Alleged members of LA gang with ties to Mexican mafia arrested after search warrants served

Several alleged gang members with ties to the Mexican mafia were arrested following a multi-agency operation in San Pedro early Tuesday morning. Seventeen state and federal search warrants were served at various locations across the neighborhood as part of a multi-year investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations. Several other agencies helped carry out the operation. The investigation targeted the Rancho San Pedro (RSP) gang which "operates under the control of Mexican Mafia members who are incarcerated in California state prisons," according to an FBI press release. The gang is estimated to consist of 500 members. Eight out of fourteen individuals were taken into federal custody Tuesday, as well as five others who are facing state charges. "They think that they can exist with impunity. They think they can go ahead and carry out these various criminal deeds and no one will stop them," L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said during a press conference. "Today marks one of the best days to make that point crystal clear to these violent crime organizations that we will stop them."

ABC 7

Sicilian man said to work for Mexican Mafia charged with racketeering in L.A. gang bust

Salvatore Nania has not set foot in his hometown of San Pedro since 1995, when he was arrested at 17 for murder. But according to law enforcement authorities, being locked up hasn’t stopped him from running drug and protection rackets in his old neighborhood. Nania, 47, was accused Tuesday of leading the Rancho San Pedro gang from his cell in the California prison system. Authorities arrested 13 people on charges of selling drugs, possessing illegal weapons and collecting protection money in the harbor area. While high-ranking federal and local officials proclaimed Tuesday’s arrests as removing “the head of the hydra,” a closer look at court and law enforcement records indicate that Nania is more of a mid-level manager than chief executive. The son of Sicilian immigrants, Nania is alleged to be an associate of the Mexican Mafia, an organization of about 140 men who hold sway over Latino gang members behind prison walls and in the streets of Southern California. No full-fledged members of the Mexican Mafia were charged in Tuesday’s operation.

Los Angeles Times

Hit-and-run driver injures LA Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky's staffer, kills her dog

A staff member for Los Angeles Councilwoman for Katy Yaroslavsky was recovering from her injuries Tuesday after she was struck by a pickup truck Sunday morning. The Los Angeles Police Department told NBC4 Investigates exclusively that the woman was taking her dog for a walk in the area of 8th Street and Cloverdale in the Miracle Mile neighborhood at around 8:30 a.m. Sunday when she – and the dog – were struck by a Toyota pickup truck. When the truck, which may have run a stop sign, pulled over, the passenger from the car got out, but the people in the truck quickly took off from the crash site without offering to help the victim, according to the LAPD. The victim was taken to a hospital in serious condition with fractured bones. The dog was pronounced dead once it was taken to a veterinarian. The female driver of the truck surrendered to the authorities later on Sunday. Despite being booked for a felony hit-and-run charge, she was cited and released due to LA County’s no-bail policy, which allows suspects to be released with a promise to appear in court for arraignment and other legal proceedings.

NBC 4

Los Angeles man pulled from car and beaten in road rage incident

Los Angeles police are investigating a road rage incident near Baldwin Hills, where a man pulled another driver out of a car and beat him. The victim, Adam Berry, said he was driving on La Cienega Boulevard on Sept. 23 when he encountered a slow-moving work truck that was towing a Toyota Camry. "It was going slow, but there are three lanes, so I went around him," Berry said. "No honking. Nothing." About a half mile down the road, the other driver approached his window and berated him with expletives and anti-gay slurs, according to Berry. "I roll my window down and he starts screaming at me," he said. "I've been in LA for 15 years now, so it's nothing too unusual, unfortunately ... I do remember processing, I should probably not be sticking around for this. I don't want to be stuck at a light with this guy." Berry said he drove through traffic, at times cutting people off, before stopping at the intersection of La Cienega and Obama Boulevard. 

CBS 2

Woman hides in bedroom during home invasion on Los Angeles’ Westside

A woman in the Beverlywood neighborhood of Los Angeles was forced to hide in a bedroom and call 911 during a home invasion Tuesday night, just a few days after another multi-million dollar home on the same street was targeted. The incident was reported at a home on Bolton Road around 11:15 p.m. when the suspect, or suspects, broke in through a glass door. The woman heard the noise and called police after going to a bedroom and locking herself inside, news video service RMG News reported. The intruders were gone by the time authorities arrived at the scene, but neighbors said this wasn’t the first break-in in this neighborhood. Another incident was reported on the same street on Sunday night. Police are seeking surveillance video or witnesses who may be able to assist in the investigation. No suspect descriptions have been released. Reports that the home belongs to a social media influencer have not been confirmed by police.

KTLA 5

Tow truck driver killed in hit-and-run while assisting vehicle on Los Angeles freeway

A tow truck driver working on a disabled vehicle was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver on the 110 Freeway early Tuesday morning, authorities said. The incident was reported shortly after 1:30 a.m. on the southbound side of the freeway near Florence Avenue. Investigators learned that a motorist traveling southbound on the freeway fled the scene after striking the victim, who was working on a vehicle on the right shoulder of the freeway, California Highway Patrol Officer Gomez said. The unidentified tow truck driver was pronounced dead at the scene by Los Angeles Fire Department personnel. Authorities later found the vehicle that struck the victim, but the driver had already fled the area on foot, the spokesperson said. Anyone with additional information or video of the incident was asked to contact the CHP.

KTLA 5

Uber driver accused of intentionally starting fire that destroyed Pacific Palisades

The most destructive inferno in Los Angeles history, which charred a devastating path through Pacific Palisades and Malibu in early January, was a rekindling of a fire that erupted days earlier near a popular hiking area, federal investigators said. Authorities on Wednesday also announced the arrest of 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht, who is suspected of setting the initial fire on New Year’s Eve. Rinderknecht, of Florida, was charged with maliciously starting what eventually became the Palisades fire. Among the evidence that was collected from his digital devices was an image he generated on ChatGPT depicting a burning city, said U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. “While we cannot undo the damage and destruction that was done, we hope his arrest and the charges against him bring some measure of justice to the victims of this horrific tragedy,” Essayli said. The finding affirms a long suspected theory and comes after a nine month probe into the cause of the Palisades fire, which charred 23,400 acres and leveled more than 6,800 structures, including many homes in Pacific Palisades and Malibu. Twelve people died in the fire.

Los Angeles Times

Missouri officer shot, killed during SWAT standoff

A Sikeston police officer was shot and killed in the line of duty during a SWAT operation in Mississippi County, Missouri, KSDK reported. Officer Henry Franklin, 41, a member of the Sikeston Department of Public Safety’s Tactical Team, was fatally struck by gunfire shortly after 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 6. The SWAT team attempted to serve an arrest warrant at a residence when the suspect, wanted in connection with a homicide earlier that day, barricaded himself inside and opened fire. The team had initially tried to reach the suspect using phone calls and a loudspeaker, but he began shooting from inside the home before shooting Franklin and continuing to fire at officers. The suspect was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Negotiations and the standoff lasted for several hours. Around 12:30 a.m., a second SWAT team from Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop C entered the home and found the suspect dead inside.

PoliceOne

BWC shows man attack NYPD officer with knife inside precinct before fatal OIS

The NYPD released body camera footage showing the moments that led up to an officer being slashed in the face and an officer-involved shooting that followed. The Sept. 7 incident began when the suspect walked into the rear lobby of the 73^rd precinct stationhouse, according to the release. An officer approached the man to speak with him, as that area of the station was off-limits to visitors, CCTV footage shows. While the officer was speaking to him, the man pulled a knife from his pants and began to attack the officer with it. Two other officers responded, and the man fled on foot. Officers pursued the suspect and caught up to him before ordering him to drop the knife, CCTV and body camera footage shows. Officers ordered the suspect to drop the knife. The suspect did not comply and advanced toward one of the officers while still holding the knife. The officers then opened fire, striking the suspect multiple times.

PoliceOne

1 dead in fire at University Park apartment

A man was found dead Tuesday after firefighters knocked down an apartment fire in Los Angeles' University Park area. The fire was reported at about 2 p.m. in the 2000 block of south Portland Street in the community southwest of downtown Los Angeles. The fire was in a unit on the second floor of the three-story apartment building. "I just take a look outside of my apartment, and I can see on the top of my building a huge cloud of smoke. And I said, 'Oh my god, this is wrong,'" said Alejandro Cazares. After putting out the fire, a person was found dead inside a back bedroom of the unit where the blaze began. Although officials have not released the identity of the deceased, he was described as being in his 50s. "I probably see him multiple times," Cazares said. "Never share anything with him or something. But yeah, it's pretty bad to hear that." Details about how the fire started were not immediately available.

NBC 4

2 People Hospitalized After Apartment Fire in South LA

Two people were injured Tuesday in a fire at a seven-story apartment building fire in the Vermont Knolls area of Los Angeles — a blaze fire officials said stemmed from an electric scooter’s lithium battery. Thirty-four firefighters responded around 5:10 p.m. to the 8500 block of South Vermont Avenue to battle a residential fire that was knocked down in 22 minutes, according to Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Margaret Stewart. Paramedics took a 10-year-old girl and a 70-year-old woman to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Hazardous materials personnel were called to the scene to investigate, which is customary in fires involving lithium-ion batteries, Stewart said.

MyNewsLA

LA Council Preliminary Approves Ordinance to Raise Trash Fees

The City Council Tuesday gave preliminary approval to an ordinance allowing them to increase trash collection fees, the first rate adjustment in 17 years, with the rate hike expected to hit customers next month. In April, council members instructed the Bureau of Sanitation and City Attorney’s office to draft the ordinance to update fees for its trash collection service, formally known as the Solid Resources Program. On Tuesday, council members voted 12-2 to approve the ordinance, which will require a second vote next week before it can be sent to Mayor Karen Bass for consideration. Council members Adrin Nazarian and Monica Rodriguez opposed the increase while Councilman Curren Price was absent during the vote. City officials have said the rate change is necessary to cover organic waste disposal, staff salaries, maintaining vehicles and equipment and inflation. Under the fee change, single-family homes and duplex buildings will increase 54% from $36.32 to $55.95, and apartments with three to four units will go increase 130% from $24.33 to $55.95. Customers’ bi-monthly bill from the Department of Water and Power will jump to $111.90, for example, once the fees are in effect.

MyNewsLA

About the LAPPL: Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents more than 8,700 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.