D.A. files murder charges in wrong-way crash

Ruben Gurolla (Courtesy Orange County district attorney's office)

Authorities charged a Pomona man Friday with murder after prosecutors alleged that a night of drinking that started in Newport Beach ended with a fatal, head-on collision on a freeway in Anaheim.

Ruben Gurrola, 23, is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Orange County’s Central Jail in Santa Ana on murder, driving under the influence causing great bodily injury, and driving with a blood-alcohol content above the .08 legal limit.

He faces up to 19 years to life in prison, if convicted on all charges. He is being held in lieu of $1-million bail.

– Joseph Serna, @JosephSerna, Daily Pilot

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Fire map meeting scheduled for Feb. 9 at OASIS

The Newport Beach Fire Department will host a meeting at 7 p.m. Feb. 9 at the OASIS Senior Center to answer questions about the proposed adoption of Cal Fire’s Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps.

About 5,000 Newport Beach homes fall within the state’s Very High Fire Hazard Severity Map Zone, which includes homes along Buck Gully and Morning Canyon and stretches from Orchid down to Crystal Cove with most of Newport Coast also is included. If the maps are adopted, homeowners would face more intense scrutiny of fire hazards such as location of woodpiles, tree species, where trees are and how many trees are clustered together as well as buffer zones for firefighters to access blazes. New construction also would face stricter regulation, and homeowners would have to disclose to future buyers that their houses fall within the Very High Fire Hazard area.

– Amy Senk, @coronadelmartdy, Corona del Mar Today

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Obama coming to Corona del Mar

President Obama addresses a crowd at a townhall meeting at the Orange County Fairgrounds in 2009. (Daily Pilot File Photo)

President Obama plans to fundraise in Newport Beach this month during a swing through Southern California.

A Corona del Mar couple recently announced they will host a breakfast for the president Feb. 16, with proceeds benefiting Obama’s reelection campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

While Newport is better known as a Republican Party fundraising bastion, Obama raised more than $1 million here in a 2008 campaign stop at the Balboa Bay Club. Local Democrats say they expect another strong showing.

– Mike Reicher, @mreicher, Daily Pilot

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Man barricaded in peninsula home wanted on larceny charges

Authorities have surrounded a house on the Balboa Peninsula where a man has barricaded himself inside after U.S. Marshals tried to serve him with an arrest warrant.

U.S. Marshals said Geoffrey Earl Patton refused to come out of a home in the 100 block of 25^th Street on Wednesday afternoon when marshals tried to arrest him for a warrant out of Westchester County, N.Y.

Balboa and Newport boulevards have been blocked off from between 22^nd and 29^th streets, officials said.

Police are not sure if Patton is armed, but he does have guns legally registered in his name, said Deputy U.S. Marshal Laura Vega.

Marshals called Newport Beach and told them about the situation about 1:15 p.m., Police Department spokeswoman Kathy Lowe said. Newport Beach’s SWAT team is assisting in getting Patton out of the home, she said.

– Joseph Serna, @JosephSerna, Daily Pilot

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Former superintendent takes on job for the interim

Robert Barbot, left, will serve as interim superintendent for Newport-Mesa Unified. In 2006, he passed his duties to Jeffrey Hubbard, right. (Don Leach, Daily Pilot)

The Newport-Mesa school board named Rob Barbot the interim superintedent Wednesday evening.

Board President Dave Brooks announced that the board approved Barbot, who served as the school district’s top leader for eight years, according to Daily Pilot archives, for the position during the continuance of a special closed session meeting.

The district has been without its top leader since former Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard was unanimously fired Jan. 23 after being convicted of two felony counts of misappropriation of public funds related to his previous job as head of the Beverly Hills Unified School District.

– Britney Barnes, @BritneyJBarnes, Daily Pilot

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Dynamic Kitchen Showroom shutters CdM doors

Nine months after opening its doors, a high-end appliance showroom has closed its Corona del Mar business.

“I was paying rent for a place that was dead as a dodo,” said owner Surjit Kalsi. The business closed permanently Dec. 15.

– Amy Senk, @coronadelmartdy, Corona del Mar Today

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Mariners school locked down while police search for suspect

Mariners Elementary School was on lockdown Wednesday morning during a search for a man suspected of possessing a stolen vehicle.

Costa Mesa and Newport Beach police responded about 8 a.m. near Irvine Avenue and 19th Street in Newport Beach after a report of a suspicious vehicle, according to Costa Mesa Police Lt. Rob Sharpnack.

Two suspects were found in a 1991 Volvo that was reported stolen Jan. 19 in Costa Mesa, Sharpnack said.

– Joanna Clay, @JoannaClay, Daily Pilot

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Police: Suspect robbed CdM bank Tuesday

(Courtesy Newport Beach Police)

Newport Beach police are searching for a man they believe robbed a Corona del Mar bank, authorities said Wednesday.

The suspect, described as wearing a gray undershirt with black sweatpants, allegedly slipped a teller a note at Union Bank, 2865 E. Coast Hwy., and demanded cash about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, according to police.

The suspect left with an undisclosed amount of money, and witnesses told police the man had long hair and a goatee, said spokeswoman Kathy Lowe.

Anyone with information is asked to call the department at (800) 550-NBPD, or Orange County Crime Stoppers at (855) 847-6227.

— Lauren Williams, @lawilliams, Daily Pilot

Report: Obama to visit Corona del Mar

President Obama plans to attend a campaign fundraiser in Corona del Mar on Feb. 16, the Hollywood Reporter reports.

The event at the home of Jeff and Nancy Stack is closed to the public.

Tickets range “from $2,500 to $35,800,” according to the article.

Couple sentenced to probation for squatting in Newport Coast mansion

An Orange County couple accused of “fairly sophisticated squatting” at an ocean-view mansion in Newport Coast was sentenced to three years of probation Wednesday in Santa Ana.

Chris Wayne Duncan, 43, and Robin Ann Duncan, 37, both of Newport Beach, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of conspiracy to commit trespass and one misdemeanor count of trespass, the Orange County district attorney’s office said.

“This crime is an example of people taking advantage of the current real estate environment,” said Pete Pierce, the prosecutor who originally asked for the Duncans to be charged with a felony.

– Dalina Castellanos, Los Angeles Times

…Continue reading Couple sentenced to probation for squatting in Newport Coast mansion