Recently in Lennox Category

Trying to make Christmas and New Years a little safer, deputies at the Lennox station will be offering gift cards to people who turn in guns during a promotion next week.

The "Gift for Guns" program gives $100 gift cards to Target, and Ralphs and Food 4 Less supermarkets, in exchange for handguns and rifles. An assault rifle is worth $200.

"The hope is to take guns off the street and make the holidays safer for our communities, Lennox sheriff's Lt. Valentine Rosario said.

The promotion is Tuesday, Dec. 23 and Wednesday, Dec. 24 at Lennox Middle School, 11033 Buford Ave. in Lennox.

The Compton station did this recently and took in 965 weapons.

From City News Service

 

A man was killed in a drive-by shooting this morning in the unincorporated community of Lennox, authorities said.

 

The victim was standing in front of a building in the 10500 block of
South Firmona Avenue, near Inglewood Avenue and Lennox Boulevard, at about 3
a.m. when a light-colored vehicle pulled up, sheriff's Deputy Aura
Sierra said.

 

Someone inside exchanged words with the victim and then opened fire,
shooting him in the chest, Sierra said.

 

The man, whose name was withheld, died at a local hospital.

A man who tried to crash into an off-duty sheriff's deputy on the Century Freeway has pleaded no contest to an assault with a deadly weapon charge, prosecutors said Friday. Jose Antonio Ruiz, 20, changed his plea on Wednesday and was sentenced to five years probation and 81 days in jail, which is equivalent to the time he's spent in custody, according to Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office.

As part of his plea deal, a count of assault on a peace officer was dismissed. Ruiz must also perform 100 hours of community service, Gibbons said.

The Inglewood man pulled in front of the deputy on the eastbound 105 freeway, then hit the brakes, early on April 1. The deputy believed he hit the car and stopped at the shoulder. Ruiz also stopped and attacked the deputy with a knife, according to sheriff's investigators. He was shot by the deputy in the upper body.

 

Homicide detectives see some pretty nasty stuff every day. But how about this one.

Detective Dan McElderry described the scene Saturday alongside the Century Freeway in Lennox where he investigated the discovery of a transient found stabbed to death:

"It was the most rat-infested place I've ever been in my life," he said. "Big ole rats."

Rats, he said, were screaming and crawling all over the ground and jumping in the trees.

"All around us," he said.

A homeless encampment was nearby.

"It was really bad. Those poor people," he said. "You wish something could be done for them."

A residential area is a half-block away.

Perhaps Caltrans or vector control can take a look and fumigate the area?

I get e-mail:

Capt. Don Schwartzer, commanding officer, of the Los Angeles Police Department's South Traffic Division writes:

Dear Mr. Altman:

I wanted to thank you and the Daily Breeze for the very generous coverage you offered one of our unsolved hit and run fatal collisions. Your article was very detailed and thoughtfully prepared to hit all of the pertinent facts of this case from 1992 where Fred and Ezna Crescitelli were fatally injured while crossing the street in San Pedro.

We appreciate this partnership and assistance. Thank you.

Chris Delgado writes:

Mr. Altman,

How much is the Lennox station paying you to drag this poor victim and his family's name through the mud? Your story does nothing to present both sides. The people in the comments area seem to know a lot more than you do and should have your job, or you have a biased point of view and are trying to protect the cops from public opinion. The headline should read "Unarmed Man Gunned Down in his Own Driveway By Police while Sitting in his Car not Bothering Anyone."

There wasn't room to get this into the story today about Torrance's crackdown on the methamphetamine business in the South Bay.

These agencies assisted them in the busts:

Gardena Police Department
Redondo Beach Police Department
LAPD Harbor Division
LAPD Gun Detail
LAPD Organized Crime Unit
LASD Carson station
LA IMPACT
Long Beach Police Department narcotics unit
LA County District Attorney's Office major narcotics unit
LA County Probation department
LA County Department of Children and Family Services
California Department of Corrections -- state parole
Southern California Edison Loss Prevention Unit (for indoor marijuana grows)
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Federal Drug Enforcement Administration
FBI Gang Task Force and Joint Terrorism Task Force
U.S. Postal Inspection Service

Here we go again. Every time we write about a crime occurring in the unincorporated area between Carson and Harbor Gateway, we get complaints about what we call that stretch of space.

The city manager of Carson sent us an angry letter explaining that the helicopter shooting incident this morning did not happen in Carson. Those of us at the Daily Breeze know that and never said it did, but other folks in the TV media apparently never open a Thomas Guide.

We understand why the good folks of Carson don't want to be tied to the problems that occur outside its boundaries. The fact that deputies at the Carson station patrol the unincorporated area doesn't help.

The problem is the area between Harbor Gateway and Carson has no name. Thus, we say things happen "near Carson" or "near Harbor Gateway."

We don't have much of a choice. I've actually looked at a big map on the wall here and measured where a crime has occurred to determine whether to say "near Carson" or "near Harbor Gateway."

So, it was "unincorporated area west of Carson" in today's story. It's the nearest named city. We could have said "west of Paris," but that's a good distance away.

Then we got this email from a reader:

"do you have a problem calling it torrance

pubic records states the city is torrance- there is no such city called near carson , west carson, west of carson, by carson or harbor gateway.

If you need help using a map let me know."

Hmmmm. First of all, it's "public."

It remained a mystery today why a 19-year-old Inglewood man allegedly tried to crash into an off-duty sheriff's deputy Tuesday on the Century Freeway in Hawthorne and then attacked him with a knife on the shoulder.

The deputy, who was on his way home from the Lennox sheriff's station — shot Jose Antonio Ruiz, 19, because he feared for his life.

Ruiz, who was wounded in the upper body, survived and remains hospitalized. He’s been arrested on suspicion of attempting to kill a cop.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Gene Okada said today that investigators tried talking to Ruiz, but he was so heavily sedated they were unable to glean anything from him.

“We have no idea what prompted this incident and why this went on,” Okada said. “We just know the outcome of it."

Until Ruiz can answer some questions, no one will know what was on his mind.

“There’s nothing to indicate that he knew that he was a cop or anything like that,” Okada said. “There’s no rhyme or reason on this one.”

The Sheriff's Department just identified the man who allegedly attacked an off-duty Lennox sheriff's deputy on the Century Freeway in Hawthorne this morning.

His name is Jose Antonio Ruiz, 19, of Inglewood. Ruiz, who was shot at least once when he allegedly confronted the deputy with a knife, remains hospitalized following surgery. He has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of a police officer.

The freeway, by the way, is wide open.

Photo by Daily Breeze photographer Sean Hiller