Briefly In Public Safety

Coast Highway tied up after beams fall

Large steel beams fell off of a truck Wednesday morning, closing part of Coast Highway near Cardinal Avenue from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., Laguna Beach police Sgt. Jason Kravetz said.

The beams landed in the street, and a crane was called to pick them up.

A crew from the California Department of Transportation also had to fix a hole in the road.

There were no injuries.

Backyard confrontation leads to man’s arrest

A 42-year-old Laguna Beach man was accused of resisting arrest, battery on a police officer, and obstructing an officer after police were called to a complaint about derogatory comments directed at a teenage neighbor, Kravetz said.

Alexander Toland was also held on an outstanding reckless driving warrant for $15,000.

Toland’s rear neighbors had called police claiming Toland verbally berated their daughter, who was cleaning up toilet paper in the back yard of their house in the 1700 block of South Coast Highway at 12:11 a.m. Sunday.

The daughter had just graduated and her friends had toilet-papered her home in a prank, Kravetz said.

Police who responded to the incident claimed that, instead of talking to police and giving his side of the story, Toland fought with officers, leading to his arrest.

Stop leads to arrest for alleged drug possession

A Santa Cruz man was arrested at 2:05 p.m. Saturday on suspicion of drug possession after police pulled over the vehicle in which he was riding on a traffic violation in the 31000 block of Coast Highway, Kravetz said.

The officer conducted a narcotics investigation after smelling burning marijuana and arrested Greg Ronald Anderson, 38, on suspicion of possessing psilocybin mushrooms, and having Soma muscle relaxers without a prescription.

Woman accused of trespassing at hotel

A 41-year-old woman, whom police say is homeless, was arrested at 4:17 p.m. Saturday after allegedly refusing to leave a hotel at the request of the manager, Kravetz said.

Sylvia Sherburne had been staying at the property in the 1400 block of North Coast Highway for a couple of days and guests had complained about her behavior, Kravetz said.

The manager ordered her to leave, but she refused.

Police were called to intervene, but Sherburne still refused to leave, so the manager placed her under private person’s arrest for alleged trespassing.

Police also added a charge of resisting arrest.

Police hold man in drug case after traffic stop

A 22-year-old Laguna Beach man was arrested at 9:54 p.m. Saturday at St. Ann’s Drive and Park Avenue after police allegedly found prescription pills in his possession, for which he did not have a prescription, after searching a vehicle in which he was riding following a traffic stop, Kravetz said.

The suspect, Isaac Alexander Zoller, was held on $20,000 bond on suspicion of felony drug possession and also accused of a misdemeanor count of possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana.

Bones found near library not human

Bones found near the Laguna Beach Library were determined not to be human by the Orange County Coroner’s department, according to police records.

The bones were found while workers were repairing a sinkhole in the 300 block of Glenneyre Street at 10:25 a.m. June 11.

Work was halted while the discovery was investigated, and resumed after it was determined the bones were that of an animal.