Woman Charged With Murder In Crash That Killed Michigan State Police Trooper

A Utah woman is charged with second-degree murder in an alleged drunken-driving crash that killed a Michigan State Police trooper. Trooper Caleb Starr, 33, assigned to the Lakeview post, died Friday, July 31, of injuries sustained in a July 10 crash near Saranac. State police announced that the other driver, a 28-year-old woman, was arrested Monday, Aug. 3, at a residence in Ionia. Her name was withheld pending arraignment in Ionia County District Court. She is charged with second-degree murder, operating with a high blood-alcohol content with a prior conviction, operating while license is suspended, revoked or denied, causing death, and operating while intoxicated.

Pennsylvania Man Charged In Shootout With At Least 7 Cops

A 35-year-old Slatington man was charged Saturday with attempting to kill seven police officers near his home at 801 Main St. That shootout followed an incident Friday where Zaborowski allegedly shot at a clerk at Cigars International in Bethlehem Township. He allegedly refused to wear a face mask in the cigar store despite the threat of COVID-19. Lehigh County District Attorney James Martin confirmed that at least seven officers were put in harm’s way during the Saturday shootout. Zaborowski shot an AK-47 assault rifle and a semi-automatic handgun at police, Waldron said. One officer from Slatington was injured during the gunbattle, police said. Zaborowski was arraigned Saturday from his hospital bed on 22 related charges for the Slatington incident, according to online records.

LAPD: Fatal Shooting At Rented Mansion Appears To Be Gang-Related

Three people were shot, one fatally, early Tuesday during a party attended by hundreds of people at a mansion in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles, authorities said. Police responded to reports of gunfire around 1 a.m. at the gated hillside home along West Mulholland Drive, Los Angeles police Officer Mike Chan said. The three shooting victims were taken to hospitals in critical or grave condition, and a 35-year-old woman later died, authorities said. The other two, a woman and man, were later upgraded to stable. Police have yet to identify any suspects or a possible motive, said police Lt. Chris Ramirez. No arrests have been made.

LAPD Reports 3 More Employees Test Positive For Coronavirus, Bringing Total To 487

The Los Angeles Police Department reported on Tuesday that three additional employees tested positive for COVID-19. So far, 487 employees have tested positive since the pandemic, according to Jessica Kellogg of the Emergency Operations Center. As of Tuesday, 27 employees are at home recovering or self-isolating due to exposure, and 307 have returned to work. Two employees, including one sworn officer, have died from coronavirus-related complications.

Authorities Circulate Composite Sketch Of Westlake Hit-and-Run Suspect

Authorities Tuesday circulated a composite sketch of a suspect, believed to be in his 30s, who fatally struck an 87-year-old man in the Westlake district. The fatal hit-and-run occurred around 4 a.m. Feb. 22 at Eighth Street and Westmoreland Avenue, according to a Los Angeles Police Department statement. “The suspect driving a white four-door BMW sedan, was traveling eastbound on Eighth Street and struck the victim walking outside of the marked crosswalk crossing southbound on Eighth Street west of Westmoreland Avenue,” the statement said. The BMW driver stopped and was told by many witnesses to remain at the scene, but he got back in his car and fled, police said. As that occurred, a white Honda Accord struck the man as he lay on the ground, and also fled the scene.

Sylmar Man Charged With Arson For Setting Fire At Pizzeria Mozza During George Floyd Protests

A 42-year-old Sylmar man was indicted on federal arson charges Tuesday in connection with setting fire to the building that houses Pizzeria Mozza in late May, as unrest gripped Los Angeles and some protests were marred by vandalism and thefts. Mario Ernesto Alvarado faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the charge that he set a fire inside the popular Hancock Park restaurant on May 30, according to a media release from the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles. The incident occurred during the second of several nights of widespread protests against police brutality across the city that followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. On May 30, protests in the Fairfax district devolved into altercations between officers, peaceful demonstrators and others who vandalized businesses and set fire to police cars.

$10,000 Reward Offered In Fatal Florence-Firestone Shooting Of 14-Year-Old Boy

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a $10,000 reward for information leading to whoever shot and killed a 14-year-old boy on his way to a market in the Florence-Firestone area. Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas recommended the reward in the case of Otis Rayjon Williams, who was gunned down in an alley between East 98th Street and East 99th Street east of Central Avenue around 8:30 p.m. July 3. Williams was walking alone when a blue Dodge Challenge drove up on 98th Street. Otis turned into the alley and the driver stopped at the entrance and fired several shots before speeding off. Otis, an eighth-grade student at Dr. Charles R. Drew Gifted/Magnet Middle School, was taken to LAC+USC Medical Center, where he died.

Man In His 40s Killed In Shooting

A man in his 40s was killed Tuesday in a shooting in an unincorporated area near South Los Angeles. The shooting occurred about 7:45 a.m. in the 1400 block of West 113th Street, near Normandie Avenue, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Authorities found the man suffering from gunshot wounds to his torso, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, the sheriff’s department reported. His name was not released. No information was available regarding a suspect, and authorities said it is unknown if the shooting is gang-related. Anyone with information about the shooting was encouraged to contact the sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Those wishing to report anonymously can call 800-222-TIPS.

L.A. Man Sentenced To 11 Years For Role In Crash That Killed Teen In Torrance

A 32-year-old Los Angeles man was sentenced Tuesday, Aug. 4, to 11 years in state prison for his role in a chain-reaction crash that killed a South High baseball player and severely injured his father in Torrance more than three years ago. Darryl Leander Hicks was convicted by a Torrance Superior Court jury in January of six counts, including vehicular manslaughter, reckless driving, hit-and-run and driving on a suspended license. Co-defendant Tung Ming was convicted of vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving. Ming, the pursuing driver, was sentenced in June to more than two years in state prison. On March 7, 2017, the two sped northbound on Crenshaw Boulevard from Rolling Hills Estates at an estimated 80 to 100 miles per hour and ran a red light as the victims were making a legal left turn on a green arrow in their minivan to Crest Road

Democratic Donor Ed Buck Facing New Charges In Case Involving Prostitution, Fatal Drug Overdose At His WeHo Home

A Los Angeles federal grand jury returned an updated indictment Tuesday charging Democratic donor Ed Buck with four additional felonies, including allegations that he enticed victims -- including a man who died at his West Hollywood apartment -- to travel interstate to engage in prostitution. Buck, 65, was arrested in September after being charged in federal court with providing methamphetamine to a man who died after receiving the drug intravenously. Since that time, federal authorities have continued to investigate Buck for additional crimes. The four additional counts -- bringing the total number of charges in the case to nine counts -- include one count alleging that Buck knowingly enticed 26-year-old Gemmel Moore to travel to the Los Angeles area to engage in prostitution. Buck allegedly provided meth to Moore, who overdosed on the drug and died on July 27, 2017.

Feds Charge Pasadena Man With Stalking And Threatening To Rape, Kill Victims

A federal grand jury Tuesday returned a 26-count indictment that charges a Pasadena man with making a series of detailed threats to harm, rape and kill 10 victims he met in various social and business settings. Samuel Trelawney Hughes, 31, a citizen of the United Kingdom, was charged with seven counts of stalking, nine counts of making online threats, three counts of mailing threatening communications, and seven counts of witness tampering, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment in federal court in downtown Los Angeles on Aug. 13. The indictment alleges that Hughes sent his victims communications in which he expressed hope they would die or in which he made specific threats to harm them.

Public Safety News

57 More Coronavirus Deaths Confirmed In LA County, As Case Undercount Reported

Technological flaws in the state's electronic laboratory system have led to an under-reporting of coronavirus cases in Los Angeles County for at least two weeks, health officials said Tuesday, prompting outreach to individual testing facilities to verify results. According to the county Department of Public Health, the issues with the state lab have impacted the county's reporting of positive cases and efforts to conduct contact-tracing of confirmed patients. But the issues are not believed to have caused any delays in people being notified of their test results. News of the reporting issues came on a day the county announced another 57 deaths due to the virus, although one of those fatalities was announced Monday by health officials in Long Beach. Long Beach and Pasadena, both of which have their own health departments, each reported one additional death Tuesday.

Local Government News

L.A. County voters to decide whether to divert millions to social services and racial justice

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a measure Tuesday to let voters decide whether to boost spending on social services, in an initiative dubbed “Re-Imagine L.A. County” that has drawn strong opposition from labor unions and Sheriff Alex Villaneuva, who called it a veiled attempt to reduce funding for law enforcement.

Los Angeles Council Members Release Survey On Policing, Public Safety

Five Los Angeles City Council members released a survey Tuesday to solicit input from residents on public safety and policing, as the council works to develop unarmed crisis response teams to handle nonviolent situations. Council President Nury Martinez, along with Councilmen Herb Wesson, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Curren Price and Bob Blumenfield, said in a statement the response teams would divert nonviolent calls from the Los Angeles Police Department. “Whether it’s reforms, re-imagining public safety or how we invest dollars and resources in disenfranchised communities, there will be dialogue where this City Council listens and the people of Los Angeles speak,” Martinez said. “As the city’s legislative body, we introduced and sponsored these actions, but any reform must start and end with public input if we are truly going to work toward transformative change in the city of Los Angeles.”