The Ponsi Scheme: One Good Theft Deserves Another

What me steal?

As The Orange County Register sinks deeper in economic distress I have to wonder what is taking so long for this rotten scow to go under.

Today a Register hackling named Lou Ponsi – who used to report Pop Warner football game scores – wrote a story about the Fullerton cop iPad theft story that FFFF broke the other day. This creep actually availed himself of documents that we posted to make it look like he had done some real reporting.

The funniest part is how Ponsi reports:

“She had seen the iPad in the bin and placed her bag of check in over it and walked away with it,” the report stated.

A bag of “check in?” What the Hell is that?!

Of course FFFF got no attribution from the Ponster since “real” reporters apparently believe they can rip off a blog and peddle what they harvest therein as their own work. That’s pretty shameful, especially when most of The Register city hall press release regurgitators like Ponsi wouldn’t know a real news story if it bit them in the ass.

We had a lot of traffic yesterday from The Register and clearly Ponsi visited our website and then was off and running – pretending that our work was his. And that puts him right at the bottom of the barrel he swims around in.

And what does Lou do during a slow news day? What to do? – rip off somebody else’s work or do public service announcements? And how does he determine what to cover? That’s easy, wait for someone else to do the story first!

56 Replies to “The Ponsi Scheme: One Good Theft Deserves Another”

  1. Haha. Check out Sargent Goodbar’s response: “we promptly put her on (paid) leave.”

    That’s a $130,000 answer right there.

  2. I noticed the comment from FPD and couldn’t help but wonder when their swift reaction kicked in. I have a sneaking suspicion it was right after your story posted. No doubt the public affairs officer of FPD checks your site several times a day. Maybe they owe you a thanks as well for turning them on to their accused thief/felon.

  3. I’d bet my last dollar John Q. Public would have never known about Fullerton Police Officer Mejia’s grand theft had it not been for FFFF.

  4. The Fullerton police case against Norby, R-Fullerton, was thrown out due to “a lack of sufficient evidence,” said office spokeswoman Farrah Emami.

    Fullerton police were called to the Norby home Sept. 2 by a deliveryman who called 911 to report that a man and a woman were “heard arguing” inside a home in the 200 block of North Yale Avenue, said Sgt. ANDREW GOODRICH of the Fullerton Police Department.

    By the time officers arrived, the man involved in the argument had left, Goodrich said.

    “According to Goodrich” police report, the deliveryman said “the man pushed the woman.”

    Norby, 60, and his wife, who is pregnant, denied there was physical contact.

    But the Fullerton police sent “their” case to the District Attorney’s Office anyways.

    1. But the Fullerton police sent “their” case to the District Attorney’s Office anyways.

      True. And the Goodrich also leaked it to the union goons.

        1. Take a closer look at Norby’s case. His lovely wife is the one who contacted the police afterwards and claimed she was a victim and then she changed her mind.

  5. A slow news day in La Habra? Arf!

    Jimminy Christmas, these videos are pure, if unintentional gold!

  6. If he were writing his essay today Habermeyer would certainly have to add another wall to represent the total collapse of local journalism.

    1. Aw hell, I didn’t steal this. Goodrich fed it to me and I had to buy him a doughnut and a latte.

      Of course it never occurred to me to ask him how many of this chick’s arrests might have been trumped up, ya know, ’cause she may have honesty issues.

      Oh well. I’ll do better next time. Or not.

  7. Tony you still don’t get it?

    You are a mean self centered bastard. Everyone is stealing from you, everyone is watching you, everyone is following you, everyone is banging your woman, the guy at the AM/PM is putting things in your hotdog, everyone is talking about you and not saying nice things. People act like they are your friends want your money. That little old Asian man at Pho is pissed and he wants a piece of you too.

    …ROSE BUD…ROSE BUD…ROSE….BUDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

    1. Yuck! Who would buy a hot dog at the AM/PM? Also, don’t you know why Rosebud was the name chosen for the film, Rose Bud?

  8. Desert Rat is right about the decline of local journalism having an effect on local government. Cities like Bell used to have local papers to cover city hall. Many of these local papers were bought up by the likes of the Register to increase profits. The Tribune is now little more than a weekly coupon mailer. It’s no surprise to see blogs step in to cover local issues. Reporters like Ponsi probably have to submit three or four local stories per day on their beat. Not much time to do any serious work. Easier to rip off the blogs and print press releases.

  9. I’m sorry. I’m so used to copying and pasting press releases that I forgot I got this off a blog (the best blog in OC, too!)

    But hey, at least I covered a story about the ugly side of the FPD. Barbara Giasone would have dutifully ignored it forever.

    1. Great investigative work FFFF………………..All you did was have a council member friend and blogger hand this over. He is a tool for Tony. Bruce great selection with Rat tooth kiger. The most unqualified and morally inept asshole but your right with him. Remember you are supposed to look out after the city of Fullerton and not let your hatred cloud your shitty ass judgement.

        1. Encouraging them to keep exposing police corruption in Fullerton? No, I think FFFF is going to do that anyway. And thank God for FFFF.

      1. It’s very obvious who you are “anonymous”. No one but an FPD stooge would write back and resort to name calling over a story that is 100% true. Repeat, the story is 100% true.

        All the sniveling points merely to the fact that the truth hurts. What do Tony, Bruce and Travis have to do with a cop stealing an ipad in Florida?

        The only stories that matter are those delivered by the FPD right? Except the PIO has lost credibility because he only wants to spin stories and discredit those he did not release.

  10. Mejia is on “paid leave”? What a full of crock!

    She should be terminated immediately…stop fiddling!

    1. Um, so did you do this story yourself, Lou or did you swipe it from FFFF? How about an explanantion.

      Jerk.

  11. Mr. Poor Goodwrench, thanks to you as well for the comments and I even support your right to engage in a personal attack by calling me a jerk. Actually, I did see the story posted first on FFFF, and then did ALL of my own reporting on it, something done regularly in media. I spoke with officials from Miami-Dade PD, Miami Dade Superior Court; put a call into Mejia’s attorney, who didn’t respond and obtained Mejia’s own written statement given the day of the arrest. The quote “bag of check in” was a direct quote used in the police report and not my own choice of words. I believe I had that phrase in quotations in my story. I would be more than happy to discus more specifics with you on my reporting for this story. Feel free to send me an e-mail and provide your name and contact information. My contact information should be posted after the article. Blessings to you sir.

    1. You steal a story from somebody else, pretend to fact check, make a non-returned call to a lawyer and you claim it’s your story. Absolutely lame-ass pathetic. You are a jerk. Actually, watching your videos, you are also a comical assclown

      And if you actually bothered to read the report you would know it DOES NOT say “check in.”

  12. Mr. Ponsi, why did you not cite this blog? I think they deserve some acknowledgment for bringing this to the public.

    1. Concerned reader, had I not done any of my own reporting, and simply re-wrote the information from this blog, then citing FFFF would have been appropriate. Since I did ALL of my own reporting, including obtaining the same PUBLIC documents received by FFFF and available to anyone, along with several additonal docoments, I didn’t feel crediting FFFF was warranted. As I said to Poor Goodwrench, feel free to contact me. My e-mail is posted all over the place. Tell me your name and we can discus this or any other matters that concern you in more detail.

      1. Lou, why don’t you redeem yourself and write another story about today’s blog…. the Fullerton police officer who’s in jail for stealing.

      2. What a load of bullshit. You are really pathetic. Go back to reproducing press releases from the Fullerton Arboretum. You’re in waaaaaay over your head.

  13. The Register has been stealing stories from the real reporters at the OC Weekly for years and years. It’s SOP at The Rag.

    Hell, it beats working!

  14. With all due respect, Lou. I know you made an effort to write your version of the story. The problem I have is you acknowledged on the comments that you looked at the blog post and wrote the story without acknowledging this blog. Yes, some of them may be crude and some of the bloggers have called you an “assclown,” but I think it’s just appropriate to at least give them some credit since your fingerprints are all over the site.

    1. His version of the story? What version would that be?

      Nope. All he did was get an obligatory quote from the Fullerton police spokeshole that included an attempt to portray the perp in a good light.

      And you believe he actually got a separate copy of the report from the Miami police when this blog thoughtfully presented him with a pdf copy for free?

      Something tells me that had he at least given a hat tip to this blog he would have been blackballed by that police spokeshole. Just an educated guess. Or of course maybe he just has no scruples.

  15. Mr. Ponsi you are a disgrace. Not to your profession, because you clearly don’t have one. You are a disgrace to Pop Warner football score reporters.

  16. Mr. Ponsi,

    The best way to gleen information is to pay off elected officials, you see the money behind this blog belongs to Tony Bulshala. Bushala dumped over 100k into the last election, that money paid to have one councilman elected. That one councilman is able to feed Bushala information which is discussed during closed session. Maybe you could try to find out what Bushala’s true motive is behide exposing the city to additional liability?

    By the way Joe Sipowicz is Tony Bushala

    1. You’re just pissed off that all the dough you poured into Roland Chi the Food Poisoner and sign thief abettor was a total waste.

    2. I am not Tony. I am a much better writer.

      This blog is exposing nobody to additional liability. That’s just another lame cop smokescreen. It is crooked, thieving, misbehavin’ cops that are exposing Fullerton to liability. And the sooner the council cleans house the better.

      Of course with Bonehead and McPension on the dais that will not happen.

    3. “Additional liability” is what you think the city is somehow exposed to by someone regurgitating the truth? Time to get back to reality folks. Whatever liability there is for the city related to having thieves as employees is not enhanced or degrading by anything said here.

  17. This is just a straight rip-off from A to Z.

    And that’s the Register – a cut-rate fish wrap.

  18. Travis I remember a photogragh a year or so ago of you and your family in Hawaii proudly holding up a copy of the Register like it was a trophy. Funny

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *