LAPD Pushes Back Against Mayor's Threat To Cut Utilities At House Parties

The LAPD is pushing back against Mayor Eric Garcetti's threat to kill power at homes defying COVID-19 orders ... because cops don't want any more beef with citizens. Here's the deal ... Garcetti authorized the city to turn off water and electricity to residents who have big parties in violation of health orders, and he put LAPD in charge of making those requests with the Mayor and other City officials. So, if cops respond to a home and find a large party going down -- like the one last week in Los Angeles that ended with a fatal shooting -- officers can make the call to kill utilities there within 48 hours. LAPD sources tell TMZ ... no officer wants to shut the power off at a residence, in part because many folks are already pissed at cops. We're told they'd rather focus on reducing real crime, and not turning off home necessities.

Abolish The Police? Those Who Survived The Chaos In Seattle Aren’t So Sure

Faizel Khan was being told by the news media and his own mayor that the protests in his hometown were peaceful, with “a block party atmosphere.” But that was not what he saw through the windows of his Seattle coffee shop. He saw encampments overtaking the sidewalks. He saw roving bands of masked protesters smashing windows and looting. Young white men wielding guns would harangue customers as well as Mr. Khan, a gay man of Middle Eastern descent who moved here from Texas so he could more comfortably be out. To get into his coffee shop, he sometimes had to seek the permission of self-appointed armed guards to cross a border they had erected. “They barricaded us all in here,” Mr. Khan said. “And they were sitting in lawn chairs with guns.” For 23 days in June, about six blocks in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood were claimed by left-wing demonstrators and declared police-free. Protesters hailed it as liberation — from police oppression, from white supremacy — and a catalyst for a national movement.

2 Men Wounded In Hollywood Shooting

Two men were shot Sunday as they stood in front of a Hollywood home. The shooting was reported at 2:24 a.m. at 1 518 La Baig Ave., according to a desk officer at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Operations Center. The suspect approached the men on foot and fired at them before getting into a vehicle and fleeing, he said. Paramedics took one man to a hospital for treatment of his wounds and the other victim was treated at the scene, the officer said.

Man Shot While Walking In West Adams Area

A man was wounded after he was approached by a suspect who shot him while he walked in the West Adams area of Los Angeles, authorities said Sunday. It happened at 11:24 p.m. Saturday at 28th Street and Buckingham Road, according to a desk officer at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Operations Center. The suspect fled, the officer said. The victim was transported by paramedics to a hospital in unknown condition.

7-Year-Old Girl Who Went Missing With Mother In Koreatown Has Been Found: LAPD

The Los Angeles Police Department said Sunday a 7-year-old girl who went missing with her mother the prior morning has been found. Earlier Sunday, concerned family members asked for the public’s help in the search for Ruby Alvarado and her mother, 24-year-old Xyla Aguirre. The mother and daughter were last seen near the 3100 block of West Sixth Street in Koreatown around 9 a.m. Saturday, according to LAPD. Aguirre was making a family visit, police said. Just before 6 p.m., LAPD released a statement saying Alvarado was found. But the statement did not give any details on her condition or whether her mother was also found. Police had described Alvarado as having brown hair and eyes, and she was wearing a pink and blue dress with “LOL” on the front.

Amazon Delivery Van Stolen In South Los Angeles; Recovered Empty

An Amazon delivery van driver apparently left the keys in the ignition Sunday while dropping off a package in south Los Angeles and someone stole the van. The theft was reported about 1:30 p.m. around 85th Street and Vermont Avenue, said Sgt. Rick Rodgers of the Los Angeles Police Department’s 77th Street Station. The van was found empty about an hour later at 59th Street and Normandie Avenue, Rodgers said. About 40 packages for delivery were inside the van when it was taken. There were no injuries and no suspect information was available.

South Gate Man Charged With Stealing Cars, Hit-and-Run After Getting Re-Arrested And Released Over 2-Month Span

A South Gate man has been charged in four felony cases over a two-month span after getting re-arrested and released for allegedly stealing cars and for a hit-and-run resulting in injury, officials said Friday. Ismael Lopez, 23, was charged with seven felony counts, including two counts each of fleeing a pursuing peace officer’s vehicle, driving or taking a vehicle without consent, and receiving a stolen vehicle, and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in injury, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. All of the incidents occurred in South Gate. On June 29, Lopez was arrested for allegedly being in the driver’s seat of a stolen van. He was subsequently released from jail due to the COVID-19 emergency bail system, the DA’s office said. Bail was set to $0 for most misdemeanors and low-level felonies in L.A. County to reduce the local prison population amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Teenage Boy Shot In Downtown Long Beach

A teenage boy was wounded Sunday morning in a shooting at The Pike in downtown Long Beach. It was reported just before 1 a.m. in the 200 block of Bay Street, said Long Beach police Lt. Shaleana Benson. The boy suffered a wound to his lower body and paramedics took him to a hospital where his vital signs were stable, Benson said. Officers found evidence of the crime at Cedar Avenue and Seaside Way near where they discovered the victim, she said. Surveillance video indicated a white four-door sedan may have been involved in the shooting. The teen was not cooperating with investigators, Benson said. Gang detectives were assisting in the investigation.

LASD Detective Worked For Free To Catch 1996 Killer Of Covina Grandmother In Nursing Home

Persistence and dedication by a Los Angeles County Sheriff Department detective cracked a cold case murder that haunted him for 24 years. Detective Joe Purcell was one of the first detectives on the scene on Jan. 19, 1996. Mary Lindgren, 67, had been brutally beaten, raped and murdered at a retirement home in Covina. "In a business where you see bad all day every day, it was really remarkably terrible," Purcell told Eyewitness News. "This was a little old lady... everybody has a mother, it was terrible." Purcell retired in 2009 but was later hired back to work cold case murders. "The fact that my mom's case was the first cold case coming up that he would be working, to me was fate, a blessing, godsend. I couldn't ask for a better human being," Don Lindgren said of Detective Purcell. "It stuck with him all these years." "It never went away," Purcell said.

Man Arrested After Border Patrol Agents Find Nearly $1 Million In Gas Tank Of SUV

U.S. Border Patrol agents made an arrest and seized nearly $1 million in cash after pulling over a Volkswagen in Escondido Wednesday. About 10:30 a.m., a K-9 alerted agents to the SUV, which had been traveling southbound on the 15 Freeway, a news release issued by the U.S. Border Patrol stated. Agents then discovered 65 plastic-wrapped bundles of cash stuffed inside the SUV’s gas tank. The SUV and the cash, which totaled $967,460 in U.S. currency, were seized by border patrol agents. The driver, a 26-year-old Mexican national, was arrested and turned over to Homeland Security, the news release stated.

California Lawmakers Move Forward With Police Reform Bills, Penalties For Racially Motivated 911 Calls

A slew of criminal justice reform bills passed the Senate Public Safety Committee on Friday, and if they are signed into law, police throughout California will no longer be able to use chokeholds or rubber bullets and tear gas. They will also have to intervene if they see a fellow officer committing misconduct. In addition, legislators approved a bill by Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Huntington Park) that would establish criminal penalties for anyone who calls 911 in order to harass Black people or any other members of a protected class. AB 1775 would increase the criminal penalties imposed when a person knowingly makes a false 911 call for the purpose of harassing another. The maximum penalty for making such a call would be up to $2,000 and a year in jail.

Scammers Could Be Targeting Unemployment Benefits In California, State Warns

Many Californians are anxiously waiting for unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, but James Myers was not happy when he received a letter from the state notifying him that his application for assistance had been approved. The Folsom tech engineer has a job and has not applied for financial assistance from the California Employment Development Department, putting him among the thousands of Americans affected each year by unemployment fraud, a crime experts say is on the rise along with job losses across the country in an economy battered by the spread of the coronavirus. “I freaked out because somebody’s obviously got my identity,” said Myers, who works for Micron Technology, Inc. “I jumped all over it. I canceled things and put a credit hold on. I filed a police report.” Myers tried to report the error to the EDD by phone, including calling its fraud hotline, but could not reach a person.

Public Safety News

Los Angeles County Reports Another 1,789 Cases Of COVID-19, 10 More Deaths

Los Angeles County reported 1,789 new cases of COVID-19 and 10 more deaths Sunday, bringing the county's totals to 208,528 cases and 4,977 fatalities. Sunday's reported case numbers included all of the current lab reports from the state's electronic lab report system, but did not include backlog numbers from a recent glitch in the system. State officials anticipate sending the backlog of lab reports over the upcoming days. In a continuing bit of good news, hospitalizations continued to decline, with 1,568 confirmed COVID-19 patients hospitalized and 31% in intensive care -- down from 1,610 on Saturday, and down significantly from the 2,200 level of about a month ago. The hospitalization numbers were averaging about 2,000 a day last week. The technical glitch has not affected the reported number of hospitalizations.

California Vows To Fix Coronavirus Reporting System Amid Huge Backlog Of Unreported Tests

A series of data failures has created a backlog of as many as 300,000 test results in California, the state’s top health official said Friday as he provided the first public explanation of a problem that has stymied efforts to understand the spread of the coronavirus. California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said the state is developing a new coronavirus tracking system due to the recent deficiencies of the California Reportable Disease Information Exchange, a clearinghouse for state testing data known as CalREDIE. “Simply put, the CalREDIE system was not built for this volume of data,” said Ghaly. “In order to create a lasting solution, we are accelerating the development of a new laboratory reporting system for COVID-19.” Ghaly said the state would work through the backlog of records, which include COVID-19 tests and other health results, over the next 24 to 48 hours. He said state missteps compounded a problem that began July 25 with a server outage and promised a full investigation.

L.A. Might Cancel Real Estate Projects Tied To City Hall Corruption

Los Angeles could revoke city permits and approvals for real estate projects if the City Council finds that developers or their representatives engaged in corruption, under a new ordinance proposed by City Atty. Mike Feuer. In a letter to council members, Feuer said the city needs an effective tool to address development decisions “tainted by corruption and fraud” and to help restore public faith in City Hall. He urged the council to pass the ordinance swiftly and “put it to use” on projects implicated in the ongoing probe. “The city must take decisive action to address the specter of corruption and fraud that looms over the city’s land-use decision-making process,” he wrote. Feuer’s proposal comes weeks after the arrest of Councilman Jose Huizar, who has been accused by federal prosecutors of heading a criminal enterprise fueled by bribes from developers. Huizar pleaded not guilty this week to bribery, money laundering, racketeering and several other charges.