August 2010 Archives
LONG BEACH -- Coroner's investigators are trying to determine the cause of death for a 47-year-old Long Beach woman found dead Monday night in her North Long Beach motorhome.
Long Beach Police officers were called to the motor home, in the 700 block of East 45th Street, at about 6:30 p.m. when a relative found the dead woman, said Nancy Pratt, a police department spokeswoman.
The woman was identified as Virginia Boynton and the motor home was her only form of residence, Pratt said.
Boynton's relative went to the motor home to check on Boynton after becoming concerned about her welfare, Pratt said.
There were no obvious signs of trauma and the Los Angeles county Coroner's Department is working to determine the cause of death pending an autopsy, Pratt said.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call LBPD Homicide Detectives Scott Lasch and Donald Goodman at 562-570-7244.
Long Beach Police officers were called to the motor home, in the 700 block of East 45th Street, at about 6:30 p.m. when a relative found the dead woman, said Nancy Pratt, a police department spokeswoman.
The woman was identified as Virginia Boynton and the motor home was her only form of residence, Pratt said.
Boynton's relative went to the motor home to check on Boynton after becoming concerned about her welfare, Pratt said.
There were no obvious signs of trauma and the Los Angeles county Coroner's Department is working to determine the cause of death pending an autopsy, Pratt said.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call LBPD Homicide Detectives Scott Lasch and Donald Goodman at 562-570-7244.
LONG BEACH -- Authorities on Tuesday identified a 27-year-old La Mirada woman whose bullet-riddled remains were found in a North Long Beach Parkway.
The body of Heather Broadus was found by a passerby at about 6:30 a.m. Monday in the 300 block of East 56th Street, police said.
Investigators said it appeared as though Broadus had been shot multiple times and may have been killed late Sunday.
Police did not released a possible motive in Broadus' slaying but said Tuesday that the investigation is on-going.
Anyone with information is urged to call Homicide Detectives Scott Lasch and Donald Goodman at 562-570-7244.
The body of Heather Broadus was found by a passerby at about 6:30 a.m. Monday in the 300 block of East 56th Street, police said.
Investigators said it appeared as though Broadus had been shot multiple times and may have been killed late Sunday.
Police did not released a possible motive in Broadus' slaying but said Tuesday that the investigation is on-going.
Anyone with information is urged to call Homicide Detectives Scott Lasch and Donald Goodman at 562-570-7244.
LONG BEACH -- Homicide detectives are investigating the shooting death of a 27-year-old woman, whose bullet-riddled body was found in a North Long Beach parkway early Monday.
Long Beach Police were called out to assist the Long Beach Fire Department when the victim's body was found at about 6:30 a.m. in the 300 block of East 56th Street, said Nancy Pratt, a police department spokeswoman.
The victim's name was being withheld Monday pending notification of her family. Her city of residence is not known, Pratt said.
Pratt said the body was found laying in the parkway and it appeared as though she had suffered multiple gun shot wounds.
The preliminary investigation found the shooting may have happened sometime late Sunday though the body wasn't found until early Monday by a passerby.
Pratt said the motive for the slaying was unknown and the investigation is on-going.
Anyone with information is urged to call Homicide Detectives Scott Lasch and Donald Goodman at 562-570-7244.
Long Beach Police were called out to assist the Long Beach Fire Department when the victim's body was found at about 6:30 a.m. in the 300 block of East 56th Street, said Nancy Pratt, a police department spokeswoman.
The victim's name was being withheld Monday pending notification of her family. Her city of residence is not known, Pratt said.
Pratt said the body was found laying in the parkway and it appeared as though she had suffered multiple gun shot wounds.
The preliminary investigation found the shooting may have happened sometime late Sunday though the body wasn't found until early Monday by a passerby.
Pratt said the motive for the slaying was unknown and the investigation is on-going.
Anyone with information is urged to call Homicide Detectives Scott Lasch and Donald Goodman at 562-570-7244.
LONG BEACH -- The case of a local teen charged with killing a Long Beach man for his iPod made small progress Monday.
The defendant -- who was 15 at the time of the April 2009 killing of Garrett Norris, 27 -- was found mentally competent to stand trial and scheduled for a fitness hearing in September.
The fitness hearing will used to determine if the minor -- who has not been identified by authorities because he is a juvenile -- should stand trial as an adult.
The case is one that has dragged on for more than year, with a number of different defense attorneys assigned to the defendant at various points and the issue of his mental health raised by the defense earlier this year.
Norris was gunned down in broad daylight while playing basketball with friends on a Saturday afternoon at Orizaba Park, located at Spaulding Street and Orizaba Avenue.
He was shot after he tried to stop two alleged gang members from running off with his belongings, which included his iPod, police said.
The USC engineering graduate, who moved to Long Beach the previous fall after securing a job with Mercedes-Benz of Long Beach, chased the suspects into an nearby alley, where he was shot in the chest, according to authorities.
Norris was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The then 15-year-old defendant was arrested within a few days of Norris' slaying and has remained in custody at a juvenile detention center since that time.
His fitness hearing is scheduled for June 27, according to court staff.
If he is tried as an adult and if he is convicted on all counts the now 16-year-old faces the possibility of life without parole.
The defendant -- who was 15 at the time of the April 2009 killing of Garrett Norris, 27 -- was found mentally competent to stand trial and scheduled for a fitness hearing in September.
The fitness hearing will used to determine if the minor -- who has not been identified by authorities because he is a juvenile -- should stand trial as an adult.
The case is one that has dragged on for more than year, with a number of different defense attorneys assigned to the defendant at various points and the issue of his mental health raised by the defense earlier this year.
Norris was gunned down in broad daylight while playing basketball with friends on a Saturday afternoon at Orizaba Park, located at Spaulding Street and Orizaba Avenue.
He was shot after he tried to stop two alleged gang members from running off with his belongings, which included his iPod, police said.
The USC engineering graduate, who moved to Long Beach the previous fall after securing a job with Mercedes-Benz of Long Beach, chased the suspects into an nearby alley, where he was shot in the chest, according to authorities.
Norris was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The then 15-year-old defendant was arrested within a few days of Norris' slaying and has remained in custody at a juvenile detention center since that time.
His fitness hearing is scheduled for June 27, according to court staff.
If he is tried as an adult and if he is convicted on all counts the now 16-year-old faces the possibility of life without parole.
LOS ANGELES -- A Long Beach police officer who allegedly stole four guns that were to be booked as property had his preliminary hearing postponed Monday.
Damian Ramos, 32, has pleaded not guilty to four counts each of grand theft of personal property, grand theft of a firearm and embezzlement by a police officer, along with one count of possession of an assault weapon.
The charge involves four guns not booked into evidence after a call to a scrap yard to pick up 11 firearms, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Alfred Coletta said.
One of the four firearms was recovered, but the other three have not been found, according to the prosecutor.
Ramos is due back at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse on Sept. 15 for a preliminary hearing, which is used to determine whether there is enough evidence to hold a trial.
Damian Ramos, 32, has pleaded not guilty to four counts each of grand theft of personal property, grand theft of a firearm and embezzlement by a police officer, along with one count of possession of an assault weapon.
The charge involves four guns not booked into evidence after a call to a scrap yard to pick up 11 firearms, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Alfred Coletta said.
One of the four firearms was recovered, but the other three have not been found, according to the prosecutor.
Ramos is due back at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse on Sept. 15 for a preliminary hearing, which is used to determine whether there is enough evidence to hold a trial.
LONG BEACH -- Two Long Beach teens charged in the slaying of a Wilson High School student following her school's homecoming game last fall appeared in court Monday for a pre-trial hearing.
Tom Love Vinson and Daivion Davis are being tried as adults for the murder of Melody Ross, 16, and the attempted murders of two gang rivals on the night of Oct. 30, 2009, as thousands of Wilson and Poly High School fans streamed out of Wilson's gates following the football game.
Vinson and Davis appeared briefly in the Long Beach Superior Court on Monday and were ordered to return to court on Oct. 19 for another pre-trial hearing.
Though Vinson and Davis were both 16 at the time of the fatal shooting they face the possibility of life without parole if convicted on all counts.
Both defendants are being held in lieu of $4,050,000 bail as they await their trial, which has yet to be scheduled.
Tom Love Vinson and Daivion Davis are being tried as adults for the murder of Melody Ross, 16, and the attempted murders of two gang rivals on the night of Oct. 30, 2009, as thousands of Wilson and Poly High School fans streamed out of Wilson's gates following the football game.
Vinson and Davis appeared briefly in the Long Beach Superior Court on Monday and were ordered to return to court on Oct. 19 for another pre-trial hearing.
Though Vinson and Davis were both 16 at the time of the fatal shooting they face the possibility of life without parole if convicted on all counts.
Both defendants are being held in lieu of $4,050,000 bail as they await their trial, which has yet to be scheduled.
LONG BEACH -- A 55-year-old Long Beach City College student was arrested on campus for carrying a concealed weapon, police said Wednesday.
Trapper Dexter Johnson was stopped by police after authorities received a tip Tuesday of a student with a gun at the Liberal Arts Campus, 4901 E. Carson St., said Long Beach Police Department Spokeswoman Lisa Massacani.
"It doesn't appear that this was a rampage situation," Massacani said after asked if Johnson had planned to use the weapon while on campus.
"But the detective pointed out that you can't really get into the mind of a suspect," she added.
Massacani also said the student was not a member of law enforcement. Many area officers attend the community college, and other area colleges, to earn college credits for work or to earn a degree.
Johnson was contacted by police at about 9:30 a.m. and arrested without incident, she said.
The Long Beach resident was booked on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon on a school campus and released from the Long Beach Jail Tuesday afternoon, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Departments Inmate Information Center.
Because Johnson is out of custody his arraignment will not likely be held until next month, court authorities said.
Trapper Dexter Johnson was stopped by police after authorities received a tip Tuesday of a student with a gun at the Liberal Arts Campus, 4901 E. Carson St., said Long Beach Police Department Spokeswoman Lisa Massacani.
"It doesn't appear that this was a rampage situation," Massacani said after asked if Johnson had planned to use the weapon while on campus.
"But the detective pointed out that you can't really get into the mind of a suspect," she added.
Massacani also said the student was not a member of law enforcement. Many area officers attend the community college, and other area colleges, to earn college credits for work or to earn a degree.
Johnson was contacted by police at about 9:30 a.m. and arrested without incident, she said.
The Long Beach resident was booked on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon on a school campus and released from the Long Beach Jail Tuesday afternoon, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Departments Inmate Information Center.
Because Johnson is out of custody his arraignment will not likely be held until next month, court authorities said.
LONG BEACH -- A woman sought by police since 2008 for elder abuse for stealing more than $4 million from a 74-year-old Long Beach stroke victim turned herself into authorities Tuesday morning.
Li Ching Liu appeared with her attorney, Joseph Camarata, in Long Beach Superior Court Judge Arthur Jean's courtroom early Tuesday and entered a plea of not guilty to the charge that she abused and robbed the elderly victim who hired Liu to help her following a massive stroke in 2002.
The judge set Liu's bail at $2.5 million and ordered she be returned to court Aug. 24 for a preliminary hearing setting and pre-plea conference.
Long Beach Police Department Forgery and Fraud Detective Stacey Holdredge has been searching for Liu since 2008, when police served warrants at several Southland locations and arrested Liu's adult son and her boyfriend, both of whom were convicted in the case in 2009.
A felony arrest warrant was also issued for Liu at that time but she vanished and remained at large until Tuesday.
The detective was so incensed by the case -- which included Liu withholding food from the victim to make her comply -- that Holdredge spoke with the Press-Telegram last week to ask the public to help in finding the suspect.
Deputy District Attorney Belle Chen, who is assigned to the Elder Abuse Unit in Downtown Los Angeles, said the media coverage may have been what led to Liu's voluntary surrender.
"I read the story in the Press-Telegram on Sunday, I think it really helped," Chen said after court.
Li Ching Liu appeared with her attorney, Joseph Camarata, in Long Beach Superior Court Judge Arthur Jean's courtroom early Tuesday and entered a plea of not guilty to the charge that she abused and robbed the elderly victim who hired Liu to help her following a massive stroke in 2002.
The judge set Liu's bail at $2.5 million and ordered she be returned to court Aug. 24 for a preliminary hearing setting and pre-plea conference.
Long Beach Police Department Forgery and Fraud Detective Stacey Holdredge has been searching for Liu since 2008, when police served warrants at several Southland locations and arrested Liu's adult son and her boyfriend, both of whom were convicted in the case in 2009.
A felony arrest warrant was also issued for Liu at that time but she vanished and remained at large until Tuesday.
The detective was so incensed by the case -- which included Liu withholding food from the victim to make her comply -- that Holdredge spoke with the Press-Telegram last week to ask the public to help in finding the suspect.
Deputy District Attorney Belle Chen, who is assigned to the Elder Abuse Unit in Downtown Los Angeles, said the media coverage may have been what led to Liu's voluntary surrender.
"I read the story in the Press-Telegram on Sunday, I think it really helped," Chen said after court.
A DUI checkpoint conducted by the Long Beach Police Department last Saturday resulted in three arrests for driving under the influence. Besides the DUI arrests the checkpoint, held from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Ocean Boulevard and Chestnut Place, led to 6 vehicles being towed because the drivers were unlicensed or driving with a supended license and 29 traffic citations. Officers along with Long Beach Police Explorers and members of Long Beach Search and Rescue screened 550 cars out of 2,317 vehicles that passed through the checkpoint.
