Minors

COSTA MESA — A man was arrested on suspicion of selling Ecstasy to minors at the Shark Club, police said Tuesday. Israel Soriano, 26, of Santa Ana, was charged with possession of a controlled substance for sale and child endangerment after his arrest Friday night, said Costa Mesa Police Lt. Bryan Glass. The Shark Club, 841 Baker St., was hosting an event for teenagers ages 14 to 18 that evening, a local parent said. Glass confirmed that the event was for minors. Police believe that the substance was Ecstasy, but a lab will be needed to confirm their suspicion.

Over the last two months Costa Mesa police have arrested 20 people through seven undercover alcohol law enforcement stings. Thanks to a grant from California Alcoholic Beverage Control, police have conducted several types of stings throughout the city since the beginning of the year. Officers have targeted both on-sale and off-sale locations, meaning businesses that sell alcohol to drink on the premises like a restaurant, or to take elsewhere like a liquor store. Police have ticketed five people for violations including selling alcohol to a minor.

Three restaurants and a bar in Costa Mesa were cited last week for serving alcohol to a person younger than 21, police said Tuesday. As part of a state Alcohol Beverage Control grant, Costa Mesa police during the next seven months will be doing various checks on alcohol establishments for signage or cleanliness violations, and conducting undercover stings to see if they sell to minors. The enforcement is meant to reduce alcohol sales to minors, obviously intoxicated patrons, or minors getting adults to buy them liquor and beer, among other reasons.

About 11 p.m. Thursday, Costa Mesa police Sgt. Pat Wessel and Officer Jason Chamness eyed two teens skateboarding down the alley that borders the Placentia Avenue fire station on the Westside. As the officers pulled up, the smell of pot emanated from the area, indicating the teens may have been getting into trouble. Police found a blue, prescription-style bottle containing marijuana in one of the youth's backpacks. They also learned one of the skaters was 17 and out past curfew. Officer David Sevilla phoned the boy's mom, notifying her of the location where she could pick up her son, before taking him to a drop-off point in Orange.

Newport Beach police plan to concentrate on curfew violations in May. The effort is aimed at educating parents and minors about the dangers of being out late and preventing kids from becoming crime victims, police said in a press release. A city ordinance prohibits minors from being unaccompanied by adults in public places between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. —Lauren Williams Twitter: @lawilliams30

Newport Beach police on Friday will ramp up enforcement of the city's 10 p.m. juvenile curfew. Officers are responding to an increase in thefts committed by minors, the Police Department said in a Tuesday press release. Plus, with school letting out for summer soon, more children are expected to be out and about. Police often see an uptick in thefts committed by minors during school breaks, including those in spring and summer, said Sgt. Steve Burdette. Curfew is 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily.

With the school year ending, Newport Beach police this summer will again step up enforcement of the city's curfew for minors. Curfew for children younger than 18 is enforced from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily. Increased enforcement is set to begin Friday, according to a statement from the Newport Beach Police Department. After-hours crimes committed by juveniles are up slightly, which has necessitated the need to increase curfew patrols, police said Thursday. In addition, police said, they want to protect minors from becoming crime victims.

My neighbors and I are outraged by the actions of the Orange County Employees Assn. The straw has broken the camel's back. Enough is enough. We read that the city's employee union hired a private detective to interrogate minors without their parents present or presumably without the parents' consent. If this practice is not illegal, it is certainly morally and ethically objectionable. The OCEA seems to be completely bankrupt of any ethical standards and will stop at nothing, including intimidating minors, to impose its will on the citizens, residents and property owners of Costa Mesa.

Andrew Glazer NEWPORT-MESA -- Teenagers say there's nothing stopping them from getting their hands on cigarettes. "That is, unless they make it illegal to sell them," said Lori Rodriguez, 15, a smoker since she was 10. "I really wish they did." Last year, almost 17% more California tobacco vendors illegally sold cigarettes to minors than in 1998, according to a report the released by the state Department of Health earlier this week. The number is based on a study where the department sent 15-year-olds to buy cigarettes at more than 450 California stores.

There were 74 arrests at the Orange County Fair this year, county Sheriff’s Department officials said, but none were as odd as the one for grand theft. In the last weekend of the fair, an 18-year-old man decided to steal a 5-day-old goat from the livestock area of the fair, said Orange County Sheriff Sgt. Mark Long. What’s an 18-year-old guy going to do with a 5-day-old goat? Apparently, sell it on the cheap. A Sheriff’s Department deputy saw the man holding something under his shirt and stopped him, but not before the man had already tried to hock the goat to a “carny” for $10, Long said.

About 11 p.m. Thursday, Costa Mesa police Sgt. Pat Wessel and Officer Jason Chamness eyed two teens skateboarding down the alley that borders the Placentia Avenue fire station on the Westside. As the officers pulled up, the smell of pot emanated from the area, indicating the teens may have been getting into trouble. Police found a blue, prescription-style bottle containing marijuana in one of the youth's backpacks. They also learned one of the skaters was 17 and out past curfew. Officer David Sevilla phoned the boy's mom, notifying her of the location where she could pick up her son, before taking him to a drop-off point in Orange.

Newport Beach police plan to concentrate on curfew violations in May. The effort is aimed at educating parents and minors about the dangers of being out late and preventing kids from becoming crime victims, police said in a press release. A city ordinance prohibits minors from being unaccompanied by adults in public places between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. —Lauren Williams Twitter: @lawilliams30

Former UC Irvine baseball standout Christian Bergman received the Chuck Stevens Award as the Southern California resident who had the most outstanding minor league season in 2012. Bergman, who pitched for the Anteaters from 2007 to 2010, received the award at the 88th annual Assn. of Professional Ballplayers of America's dinner earlier this month. Bergman posted a 16-5 record and a 3.65 earned-run average with the Modesto Nuts, a Single-A California League affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.

A Costa Mesa pool cleaner accused by Newport Beach police of molesting two boys allegedly had inappropriate sexual contact with a third victim and distributed pornography through a fourth, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday. One victim may have been abused as recently as January. Newport Beach police announced Saturday that Christopher Bryan McKenzie, 48, of Costa Mesa had been arrested on suspicion of having years-long sexual relationships with two boys starting at ages 8 and 16. It was unknown as of 4:30 p.m. Monday if any of the victims attended Costa Mesa's popular Rock Harbor Church, where McKenzie was a volunteer Sunday school teacher.

The Costa Mesa City Council on Thursday approved several last-minute edits to its description of a proposed charter scheduled to go on the general election ballot. Special Counsel to the City Kimberly Hall Barlow said the changes were minor in nature and more accurately reflect the final version of the proposed city constitution that residents will vote on in November. "I apologize that we even have to have this meeting," she said. FOR THE RECORD: An earlier headline on this story incorrectly said that changes were made to the charter.

With the school year ending, Newport Beach police this summer will again step up enforcement of the city's curfew for minors. Curfew for children younger than 18 is enforced from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily. Increased enforcement is set to begin Friday, according to a statement from the Newport Beach Police Department. After-hours crimes committed by juveniles are up slightly, which has necessitated the need to increase curfew patrols, police said Thursday. In addition, police said, they want to protect minors from becoming crime victims.

HUNTINGTON BEACH - For more than a decade the Oakland Athletics have been known as a baseball team that has been successful by getting the most out of scrappy, lesser-known players. No sabermetrics here, but this season in Costa Mesa American Little League Minor B Athletics Manager Mark Ingram perhaps had his own version of "moneyball" that might have made Billy Beane proud. "We drafted the youngest team," Ingram said. "We had the only two 7-year-olds in the whole league, and four 8-year-olds.

A pack of three adult pit bulls bit a mother and son early Friday south of Corona del Mar before being euthanized by authorities. The attack near Newport Coast Drive and East Coast Highway occurred at 5:36 a.m. The victims were guests at Marriott's Newport Coast Villas, said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Todd Hughes. They were taken to Hoag Hospital with minor injuries, said Jennifer Schulz, a Fire Department spokeswoman. It was unclear if all three dogs bit the mother and son, or how many bites they had. Eventually, the pit bulls were located, but when one officer got out of his car, the dogs advanced as if to attack.

Supporters of same-sex marriage called Tuesday's federal court ruling negating Proposition 8 a step in the right direction while opponents argued that the will of California voters should stand. "It is incredible, marvelous," Newport Beach Dr. Jorge Rodriguez said of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision to overturn the proposition on constitutional grounds. "I'm really reminded of that Martin Luther King quote that I love: 'The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.'" Rodriguez, a Laguna Beach resident who works at Orange Coast Medical Group, said that as a doctor he sees health problems, including depression, in patients who do not feel validated.

A cadre of emergency responders raced to Newport Center for a fire reported in a high-rise office building Saturday morning, but it turned out to be a minor blaze without injuries or major property damage. The fire, reported at about 8:00 a.m., did not spread beyond a computer server room on the 13th floor of 610 Newport Center Drive, according to a news release from the Newport Beach Fire Department. Light smoke seeped onto the 12th floor Apparently, the fire started in an air conditioning unit and caused about $3,000 in damage.