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 here for more information. 

Two men who are in the United States illegally have been convicted of helping a third man as he tried to escape to his native Mexico after killing a California police officer, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Jurors on Monday found Erik Quiroz Razo, 28, and Conrado Virgen Mendoza, 34, guilty of conspiring to aid and abet the latter's brother Paulo Virgen Mendoza as he fled. They face up to five years in prison when they are sentenced Jan. 13. Mendoza, who is also in the U.S. illegally, was previously identified by authorities as Gustavo Perez Arriaga, an alias that he used when he was arrested. He has pleaded not guilty to murder in the Dec. 26 shooting death of Cpl. Ronil Singh during a traffic stop.

An ex-con was convicted Wednesday of repeatedly shooting at police officers during a series of gunfights and wounding a police dog in South Los Angeles. After about four days of deliberations, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury found Jose Alfredo Rauda, 36, guilty of a dozen counts of attempted murder and one count of assault of a police animal in connection with the series of gunshots he fired on June 15, 2017, according to Deputy District Attorney David Ayvazian. Jurors also found true allegations that Rauda personally and intentionally discharged a handgun and that he knew or reasonably should have known that the officers were engaging in the performance of their duties.

Los Angeles police Wednesday opened a “Homicide Library” _ believed to be the first of its kind _ of digital files in the hopes it will aid detectives who are investigating cold cases. Ultimately, the library will house large binders known as “murder books” for more than 15,000 solved and unsolved cases across the city and create a centralized digital database for records going back to 1960. “It changes everything for families like mine,” said LaWanda Hawkins, whose 19-year-old son was killed in 1995. “This is a blessing.” Currently, the library stores nearly 5,000 cases between 1990 and 2010 from the LAPD South Bureau.

A man was found shot to death Thursday in downtown Los Angeles’ Skid Row. The shooting happened in the area of Fifth Street and San Pedro. Police called to the scene just after 3 a.m. on the report of someone down in the street found a man who had been shot several times in the chest. The man, described only as being in his 50s, was pronounced dead at the scene. The body was covered by a white tent and remained in the street in front of a row of homeless tents on the sidewalk. The shooter was last seen running eastbound on Central. Investigators have not recovered a gun, and say they don’t believe anyone else was hurt.

A suspected intoxicated driver was in custody Wednesday after a pedestrian was critically injured in a crosswalk in the Vermont Square area of South Los Angeles. The crash was reported at the intersection of West Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard and South Budlong Avenue at about 6 a.m., Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Jon Pinto said. The driver attempted to flee the scene after striking the pedestrian but was followed by a witness, Pinto said. Authorities were able to locate the suspect, who was taken into custody on suspicion of DUI, police said. Aerial video from Sky5 showed a car with a broken windshield stopped in an area marked off by crime scene tape. The unidentified 50-year-old victim was transported to a local hospital in critical condition, Officer Chavez said.

Two people were stabbed in Boyle Heights after an argument over a car seat escalated late Tuesday night, police said. A woman with a small child requested a rideshare service around 9:30 p.m. in the 3300 block of Sabina Street, located near the intersection of Lorena and Sixth streets. The argument began shortly after the driver arrived to pick them up, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The rideshare driver noticed the woman did not have a car seat for the young child, and he did not have one available for the child to use. An argument ensued after the driver informed them he would not be able to give them a ride without a car seat. A Good Samaritan heard the woman and rideshare driver arguing and witnessed the woman hit the driver and push him into a bush. The rideshare driver responded by brandishing a knife, according to the witness. The witness stepped in to help when he was stabbed, LAPD said.

Los Angeles police raided an alleged illegal gambling business in the San Fernando Valley, arresting one person Wednesday night. A number of individuals were seen outside the business lying prone on the ground with their hands behind their heads as SWAT officers raided the establishment in the 13100 block of Van Nuys Boulevard in Pacoima. More than a dozen people were initially taken into custody. AIR7 HD was overhead as authorities used a battering ram to open a door. The exact nature of the business and type of activities that allegedly occurred inside were not immediately disclosed.

A student at Crenshaw High School in South Los Angeles was arrested today after a loaded gun was found in his backpack. Staff was performing a random metal detection and search operation around 9:30 a.m. at the school at 5010 11th Ave. and the boy was asked to remove his backpack. A search of the pack revealed the handgun, according to Los Angeles School Police Department spokesman Sgt. Rudy Perez. The officer on campus was notified but while the student was being escorted by staff to the school office he fled and ran into the surrounding neighborhood, Perez said. A perimeter was set up and officers began searching the area, Perez said. Officers went to the boy's home, where family members consented to a search, but the boy was not found, Perez said.

A man who fatally stabbed the daughter of a couple he worked with at a downtown Los Angeles garment factory in 2016 has been sentenced to 37 years to life in prison, officials said Wednesday. In September, a jury found 37-year-old Ricardo Augusto Utuy guilty of first-degree murder and attempted murder. Utuy stabbed 3-year-old Ruby Vasquez on Oct. 31, 2016 at the factory where her parents worked, officials said. The couple had brought their daughter to work in the 800 block of McGarry Street, according to the L.A. County District Attorney's Office. "When the girl went to give her father a cookie, the mother saw Utuy running toward the 3-year-old," prosecutors said in an earlier statement. "The defendant then stabbed the girl multiple times with a knife." Ruby was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Officials arrested two men Sunday, Sept. 30 on suspicion of burglarizing roughly $292,000 worth of collectible coins and merchandise over a 10-week period from business in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties. Investigators believe Caleb Jamal Griffin, 20, of Long Beach and Owen Lazaro Thompson, 49, of Las Vegas worked together in 21 separate heists that happened between July and September, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives officials said in a news release Monday. The thefts took place in Fullerton, Covina, Hesperia, Laguna Beach, Laguna Woods, Tustin, Huntington Beach, Rolling Hills Estates, Torrance, Signal Hill, Santa Ana, Lake Forest, Brea, Alhambra and Las Vegas. Authorities arrested Griffin on Sunday while he was allegedly in the process of stealing from Fullerton Coins, 123 N. Raymond Avenue, ATF officials said in their release. Thompson was also taken into custody that day without incident at his home in Las Vegas.

The first West Nile virus death has been reported in Los Angeles County. The public health department says the patient, who is a resident of the South Bay, was hospitalized and died from West Nile virus associated neuro-invasive disease. The victim’s age or gender has not been released. The department says a total of nine cases have been documented in LA County this year. West Nile virus infected mosquitoes, dead birds and sentinel chickens have been reported in the county, the department says. “West Nile virus continues to be a serious health threat to residents in Los Angeles County. We encourage residents to check for items that can hold water and breed mosquitoes, both inside and outside their homes, and to cover, clean or clear out those items,” said Los Angeles County Health Officer Muntu Davis.

California is adopting nearly two dozen laws aimed at preventing and fighting the devastating wildfires that have charred large swaths of the state in recent years and killed scores of people. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that he had signed the 22 bills, saying several also will help the state meet its clean energy goals. The measures largely enact key recommendations from a June report by a governor’s task force and build on $1 billion in the state budget devoted to preparing for wildfires and other emergencies, Newsom said. Newsom signed the legislation as the state approaches the anniversary of the wildfire that killed 85 people and largely leveled the Northern California town of Paradise last November. It’s just short of the second anniversary of the firestorms that raced through the wine country counties north and east of San Francisco, noted state Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat representing Healdsburg in the affected areas. But he said the state is learning from its mistakes.

In a dramatic move designed to ease the challenges facing the region’s poor and homeless people, Los Angeles officials said Wednesday that they were voiding nearly 2 million minor citations and warrants that had kept people trapped in the court system. The announcement is designed to fix a system that has led to many people being repeatedly ticketed and arrested for minor infractions, leading to growing fines and warrants. For homeless people, that has created roadblocks to accessing housing and services. Nationally, big cities have been trying to move away from citations and infractions that according to critics “nickel and dime” those living on the streets into jail cells. Until now in Los Angeles, eliminating citations had been done on a limited basis. A Times data analysis in 2018 found a vicious cycle of homeless arrests. Los Angeles has more than a dozen “quality-of-life” laws — restricting sleeping on the sidewalk, living in a car or low-level drug possession, for example — that police usually enforce with a citation.

With gas prices over $4 a gallon, Californians are already feeling the pain at the pump. Now some local lawmakers are calling for a ban on drilling in the state and for Gov. Gavin Newsom to take bold steps to restrict oil production as well. Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz is one of the local leaders pushing for new regulations. "We need to take some major steps forward, particularly stopping new permits for oil drilling, putting a 2,500 foot buffer around all oil drilling sites and moving to a 100% clean energy future," he said. Gas price research firm Gas Buddy says banning drilling will increase prices, though it is hard to say how much. The firm also says the state will have to import more oil from overseas from volatile regions like the Middle East. The proposals would also impact oil and gas sector jobs, especially in towns like El Segundo where a large Chevron refinery is a key part of the local economy.