DOUCHE OF THE DAY: Update: 425lb. Gang Member Pleads Not Guilty to Grabbing Boy at Park

(Booking Photo)

Not guilty?! The coach freaking saw you. Dude. A 425-pound gang member accused of grabbing a boy on his way to soccer practice was in court yesterday. Victor Joseph Espinoza, 55, Santa Ana, plead not guilty to one felony count each of false imprisonment and street terrorism. He also faces sentencing enhancements for committing a crime for the benefit of a criminal street gang and a prior strike conviction for street terrorism in 2007. Espinoza is being held on $250,000 bail. He is due back in court October 18th. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison. [KTLA]

Toyota recalls 7.43M vehicles globally due to faulty power-window switch

(KABC photo)

Toyota is recalling 7.43 million vehicles around the world due to a faulty power-window switch. The recall affects more than a dozen models produced from 2005 through 2010. During production, there wasn't enough grease applied on the driver's side power-window switch. That can cause friction in the switch and sometimes smoke. Toyota said owners of affected vehicles will get a notification letter in the mail this month. Toyota dealers will fix the problem for free. 

In North America, 2.47 million vehicles are affected:

2007 to 2008 Yaris (approx. 110,300)

2007 to 2009 RAV4 (approx. 336,400)

2007 to 2009 Tundra (approx. 337,100)

2007 to 2009 Camry (approx. 938,100)

2007 to 2009 Camry Hybrid (approx. 116,800)

2008 to 2009 Scion xD (approx. 34,400)

2008 to 2009 Scion xA (approx. 77,500)

2008 to 2009 Sequoia (approx. 38,500)

2008 Highlander (approx. 135,400)

2008 Highlander Hybrid (approx. 23,200)

2009 Corolla (approx. 270,900)

2009 Matrix (approx. 53,800)

[ABC Local]

Armstrong Led "Sophisticated" Doping Ring, Panel Says

(www.livestrong.com / August 24, 2012)

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency says it will release Wednesday more than 1,000 pages of evidence detailing the involvement of cyclist Lance Armstrong in what the agency calls "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen." Armstrong, who won an unprecedented seven Tour de France titles, announced in August that he would no longer fight doping charges that the USADA brought against him earlier in the year. The famed cyclist's decision prompted the USADA to ban the 40-year-old athlete from competition and strip him of his wins dating to 1998, though there were questions of whether the organization had the authority to take such action. "The only physical evidence there is the hundreds of controls I have passed with flying colors," Armstrong said in August. "I made myself available around the clock and around the world. In-competition. Out of competition. Blood. Urine. Whatever they asked for I provided. What is the point of all this testing if, in the end, USADA will not stand by it?" [KTLA]

CA Gas Prices Drop But Drivers Still Hurting

Gas prices have started to creep down in California as disruptions in the supply – and panic among retailers – begins to fade. The average price for a gallon of self-serve regular in the state was $4.666 Wednesday, down a half-cent from Tuesday’s record high. In Los Angeles County, the average price was $4.701, down a fraction of a cent from $4.705, according to the AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report. But the very modest drops in price have not significantly eased the cost to consumers, many of whom are so loath to fill up their tanks that they’re running out of gas at far greater rates, said Marie Montgomery, spokeswoman for the Automobile Club of Southern California. Wholesale prices dropped dramatically on Monday, and the reduction is expected to ease prices for consumers in the coming days or weeks. [NBCLA]

Alex Karras Dead At 77

(Detroit Lions)

NFL great Alex Karras -- who also played Mongo in "Blazing Saddles" -- died yesterday morning after suffering kidney failure ... this according to a family spokesperson. Karras had been battling a myriad of illnesses over the past 2 years, including kidney disease, heart disease, stomach cancer and dementia.Karras was a punishing defensive superstar on the Detroit Lions from 1958 to 1970 ... before breaking out in Hollywood. Besides "Blazing Saddles," Karras also had a starring role on the '80s sitcom "Webster" He was 77. [TMZ]

Police respond to fight between Lindsay Lohan and mother

(Michael Nelson / EPA)

Actress Lindsay Lohan on Wednesday was involved in yet another public spat -- this time with her mother in what Long Island police called a "verbal argument" outside the family home. Police responded to an early-morning 911 call about a domestic dispute involving Lohan and her mother, Dina, but made no arrests and left the scene shortly after arriving, a spokeswoman for the Nassau County police said. She said the argument occurred outside Dina Lohan's house on Old Mill Road in Merrick, about 30 miles east of New York City on Long Island's south shore. No injuries were reported. Wednesday's incident marked the latest in a growing list of public spats involving the 26-year-old actress. Last month, she scuffled with a man at a New York hotel over what media reports described as her demand that photographs he had taken of her be deleted from his cellphone. [TODAY]