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Hermosa Beach Crime Reports for Years 2001 and 2000
HB Crime 2005 HB Crime 2004 HB Crime 2003 HB Crime 2002 HB Crime 2001
HB Downtown March to Jan. of 2005 HB Downtown Dec. to Aug. of 2004
1998-2003 HB Crime Stats HBPD Community Policing
1998-2003 HB Crime Stats Compared to Manhattan Beach
Hermosa Beach Crime Statistics - 1998 thru 2003
Rape Burglary Non-Injury ALL DUI Criminal ALL Total Calls
Auto Acc. Assaults Citations Arrests for Service
1998 -- 8 113 201 77 150 562 624 19,951
1999 -- 6 118 170 119 203 613 692 21,378
2000 -- 6 145 195 97 152 545 629 25,147
2001 -- 9 104 176 141 170 668 873 32,422
Crime Statistics from: The Hermosa Beach Police Department Activity Reports
Hermosa Beach Crime Reports - compiled by Whitney Youngs of The Beach Reporter.
The Easy Reader - February 14, 2002
by Robb Fulcher
Crime rates were continuing to decline or remain level compared to years past,
with the exception of a significant rise in assaults tied largely to activity
around the thriving Pier Plaza nightspots, Police Chief Mike Lavin said.
Analyzing his department’s year-end crime statistics, Lavin singled out the rise
in assaults as significant. The Police Department recorded 141 reported assaults
last year, a 45 percent increase from the year before, and 32 percent above the
average annual number of assaults through the last seven years. “We looked at
assaults citywide and about 40 percent occurred in the downtown area,” Lavin
said.
The department defined downtown as the small area bounded by the Strand to the
west, 15th Street to the north, Palm Drive to the east and 10th Street to the
South. Nearly half the downtown assaults occurred on the Plaza itself, Lavin
said. “It continues to be a very popular area. Tons of people come down here,”
Lavin said. “We’re seeing more nightlife down there on Sunday nights and
Thursday nights. Talking to Redondo and Manhattan, we’ve stolen all their
nightlife. They don’t have anything going on there.”
Still, Lavin said, the assault rate is not especially high considering the
numbers of people who congregate at the five-year-old Plaza. Crime is also well
reported in that area because of the stiff police presence on busy Plaza nights,
he said. “We didn’t need those statistics to tell us that most of the assaults
occur downtown, and where do we put most of our resources? Downtown,” he said.
Police have urged downtown establishments to serve beverages in plastic rather
than glass at night, because of injuries caused by people falling on glassware
during fights, Lavin said. “For years we’ve encouraged them not to serve in
glass after 9 or 10 p.m. Some do and some don’t, we can’t make them do that,” he
said. “We’ve had incidents of fights where people fell and cut themselves pretty
badly. We’ve had batteries turn into assault with a deadly weapon. We’ve had
misdemeanors become felonies.
Assaults also include domestic violence and child abuse as well as strangers or
acquaintances attacking each other, Lavin said. Burglary decreased sharply, to
104 last year, compared to 145 in 2000, and a seven-year average of 168.
Last year saw an increase in rape to nine incidents. The year before the number
was six, the same as the seven-year average. “A lot of them are date rape
situations and either they are so intoxicated on drugs or alcohol that they
can’t take care of themselves, or they’ve been given something to make them
extremely intoxicated, and they are taken advantage of that way,” Lavin said.
“Most of them know the person they are with.”
Lavin pointed to a nationwide problem of women being attacked after they become
intoxicated on drugs or alcohol, on their own or through a surreptitiously given
drug.
In Hermosa, a Police Department report in August 2001
found that two thirds of the nine reported rapes over a one-year period occurred
in the small downtown area. “It’s unfortunate that women who live that
lifestyle down there get in that situation, and there are a lot of wolves down
there ready to take advantage of them,” Lavin said. “It’s pretty sick.”
No reported murders were listed in 2001. In December a slain body was discovered
at a residential construction site, but police believe the murder occurred
outside the city lines.
The Beach Reporter - February 21, 2002
Beach Talk: A word about race in crime reporting (2/21)
By Garrison Frost
When I first joined The Beach Reporter in 1994, the newspaper had a policy about reporting the race of suspects in crime stories -- we didn't. If the police told us they were looking for a 6-foot-tall Hispanic male wearing dark sunglasses and a white baseball cap who was wanted for robbing a liquor store, we would print everything except the part about his being Hispanic.
We've since improved our policy, but that hasn't kept us from receiving complaints on a regular basis. I myself have problems with our current policy, but I have yet to find one that's better. Our earlier policy was an attempt to avoid contributing to racial stereotyping. Several studies in recent years have shown that the news media inaccurately depicts crime as a nonwhite phenomenon. We were aware of this and wanted to avoid being part of the problem, particularly because the communities we serve are predominately white.
Good intentions aside, the policy didn't serve our readers well in that it deprived them of important information that might have been useful in apprehending, or at least avoiding, the criminals. When reporting on any crime, a newspaper always makes decisions as to what the reader needs to know. Information about the victim, for instance, is often left out for reasons of privacy. It's also quite common to avoid giving the name of someone who has been arrested, but not yet charged, for a sex crime because of how those types of crimes can irreparably tarnish one's name.
It is for this reason that the news media rarely specifies the race of someone who has already been arrested. If it's not going to help people stay safe or catch the crook, why mention it? When the suspect is still at large, however, the reader needs to know more. The newspaper has a duty to help the community protect itself while still providing fair, accurate and responsible coverage.
This newspaper's current policy is to print the racial descriptions of crime suspects provided by police if the overall descriptions seem dependable. Racial information will typically be omitted from descriptions that are vague or sketchy because the risk of doing damage to a particular ethnic community then outweighs any possibility that the information might be used to protect one's self or apprehend the suspect. Let me say up front that I've never been thrilled by this policy. I would love to have one that relies less on subjectivity and more on a specific set of criteria.
Some people will grouse that we should just print the same information that the police release to us. The reason we don't automatically do that is because the police and the newspaper have different goals. The police are out to catch the bad guys, and they do everything they can to achieve that goal. Sometimes that means casting as wide a net as possible. They might, for instance, issue a press release saying that the purse-snatcher was black even though the victim only saw the man from the back for half a second. If their racial description turns out to be wrong, the police will still feel that they did the best with what they had.
Newspapers have a different duty. They have to provide reliable information that is of use to its readers. And they have to be responsible for how their stories affect the community. People rarely read a suspect description of a white person and make generalizations about all white people; however, it has been proven that people will make such associations with nonwhites. So if we're going to provide these descriptions, we need to make sure we're doing it responsibly.
Some newspapers do relay exactly what the police tell them. In so doing, they usually pass off the risk by attributing the information to the police, letting them take responsibility for it. I've always felt that's a cop-out, if you'll excuse the pun. Determining race is tricky. Victims and witnesses are sometimes wrong.
For instance, in 1993, following the shooting of Manhattan Beach Police Officer Martin Ganz, authorities released a composite sketch of the suspect, identifying him as probably Filipino. Roger Hoan Brady, who was eventually convicted of the crime, looked like the sketch but wasn't Filipino. In 1997, in Redondo Beach, two young girls told a teacher that a Hispanic man in a truck tried to lure them into his vehicle with candy. Police sent out a press release describing the suspect's race which some newspapers ran. Several days later, the police issued another press release stating that the girls made the entire story up. There are other notable examples, both in the South Bay and throughout the country.
People might ask what was the harm done by these inaccuracies. In terms of the quality of the police investigations, probably none. In terms of the people who were scrutinized by the police and the community solely because of their race, we'll never know. Police departments include racial information with just about every press release they issue. Sometimes those descriptions are detailed, and thus more likely to be accurate, and sometimes they are less reliable. In the latter cases, the newspaper is forced to make a decision about whether it's appropriate to publish it.
How this newspaper determines whether a suspect description is probably credible is based on a number of factors, but the primary determinant is how much information there is. If the police press release says that the suspect is a black man of average height between the ages of 20 and 40, I can only assume that the victim didn't get that good a look at the criminal. Further, it's pretty clear to me that, given the ambiguity of the description, including the suspect's race isn't going to help anybody identify the crook. However, if the police tell me they're looking for a Caucasian man in his mid-20s with a scar on his left cheek wearing blue sunglasses, a goatee, red checkered shirt and faded tan jeans, then I can be pretty sure the victim got a good look at the person, and I can confidently publish that description.
Other clues can also be found in the narrative of the crime itself. If the crime happened very quickly, as in a purse-snatching or surprise assault, then the victim probably didn't get that good a look at the suspect. However, victims will usually see the criminal clearly during a takeover holdup or rape. Another question to consider is what kind of danger the suspect in a particular crime presents to the public. Is the severity of the crime, and the danger of it being repeated, sufficient enough to risk printing erroneous suspect information? And, of course, one factor that I don't want to diminish is the needs of the Police Department in question. We do believe that the police have the best interests of the community at heart, and their judgment means a great deal to us.
As I said above, we get a lot of complaints about our policy. People wonder why one newspaper identified certain suspects by race while we didn't. Are we being politically correct? Are we trying in to inject our own opinions about society into our coverage? My only answer is that the newspaper is always trying to be accurate and responsible in its coverage, and that race reporting forces us to balance several important factors at once. This makes for tough judgment calls, ones made all the more hard because we know we'll get criticized no matter what we do.
The Easy Reader - February 14, 2002 - Hermosa Beach
Assaults tied to downtown nightspots - Crime rates were continuing to decline or remain level compared to years past, with the exception of a significant rise in assaults tied largely to activity around the thriving Pier Plaza nightspots, Police Chief Mike Lavin said. Analyzing his department’s year-end crime statistics, Lavin singled out the rise in assaults as significant.
The Police Department recorded 141 reported assaults last year, a 45 percent increase from a year before, and a 32 percent above the average annual number of assaults through the last seven years.
“We looked at assaults citywide and about 40 percent occurred in the downtown area,” Lavin said.
That is about 56 assaults in the downtown area in 2001.
Nearly half the downtown assaults occurred on the Plaza itself, Lavin said.
That is nearly 28 assaults in the Pier Plaza for 2001.
Last year saw an increase in rape to nine incidents. The year before the number was six, the same as the seven-year average.
Reported rape cases were 4 in year 1995, 2 in 1996, 7 in 1997, 8 in 1998, 6 in 2000 and 9 in year 2001.
Lavin pointed to a nationwide problem of women being attacked after they become intoxicated on drugs or alcohol, on their own or through a surreptitiously given drug.
In Hermosa, a Police Department report in August 2001 found that two thirds of the nine reported rapes over a one-year period occurred in the small downtown area.
That is, the downtown area has 66% of the rapes, 6 reported for a one-year period in the August 2001 Police Department report, compared to the city as a whole.
“It’s unfortunate that women who live that lifestyle down there get in that situation, and there are a lot of wolves down there ready to take advantage of them,” Lavin said. “It’s pretty sick.”
The Easy Reader - February 14, 2002
by Kevin
Cody
Dueling criminal and civil complaints were announced this week by parties to the
Jan. 4 Palos Verdes Indicator fight involving Hermosa Beach surfers Timothy
Banas, 44, his son Tommy, 19, and the Dirty Underwear Gang. On Tuesday, Palos
Verdes Police Chief Timm Browne said his department had submitted the results of
its investigation against both of the Banas’ and two members of the Dirty
Underwear Gang -- Luke Millican and Robert Johnston -- to Deputy District
Attorney Nikola Mikulicich.
Browne said the deputy district attorney rejected the cases against the senior
Banas, and against Millican and Johnston. But Browne said the deputy district
attorney intends to file misdemeanor assault charges against Tommy Banas.
But Mikulicich said Tuesday that he has not yet decided whether or not to file
charges against Tommy Banas. “Nothing is certain. It depends on the information
I receive from the Palos Verdes Estates police and other agencies,” Mikulicich
said.
Also on Tuesday, Torrance attorney Mike Sisson announced that on Friday, he will
file an assault and battery complaint on behalf of Tim Banas against seven
members of the Dirty Underwear Gang named in the Jan. 4 police report. Sisson
said he is also filing a suit alleging civil rights violations by the Palos
Verdes Estates Police Department for its treatment of Tim Banas. And Sisson said
he will seek a gang injunction to prohibit members of the Dirty Underwear Gang
from surfing or gathering at Indicator Point.
According to Tim Banas, when he and his son were descending the cliff above
Indicator, a secluded Palos Verdes surf spot, Johnston threw rocks at them. At
the bottom of the cliff, Banas alleges, Luke Millican and other members of the
Dirty Underwear Gang ordered Banas to leave. When Banas refused to leave
Millican punched him and the two fell over an eight-foot embankment, Banas said.
During the fall Banas reinjured his right knee, which had undergone ACL
reconstructive surgery less than a year earlier.
Tommy Banas, said that when he arrived at the bottom of the hill, “I saw two
fools swinging on my dad. I yelled, ‘Get off my dad.’ One of them came at me. I
grabbed a rock and threw it at him and hit him in the head. He went down and I
started hitting him and the other guy came at me. I picked up more rocks and
yelled, ‘I’d kill all of you if you come at me.’ I threatened to smash one of
their boards. They were afraid. They said they’d call the cops on me.” Tim
Banas credits his son’s action with possibly saving his life.
According to the police report Millican said he was walking up the trail from
Indicator “when Timothy Banas started yelling at him for no reason…Timothy then
attempted to hit [Millican] with a closed fist, but missed. The next thing
Millican remembered was being in a scuffle on the ground with Timothy…During the
scuffle Thomas Banas threw a large rock at [Millican’s] head.” The police
report says that Johnston encountered the Banas’ near the top of the hill and
“asked Timothy where he was from and Timothy immediately became agitated and
started yelling. Timothy then pushed Johnston…”
Publication on the Surfline.com and Surfrider.org web sites of Easy Reader’s
Jan. 10 cover story on the incident has led to widespread attention being
focused on the decades old problem of localism in Palos Verdes. Last week
Surfline.com and the Palos Verdes Estate Police Department announced that a
surfcam will be aimed at Indicators, and possibly at Lunada Bay, another
fiercely localized Palos Verdes surf break.
More threats reported
Since the Banas incident, police have issued warrants for the arrest of two
surfers allegedly involved in localism incidents at Indicator and at Haggerty’s,
which is also in Palos Verdes. In the Indicator incident, a San Pedro resident
allegedly challenged two surfing attorneys to a fight. In the Haggerty’s
incident a Torrance resident allegedly threatened a South Bay longboarder. The
police declined to identify the suspects, pending their arrests.
Clean-up at Indicator
A day of surfing and a beach clean-up are scheduled for Saturday, March 9 at
Indicator Point in Palos Verdes. The event is being organized by the South Bay
Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. “This will be a peaceful, non violent
surfing session, paddle-out and beach clean-up to show our surfing community’s
commitment to putting an end to Palos Verdes localism,” says the Surfrider press
release. For more information call 535-3116 or visit
www.surfrider.org/southbay.
The Easy Reader - February 14, 2002
by Kevin Cody
Hermosa Beach police renewed their investigation of an alleged assault at a
Hermosa Beach surf shop last week, after a visit to Hermosa by a Palos Verdes
Estates police officer. Two Thursdays ago Hermosa Beach resident Tommy Banas
punched a Spyder Surfboards employee in the Pacific Coast Highway shop, causing
the employee to bleed from the ear and mouth. Police were summoned to the scene,
but the employee who was struck declined to press charges.
Banas subsequently called Spyder manager Richard O’Reilly and apologized for the
assault. He said he was angry with the employee because he believed the employee
had made racist remarks about him. The employee, who asked not to be identified,
denied making derogatory remarks about Banas. On Wednesday, a Palos Verdes
Estates police officer visited the Hermosa surf shop. “He wanted to know about
the incident. I told him Banas had apologized and we wanted to put it behind us.
He told me my employee wanted to press charges,” O’Reilly said.
An hour later, O’Reilly said, Hermosa Beach Police Officer David Bohacik arrived
at the store and wrote a report about the incident. The report states that the
alleged victim is “desirous of pressing charges.” But on Saturday the alleged
victim said he told both Hermosa and Palos Verdes police that he did not want to
press charges against Banas. Palos Verdes Estates Police Chief Timm Browne said
his officer visited Hermosa Beach to investigate Banas.
His officer also visited Manhattan Beach police last week to review a possibly
related incident involving graffiti at the Spyder employee’s Manhattan Beach
home. The same day that the employee was assaulted, swastikas and the letters
HBL (Hermosa Beach Locals) were drawn on the outside of his home. Banas has
denied responsibility for the graffiti.
Banas was involved in a widely publicized fight at Indicator Point in Palos
Verdes on Jan. 4, when his father was allegedly assaulted by a group of Palos
Verdes surfers. The son ended the fight by throwing a rock that cut open the
head of one of the alleged attackers.
The Beach Reporter - February 21, 2002 - Crime Watch - Hermosa Beach
Battery - A man reportedly pushed and kicked another man in the 1300 of Palm Drive Feb. 17 at 1:30 a.m. According to police, the attacker and his two friends got into a verbal argument with the victim. The man pushed the victim to the ground then kicked him in the head. The attacker fled the scene while the victim sustained minor injuries.
The Beach Reporter - February 21, 2002 - Crime Watch - Hermosa Beach
Battery - A man reportedly got into a verbal argument and spit at a parking enforcement officer in the 1300 block of Manhattan Avenue Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. According to police, the victim saw the suspect parked in a red zone and began writing a ticket. The suspect then got out of his car and yelled at the officer. After the officer handed the man his ticket, the man drove off while spitting at the officer, hitting him in the chest.
The Easy Reader - February 14, 2002 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Coma victim awakens - A man who was beaten on New Year’s Day has awakened from a coma and is recovering from a brain injury in a rehabilitation facility, police said. They continued to seek the public’s help with the investigation. “He couldn’t really communicate anything to us to help our investigation,” Sgt. Endom said. The 28-year old man was kicked repeatedly in the head during the early-morning incident near Pier Avenue in the 1300 block of Monterey Boulevard, police said. They continued to ask anyone who might have information about the incident to call Detective Raul Saldana at 318-0332.
The Easy Reader - February 7, 2002 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Surfer in Indicator incident admits to assault in Hermosa - A Hermosa Beach surfer credited with possibly saving his father’s life during an a alleged attack last month by Palos Verdes surfers at Indicator Point has admitted assaulting a Hermosa Beach surf store employee. Witnesses said Tommy Banas, 19, punched an employee at Spyder Surf Shop on Pacific Coast Highway last Thursday, causing the employee to bleed from the nose and ear. “I was in the back of the shop when I heard a commotion up front. So I went up front and saw Tommy Banas leaving with several friends, cursing and screaming,” store manager Richard O’Riely said. The employee subsequently told O’Riely that Banas hit him. That afternoon, the employee found swastikas chalked on the outside of his Manhattan Beach home.
The Easy Reader - February 7, 2002
by Kevin Cody
A Hermosa Beach surfer credited with possibly saving his father’s life during an
alleged attack last month by Palos Verdes surfers at Indicator Point has
admitted assaulting a Hermosa Beach surf store employee.
Witnesses said Tommy Banas, 19, punched an employee at Spyder Surf Shop on
Pacific Coast Highway last Thursday, causing the employee to bleed from the nose
and ear. “I was in the back of the shop when I heard a commotion up front. So I
went up front and saw Tommy Banas leaving with several friends, cursing and
screaming,” store manager Richard O’Riely said. The employee subsequently told
O’Riely that Banas had hit him.
Hermosa Beach police were called to the scene, but the employee declined to
press charges against Banas. That afternoon, the employee found swastikas
chalked on the outside of his Manhattan Beach home. Two days later Banas phoned
O’Riely and apologized for the attack. He said he was angry with the employee
because on a past occasion the employee had allegedly called him “Jew nose.”
“He was very apologetic. He was a completely different kid from the one I saw in
my store,” O’Riely said.
Banas denied any responsibility for the swastikas drawn on the employee’s
house. Banas and his father Tim Banas have been at the center of a controversy
about surfing violence since they were allegedly attacked on Friday, January 4
by surfers in Palos Verdes.
According to Tim Banas, when he and his son arrived that afternoon at Indicator
Point they were ordered to leave by local surfers. When they refused, two or
more of the local surfers, who call themselves the Dirty Underwear Gang,
allegedly attacked the father. The senior Banas said his son came to his defense
by throwing a rock that left one of the alleged attackers with a two-inch long
gash in his head.
Members of the Dirty Underwear Gang told police that the Banas’ started the
fight. Palos Verdes Estates Police Captain Dan Dreiling said Tuesday that the
incident remains under investigation.
The Beach Reporter - January 24, 2002
Cover Page - Crime increased in several categories in 2001
Ending a downward trend in Hermosa Beach criminal activity, the rate of illegal activity rose in some categories in 2001. Prior to 2001, crime rates had been declining in most categories.
According to Hermosa Beach’s final statistical report of 2001, 2219 crimes were reported in 2001 compared to 1882 crimes reported in 2000.
That is 1882 crimes in year 2000 and 2219 crimes in year 2001, almost an 18% increase.
Although there were no murders reported in Hermosa Beach this year, crimes such as rape, robbery, assault and DUI arrests all increased compared to 2000.
In 2001, nine rapes were reported compared to six rapes in 2000.
A 50 % increase in rapes from year 2000 to 2001.
There were 17 cases of robbery reported this year, compared to 13 last year.
That is 13 cases of robbery in year 2000 and 17 cases of robbery in 2001, a 30% increase.
The number of reported assaults rose from 141 to 97 in 2001.
That is 97 assaults in year 2000 and 141 assaults in year 2001, a 45% increase in assaults.
More people were taken to the station into the station this year as 846 were arrested, compared to 616 in 2000.
That is 616 were arrested in year 2000 and 846 were arrested in 2001, a 37% increase arrests.
Police reported no fatal traffic accidents. The number of police calls for service increased this year from 25,147 to 32,422,
That is 25,147 in year 2000 calls for service and 32,422 calls for service in 2001, almost a 29% increase.
While the number of disturbance calls also rose from 3,477 in 2000 to 3824 in 2001.
That is 3,477 disturbance calls in year 2000 and 3824 disturbance calls in 2001, almost a 10 % increase.
The Easy Reader – January 17, 2002 - Hermosa Beach
Police seek help in case of body found in garage - Police were seeking help from the public in the case of Anthony Reyes, whose body was found the day after Christmas in the garage of a home under construction in Hermosa Beach. The body of Reyes, 37, of the Rosemead area, was found by workers at 11:20 a.m. on the day after Christmas, wrapped in a blanket inside the garage of a 30th Place duplex that was being remodeled. Reyes died of multiple blows to the head and neck, an autopsy concluded. Investigators believe the man was killed elsewhere and his body dumped in the garage.
The Easy Reader – January 17, 2002
by Robb Fulcher
Police were seeking help from the public in the case of Anthony Reyes, whose
body was found the day after Christmas in the garage of a home under
construction in Hermosa Beach. “We have canvassed the area for additional
witnesses, but that was without success,” Hermosa Beach Police Detective Sgt.
Steve Endom said on Tuesday. “We are urging anyone in the area to call us if
they recall seeing anything of a suspicious nature,” Endom said, “suspicious
vehicles or people inconsistent with the area, anyone cruising 30th Place
between Dec. 22 and Dec. 25, especially in the evening hours.” Endom urged
anyone with information to call him at 318-0334.
The body of Reyes, 37, of the Rosemead area, was found by workers at 11:20 a.m.
on the day after Christmas, wrapped in a blanket inside the garage of a 30th
Place duplex that was being remodeled. Reyes died of multiple blows to the head
and neck, an autopsy concluded. Investigators believe the man was killed
elsewhere and his body dumped in the garage.
Killing not local
Hermosa Beach Police Chief Mike Lavin told the city council on Tuesday that
Reyes was killed somewhere outside the city limits. “We’re very certain the
murder did not occur in Hermosa Beach. We don’t know exactly where it did occur
at this point, but it did not occur in Hermosa Beach,” he said. Lavin also said
the investigation has made some headway. “There are some potential suspects the
investigators are looking at,” he said.
Hermosa detectives are assisting the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department,
which took the lead in the investigation because of its extensive homicide
resources, including a crime laboratory. The last time a body was discovered in
Hermosa Beach in a homicide case was 1995, when a newborn baby was found in a
dumpster behind a business on Pacific Coast Highway. The case has not been
solved. Also in 1995 a Hermosa woman, former Los Angeles Raiders cheerleader
Linda Sobek, was killed and her body found in the Angeles National Forest.
Photographer Charles Rathbun was sentenced to life in prison without parole in
connection with the killing. ER
The Easy Reader – January 17, 2002
by Robb Fulcher
A man who was shot in a Pier Plaza bar, by a husband who believed the man had
raped his wife, has filed a lawsuit against the bar. The lawsuit, filed Dec. 27
on behalf of Ali Sina Sharareh, alleges that a bartender at Patrick Molloy’s
telephoned the husband, Anthony Starita of Redondo Beach, and told him that
Sharareh was inside the bar. A representative of Patrick Molloy’s said she had
not seen the lawsuit and could not comment upon it.
Starita has pleaded no contest to a felony charge of assault with a deadly
weapon likely to produce great bodily injury, and was sentenced to one year in a
work furlough program for the shooting. Starita admitted that he shot Sharareh
in the rectum Jan. 3 after Starita’s wife told him that Sharareh had raped her.
Sharareh proclaimed his innocence and was not charged with any crime. Police
said his account of meeting Starita’s wife was consistent with that of
witnesses, and they said the woman’s account contained inconsistencies.
The civil lawsuit filed by Newport Beach attorney Kenneth A. Satin claims that
an unnamed bartender told Starita that Sharareh was in the bar. The lawsuit
claims the bartender “knew, or should have known” that Starita would come to the
bar to “kill or injure” Sharareh. The lawsuit claims negligence on the part of
Molloy’s in the hiring and supervising of the bartender, and seeks unspecified
damages related to Sharareh’s injuries.
Night of the shooting
Sharareh was shot with one round from a 9mm pistol Jan. 3 as he urinated into a
trashcan in the men’s room of the bar. A witness to the shooting followed the
gunman and saw him go out the back door, hop inside a red Mitsubishi convertible
and make his getaway, a police report stated. Bartender Bruce Battey heard the
single gunshot, saw a man run out the back door, then saw Sharareh run from the
bathroom toward the front of the business. “He ran past me at the bar and said
he’d been shot, then he ran out the front door,” Battey said in an interview
shortly after the incident.
Battey, who worked as an emergency medical technician in his native Colorado,
dashed to the men’s room to see if any other people had been injured. “The
bathroom was empty, and I could smell gunpowder,” he said.
Battey made his way to the front door, and found Sharareh collapsed just
outside. The bartender checked Sharareh’s vital signs, checked for an exit wound
and found that there was none, and used two bar towels to stanch the bleeding
from the entry wound the bullet made. “He was going into shock by the time the
paramedics were taking him away,” Battey said.
Battey said Starita regularly hung out in the area. “The guy drinks Bass. I
know what he drinks,” Battey said. “He’s a tough guy to miss, he’s really,
really buff.” The bartender said he could not recall seeing Sharareh before the
night of the shooting. He said Molloy’s is “a good place, and we always work to
keep it that way. And the cops did a fabulous job, they were right on the ball.”
ER
The Easy Reader – January 17, 2002 - Hermosa Beach – Crime Watch
Wounded man sues Pier Plaza bar - A man was shot in a Pier Plaza, by a husband who believed the man had raped his wife, has filed a lawsuit against the bar. The night of the shooting, Sharareh was shot with one round from a 9mm pistol Jan. 3 as he urinated into a trashcan in the men’s room of the bar A witness to the shooting followed the gunman and saw him go out the back door, hop inside a red Mitsubishi convertible and make his getaway, a police report stated. Battey made his way to the front door, and found Sharareh collapsed just outside. The bartender checked Sharareh’s vital signs, checked for an exit wound and found that there was none, and used two bar towels to stanch the bleeding from the entry wound the bullet made. “He was going into shock by the time the paramedics were taking him away,” Battey said.
The Easy Reader – December 20, 2001 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Merry Christmas - Someone stole four Christmas cards and two checks totaling $83.87 from mail that was set to go out on Friday from a First Street home. A resident told police she saw a woman get out of a car with a sack of mail, walk to the residence’s mailboxes, then go back to the car. The outgoing mail was gone, and in its place was left a sack of other mail, apparently stolen from somewhere else, the resident reported.
Smash and grab - Someone broke a window out of a work truck parked along 14th Street Monday morning and stole $10 in change and $100 worth of tools, the worker reported.
Bad credit - A Hermosa resident went to the police station on Saturday to report that he received a credit card bill from a company with which he did not have an account. He called the company’s customer service department upon receiving the bill to report the improper account and cancel the credit card. ER
The Easy Reader – December 6, 2001- Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Credit card heist - Three people entered a business on Pacific Coast Highway last Wednesday and when they left, the business owner was missing her credit cards, police said. The suspects "pretended to be customers" while they were in the store, and one of them lifted the credit cards from the owner’s purse, a police report stated.
Extra credit - A Hermosa Beach teacher went to the police station to report that someone had used his name to establish credit with eight different companies. He alerted officers to the identity theft on Friday, according to a police report. ER
The Easy Reader – November 29, 2001- Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Painter caught - Police said they caught a graffiti artist white-handed as he was spraying paint of the same color onto the pavement of a parking lot about 2:15 a.m. Monday. "I’m sorry, it’s not right to come to your city and do this," he told officers, according to a police report.
Convictions in fire scam - Five courtroom convictions have resulted from an investigation into a phony fire extinguisher inspection company, Hermosa Beach Police Sgt. Paul Wolcott said. Prosecutors secured guilty pleas from five greater Los Angeles-area men to charges including conspiracy to commit theft, impairing fire inspection equipment, burglary, filing false income tax returns, and vandalism, Wolcott said. Authorities have secured felony arrest warrants for two remaining suspects, he said.
Police arrested seven people last year in an alleged scam that may have temporarily left hundreds of beach cities restaurants with non-working fire extinguishers. The arrests capped an eight-month investigation.
The men appeared at thousands of restaurants and other businesses throughout Los Angeles County, wearing matching uniforms and representing themselves as Batan Fire Protection, Apollo Fire Protection and A&P Fire Extinguisher Service, Wolcott said. The men pretended to service the fire extinguishers, including large stationary extinguishers mounted in commercial kitchens, Wolcott said. They placed inspection tags on hand-held extinguishers and in some cases removed crucial extinguisher equipment and took it way with them, Wolcott said. The servicing, typically performed by licensed companies, is required by state law.
The allegedly phony outfits charged between $50 and $4,500 and spent about 15 minutes at each business, while a legitimate company would spend about four hours, Wolcott said. Officials knew of no fires that had occurred or spread because of non-serviced safety equipment. But they urged local businesses that were visited by those outfits to contact their local fire department. Hermosa police and fire officials became aware of the Apollo outfit when the owners of a handful of businesses, including Rocky Cola Café, became suspicious of their visitors. A sting was set up at Rocky Cola, with an arson investigator posing as a cook.
Aiding Hermosa police in the investigation were the Redondo Beach Police special investigation unit, Manhattan Beach Fire Department arson investigators, Manhattan Beach Social Services, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, California Department of Forestry/California Fire Marshal, Los Angeles Fire Department arson squad, Long Beach fire and police arson squad, California Contractors License Board, and the L.A. Impact multi-agency task force.
Potted theft - Someone came along and swiped a six-foot tall potted plant from its spot out in front of a Hermosa restaurant on Monday. A sign on the pot read "Don’t remove."
Patio set taken -Someone swiped a set of table and chairs from the patio of a Strand home last week. The theft was discovered about 7 a.m. Wednesday. ER
The Easy Reader – November 15, 2001- Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Burned - A salesman who lives in Hermosa reported to police that he bought a reputed Rolex watch over the Internet, paying $1,850 by check, then had the watch appraised and found out it was not a Rolex.
Axe lifted - A Manhattan Beach resident reported that he left his guitar out in a Hermosa Beach driveway during his band’s practice session about 3 p.m. Monday, and someone stole it. The guitar was valued at $320. ER
The Easy Reader – October 18, 2001 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Clerk threatened - A foreign-born employee of a Hermosa business was threatened on Sunday morning by a man who hurled the name of Osama Bin Laden, police said. The man yelled "remember my face, I will kill you," a police report stated, adding that he then "mentioned something about Bin Laden" that the clerk did not understand.
Suspicious package - Hermosa Detectives were calling on a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department crime lab to examine a package received by a Strand resident on Saturday. The package was addressed to a name other than the resident’s, and the name was spelled out using letters cut out separately from various publications, a police report stated. The FBI was contacted, but declined to investigate, police said.
Sit back, relax - A handcuffed man in the back of a Hermosa police car allegedly kicked out the rear driver’s side window on Sunday, officers said. A family disturbance had led to the man’s arrest, police said.
Dude! - A student from El Segundo had his skateboard stolen after he let another young man use it to do some tricks in an Aviation Boulevard parking lot, the student reported to police. The incident occurred shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday. The student reported that his new friend was trading tricks with him when he just lifted the board, using it as a getaway vehicle. ER
The Easy Reader – October 11, 2001 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Identity theft - A Hermosan reported that someone used her identifying information to secure a credit card and to buy a $1,820 computer and $500 worth of other merchandise. The purchases in her name occurred between Aug. 24 and Sept. 25, she reported.
Mail theft - A Hermosan reported that her outgoing mail was stolen from the box in front of her Hopkins Avenue home on the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 2. Missing were checks made out to pay her gas company bill and a dental bill, she reported. ER
The Easy Reader – October 4, 2001 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Church’s flag stolen - Someone lifted a 3-foot by 8-foot United States Flag from its spot on display outside a Church near Pacific Coast Highway sometime Sunday night or Monday morning, a pastor reported to police. The flag had hung from hooks on the east side of the church building.
Stuff stolen - Someone apparently went in through a window to steal $1,200 worth of computer equipment and a $3,000 Rolex watch from an 11th Street home sometime Saturday night or Sunday morning.
Strong-arm robbery - Four people swiped a $150 longboard from a surfer after he was beaten and kicked shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday on the 800 block of the Strand, police said. Two of the attackers punched the man in the face and all four kicked him as he was on the ground, police said. The surfer suffered cuts, scrapes and bruises.
Two for one - A 15th Street resident locked two bicycles together in an open carport, and someone waltzed in Saturday night or Sunday morning and swiped the bikes, valued together at $520. ER
The Easy Reader – September 27, 2001 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Suspects nabbed - Hermosa police arrested three people suspected in an armed robbery after Officer Chris Alkadis saw a vehicle parked oddly at a local convenience store on Monday. Alkadis pulled up to the store and saw a car blocking access to the parking lot, Sgt. Steve Endom said. Alkadis began talking to the car’s occupant and saw him move around as if trying to hide something, Endom said.
Alkadis saw what appeared to be a "Glock-style" handgun on the car’s floorboards and ordered the man out of the vehicle at gunpoint, Endom said. Two companions inside the store were ordered out at gunpoint by backup Officer J.R. Smith and a sergeant, Endom said. Police recovered items believed to have been stolen in an armed robbery in Hollywood and a burglary in West Los Angeles, and the three people were turned over to Los Angeles police, Endom said. The gun turned out to be a realistic toy, he said. ER
The Easy Reader – September 6, 2001 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Sneaky intruder - Someone removed the louvers to a bathroom window to try to get inside a 28th Street home late Sunday afternoon while the occupant and her boyfriend were upstairs taking a nap, police said. While an officer was at the home investigating the incident, the louvers were replaced. The resident told police she had closed the bathroom window about 4 p.m. and noticed that it was open about 5:30 p.m.
Hotel theft - A Torrance woman staying in a Hermosa hotel heard someone coming into her rooms early Monday morning and awoke to find her $125 cell phone missing from a living room table, she told police. Police believe the culprit came in through a window. ER
The Easy Reader – August 23, 2001 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Gunpoint robbery foiled - Two women put up a fight when they were accosted by two men, one armed with a long-barreled revolver, on the 900 block of Monterrey Boulevard shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday, police said. The women were walking the along the roadway when they were attacked from behind. "Don’t make a noise," one of the men said, adding later, "Don’t make me shoot you, give me your purse." The women screamed and fought off the men, who fled. Officers said two straps were broken on a backpack belonging to one of the women.
Joe Cocker? - Someone came in through the bathroom window to get inside a Manhattan Avenue apartment sometime over the weekend, then apparently exited the same way, police said. Some objects had been moved from the windowsill, and muddy fingerprints were found on the windowsill and bathroom sink. Two other area homes also were struck over the weekend by someone who tried to remove window screens to get inside. In addition, $3 worth of change was taken from the windowsill of a Monterrey Boulevard apartment sometime Thursday or Friday.
Computer taken - Someone swiped a $3,500 laptop computer from a vehicle parked at a Second Street home over the weekend, police said. The owner told officers she locked the vehicle but left the driver’s side window partially open.
Money taken - Someone entered an unlocked Loma Drive home Friday afternoon and took about $225 in cash from atop a dresser, police said.
Stereo taken - Someone stole a car stereo valued at $150 from a 1998 Honda Civic parked along Manhattan Avenue on Monday, police said. ER
The Easy Reader – August 9, 2001 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
The Easy Reader – August 2, 2001 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Veterinarian robbed - Someone broke two windows to get inside a Hermosa Beach veterinarian’s office, then stole items from the pharmacy area along with a 500-pound safe and its contents, police said. The crime occurred last week, sometime late Thursday or early Friday.
Attempted break-in - Someone apparently tried to break into a Manhattan Avenue home last weekend, trying two bedroom windows before giving up, police said. Window locks prevented the windows from opening more than two inches. The window screens were cut into as well. ER
The Easy Reader – July 26, 2001 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Chicken & beer - Workers in a Hermosa grocery store saw a man shopping in a "suspicious" manner about 4:30 p.m. Monday and kept an eye on him, according to a police report. At one point the man appeared to be chewing food and at another point they noticed that a six-pack of Heineken beer was no longer in his cart, causing them to wonder whether it had made its way into his backpack, employees said. The man left the store and was followed by employees, who grabbed hold of his backpack and heard the clink of glass, they said. "The cops are coming, you better run," two employees told the man, then they went back inside the store to call police, they said.
Police found a man matching the shopper’s description in the area of Artesia and Ford in Redondo Beach, officers said. "I know what this is about. I didn’t steal anything," he told officers. They asked him if they could search his backpack. "Yes you can," he told them, according to the report. Police said they found five bottles of Heineken and three pieces of cooked chicken. Store employees were brought to the area and made a citizen’s arrest, the report stated.
Fishy ring - A Hermosa woman lost a wedding ring valued at $1,500 in the Pacific Ocean about 4:30 p.m. Monday, July 9. "I was bodysurfing in the water and on coming out of the water I noticed my ring had come off," she wrote in a report to police. The ring was described as platinum with a 1.8-karat square princess diamond.
Disorganization - Someone came in through the unlocked front door of a Strand home about 2 a.m. Monday and made off with an organizer valued at $400, police said. Also taken were a pair of binoculars, which were later found and returned to the residence.
Scooter scoots - Someone cut a lock affixing an electric scooter to a parking meter about 10 p.m. Saturday, July 14 near Hermosa Avenue in the northern part of town, and made off with the little vehicle. It was valued at $800.
The Easy Reader – June 26, 2001 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Weirdo won’t quit - A woman ran up to a Hermosa police officer in a cruiser about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, talking into her cell phone and saying "The police are here so leave me alone." She said someone had called her more than 15 times over a five-hour period to hang up without speaking. The next time the phone rang the officer answered and told the caller to desist or face arrest, then the line went dead. The woman believes she knows who the caller was, and the officer advised her of steps to take to stop the caller.
Sleepyhead - A man being held in the city jail smashed out a 12-inch by 24-inch pane of "safety glass" in holding cell No. 2, police said. The incident occurred about 4:30 p.m. Sunday, June 17. "I hit the window like this," the man told an officer, according to a police report. "Man, I was sleeping and coming down, and this a**hole woke me up," the man said. The man suffered minor cuts to his forearm and was treated by paramedics.
Wham! - Four men in a vehicle drove into an electronic arm at a city parking lot on 11th Street and Hermosa Avenue, then fled, police said. The incident occurred just after midnight Sunday night
The Easy Reader – May 24, 2001 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Road rage - A Redondo man apparently was shot with some sort of low-powered gun fired by another motorist about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday on Pacific Coast Highway in Hermosa, he told police. The man was left with a welt on his back. The man told police he was driving south on PCH when he noticed a pickup truck following very closely. At a red light the driver of the pickup yelled something and the Redondo man left his vehicle and approached the pickup, he told police. The pickup driver brandished what appeared to be a gun, the Redondo man turned to go back to his vehicle, heard a "pop" and felt a sharp pain in his back, he told police. He showed officers a welt on his back. ER
The Easy Reader – March 15, 2001 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Bank holdup - A bank inside a Hermosa supermarket was robbed at gunpoint last Wednesday, police said. Two men in ski masks made off with an undisclosed amount of cash, and escaped in a stolen auto that was found abandoned a short distance away.
The Easy Reader – March 15, 2001 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Restraint advised - Police advised a restraining order after a Hermosa Beach couple reported being set upon by a man. The couple was leaving for work last Tuesday morning when they were accosted by a man who called the woman profane names, the couple reported. The boyfriend intervened on behalf of his girlfriend, and was shoved against a wall by the name-calling man, the couple reported. The woman said she did not know the other man and did not know why he accosted her, a police report stated. Police advised the couple to contact her landlord about the other man, to seek a restraining order.
The Easy Reader – February 15, 2001 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Man punched - A Los Angeles man told police he was punched in the face about 12:30 a.m. as he talked to a friend inside a Pier Plaza establishment. The man said that “every time he blows his nose he bleeds,” a police report stated.
The Easy Reader – February 15, 2001 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Man attacked - A Venice man suffered a broken right hand, a concussion and “broken upper and lower teeth,” and experienced blurred vision and hearing loss in a nighttime attack along Hermosa Avenue, police said. The man was standing next to another person who was attacked with pepper spray about 2 a.m. Jan. 27, and the Venice man was hit by the “over-spray,” a police report stated. The Venice man threw a punch to defend himself, then was knocked to the ground and kicked repeatedly, the report stated.
The Easy Reader – January 18, 2001 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Student assaulted – A student from Rancho Palos Verdes was hospitalized following a blow to the head on Dec. 29 that caused bleeding to the brain, police said. The man was sitting with friends…when another man struck him in the back of the head with a clenched fist, witnesses told police. Paramedics took the student to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance, where he spent four days in an intensive care unit before being moved to an acute observation unit, police said. His attacker was being sought.
Man sought - Police were seeking a man who allegedly made a terrorist threat against his girlfriend. Officers went to the woman’s home, where the man was continuing to call her, according to a police report. "I’m going to bash your head in with a bat," the man allegedly said.
The Easy Reader – November 16, 2000 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Pistol whipping - A man pulled a handgun and struck two men in the head after an exchange of words about 2 a.m. Saturday, police said. The victims of the attack, a Santa Monica man and a Manhattan Beach man, were walking along Hermosa Avenue near 16th Street when the other man bumped into both of them. “What the f---‘s up with the guy?” one of the men asked the other. The man who bumped them pulled out a silver and gray revolver and pointed it at the head of the Santa Monica man. “What’s that?” the gunman demanded. He moved the gun away and spun the cylinder, showing the Santa Monica man the bullets. Then he struck the man with the butt of the gun behind his right ear. The Manhattan man approached to see what was going on, and he was struck with the butt of the gun on the back of his head. The two men walked to friend’s home and called 911. Paramedics treated both men at the scene.
The Easy Reader – November 9, 2000 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Antisocial behavior - A woman reported to police that she was dancing with a male friend at a Pier Plaza establishment about midnight Saturday when the couple was splashed by beer spilled from the direction of four women who were dancing with each other nearby. Another beer splash occurred, and then the woman was struck near her left eye with a beer bottle, she reported. “The victim was knocked to the floor at this time and several people went down with her,” police said. The people were separated by the establishment’s “social directors,” a police report stated. The woman was taken to the manager’s office and given ice for her eye, then sent home in a car. Later she found a cut near her eye was deep enough to require medical attention. She called paramedics, who took her to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance, she reported. Police said she had four stitches near her eye.
The Easy Reader – November 9, 2000 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Fight! Fight! - Three “young adults” were fighting in a municipal parking lot near the city’s skate track about 6:30 p.m. Halloween eve when one of the men threw himself against a parked car, leaving a dent in the left front fender, the car’s owner stated in a report to police. The car’s owner watched the man get into his auto to leave, and wrote down the license plate number, the report stated.
The Easy Reader – November 2, 2000 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Man stabbed - One man was arrested and another hospitalized in good condition following a stabbing in the men’s room of a Pacific Coast Highway bar about 10:30 p.m. Monday, police said. An argument broke out between two men inside the men's room, and as one of them turned to leave he was stabbed once below the shoulder blades with a folding knife about four inches long, a witness told police. The victim of the stabbing, a Redondo Beach man, was taken to UCLA-Harbor Medical Center, Hermosa Beach Police Detective Raul Saldana said. A Van Nuys man began to run from the bar and was detained by three off-duty officers, then placed under arrest by Hermosa police on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, Saldana said.
The Easy Reader – October 12, 2000 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Man attacked - A 20-year-old Torrance man was accosted by several people, one of whom he identified as his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend, shortly before 7 p.m. Monday in the area of Noble Park, police said. The man tried to run away, and one of the others executed a "bunny hop" maneuver on his bicycle, cutting the man's leg with the bike's rear axle nut, police said. The man called 911 from a phone at a Pier Plaza business, and officers found him in a state of shock with a cut "deep to the bone" in his leg, a police report stated. The man was taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance. ER
The Easy Reader – September 28, 2000 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Fighter - A man hauled another man over the patio railing at a Pier Plaza establishment and began a fistfight with him about 9:30 p.m. last Saturday, police said. The attacker forced the other man to defend himself until bar employees pulled the attacker away. The aggressive man had tried to start a fight with the other man earlier in the evening, police said, but a friend pulled him away and took him from the bar. The man who was attacked said he did not know his assailant, who apparently had become angered over something that was said, according to a police report.
The Easy Reader – September 7, 2000 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Woman accosted - A 20th Street woman awoke about 5 a.m. Thursday to see a man walking around on the landing outside of her third floor apartment in a security building, stopping from time to time to look in through her partially open drapes. The woman pretended to be asleep until the man left. Then she called police. Officers found fingerprints on the window indicating that the man might have tried to slide the window open.
The Easy Reader – September 7, 2000 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Bar attack - A affianced couple was attacked in a Pier Plaza bar Saturday night, and officers arrested two suspects, police said. The couple was approached by two people shortly before midnight. The woman was struck in her jaw several times, and her fiancée was struck with a beer bottle, police said. Police arrested two suspects nearby.
The Easy Reader – September 7, 2000 - Hermosa Beach - Police Beat
Woman attacked - A woman went out to hose down the porch of her 27th Street home about 4 p.m. on Tuesday before last, and found a man asleep on her property beside an empty bottle of vodka, police said. The man got wet in the consequent patio washing, became verbally abusive, and the got “soaked” with the hose, a police report stated. The man then attacked the woman, causing her to hit her head on a patio table, leaving her with a bruise above her right eye, police said.
The Easy Reader – July 20, 2000 - Hermosa Beach
HB bar manager sued in rape case - One of four women allegedly attacked by convicted rapist Nicholas Temkey has filed a lawsuit against Temkey and the Pier Plaza bar where he worked as a manger. Temkey, 32, former manager of the Beach Club, pleaded no contest in May to charges that he raped one woman he met at the bar and attempting to sodomize another. As part of a plea agreement he was sentenced to four and-a-half years in state prison, and is likely to be paroled after serving about half his full sentence. The woman alleges that Temkey gave her free drinks on July 17, 1999 and lured her into his upstairs office where he sexually assaulted her. Temkey closed and locked the door and “thereby imprisoned” the woman in the office.
The Easy Reader – July 20, 2000
by Robb Fulcher
One of four women allegedly attacked by convicted rapist Nicholas Temkey has filed a lawsuit against Temkey and the Pier Plaza bar where he worked as manager. The club's owners were unavailable for comment this week. Temkey, 32, former manager of the Beach Club, pleaded no contest in May to charges that he raped one woman he met at the bar and attempting to sodomize another. As part of a plea agreement he was sentenced to four and-a-half years in state prison, and is likely to be paroled after serving about half his full sentence.
The civil lawsuit was filed by the first of the four women who came forward with accusations against Temkey. She alleges negligence on the part of the Beach Club and owners Jerry Centofanti and Pat McCauley, and accuses Temkey of sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment. Following form under state law, the lawsuit asks for unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. The lawsuit alleges that the Beach Club "was and is a drinking establishment whereat reckless, raucous and wanton behavior, excessive drinking and negligent and criminal behavior were tolerated and promoted."
The suit alleges that the club owners "negligently screened, hired, trained and supervised" Temkey. The ex-manager "had a propensity and practice of engaging in negligent and unreasonable sexual acts with female patrons...to whom he had provided alcoholic beverages and/or drugs, and...had in fact done so with numerous other patrons on numerous other dates," the suit alleges.
The woman alleges that Temkey gave her free drinks on July 17, 1999 and then lured her into his upstairs office where he sexually assaulted her. Temkey closed and locked the door and "thereby imprisoned" the woman in the office, the lawsuit claims. The lawsuit describes the plaintiff as "a diminutive woman, small in stature," and describes Temkey as "a large and muscular man with a dominating and arresting appearance and personality."
Police have described Temkey as standing 6-feet-4 and weighing 235 pounds. Centofanti and McCauley were unavailable for comment this week.
Attorney Barry Greenhalgh of Encino, who represented Temkey at his criminal trial, also was unavailable on Tuesday. He has said previously that Temkey insists upon his innocence, but accepted a plea bargain to avoid a longer sentence. Greenhalgh said that the allegations came from women whose advances had been rebuked by Temkey. Deputy District Attorney Shanna Batten said the plea agreement spared the women a "tremendous amount of trauma" that they would have suffered from testifying at a trial and from press and public "scrutiny."
In exchange for the no-contest pleas, which have the same legal force as guilty pleas, prosecutors dropped five other charges against Temkey, sparing him the risk of a possible 15-year sentence. Once freed, Temkey must register as a sex offender with police wherever he chooses to live. Kauffman told him that failure to register is a felony, and would be the "third strike" against him after his conviction on the sex crimes. A third strike is punishable by a sentence of 25 years to life in state prison. ER
The Easy Reader – July 13, 2000
The Easy Reader – July 13, 2000
Hermosa Beach officials have asked neighboring Redondo Beach to cancel its Independence Day fireworks shows, saying this year’s show helped add to the crowds that choked Hermosa’s seaside neighborhoods with rowdy parties, public drinking and, in some cases, fistfights. City council members and police unveiled their hopes for a fireworks kibosh Friday, at an informal City Hall meeting with six residents who complained of noisiness and rowdiness from several party houses, during the Fourth of July and on other occasions.
The residents were told that Hermosa Mayor JR Reviczky had telephoned Redondo Mayor Greg Hill to ask about a possible end to the fireworks shows in Redondo’s King Harbor.
Hill said he saw no reason to end the shows. "I don’t think the fireworks show was a contributing factor to the problems in Hermosa," Hill said on Monday. "We had very few problems in Redondo," Hill said. "We had record crowds, our parking lots were full, and the whole thing was really quite reserved. It was a family affair."
Hill said crowds flocked to Hermosa because of its reputation as a party town. He pointed to the widespread popularity of the three-year-old Pier Plaza, which draws revelers from the South Bay and beyond on weekend nights, easily replacing downtown Manhattan as the young people’s party ground. "They have a problem down there that has nothing to do with fireworks," Hill said.
"If you look at the Pier Plaza there’s a bar every five feet. Let’s face it, the word has gotten out that Hermosa is a great place to party and pick up girls, and that’s where they go," Hill said. "I sympathize with [Hermosa officials], but they have created the problem," Hill said. "They have to decide how they’re going to manage their business district."
Hill said he visited Hermosa during the Fourth and saw "two fistfights within a 30-minute span." "It sounds like [Hermosa police] were keeping basic crowd control, but they weren’t enforcing public drinking," Hill said.
Hermosa Police Chief Val Straser said that strict enforcement of public drinking laws would have been a bad crowd control strategy down in Hermosa. "When you’re dealing with that magnitude of a crowd, they’re not going to line up like good little ducks and get their citations and go home," Straser said.
The police chief said a Fourth of July riot in 1974 was touched off when a Hermosa officer hopped up onto the Strand wall and told a large group of people that they were all under arrest. Rioters threw rocks and beer bottles full of sand at police, broke windows and tried to overturn police cars. "That kind of thing usually starts with one specific incident, then it goes from the epicenter and mushrooms out," Straser said.
He said that the fireworks show drew "waves" of people to Hermosa. "They showed up in north Hermosa thinking we had fireworks, and then they migrated south along the Strand, and went as far south along the beach as they could, and after the show they migrated back through town again," he said.
The fireworks seekers, mostly families, apparently caused no trouble, but added their numbers to an already swollen crowd, Straser said. "Did they cause our revelry here? No," he said. "But they didn’t help us any."
Police said this year’s Fourth was louder and wilder than the year before and, like last year, officers made a handful of arrests for incidents such as fist fighting. "At Eighth and 10th streets we had roaming skinheads just starting fights with people," Straser said during the residents’ meeting.
But for the most part, he said, noise, rowdiness and public drinking were the biggest problems. "I don’t know of anyone getting injured. There was no one knifed, none of my personnel were injured, there were no windows broken," Straser summed up. "What we had was a major, major nuisance."
"I was absolutely frightened this Fourth of July," said Andrea L. Rich, the president and director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, a Hermosa resident who attended the Friday meeting via speakerphone.
Straser said that next year police will begin corralling rowdiness in the seaside neighborhoods earlier in the day, in hopes that the vastly outnumbered officers will be able to establish more control over the eventual level of rowdiness and noise. In response to residents’ questions, Straser said he does not want to supplement his police force with out-of-town officers for the Fourth. He said officers can lose restraint while keeping order in areas where they do not regularly work. "You ask me to go to Manhattan or Huntington and clean up the town, I’ll gladly go," Straser said. "When other agencies come in, people can get hurt real bad."
Straser also told the residents that City Attorney Michael Jenkins has begun a review of Hermosa’s ordinance on amplified noise, "to put some teeth into it." Mayor JR Reviczky said well-to-do residents may not be dissuaded by a fine. Indeed, an officer approached one man, a Strand resident, as he was setting up a professional sound system, and the man asked, "Can I just pay the citation now?"
Council members said Hermosa has become a Fourth of July party hub in part because of the fireworks show, and in part because of the topography of the Strand. Councilwoman Julie Oakes pointed out that the Hermosa Strand sits level with the sand, allowing parties to spill from Strand houses onto the Strand itself, and from there onto the beach. Throughout Redondo and Manhattan, the Strand is separated from the beach by steep slopes that would prevent large parties from spilling onto the beach.
Councilwoman Kathy Dunbabin once again raised questions about the 26-year-old Fourth of July "Ironman" chugalug, in which about 150 people run on the beach, paddle in the ocean and return to a private front yard to down a six-pack of beer and try, with little success, not to vomit. "I think the Ironman needs to come into this too," Dunbabin said. "The police department has to put a lot of people there, and the department is held hostage until about 2 p.m. If they didn’t have to be there they could be down on the Strand shutting things down and keeping things together."
Police said that this year’s holiday troublemakers apparently had not been associated with the Ironman, as they have in recent years. ER
The Easy Reader – July 22, 1999
Police, prosecutors, businesses push education
HBNA Admin. Note:
The HBPD has revised the rape totals for year 1998 and Hermosa Beach only had a 400 percent increase in rape and not a 650 percent increase.
This Easy Reader news story headlines uses Hermosa Beach rape statistics which have since been revised by the Hermosa Beach Police Department. The rape total for 1998 was revised downward from 15 to 8. Therefore there was not a 650 percent increase in rape from 1996 to 1998.
The revised and correct total for the rape increase would be a 400 percent increase in rape in Hermosa Beach from the 1996 total of 2 to the 1998 total of 8 rapes.
However, in year 2002 the rape total for Hermosa Beach did reach a total of 15. That would mean Hermosa Beach did have a 650 percent increase in rape from the 1996 total of 2 rapes, to the 2002 total of 15 rapes.
by Robb Fulcher
On a bustling weekend night in a popular Pier Plaza bar, a young woman got into an argument with a strange man, who offered to make up by buying her a drink. After she accepted, he pressured her to take a walk with him along the beach. She repeatedly refused, and as she walked home with her friends she became suddenly ill and collapsed. Paramedics were called, and a urine test found the presence of an increasingly used, homemade "date rape" drug.
The woman, whose report is on file with the Hermosa Beach Police Department, had a close call. But she was one of the lucky ones. As Hermosa has become the party capitol of the beach cities, it has suffered a fate similar to other party towns, becoming the rape capitol of the area as well. Incidence of rape in Hermosa have leaped 650 percent since 1997, when the seaside plaza opened and instantly became the nightlife Mecca for the beach cities and beyond.
Rapists preying on party spots are turning increasingly to date rape drugs, and authorities say the majority of Hermosa's recent rapes were committed after the victims were quietly rendered senseless. In an effort to turn back the tide, police, prosecutors and the businesses themselves are focusing stepped-up prevention efforts on the party-hearty downtown. Reported cases of rape in Hermosa totaled two per year in 1995 and 1996, then quadrupled to eight cases in 1997. Last year reported rapes nearly doubled again to a total of 15 cases, according to the Sexual Assault Crisis Agency. By comparison, neighboring Manhattan Beach averaged four cases a year between 1995 and 1998. Redondo Beach, an area of generally higher crime with more than three times the population of Hermosa, averaged 14 rapes per year.
On a per capita basis since 1997, Hermosa has recorded one rape per every 1,460 residents, a rate three times that of Redondo's and 10 times that of Manhattan's. Redondo recorded one rape per every 4,920 residents, and Manhattan recorded one rape per 11,000 residents.
The FBI estimates that for every rape reported to police another nine go unreported, raising the possibility that some 150 rapes occurred in Hermosa last year. That does not include sex crimes committed upon victims 12 or younger, or other sexual assaults such as forced sodomy, forced oral copulation or attempted rapes.
Police said the majority of rapes in Hermosa are committed with the aid of the drugs Rohypnol, commonly called roofies, GHB, a homemade substance sometimes used by bodybuilders in an attempt to enhance performance, or GHL, commonly called blue nitro. The drugs, used by rapists to spike drinks intended for their targets, cause drowsiness, confusion, dizziness, impaired motor skills and unconsciousness. The drugs can cause coma or death, according to the non-profit crisis agency, which has provided public education as well as crisis counseling for rape victims for the past 24 years.
Steps women can take to
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Crisis agency counselors make up part of the team that responds when a rape is reported to the Hermosa Beach Police Department. Officer Paul Wolcott, spokesman for the department, said authorities are continuing to warn women about the growing use of the drugs and how to avoid attacks.
"More [rapists] are aware of the drugs and they have become easier to get," Wolcott said. "We do as much as we can to educate people, including the contacts we have downtown with women who might be susceptible." Date rape drugs will be the focus of an upcoming episode of "Beach Beat," Wolcott's Thursday night program on Century Cable TV.
Prosecutors who focus on sex crimes are applauding at least two Pier Plaza establishments, Hennessey's and the Lighthouse Cafe, which have placed in their restrooms posters cautioning women - and warning men - about the rape drugs. The posters were provided by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, which also is targeting college fraternities, and bars and clubs in party areas such as Hollywood, Santa Monica and Long Beach. "If you think someone has slipped something in your drink, get help right away - while you still can," the poster tells women. "It's a serious crime. It means serious time," men are warned.
Just as HIV and AIDS changed the landscape of sex, this decade's escalating appearance of the date rape drugs may change the landscape of socializing in bars and at parties. "I think every time a woman goes out to a bar, or anywhere, she has to be careful about what she does, and how she drinks," said Natasha Gossett, a counselor for the crisis agency. "This makes everything much more scary."
Women who unwittingly take the drugs "commonly report feeling dizzy or disoriented before passing out, and waking up feeling very 'fuzzy,' sometimes in unfamiliar places," stated a report by Kristin Hall, who heads up sexual assault prevention programs for the crisis agency. The drugs "can cause retrograde amnesia so that victims have no memory of events that occurred in the hours after they ingested the drug. Some women report regaining consciousness during an assault, but being unable to move or speak," Hall wrote.
Wolcott urged women who believe they may have been attacked to contact police as soon as possible. "We want them to immediately call, if possible from the location," he said. "It's important to get them to a hospital for a [urine or blood] test because the stuff is out of their system within 12 to 24 hours." State laws have been changed to create harsher penalties for rapists who drug their victims, Wolcott said. "It's regarded as using a weapon. It's in the same category as using a gun or a knife," he said.
Hall's report told of "an added layer of issues" facing victims of rape involving drugs. "Women who were drugged by their rapists are forced not only to struggle to regain a sense of control over their lives, to trust others again, and to cope with nightmares. They must also deal with the horror of not knowing what happened to them while they were attacked, how many people assaulted them, or sometimes where they were," Hall wrote.
"Almost all survivors experience flashbacks or intrusive thoughts about the assault, but women who were drugged must deal with never knowing for sure everything that happened to them, and fearing the worst possible scenarios," the report stated. "Intrusive thoughts can be harder to manage than those experienced by survivors who were conscious during their assaults, because anything can be a trigger for a woman who was drugged," said Tiombe Preston, a crisis agency counselor. "The survivor could walk into any room and wonder, 'Is the person who raped me here now?'" ER
HBNA Admin. Note: The Hermosa Beach Police Department has since revised the rape statistics.
Quoted in this news story and since revised:
Year 1995 1996 1997 1998
Rape 2 2 8 15
Revised HBPD Rape Totals for 1995 thru 1998:
Year 1995 1996 1997 1998
Rape 4 2 7 8
HBPD Rape Totals for 1999 thru 2003:
Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Rape 6 6 9 15 11
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