Crime Watch

A retired Oxnard police officer charged with attempted bank robbery says he was only doing research for a law enforcement training video he was planning to shoot.

“He stated . . . he was attempting to get into the character of a bank robber as research for a future video. He said he wanted to feel what a bank robber feels as he is robbing a bank,” according to court documents.

Ed Ludaescher, 40, has been in jail in lieu of $100,000 bail after being arrested last month for allegedly trying to hold up an Oxnard bank. He has pleaded not guilty and awaits a preliminary hearing.

Ludaescher received some media attention last year after creating “The Option,” a nonlethal device for police officers that attaches to the barrel of a gun but fires pepper spray instead of bullets.

At the time his invention was announced, several police agencies across the country were battling accusations of excessive force by officers. The Option, experts said in 1999, held great promise and was being tested by the Oxnard Police Department.

Ludaescher may argue that the alleged foiled bank heist was about expanding his business offerings, but authorities think it was possibly fueled by money woes, including an outstanding $200,000 bank loan to finance The Option, according to court records.

*

In the wake of a dozen house fires in the last month--including one started Thursday by an 8-year-old Oxnard boy who accidentally knocked over a candle--the Ventura County Fire Department has issued its holiday wish list.

The tips may seem obvious, but fire officials said the busiest time of year for them is during the winter months when people use heaters, candles and incense, fireplaces and Christmas tree lights.

Fire experts urged residents to have their chimneys inspected and spark arresters installed to prevent burning embers from blowing out the top. And always store paper and kindling at least three feet from the fireplace, they said.

Other seemingly obvious warnings on the list include: Never use a charcoal barbecue to heat your home.

As for incense and candles, officials urged people to place them where they can’t be knocked down and away from sources of wind or blowing air.

Inspect your Christmas tree for dried or dead needles, which are highly flammable, and only string up lights that have been tested first. Don’t overload extension cords, fire officials warned.

Last but not least, check the battery in your smoke alarm.

*

Most reporters write the news, but a few help create it.

Such was the case recently when a reporter from a Sherman Oaks-based documentary company set out to investigate pedophilia on the Internet and wound up at a Simi Valley restaurant with a sex-crimes suspect.

According to police, a reporter at Investigative News Network, which provides footage to television networks, posed as 13-year-old “Sherry” in an Internet chat room frequented by children.

The decoy received e-mail from a 60-year-old psychologist, and the pair had “explicit and graphic conversations” nearly two dozen times before arranging to meet in Simi Valley last month, according to a police report.

Police said that during the online chats, the man, Michael Alan Hirsch of Davis, masturbated in front of a two-way video camera so the decoy could watch.

The reporter contacted police in the psychologist’s hometown in Northern California, and Davis Police Department officers arrested Hirsch when the reporter met him in Simi recently.

“They were working on their own until they called us,” said Davis Police Lt. Don Brooks, who said his department responds to any report of crimes involving children, regardless of who started the investigation.

Hirsch was charged in a Northern California court with attempting to commit a lewd act with a child and distribution of harmful matter, police said. He remains free on $50,000 bail, pending a preliminary hearing.

*

A group of women serving time at the Ojai Honor Farm used donated yarn to crochet 40 afghans, which they gave to the Fillmore Convalescent Center recently.

The women are enrolled in the jail’s 12-step drug and alcohol recovery program. This is the second year inmates in the program have created handmade holiday gifts.

During last year’s holiday season, inmates made blankets for another rest home and knitted caps and mini-blankets for homemade dolls that were given to underprivileged girls.

But an elf’s work is never finished. Anyone who would like to donate yarn, which the program relies on for the projects, should call Susan Feltes at 933-8562.

*

Holly J. Wolcott can be reached at 653-7581 or at holly.wolcott@latimes.com.