ARCADIA (CNS) – Arcadia police officers were on guard today against a
man who has been carrying out hot prowl burglaries.

PASADENA (CNS) – Jurors in the trial of a big-rig driver accused of
causing a 2009 crash that killed a 12-year-old girl and her father in La Canada
Flintridge resumed deliberating today, one day after indicating they had
reached verdicts on most of the charges but were struggling to reach consensus
on others.

During his days at San Marino High School, he was known
simply as ‘Brandon,’ or at most ‘defensive specialist,’ when he frequently took
to the volleyball court.

Eleven years later, the 2000 grad goes by Captain Brandon
Iriye, Deputy Regimental Judge Advocate, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment,
currently deployed to Contingency Operating Station Kalsu, Babil Province,
Iraq, in support of Operation New Dawn 2010-11.

Impressive.

The long journey which brings Brandon back to the pages of
his local community newspaper began through UC Irvine, where he earned a
Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminology and Economics; to Whittier Law School in
Costa Mesa, where he added a JD to his credentials and then into the JAG Corps.

The road has taken some strange turns, particularly when
Iriye tried to get into West Point.

“During the application process, I realized I was red/green
color blind and did not medically qualify for the academy,” Iriye said. “I
thought my military career was over until I began interviewing with the various
services’ JAG Corps and found that color blindness did not prevent acceptance.
Between the Navy, Marine, and Army JAG Corps, I chose the Army because I knew if
I wanted to hit the legal ground running, the Army and it’s global operations
would provide the best opportunities. In my 4-plus years, I have already had
the pleasure of assisting individual soldiers with legal issues, prosecuting
more than felony courts-martial from rape to manslaughter, and authorizing
kinetic strikes against insurgents with munitions from a 30mm cannon to 500 lb.
bombs. It has been a legal experience unlike any other.”

He has been recognized in kind. Iriye has received the
Bronze Star for service during Operation New Dawn, the Army Commendation Medal
for 100% conviction rate while serving as the 3d ACR Trial Counsel – prosecutor
– at Fort Hood, Texas and the Army Achievement Medal for successfully
convicting several insurgents in the provincial Iraqi Court for planting an
explosively formed penetrator against U.S. forces, the first time in the
history of Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation New Dawn such a prosecution has
taken place at the provincial level.

How possibly did he go from the grass volleyball courts at
Lacy Park to the courts of law in the most dangerous corners of the world?

“I have always been fond of what the services represented,”
Iriye told The Tribune. “Duty, honor, and selfless sacrifice were a very
foreign concept to my civilian life growing up in San Marino. I wanted to
experience the history and pride of serving with an Army at war. Maybe I
watched too many movies as a kid but I always though the officer’s uniform is
the modern day knight’s armor.”

Former volleyball coach – and founder of the program – Scott
Cameron remembers Brandon well.

“Brandon was like the glue of that team,” Cameron said of
the remarkable 2000 Titans, who made it all the way to the CIF finals before
losing an epic, five-game match in packed Dingus Memorial Fieldhouse to
big-gunned Dos Pueblos. “Brandon was always there, he always got the team
together to play. The other kids really enjoyed playing with him. A lot of
times, the stars are lone wolves and you need some guys who are the glue. Brandon
was one of those guys. He was always positive and made sure everyone was on the
same page. He also liked to laugh and have a lot of fun. It was always a good
time when Brandon was around.”

The feeling is apparently mutual.

“My fondest memory of San Marino will always be of playing
volleyball and my teammates from 6th-12th grade,” Iriye said. “In fact, I still
play in Iraq to this day, although I have significantly gotten worse. The class
of 2000 had such amazing female and male volleyball players, it was always hard
to keep up with them. We played practically year round at Lacy Park, SMHS,
Huntington, UCLA – really anywhere that had a court and preferably some lights.
Those really were the best days of San Marino.”

LOS ANGELES (CNS) – The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors today
offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of whoever
fatally shot a man who may have had as much as $500,000 and several pounds of
marijuana at the time.