September 2009 Archives

Two men were shot to death Wednesday night as they attempted to escape an attack in a narrow Wilmington street, police said.

The two men were found dead within 200 feet of each other in the 1500 block of E. Lomita Boulevard around 9 p.m., said Los Angeles police Sgt. Danny Contreras, who investigated the incident.

One man was found shot to death in the passenger seat of a crashed sedan, and the other discovered laying dead in the street, he said.

Police believe the second man was a passenger in the car who was shot as he attempted to flee the incident, which occurred along a narrow, dirt portion of Lomita between Eubank Avenue and Alameda Street.

"Basically, that's a storage area for mountains of stacked containers," he said. "It appeared the driver of the victims' vehicle was attempting to escape. We don't know if he was traveling in reverse or what, but somehow he lost control of the vehicle and careened into a chain link fence."

No weapons were found at the scene, and police do not believe the incident was a robbery.

The victims' identities were not yet released, and police have no suspect information or indication that the incident was gang related.

Gardena City Clerk Tasha Cerda was appointed late Tuesday to fill the seat on the city council recently vacated by Steve Bradford, who was elected recently to the state assembly.

If you heard two sonic booms at about 5:47 p.m. today you heard Space Shuttle Discovery flying over the South Bay just before it landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base.

Lousy weather in Florida is forcing NASA to divert Space Shuttle Discovery to Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California.

From the NASA press release: A strong sonic boom could be generated along the shuttle's route of descent along Southern California coastal counties, primarily in the Los Angeles - Long Beach area, about five to 10 minutes before landing.

9:40 a.m.: Crime reporter Larry Altman just left the scene of a house fire where an elderly man died this morning.

He says Los Angeles Police Department officials evacuated neighbors after finding some kind of explosives in the house, in the 15900 block of South Orchard Avenue in Harbor Gateway.

Police are not yet saying what the cause of the fire is, or if the packrat conditions inside the home and the explosives are related to the cause.

A LAPD bomb squad is en route to the home to investigate the explosives.

Larry says: "Neighbors who were waiting to be able to go home said the approximately 80-year-old man collected junk and they had made repeated calls to code enforcement and other city departments to try to get it cleaned."

Larry is now driving to the Carson shooting scene where a man was killed by Gardena police officers early this morning.

This just in from RPV:

All roads have been re-opened.  The fire covered about 2 acres in the unincorporated area of the County immediately adjacent to Chadwick school.  The Super Scooper water dropping aircraft were on the scene within minutes to extinguish the fire quickly.  The cause of the fire was a traffic accident in the southbound (uphill) traffic lane of Crenshaw.  No structures were damaged.

Thanks to RPV for sending this information:

Hawthorne was just reopened.  Crenshaw is closed between Rolling Hills Road and Indian Peak Road.  PVDN is closed between Hawthorne and Rolling Hills Road/Portuguese Bend Road.  It has been reported that traffic is very heavy on Hawthorne Boulevard.  It has also been reported by Neighborhood Watch that traffic along PCH in the vicinity of Hawthorne is moving slowly.  The City again strongly suggests that residents avoid the area and find alternative travel routes.

Go up Hawthorne.....

From the city of Rancho Palos Verdes:

LA County Fire District personnel have reported that the fire has been extinguished.  Crenshaw is expected to be closed to all traffic between PVDN & Indian Peak until at least 10PM this evening.  The fire was in the unincorporated area of the County immediately adjacent to Chadwick school. 


Hawthorne is open, but lots of traffic

Crenshaw and Hawthorne boulevards are closed to traffic because of the fire. 

Photo by Jeffrey Lewis

At approximately 5:00 PM the Lomita Sheriff's Station informed the City that there is a brush fire burning adjacent to Crenshaw Boulevard between Palos Verdes Drive North and Silver Spur Road. The cause of the fire was a traffic accident in the southbound (uphill) traffic lane. CHP, Sheriff and Fire are responding to the scene. Road closures are in progress and staff will provide additional updates as more information regarding the extent of the closures becomes available. The City strongly requests that residents avoid the area and find alternative travel routes until the incident is resolved.
The RPV City Staff

A Super Scooper aircraft has just made a water drop on that brush fire burning near
Crenshaw Boulevard and Palos Verdes Drive North. It's just scooped up more water and is about to drop it again. It holds 2,800 gallons.

Apparently there's two of them dropping water.

A 1-acre brush fire has ignited at Crenshaw Boulevard and Palos Verdes Drive North.

It started at 5.