Chief Beck's wife granted three-year stay-away order
Homeless woman accused of threatening to kill her
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The wife of Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck today was granted a three-year stay-away order against a homeless woman accused of threatening to kill her.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carol Boas Goodson issued the order on behalf of Cindy Beck, who maintained in court papers filed last month that Veronica Roberts called her cell phone numerous times, claiming the police chief was following her and harassing her and that she wanted it to stop.
"There doesn't appear to be any reason why the restraining order should not be granted. In fact, it appears appropriate," Goodson said."I hope it gets better."
A temporary restraining order was issued against Roberts last month that was valid until today. The new order is good through Jan. 9, 2016.
Cindy Beck was in court today but did not testify. She was escorted to and from the courtroom by a sheriff's sergeant. She declined to comment after the hearing.
Roberts did not appear in court.
The order directs Roberts to stay at least 100 yards from Cindy Beck and her husband. Beck said she reported the calls to the chief, and that detectives concluded the caller was the 43-year-old Roberts.
Cindy Beck maintained that Roberts called her again last month, screaming and threatening to kill her at her home.
Roberts was arrested for investigation of stalking and is being held on $200,000 bail.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — A noninjury fire that appears to have been set by one or more transients to keep warm broke out today at a vacant house in Inglewood, authorities said.
The first firefighters to reach the single story house at 4020 West Century Blvd. at 12:18 a.m. reported it was "fully involved in flames," said Los Angeles County Fire Department Dispatch Supervisor Andre Gougis.
Firefighters had the flames knocked down in five minutes, he said.
One of the most dangerous things about being part of the working homeless community is that you learn how to adapt to an unhealthy situation. It’s not comfortable, or safe, but you find ways to carry on with your life. Like most people, I grew up hearing the old saying, “misery loves company.” I always thought it was meant to be negative, that miserable people liked to make other people’s lives miserable like theirs. But being a part of the homeless community was a lifesaver for me.
You can never underestimate the power of prayer. And when you specifically ask Jesus to pray for you, get ready to be blessed. Problem is you want your prayers to be answered immediately. After all, Jesus is the Son of God. God listens to Him, right? But it didn’t happen immediately for me. I wanted off the street right then and there. I was diligently looking for blessings, jumping at everything that looked promising to me, hoping it was a blessing from God. As a result, it caused me a lot of heartache.
How many times have you heard, “Ask and it shall be given …?”
For far too many of us they are just words from the Bible we recite mindlessly or that we don’t take seriously. But for the very wise, the phrase is freedom. I’ve read the Bible off and on all of my life, but I never really thought about putting the words into action, putting real, directed faith in the Word of God. I just wasn’t consistent in my beliefs; anything could derail me.
By September 2012, I had been living on the street consistently for a number of days. I called it my “vampire syndrome”—up all night, sleeping during the day and only staying in someone’s home if they invited me in.
