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Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch
LA Police Protective League

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Los Angeles
Police Protective League
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the union that represents the
rank and file LAPD officers

  Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch

Daily News Digest
from LA Police Protective League

October 16, 2020
Law Enforcement News


Slain LA Cop’s Family Hopes For Retrial 37 Years Later
On June 2, 1983, Los Angeles Police Officer Paul Verna was killed in the line of duty. That is not in dispute. What is, however, is who pulled the trigger. And a combination of factors — from the current political climate to anti-police sentiments gripping the nation to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s race next month — could impact what happens next. For the Verna family, it means the man prosecutors say fired five bullets into the officer 37 years ago could go free. “When’s it going to stop?” Verna’s oldest son Bryce said this week. “When’s it over? When is justice going to be served?”

LAPD Officer Justified In Fatally Shooting Knife-Wielding Man, DA Says
A LAPD officer was justified in fatally shooting a domestic violence suspect who was wielding a folding knife in Hollywood nearly eight years ago, according to a document released Thursday by the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office. The D.A.'s Office determined that Officer Adan Urena “acted lawfully in self-defense” when he shot Carlos Carrillo on Dec. 6, 2012. Officers — who were responding to a 911 call from a woman who said her ex-boyfriend had threatened her and cut her with a knife at an apartment building on Whitley Avenue — ordered the 26-year-old man to drop a knife he was holding in his right hand, according to the seven-page memorandum on the shooting. “Multiple officers gave Carrillo repeated commands to drop his knife. Carrillo ignored the commands and advanced toward Urena, who was standing 15 to 20 feet away from him,” according to the memorandum. “Reasonably in fear for his life, Urena fired his weapon at Carrillo once Carrillo closed the distance to approximately eight to 15 feet from Urena. Under these circumstances, Urena’s use of deadly force was reasonable.”

608 LAPD, 205 LAFD Employees Have Tested Positive For COVID-19
A total of 608 Los Angeles Police Department employees have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began. According to Jessica Kellogg of the Emergency Operations Center, 85 employees are at home recovering or self-isolating due to exposure, and 550 have returned to work. In July, 45-year-old Valentin Martinez, a sworn-officer, and Erica McAdoo, a 39-year-old non-sworn senior detention officer died from coronavirus complications. As of Monday, 205 Los Angeles Fire Department employees have tested positive for the virus.

LAPD Seeks Help In Hit-And-Run Death Of Pedestrian In Chatsworth
Authorities Thursday appealed for public help in finding the hit-and-run driver responsible for the death of a pedestrian in Chatsworth. The 70-year-old man was hit about 5:30 a.m. Monday by a southbound vehicle on Topanga Canyon Boulevard, south of Santa Susana Pass Road, and died at the scene, said Detective Lisset Fuentes of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division. Authorities withheld his name, pending notification of his relatives. Investigators held a news conference Thursday morning at the crash scene to appeal for public help in solving the case. Witnesses told police they saw a dark-colored vehicle stop at the scene and then leave, Fuentes said. Detectives are unsure if that motorist was the suspect or a possible witness who came upon the site after the man was fatally injured, and investigators were hoping that the driver — or any other possible witnesses — will contact police, Fuentes said.

LAPD Warning Residents After String Of Armed Robberies Of Pedestrians In Westside And Central L.A.
The Los Angeles Police Department is searching for a man suspected in a series of robberies that targeted people who were walking or jogging alone at night in Westside and Central Los Angeles. The man was armed with a handgun, which he fired in at least two of the robberies, police said. The string of robberies spanned the neighborhoods of Mar Vista, West Adams, Picfair Village, Westchester, Mid-Wilshire, Carthay Circle, Beverly Grove, Fairfax, Crestview, Faircrest Heights and Palms, police said. Most of the men and women targeted were alone in the street between 8 p.m. and midnight. The man mainly took people’s cellphones, LAPD said. The robber has a grey truck and is described as being a Black man in his 20s, according to the department. LAPD advised residents to try to stay in well-lit areas, avoid walking alone at night and be careful when being stopped for directions.

Twenty People Detained During Narcotics And Gambling Search In Pico Union
Twenty people were detained Thursday during a narcotics and gambling search warrant in the Pico-Union district. Narcotics detectives served the warrant about 4 p.m. near South Kenmore Avenue and West 11th Street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Further information was not immediately released.

2 Boys Found Shot To Death In Crashed Car In Willowbrook
Two boys were discovered shot and killed in a crashed car in Willowbrook late Thursday night. The shooting occurred at about 11 p.m. in the 12200 block of Maple Avenue. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies were responding to a 911 call about a crash when they learned that the occupants of the vehicle were also gunshot victims. They arrived to find the two boys inside the crashed car with gunshot wounds to their upper torsos, the sheriff’s department said. Both died on scene. Their names and ages were not released. There was no immediate suspect information or a motive in the killings.

Suspect Arrested After Leading Authorities On High-Speed Chase In East LA Area
A driver who allegedly topped speeds of 80 mph was taken into custody after leading Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies and California Highway Patrol officers on a pursuit in the East Los Angeles area Thursday morning. The chase winded through freeways and surface streets. It was unclear when, where or why the pursuit began. L.A. County sheriff's deputies chased the driver on the 5 Freeway southbound before switching to the 605 Freeway southbound. The driver then changed directions, exiting the southbound lanes at Rosecrans Avenue before re-entering the freeway in the northbound lanes. AIR7 HD was over the chase as the suspect moved to surface streets in City Terrace. He was seen driving at high speeds in residential areas before stopping around 5:20 a.m. in the middle of East First Street, near Gage Avenue, where he exited the vehicle and surrendered to authorities without further incident.

Gang Member’s Life Prison Sentence Upheld For Long Beach Student’s Murder
A state appeals court panel Thursday rejected an appeal filed on behalf of a gang member serving a life prison sentence without the possibility of parole for the robbery and murder of a 15-year-old boy targeted while walking home from Cabrillo High School in Long Beach. The three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal found it was “not our call to make” on Giovanny Montelongo’s claim that the line that the U.S. Supreme Court created in a 2005 ruling involving a defendant under the age of 18 compared with those who are adult offenders is arbitrary and should be extended at a minimum to defendants who are 19 years or older. “Unless and until the United States Supreme Court, the California Supreme Court, the Legislature, or the voters by initiative change the law, we are bound to apply it,” the panel wrote.

Former L.A. County Employee Pleads Not Guilty To Embezzling Public Funds
A former Los Angeles County employee pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he misappropriated county funds for his own use. David Adams, 62, of Granada Hills, was the chief stationary engineer for the county’s Internal Services Department. He’s accused of embezzling more than $7,000 in county funds to obtain personal items, such as radio equipment and parts for his motorhome, according to Deputy District Attorney David Barkhurst. Adams could face up to five years in state prison if convicted of two counts each of public officer crime, grand theft by embezzlement and grand theft, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The case stems from an investigation by the county’s Auditor-Controller’s Office of County Investigations and the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation.

Public Safety News

Red Flag Warning Issued For LA, Orange, Ventura Counties Amid Heat Wave, Historic Wildfire Season
A red flag warning signifying a high risk of wildfire is in effect in parts of L.A., Orange and Ventura counties Friday amid Santa Ana winds, single-digit humidity and high temperatures on the final day of the region's latest heat wave. Surface high pressure that has built into the Great Basin is helping to strengthen the offshore flow over L.A. and Ventura counties, generating a moderate Santa Ana wind event over the San Gabriel Mountains in both counties, producing winds of 35 to 45 miles per hour, said the National Weather Service. "This combined with humidities lowering into the single digits will create several hours of critical fire weather conditions to this area,'' according to an NWS statement. The red flag warning will be in effect from 3 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the San Gabriel Mountains in L.A. and Ventura counties, the Angeles National Forest, Ventura County's Los Padres National Forest, the Santa Clarita Valley, Orange County's Santa Ana Mountains and inland Orange County cities.

LA County Reports 1,233 New COVID-19 Cases, 24 Deaths
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Thursday reported 1,233 newly confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and 24 deaths, bringing countywide totals to 286,183 cases and 6,834 deaths. Of the 24 new deaths reported, two people were over the age of 80, 12 were between the ages of 65 and 79, seven were between the ages of 50 and 64 and one was between the ages of 30 and 49. Eighteen people who died had underlying health conditions. Health officials said there were 161 new cases of COVID-19 reported in killed nursing facilities for the week of Oct. 3 — 71 among residents and 90 among staff. Of the 341 facilities in the county, 233 reported no positive cases. Officials also reported 57 new cases among people experiencing homelessness this week, including 31 cases from previous weeks that were newly identified and included in the new case totals, and one new death. To date, the department has identified 1,889 cases among people experiencing homelessness and 45 deaths.

Officials Fear Halloween Could Become Super-Spreader Horror Show As L.A. County Coronavirus Infections Rise
With coronavirus infections again rising in Los Angeles County, officials are increasingly alarmed at the prospect of Halloween being another event where the virus could be spread. State and local officials have urged residents to avoid trick-or-treating and traditional Halloween parties. Here is what we know: What is the concern about Halloween? The last spike in coronavirus cases in California came during the summer holidays, beginning with Memorial Day as people got back to old routines after months in lockdown. Officials are hoping not to repeat that surge with the winter holidays. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Wednesday asked residents to be creative in their Halloween celebrations and to avoid trick-or-treating. “Door-to-door trick-or-treating is not recommended as it makes social distancing nearly impossible,” Garcetti said.

Local Government News

Kevin de León Sworn Into City Council, Acknowledges Work Ahead
Councilman Kevin de León was sworn into office Thursday for the Los Angeles City Council District 14 vacant seat, and he outlined a few of his plans for the city. “Even though the pandemic continues to keep us from celebrating together, it was an honor to be sworn in today as your council member,” de León said. “More than anything else, I'm glad that we're in this together because this unprecedented moment in our city's history requires us to collaborate with each other, support one another and be there for each other.” De León was sworn in by Superior Court Judge Lucy Armendariz, and the two of them wore masks while conducting the ceremony in the Council Chamber at City Hall due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The newly minted councilman said he would first introduce a resolution for the city to partner with the county to add 200 beds of transitional housing for homeless people in to downtown Los Angeles.
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About the LAPPL Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents the more than 9,900 dedicated and professional sworn members of the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPPL serves to advance the interests of LAPD officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education. The LAPPL can be found on the Web at:

www.LAPD.com


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