BRIEFLY : FIREMEN FIND HIKER WITH 2 BROKEN LEGS.

LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST - Ventura County fire officials said they rescued a hiker Tuesday from an area near Chorro Grande Creek who may have been in the wilderness for about a week with two broken legs.

Fire department spokesman Joe Luna crews found the unidentified hiker about 15 minutes up the Chorro Grande trail from Highway 33. The person was first spotted by a helicopter pilot, who landed his aircraft near the highway and then joined a search party onto the trail.

Luna said the crew treated the hiker as well as they could on the scene, then airlifted him to Ventura County Medical Center at 3:42 p.m.

Luna was unable to confirm a report that the person had been out there for a week.

- Daily News

Shop owner pleads guilty to tax fraud

SIMI VALLEY - The co-owner of three women's clothing stores in Simi Valley pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to filing false tax returns, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Tuesday.

Dong Chol Kim, 59, admitted Monday that he and his wife, Myung Sook Kim, 45, understated gross receipts and business income when filing federal tax returns in 1992 and 1993. The couple reported earnings of $2.3 million for the stores, operating under the names Kim's Fashion and The Expression, when the actual gross receipts were $2.6 million.

Dong Kim faces six years in federal prison when he is sentenced Jan. 6. Authorities said that as part of his plea agreement, Kim paid $44,508 as partial payment of the back taxes owed.

His wife is scheduled to go on trial on Nov. 30.

- Daily News