BRIEFLY REARRAIGNMENT SET IN MURDER CASE.

VENTURA - A Russian immigrant was rearrested on murder charges after the original charges were dismissed Tuesday because it was determined he was mentally incompetent during his preliminary hearing.

Mikhail Khaimchayev, 31, who remains in custody without bail, is scheduled to be rearraigned Thursday on charges that he gunned down 36-year-old Sheldon Snyder at the Postal Innovations software firm in Camarillo in January 1999.

Snyder, a Simi Valley resident who co-owned the firm, had hired Khaimchayev in 1998, but later fired him due to poor computer and English- speaking skills.

Khaimchayev recently spent time in Patton State Hospital, where doctors declared him competent to stand trial.

But Deputy Public Defender Howard Asher said that status could change again, adding that he has not ruled out a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.

- Daily News

Motorcycle rider airlifted from 101

AGOURA HILLS - Traffic was backed up for an hour when a helicopter landed on the Ventura Freeway on Monday night to transport a motorcyclist to the hospital after he rear-ended a sport-utility vehicle, authorities said.

Basey Jackson Shane, 35, of Sherman Oaks remained in serious condition Tuesday at UCLA Medical Center where he was being treated for leg fractures and evaluated for injuries, said hospital spokesman Dan Page.

Authorities said Shane was heading eastbound just west of Liberty Canyon Road at 7:25 p.m. when the cycle rear-ended a blue 1998 Ford Explorer. He was arrested at the hospital Monday night on suspicion of drunken driving, said California Highway Patrol Officer Lydia Martinez Prous.

The SUV driver, M. Anna Tyminski, 39, of Moorpark was not injured.

- Daily News

Owners, workers deny elder abuse

VENTURA - The former owner of four Thousand Oaks elder care facilities and two of her employees pleaded not guilty Tuesday to felony counts of neglect for failing to seek medical help for an 86-year-old woman who later died.

Grazyna Baran, 29, and employees Bronislawa Zachhrczuk and Stanislawa Wisla, both 51, were ordered to appear at an Oct. 24 preliminary hearing to determine if they will stand trial on felony elder abuse charges, authorities said.

Baran and Wisla are also charged with a special allegation of inflicting great bodily injury on an elder over 70 - in this case, Dorothy Malven, who died in one of the facilities.

Baran and Wisla face nine years in prison if convicted of the charges and special allegations, while Zachhrczuk faces four years.

Judge Art Gutierrez released the three woman, all natives of Poland, on personal recognizance.

- Daily News