Woman Claiming To Have Hand Grenade Shuts Down LAPD Station

Authorities evacuated apartments after a woman arrived at a Los Angeles police station with what she claimed to be a hand grenade. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the scary situation unfolded a little after 1:50 p.m. when the woman drove up to the station with the apparent explosive in her car. Officers acted quickly and evacuated an apartment building across the street from the station in the 21500 block of Schoenborn Street in Canoga Park. Both the bomb squad and Los Angeles Fire Department were called to the scene but did not arrive before the woman was taken into custody. The explosive was later determined to be inert. All evacuations were lifted shortly before 6 p.m.

CBS 2

Security Guard At Hollywood Ralphs Shoots, Kills Person After Assault

A supermarket security guard fatally shot a person who attacked him at a store in Hollywood on Monday, police said. The deadly confrontation happened around 3 p.m. at a Ralphs store in the 5400 block of Hollywood Boulevard. Los Angeles Police Department investigators say there was a confrontation between a security guard and a person at the store. The individual at one point armed themselves with a heavy fire extinguisher and was using it as a weapon to attack the guard, according to LAPD Lt. Robert Peters. The person then put the extinguisher down and start using a screwdriver to attack. Peters said the guard was trying to back up and fired one shot, hitting the person in the upper body. The guard then called 911 and attempted to render aid. The individual was brought to a local hospital and later declared dead. The cause of the confrontation was under investigation. The gender, age and identity of the person who died was withheld pending notification of next of kin.

ABC 7

Man Shot In Head While Trying To Stop Robbery On Sunset Strip Returns Home From Hospital

It's been more than a year since Christopher Martin was shot in the head while trying to stop his friends from being robbed on the Sunset Strip. After being told he wouldn't survive, the 28-year-old made a remarkable step in his recovery over the weekend and returned home for the first time. "Multiple doctors said multiple times, 'This isn't a survivable injury,' but I knew as soon as I found out that he had gotten shot that Christopher is going to make a full recovery," said his mother, Donna Martin. Christopher, a musician and former football player at UC Davis, was in Los Angeles on April 16 celebrating a friend's birthday. The group had left a night club on the Sunset Strip when two men tried to rob them around 3 a.m., targeting them for their jewelry. Christopher yelled at the robbers in an effort to save his friends, including Detroit Lions running back Jamar Jefferson, and one of the suspects opened fire, hitting Christopher in the skull and leaving him for dead in the parking lot in front of Pink Taco. He was brought to the hospital that night in critical condition.

ABC 7

Sentencing Set For Rapper Tory Lanez In Megan Thee Stallion Shooting

Sentencing is set Monday for rapper Tory Lanez, who was convicted of shooting hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion in the feet in the Hollywood Hills just over three years ago. Prosecutors are asking Superior Court Judge David Herriford to sentence the 31-year-old Canadian star to 13 years in state prison, while defense attorneys are requesting probation for their client. Lanez was convicted last Dec. 23 of one felony count each of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, having a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. During a contentious hearing in May, the judge rejected the defense’s bid for a new trial. One of the rapper’s new attorneys, Jose Baez, called Lanez’s defense during the trial a “jumbled, bungled mess,” and said Lanez’s trial attorney, George Mgdesyan, did not have enough time to prepare for trial and ultimately “failed” his client. 

MyNewsLA

Prosecutors Seek 6-Year Prison Term For Ridley-Thomas: ‘This Was A Shakedown’

Prosecutors asked a federal judge Monday to sentence veteran Los Angeles politician Mark Ridley-Thomas to six years in federal prison, citing the menace of public corruption in a democracy and the lawmaker’s exploitation of the power and privileges of his office. In a stinging memo, prosecutors summarized Ridley-Thomas’ conduct in blunt terms as a “shakedown” in which he “made his self-interested demands known” to a USC dean and sought favors from the university for his son in exchange for county business. At the time, he was one of five members of L.A. County’s powerful Board of Supervisors. “Defendant is highly educated, richly supported, and politically connected. He was uniquely positioned to serve his constituents. Instead, he served himself,” prosecutors wrote in a 32-page memo. “Through his own corrupt actions, abuse of his powerful elected office, failure to accept responsibility, and efforts to undermine the public’s faith in this judicial process, defendant’s overall conduct strongly supports a sentence of 72 months’ imprisonment.” Late Monday, defense attorneys filed their own sentencing papers, asking the judge for a range of 21 to 27 months, then seeking a downward variance that features no time in prison and, instead, a period of probation with home confinement, community service and a monetary penalty.

Los Angeles Times

Woman, 27, Suffering From Seizures Goes Missing In Inglewood

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Sunday circulated a photo of a 27-year-old woman who went missing in Inglewood. Robyn Jeannette De La Torre, who suffers from seizures, was last seen about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 5000 block of Lennox Boulevard, the Sheriff’s Information Bureau reported. De La Torre was described as a 5-foot, 5-inch tall Latino woman weighing 130 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. She wears glasses and was last seen wearing a black shirt, black pants and black backpack. Anyone with information on her whereabouts was urged to call the sheriff’s department at 323-890-5500, or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS. Tipsters may also use the website lacrimestoppers.org.

MyNewsLA

Police Investigating Fatal Shooting In Gardena; 43-Year-Old Victim Identified

Police have identified the man fatally shot while driving in Gardena early Thursday morning. The victim, 43-year-old Terion Alexander, was driving east on Redondo Beach Boulevard at around 12:15 a.m. when his vehicle was struck by gunfire, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said. Deputies were dispatched to the area after learning of the shooting and found Alexander suffering from at least one gunshot wound. Investigators have not yet disclosed a motive or any information about a possible suspect. Anyone with information is asked to contact LASD's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.

CBS 2

Los Angeles County Man Wanted For Allegedly Meeting Minors For Sex Acts

Authorities are searching for a man accused of arranging to meet minors for sexual acts in Ventura County. The suspect was identified as Christopher Michael Loza, 46, from Winnetka, by the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office. On Friday, charges were filed against Loza for two felony counts of communicating with a minor with the intent to commit sexual acts and arranging to meet a child for sexual acts. Loza failed to appear in court at a Friday arraignment hearing and a felony warrant has been issued for his arrest. The suspect was discovered during a sting operation led by Ventura County Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. In an online chatroom, Loza contacted someone he believed to be a 15-year-old girl. During the conversation, he allegedly made several comments indicating the desire to engage in sexual activities with the girl, who was actually an undercover officer, authorities said. Loza arranged to meet the girl at a park in Camarillo on July 21. When he arrived, he was taken into custody by authorities and task force members.

KTLA 5

Video: Bystander Provides Aid As Suspect Fires Officer's Gun During Struggle

Video captured the moment a bystander helped an Amarillo Police Department officer struggling with a suspect during an arrest. On Friday, an Amarillo motorcycle officer was conducting a traffic stop when he learned the driver had an outstanding warrant. The officer attempted to arrest the driver, but the suspect started to fight, then fled the scene, NewsChannel10.com reported. The officer started a foot pursuit, which led to him bringing the suspect down to the ground in an alley. While they were struggling on the ground, the suspect reached for the officer’s gun. In the video, a bystander is seen helping the officer with the suspect. The suspect reaches for the officer’s gun a second time and fires a shot. The officer was grazed by the shot but continued to hold down the suspect, according to the report. After backup arrived, the suspect was arrested. The officer, who was treated at the scene, was transported to a hospital but wasn’t seriously injured. “I’m really proud of the officer,” APD Sgt. Carla Burr said. “It was probably terrifying and he was able to keep the suspect from hurting him, hurting anyone else. We thank the citizen that stopped. That probably made a huge difference for the officer. It allowed him to gain control, it allowed him to feel a little more confident. It was a fight for his life.”

PoliceOne

Santa Monica Hospital Seeks Help Identifying ICU Patient

Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica is asking for the public’s help to identify a patient in the intensive care unit. The patient is described as a 36-year-old Latino man who is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 157 pounds. He has dark hair and numerous tattoos. On July 31, a passerby saw him staggering in the Santa Monica and Venice area before he apparently fell into a planter, hospital officials detailed. Paramedics then took him to the Santa Monica hospital. Anyone who recognizes the man is asked to call the hospital’s ICU at 310-829-8745 or the main hospital number at 310-829-5511

KTLA 5

3 Killed After Cal Fire Helicopter Crashes Mid-Air Near Scene Of Firefight In Cabazon

Firefighters across Southern California were mourning after two Cal Fire helicopters collided in mid-air in Riverside County. The crash happened sometime before 7:20 p.m. Sunday, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Office, near the intersection of Pipeline Road and Apache Trail in Cabazon. Crews were fighting the Broadway Fire that broke out around 6 p.m. near Broadway and Esperanza avenues. The area of the crash is near the 10 Freeway less than a mile from the Cabazon Outlets and the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa. The three victims were identified by authorities Monday morning as Cal Fire Assistant Chief Josh Bischof, Cal Fire Captain Tim Rodriguez, and contract Pilot Tony Sousa. "On behalf of all Californians, our thoughts and heartfelt sympathies are with the loved ones, friends and CAL FIRE colleagues mourning the loss of Assistant Chief Bischof, Fire Captain Rodriguez, and Pilot Sousa," said California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a statement. "This terrible tragedy is a reminder of the dangers our courageous firefighters face daily while working to keep our communities safe. We owe them our deepest respect and gratitude and will always honor their bravery and sacrifices."

FOX 11

LA City Council Debates Historic Monument Designation For Home Of Gay Rights Advocate

A nondescript house in the Westlake neighborhood, lying in the shadow of downtown, is at the center of a heated debate in the Los Angeles City Council about whether or not it should be protected as a historic landmark. It belonged to Morris Kight, a man many may not have heard of but someone who helped change the course of history for the LGBTQ rights movement. Adrian Fine is the Senior Director of Advocacy for the Los Angeles Conservancy and is pushing to make the Kight House a protected historic cultural monument. "While it's a really simple, modest-looking house, it's the place in which people came together," said Fine. "He convened, he organized and a lot of things were born out of this period of time when he was living here from the late 60s to the early, mid-1970s — so things like the Gay Liberation Front. The L.A. Chapter was formed out of this house." Kight helped launch the Pride parades we see across the country and the world. He was instrumental in creating the world's first Pride parade, which took place in L.A. in 1970, with Christopher Street West, an organization born out of the Stonewall Riots a seminal moment in the gay rights movement. 

CBS 2

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.