Recently in Hawthorne Category

Dateline's Too Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen was not on hand at the Hawthorne Police Department in March and April of 2007, but a camera crew from CourtTV was as members of the Souty Bay Internet Task Force staged their own sting to catch their own predators.

It was interesting to see un-edited footage of a local police department in action - complete with their very raw emotions.

Officer Sarah Lewis, who was not yet an officer on March 31, 2007, is seen in Detective Sean Galindo's office making a recorded phone call to the person they only knew as "Johnny" who used the screen name "wecan69." I'm not sure how old Lewis was, but she looked to be in her late teens or early 20s, but sounded like a younger teenager as she fake giggled her way through the conversation. Sun spoke sweetly to her, telling her she was "crazy" for sneaking out and seemingly trying to scope out how real she really was. Lewis was quick with her answers - such as why the phone kept cutting out (the recording device was making it do that). She quickly told him she has a habit of pulling the phone cord and she stretched it out and broke the phone, and her mom always yelled at her for that.

When the conversation was over, her dimpled smile quickly left and she turned serious again. With a shudder and a slight "ewww," they were on their way to a briefing to set up the meeting and stake-out.

Aysha Sly's family was in Judge James Dabney's Airport Courthouse courtroom this morning awaiting to hear what he would do with Ricky Madison - send him to death row or order to spend the rest of his life in prison without parole for Sly's Dec. 5, 2006, violent death in Hawthorne. But Madison's attorney called in sick, so the whole thing got put over until Friday, July 17. I plan to return again...

To read more about the case, follow the jump.

Prostitution maven-turned-fugitive David Elms didn't make his Torrance Superior Court hearing Friday because he missed the bus from the downtown jail.

It's not uncommon for defendants in custody to get delayed at the jail. The Torrance and Hawthorne resident is expected to appear Monday.

Elms, 38, was arrested Thursday as he crossed the border from Mexico after being on the lam for more than two months. He failed to appear in an Arizona courtroom for charges that he allegedly tried to have a prostitute killed and a man injured.

The man behind the popular prostitution rating service TheEroticReview.com was on probation for a 2006 drug and weapons conviction stemming from a run-in with a prostitute in Manhattan Beach.

He is to appear first on a possible probation violation, which could send him to prison for up to four years, before being extradited to Arizona.

Previously: South Bay prostitution guru back behind bars

More: Man wanted in Phoenix arrested at Calif.-Mexico border (Arizona Republic)

Police: Sex Trade Power Broker Caught (KPHO.com) 

And this, from a reader, which is not verified for accuracy - but being posted as an interesting hypothesis:

"He flew to Canada, Dubai, then Armenia to wait for his Iranian visa to clear.  David Elms returned to the United States because Iranian authorities was told that he's a United States spy and a wanted fugitive.  He wasn't trying to enter the U.S. under the radar but knew he could not be on the run anymore.  He'd much rather serve time in a U.S. prison than in Iran."

We got word today that David Elms, a former Hawthorne and Torrance resident who was on the run after failing to appear in an Arizona courtroom, was apprehended crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and is now in custody in Los Angeles. The founder of the online prostitution rating service TheEroticReview.com is likely to appear in Torrance Superior Court Friday for a possible probation violation.

A full story on his re-arrest will be up later at dailybreeze.com.

All the details on his case can be found in my earlier story, posted after the jump.

A Hawthorne motorist who hit an elderly pedestrian, then dragged the injured and screaming woman into her car before leading police on a pursuit, pleaded no contest on Tuesday to kidnapping.

Alexis Lewis, 26, will undergo a 90-day evaluation at the Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation, then return to the Airport Courthouse Sept. 2 for sentencing.

She faces anything from probation to five years in prison for the May 4 incident.
As part of her plea deal, prosecutors will drop three child endangerment charge that were filed when officers realized she left her three children, ages 2, 3, and 4, unattended at home during the incident.

Lewis hit the 72-year-old woman at 134th Street and Hawthorne Boulevard about 9 a.m., then forced her into the car, witnesses said.

Officers chased her vehicle to the 12600 block of Eucalyptus Avenue, near Lewis' residence. An evading charge will also be dismissed.

Hawthorne police and Los Angeles County fire investigators are looking into a possible arson late last night in the 13500 block of Glasgow Place, according to police Lt. Michael Ishii.

Emergency officials responded about 11:45 p.m. to the residence, where the occupants were able to extinguish the fire that partially engulfed their front door, Ishii said.

"At this point we have no suspect information, but we are investigating it as an arson," Ishii added.

A neighbor told the Daily Breeze that the investigation lasted a while, with officers and firefighters surrounding the area and using flashlights to search nearby Hollyglen Park and Cabrillo Elementary School.

The same home was the target of an attempted arson on March 24, Ishii said.

We'll try to get more information.

The Hawthorne Police Department will be conducting traffic enforcement stings on Tuesday and Thursday.

Traffic Officers will be targeting areas where drivers frequently fail to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks.

Officers also will target shopping centers to enforce disabled placard violators. Police said drivers frequently park in handicapped spaces using fraudulent cards or someone else's placard.