Woman sought in Santa Clarita Valley shoppers' credit card thefts

Authorities are looking for a woman they suspect of stealing wallets from three women as they shopped in the Santa Clarita Valley, later using their credit cards to buy jewelry and get cash.

Three women reported their wallets were stolen from their purses in separate incidents Saturday as they shopped at various grocery stores, the L.A. County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.

Following the thefts, the victims’ credit cards were used to purchase expensive jewelry and withdraw cash from various banks, authorities said.

An investigation revealed a woman driving a silver Cadillac SUV with temporary license plates had posed as the victims, using their driver's licenses to commit the fraud. Sheriff’s officials said two of the victims may have been targeted because they bear a resemblance to the suspect. 

Southbound 5 Freeway at Grapevine reopened

Southbound Interstate 5 at the Grapevine was reopened Friday morning about 8 a.m. but the northbound lanes remained closed because of icy road conditions, the California Highway Patrol said.

Drivers were being escorted by CHP cruisers on the southbound side of the freeway as a precaution, officials said. CHP planned to escort cars on the northbound side Friday morning, but don't know what time that will begin.

The freeway was closed at the steep Grapevine grade Thursday afternoon as a cold winter storm pounded Southern California. 

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Stranded motorists jammed hotels and parking lots of food outlets off Interstate 5 in Lebec on Thursday evening, trying to determine whether to wait out the reopening or find an alternate route. Truck drivers lined up along roadsides just off the freeway, near various food outlets.

At the Best Western Hotel in Lebec, which sold out of all rooms by early Thursday evening, many who were stranded crowded around tables in the breakfast room, watching the news and hoping for updates on the reopening of Interstate 5.

Tanya Viau said she sat for two hours on the freeway before being diverted off around 4:30 p.m. The deckhand for San Francisco ferries was headed from the Sacramento area to San Diego to visit her son, who had recently graduated.

Interstate 5 over Grapevine reopens after snow, ice prompt closure

The California Highway Patrol reopened Interstate 5 over the Grapevine on Thursday after snow and ice forced a two-hour closure.

The agency announced via Twitter shortly before 9:30 a.m. that the freeway was again open to traffic, and officers were escorting vehicles.

The closure came about 7:30 a.m., about 90 minutes after officers began pacing traffic across the snow-slickened freeway.

A cold front from Canada settled in Southern California on Thursday, bringing snow flurries and low temperatures that forecasters said should stick around for days.

Temperatures were expected to stay in the 50s across much of the region on Thursday, warming slightly throughout the day but staying chilly, said meteorologist Cathy Hoxsie of the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

The front also brought strong winds and scattered rain showers; snow levels were predicted to drop as low as 2,000 feet.

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Burglary suspect ID'ed from victim's cellphone photo

A man suspected of burglarizing an occupied home in the Stevenson Ranch neighborhood of Santa Clarita was arrested after a resident identified him from a cellphone photograph taken by the victim at the time of the alleged crime, authorities said Wednesday.

The victim told authorities that  on Jan. 3 about 3:15 p.m., she was upstairs in her bedroom in her home in the 26100 block of Quartz Meza Lane when she heard “footsteps and unusual movement” in the kitchen area downstairs. When the victim shouted for the persons to identify themselves, two men fled the residence carrying the victim’s purse, according to a statement from the Santa Clarita Valley  Sheriff’s Station.

The victim tried to take a photograph of the license plate of the suspects' vehicle, but one of the men covered it up. She was able to snap a clear picture of one of the suspects, which authorities later released to the public.

Missing girl ID'd in fatal ravine crash; no foul play suspected

A body found in a ravine in Angeles National Forest along with a crashed silver sedan has been identified as 19-year-old Sarah Alarid of Santa Clarita, who disappeared after a New Year's Eve party, sheriff's officials said.

Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said investigators think Alarid died in a solo vehicle crash. At this time, he said it appears to be an accident.

Authorities spotted the silver sedan down a ravine off Sand Canyon Road. The plates of the car matched those of a vehicle registered to Alarid.

She was last seen about 3 a.m. on New Year's Day, leaving a New Year's Eve party. She told friends she was headed home. Whitmore said she left the party after getting into an argument with an ex-boyfriend.

Sarah Alarid’s parents went to the scene of a nearby reported shallow grave in Big Tujunga Canyon earlier in the morning, but later arrived above the ravine on Sand Canyon Road where their daughter’s car was recovered, KTLA reported.

The family members had not seen the body in the ravine, but sheriff’s homicide investigators and coroner’s investigators made the positive identification.

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Woman arrested for allegedly stealing packages from porches

A woman who authorities say stole several UPS and Fed-Ex packages from porches in the Saugus area has been arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

According to investigators at the department's Santa Clarita Valley Station,  Mariola Gorak-Doughlin, 58, of Saugus had been stealing the packages since early December. On at least one occasion, a witness reportedly observed her removing packages from a neighbor's porch.

A search of the suspect’s residence turned up property stolen from five victims, authorities said. Gorak-Doughlin was arrested and booked on suspicion of grand theft. Her bail was set at $20,000, according to  sheriff's officials.

Deputies reminded residents to be mindful of leaving packages on porches and doorsteps especially during the holiday season. They encouraged people to try to ensure someone is at home the day a package is expected to arrive or have the item sent to a relative or neighbor they know will be home during delivery.

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Sheriff's captain critically injured in car crash

A veteran Los Angeles County sheriff’s captain was critically injured Friday night when the county car she was driving collided head-on with another vehicle in the Santa Clarita Valley area east of Castaic Lake, officials said.

The driver of the other car, a 38-year-old man from Elizabeth Lake, suffered moderate injuries, according to the California Highway Patrol. He was not identified.

Capt. Carrie Stuart, 47, who is a unit commander of the Pitchess Detention Center South Facility, was being treated at an area hospital for multiple injuries, according to sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore. Stuart, a 28-year department veteran, was driving an unmarked county-owned car but Whitmore said he did not know whether she was on duty or headed to or from work at the time of the 9:30 p.m. crash.

The CHP reported that Stuart was driving a 2009 Ford southbound on San Francisquito Canyon Road north of Stator Lane when her vehicle drifted into the northbound lane. It then collided with an 2010 Acura that then overturned onto its passenger side on the road’s dirt shoulder.

The CHP said no one had been arrested in connection with the crash. Whitmore said there were no indications that Stuart might have been under the influence of alcohol but he added that blood tests would be examined.

Stuart lives in the Los Angeles area and has four children.

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Water officials seek to fine sanitation districts over chloride

Los Angeles water board officials are seeking to fine the county sanitation districts more than a quarter of a million dollars for allegedly discharging excessive chloride into the Santa Clara River from two Santa Clarita Valley treatment plants, agency officials said Monday.

According to a statement issued by the L.A. Regional Water Quality Control Board, an administrative civil liability complaint has been issued to the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts charging “alleged violations of waste discharge requirements” at its Valencia and Saugus water reclamation plants.  

The total maximum daily load of chloride allowed in the Santa Clara River is 100 milligrams per liter, but the sanitation districts submitted chloride discharge plans for a maximum of at least 117 milligrams per liter, according to the complaint. 

Downed lines block traffic on 14 Freeway in Newhall Pass

Traffic on the 14 Freeway in the Newhall Pass was disrupted Tuesday when telephone lines fell across lanes on both sides of the road, said California Highway Patrol officials.

Northbound lanes were closed at the Interstate 5 interchange, and southbound traffic was slowed at Newhall Avenue, according to a Sigalert advisory.

Although the advisory described the downed wires as power lines, a spokeswoman at the CHP's Newhall office described them as telephone wires. It was unclear whether the lines were knocked down because of a traffic accident, she said.

"They should be cleared shortly," she said a little before 11 a.m. The lines were reported down at 10:40 a.m. Traffic was being diverted to Sierra Highway.

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Map: Approximate location of traffic disruption shown in blue. Credit: Google Maps

Stranded hunter rescued from cliff in Los Padres National Forest

Members of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team mounted a daring nighttime cliff rescue to free a hunter stranded in a river gorge, authorities said Monday.

The 53-year-old hunter was crossing the north ridge of Frenchman's Flat in the Los Padres National Forest near Castaic on Sunday when he decided to change course and climb down into the creek to cross and return on the south side of the trail, according to a statement by Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials.

The man, whose identity was not disclosed, managed to reach a vertical section just above the creek but couldn’t go any farther, and it was too dark for him to try to climb back up the ridge, authorities said. So he used his cellphone to call authorities.

The search and rescue team was able to reach the south side of the creek but swift water that was about 4 feet deep prevented the unit from crossing. The Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatched a helicopter to try to locate the stranded hunter but was unable to retrieve him due to the steep terrain and tight spaces between the canyons, authorities said.