Daily News & Updates Good morning! On April 15, 2023, Officer B. Jerry Sandoval was killed in a traffic collision. Please consider donating to the Blue-Ribbon account established for Jerry to support his wife, Christine and twin sons, Logan and Jacob. Click here for more details. Law Enforcement News Police Looking For Hit-and-Run Driver Who Fatally Struck Woman In Highland Park The Los Angeles Police Department released surveillance video in hopes of locating the driver who struck and killed a pedestrian in Highland Park. The incident happened on March 17 at 8:44 a.m. at the intersection of Aldama Street just west of Irvington Place. According to police, a 65-year-old woman was crossing Aldama Street and was struck by a blue Chevrolet Tahoe. The driver then fled the scene. Police say the woman died at the scene. The suspect's vehicle is described as a possible 2007-2014 Chevrolet Tahoe, dark blue color with tinted windows. Anyone with information is urged to contact Detective Daniel Ramirez or Officer Poss, Central Traffic Detectives, at (213) 833-3713, or email [email protected] or [email protected], or contact the Central Traffic Division Watch Commander at (213) 833-3746. You can remain anonymous by calling LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477). FOX 11 DUIs A '24-Hour-a-Day Problem' In LA The LAPD said this week there has been a sharp increase so far this year in the number of traffic fatalities tied to intoxicated drivers. "In reality, it is a 24-hour-a-day problem," said LAPD Chief Michel Moore, after raising the possibility the driver who collided with a mother and her daughter in the mid-Wilshire area Tuesday morning was intoxicated. The woman's 6-year-old daughter was critically injured in the crash, which happened as the two were walking toward Hancock Park Elementary School, where the girl is a first grade student, authorities said. The LAPD said Wednesday the driver was not being arrested and the cause of the crash was still under investigation. Traffic data showed 10 DUI fatalities were recorded between January 1 and April 15, 2023, compared with 5 during the same period in 2022. Moore said LA's DUI death increase appears to parallel an overall increase in collisions as people returned to commuting, work, and school -- following years of home-centric living during the Covid-19 pandemic. "And recently, an increase in DUI-related collisions, particularly in our fatal collisions, is troubling," he said. The data showed the overall number of pedestrian fatalities so far this year, including cases flagged as DUI-related, was 48, compared with 50 during the same time period in 2022. NBC 4 Hatchet-Wielding Man Sparks Safety Concerns For Highland Park Residents Highland Park residents have grown concerned for their safety as a hatchet-wielding man continues to roam their neighborhood. Security camera footage caught the man trying to chop down a resident's tree with the hatchet. Neighbors said that this has been an ongoing issue, however, police said their hands are tied at the moment. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, they have known about the problematic man for at least two weeks. While they have responded to the area after receiving calls of a person with a hatchet they have not been able to arrest the man since he isn't committing any crimes at the time. Officers said that it is not a crime to simply walk around with a hatchet and it is unclear if the person chopping at the tree is the same man that the officers have contacted in the past two weeks. CBS 2 Man, 81, Reported Missing From Area Near West Los Angeles Veterans Hospital Authorities sought the public's help Wednesday to find an 81-year-old man with dementia, who uses a wheelchair and went missing from the area of the West Los Angeles Veterans Hospital. Frank Charles Rand was last seen about 2 p.m Tuesday near the 11300 block of Wilshire Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Rand is Black, 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighs about 120 pounds, and has black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt, green pajamas, a black beanie, and a blue puffy jacket. "Frank is in a wheelchair and is missing his left leg," police said in a statement. "Frank has dementia and may not know his way home." Anyone knowing his whereabouts was urged to call the LAPD Missing Persons Unit at 213-996-1800, or 877-LAPD-247. Tipsters may also call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS, or use the website www.lacrimestoppers.org. Westside Current Former Pediatrician In L.A. Pleads Guilty In Child Pornography Case A former pediatrician from Beverly Grove pleaded guilty Wednesday to possessing hundreds of images and dozens of DVDs containing child sexual abuse material, federal authorities announced. In Nov. 2021, 62-year-old David Goulin, admitted to having four DVDs containing sexually explicit material involving minors who were under the age of 12, as well as another 57 DVDs with child sexual abuse material. According to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Los Angeles Office, the average run time on the DVDs was nearly three and a half hours. “Goulin admitted that in August 2021 he used his cellphone to knowingly receive a video of (child sexual abuse material). In total, Goulin possessed more than 600 images that he knew constituted child pornography, some of which showed children engaging in sadistic or masochistic conduct,” the news release stated. KTLA 5 Former UCLA Gynecologist James Heaps Sentenced To 11 Years Former UCLA gynecologist James Heaps was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in state prison for sexually abusing two female patients. He also is ordered to register as a sex offender. Superior Court Judge Michael Carter handed down the 11-year sentence hours after rejecting a motion for a new trial. Heaps had faced a maximum sentence of 13 years. Heaps, 66, has been behind bars since he was convicted last Oct. 20 by a downtown Los Angeles jury on three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person. Those charges involved two patients, with jurors finding that those victims were particularly vulnerable and that Heaps had abused a position of trust. Heaps was acquitted of three counts each of sexual penetration of an unconscious person and sexual battery by fraud, and one count of sexual exploitation of a patient with those charges involving two other patients. CBS 2 Commerce Kidnapping Suspect Arrested A man suspected of kidnapping a woman at gunpoint in Commerce was arrested Wednesday. ABC7 reported the victim was found safe just before 6 p.m. Wednesday, with authorities telling the station she was doing OK. The Sheriff’s Information Bureau told City News Service it could not confirm the station’s report. The suspect was taken into custody around 2 p.m. Wednesday and booked on suspicion of kidnapping and abduction, the Sheriff’s Information Bureau reported. His car was also recovered and impounded. The victim was walking and talking on her cellphone at 4:21 p.m. Tuesday, and appeared to be trying to get away from somebody, according to the Sheriff’s Information Bureau. As she approached the 2200 block of Couts Avenue, the suspect pulled his car into a nearby driveway, got out of the car, hit the victim with a pistol and forced her into the passenger side of the vehicle and drove away south of Cowlin Avenue. MyNewsLA 4 Mississippi Inmates Escape Jail; 1 Believed Dead After Shootout With Deputies Authorities searched Wednesday for four inmates, including one suspected of killing a man and stealing his pickup truck, who escaped over the weekend from a Mississippi jail that has been under federal scrutiny. Leake County Sheriff Randy Atkinson told WJTV-TV that the suspect in the killing, 22-year-old Dylan Arrington, is believed to be dead after he barricaded himself inside a burning home near Conway, Mississippi, Wednesday morning. The suspect shot a deputy from within the home, the Leake County Sheriff's office said in a statement on their Facebook page, adding that the deputy was transported to a hospital where he was stabilized. “The situation continued for roughly two hours before it was resolved," the office said. No further explanation of what that meant was given in the statement. Multiple law enforcement agencies were searching parts of the state, with the Leake County Sheriff's Office telling residents to “please keep your doors locked and have no keys or weapons in your vehicles." Associated Press Public Safety News California’s First Wildfire Of The Season Burns 160 Acres, Heads Toward Snowpack A wildfire burning in the San Bernardino National Forest grew quickly past 100 acres Wednesday afternoon, fire officials said. The Nob fire, the first large wildfire of the season in California, started shortly before 11 a.m. and had spread to about 160 acres by 2:30 p.m., according to the U.S. Forest Service. As of Wednesday evening, it was 0% contained. Because of its location deep in the forest, between Wrightwood and Lytle Creek, the fire is not a threat to any surrounding communities, said Eric Sherwin, a spokesperson for the San Bernardino County Fire Department. The blaze is the first major wildfire in California this year after an exceptionally wet winter that left state officials more concerned about flooding than fires — a reversal from recent years. By this time in 2022 — the third year of a punishing drought — firefighters across the state had already battled more than a dozen major wildfires, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and federal fire data, which track incidents that burned at least 10 acres. Los Angeles Times Local Government News LA Officials To Consider Speed Bump Program For Elementary Schools After Mother Killed, Child Hurt A day after a mother was struck and killed while walking her 6-year-old daughter to school in the Mid-Wilshire district, city leaders will consider a proposal to add speed bumps near every elementary school in Los Angeles. Police say the pedestrians were walking in a crosswalk Tuesday morning in the 6200 block of West Colgate Avenue. They were on their way to nearby Hancock Park Elementary School when the driver of a pickup truck slammed into them. The Nissan truck was driving fast at the time of the collision, police say, and it ended up crashing into an apartment building after hitting them. The driver of the truck, a 30-year-old man, was injured and transported to a hospital in stable condition. The mother, who has not been identified, died at the scene, and the 6-year-old girl was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. ABC 7 Column: Wendy Carrillo Explains Why She’s Running Against Her Former Ally, Kevin de León The sun began to bake us the moment we stepped out of Wendy Carrillo’s home in Boyle Heights last Saturday. But the scorching morning rays were the least of her annoyances. The Eastside Assembly member had spent the last half-hour explaining to me why she was running for Kevin de León’s City Council seat. “Mayor Karen Bass has an incredible challenge,” the El Sereno resident said as she closed the gate behind us, a loquat tree offering temporary shade. “And she currently doesn’t have a partner in [District] 14. It’s a challenge when you have someone in office that folks don’t want to associate with.” De León, of course, turned into a political pariah after a secretly recorded conversation released last fall featured him, along with then-L.A. County Federation of Labor head Ron Herrera and then-Councilmembers Nury Martinez and Gil Cedillo, trashing rivals with racist and nasty words. He has ignored demands from community members and President Biden to resign, recently survived a fourth recall attempt and keeps taunting his haters with slickly edited Instagram reels of himself gallivanting around Council District 14 as if nothing ever happened. Los Angeles Times City Council Passes Updated Community Plans For Hollywood, DTLA Following almost four hours of discussion and public comment, a city council committee has voted unanimously to update long-range plans for two of the city’s most iconic neighborhoods — Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles. While the Hollywood Community Plan and the Downtown Community Plan address specific local issues, they also highlight larger matters such as increasing affordable housing, supporting business, introducing tenant protections, seeking more open and green spaces, and fostering a greater sense of community. Following Monday’s separate votes of approval by the Planning and Land Use Management Committee, the plans will next move to the full City Council. “With 80% of the plan’s housing capacity within half a mile of major transit stops, the DTLA Community Plan Update leverages LA’s transit-rich center to connect more Angelenos and visitors to housing, employment, health care, education and cultural events,” Planning Director Vince Bertoni said in a statement. MyNewsLA About the LAPPL: Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents more than 9,200 dedicated and professional sworn members of the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPPL serves to advance the interests of LAPD officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education. 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