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Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch
LA Police Protective League

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Los Angeles
Police Protective League
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the union that represents the
rank and file LAPD officers

  Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch

Daily News Digest
from LA Police Protective League

June 14, 2019
Law Enforcement News

Utah Man Charged With Murder In Deaths Of Two Men, Including L.A. County Deputy
A Utah man suspected of gunning down a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy and another man in a pair of seemingly random shootings was charged with two counts of murder Thursday, officials said. Rhett McKenzie Nelson, 30, did not enter a plea during a brief court appearance Thursday after he was charged with the shooting deaths of veteran sheriff's Deputy Joseph Solano and 30-year-old Dmitry Alekseyevich Kolstov, according to a statement issued by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. Prosecutors say Nelson opened fire on Solano inside an Alhambra Jack in the Box restaurant at 5:45 p.m. Monday. Solano was shot in the back of the head and died Wednesday, officials said. An hour before the attack in Alhambra, prosecutors say, Nelson had shot and killed Kolstov while sitting in a car in the 1900 block of East 7th Place in downtown Los Angeles after a brief verbal exchange. Kolstov was shot at 4:50 p.m. and pronounced dead at the scene less than 20 minutes later, according to Sarah Ardalani, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County coroner's office.
Los Angeles Times

‘The Violence Has To Stop,' Alhambra Mayor Says At Vigil For Slain Deputy
Mourners spoke of community, unity and preventing violence as dozens gathered for a vigil Thursday evening, June 13, in front of the Alhambra Jack in the Box where days earlier a man fatally shot an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy. Deputy Joseph Gilbert Solano, 50, died of his injuries Wednesday at Los Angeles County USC Medical Center, following what investigators believe was a random shooting. “Really there are no borders when it comes to violence,” Alhambra Mayor Adele Andrade-Stadler said. “The violence has to stop; mental health has to be addressed, and this” — she said, gesturing to the crowd — “is exactly proof of what our communities have to do to keep everybody safe.” The mourners included Solano's family members, law enforcement officers and activists. “It's been a heavy week. It's really heavy to come here. And just to see the support from everyone, it means the world,” said one of Solano's sons, Matthew. “My dad, he would really be honored.” 
Los Angeles Daily News

Man Fatally Stabbed, Woman Detained In Pico-Union: LAPD

A woman was in custody after a man was stabbed to death at an apartment building in Los Angeles' Pico-Union neighborhood Thursday, investigators said. The attack was reported just after 3:30 p.m. in the 1600 block of West 11th Place, said L.A. Police Lt. Ryan Rabbett. The incident began inside the building before spilling onto the sidewalk outside, Rabbett said. Investigators believe both the suspect and victim live in the building involved, but there's nothing to suggest they live together, according to the lieutenant. Paramedics were rendering aid to the victim when officers arrived at the scene. The man had been stabbed in his chest, and he succumbed to the injury before officials could transport him to the hospital, Rabbett said. The woman was subsequently taken into custody.
KTLA 5

Barricaded Suspect Surrenders To Police In Panorama City
A man being chased by police in Panorama City for reportedly driving a stolen car surrendered to police after an hours-long standoff Thursday afternoon. The suspect ran from police and hit under a vehicle in the 8500 block of Tobias Avenue in Panorama City. The suspect refused to cooperate with law enforcement and the SWAT team was called to the scene to help coax the man into giving up. Soon after law enforcement officers sent in a robot to assess the situation at a closer range, the suspect surrendered and was loaded into a gurney to be medically examined. It's unclear what injuries, if any, he suffered any injuries during the incident. The investigation is ongoing. No further details were immediately known.
FOX 11

Death Of Woman Found In Mid-City Investigated As Homicide: Officials
The death of a woman found unconscious in Mid-City is being investigated as homicide, the Los Angeles Police Department said Thursday. The woman, who has only been described as being in her 40s, was found near Pico and Crenshaw boulevards, Officer Jeff Lee said. Police were called to the scene about 12:57 a.m. No information about any possible injuries or cause of death has been released by LAPD. But Lee said police were investigating the incident as a “suspicious death” and later said it was deemed a homicide. No other details have been released.
KTLA 5

Paintball Culprits Assaulting Bystanders And Committing Crimes, Police Say
Paintball-wielding assailants have been attacking and robbing unsuspecting residents on city streets and in many instances posting the attacks on social media, Los Angeles police said. Citywide this year, the culprits have randomly assaulted 28 people walking to stores, riding bikes and standing on street corners, police said. Victims have included a 12-year-old boy and an 80-year-old man. The bulk of the assaults have occurred in South Los Angeles, police said at a news conference Thursday. “Innocent residents were assaulted walking to schools, riding their bikes or just walking to the store,” said LAPD Lt. Jeffrey Bratcher of the 77th Street Division. Some shooters are recording the paintball gun assaults to post on social media, potentially inspiring others to copy their deeds. “You can hear the suspects laughing (on the videos) as the victims cry out in pain,” Bratcher said. “These assaults are no jokes. They're serious crimes.” The attacks can cause serious injuries. At the news conference, LAPD officials displayed photographs of victims' bodies covered with multiple circular red welts—many larger than quarters.
Los Angeles Times

Missing Hiker, 59, Found After Night Alone In Angeles National Forest
A 59-year-old woman spent a frightening night alone in the Angeles National Forest after being separated from a hiking group without a phone. Sung Kim was found Thursday after disappearing the day before near Buckhorn Campground at Mount Waterman. Kim had gone hiking with a group she didn't know well and had fallen behind because she has knee problems, family members said. She had no phone and only a small amount of water, her daughter said. After she was reported missing, rescue crews began searching the rugged terrain Wednesday afternoon but had to stop operations at midnight. They resumed the search Thursday. A helicopter crew spotted her around 10 a.m. and airlifted her to safety. As rescue crews provided Kim with medical treatment, she appeared to be walking on her own. Her family was at the campground to be reunited with her. Officials said she had suffered some bumps and bruises from falling off the trail.
ABC 7

Man, 64, Diagnosed With Dementia Goes Missing In Westmont Area
A 64-year-old man diagnosed with dementia was missing Friday morning in the unincorporated Westmont area of Los Angeles County near South Los Angeles. Henry Lee Dykes was last seen about 3:30 p.m. Thursday at his home in the 2100 block of Cullivan Street, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Dykes is black, 6 feet tall and weighs 180 pounds with short gray hair, gray beard and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a gray shirt and black and gray pants, the sheriff's department said. Dykes has dementia and his loved ones are concerned for his wellbeing, authorities said. Anyone with information on Dykes' whereabouts was asked to call the sheriff's Missing Persons Unit at 323-890-5500 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
MyNewsLA.com

‘Hellbent' On Killing: Homicides Surge In Overwhelmed California Jails
Deadly violence surged in county jails across California since the state began sending thousands of inmates to local lockups instead of prisons, the result of a dramatic criminal justice transformation that left many sheriffs ill-equipped to handle a new and dangerous population. Since 2011, when the U.S. Supreme Court ordered California to overhaul its overcrowded prisons, inmate-on-inmate homicides have risen 46 percent in county jails statewide compared with the seven years before, a McClatchy and ProPublica analysis of California Department of Justice data and autopsy records shows. Killings tripled and even quadrupled in several counties. The increase in violent deaths in jails began soon after California officials approved sweeping reforms called “realignment” in response to the court ruling. The result has meant the conditions in many jails now mirror those in the once-overcrowded prisons, with inmates killing each other at an increasing rate. Inmates have stabbed, bludgeoned or strangled their cellmates, moved bodies and wiped away blood before guards noticed, autopsy reports show.
Sacramento Bee

As Newsom Rethinks Juvenile Justice, California Reconsiders Prison For Kids
As for most high school students, commencement day was big for Osvaldo Moreno. “This is a proud moment for me,” he beamed on a recent June weekend, and not just because he was the first to finish school among six—soon-to-be seven—children in his family. Though it's not on the parchment, Moreno, 21, earned his Johanna Boss High School diploma over the past two years at a state prison for juveniles in Stockton. And as one of fewer than 800 remaining youths in the custody of the soon-to-be-shuttered juvenile division of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, he said, that accomplishment—behind razor wire—was more than just a step toward a future job or a rite of passage. “Being the first one [in the family] to graduate,” he said, “is like creating a sense of normalcy.” That “normalcy” is what Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers have in mind as they vote this week and in coming days on a plan to begin transitioning what's left of the state-run youth detention system from the purview of adult corrections back to a more rehabilitative model.
CALmatters

Public Safety News

Worry Mounts As California Braces For Another Wildfire Season
In Big Bear Lake, officials worry about an explosive wildfire roaring through the resort city, trapping tens of thousands of people. In the Santa Monica Mountains, authorities stage a mock evacuation in Mandeville Canyon, where police discover they are too slow to rescue residents from a wildfire disaster. And in the thick forest of the San Jacinto Mountains, an Idyllwild resident laments that his town “resembles an arsonist's dream.” On the heels of the deadliest and most destructive wildfire season in state history, officials across California are growing increasingly anxious over what many fear will be another one. Fire experts and climatologists warn that the heavy rains of recent months produced an excess of vegetation, which over the hot summer will become dry fuel. At the same time, the death toll from last fall's Camp and Woolsey fires — and the Tubbs fire the year before that — has highlighted the vulnerability of communities throughout the state. In a meeting with emergency managers recently, Gov. Gavin Newsom urged officials to “prepare for the worst” and then gave voice to a growing sense of dread.
Los Angeles Times

Local Government News

Construction Begins On Affordable-Housing Complex In East LA For Homeless Veterans
In East Los Angeles on the corner of East First St. and Rowan Ave., a groundbreaking took place this week for an affordable-housing complex, which will house homeless veterans and low-income families. "There is nothing worst to me than a homeless vet," said Tony Zapata, a U.S. Navy veteran and with the Veteran of Foreign Wars, who witnessed the event. "Any veteran we can get off the street is a big plus for me." The project, El Nuevo Amancer Apartments, will include 61 units: 31 for veterans, 28 for families and 2 for property management. "As we know, the homeless count went up. The veterans count for homeless went down a bit," said Hilda Solis, Los Angeles County Supervisor for District 1. "But, we need to do so much here; especially in communities like East LA." What used to stand on what is now a construction site was a commercial complex with multiple business. Once the new building is up, it will have retail spaces on the first floor and the apartments upstairs.
ABC 7

LAX Lanes Closures Begin For People Mover Project
All three inner traffic lanes on the arrivals level at LAX will be closed between Terminal 3 and the Tom Bradley International Terminal during overnight hours for a week beginning Friday in preparation for the construction of a terminal core to connect to the planned LAX Automated People Mover West Station. The lower-level closures, which will continue through June 22, will be in effect from 12:30 to 6:30 a.m., according to officials at Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that runs LAX. The crosswalk between the Bradley terminal and Parking Structure 3 and the taxi zone in that area will also be closed, with signs posted to guide pedestrians to the next available taxi zone. One of the three inner lanes will be open in front of the international terminal, and the sidewalk between the terminals and the crosswalk between Terminal 3 and Parking Structure 3 will remain open at all times.
Los Angeles Daily News
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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


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