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.

LAPD Bomb-Sniffing K9 Cop Retires

The Los Angeles Police Department is paying tribute to Max, a bomb-sniffing K9 officer, who has earned a well-deserved retirement. “Serving tirelessly since October 2015, K9 Max bids farewell to his remarkable career as a bomb detection dog,” LAPD posted to social media Thursday, along with photos of Max through his years of service. “With immense gratitude, we celebrate his relentless commitment to keeping us safe.” 

KTLA 5

Investigation Underway After 3 Men Shot At Car Wash In South Los Angeles

Police are trying to determine what led up to a triple shooting at a car wash in South Los Angeles. Three men were at a car wash on West and Hyde Park boulevards Thursday night when a gunman got out of a car and shot them. The suspect then got back in the car and took off. The victims, who have not been identified, were hospitalized. Authorities have not released details on their conditions or the circumstances surrounding the shooting. 

ABC 7

Gunmen Shoot, Kill 40-Year-Old Man Sitting in a Car in Boyle Heights

Police Thursday are investigating the fatal shooting of a 40-year-old man in Boyle Heights who was sitting in a car when he was shot. Los Angeles Police Department officers were called at 7:49 p.m. Wednesday to the 3100 block of Wynwood Lane and South Fresno Street where they learned the victim was sitting in a car when the suspects drove up to him and shot at him several times, LAPD Officer Matthew Cruz told City News Service.

MyNewsLA

Former USC Football Player Charged With Raping Two Women

A former USC football player has been charged with raping two women. "Sexual assault is a heinous crime that cannot be tolerated," Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said. "These brave women made the difficult decision to come forward and report their assault, now it's our turn to ensure that justice is done. We will do everything we can to hold the person responsible accountable for his actions." According to the District Attorney, former USC football player Joshua Fred James Jackson Jr. has been arrested and charged with three felony counts of forcible rape and one felony count of forcible sexual penetration. One of the victims, a student at UCLA, said that Jackson Jr. raped her in 2020 at his apartment. The second alleged rape, which involved a classmate of the former football player, happened three years later at her apartment in March. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the third sexual assault happened in San Diego. Police believe he was involved in more unreported sexual assaults. Jackson Jr. is scheduled to be arraigned this week. 

CBS 2

Judge: Man Charged In Furniture Store Murder Can’t Act As Own Attorney

A judge ruled Thursday that a homeless man charged with fatally stabbing a 24-year-old UCLA grad student inside a Hancock Park furniture store can no longer act as his own attorney after an outburst in court. Superior Court Judge Mildred Escobedo revoked Shawn Laval Smith’s right to represent himself during his upcoming trial following a contentious hearing in which he directed profanities at the judge during his first appearance before her and abruptly rose from his seat in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom. The judge subsequently noted that Smith had been removed from the courtroom and that she had instructed the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that he would probably have to be brought to court in a security chair. Smith — who is awaiting trial for the Jan. 13, 2022, killing of Brianna Kupfer — will now be represented by defense attorney Robert Haberer, who had been appointed earlier as his stand-by counsel in case of a change in the defendant’s ability to represent himself. Los Angeles police Lt. John Radke said last year that Kupfer “sent a text to a friend letting her know that there was someone inside the location that was giving her a bad vibe.”

MyNewsLA

Foul Play Suspected In March 2022 Disappearance Of Sylmar Man

Authorities investigating a man who has been missing for over a year are now suspecting foul play was involved in his disappearance. Ariel Holley was last seen on March 13, 2022, near his residence in Sylmar, but cell phone data pinpointed the 34-year-old’s location to Lake Hughes. Detectives searched the area for clues on Thursday and they believe Holley was with another person when he disappeared. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau has taken over the investigation from the LAPD. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Anonymous tips can be submitted by visiting www.lacrimestoppers.com or by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. 

KTLA 5

Heartbroken Owner Desperately Searching For Stolen 11-Year-Old Boston Terrier Named Stella

A woman is desperately searching for her beloved 11-year-old Boston Terrier named Stella who was snatched from inside of her car while she was running errands in Mid-Wilshire this week. The brazen robbery happened at around 8 p.m. on Wednesday outside of the Whole Foods located on W. 3rd Street as Stephanie Santos was running errands. The robbers shattered one of the windows of Santos's car and grabbed Stella before taking off in an unknown direction. "If you have Stella, please, I hope you're treating her right, you're treating her well," Santos said while speaking with KCAL News on Thursday. She says that the pup is on a strict diet and has to take medication. Santos was inside for about 20 minutes when she got back to her car and saw that Stella had been taken. "I looked for Stella, she wasn't in the car. I started crying, screaming. I was hysterical." Though she filed a police report, she's having a hard time getting security footage from the parking lot and leads on possible suspects are running thin.

CBS 2

25 Years After California Serial Killer Turned Himself In, DNA Identifies Unknown Victim

For 25 years, one of at least four women murdered by Wayne Adam Ford in California remained unidentified. The admitted serial killer turned himself in to authorities in November 1998, carrying a Bible and the severed body part of one of his victims in a plastic bag. He confessed to strangling the woman whose body part he carried into the Eureka sheriff’s station, as well as three others — including one whose name he did not know. Police searched missing persons reports for decades trying to identify the unknown victim of Ford, a long-haul trucker who had served in the Marine Corps. It wasn’t until advances in DNA sequencing that the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office’s new Cold Case Unit was finally able to find the woman’s close relatives and put a name to their long-unidentified Jane Doe: Kerry Ann Cummings. Her dismembered torso was found in the Ryan Slough, a stream that feeds into Arcata Bay near Eureka. Additional remains were found at Clam Beach in Humboldt County.

Los Angeles Times

Mentally Ill Or Deliberate Killer? Trial Starts For Man Charged With Killing Massachusetts Officer

The prosecutor in the murder trial of a man charged with killing a Massachusetts police officer and an innocent bystander nearly five years ago told jurors in opening statements on Thursday that the suspect acted with deliberation when he used the officer's own gun to shoot him multiple times. The defense, however, described a defendant who has spent years struggling with mental illness made worse by frequent marijuana use, who wasn't taking his medications, and who in the days before the killings was having a dispute with his longtime on-and-off girlfriend. Emanuel Lopes, 25, faces 11 charges, including two counts of murder, in connection with the killings of Weymouth police Sgt. Michael Chesna, 42, a veteran and married father of two, and bystander Vera Adams, a 77-year-old widow, on July 15, 2018. He has pleaded not guilty. “We will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Lopes shot and killed Sgt. Michael Chesna, shot and killed Vera Adams, and shot at" two other officers who responded to the scene with the intent to kill them, prosecutor Greg Connor told the jurors in Norfolk Superior Court. Because of the intense media coverage the killings received in Weymouth, a suburb south of Boston, the jury was selected in Worcester County to ensure impartiality.

Associated Press

Second Denver Officer Shot On Same Day

Following an earlier incident of an officer being shot in his patrol vehicle, a second police officer was wounded in Denver on the same day. Police said officers were alerted by ShotSpotter about shots fired in the area of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Forest Street Wednesday evening. Officers were dispatched to that initial call and arrived in the area two minutes later. A community member gave officers information and a description of the suspect. Shortly after, officers located the suspect. The suspect attempted to flee on a scooter and continued the pursuit on foot. Police followed the suspect in their patrol vehicles. Police said a confrontation between the officer and the suspect led to an exchange of gunfire. The officer was struck in the chest, but his ballistic armor absorbed the round, police said. The officer’s injuries appear “not life-threatening,” police said. The suspect was taken to the hospital in critical condition. "I'd like to take a moment to express the bravery and heroism of our Denver police officers who show up every single day, 365 days a year, seven days a week. They show up every day, holidays, weekends, despite the extreme threats to their safety that we have seen in full action, unfortunately, today," Div. Chief Rick Kyle said in a news conference. 

PoliceOne

One Metro Worker Revived 21 Riders Overdosing On Opioids. He’s Not Alone

Walking along a rail platform, a veteran transit worker spotted a package of the opioid overdose-reversing drug naloxone, picked it up and slipped it in his vest. He couldn’t imagine that he would use the medicine less than two hours later. But looking back on that evening in February 2022, it shouldn’t have been a surprise. The synthetic opioid fentanyl was killing about four people a day in the county. Its reach stretched from high school classrooms to Beverly Hills homes; it plagued Skid Row and upended families across the region. Inside train stations, one of the few free indoor spaces for those living on the margins, paramedics rush past commuters to platforms and train cabs to try to revive drug users who pushed too close to the edge or past it. The transit worker saw so many overdoses he began going to a clinic on his way to work to get more doses of naloxone, commonly known by the brand Narcan. Metro had no clear policy on whether its workers can administer the drug, he said. But he couldn’t bear to watch people die needlessly.

Los Angeles Times

U.S. Warns Of Violent Crime At Popular Tourist Destination

Just as summer travel ramps up, the U.S. State Department has issued a travel advisory for the Dominican Republic. “Violent crime, including armed robbery, homicide and sexual assault is a concern throughout the Dominican Republic,” the State Department said in its advisory. A yellow flag-level two advisory was issued, urging travelers headed to the top Caribbean hotspot to “exercise increased caution.” Americans still wanting to travel to the island should consider staying in resorts, as they are likely safer and “tend to be better policed than urban areas like Santo Domingo,” according to the State Department’s advisory. The department is also urging travelers to reconsider meeting with strangers when in the Dominican Republic, as there have been reports of U.S. citizens being robbed by people they met from dating apps, among other serious incidents. The advisory also recommends enrolling in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program to stay updated on travel alerts ahead of international travel.

KTLA 5

Councilwoman Traci Park Hosts Dynamic Regional Safety Fair

Councilwoman Traci Park is inviting community members to attend the Regional Public Safety Fair this Saturday, an event designed to promote awareness and readiness in emergency situations in honor of June being National Safety Month. The fair will provide an excellent opportunity for friends and families to connect with experts from community organizations and city departments. Attendees will gain valuable knowledge on how to keep themselves and their loved ones safe during emergencies. These departments and organizations include: Los Angeles Fire Department including Station 69, the Brush Clearance Unit, and CERT, LAPD, Emergency Management Department, MySafe:LA, Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness, Resilient Palisades, Palisades Forestry Committee, American Legion Post 283, Department on Disability, Office of LAUSD Board Member Nick Melvoin, Office of State Senator Ben Allen, and more. 

Westside Current

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.