July 2009 Archives

Two men were arrested on suspicion of beating three people in a Hawthorne fast-food restaurant parking lot and robbing them of a cell phone, police said Sunday.
The victims -- two men and a woman -- were eating in the restaurant parking lot at 3:30 a.m. Sunday, when they were approached by two men, Sgt. Ti Goetz said.
The suspects brandished a knife and allegedly attempted to rob the woman, and began beating her when she tried to run away. The two male victims tried to defend the woman and were also beaten, Goetz said.
As the suspects were beating the male victims, the woman called police, Goetz said. The suspects took a cell phone from one of the victims, and ran away.
Police apprehended two men about a block from the restaurant, Goetz said.
Jerome Burge and Brandon Franklin, both 22-year-old Hawthorne residents, were arrested and booked on suspicion of armed robbery.

A real estate agent discovered a body on the living room floor of a Westchester home Saturday night.

Police and coroner's officials would not release the name of the man, who appeared to be in his 30s, on Sunday morning. His cause of death will be released when an autopsy in completed.

The agent went to the home, in the 8900 block of Kittyhawk Avenue, at 7 p.m. Saturday with prospective clients. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom house is listed for $539,000.

When a key was missing from a lockbox on the front door, the agent went to the back of the home and discovered a broken window.

It was unclear how long the man had been dead, but detectives put on masks when they went inside the house, witnesses said. A white car on the street may have belonged to the victim, police said.

Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the man's death, but would not release any information about the case, said spokeswoman Rosario Herrera.

A helicopter landed on Vista Del Mar near Los Angeles International Airport on Friday to rescue a severely injured bicyclist, firefighters said.

The bicyclist was injured about 3:50 p.m. in a collision near the Dockweiler State Beach campsite near Imperial Highway, Los Angeles City fire spokesman Brian Humphrey said.

The bicyclist suffered an arterial wound to his leg. Firefighters cleared the roadway for the Fire Department helicopter to land and took the bicyclist and his family to UCLA Medical Center.