Videos posted on social media showed heavy shooting at the rally in an area of Ensenada and at least three bodies lying on the ground.

The shooting, which took place early Saturday afternoon, provoked an intense mobilization of units of the army, navy, and state and local police.

Baja California officials say gunmen in one vehicle opened fire on people and vehicles at the rally. State prosecutor Ricardo Iván Carpio said that vehicle was found to have “perforations from gunshots and traces of blood inside.”

The state prosecutor’s office said there was evidence of crossfire suggesting it was a confrontation between members of organized crime groups.

Baja California, across the border from California, is experiencing intense cartel activity.

He was identified as Elias Perez Santiago of Pico Rivera, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

The crash was reported at 8:47 p.m. on East Fork Road, east of the Shoemaker Canyon Road junction, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Santiago was pronounced dead at the scene, CHP Officer Stephan Brandt said.

Witnesses reported moderate rain in the area at the time of the crash, Brandt said.

No additional information was immediately available.

Mychelle Blandin, who is the daughter of Mark Winek, 69 and Sharie Winek, 65, and sister of Brooke Winek, 38, submitted a tort claim this week against the Virginia State Police as a precursor to a formal lawsuit. All three were killed and their home set on fire by Edwards on Nov. 25.

Brooke Winek’s 15-year-old daughter was kidnapped by Edwards during the crime, but managed to escape unharmed before Edwards fatally shot himself during a confrontation with sheriff’s deputies.

Officer Ryan Railsback, a Riverside Police Department spokesperson, said Friday the agency is still analyzing more than 1 million pages of internet and social media content involving the suspect and kidnapped teen.

The lawsuit will allege that Virginia State Police were grossly negligent in hiring Edwards as a state trooper in January 2022 and buried the results of his failed mental health evaluation.

Blandin also has filed a separate tort claim against the Washington County, Virginia, Sheriff’s Office alleging the agency was negligent because it relied on the Virginia State Police’s mental health evaluation of Edwards and did not complete its own background investigation before hiring him as a deputy in November 2022.

Shouldn’t have had badge, attorney says

“There is not a law enforcement agency in the country that would have hired Austin Lee Edwards,” said David M. Ring, a Manhattan Beach attorney representing Blandin and the 15-year-old girl’s younger sibling. “Yet, in Virginia there are two separate law enforcement agencies that completely dropped the ball, allowing him through without checking his background. It’s due to ineptitude and outdated policies. Frankly, it’s careless and reckless.”

Riverside police said Edwards, 28, pretended to be a 17-year-old boy to establish an online, “catfishing” relationship with the 15-year-old girl. He drove across from southern Virginia to meet her at her family’s Price Court home after she rejected his request to send him nude photos of herself.

A short time after the slayings, Edwards, who at the time was employed as a Washington County sheriff’s deputy, used his service revolver to kill himself during a shootout with San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies in the town of Kelso in the Mojave Desert. The kidnap victim escaped from Edwards’ vehicle unharmed.

The Virginia State Police declined to comment on the tentative lawsuit because it is pending litigation, said an email from Corinne Geller, a spokesperson for the agency. Officials with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.

The Virginia State Police have claimed that Edwards’ hiring was due to “human error,” a notion Ring disputes.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin had asked the state’s Office of Inspector General for a full investigation into Edwards’ hiring.

But due at least in part to a previously existing mutual agreement between state police and the OIG, state police appear to have simply investigated the matter themselves, according to The Associated Press, which obtained a policy document through a public records request.

A memorandum of understanding between state police and the OIG, the watchdog agency tasked with investigating waste and rooting out inefficiencies in state government, says that in nearly all cases, Virginia State Police retains responsibility for “the oversight and conduct of internal investigations of its personnel,” according to the AP.

Victims stabbed, smothered

Meanwhile, Ring offered a timeline of Edwards’ 2,300-mile odyssey from Virginia, which included a stop in San Diego, where he went to the home of a woman whom he had catfished for several years but had never met in person.

The woman, who was not identified in the tort claim, allowed Edwards to stay with her for several days before he mysteriously disappeared, Ring said. The woman became concerned when Edwards didn’t respond to her texts and notified police he was missing. However, by that time, Edwards was already dead, Ring said.

The tort claim states Edwards displayed his law enforcement badge and service weapon to gain entry into the Wineks’ home by falsely claiming he was conducting a law enforcement investigation.

Edward then had Sharie Winek contact Brooke Winek, allegedly directing her to bring her 15-year-old daughter to the home immediately. Once there, he told Brooke to come into the house and to leave the girl and all cellphones inside her car, the claim states.

After a few minutes, the girl got out of the car and entered the home, where she encountered a grisly scene and her dead family members.

Edward slit Brooke Winek’s throat and asphyxiated Mark and Sharon Winek, who were both hogtied with bags over their heads, the tort claims. Finally, Edwards set the home on fire and kidnapped the girl at gunpoint.

“The guy is a nut case and clearly had some serious mental health issues,” Ring said. “He came out to California for a definite reason and that was to kill people and kidnap the girl. He also planned to take the girl back to a stash house in Virginia, where he had darkened the windows. Edwards was unhinged and dangerous. He never should have been a cop.”

Previous mental health issues

In his application to become a Virginia state trooper, Edwards disclosed that he had voluntarily checked himself into a mental health facility in 2016 after cutting his hand and threatening to kill his father, the tort claim states.

In response, Virginia State Police ordered Edwards to undergo a mental health evaluation, which he failed and the agency did not investigate further, ultimately hiring him, Ring said.

After the 2016, mental health crisis, police and emergency medical technicians took Edwards into custody at a local hospital, where he was detained under an emergency custody order. A judge approved a temporary detention order and Edwards was transferred to a psychiatric facility.

Shouldn’t have had firearm

Under Virginia law, anyone held on a temporary detention order and subsequently admitted to a treatment facility is prohibited from buying or possessing a firearm until that right is restored by a court, according to the claim.

“In Edwards’ case, his right to buy or possess a firearm was not restored by a court when he applied to become a Virginia state trooper,” the claim says. “Despite this, the Virginia State Police hired him, issued him a service pistol, and trained him in law enforcement tactics that he used in carrying out the plot to kidnap … and murder.”

Formal lawsuits against Virginia State Police and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office are expected to be filed in June.

Staff writer Brian Rokos contributed to this report.

Cellphone video, obtained by KTLA 5, shows a group of Dodgers fans wrestling with one another and throwing punches. It appears four men were directly involved.

At one point, a man charged another, who swung and hit the first man in the face, sending him tumbling to the ground. The man hit his head on the pavement, with others rushing to help him.

The video was taken by another fan attending the game, a 5-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins,  who told KTLA the fighting fans appeared to be intoxicated. He said the fight occurred as attendees were headed to the parking lot after the game.

One man was detained by police at the scene. But there were no arrests made — the Los Angeles Police Department said none of the people involved cooperated with police.

Officer Jader Chaves said no report of an assault was made in the area of Dodgers Stadium on Tuesday night.

– Rick Birle, Lake Forest

A. If you see a driver who is potentially threatening others, just give a 911 operator a heads-up, Rick.

“Swerving into another lane is an indicator, fluctuating their speed, crossing over onto the shoulder (or median),” said Brian Kinsey, an officer and spokesman for the California Highway Patrol station house not real far from your place, Rick, in San Juan Capistrano. “Many times an officer is in the area and will try to contact that party.”

The dispatcher will want what you can provide: the vehicle’s make, model, color and, if possible, the license-plate number. Get a feel for where you are before dialing — what off-ramp are you near?

Sometimes, of course, the officers in the area are already attending other demands, say on the way to a crash. Otherwise, a black-and-white could try to spot the wobbly motorist.

“You also want to keep your distance, you don’t want to be in front of the driver — you want to stay behind them,” Kinsey said. “The best thing to do is to call. … Some people try to chase them down. … That’s not what we want.”

OK, how often do such 911 calls come in for drunken drivers?

“There is quite a few of them that come in,” Officer Kinsey said. “I have probably arrested 10 (originating from such calls). I have been on for 11 years.”

For texting motorists who are driving perilously, it is the same drill.

“It is just as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol — texting and driving,” Kinsey said. “If you see they are driving erratically, definitely call it in as well.”

Q. Hi Mr. Honk. I am a little confused regarding your recent columns about renewing a driver’s license. So the application can be started online, with the knowledge test or an online course instead? But those 70 and older are required to renew in person at a Department of Motor Vehicles’ office? Which one is correct?

– Barbara Cole, Studio City

A. Honk is confusing? Has Mrs. Honk been feeding you a line, Barbara?

Actually, both statements you mentioned are true.

You can do some stuff online if you want if eligible, yes, and the DMV recommends that. But in the end those 70-plus must still go into an office for, among other things, a vision test to get a license renewed.

HONKIN’ FACT: Since 1921, Caltrans has lost 191 roadway workers who died in the line of duty. Two of those were killed last year: An under-the-influence motorist collided with a landscape-maintenance worker alongside a highway near Vacaville, and a vehicle struck another one carrying a civil engineer on his way to a job site near Fresno (Source: Caltrans).

To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk. Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk

Car thefts last summer followed a TikTok challenge that outlined a way to bypass security features to make it easier to steal the vehicles.

The agreement could be valued around $200 million, but it depends on how many car owners participate in the settlement, which will offer cash for some customers who have theft-related claims. U.S. District Judge James Selna will consider preliminary approval of the settlement in July.

Part of the settlement will include software upgrades on vehicles as well as offers of wheel locks for vehicles incompatible with the computer update.

The settlement covers about 9 million Hyundai and Kia vehicles.

“We appreciate the opportunity to provide additional support for our owners who have been impacted by increasing and persistent criminal activity targeting our vehicles,” Jason Erb, chief legal officer of Hyundai Motor North America, said in a statement.

“Customer security remains a top priority, and we’re committed to continuing software upgrade installations and steering wheel lock distribution to help prevent thefts and offering insurance options through AAA for those who have had difficulty securing and sustaining coverage,” he said.

John Yoon, chief legal officer for Kia, said the company is “very pleased” by the settlement.

“This agreement is the latest step in a series of important actions, in addition to providing a free security software upgrade and distributing over 65,000 steering wheel locks, that Kia has taken to help customers whose vehicles have been targeted by criminals using methods of theft popularized on social media,” Yoon said. “Kia remains committed to assisting our customers and upholding vehicle security.”

When a car owner brings in a vehicle for servicing the software upgrade will be automatically installed. For those with vehicles unable to take the upgrade, owners will receive up to $300 to buy an anti-theft device like a steering-wheel lock.

The cars covered are:

— 2011-2022 Accent;

— 2011-2022 Elantra;

— 2013-2017 Elantra GT;

— 2013-2014 Elantra Coupe;

— 2011-2012 Elantra Touring;

— 2011-2014 Genesis Coupe;

— 2018-2022 Kona;

— 2020-2021 Palisade;

— 2011-2012, 2019-2022 Santa Fe;

— 2013-2018, 2019 Santa Fe; Santa Fe XL;

— 2013-2018 Santa Fe Sport;

— 2011-2019 Sonata;

— 2011-2022 Tucson;

— 2012-2017, 2019-2021 Veloster;

— 2020-2021 Venue;

— 2011-2012 Veracruz;

— 2011-2021 Forte;

— 2021-2022 K5;

— 2011-2020 Optima;

— 2011-2021 Rio;

— 2011-2021 Sedona;

— 2021-2022 Seltos;

— 2010-2022 Soul;

— 2011-2022 Sorento; and

— 2011-2022 Sportage.

The three-page court affidavit released Tuesday, May 16, offers the first public statement from Neha Patel and sheds more light on the near-death experiences of the wife and her two young children after Dharmesh Patel, authorities said, drove off of a coastal San Mateo County cliff on Jan. 2.

“He drove off,” Neha Patel said to a California Highway Patrol officer as she was being airlifted out of Devil’s Slide to Stanford Hospital, according to the records. “He’s depressed. He’s a doctor. He said he was going to drive off the cliff. He purposefully drove off.”

Dharmesh Patel — a radiologist from Pasadena — has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder. His attorney, Joshua Bentley, did not return a request for comment on Wednesday, May 17.

Besides the wife’s account, which contradicts her husband’s claim that the Tesla had tire-pressure issues, the affidavit written by CHP Officer Aaron Sapien contains other eye-witness accounts, forensics findings from the crash site, and  Dharmesh Patel’s version of events given to investigators while in the hospital, including a conversation about his mental health.

SEE: Pasadena doctor who drove Tesla over Northern California cliff arrested on attempted murder

The crash left Patel with injuries to a leg and a foot, while his wife suffered more severe injuries. The children both were release from the hospital within a month of the crash: the 7-year-old had more serious injuries than the 4-year-old son, who survived with only bruises, authorities said.

According to Sapien’s affidavit, Patel said he was “not really depressed” and just “felt down” because “times were bad in the world.” Asked if he felt suicidal, Patel said, “You know, not like a plan, not usually.”

Patel added that his wife was irritated with him shortly before the crash because she didn’t want to stop at his brother’s house before going back to their home, the records show.

On the drive from Belmont to the brother’s house in Montara, Neha Patel told investigators, her husband stopped at three gas stations to put air in his left rear tire, despite no sensor showing low tire pressure. Sapien wrote that Patel said his car “began to feel different” while driving on the highway.

Three witnesses said the Tesla didn’t slow down as it traveled up the dirt road and then off of the cliff. One witness said she didn’t see the car brake after it made a right turn and went up a dirt road off of the highway. Another witness said the car left the highway, went up the dirt road toward an old military bunker and accelerated into a right turn and then off of the cliff.

A CHP officer observed two tire marks believed to be from the Tesla, Sapien wrote.

“The tire marks are consistent with a vehicle making a gradual right turn,” the affidavit says. “The marks continue up the inclined dirt/sand road and end at the apex of the embankment. There appeared to be no indication of any braking … from the driver or vehicle.”

Surveillance video taken from the Tom Lantos Tunnels supports witness accounts and forensic analysis.

The video shows the Tesla traveling southbound, with the brake lights activating three times within five seconds. After the third brake light activation, Sapien wrote, the Tesla makes a gradual right turn, entering an opening after the guardrail ends and driving on the inclined dirt path. The Tesla drove on the dirt path until it reached the edge of the cliffside.

“The Tesla then went over the cliff, front end first, and down the cliffside,” Sapien wrote, with it landing wheels down.

Sapien’s affidavit also shows investigators asked the electric car maker to provide “cloud” data from the car’s navigation system that could show the speed the vehicle was traveling, warning signs of pending hazards and what inputs the driver was giving to the vehicle.

The CHP, through a reconstruction of the crash, also determined that Tesla’s self-driving features did “not appear to be a contributing factor” in the incident. Tesla has faced legal and public scrutiny after high-profile crashes involving its self-driving mode.

Patel is due in court for a preliminary hearing on June 12.

According to the CHP, the 24-year-old Pullos was heading east on the freeway near Orange Grove Boulevard around 1:30 a.m. April 29 when she inexplicably swerved into the westbound lanes, slamming into another vehicle.

Pullos was trapped in her mangled vehicle and had to be pulled from the wreckage by Pasadena Fire Department crews, according to the CHP. She and the other driver were both injured and taken to hospitals, although the exact extent of their injuries and their current conditions were not immediately known.

According to the CHP, Pullos was ultimately arrested on suspicion of “driving under the influence of alcohol and driving the wrong way on a freeway, causing injury.” CHP investigators also said Pullos had been involved in an earlier hit-and-run crash before entering the 134 Freeway, although no other details were provided.

After the crash, the Pasadena Fire Department posted photos of the mangled cars on its social media pages, saying at the time the cause of the crash was unknown, “but always a reminder to stay within the speed limit, avoid drinking and driving and never be distracted by passengers, phones, etc.”

Pullos has played Molly Lansing-Davis on “General Hospital” since 2009.

The magazine Soap Opera Digest reported last week that Pullos’ role had been temporarily recast, saying Pullos was on medical leave. Pullos sent the publication a statement saying “Unfortunately, I was involved in an automobile accident and I’m doing okay, but I am going to need a little time to recover. I will be back as soon as possible.”

NEW YORK — An Islamic extremist was given 10 life sentences and another 260 years in prison on Wednesday for killing eight people with a truck on a bike path in Manhattan and severely injuring 18 others.

“The conduct in this case is among the worst if not the worst I’ve ever seen,” said U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick. He cited the unrepentant nature of Sayfullo Saipov, who, given a chance to speak, said the tears of victims and family members in the courtroom were small compared to the blood and tears that those in the Islamic faith have suffered.

Saipov’s sentence came after a jury in March rejected the death penalty for the Uzbekistan citizen and onetime New Jersey resident, leaving him with a mandatory life prison sentence for his Oct. 31, 2017 slaughter of tourists and New Yorkers.

Relatives of eight people killed in the Halloween terror attack spoke sometimes through tears during the sentencing, describing their lingering pain and sometimes directly addressing the man convicted in the deaths.

Frank Decadt, father of victim Ann-Laure Decadt, told Saipov that he hoped that “one day you will understand the extent of horror you have inflicted on so many people.”

Marion Van Reeth, who lost her legs in the attack, sat before Saipov in her wheelchair, telling him: “I will never be able to walk like you can.”

As Saipov kept his head drooped and eyes lowered, listening to a translation of the proceedings through earphones, she said: “I have a question for you. After all this time in prison, are you still convinced that your criminal acts against innocent people was the right thing?”

Like others, she expressed hope that someday Saipov would see that his terrorist act was wrong.

Prosecutors urged Broderick to impose a sentence of eight consecutive life sentences — one for each death — and an additional 260 years in prison, according to a presentence submission.

“Saipov is an unabashed terrorist — a proud murderer who deserves no leniency and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” prosecutors wrote.

The judge followed the prosecution’s recommendation, imposing eight consecutive life sentences and two to run concurrently, though the practical effect of a single life sentence is the same since there is no parole.

Gabriela Pabla Pereya, the wife of Ariel Erlij, who was among five men from Argentina killed during a bike ride as they celebrated the 30th anniversary of their high school graduation, delivered the shortest statement during the sentencing hearing. She called Saipov a coward and said if he truly wanted God “to accept and love you, go kill yourself.”

Monica Missio, whose son, Nicholas Cleves was killed, told Saipov his death “has completely destroyed my life.”

Saipov, 35, left a path of destruction behind him with his terrorist attack.

Five tourists from Argentina, two Americans and a Belgian woman were killed, and 18 others were seriously injured.

Saipov was shot by a police officer and immediately taken into custody after emerging from his truck shouting “God is great” in Arabic and waving paintball and pellet guns in the air.

Prosecutors said he smiled as he asked FBI agents who questioned him in a hospital room after the attack if they could hang an Islamic State group flag on the walls.

At his trial, his family members urged a life sentence, saying they hoped he would realize what he had done and express remorse. They said they wanted him to return to the passive person they remembered him as before he grew obsessed with online propaganda posted by the Islamic State militant group.

A former long-haul truck driver, Saipov moved legally to the U.S. from Uzbekistan in 2010 and lived in Ohio and Florida before joining his family in Paterson, New Jersey.

His lawyer, David Patton, told jurors that his actions were “senseless, horrific, and there’s no justification for them.”

In the 64-page ruling, Judge Lawrence Riff said he was granting the preliminary injunction halting the county’s cash bail system to six plaintiffs suing after they were all arrested and held in jail for five days because they could not afford their bail amounts.

Among the plaintiffs are three men arrested in the San Fernando Valley and held both at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Devonshire and Foothill stations and the Van Nuys jail. They’re suing L.A. County, the Sheriff’s Department, LAPD and other agencies over their detention, arguing their constitutional rights were violated.

Both sides told the judge they would be ready to go to trial in about a year — until then, Riff said, he could not allow the county’s cash bail system to continue.

“Between now and then, tens of thousands of persons will be arrested by the LASD and LAPD and jailed under the extant bail schedules solely because they are too poor to pay the scheduled money bail,” Riff wrote.

“Others, arrested for the identical offense and otherwise indistinguishable from the arrestees in the putative plaintiffs’ class, will be promptly released because they can raise the funds to pay the secured money bail.”

Because of this, Riff said, “it would be an abuse of the court’s discretion not to enter” a preliminary injunction. He called the county’s cash bail system “a clear, pervasive, and serious constitutional violation.”

Both the county and the group of civil rights attorneys who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the six plaintiffs will get 60 days to come up with a new system to keep track of defendants before they’re arraigned, which could include options like releasing defendants on their own recognizance or electronically monitoring them.

Cash bail will still be required for people accused of serious or violent crimes.

The ruling is a major win for opponents of cash bail who have sought to eliminate what they have called an unequal system benefiting the wealthy, who can easily afford to bail themselves out of jail while poorer defendants accused of the same crimes cannot.

Riff’s ruling, according to court records, was based on testimony from several experts during a series of hearings in the judge’s courtroom earlier this month.

The judge noted that six plaintiffs were just a few of the tens of thousands of people who are arrested annually and then held in jail until a bench officer determines under what conditions they may be released while awaiting further court hearings.

“Every time a court has heard actual evidence in my decade of litigating the cash bail issue across U.S., Republican and Democratic judges alike have found there is no basis in evidence for cash bail,” wrote Alec Karakatsanis, one of the civil rights attorneys on the lawsuit, on Twitter, where he frequently posts lengthy criticisms of the system.

“It makes us less safe and destroys lives.”

L.A. County has eliminated cash bail before — the Superior Court in 2020 set most cash bail amounts for minor crimes to zero in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, thousands of people jailed at the time were released early out of fear confining them in cramped conditions would spur even more spread of the virus and lead to deaths.

The court system renewed cash bail in 2022 after the threat of the virus slackened.

Riff wrote that the experts who testified showed there was neither an increase in crime in L.A. County nor a decrease in defendants failing to appear at their court hearings as a result of ending cash bail.

In fact, the judge wrote that the experts proved cash bail increased the prevalence of crime.

Among those experts was Dr. Paul Heaton, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, who studied bail reform in Harris County in Texas, which operates one of the nation’s largest jail systems serving Houston and other cities.

Heaton testified that impoverished defendants detained before their trials were much more likely to commit more crimes in the future.

He said his study showed that defendants held in jail due to their lack of funds were much more likely to plead guilty whether or not they really were, and therefore were much more likely to receive jail sentences. He said those convictions and time spent in jail “causally increases” the defendants’ “likelihood of future arrest for new crimes.”

The judge wrote that numerous local elected officials who might have testified in favor of maintaining the cash bail system, including representatives of the city of L.A. and county government, refused to do so.

L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón, a critic of cash bail, did not return a request for comment on the preliminary injunction Wednesday.

Eric Siddall is the vice president of the Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys, the union representing the county’s thousands of line prosecutors in the D.A.’s office. In a statement, he said the association supported neither “zero bail” nor “oppressive bail.”

Siddall said the solution to the county’s bail system is establishing “reasonable bail or release conditions, narrowly tailored to the defendant and the offense and aimed at ensuring that arrestees return to court if their cases get filed.”

City News Service contributed to this story.