1 teen shot near North Hollywood High School

A teen was shot outside a Taco Bell, across the street from the North Hollywood High School, on Monday afternoon. The shooting near the intersection of Magnolia Boulevard and Colfax Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Officers said the suspects left the area in two separate cars. Investigators said a teen showed up at a nearby urgent care with a gunshot wound. It was not immediately clear that the teen was connected to the shooting. 

CBS 2

Pasadena fire captain sexually abused children for more than two decades, prosecutors allege

A captain with the Pasadena Fire Department has been charged with nine counts of committing lewd acts with a minor under age 14. Prosecutors allege he sexually abused three victims over a period spanning more than two decades. Christopher James Ramstead, 47, of Thousand Oaks was arrested Wednesday and, if convicted, faces up to 135 years to life in state prison, according to the L.A. County district attorney’s office. He pleaded not guilty Monday and was ordered held without bail. The alleged abuse of three minors took place between March 2003 and July 2025. Prosecutors believe other minors may have been harmed and are asking any additional victims, or people with knowledge of Ramstead’s alleged crimes, to contact the Los Angeles Police Department’s Juvenile Division at (818) 374-5415. Ramstead is a firefighter and paramedic who was hired by the Pasadena Fire Department in 2005 and promoted to the rank of captain in 2016. The city of Pasadena said in a statement that the alleged incidents occurred while Ramstead was off duty. He is on administrative leave while the investigation against him continues.

Los Angeles Times

Suspected DUI driver suffers severe injuries after violent pursuit crash in Los Angeles 

Police officers pursued a suspected impaired driver through Los Angeles early Sunday morning, with the chase ending in a violent crash that left the driver severely injured. According to a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson, officers with the Southeast Division initiated a pursuit of a DUI suspect just before 1 a.m. near Hoover and 95th streets. Not much was known about the chase itself – including whether it traversed freeways or surface streets – but the spokesperson was able to confirm that it ended in a crash near Los Feliz Boulevard and Brunswick Avenue in the Atwater Village neighborhood. The location of the crash is approximately 15 miles north of where the pursuit was said to have started. The LAPD spokesperson was able to confirm that the vehicle rolled over as a result of the crash, which left the driver with serious injuries. Video from the scene shows the truck that was being pursued ended up severely damaged on top of another vehicle.

KTLA 5

Tesla bursts into flames in Los Angeles, 2 hospitalized

Two people were taken to hospitals Monday morning after a Tesla caught fire following a collision in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. The crash happened around 7:45 a.m. on West Nordhoff Street near Mason Avenue. Video shared on the Citizen app showed the vehicle fully engulfed in flames as fire crews arrived, with debris, including a tire, scattered across the pavement and sidewalk. A woman was seen lying on the ground as several people rendered aid. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the fire resulted from a collision involving two vehicles. Fire officials initially reported that three people were hospitalized, but LAPD later clarified that two were transported to area hospitals in unknown condition. The Los Angeles County Fire Department’s hazardous materials unit responded because the fire involved an electric vehicle and chemicals associated with its lithium-ion battery, authorities said.

KTLA 5

Elderly Asians vulnerable to ATM robberies during Lunar New Year, officials warn

People who withdraw a large sum of money for next week’s Lunar New Year could be targeted by robbers, Los Angeles authorities said Monday. As those from Asian American communities often celebrate the holiday by giving cash gifts to relatives, criminals have tried to exploit them through the crime called “bank jogging,” during which thieves wait outside banks and go after people who appear to have withdrawn a lot of cash, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Robert Luna. Among the recent “bank jogging” incidents, an elderly victim, who was leaving a supermarket last March, was confronted by two suspects, who got in his car and ordered him to drive to a bank. The men stole $20,000 from the victim and ran away on foot. “Lunar New Year is a time to celebrate heritage, family, and tradition for many across our county, and we want every member of our diverse communities to do so safely,” Luna said. “Unfortunately, criminals sometimes exploit this season by targeting individuals who may be withdrawing larger amounts of cash to honor cultural customs. Luna encouraged people to conceal their cash when they withdraw money and watch out for people who appear to be following them. 

NBC 4

Los Angeles man, 63, charged in 1996 cold case murder of woman

A 63-year-old Los Angeles man has been charged in a grisly 1996 cold case murder of a 23-year-old woman whose nude body was dumped in an L.A. County drainage ditch. Claudia Guevara was reported missing on Feb. 6, 1996, by her brother, who said she failed to return to their Temple City residence after work. Investigators, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, said the last people to see the 23-year-old alive were two co-workers who dropped her off at an El Monte bus stop. Guevara’s naked body was discovered the following day, approximately nine miles away in a drainage ditch next to Encanto Parkway in Azusa. “She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed in the neck,” prosecutors said in a news release. Some 30 years after her murder, Brian Walton, who would have been 33 years old at the time of the incident, was identified as a suspect through DNA evidence, investigators said. No information was provided on how authorities had access to Walton’s DNA profile, whether that information was accessed from national database or through other means, but investigators did say that he and Guevara did not know each other.  

KTLA 5

BWC: Man suspected of harboring 15-year-old runaway in home points gun at Tennessee officers before fatal OIS

The Knoxville Police Department released body-camera footage from an officer-involved shooting at an apartment that resulted in the death of a 46-year-old man during the recovery of a missing 15-year-old girl. According to the release, Special Crimes detectives were attempting to locate the girl, who had been reported missing and endangered. An Endangered Child Alert was issued by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on Jan. 27. Officers approached the apartment around 10:25 a.m. on Jan. 28, acting on credible information that the girl was inside with a man who was not related to her. Warrants had been issued for Melendez on charges of harboring a runaway, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and theft of a firearm. Police entered the apartment with the consent of the resident. Inside, officers found the man and the girl in a small bedroom. According to KPD, Melendez retrieved a handgun and pointed it at officers. Two members of the Special Operations Squad fired in response. The man was struck multiple times and died at the scene.

PoliceOne

‘This is your unlucky day’: Suspect stabs Ohio deputy in back during fire response

A Butler County sheriff’s deputy who was stabbed in the back while responding to a fire call last week was released from the hospital, according to Sheriff Richard Jones. Deputy Mike Farthing is now recovering at home, Jones said in a statement Friday. “I am extremely relieved that Deputy Farthing is home and resting comfortably. This incident could have been so much worse, and we are very grateful that his injuries were not life-threatening,” Jones said. “Our deputies put their lives on the line every day, often without warning, and this is a reminder of the dangers they face simply by doing their job. We are thankful that Deputy Farthing is on the road to recovery.” Farthing was responding to a report of a vehicle fire in the 7000 block of Myers Road in Madison Twp on Thursday, Feb. 5, when the incident took place. As Farthing assisted with traffic control for responding fire personnel, he was approached from behind and reportedly stabbed by a man who lives at the residence. The sheriff’s office believes the man set the vehicle on fire. According to Jones, the suspect told Farthing: “This is your unlucky day.”

Dayton Daily News

Man in critical condition after being hit by train in Los Angeles

A man was hospitalized after he was hit by a train in South Los Angeles Saturday evening. The man, believed to be about 60 years old, was hit at 328 E. Washington Blvd. in Historic South-Central just before 6 p.m., the Los Angeles Fire Department said in an alert. He was taken to a local hospital in critical condition, and the cause of his collision with a Blue Line train has not yet been disclosed. No train riders were hurt, the LAFD added.

KTLA 5

Hospital needs help identifying man found unconscious in L.A.

A hospital needs help identifying a patient who was found unconscious in the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles. The male patient is around 25-35 years old, according to Dignity Health. He was found unconscious in the 10300 block of North Reseda Boulevard and has been hospitalized since Jan. 21. He stands 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 216 pounds. He has blue-green eyes and dirty blonde hair with a tint of red. He did not have any distinct scars or tattoos. He did not have any personal belongings to help staff identify him or contact loved ones. Workers did not disclose the nature of his injuries. Anyone who recognizes the man is asked to call Dignity Health at 818-885-5312 or 747-242-7866.

KTLA 5

LA Hospital Seeks Help Identifying Jane Doe Patient

Hospital officials Monday asked for the public’s help identifying a woman receiving care at Los Angeles General Medical Center. The patient was brought to the hospital Thursday after being found in the 600 block of North Broadway, officials said. The woman, who appears to be in her early 40s, is Black, 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighs 191 pounds and has short black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about the patient was urged to call Clinical Social Worker Jonathan Evanculla at 323-409-3859.

MyNewsLA

The world’s most poisonous mushroom is causing deaths and illnesses in California

One of the most poisonous mushrooms is blooming across California. Thanks to an exceptionally wet December, death cap mushrooms — or Amanita phalloides — have proliferated along the Central Coast and in Northern California. As a result, there’s been a sudden uptick in the number of people getting sick and dying after accidentally eating the poisonous mushrooms found in the wild. Death cap mushrooms are known to sprout across the state and thrive in shady, humid or moist environments under live oak and cultivated cork oak trees, my colleague Karen Garcia wrote recently. When state public health officials first warned of the dangers of the death cap mushroom in December, significant clusters of reported illnesses had occurred in the Monterey and San Francisco Bay areas. Reported hospitalizations have since grown to include Alameda, Contra Costa, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Sonoma counties. Public health officials issued a second warning last month, cautioning the public against foraging for wild mushrooms, noting that many people mistakenly have eaten the death cap, which when consumed can cause severe liver damage and, in some cases, death.

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.