Email from Los Angeles Police Protective League Daily News & Updates   Law Enforcement News Singer D4vd identified as suspect in connection with death of Celeste Rivas, LAPD says Singer D4vd has been identified as a suspect in connection with the death of 15-year-old Celeste Rivas, whose decomposed remains were found in September inside a Tesla at a Los Angeles tow yard, according to an LAPD source with direct knowledge of the investigation. That same source said the 20-year-old artist has not been cooperative in the investigation. Police tell NBC4 Investigates that Celeste's death likely occurred in the spring and that D4vd likely had help in dismembering and disposing of the body. D4vd's lawyers did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment Tuesday. Celeste, who disappeared in the Lake Elsinore area last year, was identified through forensics. The medical examiner is still working to determine a cause of death. She was last seen April 5, 2024, in the western Riverside County community. Details about the circumstances surrounding her disappearance were not immediately available. Her decomposed body was found Sept. 8 after workers at Hollywood Tow reported a strong odor coming from the Tesla registered to the singer. Officers opened the front trunk, also known as a frunk, and found the remains in a bag, police said. Law enforcement sources told NBC News that the remains were not intact. NBC 4 Person dead, another injured after high-speed crash in Van Nuys A person is dead and another was injured after a high-speed crash in Van Nuys early Wednesday morning. Investigators are trying to figure out if the driver who survived this crash might have also been involved in a hit-and-run that took place in the area a few minutes earlier. The Los Angeles Police Department believes speed was a factor in this crash. They said just before 1 a.m., the driver of a gray Scion was going north on Kester Avenue when he collided with a Prius going west on Saticoy Street. It's unclear if someone ran the light, but investigators believe the driver of the Scion was going fast at the time of the collision. The driver of the Prius was pronounced dead at the scene, the LAPD said. The driver of the Scion was taken to the hospital with moderate injuries. A man, who didn't want to be identified by CBS LA, said he lives down the street and ran to the scene after hearing the crash. He added that some of his neighbors tried helping the drivers. CBS 2 Man accused of sparking Palisades Fire will not be released from custody Jonathan Rinderknecht, the man accused of starting one of the most expensive disasters in American history in the Palisades Fire, will continue to be held in federal custody, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday. A judge ordered that Rinderknecht be detained, meaning he will remain in federal custody without bond while the criminal case against him remains pending. DOJ officials said no further details would be released. The 29-year-old resident of Melbourne, Florida, was arrested last month on suspicion of sparking the deadly blaze. He appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom on Oct. 23 and pleaded not guilty to federal charges for destruction of property by means of fire, arson and setting timber on fire. Prosecutors allege that Rinderknecht, who lived in the L.A. area and was working as an Uber driver at the time, intentionally started a fire along a hiking trail in the Palisades area just after midnight on New Year’s Day. Two passengers from separate Uber trips told investigators that he appeared agitated when they drove them to their destination. Rinderknecht allegedly drove to the Skull Rock Trailhead, attempted to contact a friend, and then walked up the trail where the original fire was started. KTLA 5 LA County man to plead guilty to possessing Molotov cocktail during anti-ICE protest A Los Angeles County man is expected to plead guilty Wednesday to possessing a Molotov cocktail during a summer protest in downtown Los Angeles stemming from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. Wrackkie Quiogue, 27, of Long Beach, has agreed to enter a plea to a single federal count of possession of an unregistered destructive device, which carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. An affidavit filed with the charge contends that Quiogue possessed a Molotov cocktail on June 8 while holding a lighter during protests near federal buildings in downtown Los Angeles. The document alleges Los Angeles Police Department officers saw Quiogue with the device and quickly arrested him, but he threw the device as he was attempting to flee. "When protesting crosses the line into violence, the penalties will be severe," First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement when Quiogue was charged. ABC 7 Man Beaten Unconscious Near Florence Rail Station An assault adjacent to the Florence Metro station in an unincorporated area bordering Vernon and Huntington Park left a man unconscious and interrupted train service. The attack, reported as an assault with a deadly weapon, was reported at 7:12 a.m. Tuesday in Florence-Firestone., according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Deputies found the victim severely beaten, according to the watch commander at the Century Sheriff’s Station. It was not clear what, if any weapon was used in the attack. The man was taken to a hospital, but an update on his condition was not available early Tuesday afternoon. “This morning, a person was assaulted adjacent to the A Line Florence Metro station and was transported to a local hospital,” Metro Media Relations Communications Director Jose Ubaldo said in a statement. MyNewsLA Investigators fear heavily armed California man impersonated law enforcement Investigators with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office are concerned that there may be unreported incidents of a 29-year-old man with an arsenal of weapons and ammunition, as well as tactical gear and law enforcement patches, representing himself as law enforcement, officials announced. An investigation into Dalmin Muran was launched after the 29-year-old was repeatedly spotted at several local schools engaging in suspicious activity and “escalating behavior,” according to a SCSO news release. Additionally, Muran had reportedly claimed to others that he had prior military service when he did not and expressed an interest in working as a law enforcement officer. SCSO Sgt. Amar Gahndi declined to get into specifics but told the Los Angeles Times that investigators “received a few messages about alarming interactions” with the 29-year-old, adding, ‘I’ll leave it at that.” Muran was arrested on Nov. 11, sometime after he was spotted at night on the campus of a high school in East Sacramento County wearing military-style clothing and night-vision goggles. When he was told to leave, he complied but argued with security that he should be allowed access because schools are “public grounds.” KTLA 5 BWC: 3 Colorado officers shot in separate ambushes during search for rifle-wielding suspect before fatal OIS The Pueblo Police Department released body-worn camera footage showing a search for a homicide suspect that led to the ambush shootings of three officers at three separate times, including one who was shot in the head, according to a critical incident release. The March 18 incident began when officers launched a search for a suspect on the FBI Southern Colorado Safe Streets Taskforce’s Wanted Criminal list because of an attempted homicide warrant, according to the department. When two officers arrived in the search area, the suspect walked by on a sidewalk, armed with a rifle. He immediately began firing shots at them as they parked their cruisers, dash camera footage released on Nov. 13 shows. The man fired 27 shots at the officers within 8 seconds, according to the department. One of the officers was struck in the head by the gunfire and incapacitated, and the suspect fled the scene on foot. Body camera video from the wounded officer shows he had put the car in park seconds before he was struck by gunfire through his windshield. The second officer started rendering aid to the first officer. A bystander, who was an Army veteran, assisted the officer in rendering aid, allowing the officer to communicate details to dispatch. PoliceOne Texas college students’ lead in 1991 cold case murder leads to arrest The Arlington Police Department has announced an arrest in a 1991 cold case murder, due in part to the work of college students, CBS News reported. Janie Perkins, 63, was arrested and charged with capital murder – terroristic threat in the death of Cynthia Gonzalez on Nov. 8, according to the report. Gonzalez was reported missing on Sept. 17, 1991. Her body was found five days later. She was shot five times. The new lead in the case came about after students in a criminology class at the University of Texas at Arlington reviewed cold cases. As part of a class launched at the beginning of the fall semester in partnership with the police department, the students were placed in small groups and given cold cases to examine. The group of students reviewing Gonzalez’s case raised questions about Perkins after finding that she never gave an alibi for the time of the murder and had failed polygraph tests, according to the report. She had also made statements indicating she was glad Gonzalez was dead. Polygraph tests are not admissible in court and Perkins denied her involvement during the initial investigation. Arlington detectives were able to reopen the case, and after doing so, learned that witnesses came forward who claimed Perkins told them she was involved in the murder, according to the report. PoliceOne Public Safety News Firefighters rescue 2 in Central-Alameda box truck crash Two people are hospitalized after a box truck crashed into a commercial building in the Central-Alameda neighborhood of South Los Angeles. Los Angeles Fire Department crews responded at 4:08 a.m. to 1774 E. 21st St. west of South Alameda Street where the victims were freed from the wreckage by firefighters, LAFD spokeswoman Margaret Stewart said. The victims- whose names, ages and genders were not immediately known - were taken to a hospital in unknown conditions. The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety has been contacted to evaluate the structure of the building, Stewart said. NBC 4 Apartment Fire Erupts in Exposition Park A fire at an apartment building in the Exposition Park neighborhood near downtown Los Angeles was quickly extinguished Wednesday. Fire crews responded at 3:52 a.m. to the three-story building at 1458 W. 37th Place between Halldale and Normandie avenues where they found the fire inside a closet, said LAFD spokeswoman Margaret Stewart. It took firefighters 26 minutes to extinguish the flames. No injuries were reported. MyNewsLA More rain coming to L.A. this week, with a new storm set to hit Thursday The soggy weather that has drenched Southern California since the weekend has mostly moved out of the area, giving residents a brief respite from the rain before another storm moves in later in the week. “Some showers will linger today over the southern waters and interior mountains,” but otherwise the region should be dry on Wednesday, according to a National Weather Service forecast. Another storm is lined up to hit the Southland on Thursday, however. That storm is expected to drop from half an inch to an inch of precipitation, and 1 to 2 inches in some mountains or the hills. That’s on top of the 0.74 inches of rain that fell on downtown L.A. in the 24-hour period that ended at 9 p.m. Monday. Before that, the weekend storm that began Friday brought 2.68 inches of rain to downtown. The upcoming storm, for now, is not expected to be “nearly as wet as the storm we had this weekend,” the weather service said. Drier, warmer weather is expected starting this weekend and over the Thanksgiving holiday week. For the 24-hour period ending 9 p.m. Monday, Porter Ranch received 1.61 inches of rain; La Cañada Flintridge, 1.5; Northridge, 1.43; Bel-Air, 1.21; Castaic, 1.15; Van Nuys, 1.12; and Beverly Hills, 1.11. Los Angeles Times 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. 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