Marine from Chico dies while training at Twentynine Palms

A U.S. Marine from Chico in Northern California has died during training at the base at Twentynine Palms, the Marine Corps announced Wednesday.

Private 1st Class Casey Holmes, 21, died Monday during training at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center.

Holmes was assigned to the Hawaii-based 3rd Battalion 3rd Regiment. His death was under investigation, the Marine Corps said.

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Authorities search for bank robber dubbed the 'Luger Bandit'

The FBI and local authorities in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties are searching for a man dubbed “the Luger Bandit” who is believed to have robbed two banks earlier this year and attempted to rob a third Friday while brandishing a pistol that resembles a German-made Luger.

The first robbery took place Jan. 3 at a Wells Fargo branch in the Granada Hills neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley, according to a statement forwarded by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept. The same man is believed to have robbed a Wells Fargo in Fontana on Feb. 18 and attempted to rob a Wells Fargo in San Dimas on March 8.

During each robbery, the suspect ordered employees and customers to the ground, pulled out a silver pistol and demanded cash in various denominations. Bank surveillance photos show him wearing a sweat shirt with a hood, jeans, a facemask, sunglasses and black gloves. He has also carried a black bag with a strap. Authorities said he appears to be 30 to 40 years old.

In addition to the FBI and L.A. Sheriff’s Department, the Los Angeles and Fontana police departments also are investigating.

Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to contact the FBI at (888) CANT-HIDE. Those who wish to remain anonymous may call (800) 222-TIPS or go to lacrimestoppers.org.

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Former girls basketball coach charged with sex abuse of his players

This post has been updated. See below for details.

A former girls basketball coach at Eisenhower High School in Rialto pleaded not guilty Friday to four counts of sexual abuse involving members of his team.

The incidents allegedly occurred in 2004, police say. The coach, Floyd Eddings Jr., left the school that same year, according to a statement from the Rialto Police Department.

Eddings, 55, is currently employed as a campus security guard for a high school in the Corona-Norco Unified School District, the statement said.

[Updated, 4:22 p.m.: Corona-Norco Unified said Eddings has been placed on administrative leave. He has been employed as a security attendant since 2007, the district said.]

An arrest warrant in the case was issued Wednesday. The charges against Eddings are sexual penetration on a minor by force or duress; sexual penetration with a foreign object on a victim under 16 years old; and two counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a 14- or 15-year-old child.

Bail was set at $400,000, according to San Bernardino Superior Court records.

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Christopher Dorner: Camp ranger files claim for $1.2-million reward

A camp ranger carjacked by Christopher Dorner and who called 911 is seeking the entire $1.2-million reward offered for the now-deceased ex-L.A. police officer who killed four people before taking his own life in a Big Bear area cabin.

Rick Heltebrake, through a law firm, has filed a claim to collect the reward offered by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and funded by various entities. It was not long after Heltebrake called 911 that San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies surrounded the cabin where Dorner was hiding Feb. 12 and where he shot himself.

Heltebrake, a full-time ranger at Boy Scouts-owned Camp Tahquitz, said in the claim for the reward that he was driving on Glass Road when a man jumped out of a snow bank and pointed a firearm at him.

"Mr. Heltebrake immediately recognized this man as Christopher Dorner," wrote attorney Allen L. Thomas in the Feb. 19 reward claim.

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

Heltebrake says Dorner ordered him out of the truck and used it to continue fleeing law enforcement. Dorner left Heltebrake behind with his dog. The camp ranger started to walk up Glass Road but after 10 to 15 seconds, cut into the forest with the intention of going to Highway 38.

"Once off the road, Mr. Heltebrake used his cellular telephone to contact San Bernardino Deputy Sheriff Paul Franklin to report the incident and the location of Mr. Dorner," his attorney wrote.

Heltebrake told the deputy how his truck had been stolen at gunpoint by Dorner and gave its location. Dorner turned around on Glass Road and ended up heading downhill to Seven Oaks resort, where he drove the truck into a gully and fled to the nearby cabin. There, he fatally shot a deputy before being surrounded and taking his own life.

Skateboarder charged in Girl Scout cookie money theft

The man who allegedly swooped past a Girl Scout troop on a skateboard, swiping more than $550 in cookie money, has been charged with petty theft and giving false information to a police officer.

The San Bernardino County district attorney filed the charges against Collin Christian Sawyer, 20, Wednesday morning. Sawyer was scheduled to be arraigned at Superior Court in Victorville this afternoon.

According to the district attorney’s complaint, Sawyer provided a false name when he was arrested. Both charges are misdemeanors.

Girl Scout Troop 1303 was selling cookies in front of a grocery store in Phelan on Sunday when Sawyer allegedly skated by and swiped a bag containing the money. One of the Girl Scouts ran after him and fell, suffering minor scrapes and scratches, according to police.

Sawyer, who lives in Phelan, was spotted near a gas station about 7:20 p.m. Monday and taken into custody, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

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State slams San Bernardino in redevelopment assets review

The State Controller's Office slammed the struggling city of San Bernardino in a review of assets formerly belonging to its redevelopment agency, saying the city inappropriately transferred or withheld more than $500 million in assets, including land, buildings and money.

The city filed for bankruptcy protection last summer, citing a $46-million general fund deficit.

The state's more than 400 redevelopment agencies, which used tax increment revenues for economic development and affordable housing projects, were dissolved in February 2012 and successor agencies were charged with disposing of their assets.

The state controller's review argued that San Bernardino's redevelopment agency "inappropriately" transferred $108 million to the San Bernardino Economic Development Corp., a nonprofit whose six-member governing board includes three members appointed by the City Council.

"The purpose of the asset transfer was to protect the RDA resources from elimination," the controller's report said.

Girl Scout cookie money theft: Skateboarder could face charges

A 20-year old accused of swooping by on a skateboard and taking money from a Girl Scout troop selling cookies could face theft charges after his arrest, officials said.

More than $550 in cookie money was stolen, KTLA-TV reported. Colin Sawyer was taken into custody Monday night after police released surveillance video of Sunday's crime involving Girl Scout Troop 1303.

The troop had been selling the organization's famous cookies in front of a Phelan grocery store when Sawyer allegedly skated by and swiped the money, police said.

Sawyer, who lives in Phelan, was spotted near a gas station about 7:20 p.m. Monday in the small unincorporated community and taken into custody without incident, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

After the suspect snatched a bag containing money, one of the Girl Scouts ran after him and fell, suffering minor scrapes and scratches, according to police.

Anyone with more information on the incident is asked to call Det. Jeff Toll at (760) 868-1006.

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Suspect in theft of Girl Scout cookie money arrested

A man suspected of swooping by on a skateboard and stealing money from a Girl Scout troop that was selling cookies was arrested, police said Monday night.

Colin Sawyer, 20, was taken into custody in connection with the theft of money from Girl Scout Troop 1303, which had spent most of Sunday selling the organization's famous cookies in front of a Stater Bros store in Phelan, police said.

Sawyer, who lives in Phelan, was spotted near a gas station about 7:20 p.m. in the small unincorporated community and taken into custody without incident, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. He was arrested after a suspect photo and surveillance video footage were released to media organizations.

As the girls were selling cookies at their table, a man on a skateboard snatched a bag containing money from the sales, police said. One of the Girl Scouts ran after him and fell, suffering minor scrapes and scratches, according to police.

The amount of money stolen was not disclosed. Anyone with additional information is asked to call Det. Jeff Toll at (760) 868-1006.

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twitter.com/LAJourno

Photo: Suspect in Girl Scout cookie money theft. Credit: San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department

Boy on skateboard steals Girl Scout cookie money, officials say

Authorities were searching Monday for a boy who stole money from a Girl Scout troop that was selling cookies in front of a supermarket in San Bernardino County.

Members of Girl Scout Troop 1303 had spent most of Sunday selling the organization's famous cookies in front of a Stater Bros. in Phelan, a small unincorporated community, when they began packing up their supplies at about 6:50 p.m., the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

A boy then passed their table on a skateboard and snatched a bag containing money from the sales, the statement said. One of the Girl Scouts ran after him and fell, suffering minor scrapes and scratches.

The boy was wearing a blue beanie and blue-and-gray striped shirt, the statement said. Investigators have obtained video surveillance of the suspect entering the store. The amount of money taken was not disclosed.

The sheriff's department asked anyone with information about the incident to contact Det. Jeff Toll at (760) 868-1006 or sheriff’s dispatch at (760) 249-3212. Tipsters who wish to remain anonymous can call (800) 78-CRIME.

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Man sought for allegedly shooting at deputy is found dead

A man who allegedly opened fire on a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy and then rammed the patrol car with his vehicle was discovered dead a day later from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.

Brian David Forrett, 52, of Riverside, allegedly began shooting at the deputy Friday afternoon after the deputy confronted Forrett on 2nd Street in Yucaipa. The deputy took cover and returned fire. The suspect then got into his vehicle and rammed the deputy’s patrol car.

Forrett fled the scene, and the deputy was unharmed, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

A day later, deputies responded to a report of Forrett’s white Buick parked off Highway 38 near Angelus Oaks and discovered Forrett, dead from  an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, in the driver’s seat of the car, according to the statement.

Authorities said investigators later discovered additional gunshot wounds to Forrett’s body that may have been sustained during Friday's shootout.          

An autopsy will be performed, authorities said.         

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