BRIEFLY SEVERAL LUXURY CARS VANDALIZED.

NORTHRIDGE - A number of luxury cars were vandalized along streets in Northridge and Granada Hills on Sunday morning, authorities said.

Police said vandals broke the windows of roughly 15 cars between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday, most of them high-end vehicles.

Dan Katz of Northridge, who lives along Septo Street, said he found his 2003 BMW coupe Sunday morning with the rear and driver's side windows smashed.

``One of my neighbors said there was a BMW down the street that also had been smashed, and then I found out that a Lexus and Mercedes in our neighborhood were also vandalized,'' Katz said.

``When I phoned police, they said they were getting calls every few minutes about high-end or luxury cars being vandalized in the Northridge area.''

- Daily News

Suspect in faux Viagra to plead

Arraignment is scheduled today for a 31-year-old Glendale man indicted on charges of trafficking in counterfeit Viagra.

Khoa Twan Do, who authorities said also goes by Chris Do, is accused of conspiring to import at least 40,000 tablets from China.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Owens contends Do sold at least several thousand of the pills, and that a shipment of more than 10,000 tablets was on the way to him when it was intercepted.

The pills looked like Viagra and had similar active ingredients to the anti-impotence drug, Owens said.

- City News Service

High crude costs drive gas prices

Retail gas prices climbed nearly seven cents per gallon over the past two weeks, driven largely by higher costs in crude oil, a nationwide industry survey found Sunday.

The average price Friday for a gallon of self-serve gas nationwide, including all grades and taxes, was about $1.65, according to the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 stations. That marked an increase of 6.72 cents per gallon from Jan. 9, the date of the last Lundberg Survey.

Prices rose partly because of higher crude oil costs bolstered by strong world demand and increased winter home heating, analyst Trilby Lundberg said. Crude oil prices spiked 63 cents per barrel over the past two weeks to close at $34.94 Friday, she said.

- Associated Press