Law Enforcement News Off-duty LAPD officer shot, killed while house hunting with girlfriend in attempted robbery An off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer was shot and killed Monday night during an attempted armed robbery on the city's south side while house hunting. An off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer was shot and killed Monday night during an attempted armed robbery on the city's south side while house hunting. "Officer Arroyos’ death is a grim reminder that safety on the streets of Los Angeles is fleeting and that there is a growing disregard for human life and overt violence festering in our city. There is absolutely no reason why a promising young officer looking to invest in the very community he served is no longer with us," the union added in a memorial post on Arroyos’ death. Fox News 5 People Detained In Connection With Death Of Off-Duty LAPD Officer Killed During Robbery Attempt Five people have been detained after an off-duty Los Angeles police officer was shot and killed during an apparent armed robbery attempt in the Florence neighborhood of South L.A. According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, three men and two women were detained in Florence Tuesday afternoon in connection with the death of 27-year-old Fernando Arroyos. Arroyos, who was a 3-year veteran of LAPD assigned to Olympic Division, was shot near 87th and Beach streets Monday night. Investigators say a black pickup truck approached him and three suspects got out. Some type of argument ensued before an exchange of gunfire, in which Arroyos was struck. Officials said he was house hunting with his girlfriend at the time of the shooting. The sheriff's department says no one has been charged with the murder of Arroyos and the names of the five people detained are not being released at this time. Early Tuesday morning, a procession escorted Arroyos' body from the hospital to the coroner's office. ABC 7 Suspect Arrested In Connection To Fatal Shooting Of South L.A. Taco Bell Worker Authorities have made an arrest in connection with the fatal shooting of an employee at a Taco Bell in South Los Angeles. Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore announced the arrest at a Tuesday night vigil for 41-year-old Alejandro Garcia, who was shot and killed Saturday night shortly before 11 p.m. at the Taco Bell on the 9900 block of Avalon Boulevard, near Century Boulevard. Investigators say a man in a car in the drive-thru lane shot Garcia after an argument. According to police, the shooting started after an argument that started when Garcia’s 19-year-old son, who was working alongside him that night, allegedly refused to accept what appeared to be a counterfeit $20 bill from a customer in the drive-thru. Officers arrested Jonathan Madden, 39, at his home in South L.A. Monday in connection with the fatal shooting, LAPD said in a news release. He is being held on $2 million bail. During Tuesday night’s vigil, family members shared that Garcia was a father of three children and worked at the fast-food chain one night a week to earn extra money for his family. KTLA 5 Son Stabs Parents In Playa Del Rey Home, Kills Father A son killed his father after a verbal dispute escalated to a stabbing in their Playa Del Rey home. Another victim was transported to the hospital. As of 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, authorities have not released the identities of the victims. The Los Angeles Police Department responded to a home in the 200 block of Redlands Avenue after receiving reports of a stabbing. Upon arrival, officers found two people stabbed inside their home, one of whom, a 70-year-old man was stabbed multiple times. Authorities declared him dead at the scene. According to police, the altercation began as a verbal dispute between the father and his son before it escalated. The condition of the other victim, a 57-year-old woman, is unclear at this time. The woman’s relationship with the victim or the suspect is unknown. LAPD said that the suspect fled the scene before police arrived. According to police, the suspect crashed his car into a light pole about three miles away at the intersection of Manchester Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard, after which he fled on foot. LAX police and LAPD found the suspect at the corner of Sepulveda Eastway and Westchester Parkway. The two agencies detained and placed the suspect in custody at gunpoint. CBS 2 Family Of Los Angeles Banking Executive Beaten To Death Demand More Serious Charges From Progressive DA The loved ones of a Bank of America executive who was found beaten to death inside her home are pressing for special circumstance charges to be filed against her alleged killer as Los Angeles County's top prosecutor faces criticism and a recall effort over his progressive policies. Michelle Avan, 48, had recently been promoted to a senior vice president position when she was killed by her former boyfriend, a colleague, Anthony Turner, authorities said. She was found Aug. 5, 2021, inside her home in Los Angeles' Reseda neighborhood. Avan's loved ones are frustrated with District Attorney George Gascon's office for not filing special circumstances charges against Turner, saying he could be possibly be freed on parole after 10 years if convicted. "He's eligible for anything that a murderer should not be eligible for," Avan's brother, Patrick Miller, told Fox News. Turner is charged with murder and first-degree burglary. He was released on bond days after his arrest. Fox News has reached out to Gascon's office. Avan's loved ones plan to rally Thursday in front of the DA's office to pressure him to file stronger charges. FOX News More Than 800 LAPD Personnel Out Due To COVID Cases of COVID-19 continued to surge in the Los Angeles Police Department this week, with more than 800 personnel now at home sick or quarantining, officials said. LAPD Chief Michel Moore told the civilian Police Commission during its morning meeting Tuesday that there were 562 new cases among department personnel in the prior week alone, after 424 new cases the week before. A total of 803 personnel in the department of about 12,200 were out. Those figures represent a massive increase from the 82 new cases the week ending on Christmas, and from less than 30 new cases per week as recently as a month ago, Moore said. There were 89 officers out sick or quarantining a month ago. KTLA 5 Man Pleads Guilty In Kidnapping Of Elderly Woman At VA Center In West LA A man pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges stemming from the abduction of a 68-year-old woman with dementia at the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center. David R. Tscherny, whose age and hometown were not immediately available, entered the plea to one count each of kidnapping and interference with commerce by extortion, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Sentencing was set for July 22. Tscherny and a co-defendant grabbed the woman — identified in court papers as E.C. — from the VA Medical Center last July 19 in order to steal about $17,500 from her checking account, federal prosecutors said. Co-defendant Johnny Ray Gasca, 51, of Bronx, New York, was arrested hours later outside a Hollywood motel, and the victim was rescued, according to court papers. A friend of the victim told investigators that she recognized Gasca, believed he previously was in some kind of relationship with the victim, and suspected Gasca may have previously taken some money from her bank and retirement accounts, prosecutors stated. MyNewsLA.com LA County Says Crime Has Spiked Near RV Encampments, Proposes Crackdown The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to take steps to break up RV encampments that have proven to be hot spots for crime and provide safe overnight parking alternatives. Supervisor Holly Mitchell recommended updating data on locations where crime has increased around RV encampments and also encampments within 500 feet of schools. The last comprehensive county report was completed in 2018. "The amount of crime that has increased around RV encampments is unprecedented," Mitchell said. "The sheriff's department reported a 68% increase in calls near stations regarding crime within and around RV encampments. This is really an entirely new crisis that we need to address with absolute urgency for the health and safety of all of our residents." Mitchell said the effort was intended to ultimately lead to housing and supportive services for people living in unsanitary and unsafe conditions. Supervisor Hilda Solis said it is an increasing problem in the First District that she represents and also stressed the need to provide housing and related services. "In many ways, that is their home," Solis said. FOX 11 LA County Officials Warn Of Fake COVID-19 Tests, Identity Theft As the demand for COVID-19 tests surges along with infections due to the Omicron variant, officials are warning of fraudulent tests online and at pop-up locations. Sellers of fake tests are also stealing patient data for purposes of identity theft, according to Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger. “The harder it is to find a testing site, the more individuals that are predators … are going out and doing illegal activity with kits that are not even accredited and stealing identities of patients,” Barger said. Barger asked county staff to come up with an enforcement plan for cracking down on fraudsters as well as an educational campaign to alert the public to the risk and point them to legitimate resources. “It is imperative that the board ensure residents can be confident that they are receiving an accurate and a legitimate test without risking their private information,” Barger said, reading from her motion. “These (fraudulent sites) are popping up on street corners,” she warned. The Federal Trade Commission sent out an alert last week warning about fake tests online. The FTC cited the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in warning Americans that “fake and unauthorized at-home testing kits are popping up online as opportunistic scammers take advantage of the spike in demand.” MyNewsLA.com Supervisors Vote In Favor Of $30,000 Per Day Fines For Illegal Cannabis Fines for cannabis grow operations and illegal dispensaries in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County will soon be set at up to $30,000 per day, based on a vote by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday. The board voted unanimously to introduce an ordinance that includes the new penalties. Another vote will be required to formally adopt the ordinance, but that is largely an administrative matter. Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Sheila Kuehl co-authored the motion recommending the new ordinance, which Barger had championed in order to crack down on massive grow operations in the Antelope Valley. Those operations have diminished and contaminated water supplies with dangerous chemicals, posed public safety threats to neighbors and increased the risk of wildfires, Barger said. “Illegal grows, though, are not just occurring in the open spaces of the Antelope Valley. Homes are being gutted and converted to indoor grows to grow hundreds of plants,” Barger said. “This motion is not about making cannabis illegal. This motion is about protecting the consumer and the community against the unforeseen impact of illegal cannabis cultivation.” Kuehl said she was in full agreement. “Large-scale illegal cannabis operations cause huge public safety and environmental safety concerns,” Kuehl said. “It includes water theft, damage to our fire hydrants, just stealing water to make this happen. This water is a great loss to our communities that are imminently threatened by wildfires.” CBS 2 The Mistake That Finally Got Robert Durst Caught Robert Durst was able to evade legal repercussions throughout his life through disguises, different aliases, address changes and, finally, death. Durst, 78, died of natural causes at 6:44 a.m. Monday at a hospital near Stockton, according to a statement by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Several people associated with Durst ended up missing or dead, though he was able to dodge justice for nearly four decades. His first wife, Kathleen McCormack, disappeared in New York in 1982. His close friend Susan Berman was murdered in 2000. Durst admitted to killing and dismembering his neighbor, Morris Black. He said he inadvertently shot him while wrestling a gun from him. A jury acquitted him in 2003. Durst has also been investigated for his alleged ties to other cold cases. His alleged crimes became the subject of podcasts, movies and even merchandise. The trend of people around Durst disappearing in mysterious circumstances inspired the title of “The Jinx,” a six-part HBO documentary series that chronicled his strange life and the suspicions surrounding him. The biggest reason why Durst managed to avoid being charged for so long appears to be a lack of evidence tying him to crimes. But “The Jinx” presented a damning piece of evidence that he struggled to explain away. Los Angeles Times Suspect Sought In Shooting Of New Mexico Cop; Bodycam Video Released A federal agency has made the search for a man who allegedly shot a Farmington officer a major case and has increased a reward for reliable information leading to his arrest to $10,000. The United States Marshals Service has doubled the reward from $5,000 to $10,000 for reliable information leading to the arrest of Elias Buck, according to a Farmington police Facebook post. Buck is accused of shooting Farmington Police Department officer Joseph Barreto on Jan. 7. Barreto was investigating a reported DWI case on the night of Jan. 7 when he located Buck and his girlfriend Victoria "Rossi" Hernandez walking in the area of North Fairview Avenue and 10th Street. When told he was being detained, the 22-year-old Buck allegedly pulled out a firearm and shot Barreto. Court documents say the defendant and his girlfriend then fled the scene. Area and state law enforcement conducted an exhaustive search for the escaped La Plata County jail inmate on Jan. 8, but were unable to locate him. The officer is recovering at San Juan Regional Medical Center after surgery. Buck is described as 185 pounds, six feet and one inch tall with blonde hair and green eyes. Farmington Daily Times 2021 Was Deadliest Year Ever For Law Enforcement, Report Says Line of duty deaths increased 55% in 2021 from 2020 among law enforcement officers nationwide, according to the 2021 Law Enforcement Officers Fatalities Report from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF). A total of 458 officers died in 2021, according to the preliminary data. That number includes officers at the federal, state, local, military, tribal and territorial levels. The leading cause of death, COVID-19, was responsible for 301 line of duty deaths. The largest category of death was “other” at 338 deaths – a 63% increase in that category from last year. The “other” category includes COVID-19 deaths. Officers in that category also died from health-related incidents, natural disasters and non-firearm-related violence. The second and third largest categories for duty deaths were firearms- and traffic-related fatalities. Below are some notable statistics from the NLEOMF report. Firearms-Related Fatalities - Firearms-related incidents killed 62 officers in 2021, a 38% increase from the 45 officers killed in firearms-related incidents in 2020, the report says. Of the 62 firearms fatalities: 19 were ambushed and killed; 8 were investigating suspicious activities or persons; 7 were attempting an arrest; 7 were killed responding to domestic disturbance calls, which led to a tactical situation and an ambush; 7 were disturbance calls, which led to a tactical situation; 3 were killed during traffic enforcement, which led to an ambush; 3 were fatally shot responding to burglary or robbery in-progress calls; 3 involved drug-related investigations; 2 were killed during tactical encounters; 2 were inadvertently and accidentally shot and killed; and 1 was killed during an encounter with a suicidal subject. PoliceOne Violent Crime In The U.S. Is Surging. But We Know What To Do About It Just before Thanksgiving in Philadelphia, dozens of residents gathered on a basketball court in the city’s Lawncrest section to mourn the loss of Jessica Covington. Thirty-two years old and seven months pregnant, Covington had been shot and killed a few days earlier while unloading gifts from her baby shower. Colwin Williams, a street outreach worker who has been to dozens of gatherings like this one, spoke to the group. “We can’t tolerate this,” he said. Later, he expressed what so many were feeling, “The pain is everywhere.” Last year in Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, 562 citizens were murdered—an all-time high and a 12 percent increase over 2020. Almost 90 percent of these homicides involved firearms, and the spike followed an even bigger surge in 2020, when killings were up by 40 percent. The numbers are sobering, but gun violence has been climbing in the city since 2013. Philadelphia is not alone. At least ten other major cities lost historic numbers of residents to murder last year. Nationally, police data suggests homicides rose seven percent in 2021. And while many Americans know that 2020 was a particularly bloody year—with homicides surging 29 percent, with 77 percent of them involving firearms—few realize that gun violence has been rising across this country since 2014. Yahoo! News Justice Department Creating Unit Focused On Domestic Terrorism The Justice Department is establishing a specialized unit focused on domestic terrorism, the department's top national security official told lawmakers Tuesday as he described an “elevated” threat from violent extremists in the United States. Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, testifying just days after the nation observed the one-year anniversary of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, said the number of FBI investigations into suspected domestic violent extremists has more than doubled since the spring of 2020. “We have seen a growing threat from those who are motivated by racial animus, as well as those who ascribe to extremist anti-government and anti-authority ideologies,” Olsen said. The formulation of a new unit underscores the extent to which domestic violent extremism, which for years after the Sept. 11 attacks was overshadowed by the threat of international terrorism, has attracted urgent attention inside the federal government and at the White House. But the issue remains politically freighted and divisive, in part because the absence of a federal domestic terrorism statute has created ambiguities as to precisely what sort of violence meets that definition. Associated Press Local Government News U.S. Senate committee confirms Mayor Garcetti's ambassadorial nomination The Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday confirmed the nomination of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to be U.S. ambassador to India, but the nomination next needs to be confirmed by a majority of the U.S. Senate. If Garcetti is confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Council President Nury Martinez would become acting mayor until an interim mayor is appointed by the council or one is chosen by special election. Fox News Public Safety News L.A. County Health Officials Urge Residents To Postpone Nonessential Activities Amid Omicron Surge As an unprecedented wave of coronavirus infections washes over the region, Los Angeles County health officials are urging residents to postpone nonessential gatherings and avoid some activities — especially those with people who are unmasked, unvaccinated or at higher risk of severe COVID-19 illness. The ask comes just ahead of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend. The Lunar New Year is also right around the corner on Feb. 1, and the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood is a month away. Speaking to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer acknowledged that “this is not the start to the new year we had all envisioned.” But given the state of the pandemic, health officials are “asking that, over the next few weeks, we all try to avoid nonessential activities where people are unmasked and in close contact with others,” she said. KTLA 5 Omicron Can Make You Contagious Before You Test Positive, Allowing For Rapid Spread Ahead of Christmas, health experts suggested undergoing a rapid coronavirus test just before any gatherings. But some health experts are now warning that you can test negative even if you’re infected and contagious while still being visibly healthy. In general, tests are able to reveal an Omicron infection, but enough virus needs to have reproduced and appear at sufficiently high levels in the nose or saliva to be detectable, according to Dr. Michael Mina, an epidemiologist and former professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, whose interview on the podcast “In the Bubble,” hosted by former White House COVID-19 advisor Andy Slavitt, published this week. “Omicron does appear to be more infectious, so it might be taking off and actually spreading the first day or two before there’s enough virus in your nose to turn the [rapid] antigen test positive — or the PCR test positive, for that matter,” Mina said on the podcast. “You might already be infectious, and that’s potentially because the virus now is just so able to potentially aerosolize and get out of people at lower amounts.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has long warned that rapid antigen tests “may not detect an early” coronavirus infection. But those warnings hadn’t received much attention in the months preceding the Omicron surge. Los Angeles Times ‌ ‌ ‌ Visit our website LA Police Protective League | 1308 West Eighth Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected] powered by Try email marketing for free today!