Good Morning. Join us on October 7 for the LAPPL’s 37th Annual Chief Daryl F. Gates Memorial Golf Tournament benefiting the Officer Needs Help Fund. Click the image below for more information. 

A man who has spent more than 40 years in prison for shooting and killing a Utah Highway Patrol trooper when he was 18 has now been granted parole.

The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole voted to release Brian Keith Stack on Feb. 17, 2020. Stack was driving a stolen pickup truck on Nov. 7, 1978, when he was pulled over on state Route 20 by UHP trooper Ray Lynn Pierson for a minor traffic violation. Pierson was unaware that Stack was a fugitive from Illinois and had just stolen gas in Cove Fort.

Los Angles police took two people into custody after a pursuit on the 118 Freeway ended in a minor crash. The driver of a suspected stolen vehicle led officers on a high-speed chase westbound on the freeway before getting clipped by a driver in an intersection and spinning out of control crashing on a curb in Porter Ranch. The driver and a passenger exited the vehicle and were seen laying face down on the road as police searched the vehicle.

No Charges Filed Against LAPD Officer in Deadly Costco ShootingThe Los Angeles police officer who killed a mentally disabled man inside a Costco store in Corona will not face criminal charges. Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin says a grand jury made the decision, and he will abide by it. The lawyer for the officer says he's gratified, humbled and says justice has been done. The family of the man killed says this does not derail its plans to sue the officer and the LAPD. A grand jury of 19 returned a no bill, meaning its members couldn't agree there was enough evidence for criminal charges in the killing of Richard French inside Costco and the shooting of French's parents, who survived.

Police Wednesday sought additional possible victims of a 22-year-old man arrested in Hollywood on suspicion of grand theft after he was allegedly found with stolen cellphones. Nicolas David Jaramillo-Carbon was arrested about 6:20 p.m. Sunday near the 6000 block of Hollywood Boulevard, near Gower Street, after he was found with five cellphones, “two of which had just been stolen from patrons of a Hollywood area club,” according to a Los Angeles Police Department statement. “The Hollywood area is home to numerous bars, cocktail lounges and nightclubs,” police said. “Oftentimes, customers are distracted by their surroundings and find themselves easy prey for thieves, pick-pockets and other criminals. The Los Angeles Police Department strongly encourages club guests to maintain their (situational) awareness and to always monitor their possessions.”

A volunteer cheer coach in Athens Park has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting five girls he instructed between the ages 9 and 12, the South Los Angeles announced Wednesday. Michael Edmond, 55, was coaching the girls in the South Los Angeles area between June 1 and Sept. 1 when authorities say he sexually abused them. He was charged with seven counts of forcible lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14 and one count of lewd act upon a child under the age of 14. He is being held on $8.8 million bail after pleading not guilty Tuesday. The criminal complaint states he committed a specified offense against more than one victim. Prosecutors said Edmond could face a maximum possible sentence of life in state prison if convicted as charged. The Los Angeles Police Department continues to investigate the case.

Despite a slight dip in the overall number of hate crimes reported statewide, the number of such targeted crimes in Los Angeles County increased last year, reaching its highest point in nearly a decade, according to an annual report by the L.A. County Commission on Human Relations. Black and LGBTQ individuals were those most frequently targeted, the report shows. Of 521 recorded hate crimes in the county, more than half were racially motivated. Crimes targeting members of the LGBTQ community made up 24% of all hate crimes. In 2017, a total number of 508 hate crimes were recorded in the county. There were 482 such incidents in 2016.

A Lakeview Terrace man was jailed without bail Wednesday on charges that he shot three of his neighbors, two of them fatally, during an argument with his family about tire-screeching noises. Richard Chico Nevarez — also known as “Slick Rick” — is charged with two counts of capital murder for the Aug. 28, 2016, shooting deaths of Moises Farias, 68, and Edgar Canaan, 47, along with one count each of attempted murder and assault with a semi-automatic firearm, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The murder charges include the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, along with allegations of use of a handgun and a 2008 conviction for first-degree burglary. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty against the 38-year-old defendant, who was charged April 2.

California Highway Patrol is continuing the search for a driver who fatally struck two pedestrians in South Los Angeles Tuesday night before driving off, as the families of those killed grieve. Paulina Ruiz’s father, 47-year-old Felipe Ruiz, died at the scene Tuesday night after being struck by a speeding gray Mercedes sedan on Normandie and 95th Street. Ruiz’s friend and neighbor, 21-year-old Danny Torres, was also struck. He died at the hospital from his injuries. Paulina said she was cooking cooking dinner for her dad when she asked him to get some soda from a nearby store. Paulina heard the crash and ran out to find her father on the street. When California Highway Patrol Investigators arrived on scene, they found the license plate had fallen off the car as a result of the collision and found that car at a home not far from the crime scene — but they said there was no sign of the driver.

Salinas police say a woman with a cleaver held another woman hostage in the lobby of the police department. The incident happened Wednesday afternoon. Civilian employees and officers were able to subdue the suspect, 22-year-old Mariel Capulong, and get the victim free.

A Los Angeles County resident may have exposed others to measles while traveling through Los Angeles International Airport last week. Officials with the county Department of Public Health said Wednesday that the person showed signs of measles shortly after returning to Southern California. The departure city was not immediately provided. The patient was at LAX on Friday from 11 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Saturday, and spent time at Terminal 5 and aboard a Parking-Spot Century airport shuttle. Terminal 5 houses Allegiant Air, Frontier, Hawaiian Air, JetBlue, Spirit, Sun Country and some American Airlines flights. Those who may have been in the vicinity around the same time are urged to check their immunization records and contact a healthcare provider if they have not been vaccinated. Symptoms of infection can take 21 days to appear from the time of exposure.

A proposal to restrict locations where homeless people can sleep appeared to be dead on arrival Tuesday at a raucous Los Angeles City Council meeting that was disrupted by jeering audience members who shouted “Shame on you” at the council for even considering the idea. On the heels of Tuesday’s raucous day in the council chambers, District 15 City Councilman Joe Buscaino will introduce a motion Wednesday, Sept. 25, for a council resolution calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a State of Emergency for the homelessness crisis in California. Buscaino said such a move would be designed to “speed up service delivery, supportive housing construction and to address the growing public health, safety, and humanitarian crisis on streets and sidewalks across the state.”

In hopes of blocking a proposed housing development, Los Angeles City Councilman John Lee called Wednesday for the city to formally back the preservation of the Hidden Creeks property near Porter Ranch as designated open space.

“Preserving the Hidden Creeks property as open space has been a priority for both the county and city for years,” Lee said. Lee, who represents the northwest San Fernando Valley, introduced a motion instructing the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks to join the county and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy in ongoing discussions aimed at preserving the property. Hidden Creeks Estates and Preserve is a proposed housing development just outside of the city of Los Angeles between Porter Ranch and Chatsworth that abuts the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility. Since the property is outside the of the city, Lee will have to work with the county to make the preservation happen.