Results tagged “LAPD” from Crime & Courts

A 50-year-old man was shot to death early today in Wilmington, police said.

Eric Douglas, who might have been residing at a sober living house in southwest Los Angeles, was shot about 2:15 a.m. at Broad Avenue and F Street, Los Angeles police Detective Jim Perkins said.

Douglas was standing on the corner when two people approached him. Douglas ran. They fired numerous rounds at him, striking him.

Douglas collapsed. He was pronounced dead at County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Police don't know the motive behind the slaying, but said it occurred near the Bonnie Lee Hotel, a known location where drug dealing occurs.

In 2007, former Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo filed suit against the hotel, charging that undercover Los Angeles police officers made repeated drug purchases on the site for years.

Los Angeles: Detectives from Gang and Narcotics Division announced the arrest of a top ten wanted gang member for murder.

Suspect Dion Durell Hayes was wanted for the July 5th 2005 murder of Andre Williams. Hayes is a "79 Swan Family Blood" gang member known as "Solo". This was a gang-related murder. Hayes has prior assault charges and was convicted of a second degree assault for a homicide committed in Seattle, in 2000.

On July 5, 2005, at approximately 12:10 a.m., residents in the area of the 700 block of East Florence Avenue heard several gunshots. Minutes later the victim was discovered dead in the rear alley. The victim had sustained gunshot wounds.

The LAPD issued this today about a 29-year-old homicide in North Hollywood. If you know this guy, call them. He's Guadalupe Gonzalez Jimenez and he would be 53-years-old.

Nice of all the public officials to issue statements about the death of Deputy Chief Kenny Garner of the LAPD. Garner, a San Pedro High grad, died Sunday at age 53.

But come on everyone. We all make mistakes -- and I'll probably make a big one in the next few days after this blog item -- but for the second day in a row, a politician has misspelled Garner's name in a release to the press. (They called him Gardner.)

Yesterday, it was Janice Hahn's office, which later sent a correction, and today it was Arnold himself. The governor's office sent a corrected release about two hours after the first one.

Here's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's statement:

"Deputy Chief Kenny Garner was a committed public servant who dedicated his career to protecting the city of Los Angeles. He worked to ensure the safety of his community and L.A. is a better place because of his service.

Maria and I join all Californians in sending our deepest condolences to Kenny's family, friends and fellow officers as they mourn this significant loss."

Garner, who supervised the LAPD's South Bureau, was one of his department's highest ranking black officers. The South Bureau includes the Harbor Area.

Garner's funeral is scheduled for Monday.

The LAPD's Web site -- lapdonline.org -- will soon be available in a bunch of languages besides English.

Here we go: Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, Russian, Italian, French,
Tagalog, German, Vietnamese, Hindi, Korean and Portuguese. They have some sort of translator that will translate it for the reader.

There's no start up date yet, but it should be soon.

The coppers also are going to start a sports section called "LAPD Sports." They'll talk football, baseball, motocross, weight lifting, boxing and sumo wrestling.

According to a press release:

"LAPD Sports will showcase the accomplishments and stories of the many officers who excel in sports. In cooperation with The Los Angeles Police Revolver and Athletic Club, LAPD Sports will also contain links to upcoming schedules, video highlights, pictures and special events. With approximately 30 different team and individual sports, there will be something for every sports fan to enjoy. Because like you, cops love sports."

Personally, I can't wait to see the Sumo wrestlers take on the gangs.......

Los Angeles, December 29, 2008 - Los Angeles police officers continued to be the targets of violence in 2008 as officers were reported to be attacked in 527 instances during the past 12 months.

Included in that figure is the first murder of a SWAT officer in the department's history. Officers were shot at a total of 14 times during the year.

"There are not exchanges of gunfire between criminals and officers," said Paul M. Weber, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League. "These are cold-blooded attempts to murder unsuspecting officers without any warning."

Los Angeles SWAT Officer Randal David Simmons, a 27-year veteran of the department, was shot and killed when he entered the home of an armed man during a standoff in February.

In addition to the shootings, LAPD officers were also assaulted by suspects wielding deadly weapons in 168 cases and were the victims of battery (physical altercation) 358 times in 2008.

"Los Angeles is a city protected by dedicated LAPD officers, who deserve all the tools and all the support the community can possibly provide," Weber said. "The LAPPL asks the public and our community leaders to continue to support our officers and make sure that criminals do not deter them from doing their work to make Los Angeles the safest big city in America."

"Public safety requires a strong two-way partnership. We need to make it clear that Los Angeles is a city in which violence on law enforcement is never tolerated, and that those who threaten our police officers threaten our own communities," Weber said.

Here's a good one from the LAPD. We'll call it "Dopey Criminal No. 1."

Just before 10 p.m. on Sunday, two men held up the 52 Market in the 12000 block of Santa Monica Boulevard in West LA. No one saw their getaway car. So, whoosh, they got away.

About 15 minutes later, some guys held up Tochma Market at 74th and Main streets in Los Angeles.

In that one, they were seen leaving in a red vehicle. I guess the cops figured out who the car belonged to and the fact he was on parole with orders to wear a global positioning device to monitor his whereabouts.

It didn't take long for officers to follow the electronic signal to a motel in the 11700 block of Aviation Boulevard near LAX. Yeah, they found the dude.

Police took Chelminski Walker, 29, of Inglewood to jail, found the handgun and recovered his red Chevrolet Monte Carlo. (Chelminski?)

And, they linked him to the earlier holdup.

He's held on robbery without bail.

UPDATE: On Friday, December 12, 2008, Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Noe Rodriguez, a 21-year-old man, with no known address. Rodriguez has numerous aka's and is a federal deportee. Rodriguez is wanted for the shooting death of the 50-year-old homeless man, whose identity is being withheld until his family can be located and notified. 

Maybe you heard it or saw it. I'm told it was quite a crash.

A guy driving along Island Avenue in Wilmington blew through a stop sign at 10:30 a.m. and struck a car at C Street.

That was unfortunate. It contained three Harbor Division officers on their way to an investigation in an unmarked car.

LAPD Sgt. Michelle Santillan told me it looked worse than it appeared. The officers were taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital- San Pedro for treatment of minor injuries and were released.

The other motorist was treated at County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and released.

CHiPs is handling it, but I couldn't find out if the dude got a ticket.

LAPD just put this one out:



Los Angeles: An off-duty LAPD Officer stands accused of sexual assault following a holiday celebration at a hotel near Los Angeles International Airport.

Police Officer Eduardo Bermudez, 29 years of age, assigned to Pacific Area Patrol Division, two years on the Department, was arrested Sunday morning, December 7, 2008, at around 8:00 a.m. by detectives assigned to Internal Affairs Division.  Officer Bermudez was booked for California Penal Code Section 664-261, Attempt Rape.  Officer Bermudez was booked at Men's Central Jail and was held on $100,000 bail.

Based on preliminary information, it appears that a sanctioned LAPD Pacific Area holiday party had concluded and several Department employees were participating in an unofficial "after party" at the hotel.  When allegations of criminal activity came to light, proper notifications were made and on-duty police supervisors and Internal Affairs Division investigators were dispatched.  

Internal Affairs Division has assumed responsibility for the investigation.                    

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to Internal Affairs Division at
(213) 473-3870.  After-hours and on weekends calls may be directed to the 24-hour, toll-free number, 1-877-LAPD24-7 (527-3247) or texting CRIMES (274637) and beginning the message with LAPD.  Tipsters may also submit information on the LAPD website, and can remain anonymous.

Some of you probably read the series of articles that ran in the Breeze about LAPD Officer Kristina Ripatti, who was paralyzed during a gunbattle with a gang member in Los Angeles.

Those articles, by our former colleague Brent Hopkins at the Daily News, chronicled Ripatti's recovery and rehabilitation, and culminated with the birth of her second child.

Brent followed all of that closely in interviews with Ripatti and her husband, Tim Pearce, who also is an LAPD officer.

Apparently the Ripattis inspired Brent so much he decided to leave the journalism business and become a cop. That's quite a change.

Brent and I had some limited contact through email before he left the Daily News, but we had never met. He was very concerned about the welfare of his fellow reporters and the job cuts that loomed.

I knew some weeks ago that Brent had graduated from the LAPD police academy and was assigned to the Harbor Area. He asked me not to make any deal of it, so I haven't.

So here's my point: As I worked my way toward the big event on Western Avenue in San Pedro on Monday night, I was standing behind the yellow police tape when this young guy walked up to me in a uniform.

"You must be Larry Altman," he said, extending his hand. "Brent Hopkins."

"Heyyyyyyyyy!" I responded.

So I finally met him. For his friends over at the Daily News: He looked good in the uniform, has a freshly shaved head, and had the very important task at that moment of carrying a large case of bottled water to his more experienced colleagues.

I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other out there on our respective beats.

This shooting and standoff occurred just over the lines of the Daily Breeze coverage area. It's just north of El Segundo Boulevard and the Harbor Gateway, and east of the Athens area:

Here's a report from City News Service:

LOS ANGELES - A woman was shot and critically wounded today in South Los Angeles, and her alleged assailant was later found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

The woman was shot about 8 a.m. in the 600 block of Laconia Boulevard, and was taken to a
hospital in critical condition, said Officer April Harding of the Los Angeles Police
Department.

A SWAT team surrounded the residence for more than five hours before making entry just
before 2 p.m. and finding the suspected gunman dead of what appeared to be a self-inflicted
gunshot wound, said LAPD Officer Ana Aguirre. His name was withheld pending notification of
relatives.

Police had gone to the location on a report of a domestic dispute. Shortly after gunfire was
heard, the wounded woman came outside and was carried to safety by two officers. A short time later, an officer was seen carrying a child to safety.

The dead man's relationship to the woman and child were not immediately known.

You wonder what all those police officers are doing in Wilmington over near Denni and Opp?  A helicopter is circling around.

I'm told that the police have surrounded the neighborhood in search of a burglary suspect who is believed to be hiding somewhere in there. He was caught breaking into a home and ran.

Officers think they have him contained inside their perimeter.

Update: They caught the guy.

If I had to rank the people of the South Bay, I'd have to put the residents up in the north part of Harbor Gateway right at the top of the list.

Why, you ask?

Well, I don't mean to offend the rest of you. There are plenty of good people out there and I love you all.

But today I went to one of the most enjoyable assignments I've ever had. And I can be bought with food apparently.

The wonderful people in the 135th Street Neighborhood Watch group made lunch to welcome eight new police officers coming to work in their community. I went out to cover it. About 50 people were there.

The eight officers are fresh out of the LAPD academy and spent their first day on the job at the Burden family backyard on 139th Street, just east of Vermont Avenue. You'll read about it in Tuesday's paper and on the Web site.

Now, I'm not supposed to take part in my stories, but I admit -- I confess -- that I eagerly violated the rules of journalism and took a full plate of food.

Los Angeles police detectives are seeking the public's help in locating three suspects who robbed a Wal-Mart store in Harbor Gateway. All suspects were captured on the store's video surveillance system. 

Here's the press release:

On August 03, 2008, at 11:25 p.m., the night manager of Wal-Mart on 19503 S. Normandie Avenue unlocked the door to allow the night crew to enter the store.  He noticed two suspects dressed as Wal-Mart employees, who claimed to have transferred from another store.  When the manager refused to allow them entry, one of them pulled out a gun and ordered the manager to take them to the back of the store where the safe was located.  A third man remained at the entrance.  The suspects proceeded to rob the store of an undisclosed amount of cash and left in a van waiting for them.

The suspects are described as three Black men between 20 to 25 years old.  They are medium built with very short dark hair.  Two of the suspects have dark complections and one has a lighter complection.  The suspects stand 5'7, 6' and 6'2 tall wearing clothing similar to those worn by Wal-Mart employees. 

The van was described as a maroon, late 1990's to 2000 model Ford Winstar or Chevrolet Astro passenger van with collision damage to the right rear side and tinted windows behind the front row seats.                  

Anyone with information regarding this robbery is urged to call RHD Detectives

Maria Tomes or Freddy Arroyo at (213) 485-2511.  After-hours or on weekends, calls may be directed to a 24-hour, toll-free number at 1-877-LAWFULL (529-3855).  Callers may remain anonymous. 

A Long Beach police officer responding to a report of a man walking down the street ended up shooting the guy.

Today, the LAPD confirmed the man with a gun was an LAPD traffic officer. The Long Beach Press-Telegram has an updated story.

Here's what the LAPD just put out:

An officer involved shooting occurred in the 200 block of Mira Mar Avenue in the City of Long Beach on July 30, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

The suspect involved in this incident has been identified as 26-year old Jason Geggie, an off-duty Los Angeles Police Officer. Geggie has been with the Department for one and a half years and is currently assigned to Central Traffic Division.

The Long Beach Police Department is handling both the criminal and officer involved shooting investigation. The Los Angeles Police Department's Internal Affairs Group has initiated its own personnel investigation.

The LAPD just released this statement tonight:

Suspects Arrested in the Unprovoked Attack and Stabbing

of an Off-Duty LAPD Police Officer

 

Los Angeles: Los Angeles Police detained and arrested two suspects in the unprovoked attack and stabbing of an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Police Officer in front of the Crimsin Bar, 345 West 6^th Street in San Pedro.

On July 18, 2008, during the early evening hours, an off-duty police officer was attending a birthday celebration for an acquaintance inside the Crimsin Bar.  At 11:00 pm, bar security personnel refused entry to Kareem Valdez and another male due to prior inappropriate conduct inside the pub.  This led to a heated argument between Valdez and a member of the security team at the front door of the bar.  Valdez left angry and returned with his friends, Abel Ulloa and another male. 

The off-duty police officer, who had walked outside to the front of the bar to smoke a cigarette, was unaware of the earlier confrontation.  Valdez returned with two friends intending to enter the bar.  There was another verbal argument between security and Valdez which quickly turned into a pushing and shoving match with the security member.  

The LAPD just sent this one to me:

Los Angeles: Los Angeles Police Department officers arrested a sex offender who has failed to register for the past 36 years.

On July 19, 2008 at about 12:20 p.m., Hollenbeck division officers saw a man dressed in a hospital gown walking outside of the USC Medical Center near Boyle Heights.

Officers went to check on the man and discovered that he was Charles Frank McDuffy, 64, who had walked out of the hospital on his own. The officers took McDuffy back to the hospital. During a routine background check, the officers found that McDuffy was a sexual offender and had failed to complete his annual registration.

The last time McDuffy registered was in 1971.

McDuffy was arrested for failing to register as a sexual offender and is being held on $20,000 bail.