Man Sentenced To 166 Years For Revenge Shooting Of L.A. County Deputies In Compton

A man who said he shot two sheriff’s deputies at point-blank range while seeking revenge for a friend killed by police was sentenced to 166 years in prison Wednesday, prosecutors said. Deonte Murray, 39, was convicted in September on multiple counts of attempted murder, assault, robbery and carjacking for an 11-day string of crimes that culminated when he walked up to an L.A. County Sheriff’s Department cruiser parked outside a Compton train station and opened fire. Deputies Claudia Apolinar and Emmanuel Perez-Perez were struck in the head and face and required surgery for their serious injuries. The attack occurred in September 2020, on the heels of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and during a flash point in police-community relations in L.A. after weeks of local protests against law enforcement. Murray, who admitted to the shootings, said he wanted payback after deputies killed his best friend, Samuel Herrera. Eleven days before the attack on Apolinar and Perez-Perez, Herrera died in a shootout with sheriff’s deputies who were trying to serve a search warrant. Police recovered a small cache of firearms in Herrera’s garage, and neither of the deputies that Murray shot were involved in Herrera’s killing.

Los Angeles Times

Man Sentenced To Life For Double-Murder At Harbor City Burger Restaurant

A young man was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the shooting deaths of two people at a burger restaurant in a Harbor City strip mall, including the longtime owner of the popular neighborhood eatery. Joey Alfred Mendoza, now 25, was convicted in June of one count of first-degree murder for the Oct. 12, 2016, shooting death of Louis Garcia, 23, of Wilmington, and one count of second-degree murder of Charalambos Antonelos, 61, of San Pedro, who owned Bob’s Hamburgers. Jurors also found true the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, along with gun allegations. Mendoza was arrested by Los Angeles police a day after the killings and has remained behind bars since then. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Laura Laesecke told the defendant — who was 18 at the time of the shooting — that he “spent so long thinking about how you were going to kill,” saying that was “not the behavior of a child” but was “true premeditation.” She told Mendoza that the killing occurred at a neighborhood restaurant that “sort of feels like home and you destroyed that,” noting that Antonelos was known for giving burgers to those who couldn’t afford to pay for them.

MyNewsLA

Man Shot To Death In Pickup Truck In University Park

The Los Angeles Police Department is looking for the shooter or shooters who killed a man as he sat in a pickup truck in University Park Wednesday night. The shooting was reported at about 11:30 p.m. at West 23rd Street and Ellendale Place, according to reports on the Citizen app. The victim, a man whose identity has not been released, was found unresponsive inside of the truck and declared dead at the scene. Multiple bullet holes could be seen in the truck’s windshield, and police found several shell casings in the street. A motive for the killing has not been established, and the investigation is ongoing.

KTLA 5

LAPD Investigating Homicide In Central Los Angeles Neighborhood

A homicide investigation is underway in Los Angeles' Arlington Heights neighborhood after a person was found shot to death Wednesday morning. It happened around 7:30 a.m. in the 3100 block of W. Pico near the corner of Manhattan Place according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Information on a suspect or the shooting victim was not released. Pico Boulevard was closed between St. Andrews and Western for the investigation but all roads have since reopened. Anyone with information is asked to call police.  

FOX 11

USC Students Rethink Transportation After Warning About Alleged Lyft Rape

USC is warning the campus community Wednesday after a student was allegedly raped by a Lyft driver on her way back to her apartment. The university says the attack took place around 3 a.m. Wednesday in the 3600 block of South Grand Avenue. The female student took a Lyft ride home from a club in West Hollywood to her home near the University Park Campus. "When they arrived at her apartment, the Lyft driver raped the student in his car," the university reported in a crime alert notice. LAPD and Lyft did not immediately have additional details when reached for comment Wednesday night. The university made sure students are aware of resources that are available to them for counseling, mental health and prevention of sexual violence. It's unclear if the black sedan the student got into was the correct Lyft vehicle. Regardless, news of the assault has students being extra vigilant. Students told Eyewitness News that receiving the notice was a shock and made them more wary of using rideshare services - for some an almost-daily aspect of campus life.

ABC 7

LAPD Launches Hate Crime Investigation After Canter's Deli Is Vandalized With Antisemitic Graffitti

The Los Angeles Police Department has launched a hate crime investigation after antisemitic messages were spray painted onto a wall next to the historic Canter's Deli. Officers responded to the iconic restaurant in the 400 block of North Fairfax Avenue at about 10:40 a.m. where messages like "Free Gaza," "How many dead in the name of greed?" and "Israel's only religion is capitalism" covered the black walls underneath a mural honoring the Jewish community. "Thankfully, the murals themselves were not defaced," said Richard Hirschhaut, regional director at the American Jewish Committee. "This vitriolic, ugly graffiti was scrawled below and the message was heard, and the message was felt as yet another gut punch to the Jewish community." In a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, the Anti-Defamation League decried the vandalism and described the incident as "heinous." "If anyone has information that will help ensure the people who committed this crime are brought to justice, please contact law enforcement," said Jeffrey Abrams, regional director of ADL Los Angeles. Police have not arrested a suspect and a description of who investigators are searching for was not immediately available. 

CBS 2

Students Injured In Brawl And Stabbing At Van Nuys High School

Four students were injured Wednesday in a brawl and stabbing outside Van Nuys High School that led to a four-hour campus lockdown. The fight involving 11 students and stabbing were reported in the quad area of the campus. All of the injured victims were teen boys under 18, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. LAUSD Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho said one student used some type of weapon to stab two other students. Details about the weapon were not immediately available. Two other students also were injured. One was hospitalized with injuries suffered during the brawl. The other was treated at the campus. None of the injuries are considered life-threatening. Three students were detained for questioning, Carvalho said. Police said Van Nuys High School was locked down. Classes were expected to resume Wednesday afternoon. There are about 2,200 students at Van Nuys High School. The campus also has a continuation school with another 200 students.

NBC 4

Four Suspects Arrested After Violent Halloween Attack On 78 Year Old Woman In Santa Monica

In a disturbing incident on Halloween night, a violent attack took place near downtown Santa Monica. At approximately 9:50 pm on October 31, 2023, the Santa Monica Police Department responded to a call reporting a battery that had just occurred in the 1200 block of Lincoln Boulevard. The victim, identified as a 79-year-old female resident, was found by officers with severe injuries, including a head wound, following an assault by four male suspects. The assailants, armed with a handgun, forcibly robbed the elderly woman of her purse before fleeing the scene in a Kia sedan. A witness provided a description of the vehicle and its license plate, which revealed that the Kia had been reported stolen from Long Beach. Additional officers intercepted the suspect vehicle while it was driving recklessly in the southern part of the city. Despite attempts to stop the vehicle, the suspects led authorities on a pursuit that ended at 11th and Wilshire, when the driver lost control and crashed into a pickup truck. Following the crash, two suspects were immediately apprehended at the scene, while a third was found hiding in a nearby carport and was arrested without incident. The fourth suspect managed to force his way into an occupied apartment on the 1200 block of 11th Street. The tenant was able to fend off the intruder, who was later discovered hiding on the building's roof by an assisting LAPD helicopter.

Westside Current

Lancaster Man Charged With Murdering Two Of His Children

A man has been charged with murdering of his two young children and attacking another child at a home in Lancaster, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced Wednesday. Prospero Guadalupe Serna, 38, was charged with two counts each of murder and assault on a child under eight causing death and one count each of attempted murder and child abuse. His arraignment in a Lancaster courtroom was postponed until Nov. 30, but Serna was ordered to remain jailed without bail. The criminal complaint includes the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, along with allegations that he personally used a sharp object during the commission of the crime, personally inflicted great bodily injury on a child under five years old, and that he has a prior conviction from 2017 for unlawfully causing a fire of a structure or forest land. Serna allegedly attacked three of his children, killing two of them, while he was in the residence with his four children and their mother on Saturday, according to the District Attorney's Office. Sheriff's deputies were dispatched at about 11:50 p.m. Saturday involving a call of children "being harmed at the location" in the 1800 block of East Avenue J-2, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

CBS 2

Highland Park Hillside Fire Extinguished

An approximately 1.5-acre, slow-moving brush fire in steep terrain was contained and extinguished Thursday in Highland Park. Fire crews were called at 3:23 a.m. to 291 S. Ave. 52, west of Arroyo Seco Parkway, where they surrounded the burning vegetation with hose lines and fire breaks, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Nicholas Prange. It took 52 firefighters 94 minutes to extinguish the flames. No injuries were reported.

MyNewsLA

Second-Ever Case Of Local Dengue Virus Reported In Southern California

Long Beach health officials confirmed the city’s first case of locally-acquired dengue fever on Wednesday. The virus is a mosquito-borne disease that is typically connected to those who have traveled outside of the country. Long Beach’s case marks the state’s second locally-acquired case without travel. The first-ever case was confirmed in October 2023 after a Pasadena resident contracted it and was hospitalized. Both the Long Beach and Pasadena residents had no history of traveling to a region where dengue is common, officials said. Both patients have since recovered and no other suspected cases have been identified, health officials said. Dengue is a disease caused by a virus that spreads through mosquito bites, according to the L.A. County Department of Health. “When a mosquito bites someone with dengue virus in their blood, that mosquito can then spread the virus to others,” city officials said.

KTLA 5

City Council Marks Native American Heritage Month

The City Council Wednesday marked the start of Native American Heritage Month with a presentation ceremony honoring the history, cultural traditions and legacy of the Native American community, and giving a series of awards. Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, who represents the Seventh District, which includes the Northeast areas of the San Fernando Valley, led Wednesday’s ceremony. Rodriguez said that while many of the city’s 15 council districts have rich histories with the Native American community, in her district, the San Fernando Mission holds a complicated legacy. “(The mission is) something of an amenity that was built at the forced hand of the tribal community,” Rodriguez said. “It’s something that we shouldn’t ignore, overlook or ever forget, but we must reconcile.” She added, “I get a little peeved about getting months because, frankly, we have to do this work every single day to really memorialize the wrongs that have been orchestrated against so many peoples in this country, and in the history of our country.”

MyNewsLA

L.A. Council Fast Tracking Large Digital Billboards

Although Los Angeles City Council passed a 2002 Billboard sign ordinance to ban visual blight, it is now trying to sidestep that ordinance. Given that Los Angeles will be the site of some 2026 World Cup Soccer Games, and also the 2028 Olympics, why does the L.A. City’s Planning and Land Use Committee want to change the scenic landscape by adding 80 new large billboards – digital with signs constantly changing? The City has justified the decision because it notes the billboards will help with data collection. They say it will support equity because the digital messaging will increase public transit ridership. The City will also share advertising dollars with the Metro Transportation Community Network (TCN). A city administrative document reported: “These digital displays, which will be located along freeways and major intersections, will be used for off-site advertising and public safety messaging. . . Relevant traffic and transit updates and travel alternatives, including public transit alternatives, will also be shared with drivers and commuters.”

Westside Current

About the LAPPL: Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents more than 8,900 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.