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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LAPD: Driver Fatally Hits Man, Pulls Into Sylmar Gas Station To Remove Him From Underneath Sedan
A fatal hit-and-run crash is under investigation Monday in the Sylmar area. The crash happened at about 12:45 a.m. at Foothill Boulevard near Hubbard Street, where a man in his 50s was struck and killed by a gray sedan. The driver was seen pulling into the gas station after the crash to remove the man from under the car, according to police, then drove off. The man may have been homeless. His name has not been released. A reward is available for information leading to the arrest of hit-and-run suspects in the city of Los Angeles.
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Child Killed, 2 Others Injured After Vehicle Crashes Into Wall In East Los Angeles
At least one child was killed and two others were hospitalized Sunday morning after a car that was getting off the 5 Freeway in East Los Angeles crashed into a wall and caught fire. The crash was reported at 2:24 a.m. at Dennison Street and Ditman Avenue, according to the California Highway Patrol. Three children were in the vehicle and one of them was in full cardiac arrest. All the children were taken to the hospital, where one was pronounced dead. The ages and conditions of the other injured children were not immediately available. It's also unclear what caused the crash or who was driving the car.
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Five People Struck By Hit-and-Run Vehicle In Hollywood Hills
Five people were hurt, two critically, when a vehicle slammed into them Sunday evening in the Hollywood Hills near the Hollywood Bowl. The crash occurred about 9:05 p.m. outside 7080 W. Mulholland Drive, Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Margaret Stewart said. A 19-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl were transported to a hospital in critical condition, Stewart said. Three people with minor injuries declined to go to the hospital. The driver of the car failed to stop and render assistance, said Officer T. Noland of the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Traffic Bureau. The car was described as “possibly a white Honda Civic.” The two patients taken to Cedars Sinai Medical Center in critical condition are expected to survive, she said. Officers went to the hospital to speak with the patients. The investigation will include a search for surveillance video, Noland said.
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One Person Stabbed As COVID Anti-Vaxxers And Counterdemonstrators Clash In Front Of L.A. City Hall
An anti-vaccine rally at Los Angeles City Hall turned violent Saturday, with one person stabbed and a reporter saying he was assaulted, according to police and protesters on the scene. A crowd of several hundred people, many holding American flags and signs calling for “medical freedom,” had descended on City Hall around 2 p.m. for the planned rally. A few dozen counterprotesters had amassed on 1st Street near the former offices of the L.A. Times before the clash. A fight erupted on the corner of 1st and Spring streets shortly after 2:30 p.m., as counterprotesters in all black and anti-vaccine demonstrators draped in American flag garb and Trump memorabilia traded punches and threw things at one another. It was not immediately clear how the fight started, though each side quickly blamed the other. One person, who the anti-mask protesters claim was part of their rally, could be seen collapsed in the intersection, bleeding. Police on the scene said the person had been stabbed, and paramedics arrived to take him to a hospital. In the melee, counterprotesters could be seen spraying mace while members of the anti-vaccine rally screamed death threats. One older man screamed, “unmask them all,” and clawed at a woman’s face. Capt. Stacy Spell, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman, said police were monitoring the protest. “We are on scene to maintain order after a fight broke out between Antifa and people gathered for the permitted event. We are aware of one male that was stabbed and is being treated by Fire Department personnel,” Spell said in a statement. “No arrests have been made but [the] investigation is ongoing.”
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Man Wounded In Shooting Near Leimert Park
A man was wounded Monday in a shooting in the Leimert Park area of Los Angeles. The shooting was reported at 12:15 a.m. at 43rd Street and Crenshaw Boulevard, according to Officer Jader Chaves of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Media Relations Section. Witnesses told police they heard multiple gunshots and saw the victim, a 30-year-old man, collapse onto the ground, Chaves said. The victim was taken to a hospital by paramedics and his vital signs were stable, the officer said. No suspect information was available.
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2 People In Custody, 1 Transported To Hospital After Shooting In Elysian Park Friday
Officers with the LAPD responded to a shooting in Elysian Park Friday. According to LAPD, a call of a shooting victim in the 800 block of Academy Road came in at around 4:40 p.m. One person, whose identity has not been released, is being transported to a nearby hospital in unknown condition. Police have two others in custody. The circumstances surrounding the shooting are unknown, though police are still investigating.
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LAPD Searching For Hit And Run Driver Who Seriously Hurt Pedestrian In North Hollywood
Los Angeles police asked for the public's help Saturday to identify a hit-and-run driver who seriously injured a man crossing a street in North Hollywood. The hit-and-run crash happened about 7:15 a.m. on July 3 at the intersection of Laurel Canyon and Magnolia boulevards, the LAPD reported. The man was walking in a marked crosswalk when he was hit, police said. The car that hit the man was described as a dark-colored Tesla Model 3. The driver was making a left turn onto Laurel Canyon, police said. A reward of up to $25,000 is available to tipsters that result in the arrest and conviction of a hit-and-run driver, police reported. Anyone with information on the driver was asked to call the LAPD's Valley Traffic Division at 818-644-8026 or 213-677-8157.
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LAPD Launches Increased Foot Patrols In Hollywood, Staffed With Reserve Officers
The Los Angeles Police Department started a new foot patrol program Friday, adding 15 uniformed unpaid, reserve officers to the Hollywood beat. The new patrol officers are members of the department’s reserve police force, officers who receive the same training as their full-time counterparts, but are unpaid volunteers who have jobs outside of the police force. “Right now, we’re out here letting the citizens in the community and business owners know that we are here,” Officer Sammy Hsu said. Hsu works works in legal information technology for a law firm, but he puts a badge one day a week and goes where he’s needed. “It’s a complete 180 and that’s part of the attraction, at least for me,” the volunteer officer said. “My day job, i sit behind a desk and I help attorneys, but out here, I get to interact with the community and when I go home at the end of my shift, a lot of times I actually feel like I made a difference in the world.” While some are calling for fewer officers on the streets, the LAPD says the reserve officers are the exact bridge this community needs during an unprecedented time. “The more officers we can put out here walking foot-beats and talking to people and interacting with them, we’re gonna make sure, as more people do come out, this is a safe environment to bring your family,” Deputy Chief Blake Chow said. The LAPD has about 400 reserve officers.
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Car Falls From LA Parking Garage, Authorities Respond To Find No One At Scene
A red sedan fell from the seventh story of a Los Angeles parking garage on Friday, prompting response from both the city’s police and fire departments. Reports came in at about 5:40 p.m. that the car, a Kia, had plunged from the downtown parking garage on West Eighth Street, landing on its hood. The car fell approximately 70 feet, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. A representative for the Los Angeles Fire Department said there was no driver and no passengers in the vehicle when authorities arrived on the scene. The investigation was handed off to the LAPD on Friday. A representative for the police was not available to issue any updates as of Saturday afternoon. It remains unclear whether authorities were able to locate the owner of the vehicle. The parking structure, meanwhile, is one of the most recognizable in the city, thanks to its 11,000-square-foot “Harbor Freeway Overture” mural depicting members of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra circa 1991.
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Search Underway For Possibly Suicidal Teen Runaway
Detectives Sunday evening searched for a 14-year-old boy from unincorporated Compton who ran away after telling a relative he felt suicidal. Ronnie Monroe was last seen at 6:05 p.m. in the 11700 block of Willowbrook Avenue, said Deputy Morgan Arteaga of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau. He is described as Black, 5 feet, 5 inches tall, 130 pounds, with green eyes and short black hair and wearing a black shirt with a rose emblem, black-and-gray basketball shorts and black Nike shoes with a blue swish. “His family is extremely concerned for his well-being and is asking for the public’s help in locating him,” Arteaga said. Anyone with information was asked to call detectives at 323-890-5500 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
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Actor Suspected Of Taking Part In Capitol Riot Arrested In Burbank
An actor accused of being in the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol in January and explicitly addressing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on camera identified himself to a crowd on his way out of the restricted building, allowing investigators to track him down and arrest him in Burbank, federal officials said Friday, Aug. 13. Michael Aaron Carico, 33, was taken into custody by federal agents on Wednesday, Aug. 11, according to a warrant issued for his arrest. He was seen in numerous photos and videos captured during the Jan. 6 riot in Washington D.C. states a criminal complaint filed in July. Carico was wearing a camo pattern shirt and dark green baseball cap with the word “NAVY” written in black while holding a camera and standing in the Capitol Rotunda in images released by the Department of Justice. He was also seen climbing a media tower installed outside of the building ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration ceremony.
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California Officer In Critical Condition After Being Shot; Suspect Arrested
Modesto Police Chief Brandon Gillespie in a video posted on Facebook on Sunday evening identified the officer shot Saturday night as Michael Rokaitis, a seven-year veteran of the department. The chief said Rokaitis was in surgery several hours Sunday and remains in critical but stable condition. Earlier in the day, the Police Department confirmed the identity of the man accused of shooting Rokaitis. The jail booking log shows that Modesto resident Jesse James Collins Brooks, 42, faces three counts of attempted murder of a peace officer, with an enhancement for using a firearm. He also faces one charge each of being a felon in possession of a firearm and being a prohibited person in possession of ammunition. Bail is set at $4.5 million. Rokaitis was shot while serving a search warrant late Saturday.
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Slain Chicago Police Officer Ella French Was Part Of Community Safety Team, Often Worked By Newer Cops In City’s Toughest Neighborhoods
On the night Chicago police Officer Ella French was shot to death and her partner badly wounded, the two were working on a roving team tasked with patrolling areas around the city prone to spikes in violence and other crime. French, her partner and a third officer were working what is known as the community safety team. It was a Saturday night in the South Side’s West Englewood neighborhood, historically a part of the city that sees more than its share of shootings. When they stopped an SUV, its driver ran from them and his brother struggled with French and her partner before allegedly shooting both in the head. Chicago police Superintendent David Brown and other top brass have relied on the community safety team to try to quell stubborn violence in the city over the last year. But some department sources have criticized those leaders for allowing too many young and inexperienced officers to work on it. Making street stops carries inherent danger, they said, and too many inexperienced officers in the mix can create the potential for mistakes. Some less experienced officers have been sent to the team when there simply weren’t enough volunteers, finding themselves working in districts they aren’t used to. Brown and the team have also faced criticism in a lawsuit for allegedly using quotas to increase police activity where the community safety team patrols.
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Oregon Deputies Seize Nearly 400 Guns In Agency's Largest-Ever Seizure
Multnomah County sheriff’s deputies seized nearly 400 firearms in back-to-back busts in recent months, one of which was the largest weapons seizure in the agency’s history. Officials executed a search warrant July 29 at a Clackamas County home and found 337 firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition and high-capacity magazines. Deputies also found methamphetamine inside the home, officials said. The bust was the largest weapons seizure in Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office’s history, according to officials. The agency has not disclosed the address of the home. A little over a month earlier, deputies found 44 firearms inside a Gresham man’s home, along with drugs worth an estimated $20,000. “We are seeing an epidemic of guns and drugs on the streets, including residential neighborhoods, of Multnomah County that we have not seen in recent memory,” Sgt. Matt Ferguson, a member of the sheriff’s office’s Dangerous Drug Team, said in a statement. Deputies arrested 42-year-old Lonnie Sahm as part of a months-long drug investigation June 14. While Sahm was in custody, deputies noticed him emptying his pockets of plastic packages that contained blue pills, according to the sheriff’s office.
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Brush Fire Knocked Down In Montecito Heights
A brush fire that started in Montecito Heights Saturday was halted later that same afternoon, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The fire, which grew from 3 to 7 acres over a little more than two hours before it was put out, was reported in the 4100 block of Monterey Road at about 2:30 p.m. The blaze was in medium to heavy brush and 29 fire companies were on scene battling the fire, according to the LAFD. No injuries were reported and no structures were damaged, though units were on standby near Bushnell Way and Terrill Avenue in case nearby homes were endangered by the blaze, according to the LAFD. Cleanup operations are likely to continue into Sunday, according to the LAFD.
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Los Angeles County Reports 3,356 New Cases Of COVID-19
Los Angeles County reported 3,356 new cases of COVID-19 and eight additional deaths on Sunday, though officials said the numbers may reflect delays in weekend reporting. The county also saw a slight increase in the number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus, but a decrease in the number of those patients in intensive care units. According to state figures, there were 1,653 patients in the county with COVID-19 as of Sunday, up from 1,650 the day before. Of those patients, 377 were in intensive care, a drop from the 400 reported Friday. LA County reported 4,229 new cases of COVID-19 and 21 additional deaths on Saturday. Cases have been reported at an average rate of more than 3,000 cases a day for about the past week, and a rise in case numbers can be expected in the coming weeks with increased testing, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Saturday's daily test positivity rate was 3.96%, down 25% when compared to the 4.8% positivity rate one week ago.
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L.A. Wanted The Venice Homeless Shelter Open At Full Capacity. Now It Has A COVID Outbreak
At a city-funded homeless shelter in Venice, 37 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in recent weeks — the largest current outbreak in a homeless facility in Los Angeles. The 154-bed site is on lockdown and no new people are being admitted. This comes after city officials pushed for the site to be reopened at full capacity in the spring despite concerns of medical officials at the Department of Health Services. In mid-May, L.A. city officials organized a call with some of the nonprofit providers that run the largest city-funded homeless shelters. Placing a shelter in Venice has been a hot button issue for years. It was pushed through by Mayor Eric Garcetti and Councilman Mike Bonin over intense opposition and opened just before the pandemic came into full force. The complex, on a vacant Metropolitan Transit Authority storage yard, has multiple buildings. There's a large tent-like structure that is meant to hold 100 adults and trailers that are meant for 54 young adults between 18 and 24. Anger over homelessness in Venice reached new heights in recent months as large numbers of tents popped up on the boardwalk and residents expressed frustration over how many people were living on nearby streets and sidewalks. Throughout June and July the city strove to move more than 200 people from the boardwalk and find them a place to stay. At the time, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 was down and the city was contending with public anger over large encampments. City officials needed more space to put people and wanted shelters to be at full capacity.
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LA County Health Department Now Offering 3rd Vaccine Booster For Immunocompromised People
Inside Luke’s Barbershop in Pasadena, barbers offered free haircuts to people as an incentive to get vaccinated against COVID-19 Saturday, the same day that officials with the health department began offering a third booster shot to people who live with compromised immune systems. “I’m happy to do it because we’re servants. A servant is the greatest thing you can be,” said owner Luke Walker, who hosted the event in hopes of doing his part to help stop the spread of the virus. The event comes as both the Food and Drug Administration, as well as the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, recommend people with severely compromised immune systems get a third dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines to help prevent serious illness or even death. LA County Health officials began offering booster shots Saturday to people who qualified, like organ transplant recipients, cancer patients and others with weakened immune systems. Pasadena’s health department director said they plan to start giving out boosters in the coming days and urged those who think they qualify to speak with their doctors.
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Pentagon Asked To Renew Wildfire Monitoring Program California Firefighters Now Rely On
Seven weeks before an important wildfire monitoring program is slated to lose access to Pentagon satellite data, 31 Democrats from California on Monday demanded the Defense Department commit to continuing the access that firefighters have come to rely on. Since 2019, the Pentagon has been providing data from its classified infrared satellites to help firefighters in California and around the country spot and track wildfires. But that access is scheduled to end Sept. 30, and there is no assurance it will be extended. “Its ending brings new dangers to firefighters on the front lines,” the lawmakers, led by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), and including Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla, wrote to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday. “We believe that the Department must extend this program.” The Los Angeles Times reported last month that Fireguard faced losing access to the military’s material and that the Pentagon was hesitant to permanently renew it. Heeding the praise from fire officials for the program, lawmakers have become more vocal in their concerns in recent weeks.
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L.A. Councilman Lee Says He Disagrees With City’s Plan To Require Proof Of Vaccination
After the Los Angeles City council voted in favor of an ordinance that would require proof of coronavirus vaccination to enter certain businesses as the COVID-19 Delta variant continues to spread, one council member who missed the vote is voicing his opposition. The City Council voted Wednesday 13 to 0 to direct city attorneys to draft the law, though the details would have to be worked out, including where it would apply and how the rules would be enforced. As part of their vote, council members directed city staff to gather feedback from businesses on what types of spaces should require vaccine proof. Once it is drafted, it would go back to the council for final approval. But councilmember John Lee, who represents Council District 12 — including the communities of Chatsworth, Northridge, Porter Ranch and Granada Hills — has said he would not support the ordinance. Lee was absent from Wednesday’s vote because he was exposed to COVID-19 and was exhibiting symptoms, though he tested negative for the virus. It’s unclear when the ordinance would be up for a second vote.
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