| .........
Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch
LA Police Protective League
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.
 |
|
|
Los Angeles
Police Protective League
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
the union that represents the
rank and file LAPD officers
|
|
|
|
Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch
Daily News Digest
from LA Police Protective League
March 11, 2016 |
Motorcyclist Killed In Crash After Nearly Hitting LAPD Patrol Car
A motorcyclist who nearly hit an LAPD patrol car while popping a wheelie was killed after crashing into an SUV in Leimert Park Thursday night while evading authorities, police said. The chase began around 10:50 p.m. near Crenshaw Boulevard and 50th Street when police spotted a group of motorcyclists performing wheelies in the street. Police say one of the motorcyclists nearly hit an LAPD patrol car while performing a wheelie and then took off. The suspect crashed into an SUV near Leimert and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards while traveling on the wrong side of the road. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the SUV was not injured. Police say the motorcyclist was traveling at speeds of up to 80 mph. The impact of the crash was so severe the motorcycle was broken into pieces.
ABC 7
4 Smash-And-Grab Rolex Thieves Will Be Surprised To Learn At Least 1 Watch Had GPS Tracking Device
Four smash-and-grab thieves stole more than 30 Rolex watches from a jewelry store in the Topanga Mall Wednesday. What the thieves didn't know was that at least one of the watches had a tracking device. CBS2's Amy Johnson reports that more and more high-end items are coming with GPS devices. It was a scene that caught shoppers at the Topanga Mall by surprise. Four masked men smashed jewelry cases at Ben Bridge then ran off with dozens of Rolex watches. “You don't see cops with shotguns and AR's and [flak] jackets ,” said shopper Sam Zadeh. “That is what we saw and I was like, ‘Something's probably happening. Obviously, these things are scary.”
CBS 2
Valley pastor tries to curb gang violence, despite challenges
Pastor Rudy Trujillo stands over another grave watching one more grieving mother ask God why? Her son was a good boy, he wasn't involved with gangs. Why was he shot down and murdered this way? The pastor of Faith Center in San Fernando has heard the same lament dozens of times over the years, and he always answers it the same way - by consoling the weeping mother and holding his tongue because he knows the answer isn't the one she wants to hear. “They'll swear all the way to the grave that their kid was never involved in gangs, but when you go to their son's social media you'll see there are gang signs, that all the evidence is right there,” he says. Pastor Rudy, as he is known in this small town, has been chipping away at this reality for almost 40 years. Some years there are fewer funerals, some more. Overall, though, it's been one step forward, two steps back in trying to curb gang violence.
Los Angeles Daily News
Lawyers discuss possible plea deal in skid row police baton case
The trial of Trishawn Cardessa Carey was delayed Thursday while lawyers discussed a possible plea bargain for the mentally ill homeless woman, who is facing felony charges after officials say she grabbed and raised an officer's baton during a fatal police shooting last year. Carey originally faced a potential sentence of life in prison after police said she picked up a nightstick an LAPD officer had dropped during a police scuffle that ended in the shooting death of Charly "Africa" Keunang on skid row. Prosecutors have offered to place Carey in a mental health facility for a year if she would plead guilty to a felony count of resisting an officer. They also said they would reduce the charge to a misdemeanor when she completed treatment.
Los Angeles Times
Arson Investigators Work To Determine Cause Of Major Structure Fire In Boyle Heights
Arson investigators Friday worked to determine the cause of a major structure fire that erupted in Boyle Heights. According to Los Angeles Fire Department Spokesman Erik Scott, the fire erupted shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday in the 1500 block of South Rio Vista Avenue. Upon their arrival to the large one-story commercial building, crews located heavy flames ripping through a third of the structure. The business was described as a distribution center. “Due to the extensive fire load and no occupants inside the burning building, the Incident Commander swiftly transitioned into a defensive firefight, using large hose streams from the exterior,” Scott said. “Firefighters were met by multiple challenges.”
CBS 2
Los Angeles County Coroner Resigns Amid Scrutiny
Los Angeles County Coroner Mark Fajardo has resigned amid heavy scrutiny of the office. Fajardo took over control of the office in 2013. Sources have said the “toxicologoly lab is mismanaged, and in dire straights.” One source sent photos showing up to 400 cases waiting to be reviewed. Some are for simple things like alcohol and drugs, analyses that could show whether someone died while under the influence or from an overdose. Without any findings, police can't close a case, judges can't hear them and family members can't collect insurance money, and most importantly, loved ones can't get closure.
CBS 9
L.A. Times photographer arrested after covering Nancy Reagan funeral motorcade
A Los Angeles Times photographer was arrested Wednesday in Simi Valley while transmitting photographs of former First Lady Nancy Reagan's funeral motorcade. Ricardo DeAratanha, 65, was arrested on suspicion of resisting and obstructing a law enforcement officer, a misdemeanor, according to a citation issued by Simi Valley police. Deputy Chief David Livingstone said police responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle near Roosevelt Court and Wood Ranch Parkway, about three-quarters of a mile downhill from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where a public viewing was being held for the former first lady. DeAratanha had parked by the side of the road to use his laptop computer to transmit his photos.
Los Angeles Times
Local Veterans: Wounded Warrior Project Spending ‘Suspicious'
Two top executives with the Wounded Warrior Project have been fired after an expose by CBS News into that group's spending policies. On Thursday evening, CBS2's Peter Daut went in search of veterans to get their opinion about the group and the accusations that got the two executives fired. Outside the American Legion in Hollywood, he found a friendly gathering of veterans but they didn't have the friendliest things to say about the WWP or former executives Steve Nardizzi or Al Giordano. “The amount of outcry this has had especially among veterans and within the active duty military community, this was definitely long overdue,” says veteran Christopher Shaffer.
CBS 2
Dodger Stadium beating suspect due in court Friday
Arraignment is scheduled Friday for a Palos Verdes Estates man charged with assaulting a man who was knocked unconscious and suffered serious head injuries in a parking lot at Dodger Stadium after a Dodgers-Mets game last October. Michael Rae Papayans, 27, was charged Feb. 18 with a felony count of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, with an allegation that he caused great bodily injury. Papayans is accused of punching a 50-year-old man in the head, knocking him unconscious following the Oct. 9 game, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. As the man fell to the ground, he struck his head on the pavement, causing him to sustain serious head injuries, prosecutors said.
MyNewsLA.com
Bad convictions have cost California millions of dollars, report says
A study of more than 600 overturned felony convictions in California calculates the cost of those botched cases to taxpayers at more than $220 million over two decades. The effort to put a price on prosecutorial misconduct, errant judicial rulings and forensic lab mistakes was undertaken by the Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy at UC Berkeley and the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania. Incarceration costs for individuals who were set free after their convictions were overturned added up to $80 million, the study found. Lawsuit settlements in wrongful conviction cases were $68 million, and an additional $68 million was spent on trials and appeals, according to the study released this week.
Los Angeles Times
Harris Wants Funding Boost as State Struggles to Seize Illegal Guns
California law prohibits felons, people with a history of domestic violence and others with severe mental illness from having guns. It falls to Attorney General Kamala Harris and her Department of Justice to confiscate those guns. But 11,830 people currently banned from having guns may still possess them. That upsets Amanda and Nick Wilcox, whose daughter, Laura, was killed by a gunman in Nevada City in 2001 while working at the county behavioral health clinic. “I was numb for six months,” Amanda Wilcox recalls. “I kept pinching myself, thinking I don't believe this happened. I felt like I was outside my body — as if something had happened to someone else. It turns your life upside down.” Eventually, shock turned into a conviction that Amanda and her husband needed to do more to control access to guns in California.
KQED
Is California's bail system ‘fair to all?' state chief justice asks
A year after eliminating court fees for motorists trying to contest a traffic ticket, California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye is launching an examination into whether the state's practice of detaining people on bail unfairly penalizes the poor. Cantil-Sakauye said the courts, along with Gov. Jerry Brown's administration and the Democratic-dominated Legislature, are looking at alternatives after studies showed that in some cases so-called pretrial detention may increase recidivism for certain types of offenders. In her annual address to lawmakers this week, and in an interview with The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board on Thursday, she said supervised release may be as effective as bail.
Sacramento Bee
Jury in Nieto trial finds SF cops did not use excessive force
Four San Francisco police officers did not use excessive force in 2014 when they shot and killed a man who allegedly pointed a stun gun at them that they mistook for a pistol, a federal jury found Thursday in a lawsuit filed by the man's family. The eight-member jury decided that the officers had not violated the constitutional rights of Alejandro “Alex” Nieto, a 27-year-old City College of San Francisco student and security guard, when they fired multiple shots at him in Bernal Heights Park. Officers Richard Schiff, Nathan Chew and Roger Morse and Lt. Jason Sawyer fired at least 48 shots after they said Nieto pointed what they believed was a handgun at them, but which later turned out to be a Taser stun gun.
San Francisco Chronicle
Filling Station Accused of Selling Tainted Gasoline
Customers of an Eagle Rock filling station were sold adulterated gasoline that caused extensive damage to their vehicles, the Los Angeles City Attorney alleges in a criminal filing against the station's ownership and other defendants. The complaint alleges the tainted fuel was sold a year ago on the night of March 2, 2015. For some motorists who had gassed up, problems became apparent within blocks, and in some cases, within feet after pulling away from the pump. "The car started to shudder. And when I pulled onto Colorado Boulevard, it stalled," recalled Dan Leiner, who said his near-new Toyota 4Runner needed its entire fuel system replaced, at a cost of $6,400.
NBC 4 |
A behind-the-scenes battle to divert L.A.'s storm water from going to waste
The storm had gathered power for days as it crossed the Northern Pacific, and now its outer band was uppercutting the coast. By the time Eric Batman arrived at work at 7 Monday morning, a hard west wind was driving rain and hail sideways against windows. Thunder reverberated across the L.A. Basin. Batman reveled in El Niño's long-overdue rumbling. His job, as senior civil engineer for the county Department of Public Works, is to keep as much rain as possible from escaping to the ocean.
Los Angeles Times
Residents slam letter suggesting ‘alternate' causes of illnesses after Porter Ranch gas leak
A county Department of Public Health letter to health care providers potentially treating Porter Ranch residents sickened after a massive natural gas leak in the area roiled the community Thursday. The letter dated March 8 is a Los Angeles Health Alert Network addressed to primary care, urgent care, internal medicine and emergency medicine providers from Dr. Cyrus Rangan, director of the bureau of toxicology and environmental assessment. It is a resolution and follow- up to the Aliso Canyon natural gas leak.
Los Angeles Daily News |
|
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the LAPPL Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents the more than 9,900 dedicated and professional sworn members of the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPPL serves to advance the interests of LAPD officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education. The LAPPL can be found on the Web at:
www.LAPD.com |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
|
|
