Email from Los Angeles Police Protective League Daily News & Updates Law Enforcement News Texas man charged for plans to throw fireworks at law enforcement during Los Angeles protests A Texas man who allegedly purchased powerful explosives with plans to use them to harm law enforcement officers and government officials during immigration protests in Los Angeles now faces charges after he was arrested last week. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Grzegorz Vandenberg, 48, visited to a travel center in Lordsburg, New Mexico on June 12, in order to buy fireworks. During the purchase, Vandenberg allegedly asked for help in picking out fireworks that could be "thrown directly at people to cause harm," the news release said. "He told store employees that he was prior special forces military and claimed he could make pipe bombs," the release said. "Vandenberg further stated that he was traveling to Los Angeles, California, for the riots, with the intent to kill law enforcement officers or government officials." Staff members at the store told detectives that Vandenberg asked for the largest explosives available and that he asked an employee to "join him and his platoon in California," the release said. CBS 2 SoCal youth soccer coach pleads not guilty to murder of 13-year-old boy A youth soccer coach pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that he murdered a 13-year-old boy who had traveled to Lancaster to see him, along with charges that he assaulted two other teenage boys. A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ordered Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino, 43, to remain jailed without bail while awaiting his next appearance Aug. 18 in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom. Garcia-Aquino is charged with the March 28 murder of Oscar "Omar" Hernandez. The murder charge includes the special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission or attempted commission of a lewd act with a child. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty against Garcia-Aquino. He is also charged with one count each of assault with the intent to commit a sexual offense and lewd act on a child 14 or 15 years old. Those charges involve a different teenage boy who was allegedly sexually assaulted on Dec. 10, 2022, at a home in Sylmar where the defendant was living at the time, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. FOX 11 Valley Village murder suspect linked to 2022 unsolved death of 81-year-old woman, LAPD says Two robbery homicides years apart are now tied to the same alleged killer, authorities said Wednesday. Erick Escamilla, 27, was arrested last month for the murder a 53-year-old man inside a Valley Village apartment in April. He reportedly broke through a skylight and stabbed the victim with a screwdriver. An item of evidence now links Escamilla to the unsolved 2022 murder of an 81-year-old woman in Woodland Hills, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. He allegedly broke into her residence in the 20800 block of Martha Street, brutally killed her and then set the building on fire, LAPD said. The victim was later identified as 81-year-old Ok Ja Kim. Investigators said she suffered sharp and blunt force injuries, and was strangled during a home invasion robbery. Escamilla is set to appear in court next Wednesday. ABC 7 Police investigate deadly hit-and-run in Westlake District near southbound 110 Freeway The Third Street off-ramp of the southbound 110 Freeway in the Westlake District is closed while police investigate a deadly hit-and-run. The California Highway Patrol has issued a Sig Alert for the next couple of hours due to police activity. Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department received calls around 4:30 a.m. about a man who was on the ground near the intersection of Beaudry Avenue between Second and Third Street. When police arrived at the scene, they found a man on the road and pronounced him dead. Police believe he may have been hit by a vehicle and they are investigating the incident as a hit-and-run. CBS 2 Skateboarding Suspect Flees After Stabbing Man in the Back in Canoga Park A man was stabbed Wednesday evening in Canoga Park by a male suspect who fled on a skateboard. Los Angeles Police Department officers responded at approximately 8:10 p.m. to the 6900 block of Canoga Avenue, one block north of Vanowen Street, to an assault with a deadly weapon call, an LAPD spokesman told City News Service. When they arrived, the officers found the victim lying on the ground and bleeding from multiple stab wounds in his back, the spokesman said. The victim was taken to a hospital by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics in an unknown condition, police said. According to witnesses, the suspect fled north on Eton Avenue, two blocks east of Canoga Avenue, on a skateboard. He was described as wearing a white shirt, red shorts, black shoes and a black baseball cap. MyNewsLA Bold ATM heist in goes down in broad daylight in downtown L.A. Police are searching for two men who used an SUV to help steal an ATM in broad daylight on Thursday in downtown Los Angeles. The theft, which was captured by a security camera, occurred outside MariGold Dresses, located on Olympic Boulevard and Santee Street. The shop’s owner said frightened customers watched as the incident unfolded. “We had customers,” Zoila Barrales said. “There was a family here with a little girl.” Surveillance video showed the thieves backing their vehicle onto a sidewalk next to the entrance of the dress shop. “A white SUV operated by a masked individual and a subsequent masked passenger pulled the vehicle onto a sidewalk in front of a business and stole an ATM machine in broad daylight about an hour ago,” the Los Angeles Police Department Central Division posted on X at 4:14 p.m. Police did not provide a description of the suspect, and no injuries were reported. KTLA 5 19 charged in alleged Mexican Mafia conspiracy to kill L.A. rap artist Los Angeles County prosecutors on Wednesday charged 19 people with conspiring to murder a rapper who allegedly angered a member of the Mexican Mafia, a prison-based syndicate of Latino gang members. According to a complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, accused Mexican Mafia member Manuel “Snuffy” Quintero issued an order in 2022 to kill Nelson Abrego, who performs under the name Swifty Blue. In the complaint, prosecutors described a sprawling conspiracy that played out over TikTok messages and recorded jail calls, drawing in prisoners from Kern County, jail inmates in downtown Los Angeles and gang members in Paramount, the southeast Los Angeles County city that both Quintero and Abrego call home. Quintero, 49, was arrested Wednesday and has yet to enter a plea. It wasn’t clear from court records whether he has a lawyer. A longtime member of the Paramount Varrio gang, Quintero has served prison time for assault, manufacturing methamphetamine and false imprisonment, court records show. Los Angeles Times Southern California burglary crew caught in the act; 3 of 4 suspects arrested Three burglary suspects are in custody, but a fourth remains on the loose after deputies were called to a home in Agoura Hills Wednesday afternoon. The residential burglary was reported to be in progress on the 29000 block of Laro Drive when deputies received a call for service at around 4 p.m. “A resident viewed through video surveillance unknown suspects inside the home,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department stated in a news release. Arriving deputies saw several male suspects running from the home and attempted to apprehend them, the Sheriff’s Department stated. Three of those suspects were caught, but a fourth remained outstanding as of Wednesday evening. Anyone with information or video footage that may help in the investigation was asked to contact Detective Torrontegui at 818-878-1808. KTLA 5 NYPD names suspect in torching of 11 NYPD vehicles in Brooklyn The NYPD on Wednesday named and released footage of a suspect, who frequently demonstrated at pro-Palestinian and Columbia University protests, in the recent torching of 11 police vehicles in a Brooklyn parking lot just down the street from a precinct stationhouse. Cops identified Jakhi Lodgson-McCray, 21, of New Jersey, who was caught on video in a bodega near the scene of the June 12 arson incident, according to cops. He acted alone in the vehicles’ torching, according to NYPD officials, carrying the equipment he allegedly used in the arson in a reusable shopping bag, surveillance video shows. “He’s by himself the entire time. Several times during his escape he changes his clothing. He’s wearing a hoodie cinched up so you can’t see his face, and he’s wearing a mask,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said. The suspect has ongoing cases for disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and assault in both Manhattan last month and Queens last year, according to law enforcement. In both cases, he was released without bail. New York Daily News Public Safety News Boy killed in car crash in Sherman Oaks One person was killed while three others were injured when a car crashed into a parked moving van in Sherman Oaks. Fire officials said the crash happened at 10:17 a.m. on Woodman Avenue near Moorpark Street, a busy intersection with shops and restaurants. A 12-year-old boy who was sitting in the front passenger seat of a Lexus sedan was declared dead at the scene, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Investigators said the Lexus crashed directly into the back of the truck, piercing the car’s passenger side. Three others, including the deceased teen's mother who drove the car and 10-year-old brother, were taken to a hospital. Fire officials said another patient was transported for medical reasons, not related to the crash. Investigators said the Lexus crashed directly into the back of the truck, piercing the car’s passenger side. "It was doing what it was supposed to when it’s a delivery truck, especially when it’s an area that’s so dense like this," Sgt. Jose Valle said. "UPS trucks do it. Amazon delivery -- they need to put out cones. They did that." NBC 4 LAFD Extinguishes Fire at Vacant Panorama City Building A rooftop fire at a vacant, one-story, 200-foot by 300-foot Panorama City building has been knocked down Thursday by Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters. Fire crews responded at 3:49 a.m. to 7801 N. Van Nuys Blvd. and Cabrito Road where they found flames coming through the roof at the empty commercial that is in its demolition stage, said LAFD spokeswoman Margaret Stewart. Firefighters have shut down the ladder pipe operations and are transitioning into the overhaul stage using hand lines, Stewart added. It took 88 firefighters 42 minutes to extinguish the fire. The site will remain ”an active scene into the morning,” according to LAFD officials, and drivers are advised to avoid the area due to the large number of apparatus and water supply lines at the street. MyNewsLA COVID ‘razor blade throat’ rises as new subvariant spreads in California COVID-19 appears to be on the rise in some parts of California as a new, highly contagious subvariant — featuring “razor blade throat” symptoms overseas — is becoming increasingly dominant. Nicknamed “Nimbus,” the new subvariant NB.1.8.1 has been described in news reports in China as having more obvious signs of “razor blade throat” — what patients describe as feeling like their throats are studded with razor blades. Although “razor blade throat” may seem like a new term, the description of incredibly painful sore throats associated with COVID-19 has emerged before in the United States, like having a throat that feels like it’s covered with shards of glass. But the increased attention to this symptom comes as the Nimbus subvariant has caused surges of COVID-19 in other countries. “Before Omicron, I think most people presented with the usual loss of taste and smell as the predominant symptom and shortness of breath,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a UC San Francisco infectious-disease expert. But as COVID has become less likely to require hospitalization, “people are focusing on these other aspects of symptoms,” such as an extraordinarily painful sore throat. Los Angeles Times Local Government News LA City Council to declare June 20 as 'Cheech Marin Day' in honor of comedian The city council will proclaim June 20 "Cheech Marin Day'' in Los Angeles to honor the Chicano comedian, actor and art collector, coinciding with the third anniversary of The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture in Riverside. City Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez will lead a presentation in the Council Chambers to recognize Marin. In April, the councilman introduced a resolution to celebrate Marin, which was unanimously adopted by the City Council. Marin was born in South Los Angeles and raised in the San FernandoValley, graduating from Bishop Alemany High School and what is now Cal State Northridge. He formed the comedy duo Cheech & Chong in the early 1970s with his friend Tommy Chong, recording seven studio albums and making six films together before the duo disbanded in 1985. ABC 7 About the LAPPL: Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents more than 8,800 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 | Our Privacy Policy | Constant Contact Data Notice