Kansas City Officer In Critical Condition After Being Shot In Head, Suspect Dead After Shooting

A Kansas City police officer was in emergency surgery and a suspect is dead following a shooting Thursday evening. The officer was shot in the head and taken to Truman Medical Center after the shooting started just before 5 p.m. Thursday near 31st Street and Van Brunt Boulevard, police said. A suspect has died, Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Bill Lowe said. Highway patrol officers said police were called to a McDonald’s where the suspect was waving a gun. Police chased the suspect when he fled on foot. The suspect turned and opened fire on the officers, striking one. A second officer fired back, highway patrol officers said. Lowe said police believe there was only one suspect. The officer, who has been with the department about 2 1/2 years, was still in surgery and in critical condition around 7:20 p.m., Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith said.

287 LAPD Employees, 78 LAFD Employees Have Tested Positive For COVID-19

The Los Angeles Police Department reported Thursday that 287 employees have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began. As of Thursday, 182 LAPD employees have recovered and returned to work and 235 are self-isolating at home and recovering due to exposure. The number of Los Angeles Fire Department employees who have tested positive for the virus rose to 78 Thursday. Out of the LAFD employees, 43 are isolated and recovering at home.

Man Stabbed To Death Near Staples Center

A man was fatally stabbed Thursday in downtown Los Angeles, and police were looking for the suspect or suspects involved in the crime. The stabbing was reported about 3:30 a.m. on the 1200 block of Flower Street, said Officer Rosario Cervantes of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Media Relations Section. The location is a block away from Staples Center and the Los Angeles Convention Center. Information on the man’s identity was not released. No suspect description was immediately available. Due to the police activity in the area, the Metro Pico Station was affected, and authorities arranged for a bus bridge for Metro A and E Line passengers between the Seventh Street/Metro Center and LATTC/Grand and LATTC/Ortho Institute stations. The bus bridge was canceled about 7:30 a.m. Anyone with information on the killing was urged to call 877-LAPD-247.

LAUSD Police Force’s Leslie Ramirez Named Interim Chief

Los Angeles School Police Department Deputy Chief Leslie Ramirez was named interim chief of the department on Thursday, following Chief Todd Chamberlain’s resignation. Chamberlain stepped down from the post Wednesday, one day after a divided school board slashed his agency’s budget by 35% in response to a wave of community protests calling for a defunding of law enforcement. Ramirez, whose appointment is effective immediately, began her career as a campus officer in 1991 and has since served as detective, sergeant, lieutenant, adjutant to the chief of police and deputy chief of police, according to an official with the Los Angeles Unified School District. She also serves on the executive board of the California K-12 Police Chief’s Association. “I am honored to have been selected as Interim Chief of Los Angeles School Police,” Ramirez said. “In the weeks ahead, we will begin the process of reviewing and evaluating our operational plan and objectives. Our focus will be to maximize our deployment strategy while minimizing the impact to students, staff and our personnel.”

L.A. City Attorney Says Major Online Platforms Will Rid Illegal Firework Ads

City Attorney Mike Feuer said Thursday that several major online companies have agreed to remove advertisements for illegal fireworks from their platforms. Following investigations and outreach by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, Letgo and OfferUp agreed to remove specific fireworks-related posts, increase their efforts to remove all posts offering fireworks for sale and cooperate closely with the office on this effort, Feuer said. “All of us are feeling under siege by illegal fireworks, so I’m pleased these online platforms responded so quickly and agreed to remove fireworks posts and work with our office to delete future ones,” Feuer said.

3 Teens Accused Of Arson, Looting During Santa Monica Protest Arrested

Three teenagers suspected of starting a restaurant fire and looting in Santa Monica during a day of civil unrest were arrested Wednesday, authorities said. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents and Santa Monica police arrested 19-year-old Micah Tillmon in West Hills on federal charges alleging he started a fire to the Sake House by Hikari at 4th Street and Santa Monica Boulevard. Police also arrested Gisselle Alexis Pinto, 19, and Mynor Pinto, 18. "These subjects were seen setting fire to the Sake House and looting at REI, Brandy Melville, Vons, Magicopolis, Salon Viva, Wasteland and the Shoe Palace, all located in Santa Monica," Santa Monica police said. Police said during the arrests they recovered stolen items linked to the looting.

Northridge Man Sentenced To Federal Prison For $3.3M Identity Theft Scheme

A Northridge man was sentenced Thursday to 21 years and seven months behind bars for overseeing a long-running $3.3 million credit card, loan and real estate fraud scheme that frequently used the stolen identities of children. Turhan Armstrong, 50, was also ordered to pay $3.3 million in restitution, and must forfeit two homes — one in Northridge, the other in Perris — purchased with illicit funds obtained from the scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Armstrong was convicted in Los Angeles federal court in May 2019 of all 51 counts in a grand jury indictment, including multiple conspiracy charges, financial institution fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft.

Beverly Hills Doctor And Companion Charged In Alleged $52 Million Insurance Fraud Scheme, Held On $52 Million Bail

A Beverly Hills doctor and a woman investigators described as his wife, the owner of a Los Alamitos-based laboratory, are behind bars Monday on charges of stealing about $52 million in an alleged insurance fraud scheme. Dr. Randy Rosen, who was involved in a civil federal lawsuit involving a health care fraud scheme at a Long Beach hospital that was settled in 2017, was being held on $52 million bail along with co-defendant Liza Vismanos, who are both scheduled to be arraigned Thursday when a judge will also consider lowering their bail. Rosen's attorney, Harland Braun, ridiculed the amount of bail. "How can you have bail of $52 million when murder is $1 million bail," Braun said. Vismanos' attorney, Paul Meyer, declined comment.

Serial Rapist Pleads Guilty To Two California Assaults In Unusual DNA-Related Case

Twenty years after prosecutors in California filed charges against a then-unknown serial rapist based on DNA samples, a former federal prison guard pleaded guilty Thursday to the crimes. Mark Jeffrey Manteuffel, 60, of Decatur, Ga., entered guilty pleas to three counts of forcible rape and one count of sodomy for attacks on a Rosemont woman in 1992 and a woman in east Sacramento in 1994. He faces more than 30 years in prison. Manteuffel wore a mask during the hearing in Sacramento because of concerns over the coronavirus, but the judge asked him to remove it when entering his plea so the victims’ families could hear him, the Sacramento Bee reported. He also acknowledged using a knife during the attacks and inflicting great bodily injury. 

California Women Smuggled $2.5 Million In Cash Across Border, Mexican Authorities Say

Two California women were arrested as they attempted to cross the border from San Ysidro to Tijuana on Saturday with approximately $2.5 million in cash hidden in their car, Mexican authorities said. The women tried to smuggle the cash across the border in an SUV with California license plates about 10 p.m. Saturday, authorities said Monday. Their names were not released. Mexican border agents sent the pair to a secondary inspection after they went through the “nothing to declare” lane. The cash was discovered during a search of the vehicle, according to Isaías Bertín Sandoval, Baja California’s secretary of federal public safety. Mexican law requires people crossing the border with more than $10,000 in cash to declare the amount to authorities.

Anti-Semitic Hate Crimes Rise In California, But Overall Hate Crimes Decline

Anti-Semitic hate crimes in California rose nearly 12% in 2019, including a fatal shooting at a Southern California synagogue, even as hate crimes overall declined statewide by 4.8%, according to a state report released Wednesday. Hate crimes are historically under-reported and the 2019 data compiled by the state attorney general’s office does not include a recent rise in anti-Asian racism during the coronavirus pandemic, which began in China. Although the report does not specifically mention the 2019 fatal shooting at the Chabad of Poway, a synagogue outside of San Diego, it’s clear that the year’s sole hate crime homicide victim is 60-year-old Lori Gilbert-Kaye.

Los Angeles County Leaders Urge Public To Stay ‘Safer-at-Home' On 4th Of July Due To COVID-19

Los Angeles County leaders issued a statement Thursday urging residents to stay home this 4th of July holiday weekend to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and ensure the healthcare system is not overwhelmed. As of July 1, the county has reported a total of 105,507 cases and a total of 3,402 deaths. The number of coronavirus patients hospitalized in Los Angeles County reached its highest point in months, nearing peak highs of about 1,900. County leaders are asking each resident to do their part to keep the county safe and moving ahead toward recovery.

LA County Reports 2,204 New Coronavirus Cases, 55 Additional Deaths

Los Angeles County public health officials reported 2,204 newly confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus Thursday and 55 additional fatalities, bringing countywide totals to 107,711 cases and 3,457 deaths. “Unfortunately, we continue to see negative trends in the data and we urgently need to make a change in the trajectory,” Dr. Barbara Ferrer, county public health director, said. “We must make sure we are not unnecessarily spending time outside with others and use this opportunity as a countywide reset.” Thursday marked the fifth consecutive day the county reported more than 2,000 new cases. Officials said the number still did not include missing lab reports from one of the county’s larger labs.

Editorial: To End City Hall Corruption, Get Politicians Out Of Land-Use Decisions

In the days after Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar was arrested on a slew of corruption charges for allegedly heading a vast pay-to-play scheme, his City Hall colleagues expressed the outrage one would expect. They said they were devastated, appalled and angry at how Huizar allegedly used his position to rake in $1.5 million in cash and other benefits from real estate developers looking to build in L.A. Since the arrest, the City Council has voted to suspend Huizar, and Controller Ron Galperin announced he would halt Huizar’s paycheck. What now? It would be a grievous mistake for city leaders to think they’ve solved the corruption problem by kicking Huizar off the council and cutting off his paycheck. The behavior laid out in the federal indictment may be sordid and unscrupulous, but it stems directly from the city’s land-use and development process, which gives council members enormous power over real estate decisions — and without checks over how they wield that authority.