June 19, 2014 The Malibu Times A3

ment. He left the gas station, driv-ing toward Kanan Dume Road on his way to work. A short while later he saw the car with the man and the young girl pulled over on the side of the road. Evans called the police again and updated them on the assailant’s location. Until the police arrived and tracked down the car, Evans followed the kidnapper up and down Kanan and PCH, making sure the young girl was safe until police arrived.

DUI checkpoint rescheduled to June 20

A DUI and driver’s license checkpoint scheduled last Friday in Malibu was cancelled at the last minute because of staffing issues with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

“We had personnel problems and we just couldn’t pull it off,” said Deputy Raines of the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station.

The checkpoint has been rescheduled to Friday, June 20, from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. at an undisclosed location.

Man wanted for harassing teens in Malibu Civic Center

The search for a suspect is on in a case where deputies were called to the Malibu Civic Center on Friday night after two girls complained of a man chasing them.

The LA County Sher i f f ’s Department responded to a call at 7:30 p.m. in the 3500 block of Cross Creek Road. Two juvenile females told officials that as they were walking, a man jumped out of his vehicle and started chasing the juveniles until they ran into the Urban Outfitters store.

Upon arrival, deputies investi-gated the area for the suspect and his vehicle but were unable to locate anything and a report was filed.

The suspect is described as a hispanic male between the ages of 30-40, standing around 5’7”, with a mole on the right side of his face. The suspect was wearing jeans, a dark jacket and a hat. His vehicle is described as a black, dirty pickup truck.

As of Monday, authorities at the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station said they had no leads in the case. Anyone with more information on the case is asked to contact the Malibu/Lost Hills Station at 818.878.1808.

Santa Monica Pier seeks docents

The Santa Monica Pier is seeking volunteer docents to guide visitors through the history of the century-old pier. Docents will operate out of the new Pier Shop and take visitors on walking historical tours as well. No experience or prior knowledge is necessary to apply, as docents will participate in a thorough training

session in late June to prepare for the beginning of the docent program in July.

Docents will be required to work on their feet and to walk the length of the Pier two to three times per day. The shifts will be late morning/early afternoons on Saturdays and Sundays and docents are expected to volunteer one to two days per month.

For more information or to sign up to volunteer, call 310.458.4939 or email jim@santamonicapier.com.

Residents help rescue deer from Malibu beach

A group of Malibu residents banded together earlier this month to help save a deer that wandered onto a local beach.

Authorities were called near Malibu Road after residents report-ed seeing a deer on the beach around 7 a.m. on Sunday, June 1.

Residents helped local Sheriff deputies and Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control (LACACC) keep the area clear while a plan was devised to sedate the deer and keep the public safe.

Around 9:30 a.m., the deer became startled by a passing jog-ger and ran into the ocean. Local residents, who had been watch-ing the events, swam out to the deer, harnessed and helped bring it to shore before the tired animal became exhausted and couldn’t swim anymore.

As the residents and deer came to shore, local lifeguards arrived and

News Briefs

Obituary

Former Malibu resident and owner of Malibu Toys ‘n Sports Mary Nicholas Freeland passed away on June 11 at the age of 97. She lived in Springville, Calif., with her oldest son, Daniel Freeland.

Mary was born in New Jersey on Feb. 15, 1917, to Mr. and Mrs. Henry and Hughena Nicholas. She spent most of her childhood however in Ashland, Ky. When she was a young adult, she moved to Southern California and was a real-life “Rosie the Riveter” dur-ing World War II, building air-planes for the war effort. It was there that she met and married her husband, John Rice Freeland. After the war, John began working as a pilot for the Federal Aviation Administration and eventually moved his family to the Alaska Territory, during its push for state-hood.

After living in Alaska, the family moved back to Southern California, settling back in the Santa Monica area, where Mary’s sons attended Venice High School.

Mary’s entrepreneurial spirit led her and her husband to the beach-es of Malibu where they created an iconic store, right on Pacific Coast Highway. Malibu Toys ‘n Sports was born in the early ‘60s dur-ing the burgeoning time of surf-ing, skateboarding and The Beach Boys.

Long after the passing of John in 1964, their sons, along with their wives, and later, their grandchildren, could be found

helping customers, wrapping gifts and dusting shelves. As Malibu became a playground for celebri-ties, Mary not only served many celebrities in her toy store, but she also befriended them. Ronald Reagan, Johnny Carson, Barbra Streisand and Sonny and Cher called on Mary for everything from birthday gifts to beach toys. Mary closed the store in the late ’80s and moved to Springville to be near family.

An avid animal lover, Mary took care of several animals at her home in Springville making sure no animal in the area ever went hungry.

“Mary was a dignified, inde-pendent, loving and caring woman who will be missed by many,” a loved one said.

Her husband John, sisters Ruth and Phyllis, and her son, David, preceded her in death. She is survived by her oldest son, Daniel Freeland, seven grandchil-dren, 13 great-grandchildren and family and friends.

Mary Nicholas Freeland

brought the animal to the California Wildlife Center. Shortly after, the deer was released back into Malibu Creek State Park.

District exceeding state goals

The Santa Monica-Mal ibu Unified School District is exceeding most of California’s goals for stu-dents learning English as a second language but according to state standards, some students are not advancing quickly enough.

Terry Deloria, assistant super-intendent of educational services, briefed the Board of Education on the status of the district’s English language learners at last Thursday’s meeting.

There were fewer than 1,000 English learners in the district this school year, down from nearly 1,900

in 1997. Nearly 9 percent of stu-dents fall into the category, down from 17 percent in 1997. The per-centage has held steady for the past few years.

Most of these students are born in the United States, followed by Mexico, then Russia, Spain and Egypt.

Deloria tracks how many years each English learner has been enrolled in a U.S. school. Last year, 168 students that enrolled in the district were brand new to the United States.

Every year, English learners are given state-mandated tests to track their progress. The state wants to see at least half the students grow-ing one level each year. About 75 percent are advancing at that pace in the district.

In another category, which mea-sures how English learners perform

in the statewide end-of-year English and math tests, the district consis-tently hit state goals until recently. For the past four years they’ve missed the mark on the English por-tions of the tests. “Most districts” are struggling in this category, Deloria said.

There is a relatively new cate-gory that essentially measures how many students are stuck. These are students who have been enrolled in a U.S. school for more than six years and are scoring “proficient” or lower on their English language tests for two or more years in a row. About 15 percent of the district’s English learners are stuck.

The district is aiming to drop that to 12 percent by the 2016-17 school year.

A version of this story originally appeared in the Santa Monica Daily Press.

SirensThe following crimes were reported in Malibu between June 6 and June 12:

6/6n Tourist Troubles:Grand theft was reported on Serra Road after a backpack belonging to German tour-ists was stolen out of the trunk of a rental car. The backpack contained a laptop, German currency totaling over $3,800, U.S. currency and a German driver’s license.

6/8n Broken Bad:A driver’s side window was smashed near Rainford Place and the center console of the car was broken in to. Around $100 cash was stolen from the console. A pipe surrounded by glass was found on the ground near the scene of the crime.

6/12n Grab and GoA vehicle was burglarized in the afternoon near La Piedra Beach. A window was broken and a purse was stolen, including a wallet, watch and money.

P M S 1 4 3 , P M S 4 1 5

P M S 1 4 3 , P M S 4 1 5B L A C K

- O U T D O O R L I V I N G -- O U T D O O R L I V I N G -

- O U T D O O R L I V I N G -

S A N T A M O N I C A • I R V I N E • L O S A N G E L E S

W W W • V I C T O R Y F U R N I T U R E • C O M

- O U T D O O R L I V I N G - 2512 Santa Monica Blvd I 310.264.1046

81 Technology Dr W I 949.788.0386

Santa Monica

irvine

v i c t o r Y F U r n i t U r e . c o M

VICTORY FURNITURE

SAVE AN EXTRA 10%

OFFWITH THIS

AD!muST bE pRESENTED AT TImE of puRcHASE. mAy NoT bE combINED WITH oTHER coupoNS oR DIScouNTS.

EST. 1945

Summer Classics outdoor furnitureon sale June 15th to 30th

Southern Ca l i forn ia’s f inestse lect ion of outdoor fu rn i tu re

RuSTIc collEcTIoN

HARDWARE | NURSERY | LUMBER | MASONRY | PLUMBING | ELECTRICAL

HoursM-F 7:00AM - 6:00pmSat 8:00AM - 6:00pmSun 10:00am - 5:00pm

3730 CroSS Creek rd, MAlibu, CA 90265310-456-2772

Finally! A real lumberyard….

Sale effective dates 6/18/14 through 7/6/14.

1-1⁄2 cu. ft. Topper 1.5 cu. ft. Kel-

logg’s Topper is a composted blend of humus, com-posted fir bark and selected wood fibers. As a seed cover it increases the moisture and temperature of the seed bed which insures faster germi-nation. 96200656

$549

Gromulch1.5 cu. ft. Kellogg’s Gromulch is a premi-um blend of humus, composted fir bark and selected wood fibers which adds organic matter to your soil while improv-ing soil texture, aeration and drainage. 96200616

$549

4 Pk. “AAA” batteriesAlkaline Batteries Reliable per-formance. Up to 10 times more service. 80009909

$449

4 Pk. “AA” batteriesModel #E91BP-4. 80001132

$449

4 Pk. “9 Volt” battery Alkaline. Model 522BP-4. 80009021

$1199

8-Pack “d” Model E95BP-8H. 80008806

$1199

12V Smart Select drillThe Black & Decker SS12C 12-Volt Cordless Drill/Driver incorporates the SmartSelect Clutch system. Gear Indicator has 2 Speeds-indicates high or low setting. It has a high torque motor that delivers 130-Inch-pounds of force. Model #SS12C. 91114886

$3999

Flexogen 5/8” 25’ HoseMfg #10-58025. 41111202

Flexogen 5/8” 50’ Hose Mfg #10-58050. 41111203 ..$26.99

$1899

1-2-3 Stain blocking Primer Spray Can

All-purpose, all-surface primer-sealer spray. It effectively hides dark colors and blocks stains from water, smoke, nicotine, crayon, tannin, graffiti, and other common stains. Model Z2008. 71902008

$499

1-2-3 Stain blocking Primer

Stain Blocking Primer/Sealer, Size 1 gal., Color White, Coverage 350 to 450 sq. ft./gal., Dry Time 1 hr. Model Z2001. 71902001

$2199

Suspect found guilty in Malibu kidnapping case

A man accused of trying to kid-nap a 17-year-old girl in Malibu has been found guilty in the case.

A jury ruled Alexis Fantauzzi, 29, guilty on five counts stemming from the 2012 incident: felony kidnap-ping, felony kidnapping for carjack-ing, felony vandalism, misdemeanor child molesting and misdemeanor escape from arrest. He is due to be sentenced in the case on July 16 and faces life in prison.

The trial wrapped up last month. Sources close to the victim said she agreed to testify against Fantauzzi. He now faces life in prison, accord-ing to the LA District Attorney’s Office.

Fantauzzi reportedly forced his way into the victim’s car as she wait-ed at a stoplight at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Webb Way during the early hours of June 12, 2012.

He then drove around for several hours before stopping to get gas. Two bystanders are credited with helping save the girl.

After seeing the victim was vis-ibly upset, Michael Miller confronted Fantauzzi at the gas station and told him to release the girl. Fantauzzi refused and drove away, prompting Miller to call 911.

Joseph Evans had been filling up on gas during the confrontation and he felt that the situation would be resolved with police involve-

A3 News 6-19-14.indd 3 6/17/14 7:42 PM