Tag Archives: Beverly Hills

by | December 2, 2010

Ronni Chasen Suspect Kills Himself in Front of Police

A man wanted for questioning in connection with the slaying of powerhouse Hollywood publicist Ronni Chasen fatally shot himself Wednesday night as police closed in, authorities said.

Chasen, 64, who represented A-list movie stars and promoted some of Hollywood’s top films, was driving home Nov. 16 after attending the premiere party for the movie “Burlesque” when she was gunned down.

Beverly Hills police confronted the man as they were conducting a follow up investigation in the case at the Harvey Apartments on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles police captain Kevin McClure said at a news conference Wednesday.

“While conducting that follow up, the person they were looking for showed up. They attempted to talk to the suspect. When they did, the suspect produced a hand gun and there was a self inflicted wound at that point,” McClure said.

Police said the man killed himself in the lobby and was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to Los Angeles Times, sources told the newspaper that the shooting occurred after 6 p.m. as police were serving a search warrant. The sources said the dead man was a suspect in the case and may have been part of a wider probe of the shooting.

Police sources told ABC News that they plan to do a ballistics test to see if the gun used in the suicide is the gun used to kill Chasen.

Authorities haven’t released the man’s identity and won’t say how the man was connected to Chasen’s death.

Residents at the apartment building told the Los Angeles Times that they believed the man was in his 40s and went by the name of “Harold.”

Brandon Harrison told the Times that Harold described himself to a neighbor as “an ex-convict who served two stints in state prison, the most recent for firearms and drug convictions” and “vowed he would never go to prison.” He told the neighbor that he would be receiving $10,000, either for a job he had done or from a lawsuit.

Beverly Hills Police emphasized that the man “was a person of interest” — not a suspect and the investigation was not over.

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by | February 6, 2010

Lisa Vanderpump Bentley found over same cliff as Charlie Sheen’s Mercedes

LOS ANGELES — A second stolen car has been found over the side of a road where Charlie Sheen’s Mercedes was pulled from a steep ravine earlier today, and this one too belongs to a celebrity.

Sheen reported that his Mercedes-Benz sedan was stolen from his gated community at around 4 a.m. in Sherman Oaks.

At around the same time, someone reported a “vehicle over the side” in the 13300 block of the winding ridgetop road, said Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Soon after, the vehicle was spotted upside-down in a ditch near the actor’s home. Later this afternoon, a photographer reported seeing a Bentley down a cliff just a few blocks away.

No one was inside either vehicle. The Bentley is registered to actress Lisa Vanderpump. The actress, who appeared on “Silk Stalkings” and “Baywatch Nights,” is married to restaurateur Kenneth Todd.

They live near Charlie Sheen’s house in a gated community. Lisa and Ken own the Beverly Hills restaurant, Villa Blanca.

Police spokesman Richard French says three other cars in the area were broken into overnight but investigators aren’t sure if there’s a connection. Sheen reportedly parked the car inside an open garage at his Sherman Oaks home with the keys still inside the ignition.

The home is located in a gated community, and Sheen apparently told authorities that’s why he felt safe leaving the car that way.

The actor received a call around 4 a.m. from his remote diagnostics company, similar to OnStar, telling him his car had been involved in a crash and the airbags had deployed, according to online reports.

Sheen apparently then realized his car had been stolen and called authorities. It was not clear whether the actor was targeted in the theft. Investigators said nothing else was burglarized from Sheen’s home.

No suspects have been found. Police were searching for possible surveillance video of the vehicle leaving the gated community.

Sheen, 44, recently made headlines when he was arrested in Aspen, Colorado on Christmas day following an alleged domestic violence incident with his 33-year-old wife, Brooke Mueller.

Sheen, according to an arrest warrant affidavit, is accused of pinning Mueller to the bed, threatening her with a knife and saying, “You better be in fear. If you tell anybody, I’ll kill you.”

The “Two and a Half Men” star denied threatening his wife.

Sheen is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Aspen on domestic violence charges. He and his wife also are seeking modification of an order that prevents them from communicating with each other. She has said they love each other and want to reconcile.

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