Law Enforcement News L.A. Police Union Backs Rick Caruso For Mayor, Spurning Buscaino, A Former LAPD Officer The Los Angeles Police Protective League on Thursday endorsed Rick Caruso for mayor, a coveted nod for the businessman because of the union’s considerable political clout. It represents the first major endorsement for Caruso since entering the race this month. He previously served as president of the Los Angeles Police Commission, where he maintained a good relationship with the union leadership. “We believe that the people of Los Angeles and the members of the LAPD agree: Our approach to public safety needs to change. Rick is not a typical politician, and we believe that he can fix L.A.,” Lt. Craig Lally, the union president, said in a news release put out by the Caruso campaign. Caruso was unanimously selected by the the union’s political action committee and board of directors. Lally said. The union represents about 9,500 rank-and-file officers at the Los Angeles Police Department. “I’m deeply grateful to have the support of the front-line police officers in the city. We cannot reduce crime in L.A. without their contributions,” Caruso said in a statement. “I have deep respect for the city’s labor unions and look forward to working with them as mayor.” The endorsement is a setback for Councilman Joe Buscaino, a rival in the mayor’s race and a former LAPD officer. Los Angeles Times California Murder Victim’s Family Appalled By Gascón Push To Drop Killer’s Death Sentence California's Scott Forrest Collins was 21 when he robbed and shot Fred Rose, a 41-year-old father of three, "execution-style" in January 1992. Now Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón wants a judge to vacate Collins' death sentence. The embattled DA is a staunch opponent of the death penalty but also facing a second recall petition after just over a year in office. He is now accused by Rose's family of pushing to resentence the convicted murderer to life without parole without properly informing them – and of handling the case like a defense attorney rather than a prosecutor. Collins had been out on parole for another armed robbery at the time of the attack, according to Rose’s daughter, and later allegedly sought to harm or intimidate witnesses and her family before trial. Rose's wife never remarried, according to their daughter, Heather Scott, who was 12 years old at the time of her father’s murder. She told Fox News Digital that her family feels abandoned by prosecutors in today's political climate. "My feeling was that the detectives and the police department, they sought justice, they wanted to know the truth," she said. "They wanted to make sure they had the right person, and they didn't stop until they felt confident that they had him behind bars." Back then, she added, the district attorney's office was her "advocate." "They fought for us, like you would fight for your own safety," she said The current DA's office, she said, "feels like they're fighting for the murderer." FOX 11 Woman Killed In South LA Hit-And-Run A woman around 50 years old was killed during a hit-and-run in South Los Angeles Wednesday night. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers received a report of a hit-and-run at the intersection of 108th Street and Central Avenue at around 9:40 p.m. The driver fled the scene and has not yet been located. LAPD said that the vehicle is a white box truck with damage on the front end. CBS 2 LA Says Landlord's Mismanagement Led To NH Locos Takeover, Now The City Wants To Make Him Live There The city of Los Angeles is suing the owner of a North Hollywood apartment complex, alleging that his mismanagement of the property has allowed a local gang to practically control and "terrorize" the area, City Attorney Mike Feuer announced Thursday. The building, on the 13,000 block of Vanowen Street in North Hollywood is an alleged "stronghold" for the North Hollywood Locos gang. According to Feuer, the Los Angeles Police Department has documented nine gang-related shootings at the property over the last 15 months, including five since December 2021. "The violence at and around this gang-ridden property has got to stop now. It’s so bad that the church next door had to suspend youth activities during this recent outbreak of shootings to keep young congregants out of harm’s way, then erect a metal barrier to deflect bullets," said Feuer. As part of the lawsuit, the city is asking the court to order the landlord to live at the property. "Let him learn what it’s like to live with shooting after shooting, because that’s what the hard-working families at this property endure all the time," Feuer said. The property is owned by Swaranjit "Mike" Nijjar, who according to the city owns and manages approximately 20 residential properties in Los Angeles. FOX 11 NBA Player Jaxson Hayes Strikes Plea Deal Over Domestic Violence Arrest New Orleans Pelicans center Jaxson Hayes struck a plea deal Thursday that will allow him to avoid jail time stemming from his Woodland Hills domestic violence arrest, during which police subdued him with a stun gun. Hayes, 21, pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and resisting an officer, according to the District Attorney’s Office. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 14. According to prosecutors, the plea deal calls for him to receive three years probation, along with 450 hours of community service and 52 domestic-violence counseling sessions. He will also be subject to a protective offer and will be ordered to pay restitution. One month after Hayes’ arrest, Los Angeles police released body cam footage of the confrontation. According to the video, a cousin of Hayes’ girlfriend called police and told a dispatcher the woman sent text messages claiming Hayes was “getting loud and violent and she’s scared and can’t call the police herself.” Police responded about 3 a.m. July 28 to the 22000 block of Mariano Street, where body cam video shows Hayes and another man in front of the house. MyNewsLA.com French Bulldog Stolen From Home In Woodland Hills, Cash Reward Offered For Safe Return A French bulldog was stolen from a home in Woodland Hills, and its owners are pleading for their beloved pet to be returned. "They took a family member, they took our dog," said Ron Hertzberg. Robbers stole Bruno, the French bulldog, from the home of Ron Hertzberg and his fiancé on Monday night. "It's like a family member, stealing a child, a loved one. It's disgusting", said Hertzberg. Hertzberg says that he thinks he was being watched in the weeks leading up to the robbery, and believes the would-be robbers were tracking him and his cherished Bruno. "About a month ago we had some person in a pickup truck drive by us while we were walking, and said, 'Hey that's a beautiful Frenchie. You know those are very valuable,'" said Hertzberg. French bulldog thefts are on the rise across the U.S. About a year ago, singer lady Gaga had her French bulldogs stolen at gunpoint, and her dog walker was shot in Hollywood. "Make sure you're very cautious, and if you feel somebody is watching you, they probably are," said Hertzberg. ABC 7 Former USPS Clerk From Inglewood Gets Home Detention In EDD Fraud Case A former United States Postal Service clerk from Inglewood who plucked unemployment benefits debit cards from the returned mail pile where he worked and used them to buy tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of money orders was sentenced Thursday to probation and home detention. Armand C. Legardy, 33, took and used debit cards that the California Employment Development Department had issued to others for unemployment insurance benefits — cards that were obtained during the COVID-19 pandemic by unidentified people using stolen identities and false information and were undeliverable. Legardy, who worked in the La Tijera Post Office on Crenshaw Boulevard in South Los Angeles, was ordered to pay restitution of $160,879 and serve a three-year term of probation that includes a year of house arrest, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The defendant pleaded guilty last year to one federal count of use of unauthorized access devices. He acknowledged that from August 2020 to February 2021, he illegally used nine EDD cards that were not his own. MyNewsLA.com More Victims Sought After Long Beach Man Arrested For Alleged Sexual Assault Of 2 Girls A 54-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly sexually assaulting two teenage girls in Long Beach, authorities said Wednesday. Earlier this month, Long Beach police began investigating a reported sexual assault involving a man driving a 2005 silver Volvo. The man allegedly coerced a 16-year-old girl into entering his vehicle near Pacific Coast Highway and Temple Avenue before driving the victim elsewhere, according to police. The man then forced the victim into “performing sexual acts” and dropped her off at another location. During the investigation, police identified James Earl Britt, of Long Beach, as the suspect in a similar incident involving a 17-year-old girl. In that incident, which occurred in May 2018, Britt was driving a white Mercedes sedan, police said. Britt was arrested Feb. 19 on suspicion of two counts of oral copulation with a person under the age of 18, two counts of sexual battery and two counts of annoying or molesting a child under the age of 18. His bail was set at $100,000. No further details about the assaults and the suspect have been released. Investigators determined Britt, who according to arrest records weighs 235 pounds, has access to several other vehicles and believe he may have victimized more people. Authorities on Wednesday released an image of one of his vehicles. KTLA 5 Southern California Man Is Charged With Enticing Children To Mutilate Themselves A former Southern California man was charged with child sexual exploitation after authorities say he convinced troubled girls as young as 12 to perform masochistic acts and urged them to become his sex slaves, prosecutors announced Wednesday. Matthew Locher, 31, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to eight federal counts, the U.S. attorney’s office said. It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. Prosecutors contend that while living in Redondo Beach, Locher targeted girls suffering from mental health issues, such as depression, anorexia and suicidal thoughts, and during online conversations “groomed his victims to engage in self-mutilation and, eventually, to become his ‘slave’ or ‘pet,’” the U.S. attorney’s office said in a statement. Two girls sent him images of self-harm, prosecutors said. He convinced a third victim, who was 12, to run away from her Ohio home and attempt to reach California to have sex with him, prosecutors alleged. Encouraged by Locher, the girl first set fire to her home in a failed bid to kill her parents, prosecutors alleged. NBC 4 New Mexico Officer Shot And Wounded; 1 Suspect At Large, 2nd Dead An encounter between a New Mexico officer and two suspects left the officer wounded, one of the suspects dead and the other at large after she escaped in a police vehicle, officials said Thursday. It began at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday when the officer encountered what appeared to be a stranded vehicle in Hobbs, near the Texas border, a police statement said. The male suspect ran away and multiple shots were fired, resulting in the Hobbs police officer and that suspect being shot, the statement said. A woman who was with him was detained at the scene and placed in handcuffs. But “as this incident unfolded" and officers began rendering aid, she was able to drive away in a police vehicle, the statement said. The police vehicle crashed a short time later and the woman ran off, the statement said. The identities of the wounded officer and the man who died weren’t immediately released, but the statement identified the escaped suspect as 28-year-old Janessa Perez of Hobbs. City spokeswoman Meghan Mooney said the Hobbs officer was hospitalized in stable condition and expected to recover. The incident is being investigated by the New Mexico State Police, and Mooney said authorities planned to release additional information later. Associated Press Officials Identify Texas Deputy Fatally Shot At Houston Mall A Texas deputy constable working an off-duty security job at a Houston mall was fatally shot by a man who gained control of the officer's own gun, police said. The suspect was shot by police and died at a hospital. Deputy Neil Adams was working a second job Thursday afternoon at PlazAmericas mall in Houston when he was shot by a man in 30s, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said. Authorities are still investigating what led to the altercation. Finner said the suspect ran to the mall's food court where he was shot by two Houston police officers. The man, whose name has not been released, died later Thursday at a Houston hospital. Adams had worked as a deputy constable in nearby San Jacinto County, north of Houston. San Jacinto County Precinct 1 Constable Roy Rogers said Adams became an officer in 2012 and previously worked for the sheriff's department. Adams was the county's environmental officer, Rogers said. “We lost one of our heroes. He was a good man,” Rogers said. “He worked hard to take care of his family, to take care of the constituents of our county.” PoliceOne Suspect Who Shot Florida Deputy Is Killed By Homeowner During Break-In A suspect accused of shooting a Florida sheriff’s deputy during a routine traffic stop was shot and killed Wednesday by a home owner whose house he allegedly broke into. A Blue Alert, issued when a police officer is shot or killed, was called off Wednesday morning for Gregory Ryan Miedema, 33, hours after he allegedly shot Taylor County Deputy Troy Anderson around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday on U.S. 19 between Tallahassee and Gainesville. Anderson was airlifted to Shands Hospital in Gainesville in critical condition and is now stable, according to officials. Miedema fled the scene, launching a 10-hour manhunt that ended in Dixie County. There, Miedema allegedly broke into a home and was met by the homeowner, who shot him. Miedema was found dead near the same car listed in the Blue Alert, along with multiple guns, according to police. The homeowner was hospitalized with minor injuries and has since been released. “I truly believe he had an evil mindset and his thought process was to kill and destroy innocent people,” Dixie County Sheriff Darby Butler said of Miedema at a press conference Wednesday. New York Daily News Youth Gun Suicide Is Rising, Particularly Among Children Of Color Marc Mendiola was tired of seeing his high school classmates in crisis, especially knowing that so many of them lived in households with guns. During his freshman year, he noticed that some of his friends experienced depression and suicidal ideation so intense that some days, they didn’t seem like themselves at all. The light behind their eyes was gone. Sometimes, they went to the counselor at their South San Antonio, Texas, high school to share how they were feeling, and the counselor would send them away with a list of therapists they could contact outside the school. But few of those therapists took Medicaid. Or spoke Spanish. Or stayed open past 5 o’clock. “We don’t have the resources to get help,” Mendiola said. “All we have easy access to is guns, to take the easy way out.” Mendiola is part of a demographic that’s increasingly vulnerable to gun suicide. An analysis of public health data by The Trace reveals that firearm suicide rates rose steadily among young people in their teens and twenties over the last decade, with the sharpest increases among people of color. The firearm suicide rate more than doubled among Black, Latino, and Asian teenagers, while it increased by 88 percent for Native Americans and 35 percent for white teens. The Trace Public Safety News Flag Ceremony Held For LA County Fire Department Captain Who Died On Duty Colleagues and family members of Los Angeles County Fire Department Captain Steven McCann, who died earlier this month after suffering a medical emergency while on duty, gathered Thursday for a flag ceremony to honor his memory. The 10 a.m. ceremony was held at Fire Station 166, 3615 Santa Anita Ave., where McCann had been assigned. A memorial service is planned for 10 a.m. Friday at Calvary Chapel Golden Springs, 22324 Golden Springs Drive in Diamond Bar. During the brief ceremony on Thursday morning, family members and dozens of uniformed firefighters stood outside near the fire station’s flagpole, where a large American flag that had been flying at half staff was raised to the top of the flagpole and then lowered and folded by an honor guard of firefighters. Afterward, as bagpipers played “Amazing Grace,” a firefighter solemnly carried the folded flag away from the ceremonial site, and an announcement was made that the flag would be presented to family members at Friday’s memorial service. The flag ceremony then concluded. MyNewsLA.com LAFD Crews Knock Down One-Story House Fire In Hollywood Hills A one-story residential blaze took Los Angeles Fire Department crews just over 20 minutes to extinguish Thursday. The one-story home was well-involved with flames when firefighters arrived on North Stanley Avenue. Sky9 Chopper flew over the home, where the fire appeared to be contained as crews were engaged with an offensive mode of attack. LAFD reported that it took exactly 23 minutes for the 32 firefighters on scene to knock down the flames. They are now investigating the cause of the fire. CBS 2 Officials Searching For Family Of Man Hospitalized At LAC + USC Medical Center Officials at the LAC + USC Medical Center are looking for the family of a patient who has been hospitalized for nearly two months. The patient, identified as James Black, was picked up at 506 S. San Pedro Street outside the Wesley Health Center near Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. He was transported to the LAC + USC Medical Center on Jan. 5. where he remains hospitalized. Mr. Black is 69 years old (DOB 10/8/1952), is 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighs 122 pounds, and has gray hair and brown eyes. He is African American with a thin frame and does not have any tattoos or identifying marks. Those who recognize Black are asked to contact the LAC + USC Medical Center Department of Social Work at 323-409-6884. FOX 11 CDC To Significantly Ease Pandemic Mask Guidelines Friday The Biden administration will significantly loosen federal mask-wearing guidelines to protect against coronavirus transmission on Friday, according to two people familiar with the matter, meaning most Americans will no longer be advised to wear masks in indoor public settings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday will announce a change to the metrics it uses to determine whether to recommend face coverings, shifting from looking at case counts to a more holistic view of risk to a community. Under current guidelines, masks are recommended for people residing in communities of substantial or high transmission — roughly 95% of U.S. counties, according to the latest data. The new metrics will still consider caseloads, but also take into account hospitalizations and local hospital capacity, which have markedly improved during the emergence of the Omicron variant. That strain is highly transmissible, but indications are that it is less severe than earlier strains, particularly for people who are fully vaccinated and boosted. Under the new guidelines, the vast majority of Americans will no longer live in areas where indoor masking in public is recommended, based on current data. Los Angeles Times Local Government News Judge Puts Herb Wesson’s Appointment To LA City Council On Hold Herb Wesson, a former termed-out Los Angeles City Councilman, will not be allowed to fill the council’s 10th district seat until March 17 at the earliest, despite being appointed by the City Council and sworn in earlier this week, according to representatives of plaintiffs in a lawsuit aimed at halting the appointment. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mary Strobel on Thursday, Feb. 24, granted a temporary restraining order that prevents Wesson from being seated. There will be a hearing on March 17, during which the city will need to show that there will be harm if the restraining order isn’t released. John Sweeney, attorney for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southern California, which filed the lawsuit challenging the appointment and Ridley-Thomas’ suspension said that during the hearing, the city will have to show why it believes it is legal for Wesson to fill Ridley-Thomas’ seat. “For months one of Mark Ridley-Thomas’ primary concerns has been that Nury Martinez and City Council have consistently taken action without listening to the voters of District 10,” Ridley-Thomas attorney Michael Proctor said in a statement. “Today, thankfully, someone — the court system — finally listened to their concerns. The lesson to District 10 voters? If you want to be counted, you need to fight for it.” Los Angeles Daily News LA City Council To Explore Expanding Naloxone Training For LAHSA, City Staff The Los Angeles City Council agreed Tuesday to explore expanding and requiring naloxone training and distribution for staff and contracted organizations with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority and city departments that come into contact with unhoused people. Naloxone is a medicine that helps reverse opioid overdoses. “As we build more shelter beds, we cannot ignore the overdose crisis that is the fatal outcome for people experiencing homelessness that need overdose prevention resources and access to treatment beds,” Councilman Gil Cedillo, who introduced the motion, said in a statement. “I am pleased that this urgent motion passed to ensure homeless service staff and facilities and city personnel have the training and resources to help prevent an overdose and lean in with the weight of the city to support legislation to reduce barriers and increase access to treatment.” The motion instructs LAHSA to identify and report on staff and contractors who have received naloxone training. The report will also include opportunities to expand and require training and distribution to all contracted street-based services and shelter sites. MyNewsLA.com LA Councilmen Seek State Funding To Local Organic Waste Diversion Programs Two Los Angeles City Councilmen introduced a resolution Wednesday to support state legislation that would provide funding to organic waste diversion programs in Los Angeles and other California jurisdictions. The resolution, which was introduced by Councilmen Mitch O’Farrell and Paul Krekorian, contends that Senate Bill 45 would help Los Angeles and other cities meet the requirements of Senate Bill 1383, which took effect Jan. 1 and seeks to divert organic waste from California landfills. “There is no city in California that has done more in the area of waste diversion and reducing greenhouse gas emissions than Los Angeles,” Krekorian said. “We were doing this before the unfunded mandate that is SB 1383 had ever been written. The state must provide financial assistance towards meeting CalRecycle’s rigid requirements, which will allow Los Angeles to continue to lead California cities in combating methane emissions from the waste sector.” MyNewsLA.com ‌ ‌ ‌ 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!