Additional LAPD Employees Test Positive For COVID-19 Bringing Total To 94

Additional Los Angeles Police Department employees have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the department’s total to 94. As of Monday, 39 LAPD employees have recovered and returned to work, and one remains hospitalized, according to Emergency Operations Center’s Jessica Kellogg. All other individuals are self-isolating at home and recovering. The number of Los Angeles Fire Department employees who have tested positive for the virus rose to 24 Monday, Kellogg reported. Out of the LAFD employees, 17 have recovered and returned to work, and none are hospitalized. The remaining seven employees are isolated and recovering at home.

Florida Man Charged With 1984 Los Angeles-Area Rape, Murder

A Florida man was charged Monday with killing a man and raping a woman in a Los Angeles County motel more than 35 years ago. Manuel Fraga-Madan, 66, of Hialeah was charged with murder with special circumstances that include rape, burglary, robbery, rape, lying in wait and torture. Prosecutors haven't decided whether to seek the death penalty. Fraga-Madan was arrested on May 1 in Florida. It wasn't immediately clear whether he had an attorney. Prosecutors alleged that in 1984, Fraga-Madan and an unidentified man forced their way into a motel room in the Lennox area where Johnny Williams, 40, and others were staying. While waiting for Williams to return, the men allegedly raped a 23-year-old woman at gunpoint in front of her 1-year-old child. When Williams returned, the men demanded money and drugs, then shot Williams when he denied having either, prosecutors said. DNA evidence tied Fraga-Madan to the crime, authorities said.

3 Detained After Man Attacked With Baseball Bat In Chinatown

Officers detained three men who are suspected of attacking another man with a bat in Chinatown early Monday morning. The attack occurred sometime before 6 a.m. in the 400 block of College Street. According to Los Angeles police, a Good Samaritan appeared to witness a robbery attempt in which the three suspects were beating the victim, and called police. Officers responded and detained the suspects. The condition of the victim was not confirmed. No names were released.

Man Who Went Missing In Van Nays In April Found Unharmed

A partially paralyzed 67-year-old stroke survivor who went missing in the Van Nuys area in mid-April has been found unharmed, police said Monday. Pedro Aldana was last seen about 3:10 p.m. on April 15 near the intersection of Woodman Avenue and Leadwell Street, and authorities sought public help to find him. On Monday morning, the LAPD reported that he had been found and was in good condition, but no other details were released.

LAPD officer accused of shooting fellow cop is Army veteran

A Los Angeles police officer accused of shooting a fellow officer during an off-duty, weekend camping trip had served in the U.S. Army for 21 years, his lawyer said Monday. The Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents rank-and-file officers, said it was pleased with the injured officer’s recovery. “We support a thorough investigation of this event to determine the facts and to hold anyone appropriately accountable if found to have violated the law or department policy,” the board of directors said in a statement.

L.A. County Fights Child Sex Trafficking, Hopes Lessons Are Adopted Broadly

The Los Angeles County Department of Probation released a report Monday detailing its efforts over eight years to fight the commercial sexual exploitation of children, including many personal stories from survivors and probation officers. Department officials said the problem continues even during the COVID-19 crisis and hopes that the lessons outlined in “All Hands on Deck: Identifying and Supporting Commercially Sexually Exploited Youth in the Juvenile Justice System” will serve as a tool kit for other jurisdictions across the country. More than 26,000 county workers and community partners have been trained in a new protocol for helping, rather than arresting, sexually exploited minors.

Man Gets Seven-Plus Years In Prison For Southern California Bank Robbery Spree

A High Desert man who threatened to shoot tellers and others when he robbed eight banks in Southern California over a six-week span was sentenced Monday in Los Angeles to 92 months in federal prison. Gregory Walter Barnes, 40, of Pinon Hills, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald, who also ordered him to pay $41,931 in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Barnes pleaded guilty on Feb. 10 to one count of bank robbery. According to his plea agreement, Barnes, wearing a hat and sunglasses as a disguise, robbed one U.S. Bank branch in Victorville and seven Chase bank branches in Fontana, Reseda, Woodland Hills, Temecula, Glendale, Hesperia and Ventura between May 22 and July 6, 2018.

California Officer, K9 Find Nearly $1M Dumped On Road During Pursuit

Nearly $1 million in cash was dropped on the side of the road during a vehicle pursuit Friday in Merced County, according to the California Highway Patrol. At about 6:26 p.m. an officer, who was traveling with his K-9 ‘Beny,’ observed three SUVs that appeared to be traveling together on northbound Interstate 5 near Highway 165, just south of Los Banos, according to CHP Officer Eric Zuniga. When the officer attempted to make an enforcement stop on one of the vehicles — a black 2020 Chevrolet Suburban — the vehicle failed to yield and attempted to flee, the CHP said. The officer pursued the vehicle southbound on I-5 to the area of Nees Avenue. The pursuit then headed northbound and ended near the John Erreca Rest Area, according to the CHP.

Philly police resume pre-coronavirus arrest procedures for some non-violent crimes

The Philadelphia Police Department on Friday announced that it would immediately end the controversial scale-back of arrests for some nonviolent crimes that was put in place in March in response to the pandemic. Police will now arrest people for certain property crimes, such as retail theft and burglary, officials said. Previously officers were instructed to detain suspects at the scene to be fingerprinted and identified, and then submit paperwork for charges to be filed later.

FBI Releases Report On 2019 Active Shooter Incidents

The FBI has released its report on active shooter incidents in 2019. According to the bureau’s report, 28 shootings were designated as active shooter incidents, an increase of one from the previous year. In total, there were 97 fatalities and 150 wounded, not including the shooters. The report found that 30 shooters carried out the 28 incidents, up from 27 shooters in 2018. In 2019, there were two law enforcement officers killed and 15 wounded while responding to the active shooter incidents listed in the report. In 11 incidents, law enforcement officers directly engaged the shooter. In 15 cases, the shooters were apprehended by police. The FBI reports that 12 of the 28 incidents met the criteria of the federal definition of mass killings of three or more deaths in a single incident. The highest number of deaths occurred at the Cielo Vista Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in which 23 people were killed and 22 wounded.

Public Safety News

L.A. County COVID-19 Cases Top 26,000, As Deaths Climb To 1,256; Cases Among Health Care Workers Surge

Health officials reported 28 new COVID-19 deaths in L.A. County Monday, bringing the total number of deaths attributed to the virus to 1,256 countywide. Another 568 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus, marking 26,217 positive cases within the county Monday, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health. Of the new deaths reported Monday, 22 of them were people over the age of 65 and included 18 with underlying health conditions. Four of the people who died were between age 41 to 65 and all had underlying health conditions.

Garcetti Says L.A. Might Not Begin Reopening By Friday, Vows ‘Careful Consideration’

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Monday that different cities will need to take different steps to emerge from the pandemic-induced shutdown and that city and county officials are still trying to determine the safest course. “Our timing on opening may vary from other parts of the state,” he said. “I will reopen our city with careful consideration, guided by public health professionals.” Garcetti said he did not expect city businesses to be able to offer curbside delivery on Friday in step with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s comments. The city’s “Safer At Home” order is in effect until May 15, and Garcetti said he hoped steps restricting commerce could begin to be rolled back by then. Newsom announced Monday that some retail stores across the state can reopen with modifications as early as Friday amid growing pressure to ease the stay-at-home order that has cratered the California economy.

California To Begin Reopening At End Of This Week, Newsom Says

In a step toward kickstarting the country’s largest economy, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that retail and hospitality businesses in some parts of the state may reopen later this week as California moves — cautiously — to the next stage of managing the coronavirus pandemic. The looser restrictions, however, won’t apply right away in the Bay Area, which entered the latest stage of its lockdown Monday, and the hard-hit Los Angeles region, which both take slower approaches to re-opening. But the new regional approach to reopening the Golden State could clear the way for lower-risk businesses — such as clothing, bookstores, sporting good stores and florists just in time for Mother’s Day — to open for curbside pickup as early as the end of this week, Newsom said. Restaurant dine-in service, shopping malls and offices will remain closed.

Preventing Wildfires In The Era Of COVID-19

We don't have to tell you how deadly and damaging wildfires are here in California. Now, throw COVID-19 into the mix. Of the coronavirus, L.A. County Fire Captain Ronald Haralson says "...well that's complicated life in general on the way we do business day-to-day." Haralson says the virus has already changed how things are done at local fire stations with briefings, day-to-day work, redesigning sleeping quarters and eating accommodations. Haralson says, "so you add that to a wildfire situation or a situation where you have strike teams and resources all over the state and you're talking about a lot of men and women in proximity and in close quarters." As an example, let's talk about large base camps where firefighters eat and sleep when they're not on the fire lines.