Alleged Thief With Hatchet Attacks Texas Cop

An El Paso man was arrested after allegedly attacking a police officer with a hatchet following a liquor store theft Wednesday evening in the Five Points neighborhood. Rodney Raymond Zavala, 29, is accused of throwing a hatchet at a police officer who found him drinking a bottle of stolen liquor. The officer was not hit by the hatchet. At 7 p.m., a police officer was flagged down regarding a theft at the Barrel House liquor store on Montana Avenue near Piedras Street close to El Paso Police Headquarters, a police news release stated. The Police Department released photos of the confrontation filmed by a police car dashboard camera. The officer, who was alone, found Zavala, who was "drinking a bottle of the stolen liquor as the officer approached," police stated. Police said Zavala ignored the officer's orders, threw the bottle and reached into his waistband. Photos show the officer aiming a Taser stun gun at Zavala as he pulls out a hatchet.

Woman Arrested In Case Of Ricin Letters Sent To Texas Cops, White House

A woman suspected of sending an envelope containing the poison ricin, which was addressed to the White House, has been arrested at the New York-Canada border and is also suspected of sending similar poisoned envelopes to law enforcement agencies in Texas, officials said Monday. The letter had been intercepted earlier this week before it reached the White House. The woman was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Peace Bridge border crossing near Buffalo and is expected to face federal charges, three law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. Her name was not immediately released, but the woman was expected to appear in federal court in Buffalo on Tuesday.

LAPD Pursuit Of Suspect Ends In Crash In Pasadena

A suspect in a white sedan crashed into a driver in Pasadena Tuesday after leading Los Angeles police officers on a 20 minute chase, authorities said. The chase started at about 1:15 p.m. in the 6500 block of Santa Monica Boulevard, near Wilcox Avenue in Hollywood, according to Officer Mike Chan of the Los Angeles Police Department. A caller notified police after observing that a “victim was thrown out of a vehicle by the suspect,” Chan said. Further details about the incident were not available. The suspect drove on the northbound Harbor (110) Freeway and then crashed into a innocent driver’s vehicle at 1:37 p.m. near Raymond Avenue and Del Mar Boulevard, according to Chan. It was not immediately clear if the suspect or victim were taken to a hospital.

LASD Seeking Public Help To Solve Killing Of Man In Compton

Authorities sought public help Tuesday to solve the killing of a man who was gunned down in Compton. The shooting occurred about 5:20 p.m. Monday at Santa Fe Avenue and Peck Street, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The 27-year-old victim died at a hospital. His name was withheld, pending notification of his relatives. “At this time, the investigators do not have any suspect information and are requesting help from the community,” sheriff’s Deputy Trina Schrader said. Anyone with information about the case was urged to call the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.

Man Shot To Death In Lynwood Following Argument

A man was shot to death in Lynwood and the shooter was at large Wednesday morning. Deputies responded to the 3500 block of Brenton Avenue, near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, about 8:35 p.m. Tuesday in response to a call about a gunshot victim, according to Deputy James Nagao of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. A preliminary investigation determined two men were arguing in a nearby alley when witnesses heard gunshots. The victim was found with at least one gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene by Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics, Nagao said. The age and name of the victim were not disclosed. A description of the shooter was not immediately available. The investigation is ongoing.

Gang Member Sentenced To 19 Years In Prison For Fatal 2016 Shooting Of 1-Year-Old Compton Girl: DA

A Hawthorne man who pleaded no contest to charges related to the fatal shooting of a 1-year-old girl in Compton more than four years ago has been sentenced to 19 years in state prison, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday. Denzell Davon Hull’s sentencing comes after the 28-year-old entered a no contest plea to one count of attempted murder and admitted to using a firearm as a deadly weapon, according to the DA’s office news release. Hull was one of four defendants charged after Autumn Johnson was fatally shot in the head while in her crib on the evening of Feb. 9, 2016, prosecutors said. The other defendants were also sentenced between two and 16 years in state prison in connection with Johnson’s death. Hull and two other defendants drove to a rival gang’s territory, where one of them walked to a home in the 300 block of North Holly Avenue in Compton and shot at the house, the prosecutor said.

Culver City Burglary Suspect Arrested After Homeowner Chases, Detains Him

A homeowner chased down a residential burglary suspect Tuesday and detained him until Culver City police officers arrived to take him into custody. The burglary occurred about midnight in the 4100 block of Lafayette Place, one block from Culver Boulevard, according to the Culver City Police Department. The suspect entered the home through a kitchen window, where he was confronted by the homeowner. Officers arrived on scene less than a minute after receiving the call, but the resident had pursued the suspect on foot and “detained him in the area of Lafayette Place and Lucerne Avenue,” police reported. Officers took the suspect, who was not immediately identified, into custody without incident.

Beverly Hills Police Arrest Additional Suspects In Growing EDD Fraud Scandal

In less than two weeks, Beverly Hills Police have found 87 people who are allegedly connected to EDD fraud and identity theft. Detectives said that they recovered 181 fraudulent EDD cards with a value of over $3.6 million. They also found another $466,000 in case and seven handguns. Most of those arrested are not from California, police said. “Shoes, clothing, purses. Anything of high dollar value they were spending on EDD cards,” said Beverly Hills Police Department Lt. Max Subin. “Eighty percent of the arrestees were from out of state, and they were renting Airbnb’s and renting high end cars.” Investigators allege that the suspects were able to go to the EDD website and apply for unemployment under someone else’s name. “They’re using people who are deceased, in jail, at nursing homes… getting someone’s personal information and entering that into the computer which would then send a card out to their address,” Subin said.

Suspected Southern California Drug Traffickers Charged, Arrested In Operations Targeting ‘Darknet’ Sales

Federal officials announced a crackdown Tuesday on an alleged Los Angeles-based drug trafficking ring that they said distributed methamphetamine and other narcotics to thousands of customers in at least 35 states and numerous countries around the world via hidden darknet websites. Prosecutors said the organization used online names such as “Stealthgod” to sell meth and MDMA — known as ecstasy or molly — on multiple darknet marketplaces. Investigators alleged the crew has been linked to more than 18,000 illicit drug sales to buyers throughout the globe. An alleged meth trafficker who was a key supplier to the organization is being sought after being charged last week in Los Angeles federal court. Earlier this year, five other alleged members of the narcotics ring were arrested on federal charges, and authorities made substantial seizures of narcotics and cryptocurrency during the probe, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

How 2 Texas Detectives Made Arrest In Cold Case Murder 46 Years Later

For decades, Fort Worth police had been looking in the right places to find the person they suspected killed Carla Walker: They had found men connected to purchases of .22 Rugers, the weapon involved in the abduction of Walker from a Ridglea Avenue bowling alley’s parking lot. They had tested her clothing for DNA multiple times. They had even interviewed the man taken into custody Monday for the capital murder charge of Walker, Glen McCurley, less than two months after she was killed. Yet none of that information had brought the police department close enough to making an arrest. How did they finally make a breakthrough on the grisly murder case of a 17-year-old that has roiled Walker’s family and Fort Worth since 1974? It is all about advancements in DNA testing.

Chicago Police To Add 200 Officers To Anti-Violence Team

Chicago police Superintendent David Brown will be adding 200 more officers to a new unit dedicated to responding to crime hot spots in some of the city’s most violent neighborhoods, officials said Monday morning. The influx of new officers will go to the Community Safety Team, formed in July to work in areas seeing spikes in shootings and other violence. With the additional officers, the team will now be staffed with close to 500 cops, said police spokesman Howard Ludwig. Monday’s announcement of the new officers comes at a time when Chicago has seen an especially violent year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as civil unrest across major U.S. cities prompted by the Memorial Day death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. Through Sept. 13, there had been about 2,300 shootings — incidents that left victims wounded fatally or injured — recorded in Chicago in 2020, the most the city has seen since 2016.

Public Safety News

Mayor Garcetti Urges Angelenos To Get Free Flu Shots In Order To Help Avoid ‘Twindemic’

With the flu season swiftly approaching and COVID-19 still a threat, Mayor Eric Garcetti on Tuesday announced a new partnership with USC to urge more Angelenos to get flu shots in hopes of avoiding a “twindemic.” Starting Tuesday, free flu shots are being offered to Angelenos through the city’s new program with the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy which makes the vaccine more widely available to residents. Garcetti said the flu shots have the ability to lessen the likelihood of a “twindemic,” or a scenario where flu and coronavirus cases and patients put a strain on communities, hospitals and the economy. “Every year the flu affects some people in a very extreme way and those hospital beds can become competitive between COVID-19 patients and flu patients and overwhelm our hospitals,” Garcetti said at a news conference at the Weingart East L.A. YMCA in Boyle Heights.

Los Angeles County Closer To Red Tier As Case Rates Decline

Los Angeles County moved a step closer Tuesday, Sept. 22, to advancing to the next coronavirus tracking tier in the state’s reopening blueprint, which would mean more businesses could open indoors again and capacity could expand for some of those open already. L.A. County registered an adjusted new coronavirus case rate per day of 7.0 per 100,000 people, according to the California Department of Public Health based on data from the week ending Sept. 12. That number was also adjusted downward from the actual rate of 7.7 due to higher than average rates of testing. More than 2.5 million people have now been tested for the coronavirus in L.A. County with 9% of all people testing positive. The county would need to hold levels of new cases per day at no more than 7.0 per 100,000 people for two consecutive weeks to advance to the “red” tier representing significant transmission. The “purple” tier represents widespread transmission.

5 Of The 6 Largest California Wildfires In History Started In The Past 6 Weeks

The staggering statistics keep piling up for California’s wildfire season: August and September account for five of the six biggest fires in nearly 90 years of recorded history for the state. The destructive Creek Fire that continues to burn in Fresno County grew about 3,000 acres between Monday and Tuesday for a new total of 283,724 acres, leapfrogging the 2017 Thomas Fire for the No. 6 spot, according to Cal Fire records. It is 30% contained. Ahead of the Creek Fire, which started Sept. 4, are four massive wildfire complexes that sparked during a freak mid-August thunderstorm. The storm pummeled Northern California and the Bay Area with thousands of lightning strikes, igniting dozens of large fires and hundreds of smaller ones. Then, gusty winds within the next few weeks caused some of the larger incidents to swell or erupt in size.

U.S. Surpasses 200,000 Coronavirus Deaths, Eight Months After First Reported Case

The United States has surpassed 200,000 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University, just eight months after the first positive case was identified in a Washington traveler on January 21. Since the pandemic reached global attention in early March, COVID-19 has wreaked havoc across the nation, sickening millions and leaving countless patients hospitalized with life-threatening complications. The U.S. leads the world in coronavirus deaths and still has the most cases in the world, with over 6.8 million people sickened by the virus since January. There are more than 31 million cases worldwide and over 966,000 deaths.