Free Republic

A veteran police officer who was named “Detective of the Year” in 2019 was charged with exchanging sexually explicit messages with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl. Gregory Daniel Beaumarchais, 43, is facing a misdemeanor charge of annoying or molesting a victim believed to be under the age of 18, Orange County District Attorney officials said on Tuesday “Police officers are entrusted with the sacred responsibility to safeguard society from harm,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement.

CHICAGO: The 26-year-old son of Egypt’s Minister of Immigration and Expatriate Affairs, Nabila Makram, is facing charges of premeditated murder over the killing of two men in California in April. Ramy Hani Mounir Fahim, who lives in Irvine, California, has also been charged with two enhancements each of lying in wait and the personal use of a deadly weapon after a co-worker and his roommate were stabbed to death in their Anaheim apartment early last month. The special circumstances of “lying in wait” and multiple murders make Fahim eligible for the death penalty, officials said. Police allege that Fahim attacked...

Authorities on Thursday released a photo of the suspect vehicle involved in the road rage shooting death of 6-year-old Aiden Leos in Orange. The California Highway Patrol described the vehicle as a white Volkswagen Golf SportWagen with non-tinted windows, either a 2018 or 2019 model.

As Calif. fires burned, copters grounded By AARON C. DAVIS and MICHAEL R. BLOOD, Associated Press Writers 2 minutes ago As wildfires were charging across Southern California, nearly two dozen water-dropping helicopters and two massive cargo planes sat idly by, grounded by government rules and bureaucracy. How much the aircraft would have helped will never be known, but their inability to provide quick assistance raises troubling questions about California's preparations for a fire season that was widely expected to be among the worst on record. It took as long as a day for Navy, Marine and California National Guard helicopters...