A Los Angeles Unified School District elementary school teacher was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of lewd acts and sexual abuse involving as many as 19 children.

Robert Pimental, 57, a teacher at George de la Torre Elementary in Wilmington, was taken into custody by the Los Angeles Police Department's juvenile division sex crimes unit.

Prosecutors filed 15 charges against Pimental on Wednesday involving a dozen victims. They believe he victimized another seven children as well as one adult.

Pimental is accused of "committing lewd acts and continual sexual abuse [fondling] of numerous students," said LAPD Capt. Fabian Lizzaraga.The accusations date back March 2012.

The teacher was being held on $12-million bail Wednesday.

Last March, the LAUSD replaced the principal of George de la Torre Elementary shortly after opening an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct by what officials at the time would describe only as a "male teacher."

This marks one of the most serious cases of alleged sexual abuse at an LAUSD campus since the high-profile Miramonte Elementary School case last year.

Former Miramonte teacher Mark Berndt, 61, faces 23 counts of lewd conduct and is being held in lieu of $23-million bail. He has pleaded not guilty. He has been accused of spoon-feeding his semen to blindfolded children as part of what he allegedly called a tasting game. He’s also accused of putting cockroaches on children's faces and feeding them semen-tainted cookies at the school, which is in Florence-Firestone.

So far, 126 students and 63 parents have filed claims for damages against L.A. Unified. There are also six lawsuits on behalf of 37 students and one involving 11 parents, according to attorneys and district officials.

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-- Richard Winton

Photo: The Wilmington school. Credit: L.A. Times

A 69-year-old man has died from severe burns that he received when a possible arson fire tore through a San Pedro motel, police said Wednesday evening.

The blaze raced through the two-story building early Tuesday, forcing one woman to jump from the second story. She received an extremity fracture, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

As flames and smoke engulfed the motel in the 1000 block of Palos Verdes Street, other occupants were ready to jump. But they were rescued by firefighters who had hoisted ladders.

The name of the man who died was not released because relatives had not been notified, the LAPD said.

The cause was being investigated by the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division  and the Los Angeles Fire Department's Arson Section.

Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Louis Zorilla or Det. Maria Perez at (213) 486-6890. Anonymous tips can be left at (800) 222-8477.

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— Robert J. Lopez

twitter.com/LAJourno

Photo: Firefighters treat injured vicitms at motel fire. Credit: KTLA-TV Channel 5.

A 15-year-old student was arrested Wednesday at Baldwin Park High School  for allegedly carrying a magazine with .40-caliber bullets.

The magazine had 10 rounds and was found after school officials received an anonymous tip, said school police Capt. Jill Poe.

She said officers were given permission to search the boy's home, where they found a .40-caliber handgun.

An investigation is ongoing. No other details were immediately available.

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twitter.com/LAJourno

A San Pedro mother has been charged with going to a fight between her 12-year-old daughter and another schoolmate and beating the girl. The incident was captured on a cellphone video.

Amber Lee Gutierrez, 33, is facing a charge of felony assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury after she was arrested by Los Angeles police in connection with the Jan. 14 fight in a West Gaffey Street alley.

Gutierrez's daughter and another child had allegedly agreed to fight in the alley near their school. But Gutierrez, according to prosecutors, accompanied her child to the alley and then became involved in the conflict. The incident was recorded by an onlooker, according to prosecutors

The two girls from Dana Middle School had agreed to fight but then the other girl turned up with the mother and another woman. In the video the mother can be seen delivering blows to the child. The incident left the child with a possible broken arm. During the conflict the adults yelled expletives and allegedly called the child who is African American a racial slur.

Gutierrez faces a possible maximum state prison term of seven years. Prosecutors say at this point no juvenile case has been presented at this time, but the LAPD is continuing to investigate.

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-- Richard Winton

A candidate for the Los Angeles Board of Education has officially dropped out of the race, although her name will remain on the ballot.

Iris Zuniga, a senior administrator for a nonprofit that runs schools and provides services to others, announced Wednesday that she had suspended her campaign to represent District 6, which stretches across the east San Fernando Valley.

“I have decided that now is not the right time for me to pursue elected office,” Zuniga posted on Facebook. “I remain more committed than ever to improving our public schools and giving parents more choices for educating their children. Our families deserve nothing less.”

Zuniga is chief operating officer for Youth Policy Institute, a local nonprofit that manages charter schools, an academy at a district middle school, and after-school programs and services for students and their families. Charters are free, public schools that are not directly controlled by the district that authorizes them.

Her campaign was expected to draw strong support from charter supporters, a segment with growing clout. She also had other political connections and could contend for union endorsements. Her supporters included outgoing school board member Nury Martinez, whom she had hoped to succeed.

But Zuniga failed to land key union endorsements. She wasn't endorsed by the teachers union, which supported other candidates in the race, most likely because of her ties to charter schools. And she fell short with Local 99 of Service Employees International, which represents most non-teaching, union employees at schools. Local 99 endorsed another candidate, Antonio Sanchez, as did the L.A. County Federation of Labor.

L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa praised Zuniga in a statement as one of the city’s “true education reform leaders.”

Zuniga could not be reached for comment.

The two other candidates in the March 5 primary are Monica Ratliff and Maria Cano.

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-- Howard Blume

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta's announcement that the Pentagon was ending the ban on women serving in combat met with praise in some quarters.

Retired Navy Rear Adm. Veronica “Ronnie” Froman said she was overjoyed and pleasantly surprised that the change happened more quickly than she expected. “This has been what we’ve been working for for a long time,” she said. “Women were the last minority in the Navy.”

Froman, the first woman to command Navy Region Southwest in San Diego, said the change will allow women already serving in combat billets to be recognized for their service. Like some other military personnel, she said she expects some resistance or grumbling in the ranks to allowing women into jobs formally off-limits.

“There is always resistance to change, that’s part of the way things are,” said Froman, who lives in Del Mar. “But they’ll get over it.”

Susan Farrell, who served on a Department of Defense advisory committee that recommended that more jobs be opened to women, lauded the decision as representing “a chance for women to sink or swim on their own merits. That’s all women have ever asked for: a chance to be as patriotic, as giving of themselves, as the men are.”

Farrell, whose father was a career Naval aviator and whose mother served in the Navy during World War II, said the decision “is a reflection of all the good work that women in the military have accomplished when they’ve been given the opportunity.”

Farrell, a former San Diego television reporter, served on the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine), a Marine veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, said Panetta seems more interested in politics than combat effectiveness.

“What needs to be explained is how this decision, when all is said and done, increases combat effectiveness rather than being a move done for political purposes — which is what this looks like,” Hunter said. “The idea that every combat mission and future conflict will mirror Iraq and Afghanistan is extremely naïve and shortsighted.”  

Pentagon officials said Wednesday that Panetta gave the armed services until 2016 to ask for special waivers if they believe any positions should remain closed to women.

The decision specifically overturns a 1994 rule that barred women from serving with smaller ground combat units.

Panetta’s decision was seen as a recognition of women’s contributions to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Because of the demand for troops, women often found themselves on the front lines serving as drivers, medics, mechanics and in other roles when commanders attached their units to combat battalions. They didn’t receive combat decorations or other special recognition, however.

The contribution of women to the missions in Iraq and Afghanistan was recognized in a statement released by the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Camp Pendleton following Panetta's decision:

"The record of our Marines, both men and women, during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan demonstrates the ability of our best and brightest to rise to any challenge."

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-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: (left to right) Marine Sgt. Sheena Adams, Lance Cpl. Kristi Baker, and Navy corpsman Shannon Crowley in Afghanistan in 2010. The three deployed as part of a Female Engagement Team that allows the U.S. to gain access to places where men cannot.

Credit: Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

A Santa Clarita man pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of threatening to kill a Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority park ranger over a parking citation, authorities said Wednesday.

Derrick Alfoldy, 41, was accused of leaving a message on the ranger's office answering machine threatening that “someone is going to die.” He pleaded to one count of making a criminal threat. A second count was dropped.

Alfoldy was sentenced to 36 months probation and 20 days of community service. He was ordered to give up the firearms he owns, attend more than two dozen anger management sessions and stay at least 100 yards from Towsley Canyon Park and the ranger that he threatened.

A Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority spokesman said the case was more serious than simply being disrespectful to law enforcement.

"This incident is not to be taken lightly and we are pleased that Mr. Alfoldy is getting the help that he needs," said authority spokesman Eric Rose. "The court recognized that it's unconscionable to threaten to kill a peace officer."

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A jury of eight women and four men has been selected to determine the fate of half a dozen former Bell City Council members accused of plundering the small city’s treasury by drawing enormous salaries for their part-time work and collecting pay for serving on boards that rarely, if ever, met.

The trial for Luis Artiga, Victor Bello, George Cole, Oscar Hernandez, Teresa Jacobo and George Mirabal will open Thursday morning. All six face potential prison terms if convicted.

The municipal corruption case exploded more than two years ago when the council members and ranking city administrators were accused of raiding the town’s money by paying themselves huge salaries, lending out municipal funds and imposing illegal taxes on residents.

FULL COVERAGE: Bell corruption trial

The former administrators -– onetime chief executive Robert Rizzo and assistant city manager Angela Spaccia –- are expected to be tried later this year, though Rizzo’s attorney had already said that he will ask for the trial to be moved out of the Los Angeles Times' circulation area because of the publicity that the case has drawn.

In a two-day push, attorneys plowed through about 150 juror questionnaires before settling on the panel, which includes six alternates.

In the early going, some people were dismissed on the weight of the questionnaires alone. One would-be juror said the ex-city officials had “raped constituents”; another said she was “riveted and repulsed by the greed.”

Other jury candidates had only a vague recollection of the case, which left the L.A. County city on the edge of insolvency and made the town the butt of jokes about municipal mismanagement.

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Photo: Some of the accused former council members in court last year. Credit: Los Angeles Times.

A dog who lives with his owners in Burbank is featured in a commercial that may run during the Super Bowl as part of an advertising competition sponsored by Doritos.

Yoda, a Chihuahua mix, stars in "Road Chip," one of the five finalists in the ad contest, said Heather Kasprzak, one of the filmmakers who made the commercial.

Two finalists will air -– one selected by voters and one picked by the Doritos brand team.

The winners will air during football's big event on Feb. 3.

People can view the video and vote for "Road Chip" at www.doritosroadchip.com.

This is the seventh year consumers have created Super Bowl ads for Doritos.

This year, the finalist who scores the highest on the USA TODAY Ad Meter ratings will be given the opportunity to work with director Michael Bay on the next "Transformers" movie with a shot at a $1-million bonus, according to Doritos officials.

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-- Mark Kellam, Times Community News