BRIEFLY MURDER SUSPECT MAY BE IN CANADA.

Authorities on Monday sought to confirm reports that fugitive Jesse James Hollywood was in British Columbia.

Hollywood, 24, is wanted for allegedly ordering the kidnapping and killing of a 15-year-old West Hills boy in 2000 over a drug debt incurred by the victim's older half-brother.

Hollywood has been on the lam since he was charged with murder and kidnapping more than three years ago.

Authorities say Hollywood - a reputed drug dealer - was behind the plot to kidnap Nicholas Markowitz and take him to Santa Barbara County, where the boy was shot and buried near a remote camping area.

The slaying, according to authorities, apparently was in retaliation for the failure of the victim's half-brother to pay a $1,200 drug debt.

The case has been featured on Fox's ``America's Most Wanted,'' which has tracked numerous clues on Hollywood's whereabouts.

``We're not sure of the validity of the sighting last week of Hollywood in Vancouver,'' said ``AMW'' spokesman Avery Mann.

A $50,000 reward has been offered in Santa Barbara County for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Hollywood.

Nicolas' parents - Jeffrey and Susan Markowitz - sued Hollywood and others over their son's death. Last year, a Santa Barbara County judge ordered Hollywood and two co-defendants to pay $11.2 million to the parents of the victim.

- City News Service

Man gets 6 years over sex charges

VAN NUYS - A Sherman Oaks man who had worked in the entertainment industry was sentenced Monday to six years in state prison for three sex-related charges involving children.

Jason Michael Handy, 30, pleaded no contest Nov. 4 to one felony count each of a lewd act with a child and sending matter harmful to a minor over the Internet, along with a misdemeanor count of sexual exploitation of a child.

The charges involve three girls, ages 6 to 13, said Deputy District Attorney Andrea Thompson.

Handy met two of the girls through his work behind the scenes as an assistant in the entertainment industry, according to the prosecutor. Handy is expected to serve an additional 27-month federal prison term for possession of child pornography, Thompson said.

Handy also has a pending case in Michigan involving a girl under the age of 16, according to the prosecutor.

- City News Service

Druggists go on strike at hospitals

Dozens of Los Angeles County pharmacists did not report to work Monday at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar and other public hospitals and clinics throughout the county, delaying the distribution of medications.

As a result, a judge on Monday issued a temporary restraining order against the work action by the Guild for Professional Pharmacists to halt an expected repeat of the actions today.

``In the outpatient pharmacy services, discharge prescriptions will be given priority over other services,'' Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen wrote in a memo to the Board of Supervisors on Monday. ``New prescription orders will be sent out to Rite-Aid and refill prescription orders will not be done.''

- Daily News

Officers identify victim of drive-by

PANORAMA CITY - Police on Monday identified a man who was gunned down Nov. 23 as Yaniv Bahshian, 23, of Van Nuys.

Bahshian was killed in a drive-by in the 8800 block of Tobias Avenue. Police were looking for two or three Latino men who got out of a gray or green Chevrolet Tahoe and confronted the victim. The assailants shot the victim multiple times in the upper torso and then fled.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Devonshire Division homicide unit at [phone]. On weekends and during off-hours, call the 24-hour toll-free number at the Detective Information Desk, at [phone] (LAWFULL).

- Daily News

Help needed to ID kidnap suspects

SIMI VALLEY - Authorities sought the public's help Monday in locating two men in connection with an attempted kidnapping last week.

The incident occurred Wednesday morning near the intersection of Los Angeles and Socrates avenues.

A 19-year-old woman told police she was walking on the sidewalk when a light gray van with two men inside pulled up next to her. One of the men tried to pull her into the van, officials said. But the woman fought back and was able to escape.

The men are described as Hispanic, between 20 and 30 years old. Anyone with information is being asked to call Simi Valley police, [phone].

- Daily News

Search resumes for missing hiker

The search resumed Monday for a 64-year-old Chatsworth man who went for a hike on Mount Pios last Wednesday and never returned.

Robert Komenda, whose white Mercedes-Benz was left at the head of the McGill Trail, was last seen by family members before leaving for a day hike on the flanks of the 8,831-foot mountain, Kern County sheriff's deputies said.

Temperatures at elevations higher than about 4,000 in the area were in the high teens overnight, with several inches of snow on the ground, said Kern County sheriff's Sgt. Chevy Garza.

Family members are holding out hope that Komenda will be found alive, noting that he was in good health and has been hiking in the same area twice a week for 20 years and knows the area well.

- City News Service