From City News Service:

LOS ANGELES — A woman appeared to have been kidnapped, tied up and forced into a car trunk today in South Los Angeles, police said.
Witnesses reported seeing a woman screaming for help while tied up in the trunk of a white, four-door Honda traveling south on Halldale Avenue near 91st Street just before 11 a.m., said Officer April Harding of the Los Angeles Police Department. The vehicle did not have a license plate.
“As the car was driving down the street the trunk was unlocked and was flapping open,” Harding said.
The woman was described only as black, Harding said.
The driver of the vehicle was a heavy set black woman with a light complexion. She is in her 40s and was last seen wearing a brown shirt with yellow stripes.
There was also a passenger in the vehicle, but no information was available on that individual.
Police urged anyone with information regarding this incident to contact the 77th Crimes Against Person Unit detectives at (213) 485-4175 or (877) LAPD- 24-7.

LOS ANGELES — A body found shot and burned in Los Angeles was identified Wednesday as that of a 20-year-old South Pasadena man, authorities said.
Leeban Hassan Adan was pronounced dead at the scene, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Lt. Joe Bale said.
A passerby called police about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday to report finding the body in Hermon Park, in the 5500 block of Via Marisol, Los Angeles police Officer Rosario Herrera said.
“Police received a radio call and discovered a male black, burned, with a gunshot wound to the upper torso,” she said.
Information about a motive or suspect description was not available Wednesday, Herrera said.
An autopsy will likely be carried out by Friday, Bale said.
The park where the body was found is just over two miles from Adan’s hometown of South Pasadena, just off the 110 Freeway.

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles homicide detectives are investigating whether the shooting death of a 38-year-old Hollywood woman is connected to the 2008 murders of two of her relatives.
Karine Hakobyan was found Friday behind the wheel of her Honda CRV with a gunshot wound to the back of her head.
Officer Sara Faden said Sunday that investigators want to know whether the killing is related to the deaths two years ago of Khachik Safaryan, a 43-year-old Armenian man, and his 8-year-old daughter Lusine. They were related to Hakobyan and their murders are unsolved.

ROSEMEAD — Three men and a woman have been jailed on suspicion of a takeover-style bank robber in Rosemead last week, authorities said Wednesday.
Terrion Collins, 23, Donnieyell Ferguson, 23, Dwayne Taylor, 22, and Teela Manuel, 21, all of Los Angeles, were booked on suspicion of armed robbery after being stopped by Los Angeles police hours after the Friday robbery in Rosemead, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Tom McNeal said.
They were detained by Los Angeles police for an unrelated reason when officials determined they suspects in the bank robbery, which was reported about 12:30 p.m. at the East West Bank, 8632 Valley Blvd, McNeal said.
Two of the men allegedly jumped the bank counters and stole cash, while a third stood by the door and watched the security guard, spokeswoman Lourdes Arocho of the FBI said.
The female suspect, Manuel, was seen inside the bank just before the robbery and was suspected of being an accomplice in the robbery, McNeal said.
According to sheriff’s booking records, Manuel is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail, Collins is being held in lieu of $140,000 bail, Taylor is being held without bail and Ferguson was released early Wednesday after posting bond.
Collins and Manuel were scheduled to be arraigned in El Monte Superior Court Tuesday, however an update on their case was not available Wednesday evening, records show.
Ferguson and Taylor are due in El Monte Superior Court March 25 for arraignment.
It was unclear Wednesday if the four robbery suspects may be connected to other area bank robberies.

From the Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES — Authorities say a 60-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping a 6-year-old girl on a Los Angeles bus.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Capt. Mike Parker says a homeless woman reported her daughter missing early Sunday. The woman told authorities she fell asleep on a bus near downtown and when she awoke the girl was gone.
About two hours later the driver of another bus reported seeing the girl board his vehicle accompanied by a male suspect.
Deputies responded and arrested the man, identified as John Thomas.
The girl was unhurt and taken into protective custody.

From the Assocaited Press:

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police are searching for at least one gunman who fired
shots in the parking lot of a San Fernando Valley hospital.
Officer Rosario Herrera said at least six shots were fired Wednesday outside Valley
Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys.
Police initially reported one person was injured and that the shooting occurred in the
hospital lobby.
However, Herrera said no one was struck by gunfire.
She said detectives were interviewing witnesses to gather information about the suspects and
the motive for the attack.

From the Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES — Mike Tyson allegedly hit a photographer at Los Angeles International Airport and was detained on suspicion of battery Wednesday, police said.
The paparazzo told police that the former heavyweight boxing champion struck him once, airport police spokesman Sgt. Jim Holcomb said. The photographer fell to the ground and was treated for a cut to his forehead at a hospital.
Tyson’s spokeswoman Tammy Brook said the boxer was traveling with his wife and 10-month-old child Wednesday afternoon when he was attacked by an overly aggressive paparazzo. He acted in self-defense to protect his child, she said.
Tyson and the unnamed photographer both want to press charges for misdemeanor battery, police said.
“There’s a lot of different versions to this story and that’s all going to come out later,” Holcomb said. “Some witness statements support Tyson’s version, others support the photographer’s.”
Paparazzi often camp out at Los Angeles’ largest airport to get shots of celebrities in transit.
Tyson was cooperative as he waited in a holding cell at the airport police station, Holcomb said. He will be booked and released later. The photographer will also be booked once he is released from the hospital, police said.
Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion ever in 1986 when he won his title as a 20-year-old. But his life since then has been marred by accusations of domestic violence, rape and cocaine use.
Tyson was convicted of rape in Indiana in 1992, serving three years in prison. He was disqualified from a 1997 heavyweight title fight when he bit off part of Evander Holyfield’s right ear, and in 1999 he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault charges in Maryland.
In 2003, Tyson filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. He served 24 hours in an Arizona jail in 2007 after pleading guilty to cocaine possession and driving under the influence.

PHOTO courtesy of the Associated Press

From the Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES — Authorities say a body has been found in a burning car on
the banks of the Los Angeles River.
Fire officials discovered the body after responding to a report of a car fire early
Saturday in the riverbed near the 710 Freeway in the South Gate neighborhood.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Steve Rubino says due to the severity of the burns,
authorities have been unable to identify the body.
The incident is under investigation.