Law Enforcement News
LAPD Motorcycle Officer Hit In Carson While On His Way To Work
A Los Angeles Police Department motorcycle officer was rushed to a hospital after he was struck by a car in Carson while on his way to work Tuesday morning, officials said. The crash was reported at the intersection of South Avalon Boulevard and South Albertoni Street at 6 a.m. The officer is in stable condition and his name was not released. No further information was available. 
LAPD Couple Share Incredible Kidney Donation Story
Bobbie Norman received a kidney transplant from his wife, Sara Faden. Both are LAPD officers. They shared their incredible story with CBS2 News This Morning.
2 Arrested In Fatal Shooting Of Man During Robbery At Encino Home
Two arrests were made Tuesday in connection with the murder of a man in his 80s who was shot in a robbery in Encino last month, Eyewitness News has learned. Several search warrants were served by police in Simi Valley and throughout the San Fernando Valley, including at a large home in Sherman Oaks where police say a marijuana grow was found. LADWP also arrived there to shut off power to the home. The search warrants were part of the investigation into the murder of Stuart Herman, who was killed March 2 in his home in the 4500 block of Densmore Avenue after multiple suspects broke in through an open garage door. Herman had just come back from shopping at Costco with his former brother-in-law when he walked in on the armed robbers. Both men were attacked, with Herman being fatally shot. Police have not released the names of the suspects arrested. It's unknown if LAPD is looking for additional suspects in the case.
Suspect Arrested In Fatal Stabbing Of Total Stranger Near MacArthur Park
A 43-year-old man suspected in what police called the random and unprovoked fatal stabbing of a man near MacArthur Park was behind bars Tuesday. Anthony Madison was arrested Friday in Boyle Heights in connection with the April 8 killing of Sergio Santay, the Los Angeles Police Department announced Tuesday. Santay was walking in the 600 block of South Bonnie Brae Street around 2:40 p.m. video chatting with his brother when he was approached by Madison, police said, citing information from surveillance video. Without provocation, Madison stabbed Santay in the neck, police said. "Surveillance footage revealed the suspect ran southbound on Bonnie Brae Street, (then) eastbound in the east-west alley north of Wilshire Boulevard, where he encountered two additional individuals sitting in the alley," an LAPD statement said. Responding officers found Santay on the ground with a stab wound. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Madison has been charged with one count of murder. He is being held in lieu of $5 million bail.
Shooting Leaves One Dead In Vermont Vista
A man died Tuesday afternoon after he was shot in the Vermont Vista neighborhood of south Los Angeles. The shooting happened around 1:45 p.m. in front of a motel near the intersection of Imperial Highway and Hoover Street. Los Angeles police officers from the Southeast station responded to the scene where they found a victim suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The unidentified man was pronounced dead at the scene, LAPD said. At this time, the motive of the shooting is under investigation. Police have not yet released details regarding the suspect in the shooting. Anyone with information about the shooting should contact the Los Angeles Police Department Southeast station at 213-972-7828. You can also submit an anonymous tip online at LACrimestoppers.org.
Brothers Struck, 1 Fatally By Unknown Driver In Koreatown After Grand Theft Auto Victim Jumped On Suspect Vehicle
Police are searching for a hit-and-run driver, of a vehicle previously believed to be stolen, who crashed into two bicyclists, killing one, in Koreatown Tuesday morning. An investigation revealed that the unknown driver was parked on the north curb of Olympic Boulevard about 3:20 a.m. when, as the driver was pulling away, the victim of an unrelated grand theft auto jumped on the hood of the vehicle, believing the driver had something to do with the theft of his vehicle. The vehicle continued west on Olympic with the victim still on the hood before the victim eventually fell off the hood onto the street, Los Angeles Police Department officials said. The driver of the vehicle continued on Olympic near Mariposa Avenue, when he or she crashed into two bicyclists who were also traveling west. The driver then continued without stopping and rendering aid. One of the victims was pronounced dead following the collision, Otero said. The second victim was taken to a hospital and was listed in stable condition. The victims have not been identified, but authorities said they were brothers who were riding to work when they were struck.
1 Killed In Crash With Caltrans Truck On El Segundo Freeway
One person was killed Sunday in a three-vehicle crash involving a Caltrans truck on the Glen Anderson (105) Freeway in El Segundo, authorities said. The crash on the eastbound freeway, at North Nash Street, occurred a little after 8 a.m., the California Highway Patrol reported. Firefighters and paramedics were dispatched to the location at 8:28 a.m., where one person was pronounced dead at the scene and at least three vehicles, including the Caltrans truck, were involved in the crash, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported. The CHP issued a Sigalert at 8:20 a.m. closing the number one and two lanes for an unknown duration.
Megan Thee Stallion Says Tory Lanez Offered Her $1M To Keep Quiet About Alleged Shooting
Rapper Megan Thee Stallion says fellow rapper Tory Lanez offered her $1 million to keep quiet about shooting her in the foot in a 2020 incident in the Hollywood Hills, according to an interview that aired Monday. "He's [like], `I'm so sorry. Please don't tell nobody. I'll give y'all a million dollars if y'all don't say nothing,"' she says Lanez said to her. "And I'm like, `What are you talking about?' Like, `Why are you offering me money right now?' Help me. Like, and if you're sorry, just help me!" The Houston rapper told Gayle King that the shooting stemmed from an argument when she was ready to go home after a party at Kylie Jenner's house but the other three people with her in the car -- including Lanez -- were not. "I don't want to be in this car no more. 'Cause I see it's getting crazy," she said in the interview, which aired on "CBS Mornings." "So, I get out of the car, and it's like, everything happens so fast. And all I hear is this man screaming. And he said, `Dance, bitch.' And he started shooting. And I'm just like, `Oh, my God.' Like, he shot a couple of times. And I -- I was so scared. "He is standing up over the window shooting. And I didn't even want to move. I didn't want to move too quick. Like, 'cause I'm like, `Oh, my God. If I take the wrong step, I don't know if he's going to shoot something that's, like, super important. I don't know if he could shoot me and kill me."
LAPD Searching For Missing Woman, Edna Jewel Hill, 69, In Athens Area
Los Angeles police asked for the public's help Tuesday to find a 69-year-old woman who went missing in the Athens area. Edna Jewel Hill was last seen Saturday in the 800 block of West Athens Boulevard, according to the LAPD. Hill is Black, stands 5-feet-2 inches tall and weighs an estimated 152 pounds, the LAPD said. Anyone who knows her whereabouts was asked to call the LAPD Missing Persons unit at 213-996-1800 or 877-527-3247. Tipsters can also call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
San Fernando Valley Man Indicted On Federal Drug, Gun Charges
A federal grand jury Tuesday charged a San Fernando Valley man with selling a total of nearly 16 pounds of methamphetamine and 89 firearms, including dozens of “ghost guns,” or firearms that lack serial numbers. Julio Ernesto Lopez-Menendez, 26, of Reseda, was charged in a 13-count indictment with four counts of distribution of methamphetamine, one count of engaging in the business of dealing in firearms without a license, four counts of possession of unregistered firearms, and four counts of possession of firearms not identified by serial numbers, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Lopez-Menendez’s arraignment is scheduled for May 5 in Los Angeles federal court. He has been in federal custody since his April 14 arrest on a criminal complaint in the case. The indictment alleges a series of transactions involving Lopez-Menendez from Jan. 6 to April 7, 2022. The transactions typically involved large numbers of firearms and, sometimes, pound quantities of methamphetamine, according to prosecutors.
SoCal Socialite Rebecca Grossman, Accused Of Killing 2 Children During Street Race, Appears In Court
The cameras were rolling as wealthy socialite Rebecca Grossman, accused of running over and killing two young brothers while she was street racing, made her preliminary court appearance in Van Nuys. Grossman entered the Van Nuys courtroom Monday, being charged with two counts of murder and two counts of vehicular manslaughter. She's accused of killing 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his 8-year-old brother Jacob while they were in the crosswalk at a Westlake Village intersection in September 2020. Investigators told Eyewitness News that Grossman, who along with her husband founded the Grossman Burn Foundation, was racing former Major League pitcher Scott Erickson at the time. Erickson has been charged with reckless driving -- a misdemeanor. Nancy Iskander, the boys mother, was the first on the stand. She testified that she heard engines, and then saw two SUV's coming toward her and her children in the crosswalk. She said that she waved to try and get the drivers' attention before pushing her 5-year-old son out of the way. Iskander said that she looked back and something had happened to Mark and Jacob.
ADL Says Antisemitism On The Rise Statewide
The number of reported antisemitic incidents throughout California rose 27% last year and Jewish rights organizations Tuesday urged the state Legislature to act immediately to address the issue. The Anti-Defamation League's annual audit recorded a total of 367 attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions in California in 2021, nearly triple the 2015 number, the organization said in a statement. The number includes 182 total incidents in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Kern counties, a rise of 29% from 2020, including 64 incidents of vandalism of businesses, places of worship, public spaces and schools. "We're seeing a new, but unfortunately age-old, kind of epidemic in our city -- and it is one of antisemitic hatred," Jeffrey Abrams, regional director of ADL Los Angeles, said in a statement. "While our city reels from an increase in assaults, these heinous acts of harassment, vandalism and propaganda all cause a ripple effect, with the perpetrators seeking to instill fear among not just the Jewish community, but all minority and marginalized communities," he continued. "And this we cannot, and will not, tolerate." Incidents took place throughout the country, but the states with the highest number of reports were New York (416), New Jersey (370), California (367), Florida (190), Michigan (112) and Texas (112). Combined, these states account for 58% of the total antisemitic incidents reported last year, according to the ADL.
Police Chief: Man Killed South Carolina Officer With Calculated Shot From Rifle
The man who recently killed a police officer in South Carolina responding to a domestic violence call tracked the officer from upstairs in his home with a rifle before firing the fatal shot, authorities said Tuesday. Then as other officers tried to drag Cayce officer Drew Barr to a patrol car early Sunday morning so he could get medical help, the man fired a second shot at them, Cayce Police Chief Chris Cowen said. “He was calculated in what he did. He murdered our officer,” Cowen said. The shooter, 36-year-old Austin Leigh Henderson, then put his wife and daughter into a closet and held them hostage and police at bay for about seven hours before killing himself with a gunshot to the head, authorities said. Cayce officers were called to Henderson's home around 2:45 a.m. Sunday after a woman sounding distressed called 911 on her Apple Watch and said she was being attacked by a man with a rifle, Cowen said, The first officer on the scene handcuffed a man in the yard who had been partying with Henderson all day. Barr was the second officer at the scene and was shot shortly after arriving, the police chief said. “The suspect moved upstairs to an elevated position with a rifle and tracked our officers as they pulled in,” Cowan said.
Oregon Officer Shot And Wounded, Suspect Dead After Hours-Long Standoff
A 27-year-old Portland man was shot and killed and a Woodburn police officer was injured after multiple shots were fired during a four-hour standoff at a truck stop in Marion County on Monday morning. Officials identified Micaiah Clinton as the victim of the shooting Monday afternoon. Woodburn police officer Jesse Ponce was struck and injured during the shooting and underwent surgery at a hospital, but is in stable condition, police said. The Oregon State Police provided little information on the circumstances that prompted the shooting in a Monday evening update. They did not say who shot and killed Clinton, whether Clinton had a firearm or how Ponce was injured. At least one officer, Marion County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Tyler Morrow, fired his weapon during the shooting, according to the Oregon State Police. He has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard protocol after law enforcement shootings.
Public Safety News
Metrolink Train Hits Person In Sun Valley: Officials
One person was transported to the hospital after being struck by a Metrolink train, according to officials. According to the LAFDt, one person was transported to the hospital after being struck by a train between Sun Valley and Burbank Airport. The call came in around 8:12 p.m. for a pedestrian being hit by a vehicle. LAFD did not provide a description of the person who was hit, nor their condition. Metrolink tweeted about the incident saying that the Antelope Valley line 270 to Los Angeles was stopped, and that the tracks were closed due to the incident. There were no other details available.
Firefighters Knock Down Duplex Fire In Tarzana In 23 Minutes
An attic fire in both units of a vacant duplex in Tarzana Tuesday evening was extinguished in 23 minutes by 26 firefighters. The fire at 19021 Miranda St., between Wilbur and Tampa avenues, was reported at 6:05 p.m., according to Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire remained under investigation.
LA County COVID Numbers: Cases Are Going Up, With Variant Accounting For Most
LA County COVID cases are mirroring a trend across the country, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a news release, saying the highly infectious BA.2 subvariant accounted for 84% of cases in the county in the latest stats. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the BA.2 subvariant accounts for 93% of cases across the U.S. LA County analyzed data from cases for the week ending April 2. The LA County Department of Public Health also said the average number of daily cases is going up. Over the last seven days, the daily case number has increased from 960 (reported two weeks ago) to 1,553. The silver lining is severe illness and hospitalizations have gone down, as well as deaths related to COVID 19. The county also noted however, "For the week ending April 8, unvaccinated people were three times more likely to be hospitalized compared to fully vaccinated residents, and six times more likely to be hospitalized than those fully vaccinated and boosted. And the likelihood of dying was also 16 times higher for unvaccinated residents compared to residents who were fully vaccinated for the week ending April 1."
Local Government News
City Council Committee Begins Review Of Mayor Garcetti’s $11.8 Billion Budget
A Los Angeles City Council committee began the lengthy task of breaking down Mayor Eric Garcetti’s proposed 2022-23 budget Tuesday ahead of the new fiscal year that begins July 1. In its first of six so-far scheduled meetings between now and May 3, the Budget and Finance Committee heard presentations from Garcetti’s office on the proposed budget and from City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo on revenue projections. The committee then heard from the Office of Finance, the City Attorney’s Office, the City Controller’s office, the Personnel Department and the Ethics Commission. Unlike last year, the process of crafting a revised budget to present to the full council is taking place in-person for the committee members, following two years of virtual budget hearings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the public had to tune in virtually on Tuesday, City Hall is scheduled to reopen to the public on May 4. It wasn’t immediately clear if additional budget hearings would occur after the final one scheduled on May 3, but Krekorian noted the possibility that City Hall will reopen to the public during the process.