A Santa Clarita man who was also a former Navy SEAL was sentenced to 20 years in prison for producing child sex abuse material. Robert Quido Stella, 51, of Canyon Country, was found guilty of secretly filming minor victims in the nude with hidden cameras, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In 2021, Homeland Security Investigations received a tip that Stella had accessed a dark web child porn website. During a July 15, 2021, investigation, authorities found “collections” of child sex abuse material on Stella’s computer and two external hard drives. Some of the files had been hidden in dig ..read more

Family members are searching for a woman who disappeared in Santa Clarita. The woman, Jessel Andrea Castellanos Quintero, 22, went missing on Jan. 12, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. She was last seen on the 27500 block of Feathery Cassia Way.  Quintero is described as a Hispanic woman standing  5 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 110 pounds. She has black curly hair and hazel eyes. She was last seen wearing a gray shirt, black pants, and an anklet on her left ankle. She may be headed to Utah, authorities said. Since the woman’s disappearance, her family has n ..read more

A man recalls the terrifying moment he was ejected from a moving RV as it was driving on a busy freeway in Newhall. The incident, which was captured on dashcam video by a passing car, happened on Jan. 15 as the survivor, Cordell Patrick, was traveling on the northbound lanes of the 14 Freeway just south of Newhall Avenue. Patrick, a former ESPN sportscaster, was on his way home to Valencia when his wife, who was driving, had fallen asleep behind the wheel.  Right before she fell asleep, Patrick had stood up for just a moment to use the restroom. “I had just unbuckled my seat belt. It was ..read more

A congressman from Santa Clarita has been accused of selling tens of thousands of dollars worth of stock before his committee released a report that drove that stock price down, then failing to report the transaction. In 2020, U.S. Rep. Mike Garcia sold up to $50,000 in Boeing stock just weeks before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure "released the damning results of its investigation into deadly crashes involving the company’s 737 Max airliner," as reported by the Daily Beast. That transaction was not disclosed until Nov. 23, 2020, "more than two months after the 45-day ..read more

The 12-year-old boy who was fatally shot in the Santa Clarita area last month was killed by an accidental discharge after the victim and another child were playing with a gun. Willians Lemus Ayala — his first name has also been identified as Willian or William in some reports — was found shot to death near the intersection of Sand Canyon and Placerita Canyon in Tujunga Canyons on Nov. 6. On Friday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department revealed that the shooting occurred as two "juveniles were manipulating a firearm when it unintentionally discharged, causing grave injury to the victim ..read more

A person who was found shot to death on a Santa Clarita roadside on Monday was identified as a 12-year-old boy. On Tuesday night, authorities confirmed the body belonged to Willians Lemus Ayala, a Canyon Country resident, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Ayala’s body was discovered near the intersection of Sand Canyon and Placerita Canyon roads in Canyon Country at around 6:30 a.m. vAuthorities are investigating after a 12-year-old boy was found shot to death on a Santa Clarita roadside on Nov. 6, 2023. (KTLA) Authorities are investigating after a 12-year-old boy was ..read more

A child was killed when the electric bicycle he was riding collided with a car in Santa Clarita on Monday. The crash was reported at about 9 a.m. at Decoro Drive and McBean Parkway, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The juvenile, who was riding an e-bike, was declared dead at the scene, as the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded but no one was transported to a hospital. No details about the vehicle were publicized, but Sheriff's Department officials confirmed no arrest has been made. Aerial footage from Sky5 showed that the victim appears to be male, and a Bud ..read more

Metrolink will be offering more late night service on weekdays and doubling the amount of trains in service on weekends along its Antelope Valley line beginning Oct. 23. The planned schedule changes will see the Southern California commuter rail service add nine new trains onto the Antelope Valley line, giving riders more flexibility and much later service on weekdays. The Antelope Valley line runs between Lancaster and Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. Weekday riders can now catch a ride on Metrolink departing from Lancaster as late as 10:11 p.m., and as late as 11:39 p.m. from Union Sta ..read more

A group of serial burglars remains at large after eight businesses were smashed into throughout the Santa Clarita Valley early Wednesday morning. The burglary spree took place within a two-hour span, with security cameras capturing the destructive break-ins. One video shows a masked suspect smashing the glass front door of Robek’s Fresh Juices & Smoothies on The Old Road in Valencia. Meanwhile, three or four other suspects are targeting the neighboring businesses in the Westridge Village Shopping Center including a Starbucks, Panda Express and Sport Clips. Deputies believe the burglars are ..read more

The city of Santa Clarita filed a lawsuit against a street taco vendor for operating illegally after thousands of dollars in unpaid citations. Lawyers for the city have filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction against Tacos Jacky, “an illegal sidewalk vending operation currently operating within the public right-of-way at various locations,” officials said. Plans to file the lawsuit come after “exhausting all administrative processes” to address dozens of health and safety violations, officials said. The injunction would force the sidewalk vendor to temporarily cease operations until health and s ..read more