July 2011 Archives

Coroner's Office Assistant Chief Ed Winter just sent me this regarding the death of Hideki Irabu, the former New York Yankees pitcher who was found dead in his Rancho Palos Verdes house on Wednesday:

"Cause of death is hanging and the mode is suicide. He was found by a friend on 7-27-2011 at his residence in Rancho Palos Verdes at 4:30 p.m. His autopsy was performed today and his (toxicological tests are) pending 4-6 weeks."

I'll have a full story later, including an interview with Irabu's neighbor, on dailybreeze.com.

The LAPD just released this dramatic video of officers and a security guard rescuing a man from jumping from the 13th floor of a building in downtown Los Angeles yesterday.

Here's the info from LAPD:

Los Angeles. A video posted on YouTube shows LAPD Central Area officers rescuing a man in his early 30s from committing suicide yesterday, July 28, when he was attempting to jump off of an apartment building at 111 W. 7th Street.

"The most amazing thing about this is the officers' commitment to saving this man in the face of danger to their own lives," said Lt. Paul Vernon, in charge of detectives in downtown Los Angeles. "What you don't see is the man actually biting the arm of Officer Rick Linton, who in spite of the pain and the insult, continues to hold on to the man."

The incident occurred around 6 p.m. last night when the man, distraught over a breakup with his girlfriend, went to the roof edge on the thirteenth floor of the apartment building.

Eventually, officers handcuffed the man to the grate to secure him and then brought in firefighters who cut the grate and removed it. The man was then taken to a hospital for evaluation and placed on a 72-hour hold. He was not arrested.

"What the public doesn't always realize or appreciate are these kinds of selfless acts that police officers perform daily," Lt. Vernon added.

Officer Rick Linton is assigned to the Gang Enforcement Unit at the Central Police Station and has four years as an officer with LAPD.

A Hawthorne man riding a Vespa scooter was killed when he collided with a sport utility vehicle in Long Beach, police said today.

Zachary Kurzawinski, 18, died Thursday at a hospital several hours after the 8:40 a.m. crash on Pacific Coast Highway near Santa Fe Avenue, police said.

Kurzawinski and the 43-year-old driver of the Toyota FJ Cruiser were driving eastbound when the Toyota changed lanes and slowed to turn into a business' parking lot, police said.

Kurzawinski, who was driving at a high rate of speed, crashed into the Toyota.

The Toyota's driver, a Long Beach resident, was unhurt. He was not arrested.

The traffic report will be reviewed by the District Attorney's Office, police said.

Former New York Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu has committed suicide at his Rancho Palos Verdes home, deputies said today.

More info soon.

More info soon.

Follow @sbcourts and @larryaltman on Twitter for info

Police were unable to locate a robber during a search of Hawthorne neighborhood, police said today.

A search began about 5 p.m. Tuesday in the area around Imperial Highway and Firmona Avenue, police said.

The robber snatched a chain off a victim's neck, but dropped it and ran.

Police combed the area with police dogs, but were unable to find him.

The trial to determine whether Redondo Beach resident Tony Lopez Perez is guilty of killing Cori Daye Desmond has gone to the jury.

The panel in San Bernardino County Superior Court in San Bernardino began deliberations about 3 p.m.

Our colleague, Mike Cruz at the San Bernardino Sun, was in the courtroom to cover the closing arguments and is working on a story that will appear on dailybreeze.com a little later today.

Perez is charged with killing Desmond on Feb. 15, 2009 and dumping her body in the mountains near Running Springs.

Desmond, a Torrance resident, had been at the Bac Street Lounge on Artesia Boulevard in Redondo Beach. Perez lived in the neighborhood.

Interesting development today in Torrance court today. This didn't seem like a controversial case when it began:

A  jury trying to determine the fate of a Lawndale gardener charged with hacking a roommate to death with a machete appeared to not believe the crime was pre-meditated.

The panel announced in Judge Mark Arnold's courtroom that it was deadlocked after three days of deliberations. Just one member believed the crime was pre-meditated first-degree murder.

Ten other members voted for different lesser variations of guilt: Six believed Carlos Arias Donis was guilty of second-degree murder and four believed he was guilty of voluntary manslaughter. Each of those crimes has a lesser prison term.

One member voted to acquit Donis entirely.

Arnold asked Deputy District Attorney Don Syn and Deputy Public Defender Lloyd Handler to give another argument before the jury Tuesday afternoon and asked the panel to resume deliberations on Friday.

Prosecutors believe Donis, 36, killed Fernando Garcia, 23, and seriously injured Damian Ramos, 22, as they slept on Aug. 25, 2010. The motive is unknown. Garcia was hit 16 times, including three fatal blows to the neck, with the three-foot long machete. I saw the photos. His head was nearly cut off.

Ramos survived.

But the panel seems to be believing Donis. And this is interesting. Defendants rarely testify on their own behalf. And it seems to be succeeding.

Donis testified during the trial that he acted in self-defense when Garcia attacked him with a knife. Garcia, he said, had boasted about previously killing two men. Garcia said Garcia, Ramos and another man attacked him, so he pulled the machete out from under his bed -- a sofa in the living room -- but he remembered little else of what happened.

Jurors, saying they were stuck on the murder count, took no votes on the attempted murder and aggravated mayhem charges filed against Donis in regard to what happened to Ramos, who is seriously messed up.

*UPDATE: They didn't find him.

Police are searching a north Torrance neighborhood this morning for a man who broke into an occupied house.

The suspect is wearing an orange vest, police said.

A resident in the 3800 block of 176th Street called police shortly after 10 a.m. when a burglar opened the door to his bedroom. The resident told police he had heard a knock at his front door, and then had an intruder walk in on him, Torrance police Sgt. Jeremiah Hart said.

The burglar ran. Officers surrounded the neighborhood and spotted the burglar, wearing an orange vest, about 10:40 a.m. He vanished into the neighborhood.

Officers are searching for him with the aid of police dogs and a Sheriff's Department helicopter.

Anyone who sees the man should call 911.

Police have issued a bulletin to alert Wilmington residents about a series of chain-snatch robberies during the last several weeks near Avalon Boulevard and Anaheim Street. Some have occurred in Harbor City. Most happened during the evening.

In most cases, the robbers approached victims and snatched necklaces from their necks. In some instances, the robbers demanded property using force or weapons.

Police advised residents not to wear exposed jewelry and to be aware of their surroundings.
Anyone with information should call detectives at 310-726-7900.

Police offered these tips:

• Be aware of your surroundings while walking or waiting at bus stops, etc.
• Don't be distracted by your cell phone.
• Don't wear jewelry exposed so that it can be easily seen (ie outside of shirts/blouses).
• Do not travel alone.
• Report crimes to the police

A Westchester man was sentenced Monday to spend two years in federal prison for filing false tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service.

Dion Jones, 47, must pay $92,854 in restitution to the IRS, and serve three years on supervised release after he is finished with his time behind bars, IRS Special Agent Felicia McCain said.

Jones pleaded guilty in February to a three-count indictment charging him with making fraudulent claims to the United States and conspiracy to defraud the government.

The charges stem from a tax return sceme that Jones operated for 18 months in 2006 and 2007.

Prosecutors said Jones recruited people to file tax returns that sought refunds based on bogus gambling winnings and losses.

Judge Jacqueline H. Nguyen imposed the sentence in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

We went along this morning bright and early with the Sheriff's Department and Los Angeles school police as they conducted raids to arrest suspects in a string of vandalism crimes on the Metro Green Line system and at Los Angeles schools.

Here's video of Loane Ruiz getting arrested in Inglewood this morning. He is suspected of being a member of ASC -- Art Sex Crime. ASC has 100 members believed responsible for $100,000 damage.

The Manhattan Beach Police Department has announced the promotions of Capt. Nan Rados from lieutenant, and Lt. Steve Tobias from sergeant.

Rados has been with the department for 25 years, serving as a patrol officer and developing an expertise in narcotics enforcement. She served with the LA IMPACT task force, instructed Drug Identification and Influence Recognition courses for other police officers, and worked as a DARE officer. She also worked as a sniper with the SWAT team, and worked in detectives as a fraud and forgery investigator.

Tobias began his career with the California State Police Department in 1988, and joined Manhattan Beach in 1991.

Tobias has worked various assignments including, patrol, DARE, detectives, narcotics, beach patrol and LA IMPACT. He is considered a Drug Recognition Expert.




He has worked as a sergeant and watch commander. He received a South Bay Medal of Valor for rescuing a woman from a house fire.



The pair will be sworn into their new posts on Tuesday.

Police have released a sketch of a man who repeatedly walked up to a 14-year-old Torrance girl and asked her to tell him her nationality.

The man approached the girl three times during the last month as she walked on Carson Street between Crenshaw Boulevard and the Torrance High School campus at 2200 Carson St., Torrance police Sgt. Jeremiah Hart said.

The girl was walking to volleyball practice between 11 a.m. and noon.

Police do not know his intentions.

The man is described as in his 40s, 5 feet 5 to 5 feet 6 inches tall and 170 to 190 pounds, with a light complexion, brown hair and brown eyes. His race was unknown.

The man had a receding hairline, no facial hair and no visible tattoos. On one occasion, he was dressed in black clothing. During another instance, he wore a red dress shirt.

Police said the man did not appear to have a car. He approached on foot during each incident.
The girl reported the incidents Thursday evening.

Anyone with information about the man to call detectives at 310-618-5700.

I am being ridiculed by my younger colleagues today for missing this apparently big story and getting scooped -- yes, scooped -- by the competition. One colleague sent me an email just now that says, "Deal with it."

Anyway, who knew that the Baskin-Robbins on Avenue I in Redondo Beach is actually in Torrance? I called Redondo Beach police earlier when the crash was mentioned to me and was told there was nothing going on. Then I went about my day. Who knew I should have called Torrance.

Then the story showed up on the competition.

I blame the Post Office, which needs to fix that whole "Redondo Beach address/Torrance city limits" thing over there at the Hollywood Riviera.

I know. I should have called Baskin-Robbins. I just try to stay away from ice cream.

So here's the big story:

An elderly woman crashed her Mercedes-Benz into the window of a Torrance Baskin-Robbins business earlier today, but no one was hurt, police said.

The crash occurred at 10:45 a.m. at 320 Ave I. Although the business has a Redondo Beach address, it is located in the Torrance city limits, Torrance police Sgt. Jeremiah Hart said.

The car broke the window, but did not enter the business.

The elderly woman complained of dizziness. She was not hospitalized.

Trial is underway at the Torrance courthouse for Carlos Donis, a gardener accused of killing one man and seriously injuring another with a machete in Lawndale last year.

The victims, 23-year-old Fernando Garcia and 22-year old  Damian Ramos, were asleep at the time at a house in the 15300 block of Larch Avenue in Lawndale that Donis shared with them.

As my colleague Douglas Morino  reported when he covered the preliminary hearing in January, other residents of the home woke up to find Donis hacking Garcia with the weapon.

His aunt, Magdalena Ortiz, "heard the sound of a loud radio blaring from the living room. She rose from bed, ran into the room and saw the attack unfold," Doug wrote.

"Ortiz described Donis repeatedly swinging the machete at the victims, who were lying on the floor. The woman said she initially hoped her nephew could be saved if an ambulance arrived quickly.

"I was screaming and the body was jumping. It moved all over, it was shaking," Ortiz said. "I told (Donis) to stop hitting my nephew and he told me to get the hell out. He threatened me and took off running."

We'll  monitor the case and get you a verdict when it comes in.

The Los Angeles Police Department will remember two slain officers Thursday while dedicating a memorial wall at the Hollenbeck station in East Los Angeles.

The program begins at 10 a.m. at 2111 E. 1st Street in Los Angeles.

The memorial will honor:

• Hollenbeck gang Officer Steven Gerald Gajda, right, who was killed Dec. 31, 1997 while working a New Year's Eve crime suppression task force.

Gajda died after stopping to investigate a loud party that was attended by numerous gang members. As he and his partner approached the party, a gang member ran. Gajda chased the man, who turned and repeatedly fired a handgun.

Gajda was struck and killed. Officers killed the gang member.

• Hollenbeck Officer Jerry Maddox, who was killed Aug. 19, 1969 while patrolling the Pico Gardens housing project.

As Maddox approached the party attended by 18 to 24 youths, one ran.

Maddox chased the man down a narrow driveway and was handcuffing him when someone shot him in the back.

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck and family members of both officers will attend the dedication. Fox 11 reporter Tony Valdez will serve at master of ceremonies.