‘Gun battle’ in downtown Los Angeles leaves 1 dead

A man died on Sunday morning after what authorities called a “gun battle” in downtown Los Angeles. The shooting occurred at around 4:30 a.m. in the area of 6th and San Pedro streets, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Upon arrival, officers found a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, including wounds to his face. He was pronounced dead at the scene. He’s yet to be identified, pending notification of next of kin. Initial investigations revealed that the man and an unidentified suspect engaged in a “gun battle.” The suspect shot the man and fled the scene, the LAPD said. No suspect description was immediately made available. Police said it’s currently unknown if the shooting was gang related. No additional details were immediately made available.

KTLA 5

Family pleads for hit-and-run driver who killed 4-year-old boy in Los Angeles to turn herself in

Loved ones are pleading for the hit-and-run driver who killed a young boy when she crashed into a building to turn herself in. Family members gathered at the crash site on Saturday to honor 4-year-old Ma’Cya Clark, who was killed in the collision, with a memorial. On March 18, the suspect, a 37-year-old woman, was driving an Infiniti FX35 SUV while the boy and his mother were passengers inside. Investigators with the Los Angeles Police Department believe she was speeding when she lost control of the vehicle and veered off the road. She crashed head-on into the corner of the building near Crenshaw Boulevard and Rodeo Place in the Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw neighborhood of L.A. The woman abandoned the vehicle and later fled the scene in a white sedan. The boy and his mother were transported to the hospital where the child later died from his injuries. His mother suffered multiple broken bones.

KTLA 5

Missing 16-year-old boy last seen in Gardena area found dead, LAPD says no foul play suspected

A 16-year-old boy who went missing in the Gardena area last month has been found dead, police said Sunday. Mohammod Tahir was last seen Feb. 24 around 7 p.m. walking in the 15800 block of South Vermont Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPD said he suffered from unspecified medical conditions. Police said Sunday that Tahir was found dead, with no foul play suspected. Further details were not provided.

ABC 7

Suspect arrested after allegedly pointing gun at LAPD helicopter, barricading at a Chatsworth home

A man was arrested after reportedly pointing a gun at a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter and barricading himself at a residence in Chatsworth Friday. Officers responded at around 2:24 p.m. to a home at the 20000 block of Tipico Street. Video from AIR7 showed the suspect laying face-down next to a pool in the backyard of the home. Two rifles were seen on a table next to the suspect. Officers created a perimeter around the home and closed off nearby streets. Evacuations were ordered for Tipico, Tuba, Lubao Streets and Lemarsh Avenue. At one point the suspect stood up from the ground and started walking around the backyard. He was also seen entering the home through a back door. It is unclear whether he is a resident of that home. Minutes later, he came out of the house with another bag in hand, walked towards the table where the rifles were and appeared to kiss them. He also seemed to start praying. SWAT officers entered the backyard at around 6:15 p.m. and took the suspect into custody. A motive remains unclear.

ABC 7

2 arrested, 1 still outstanding after Amazon driver robbed in North Hollywood

One suspect is still outstanding after police arrested two people in connection with an Amazon driver robbery in North Hollywood on Sunday. It happened at around 11:20 a.m. in the 6900 block of Whitsett Avenue, where the group is alleged to have used bodily force to take packages from the delivery driver, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Officers arrived at the scene after receiving multiple 911 calls, they said. So far, they say that they've arrested two of the three people, one man and one woman, involved in the alleged robbery. They are still looking for the third suspect. It's unclear where the suspects were located and taken into custody. Police also did not say if the driver suffered any injuries in the incident. 

CBS 2

At least 10 vehicles damaged in high-speed hit-and-run crash in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley 

A hit-and-run in the San Fernando Valley damaged nearly a dozen cars, and now the search is on for two people seen running from the scene. According to a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson, officers responded to a call of a traffic collision in the 8500 block of Columbus Avenue in the North Hills neighborhood around 10:40 p.m. Friday. Upon arriving, the officers found at least 10 vehicles had been damaged by one car who had collided with all of them, the spokesperson said. “Two suspects were seen running from the scene,” LAPD said. “They were driving a white Chevy that caused this felony hit-and-run.” Video from the scene shows the Chevy pickup truck said to be driven by the suspects had sustained substantial front-end damage and came to a stop after colliding with a parked sedan. One white SUV was seen on top of a red sedan, apparently having been pushed there by the force of the crash. 

KTLA 5

OnlyFans model suffocated SoCal man while filming Saran Wrap fetish session, police say

As Michael Dale lay with a plastic bag, Saran Wrap and duct tape sealed around his head, Michaela Rylaarsdam sat next to him with a vibrator and a cellphone filming content for her OnlyFans page, police said. Now, the adult entertainer and mother of three has been charged with murder. In April 2023, Dale, 56, paid Rylaarsdam, 29, more than $11,000 to come to his Escondido home and perform BDSM acts, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed by the Escondido Police Department. When she arrived at 6 p.m., Dale appeared intoxicated, but nevertheless she proceeded to spend several hours engaging in fetish acts with him. Dale had several extreme and unusual requests, according to the affidavit. He wanted her to wrap him up “like a mummy” in Saran Wrap. She obliged. He wanted her to Gorilla Glue a pair of women’s boots onto his feet. She obliged. But investigators concluded there was “no evidence” that he “ever requested Rylaarsdam to place a bag over his head and secure it, which eventually caused him to suffocate and die.”

Los Angeles Times

Wife of slain Cal Fire captain is arrested in Mexico

The wife of slain Cal Fire Capt. Rebecca Marodi was arrested Saturday in Mexicali, Mexico, and transferred to U.S. marshals in San Diego, where she will be booked on suspicion of murder, authorities said. Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi, 53, was named as the prime suspect three weeks ago in her wife’s killing on Feb. 17. She was arrested Saturday at a hotel in the Ferrocarril neighborhood of Mexicali, according to the Baja California Citizen Security Secretariat. Mexican state security agents transported Olejniczak Marodi to the U.S. border, where she was released to marshals, according to a news release from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office. She will be booked into custody in San Diego on suspicion of murder, and the investigation into Marodi’s slaying remains ongoing, the release said. Marodi, 49, a decorated Cal Fire captain who helped battle the Eaton fire, was found stabbed to death in her home in the San Diego County community of Ramona. She and Olejniczak Marodi had been married for just over two years.

Los Angeles Times

Louisiana deputy struck, killed by fleeing suspects during pursuit

A St. Tammany Parish sheriff’s deputy who was killed in the line of duty early Sunday was identified by authorities as 37-year-old Sgt. Grant Candies, a nine-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office who also served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Candies was killed shortly after midnight on Sunday morning as he was deploying a spike strip on Interstate 10 near the Oak Harbor exit in Slidell in an attempt to end a high-speed chase led by a 17-year-old driver, according to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office. He was hit by the fleeing driver, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Spike strips are used to stop vehicles by puncturing holes in tires. “Sgt. Candies was an asset to the department,” St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith said in a prepared statement. “He was the kind of deputy every agency hopes to have and someone his teammates routinely reached out to for advice and direction due to his vast knowledge of this job.” Candies began working with the Sheriff’s Office nearly a decade ago and was promoted to sergeant in 2023. That same year he was named STPSO deputy of the year.

New Orleans Advocate

At least 1 bird dead after shed, attic fire in Van Nuys: LAFD 

A shed and attic fire in Van Nuys claimed the life of at least one bird, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. A bulletin issued by LAFD indicates that firefighters were first called to the 7800 block of Zombar Avenue shortly after 11:20 a.m. Saturday. Upon arriving, crews found that a shed behind a two-story home was well involved in fire and exposing adjacent homes. “The fire was reported to have extended to one of the exposures [also making it] a possible attic fire,” LAFD’s original alert said. Power lines were also down on Stagg Street, east of the fire’s location. Multiple vantage points of the fire were posted to the Citizen App which showed black smoke billowing into the air. A later update from LAFD stated that 42 firefighters extinguished the shed fire and attic fire that occurred in the exposed single-family home in 36 minutes. No injuries to residents or firefighters were reported; however, at least one pet bird in the backyard died and other birds were injured, LAFD said.  

KTLA 5

Man seriously injured after falling 25 feet in Canoga Park

A man was seriously injured after falling 25 feet in Canoga Park, according to authorities. The incident was reported at about 2:06 p.m. in the area of 7000 N Topanga Canyon Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. That area is located on a bridge above Bell Creek. According to the LAFD, the man, about 55, fell 25-feet into the wash below the bridge. After being lifted by the fire engine, the man was transported via ambulance to a local hospital. As of 3 p.m., his condition hasn’t been updated from serious.

KTLA 5

Pacoima home intentionally set on fire in controlled burn after explosion forced evacuations

A Pacoima home that exploded was intentionally set on fire in what officials called a controlled burn after "dangerous materials" were found at the property. AIR7 was over the scene around 11 p.m. Friday when crews set fire to the home, causing another large explosion. The controlled burn stemmed from an explosion at the home near Remington Street and Remick Avenue Thursday morning. The blast is believed to have been ignited by fireworks. A man was critically injured with first-degree burns and the home was nearly destroyed. Earlier on Friday, officials said evidence was found of chemicals used to produce fireworks, and Los Angeles police Chief Jim McDonnell said some of those chemicals would react explosively to water -- prompting the decision to do a controlled burn of the property. "All other options have been examined," Mayor Karen Bass said, regarding the controlled burn.

ABC 7

L.A. City Council seeks crackdown on the N-word and C-word at meetings

For the last decade, the Los Angeles City Council chamber has been center stage for some of the meanest, most offensive messages delivered in an open government forum. A few speakers routinely hurl racial slurs, antisemitic phrases or other forms of verbal abuse at council members. They have attacked officials’ looks, their weight, their clothes, their sexual orientation and their gender, curdling the proceedings on a regular basis. On Friday, seven council members took a first step toward pushing back on such language, signing a proposal to prohibit just two of the words. Under their proposal, initiated by council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, audience members could be removed from meetings — or banned from attending future ones — for repeatedly uttering the racial slur known as the N-word or the sexist vulgarity known as the C-word. Harris-Dawson, who is Black, said the frequent use of those words during public comment has put a chill on civic participation, discouraging people from coming to the council’s meetings, which take place three times a week. At times, the use of racist words has led to disruptions among audience members, he said. Harris-Dawson said his colleagues may add more prohibited words to the proposal as it is debated over the coming weeks. But he said those two words in particular “have no political value” — and are meant only to insult a person’s immutable characteristics.

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.