Hearing rescheduled in post-Sept. 11 case...

Hearing rescheduled in post-Sept. 11 case

A preliminary hearing for a former Huntington Beach resident

charged with making a criminal threat has been rescheduled until next

month due to scheduling conflicts.

Steven James McManus, 44, has been charged with two felony counts

of making a criminal threat, including hate crime enhancements, as

well as with five misdemeanors -- two counts of elder abuse, two

counts of civil rights violations and one count of obstructing a

police officer.

A pre-trial hearing will be held Nov. 14 at the West Justice

Center in Westminster.

Prosecutors allege that after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,

McManus, a former Marine, threatened to kill an elderly Iranian

couple while they were out on a daily early morning walk Sept. 23.

While driving on Bushard Street, McManus spotted the couple and

made a sudden U-turn and parked his car, police said.

Police said he approached the couple, asked them where they were

from and then told them to cross the street or he would kill them.

Fearing for their safety, the couple crossed the street, where a

neighbor picked them up and drove them to the home of their son, who

lived nearby, police said. Another neighbor who saw McManus threaten

the couple called police and directed them to his home.

Officers arrived at his home later that afternoon to interview

him. He was taken into custody and later released.

If convicted on all counts, McManus could face eight years in

prison.

-- Jose Paul Corona

Substitute appears in court on sex charges

A 35-year-old teacher made an initial court appearance Friday in

Santa Ana to address several counts of sexually related criminal

charges.

Todd Jerome Haluch of Huntington Beach is facing a total of 22

counts ranging from oral copulation with someone under 14, oral

copulation with someone under 16, lewd acts upon a child, using a

minor for a sex act, unlawful sexual intercourse with someone under

16, witness intimidation and one count of distributing and/or

duplicating child pornography, said Beth Costello, an Orange County

deputy district attorney.

Haluch, a former substitute teacher in the Newport-Mesa Unified,

Huntington Beach City, Garden Grove and Los Alamitos school

districts, was arrested last month after he was accused of engaging

in sexual acts with several female students.

Haluch will have be back in court on Nov. 14 for a pre-trial

hearing and will have to appear again on Dec. 5 for a preliminary

hearing, Costello said.

The incidents reportedly occurred between 1997 and 2001.

So far, five victims have come forward, and authorities are still

investigating whether the incidents took place on any of the campuses

where Haluch taught.

If convicted on all of the charges, Haluch could face life in

prison, Costello said.

-- Jose Paul Corona

Surf City man faces federal charges

A Huntington Beach man appeared in a Santa Ana courtroom Monday

morning after being arrested on federal charges of manufacturing and

trafficking in counterfeit Compaq computer parts.

Tony Minh Nguyen, 37, was taken into custody after being indicted

last week by a federal grand jury in Santa Ana.

Nguyen was in charge of sales and production at Dynasty Memory,

Inc., a Santa Ana-based computer supply company.

Authorities allege that between August and December of 2000 Nguyen

instructed Dynasty employees to buy out-of-date Compaq memory

components. Under Nguyen’s direction, employees would then remove the

Compaq labels and place them on non-Compaq memory components, which

were then sold as genuine Compaq products.

An investigation into the matter began when customers started

returning the memory components to Compaq. When the company learned

that the parts were counterfeit, they contacted the FBI, which

investigated the case and arrested Nguyen.

“We’re pursuing it [the case] because it’s a violation of federal

criminal law,” said Tom McConville, an assistant U.S. attorney.

If he is convicted on both charges, Nguyen could face a statutory

maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and fines of up to $4

million.

“Hewlett-Packard intends to defend its intellectual property and

fight counterfeiters, who not only hurt our company and shareholders

but also our customers, because counterfeit products don’t meet our

quality standards,” said Rebeca Robboy, corporate spokeswoman for

Hewlett-Packard, which owns Compaq.

Nguyen and officials at Dynasty could not be reached for comment.

Nguyen will be arraigned in Santa Ana on Monday.

-- Jose Paul Corona

Missing money box turns up, but not without problems

A box containing about $1,300 in cash, check and credit card

receipts that was thought to have been stolen has been found.

The money, which was raised during The Bolsa Chica Conservancy’s

Conservator of the Year event at the Waterfront Hilton last week, was

thought to have been stolen from the car of Adrianne Morrisson,

conservancy director.

“The items were misplaced,” Morrisson said. “I overreacted, I

panicked, so that’s why we ended thinking that [it] was stolen.”

While the money, checks and credit card receipts have been

recovered, Morrisson now has a “huge mess” on her hands. She had told

everyone who donated money in the form of checks to have them

canceled, she said.

“Thank God it was found,” Morrisson said. “It’s just one of those

things.”

-- Jose Paul Corona