John Dilibert

BURBANK — The Board of Education selected a veteran Burbank Police officer as interim trustee on Thursday to occupy the vacant seat of outgoing board member Paul Krekorian. John Dilibert, a lieutenant with 19 years of service with the force, took his seat at the dais after being sworn in on Thursday. He will fill Krekorian's unexpired term, which ends in April. "The Police Department is in partnership with the school district and this is an opportunity for someone with the Police Department to have a connection with the schools," Dilibert, 42, said.

Ryan Carter AIRPORT DISTRICT -- A 62-year-old Agoura man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of grabbing an airport security screener as she patted him down. The 20-year-old screener, who was performing a routine screening, asked if he would consent to hand search. He did, Burbank Police Sgt. John Dilibert said. But as she patted him down from his backside, he lifted his arms behind him, grabbed her and pulled her toward his waist, Dilibert said.

Police arrested two men and a woman thought to have supplied Burbank teens with drugs. Donald Whitehall, 20, Antony Jones, 21, and Ginny Doddy, 39, were arrested Aug. 9 after members of the department's narcotics detail and special response team found marijuana, methamphetamine and cocaine in the home, where the trio lived in the 10600 block of Crockett Street in Sun Valley, police said. The three were suspected of selling drugs to teenagers from Burbank, Police Sgt. John Dilibert said.

Ryan Carter BURBANK -- Burbank Police completed the 120-mile Baker to Vegas Challenge Relay over the weekend. The team finished 15th in its category and 104th out of 214 teams competing in the annual run across Death Valley. "We survived," Burbank Police Sgt. John Dilibert said of the race in which 20 sworn and civilian personnel participated. Another 15 from the department provided support for the contingent. The Burbank participants ran in honor of Officer Danny Crawford, who died of Lou Gehrig's disease several years ago. Burbank Police have participated in the event 12 times.

Ryan Carter Woman cited for gun in luggage AIRPORT DISTRICT -- A Burbank woman was cited at Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena airport after a .22-caliber revolver in her luggage was illuminated when it passed through an X-ray screening machine, police said. The woman was in Terminal A at the airport Monday when the image showed up, Burbank Police Sgt. John Dilibert said. The handgun was not loaded. The woman told airport security personnel she placed the gun in her suitcase as a safety precaution to keep it away from her grandson, according to police reports.

A 42-year-old Burbank man was arrested Wednesday after he called police to report that his home had been robbed only to have police allegedly find a marijuana plant growing in his basement. Jeffrey Marc Selco called police to report that stereo equipment had been taken from the living room of his home in the 1000 block of East Palm Avenue by four men. During their investigation, police could smell an odor of marijuana, which led them to the basement of the man's home, where they found a potted marijuana plant and a system used to dry the leaves, Burbank Police Sgt. John Dilibert said.

Ryan Carter A 45-year-old Burbank man was arrested after assaulting his former wife and locking himself inside of a garage while threatening to kill himself, police said. The man got into an argument Oct. 12 with his wife about their children at his home in the 1700 block of Elliot Drive, Police Sgt. John Dilibert said. While inside the home, the man grabbed a knife and threatened to kill her, Dilibert said. She was not hurt. But in a rage, he locked himself inside the garage, threatening to kill himself with the knife and a paintball gun, Dilibert said.

Ryan Carter MAGNOLIA PARK -- A Valentine's Day night out turned into a heated argument with a flying engagement ring and smashed car lights for a Burbank couple, police said. A 32-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman returned to their home in the 3000 block of West Verdugo Avenue after dinner Thursday night and got into a heated argument. She became upset and threw her engagement ring at him, Burbank Police Sgt. John Dilibert said. Angered at her for throwing ring, the man knocked over her sewing machine, according to police reports.

Ryan Carter HILLSIDE DISTRICT -- Police have arrested a 16-year-old Burbank boy who allegedly lied when he said another man shot him in the leg. The boy told police that a man approached him near the intersection of Glenoaks Boulevard and Santa Anita Avenue about 10:35 a.m. March 30 and started asking about an altercation the two had a month before, Burbank Sgt. Bill Taylor said. The boy told police the man pulled a revolver out of his waistband, shot him in the leg and ran away.

Ryan Carter BURBANK -- Three John Muir Middle School students were arrested on suspicion of bringing an explosive device to school after they threw an M-100 from a second-story building's bathroom, police said. The three girls, two 13-year-olds and a 14-year-old, were arrested Thursday, a day after they allegedly threw the lit device out of the bathroom, causing a loud explosion during the lunch hour. It landed on the top of a walkway near a building, Burbank Police Sgt. John Dilibert said.

A North Hollywood man was arrested Friday night in Burbank after he allegedly fired about seven shots near Verdugo Avenue and Hollywood Way, police said. Several callers reported two men engaged in an argument in the Del Taco parking lot on the 3700 block of Verdugo, Lt. John Dilibert said. At around 11:30 p.m., a witness reported hearing a string of gunshots or fireworks in the area, Dilibert said. Police confirmed about seven shots were fired after expended cartridge cases were found.

It was just after 8 a.m. Wednesday and police at the empty Burbank jail were setting up in the control room, turning on lights, a laptop computer and a printer. A fingerprinting machine was being transported from the Glendale jail, where Burbank has been booking suspects for almost a year because of work stemming from water damage on the Burbank Police-Fire building. By midday Wednesday, inmates were being accepted at the Burbank facility. Burbank police have been transporting arrested individuals to the jail in Glendale for booking since April, when the repair work began, adding at least 45 minutes to the process, Burbank Police Lt. John Dilibert said.

Burbank police welcomed its first all-female class of recruits Thursday at a graduation ceremony in Los Angeles - a select group that distinguished itself with academic and physical prowess, officials said. In a class of about 70 in which 52 police and sheriff's recruits averaged 92% or higher on the academic portion of their academy training, Burbank police recruit Julie Oates, 24, received the top academic honor with an overall score of 96.87%. Oates was honored before hundreds of law enforcement personnel, family and friends at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles.

Police haven't found a man who exposed himself to two women on Thursday evening. At about 11:30 p.m. on Nov. 4, the women, ages 19 and 22, were walking near the intersection of North Hollywood Way and West Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank when someone called out "Excuse me" from behind. When the women turned around, they saw the man lift up his shirt with one hand while holding down his pants with the other, exposing his genitals. The women quickly turned and ran the opposite direction, and the man was gone when they turned to look if he was following them, police said.

A New York man on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to crashing through a gate at Warner Bros. Studios on Friday afternoon with materials that could be used to make an explosive device. Michael Rodriguez-Cintron, whose last name varies slightly in records from Burbank police, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and superior court, was arrested after he crashed his late-model Chevrolet Camaro through the wooden arm of Gate 5 and drove through the lot. The 43-year-old, who police say is out of work, returned to the gate less than five minutes later.

DOWNTOWN — Crime in Burbank dropped 8% in 2009, mirroring a slide across Los Angeles County despite escalating unemployment and a sluggish economy, according to year-end figures released Monday by the Police Department. The number of homicides dropped from two in 2008 to one last year, according to the department’s FBI uniform crime report. Interim Burbank Police Chief Scott LaChasse, a 32-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, attributed declines across the region in part to “hardening the target,” the law enforcement tactic of beefing up security to minimize the risk of an attack or theft.

Marshals arrest robbery suspects A newly formed U.S. Marshal?s Fugitive Apprehension Task Force on Thursday arrested a 27-year-old Rosemead man and his passenger in connection with a home-invasion robbery last month in the 400 block of Gibson Court, authorities said. Kevin Joseph Castaneda is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail at the Los Angeles County Twin Towers Jail on charges of robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and felony evading. Passenger Glen Ramirez, a 32-year-old El Monte man, was also charged with robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and evading officers and is being held without bail at the downtown facility, Burbank Police Lt. John Dilibert said.

CITY CENTER — As part of the cost-cutting measures approved by the City Council in June, the Burbank Police Department this month removed the lone officer dedicated to patrolling parks, securing and locking bathrooms and monitoring illicit behavior. The move, combined with the elimination of a dedicated retail crime officer, is expected to save the department $252,452 — 18.85% of the total $1.34-million budget cut. Park patrol responsibilities have been folded into officer beat patrols, with most of the onus on securing and locking bathrooms falling to a custodial contractor, officials said, even as records show illicit behavior at parks to be on the rise.