Police continue investigation into deadly crash that killed juvenile suspect in Westchester

Police are still investigating a crash that left a juvenile suspect they were previously chasing dead in Westchester in late March. Police say that back on March 28 at around 1:30 a.m., a burgundy SUV was being pursued by officers for possible DUI, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. However, due to the high rate of speed, "officers disengaged from pursuing the vehicle." A short time later, police say that the driver of the SUV ran a red light at the intersection of Century Boulevard and Sepulveda Boulevard, where it collided with a compact sedan. "The crash caused the SUV to lose control and collided into a pole causing fatal injuries to the juvenile driver," LAPD's statement said. "Two other occupants, a 19-year-old man from Los Angeles, and a 22-year-old man from Hawthorne, ran from the scene but were apprehended moments later by Airport Police officers." Both of those men were taken to the hospital for treatment on minor injuries. They were interviewed by police afterwards. The juvenile driver was declared dead at the scene. He has still not been identified. As their investigation continues, police ask anyone who may have witnessed the collision to contact them at (213) 924-3621. 

CBS 2

Man, 28, arrested in alleged monthlong armed robbery spree in Los Angeles

A 28-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a string of armed robberies at 7-Eleven stores across Los Angeles and authorities believe he may have other victims. For nearly a month, between April 9 and May 7, investigators with the Los Angeles Police Department say Jesus Javier Contreras-Reyes hit multiple convenience stores, robbing them at gunpoint. In each of the instances, the 28-year-old entered the store, selected an item as if to make a purchase and then approached the counter. In footage of one of the robberies, Reyes pulls out cash to pay for drink while the cashier rings him and opens the register. “He then produced a semi-automatic handgun from his waistband, racked the slide and demanded money from the cashier,” LAPD said in a news release. “After obtaining U.S. currency from the register, the suspect fled on foot before leaving the scene in a vehicle.” In at least one of the holdups, a customer walked into the store just as Reyes returned the gun to his waistband and was pulling money from the till, while watching the patron walk behind him. LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division, in coordination with the South Gate Police Department, conducted a thorough investigation into the robberies, which led to the 28-year-old’s identification.  

KTLA 5

California girl, 10, found hours from home with man she met on Roblox

Court documents are shedding light on the alleged abduction of a 10-year-old girl from California’s Central Valley by a 27-year-old man whom she met through the popular gaming portal, Roblox. When the defendant, Matthew Naval, picked her up in Taft, California, the girl thought they’d go to a park near her home to hang out, she told investigators. But as they talked and drove, they decided to go to another park, one a little farther away. She got distracted during the drive, the girl told investigators. It wasn’t until three hours later that she realized she was nowhere near her home. “Once I realized we were far away from my house, I did want to go home, but I did not actually ask him to take me home because I did not know how to ask that,” the girl told Kern County sheriff’s investigators, according to newly-released court documents. “I was thinking about how to ask him, though,” she said. Naval was arrested on April 13 after the two were found together in his car at a strip mall in Elk Grove, over 250 miles north of Taft.

KTLA 5

Hawaii man raped California teen, stabbed her 59 times. Decades later, he’s sentenced to life

More than 40 years after the naked body of a 15-year-old Palo Alto girl was found tied up and covered in blood near a bus stop, the man responsible for the long-unsolved slaying was sentenced to life in prison. Gary Ramirez, 78, of Hawaii was sentenced Monday after pleading no contest to the brutal 1982 rape and murder of Karen Stitt, the Santa Clara County district attorney’s office announced. He is eligible for parole after 25 years. The victim was sexually assaulted and stabbed 59 times in her neck, chest, abdomen and back, according to a medical examiner’s report. The killer left his blood and semen on her body, but investigators were unable to identify a suspect at the time. The case went cold for decades until new DNA technology and a community tip led investigators to arrest Ramirez at his Maui residence in 2022. “Over 40 years ago, Karen Stitt lost her life, but she was not forgotten,” Santa Clara County Dist. Atty. Jeff Rosen said in a statement Monday. “Today, thanks to a dedicated detective, a persistent prosecutor, and our crime lab, the person responsible is behind bars.”

Los Angeles Times

California serial killer may be linked to 45-year-old Oregon cold case

Oregon State Police have identified a man who was found dead on the side of a highway more than four decades ago, and investigators say his death is likely connected to a serial killer who was arrested in California in the 1980s. On July 18, 1980, Oregon State Police found a man's body on the side of Interstate 5 in Woodburn, about 30 miles south of Portland. Despite an investigation at the time, officers weren't able to figure out who the man was, until now. Last month, thanks to help from the Orange County Sheriff's Department, Oregon investigators were able to identify the man as Larry Eugene Parks. Parks was a 30-year-old Vietnam War veteran who had lost contact with his family in 1979, and was last seen in Florida. Now, officials are saying that convicted serial killer Randy Kraft, also known as the "Scorecard Killer," is the only person of interest in the investigation. "There’s some evidence that we’re processing to determine that link," Oregon State Police spokesperson Kyle Kennedy told the Associated Press. "We are very confident that we have the correct person of interest."

FOX 11

‘Sextortion’ scam linked to California teen’s suicide leads to 4 arrests in West Africa

Three years after a California teen killed himself as a result of being “sextorted” online, authorities have arrested four men in Ivory Coast for their roles in an international scheme that targeted thousands of victims around the globe, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Ivorian law enforcement arrested Alfred Kassi, Oumarou Ouedraogo, Moussa Diaby and Oumar Cisse on criminal charges relating to the sextortion scheme, which involved people being threatened and coerced into sending explicit images online, the Justice Department announced last week. The scheme targeted people, including minors, throughout the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, France, Spain and Italy. Among the victims was Ryan Last, a 17-year-old high school senior from San Jose. Last, who planned to attend Washington State University, killed himself in February 2022, hours after being sextorted online by someone pretending to be a 20-year-old woman, authorities said. The teenager had paid $150 to prevent intimate images he had sent from being disseminated.

Los Angeles Times

4 linked to California-based cargo theft ring tied to Mexico arrested

Several suspects have been arrested in connection with the theft of more than $1.5 million in cargo from various locations across Southern California, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. Investigators believe the suspects are linked to thefts utilizing "fence" locations to store stolen cargo before being transported to Tijuana, Mexico. Between December 2024 and January 2025, a Southern California-based cargo theft crew targeted Camarillo, resulting in over $500,000 in property loss. An investigation revealed the theft crew used stolen vehicles to navigate Camarillo and targeted semi-trucks to steal large trailers filled with retail property. The stolen goods were transported to "fence" locations, with final destinations in Tijuana, Mexico. The investigation led to the recovery of stolen cargo valued at approximately $1.5 million. Victims of the cargo thefts include East Coast-based company E-Lo Sportswear, Amazon, Craftsman, Samsung, TJ Maxx, and Converse.

FOX 11

Video: New Mexico deputies disarm children, ages 7 and 9, after standoff with loaded gun

Deputies with the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) encountered a situation in February that Sheriff John Allen said would “shock the conscience of Bernalillo County.” Two boys — ages 7 and 9 — stood in a front yard, passing a loaded handgun back and forth. Drone and body camera video released by BCSO on May 8 shows deputies working to convince the boys to put the gun down during the Feb. 16 incident. One deputy can be heard telling them, “You’re not in trouble.” Another pleads, “This isn’t a game.” At one point, a deputy yells that they’re trying to help. The boys continue to handle the weapon. Deputies discuss their limited options, including deploying a less-lethal round. A less-lethal round was eventually fired to distract the boys. Allen said that at that point, one of the boys raised the gun and pulled the trigger. But the firearm malfunctioned. Had the gun gone off, Allen said, “our deputies could have taken deadly force. That would not have gone well with anybody in the nation.” Video shows deputies move in and safely disarm the boys. The Feb. 16 incident ended without injury and the firearm was seized. 

PoliceOne

Driver gets 6 years for running over NYPD officer while attempting to flee 2021 traffic stop

A reckless driver who ran over a police officer with his car, breaking her leg, while trying to evade a traffic stop in the Bronx has been sentenced to six years in prison, the Bronx District Attorney’s office has announced. Usman Haruna, 27, led police on a high-speed chase in his black SUV when cops tried to pull him over for driving with an expired license plate around E. 194th St. and Marion Ave. in Fordham, according to court documents. At points during the chase, Haruna drove into oncoming traffic and onto the sidewalk before crashing his car around 6 p.m. on Dec. 12, 2021, the documents stated. But when a police officer approached the car to grab the keys, Haruna accelerated, running her over and dragging her for about 30 feet before crashing into another car, where cops were able to apprehend him. “For over a mile and half, the driver weaved in and out of traffic, ran red lights and stop signs, and put the lives of drivers and pedestrians at risk,” Bronx DA Darcel Clark said in a statement. “After crashing his car, he attacked an NYPD Officer who entered his vehicle, then accelerated and drove over her, injuring her. The defendant now faces the consequences of his callous disregard for an officer’s life.”

New York Daily News

LA Gen Medical Center Needs Help ID’ing John Doe Patient

Social workers at Los Angeles General Medical Center Monday sought the public’s help in identifying a man who has been hospitalized there for nearly two weeks. The man, believed to be about 63 years old, was admitted on May 3 after being found at Seventh Street and Flower Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, according to officials. He is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, 172 pounds, with gray hair and black eyes. Anyone with information regarding his identity was urged to call the Los Angeles General Medical Center Department of Social Work at 323-409-5253.

MyNewsLA

Investigation into false evacuation alerts sent during L.A. fires places blame, calls for more regulation

After conducting an investigation into Los Angeles County’s faulty emergency alerts during the deadly January wildfires, U.S. Congressman Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) issued a report Monday calling for more federal oversight of the nation’s patchwork, privatized emergency alert system. The investigation was launched by Garcia and more than a dozen members of L.A.’s congressional delegation in February after L.A. County sent a series of faulty evacuation alerts on Jan. 9, urging people across a metropolitan region of 10 million to prepare to evacuate. The faulty alerts came two days after intense firestorms erupted in Pacific Palisades and Altadena. The alerts, which were intended for a small group of residents near Calabasas, stoked panic and confusion as they were blasted out repeatedly to communities as far as 40 miles away from the evacuation area. In “Sounding the Alarm: Lessons From the Kenneth Fire False Alerts,” Garcia’s office reports that Genasys, the software company contracted with the county to issue wireless emergency alerts, said a technical error caused the faulty alert to ping across the sprawling metro region.

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.