BRIEFLY MOUNTAIN LION REPORTED IN YARD.

A mountain lion was spotted in a Chatsworth backyard Saturday afternoon, but the cat slunk away without incident, police said.

Police responded to the feline call in the 10800 block of Andora Avenue, but when they arrived the cougar was gone.

Los Angeles police Sgt. R. Burrow said residents who find mountain lions in their back yard should lock themselves inside and call 911.

- Daily News

Man surrenders after standoff

LAKE LOS ANGELES - A man wanted on a murder warrant in Washington state surrendered to sheriff's deputies early Saturday after a four-hour standoff at a Lake Los Angeles home, deputies said.

Homicide detectives and Lancaster deputies went to the home in the 38600 block of 154th Street East shortly after midnight, after Washington authorities got a tip that Daniel Dwayne Czlapinski, 47, might be there.

The detectives called in a Sheriff's Department's Special Weapons and Tactics team, which surrounded the house. Czlapinski, who was alone in the house, gave up about 4:25 a.m., deputies said.

He was being held at the Lancaster sheriff's station pending his extradition, officials said.

Quake strikes in Death Valley

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK - A 3.5-magnitude earthquake strike shortly after noon Saturday in a remote, uninhabited area along the California-Nevada border. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The quake hit at 12:12 p.m. some 32 miles east-northeast of Furnace Creek, said Doug Given, seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. The area is about 260 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

- Associated Press