BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS Two fraud...

BRIEFLY IN

THE NEWS

Two fraud suspects from Costa Mesa

Two of eight suspects arrested on suspicion of participating in a

multi-state automobile theft and insurance fraud ring Wednesday are

from Costa Mesa.

The arrests culminated a four-month-long investigation by the

Orange County Auto Theft Task Force. Investigators staged a “sting”

operation and simultaneously searched five Orange and Los Angeles

county locations, resulting in the arrests and seizure of evidence.

Officers from 12 agencies in both Orange and Los Angeles counties

assisted in the arrests and raids Wednesday. During the searches,

police seized more than $40,000 in cash, believed to be the proceeds

of auto theft-related crimes.

One of the arrest locations was Shooter’s Restaurant in Costa

Mesa, where some of the suspects allegedly tried to pay for stolen

vehicle identification numbers and phony Department of Motor Vehicle

registration documents.

The two suspects from Costa Mesa are Eric Huerta, 28, and Oscar

Sanchez, 32. Huerta’s mother, Margarita, and sister, Jennifer, were

also arrested.

Bomb threat proves empty in Newport

A bomb threat at a Newport Beach business Wednesday morning turned

out to be unfounded, police officials said.

The threat was called in about 11:25 a.m. by a male who said there

was a bomb in Conexant’s headquarters in the 4000 block of MacArthur

Boulevard. Conexant officials evacuated the 10-story building as a

precaution while a few officers investigated the threat.

After about an hour, it was determined to be unfounded and

business resumed as usual, said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve

Shulman.

-- Deirdre Newman