Thousands Expected At Memorial For Slain California Rookie
Police officers from across the country are expected at Friday's memorial service for a 22-year-old rookie who had long dreamed of being an officer and was slain just weeks into the job in a Northern California college town. The service for Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona, who was shot and killed last week, will be held at the University of California, Davis. UC Davis said it expects up to 6,000 officers, in addition to family members, friends and members of the public. Corona's slaying has shocked Davis, which prides itself as a safe, family-friendly community anchored by one of the state's top universities. The last time a police officer died in the line of duty in Davis was in 1959. Family, colleagues and others who knew Corona have recalled her vibrant smile, compassion, dedication and lifelong dream of being in law enforcement like her father Jose Merced Corona, who spent 26 years as a Colusa County Sheriff's deputy. Associated Press

Arizona Man Carried Out Lone Wolf Attack On Officer, Police Say
An Arizona man facing a terrorism charge for brandishing a knife in an encounter with a sheriff's sergeant was carrying out a "lone wolf" attack, authorities said Thursday. Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone said at a news conference that 18-year-old Ismail Hamed of Fountain Hills told a dispatcher before the Jan. 7 attack that he had an affiliation with a terror group. Hamed was previously charged with aggravated assault for allegedly throwing rocks at the sergeant and brandishing a knife outside a sheriff's substation in Fountain Hills, a Phoenix suburb. Investigators said the sergeant shot Hamed after he ignored repeated warnings to drop the weapon. A terrorism charge accusing Hamed of assisting the Islamic State was filed Tuesday. Associated Press

Deputy hospitalized after opening suspicious package at Santa Ana courthouse; three others injured
An Orange County sheriff's deputy was taken to a hospital Thursday after opening a suspicious package at a Santa Ana courthouse, authorities said. Three other people were injured in the incident, which occurred about 2:30 p.m. in a third-floor courtroom of the Central Justice Center, the Sheriff's Department said. Details of their injuries were not clear, though authorities said the injuries were not life-threatening. Authorities did not order evacuations and said there was no explosion. Los Angeles Times

Suspected Driver Arrested In Hit-and-Run That Killed Mother Of 3 In Silver Lake: LAPD
A Norwalk man has been arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter after allegedly striking and killing a 57-year-old wife and mother in Silver Lake, police announced Thursday. Detectives arrested the suspected driver, Freddy Prieto, one day after Christina Garcia was fatally struck, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Prieto, 47, works as a school janitor, officials said. LAPD officials said three tips from the general public led to Prieto's capture and arrest. The crash, which was captured on surveillance video, occurred around 6 a.m. Wednesday in the 1800 block of Hyperion Avenue. The victim's relatives have said Garcia had been on her daily morning walk, something that had been part of her routine for the past 15 years. KTLA 5

Vandals Smash Car Windows In North Hollywood, Spray-Paint ‘Trump' On Pavement
The windows of several cars were smashed and defaced with graffiti overnight inside an underground carport at a North Hollywood condominium complex, police said Friday. Eight vehicles in the 10900 block of Hartsook Street were damaged in the incident, which was reported about 3 a.m., according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The rear windows of at least four of the vehicles were smashed, police said. One car had the letter “U” spray-painted in red on the rear window before the glass was broken. Vandals also spray-painted expletives on the pavement in the carport and scrawled the words “Trump” and “Rules.” Police said they are investigating the vandalism and have not identified any suspects. Los Angeles Times

Man Charged With Murder In Fatal Assault Of Girlfriend's 2-Year-Old Son In Westchester: DA
An Inglewood man accused of killing his girlfriend's young son two days before his birthday last summer has been charged with murder, prosecutors announced Thursday. Josafat Bonifacio, 27, also faces a count of assault on a child causing death, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. The incident took place on July 3 at a home near the 8700 block of Croydon Avenue in Westchester. Bonifacio had been caring for 2-year-old Damien Ventura — his girlfriend's son — and his 4-year-old daughter when someone called 911 during the evening, officials said. The little boy was rushed to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Westwood where he died. Damien had suffered from multiple injuries, the release stated. The Los Angeles Police Department responded to the hospital to investigate the boy's death. KTLA 5

Ex-Money Manager Of Juarez Drug Cartel Pleads Guilty In L.A.
A former money manager of the Juarez drug cartel pleaded guilty Thursday in downtown Los Angeles to a federal conspiracy charge stemming from Operation Casablanca, once billed as the largest drug money-laundering investigation in U.S. history. Jose “El Compadre” Alvarez-Tostado, 63, entered his plea to a single federal count of conspiracy to aid and abet the distribution of controlled substances, which carries a possible 20-year prison sentence. U.S. District Judge George H. Wu scheduled sentencing for March 28. Alvarez — the lead defendant in a 35-person indictment filed in Los Angeles federal court — managed the collection, laundering and distribution of at least $24 million and more than a ton of cocaine. MyNewsLA.com

Orange County Homicide Victim Identified After 31 Years
The Orange County Sheriff's Department has identified a Jane Doe homicide victim whose remains were discovered more than 31 years ago. Using forensic odontology, the Coroner Division confirmed on January 15, 2019, the victim to be 20-year-old Tracey Coreen Hobson, who was living in Anaheim at the time she disappeared. Authorities say a passerby discovered the skeleton remains of a woman in a grassy area about 50 feet from Santa Ana Canyon Road, a half-mile west of Gypsum Canyon Road in unincorporated Anaheim. The only items recovered near the body were a red handkerchief and a length of cord. An anthropological examination of the remains confirmed the woman had been stabbed in the torso and her hands had been cut off, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.
FOX 11

Dispute Over Rules Riles California's Legal Pot Market
California has finalized its rules governing the nation's largest legal marijuana market, a milestone coming more than a year after the state broadly legalized cannabis sales for adults. But a dispute over home deliveries into communities that ban pot sales could end up in court. And the hundreds of pages of dense regulations are unlikely to resolve other disputes, including how purity and potency tests are conducted for infused cookies and other products. Even if imperfect, the rules were welcomed by many in the industry who have been contending with shifting temporary regulations since California kicked off broad legal sales last year. “Love it or hate it, California has regulations for commercial cannabis.
Associated Press

This is why federal corrections officers, unpaid during shutdown, worry for their safety
Corrections officer Francis J. Lindsay Sr. has been working — and sleeping — at the Los Angeles federal prison in Downtown L.A. for the past three days. With the government shutdown in its fourth week, some of Lindsay's coworkers, lacking paychecks, have had to leave for other jobs or take sick days — and are struggling to survive. So Lindsay has volunteered to help pick up the extra shifts, though he, too, is working without pay. About 800,000 federal employees have been furloughed or forced to work without pay since Dec. 22 because of the partial government shutdown. Congress and President Donald Trump have yet to fund multiple federal departments and agencies, such as Homeland Security, as they grapple over whether to fund Trump's proposed border wall.
Los Angeles Daily News

FBI Stops Man's Attempt To Attack White House
A Georgia man who traded his car for an antitank rocket, guns and explosives in a plot to storm the White House is under arrest, authorities said. Hasher Jallal Taheb, 21, of Cumming, was arrested in an FBI sting operation Wednesday and is charged with attempting to damage or destroy a building owned by the United States using fire or an explosive, U.S. Attorney Byung J. "BJay" Pak said. It wasn't immediately clear whether Taheb had an attorney who could comment on the allegations. The FBI set up the sting after a local law enforcement agency said in March that it got a tip from someone who said Taheb had become radicalized, changed his name and planned to travel abroad, according to an FBI agent's affidavit filed in court.
Associated Press

Public Safety News

Life-Saving Rescues From Flooding Rivers Across SoCal Captured In Dramatic Video, Photos
As heavy rains pounded the Southland Thursday, first responders saved at least two dozen people from flooding rivers across the region — with some of those rescues captured in dramatic video footage and photos. One video shows a rescuer suspended from a helicopter floating down toward the roaring waters of the flooded San Gabriel River near North Peck Road and lifting up a person stranded on an isolated piece of land, as seen in video tweeted by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's High-Risk Tactical and Rescue Teams. It's unclear what the condition of the rescued person was. About 25 people described as transients were stranded on an island in the Santa Ana River in the Jurupa Valley,  KTLA 5

After Days Of Downpours, A Final Push For Storm Systems Moving Through Southern California
After days of downpours, the final round in a series of storms that have drenched Southern California caused rock slides and flooding and other problems Thursday, prompting several water rescues, snarling traffic and causing some injuries. But the extended run of wet weather also has helped to replenish the region's water supplies, bathing the soil and vegetation in hills and canyons. The storm systems have brought impressive rainfall totals, with some Orange County cities, for example, seeing more rain in the past three days than they did throughout all of last year's storm season. “This shatters anything we saw last year,” said Alex Tardy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Los Angeles Daily News