Eastside Wilmas Armed Gang Members With Ghost Guns In L.A. Harbor Area, Authorities Say

Federal agents and Los Angeles police detectives uncovered a supply line of custom-made, untraceable ghost guns being built to arm gang members on the streets of Wilmington, authorities said Monday. LAPD Deputy Chief Gerald Woodyard said LAPD narcotics detectives working with the Long Beach-based Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents recovered 82 firearms, including 42 ghost guns used by the Eastside Wilmas gang, along with 19 pounds of methamphetamine, 5½ pounds of cocaine and 3 kilograms of fentanyl. The task force made 18 arrests including seven last week connected to various assault, gun and narcotics charges. “We all want the community to be safer,” said Woodyard, noting that 41 search warrants were executed over a three-year period of the operation dubbed Operation Ghost Chasers. Jennifer Cicolani, acting special agent in charge of the ATF in Los Angeles, said the operation targeted the shot callers of the Eastside Wilmas and their chain of weapon manufacturing in Long Beach, Wilmington, San Pedro and Arizona.

Los Angeles Times

From the Archives: The 1997 North Hollywood Shootout

One of the most violent days in LAPD history unfolded on live television on Feb. 28, 1997, when two bank robbers wearing body armor and wielding assault rifles engaged in a ferocious gunfight with officers on the streets of North Hollywood. Events unfolded after an attempted robbery at the Bank of America branch in North Hollywood. Forty-four minutes later, hundreds of rounds had been fired by the robbers carrying high-powered rifles and LAPD officers, most of whom were armed only with their handguns.

NBC 4

Ex-Convict Pleads Not Guilty To Crash That Killed Two In Panorama City

An ex-convict accused of leading police on a pursuit and causing a crash in Panorama City that left two fathers dead pleaded not guilty Monday to murder and other charges. Oscar De La Cruz, 32, is charged with two counts each of murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, along with one count each of fleeing a pursuing peace officer’s motor vehicle causing death, fleeing a pursuing peace officer’s motor vehicle while driving recklessly, driving or taking a vehicle without consent and hit-and-run driving resulting in death or serious injury to another person. The criminal complaint alleges that De La Cruz has four prior convictions for assault with a deadly weapon, vandalism, carjacking and burglary — the latter from February 2022. The charges stem from a Jan. 31 collision that killed Chris Teagardin, 46, and Tim Schultz, 49, who were longtime friends.

MyNewsLA

Human Remains Located In Water Near Port Of Los Angeles

Firefighters are working with law enforcement officials to remove human remains that were discovered in the water Monday afternoon. According to a statement from Los Angeles Fire Department, crews were dispatched to the Angels Gate area near of the Port of Los Angeles after human remains were reportedly discovered in the water. Firefighters are working with Los Angeles Port Police officials and the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office to recover the remains. "Unknown age, gender, body condition, attire, port or vessel affiliation, or circumstances," said a statement from LAFD in regards to the body. Police said that the body was first discovered by United States Coast Guard personnel at around 4:30 p.m., near the Angels Gate Light House. A Los Angeles Port Police vessel was dispatched to the area where the body was then pulled from the water and taken to a nearby fire station. 

CBS 2

Los Angeles Fugitive In Sprawling COVID Relief Scam Is Extradited From Montenegro

A Los Angeles fugitive who was facing more than a decade in prison for an $18-million pandemic relief scam was extradited Monday from Montenegro to the United States, according to Montenegrin police. The U.S. Marshals Service took custody of Tamara Dadyan, 41, at the airport in Podgorica, Montenegro’s capital, police said. Dadyan admitted in June 2021 that she served as chief lieutenant to her brother-in-law Richard Ayvazyan in a swindle to collect millions of dollars in rescue loans in the opening weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their family fraud ring applied for more than 150 loans to mainly sham businesses in the San Fernando Valley. After Dadyan pleaded guilty to three felonies, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson sentenced her in December 2021 to 10 years and 10 months in prison. Prosecutors urged Wilson to have her locked up immediately, saying she had “every incentive” to flee and might join her fugitive in-laws, Ayvazyan and his wife, Marietta Terabelian, overseas. But the judge let Dadyan remain free for more than seven weeks to get her affairs in order. The day she was due to report to prison, she disappeared, abandoning two teenage daughters at her home in Encino.

Los Angeles Times

Man Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Young Girl In Bellflower; Authorities Seeking Additional Victims

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is seeking the public's help in finding anyone who may have been victimized by a man accused of sexually assaulting a young girl. Detectives with the sheriff department's Lakewood station are seeking potential victims of 42-year-old Mario Luis Chavez. Investigators said Chavez "forcefully pushed" a young girl into his vehicle the night of Feb. 16 while she was standing in front of a convenience store in the 17600 block of Bellflower Boulevard in Bellflower. Chavez then proceeded to sexually assault her while in the vehicle, the sheriff's department said. A description of Chavez released by LASD lists him as a 5-foot-9 Hispanic man, weighing about 200 lbs. He was seen driving a white 2004 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx. Chavez also has a number of a tattoos, according to authorities, including an "Aries" symbol on his left forearm, the letter "M" on his right hand along with the words "Long Live Them." He also has a tattoo on his face and on his left bicep. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS (8477).

ABC 7

Man Arrested In Glendale In Connection To Home Depot Robbery

A man was arrested for allegedly robbing a Glendale Home Depot store, police said Monday. Raymundo Bretado, 47, of Rancho Cucamonga, was booked on suspicion of armed robbery, Glendale Police Sgt. Victor Jackson said. The crime occurred on Feb. 23 in the 5000 block of San Fernando Road, Jackson said. “Within the first hour of the store opening, a male entered the location and immediately went looking for the store manager,'' Jackson said.“Once he found the manager, the suspect lifted his shirt, revealing a firearm and ordered him to open the vault.” Bretado is being held without bail, pending arraignment. “During the arrest, detectives located a replica firearm, several thousand dollars in cash, and an orange Home Depot bucket,'' Jackson said.

NBC 4

Fentanyl With ‘Potential To Kill' 50 Million People Seized By Border Patrol In Orange County

Authorities seized more than 230 pounds of fentanyl, believed to be enough to kill 50 million people in Orange County. According to U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz, the San Diego sector and local law enforcement teamed up to seize 232 pounds of fentanyl believed to be worth $3 million. "This amount of Fentanyl had the potential to kill over 50 million people," Ortiz said on social media. FOX News' Bill Melugin reports the fentanyl bust stemmed from a traffic stop on a highway in San Clemente. Ortiz said three people were arrested following the fentanyl bust. 

FOX 11

California Man Arrested After Pulling TASER Holster Off Officer's Belt, Beating Him On Top Of Head With It

A man was arrested over the weekend after pulling a Taser holster off an officer’s belt and beating him on top of the head with it, the Galt Police Department wrote in a Facebook post. About 3 p.m. Saturday, Galt police received a call that Mario Navarro, 31, was asleep in front of a business in the 300 block of South Lincoln Way. He entered the store and caused a disturbance, police said, and later discharged a fire extinguisher outside while “continuing to behave erratically.” When officers arrived and tried to approach Navarro, he fled on foot, according to the social media post. He was chased into the area of D and Seventh streets. During the pursuit, Navarro snatched the holster from an officer’s belt and started “striking” the officer repeatedly in the head. A bystander witnessed the altercation and helped detain Navarro “without hesitation.” “We want to express our deepest gratitude to the courageous community member who risked his own safety to assist with our officer in need,” the department wrote in a Facebook post. Consumes Fire Department transported the officer to a nearby hospital. He didn’t suffer significant injuries and was released Saturday.

Sacramento Bee

Montana Trooper Run Over By Suspect And Placed On Life Support Has Phenomenal Recovery

Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Lewis Johnson made a brief public appearance to thank supporters and well-wishers at Logan Health Medical Center on Sunday, 10 days after he suffered critical injuries while pursuing a vehicle in Lincoln County. "You guys all made time ... out of your lives to be here for this event and I wanted to thank you for that in person," Johnson told an audience of law enforcement colleagues, elected officials, family and friends with his wife and fellow Trooper, Kate Johnson, by his side. The occasion, a rally held in Johnson's honor, also served as a moment to recognize the efforts of first responders and medical personnel who assisted in caring for him in the moments after he was struck by a fleeing vehicle near Eureka on Feb. 16. Sitting in the front row was one of his close friends, Deputy Clint Heintz of the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, who came to Johnson's aid shortly after the collision. Behind the couple, a slideshow of family photos of the Johnsons and their young son Ryder was projected across two screens flanking the room.

Daily Inter Lake

US Asks Mexico For Extradition Of Son Of ‘El Chapo' Guzmán

The United States formally requested for the extradition of drug trafficker Ovidio Guzmán, one of the sons of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, one of the world's most wanted drug lords who was arrested almost two months ago, federal sources confirmed to EFE on Monday. The petition was sent to the Attorney General's Office (FGR) days before the March 5 deadline set by a Mexican judge for the U.S. to submit the petition to extradite Ovidio, detained since Jan. 5 in jail of Almoloya in the State of Mexico. The U.S. is seeking to try Ovidio Guzmán, 32, for the crime of criminal association to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana. The Jan. 5 operation in Culiacán to recapture one of the sons of "El Chapo," during which criminals with machine guns and dozens of armed vehicles confronted the military with war helicopters, left 30 dead and more than 50 injured. The gunmen opened fire on the security forces with Barrett rifles, 50-caliber weapons and a convoy of 25 vehicles. The troops responded with the help of a Black Hawk helicopter, Luis Cresencio Sandoval, Mexico's defense secretary, said Jan. 6. The members of the cartel tried to rescue Ovidio Guzmán, as they did in October 2019, when in addition to besieging Culiacán, they took military installations and soldiers hostage.

NBC 4

LA County To Consider Lifting COVID Emergency Declarations

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday will consider a motion that would end the county’s local emergency declarations due to COVID-19, but the public health director noted that such a move doesn’t mean all infection-control measures will immediately disappear. County Supervisor Janice Hahn’s motion, if approved by the board, would end the proclamation of a local emergency and the proclamation of a local health emergency on March 31. The board’s decision will be made on Tuesday, which coincides with the day the statewide COVID emergency declaration will end. Hahn notes in her motion that the emergency declarations “saved lives and protected the health of county residents.” But it notes that thanks to the widespread availability of vaccines, therapeutics and other measures to combat virus spread and illness, “hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID-19 have dramatically reduced.”

MyNewsLA

LA County Reports 34 More COVID-Related Deaths; 2,100 New Cases

Los Angeles County health officials reported 34 new COVID-19-related deaths from a three-day period ending Monday, along with 2,129 new infections in its latest data. The county reported 14 new deaths for Saturday, 12 for Sunday and eight for Monday. The reports do not necessarily mean the deaths occurred on that day, but reflect the day the fatalities were reported. The new fatalities lifted the county’s overall virus-related death toll to 35,675. A majority of people who die with COVID-19 are elderly or have an underlying health condition such as diabetes, heart disease or hypertension, health officials have said. County health officials logged 1,092 new COVID infections for Saturday, 615 for Sunday and 422 for Monday, raising the overall total to 3,703,663. Figures from Sunday and Monday are likely undercounts due to delays in reporting over the weekend. Daily case numbers released by the county are also undercounts of actual virus activity in the county, due to people who use at-home tests and don’t report the results, and others who don’t test at all.

MyNewsLA

California's COVID-19 State Of Emergency Comes To An End

California’s coronavirus emergency officially ends Tuesday, nearly three years after Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the nation’s first statewide stay-at-home order and just days after the state reached the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths related to the virus. As California’s emergency winds down, such declarations continue in just five other states — including Texas and Illinois — signaling an end to the expanded legal powers of governors to suspend laws in response to the once mysterious disease. President Joe Biden announced last month the federal government will end its own version May 11. The end of California’s order will have little to no effect on most people as Newsom has already lifted most of the state’s restrictions, like those that required masks, closed beaches and forced many businesses to close. It offers a symbolic marker of the end of a period that once drastically altered the lives of the state’s nearly 40 million residents. Illinois’ order will end in May alongside the federal order, while the governors of Rhode Island and Delaware recently extended their coronavirus emergency declarations. In New Mexico, public health officials are weighing whether to extend a COVID-19 health emergency beyond its Friday expiration date.

FOX 11

About the LAPPL: Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents more than 9,200 dedicated and professional sworn members of the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPPL serves to advance the interests of LAPD officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education.