November 2007 Archives

The Los Angeles Police Department is hosting a blood drive
today on behalf of Officer Tony Salazar, who was hit by a car
during an undercover drug investigation in Boyle Heights last week.
The drive will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the LAPD’s Parker
Center, 150 N. Los Angeles St. downtown.

The donation will benefit Salazar as well as other patients at USC
University Hospital, Kenneth Norris Cancer Center and USC Medical
Center. Blood donations this time of year are critically low.

Salazar broke both legs when he was hit by a car driven by Joe G. Ortiz,
23, of Boyle Heights. Ortiz later turned himself in. Salazar remains
hospitalized.

For more information on the blood drive, call Patty Hunt at 818-451-9212.

I bet there are a few happy cops out there saying that justice is sweet. A thorn in the side of LAPD and other local police agencies, Stephen Yagman was sentenced to three years in prison for tax evasion.
Apparently, Yagman, who made a career out of suing law enforcement, was sporting some serious theatrics in court.

From LA Times:
In an unusual courtroom hearing that spanned three days, Yagman and his attorneys painstakingly went over the evidence in the case and accused the U.S. attorney of targeting him because of his long and confrontational history with the federal government.

Wearing a blue suit and a sailboat-decorated tie, Yagman also quoted from, or referred to, Woody Allen, Abraham Lincoln and Socrates during more than four hours of oration. At times, he was remorseful, but for the most part, he was defensive.

Due to a family emergency, I will not be posting as often. Meantime, though, check out Tony Castro's piece today about a guy named Paul Gelb, a Holocaust survivor who became involved with the Mafia, running New York strip joints and a money-skimming operation that ultimately landed him in a California federal prison in the 1990s. If that doesn't get your day going, I don't know what will. dailynews.com

Notorious BIG's family has long maintained that the LAPD covered up key evidence in his murder. And yesterday the U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled that Detectives Stanley Nalywaiko and Stuart Maislin of the Los Angeles Police Department's Risk Management Group, along with Detective Steven Katz can be added as defendants in the Wallace family's wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles.

"Judge Cooper's ruling today gives the family a chance to prove to the world that police were involved in the murder -- and that high officials have covered up for those officers," said Wallace family's lead attorney, Perry R. Sanders, Jr.

The estate of Christopher Wallace, A.K.A Biggie Smalls sent out a press release.

Whatever way it ends up, it's a shame that such a great voice was lost. It's just one of hundreds of violent murders that occur everyday in the streets but so many of those stories don't get told.

Here's a little tribute to Biggie. And one of his most memorable songs, Big Poppa.

"If you got a gun up in your waist please don't shoot up the place
Cause I see some ladies tonight who should be havin' my baby
Bay-bee" _ lyrics from Big Poppa

Could it have been love that caused a boyfriend and girlfriend duo, both members of the Clanton Street gang, to allegedly jack a 2000 Saturn the other night in North Hollywood and take the jewelry from the motorist and his female passenger? Or was it spur of the moment? Leo Vasquez, 30, and Angelia M. Langley, 28, are accused in the Nov. 24 heist at Saticoy Street and Coldwater Canyon Avenue in North Hollywood, police said. The two will now spend time apart, housed in separate county jail facilities, facing carjacking charges, with bail set at over $1 million, said Los Angeles Police Detective Sean Mahoney. Langley, unemployed from Torrance, and Vasquez, a driver from the Rampart area, were arrested by, get this, school police who were flagged down by a friend of the owner of the Saturn, who happened to spot the car rolling on Norris Avenue in Pacoima last night, Mahoney said. Apparently, Mahoney said, the duo were on their way to Langley's sister's house in Pacoima when they were arrested. Smart move, huh?

There were a couple of noteworthy incidents from overnight:

• A robbery was reported just after noon yesterday in the 22700 block of Hatteras Street in Woodland Hills. The suspect approached two construction workers at their construction site. The suspect displayed a gun and demanded money. The victims complied and the suspect took off south on foot.

• A robbery was reported last night before 11 at a Mobil gas station in the 4300 block of Vineland Avenue in North Hollywood. In this case, a female suspect entered a location, pulled a gun, pointed it at the employee and demands the money in the cash register. A second suspect, meanwhile, did not enter the location but stood outside the front door and acted as a look out. The employee complied and gave the suspect money from the cash register. Both suspects took off on foot with $400 cash.
  

Pat Aidem out in Santa Clarita follows up today on the death of 20-year-old Joshua Pipho, an audio technician planning to go to college, who was rammed by a car, stabbed and then run over again about 12:15 a.m. Saturday while trying to stop a group from vandalizing a friend's truck, his friends and family said Monday. A friend, Chad White, also 20, was stabbed multiple times and remained hospitalized Monday in critical condition.

dailynews.com

Beth wrote a piece today looking at the fact that there are too few park rangers to actually patrol all the hillside parks in the Malibu area. And the question remains whether if they had enough rangers, would they have been able to prevent this last fire, likely sparked by some jerks who apparently gave no thought about their actions. The fire was one of the worst in the area's history and it left 53 homes burnt to the ground and caused more money out to be taken out of the pockets of California taxpayers for fire response. It's unlikely that there will be increased funding for park rangers next year as the state is facing a $10 billion structural deficit.

dailynews.com

Los Angeles Police Department just forwarded over a couple of recent incidents for the blotter:

• A carjacking was reported Nov. 21 at 8:45 p.m. at Amestoy Avenue and Saticoy Street in Van Nuys. It began when the victim had given the two suspects a ride. One suspect told the victim to pull over and then tried to convine him to sign a bill of sale for his truck. The victim refused, so the suspect struck him in the head with a Mag flashlight and a struggle for the car keys ensued. A second suspect grabbed the victim around the neck, but the victim was able to escape with a bruise and a cut to the eye. The suspects took off in the victim’s vehicle.

• A robbery was reported on Nov. 22 at 7:25 p.m. at Sherman Way and Independence Avenue in Canoga Park. It began when a man approached the victim outside a restaurant and pointed a gun at him, then demanded the victim’s property. The victim complied out of fear for his safety. And the suspect fled to a waiting vehicle, where a second suspect was waiting. The suspects fled north on Independence. No injuries were reported.
  

Keeping you up to speed on a police pursuit that traveled through the Valley this morning. On TV news, you could see the guy jump out of the stolen car at one point, hop over the Ventura Freeway center divider near Laurel Canyon Boulevard and manage to run across several lanes of freeway traffic before hopping into some underbrush, and then getting caught by police in an anticlimactic ending to something that could have gone badly.

Here's the story.

STUDIO CITY - A suspected carjacker reportedly driving at more than 100 mph led police on a freeway chase in the San Fernando Valley today before he abandoned his vehicle, ran across lanes and was finally captured, authorities said.

The suspect, who was driving a maroon Toyota Camry, was going east on the Ventura (101) Freeway when he ran over a median near the junction with the 134 Freeway, then abandoned the car near Vineland Avenue, according to a live TV broadcast.

dailynews.com

Our own Lisa Friedman out of Washington has a story today about Rep. Laura Richardson who wants to criminalize the hanging of nooses. Richardson says this is a "horrible symbol of racism" and hanging one in public should be a crime. It is the Long Beach Democrat's first legislative act of her congressional career. Some civil rights organizations and Democratic leaders say the legislation pits protection from hate crimes against freedom of expression - and some are holding back from endorsing the bill.

dailynews.com

We've got some wire copy up on Dailynews.com regarding the mysterious Santa Clarita brawl. What a horrible tragedy:

SANTA CLARITA - A candlelight vigil was held last night for a 20-year-old former high school athlete who was fatally stabbed while trying to break up a fight in a Stevenson Ranch parking lot, and another young man who was critically injured.

Anyone with information about the fight was asked to call sheriff's homicide detectives at (323) 890-5500.

I ran across this late on Dailynews.com.

TOLUCA LAKE -Two Los Angeles police officers remained hospitalized tonight after their patrol car collided with another vehicle in Toluca Lake while they were responding to a burglary call, authorities said.

An investigation into the collision is continuing.

No details yet, but it definitely sounds like an unfortunate evening. Hopefully, all involved will end up OK.

Wow. I can't imagine what it would be like to put together a story like this.

Even after Addie and I split, I would still drop in on Li’l Mike. When he saw me walk in the door, he’d get this really big smile on his face, rush over and punch me in the leg. But eventually the visits faded, and the last time I saw Mike he was maybe 6 or 7 years old. Then last summer, Addie called. I hadn’t spoken to her in years. Michael, now 19, had been arrested and charged with a gang-related murder.

Michael Krikorian, formerly of the Times, now an aspiring novelist, wrote this searingly memorable first person piece in the New York Times Magazine about his ex-girlfriend's son who turned out not to be his kid. It's a hell of a story, but I'm sure glad I'm not writing it. Well done, Mr. Krikorian.

I saw this one in our regional roundup today and it left me scratching my head.

STEVENSON RANCH - Deputies found one man dead and another suffering from critical stab wounds in a parking lot in the 25200 block of Steinbeck Avenue early today, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.
Witnesses say the stabbings happened after a melee involving 10 to 15 men.
Deputies were responding to a report of an assault about 12:15 a.m. when they found the victims, officials said. They identified both victims only as white men. Paramedics pronounced one dead at the scene and rushed the other to a local hospital.
Deputies ask anyone with information on the assault to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.

I didn't make the call, so I'm not sure what spurred this, but golly, that sounds like a big fight for a sleepy, little subdivision. I had a girlfriend in college who lived up there and all her neighbors were cops.... I'll see if the sheriff's deputies would care to share more later on when this fire calms down a bit.

6:05 p.m. UPDATE- (or lack thereof)... Nope. I talked to Lt. Gump and a deputy down in homicide. The investigators are still on scene and have no updates. If we get anything more, I'll post it here later.

The headline above came from a long-ago three-day weekend, where a copy editor judged the death toll to be somewhat minor. I thought it was an interesting phrase at the time, cut it out and taped it to my old desk. It's probably still there with all the other stuff I left when they moved me over with the rest of the Metro folks.

A news item out of El Sereno caught my eye and reminded me of that odd concept. I'll paste it below.

A 27-year-old man turned himself in to police early this morning after allegedly shooting his brother-in-law to death following a Thanksgiving celebration, according to a detective.

Formal murder charges were pending, Smith said.

This is apparently not all that uncommon. Hans and I rode with the Southeast gang unit for a story around this time last year and the officers were remarking at the time that holidays are magnets for homicide.

I suppose it's not that hard to fathom. You're packed together with your relatives, there's holiday stress, old family arguments and a new boyfriend, aunt, brother, whomever to change the family dynamic. Add in some alcohol and, pretty soon, shouting turns to pushing, then pushing turns to punching. Then someone grabs a knife, someone else goes for their gun and, all of a sudden, you have one of the most horrible things you could imagine.

Even if the killings are infrequent and the holiday seems relatively untragic, that doesn't matter if it's your relative who got toe-tagged and taken to the morgue. Our condolences, as always, go out to the Gutierrez family. Talk about a rotten way to remember the holiday every year going forward.

Just when you thought you heard it all, there's something new. This is downright bizarre.

A drunken man broke into a central London park and attempted to have sex with a fence, a court heard. Daniel French, 24, made "sexual motions" towards metal railings in Leicester Square Gardens after being challenged by police in the early hours of Sunday morning, Westminster Magistrates' Court was told.

telegraph.co.uk

Nothing like a little dust up to get Black Friday started right. Just after midnight apparently outside a Northridge Circuit City, cops were called out to respond to pushing and shoving among shoppers angling to get a better spot in line.

NORTHRIDGE - Tempers flared early this morning among shoppers camped in line outside a Circuit City store in Northridge and police were called to clear the parking lot.

Police said that shoppers had camped out there all night to be first in the door and that apparently they were arguing in line.

The first officer who responded to the store parking lot at 12:10 this morning tried to disperse the crowd, but encountered resistance from the shoppers at the store, which is near the intersection of Plummer Street and Tampa Avenue.

Private security officers apparently didn't want any shoppers lined up before 3 a.m., police said. But some people started waiting before midnight because of a special sale at the store, Mills said.

When some shoppers began arguing about their positions in line, security officers called police.

There were no reports of physical altercations.

"Apparently they're all happy now," said Lt. Lydia Mills. "They're back in line and waiting."

Mills estimated there were 150 to 200 people in line outside the store.

I'm still recovering from all the food yesterday and I bet you are too. I hope you had a good holiday. Just a little observation. On the way in to work this morning, I spotted a line snaking halfway around Fry's in Woodland Hills, eager holiday shoppers who braved standing in chilly temperatures overnight for first dibs on HD TVs, no doubt. A news chopper hovered overhead documenting the action. I can't wait to get mine. You'd have to pay me to stand in line.

Back to work today. The Times had an interesting piece about the low number of claims made on the rewards offered by police for information in unsolved crimes. Fewer than 10 percent are given out. latimes.com

I did a similar story in 2004 (below) under the headline 'Silence is its own reward.'

Sixteen days after Naif ``Nick'' Sahoum was gunned down in a stickup at the Lankershim Mini Market in North Hollywood, police posted a $50,000 reward for information leading to his killer.

There have been no takers in the three weeks since it was offered.

This comes as no surprise to Los Angeles officials, who in the last five years have offered nearly $8.4 million for help in solving 337 crimes, but paid only $533,500 as rewards in just 21 cases - most of them homicides.

``Usually, a reward is a last resort,'' said LAPD Detective Mike Coffey of the North Hollywood Division, who solved the March 1999 murder of Andres Munoz Castillo based on an informant's tip spurred by a $25,000 reward offer.

``When it pays off - probably only one out of 10 times - it's very gratifying. It's welcome news. No matter what it takes to solve a case, whether it's a reward or not, most of the time, we can't do it without the help from other people.''

Although information provided by a tipster has resulted in convictions in just 6 percent of the cases in which a reward was offered, detectives and city officials say the money often is their last hope in solving a case that has gone cold.

``In most cases, you know that the money is not going to matter,'' said Detective Rick Swanston, of the Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley Division, who in his 22 years has only seen reward money paid out in one murder case.

``You've got to try it anyway. The chances are, the money isn't going to be what pushes somebody over the edge. But there's always a chance it could.''

To help persuade more informants to come forward, the City Council voted in June to increase the reward from $25,000 to $50,000 for homicides, rapes, robberies, hate crimes and other serious offenses. The reward for shootings at police officers was raised to $75,000

It's too early to say what effect the increase will have, but one critic believes it won't have much.

``It doesn't make any difference what amount of money you wave in front of their faces,'' said Gilbert Geis, an emeritus professor of criminology at the University of California, Irvine. ``It's not the amount of the money; it's the strength of the impulse to turn somebody in.''

The typical reward offer is good for 60 days but can be renewed. The amount paid out depends on the quality of the information, and whether it leads to a conviction in the case. Police officers, news reporters and accomplices in the crime cannot receive rewards.

The City Council determines how much the informant ultimately receives.

``There doesn't have to be a conviction to receive the reward,'' said Detective Jim Dawson of the LAPD's Investigative Analysis Unit, which coordinates reward offers with detectives and the City Council.

``We can't control what a jury will do. They can be anonymous. If they want to keep their information confidential, we will keep them confidential.''

City Councilman Dennis Zine, a retired LAPD sergeant, said the city will do whatever it needs to get information to solve serious crimes.

``We're looking for justice,'' he said. ``We know that there's at least one witness to most crimes. We have to somehow bring these witnesses forward.''

But many witnesses do not come forward - reward offer or not - out of fear, intimidation or the stigma of being a snitch.

``Nine times out of 10, I don't get any results from rewards,'' said Detective Luis Romero, of the 77th Division's homicide unit. ``One time I had a guy who came forward but didn't want to go to court. He didn't want to be a snitch. Without his testimony, there was no way that case would be prosecuted.''

Mayor James Hahn called on witnesses to stand up to the crime running rampant across the city. He believes that increasing the amount of the reward offers bolsters crime fighting efforts to take back the streets.

``Increasing rewards tells our community partners that the city of Los Angeles appreciates their courage and conviction to make our neighborhoods and our police officers safer,'' he said.

Police have high hopes of solving the fatal shooting of Sahoum, who was killed June 29 by a long-haired white man in a baseball cap. The slaying was captured by a surveillance camera in his store.

Officials have publicized a blurry image from the surveillance video and hope the reward will convince someone who knows the suspect to come forward and identify him.

``The pain will never go away,'' said Zaher ``Jeff'' Hawara, 39, Sahoum's friend and co-owner of the Lankershim Mini Market. ``Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money. It will help. I'm not saying it will solve the problem. But I'm pretty sure it will help.''

Something looked unusual as LAPD Sgt. Christopher Crosby swung 19 George 80 down Nordhoff Street onto Columbus Avenue. The streets once prowled by homeboys were now walked by women, strolling unaccompanied down the street with groceries and strollers.

"Man, look at that -- ladies walking their dogs," Crosby marveled. "You never used to see that."

Long a problem area, even with the federal and city-funded Safer City Initiative officers on patrol, North Hills was quiet Tuesday night. Crime rates leaped earlier this year in spite of the dozens of extra officers, but as Crosby pointed the Crown Victoria left on Rayen Street, then right on Kester Avenue, things looked downright placid.

"We came by here," he said, pointing at the Sepulveda Recreation Center, "late last night, around 2, and people were playing tennis. Tennis! But if we don't keep it up, the gangs will come right back."

Crosby, a surfer, martial artist and dog enthusiast, serves as the Mission Division's gang sergeant. He's friendly, laid-back and looks pretty much like you'd expect a cop to look.

As a kid, he was a trim baseball player, but at 18, he grew five inches to his present 6-foot-3 and hit the weight room. He topped out at 285 pounds and in his vest, gunbelt and blues, he cuts an imposing figure.

The streets were pretty empty and the radio was all but silent as Crosby eyed dark streets and peered into cars. Shrugging off the cold that blanketed the late November air, he stopped for a cup of coffee.

"I'm gonna order the manliest drink there is," he said, voice dropping an octave.

A few minutes later, he had his peppermint Frappuccino, with extra mint and whipped cream, in hand and his slick-top was headed northeast toward Sylmar. He called out the demarcation between Astoria Garden Locos and San Fer territory along the way, pointing out the liquor stores and motels they use to meet and scheme.

There was a call of a 459 Hot Prowl on the outer edge of the 28-square-mile division and the gang units headed up to see what was afoot. Turned out to be nothing. As did a door knock on a Paca with a drug charge who wasn't home. Up and down the streets, all around the territory, everything was sleepy.

By 10:15 p.m., the soccer games back on Columbus had died down, but the cars kept churning, looking for anything suspicious. A few gaunt, wild-eyed men scurried around, couples kissed goodnight and men tried to jump start their cars back into working order.

Eventually, a Valerio Street gangster turned up on Kester and Rayen. He was 19 and skinny, known as Silent. He wore a Saints jersey, Raiders jacket, baggy jeans and low-top Reeboks. A pair of young gang officers, just off their probation in 77th, had him hooked on the edge of the soccer field. Everyone was calm.

"So what's going on, man?" Crosby asked.

"Nothin'," Silent said. "Just tryin' to visit my kid."

His high school girlfriend and baby son lived across the street. He'd run from the cops before and they'd busted him for meth possession in the past.

"Are you on probation?" one officer asked him.

"Not that I know of," Silent replied.

"You don't recognize us?" the cop said. "That hurts."

"Man, and we were the ones who arrested you, too," his partner said.

"Your name's all over the neighborhood," Crosby chimed in. "Why do we see 'Silent' on the walls?"

"I don't do that no more," Silent said. "Since I got out. Since my son was born."

"Oh, well is there another Silent?" Crosby asked. "A Big Silent? A Little Silent? How about Very Silent?"

While awaiting for a probation officer attached to the unit to arrive, Crosby shot the breeze with the gangster, advising him to go back to school and find a career. He slipped in questions about VST's activities, asking who was beefing with who and who was friendly. Silent did not live up to his name.

"If you guys were to take me in for some reason, could you take me to say goodbye to my girl and my son?" he asked.

"Absolutely," Crosby told him.

Silent shifted and yawned nervously in the cold, his eyes a little watery. The gangster's cell phone rang and his girlfriend wondered why he was taking so long. But he came up clean, with no outstanding warrants or drugs in his pockets, so they searched him and Crosby wished him a good night.

A couple blocks later, the unit pulled over a couple more gangsters. They claimed they were on their way to church, but, given the fact that the clock was close to midnight, it seemed rather unlikely. One ended up in a squad car and by the time the cops and probation searched his home for a weapon, his father was very, very disappointed in the way his son's evening finished out.

By the time the unit circled back to the station, things were even slower. No shootings, no foot pursuits, barely even any lawbreakers out on the streets. And that seemed just fine with all involved.

Photos by Hans Gutknecht, staff photographer

The best laid plans of mice and men -- three men tied up a Poquito Mas employee and forced him to give up the restaurant's alarm code. But after getting inside the restaurant they got a little skittish and decided to cancel the job and disappear.

• The incident was reported about 6:20 yesterday morning when an employee was about to open the restaurant in the 21000 block of Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills. The employee had just parked his car and was approaching the business when the suspects approached. One man, armed with a knife, ordered the victim to enter their vehicle where he was tied up. The suspects demanded the alarm code to the restaurant then two of the men attempted to disarm the alarm and entered the business. Once inside, they apparently got a little nervous fearing they did not disarm the alarm. So they took off without having taken anything. The suspects took the victim’s wallet and fled in their vehicle. The victim was not injured.

• In other crime related news, police received a call about a robbery just after midnight this morning in the 4900 block of Haskell Avenue in Sherman Oaks. A female victim pulled into her driveway and was sitting in her vehicle with the door ajar when the suspect approached. The suspect with a gun at his hip demanded the victim’s purse but she refused to give it up and instead they struggled over it. The suspect then demanded her cell phone that she gave to him before he took off.

There's a great piece in Chicago Magazine about the old story of the CIA/Mob tale of the attempt to try to get Fidel Castro whacked. The CIA courted a former FBI agent turned private eye to recruit members of the Mob to target Castro in 1960 to be timed to coincide with the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion. What follows is the tale as told by that former private eye, Robert Maheu, who is now 90-years-old and lives in Vegas. He just may be the last living major player in the CIA's efforts to assassinate Castro, Chicago Magazine says.

The CIA. In bed with the mob. With him as the matchmaker? It was . . . crazy. How could an arm of the federal government team with Murder, Inc.?

The two men acknowledged his discomfort, shared it, even. In a perfect world, they would never have asked this of him or any citizen. But in this case, the interests of national security justified it. Think of Hitler, the lives that could have been saved had he been taken out before the launch of World War II, they said.

The analogy pricked The Fixer's conscience. Still, he said, "I have to think about it, think very deeply. I'll give you my answer tomorrow."

chicagomag.com

Every gangster I've ever met, repentant or otherwise, tells variations on the same story. Usually, they're poor, their parents are either split up or both working and they have no one to look out for them after school lets out. And so, without anyone to fill the void, they hang out with a bunch of other kids, get into trouble and, pretty soon, it's too late to get out of the lifestyle.

Ten years ago, after a particularly sad gang shooting that killed a little girl, the City of Los Angeles tried to step in where parents could not. It funded the Bridges program, a series of after school programs to help kids who might fall in with gangs. Rather than hanging out and getting in trouble, they brushed up on their studies, played sports and went on trips.

There are basically two kinds of stories told about programs like this:
1.) "I could have joined a gang, but instead I joined a team," said a student.
2.) "This is a waste of my taxpayer dollars," complained someone somehow connected to politics.

I joined the long list of chroniclers when I went to Sutter Middle School on Thursday night. I'm not sure where my story fits in the cavalcade of pieces over the years, but I hope it showed that the program got through, at least to some of the 3,000 or so kids who've passed through it over the years.

And I will say this: after a long day at the office, dealing with not-very-cooperative people on the phone, crimes and corporate greed, it was nice to see a bunch of kids having a good time. Will programs like Bridges cut off gangs' recruiting base for the next generation? Probably not all on their own, but it certainly seems like a good start.

Don't yet know if these two following robberies are related. But they both involved at least two guys, one with a getaway driver, and both were in Van Nuys.

Police reported a robbery last night just after 9 last night at Victory Boulevard and Fulton Avenue in Van Nuys. Two male Hispanics approached a man as he was walking to his car when a third suspect pointed a gun at him. Another suspect held the victim and the gunman picked his wallet before taking off in a car. No other details were immediately available.

Another robbery was reported Saturday about 7 p.m. at Van Noord Avenue and Sarah Street in Van Nuys. This is the way police say it went down. The victim was walking north on Van Noord approaching Sarah when two, male Hispanics approached him from behind. One of them pointed a gun at the Victim’s head demanded him move closer to the house where it was dark, then asked him what do you have. The victim, in fear, complied and told them what property he had. Then a second suspect picked the victim’s pockets and took his property before both suspects ran away.

On Sunday, just before 1 a.m., a guy was shot in the chest in the 6700 block of Sepulveda Boulevard in Van Nuys. Police responded to Valley Presbyterian Hospital from a call of a victim of a gunshot wound to the right side of his chest. The victim was at a Bar outside the front with friends when all of a sudden he heard a single gun shot and noticed he had been shot. The victim’s friends took him to the hospital where he is listed in stable condition. Officers responded to the location of the shooting and were unable to locate any witnesses or evidence.

The number of hate crimes reported in L.A. was 211 in 2006, compared with 219 the year before. The Los Angeles Times reports a jump of 8 percent nationwide. dailynews.com latimes.com

The rice has fallen, the doves have flown away, The Wedding March has faded away and the Newlywed Bandits will rob no more.

Mr. Blackmoore at LA Noir caught this off CBS-2: it seems that Rayceana and Paul's alleged crime spree has come to an end.

The so-called Newlywed Bandits, suspected in five Los Angeles-area bank robberies in a three-week span, were arrested in Las Vegas at the end of a police pursuit, authorities said.

Rocha, who was driving, crashed the vehicle and was taken into custody at the scene. Meyercamp was taken into custody following a brief foot pursuit, she said.

As Mr. Blackmoore so aptly puts it: who says romance is dead?

California is second behind Pennsylvania for having the second highest number of juveniles sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole, the Los Angeles Times reports.

California currently has 227 inmates serving such sentences for crimes committed before they turned 18; Pennsylvania has 433, according to a new study by the University of San Francisco's Center for Law and Global Justice.

latimes.com

Fog rolls in
Bob Hope Airport was shut down this morning because of thick fog. dailynews.com

'Newlywed Bandits' nabbed
The so-called Newlywed Bandits, believed to be responsible for five Los Angeles-area bank robberies in a three-week span, were in custody today in Las Vegas. dailynews.com Earlier

Where are the Ski Mask Bandits?
Where'd they go? The Ski Mask Bandits hit 52 restaurants, left a trail of violence, national attention, caused the cops to put out a $75,000 reward, then, in September 2006, they disappeared. "They've been quiet for a year, knock on wood," said LAPD Deputy Chief Michel Moore, head of the Valley Bureau. "Don't wake them up, OK?" dailynews.com

New cop shop coming to Valley
New Valley station coming. dailynews.com

Mr. Becerra at our downtown competitor went cruising with the South Bureau gang unit in Southeast division.

Saturday night, July 21, and it's been slow in South Los Angeles, scary slow. Two Los Angeles police officers stop a pair of young gang members for jaywalking, a good excuse to ask some questions.

The gang member, a lanky 20-year-old who goes by the name Mally, chews coolly on a toothpick. A large gilded crucifix dangles from his neck as he and a friend slouch, handcuffed, against a rusting gate on a street corner just west of the Nickerson Gardens projects.

Much like the night itself, the full story starts slowly and builds in dramatic intensity when violence breaks out. It's a great piece, well worth the time to read the whole thing. Rick Loomis compliments the words nicely with some great photos.

The most chilling moment to me didn't come during the actual shooting, however, but when a 14-year-old tries to confess to possessing a gun, so his big homie won't get arrested. I always want to believe in people's ability to turn themselves around, but if you're volunteering to pick up a case at an age where you should be still learning algebra, the future does not look bright.

And Mr. Becerra does a great job of showing exactly that.

Hans and I spent some time in the Southside while working on our series on Kristina Ripatti and Tim Pearce and Mr. Becerra's account rings true on many levels.

There are a lot of guns and there's a lot of anger down there. It's not surprising. When you're stacked into rundown apartments and your neighbors were shooting at you, it's not hard to see why you might be tempted to pick up a gun. Then a fight breaks out, another young kid who happens to be walking past gets killed and the cycle begins anew.

The thing that's most striking is the crowds that gather 'round. The story and its companion slideshow capture that really well. Cops wade into these disputes, sometimes with a kid bleeding his life away in the middle, and they're surrounded by dozens and dozens of onlookers.

Some are just curious, some have more malicious intents. Even on minor traffic stops, you can have 50 people clustered around, watching and offering commentary. And yet, when it comes time to ask who pulled the trigger, miraculously, no one saw nothin'. Some other mother's son goes to the morgue and everyone else goes on with their lives.

Well, so much for that one... the controversial mural on the side of the liquor store at Saticoy and Hesperia got the boot. Rick's got the story.

RESEDA - After pressure from community residents and city officials, a controversial liquor store mural, which sparked heated debate over whether it was art or graffiti, has been removed.

"The community in Reseda was very upset about the mural," said Jose Maldonado, a senior lead officer with the Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley Division.

It seems Jeff Measles, who helped put the mural together in honor of his late friend, didn't get his permits in order, nor did he expect the controversy it would cause. He remains undaunted: "I'm planning on doing another mural, probably next year, and, this time, do it right," Measles said..

Sounds like a good compromise. Hopefully, he can find a good place for to pay tribute to Mr. Sena where people can enjoy it, rather than fight. And the people of Reseda get their liquor store wall back, too.

Previously, Community paints Reseda mural controversy.
Gangs, libraries and Ohjae, too.

The FBI is on the hunt for a pair of brigands known as "The Newlywed Bandits". Touching name, huh?

The feds suspect Rayceana Racheal Rocha, left, and Paul Harlan Meyercamp Jr., right, in a string of bank robberies last month ranging from La Habra to Claremont. After the bureau released pictures of the duo in action last week, they got tips that led them to publicly accuse the two.

Paul's a parolee, Rayceana is a student at Rio Hondo Community College in Whittier. That's particularly noteworthy, in that Rio Hondo has a prominent Police Academy. If she's guilty of the alleged crimes, something tells me she might want to ditch classes for awhile, lest some of her fellow students in the law enforcement department happen to notice her.

LAPD consent decree in the news
The Los Angeles Police Department continues to need to improve its investigation of use-of-force cases - particularly officer-involved shootings - to satisfy the terms of a federal consent decree, a court-appointed monitor reported Thursday. dailynews.com

Phony art
A family of art dealers faces civil charges for allegedly selling cheap and unauthorized works as authentic, fine art reproductions for thousands of dollars. dailynews.com

Death sentence urged for gangster
A Canyon Country gang member who recruited gang associates to kill a Rancho Dominguez businessman at the behest of the victim's sister should get the death penalty, a jury has recommended. dailynews.com

Something completely different
Two Vietnamese police officers have been imprisoned for helping a woman on Death Row become pregnant so she would not have to face the firing squad. dailynews.com

Greetings, dear readers. After a few days of technical difficulties, we seem to have everything, including the comments issue, ironed out. Thank you for your patience as we got our affairs in order and we'll have more good stuff for ya soon.

The latest news this morning here in the Valley is about the arrest of a man in connection with a stabbing from this summer. In short, a group of folks were hanging out drinking. A fight broke out. A stabbing occurred. Here's the story.

A 35-year-old laborer was arrested yesterday in connection with the alcohol-fueled fatal stabbing of a 25-year-old Panorama City man this summer, police said.

Alberto Carrillo Deisidro, a 35-year-old laborer from Sun Valley, was arrested before noon yesterday at his work at a marble countertop cutting place in Palmdale, said Los Angeles Police Department Detective Jim Freund.

He was being held at the Los Angeles County Jail on a murder charge in connection with the slaying of David De La Cruz, who was found suffering from multiple stab wounds in the hallway of a three-story apartment building around 5:20 a.m. July 22 in the 8900 block of Tobias Avenue.

dailynews.com

Our own Dennis McCarthy today writes a column about former Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti, whose passion comes to life in moving photographs of the difficult lives led by women and children in villages of West Africa. Garcetti's photographs are on display at UCLA's Fowler museum at the same time his old nemesis, O.J. Simpson, was ordered to stand trial on kidnapping, armed robbery and other charges in Vegas. Garcetti's not surprised. Go figure. dailynews.com

Three Pacoima gangsters have been charged and a fourth person was being sought in connection with an hours-long carjack and robbery spree that spanned the northern part of the San Fernando Valley, police said this morning.

The case began Nov. 3 when the suspects took a car at gunpoint in the 16900 block of Devonshire Street in Granada Hills, then crashed it, police said. They then tried to steal another car, but failed and instead robbed the victim, said Los Angeles Police Department Detective Dave Peteque. They then robbed somone else before going to a gas station where they approached three women in a Mitsubishi Montero, and asked them if they wanted to party before ordering them at gunpoint them to drive to another location where they picked up a friend, Peteque said.

dailynews.com

Brent wrote a tale of a modern-day Robin Hood, Julio Cesar Rodriguez, an Arleta man who purportedly told cops he stole from banks since 2004 to pay himself cash and to take some of it to Skid Row in downtown L.A. (Yeah, that's what I'd tell the cops too if I were facing more than dozen counts of bank robbery.) You know, Al Capone once described himself as Robin Hood too, even donating money to soup kitchens during the depression.

dailynews.com

Riverside County sheriff's Deputy Ron Johnson stands near a home in Temecula, Monday, Nov. 12, where five people were fatally shot Sunday. Four died on the scene and one died later in a hospital. (AP Photo/The Press-Enterprise, Ed Crisostomo)

The Times today follows up on the dark story of the murder suicide that left five dead in Temecula on Sunday. The story describes the victims - a hardworking single mother who was raising twin 15-year-old daughters, who she hoped one day would become responsible, churchgoing adults.

"I love my mom! She's the coolest ever," Nikita Williams wrote on her Web page. "My mom is truely who i look up to."

By all accounts, Naomi Grangroth was a hardworking single mother devoted to her 15-year-old twin daughters. Her hope, she told friends, was to raise them to become responsible, churchgoing adults.

On Tuesday, however, friends and relatives were struggling to understand how this 34-year-old mother's dream could end so suddenly, and so violently.

Grangroth, Nikita and her sister, Narissa, died Sunday at a Temecula house -- apparent victims of a murder-suicide shooting that took the lives of five people in a quiet cul-de-sac. Also found dead were Grangroth's boyfriend, Jeffrey Blixt, 45, and his 17-year-old son, Matthew.

Authorities are still trying to determine who fired the gun that killed all five people in Blixt's home near Temeku Hills Golf and Country Club. Sheriff's spokesman Dennis Gutierrez said that news reports indicating Matthew Blixt was the shooter "can't be confirmed at this time." Autopsies will be performed today or Thursday and could reveal who the killer was.

latimes.com

Jason beat me to the punch in posting this item on Victor Tovar, who traded what he saw as a dead-end life as a gangbanger for a more comfortable future as a firefighter. I wanted to take a couple minutes to expand on it, though.

I heard about Mr. Tovar through Paul Vinetz at a San Fernando Valley Coalition on Gangs meeting a few months ago. It took us awhile to connect, but it was well worth the wait. Vinetz filled me in in advance, then introduced me to Mr. Tovar last week when he spoke in front of a group of kids who'd gotten in trouble.

I've met a lot of guys who cliqued up when they were young, regretted it later, but couldn't pull themselves out. But Mr. Tovar really seems to be something different. He doesn't have the swagger or the gangster's cadence anyore. If he didn't talk about his past, you'd have no idea he came from the lifestyle. But when he talks about the trouble he used to get into, his voice has the deadly serious tone of someone who's known that fear.

We talked for a good amount of time after he addressed the kids and I asked him why kids join gangs. He offered a few thoughts: lack of parental supervision, a breakdown in the traditional family structure, kids who watch too many violent movies. Then he turned it around and asked me my thoughts.

Here's what I told him: anytime people don't have hope, they're gonna start looking at ways to get into trouble. While there's always going to be incorrigible troublemakers who will never go straight, I think most people will play by the rules so long as they believe they'll get treated fairly. It's when they can no longer see a point to going to school, working a job and obeying the law, that's when they'll start reaching for that strap or looking at a bag of meth as a means to pay the rent.

And I told him that guys like him are an important part of that equation. I don't know if he got through to any of those kids in the audience, or anyone who read his story in the newspaper, but if anyone saw themselves in his story and dreamed for something better, then he succeeded. Guys like him show that just because you messed around in your youth, just because you grew up in rough circumstances, doesn't mean you have to live life as a screw-up.

We tell terrible stories all the time, news about death and drugs and ruthless gangs who do rotten things to innocent kids. They're sad, but they're necessary. But we've got to keep looking for the Victor Tovars, too, to remind people that there's a different, better way.

An editor once told me "dogs on the front page sell newspapers." He was referring to cute puppies playing, not the slobbering, homicidal type, but judging from Dailynews.com today, people love pit bull stories, too. Here's one I'm about to post:

SAN FERNANDO — A nearly indestructible pit bull menaced a pumpkin patch, claiming the lives of an innocent cat and rabbit, before police overpowered it with brute force, authorities said today.
Shortly before 11 Monday morning, the San Fernando Police Department responded to a call for help in the 1300 block of San Fernando Road. Two officers and a sergeant found the corpses of the two animals and the pit bull in a snarling match with two other dogs.
After it attempted to attack two employees, police cornered the dog and called the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control. An officer arrived and tried to ensnare the pit bull with a leash, but it knocked her over and bolted down Celis Street.
The cops piled into their squad cars and gave chase as the dog wove in and out of pedestrians, approaching a laundromat.
“It became evident that the Animal Control officer was unable to recover from her fall and that the officers were forced to take immediate action,” the police report read.
The officers elected to ram the dog, running over it three times before it gave up. Animal Control appeared on scene and contained the dog, which sustained injuries to two legs. The pumpkin patch manager expressed profound thanks.

I like dogs-- a lot. I prefer dogs to many humans I've run across. But it sounds like this one had some issues, but it's a shame it had to come to this.

Here's something that gets me, though: how many times have we all heard this story? "Vicious" dog gets loose, roams neighborhood, threatens citizenry, attacks something, gets killed. It's certainly your right to have a big, scary dog, but if you want to own something that's been bred to be aggressive and combative, keep it locked up, dammit.

For literary readers of It's a Crime who are into dogs, check out Malcolm Gladwell's take on The Dog Whisperer and pit bulls.

Police today reported a robbery from Nov. 9 at 9:30 p.m. in the 16000 block of Saticoy Street in Van Nuys. Here's the police description of how it went down: Two Hispanic suspects entered a Restaurant, pointed a
gun at the employee and demanded money. But the employee was unable to open the register so after a quick search behind the counter, the guys took off. No other details were immediately available.

I was traipsing through the Internet this morning, looking for a phone number for Operations Valley Bureau, when I found it turned up in a very odd place. Lt. Gary Nanson, who coordinates gang efforts for OVB, showed up in an article in a Canadian newspaper, criticizing his north-of-the-border counterparts' handling of a homicide.

"They're using traditional ways of solving a homicide," said Lt. Gary Nanson, head of the LAPD's Valley Gang unit. "They're actually embarrassing themselves."

(Cpl. Dale Carr, spokesman for the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team) took exception to the comment, saying Nanson "has absolutely no basis to make a comment like that. That's an uninformed, unresponsible quote from him."

Nanson seems to have either really ticked off the Canucks or inspired equal agreement that they don't know what they're doing.

I've interviewed the lieutenant a few times and it sounds exactly like something he'd say. He's an intense, outspoken guy who will go on at length about what he sees as the failures of law enforcement to respond to gang violence. He foresees a future where gangs will evolve into sophisticated, more organized operations relying on financial crime, rather than traditional stuff on the street. As such, he'd like to see more gang intelligence and detectives, rather than uniformed officers doing suppression.

My only question is: how the hell did the newspaper find him? Whatever the case, the veteran cop probably won't be enjoying any Labatts courtesy of the IHIT next time he's up in Surrey.

Former Gang member Victor Tovar turned his life around and became a Los Angeles City firefighter. Photo by David Crane/Staff Photographer.

My esteemed colleague Brent Hopkins writes a moving portrait today of a former gangbanger who turned firefighter. Brent writes:

Bullets killed a couple of his friends and paralyzed two more. Plenty more ended up in prison or hyped on heroin.

"I was jacked up," he said. "I had tattoos on my neck and my arms. I was smoking weed every day. My family disowned me. Society disowned me. I felt like I was on my own."

dailynews.com

The ranks of law enforcement are heavily populated with men and women who bore arms for their country, trading the squabbles of the street for faraway battlefields. As many folks enjoy Veterans Day by not showing up to work, here are three remarkable tales of guys who sacrificed tremendously for the rest of us.

First, our own Dennis McCarthy delivers his usual masterful take on veterans' affairs with a visit to Charlie Mykietyn's poker game.

And across town, Steve Lopez writes about Sgt. Major Jesse Acosta, who lost his eyes in Iraq and is now adjusting to a life in darkness.

Finally, take some time and check out a surprising two-part tale by photographer Luis Sinco about Lance Cpl. James Blake Miller, the Marlboro Marine. Sinco took the iconic shot of Miller in Fallouja three years ago. It was a great shot, one of those Flags of our Fathers types that everyone remembers and takes on greater meaning to each viewer. Like most people, I saw it, thought it was great, then moved on, never really wondering who the guy really was.

Luckily, Sinco didn't leave it at that. He kept up with Miller, watched him come home, get married and fall down, damaged by the things he'd seen and done. And he cared. He stepped out of the journalist's normal role of observer and reached out to a man in need. It's a brilliant, painful piece of journalism, amazingly photographed and written. Part one and Part two.

Robbie Jones, 16, of Sylmar, spends a lot of time by herself at home trying to recall past memories that she's lost as she recovers from a gunshot wound to her head. A stray bullet fired by unknown assailants hit her in June as she was at a friend's house about to go pet pitbull puppies. (John Lazar/L.A. Daily News Staff Photographer)

A former Daily News colleague, Alejandro Guzman, tipped us off this summer to a shooting that occurred on his Pacoima street that left two wounded, including a 16-year-old girl. My night counterpart, Rick Coca, chased the details down and got a short story that mentioned a teenage girl getting shot in the head and a man getting injured when a group of men approached a home on foot and opened fire. Rick wrote that witnesses reported that two or three men walked up to the house in the 11200 block of Sproule Avenue at about 10:40 p.m. Sunday and fired several rounds. Robert Scarbrough, 38, was shot multiple times in the torso and the unidentified 16-year-old girl was struck in the head, said Los Angeles Police Department Detective Jose Martinez. "He is expected to survive,'' the officer told Rick."Her injuries were more severe."

Police went on to say they had no arrests but were looking into reported "illegal activity" in the area.

Well, months went by and nothing new developed on the case and as we do in this business all too often, we were on to other news.

Then the mother of the girl called and she was transfered over to me. She said that her daughter had survived, that doctors at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills were calling her the "Miracle Baby" of Holy Cross and that we should do a story.

Photographer John Lazar and I spent time with her and her family as she is going through grueling speech and occupational therapy and documented it for a story that ran today here.

Our blogging counterpart, Mr. Girardot at Crime Scene got a story on a terrible murder-suicide in Monrovia last week. I'd heard about this third-hand and asked him on Friday-- turned out to be true and worse than I'd thought.

MONROVIA - A man shot and killed his girlfriend in front of her children minutes before killing himself in the woman's apartment, authorities said Friday.

"We have a personal connection to this case," Lee said.

Read the whole thing here. It's really, really sad.

Quick one here on the rappin' gangster of Toonerville. Mr. Castro's on the trial trail, once again.

Convicted multiple killer Timothy Joseph McGhee might have received a reprieve on a date with the death penalty Friday when a mistrial was declared in the penalty phase of his trial.

His autobiographical notebook of gang lyrics, in which he boasted about his crimes, proved vital in the conviction - which is not affected by the mistrial in the penalty phase.

Here's the whole thing.

Also, Mr. Blackmoore weighs in with some choice words that we're not allowed to use in the newspaper.

Officer Deon Joseph
Rick's got a good piece on Senior Lead Officer Deon Joseph, who walks the beat on Skid Row. While the cops and the city have tried to clean up this grim swath of downtown, it's still another world to most of us. Officer Joseph, however, thinks it's still worth defending. His dedication to the area has not gone unnoticed.

LAPD Officer Deon Joseph strides the streets of downtown's Skid Row, alternating between his role as friend and enforcer - offering temporary housing tips to those seeking help and pouring out the cheap booze of those who refuse it.

The 12-year veteran and married father of three was one of only 14 officers honored nationwide at the annual ceremony.

Read the whole thing here.

Just about every bomb scare plays out like this: suspicious package turns up, people freak out, the bomb squad comes out, then someone's gym bag/backpack/briefcase gets examined or blown up. Most turn out to be nothing, thank goodness. And, given the stakes if you get it wrong, I'm all for an overabundance of caution-- better to have a laugh about the "bomb" that turned out to be someone's dirty laundry rather than the "dirty laundry" that turned out to be a bomb.

With that in mind, this was really pretty funny.

SAN FERNANDO - A forgotten sandwich, an alleged Sylmar explosives maker and an anonymous bomb threat brought the San Fernando Courthouse to a halt, police said Friday.

A few weeks ago, I was over at the West Valley station, chit-chatting with Lt. Smart when Officer Ed Moreno came in to report he'd made headway on a caper involving a CPA named Steve "Sumpy" Cabrera. It took me a second, but I eventually figured out he wasn't talking about a certified public accountant.

The case was still developing, but last week, Moreno called me back and said they'd gotten charges. So we've got this story:

CANOGA PARK - Steve Ulisses Cabrera racked up a long resume in his short criminal career, but a fight with a 5-foot-tall woman who wasn't about to back down may have brought it all to an end.

"She's able to put up a good fight back. He takes off with her money and her ID. But during the struggle, he drops his ID."

Y'all can find the rest here. Not to pass judgment on his alleged misdeeds, but come now, that's a really embarrassing way to end your criminal career.

The FBI and local police are seeking the public’s assistance with information leading to the identification of a couple known as the “Newlywed Bandits,” believed to be responsible for five bank robberies. Three of the banks alleged to have been robbed by the pair were committed when the Newlywed Bandits entered the bank together. During two of the robberies, however, the bank was robbed by individuals described as one of the Newlywed Bandits; one by the female and the other by the male.

During the first robbery which occurred on 10/18, the male Newlywed Bandit entered the bank and approached the victim teller; he used a note to demand cash and threatened a weapon. The female is alleged to have entered the bank during the second robbery using the same m.o.

On Oct. 30 and Nov. 6, the couple entered the bank together and robbed one victim teller, using a demand note and threatening a weapon, according to witnesses.

The most recent robbery occurred yesterday, Nov. 8 in La Habra. During that robbery, the bandits robbed one teller each before exiting the bank.

The Newlywed Bandits are considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information should contact their local FBI office or their local law enforcement agency. The FBI in Los Angeles can be reached 24 hours per day, seven days a week at (310) 477-6565.

Denise Hamilton

Denise Hamilton's an ex-reporter, excellent chronicler of Los Angeles in the Eve Diamond novels and, if the picture above is to be believed, an owner of very cool socks (or stockings-- as a dude, I'm bad with these details). She's got a great piece on looking for Raymond Chandler's old haunts over at LA Observed, where she bombs around with Judith Freeman. Freeman just penned the much-discussed The Long Embrace: Raymond Chandler and The Woman He Loved. I haven't read it yet, but after reading Ms. Hamilton's night out on the town, I certainly want to. It's nice to get away from real crime to the literary stuff, from time to time.

It’s a cool fall evening as we leave Freeman’s 1930s persimmon bungalow near MacArthur Park and head west along a gritty stretch of Third Street toward Rampart.

A little tingle comes over me. The Superet is a fenced-off jewel-box of a mystery, serene amidst the grime and gritty commerce of Third Street. I picture it weathering almost a century of change, watching the neighborhoods turn from wealthy and white to working class, then Latino and now Korean. When I Google Superet a few days later, I’m delighted to learn it was founded in 1925 by Dr. Josephine C. Trust, S.A.A.S., “the only Chartered Superet Atoms Aura Scientist of the Superet Science in the world.”

Do yourself a favor, as a colleague used to admonish me, and read the whole thing. It's definitely worth it.

Thanks to Mr. Blackmoore LA Noir for his always sharp eyes (and wit) that directed me to the story in the first place.

The name of the fetus that was inside the part-time student from Cal State Northridge is called "Baby Blanche" in court papers - dark senselessness. A woman now faces capital murder charges in connection with the deaths.

Capital murder charges were filed today against a woman who allegedly drove her car into a crowd in South Los Angeles, killing a pregnant woman and her fetus.

Unique Kiana Bishop, 21, was scheduled to appear late this afternoon in Los Angeles Superior Court Division 30 for arraignment. She was charged with two counts of murder with the special circumstance of multiple murder, and three counts of attempted murder.

Bishop allegedly drove her car into a crowd of other women during a dispute in the 5800 block of South Western Avenue on Monday. Police said the dispute involved a crowd of women. A melee erupted and fist fights broke out, authorities said.

Read the rest of the story here.

Jeffrey Scalf admits John Dillinger had flaws, but he prefers to remember him as a quick-witted charmer who was part playboy and part rebel. Scalf says he has proof his great-uncle did not kill a cop in 1934.
(Photo by AJ Mast / For The Los Angeles Times)

Check out this great story by a former colleague of mine, P.J. Huffstutter, over at the Los Angeles Times. She writes about a man named Jeffrey Scalf who is on a crusade to watch for those who profit off the name of his deceased and infamous great uncle, John Dillinger, the bank robber the FBI once dubbed Public Enemy No. 1. Scarf says you can call him a robber, but he was no killer.

He was charged with gunning down Police Officer William Patrick O'Malley during the January 1934 robbery of the First National Bank of East Chicago, Ind. But the case never went to trial. Dillinger was killed before the jury was selected.

snip

Since 2001, Scalf has filed lawsuits or threatened legal action against those who blame his great-uncle for the police officer's killing, including cafe owners, museum organizers, historical societies and rural township officials. He has demanded that anyone using the name sign a waiver promising not to portray the bandit as vicious or mean-spirited.

"John did some bad things. He lived a tragic life," says Scalf. "But he was no killer."

This is at the top of the news in the Valley this morning.

NORTHRIDGE - A man is accused of trying to stab to death the current boyfriend of a woman with whom the attacker had a child in a violent love triangle, police said this morning.

Ralph Adriano, a 21-year-old messenger from Panorama City, was arrested about 7:30 last night in the 8600 block of Sunland Boulevard in connection with the stabbing of a man yesterday morning in the parking lot of a Target store before the store opened, police said. Bail was set at $1 million.

Police got a call of the stabbing at the store at 5:45 yesterday morning off Nordhoff Street and Balboa Boulevard.

Read the rest here.

The Times has been all over this one and we pretty much missed the boat, since it happened so far away. But, as a sad reminder of how interlinked this city is, this fight down on Slauson and Western killed a lady with Valley ties.

A deadly and highly unusual melee among 30 young women in South Los Angeles was triggered by a dispute over a man who dated two of the female combatants, Los Angeles police said Tuesday.

On Tuesday, authorities announced that they had taken the driver into custody and booked her on suspicion of murder. According to police, the driver, Unique Kiana Bishop, 21, fled the scene but showed up at the 77th Street Division station with her mother. Police officials said Bishop told them that she struck the crowd by accident.

Read the whole thing here.

As always, our condolences go out to Ms. Blanche's family. Regardless where this happened, or why, it's terrible to lose someone so young.

Earlier in 77th, Will Beall- Packing heat and a pen.
The neon lights aren't so bright on the Broadway -- Another trip to 77th.
Solving murders in 77th.

After I picked on newspaper op-ed pages the other day, I should say that I understand some of their dilemma. Every time I write a story with the word "gang" somewhere within, the phone calls start up, nice and early. People offer their opinions, generally at loud volume and often spiced with racist diatribe, rarely having the guts to put their name to it.

Now, under the veil of Internet anonymity, it gets even more extreme. Monday's piece about community attempts to clean up the Dronfield Villas was the latest to inspire the yakking.

For example, an ex-Sylmar resident wrote to suggest that the real problem was that the community allowed Mexicans to move in. His suggestion: deport everyone of Mexican ancestry and the gang problem would magically disappear. When I pointed out to him that nearly everyone involved in the effort to oust the gangs, from the cops, to the residents, to the community-based organizations, was Latino, he launched into an even more vile screed.

So here's the dilemma: On one hand, I feel like I should hold people like him up for the public to see. On the other, I don't want to give the loudly vocal minority (I hope) a platform for their extreme views. While It's a Crime isn't exactly Speakers' Corner, I still don't want it to turn into an "I can yell louder than you can" contest. Now I understand the dilemma faced by the newspapers' letters editors.

Here's what I settled on-- folks who offer some sort of constructive suggestion or legitimate points about the topics we cover, comment away. Those of you who just want to rant endlessly, I'm sure the talk radio stations would love to hear your theories.

Just in case y'all aren't devoted readers of Governing Magazine, the LAPD wants you to know that the publication named Chief Bratton one of its public officials of the year at its gala celebration today. I know I certainly count the days each month until my fresh copy of Governing appears in the mailbox, but in the off chance you don't subscribe, here's the link to the story.

It's a pretty short story and MacArthur Park, Bratton's biggest headache this year, gets only a sentence. But it's got some interesting color, such as this passage:

For Bill Bratton, taking risks comes naturally.

Just how natural became apparent one day in 1975 when Bratton, a rookie sergeant with the Boston Police Department, got a call that would have made a veteran blanch: bank holdup; shot fired; possible hostage situation. En route to the scene, Bratton encountered the gunman — a 6-foot-2-inch man in a red leisure suit dragging a woman across a bridge, away from agitated bystanders. Bratton parked and advanced through the crowd — and suddenly found himself standing five yards from the gunman, weapon drawn. At that point, Bratton violated the first rule of hostage negotiations (never give up your cover): He lowered his firearm and, looking into the barrel of the other man's gun, asked the robber to put down his gun, too. He did, and Bratton had a new reputation as someone who was either very brave — or very foolhardy.

This does beg a question, however. Who the hell puts on a red leisure suit to rob a bank?

At the end of September, we had the sad story about Canoga Park High School teacher Hadas Winnick, who was allegedly stabbed and killed by her son, Jesse. We set up a Reader Reaction blog to allow people to share their memories. Most were kind words from former colleagues and students, but we got an unexpected post from Amy Winnick, Hadas' daughter, the other day.

I doubt anyone will read this since it's "old news" at this point - but it will never be old news to me. This was my family. Jesse and my mom were my best friends. Because of his savage, idiotic, selfish, disgusting act of violence, I no longer have either of them. There is no excuse. My mom was not brutal. Opinionated, yes. But perhaps the fact that Jesse told her she was fat, ugly, worthless, pathetic, deserved to die, was the reason she was so sad? Can you imagine having to go through that every day, whenever Jesse had a bad day or just felt like dumping on her? She was a beautiful woman, dedicated beyond belief to her children, students, and friends. She was the best mother she could have ever been. I wake up missing her more and more each day, but also thank God more and more each day for the time I did get to spend with her. So, to you, SKT - I pity your close-minded, ignorant views. And to everyone else, especially Paula, thank you. Mom and I love you dearly.

I can't imagine how painful it must have been to write those words. Our hearts go out to you, Amy, and to everyone else touched by your mom's life. Hang in there and good luck.

A framed photograph of Undersheriff Jo Ann Galisky, left, and Sheriff Michael Carona, is seen in Galisky's office, in Santa Ana, Calif, on Nov. 6. Galisky, will take over duties for Carona who is fighting federal corruption charges alleging he and others took nearly $700,000 in bribes and kickbacks. (AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Cindy Yamanaka)

Sheriff Carona is taking a two-month paid leave while he handles the federal corruption case against him. Undersheriff Jo Ann Galisky will take over while he is out. Check out the photo in The Times. Why is Carona's wife' s also named in the indictment, smiling? ocregister.com latimes.com

Check out this post by Wally Fay over at the crime and gang blog, In The Hat. He calls for Carona's resignation.

Anything less than resignation, or dismissal if he refuses to step down, will make the department and Orange County look like some Third World rogue republic where you can't tell the difference between the good guys and the criminals.

Mr. Bartholomew has an amazing, heartbreaking story of a terrible West Hills murder in today's paper.
Using his unique, masterful touch, he sets it up like this:

WEST HILLS - She was the bubbie who could turn matzo balls - and nearly everything else - into gold. He was the grandpa who couldn't get enough cuddling with his grandkids.

Gregory Douglas Miner, 32, faces life in prison without parole if convicted on two counts of murder, with special circumstances of committing robbery and burglary.

For the whole thing, click here. The whole thing gives me the shivers.

An update from the previous posting in which police were looking for a man who stabbed a woman leaving her injured during a botched home invasion robbery.

Here's the latest.

NORTH HOLLYWOOD - A suspect was in custody today in connection with the stabbing of a North Hollywood woman in her third-story apartment, authorities said.

Los Angeles Police Department officials from the North Hollywood Station plan to hold a news conference at 2 p.m. to discuss the suspect's arrest, LAPD Officer Mike Lopez said. No information on the suspect was immediately available.

Police found the 33-year-old woman outside her apartment in the 11500 block of Magnolia Boulevard, near Colfax Avenue, about 6 a.m. Sunday, Lopez said. Her name was withheld.

An LAPD statement said the woman "had been stabbed multiple times and was bleeding profusely." She was hospitalized in stable condition this morning, the LAPD reported.

The suspect was trying doors in the apartment building and found the high school teacher's door unlocked, Fox11 reported. Police said neighbors heard the commotion, ran into the man and attempted to question him. One neighbor followed him, but he got away, Lopez said.

The assailant reported took some items from the woman's apartment, including a laptop computer.

Police today released this composite sketch of a man believed to have stabbed a woman in the head during a botched home invasion robbery early Sunday just before 6 a.m. in the 11500 block of Magnolia Boulevard.

The unidentified woman suffered a stab wound to the head. She was said to be listed in stable condition at a local hospital.

Police say the man entered through the victim's apartment through an unlocked front door and confronted the her before demanding property. She told the man to take what he wanted before he stabbed her in the chest, face and head areas. The suspect also grabbed a laptop and struck her on the head several times before taking off and being chased by witnesses to an unknown location.

The Suspect was able to escape from the witnesses.

Police found the woman slouched at the front door of her third story apartment unit, bleeding from stab wounds, said Los Angeles Police spokesman Mike Lopez.

Witnesses described the man as Hispanic and about 20 to 26 years old, about 5 feet, 8 inches tall and 150 pounds.

Anyone with information was asked to call detectives at the LAPD's North Hollywood station at (818)623-4045.

It's rare that Ozzy Osbourne and/or North Dakota make appearances in It's a Crime, but when they do, it's certainly memorable. Enjoy, dear readers, this little tale that's going around the Internet like mad.

Ozzy Osbourne was @£$%&* annoyed. When police in North Dakota were hunting around for a way of bringing in hundreds of petty criminals on outstanding arrest warrants, they hit on the novel idea of inviting them to a fake party the night the rocker was due to play a local arena.

More than 30 people turned up at the nightclub in Fargo hoping to meet the former Black Sabbath frontman and reality television star. They were promptly arrested.

Apparently, Ozzy was not amused that his good name was associated with common criminals (or, perhaps, just with very foolish ones like the guys headed off to the pokey). He's demanding that Sheriff Paul Laney apologize. Sheriff Laney says he meant no disrespect.

Read the whole thing here.

LAPD Senior Lead Officer Charles Chacon of the Mission Division walks though a 64-unit townhome complex at the corner of Astoria and Dronfield, in Sylmar last Tuesday, where there are three different gangs terrorizing residents with violence, drug deals, prostitution and graffiti that covers pretty much every surface
including trees. (John Lazar/L.A. Daily News Staff Photographer)

Brent today hits us with a wallop of a piece from the hood, a neighborhood in the northeast Valley where gang graffiti is not the only problem, but it has a mix of competing gangs, where people have sex in public, drug deals go down in front of kids, and to quote Sgt. John Artes, an ex-gang member rents a garage to a current member who's bringing in girls to run some sort of prostitution ring.

dailynews.com

Normally, I don't pay a whole lot of attention to the arguments in newspaper opinion pages. While I think we've got a good crew over at Friendly Fire (and I think Mr. O'Connor's blog is really, really cool), in most publications, the opinion page is a snapshot of what's wrong with political discourse today.

Generally, the columns and the letters to the editor on any subject, from taxes to the war to immigration, are just variations on "Conservatives are good and liberals are bad!" with "Liberals are good and
conservatives are bad!" as the counterpoint. Whatever the issue, it seems to inevitably devolve into a war of bumper sticker slogans where conservatives tell us that Bill Clinton was a pervert, while liberals will counter with the claim that George W. Bush either isn't very smart or he's a liar. Both sides point fingers, play loose with the facts and generally seem uninterested in actually fixing whatever the dispute is, preferring instead to belittle anyone who doesn't agree with them. And that gets us absolutely nowhere.

This is all a long-winded way of setting myself up to get sucked into the same nasty game.

This morning, while enjoying some peppers and eggs, I happened across a column in our own pages by Doug McIntyre, normally a radio host for KABC.com. The headline "Gangs have our libraries under siege" caught my eye, so I continued on.

First, let me say that I'm not a talk radio listener, so I don't know a whole lot about Mr. McIntyre or his show. Judging from his biography and some of the things he has posted on his Web site, it sounds like we agree on some issues and part ways on others. I will give him credit for having a nuanced variety of opinions you don't normally hear from commentators, nor does he seem to be as shrill as some of his contemporaries.

So, with that in mind, I have to respectfully disagree with his argument. Mr. McIntyre throws out some stats about how Los Angeles has recorded 1,500 incidents in the past 18 months, with "an obscenely high number of serious assaults by gangbangers, including robberies, beatings and shootings." It appears that he's basing his outrage on this recent article by John L. Mitchell in the Times. He keys in on Mr. Mitchell's descriptions (at least I'm guessing that's where he got it, since he doesn't attribute his facts) of the Mark Twain Library, which he describes as "a free-fire zone, caught in the sinkhole of a city capitulating to gang culture." He likens the situation to Nazi book burning, the Taliban destroying the Buddhas of Bamyan and the destruction of Garfield High's auditorium, allegedly caused by an arsonist.

That's where his facts start to slide, as he blames it on multiple "arsonists," rather than a single, 16-year-old freshman who was apparently upset with a teacher. He says there was "usual public hand-wringing... and little else." I suppose the benefit concert headlined by Garfield alumni Los Lobos at the Gibson Amphitheatre a few weeks ago was just hand-wringing, but that's not the main point of my argument.

It's also worth noting, when you click the link on Mr. Mitchell's article above, that most of the incidents mentioned involve things that are merely unpleasant, such as people with bad body odor, creepy, such as public masturbation, or crazy patrons. There are several gang crimes cited-- and they're certainly horrible-- but the article also says that after a bad attack on a Twain patron in August, the library posted a couple security guards and the problem kids moved on.

After setting up this introduction, Mr. McIntyre hits this thesis: "The city of Los Angeles has surrendered to the gangs. There are still some small pockets of resistance, a few isolated yelps of protest, but we have largely accepted the degradation of colors, tagging, banging and bling."

And, in addition to his library example, Mr. McIntyre hangs his argument on the Anthony Sena mural that Rick wrote, blogged about and video-ed the other day. He insults Mr. Sena, a murdered spray-painter and tattoo artist by referring to him as an "artist" (quote emphasis his) and suggests that the controversial mural represents the full-on invasion of gangsters.

He even takes graffiti expert Ed Moreno to task, writing "It saddens me to read LAPD Officer Ed Moreno of the West Valley Division's Gang Impact Graffiti Detail to tell the Daily News he has come to passively accept the unacceptable. Describing the Sena mural, Moreno said: 'Nothing on that wall says gangs.' Everything on that wall says gangs! Everything in Los Angeles says gangs!"

Now I've met and spoken with Officer Moreno several times and I know that he's a sharp, respected cop and that he did his homework on the mural before speaking to Rick. He interviewed Jeff Measles, the primary artist behind the display, and received assurances that if the mural gets tagged over, there will be no reprisals.

Here's a fuller context Moreno's comments from Rick's article that Mr. McIntyre omits:

Meanwhile, some support for the mural comes from an unlikely source: graffiti experts, including LAPD Officer Ed Moreno, who works with the West Valley Division's gang impact graffiti detail section.

Despite criticism that it glorifies gang culture, Moreno said, "Nothing on that wall says gangs."

Mr. Sena, known by the moniker 'Ohjae,' doesn't sound like a perfect citizen, but, if you read Rick's well-balanced piece, you'll see that he'd moved on to achieve success as a legitimate artist. As much as critics want to deny that art can come from a spray can, I've seen it used to sell cars at the LA Auto Show and videogames at E3. In the same way that tattoos migrated from biker gangs' arms onto the backs of squeaky-clean college girls, graffiti art has moved from its strictly sketchy past into the mainstream.

That aside, Mr. McIntyre's argument that gangs have taken over all of Los Angeles is simply not true. Looking at the LAPD's most recent stats, there were 5,758 gang-related crimes in Los Angeles through September. While that sounds frightening (Egads! Around 21 each day!), it's also 200 fewer than the city recorded the year before, a 3.4 percent reduction in gang crime. In the West Valley area where Officer Moreno goes after actual taggers and gangsters with cans of Krylon, gang-related crimes dropped 3.1 percent since last year.

Don't get me wrong, any gang crime is unacceptable. And it's an especially emotional sort of law-breaking because gangsters tend to be big, scary-looking guys who operate under seemingly alien codes of conduct. Whenever their bullets miss one another and end up in an innocent neighbor or child playing nearby, the wounds sting even harder because it's unpleasant to think that these guys with tattoos on their faces live in our communities.

But if we're going to work together to fight back against gangs' influence, we need reasoned debate, not rhetoric such as this:

When schools and libraries become free-fire zones and young lives are snuffed out in front of tattoo parlors with cutesy-pie names making light of smack (Needle Pushers, get it?) and it's considered an honor to have your life memorialized in spray paint on a liquor-store wall, the canary in L.A.'s coal mine is on life support.

If the people of Los Angeles don't act, we'll take our place alongside those who accommodated the book burners in Germany and the Taliban Buddha bombers. We have a choice - library cards or toe tags. What's it gonna be?

Cops from Chief Bratton on down will tell you that the key to combating crime is an informed, involved community. If we're going to have that, to really rise up against the gang lifestyle, the community needs to arm itself with facts instead of hysteria. Scaring people out of the library because it's an alleged hotbed of gangsterism, a supposition not borne out by fact, playing up arguments over a painting instead of focusing on real crime and attacking a cop whose expert opinion doesn't square with a narrow thesis will not help bring us any closer to a real solution.

As always, we welcome your thoughts and comments on this clearly sensitive subject. Perhaps I'm totally off-base on this, but I'm curious to know what y'all think.

Authorities recorded a record number of arrests of criminal aliens and fugitives this year in the Los Angeles area, federal officials said today.

Some 2,667 immigration violators have been taken into custody between Jan. 1, 2007 and Sept. 31, 2007 - a 63 percent increase over last fiscal year, according to the latest statistics available. Of those arrested, 576 had criminal histories in addition to being in the country illegally.

Among the criminal aliens taken into custody recently by the Fugitive Operations Teams was a Maywood man convicted of beating another man to death here more than a decade ago. Luis Medina Gonzalez, 34, was arrested Oct. 24 at his home and deported to Mexico the following day.

Medina was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in August 1996 on charges stemming from a fist-fight that left another man dead. He was ordered deported based upon his criminal conviction, but failed to comply with the immigration court's order. Medina also has a prior conviction for narcotics charges.

"As a country, we welcome law-abiding immigrants, but foreign nationals who violate our laws and commit crimes against our citizens should be on notice that ICE is going to use all of the tools at its disposal to find you and send you home," said Jim Hayes, Los Angeles field office director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention and removal operations.

ICE established its Fugitive Operations Program in 2003 to eliminate the nation's backlog of immigration fugitives and ensure that deportation orders handed down by immigration judges are enforced. Today, ICE has 75 Fugitive Operations Teams deployed across the country. In fiscal year 2007, those teams accounted for more than 30,000 arrests nationwide.

This year, for the first time, the nation's fugitive alien population showed a decline, officials said. Estimates now place the number of immigration fugitives in the United States at slightly under 597,000, a decrease of more than 35,000 since October 2006.

While one of the biggest scandals to hit Orange County is going down, with the federal indictment of Sheriff Michael Carona in the news, The Times today does a profile of Robert Ordelheide, the police chief of a small island of a city in the midst of the sprawling metropolis of LA - the San Fernando Police Department. The 47-year-old man is loyal to the department he has been a part of for 23 years, vows to reach out to the town's 25,145 residents, and promises to avoid scandals. He earns $173,220 a year overseeing a department of 38 cops and 32 reserves to patrol a city of 2.42 square miles in the northeastern corner of the San Fernando Valley. It's a town where crime has dropped there 17 percent. There are no homicides this year or gang-related shootings.

latimes.com

Detective Mike Selleh kisses his daughter, Jessica, goodbye in an old family photo

This will be a light post until I get into the office later, but I wanted to put a quick link up to the Detective Mike Selleh benefit story-- it definitely seems like a worthy cause.

Mike Selleh Benefit Concert site.
Ticketmaster link.

I'm not the first one to tell the story of Rachel Levy and Ayat al-Akhras. As much as I hate to admit it, I didn't even do the best job with it. I'd give credit to Joshua Hammer of Newsweek or Joel Greenberg of the The New York Times for writing better pieces. But I hope I got a sense of what Rachel's life was all about. Here's the beginning:

In another world, Rachel Levy and Ayat Al-Akhras could have been friends.

"One wanted to kill, one wanted to live," said Edna Levy, Rachel's aunt. "They could have been good friends, they could have gone to school and studied together. But it wasn't like that. It's just so sad."

The rest of the story's here, or if you're more of an audio person, check out Public Radio International's "The World" report on the film.

I didn't get a chance to watch the whole documentary, so I can't get into the specifics of what all the director covered. But I will say this is one of the rare times I find myself in agreement with President Bush, who makes a rare appearance as a quote in my story (oddly enough, he doesn't weigh in on a whole lot of San Fernando Valley crime issues).

I don't claim to be an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, nor will I try to take sides in the argument. With thousands of years of fighting, my coffee cup insights aren't gonna make any difference.

But, hopefully, Rachel and Ayat will. These aren't soldiers dying in a war-- they were kids. Real, actual kids. One teenager who blew up another, solely because she was an Israeli girl walking to the market. A security guard, 55-year-old Haim Smadar, prevented the carnage from being greater.

Any way you look at this, it's a tragedy. Perhaps if the folks pointing fingers back and forth on both sides will keep this example in mind and remember these weren't abstract numbers in a newspaper column. They were real, vibrant people who could have had much ahead of them.

As Edna Levy told me, in a quote that didn't make it into the story:
"It's been five-and-a-half years and it's not behind us. It's a big scar for the whole family-- everybody loved Rachel. She was a star-- we didn't want to see her in a grave. When I go back to visit, I don't want to kiss a stone."

Unfortunately, that and 17 years worth of memories are all that's left of Rachel Levy. The same for Ayat al-Akhras. Let's hope those memories can inspire people to change, but with thousands of dead before them, I'm not all that optimistic.

A couple of incidents in the Valley to report from yesterday.

About 9:30 a.m., a man simulating a gun, walked into a place in the 6100 block of Sepulveda Boulevard in Van Nuys and demanded that a safe be opened. When the guy advised he couldn't open the safe, the robber grabbed cash from the cash drawer and disappeared. No other details were immediately available.

About 10:30 p.m., a group of male Hispanics and a group of male blacks were walking and exchanged words in the Universal City area when a man pulled a gun and fired a round into the group, striking one in the leg. Both groups ran leaving the victim at scene. The victim was aken to Olive View Medical Center where he was in stable condition with a wound to the leg. No other details were immediately available.