Officer Dies After Being Shot During Arkansas Traffic Stop

A police officer in Arkansas has died following a shooting during a traffic stop that also left a suspect wounded, authorities said. The Hot Springs Police Department said in a statement that Officer Brent Scrimshire conducted the traffic stop about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Hot Springs and Scrimshire and the suspect were shot. Scrimshire was taken to a hospital, where he died, the statement said. “We ask for prayers for our officer and his family,” said Corporal Joey Williams, public information officer for the department. The name and condition of the suspect weren't immediately released. The investigation has been turned over to Arkansas State Police. Additional information was expected to be released later.

Baby Dies At Hospital After Possible DUI Crash In North Hills Leaves 2 Other Children Critical, Suspect In Unknown Condition

A possible DUI crash in North Hills on Monday evening left a baby dead, two other children critically injured, an innocent driver hurt and the 23-year-old suspect in unknown condition, authorities said. The crash occurred in the 15200 block of Nordhoff Street at about 11:45 p.m. Monday, the Los Angeles Police Department said. A white Toyota Sequoia was travelling between 60 to 80 mph and going eastbound on Nordhoff toward Sepulveda Boulevard when it swerved into incoming traffic and crashed head-on with a SUV, the LAPD said. Three children were in the Toyota -- twins between 4 to 6 months old and a child between 2 to 3 years old. 

Boy Dies After Being Struck By Vehicle While Crossing Street In South L.A.

A 12-year-old boy died Tuesday morning after he was hit by a car on the way to school in South Los Angeles, authorities said. The incident happened about 7:30 a.m. when the driver, a 43-year-old woman, made a left turn from Woodlawn Avenue onto Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The boy, who was half a block away from his home, was halfway through the intersection when he was hit by the driver, who didn’t see him, said Moses Castillo, a detective for the Los Angeles Police Department. The driver and the boy had green lights. The woman had finished dropping off her daughter at school and claimed she wasn’t distracted by her phone, Castillo said. “She’s also very distraught,” he said. There was no evidence of alcohol or drugs and Castillo said police took the driver’s phone to run an analysis and see what happened.

LAPD Releases Video Of Gunman Sought In Jan. 6 Fatal Shooting In Westlake

The Los Angeles Police Department Tuesday released video of a suspect being sought in the fatal shooting of a man in the Westlake neighborhood. The shooting happened Jan. 6 about 7:30 p.m. in the 900 block of South Alvarado Street, near James M Wood Boulevard, according to police. The victim, 48-year-old Erik Perez, was walking on Alvarado Street’s east sidewalk when the suspect, walking southbound on Alvarado, stopped, turned around and shouted at him, according to police. The two men walked toward each other, and the suspect grabbed a handgun from his waistband and shot Perez in the chest before running away, the LAPD reported. Officers found the victim lying on a sidewalk, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The suspect was described as an older white or Hispanic man with long hair in a ponytail. He was wearing glasses and was clad in a gray sweatshirt, a black button-down shirt, light-colored pants and black shoes.

Santa Monica Architect Stabbed Protecting Passengers On Expo Line During Fight Caught On Camera

A prominent architect from Santa Monica was stabbed after a group of four teenagers got into a fight on the Expo Line in West Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the four teens included two females and two males. The group started fighting, and one of the suspects pulled out a knife. Gwynne Pugh, the owner and founder of Gwynne Pugh Urban Studio, takes public transportation often. The fight happened Tuesday night at around 8:40 p.m. "They [the teenagers] had a shopping cart with alcohol and snacks. They started getting very noisy with each other," said Pugh. Zoe Muntaner started recording the fight on her cellphone. "When she [one of the teenagers] saw me filming, she then came towards me, and raised her arm with a knife and asked me to stop recording," said Muntaner. Muntaner said the suspect asked her to give up her phone, but she refused. "I put it in my purse, and then she punched me. Muntaner said people like Pugh stepped in to help her. 

Echo Park Residents Want Something Done After String Of Fatal Hit-And-Run Crashes

Security video from Feb. 24 shows the final moments of Morena Alvarado Lopez’s life. Seconds after the footage was recorded, the 58-year-old and her 71-year-old husband Juan Behena were struck by a vehicle as they crossed Sunset Boulevard near White Knoll. Behena was severely injured, but survived. The driver stopped for a few moments and then kept going. Police have offered a $50,000 reward to help find the suspected driver. That early morning crash is just one of several hit-and-runs in the Echo Park area that have police alarmed and looking for solutions. “There’s been a lot of accidents,” Isaac Hernandez, who lives in the neighborhood, said. His house is just a few yards from the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Douglas Street — the scene of two fatal hit-and-run crashes in the past several months. “Living so close, you get to feel it too, because people leave memorials and what not and you get to see the human aspect of it,” he said.

Video: LAPD Officers Trap Injured, Snarling Opossum Found In Middle Of Hollywood Street

Two LAPD officers faced off with a particularly vicious culprit Monday and were able to trap him in a box. LAPD’s Hollywood Division says Officers Kuipers and Gardners found an injured opossum in the middle of a road and went above and beyond the call of duty to get it to safety. A TikTok video of the officers trying to take the opossum into custody was tweeted out by @LAPDHQ. The video shows one officer using a pizza box to try and push it into another box, then dropping it and jumping back as the opossum snarls at them. The second officer finally gets the opossum inside the box with a grimace and a shake of his head – while making sure to keep the opossum trapped. “Definitely not in the job description but sometimes you need to improvise!” LAPD Hollywood Division tweeted.

WeHo Man Admits To Selling Fake Basquiat And Warhol Pieces, Using Art For Loan Collateral, Tax Write-Offs

A West Hollywood man has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges of selling fake modern art and using the bogus paintings for loans and write-offs on his income tax returns, officials announced Tuesday. Philip Righter, 43, was charged in United States District Court with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and tax fraud. His plea agreement was filed Tuesday. He admitted to selling bogus art pieces by artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. “In total, Righter’s scheme attempted to bilk victims out of well over $6 million, and he caused losses of at least $758,265,” according to a news release from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. “Additionally, his fraudulent tax returns cost the United States more than $100,000.”

The Most Dangerous States For Violent Crime

Violent crime in the United States has declined significantly over the past 30 years, but that hasn’t put minds at ease. The most recent data from the FBI shows that one in 271 U.S. residents was the victim of a violent crime in 2018, while the homicide rate was 5 per 100,000. That's half as bad as in 1991, when violence hit its peak. Despite these reassuring numbers, a recent Gallup poll shows that more than half of Americans believe the problem of crime in the U.S. is “very” or “extremely” serious. Although you may live your entire life without incident, the numbers are worth considering if you’re deciding where to go to school, where to raise a family or where to retire. These are the 15 worst states for crime in the United States: 15) Kansas, 14) California, 13) Michigan, 12) Oklahoma, 11) Maryland, 10) Arizona, 9) South Carolina, 8) Missouri, 7) Alabama, 6) Louisiana, 5) Nevada, 4) Arkansas, 3) Tennessee, 2) New Mexico, 1) Alaska. 

Public Safety News

LA County greenlights probe into Election Day voting-system failures

L.A. County will investigate how an overhauled county vote system failed during the March 3 primary, leaving many voters confused and frustrated while waiting in long lines — and thousands of votes still uncounted a week after the election. The action — which would tap an independent, outside firm to analyze the voting system — came after a fiery Board of Supervisors meeting in which supervisors, voters and pollworkers laid into the county’s top voting official, Dean Logan, some calling for his dismissal.

L.A. County Will Visit Hundreds Of Senior Living Centers To Assess Coronavirus Risk

Los Angeles County health officials on Wednesday will begin visiting about 300 assisted care facilities in the county to assess their needs for keeping the residences safe from the coronavirus. The move, according to Barbara Ferrer, director of the county Department of Public Health, comes amid growing alarm about the toll coronavirus is taking on the elderly, who account for the vast majority of the deaths in the United States. California officials have been urging that group to avoid large public gatherings, travel and events. The Santa Clara city library is canceling all programs for the upcoming week, and most programs at the senior center. San Jose’s senior meals program will transition to a boxed to-go pickup format. On Sunday, federal officials reiterated that message.