Angeles National Forest roads to close amid snow, ice

With a storm on the way, Los Angeles County officials warned of likely closures on roads leading into the Angeles National Forest shortly after midnight Monday.

The L.A. County Public Works Department said that based on the forecast of snow and icy road conditions, it would close the following roads at 3 a.m. Tuesday:

-- Angeles Forest Highway from Aliso Canyon Road to Angeles Crest Highway

-- Big Tujunga Canyon Road from Angeles Forest Highway to Vogel Flats

-- Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road from Angeles Forest Highway to Angeles Crest Highway

The National Weather Service is predicting a cold, windy storm will reach Southern California early Tuesday morning, bringing rain to much of the Southland and snow to the mountains.

The snow level is expected to begin at 4,500 feet and drop to 2,000 feet, according to the weather service. On Friday, the forecast had called for a foot of snow. On Sunday night, the forecast suggested the accumulation may be far less: 4 to 8 inches. 

Once the roads are closed, county officials warn, local access will not be permitted. The closures are to remain in effect until the storm system has passed and the roads have been inspected.

For more information and updates, area residents and motorists can visit the county’s website.

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LAPD's 'protection details' end after Dorner's remains identified

Los Angeles Police Department personnel who were protecting fellow officers allegedly threatened by Christopher Jordan Dorner are being sent back to their normal duties, Chief Charlie Beck said Thursday afternoon.

The LAPD had assigned the "protection details" to the homes of more than 50 officers and their families after they were allegedly named as targets in a manifesto that authorities say Dorner had posted on his Facebook page.

"We've taken away the protection details," Beck told The Times. He spoke shortly after authorities said they had positively identified the charred remains found in a mountain cabin Tuesday as being the body of Dorner.

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

The 24-hour protection details taxed LAPD resources. The city has not released financial figures on the cost of the operation.

Becks said the ordeal in which Dorner is suspected of killing four people, including two lawmen, took a mental toll on people who were allegedly targeted. 

"We are very concerned about the mental well-being of some of people being protected and their families," he said, adding that the department would provide counseling services.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Dpeartment announced that it had made the identification using dental records during an autopsy.

TIMELINE: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

Couple says Christopher Dorner tied them up, gagged them

When they stumbled upon Christopher Jordan Dorner inside their condo, they were quickly bound and gagged by him so they couldn't escape and alert authorities that the fugitive former police officer was in the area.

That harrowing ordeal was described by Jim and Karen Reynolds, who own the Big Bear area property, where Dorner was apparently holed up for as many as five days.

“I really thought it could be the end,” Karen Reynolds told reporters outside the condo Wednesday night.

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

Dorner bound the couple's arms and legs tightly with plastic zip locks, stuffed small towels in their mouths so they couldn't scream and covered their heads with pillowcases, they said. He tied an extension cord around each of the pillowcases to keep the gags in place.

They said he assured them that he meant no harm: “I don’t have a problem with you. I just want to clear my name," they recalled him saying. 

"He tried to calm us down, saying very frequently, he would not kill us,” said Jim Reynolds, 66, who has owned the condo with his wife for 12 years. "He huddled down beside me and said 'you're going to be quiet, right? Not make a fuss and let me get away?' "

FULL COVERAGE: Sweeping manhunt for ex-cop

Dorner, 33, said those words to the couple after nearly a week of eluding authorities, who pursued the former LAPD officer after police say he killed several people.

"He told us 'I know you know who I am, I know you've been seeing the news,' " recalled  56-year-old Karen Reynolds.

Dorner to captives: 'I just want to clear my name'

Just a few hours before he was believed to have been killed, fugitive ex-cop Christopher Jordan Dorner told a couple he tied up and gagged: “I don’t have a problem with you. I just want to clear my name.”

Dorner said those words to the couple after nearly a week of eluding authorities, who pursued the former LAPD officer after police say he killed several people. He had apparently been in a Big Bear area condo for as many as five days before the husband and wife who own the unit entered the property Tuesday around noon, the couple told reporters.

"He tried to calm us down, saying very frequently, he would not kill us,” said Jim Reynolds, 66, who has owned the condo with his wife for 12 years. "He huddled down beside me and said 'you're going to be quiet, right? Not make a fuss and let me get away?' "

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

"He told us 'I know you know who I am, I know you've been seeing the news,' " Karen Reynolds, 56, said.

The couple provided new details on some of Dorner's movements in the apparent final hours of his life before he is believed to have died in a fire following a mountainside gun battle with officers. Law enforcement authorities previously said the fugitive had held two cleaning women hostage. The Reynolds, married for 36 years, spoke to reporters to end the confusion. 

Dorner bound the couple's arms and legs tightly with plastic zip locks, stuffed small towels in their mouths so they couldn't scream and covered their heads with pillowcases, they said. He tied an extension cord around each of pillowcases to keep the gags in place.

TIMELINE: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

“I really thought it could be the end,” Karen Reynolds said.

Convict charged in unsolved 1982 O.C. killing

A 67-year-old man already serving life sentences for two other murders has been linked by DNA evidence to a previously unsolved third killing from the early 1980s, Orange County prosecutors said.

David Richard Campbell was charged Wednesday with one felony count of special circumstances murder with a sentencing enhancement for multiple murders and the personal use of a firearm, according to Orange County prosecutors.

Campbell is already serving a life sentence for the 1981 Halloween murder of his friend William Kimble Raber of Buena Park. Raber's headless torso was found in Riverside County at Vail Lake.

On Jan. 2, 1982, Campbell met with his friend Frank “Bart” Marshall, who said that Raber had not been seen in awhile, according to Orange County prosecutors.

Campbell became paranoid that Marshall knew about Raber's death and shot the 26-year-old man in the head, prosecutors said. Marshall’s body was then dismembered and discarded near Big Bear. His remains, discovered in 1985, remained unidentified for more than 27 years. The skull, recently identified as Marshall’s, led to the additional murder charges.

Campbell also received a life sentence in the disappearance of a neighbor, John Fischer, who was last seen on Dec. 30, 1981, leaving his home in the family car. A skull containing a bullet was discovered by Boy Scouts hiking near Idyllwild four years later. The rest of the body was never found, but the bullet from the Fischer murder matched that from the gun used in the Raber murder.

The Fullerton Police Department reopened its investigation into the Marshall case, and were able to link Campbell to the murder through DNA technology, which was not available to investigators at the time the crime took place.

Campbell is in custody in Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad, Calif., but he will be brought to Orange County to face the charge.

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Dorner manhunt: Slain San Bernardino deputy identified 

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-- Nicole Santa Cruz and Rick Rojas in Orange County

Dorner hostage: 'I really thought it could be the end'

This post has been corrected. See below for details.

Christopher Jordan Dorner was apparently holed up inside a Big Bear area condo for as many as five days before he took the husband and wife who own the property hostage, the couple said Wednesday night.

Dorner tied the husband and wife up with plastic zip locks, stuffed small towels in their mouths so they couldn't scream and covered the heads with pillow cases, they said.

“I really thought it could be the end,” 56-year-old Karen Reynolds told reporters.

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

She and husband JIm Reynolds, 66, provided new details on some of Dorner's movements in the apparent final hours of his life before he is believed to have died in a fire following a mountanside gun battle with officers. Law enforcement authorities previously said the fugitive had held two cleaning women hostage. The Reynolds spoke to reporters to end the confusion. 

The Reynolds said Dorner had been at the condo since as early as Friday when they arrived to do maintenance in the yard. He told them he was watching them while they worked during the day before leaving to sleep at another property nearby.

When they entered the condo about noon Tuesday, they said, they were surprised to find the fugitive former Los Angeles police officer inside. They said they were held captive for about 15 minutes.

TIMELINE: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

The couple stumbled upon Dorner when they went upstairs. Once they saw him, they said, he brandished a gun and yelled, “Stay calm.” 

 Karen Reynolds said she tried to run down the stairs, but Dorner chased after her and caught her. He then took the couple to a bedroom, where he tied them up.

Dorner was a menacing presence but at other times tried to reassure the couple that he did not want to harm them, they said.

INTERACTIVE MAP: Searching for suspected shooter

"He tried to calm us down, saying very frequently, he would not kill us,” said Jim Reynolds, who has owned the condo with his wife for 12 years.

Karen Reynolds said Dorner left the condo and stole their purple Nissan. At that point, she propped herself up and shuffled to her cellphone and grabbed it with her bound hands and called 911 using the speaker.

That call at 12:20 p.m. alerted authorities that Dorner was in the area and set in motion the chain of events that led to a shootout between Dorner and a Fish and Wildlife warden and the standoff at the cabin where he is believed to have died as flames consumed the wood-paneled structure. 

The blaze was sparked after authorities fired incendiary tear gas into the cabin, San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon told reporters Wednesday afternoon. 

McMahon denied speculation that officers intentionally set the fire, saying officers first used traditional tear gas to flush the man out. When that didn't work, they decided to use CS gas canisters, which are known in law enforcement parlance as incendiary tear gas. These canisters, filled with more potent gas, have a significantly greater chance of starting a fire.

"We did not intentionally burn down that cabin," the sheriff said.

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Photo: Jim Reynolds, 66, right, and wife Karen Reynolds, 56, recount their harrowing experience of being held captive by Christopher Dorner inside a condo unit they own at Mountain Vista Resort. Credit: Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times

[For the record: The photo caption in a previous version of this post incorrectly gave Karen Reynolds' age as 57.]

 

 

 

Owner of stolen truck says Dorner didn't want to hurt him

 

The man who fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner allegedly stole a truck from just hours before an explosive showdown with authorities said Wednesday he did not believe the alleged quadruple-killer wanted to hurt him.

Still, Angelus Oaks resident Rick Heltebrake said Dorner pointed a large assault-type rifle at his head.

“I did not feel like he wanted to hurt me," the local camp ranger said. "It was clear I wasn’t part of his agenda and there were other people down the road that were part of his agenda. Unfortunately, he found them, and now we have one less sheriff’s deputy in San Bernardino.”

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

For the 61-year-old Heltebrake, Tuesday began with a quiet lunch at the Oaks Restaurant. He runs a camp in Angelus Oaks and wanted to grab a bite to eat before heading down Glass Road to check on his camp.

About noon Tuesday, he got going. Riding in his silver 2008 Dodge RAM pickup truck on California 38, he turned onto Glass Road and saw something that struck him as “odd.”

There was a sheriff’s vehicle driving along with not one, but two deputies in it. And there was also a California Department of Fish and Wildlife vehicle, strangely also with two wardens inside.

WHO THEY WERE: Dorner's alleged victims

“I could tell they weren’t in the mood to talk,”  Heltebrake said, “and they were on the way to something.”

The camp, just over a mile down the road looked good, so Heltebrake turned back around and headed toward the highway. But about a half mile before he reached the highway, Heltebrake noticed something moving in the trees. It was a person with a gun dressed in camouflage and a ballistics vest, with pockets that were full.

“He was ready for action,” Heltebrake said. “Right away I knew it was Mr. Dorner.”

FULL COVERAGE: Sweeping manhunt for ex-cop

And behind Dorner was a wrecked vehicle.

Dorner may have been hiding in plain sight near command center

Though he lived only half a mile from the command center, deputies never knocked on the door of Jim Rose’s house looking for Christopher Dorner, Rose told The Times on Wednesday.

“One friend said, ‘OK, so much for the inspection,' ” Rose, 78, said.

As it turned out, wanted murder suspect Christopher Dorner appears to have been hiding in plain sight, just a five-minute walk from where law enforcement officials from multiple agencies had centered their search operation for the ex-LAPD officer.

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More than 200 officers were involved the first night. Sheriff’s department officials said the search included more than 600 cabins over eight square miles.

It apparently did not include Rose's neighborhood, which it turns out, may have been where Dorner was hiding all along. The circumstance is reminiscent of the government’s search for Whitey Bulger, who was hiding under federal agents’ noses when he was captured.

"As far as I could tell, they did about as good as they could do," said Otis Farry, whose home is on Club View Drive. "Who would've known?"

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

Farry's home abuts the Big Bear Lake golf course, which is across the street from the neighborhood that rises into the forest.

“I figured he was back in the woods somewhere, but the guy was right across the street,” said Bruce Doucett, 55, a certified public accountant who lives in the same condominium complex as the unit where Dorner was said to be hiding. “All I can say is that it’s a bit unnerving.”

Doucett said the condo in question had been vacant and clean since Thursday, the last time a tenant was there for a vacation rental.

TIMELINE: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

Authorities aren't sure how long Dorner might have been in the condo. But Carl Macon, 53, said it was unsettling to know he walked his dog by the condo every day. He described Dorner's alleged acts as "something out of a suspense book."

Macon said his house has been tense, despite a visit by a SWAT team Thursday night as part of the cabin checks. Despite rumors Dorner might have left the mountain, Macon said he thought chances were good the fugitive had stayed — a lot of people he knew were on their toes.

But now, Macon said, it's "time to chill."

INTERACTIVE MAP: Searching for suspected shooter

“Time to crack open the champagne,” he said.

Dorner manhunt: Big Bear condo window shows sign of forced entry

A screen removed from a sliding glass window was the only sign of forced entry Wednesday at the Mountain Vista Resort condominium where police say Christopher Dorner broke in and tied up two members of a cleaning crew.

The screen sat in a foot of snow and rested against the back wall of Unit 203. The left-hand corner of the window frame bore a deep mark, as though some kind of tool had been used to pry the screen free of the frame.

Two members of a house-cleaning crew, who have been described by some law enforcement officers as maids, entered the condominium Tuesday morning. Inside, they found a man they said resembled the fugitive, a law enforcement official said. The man tied up the house cleaners, then took off in a purple Nissan parked near the cabin, authorities said.

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

One of the workers broke free and called 911 after Dorner left, officials said. The phone call kicked off a day of searching and sightings that resulted in Dorner and law enforcement trading gunfire at a single-story, multi-room cabin nearby later Tuesday, officials said.

Dorner manhunt: Investigators work to ID charred human remains

After what LAPD Chief Charlie Beck called "a bittersweet night," investigators Wednesday were in the process of identifying the human remains found in the charred cabin where fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner was believed to have been holed up after trading gunfire with officers, authorities said.

If the body is identified as Dorner’s, the standoff would end a weeklong manhunt for the ex-LAPD officer and Navy Reserve lieutenant suspected in a string of shootings following his firing by the Los Angeles Police Department several years ago. Four people have died in the case, allegedly at Dorner’s hands.

Beck said he would not consider the manhunt over until the body was identified as Dorner. Police remained on tactical alert and were conducting themselves as if nothing had changed in the case, officials said.

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

The latest burst of gunfire came Tuesday after the suspect, attempting to flee law enforcement officials, fatally shot a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy and seriously injured another, officials said. He then barricaded himself in a wooden cabin outside Big Bear, not far from ski resorts in the snow-capped San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles, according to police.

"This could have ended much better, it could have ended worse," said Beck as he drove to the hospital where the injured deputy was located. "I feel for the family of the deputy who lost his life."

The injured deputy is expected to survive but it is anticipated he will need several surgeries. The names of the two deputies have not been released.

TIMELINE: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

Just before 5 p.m., authorities smashed the cabin's windows, pumped in tear gas and called for the suspect to surrender, officials said. They got no response. Then, using a demolition vehicle, they tore down the cabin's walls one by one. When they reached the last wall, they heard a gunshot. Then the cabin burst into flames, officials said.

Last week, authorities said they had tracked Dorner to a wooded area near Big Bear Lake. They found his torched gray Nissan Titan with several weapons inside, the said, and the only trace of Dorner was a short trail of footprints in newly fallen snow.