Results tagged “Wilmington” 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.

I'll have this in the print edition tomorrow:

City News Service was at Los Angeles City Hall today and filed this report:

The Los Angeles City Council today approved a $50,000 reward for information leading to whoever killed a Wilmington man over Fourth of July weekend last
year.

Antonio Ortega Jr., 29, was sitting in a car July 6 in front of his mother-in-law's house when a
man walked up and shot him in the chest without provocation about 8:30 a.m., according to
police. Ortega died before reaching a hospital.

**Updates with correct name of suspect

A Wilmington man stabbed his wife and two stepdaughters Sunday when they returned home from church, police said Monday.

Willliam Velazquez, 44, was arrested about 8:30 p.m. at his home in the 1000 block of East O Street, Los Angeles police Officer Norma Eisenman said.

Velazquez was home drinking while his family was at church. When they returned, he stabbed his wife for an unknown reason, and the stepdaughters when they intervened for unknown reasons, Eisenman said.

The wife's brother also was home and tried to help. Velazquez lunged at him, but he was able to avoid injury and ran and called 911.

Police arrived and arrested Velazquez, who could face four counts of attempted murder.

The wife and the daughters, ages 18 and 12, were taken to hospitals. They were expected to recover.

Jesus Miguel Sedillo, 22, of Carson, was convicted of killing Manuel Lopez, 17, and Richard Romero, 19, both of Wilmington in two separate shootings in 2006.

Romero was killed on Halloween night as he sat in a car with his sister and cousin. Sedillo wore a wolf mask during the crime.

We'll have a full story later in the Daily Breeze and online at www.dailybreeze.com.

Just talked to LAPD Harbor division Detective Alonzo Canada. Investigators are looking for this guy, James Laudermill, who police say stabbed the owner of a trucking business in Wilmington last night.

Two trucking businesses share the property in the 800 block of Henry Ford Avenue. Laudermill, 49, works as a driver for the other one.

Canada told me that Laudermill was allowed into Mejia's business about 11 p.m. Monday because he wanted to get some food in the kitchen.

Then, without warning, he walked up behind Mejia and stabbed him in the back. They fought and he stabbed him again, Canada said.

Laudermill took off in a green 1994 Freightliner big rig with the California license plate number, 9B96467.

Mejia is in the hospital and expected to recover.

According to a police statement, Laudermill is a "parolee with an extensive, violent arrest history." He is considered armed and dangerous.

Laudermill is black, 6 feet 1 inches tall, about 230 pounds. He has an address in South Los Angeles.

Anyone with information should call Canada at 310-522-2031. After hours calls can go to 1-877-LAPD-24-7.

A Wilmington man was killed Friday when he crashed into a light pole in Long Beach, police said.

The 23-year-old man died in the 4 a.m. crash on Pacific Coast Highway near Caspian Avenue, police said. No other cars were involved.

The man was driving west on Pacific Coast Highway in a 2995 Ford Mustang when he veered to the right and struck the pole.

Long Beach paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

The cause of the crash was under investigation and it was unknown whether alcohol was a factor, police said.

The man's name was withheld until his family was notified.

The Los Angeles Times' LA Now blog says that the first of two funeral services for the Lupoe family is set for tonight. Here's their report.

Here's our previous entries on last week's murder suicide that claimed seven, including five children.

WILMINGTON (CNS) - Here is a redacted text of the letter sent to ABC7
today by Ervin Lupoe, who is believed to have killed his wife and five children
today at their home in Wilmington. A redacted copy of the letter was posted on
the ABC7 Web site.
   ``To whom it may concern:
   ``To start off about this tragic story, my name is Ervin Lupoe, my wife
Ana Lupoe, my eldest daughter Brittney Lupoe-8yrs, my twin daughters Jaszmin,
Jassely-5yrs, my twin boys Benjamin, Christian 2yrs 4mo.
   ``We worked at Kiaser (sic) Permanente West Los Angeles. My wife as a
mammo. Tech. damn fine one ask everyone including the physicians. My new
position as a Special procedural tech. My position was a fight to get, in fact
had to file a grievance with the union for discrimination and HIPPA violations,
then another administrator had to correct the DA (redacted) regarding the union
procedures, the ADA who did this is, I truly believe is the reason, well not
the whole reason, but added kindling to the fire, why we are dead, (redacted).
   ``Well my wife and I were being investigated for misrepresentation of
our employment to an outside agency for the benefit to ourselves's, childcare.
When after we had our initial interview on Dec. 19th. It seems our fat with the
company had been decided on Dec. 22nd, yet on the 23rd, I was told by my
administrator, (redacted) that, `You should not even had bothered to come to
work today you should have blown your brains out.' After such admonishment from
my administrator, assuming there had been a decision reached, I contacted my
union rep. who stated goto HR and inform them of the incident, and to the union
reps. knowledge there was no decision made.
   ``(redacted) the HR person handling our matter stated that there was no
decision reached as of yet and that an outside agency was handling the matter.
(redacted) stated to me that she had spoken to (redacted) and (redacted)
concerning the statement made, but (redacted) completely denied making such a
comment. I produced the names of the employees, and (redacted) reached me two
days later stating (redacted) thought about the matter and did state (redacted)
made the comment. Then (redacted) asked me how I would accept (redacted)
apology, but not to answer just yet, think about it a couple days and let
(redacted) know. I left the office and two days later my wife and I were
terminated. Our administrator also stated that we would not be eligible for
unemployment, my wife applied anyway.
   ``We returned Kiaser (sic) Permanente's property prior to leaving the
facility, yet the company could not provide us with our license's so that we
may look for other employment. I let the (redacted) of the facility know what
was occurring yet she stated there was nothing she could do but refer us the HR
or our union rep. We were told by (redacted) that we should have received our
license's as they were mailed, yet we did not and when we attempted to reach
her concerning the matter and unable to reach her, again we reached the
assistant administrator of the facility who again stated the same to contact
HR. We stated we have attempter (sic) but there was know response. Then when
(redacted) reached us, she stated don't contact (redacted) ... any more
concerning any problems.
   ``So after a horrendous ordeal my wife felt it better to end our lives
and why leave our children in someone's else's hands, in addition it seems
Kiaser Permanente want's us to kill ourselves and take our family with us. They
did nothing to the manager who stated such, and did not attempt to assist us in
the matter, knowing we have no job and 5 children under 8 years with no place
to go. So here we are.
   ``Ervin Lupoe
   ``(Handwritten:) Oh Lord my God is there no hope for a widow's son!''

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.

A Wilmington woman was shot and killed and two of her passengers were wounded as she drove in the southwest Los Angeles area, authorities said today.

One of the wounded victims was a 13-year-old girl.

The woman killed was identified as Stephanie Latrice Smith, 37, of Wilmington. She died shortly after the 9 p.m. shootin gSunday at 102nd Street and Denker
Avenue.

The suspect was in a champagne-colored car, possibly a Nissan Maxima or Altima, police said.

Info from City News Service

I'm still catching-up with my cases after a couple of weeks of a lot of time in court, and out sick. Here's one from early last week:

Two Wilmington men are in state prison for holding up a Torrance sandwich shop.
Pedro Nunez, 24, and Matthew Acosta, 21, each pleaded no contest on Nov. 17 to four robbery charges for the March 11 crime. In exchange for the pleas, Torrance Superior Court Judge James Brandlin sentenced Nunez to 16 years in state prison and Acosta to 18 years, according to Acosta's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Joe Gualano.

The pair entered The Sub Club deli in the 4300 block of Pacific Coast Highway near Anza Avenue, around lunchtime. One of them, wielding an assault rifle, entered the rear of the shop at 12:15 p.m. The other entered the front door with a handgun. Six employees and customers were held at gunpoint while they were robbed of wallets, cash and jewelry. The robbers also took the cash in the register.

 As they fled, a witness took down the license plate number of their car. Undercover detectives spent the next few days watching Nunez and Acosta and arrested them at Fries Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway in Wilmington. They confessed to the police.

Rodrigo Guevara could have faced, at the most, four years in state prison for felony hit-and-run - despite his egregious driving that left one girl severely injured on April 9 in Wilmington. Deputy District Attorney Danette Gomez said she isn't angry with the judge for offering Guevara three years. She's angry that, without intoxication, that the max he could get was four years, according to California Vehicle Code Section 20001(a)(2).

It doesn't get much better when the victim dies. Gomez, who is also prosecuting Cristian Herrera for a 1992 double fatal hit-and-run in San Pedro, said he is facing only eight years and four months maximum if convicted.

Are you angry? You can channel that into something productive by contacting your state representatives. They're in charge of fixing the punishments. Not sure who to contact? Look here and enter your zip code on the left hand side, down a few scrolls.

Previous blog entries on Guevara are here.

Is anybody at all surprised to hear that my trifecta of campaign lawn sign-related crime stories in today's Daily Breeze has sparked heated political debate in our user comments? I know - shocking.

The most passionate comments are coming from both sides of the same-sex marriage initiative, Proposition 8. I'm a journalist, so I'm supposed to be objective on issues I report on. Which means I can't say publicly what I support or how I vote. But I can say this: There are some vindictive, mean-spirited and hateful people out there when it comes to this issue. I'll just leave it at that.

Here's the package:

• The one that started it all: Proposition 8 may have been at center of Torrance assault  Joseph Storm, the defendant in that case, is schedule to be arraigned today. I'll have an update later, and remember to keep an eye on that Twitter feed over there ---> or subscribe to my feed yourself for up-to-the-minute reports on this and other cases.
• The first one that got piled on my plate after I spoke to my editor about the assault: Proposition 8 signs disappearing from Wilmington church lawn
• The last one from a guy that just made me laugh (and be sure to check out his secretly taped video of the thieves): PVE Obama supporter catches thieves in the act

Don't forget to vote on Tuesday!

A man was found stabbed to death outside a restroom at Banning Park in Wilmington over the weekend.

 

He was stabbed numerous times in the upper body with a knife.

 

Someone found him about 3:40 p.m. Sunday lying on the ground in the park at Pacific Coast Highway at Eubank Avenue, police said.

 

They didn't find the knife.

 

If you know anything about it, call the Los Angeles Police Department's Harbor Division homicide bureau at 310-522-2036.

 

The victim's name was not immediately released.

 

I just got word that Rodrigo Guevara pleaded no contest in Long Beach Superior Court on Thursday to one count of felony hit-and-run. He'll return to court Nov. 4 to be sentenced to an expected three years in state prison. The maximum penalty the charge carries is four years.

Working on a fuller story, but don't have much more to add than that at this point.

To read previous entries about this case, click here.

I got this over the weekend:

"I, as well as my community would like to get an update on the April 9,2008 hit and run on p.c.h. and ronan.in which 2 girls were injured . I heard through word of mouth that the alleged suspect is on trial. there has been no mention of the 2 girls or how they are ."

Rodrigo Guevara, 19, of Wilmington, was scheduled for trial last week. However, he is now scheduled to return to court Wednesday for a "pre-plea report" and pretrial. Although I have not confirmed this with anybody on the case, this usually signifies they are on the verge of working out a plea deal. I'll keep you posted.

I don't have an update on the injured girls beyond what I wrote in the last story about the incident. Follow the jump to see the story that ran July 3 on Guevara's preliminary hearing.

And thanks for the questions!

UPDATE: Looks like the guy pulled his video off the Web after I posted it.

Carson sheriff's detectives have arrested three young men as suspects in dozens of incidents of tagging along the Harbor Freeway from San Pedro to Gardena. Read the story.

They are still looking for more suspects, including a guy who posted this video of his many graffiti accomplishments. (Can you spell E-V-I-D-E-N-C-E?) His alleged accomplices took photographs of their work. Investigators found the photos during Thursday morning raids and have all those shots ready to take to court.

Here's the video:(Advisory: The dude chose music that contains some offensive language.)

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.