BRIEFLY.

Jewish chapel vandalism probed

SYLMAR -- Vandalism to a Jewish chapel in a Sylmar cemetery is being investigated as a hate crime, a sheriff's sergeant said Saturday.

Vandals knocked over pews, sprayed fire extinguishers, smashed a menorah, and pulled several caskets from a storage area and damaged them in the Sholom Memorial Park chapel at Glen Haven Memorial Park, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Don Bee said. A casket with a body in it was left alone, he said.

The vandals scrawled gang-style graffiti on the sidewalk and curb outside the cemetery's Christian area, where they left empty beer bottles and empty fire extinguishers, he said.

The vandalism was discovered about 9 a.m. Saturday by a a groundskeeper in the cemetery on Lopez Canyon Road.

-- City News Service

Camarillo crash kills five men

CAMARILLO -- Five young men from Oxnard and Bakersfield died early Saturday when their car veered off a curve and flipped onto its side, smashing its roof into a tree, authorities said.

Killed were driver Miguel Jimenez, 25, of Oxnard and passengers Jeffrey Elkins, 21, of Bakersfield; Francisco Gonzalez, 21, of Oxnard; Omar Mendoza, age unknown, of Bakersfield; and Arturo Salazar, 23, of Oxnard.

Jimenez's 2006 Dodge Charger was traveling south on Lewis Road near Pleasant Valley Road about 4 a.m. when it failed to negotiate a curve and plunged down a 5-foot embankment, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The Charger hit a tree, flipped onto its side and its roof was smashed when it hit another tree, California Highway Patrol officials said.

Ventura County Fire Department paramedics pronounced all five dead at the scene.

-- Daily News

Teen fatally shot at swap meet 

NORTH HOLLYWOOD -- A teenager was fatally shot Saturday at a swap meet by a person with whom he had exchanged words, police said.

The victim, described as a 17- to 19-year-old Hispanic male, was shot twice in the chest about 10:30 a.m. at the meet in the 12000 block of Sherman Way, police said. The victim's name was not immediately released.

The assailant, described only as a black male armed with a handgun, fled the scene.

Police asked anyone with information to call North Hollywood Division homicide detectives at [phone] or the station front desk at [phone].

-- Daily News

Electrical fire damages home

CHATSWORTH - An overloaded electrical outlet sparked a fire that caused $75,000 damage to a house in the 22000 block of Gledhill Street, authorities said Saturday. The fire started about 10:30 p.m. Friday in the first-floor office of the two-story house, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey.

Firefighters put out the blaze within 17 minutes, but not before the fire caused $50,000 in damage to the building and $25,000 in damage to its contents, Humphrey said. There were no injuries, he said.

-- City News Service

Teenager fatally shot in Lancaster

LANCASTER -- A teenage boy was fatally shot in Lancaster, a sheriff's deputy said Saturday.

The shooting in the 700 block of Holguin Street occurred just after 10 p.m. Friday, and the boy was declared dead at a hospital, Deputy Dana Camarillo said.

No other information was available early Saturday.

-- City News Service

Police seek man in fatal shooting

HOLLYWOOD - Police are seeking the public's help in locating a man wanted for questioning in a fatal shooting Friday evening.

Police said 22-year-old Hector Villasenor of Los Angeles was found shot about 7:15 p.m. in the 5600 block of Lexington Avenue. Paramedics pronounced Villasenor dead at the scene, officials said.

Police said they are seeking to question 22-year-old Pedro Solis, who is 5-foot-8 and weighs about 150 pounds, in connection with the incident.

Anyone with information is asked to call the LAPD Hollywood Division at [phone] or [phone].

-- Daily News