Los Angeles: Los Angeles police officers, working in conjunction with investigators from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), arrested a 29-year-old man yesterday on counterfeiting and weapons charges.

On September 1, 2005, at about 2:00 PM, Jose Maria Trujillo, who lives in Los Angeles, was spotted selling DVDs from the trunk of his car near Santee Alley, between Maple and 12th street in downtown Los Angeles.  Officers from the Central Police Station's vice unit found the DVDs were counterfeit and arrested Trujillo, whose car also contained a .32-caliber handgun, powder cocaine, and over 2,000 pirated DVDs.

The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office filed criminal counts of possession of narcotics, sales of illegal DVDs, and being a felon with a gun against Trujillo, who is being held on a $20,000 bail.

While they did not come into play during this arrest, surveillance cameras in the Santee Alley have been instrumental in combating crime in the area.  Since May, when the first cameras became operational, officers have made 18 camera-assisted arrests.  Funding for the cameras was sponsored by the MPAA.