Four in alleged 'bling ring' plead not guilty to break-ins at celebrity homes

Four accused members of the "bling ring" that targeted the homes of young Hollywood celebrities pleaded not guilty today to a variety of charges connected to a string of burglaries that netted more than $3 million in designer clothes, accessories and jewelry.

Nicholas Frank Prugo, 19, of Calabasas; Diana Tamayo, 19, of Newbury Park; Courtney Leigh Ames, 19, of Calabasas; and Roy Lopez Jr., 27, of Reseda, are charged with taking part in various burglaries at the homes of celebrities including Orlando Bloom, Brian Austin Green, Rachel Bilson, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Audrina Patridge.

Prugo is charged with seven burglaries and has identified the other participants in the burglary ring, according to court records. His attorney has asked that his case be separated from the others because his statement implicating them has been made public.

Polanski to be released on bail Friday for return to his Alpine chalet, Swiss officials say

After a week of speculation, Swiss justice officials announced today that Roman Polanski will be released on bail Friday and return to his chalet in an Alpine resort.

The announcement comes a week after a Swiss court agreed to allow the famed director to leave prison on $4.5-million bail. SInce then, his release has been delayed as Swiss authorities awaited payment of the bond.

That snag appears to have been resolved, and officials said Polanski was to leave prison at 1 p.m. Friday, Zurich time. Arrangements for an electronic security system to monitor Polanski's movements were completed Tuesday, according to Swiss media reports.

The media have converged on the chalet, awaiting Polanski's arrival.

Swiss justice officials were quoted by AFP and Swiss news media as saying Polanski would be allowed to make unlimited phone calls and have full access to the Internet. Although he cannot leave his home, he can invite friends over and throw parties at the tony chalet in the ski resort of Gstaad.

"He will have no prison regime," Justice Ministry spokesman Falco Galli told AFP. "He is completely free to determine his daily schedule. It's also up to him to get in food and other supplies."

Judge rules that alleged 'bling ring' member can stand trial for burglary at Orlando Bloom's home

An L.A. Superior Court Judge found sufficient cause today for an alleged member of the "bling ring," which targeted the homes of young Hollywood celebrities, to stand trial on a burglary charge.

Judge Darrell Mavis rejected the argument by a lawyer for Alexis Neiers that the 18-year-old Thousand Oaks resident never knew she was involved in a July burglary at the home of actor Orlando Bloom and that she never intended to commit a felony.

At Neiers' preliminary hearing this morning, LAPD Det. Brett Goodkin said another alleged member of the ring, Nicholas Prugo, 18, identified Neiers as one of four people seen on a security video entering Bloom's Hollywood Hills home. Goodkin said Prugo, who is charged with multiple burglaries, reviewed the two-hour security video shot July 13 and identified Neiers as one of the hoodie-wearing people entering the house.

Goodkin said Neiers tried to repeatedly conceal her identity and was seen on the video leaving the actor's home with bags of items during the 3 a.m. break-in. Goodkin said the video showed two other alleged members of the ring, Diane Tamayo, 19, of Newbury Park, and Rachel Lee, 18. Tamayo has been charged in the case; Lee was arrested in Las Vegas but has not been charged.

'Pulp Fiction' screenwriter back behind bars, no longer tweeting

“Pulp Fiction” screenwriter Roger Avary won’t be tweeting again any time soon, a Ventura County Sheriff’s Department official said Monday.

Avary likely will serve out the remainder of his year-long sentence for a fatal drunken driving accident in the county jail instead of a lower-security work furlough program, said Sheriff’s spokesman Ross Bonfiglio. He’s scheduled to be released in July 2010, Bonfiglio said.

Until last week, Avary had been permitted to leave the furlough program daily to work at a production office, where he sent out Twitter messages about strip searches, lock-downs and talks with gang bangers, officials said.

On Thursday, after The Times published reports about the short messages, Avary was transferred to county jail. The tweets played a role in the decision, Bonfiglio said, but probation officials also had “security issues.”

“He really messed up," Bonfiglio said. “He could have done nine months out of a year sentence, and not even in lock up for killing someone. Now he is going to do the remainder of that time in county jail.”

Pamela Bach, David Hasselhoff's ex-wife, charged with drunk driving

Former Baywatch star David Hasselhoff’s ex-wife was charged with drunk driving Saturday night and faces a Christmas Eve court date, the California Highway Patrol said Sunday.

Pamela Bach was stopped just after 8 p.m. on Laurel Canyon Boulevard just south of the 101 Freeway. She recorded breathalyzer tests of .14 and .13, a CHP spokesman said. The legal limit is .08. 

Bach appeared in 14 episodes of "Baywatch" as cafe owner Kaye Morgan, according to the website  IMDB.com.

Hasselhoff, who also starred in "Night Rider," filed to end the couple's 16-year marriage in 2006.

Bach was booked at the Van Nuys station of the Los Angeles Police Department and released, the spokesman said.

--Dana Parsons

Man who robbed Bone Thugs-N-Harmony rapper gets prison sentence

A well-known Los Angeles anti-gang intervention worker was sentenced today to 12 years in prison for a burglary that he admitted was done to benefit a street gang.  

Marlo "Bow Wow" Jones and three codefendants were immediately sentenced after pleading no contest in connection with the robbing and beating of Bizzy Bone of the rap group Bone Thugs-N- Harmony on Jan. 5, authorities said. Bizzy Bone was beaten and choked in his Universal City hotel room and stripped of his jewelry.

At the time of his arrest, Jones was a contract employee for the anti-gang organization Unity One, which according to Los Angeles police was hired for the city’s L.A. Bridges II gang intervention program. He had also worked with a similar organization founded by USC football Coach Pete Carroll.

His arrest led to criticism of publicly funded gang intervention programs, which rely on former gang members to help police prevent violence and get gang members out of the life.

But those who defend such programs said the rewards outweigh the risks because the former gang members have the most credibility in reaching and reforming wayward youths.

Roman Polanski's legal team distances him from French attorneys

Roman Polanski’s Los Angeles legal team sought to distance the jailed filmmaker today from French attorneys who have given media interviews on behalf of the Academy Award winner.

The comments to the media “were not authorized by Mr. Polanski. The French lawyers do not represent him in the case and do not speak for him about it,” the California attorneys handling the director’s 1977 child sex case said in a written statement.

The statement did not name the unauthorized lawyers, but it came the same day that the French daily Le Figaro published an interview with Parisian lawyer Herve Temime. In the interview, Temime was identified as Polanski’s attorney and said the director, who is being held in Switzerland, would never voluntarily agree to extradition to the United States and had not received a fair trial in Los Angeles.

Judge dismisses lawsuit claiming Miley Cyrus' pic discriminated against Asians

A judge today dismissed a discrimination lawsuit against Miley Cyrus that argued that Asians were harmed by a photo that showed the teen idol and her friends pulling back their eyelids.

The novel legal claim was filed by Lucie J. Kim in a class action suit against the singer earlier this year that sought $4,000 in damages for each Asian and Pacific Islander living in Los Angeles County. The suit argued that Cyrus, 16, violated a state law that prohibits businesses from discriminating against people based on race, gender, ethnicity and other traits.

The picture appeared on websites like gossipteen.com in February, and Cyrus repeatedly apologized. Cyrus’ attorney, Bryan M. Sullivan, referred all inquiries to Miley's spokesperson, who declined comment.

Henry M. Lee, Kim’s attorney, said his client is considering appealing the case. The fact that the judge did not order Kim to pay the tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees Cyrus was seeking shows that the judge thought his client made a good-faith argument, Lee said.

-- Seema Mehta

Photo: The image of Miley Cyrus and her friends pulling back their eyelids that sparked the controversy. Credit: Gossipteen.com

Michael Jackson's doctor bought powerful anesthetic a month before singer's death, court records say

Michael Jackson’s personal physician purchased five bottles of the powerful anesthetic that killed the singer from a Las Vegas pharmacy the month before his death, according to court documents unsealed today.

Dr. Conrad Murray acknowledged giving Jackson the drug propofol in a police interview two days after Jackson’s June 25 death, and according to a police affidavit made public by a Las Vegas judge, Los Angeles police and federal drug agents subsequently worked to connect the doctor to drug bottles found in the pop icon’s rented Holmby Hills mansion.

During a July raid on the cardiologist’s Las Vegas medical office, investigators found a receipt showing that a local pharmacy, Applied Pharmacy Services, had shipped quantities of the drug to Murray in May, when he was living in Los Angeles and working full-time for Jackson, according to the affidavit.

Paparazzi-control measures suggested at preschool

A Santa Monica nursery school popular with celebrities is being urged to hire security guards and train its staff on making citizen arrests to help control paparazzi who hound the children and their famous parents.

A staff report done at the request of the City Council also suggests that a visible police presence be created around school areas during peak drop-off and pickup times.

In the end, however, the report indicates that not a lot can be done to curtail the activities of photographers and videographers because of their 1st Amendment rights.

Read more at the Santa Monica Daily Press.

Cindy Crawford extorted over 'sexy' photo of daughter

Model Cindy Crawford and her husband were the victims of a bizarre extortion scheme involving a photo of her daughter, authorities said.

According to court documents filed in Los Angeles, a German citizen was indicted after seeking to extort $100,000 from Crawford and her husband, businessman Rande Gerber.

The documents allege that the man, Edis Kayalar, 26, called Crawford in July and said he had a "sexy photograph" of her then 7-year-old daughter "in revealing clothing, bound to a chair and gagged."

Mike Tyson booked on suspicion of battery in Los Angeles

Boxer Mike Tyson was booked on suspicion of battery tonight after an altercation with a paparazzo at Los Angeles International Airport, according to authorities.

The incident occurred at Terminal 7 in front of numerous witnesses about 4:30 p.m., according to Los Angeles Airport Police. The photographer, who suffered a minor cut to his forehead, was not identified.

Tyson, 43, told investigators that the photographer struck him in an apparent attempt to provoke him, according to a police source who asked not to be named because the matter involved an open investigation.

The photographer told investigators that Tyson punched him in the face and tried to take his camera, the source said.

Meanwhile, a Tyson spokesperson told the website TMZ.com that the boxer was accompanied by a 10-month-old child and that he was trying to protect her.

Both men wanted to press charges of battery against each other, said Sgt. Jim Holcomb of the airport police. Trying to determine exactly what had happened was a difficult because of the varying accounts of witnesses.

 “There’s a lot of different versions to the story,” Holcomb said.

Tyson was initially held in the airport station’s lockup, but he was later transferred to the LAPD’s 77th Street Station, where he was booked and released on his own recognizance at 8:10 p.m.
“He was very cooperative,” said LAPD Lt. Aaron McCraney. “There were no issues.”

The photographer was taken to a hospital for treatment. He may be booked on suspicion of battery following a medical evaluation, according to the law enforcement source.

Today's episode was the latest clash between celebrities and paparazzi at LAX.

On Sept. 12, 2008, rapper Kanye West was arrested on suspicion of vandalism and his road manager, Don Crowley, was arrested on suspicion of vandalism and battery after they reportedly confronted a photographer and smashed his camera.

An L.A. court commissioner dismissed all charges against both men last month.

-- Andrew Blankstein

Photo: Mike Tyson. Credit: Getty Images

Hollywood Spider-Man impersonator caught in legal web

A Spider-Man impersonator was arrested on outstanding criminal warrants today after an incident in which he allegedly slugged a man near the Hollywood and Highland complex, Los Angeles police said.

It was not immediately clear what led to the altercation, which was reported about 12:30 p.m. in the 6800 block of Hollywood Boulevard. But it's the latest in a string of incidents involving movie characters and celebrity lookalikes who vie for space -- and attention -- along the tourist-filled corridor that includes Grauman's Chinese Theater.

Christopher Loomis, 39, was being held on outstanding misdemeanor warrants in lieu of $5,500 bail, police said.

Alleged 'bling ring' member in protective custody after threat, attorney says

A member of a crew of young people accused of burglarizing celebrity homes, including Paris Hilton's and Lindsay Lohan's, has been placed in protective custody after receiving a threat, his attorney said today.

A search warrant affidavit made public last week indicated that Nicholas Prugo, 18, of Calabasas, provided a full confession and implicated six others in a series of burglaries since last December that netted more than $3 million in designer clothes and jewelry from many on young Hollywood's A-list.

Sean G. Erenstoft, Prugo's attorney, said only that "my client has received a threat." He did not say who made the threat.

Erenstoft said Prugo agreed to cooperate with Los Angeles police detectives and was told his cooperation would not be made public. Erenstoft said his client's information allowed investigators to crack the case that had gone unsolved for months. Prugo was arrested after a tipster informed the Los Angeles Police Department that he was in the so-called bling ring.

Rodney King says boxing keeps him sober

Famed beating victim Rodney King says that brawling has helped him to stay sober for well over a year.

King is currently traveling the country as part of a D-list celebrity boxing league, and said the experience has kept him focused and dry for 17 months. During an interview in Massachusetts tonight, King told an Associated Press reporter that he hoped to one day square off in the ring with Laurence Powell, one of the LAPD officers involved in King's videotaped beating in 1991.

King said Powell pulled out of an exhibition that was planned five years ago, but said he hopes something can be worked out this time.

“I could see the bigger picture in this,” King said. “I could see me and him going around, educating people on that night, and then just sit around and chop it up. Me and him could turn it into a very educational moment.”

Michael Jackson's father seeks an allowance from late singer's estate

Michael Jackson’s father wants the late singer’s estate to help him cover living expenses that exceed $20,000 a month, according to court papers filed Friday.

The estate is already paying Jackson’s mother a monthly allowance of $26,000, and an attorney for Joe Jackson wrote in the Superior Court filing that the family patriarch was entitled to the “same manner” of support. In the papers, the 81-year-old’s lawyer wrote that Michael Jackson had footed his father’s bills for decades.

“He does not have a regular or steady source of income, and he was dependent upon the money provided by his son, Michael Jackson, through his wife, Katherine Jackson, for his support,” attorney Brian Oxman wrote. He said in an interview that the amount the singer paid to his parents when he was alive far exceeded what Katherine Jackson is currently getting.

“She’s receiving sufficiently less....When Michael passed away, the money stopped,” he said.
 

Hero pilot named grand marshal of 2010 Rose Parade

Hero pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger has been named grand marshal of the 2010 Rose Parade, officials said today.

Sullenberger gained international fame for successfully landing his passenger plane on the Hudson River in New York City. The Tournament of Roses announced the selection on its Facebook page.

Sullenberger grew up in Denison, Texas, where his father was a dentist and his mother a teacher. He had a distinguished career flying for the military before his more than 40 years in commercial aviation, the last 29 as a captain with US Airways.

Reputed 'bling ring' fugitive surrenders to LAPD

A fugitive and convicted drug dealer who police say is part of the reputed 'bling ring" that has burglarized the homes of young celebrities including Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton surrendered to police this afternoon, authorities said.

Jonathan Ajar, whom police dubbed "Johnny Dangerous," is suspected of selling some of the luxury items allegedly stolen in at least 10 burglaries. Investigators are still piecing together the case but said the ring was largely composed of young women who attended Indian Hills Continuation High School in Agoura Hills and had a taste for the luxury goods and accessories young celebrities wore

In addition to Lohan and Hilton, the group is suspected of taking merchandise from the residences of Rachel Bilson, Orlando Bloom, Brian Austin Green, Megan Fox, Audrina Patridge and Ashley Tisdale.

Accompanied by an attorney, Ajar went to the Hollywood police station, where he turned himself in about 2:30 p.m., said Det. Bret Goodkin.

Villaraigosa wants city buildings opened to TV, film production

To stem the outflow of film and other entertainment production jobs from Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa met this morning with representatives from more than 20 city departments to find ways to make it easier for producers to shoot locally.

Villaraigosa has already ordered general managers to appoint film “liaisons" in every department to help production companies cut through the bureaucracy and coordinate production work. Today he also asked them to identify all city buildings, parking lots and other facilities producers could use for films, television, commercials and other projects, according to a spokesman for the mayor.

The agencies include the Los Angeles Zoo, Department of Water and Power, Port of Los Angeles, Department of Transportation and Department of General Services.

According to the California Film Commission, the state’s share of U.S. feature film production fell to 31% in 2008 from 66% in 2003. Most of that drop-off was in the Los Angeles area, where feature filming in 2008 was nearly half what it was at its peak in 1996.

A survey by FilmL.A. Inc., which coordinates permits for location filming, found that only 57% of all TV pilots were shot in the L.A. area this year, down from 81% in 2004.

The City Council is already considering offering tax refunds to production companies and tax credits to building owners who make their sites available for filming. The council also wants to increase the availability of power nodes downtown so filmmakers don’t have to rely on portable generators, saving money and reducing noise levels for downtown residents.

-- Phil Willon at L.A. City Hall

Luxury goods found at homes of suspects in celebrity burglaries, search warrant shows

Police recovered Paris Hilton's designer perfume, a pistol belonging to actor Brian Austin Green and a handwritten inventory listing diamonds and other jewelry at the homes of suspects accused of burglarizing the homes of young Hollywood celebrities, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by The Times.

The affidavit sought by Los Angeles Police Department detectives names five alleged members of the burglary crew -- Jonathan Ajar, Diana Tamayo, Courtney Ames, Alexis Neiers and Roy Lopez Jr. -- who were charged last week with residential burglary and other felonies in connection with at least 10 burglaries in the Hollywood Hills that occurred between late 2008 and October this year. 

The largest haul was found inside the Winnetka apartment of Ajar, a convicted drug dealer who remains a fugitive in the case. The search of Ajar's residence turned up illicit drugs and a stash of weapons including a Sig Sauer handgun belonging to Green, who starred in the original "Beverly Hills 90210."

Other items seized from Ajar, a former part-time club promoter at Les Deux nightclub, included a diamond encrusted Cartier Tiger watch, numerous gold and diamond bracelets and cut diamonds in a bag weighing more than 42 carats.

Man charged with stalking 'American Idol' host Ryan Seacrest

Prosecutors charged a 25-year-old Los Angeles man today with multiple counts of stalking “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest.

Chidi Benjamin Uzomah Jr., 25, faces one felony count of stalking Seacrest between Sept. 15 and Oct. 30, as well as two misdemeanor counts of attempted disobeying of a court order Oct. 2 and Oct. 30. If convicted on all counts, he faces up to four years in state prison.

Uzomah was arrested Friday at the E! building in the 5700 block of Wilshire Boulevard, where Seacrest tapes a daily TV show. Uzomah already pleaded guilty in September to attacking Seacrest’s security guard outside an Orange County hospital and was ordered to stay away from the radio and TV host.

Authorities said Uzomah appeared Oct. 2 at radio station KIIS-FM (102.7) in Burbank, looking for Seacrest.

-- Andrew Blankstein

Photo: Ryan Seacrest. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times.

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Polanski offers larger cash deposit to Swiss in bail deal

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Police arrest man for stalking Ryan Seacrest [Updated]

A 25-year-old man was arrested earlier today and accused of  stalking TV and radio host Ryan Seacrest, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

According to the police, Chidi Uzomah attempted to walk into Seacrest's office on Wilshire Blvd. around 9:30 this morning, when security personnel recognized him as someone who had tried to contact Seacrest before.

The Associated Press reports that attorneys for Seacrest obtained a temporary restraining order against Uzomah later in the day, claiming that he was carrying a knife when he tried to see the host.

[Updated 10:20 p.m.: Lawyers for Seacrest said that a temporary restraining order was served on Uzomah by detectives today, with a hearing on a permanent order scheduled for Nov. 17. Police are pursuing felony stalking charges.]

Uzomah is being held on $150,000 bail.

-- Cara Mia DiMassa

Photo: Chidi Uzomah Credit: Orange Police Department

Nicole Richie gets restraining order against two paparazzi

A Los Angeles judge today granted a temporary restraining order against two paparazzi accused of stalking Nicole Richie and her young children.

The restraining order, which was signed by L.A. Superior Court Judge David S. Cunningham III, requires that the men, Eduardo Arrivabene and Ivon Miguel, stay at least 100 feet away from Richie and her two young children, Harlow Madden, 2, and Sparrow Madden, 6 weeks.

In a statement attached to the order, Richie said that she was involved in a car crash on Oct. 5 as the men were attempting to photograph her with her family. Since then, she said, the men’s harassment “occurs on a daily basis....I am fearful that [their] continued presence may cause yet another accident, this time with my infant children in the vehicle.”

Anna Nicole Smith's doctors, boyfriend ordered to stand trial in drug case [Updated]

A judge today ordered two of Anna Nicole Smith physicians and her onetime boyfriend to stand trial on charges of conspiring to illegally furnish the 39-year-old with prescription medications.

Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry said the legal standard for the defendant to face trial was “very minimal.”

“I do find the people have met the task of convincing this court there is strong suspicion that the defendants committed the act.… I do find the proof is sufficient to bind them over for trial,” Perry said in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.

Arraignment has been set for Dec. 11 and will be overseen by another judge. [Updated at 2:30 p.m.: A previous version of this post said trial was set for Dec. 11.]

A judge today ordered two of Anna Nicole Smith physicians and her onetime boyfriend to stand trial on charges of conspiring to illegally furnish the 39-year-old with prescription medications.

Nanny says Anna Nicole Smith's boyfriend urged the model to take drugs

A Bahamian nanny who cared for Anna Nicole Smith’s newborn daughter says the model’s boyfriend cajoled Smith into taking prescription drugs that left her slurring her words and confined to bed for days at a time, according to court testimony Thursday.

A California state narcotics investigator told a judge weighing evidence against Smith’s longtime companion, Howard K. Stern, that nanny Nadine Alexie recounted multiple instances when the onetime Playboy playmate refused pills and injections.

“Howard would talk her into it,” Special Agent Danny Santiago quoted the nanny as saying in an interview last month.