Man Charged With Murdering Wife, In-Laws After Body Parts Found In Encino Trash Bin

A man arrested after the partially dismembered remains of a woman were discovered in Encino was charged Monday with three counts of murder and made an initial appearance in court in downtown Los Angeles. Samuel Bond Haskell, 35, was ordered held with no bail. The criminal complaint, filed mid-day Monday, accused Haskell of murdering his wife, Mei Haskell, and her parents, Yanxiang Wang and Gaoshan Li. All three family members remained unaccounted for. Haskell was arrested last Wednesday and booked on suspicion of murder, after the partially-dismembered remains of a woman were found in a trash bin in Encino. The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office said Monday that the remains had yet to be identified, and were still considered an unidentified "Doe" case. The afternoon before his arrest, three day laborers told the NBC4 I-Team that a man they later identified as Haskell had hired them to move bags of rocks. "When we picked up the bags, we could tell they weren't rocks," one of the workers said in Spanish. He did not want to be identified. The men described the bags as soft and soggy, each weighing about 50 pounds. They said something didn't feel right, so they stopped their truck a block away to look inside the bags. "I started seeing body parts, a belly button," the worker said. "I was astonished. Of course, I felt bad. We had been tricked."

NBC 4

Driver Arrested Near Mexico Border After Fleeing From Fatal Crash With Motorcyclist In North Hills

Police have arrested the alleged driver who fatally struck a motorcyclist in North Hills on Thursday, fleeing from the scene on foot. The crash happened at around 6:40 p.m. in the 8600 block of Woodley Avenue, according to Los Angeles Police Department. During their preliminary investigation, detectives determined that a man riding a 2008 Harley-Davidson, was leaving a driveway in the area when he was hit by the driver of a white 1992 BMW speeding down the road. The force of the impact caused the motorcyclist to veer into a parked vehicle on the side of the road. Instead of stopping, the BMW driver continued southeast where they also collided with a parked car, at which point he got out and ran from the area on foot. He left the motorcyclist and a passenger inside of the car behind as he ran. Paramedics pronounced the motorcyclist, a man in his 50s, dead at the scene. He has not yet been identified. On Friday, investigators were able to locate the suspect, 30-year-old San Fernando Valley resident Sandro Edgardo Mendieta. 

CBS 2

Authorities Investigating Fatal Early Morning Shooting In Valley Glen 

A man was shot and killed early Tuesday morning in Valley Glen, authorities said. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the original shots fired call came out at 5:45 a.m. in the 12100 block of Califa Street near the intersection with Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Upon arriving at the scene, officers discovered the victim in an alleyway behind an apartment complex. He was described as a man in his mid to late 20s, according to KTLA 5’s Rich Prickett. He was “not conscious and not breathing” when officers found him, an LAPD spokesperson confirmed to KTLA. Footage from Sky5 shows a white sheet covering a body in the alleyway and a canopy being put up for the investigation. Further down the street, several LAPD squad cars were seen blocking the end of Califa where it meets Laurel Canyon. “We’re seeing lots of evidence markers here on the sidewalk,” Prickett said. “Possibly some bullet casings near the body.” No suspect information has been released. The investigation remains ongoing.

KTLA 5

Police Searching For Driver Who Fatally Struck Bicyclist In Van Nuys

Police are searching for the hit-and-run driver who fatally struck a bicyclist in Van Nuys in late-October. The crash happened at around 11:40 p.m. on Oct. 30, when the driver of a gray Toyota sedan traveling southbound on Van Nuys Boulevard struck the unidentified bicyclist, who was crossing the street south of Delano Avenue, according to Los Angeles Police Department. After the crash, the bicyclist became trapped under the car and was dragged underneath for a while, finally becoming dislodged south of Burbank Boulevard. Police say that the driver never made an attempt to stop, fleeing from the area southbound on Van Nuys Boulevard towards Hatteras Street. Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics declared the victim dead at the scene. His identity has not yet been revealed. Anyone who has information on the incident is urged to contact investigators at (818) 644-8028.

CBS 2

Early Morning Shooting On Rose Ave Leaves Victim Injured, Suspect At Large

LAPD responded to an assault with a deadly weapon call at 2:09 am Saturday morning at 5 Rose Avenue in Venice. Upon arrival, officers discovered a man in a vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds. A passenger in the vehicle was unharmed. The victim was transported to the hospital in stable condition. The suspect, described as a black male, fled the scene on foot, direction unknown. LAPD has cleared the scene while officers continue their investigation. Anyone with additional information or surveillance footage of this incident is asked to call the Pacific Division station at 310-482-6402.

Westside Current

Shots Fired At Watts Intersection, Man Wounded

A 44-year-old man was wounded in a shooting on a street in Watts, authorities said Saturday. The shooting happened at about 11 p.m. Friday at 115th Street and Compton Avenue, according to a desk officer at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Operations Center. The man was walking on a sidewalk and heard multiple gunshots, then realized he’d been shot, she said. Paramedics took the man to a hospital where his vital signs were stable, the officer said.

MyNewsLA

Homeless Sex Offender Arrested For Santa Monica Burglaries

Early Wednesday morning around 3:30 am, Santa Monica Police Department officers responded to a report of a potential intruder in the 200 block of 24th Street. The caller happened to be one of two off-duty law enforcement officers providing private security services for the homeowner and called in the report after spotting an individual attempting to gain entry into the backyard of the residence. Upon arrival, patrol officers discovered the intruder being detained by the security team in the driveway of the property. According to SMPD, the individual in question was identified as Charles Marcell Newman, born on April 27, 1977, who is currently homeless. Newman was identified as be a parolee at large and was also not in compliance with his sex offender registration requirements. Furthermore, he is currently under investigation for unrelated burglary and trespassing in Los Angeles. The suspect had been the subject of several prowling incidents at this same Santa Monica residence in the preceding months. Surveillance footage captured him attempting to access doors and windows around the house, as well as tampering with car door handles. In a October incident, he was seen on camera in the backyard attempting to open windows. Detectives managed to identify him from the video and subsequently issued a warrant for his detention and questioning.

Westside Current

North Carolina Sheriff Condemns ‘Senseless' Shooting By Man Out On Bond Awaiting Murder Trial

A Charlotte man out on bond for a previous crime was freed again this week after being charged in a daylight shootout near Salisbury, Rowan County authorities said Wednesday. Michael Daryle Withers, the 27-year-old suspect in Tuesday afternoon’s shootout, posted his $10,000 secured bond “before being fully booked into the jail,” Sheriff Travis Allen said in a news release. Withers had been released previously in connection with a fatal 2021 shooting on a basketball court. This time, Withers was charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury in the shootout that hospitalized another suspect in the case, 25-year-old Salisbury resident Shikese Zontae Mcentyre, sheriff’s officials said. Mcentyre was shot and had non-life threatening injuries, sheriff’s officials said. Deputies obtained warrants against Mcentyre charging him with assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into two occupied dwellings and damage to property for firing rounds into parked cars. At least four cars and three apartments were riddled with bullet holes when deputies arrived at the Woodland Creek Apartments, just after 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to a sheriff’s office news release. That’s off Statesville Boulevard near Salisbury.

The Charlotte Observer

Dozen Injured In 5-Car Crash In Exposition Park

Twelve people were injured, including several seriously, after a massive car crash in the Exposition Park neighborhood Saturday night. It happened around 9:45 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of W. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Vermont Avenue, just outside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers were trying to stop a reckless driver, when that driver collided into another car. Los Angeles Fire Department Spokesperson Margaret Stewart said 12 people were injured in the crash. Of the seven brought to the hospital, five of them were brought in "at least serious" condition, Stewart said. The other two had non-life-threatening injuries. The rest refused transport to the hospital. Images from SkyFOX showed at least five vehicles involved in the crash. Three facing one direction, two in the other, sprawled across both directions of traffic.

FOX 11

Crews Battle Boat Fire In San Pedro Harbor

Plumes of smoke were seen coming from a dock in San Pedro on Saturday after a boat caught fire. Firefighters put out flames aboard a 50-foot sport fishing boat in the San Pedro Harbor after the blaze was reported at 4:08 p.m. in Berth 85, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department's Margaret Stewart. That location is off Harbor Boulevard between Fifth and Sixth streets, near the Los Angeles Maritime Museum. Firefighters had the flames out in less than 10 minutes, Stewart said. One patient was evaluated for possible smoke inhalation, she said. It is unclear what started the fire.

NBC 4

Californian Among 5 U.S. Troops Killed In Eastern Mediterranean Helicopter Crash

The U.S. Army Special Operations Command on Monday identified the five Army aviation special operations forces killed when their helicopter crashed in the eastern Mediterranean over the weekend, calling each a “national treasure” whose loss cut deeply. The military’s European Command said the UH-60 helicopter went down during an air refueling mission as part of military training. The five service members who died were Chief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen R. Dwyer, 38, of Clarksville, Tenn.; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane M. Barnes, 34, of Sacramento; Staff Sgt. Tanner W. Grone, 26, of Gorham, N.H.; Sgt. Andrew P. Southard, 27, of Apache Junction, Ariz.; and Sgt. Cade M. Wolfe, 24, of Mankato, Minn. They were all part of the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment based at Ft. Campbell, Ky. The commander of the Army Special Operations Command, Lt. Gen. Jonathan Braga, said the fallen soldiers “hail from rare patriotic families with deep military service ties that span multiple generations and formations.” “This is devastating news that reverberates across the entire Special Operations community,” Braga said on Monday in a statement. “Every loss is tough, but in this case, service to the Nation is truly a family business and it’s hard to express the amount of sorrow that we all feel right now.”

Los Angeles Times

LA City Officials Break Ground On New Playground At MacArthur Park

Los Angeles city officials broke ground Thursday on what will be a playground at MacArthur Park, which is expected to provide a space for children and families to gather and play. Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez, who represents the First District, which includes MacArthur Park in the Pico-Union area, joined the Department of Recreation and Parks to celebrate the event. According to officials, the playground will be built in the southwest corner of the park, near the intersection of Seventh Street and Park View. "Our neighborhoods deserve to be deeply invested in resources and services that support thriving communities," Hernandez said in a statement. "This playground will create yet another opportunity to activate the beautiful green space of MacArthur Park for neighborhood children and families. I am grateful for our partners in the city, especially our Parks and Recreation Department, who are bringing this project to life.” The park will offer several amenities, including swings, slides, a three-dimensional climbing net structure, durable rubber surfacing, benches and more.

NBC 4

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.