Email from Los Angeles Police Protective League Daily News & Updates Law Enforcement News Man Ordered to Stand Trial in Crash That Killed Off-Duty Cop and Second Man A young man accused of driving under the influence, speeding and running a red light was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on murder and other charges for allegedly causing a crash in Northridge that killed an off-duty Los Angeles police officer and a man preparing to join the LAPD academy. Superior Court Judge Efrain M. Aceves rejected the defense’s motion to dismiss the two murder counts against Brian David Olivarez, who was 20 at the time of the Nov. 4, 2023, crash and is now 21. Olivarez is also charged with two counts each of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence in connection with the crash that killed off-duty Officer Darrell Cunningham and one of Cunningham’s passengers, Jorge Soriano, and injured two other people. Los Angeles police Officer Alexander Martinez testified that he had warned Olivarez about the dangers of speeding and running a red light and told him that he could be charged if he killed someone after seeing him go through a red light about six months before the fatal crash at the same intersection at Roscoe Boulevard and Lindley Avenue. MyNewsLA Koreatown Hit-and-Run Suspect Sought By Law Enforcement Police sought the public’s assistance Thursday in locating the hit-and-run suspect who left a 71-year-old pedestrian severely injured in Koreatown. The crash was reported Friday around 6:40 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The pedestrian was struck by a white Ford F-150 while standing beside his vehicle in the southbound lane of New Hampshire Avenue, south of Eighth Street, as the driver of the pickup truck continued traveling without stopping to render aid. The suspect was last seen westbound on James M. Wood Boulevard from New Hampshire Avenue. Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics took the victim to a hospital for medical treatment after sustaining severe injuries. “Motorists are reminded that if they become involved in a collision, they should pull over and stop as soon as it is safe, notify emergency services, and remain at the scene to identify themselves,” police said in a statement. An amended reward of up to $50,000 was being offered by the city through a trust fund for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the suspect. MyNewsLA Push to make MacArthur Park safer amid crime, drug concerns in area For years, the owner of Langer's Deli, Norm Langer, has complained about the crime, drug use, and homelessness around MacArthur Park and all around his restaurant. He says he's begged for the city to do something and feels they've let him down. He tells FOX 11, "I need to see some action. I don't want to deal with this anymore." But, on the other side of the park from the restaurant, Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez offered a multi-pronged plan to deal with a park she refers to as the Ellis Island of Los Angeles, where immigrants come when they first arrive in Los Angeles. Says Hernandez, "I believe deeply that the government works best when it responds to the needs of the community." Hernandez and others are part of a coalition to change things in a park that has long had a shadow over it because of drug use, homelessness, and crime. The coalition announced that, "Community clean teams will work to enhance the cleanliness in the park while providing job opportunities for local residents, and Peace Ambassador Teams will work in the neighborhoods to reduce violence and engage in de-escalation, among other things." FOX 11 Thieves caught on camera stealing copper wires on Thanksgiving While brazen copper wire thieves continued to target the Harbor Gateway community during the Thanksgiving holiday, their latest string of thefts were all caught on camera. "Our community right now is just being ravaged by this group that's stealing copper.” The cameras captured the suspects using a grinder to cut several wires from poles, before putting the copper in a shopping cart and walking away. A neighbor said the grinder caused sparks to fly into the air during the late afternoon. "They're stealing copper out of anything and everything.” David Matthews with the Harbor-Gateway Chamber of Commerce said the thieves have taken their thefts a step further, causing around $500,000 in damage to one building. "They're going in and cutting the power off the power poles and waiting for the backup alarms to go off," he said. "They go in and they steal whatever they want to take. This building in particular was half a million dollars in damage." In the month before thieves broke into a nearby building through a nursery. CBS 2 28 arrested in Southern California retail theft bust Twenty-eight suspects were arrested during a massive retail theft bust in San Bernardino County. The weeklong operation took place from Dec. 7-14 and focused on the Victoria Gardens mall in Rancho Cucamonga and several retail stores in Chino Hills. Officers from multiple agencies collaborated in the effort. During the operation, 28 suspects were arrested — 15 were felony arrests and 13 were misdemeanor arrests. Authorities also recovered around $10,281 worth of stolen merchandise. Photos of the bust also showed confiscated firearms and ammunition. In November 2023, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department became concerned with a troubling rise in thefts at retail stores which often involved organized theft rings. “These violent criminals terrorize the citizens of San Bernardino County by utilizing intimidation tactics and a mob mentality that creates an unsafe and uncomfortable shopping environment for our residents,” authorities said. KTLA 5 Southern California political operative arrested for allegedly acting as a foreign agent for China A Southern California political operative, who served as the campaign manager for a successful city council race, was arrested on a federal complaint that accuses him of acting on behalf of the People's Republic of China (PRC) as an illegal foreign agent. The Chino Hills man, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 64, is expected to make his first court appearance Thursday. It was not immediately clear whether he has an attorney. He also is accused of conspiring with Chen Jun, who was sentenced last month to 20 months in prison for acting as a foreign agent and bribery. Sun is accused of communicating with Chen to discuss his candidate's campaign. The location of the city council race was not available and the candidate is referred to as “Individual 1” in the federal complaint. “Chen discussed with Chinese government officials how the PRC could 'influence' local politicians in the United States, particularly on the issue of Taiwan, according to the complaint,” read a press release Thursday from the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. Sun wrote two reports at the instruction of Chen that were sent to government officials in China, according to authorities. NBC 4 USPS warns public of 'smishing' texts Mail carriers are warning the public of a scam that involves texts coming from stranger pretending to be them. The United States Post Office issued a public heads up regarding, "smishing," a form of phishing that involves text messages coming from scammers. "These scammers often attempt to disguise themselves as a government agency, bank, or other company to lend legitimacy to their claims. USPS utilizes the 5-digit short codes to send and receive SMS to and from mobile phones," USPS’ notice to the public read. USPS says it’s free for anyone to track specific packages – and does not involve unsolicited texts from strange and unrecognizable phone numbers. USPS also said it does not require customers to click on a weird link from its text messages, unlike the scammers. FOX 11 California Aryan Brotherhood members sentenced to consecutive life terms for murder, racketeering Two California members of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang were sentenced Wednesday to consecutive life sentences in federal prison for murder in aid of racketeering and other crimes committed while they were incarcerated in a Sacramento-area prison, authorities said. Ronald Yandell, a leader of the neo-Nazi prison gang, was convicted of ordering two inmates to murder another inmate in 2015 at California State Prison, Sacramento, also known as New Folsom State Prison. The 62-year-old Yandell of Pinole, Contra Costa County, had offered the two inmates membership in the Aryan Brotherhood if they were able to kill a member of a rival prison gang, Hugo Pinell, according to court records. Pinell, a member of the Black Guerilla Family gang, was one of the infamous San Quentin 6 - inmates charged following a deadly escape attempt in 1971. Court records stated that before his murder, Pinell openly antagonized Aryan Brotherhood members with racist opinions and provocative statements and was considered "a high-value target for the enterprise." CBS 2 California man linked to Madison school shooter may have plotted own attack A Southern California man who was in contact with the Madison, Wis., school shooter allegedly was plotting to attack a government building, according to records and media reports. On Tuesday evening, a San Diego County Superior Court judge granted a gun violence emergency protective order that the Carlsbad Police Department filed against local resident Alexander Paffendorf, according to online records reviewed by The Times. This is a civil action that allows law enforcement to seize weapons from individuals deemed to be a threat to themselves or others. Carlsbad police did not respond to a request for comment or for a copy of the original order filing Wednesday evening. However, a copy obtained by CBS 8 shows that FBI agents detained the 20-year-old after learning he was allegedly plotting a mass shooting with 15-year-old Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow. Authorities say Rupnow shot and killed a teacher and a teenage student and injured six others at Abundant Life Christian School in Wisconsin on Monday, before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. “During an FBI interview, Paffendorf admitted to the FBI agents that he told Rupnow that he would arm himself with explosives and a gun and that he would target a government building,” the restraining order states, according to CBS 8. Los Angeles Times Public Safety News If you’re coughing, sneezing, and sick, you’re not alone. Flu rates are on the rise Flu rates have been rising steadily in recent weeks, according to new data released to KTLA by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. For the week ending Dec. 7, 10.8% of specimens tested for the flu were positive. This shows a significant increase in recent weeks, with positive test rates rising from 1.9% to 2.4%, then to 4.6%, 6.1%, and now above 10% of all samples tested. RSV was detected in 6.4% of tested specimens. Graphing on the LA County Department of Public Health website shows a yellow line tracking the flu, which has been rising faster than RSV or COVID-19 cases during the same period. Despite all the talk about the flu and RSV, COVID-19 remains an issue in LA County. The Department of Public Health says that since the surveillance season started on Sept. 29, 11 influenza deaths have been identified through death certificate surveillance. Over the same period, there were 83 COVID-19 deaths identified. The LA County Department of Public Health continues to suggest that anyone six months and older get updated vaccines against the flu, RSV, and COVID-19. KTLA 5 California earthquake warning app is now available on more devices. Here’s how to get it California’s free earthquake early warning app is now available for Mac computers and Chromebooks — a major expansion of access for the warning system, which has been available for years on cellphones. The MyShake app, developed by UC Berkeley, is one of the most popular ways to receive earthquake early warnings generated by the U.S. Geological Survey’s ShakeAlert system, which provides alerts in California, Oregon and Washington. The app has been downloaded nearly 4 million times since it launched in late 2019. MyShake was already available on iPhones, iPads and Android phones. UC Berkeley is also working to make MyShake available for the Windows operating system, said Richard Allen, director of the Berkeley Seismology Laboratory. More than half a million people in California got early warnings through MyShake on Dec. 5 for a magnitude 7 earthquake that struck in the Pacific Ocean 30 miles off the Humboldt County coast and Dec. 9 for a magnitude 5.7 earthquake centered about 50 miles southeast of Reno, which was widely felt across Central California. Los Angeles Times 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. Listen To Our Podcast Los Angeles Police Protective League | 1308 W 8th St | Los Angeles, CA 90017 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Our Privacy Policy | Constant Contact Data Notice