When should a candidate apologize? The question roils an L.A. City Council race

Los Angeles police officer Roberto Yanez said he has spent much of his career forging ties with residents in South L.A. and Watts, working with them to tackle gang graffiti, theft and many other quality-of-life issues. As a senior lead officer, Yanez works to ensure that residents and business owners feel comfortable contacting him about neighborhood problems. So when he learned that City Council candidate Ysabel Jurado had said “F— the police, that’s how I see ‘em” at a college meet-and-greet, he was taken aback. “I try not to allow politics to affect me, but it’s a slap in the face,” he said.

Los Angeles Times

Read about Ysabel Jurado’s public safety plan

LA City Council Committee Advances LAPD Chief Nominee

Despite concerns from some immigrant rights advocates and other activists, a City Council committee on Tuesday advanced Mayor Karen Bass' nomination of former county Sheriff James McDonnell as the next Los Angeles Police Department chief. The five-member Public Safety Committee voted 4-1 in favor of McDonnell, whose nomination requires a vote by the City Council before it can be finalized. Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez, a member of the committee, was the lone "no" vote. Committee members questioned McDonnell on various subjects and issues impacted in the Los Angeles Police Department -- from recruitment woes to boosting morale, and unarmed response initiatives and improving relationships with the city's residents. Other issues council members raised were ongoing efforts to reform the department's disciplinary process, use of pretextual stops, and how to limit liability claims stemming from officer misconduct, among other things. However, a hot topic revolved around McDonnell's past policies related to immigration. McDonnell, who served as the county sheriff from 2014 to 2018, allowed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into county jails. In 2017, he also opposed state Senate Bill 54, which established California as a sanctuary state, limiting law enforcement agencies cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

NBC 4

LAPD Investigating Possible Connection Between Separate Shootings That Left Man, Woman Dead

A man and woman were killed in two separate shootings in the Koreatown area, and authorities on Wednesday were investigating whether the deadly incidents were connected. The latest shooting happened just before 10:30 p.m. Tuesday on Berendo Street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. A woman was found in a car with a gunshot wound to the chest. Authorities say a man walked into the LAPD's 77th Division station to report a shooting and stated that his significant other had been shot. That man ended up being taken into custody. The other shooting, meanwhile, happened two miles away on Victoria Avenue around 4:30 p.m. According to police, a man was hit by a car before he was shot and killed. That shooting stemmed from an apparent road rage situation that prompted the suspect to shoot the victim multiple times, police said. The victim may have been riding on an e-bike when he was hit by the suspect's car. Video from the crime scene showed a bike in the back of a police vehicle.

ABC 7

Gunman In Fatal Shooting In Upscale Los Angeles Neighborhood At Large

A search is underway for a suspect who shot and killed a person in the upscale Los Angeles neighborhood of Mid-Wilshire Tuesday night. Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department responded to the area of West 10th Street and Victoria Avenue, less than a mile from the Getty House where L.A. Mayor Karen Bass resides, at around 4:30 p.m. on reports of an assault with a deadly weapon. Details are extremely limited and it’s unclear how exactly the violence unfolded, but police told KTLA that they believe the two men were involved in some type of altercation when the suspect, described as a Black male in his 50s, with a gray beard and possibly wearing an orange vest, produced a gun and shot the victim. Very little is known about the victim, who is only described as a Hispanic male, and it’s unclear if the man was a resident of the normally quiet neighborhood. In footage of the ongoing homicide investigation, yellow police tape cordoning off the crime scene can be seen while police canvass the area for evidence. 

KTLA 5

Man Riding E-Bike Fatally Shot In Mid-Wilshire Neighborhood

One person is dead after a shooting in Mid-Wilshire on Tuesday. It happened in the 900 block of S. Victoria Avenue at around 4:15 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Circumstances surrounding the shooting remain unclear at the time, but officers say that the suspect, only described as a man in his 50s with a beard that was wearing an orange jacket, fled from the area in a dark blue or dark purple sedan. Investigators say that the victim, a man in his 40s, suffered multiple gunshot wounds after he was approached by the suspect. He was pronounced dead at the scene. They believe that he was riding a mini-bike prior to the shooting, but it was unclear if he was in the act of riding or near the bike when the shooting occurred. "Anytime a murder occurs it concerns all of us," said LAPD's Samuel Marullo. "Especially when the suspects not caught. At this point, I don't know if it's random or not. I don't know if there's a prior history." With SkyCal over the scene, it appeared that they were wearing work gloves and an orange work vest. No further information was provided. 

CBS 2

Serial Robbers Arrested By LAPD; 1 Suspect Had GPS Ankle Monitor During Crime Spree

Three suspects involved in a series of robberies referred to as, 'Follow Away Robberies' were arrested by the LAPD. On September 19, a robbery occurred in the 23000 block of Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills. Police say the suspects followed and confronted the victim in a parking lot. Two of the suspects punched the victim to the ground. They then pinned the victim to the ground and forcibly removed his jewelry before fleeing in a black BMW sedan. On October 23, another robbery occurred in Woodland Hills. The victim was followed to a local business when a black BMW sedan drove up to him. Two people then exited the vehicle armed with handguns. The suspects took the victim's jewelry and fled in the BMW, police said. Police were able to identify the suspects as 28-year-old Chazon Brown from Los Angeles, 32-year-old Isaiah Moore from Fresno, and 19-year-old Nhazel Warren from Los Angeles. All three suspects were arrested the following day and booked for armed robbery. All are being held on $1 million bail. According to police, Warren was wearing a GPS ankle monitor during the crimes. He was arrested earlier this year in two separate unrelated felony cases that occurred in in July and August.

FOX 11

Man Who Hit Woman With Car Struck By Hit-and-Run Driver While Trying To Render Aid 

A man who struck a woman with his car was struck by a car himself after he went to render aid to her, police say. A Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson confirmed to KTLA that a vehicle was driving east on 3rd Street near Virgil Avenue in L.A.’s Westlake neighborhood around 5:40 a.m. Tuesday when they struck a pedestrian. The driver of that vehicle, an 83-year-old man, exited his car to render aid to the victim, only identified as a 70-year-old woman. As he was doing so, another car struck him and also struck the woman, meaning she was hit by two cars. The second vehicle that struck both victims fled the scene, LAPD said. Paramedics transported the woman to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Her identity was not released. The 83-year-old man was hospitalized in stable condition, authorities added. No description of the vehicle that fled the scene was immediately available, according to the LAPD. 

KTLA 5

California Authorities Say They Broke Up Farm Equipment Theft Ring

A multimillion-dollar theft ring operation in which heavy farm equipment was stolen from California’s San Joaquin Valley and transported to Mexico has been dismantled, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office has announced. Surrounded by other top law enforcement officers, Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said during a Tuesday afternoon news conference that multiple search warrants were conducted in the early hours in Tulare, Fresno, Merced and San Benito counties. He said four suspects believed to be tied to the operation were arrested. Investigators, he said, recovered three stolen trailers and a generator. They also collected $46,000 in cash, two truck-bed loads of processed marijuana and multiple firearms including rifles and shotguns. Boudreaux said the theft ring, which operated across six counties in the San Joaquin Valley, has accounted for more than $2.25 million in stolen equipment. At least 24 pieces of stolen property with an estimated value of $1.3 million have been recovered. “This is a large-scale theft ring impacting our farmers, our ranchers and agricultural community,” he said. Merced County Sheriff Vernon Warnke said the agricultural equipment thefts have a ripple effect that eventually reaches Americans who shop at local stores.

Los Angeles Times

California Governor Announces 10,000 Arrests After Statewide Property Crime Crackdown

After a visit across the state’s border with Mexico, Gov. Gavin Newsom touted California’s efforts from the past year to tackle organized retail theft and other property crimes that have driven overwhelming support for a ballot measure that would toughen penalties for theft and drug crimes. The two issues are inextricably linked, as Newsom and his legislative allies have recently passed a package of anti-theft bills to undercut the purpose of Proposition 36, perhaps the most prominent statewide voter initiative on the Nov. 5 ballot. In a virtual news conference Monday, Newsom highlighted the latest results of a $267 million funding blitz for state and local law enforcement to tackle property crimes, including the organized retail thefts and smash-and-grab thefts that have captured wide attention through in countless viral videos. To date, the effort launched in September 2023 has yielded just over 10,000 arrests for retail, auto and cargo theft cases, according to Newsom’s office and the California Highway Patrol. Local results highlighted by Newsom included a South Bay police effort, which included San Jose police, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office and Campbell police, to arrest more than a dozen people connected to a Home Depot theft ring. The county has seen another 16 people charged with organized retail crime and associated violent crimes using the state funds, according to the governor’s office.

Bay Area News Group

South American Crew Used Signal Jammers, Blowtorches And Disguises On California Crime Tour, Feds Say

They arrived in construction vests and surgical masks, armed with signal jammers, sledgehammers and blowtorches. The bank heist crew, made up of mainly Chilean nationals, hit multiple banks across California, according to federal prosecutors, and made off with $2.5 million. In Fresno, the crew hit a Wells Fargo in May and used tools to get inside an ATM vault through an adjacent unit and made off with more than $80,000 in cash. The next month in Auburn, they scored $226,000 from a Golden 1 Credit Union branch and followed that up several days later by stealing money from two ATMs in Clovis estimated to have carried $150,000-$200,000 each. But earlier this month, 10 individuals believed to be part of the crew were charged in connection with the robberies. Prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California charged Alex Moyano Morales, Maite Celis Silva, Erik Osorio Olivarez, Pablo Andres Valdez Rodriguez, Rosa Francisca Bastias Serra, Camilo Andres Sepulveda Guzman, John Doe 2, Bassil Alejandro Cacosta Frias, Camilo Alarcon Alarcon and Michelle Alondra Parada Muñoz on Oct. 21. The charges were first reported by the East Bay Times.

Los Angeles Times

LA City Considers Improvements To Tenant Harassment Law

After adopting a law against tenant harassment three years ago, the City Council Wednesday will consider changes to its policy with the aim of strengthening protections for renters. In September, Los Angeles elected officials instructed the City Attorney’s Office to draft amendments to its Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance, also known as TAHO 2.0. These changes are expected to better define tenant harassment and establish a minimum civil penalty of $2,000 per violation, among other things. In 2021, the city approved its TAHO ordinance, banning landlords from harassing tenants and making such violations a criminal offense. Yet, housing advocates argued the law has not resulted in meaningful change for tenants facing harassment. So part of the proposal for TAHO 2.0. aims to encourage private attorneys to handle harassment cases. Additionally, the proposed changes are intended to deter tenant harassment to begin with, inform tenants of their rights and landlords of their responsibilities. David Kaishchyan, government affairs coordinator for the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, previously criticized the TAHO ordinance for being “blatantly one-sided.” He explained that there are no protections in place for landlords or housing providers, who are often targeted by tenant activists at their homes.

MyNewsLA

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.