Briefly In Public Safety

Retired CHP officer convicted in sex case

A now-retired lieutenant for the California Highway Patrol was convicted Tuesday of attempting to commit unlawful sexual acts with a fictitious 13-year-old girl, whom he believed was real, after meeting the girl online and engaging in explicit sexual conversations in an underage sex sting based in Laguna Beach.

A jury found Stephen Robert Deck, 55, of Carlsbad, guilty of one felony count of attempted lewd acts on a child under 14. He faces a maximum sentence of four years in state prison at his sentencing Jan. 22.

Beginning Feb. 12, 2006, Deck had online and phone conversations with a woman who told him she was a 13-year-old girl. He made graphic sexual statements and sexually suggestive comments, and arranged to meet the “victim” in Laguna Beach.

On Feb. 18, 2006, Deck drove from San Diego County to Laguna Beach. He was arrested after trying to make contact with the fictitious girl.

Deck, along with 12 other men, was arrested as a result of a law enforcement sting targeting Internet sexual predators. The sting was conducted by the Laguna Beach Police Department, Orange County Department of Probation and Orange County district attorney’s office, with help from Perverted-Justice.com.

Boy suspected in rock-throwing

A member of a group of 12-year-old boys is suspected of hurling a rock through a rear passenger window of a vehicle traveling northbound on Pacific Coast Highway near Fifth Street at 3:14 p.m. Saturday, Kravetz said.

The rock shattered the window and hit the rear passenger in the side of the head. The passenger complained of pain but no further injuries.

Witnesses pointed out a group of four boys running from the scene, and officers detained one of them and got the names of the rest. The parents of the boys have all been contacted.

Cash reported stolen in New Orleans

A Laguna Beach resident on High Drive filed a grand theft report after $2,000 in cash disappeared from his hotel room in New Orleans between Nov. 10 and 15, Lt. Jason Kravetz said. The man came back to Laguna Beach and filed the report at 1:56 p.m. Dec. 16.

Housekeeper accused in watch theft

A 38-year-old Lake Forest woman was arrested at 4:45 p.m. Dec. 16 at the Surf and Sand Hotel after she was accused of taking a watch from a room, Kravetz said. Kara Paige Flint, a housekeeper at the hotel, allegedly took the watch while cleaning a room. The watch was recovered, and Flint was charged with petty theft.

Man accused of prescription drug sales

A 25-year-old Mission Viejo man was arrested Dec. 17 at police headquarters on suspicion of selling prescription drugs to undercover officers, Kravetz said.

The arrest resulted from a narcotics investigation that began last summer. The suspect, Andrew Blair Charleson, allegedly sold undercover officers a large amount of prescription medications. Charleson posted a $20,000 bail and was given a court date in February.

Fire extinguisher reported stolen

A fire extinguisher was reported stolen from a complex in the 500 block of Glenneyre Street between Dec. 4 and 13, Kravetz said. The burglar broke the glass to obtain the extinguisher, valued at $100.

Woman accused of stealing a meal

A 62-year-old homeless woman was arrested on suspicion of burglary Tuesday after allegedly ordering a meal at a local restaurant without the funds to pay for it, Kravetz said.

Kathryn Lorayne Doe allegedly went to the Hotel Laguna’s Terrace Restaurant and had a $42.41 meal without having any means to pay for it. This was the second time she had done it in one week, Kravetz alleged. The first time, Doe ordered a $47.85 meal, and another guest sitting nearby offered to pay, so there was no prosecution.

On Tuesday, when she allegedly could not pay for the meal, police were summoned to the hotel at 4:21 p.m. and arrested her on suspicion of commercial burglary (entering the business with the intent to commit some type of theft).

Cycle slammed against woman’s vehicle

A bicyclist was accused of hurling his bicycle at a vehicle after the female driver honked at him on Thalia Street at 9:55 p.m. Tuesday, Kravetz said.

The driver was heading eastbound on Thalia Street and had just cleared the intersection with Wilson Street when a male bicyclist rode in front of her car and she suddenly stopped and honked her horn. The bicyclist then got off his bike, picked it up, and allegedly slammed it onto her hood.

He then walked over to the driver’s side door and did the same thing against the driver’s side of the car.

The victim sped off and called the police.

The suspect is described as a male Caucasian in his late 30s with blond hair, wearing a plaid shirt and light brown khakis.