do, and I plan on...

Burbank Councilwoman Arrested # For Alleged Cocaine Possession, Child Endangerment Jul 15, 2005 7:40 am US/Pacific BURBANK, Calif. (AP) A city councilwoman was arrested for investigation of cocaine possession and child endangerment by members of a task force that recently raided a notorious street gang blamed in the shooting deaths of two police officers, authorities said Thursday. Councilwoman Stacey Jo Murphy, 47, was arrested Wednesday night at her home, where law enforcement agents served a federal search warrant, police said. She posted $100,000 bail and was released from jail Thursday. A phone call left for Murphy at her office Thursday...

Friends and acquaintances expressed shock and disbelief Friday at allegations that City Councilwoman Stacey Jo Murphy led a double life -- do-gooder civic leader and cocaine abuser who hung out at a bar with known gangsters. Murphy's arrest after police found drugs and guns at her Lima Street home grew out of a lengthy investigation into the notorious Vineland Boys street gang, which authorities blame for a long list of crimes, including the killing of Burbank police Officer Matthew Pavelka. Across Burbank, those who know Murphy, 47, were having trouble making the allegations jibe with their image of a successful...

BURBANK, Calif. - A city councilwoman was arrested on suspicion of cocaine possession after her boyfriend told authorities they had used the drug together and he had associated with a notorious street gang and sold guns to a member.