The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 65

Irfan Khan Los Angeles Times Crash landing in Upland The pilot instructor and two students were injured when their Piper Seneca lost power on approach to Cable Airport and hit two homes before coming to rest atop a garage. The homes sustained some damage, but no one on the ground was injured. B4 By Rich Connell and Robert J. Lopez Times Staff Writers Aretired California National Guard lieutenant colonel and a prominentHmongleader were charged with eight others Monday in an allegedplot to buy missiles, mines, assault rifles and other arms to topple the communist government of Laos. Among those arrested was Gen.

Vang Pao of Westminster, a CIA-backed ally of the United States during the Vietnam War and a leader among Hmong refugees who settled in the state 30 years ago. Also named in a federal complaint was former Lt. Col. Harrison Ulrich Jack, of Woodland, who allegedly met with an undercover agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to discuss air-dropping arms into Laos. Jack acted as a go-between in arranging the arms deals, officials alleged.

Search and arrest warrants also were served in Sacramento and Stockton, as well as inFresno, where the Hmong areconcentrated, federal officials said. During the Vietnam War, Laos was a secret battleground for the United States, which recruited tens of thousands of Hmong to disrupt North Vietnamese supply lines along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. After the war, many refugees migrated to Central Valley and Minnesota. The group charged Monday allegedly wanted a total of in arms and had agreed to an initial payment of $150,000, according to the federal complaint filed in Sacramento. The arms were allegedlyto be delivered to a remote location in Thailand and smuggled into Laos later this month.

Couriers carrying $10,000 each reportedly had begun moving money to Thailand, where the payments were to be delivered. Though no weapons weredelivered, the group allegedly was on the verge of launching a sophisticated plan to overthrow communist regime. Among the weapons sought, according to prosecutors, were U.S. accuses 10 of plotting coup in Laos Among those held on charges of trying to buy weapons are a Hmong leader in Westminster and an ex-California National Guard officer. See Laos, Page B7 Janet Hostetter Associated Press SUSPECT: Vang Pao, a leader of Hmong refugees in the U.S., lives in Westminster.

RELATED STORY Profile: Vang Pao was a tough CIA ally in the Vietnam War. B7 leader has threatened political reprisals. Professional Peace Officers Assn. President John R. Stites told his lobbyist in a widely circulated e-mail that if the bill passed, his union would publicly oppose efforts to change term limits law.

The effort to alter term limits is a priority for many sitting legislators, who are trying to place an initiative on next ballot. Some state lawmakers would be allowed to extend their current terms under the initiative. that it be understood that this will only be the begin- By Jordan Rau Times Staff Writer SACRAMENTO The California Senate voted Monday to relax confidentiality rules surrounding police disciplinary records, a topic so incendiary among Los Angeles law enforcement officials that one union Stites, who is also president of the Southern California Assn. of Law Enforcement, wrote in the e-mail, which his lobbyist circulated to law enforcement advocates and a few Capitol staffers. The measure was prompted by a California Supreme Court ruling last year that restricted access to law enforcement personnel records.

After the ruling on the case, which originated in San Diego, the Los Angeles Police Department changed its rules to prohibit access to information from disciplinary board meetings and records. Passions about the issue have been further heightened by disclosures that an LAPD board cleared the officer who in 2005 fatally shot 13-year-old Devin Brown as Brown backed a stolen car in the direction. The bill would allow municipalities to open disciplinary hearing records, such as those of LAPD boards of rights, and other documents that the court ruling in Copley Press vs. Superior Court of San Diego had allowed to be closed. Police unions around the state have fought the bill, saying that hostile bloggers and trial lawyers would mine the records to try to undercut the Senate OKs opening police files The bill would make disciplinary records more accessible to the public.

A union leader threatens reprisals. See Legislation, Page B5 By Megan Garvey Times Staff Writer Even before the sun rose the word was out at Philadelphia Gear Manufacturing Center: In the middle of the night, Paris Hilton had checked in directly across the street. Arriving for the start of their 5 a.m. shifts, the workers could see the throng of gathered media satellite trucks, television cameras giving off a predawn glow in the parking lot of Century Regional Detention Facility. were all disap- said Dave Kratz, an assembly test mechanic.

were waiting for all the So were the gathered reporters, some of whom had spent the midnight hour holding out hope that most famous heiress managed to slip by their cameras. That is until officials came out shortly before 1 a.m. to report that Hilton had in fact been booked. For a woman known for making memorable entrances it was the rare stealth arrival. Despite media staking out every entry point at the County Jail, Hilton got through the gates undetected.

The celebrity website TMZ emerged as the big winner with the only footage of Hilton en route to jail, accompanied by her mother, Kathy, and sister, Nicky. She surrendered to Los Angeles County deputies at a downtown jail about 11:15 p.m. Sunday and was later transferred to the facility. Bryan Chan Los Angeles Times NOT HILTON: Linda Vaterl of Munich, Germany, was brought to L.A. by a German TV station and pretends to be Paris Hilton outside the Lynwood jail.

early jail check-in preempts media horde, fans JAILED: officials released this photo of Hilton taken after she surrendered at a downtown L.A. jail. Reporters outside the Lynwood lockup are disappointed to learn the celebrity slipped in during the night. See Paris, Page B7 By Tami Abdollah and Richard Winton Times Staff Writers Hollywood homicide detectives were trying to sort out a mystery Monday at an upscale Hollywood Hills home in which a suspect has been arrested but no body has been found. Detectives said they believe a shooting occurred May 27.

But authorities were not called to the house for five days, when someone alerted the LAPD that a woman had been killed there. After a day of interviews with residents of the house and neighbors, police arrested David Mahler, 43, on suspicion of murder. Det. Wendy lead investigator in the case, said Mahler allegedly shot a woman at the home but that police cannot find her body. He is being held without bail at the County Jail.

have no doubt that murder charges will be filed in this Berndt said. have direct evidence Mahler with this crime, she said. The killing occurred in a sprawling, multilevel pink stucco home on Cole Crest Drivein an area of million-dollar houses. Neighbors said police told them that the body had been moved out of the house, and said that authorities were reviewing video footage from nearby home surveillance cameras for clues. Detectives seek body in alleged killing Suspect is held in slaying at a Hollywood Hills home, though details remain sketchy.

See Body, Page B5 By John L. Mitchell Times Staff Writer For years, the battle for control of the city of Lynwood has been shrouded in accusations of political corruption and cronyism. Aformer mayor is serving a 16-year sentence in federal prison for embezzlement. Five current and former City Council members have been charged with padding their salaries with public funds. And an effort is underway to recall four of the five current City Council members.

But beyond the allegations of graft and corruption, a different war rife with racial and ethnic stereotyping is being waged in theworking-class city south of Los Angeles. Latinos, who make up more than of the 72,000 residents, are vying for power with African Americans, who, despite smaller numbers, maintain considerable influence by virtue of superior voter strength in a city where of the residents are foreign-born. Adecade ago, when blacks controlled the political landscape, Latinos complained that they were being denied city jobs and lucrative municipal contracts. Now Latinos dominate and African Americans complain of being frozen out. The problem is emblematic of emerging tensions throughout Los Angeles County, where the Latino population has surged as African American numbers have dwindled.

The tensions are playing out in cities such as Carson, Compton and Inglewood, where traditional black political muscle concentrated largely among older working- and middle-class homeowners is showing signs of weakening as a generation of Latinos reaches voting age. Tensions are also playing out in the race to succeed Rep. Juanita the competition between two well- positioned African American candidates may result in their canceling each other out, paving the way for a Latina to capture a Lynwood politics a stage for racial power shift As African Americans lose numbers and influence to Latinos, the friction can be felt at City Hall and beyond. See Lynwood, Page B5 Marine posthumously awarded Navy Cross Cpl. Jason S.

Clairday, killed in Iraq in 2004, is honored at Camp Pendleton for his valor in storming an insurgent stronghold. B2 MTA to add 8 bus lines High-efficiency Metro Rapid routes are planned next year throughout L.A. County. B3 UCLA hospital dedicated The $1-billion medical center named after President Reagan open until next year. B3 Ex-NASCAR chief dies Bill France who parlayed what his father had started into aracing empire, was 74.

B8 B4 B8 Only in L.A.. B4 B10 INSIDE CALIFORNIA VN latimes.com/california VENTURA COUNTY EDITION.