BRIEFLY IN PUBLIC SAFETY

Toomey waives extradition

Patricia Toomey has opted to waive extradition from Tennessee following her arrest earlier this month on suspicion of kidnapping her two children in 1983 and concealing them from their father, Orange County District Attorney spokeswoman Susan Kang Schroeder said.

Toomey, a former Laguna Beach resident, will remain in custody without bail until California authorities retrieve her.

They have 10 days to bring Toomey back to California following her waiver, according to the District Attorney’s office. The date of transfer is not yet known.

Toomey will then be arraigned in California for two charges of child concealment, and faces a maximum of three years, eight months in prison if convicted.

She was discovered living in her mother’s home in Tennessee earlier this month.

Man arrested in theft of statue from gallery

Nick Henry Venden, a 63-year-old Laguna Beach resident, was arrested June 15 after being identified as the man who entered an art gallery in the 300 block of No. Coast Highway at 4:05 p.m., June 14, snatched a 50-inch tall statue and fled, Laguna Beach Police Sgt. Jason Kravetz said

The statue is valued at $4,800.

Employees of the gallery chased the suspect, who eventually dropped the object and fled.

Woman injured at Rockpile Beach

A 37-year-old Texas woman slipped on rocks at Rockpile Beach, below Heisler Park, at 4:14 p.m. June 12, hitting her head, Kravetz said.

The woman, who was accompanied by her sister at the beach, was awake and conscious, and was transported to Mission Hospital for treatment of her injuries.

Man sought in knife threat at Sawdust

Laguna Beach police are investigating an alleged verbal threat and knife-brandishing by a man at the Sawdust Festival, Kravetz said.

The victim, a 44-year-old man from Orange, was helping to build a booth at the festival when he heard an apparent argument between a man and a woman in the glass-blowing booth at the site, Kravetz said.

When the victim went to the aid of the woman, the suspect, a 37-year-old Laguna Beach resident, allegedly pulled out a knife and threatened the victim, saying “I’ll stick you.”

The suspect fled.