2 Officers Injured In Crash While Following Suspect In Mid-Wilshire

Two police officers were injured Wednesday in a crash while following a suspect in the Mid-Wilshire area. The crash happened about 12:50 p.m., while officers were pursuing the suspect near Pico Boulevard and La Brea Avenue, according to Officer Tony Im of the LAPD. The number of cars involved in the crash was not available. Four ambulances were requested to take two officers and two other patients to a hospital, Im said. The suspect was taken into custody, but it was not immediately clear if the suspect was one of the patients taken to a hospital, according to Im. All lanes of Pico Boulevard and La Brea Avenue in the area were closed while officials investigated the crash.

Indiana Trooper Seriously Injured After Drunk Driver Plows Into Patrol Car

State police arrested a Wheaton man on drunken driving charges early Wednesday after he seriously injured a trooper when he plowed into the trooper's car while police were investigating a separate crash on westbound I-80/94, officials said. Cameron D. Geweniger, 30, refused medical treatment at the scene in Gary, refused field sobriety tests and chemical tests, and was taken to a hospital after police obtained a warrant for a blood test. Indiana State Police Trooper Corey Adam was taken to Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus in Gary with serious injuries, police said. Adam was dispatched about midnight Tuesday to a single-car crash on westbound Interstate 80/94, about a quarter mile east of Burr Street.

Authorities ID Man Found Shot To Death In South L.A. Home

Authorities Wednesday identified a man who was found fatally shot in a South Los Angeles home. Telish Gardner, 49, was found dead about 11 a.m. Saturday when officers went to the 1400 block of West 80th Street, according to the coroner’s office and the Los Angeles Police Department. Gardner had suffered multiple gunshot wounds, and his death has been classified as a homicide, according to the coroner’s office. “There was some kind of group chat going on, on a computer, and someone noticed the front door was open,” LAPD Lt. Angela McGee said. “Police were called and that’s when they discovered the victim.” No description was released of a suspect or suspects. Anyone with information on the case was urged call the LAPD’s South Bureau Homicide office at 323-786-5100. Tipsters can also call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.

Caught On Camera: Security Guard Ambushed In Downtown Los Angeles

A sudden and unprovoked assault was caught on camera in downtown Los Angeles. A security guard at a local apartment complex was ambushed and nearly knocked unconscious. The attack took place at the Piero Apartments, a luxury complex in downtown LA. Giovanni says the man was asking for assistance to find a resident of the complex, and that's when the sudden assault happened. Weeks later, Giovanni is still recovering from the assault. LAPD detectives are searching for the man. They say he will be facing serious charges when he is caught. Police are asking if anyone can identify the attacker to contact Detective Kim with LAPD Rampart Station at 213-484-3611.

‘It’s Priceless’: Owners of Stolen Juice Market Trailer Asking Thief To Return It

As if operating a small business during this pandemic wasn't hard enough, thieves made sure a local juice truck owner could not operate at all. Mercado and his girlfriend Dayana are asking for the public's help in finding the trailer, which was stolen around 5:50 a.m. on March 24 in the South Los Angeles area. Mercado said the trailer was more than just a source of income, it was a symbol of their entrepreneurial dreams. They opened up The Juice Market on Feb. 1, just weeks before the coronavirus pandemic took over much of Southern California. It was a project of hours of work and sacrifice. They kept their trailer at a gated lot across from the LAPD Newton Division in South LA until it was stolen in March. "It shows on the camera the two vehicles show up at 5:50 a.m. and it only took about 13 minutes for them to steal the car," he said.

Skeletal Human Remains Found At Newhall Homeless Camp

Human skeletal remains were found Wednesday at a homeless encampment in Newhall. Deputies from the sheriff’s Homeless Outreach Services Team were going to several encampments Wednesday to offer homeless people supplies, masks, and temporary housing, and to distribute informational flyers regarding COVID- 19 precautions, according to Deputy Juanita Navarro-Suarez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. About 11 a.m., deputies found an adult’s skeletal remains at an unoccupied encampment beneath an overpass of the southbound Golden State (5) Freeway’s truck route, near the 2000 block of The Old Road and the Antelope Valley (14) Freeway, Navarro-Suarez said. Homicide detectives responded to the scene, but the coroner’s office will determine the cause of death, according to Navarro-Suarez.

Shootings Are A Glaring Exception To The Coronavirus Crime Drop

With businesses shuttered, social gatherings forbidden, and city streets largely empty, sheltering-in-place has produced one welcome side effect: Most types of crime, from drug offenses to robberies, have dropped considerably. But data analyzed by The Trace reveals that there is a major exception: gun violence. In Dallas, for example, the city’s stay-at-home order has done nothing to slow shootings. Between March 24, when the order took effect, and April 25, overall violent crime was 14 percent lower than average. But the city recorded 67 shooting incidents — 46 percent more than the average for this time of year. In one, a man was found dead of multiple bullet wounds early on a weekday afternoon outside a popular public recreation center shuttered to stop the virus’s spread. An analysis of data collected by Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that tracks shootings in close to real time, shows more than 2,000 gun deaths in the U.S. between March 1 and April 19 — a 6 percent increase over the same period in the past three years.

Public Safety News

Canoga Park Commercial Building Well-Involved In Fire

Firefighters needed 32 minutes Thursday morning to extinguish a fire in a 20-by-120-foot commercial building in Canoga Park. Crews responding to 8241 Canoga Ave., north of Roscoe Boulevard, at 2:15 a.m. found the one-story building well-involved with fire and requested three additional task forces, according to Nicholas Prange of the Los Angeles Fire Department. A total of 67 firefighters battled the flames, and a knockdown was called at 2:47 a.m., Prange said. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire was under investigation.

LA County Coronavirus Cases Rise To 22,485, With 1,056 Deaths

Los Angeles County on Wednesday reported 1,541 new coronavirus cases and 56 additional deaths, bringing the county's totals to 22,485 cases and 1,056 deaths. The sharp increase in cases since Tuesday, when only 597 new cases were reported, was attributed to an increase in COVID-19 testing capacity, as well as some lag from reporting over the weekend, according to the county's Public Health Director, Dr. Barbara Ferrer. Of the newly reported deaths, 41 were individuals over the age of 65, 34 of which had underlying health conditions. Nine individuals were between the ages of 41 and 65, six of which had underlying health conditions. Two individuals with underlying health conditions who died were between the ages of 18 and 40, said Ferrer. The data on the remaining cases was not immediately available.

With 2nd Wave Of Virus Infections Expected, Easing L.A. County Stay-At-Home Orders Won’t Mean An End To Social Distancing

The nation’s top infectious disease doctor has warned that a second-wave coronavirus outbreak later this year is “inevitable.” Local experts say that means everyone will have to keep making sacrifices to slow the spread, even after society begins to reopen. The extent of the virus’ resurgence this fall in Southern California will depend on people’s adherence to continued social distancing, as well as officials’ ability to identify and track cases, Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County’s top public health official, said Wednesday. “As we’re all doing our part now, during recovery we have to do our part,” she said. “Nothing really changes in terms of the basics here,” which includes keeping 6 feet of distance in public, isolating yourself when sick and a continued focus on COVID-19 testing and patient contact tracing. “Those still are our tools,” Ferrer said. “We just have to do it in a way that allows more people to get back to work — and that means there’s even more on each of us to do our part to keep our distance.”

Local Government News

City Council To Recognize Denim Day Campaign Against Sexual Violence

The City Council declared Wednesday Denim Day in Los Angeles to recognize the 21st annual campaign to combat sexual violence and support its victims. Solidarity is the theme of this year's Denim Day, highlighting the ongoing and changing needs of those experiencing domestic, sexual, and interpersonal violence during stay at home orders and social distancing because of the coronavirus pandemic. "Today, we wear denim in support of the movement launched by Peace Over Violence in response to an unjust court ruling in 1998,'' Council President Nury Martinez said prior to Wednesday's regular meeting. A campaign to raise awareness about the challenges faced by sexual assault survivors and the organizations that serve them during the coronavirus pandemic will begin Wednesday in connection with Denim Day.

L.A. Councilman Proposes Ban On Storage-Unit Evictions Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Rebecca Wu wishes she could just grab some photo albums from her storage unit before everything in it is at risk of going up for auction May 1. She is two months late on the rent for the unit near where she lives in Placer County, northeast of Sacramento, and her access code to the facility has been turned off. California has roughly 3,500 storage facilities, according to Self Storage, and is home to the most expensive storage rents in the country, according to statistics compiled by Neighbor, a company that matches people’s empty space with people who need to store items. With millions of people applying for unemployment during the coronavirus outbreak, storage represents another monthly bill many can’t pay right now. “At least I wouldn’t be losing a couple of boxes of the really sacred stuff. To me, it wouldn’t be fair under the situation, but it would be decent,” said Wu, who lost her job in mid-March as a home healthcare worker. “But, as a far as I know, that’s not a possibility,” Wu added.