From auto mechanics to computer specialists to agents, the FBI is trying to bolster it ranks in what the agency is calling one of it's largest "hiring blitzes" in it's history.

About 2,100 professional staff are being sought, as well as about 850 new agents.

Positions are available nation-wide in a variety of areas.

Interested in joining the Feds? More information is availabe via a press release on the FBI's Web site.

Thanks to Ed Barrera, aka Gotham Pundit, who pointed out another Web site devoted to the demise of a great American City that happens to be my hometown.

The site, Detroit Funk, has some great photography and interesting videos from Motown.

Enjoy -- or just cry.

Or perhaps it was a member of the security detail. I'm definitely ruling out Professor Plum in pantry with a briefcase.

In any event, police now believe that a jewelry heist at Paris Hilton's Mullholland Estates homes was an inside job. Here's what the LA Times is reporting:

LAPD investigators believe the $2-million jewelry heist at Paris Hilton's Mulholland Estates mansion last month was probably done by someone familiar with the home's layout and who knew how to access the socialite's collection of rings, watches and necklaces.

Detectives are investigating a number of potential suspects based on information gathered from the scene and interviews with Hilton, who is cooperating with police.

Hilton's bedroom was ransacked during the overnight burglary, but police sources said security video showed a thief who knew the home and was able to quickly find Hilton's jewelry collection, which includes several family heirlooms. The jewelry was in a place that was not accessible to someone simply searching the home, police said.

Just last week, Pasadena police and the DAs office announced they had captured a man suspected in a couple of rapes during the holidays.

But, apparently another rapist is stalking Colorado Boulevard, using the same MO and possibly matching the description of the previous rapist. Here's the story as we know it:

PASADENA - A woman was kidnapped, raped and bound Friday before being dropped off in Los Angeles, authorities said.

Pasadena police received a call from Los Angeles police about 5:20 a.m. saying a woman in her late 30s reported being kidnapped from the 2600 block of East Colorado Boulevard and raped, Pasadena police Lt. Tracey Ibarra said.

The woman reported she was offered a ride by her attacker when he drove her to an unknown location within the city and sexually assaulted her, Ibarra said.

She was also struck in the face during the incident, causing minor injuries, the lieutenant added.

After the assault, the attacker bound the victim's hands and dropped her off at a secluded spot near the 210 Freeway and La Tuna Canyon Road in Los Angeles, Ibarra said.

The suspect was described as a white man in his 40s, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, of heavy build, with brown hair and blue clothing, the lieutenant said.

He was driving a white Ford F-150 pickup truck that appeared it was being used as a utility or contractor's vehicle, she said, and may have been armed with a knife.

 

A guy dressed as a cop, wearing an oval badge stopped a woman in West Covina the other night and made some lewd comments. Now he's being sought by police as an imposter.

Here's Brian Day's story:

WEST COVINA - Officials are seeking a man who pulled over a woman while pretending to be a police officer and made sexual comments before being scared off Friday

The incident occurred just after midnight on a side street near Francisquito and Conlon Avenues, West Covina police Lt. Dan Brooks said.

A woman in her 30s was driving when a man driving a "police-style" car used a white spotlight and loudspeaker system to order her to pull over.

When the man, who was wearing a blue uniform, possibly a police uniform, with no patches and an oval-shaped badge, approached the woman, he began making sexual comments, Brooks said.

The woman became panicked and set off her car alarm, which prompted the police impersonator to flee, the lieutenant said.

The suspect was described as a white man in his 40s with brown hair, a bushy mustache and a muscular build, he added.

 

City News Service is reporting a man killed in a Santa Clarita crash Friday was a Pasadena resident. Here's the story:

SANTA CLARITA -- Authorities Sunday identified the 58-year-old man who died in a single-vehicle crash on the 5 Freeway near Santa Clarita.
The accident on the northbound 5 Freeway just north of Weldon Canyon Road was reported about 11:35 p.m. Friday, California Highway Patrol Officer Patrick Kimball said.
Felipe Cisneros Arroyo of Pasadena died when his sport utility vehicle crashed into the center divider, Kimball said. He was declared dead at the scene.

*UPDATE:

El Monte police officials reported Saturday that MIchelle Garcia has been located safely.  Apparently, the girl went to stay at a relative's house without notifying her parents, causing them to panick and call police.

From City News Service:

MICHELLE GARCIA.bmp

(click above link for photo)

EL MONTE -- A 14-year-old girl was missing today and El Monte police asked for the public's help in finding her.
Michelle Garcia went missing from her home at 9548 Cortada Ave. on New Year's Eve at 1 p.m., according to El Monte police Detective Anthony Alvarez. Garcia had the flu, he
said.
Police contacted friends and family but have run out of leads, Alvarez said.
He asked anyone with information about Garcia's whereabouts to call the department at (626)
580-2100 or Alvarez directly at (626) 580-2117.

A Los Angeles man has been charged in a December shooting that left two people dead, one of them a bystander who worked at the sheriff's Compton Station, as City News Services reports below.

LOS ANGELES -- A Los Angeles man was charged Friday with capital murder for the Dec.
20 shooting deaths of two people, including an innocent bystander who worked as a records clerk at the sheriff's station in Compton.
Leonard Mitchell, 46, is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 15 at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse in connection with the slayings of Alexander Castro, 23, and sheriff's civilian employee Adriana Pizarro, 34.
The murder charges include the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, which could make Mitchell eligible for the death penalty if convicted. Prosecutors are expected to decide later whether to go that route.
A confrontation between Mitchell and Castro precipitated the gunfire, authorities said.
It appeared that Castro most likely had gone to the area looking for someone he thought was
seeing his girlfriend, and that he got into a verbal altercation with Mitchell, who was not the
man he was seeking, according to Detective Kelle Baitx of the Los Angeles Police Department's Newton Division.
Castro -- who was inside his vehicle -- was hit several times, including twice in the head.
Pizarro was about 150 feet away outside her mother's home at Central Avenue and 50th Street in Los Angeles when she was struck in the eye by a stray bullet. She was taken to County-USC Medical Center and pronounced dead about an hour later.
Mitchell was arrested Tuesday by the Los Angeles Police Department's Newton Division and was jailed without bail.

A woman and her companion who live in an El Monte motel room at the Gibson Inn where a murder was committed recently call the room the "Murder Room."

This is just one of the things reporters Brian Day and Rebecca Kimitch learned after several tours of El Monte motels along Valley Boulevard. Here's how their story, scheduled to see print on Sunday, will begin:

With one-third of El Monte's murders this year at or near several motels, some El Monte elected officials are becoming increasingly concerned about crime near the businesses. Meanwhile, police officials dispute assertions that crime in motels is significantly worse than elsewhere, but do say the motels can be problematic.

MONROVIA -- Authorities have released a picture of a man who attempted to rob a bank earlier this week.
The incident was reported shortly before 6 p.m. at the Bank of America, 230 S. Myrtle Avenue, Monrovia police Sgt. Tom Wright said.
The robber left empty-handed after a teller activated an alarm, Wright said.
The robber tried to rob the bank by passing a demand note to the teller, he said.
No one was hurt in the incident, he added.
Officials in other agencies may be investigating the same man for other bank robberies, Wright said.
He was described as an Asian or Latino man wearing a black cap and gray sweat shirt, the sergeant added.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Monrovia Police Department at (626) 256-8000.

Also published by the FBI this week was a photo of a man who robbed an Arcadia East West Bank on Christmas Eve.
Anyone with information on the Arcadia crime is asked to call Arcadia police at (626) 574-5150.

This from a U.S. Justice Department press release:

Sam Ching Sheng Lee, Part-Owner and Chief Operations Manager of Multimillion Business Associate Corporation ("MBA"), and his nephew, Charles Yu Hsu Lee, made initial appearances in United Stated District Court in Los Angeles today on federal charges related to a conspiracy to procure and illegally export sensitive technology to the People's Republic of China.
        Sam Lee, 63, native of China, and Charles Lee, 31, native of Taiwan, were arrested on Tuesday morning in Hacienda Heights, California.  Both men are charged in an indictment filed on December 16, 2008, and unsealed today with felony counts of conspiracy and exporting national security controlled items without a license in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and Export Administration Regulations.        
        The indictment alleges that Sam Lee and Charles Lee, doing business as MBA, an import/export business located in Hacienda Heights, assisted persons in China to illegally procure export controlled thermal-imaging cameras.  During the period between April 2002 and July 2007, defendants allegedly exported a total of ten thermal-imaging cameras to China in circumvention of export laws.  After being advised of strict export restrictions, Charles Lee allegedly purchased the cameras from U.S. suppliers for approximately $9,500 a piece by withholding the fact that the devices were destined to China.  His uncle, Sam Lee, then received the devices and through his Hacienda Heights company, arranged for their shipment to Shanghai, China without obtaining proper licenses.  One of the recipients is alleged to be an employee of a company in Shanghai engaged in the development of infrared technology.       
        The thermal-imaging cameras are controlled for export to China by the Department of Commerce for national security and regional stability reasons because of their use in a wide variety of military and civilian applications.  At no time did Sam Lee or Charles Lee have authorization in the form of a license from the Department of Commerce to export the thermal-imaging cameras to China.
        "Combating the illegal flow of highly sensitive U.S. technology to foreign countries is vital to our national security, " said United States Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien.  "The multi-agency efforts leading to the arrests in this case demonstrate our unyielding dedication to aggressively prosecute those who engage in such conduct."     
        If convicted, both men face a maximum statutory penalty of 25 years in federal prison.

PASADENA - A 29-year-old Saugus resident was charged today with raping two women and threatening them with a box cutter, the District Attorney's office announced.

Jason Keith Renaux, (dob 10-31-79), is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. at Pasadena Superior Court, Dept. D. He is charged in case GA075499 with three counts of forcible rape and one count of forcible oral copulation with the special allegation he used a deadly weapon, a box cutter. He is being held on $1.4 million.

Renaux is charged with allegedly raping a 19-year-old woman on Dec. 27 after he picked her up on Colorado Boulevard at Kinneloa Avenue and drove her to the 3800 block of East Foothill Boulevard. The woman escaped and gave police the suspect's license number. An investigation led police to a second victim, who said she was attacked in a similar way on Nov. 28.

If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

This was in my morning notes from reporter Emma Gallegos. I'll provide more information when it's available:

just got off the phone with lt. dewar at pas, and he said that they will be putting out a release and photo today with the man accused of raping two women at knifepoint.

*they don't believe the victim from saturday knew the first -- cns reported that they were friends but dewar said that wasn't the case *the victim from a month ago was sought out by police -- she didn't come forward on her own. she identified the same man and car independently of the second victim *the suspect is an independent contractor -- he may have had work that took him here *neither of the women knew the suspect previously

Reporter Amanda Baumfeld, who has been covering the Christmas Eve Massacre since day one caught up with Sylvia Pardo's best frend, a Pomona woman who shared her memories Monday. Here's the top of the story:

COVINA - Roxanne Jauregui talked to her best friend Sylvia Pardo nearly every day for the last 30 years.

Monday she remained unable to cope with the fact that Sylvia is gone. So, Jauregui continues to leave messages on a cell phone owned by Sylvia trying to hold onto their daily routine.

"I continue to talk to her as if she was still here," Jauregui, of Pomona, said. "We would talk almost everyday after work; she would tell me her private issues...I know her inside and out. I still believe that she is going to call me."