Good Morning. It's been two months since the Parker Foundation's 1951 LAPD Squad Car was sent off for much-needed repairs, but as of August 1, 2021, the ol '51 is back home at the Elysian Park Police Academy. If you would like to come by and get your photo taken with the Foundation's LAPD vintage patrol car, click here to see details on how you can schedule a time to do that.
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LAPD Arrest Man Suspected Of Raping Teen Girl After Following Her On Train, Bus
A 45-year-old man suspected of raping a 16-year-old girl after they got off a bus in South Los Angeles was arrested Wednesday. Terry Edward Scott Jr. was arrested around 3:20 p.m. in the 500 block of South San Pedro Street by the Los Angeles Police Department. He was booked on suspicion of rape and kidnapping, LAPD said. Police also said Scott is currently on probation for a narcotics violation and is being held without bail. Police said the attack happened Sept. 26 around 9 p.m. Investigators say the suspect and teen were riding the same Metro train from a station in downtown Long Beach, but were not together. The train was headed northbound to the Los Angeles area. The teen then got off the train and took a bus. The suspect followed her onto the bus. She got off the bus near Vernon Avenue and San Pedro Street. He again followed her. Police say that's when the suspect went up to the teen from behind and grabbed her by the neck. "The suspect forced the victim to a parking lot of an apartment building where he threatened to kill her and then raped her," the LAPD said in a news release last Thursday.
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Former Police Sergeant: BLM, ‘Defund Police Movement' Reversed Diversity Trend In Police Departments
After a heavy defund-the-police push and a surge in violent crimes plaguing cities across America, those cities are seeing a decline in recruiting Black police officers. "It doesn’t surprise me. It’s unfortunate that we have actually hit this point in American history where if you think about it, since the 90s, we have been on this community policing push where we have been trying to increase our ranks of diverse officers in our communities. It only took five years for the BLM movement and the defund police movement to reverse that whole process," said Texas congressional candidate Tre Pennie told "Fox & Friends." The New York Police Department noticed a 14 percent drop in Black officers since 2008. The total dropped from 4,162 to 3,598 this September. Similar declines have taken place in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Chicago. According to a piece in The Atlantic by David A. Graham, police forces are now experiencing a wave of Black police officers reaching retirement age and efforts to replace them have been futile. "Black employment in the Philadelphia Police Department has fallen 19 percent since 2017. The number of Black officers in the Chicago Police Department has dropped by 12 percent since May 2019. Even Washington, D.C., long a leader in minority-police recruitment, has had a 25 percent decrease since 1998, when two-thirds of officers were Black, to 50 percent today, though the city also got whiter over that time period. The LAPD has seen a 24 percent drop in Black officers, from 1,175 in 2010 to 885 today, though the department’s ranks have also shrunk," Graham wrote. Meanwhile, murders have increased 16% across major U.S. cities so far in 2021 compared to 2020, a new report shows.
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LAPD Responding To Report Of Woman With A Gun In Downtown L.A.
A woman armed with a gun attracted police attention in downtown Los Angeles Wednesday night. The Los Angeles Police Department received a report of an armed woman near North Spring and Arcadia streets at about 10:45 p.m., according to Officer William Cooper of the LAPD. Cooper could not confirm if shots had been fired.
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Trial Begins For Man Charged In 4-Year-Old Daughter’s Drowning
A prosecutor told jurors Wednesday that a 4-year-old girl who drowned in a walk-in bathtub at her father’s South Los Angeles home had suffered other recent injuries, including burn marks, while the man’s attorney countered that authorities had no way to prove that the girl’s death was not accidental. Charles Richard Lee, now 26, is charged with murder and assault on a child causing death involving the Dec. 2, 2018, drowning of his daughter, Zaraellia Thompson. The girl — who had been dropped off a few weeks earlier at her father’s home — died at a hospital after paramedics were summoned to the house in the 1500 block of East 42nd Street. The Los Angeles County coroner’s office subsequently classified the girl’s death as a homicide. “Not much about what happened to Zaraellia makes any sense. She was 4 years old when she was dropped off in the care of her father …” Deputy District Attorney Colby Cano told the downtown Los Angeles jury hearing the case against Lee. The girl — who had met her father before but hadn’t lived with him for the first years of her life — was dead about three weeks later, Cano told the jury in his opening statement.
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Police Continue Search For Suspect Caught On Video Sexually Assaulting Homeless Woman In Van Nuys
The Los Angeles Police Department is searching for the suspect who was caught on security video attempting to sexually assault a homeless woman in Van Nuys. The incident happened around 3 a.m. on September 15 near the intersection of Sepulveda Blvd. and Erwin St. The woman was sleeping when a man walked up to her, woke her up and exposed himself to her. Video shows the woman pushing him away; she grabs a cellphone, presumably to call for help. The man was then seen attempting to grab her feet but the woman kicks back and throws at bucket at him. The suspect then walks away; however, he returns minutes later… this time without his pants or shoes and again exposes himself. The woman managed to get away. Police say she was taken to a hospital and later released. Police are now searching for the suspect who appears to be in his 20’s with a cross tattoo on the back of his neck and has a tattoo sleeve. Anyone with information is urged to contact the LAPD.
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LAPD Seeking Public Help To Find Hollywood Hills Hit-And-Run Driver
Authorities Wednesday sought public help to find a hit-and-run driver who injured several pedestrians, one seriously, in the Hollywood Hills in August. The injuries occurred at about 9 p.m. on Aug. 15 on Mulholland Drive near Outpost Drive, said Officer Tony Im of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Media Relations Division. “A vehicle was traveling eastbound Mulholland Drive when it veered in a southeast direction, ran off the road, and collided with multiple pedestrians standing along the south curb,” Im said. The car was described as a four-door 2016-18 Honda Civic, black or dark gray. No description was available of the motorist. A standing reward of up to $25,000 has been offered by the city of Los Angeles for information that helps authorities solve a nonfatal hit-and-run case. Anyone with information on the crime was urged to call the LAPD West Traffic Division at 213-473-0234 or 213-473-0222 and refer to LAPD report number 21-06-10494. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 877-LAPD-247.
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LAPD Seeks Public’s Help To ID Woman Suspected Of Trying To Carjack 81-Year-Old Man
The Los Angeles Police Department is seeking the public’s help to identify a woman suspected of attempting to carjack an 81-year-old man in the Harbor Gateway neighborhood of L.A. Around 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 22, a woman attacked the 81-year-old man and attempted to steal his truck in the 1300 block of West 214th Street, LAPD said in a news release. The man was parking his truck in front of his house when the woman knocked him to the ground, took his keys and attempted to take the vehicle, according to police. The victim was able to engage a kill switch on the vehicle, preventing it from being taken, LAPD said. The woman fled the location on foot and is described as being white with blonde hair, 5 foot, 1 inch to 5 feet, 3 inches, 140 to 150 pounds and 20 to 30 years of age. The man only suffered minor injuries from the attack, LAPD said. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Harbor Area detectives at 310-726-7900 in reference to LAPD report number 21-05-14232.
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Police Seek Public Help To Find Man Who Went Missing In Van Nuys
Police Wednesday sought public help to find a 72-year-old man with dementia who went missing in Van Nuys. Jose Rivera-Firros was last seen Tuesday at about 4:30 p.m. walking in the 7400 block of Sepulveda Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Rivera-Firros is Hispanic, 5-feet-8 inches tall, weighs 115 pounds, and has gray hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a black shirt, dark jeans, and one Adidas shoe. Anyone with information on his whereabouts was urged to call the LAPD Van Nuys Station watch commander at 818-374-9500, 877-LAPD-247 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
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Tarzana Siblings Ordered To Pay $6 Million In Restitution In Workers’ Comp Fraud And Labor Theft Case
A brother and sister from Tarzana were ordered Wednesday to pay more than $6 million in restitution to the State Compensation Insurance Fund in connection with what authorities called a workers’ compensation fraud and labor theft scheme involving the brother’s construction company. Enrique Vera, 51, and Gloria Vera, 60, were also sentenced to one year on probation, and each had already completed 500 hours of community service and one year of electronic monitoring as part of the plea agreement, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Enrique Vera — described by the District Attorney’s Office in 2019 as the owner of Paramount-based Ultimate Inc. — pleaded no contest in April 2019 to one felony count each of workers’ compensation fraud and grand theft of labor, with those counts subsequently being reduced to misdemeanors. Gloria Vera, the company’s office manager, pleaded no contest to one felony count each of workers’ compensation fraud and insurance fraud that were also lowered to misdemeanors.
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Former USC Campus Gynecologist’s Accusers Call For Investigation Of Top University Officials
In their sprawling sexual assault inquiry focused on USC, Los Angeles police detectives traveled the country to interview scores of people about a campus gynecologist accused of abusing young women for decades, a scandal that eventually cost C.L. Max Nikias the school presidency and the university more than $1.1 billion in legal settlements. But there was at least one prominent person detectives never approached for an interview, The Times has learned: Nikias himself. Many of Dr. George Tyndall’s accusers have expressed outrage over USC’s handling of complaints against the physician. They are demanding an investigation into whether Nikias or other administrators sought to cover up the allegations against the doctor, something Nikias has denied doing. “I would like to see a real investigation,” said Allison Rowland, one of hundreds of women who received money from lawsuit settlements USC has agreed to pay Tyndall’s accusers. “If the district attorney isn’t willing to do it, then the state attorney general’s office should — and if the A.G. won’t do it, then a special prosecutor.” But several legal experts said the need for an investigation into whether administrators knew of sexual abuse allegations and failed to act should have been obvious once prosecutors decided they had enough evidence to charge Tyndall with multiple sex crimes. Some of the gynecologist’s former patients also questioned whether USC’s power and influence insulated university administrators from a criminal inquiry.
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Fitness Influencer Cashawn 'Cookie' Sims Reported Missing In Los Angeles County
Police are investigating the disappearance of fitness influencer Cashawn Ashley Sims, who goes by the nickname "Cookie," the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said in a statement. Sims, 30, was last seen in Duarte, California, on Sept. 8, according to authorities, who said her family is concerned for her well-being. Her sister Ca'rynn Sims asked her followers to be on the lookout Tuesday on Instagram. "I never thought there'd come a day of me posting a missing flyer for my sister. We want her covered in prayers, God's grace and to know that she is whole, well and alive," Ca'rynn Sims wrote. She said her sister "abandoned her home, her dog and seemingly her phone which is unlike her." Sims is described as being 5-foot-1, 120 pounds, with black shoulder-length hair and brown eyes. She has tattoos reading "It's found in the soul" on her left collarbone and "Earth" on her left forearm, as well as a tattoo in Spanish writing on her back, authorities said. Authorities asked that anyone with more information contact the sheriff's Missing Persons Unit at (323) 890-5500.
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Zodiac Killer Case Solved? Case Breakers Group Makes An ID, But Police Say It Doesn't Hold Up
The latest of the hundreds of Zodiac Killer theories floated each year emerged this week from a private team of investigators who named a man from the Sierra foothills who died three years ago as the killer, but FBI and police officials say the Zodiac case remains unsolved. The team, calling itself the Case Breakers, said it is basing its theory on several factors, including a similarity in photos of their suspect to a 1969 police sketch of the Zodiac, particularly with what appear to be identical forehead scars, and on anagrams they say reveal their suspect’s name. They also say they have proof that their suspect killed Cheri Jo Bates, a woman slain in Riverside in 1966 that some have attributed to the Zodiac — a theory that Riverside police said in August they have debunked. “I absolutely feel we solved this case,” Tom Colbert, a member of the Case Breakers, told The Chronicle. He said his team, which includes former journalists and law enforcement officers, has been investigating cold cases for 10 years and also believes it solved the D.B. Cooper hijacking-ransom mystery and the disappearance and apparent murder of union boss Jimmy Hoffa. Federal and police investigators tasked with solving the 52-year-old Zodiac mystery, however, said this new tip doesn’t hold up. The Zodiac killed five people in 1968 and 1969 in the Bay Area, his last victim being cab driver Paul Stine in San Francisco, and mailed taunting letters with ciphers to The Chronicle and other newspapers.
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DEA Agent Killed In Arizona Amtrak Shooting Was Noted Leader
A federal agent who was shot and killed by an Amtrak train passenger concealing large amounts of marijuana in Arizona was a revered leader whose career spanned almost two decades, the agency said Tuesday. Michael Garbo, who also went by Mike, was a group supervisor with the Drug Enforcement Administration. He possessed expertise and a manner that “were legendary,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement. Garbo was loved and respected throughout the agency "for his leadership and for his unrelenting passion to protect the safety of the American people,” she said. “Above all else, he was a devoted and loving father and husband.” Garbo joined the DEA in 2005. As a special agent and supervisor, he pursued criminal drug traffickers at the U.S.-Mexico border and in Afghanistan. Members of the law enforcement community took to social media to describe Garbo as an excellent police officer who started out in Nashville, Tennessee. The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said someone with the same name worked there between 1993 and 2005 but could not confirm he was the deceased agent. Gov. Doug Ducey ordered flags at state buildings remain at half-staff until sunset Wednesday in Garbo's honor.
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Traffic Stops Are A Flashpoint For Policing In America. Reformers Are 'Winning Big.'
In the months after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, public defenders in Virginia saw an opportunity to overhaul policing in the state. Among their key priorities to address racial disparities: a ban on traffic stops for such infractions as broken taillights, tinted windows and the aroma of marijuana. What happened next stunned police officials across Virginia. In just three months, the ban the public defenders pitched to Democratic legislators sailed to the governor’s desk and was signed into law. With Covid-19 shutting down the state Capitol and forcing the legislative sessions to take place via Zoom, the law enforcement officials who objected to the bill had failed to galvanize the opposition. In March, Virginia became the first state to prohibit the kind of low-level traffic stops that disproportionately affect people of color and are often used as pretexts to search for drugs and weapons. An NBC News analysis of the early data shows that the measure is having an impact on the percentage of Black motorists searched by police during traffic stops. Long a cornerstone of American law enforcement, the traffic stop has emerged as a flashpoint in the debate over police reform. Many law enforcement officials argue that they’re being stripped of a crucial tool that they say helps to reduce vehicle deaths and remove criminals, guns and drugs from the streets, although the police chiefs and sheriffs interviewed for this article struggled to provide data backing up their case.
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L.A. To Require Proof Of COVID Vaccination At Indoor Restaurants, Salons, Other Venues
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved a new ordinance that requires proof of vaccination against COVID-19 to enter indoor restaurants, shopping malls, movie theaters, hair and nail salons and many other indoor venues. The council was scheduled to vote on the law last week but held off when Councilman Joe Buscaino said he would withhold his vote after raising concerns about how the new rules would be enforced. Buscaino ultimately voted against the ordinance after council members did not agree to several amendments he proposed, including one that would make it a crime to harass or interfere with any employee trying to enforce the rules. He also wanted city analysts to report back on funding sources to help small businesses comply and to ensure police could handle any increased calls tied to the new rules. No one seconded his motion to amend the law. Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas said the amendments were significant and deserved more vetting in council committees before council members could make a “thoughtful” decision about them.
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COVID Vaccine Mandate At Large LA County Outdoor Events Takes Effect Thursday
Beginning Thursday Oct. 7, anyone aged 12 and over attending a large-scale outdoor event in Los Angeles County with 10,000 people or more -- such as college and pro football games -- will be required to show proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative test taken within 72 hours. The mandate will apply to any ticketed, outdoor gathering of 10,000 people or more, including sporting events, concerts and even theme parks such as Six Flags Magic Mountain and Universal Studios. All attendees, regardless of vaccination status, must wear a face covering at events. The rules will be in effect at Saturday's USC football game against Utah at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC Athletic Director Mike Bohn sent out a memo this week reminding fans of the requirement, noting that the definition of "fully vaccinated" means a person must have received a final dose of the vaccine at least two weeks ago. Sunday's game between the Chargers and Cleveland Browns at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood will also be affected.
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LA City Council Redistricting Commission To Present Draft Map
The Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commission will hold its first of four meetings Wednesday night to present the public with its draft map for new council district boundaries. The draft map defines borders for 13 districts, leaving details out of Councilman Paul Krekorian's District 2 and Councilwoman Nithya Raman's District 4. The borders for those two districts have yet to be determined, and one of the council members could end up in a district with entirely new constituents. "Last week the LA City Redistricting Commission moved forward with a proposed map that effectively 'erases' our district in its current form. This happened despite the fact that the minimal changes in population in LA show no basis whatsoever for such drastic shifts," Raman, who was elected to represent that district in 2020, tweeted Tuesday. She told constituents that she could either lose all but 29% of her current constituents, or lose all of them. Krekorian emailed constituents ahead of the commission's vote to advance the map to warn that it could move his district out of the Eastern San Fernando Valley and shift it to the west San Fernando Valley, with him no longer representing North Hollywood, Valley Glen, Studio City, Sun Valley and Valley Village, which could be shifted to Raman's district.
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Buscaino Seeks Stricter LA Anti-Camping Laws Through 2022 Ballot Measure
After the Los Angeles City Council rejected Councilman Joe Buscaino’s attempts to prohibit unhoused residents from camping in public spaces after already being offered temporary shelter, the councilman introduced a motion on Wednesday, Oct. 6, seeking to turn the idea into a ballot measure in June 2022. The motion, which was seconded by Councilman John Lee, would create a ballot measure to: Create a citywide ordinance to prohibit camping in all public areas if shelter is available and offered; Require the city to prioritize immediate emergency shelter; and provide the mayor with the authority to cut red tape and urgently build emergency homeless housing. The chair of the City Council Homelessness and Poverty Committee, Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, called the move by Buscaino, who is also running for mayor, “pure political grandstanding.”
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