MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2014 - JUNE 29, 2014
riversideindependent.com
Convicted robber gets $7.8M for being shot by sheriff after robbing elderly woman by Vickie Vértiz Wednesday, June 11, a federal jury awarded $7.81 million in favor of William Howard, the Plaintiff in a civil case who was shot by a deputy for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 2011. William Howard, a convicted robber, was partially paralyzed after a Riverside County Sheriff’s deputy shot him in the face three years ago while hiding from the police. At the time of the shooting, there was already an outstanding felony warrant for Howard. According to the Press Enterprise, in 2010, Howard was the suspect in Indian Wells of the armed robbery of a 62-yearold Los Angeles-area woman. According to authorities, Howard had offered to help the woman who had gotten lost after leaving the casino. He then pulled a weapon on her and stole her property. A sheriff’s news release on the incident states that Howard was considered armed and dangerous when he was spotted in Cathedral City the afternoon of April 7, 2011. Officers searched the area in a police car and when they found Howard, he tried to escape.
is too often lost on those we elect to, among other things, ensure that California’s children receive a strong education. The result is too many laws and rules that put the Please see page 3
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room near an apartment complex. “He was subsequently shot and injured by the officer,” the statement continues. When the Sheriff’s Department released a statement after Please see page 2
Republican candidate for Lt. Governor praises decision in Vergara v. California, makes the case for reform In an op-ed appearing recently, Republican Lt. Governor candidate Ron Nehring praised last week’s landmark court ruling concerning California’s stringent teacher tenure laws while calling for a rollback of state laws that put
the interests of adults ahead of students. “It’s the job of teacher’s union officials to ask for things. And, often, it is the job of school board members and government officials to say ‘no.’ This concept
Four charged in $22 million movie investment scheme Three men were arrested today for their roles in a scheme involving a company called Gigapix that allegedly defrauded hundreds of victims by promising large returns on movie investments and a production company’s imminent public offering, announced United States Attorney André Birotte, Jr. and Bill L. Lewis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles. Two defendants were arrested this morning—Gregory Pusateri, 49, of Woodland Hills, and David Pritchard, 66, of Malibu, who has recently been staying with a friend in Hollywood—and are scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon in United States District Court. A third defendant in the case—Christopher Blauvelt, 58, of Woodland Hills—was arrested this afternoon in Goleta, California. He is expected to be arraigned tomorrow in federal court in Los Angeles. The fourth defendant in the case—Cheri Brown, 65, of Studio City—has agreed to surrender to authorities. The four defendants were charged in a 36-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury on May 15. The indictment, which was unsealed this morning, accuses the defendants of mail fraud, wire fraud, attempted wire fraud, and offering for sale unregistered securities. The case centers on a company called Gigapix that was founded by Blauvelt in 2002 and took on Pritchard as a partner in 2006. The indictment alleges that between 2006 and 2012, Blauvelt
Booking photo of William Howard-Courtesy Photo
Once they established a perimeter, the news release states that, “the officers lost sight of the suspect and began searching the area on foot.” Authorities state that the suspect had lunged at one officer from a hiding place a utility
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