PUBLIC SAFETY
Former officer charged
Prosecutors filed charges Wednesday against a former Glendale
Police officer who is accused of trying to rendezvous with an
undercover law-enforcement agent posing as a 13-year-old girl.
Arthur George Crabtree, 43, of Santa Clarita was charged by the
L.A. County District Attorney's office with seven counts, including
attempted lewd acts on a child, attempted felony child molesting and
sending "harmful matter" over the Internet, such as photos of his
genitals, officials said.
Crabtree -- now a lawyer, specializing in family law -- sent a bus
ticket to an undercover agent posing as the girl and arranged a
rendezvous at the Greyhound bus station in downtown Los Angeles,
officials said. He was arrested by Los Angeles County Sheriff's
deputies at the station while waiting.
Crabtree preyed on five victims during the past three years,
according to the complaint.
A court commissioner postponed his arraignment Wednesday in San
Fernando Superior Court. The investigation is ongoing and Crabtree
remains free on $100,000 bail.
* Two city employees were injured Tuesday after a trash truck they
were driving hit a parking ramp in the Glendale Public Works
corporate yard, officials said.
The workers were rushed to County-USC Medical Center for chest and
head injuries, officials said. Both were released by Wednesday
morning.
The truck, which hydraulically lifts trash bins, hit the ramp when
the workers were injured, officials. City officials are investigating
if it is a mechanical error or the fault of the operators.
CITY HALL
Americana design in final phase
Developer Rick Caruso presented the final design for the Americana
at Brand to a joint session of the city's two design review boards
and received plenty of praise.
The boards unanimously recommended approving the design. The
city's Redevelopment Agency is expected to approve the design on Feb.
22.
Members of the design review boards liked the changes from the
last design review nearly a year ago, including adding a retail
entrance on Central Avenue across from the entrance to the Glendale
Galleria and rearranging underground parking so that it is not
beneath a public park.
The Americana will include 475,000 square feet of restaurants and
retail space, a 1.85-acre park and a 3,500-seat movie theater. Caruso
officials expect the Americana to open in late 2006 or early 2007.
* After a brief appeal to the city and the county, City Council
Candidate Chahe Keuroghelian was reinstated for the election, and his
