Charles Lafferty, the man arrested last week in the bizarre case regarding numerous vehicles being struck by projectiles over the past 11 months in Prunedale, made another court appearance in Salinas Monday. The Monterey County District Attorney’s Office said Lafferty is now facing 79 charges. The DA’s office will file 74 counts of assault with a deadly weapon in addition to three counts of child abuse and two counts of attack and abuse on a peace officer.
CHP public information officer Jessica Madueño confirmed Lafferty, 53, was arrested Wednesday. He is being charged with possession of a silencer, throwing a substance at a vehicle with the intention of causing great bodily injury, and assault with a deadly weapon that was not a firearm. Lafferty is suspected of using a slingshot to launch marbles at drivers on Highway 101 and State Road 156, commonly striking and shattering the driver’s side window or windshields. There were 69 projectile attacks since February. His bail was set at $270,000.
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Retired Lakers basketball superstar Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter were among nine people who died in a helicopter crash Sunday morning in Calabasas outside of Los Angeles. With five NBA championship rings and a lengthy list of records, Bryant had spent his entire 20-year professional career with the Lakers. John Altobelli, a well-known college basketball coach, was also reportedly killed in the 10 a.m. crash.
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We’re now one week away from Superbowl 54 in Miami where the San Francisco 49ers take on the Kansas City Chiefs.
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Over the weekend, health officials in Orange County confirmed the first case of the deadly coronavirus, which stems to Wuhan, China. California’s Centers for Disease Control said a traveler from Wuhan has been hospitalized in isolation in Orange County.
