Hit-and-run driver who injured pedestrian sought in Lancaster

Authorities are asking for the public’s help in identifying a suspected hit-and-run driver they say fled after striking a woman as she crossed a street in Lancaster.

The accident occurred Tuesday about 7:45 p.m. when the driver, who was headed east on Avenue L, ran into a female pedestrian as she crossed the street, according to a statement from the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station.

The driver did not stop to help the victim, authorities said. The make of the car is unknown. The victim, whose identity has not been released, was taken to a hospital with “serious injuries,” authorities said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station’s Traffic Enforcement Team at (661) 948-8466. Tips can also be reported anonymously to LA Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

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Crime alerts for Sawtelle, Valley Village and nine other L.A. neighborhoods

Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in 11 L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times’ Crime L.A. database.

Eight neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Sawtelle (A) was the most unusual, recording six reports compared with a weekly average of 1.3 over the last three months.

Valley Village (I) topped the list of three neighborhoods with property crime alerts. It recorded 24 property crimes compared with its weekly average of 11.5 over the last three months.

Alerts are based on an analysis of crime reports for March 9 to March 15, the most recent seven days for which data are available.

— Ben Welsh, Thomas Suh Lauder

Violent crime up significantly

Neighborhood	Average	Reports
Sawtelle	1.3	6
Vermont Square	9.7	22
Del Rey	0.8	3
West Hills	0.7	3
West Adams	3.0	7
Sylmar	3.0	6
Exposition Park	5.8	9
University Park	1.5	3

Property crime up significantly

Neighborhood	Average	Reports
Valley Village	11.5	24
Vermont Knolls	13.1	20
Fairfax	13.2	19

What triggers a crime alert? Learn about the process in the FAQ for our crime database.

Driver in crash that killed USC student to be arrested

The driver of a Ford Explorer involved in a collision that killed a USC honors student will be arrested on suspicion of drunk driving when she is released from the hospital, a Los Angeles Police Department detective said Monday.

The woman, in her 20s, whose name was not released, was driving an Explorer that smashed into the right side of a Ford Mustang carrying Xinhai Huang, 22, about 3:30 a.m. Sunday, killing him, police said.

It appeared that the woman had been drinking, said Los Angeles police Det. Jimmy Render.

The crash occurred at Hyde Park and West boulevards, about six miles southwest of USC. Huang, a junior, was an honor student and on the dean’s list at the school, university officials confirmed. He was majoring in electrical engineering.

 "We grieve for a promising life cut short, and for his parents who have lost their son," the statement read.

The suspect was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and is in stable condition, Render said. She will be arrested upon release, police said.

“This gives us some time to build a case,” Render said.

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Graffiti at Simi Valley elementary school force early dismissal

Students at a Simi Valley elementary school were released from school early Monday because of “threatening” graffiti painted across campus buildings, Simi Valley police said.

“It was inappropriate and threatening in nature,” said Simi Valley police Sgt. Craig Dungan.

Staff at Justin Elementary School sent out mass emails and automated phone calls to parents Monday telling them to pick up their children at noon after faculty members who arrived in the morning found graffiti painted across several school buildings and windows. The school is a K-6 school.

Students who could not be picked up were being bused to a nearby elementary school at 12:45 p.m.

Police would not discuss the nature of the graffiti, but said it was not a bomb threat.

“Sometimes when graffiti is extensive and they can’t cover it all and it's inappropriate for young eyes to see they’ll send the students home early,” Dungan said.

Whatever the graffiti were, they made school administrators put the campus on what they call a “lock in,” where students are required to stay inside classrooms at all times, said Lt. Stephanie Shannon. If students had to go to the bathroom, they were escorted there and back, she said.

After-school activities on the campus were also canceled. Classes are expected to resume their normal schedule Tuesday, Shannon said.

Simi Valley Unified School District officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Matthew Keys target of Draconian computer laws, attorney says

Reuters journalist Matthew Keys is being targeted by the Department of Justice because he was reporting on the “hacktivist” group Anonymous, Keys' attorney said Friday.

“It’s another one of these prosecutions that the government is using to turn heads and try to scare people away from reporting on Anonymous,” Jay Leiderman, a Ventura-based civil liberties attorney, said in an interview with The Times. “He wrote about his experience in kind of a private chat of Anonymous and that led to this.”

In a grand jury indictment filed Thursday in California’s Eastern District federal court, prosecutors accuse Reuters' deputy social media editor of giving an Anonymous-affiliated hacker access to the Tribune Co.'s servers in 2010.

Reuters suspended Keys with pay Thursday, a company spokesman confirmed.

According to the indictment, Keys, 26, once worked for the Tribune Co.'s Sacramento-based KTXL FOX 40 TV station. The court filing includes an excerpt of an alleged chat between Keys, who went by the pseudonym “AESCracked” and an Anonymous hacker named “sharpie.”

Prosecutors allege the chat shows Keys agreeing to give the hacker access to Tribune servers. The hacker gained access to The Times' website, where he changed a headline on a tax-cut related story to “Pressure builds in House to elect CHIPPY 1337."

Keys is charged with conspiracy to cause damage to a protected computer, transmission of malicious code and attempted transmission of a protected code. He faces up to 25 years in federal prison and $750,000 in fines.

Keys’ prosecution is an example of the government’s “draconian approach to computer crimes laws,” said his New York-based attorney, Tor Ekeland. “It’s fully our position he was merely a reporter doing a story on Anonymous and he happened to be in these chat rooms…. He did go in under that screen name to report on a story, but was that screen name always him? I don’t know at this point.”

Keys found out he was being charged through social media, he tweeted. Leiderman said they are waiting for him to receive his indictment in the mail so they can schedule a court appearance.

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Gamer may be behind 'Chippy 1337' hack of L.A. Times

A hacker identity linked to a breach of Tribune Co. servers in 2010 that led to a changed headline on the Los Angeles Times website has also been linked with hacks on international gaming servers, according to multiple tech blogs and fan sites.

In December 2010, the headline for a Times story on tax cuts curiously read “Pressure builds in House to elect CHIPPY 1337” for about 30 minutes until server administrators were able to change it.

The hacker gained access to Tribune servers through former employee Matthew Keys, according to a federal indictment filed Thursday in California’s Eastern District court.

In 2011, using the pseudonym or handle "CHIPPY 1337," a hacker or hackers breached a Canadian role-playing game server, Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

A May 2011 post in Time magazine’s tech blog suggested that users of the Chippy 1337 handle, among others, were part of a growing divide among the Anonymous hacker group’s active users. While Anonymous has traditionally targeted sites and organizations that it ideologically opposes, some of Chippy’s hacks in recent years have been focused on gaining headlines – The Times hack as an example – than promoting a specific cause.

The person behind Chippy 1337 may also be an avid video game player. In the online gaming community, 1337 means “leet,” short for “elite.”

The L.A. Times hacker also told Keys he or she will be “afk 5 minutes,” according to a transcript included in the indictment.

“Afk” -- an acronym for away from keyboard -- is a term often used by gamers.

A 2011 story by the BBC, however, suggested hackers may be using the Chippy 1337 name to divert from the real perpetrators.

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Photo: A screen grab of the 2010 hacked L.A. Times article. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Crime alerts for University Park and 12 other L.A. neighborhoods

Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in 13 L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database.

10 neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. University Park (A) was the most unusual, recording seven reports compared with a weekly average of 1.5 over the last three months.

Arlington Heights (K) topped the list of three neighborhoods with property crime alerts. It recorded 12 property crimes compared with its weekly average of 5.5 over the last three months.

Alerts are based on an analysis of crime reports for March 6–March 12, the most recent seven days for which data are available.

-- Ben Welsh, Thomas Suh Lauder

Violent crime up significantly

Neighborhood	Average	Reports
University Park	1.5	7
West Hills	0.6	4
Exposition Park	5.8	12
Granada Hills	1.0	3
Vermont Square	9.6	19
Sherman Oaks	1.2	3
Valley Glen	2.4	5
Eagle Rock	1.3	3
Lincoln Heights	1.8	6
Canoga Park	2.9	5

Property crime up significantly

Neighborhood	Average	Reports
Arlington Heights	5.5	12
Echo Park	11.2	17
Adams-Normandie	4.5	8

What triggers a crime alert? Learn about the process in the FAQ for our crime database.

Crime alerts for University Park and eight other L.A. neighborhoods

Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in nine L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times’ Crime L.A. database.

Eight neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. University Park (A) was the most unusual, recording six reports compared with a weekly average of 1.5 over the last three months.

Lake View Terrace (I) was the lone neighborhood with a property-crime alert. It recorded six property crimes compared with its weekly average of 2.8 over the last three months.

Alerts are based on an analysis of crime reports for March 3–March 9, the most recent seven days for which data are available.

— Ben Welsh, Thomas Suh Lauder

Violent crime up significantly

Neighborhood	Average	Reports
University Park	1.5	6
Sherman Oaks	1.2	4
West Hills	0.6	3
Exposition Park	6.1	12
Canoga Park	2.7	5
El Sereno	1.9	5
Watts	9.2	18
Highland Park	3.4	8

Property crime up significantly

Neighborhood	Average	Reports
Lake View Terrace	2.8	6

What triggers a crime alert? Learn about the process in the FAQ for our crime database.

12-year-old arrested in vandalism of middle school

A 12-year-old boy has been arrested on charges of causing thousands of dollars in damage to a Quartz Hill middle school on New Year’s Day, authorities said.

According to a statement Wednesday from the Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lancaster station, the boy vandalized Joe Walker Middle School at 5632 West Ave L-8  in Quartz Hill, which borders Lancaster, by spray painting “gang-style graffiti” over the campus. Authorities estimated the destruction at more than $20,000.

Sheriff’s deputies located the boy in Bakersfield. He was arrested March 7 and transported to Lancaster station for booking on felony vandalism charges, authorities said. The boy’s name was withheld because he is a juvenile.

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Crime alerts for Canoga Park and eight other L.A. neighborhoods

Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in nine L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times’ Crime L.A. database.

Eight neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Canoga Park (A) was the most unusual, recording seven reports compared with a weekly average of 2.6 over the last three months.

South Park (I) was the lone neighborhood with a property-crime alert. It recorded 17 property crimes compared with its weekly average of 12.2 over the last three months.

Alerts are based on an analysis of crime reports for March 2–March 8, the most recent seven days for which data are available.

-- Ben Welsh, Thomas Suh Lauder

Violent crime up significantly

Neighborhood	Average	Reports
Canoga Park	2.6	7
University Park	1.5	5
Silver Lake	0.8	3
Sherman Oaks	1.2	3
Winnetka	2.3	5
Watts	9.2	18
Exposition Park	6.1	10
Arlington Heights	1.9	4

Property crime up significantly

Neighborhood	Average	Reports
South Park	12.2	17

What triggers a crime alert? Learn about the process in the FAQ for our crime database.