Man Arrested In Houston Police Sergeant's Shooting Death

A man out on bond for a gun possession charge was arrested Tuesday in the shooting death of HPD Sgt. Sean Rios, as investigators continue to piece together what precipitated the deadly gun battle on Houston's northside. Robert Soliz, 24, was taken into custody on the Katy Freeway and now faces a murder charge, police said. Case records were not yet available Tuesday night. Police also are searching for a second man, only identified as a person of interest, who fled the shooting scene in a black pickup. Newly released surveillance video shows that person talking to Soliz shortly after the killing. Soliz is accused of shooting Rios around 1:30 p.m. Monday near the Interstate 45 service road at Stuebner Airline. Rios was pronounced dead at a nearby motel, where he sought help.

CHP Seeks Public Help In Locating Suspects, Vehicle In Freeway Shooting

The California Highway Patrol sought the public’s help Wednesday in identifying and locating four men as well as a white Nissan Maxima with dark-tinted windows in connection with an apparent road-rage shooting on the Harbor (110) Freeway in South Los Angeles that left two people wounded. The car-to-car shooting occurred about 2:55 p.m. Tuesday on the northbound freeway near 120th Street, the CHP reported. One of the four occupants inside the Nissan fired multiple rounds into a white Volkswagen Jetta. The driver of the Jetta was struck once in the upper torso and the right front passenger was struck once in her right elbow. The victims continued to the area of Central and Slauson avenues, more than three miles from the shooting location, according to Officer Drake Madison of the Los Angeles Police Department. The driver of the Jetta stopped at the parking lot of a McDonald’s at 1118 Slauson Ave., the CHP said. Paramedics rushed both victims to Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center in stable condition.

Street Racing Investigated As Possible Cause Of Fatal Crash In Exposition Park

An investigation is underway into whether street racing may have been a factor in a crash in Exposition Park that left one person dead and another in critical condition Thursday morning. The solo-vehicle crash occurred about 12:10 a.m. as the driver of a silver Range Rover was traveling at a high rate of speed southbound on Figueroa Street near Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Miguel Arana said. The driver lost control of the vehicle and collided with a curb and then a palm tree, Arana said. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, Arana said. A passenger in the vehicle was taken to a local hospital in critical condition. If another vehicle was involved in the incident, it did not remain at the scene. Anyone with information can call the Police Department at 877-527-3247.

Police Lose Track Of Car During High-Speed Pursuit In South LA

Los Angeles police were in pursuit of a speeding vehicle near downtown LA Wednesday night before law enforcement lost track of the black Kia Soul in a South Los Angeles neighborhood. Newschopper4 was over the chase around 11:05 p.m., as the car was zooming on the 110 Freeway southbound coming from the San Fernando Valley and crossing by Dodger Stadium and downtown LA. The car continued to move at high speeds and eventually exited in South LA. Crossing famous intersections like Florence Boulevard, the driver turned off the car's headlights, possibly in an attempt to evade authorities. As the car crossed under a freeway overpass, the police helicopter and patrol cars lost track of the vehicle near 59th Place and Grand Avenue in the South Park area. A large police presence was in the area searching for the driver and the vehicle, but it did not appear the driver or the vehicle were immediately found.

Oakland poll finds people feel unsafe, want to defund police, but still want plenty of officers

Despite a growing loss of confidence in law enforcement and apparent support for defunding police, a majority of Oakland voters still want the number of officers to stay the same or even increase — support that includes 70% of the city’s African American voters, according to a recent poll commissioned by the Chamber of Commerce. Meanwhile, here is a number for the folks at City Hall to ponder: 45% of those polled said they feel “less safe” today than a year or two ago. So while the debate may be about public safety, for the voters it’s about personal safety as well.

Chase Suspect In Custody After High-Speed Pursuit Through LA County; At Least 1 Child Passenger In Vehicle

The driver of an SUV was taken into custody in Wilmington on Wednesday morning after leading police and California Highway Patrol officers on a high-speed chase from the Inland Empire to the Harbor area with at least one child in the vehicle, authorities said. The erratic, 100-mph chase began in the Riverside County city of Beaumont.It later made its way west through multiple cities and jurisdictions, including Norwalk and Compton, before turning south and heading toward the Long Beach area. As the SUV made its way into the South Bay, law enforcement vehicles backed off while police helicopters continued to follow from overhead. Officers on the ground reengaged as the man behind the wheel of the Navigator drove into Wilmington, where he pulled over in the 1100 block of Wilmington Boulevard. The suspect, boxed in by CHP vehicles, then attempted to flee on foot before being apprehended by officers in the middle of the street.

Man Shot Dead In Broad Daylight In Willowbrook; Homicide Detectives Investigating

Homicide detectives are investigating a shooting that left a man dead in Willowbrook on Wednesday morning, authorities said. The shooting occurred around 10:15 a.m. in the 400 block of East 135th Street, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Deputies responded to the area for a call about assault with a deadly weapon and a gunshot victim. They found the victim sitting in the driver’s seat of a vehicle, unresponsive and suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the upper torso, officials said. The driver’s side window and a back passenger side window of the vehicle was shattered after being riddled with bullets, video from the scene showed. The victim, who was only identified as being 41 years old, died at the scene. Officials did not have any information on a possible shooter or shooters.

LASD Searching For Missing Rolling Hills Estates Man, 82

Sheriff’s detectives asked for the public’s help Thursday morning to find an 82-year-old man who went missing from Rolling Hills Estates. Robert Richard Hollis was last seen about 5 p.m. on Sept. 11 in the 3600 block of Hidden Lane, Deputy Eric Ortiz said. Hollis is white, 6 feet tall and about 197 pounds, Ortiz said. He has straight gray hair and hazel eyes. Anyone with information on his whereabouts was asked to call the sheriff’s Missing Persons Unit at 323-890-5500 or 911. Tipsters can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.

California Would Decriminalize Psychedelic Drugs Under Scott Wiener Bill

California lawmakers will consider next year whether to allow the use of psychedelic drugs that supporters argue have therapeutic benefits. State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, said Tuesday that he plans to introduce a bill when the Legislature returns decriminalizing possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms and other psychedelics, part of his broader drug policy agenda that also includes measures to legalize safe-injection sites and end mandatory minimum sentences for some drug crimes. “The war on drugs has been a disaster, in terms of bloating law enforcement, tearing apart communities, criminalizing addiction and spending enormous amounts of money on prisons,” Wiener said. “We need to end the war on drugs. Possession of drugs should just not be a crime.” A movement to decriminalize, or even legalize, psychedelics has grown across the country in recent years as researchers have determined psilocybin, the hallucinogenic component of so-called magic mushrooms, and other drugs could be used to treat depression and anxiety.

Houston Reaches Highest Murder Total In More Than A Decade

Amid a violent year in Houston that escalated Monday with the deaths of six people, including a Houston Police Department sergeant, the number of murders in the city has reached the highest point in more than a decade. Police have attributed at least 345 deaths this year to murder, effectively ending a four-year predominantly downward trend. With about seven weeks remaining until the year's end, Houston's murders — should they continue their upward trend — could tail the per capita murder rate of those killed in 2006, when HPD tracked 376 murders. But the murder rate — calculated by the number of murders per 100,000 people — in Houston has historically fluctuated since 1980. According to a Houston Chronicle analysis of crime statistics, it would take scores more murders to outpace the city's all-time high of 701 killings in 1981, during Houston's economic boom. Records show 1991 was also an especially deadly year with 617 murders in a city that then had a population of about 1.7 million.

Ohio Police Officer Helps Deliver Baby As Mother Sits In Car

It was a slow night for Richmond Heights police officer Jonathan Ross while running radar on passing cars on Richmond Road. But, as Ross sat in a cruiser at about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday in the parking lot of Faith United Church of Christ, near Richmond Town Square, a surprise awaited him. “There wasn’t much going on, so I was trying to run radar on Richmond Road,” he recalled. “Then I saw this car and it looked like they were going to pull in by the (church’s) exit drive where I was sitting. It’s 1:30 in the morning and I’m kind of on high alert when I see a car pulling up to me in the middle of the night.” The car, however, stopped on the side of Richmond Road and a young man got out. “I asked him what’s going on and he said, ‘She’s having the baby.’ And I’m like, ‘What?’” Ross grabbed some gloves and approached the small Toyota and saw that the baby’s head and arms were already out. "I thought, ‘Oh, wow. This is real.’ I tried to talk her through it. I tried to get her to push the baby out all the way.

Public Safety News

Authorities Investigate Illegal Marijuana Grow House In Winnetka

Authorities Wednesday were investigating an illegal marijuana grow operation after responding to reports of a fire at a Winnetka home. City firefighters were called to the home located in the 7500 block of Irondale Avenue, located near the intersection of Brown Canyon Wash and Sherman Way just before 11:45 p.m. Tuesday. After knocking down the flames, firefighters discovered "barrels of an unidentified substance," said Margaret Stewart with the Los Angeles Fire Department. No injuries were reported. No further information was immediately released by authorities. The investigation is ongoing.

Fire Crews Respond To Beverly Crest Home Of Actor Denzel Washington

Fire crews Wednesday responded to reports of smoke coming from a home that property records show belongs to actor Denzel Washington. According to authorities, smoke could be seen coming from the second floor of the multi-level home in the first block of Beverly Park Circle. Despite a thorough search of the 28,887-square-foot residence with thermal imaging cameras, there was no active fire discovered, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. The smoke on the second floor was determined to be from one of several furnaces in the home that was recently serviced and was taken offline, according to the department. There were no injuries and all occupants of the home were allowed to return back inside shortly after 10:30 p.m. as all fire crews — both Los Angeles and Beverly Hills fire departments — left the scene.

LA County Reports 2,152 New COVID-19 Cases, 22 Deaths

Los Angeles County reported 2,152 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 327,964 since the pandemic began. Another 22 virus-related deaths were also reported, raising the death toll to 7,216. As cases continue to climb, officials have made it clear that the county will not be moving into a less restrictive tier of the state’s reopening map for at least several weeks. Currently, 903 people are hospitalized due to COVID-19. On Tuesday night, Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office sent out a citywide alert reminding people about the spike in cases and urging them to get tested if they feel symptoms. Garcetti’s office said, with the holiday season approaching, the rise in cases must be taken seriously. That is why the city decided to use a wireless emergency alert, which is usually reserved for earthquakes or severe weather.