Man Shot, Wounded In Downtown Gang Shooting

A 21-year-old man was hospitalized Wednesday following a gang-related shooting in downtown Los Angeles. Los Angeles Police Department officers responded at 11:49 p.m. Tuesday to 444 Hoover St. near Temple Street, north of the (101) Freeway where they learned four men entered the location and confronted the victim before shooting at him several times, an LAPD spokeswoman told City News Service. The victim was taken to a hospital and was in stable condition. The four gunmen ran away from the scene in an unknown direction.

MyNewsLA

Woman Struck And Killed By Hit-and-Run Driver In South Los Angeles

A woman was struck and killed during a hit-and-run crash in South Los Angeles over the weekend and authorities are still searching for the driver. The crash happened at around 6:45 p.m. on Saturday near the intersection of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Gramercy Place, according to a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department. Upon arrival, they learned that a 61-year-old woman pushing a walker was hit by the driver of a white sedan who then fled the scene. The woman was rushed to a nearby hospital where she later died. Her identity has not yet been released. As is the case with hit-and-run incidents in Los Angeles, the city is offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the suspect. Anyone with further information is urged to contact investigators at (213) 359-3552. 

CBS 2

L.A. Neighbors On Edge After Man Destroys Car In Apparent Anti-Semitic Hate Crime

Neighbors are on edge after video captured a man yelling anti-Semitic remarks outside a Pico-Robertson home before destroying a family’s vehicle. The apparent hate crime incident, which happened on Dec. 23, has left residents concerned as incidents of antisemitism are on the rise in Los Angeles and across the country. The video of the hateful tirade has left neighbors shocked, disappointed and angry. “There’s no logic to it,” said one neighbor. “It was very shocking and frightening, especially so close to our home,” said Chaya Nourafchan, another neighbor. The suspect was heard screaming obscenities and anti-Semitic rhetoric outside of the Jewish family’s home before launching a brick through the back windshield of the family’s car. A resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said she has felt a lot of hostility directed toward the Jewish community since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

KTLA 5

16-Year-Old Boy Killed, Man Injured In Compton Shooting, Authorities Say

A 16-year-old boy was killed and a man was injured during a shooting in Compton, authorities said. It happened Tuesday around 5:25 p.m. in the 700 block of West Corregidor Street. When deputies from the Compton Sheriff's Station arrived on scene, they found the teen with a gunshot wound to his upper torso. He was rushed to the hospital where he later died. The sheriff's department said a man was also found at the scene who had non-life threatening injuries. "It's believed both victims were involved in a physical altercation when a male suspect opened fire on them," the sheriff's department said in a statement. Additional details regarding the suspect were not immediately available. Anyone with information is urged to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.

ABC 7

Charlie Sheen's Neighbor Pleads Not Guilty To Breaking Into His Malibu Home And Attacking Him

A 47-year-old woman pleaded not guilty Tuesday to attacking actor Charlie Sheen at his Malibu home. Electra Schrock entered her plea in Van Nuys Superior Court to one felony count of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, according to court staff. Bail was set at $75,000. A pretrial hearing was scheduled for Jan. 8. Schrock, a neighbor of Sheen's, allegedly broke into the actor's home on Dec. 20 and assaulted him. Deputies arrived at the 6000 block of Cavalleri Road around 1 p.m. that day after receiving a call about a battery, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said in a statement. When deputies arrived, they found that the "Two and a Half Men" actor was the victim of an alleged assault and break-in, and arrested Schrock. Earlier this year, Schrock pleaded no contest to misdemeanor elder abuse, according to the Los Angeles Times.

FOX 11

Suspect In Killing Of 27-Year-Old Lancaster-Area Teacher Arrested

Los Angeles County sheriff‘s deputies have arrested a 37-year-old man suspected of murder after a woman’s body was found this week stuffed inside the trunk of a car at his home and set on fire. Veronica Aguilar, 27, had been living in a home owned by the suspect, Matthew Switalski, in the Quartz Hill neighborhood near Lancaster. The UCLA graduate taught at a nearby elementary school and was beloved by the families she worked with and her friends. Aguilar’s body was found by Los Angeles County firefighters responding to a garage fire Wednesday. “Her story is all over the news of her brutal death,” her brother Juan Aguilar wrote on a GoFundMe page meant to raise money for a funeral. “Things will never be the same ever again. We miss her so much. She had the best spirit she always had a smile. My family is heartbroken.” “She was the sweetest teacher in the world,” one parent of a student wrote on the website. “We were blessed to have her in our lives. My daughter loved her so much.”

Los Angeles Times

SoCal Police Dog Rex Has Nose Slashed On Christmas Day. Suspect In Custody And Unbitten

A Pasadena police dog is recovering at home after being injured by a burglary suspect in the city on Christmas Day. The suspect, who police said threw a metal object that slashed the 2-year-old dog’s snout, was arrested on suspicion of burglary and injuring a peace officer’s animal. Officers responded to a call around noon Monday about a man attempting to break into the 99 Cents Only store at 1720 E. Colorado Blvd., according to Lt. Edgar Sanchez. When officers arrived, Sanchez said, they noticed that the rear glass door was shattered and they heard the suspect attempting to open a metal roll-up door from the inside. There were “multiple” announcements for the man to exit, Sanchez said, “but the suspect refused to come out.” A Pasadena K-9 Unit responded around 1:30 p.m. and later found the suspect in a large storage room. When the suspect still refused to exit, the K-9, a Dutch shepherd named Rex, was deployed. Sanchez said the suspect began throwing objects at the dog, resulting in a 2-inch-long laceration to his snout. The suspect, Jose Soto, a 45-year-old Pasadena resident, surrendered to police soon after, Sanchez said. He added that Soto — who is in jail awaiting charges — was not bitten or injured during the incident.

Los Angeles Times

California Rings In 2024 With New Laws Focused On Firearms, Cannabis And Workers’ Rights

New Year’s Day brings a sense of optimism to many of us out there; we can start the new year with a clean slate. But in 2024, there also come new laws taking place in the Golden State, from camping and cannabis to cruising. When the calendar flips to January 2024, new laws will enter the fold. First, there’s Senate Bill 2, which establishes new measures for concealed carry firearm permit holders. SB 2 limits where firearms can be carried, such as schools, government buildings and public transit, and requires CCW applicants to be 21 years old, have previous firearm training and pass background checks. “If you have a record of domestic abuse, you shouldn’t have a gun. If you’re on social media threatening the lives of people, you shouldn’t have a gun,” said the bill’s author, State Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-Burbank). The law was supposed to take effect on January 1, but was blocked by a U.S. District Judge, meaning the law will make its way to federal court and likely the US Supreme Court for a decision. In the fight against fentanyl, lawmakers passed Assembly Bill 701, which enhances punishments for people convicted of dealing more than a kilo of the deadly narcotic.

KTLA 5

K-9 Officers Sniff Out $10M Worth Of Cocaine, Meth In Vats Of Jalapeño Paste In San Diego

Customs and Border Protection agents seized $10 million worth of cocaine and meth hidden in vats of jalapeño paste at an inspection site in San Diego. The bust happened at the Otay Mesa Cargo Facility on Dec. 13 when K-9 dogs sniffed out the illicit cargo inside a a commercial tractor-trailer. CBP officers carefully extracted hundreds of packages from the containers of jalapeno paste. Inside the vats were nearly 350 suspicious packages. “The contents of the packages were tested and identified as methamphetamine with a weight of 3,161.43 pounds and cocaine with a weight of 522.50 pounds,” the agency stated. The total estimated street value of the narcotics was $10,430,000. In total, 332 packages of methamphetamine and cocaine weighing 3,684 pounds were seized from the shipment. The driver, a 28-year-old man, had a valid border crossing card — a U.S.-issued visa given to citizens and residents of Mexico. He was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations. “Our K-9 teams are an invaluable component of our counter-narcotics operations, providing a reliable and unequalled mobile detection capability,” said Rosa Hernandez, Otay Mesa Port director. “By implementing local operations under Operation Apollo and CBP’s Strategy to Combat Fentanyl and other Synthetic Drugs, we will continue to secure communities and stifle the growth of transnational criminal organizations, one seizure after another.”

PoliceOne

NYPD Officers Fatally Shoot Man Holding A Knife To His Mother’s Throat

A Bronx man had just slashed his girlfriend and was threatening to cut his mother’s throat when a police officer fatally shot him from five feet away, New York Police Department brass said Saturday. “These officers were met with a chaotic, fast moving situation, but they had great composure,” NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said at a press conference outside the shooting scene, an apartment building in Bedford Park. Chell said the officers’ actions “saved the life” of the knife-wielding man’s mother. Sources said she is 45 or 46 years old. A 911 call summoned two 52nd Precinct officers to the 13th-floor apartment at about 11:15 a.m. Saturday. As the officers arrived, a 19-year-old woman said to be the knife-wielding man’s girlfriend “came screaming out of the apartment with a slice wound to her face,” Chell said. The officers stepped into the apartment and found themselves confronted by the 30-year-old man in a cramped kitchen. “The subject was holding his mother in a headlock with a large carving knife to her throat, and she was clearly injured and bleeding,” Chell said. “Our officers gave numerous commands to drop the knife. However an officer discharged his firearm, striking the subject in the head.”

New York Daily News

Individual Extricated From Overturned Vehicle Crash On Venice Blvd. In Palms

A person was extricated from the wreckage of an overturned vehicle crash Tuesday in the Palms community of Los Angeles, authorities said. That person's condition was not immediately known. Firefighters and paramedics responded at 10:11 a.m. to 11200 W. Venice Blvd., where a person was trapped inside the overturned vehicle, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported. The person was safely extricated from the vehicle and rushed to a hospital. No other details were immediately released.

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.