Recently in Cops Category
Good morning. Here's what's new in crime this morning.
- Los Angeles police detectives are looking for clues in a North Hollywood weekend shooting that left one man dead and another behind bars. dailynews.com
- A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy was arrested on Monday night, accused of attacking his wife and her male acquaintance. abc.com
- Two people were sent to the hospital after a wild pursuit and crash in the Athens area of Los Angeles. abc.com
Cops put out this release about a homicide in Pacoima.
Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) detectives are asking for the public's help to find the persons responsible for the shooting death of 19-year-old Samuel Trujillo of Pacoima.On Wednesday, September 10 at about 8:40 p.m., Foothill patrol officers responded to a radio call of a shooting that occurred in the 11600 block of Woodcock Avenue in Pacoima. When officers arrived, they found a victim of a gunshot wound.
The victim was transported to a local area hospital where he later died of his injury.
Investigators believe that unknown suspects approached Trujillo and exchanged words concerning gang affiliation. The suspect, who was accompanied by several others, shot the victim.
The suspects are described as male Hispanics, in their 20s, wearing dark clothing.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Foothill Homicide Detectives Jose Martinez and Joshua Byers at 818-834-3115. After hours and on weekends calls may be directed to the 24-hour, toll-free number, 1-877-LAW-FULL (529-3855).
This morning a man stabbed a man in Sunland. Details are still trickling in. Here's the skinny.
SUNLAND - A man in his 20s was found stabbed this morning on Sherman Grove Avenue in Sunland and a man in his 50s surrendered to police in connection with the assault
Police tonight are going to hold a press conference about the arrest of a sexual assault suspect.
On August 14, 2008, Miguel Angel Barrera, 44, a resident of Chino Hills, was arrested for multiple sexual assaults which occurred in the North Hollywood Area. To date, Barrera is known to have committed sexual offenses against three victims over the past two years.The female victims are 14 through 23 years old. Barrera met his victims as they walked along the street in both the North Hollywood and Hollywood areas. He offered them high dollar employment as models for magazines and commercials. Barrera often spoke of his connection with movie studios while displaying business cards and photography equipment. After the victims agreed, they were taken to motels in Studio City where they were initially photographed before Barrera sexually assaulted them. Barrera is an Argentinean with black hair and light colored eyes, 5-10, 190 lbs. He speaks with an Argentinean accent, dark complexion, and wears his hair slightly long.
Barrera has been associated with two different vehicles. A white 4-door sedan and a red 4-door, 2005 Dodge truck, license number 7P17947.
Barrera's mug photo along with a photograph of his truck will be made available during the news conference.
The Los Angeles Police Department is interested in speaking with anyone who may have information on Barrera. All inquiries may be made to North Hollywood Detective Karen Crawford at (818) 623-4090.
LAPD's throwing a party.
Well, kinda, the LAPD will be celebrating the national "Night out" program today between 5 -9 p.m. at Warner Center Park along with scores of others.
The idea behind what is now the "25th Annual National Night Out" is to raise crime prevention awareness and strengthen community and police relations nationally. Across the country thousands of agencies and community groups will be gathering for their local event.
In the Valley, this year's festivities are sponsored by Target and the Valley Cultural Center. Pete Demetriou of KFWB, is the Emcee with DJ Doc Dewberry providing live entertainment. Plus free food and bounders, face painting and slides for the kiddies.
Also, the West Valley station will be open for guided tours.
For additional information, please contact Senior Lead Officer Janet Zumstein at (818) 374-7634.
A hearing on papparzzi called by Councilman Dennis Zine is a "farce," LAPD Chief William Bratton said this morning, and said he won't be attending and wasting city resources.
"Since Britney started wearing clothes and behaving, Paris is out of town not bothering anyone anymore, thank God, and evidently Lindsey Lohan has gone gay, you don't seem to have an issue," he told Channel 4 KNBC news this morning. "If the ones who attract the paparrazi behave in the first place like we expect of anyone, it solves 90 percent of the problem. The rest we can deal with."
Bratton went on to blast Zine, a fomer LAPD officer, for "grandstanding."
"LAPD has no intention of dealing with this farce," he said.
It appears that he was a morning run or some kind of workout when he spotted the cameras and walked over to "set the record straight." Check out the video.
Bratton has butted heads with Zine before, most recently over Special Order 40. Zine proposed changing the longstanding policy intended to encourage immigrants to report violent crimes, but Bratton firmly opposed changing a single word.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies shot and killed a man last night in Lennox. Sheriff's officials say the shooting occurred shortly before midnight Wednesday, and the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. No deputies were hurt. Officials would not yet say what prompted the shooting. Lennox is an unincorporated area, about 10 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles.
Channel 4 news is reporting that the man, tentatively identified as Christian Cortillo, who is between 33 and 35-years-old was not armed, but possibly had been reaching under a seat for something when at least three deputies approached his vehicle.
The deputies were investigating a narcotics dealer who was selling drugs on the street when they saw the suspect sitting in his car. When he reached under the passenger seat, a deputy thought he was reaching for a weapon and fired at least one shot, striking the man in the upper torso.
Today:
- Criminal Justice Center
- Preliminary hearing in the case of Michael Henschel and Alan Mitchell, Valley businessman and an associate charged in a widespread real estate fraud case.
- San Fernando Courthouse
- Trial status conference in in the case of Kimberly Carter, a Northridge woman charged with murder.
- Testimony in the trial of Roberto Mendez Alba and Edwardo Medina, charged with kidnapping for ransom.
- Arraignment for Ernesto Romero, Ritchi Palomo, Eddie Alvirez, Oscar Abdiez Andia, Victor Torres, Ronald Ruiz and Erik Viveros charged in a gang-related kidnapping for ransom.
- Jury trial in the case of James Anthony Rojas, a Mission Hills man charged in widespread real estate foreclosure fraud case.
- Antelope Valley Courthouse
- Sentencing in the case of Christopher Anthony Hall, a Palmdale RV driver charged with murder and attempted murder.
Tuesday, July 22
- Van Nuys Courthouse
- Status hearing in the case of Jesse Bernard Winnick, a man charged with fatally stabbing his mother.
Wednesday, July 23
- San Fernando Courthouse
- Pretrial conference in the case of Jacquelin Linaras, charged in the death of an infant.
Thursday, July 24
- Van Nuys Courthouse
- Preliminary hearing in the case of Kevin Lamont Thomas, a former coach at Birmingham High School charged with sexually molesting four teenage girls in a private basketball camp he ran.
- Pretrial conference in the case of Bennett Ira Goldberg, a man charged with animal cruelty after his dog died in a hot car.
- Pasadena Courthouse
- Jury trial in the case of Ezel Ethan Channel, a Nickelodeon employee charged with child molestation.
My colleague, Larry Altman, over at the Daily Breeze in Torrance got the scoop today of a ring of burglars busted in some 40 cases from the South Bay to Tarzana. Check out the Crime and Courts blog for more.
Today:
- San Fernando Courthouse
- Jury selection in the case of Roberto Mendez Alba and Edwardo Medina, charged in kidnapping for ransom.
- Pretrial conference and motions in the case of Antonio Rodriguez and Debby Saravia, charged with child abuse, murder in death of 5-year-old girl, alleged abuse of 6-year-old boy. Saravia and Rodriguez were arrested in November 2004 after paramedics were called to a home in the 28000 block of Sturbridge Drive in Castaic and found the girl in convulsions, sheriff's officials said shortly after the two were taken into custody.
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Van Nuys Courthouse
- Preliminary hearing setting in the case of Pedro Ortiz, who was charged in San Fernando Valley child molestations.
Wednesday, July 16
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Van Nuys Courthouse
- Pretrial conference in the case of Jay Selznick, who was charged with carjacking.
- Mental competency report in the case of Song Nam Chang, who was charged with the murder of his son.
Pasadena Courthouse
Thursday, July 17
- Pasadena Courthouse
- Pretrial conference in the case of Ara Grigoryan, who was charged with murder.
- Pretrial conference in the case of Jacquelin Linaras, charged in the death of an infant.
San Fernando Courthouse
Friday, July 18
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San Fernando Courthouse>
- Pretrial conference in the case of Anthonio Llerenas, accused of using a child as a shield.
The FBI gathered investigators, psychologists and crime analysts from across the country to come up with profiles of serial killers.
Their study released today from the Behavorial Science wing of the bureau is supposed to help cops detect those killers. Along the way it busts some of those myths that serial killers are freaky loners like Hannibal Lecter, or that they simply want to get caught, like the Zodiac Killer.
It's an interesting read, with background on where the phenomenon of serial killers began and even a letter from Jack the Ripper.
Dear Boss I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they wont fix me just yet. I have laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track. That joke about Leather Apron gave me real fits. I am down on whores and I shant quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Grand work the last job was. I gave the lady no time to squeal. How can they catch me now. I love my work and want to start again. You will soon hear of me with my funny little games. I saved some of the proper red stuff in a ginger beer bottle over the last job to write with but it went thick like glue and I cant use it. Red ink is fit enough I hope ha. ha. The next job I do I shall clip the ladys ears off and send to the police officers just for jolly wouldn't you. Keep this letter back till I do a bit more work, then give it out straight. My knife's so nice and sharp I want to get to work right away if I get a chance. Good luck. Yours truly Jack the Ripper
Here's the report.
......And a few "myth busters" from the press release:
1) Serial killers are not all dysfunctional loners: some have had wives and kids and full-time jobs and have been very active in their community or church or both.
2) Serial killers are not all white males: the racial diversification of serial killers generally mirrors the overall U.S. population.
3) Serial killers do not want to get caught: over time, as they kill without being discovered, they get careless during their crimes.
LAPD Chief William Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa held yet another press conference this week to tout falling crime numbers. This time, it was the mid-year report. (See story for details)
Numbers are a tricky thing and often politicians use them to tell the story they want to tell in the press, so I asked Cmdr. Jerry Szymanski over at Valley Bureau --who I am sure wants to also tell a story of cops supressing gangs-- about how these crimes are classified and possibly manipulated.
First of all a crime is considered a gang crime if the suspect or the victim is a gang member _ regardless of what motivated the crime. For instance if a gang member is robbed at a liquor store: gang crime. If a female gang member is raped by her non-gang boyfriend: gang crime. And vice-versa.
The department tracks 12 violent gang crimes; homicide, aggravated assault, attacks on officers, rape, robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, shots fired into dwelling, arson, criminal threats and extortion.
Arguably, there's ways to hide gang crimes from other crimes. For instance, you can classify the number of homicides, which are up, as non-gang crimes and make it look as if gang crime is falling all together.
But Szymanski assured me this wasn't the case and frankly few people have a good inside view of what the LAPD is doing other than federal monitors. But to be sure he pointed to a statistic that most accept as one of the best ways to measure violence in the city: the number of people shot.
Across the board, it's falling whether it is a gang crime or not.
In the Valley, year to date, there's been 125 people shot compared to 172 last year.
From the AP:
LOS ANGELES (AP) A policeman who made anti-gay remarks during off-duty hours as a pastor is suing the Los Angeles Police Department, alleging religious discrimination.
Sergeant Eric Holyfield, dressed in clergy attire, told mourners during a 2006 eulogy for a fellow officer that homosexual acts were "sinful" and an "abomination" and would lead to eternal condemnation.
Deputy Police Chief Charlie Beck, who was among the mourners, filed a formal complaint against Holyfield after the funeral.
The lawsuit says LAPD brass then passed him up for promotions and pay raises in retaliation.
Three LAPD officers were placed on home assignment and prosecutors are looking into possible charges after a judge abruptly ended a trial and exonerated a man accused of cocaine possession after a defense attorney produced a video that contradicted the cops' statements.
LA Times reporter Jack Leonard broke the story and suggested in his article that the story reeked of the 1990s Rampart scandal that wound costing the department millions and forced them into a federal consent decree. It also exposed what federal officials said was a pattern or practice of excessive force, false arrests and unreasonable searches and seizures.
LAPD Chief William Bratton told the civilian Police Commission this morning, "We won't tolerate breaking the law to enforce the law."
The department's own internal affairs has launched an investigation, and the LAPD turned over information to federal monitors.
"There will be a full, comprehensive and speedy investigation involving all the players," Bratton said. "(The investigation) will move forward very quickly and very forcefully."
You'll like this one. Cops in a small Georgia town are charging motorists caught in a police pursuit a surcharge to help cover the police officers' fuel costs. They hope to genterate an additional $26,000 a year. Apparently this isn't the only police force changing habits due to high gas prices. Other agencies like Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, are getting out of their cars and hoofing it or hopping on bikes.
In South Fayette, also in Pennsylvania, officers have been told not to sit parked up with air conditioning on.The local police chief told his patrols: "If you want to stay cool, park under a tree."
A check a while back to see if the LAPD has followed suit. Nope. LAPD officers have not gotten out of their cars due to the rise in gas prices. But stay tuned. The city still is in a big budget crunch.
If you haven't checked out our new Valley Crime Map, you should. It's a list of 92 significant crimes - from homicides, to assaults to shootings, to robberies and burglaries - in the Valley since May. I've been compiling the data and uploading it into a new online database that maps the crimes out by street and allows you, the viewer to, search by neighborhood and get up-to-date information about crime near you.
Thanks to the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Bureau, the information comes to me about daily. I'd like to know what you think about the map and how we can make it more useful. E-mail me with your thoughts.
A judge approved a preliminary injunction against the San Fers gang this morning, a move that now restricts the movement of hundreds of gang members over a 9.5-mile stretch of the Northeast Valley and gives police broader arrest authority.
In a hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court that lasted just a few minutes, Judge David P. Yaffe granted the request from the City Attorney's Office and District Attorney's Office. Nobody voiced opposition in court.
Previously, community members have complained the injunction, one of the city's largest, spreads too far, folding in middle class neighborhoods in Sylmar and San Fernando untouched by daily violence.
But after several town hall meetings, both the Sylmar and Mission Hills neighborhood councils backed the injunction even as some argue police and prosecutors pushed it through without consulting the community.
There seems to be a bit of a disagreement among the region's top cops about the root causes of gang violence; racial tensions versus gang loyalty.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca believes serious inter-racial tension fuels the city's gang problem and he made a strong case for it an LA Times opinion piece that ran a few weeks ago. In doing so, he directly took on LAPD Chief William Bratton, who has repeatedly pointed out that violence emanates from gang affiliation, not skin pigmentation. To clarify his point, head of LAPD's detective bureau and 30-year veteran Charlie Beck laid out his argument in the LATimes Opinon section today.
It is true, of course, that many of L.A.'s gangs are organized along racial lines. Gangs almost always have been. You name the race or ethnic group and, during some time in history, some of their number have resorted to forming gangs to leverage their power in society. The Italians and the Irish come to mind in the 20th century. But being made up along racial lines doesn't mean that every crime is racially motivated. Mostly, the gang violence we see on the streets of Los Angeles is committed for other reasons -- over turf control, over traditional gang rivalries, over drug deals, over who disrespected whom, and over women. These are not racially motivated killings.
The danger of overstating racial conflict, thereby turning a discussion into a self-fulfilling prophesy, is very real. As our city grows and as demographics shift, cross-racial contacts increase, along with opportunities for conflict.
IT sho
Of course, you have to keep in my mind that the two men see gangs from very different places. Beck works the streets where gang members' first loyalty is to their neighborhood or close friends. With freedom, gang members can pick and chose who and when to fight.
Baca oversees the county's overcrowded jail system, where loyalty is not so clear cut and alliances are key to survival. There, race constantly bubbles to the surface. Inmates are often separated not only along gang lines but race, because in a place that nobody can call home, it is easier to define loyalty by skin color.
Last night, the Sylmar Neighborhood Council held a community meeting on a proposed 9.5-square-mile gang injunction zone, one of the largest in the city.
Under the injunction -- the fifth in the San Fernando Valley and 37th citywide -- those identified as San Fers gang members would not be able to associate in public places or stay out past curfew and could not act as lookouts or be in the presence of controlled substances in the area, which covers all of San Fernando and Sylmar.
I didn't get a chance to go but I am told the auditorium at Sylmar High School was packed with residents.
The gang coordinator at the City Attorney's Office, police, and representatives from city Councilman Richard Alarcon's office and gang experts all took questions.
Luis Rodriguez, who lives in the injunction zone and is the author of "Always Running," a memoir of growing up in gangs, said it was one of the most informative and frank meetings he has been to about the injunction, but he still left feeling that everyone was circling around the problem.
"We have to deal with the roots," he said. "Right now we are squeezing the gangs out of the L.A., but we are not stopping it. All we are doing is spreading."
Read past jump to see Alarcon's letter.
Industry publications were abuzz this with speculation that "LAPD," a pilot TV show based on Los Angeles cops, could replace the long running NBC show "E.R." which is heading into its final season.
John Wells, the producer of The West Wing," "ER," and "Third Watch" set up the drama series and writer Ann Biderman of "NYPD Blues" is on board.
It's been quite a while since we have had a serious network LA-based cop show and it would be interesting to see how the LAPD is portrayed. Corrupt cops based out of the LAPD's Rampart division in the 1990s inspired the creators of the "The Shield," another LAPD cop show on the FX network that is also heading toward a final season. In real life, former gang cop Rafael Perez stole six pounds of cocaine from the LAPD's evidence room, framed gang members and covered up a bank robbery. He was sentenced to 23 five years in prison.
Let's see if LA cops are Adam-12 or Rafael Perez this time around.
So I updated the Valley Crime Map, compiling a month's worth of information provided by the LAPD's Valley Bureau. You can search by neighborhood to see what crimes have been going near you. Check it out here. And tell me what you think.
The spokesman for the state's Justice Department forwarded me the state's significant cases for May. Included are big weapons, drugs and fraud cases. Enjoy.
CACHE OF WEAPONS AND AMMO FOUND IN PROBATIONER'S RESIDENCE
Special Agents with the Bureau of Firearms (BOF) checked the Armed Prohibited Person System and noted that a subject, Tom Powell, was listed as owning three firearms; however, due to previous criminal conviction he is prohibited from possessing and owning firearms. When agents determined that Powell was on searchable probation out of San Benito County, they conducted a search of his residence and located over 1,300 rounds of ammunition and a large gun safe. Powell told officers he had sold all of his weapons but he could not produce any records regarding the sales. A locksmith was called to the residence and opened the safe where agents retrieved five rifles, four handguns and one shotgun. Powell was arrested while other agents continued the search of the house. Located in the attic were additional weapons, including an unregistered AR-15 assault weapon, a 12-gauge shotgun and a revolver.
COMMERCIAL BRIBERY SCHEME AT CAL CASINO
While Special Agents from the Riverside Office of the Bureau of Gambling Control (BGC) were investigating several management employees of the Pechanga Resort and Casino, the Agents uncovered evidence that floor supervisor, Kathy Zhou, who was recently suspended from her job, was charging casino job applicants $3,000 each to falsify their job applications to secure employment. Agents monitored a telephone conversation between Zhou and one of her "customers," during which she instructed the individual not to say anything to DOJ agents. Zhou admitted to the witness during this conversation that she lied to the agents when they questioned her, and was admonishing everyone involved to "keep their stories straight." Zhou was arrested on charges of commercial bribery and obstructing a criminal investigation.
While LAPD Chief William Bratton said that media has been playing up the city's race problem, his counterpart at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has a completely different view.
So let me be very clear about one thing: We have a serious interracial violence problem in this county involving blacks and Latinos.Some people deny it. They say that race is not a factor in L.A.'s gang crisis; the problem, they say, is not one of blacks versus Latinos and Latinos versus blacks but merely one of gang members killing other gang members (and yes, they acknowledge, sometimes the gangs are race-based).
But they're wrong. The truth is that, in many cases, race is at the heart of the problem. Latino gang members shoot blacks not because they're members of a rival gang but because of their skin color. Likewise, black gang members shoot Latinos because they are brown.
Here is his full editorial in the LATimes
The New York Times today has a story about how the medical marijuana law is unintentionally allowing big-time pot growers a good cover.
Good morning. Cops are looking this morning for a hit-and-run driver who killed a 9-year-old boy in East Los Angeles.
Jesus Sanchez and his family were crossing Ford Boulevard just south of Cesar Chavez Avenue at 12:04 a.m. Sunday when a vehicle going northbound at a high rate of speed struck him, CHP Officer Luis Mendoza said.
The red, late 1990s to early 2000s two-door Honda with tinted rear windows and a spoiler with brake lights did not slow or stop after hitting the boy, Mendoza said. The car then ran a light at Cesar E. Chavez Avenue at Ford and turned left.
This just in, from Foothill Division ...
PACOIMA - A suspected carjacker got a taste of his own medicine Tuesday morning after stealing a GMC truck and crashing it into parked cars including a mail truck, before being beaten and detained by citizens on the street, police said.
On the 40th anniversary of Robert Kennedy's slaying at a Los Angeles hotel, The San Francisco Chronicle writes about the conspiracy theories that abound in the case.
Examples:
-- Sirhan fired his .22-caliber revolver from a few feet in front of Kennedy, according to police, yet Los Angeles County coroner Thomas Noguchi reported that the fatal shot was fired less than one inch from Kennedy's head, behind his right ear. Of the four shots fired at Kennedy, all came from the rear. None of this was raised at Sirhan's trial because his defense was based on the theory that he suffered from "diminished capacity" rather than on any challenge of prosecutors' evidence.
-- Sirhan's revolver held eight rounds; a radio reporter's tape recording of the shooting has sounds of what one audio expert describes as 13 shots. Sirhan never had a chance to reload before bystanders tackled him. Two of the sounds on the tape are what forensic experts call "double shots," which means two shots so close together that they couldn't have come from the same revolver.
-- Several witnesses saw a security guard just behind Kennedy draw his revolver, and one reported seeing him fire it.
-- Over the years, Sirhan has told investigators who interviewed him in prison that he was in a hypnotic trance during the shooting and can't remember it at all. He said he could not remember writing, "RFK must die." He did not respond to an interview request for this story.
Our sister paper, the Long Beach Press-Telegram analyzed arrests of juveniles in Long Beach. They find that while the country has been seeing a decline in juvenile crime, Long Beach has been steady, among other findings. I haven't gotten through it all yet, but check it out here.
NPR is taking a deep look at rising gang violence in Los Angeles, starting out in South L.A. during a ride-along with veteran LAPD Sergeant Herb Cirilo. npr.org
From the LAPD blog:
A police officer's weapon accidently discharged while attempting to pull over a vehicle with armed suspects inside on May 26, 2008.The incident unfolded at around 6:30 p.m., when an undercover police unit working a detail to apprehend career criminals was conducting surveillance on an armed and dangerous vehicle in the 9000 block of Telfair Avenue, in Pacoima. The plain clothes unit needed uniformed officers to make the stop and summoned for a patrol unit.
After the suspect's vehicle turned into a driveway of a nearby home, Officer Claudia Avila and her partner pulled behind them exited the vehicle and drew their weapons to conduct a high-risk stop. While holding her duty weapon with her right hand, Officer Avila attempted to put the vehicle in park with her left hand and accidently discharged her weapon.
Neither the officers nor the suspects were injured. Both suspects were taken into custody and charged for a crime unrelated to the officer involved shooting.
Force Investigation Division will handle the incident. Officer Avila has been with the Department for two years and one month.
Good morning. Here's the latest plan on gang crackdowns - evicting gang members from apartments and seizing cars. Reminds me of a plan that City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo had for people who street race.
In an effort to crack down on gun violence that last year alone killed or wounded more than 2,000 Angelenos, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and top law enforcement officials unveiled a plan Thursday that would allow officers to evict gun-wielding gang members from apartments and seize their cars.
Read the story I wrote in 2003 about the city's plan to seize cars of street racers.
At the top of the dailynews.com list today, Brandon has a story about officers being honored for their bravery.
It began just like any other ordinary traffic stop in North Hollywood.Just before midnight on July 12, 2005, near Sherman Way and Woodman Avenue, Los Angeles police Officer Humberto Franco pulled over a Nissan with three people inside for driving with high beams on.
Franco saw them trying to hide something - maybe drugs or a weapon, he thought - so he flagged down a passing patrol car for backup.
When the officers ordered the three out of the car, one of the passengers pulled a gun, fired at them and ran into a busy street toward a hotel.
A 32-year-old Pacoima man suspected of brazenly shooting four men he thought threw a rock at his SUV on Tuesday was charged with four counts of first-degree attempted murder, officials said Friday.
The incident was one of six shootings that within four hours left eight wounded and four dead on one of the most violent days the Valley has seen in years. At the time Deputy Chief Michel Moore commented, he couldn't recall ever seeing so many killed and wounded in such a short period.
Apparently Robert Ramon Gasca, 32, was upset over someone who pelted the window of his 1998 Ford Expedition. Later that night, he is believed to have shoot more than eight rounds into a black Honda Accord carrying the four men he thought were responsible.
The bullet ripped through the shoulder and back of the driver, gravely wounding him. It also hit three others in the car, who were not as seriously injured, and shattered the windows. Still, the seriously wounded man managed to drive him and the others to Pacifica Hospital for treatment.
Gasca is being held on $4.3 million bail. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.
A Superior Court judge on Monday upheld the murder charge against Ara Grigoryan, the man charged in the July 2007 hit-and-run death of Elizabeth Sandoval. Grigoryan's defense team had sought to reduce the murder charge before going to trial, arguing that prosecutors made certain assumptions about the incident and had overblown the 20-year-old's prior driving infractions to infer a "wanton disregard" for human life -- a key finding for murder.
LAPD Detective Bill Longacre got the tip in December 2005: Someone had rented a storage locker and filled it with stolen guns and jewelry.
When he opened the locker, he found a bag mixed with family heirlooms and other valuables taken from across Los Angeles County. And he discovered photos and copies of a visa, all with the same name - Ignacio Del Pe a Rio.
Showing the photos to the clerk and manager of the storage facility, Longacre discovered that the man was the same one who had rented the locker.
Over the next two months, Longacre used a database that matches suspect descriptions, and he came up with a few matches for Rio, who turned out to have 35 aliases and whose real name was Roberto Caveda. Quickly, he realized he had a big case on his hands.
As Longacre closed in, Caveda made a crucial mistake on Feb. 16, 2006 - when he was caught during a burglary in Sherman Oaks.
The arrest capped a spree in which Caveda admitted to burglarizing more than 1,000 homes in two years and led police to $16 million in recovered property, some buried near the 118 Freeway in Granada Hills.
Partly because of his work on that case, Longacre, 61, was honored Thursday with the 2008 Robert Presley Institute of Criminal Investigation Investigative Excellence Award.
That's Longacre in the photo above. I interviewed him in the third floor interview room at Parker Center, the same room Charles Manson was interrogated in the 60s and later O.J. Simpson. Behind the air conditioning gauge in the room the department had a video camera set up to record confessions back in the day.
Update: Video footage of suspect and his vehicle available for download at www.lapdonline.org-"Solve a Crime" Navigation bar on home page
Los Angeles Police Department have released a sketch of a man who attempted to sexually assault two young girls in separate incidents.
The first assault occurred on April 30, 2008, at around 7:30 a.m., when a Latino man approached an 8-year-old girl walking in the 600 block of Burlington Avenue. The man lured the girl into a secluded area of an apartment building located at 625 South Burlington Avenue and attempted to sexually assault her.
On February 29, 2008, at 9:00 a.m., the same suspect approached a 9-year-old girl walking near James M. Wood Boulevard and Hoover Street. The suspect initiated a conversation with the girl and pulled her into an apartment building where he attempted to sexually assault her.
The suspect is described as Hispanic, 25-30 years of age with black spiked hair. He's about 5 feet six inches tall and weigh 170 pounds. He was last seen driving a blue unknown make and model vehicle. A composite sketch of the suspect is available through Media Relations Section.
Anyone with information is asked to call Rampart Sexual Assault Detective Sofie Toledo at (213) 207-2031 or Robbery Homicide Detective John Wong at (213) 485-2921. After hours and on weekends, please call the 24-hour Detective Information Desk at 1-877-LAW-FULL (529-3855).
Here's a few more of LA's coldest cases from the turn of the century...
July 10, 1901
Craiton, H.R., Emp. 2nd hand store, So Main St. - Returning from visit to his girl, 2 this a.m.,; front of Horace Bell's place Figueroa St., was shot at from ambush, behind shrubbery.
July 10
Compfort, L.B., Driver of milk wagon - Shot in back, while on his wagon, 21st & Toberman, abt. 3 this a.m. Taken to Cal. Hospital, 4:30 a.m.
July 14
Macchiaroli, Cano, 829 Yale St. - Shot at 8 this a.m., West Glendale by Antonio Pellegrine, living at 729 Castellar.
Aug. 21
Bachelors, Body of man, to't to be Bachelors, found in Westlake. Kelly and Quinn.
Sept. 3
Rasche, Fred, Foreman, baker, Ebingers Bakery, 3d and Spring St. - At or near 9th and Wall St., 3:30 this a.m. on way home from work, shot in right side (flesh wound). Was a non-union man. Susp. Stevan Faviamovich, union baker, arrested by Sergeant Williams.
Oct. 7
Chow Youck Toy, C----
Shot and killed, Chinatown, abt. 7 this p.m. by Wong Bing arrested at Pasadena by Ritch, this eve.
Nov. 19
Wilcox, Abram P., wife and child - Found murdered in their ranch house near Downey; probably killed night of 16th inst.
Dec. 19
Neilson, Carl, Chatsworth Park Tunnel - Held up by three men, just above S.P. yds., this evening, and compelled to lie down while they committed sodomy on him. Says his companion, W. McGrew was with him. (Captain Hensley).
Dec. 3
Sampson, John - Shot and killed his wife at 4th and Spring St. on sidewalk, this p.m. Immediately arrested by crossing officer O.T. Walker.
Feb. 19, 1902
Wiley, Mrs. H.S. - Shot at her rooming house, (about noon) At The Columbia, 512 So. Broadway by D.C. Kent. He shot her twice in right side and once in left arm, then shot himself in forehead, only making a flesh wound; then cut throat with razor. Kent was her partner in lodging house (and lover). Kent committed suicide by taking carbolic acid in receiving hospital on March 12, 1902.
Wong Ung Wong - Murdered, about 1 this a.m., at Simons Brick Yard, 825 Boyle Ave. by On Ling Sing, who was arrested in San Francisco April 4th, and returned to Los Angeles by Hawley. Hawley, Auble, Steele & Kelly on case.
Police today are going to offer a reward in conjunction with the killing of a Northridge homeless man.
At 8 a.m. at the Devonshire Community Police Station, 10250 Etiwanda Ave., Northridge, Los Angeles City Councilman Greig Smith, and Los Angeles Police Department homicide detectives will ask for the public's help to identify a suspect who accosted an elderly homeless man, causing him to suffer fatal head injuries. For additional information, contact Matt Myerhoff, Communications Director, Council District 12, Cell: (818) 613-2248. Matt.Myerhoff@lacity.org.
A Latino in his 20s punched Harold Gene Loftis, 69, at Roscoe and Reseda boulevards about 10 p.m. April 14
They're doing it one care package at a time. According to a press release put out this morning, all six Valley Bureau divisions are taking items to make care packages for troops oversees through June 28, 2008. Put the stuff in red bins in the lobbies of the stations.
In order to send items to our troops, please see the Troops Wish List below and take your items to your local Community Police Station where a Red Bin has been placed in the lobby for collections. Items will be collected until June 28, 2008 at which time the care packages will be prepared and mailed. For further information please visit www.ForTheTroops.us. Check out lapd.org for the locations of the police stations.Wish List:
Gum
White Athletic Socks
Candy
Baby Wipes (cuz you just never know)
Nuts
Travel size board games
Potato Chips (in cylinder cans)
Computer USB Flash Drive
Trailmix
Memory Sticks
Pop Tarts
Q-Tips
Canned Tuna Fish
Pipe Cleaners
Crystal Light powder
AA and AAA Batteries
Pre-sweetened Powdered Gatorade
Letters of Appreciation
Granola and Power Bars
Movies-DVD's
Beef Jerky (No Pork, Please!)
Music -CD's
Crosswords, Word Search, Suduko Small Handheld Games
Non Prescription Medications (aspirin, Advil, eye drops, foot powder, sunblock, anti-itch cream, chapstick, and cold/allergy medications.)
Earlier we posted a story that talked about LAPD Chief William Bratton taking a consultancy job to help drop London's crime rate. Bratton responds ...
There have been several recent news articles indicating that I have been approached and accepted a position to act as an advisor to the new Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.I have had no conversations with Mr. Johnson, I have not spoken with any members of his administration and I have not been approached to act as an advisor as it relates to matters of crime reduction.
As a law enforcement executive I am often asked to share my thoughts and opinions on reducing crime and making communities safer. I have long supported the "Broken Windows" theory of policing that by focusing on minor crimes, more serious offenses can be prevented.
In the past I have provided advice to former Mayor Ken Livingston and have consulted for both the city of London and the national government. I would certainly be willing to do so, if asked, for the new Mayor in my official capacity as Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department.
William J. Bratton
Chief of Police
Los Angeles Police Department
Gunmen killed the head of Mexico's federal police force early Thursday in a brazen hit against the man who had become the public face of the country's war on drug cartels.
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Police right now are holding a press conference, announcing the arrest of a child sexual predator identified as Pedro Ortiz has allegedly sexually assaulted at least two juv