November 2011 Archives

A man apparently shot his wife to death at the door of their Gardena apartment, stepped away from her and killed himself, police said today.

Police detectives said it appeared the husband, Won Chin, 59, committed the Wednesday night act in the 15800 block of South Normandie Avenue because of his failing marriage.

"She moved out fairly recently," Gardena police Sgt. Russ Temple said. "She came over to the house that night and it looks like he met her at the door and shot her with one single gunshot wound to the head."

Police officers responding to the 8:35 p.m. report of gunshots found the wife lying in front of the entrance to their upstairs apartment, Gardena police Lt. Uikilifi Niko said.

The man, identified later as Chin, was found just inside the apartment door. Temple said it appeared that Chin backed up after he shot his wife, put the gun to his own head and pulled the trigger.

Chin was unresponsive when paramedics tried to treat him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

His wife died in surgery at County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

On Friday, police said they had not learned much about the couple's relationship and why Chin would kill her.

"It looks like they are recently estranged, going through a divorce," Temple said.

The wife's name was not released, pending notification of her relatives.

A man and woman were found shot to death in Gardena, police said today.

Police discovered the victims when they responded to a report of shots fired at an apartment complex in the 15800 block of South Normandie Avenue at 8:35 p.m. Wednesday, Gardena police Lt. Uikilifi Niko said.

 

The woman was found lying in front of the entrance to an upstairs apartment. The man was just inside the entrance, Niko said.

 

The man died at the scene. The woman died in surgery at County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

 

Police said both victims were Gardena residents. Their names were not released pending notification of famil

The motive for the shooting was unknown.

No other information was released.

A 17-year-old boy was found shot to death in Wilmington, police said today.

Richard Rodriguez was discovered shortly after police received a reports of shots fired at 3 p.m. Sunday in the 1000 block of Ronan Avenue, Los Angeles police Detective Lou Paglialonga said.

The boy was shot in the parking lot of an apartment complex.

The motive for the shooting was unknown. Police said Rodriguez had ties to the Wilmington area.

*Police reported today that Mr. Edwards was found.

An 86-year-old Inglewood man who suffers from dementia is missing, police said Friday.

Lyman Edwards was last seen Thursday driving away from his daughter's home in Los Angeles, Inglewood police Lt. James Madia said.

Family members are concerned he is lost or injured.

Edwards is black, 6 feet tall, 180 pounds with short gray hair, dark eyes and a medium dark complexion. he has a thin mustache.

He is driving a silver four-door 1999 Mercury Sable, with a California license plate number 5JCR124.

He was last seen wearing a blue T-shirt, blue jeans, black shoes, a black hat and a black coat

Police asked anyone with information about Edwards' whereabouts to call them at 310-412-5211.

A Wilmington family pleaded Wednesday for someone to come forward to help police find the killer of a 25-year-old father, gunned down in May as he headed home to meet his girlfriend for dinner.

James Ryan Dominguez died May 18 when a gunman in another vehicle shot him at Wilmington Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway.

The motive remains unknown.

"It's not fair," said Dominguez's girlfriend, Talina Perez, holding their 6-year-old son in her arms. "It's insane."

About 50 of Dominguez's family members and friends gathered at the intersection, where detectives held a news conference to announce a $50,000 reward.

"He was a great father and a great son and we all miss him," said his grandmother, Marie Dominguez. "If you know anything, please, please. This is my grandson we are talking about. Please, if you know anything, please come forward. I'm begging you."

Police arrested two men Thursday and recovered nine bicycles stolen in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach.

Agustin Arzola, 20, left, and Carlos Maa, 18, both of Torrance were arrested in Manhattan Beach shortly after they allegedly stole two bicycles, Manhattan Beach police Officer Stephanie Martin said.

They were held on suspicion of grand theft.

The arrests led to the recovery of nine suspected stolen bicycles. Police have identified three owners.

Detectives asked Beach Cities residents to contact them at 310-802-5120 if their bicycles were stolen in the last six weeks and match these descriptions:

• Purple and silver Trek men's mountain bike;
• Blue Raleigh men's mountain bike;
• Black Trek men's mountain bike;
• Black and silver Raleigh men's mountain bike;
• Silver Cannondale men's road bike;
• Gold Diamondback men's mountain bike.

A mother and daughter team allegedly bilked a 90-year-old El Segundo man of more than $20,000 and conned him into buying them a Mercedes-Benz, police said Thursday.

Detectives arrested the mother on Nov. 3, but the daughter remains at large.

The victim told officers he had no idea how he met the pair, who police believe are part of a transitory group of thieves who run cons and take advantage of elderly people, El Segundo police Lt. Ray Garcia said.

Employees at a Bank of America branch in the 800 block of North Sepulveda Boulevard called police Oct. 29 when the elderly man appeared confused as he tried to withdraw $10,000, Garcia said.

Bank employees considered the transaction suspicious because the man said he was giving the funds to someone, but could not remember their names, Garcia said.

Investigators identified the pair as Debby Frank, 52, left, and her 29-year-old daughter, Rosa, Garcia said.

Detectives discovered the victim had suffered a financial loss exceeding $20,000 and was conned into buying a late-model Mercedes-Benz.

"Rosa and Debby also attempted to have the victim purchase two new luxury vehicles totaling $150,000, but the transaction was never completed," Garcia said. "The victim has no recollection of purchasing the Mercedes or attempting to purchase the two other cars."

Detectives tracked information that led to the mother, who was charged with elder abuse. The Mercedes was recovered.

The daughter remains outstanding, wanted on suspicion of elderly abuse and conspiracy. She is known to frequent areas in and around Harbor City, Downey and Riverside.

Detectives suspect the crime against the elderly man occurred sometime during the last three to four weeks.

"We believe there are other victims out there," Garcia said.

Police asked anyone with information about the Franks to call Detective Eric Atkinson at 310-524-2216 or eatkinson@elsegundo.org.

A woman who posed as a wealthy owner of a modeling agency was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of running up nearly $10,000 in charges on the stolen credit card of a man she met in a Hermosa Beach bar, police said.

Maria Christina Johnson, 40, using the phony name "Gia Hendricks" is suspected of befriending men and women from the South Bay to Washington and Oregon to steal their credit cards, checks and other personal identification and use them to commit fraudulent transactions, Manhattan Beach police said.

"She is just telling people all these different stories," Manhattan Beach police Detective Mike Rosenberger said. "There always seems to be some kind of lie."

The Manhattan Beach Police Department began investigating Johnson recently when a resident reported that a woman he knew as Hendricks charged about $10,000 onto his American Express card.

An assault suspect who held sheriff's deputies at bay for nearly six hours in Carson was identified as Randy Gil Ramirez, a 33-year-old gang member known as "Thumper," deputies said today.

Deputies arrested Ramirez about 6:20 p.m. Monday when they discovered he had burrowed through the wall of a condominium into another unit and was hiding in a closet, sheriff's Capt. Mike Parker said.

Investigators today released more details about the nearly six hour standoff that forced residents to leave their homes at the Scottsdale Estates on Monday.

Deputies surrounded the condominium in the 23400 block of Avalon Boulevard at 12:45 p.m. when they learned Ramirez might be visiting a woman and her twin 2-year-old girls, Parker said.

Ramirez was wanted in a shooting that occurred Friday. A victim was wounded in the arm.
Deputies ordered Ramirez to come out, but he tried to escape through a rear window. He retreated inside when he realized the area was surrounded, Parker said.

After a period of time, the woman left the condominium without her children.
A Sheriff's Department special weapons team then surrounded the condominium and tried to get Ramirez to give up.

"When Sheriff's Special Enforcement Bureau deputies saw the twins alone in a room in the residence, they made entry and successfully retrieved the toddlers from the location," Parker said. "The children were not injured and were reunited with their mother."

Ramirez remained inside and alone.

At 6:20 P.M., after repeatedly ordering Ramirez to come out, the special weapons team entered and found Ramirez had broken through the drywall and escaped into another unit.

Deputies sent in a police dog and found him hiding in a closet, but still refusing to surrender.

"After a brief struggle with the dog and deputies, the suspect was taken into custody," Parker said.

Ramirez was booked at the Carson jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He was held on $50,000 bail.

Two hand guns were recovered.

Sheriff's deputies have rescued twin toddler girls from a Carson home where a suspect in a weekend shooting is holed up.

The standoff began about 12:45 p.m. when a Sheriff's Department special weapons team surrounded the home on Kingswood Lane in the Scottsdale Estates housing complex.

The man was wanted in a shooting Saturday that wounded a man in the arm in the 23000 block of Avalon Boulevard, sheriff's Capt. Mike Parker said.

During the standoff Monday, deputies evacuated residents from neighboring homes and made repeated calls for the man to surrender. He was suspected of having hostages.

Deputies made entry at 3:30 p.m. and brought twin toddler girls to safety.

SWAT continued to surround the complex, but were getting no response from the man to their calls for him to surrender.

A Manhattan Beach man whose 18-year-old son died at a UCLA fraternity house said Monday that "there were a lot of drugs being taken and drinking" at a weekend party he attended.

Glen Parrish said his son, Glen Berlin Parrish, was last seen alive about 4 a.m. Saturday, but was discovered dead on a rubber mattress at 1:30 p.m. when friends at the Theta Chi fraternity house tried to awaken him.

"He was an amazing child with a huge bright future -- 3.9 grade point average. And he's gone."

Coroner's officials said it could take up to six weeks to determine a cause of death. The results of an autopsy performed Monday were listed as "deferred," pending toxicological tests.

"There is a suspicion that prescription drugs and alcohol may have played a role in the death," Chief Coroner Investigator Craig Harvey said. "The final cause of death will be established once the toxicological results are in and all other tests and specimens have been evaluated."

The younger Parrish, who moved nearly a year ago from Scottsdale, Ariz. to live with his father and sister in Manhattan Beach, went to the party in the 600 block of Gayley Avenue Friday night, his father said.

"There were a lot of drugs and alcohol being taken," the father said. "His friends told me that on the phone."

Los Angeles police, saying detectives believe an overdose was the cause, said Monday that no foul play was suspected and homicide was ruled out.

The Coroner's office, however, will make the final determination.

"The results of the medical testing and interpretation of the findings is what will establish the cause of death," Harvey said. "Opinions of non-medical 'experts' are not helpful to the process and unfair to the family that is patiently awaiting answers."

Parrish's father said his son planned to go to school at Santa Monica College and had just gotten a job at Manhattan Beach Post restaurant on Manhattan Avenue.

His son was on his varsity football team in high school and was a champion skateboarder when he was young.

"He was in perfect health, happy as can be," the father said.

Ed McPherson, a Parrish family friend and attorney, said they speculate that Parrish drank or used drugs at the party.

"We're just trying to investigate right now," he said.

Hundreds of friends left messages offering condolences on the father's Facebook site.

"He was such a special boy and I'm glad I was able to be part of his short life," one woman wrote. "He is looking down and knows how much you loved and admired him."

Coroner's officials said Wednesday they have been unable to identify a man killed last month when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver in Hawthorne.

The man had just exited an MTA bus at the stop on Crenshaw Boulevard below the Century (105) Freeway. The man began to cross Crenshaw Boulevard when he was hit, Chief Coroner Investigator Craig Harvey said.

The vehicle left the scene without stopping. The victim carried no wallet or identification.
The victim was described as Latino, at least 45 years old, about 5 feet tall, 148 pounds. He had brown eyes, black hair and a mustache.

He wore a medium black shirt and a medium blue shirt, blue jeans with a 34 waist size and 32 length. He wore size 7EE black shoes, gray socks and a brown leather belt. He wore a brown brown baseball cap with the letters "LV" on the front and on the bill of the cap.

He wore a black Casio watch and yellow metal-rimmed eyeglasses.

Officials asked anyone with information about the man to contact Investigator Daniel Machian in the County Coroner Identifications Unit at 323-343-0754 or the Coroner Investigations Division's 24-hour number, 323-343-0714.