Police Car

COSTA MESA — A Costa Mesa man was in critical condition Thursday after police accused him of attempted murder for allegedly driving his truck into a police cruiser carrying his two sons. About midnight Wednesday, police received a call from Donald Greene's wife saying that he had just hit their 17-year-old son. En route to the scene, police got call from the teenager, who told dispatchers his father had a gun and had just fired it in their garage. Police said Greene, 49, attacked his teenage son and his 28-year-old son. Officers rushing to the scene learned Greene had driven off in a red Toyota Tacoma pickup and started cordoning off the area while other officers continued on to the home.

A Santa Ana man who may have been driving under the influence rammed a police car before he was arrested Friday night, Costa Mesa police said. Police were responding to a woman's call that a man was loitering near her house at about 11 p.m. when they saw Jonathan West, 40, of Santa Ana, in a car smoking something in a glass pipe, Costa Mesa Police Lt. Dale Birney said. West saw the officers and ducked down in the seat, and when instructed to get out of the car he instead started it and drove away, Birney said.

Deepa Bharath COSTA MESA -- Maybe he just couldn't see the pink flares and the bright flashing strobe lights of a police car. Whatever it was, Hector Renya, 39, of Bradley probably had his worst nightmare come true Wednesday night as he drove into a Costa Mesa patrol car that was stopped at the scene of a traffic collision. He was promptly arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, officials said. Police took Renya into custody after he crashed into the patrol car parked on Harbor Boulevard at Ponderosa Street about 9:40 p.m., said Costa Mesa Police Lt. Dale Birney.

Costa Mesa police arrested a 25-year-old woman early Saturday morning after she allegedly shoved an officer during a call regarding a dispute at a Westside motel. Ashley Vaughn, a Costa Mesa resident, was taken into custody shortly after midnight after a confrontation at the Costa Mesa Motor Inn at 2277 Harbor Blvd. Lt. Dale Birney said police arrived after receiving a call about an argument, and that officers arrested Vaughn after she shoved one in the chest. Birney and Lt. Marty Carver said Vaughn kicked out one of the side windows of the police car after she was brought inside.

Deepa Bharath A jury on Tuesday convicted a 26-year-old Montebello man on seven counts stemming from an escape from a police car on the Costa Mesa Freeway and the subsequent carjacking of a catering truck in Irvine, officials said. He faces a maximum of 19 years in prison. Jurors deliberated for just a day before convicting Abraham Derian of three counts of carjacking, one count of burglary, one count of escape from police custody, one count of vandalism and one count of battery on a police officer.

Portable toilets catch fire, damage offices A single-alarm fire on Wednesday night caused structural damage to two office buildings in the 800 block of West 18th Street, Costa Mesa fire officials said. Firefighters who responded to the call saw several portable toilets between the two buildings on fire, Battalion Chief Scott Broussard said. Flames were shooting up to 10 feet above the buildings, he said. Firefighters quickly put out the fire, minimizing damage to adjacent structures.

A Huntington Beach teen whose mother was found dead in Newport Harbor last September was ordered Friday to stand trial on a murder charge. Rachael Mullenix, 17, is being tried as an adult. Mullenix has maintained that she is innocent, saying her boyfriend Ian Allen, 21, killed her mother, Barbara Mullenix, and then forced her to help dispose of the body and escape. The two were apprehended in Louisiana by state troopers four days after the alleged killing. Witnesses called by the prosecution said Rachael Mullenix and her mother clashed over the teen's relationship with Allen.

Newport Beach car collector Lloyd Ikerd searched for several years for a car he could convert into a replica of a 1950s Newport Beach Police patrol car before he recently came across a 1951 Ford Custom, four-door sedan at an auction. Ikerd picked up the old car for $7,500 — a steal, he says. Now he wants help fixing it up to donate to the Newport Beach Police Department. He hopes to raise $12,500 for the project. Ikerd envisions the completed shiny, black-and-white squad car will have chrome trim, a real police radio that matches the equipment used by the department at the time, vintage police lights and an old-fashioned mechanical siren, called a “growler.

CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON "Let God inspire you, make you want to begin to be your best self: not just to be proved right, but to be willing to be proved wrong when you are; to learn to laugh when someone trips you up. There is a great holy hilarity that we haven't even touched in store for the saints of God." -- Eugenia Price "Cindy, I am excited to see you because I told my children about you and the policeman and the flashing lights, and they didn't believe me," a friend said after hugging me. I hugged her back, though I was clearly confused.

COSTA MESA — A Costa Mesa man was in critical condition Thursday after police accused him of attempted murder for allegedly driving his truck into a police cruiser carrying his two sons. About midnight Wednesday, police received a call from Donald Greene's wife saying that he had just hit their 17-year-old son. En route to the scene, police got call from the teenager, who told dispatchers his father had a gun and had just fired it in their garage. Police said Greene, 49, attacked his teenage son and his 28-year-old son. Officers rushing to the scene learned Greene had driven off in a red Toyota Tacoma pickup and started cordoning off the area while other officers continued on to the home.

COSTA MESA — Police detectives are seeking additional witnesses to a series of car seat thefts at Metro Pointe. Just after 2 p.m. Tuesday, police arrested two Los Angeles County men who allegedly drove around the shopping center's parking lot stealing third-row seats from SUVs. "A lot of them are after-market items," said Lt. Paul Dondero. "They steal these things right and left. It comes in spurts. You see this all across the country. " Police said the men were seen by Metro Pointe security taking something out of an SUV and then driving around suspiciously through the parking lot. Security alerted police, who blocked all the exits.

Every good comedy team has a straight man and a comic. The straight man is the logical and patient half of the duo; the comic is the jokester who pulls the plug after the straight man sets him up. Abbott was the straight man to Costello, as George Burns was to Gracie Allen, and as Hardy was to Laurel. And now that Costa Mesa politics has become the local branch of Comedy Central, the city's supply of comics is emerging loud and clear. I'm pleased to be playing straight man to the most recent of the comics to make a Daily Pilot headline.

A preview of next weekend's Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auction rides from South Coast Plaza to O.C. Fairgrounds, revs up car enthusiasts. Bill Morgan was all too happy to pop open the trunk to his daughter's candy red 1965 Ford Mustang convertible Saturday and pull out a photo album documenting the car's rehabilitation from junker to car show winner. "We tore it all down and rebuilt it from the ground up," said Morgan, 84. "Everything in it is authentic down to the nuts and bolts."

An Orange County woman is suing Newport Beach, its Police Department and one of its officers for a car crash she had with an on-duty officer in May on East Coast Highway. Elizabeth Mead filed a property damage and personal injury lawsuit in February against Newport Beach asking for unlimited damages related to a May 28 crash with a police car. Preliminary police reports of the crash, at East Coast Highway and Avocado Avenue, said the officer ran a red light and was not responding to a call at the time.

A Long Beach woman wants Newport Beach to pay her at least $1 million for the “severe emotional distress” she claims she suffered at the hands of city police officers who allegedly asked her what nationality she was, arrested her without cause and fondled her during a search. In a claim filed against Newport Beach on Aug. 10, the 23-year-old woman alleges a city police officer signaled her to pull over her car about 10:30 p.m. Feb. 21 in Newport Beach, although she claims she was in compliance with all traffic laws.

Newport Beach car collector Lloyd Ikerd searched for several years for a car he could convert into a replica of a 1950s Newport Beach Police patrol car before he recently came across a 1951 Ford Custom, four-door sedan at an auction. Ikerd picked up the old car for $7,500 — a steal, he says. Now he wants help fixing it up to donate to the Newport Beach Police Department. He hopes to raise $12,500 for the project. Ikerd envisions the completed shiny, black-and-white squad car will have chrome trim, a real police radio that matches the equipment used by the department at the time, vintage police lights and an old-fashioned mechanical siren, called a “growler.

This is serious. It’s one of those times when you have to make a decision that could affect the rest of your life, which is really hard. You’ll have to do that on Tuesday, if you haven’t already. Yes, I know, it’s confusing and frustrating, with all the commercials and the mailers and the endless yammering and bickering on radio and television around the clock. But remember this: Just what makes that little old ant think he’ll move a rubber tree plant?

Newport Beach Police Department cruisers will get a makeover starting next month with a switch from all-white paint jobs to a more traditional two-tone, black-and-white design. City officials hope the switch will boost perceptions of police presence in the city, said Newport Beach City Manager Homer Bludau. “The last thing we want is to come on heavy and give people the perception that Newport Beach is coming on strong with police enforcement, but people should be able to easily recognize a police car,” Bludau said.

Fountain Valley police are looking for a suspect who was involved in a police pursuit that caused an accident in Costa Mesa Tuesday night, Fountain Valley police said. Costa Mesa police went to assist Fountain Valley when a Fountain Valley patrol car was involved in an accident with two vehicles on South Coast Drive unrelated to the pursuit, Costa Mesa spokesman Sgt. Bryan Glass said. One of the other vehicle’s drivers and the officer were taken to an area hospital for minor injuries, Fountain Valley police said.