Authorities ID Two Men Killed In Venice Shooting; Investigation Continuing

Authorities Thursday identified two men who were killed in a shooting in the parking lot of a CVS Pharmacy in Venice. The shooting occurred about 9:15 p.m. Monday in the 100 block of Lincoln Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Christian Lopez, 21, of Culver City, died at scene and Armando Barba, 43, of Hermosa Beach, died at a hospital, according to the coroner’s office. “Both victims were standing in a parking lot when an unknown suspect approached them on foot and fired multiple rounds, striking both victims,” LAPD Officer Drake Madison said in a statement. “The suspect fled the scene north on Lincoln Boulevard,” Madison said. “It is unknown if this incident is gang-related.” No arrests have been reported. Anyone with information on the case is urged to call the LAPD West Bureau homicide office, 213-382-9470; or 877-LAPD-247.

L.A. Metro Board Pushes Police Reform, Seeks To Shift Funds To Homeless Outreach

Transportation officials on Thursday pushed Los Angeles County’s transit system to start a reform of policing on buses and trains, including no longer sending armed officers to respond to nonviolent crimes. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s directors voted 9 to 2 to approve a package of reforms, including hiring unarmed ambassadors to work at stations, expanding fare discounts, finding alternatives to armed law enforcement and shifting funds to homeless outreach. Those initiatives could be paid for by cutting some funding to policing, the measure said. In a study conducted by Metro last year, two-thirds of female riders said there were not enough police officers on the transit system. Current riders’ most common recommendation to improve safety was hiring more police. That suggests Metro should try to fix the policing culture and perception of safety on the system, rather than remove police entirely, said director and Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr.

Woman Pleads No Contest To 2018 Shooting Of Man Found Dead In Harbor Gateway Backyard: DA

A 41-year-old woman pleaded no contest Thursday to fatally shooting a man whose body was discovered in a Harbor Gateway backyard in 2018, officials said. Kristen Olson entered the plea to one count of voluntary manslaughter with a gun use allegation, according to a Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office news release. The Gardena woman was renting a room in the home of 62-year-old Royce Leon Lanham, who she allegedly shot and killed sometime between Sept. 5 and Sept. 12, 2018. Lanham’s body was found on Sept. 12, 2018, in the backyard of his home, wrapped in a tarp and on a dolly next to a shovel and a newly dug grave, according to prosecutors. Officers discovered his body after receiving a report of a woman apparently attempting to dispose of a body in the back of a home in the 800 block of 173rd Street.

Speeding Motorcyclist In Custody After Wild Chase Ends In Panorama City

A suspect was taken into custody following a wild motorcycle chase through the San Fernando Valley Wednesday evening. AIR7 HD was overhead the pursuit in Panorama City as the suspect was going at high speeds through a residential neighborhood. At one point in the chase, the motorcyclist appeared to get dangerously close to other vehicles on a narrow street. As units were in pursuit, the suspect was met by a CHP motorcycle officer, who was able to stop the suspect at the intersection of Roscoe and Van Nuys boulevards. Officers arrived to the intersection to take the suspect into custody.

Los Angeles Man Arrested For Sex Crimes Against Child Connected To 2019 Case

A Los Angeles man was arrested Wednesday morning as part of an ongoing investigation involving the sexual abuse of multiple boys. Santa Barbara County Sheriff's announced that Vicente Lopez Ceballos, 25 of Los Angeles, turned himself in at the sheriff's office Wednesday morning. Ceballos had an arrest warrant for unlawful sex with a minor from a case back in 2019. The arrest links back to an investigation from 2019 when a Buellton man who served as a yearbook consultant at a number of local schools was arrested for more than two dozen counts of sexually abusing underage boys.

Man Pleads Not Guilty In Pursuit That Killed Pedestrian In Long Beach

A Northern California man who was allegedly being chased by police when he struck and killed a pedestrian and his dog in Long Beach pleaded not guilty Thursday to murder and other charges. Jyvante West, 26, of Richmond, was charged May 28 with one count each of murder, animal cruelty, fleeing a pursuing peace officer’s vehicle causing death, second-degree burglary and sale/transport of marijuana, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The murder charge stems from the death of Jose Hernandez, 32, of Long Beach, who was legally crossing Sixth Street at Magnolia Avenue with his dog when he was struck May 26 by a 2016 Mercedes-Benz GLE allegedly driven through a red light at a high rate of speed by West, police said.

L.A. City Attorney Announces Efforts To Curb Sales Of Illegal Fireworks, Warns Of Dangers

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer announced Thursday that he will be sending cease and desist letters to popular online and mobile firework shops and will be launching a public awareness campaign on the harm fireworks can do, in an effort to curb illegal use. The announcement comes a little over a week before July 4, and as people across Southern California and the country have reported an increase in illegal firework displays. The Los Angeles Police Department has seen 2 1/2 times the amount of radio calls involving illegal fireworks this year, sources told KTLA earlier this week. “Almost every corner of L.A. is facing what seems like an enormous increase in illegal fireworks activity when so many of us are already on edge because of the virus,” Feuer said in a statement. Feuer said setting off illegal fireworks is both dangerous and disruptive.

Convicted Sex Offender On LA’s Most Wanted List Arrested In Glendale

A convicted sex offender recently listed as one of “L.A.’s Most Wanted” is behind bars Thursday after being located and arrested in Glendale. Deaundrey Caraway, 59, was arrested about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at a motel in the 100 block of West Colorado Street, according to Sgt. Christian Hauptmann of the Glendale Police Department. Officers did a records check on Caraway, who was staying at the motel, and found he had a “no-bail” arrest warrant for violating release terms by failing to register as a sex offender for about two years, Hauptmann said. Caraway has a criminal history of “aggravated sexual battery, attempted aggravated burglary, attempted theft, multiple cases of failing to register as a sex offender, multiple cases of possession of controlled substances and false identification as a peace officer,” according to police. He was booked for felony warrant and failing to register as a sex offender.

California Police Investigate Nooses Found Hanging On Trees As Hate Crime

Authorities in Oakland, California, are investigating nooses hanging off at least five separate trees as a hate crime. The nooses were discovered Tuesday in the Lake Merritt area, a popular outdoor space and neighborhood. Officials in Oakland confirmed on Thursday that they are also investigating an effigy hung from a tree in the same area as a potential hate crime. “Symbols of racial violence have no place in Oakland and will not be tolerated,” Oakland’s mayor, Libby Schaaf, said in a statement. “We are all responsible for knowing the history and present day reality of lynchings, hate crimes and racial violence. Objects that invoke such terror will not be tolerated in Oakland’s public spaces.” 

Video: Man Throws Lit Fireworks Toward NYPD Officers, Patrol Car

The NYPD released a video showing a man throwing lit fireworks in the direction of police officers and a patrol car. NYPost.com reported that the man threw multiple fireworks at officers and a patrol car around 11:30 p.m. on June 14 in Brooklyn. No one was injured in the incident. NYPD officials released brief video of the incident and photos of the suspect. Police are asking anyone with information about the suspect's whereabouts to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline.

Wave Of New Infections, Including Among The Young, Pushes LA County Over 90,000 Cases, Jolts Health Officials

With coronavirus cases in Los Angeles County surpassing 90,000 — the most of any county in the U.S. — local health officials expressed deep concerns Thursday about the disease’s burgeoning spread. L.A. County is also the nation’s most populated county at 10 million people, nearly double that of Cook County, Illinois which had the next highest case count. Nonetheless, the rising numbers of cases, fatalities and hospitalizations in L.A. County — as well as statewide case totals that toppled records for three days in a row this week — provided grim reminders that the virus was still quite far from controlled. “Based on this information we are concerned,” said Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. “We are concerned not only for people who are out not wearing their face coverings or keeping their distance from others but we are also concerned about people who can unwittingly infect their friends and family who are at greater risk of illness and death.”

New Alarms Raised As California Coronavirus Hospitalizations Jump 32% In Two Weeks

Gov. Gavin Newsom issued another warning to Californians about the growing spread of the coronavirus as the state again reported increases in hospitalizations. The governor’s Thursday news conference marked the third time this week that he has urged people to take more precautions as he disclosed troubling new highs. “I cannot impress upon people more the importance at this critical juncture, when we are experiencing an increase in cases that we have not experienced in the past, to take seriously this moment,” Newsom said. “If we do, we can mitigate and we can bend [the curve] and we ultimately can rebound and become more resilient still in the future.” As of Thursday, Newsom said patients hospitalized because of COVID-19 jumped 32% in the last two weeks to 4,240, double the two-week increase of 16% that he had reported on Monday.