BRIEFLY IN PUBLIC SAFETY

Armed robber makes off with Oxycontin

Newport Beach police are seeking help in finding a man who robbed a pharmacy with a handgun for prescription drugs, a crime he may have also committed at the same pharmacy three years before.

The man entered Mariners Pharmacy in the 300 block of Superior Avenue shortly before 6 p.m. Thursday, demanding the pain killer Oxycontin, according to a police news release. He brandished a black semi-automatic handgun at the clerk, got both Oxycontin and the narcotic hydromorphone, better known as Dilaudid, and fled out the east entrance.

The pharmacy experienced a similar robbery three years ago, and according to the news release, the clerk and the pharmacist believe the same man committed both crimes.

A photo of the man, taken by the store’s security camera, can be seen at www.dailypilot.com. Police ask that anyone with information call (800) 550-NBPD.

Santa Claus trades sleigh for police cruiser

Santa Claus came to school this week, but instead of the jingle of reindeer, he arrived with the wail of a police siren. With the help of the Costa Mesa Police Department, Saint Nick has been descending on Costa Mesa elementary schools by helicopter or riding in by patrol car.

At Killybrooke Elementary Friday morning, a police car drove straight onto a playground full of eager children. They chanted “Santa! Santa!” and waited in long lines to receive candy canes from the jolly old elf.

Costa Mesa Sgt. Marty Carver said it was a police tradition.

“It’s a community relations activity we’ve done for years,” he said. “We try to fly Santa into whatever schools the FAA will let us.”

In the case of Killybrooke, a helicopter appearance was on the schedule, but low visibility grounded the aircraft. Despite the setback, a car arrived right on time for Santa’s 9:05 a.m. appearance.

Power outage puts OCC students in dark

Orange Coast College students had to take their finals with the lights off Friday morning, as a power outage in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach deprived about 8,000 Southern California Edison customers of electricity for several hours.

Tom Boyd, a spokesman for Southern California Edison, said the outage was caused by a failed underground cable in the 1700 block of Cliff Drive in Newport Beach. He said the blackout began at 6:10 a.m. but got worse when an attempt to provide backup power blew out two nearby circuits. The affected area was centered on the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway, bordered by the 73 Freeway on its north side and 16th Street on its south side.

Costa Mesa police said they had to direct traffic at a couple of intersections on Bristol Street, but it did not tax their resources.

Newport Beach police said most of area affected was in Costa Mesa, so they had few problems to deal with.

Orange Coast College spokesman Jim Carnet said some classrooms at the college were better suited than others when the lights went off.

“The buildings from the 1950s had huge window space areas, and there was plenty of light from outside,” he said. “Some of the more modern lecture halls have no natural lighting, and professors were taking their students outside. Some of them got pretty creative.”

Carnet said lights went off at OCC at about 8:30 a.m., and they came back on at about 11:10 a.m. He knew of no finals that were canceled or postponed.

Boyd said that as of 10:45, the vast majority of customers had their power back. He said that as of noon, there were 11 customers still waiting for electricity.