Good Morning. Join us on Wednesday, August 25th for the LAPD Training Academy Blood Drive. The event will be held in the Training Academy Gym from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Please visit RedCrossBlood.org and enter sponsor code "LAPDEP" to schedule an appointment. Click here for more information. |
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Detectives Arrest 16-Year-Old In Fatal Shooting Of Shoe Palace Employee
Detectives have arrested a juvenile in connection with the fatal shooting of a shoe store employee who intervened in a fight that erupted during a shoe raffle in Melrose, authorities said late Thursday. Shoe Palace, in the 7700 block of Melrose Avenue, was holding a raffle about noon Wednesday when a fight broke out, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement. An employee called a co-worker, Jayren Bradford, who came to the store to help deal with the situation, police said. When Bradford arrived, he was confronted by people in the crowd. Someone in the crowd drew a gun and shot Bradford, then fled in a sedan north on Genesee Avenue, according to police. Paramedics took Bradford, 26, to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Detectives arrested a teenage suspect about 12:30 p.m. Thursday in the 8100 block of State Street in South Gate and booked him on suspicion of murder, police said. Because of his age, the suspect was described only as a 16-year-old male. Detectives plan to present a murder case to county prosecutors next week, police said. The LAPD said detectives recovered “extensive video” of the shooting and credited numerous tips from the public with helping make an arrest in the case.
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Latino And Black Victims Account For Nearly All Of L.A.’s Surge In Homicides
The surge in homicides in Los Angeles since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic has played out almost entirely among Latino and Black victims, according to a Times analysis of Los Angeles Police Department data. The figures reflect wide disparities in public safety across the city, experts say, as well as compounding trauma for communities of color hit hard by past gang violence and devastated at disproportionate rates by the economic and social upheaval of the last 18 months. Police attribute much of the latest violence to gangs, but the impact has been felt by victims old and young, homeless and housed, sitting in their cars and working a shift. “It speaks to the two Los Angeleses,” said Jorja Leap, a UCLA professor and longtime government consultant on L.A. gangs. “I am deeply concerned.” Kevin “Twin” Orange, a gang intervention worker for the city, said the pandemic is fully to blame, because it undercut so many programs designed to stop violence. He had hoped things would settle down soon but now fears the latest increase in coronavirus cases from the Delta variant will spur more shutdowns — and more violence. “We could find ourselves going back down that dark hole again,” he said.
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Watts Rams Youth Football Program Thrives
Founded by the LAPD, the Los Angeles Rams mentor and inspire student-athletes through youth football program.
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Man Fatally Struck, Dragged By Hit-and-Run Driver In Tow Truck: LAPD
Authorities are looking for the driver of a tow truck who fatally struck a pedestrian and dragged him 180 feet before fleeing the scene in South Los Angeles. The crash occurred about 9:55 p.m. Wednesday near the intersection of Broadway and 54th Street in the South Park neighborhood, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The pedestrian was walking against the “don’t walk” signal in a marked crosswalk when a light-colored wrecker tow truck traveling north on Broadway struck and dragged him, police said. The victim was eventually dislodged. The driver stopped briefly, but left the scene without rendering aid or identifying themselves, police said. Video released by LAPD on Thursday showed at least two people witnessed the crash. Paramedics responded and declared the pedestrian dead at the scene. He is only being described as being between 40 and 50 years old. Anyone with additional information about the crash can call Detective Juan Campos at 213-833-3713 or email him at [email protected].
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1 Dead, 5 Injured During Wrong-Way Crash On The 101 Freeway In Encino
One person is dead and five others were injured, including multiple children, during a multi-vehicle collision on the 101 Freeway in Encino. The crash was reported around 7 p.m. on the eastbound 101 Freeway near the 405 interchange. The California Highway Patrol reported that around 7 p.m. a driver in a 2003 Lincoln SUV was traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes of the 101 Freeway near the 405 interchange. Minutes later, that vehicle crashed into a tractor-trailer on the freeway. The driver of the tractor-trailer tried avoiding the collision but couldn't due to the erratic driving of the SUV driver. A passenger in the SUV was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the CHP and the Los Angeles Fire Department. She was identified only as a female in her 30s but her name has not been released pending family notification. Upon CHP arrival, the driver of the SUV, identified as Cesar Iban Torres, was fleeing the scene on foot. CHP units made contact with Torres and said he was combative with the officers. Torres is accused of physically assaulted the CHP officers and use of force was used on him, the CHP said. Torres was taken into custody and taken to UCLA Ronald Reagan Hospital for treatment. Authorities are still working to determine if alcohol or drugs played a factor in this crash.
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LAPD Releases Dramatic Bodycam Footage Of Arleta Shooting That Left Armed Pursuit Suspect Dead
The Los Angeles Police Department Thursday released bodycam footage of a shooting in June in the San Fernando Valley’s Arleta neighborhood which left an armed reckless driving suspect dead. The shooting of 26-year-old Christopher Garcia occurred on the morning of June 28 on an offramp of the 5 Freeway at Terra Bella Street. The incident began at Branford Street and Dorrington Avenue when officers attempted to stop a reckless driver, according to police. The driver failed to pull over, prompting a pursuit. The chase ended about 10 minutes later after the driver stopped and exited the vehicle after losing control of it in a dirt area of the offramp. An enhanced version of the video shows the suspect pointing what appears to be a weapon at officers. Officers opened fire on Garcia. He was taken to a hospital with gunshot wounds, where he died. A handgun was recovered at the scene. No officers were hurt. The investigation into the case is ongoing.
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LAPD Searching For Missing 7-Year-Old Girl; Mother Sought
Los Angeles police on Thursday were searching for a 7-year-old girl and her 27-year-old mother who have not been seen since a court hearing that awarded custody of the girl to her father. The missing girl is identified as Quin'ye Mitchell and her mother has been identified as Quanique Taylor. LAPD said Taylor is believed to be with her daughter and may pose a danger to her. Quin'ye's parents have an ongoing custody battle for the girl and appeared in family court on Tuesday, according to LAPD. The court found Quin'ye "at imminent risk of harm while in the possession of the Quanique Taylor." The father, Quincy Mitchell, was awarded temporary sole legal and physical custody of the child by the court, according to LAPD. Quin'ye is Black, with black hair and brown eyes. She is about 3 feet tall and weighs 65 pounds. Taylor is Black, with pink hair and brown eyes. She is 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs about 200 pounds. She was last seen wearing a pink dress and pink and gold slippers. Anyone with information regarding the case can contact LAPD at 213-972-7829.
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Authorities ID Boy, 14, Found Shot To Death In Compton
Authorities Thursday identified a 14-year-old boy who was found shot to death in a camper parked in an alley in an unincorporated area of Compton. Deputies responded about 9 p.m. Tuesday to the 4200 block of East San Luis Street, and found that the boy had been shot in the chest, said Deputy Tracy Koerner of the Sheriff's Information Bureau. The boy was identified by the coroner's office as Ivan Villareal. His family told deputies he had been missing since Sunday and that they had reported him missing to the sheriff's department on Monday. While searching for his son on Tuesday, Villareal's father found him dead inside the camper, Koerner said. There was no additional information available. Anyone with information about the case was urged to contact the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Anonymous tips can be called in to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or submitted online at lacrimestoppers.org.
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Beverly Hills Police Looking For Missing Man
Authorities sought public help Thursday to find a man with dementia who was last seen in Beverly Hills boarding a Metro bus. James Kostrach, 67, was last seen at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday near La Peer Drive and Olympic Boulevard, according to the Beverly Hills Police Department. Kostrach was described as white, 5-feet-8 inches tall, 140 pounds, with brown hair and eyes. He was wearing a blue-and-brown plaid shirt, blue jeans, black boots, and a tan cowboy hat. According to police, the North Hollywood man was last seen entering a Metro Route 20 bus that was going toward Westwood. Anyone knowing his whereabouts was urged to call police at 310-285-2137 or 310-285-2125.
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Judge Dismisses Sexual Battery Charge Against Harvey Weinstein In L.A.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge dismissed a count of sexual battery against Harvey Weinstein on Thursday morning, agreeing with a defense motion that the statute of limitations had expired. Defense attorneys for Weinstein, who was indicted on 11 counts of rape and forcible oral copulation in April, filed court papers last month claiming that three of the charges alleging sexual battery and rape were beyond the statute of limitations. Judge Lisa Lench disregarded their arguments relating to two assaults that allegedly took place between 2004 and 2005 but granted their motion to dismiss a 2010 allegation of sexual battery. Although prosecutors initially filed the charge within the statute of limitations, which is 10 years, Weinstein’s defense team argued the April 2021 indictment was beyond that deadline. Lench had initially given prosecutors permission to amend their complaint, before spiking the sexual battery charge Thursday morning.
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Lawyer: Bill Cosby Will Continue To Plead The Fifth In Civil Suit Over Alleged 1974 Assault
Bill Cosby still fears possible criminal prosecution over claims he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl at the Playboy Mansion in 1974, his lawyer claims in a new court filing. For that reason, the comedian plans to continue invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in the civil lawsuit filed by accuser Judy Huth involving the alleged child sex abuse, lawyer Michael Freedman wrote in a filing ahead of a Friday hearing. Freedman told the court that his client — who was released from a Pennsylvania prison in June after that state’s highest court overturned his conviction for sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004 — has concerns the Los Angeles Police Department has yet to fully turn the page on its investigation into Huth’s claims. “Having already been forced to face a malicious criminal prosecution that resulted in an unlawful three-year incarceration, Defendant is not confident that such a risk does not still exist in this jurisdiction and others,” Freedman said in his filing in Los Angeles County Superior Court this week. “Indeed, prior to a stay being entered in this case, LAPD claimed that the Huth matter is an open criminal investigation. Thus, (Cosby) anticipates that if he is forced to sit for a deposition, he will exercise his Fifth Amendment guarantees absent a court order ruling that he has no Fifth Amendment right in this jurisdiction or any others,” Freedman said.
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FBI: SoCal Man Charged In Killing Of His 2 Children With Spear Gun Cited QAnon, ‘Serpent DNA’
Matthew Taylor Coleman, the owner of a California surfing school in Santa Barbara, was charged Wednesday after confessing to using a spearfishing gun to murder his two children in Mexico, citing QAnon conspiracy theories that convinced him "his children were going to grow into monsters," according to an FBI affidavit. Coleman, 40, was arrested after the bodies of his 2-year-old son and 10-month-old daughter were found Monday morning by a farmworker at a ranch near Rosarito in Baja California, said Hiram Sanchez, Baja California’s attorney general. According to court documents, Coleman allegedly said that "he believed his children were going to grow into monsters so he had to kill them." The girl had been stabbed 12 times, and the boy was stabbed 17 times, Sanchez said. Coleman is currently facing a federal charge of the foreign murder of U.S. nationals, the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement.
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CBP Confirms Nearly 2.8-Ton Meth Seizure In Otay Mesa Was Largest Ever At U.S.-Mexico Border
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials confirmed Monday that last week’s discovery of more than 5,528 pounds of methamphetamine at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry was the largest bust of its kind ever made along the U.S.-Mexico border. The methamphetamine, and an accompanying 127 pounds of fentanyl powder that officers discovered Thursday, had an estimated street value of more than $12.9 million, according to customs officials. “This amount of fentanyl and methamphetamine is enough to ruin countless lives and fund transnational criminal organizations,” Pete Flores, CBP’s director of San Diego Field Operations, said in a statement. “I’m proud of our officers’ efforts at all ports of entry within the San Diego Field Office to intercept this and all smuggling attempts.” According to a criminal complaint filed by federal prosecutors last week, 53-year-old Mexican citizen Carlos Gerardo Symonds Saavedra drove a semitrailer through the Otay Mesa cargo entry lanes around 5:30 p.m. Thursday, presenting paperwork that stated he was hauling plastic parts. A computer-generated alert system prompted customs officers to refer the truck to a secondary inspection area, where an X-ray machine detected anomalous packages mixed in with the plastic parts, according to the complaint.
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Man Sentenced To Death In Fatal Shooting Of Tennessee Deputy
A jury on Thursday sentenced a man to death for fatally shooting a Tennessee sheriff’s deputy in 2018 before setting fire to his patrol car with his body inside. The sentence follows the jury's conviction earlier this month of all 10 charges against Steven Wiggins, including premeditated first-degree murder, in the May 2018 killing of Dickson County Sheriff’s Sgt. Daniel Baker. The grisly slaying sparked one of Tennessee's biggest manhunts, stretching over a two-day period. In the sentencing trial's closing arguments, Wiggins' defense described a childhood that included brain damage and severe abuse. The district attorney responded that Wiggins had years to develop since his mother took him away from his abusive father in 2001, is now a father himself, got his high school-equivalent degree and was a plumber. "What you heard a lot of this week sounded like the state of Tennessee versus Scott Wiggins, a dead man not available for questioning,” District Attorney Ray Crouch said of Wiggins' father. Following a five-day sentencing trial, jurors entered their decision not long after beginning deliberations Thursday afternoon, declining the plea from Wiggins' attorney to spare the man's life.
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Chicago Top Cop: Release Of Suspect Charged In Officer's Death ‘An Outrage'
Chicago police Superintendent David Brown late Wednesday issued an angry statement against a federal judge’s decision to release the man accused of making a straw purchase of the gun used to kill Chicago police Officer Ella French. Jamel Danzy, who faces federal charges of conspiring to violate firearms laws, was granted a $4,500 appearance bond pending trial, meaning he will not need to pay bail to get out of custody. At a brief hearing conducted by telephone, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert on Wednesday noted Danzy’s steady employment history and lack of criminal background. Brown was not impressed with the choice, issuing a statement to the media. “To say that I am extremely disappointed in U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffery Gilbert’s decision to release Jamel Danzy on an unsecured bond today is an understatement,” Brown said. “It is an outrage.” The decision sets a dangerous precedent, Brown’s statement continued, “that straw purchasers like Danzy are not a danger to society, despite the fact that his alleged actions directly led to the murder of a Chicago police officer and left another in critical condition.” Federal prosecutors in the case agreed to the terms of Danzy’s release.
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Panorama City Commercial Building Erupts In Flames; Cause Under Investigation
An investigation is underway after a commercial building in Panorama City caught fire early Friday morning. The fire was reported shortly after midnight as flames engulfed the single-story building in the 14600 block of West Titus Street. The building appeared to house a packing company business. Materials used for the business were creating difficult firefighting conditions. The owners said no employees were inside the building at the time of the fire. Crews stopped the fire’s progress as of 2:20 a.m., according to a Los Angeles Fire Department update. Several dozen firefighters were still fighting the blaze as of 5 a.m. Aerial video from Sky 5 showed several pockets of fire still burning in side the structure. Flames were contained to the single structure, which is surrounded by apartment buildings and a nearby school. No injuries have been reported. Investigators are still determining the cause of the fire but said it may have been started by an electrical failure inside the building or by a power pole outside the building.
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COVID Hospitalizations Up 366% Over Past Month In LA County As Virus Surges
With the bulk of new COVID-19 infections occurring among the unvaccinated, the pace of Los Angeles County residents being hospitalized due to the virus has begun rising at an equivalent rate of new cases, while the rate of people dying is also creeping higher, according to figures released Thursday. "For the past few weeks I've been sharing with you that cases have been increasing at twice or more the rate of hospitalizations,'' Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. "However, comparing Aug. 4 with July 4, we see cases and hospitalizations rising at similar rates.” During that time period, infections rose by 387%, while hospitalizations rose by 366%, she said. "This alarming increase in the rise of hospitalizations serves as a stark reminder that this virus causes debilitating and dangerous illness among many who are infected,'' Ferrer said. She said roughly 8% of people who become infected with the virus are now requiring hospitalization, the vast majority of them unvaccinated. Meanwhile, the seven-day average number of deaths has risen to seven, compared to between four and five a month ago.
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Delta Variant Leaves Angelenos Reassessing How To Live Their Lives
After getting his second dose of the Pfizer vaccine in April, Jim Savas resumed working out at his Santa Monica gym. Now, as the Delta variant surges, Savas is still going to the gym — the Peloton bike at home doesn’t quite cut it. He is also planning to fly to Greece soon with his wife, Amy. He believes the vaccine protects him against serious illness and death from COVID-19. He just doesn’t want to get a so-called breakthrough infection and jeopardize his overseas vacation. So he has stopped going to indoor restaurants and bars. “If we did contract the virus, the whole point of getting vaccinated is it’s not going to kill us,” said Savas, 64, who owns a digital communications company. “But right now, we’re under the added pressure that we don’t want anything to kill our trip.” Delta arrived in Southern California just as life appeared to be returning to some semblance of normal. Now, some are exercising a familiar caution, reverting to habits they formed earlier in the pandemic. Others, vaccinated and fatigued by social isolation and restrictions, are reluctant to put their lives back on hold, packing airports, indoor bars and music venues. And for some, including essential workers on the front lines, the pandemic never felt like it was in the rearview mirror.
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Committee Advances Outreach Strategy To Accompany LA Anti-Camping Law
The Los Angeles City Council Homelessness and Poverty Committee Thursday advanced a motion to approve recommendations for a Street Engagement Strategy to accompany a sweeping ordinance to restrict sleeping and homeless encampments in certain areas of the city. The motion will next be reviewed by the Energy, Climate Change, Environmental Justice, and River Committee, but Councilman and Homelessness and Poverty Committee Chair Mark Ridley-Thomas said the goal is to have the full City Council approve the motion before the ordinance goes into effect on Sept. 3. The ordinance was approved by the City Council, with two council members dissenting on July 28, and signed by Mayor Eric Garcetti the next day. Assistant City Administrative Officer Yolanda Chavez told committee members that the office recommends a concentrated engagement process be implemented before enforcing the ordinance for encampments in areas that require a resolution and posted signage, which includes within 500 feet of schools, day care facilities, parks and libraries.
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Traci Park Announces Candidacy For Los Angeles Council District 11
Local attorney and community leader Traci Park officially launched her campaign for Los Angeles City Council District 11. Park, a Venice resident, made the following statement as she kicked off a listening tour of the 11th District. “Our community is in a crisis, and it is a crisis of leadership. Los Angeles is failing in its basic task to maintain a safe, livable city – let alone tackling tough problems like homelessness, our housing crisis, climate change and struggling small businesses," said Park. "LA has the highest poverty rate in California, and some of the highest housing costs anywhere in the country. Our homeless crisis has exploded, our City Hall has been beset by corruption scandals, and for the first time in a century, people are leaving Los Angeles." Park said the City’s own data show that our District lost more jobs than almost any other area of Los Angeles. "Our homeless issues have made Venice and the Westside synonymous with encampments and a symbol of the City’s inability to act on critical issues."
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