LACP.org
..
Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch
LA Police Protective League

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.
 

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

  Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch

Daily News Digest
from LA Police Protective League

August 20, 2021
Law Enforcement News

Hollenbeck Division Mourns Loss Of Retired LAPD Officer Phil Arreola To COVID-19
Retired LAPD Officer Felipe “Phil” Arreola has died of COVID-19, the department's Hollenbeck Community Police Station announced. The 30-year department veteran died Tuesday from complications of COVID-19, according to a tweet posted by the Hollenbeck Community Police Station. Arreola had joined the LAPD in August of 1989. According to the LAPD, Arreola was 11 years old when he arrived in Los Angeles from Mexico in 1968. His family was just one of five living in the Pico Aliso area, and as a teenager, Arreola resisted joining local gangs because he was “going to be a cop.” Arreola was assigned in 1998 to the Hollenbeck Division, where he worked for 22 years. He retired on Jan. 31, 2020. Ten LAPD employees have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began — including eight sworn officers and two civilian employees. CBS 2

San Bernardino Gang Member Ervin Olikong Identified As Gunman Who Shot Sheriff's Deputy, 2 Officers
A 34-year-old known gang member was identified Thursday as the gunman who opened fire on a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy during a traffic stop. Ervin Olikong is from the San Bernardino area and has a criminal history that includes multiple violent offenses, according to San Bernardino police. At the time of Tuesday's shooting, Olikong was wanted on a $200,000 arrest warrant issued in 2019 in connection with an assault with a deadly weapon. The shooting happened Tuesday at about 4:15 p.m. in the area of Bobbett Drive and Olive Street, where a sheriff's deputy had tried to stop a driver. The driver instead took off, then stopped after making a turn and got out with a rifle, police said. As the deputy's vehicle made the turn, the suspect opened fire on the patrol vehicle. After walking around the patrol vehicle with the rifle pointed as he looked into the windows, the suspect got back into his car and drove away. Police say the patrol vehicle caught fire, but the deputy was able to use his radio to call for help. He was taken to a hospital for injuries he sustained during the shooting. Police did not say how they identified Olikong. But a massive manhunt was launched after Tuesday's shooting, and during the investigation, a gunfight erupted Wednesday as San Bernardino police made contact with the suspect near Victoria and 9th Street in Highland. Olikong was killed and the two SWAT officers were injured. One of the officers has been released from the hospital, but the other underwent surgery and remains hospitalized. Both are expect to survive. Fox 11 Video

Man Believed To Be Homeless Shot, Killed In Panorama City; Security Guard Arrested
A man is dead and a security guard is in custody after a shooting in Panorama City. The Los Angeles Police Department responded to a call of a shooting outside a 7-Eleven near Arminta Street and Van Nuys Boulevard a little before 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon. The shooting killed a man who is believed to be homeless. LAPD says the shooting stemmed from an argument involving the man and an armed security guard. The armed security guard was taken into custody. FOX 11

Hit-and-Run Driver Sought After Fatally Striking Pedestrian In Harvard Heights Neighborhood
Police asked the public for help Thursday in their search for a hit-and-run driver who left the scene after fatally striking a pedestrian in the Harvard Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles Thursday night. The crash occurred shortly after 8 p.m. when the victim, described only as a female pedestrian, was walking northbound on Washington Boulevard in a marked crosswalk at Gramercy Place, a Los Angeles Police Department news release stated. Investigators say a silver sedan was traveling westbound on Washington Boulevard when it struck the victim, who was thrown several feet before landing on the roadway. Paramedics responded to the scene and transported the victim, who was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The victim has been identified but officials are withholding her name until family can be notified. The driver continued westbound on Washington Boulevard without stopping or rendering aid to the victim, the Police Department stated. No further description of the vehicle or the driver were immediately available. Anyone with information is asked to call the Police Department at 213-473-0234.  KTLA 5

Body Found In Lake In MacArthur Park
A body was found Friday in the lake in MacArthur Park, and an investigation was underway. The body was discovered about 5:50 a.m. near the 2200 block of West Sixth Street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Information was not immediately available on the identity of the person or the cause of death.  MyNewsLA.com

Boyle Heights Street Vendor Stabbed Multiple Times In Unprovoked Attack, Police Say
A Boyle Heights street vendor remains in the hospital after he was stabbed in a vicious attack police say was unprovoked. Dulce Terrazas says her father, Ignacio Torres, has wounds to his stomach, arm, back and a leg. Los Angeles police said the stabbing happened around 5 p.m. Wednesday near 1st and Gabriel Garcia Marquez streets. The disturbing assault captured on video shows Torres getting knocked to the ground and the suspect stabbing him repeatedly. Torres, a well-known vendor in the community, has been working been working for 19 years at the same intersection near where he was stabbed. He was talking to another vendor when the suspect, identified as 28-year-old Michael Ramirez, suddenly walked up and attacked him, LAPD said. "No words exchanged, nothing. He just started attacking my dad out of nowhere," Terrazas said. LAPD said Ramirez is a transient and he has a criminal history that includes arrests for assault and battery. Ramirez was arrested a few blocks from the scene after a witness pointed him out to police, according to LAPD.  ABC 7

Teens Arrested In Burbank Street-Racing Crash That Killed 3 And Injured 2
Two teenagers have been arrested and charged in connection with a fiery street-racing crash in Burbank that left three people dead and two others injured in early August. Hamlet Arseni Aghajanyan, 19, of Burbank faces three counts of murder and one count of reckless driving, the Burbank Police Department said Thursday. He is being held in lieu of $6-million bond and is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 23. The other suspect, a 17-year-old who was not named because they are a minor, was also arrested Thursday and is being held pending a review of the case by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, police said. Both teens are implicated in an Aug. 3 crash at the intersection of Glenoaks Boulevard and Andover Drive, police said. “This tragic and avoidable event was caused by subjects racing vehicles and driving recklessly at very high rates of speed,” police said. On that day, investigators said a Volkswagen sedan was broadsided by a gray Kia and a Mercedes-Benz that appeared to be racing. Aghajanyan was driving the Kia and the 17-year-old the Mercedes, police said. The driver and two passengers in the Volkswagen were pronounced dead at the scene. A female passenger was taken to a trauma center with serious injuries. Los Angeles Times

Woman, 80, With Dementia Reported Missing In North Hollywood
Investigators Thursday circulated a photo of an 80-year-old woman with dementia who went missing in North Hollywood. Thelma Marrow was last seen at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 6200 block of Klump Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Marrow is Black, 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 180 pounds, with salt-and-pepper hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a black hat, black long-sleeve shirt and black and red pajama pants when last seen. Anyone with information on Marrow's whereabouts was asked to contact the LAPD North Hollywood watch commander at 818-754-8301. Calls made during non-business hours or on weekends can be directed to 877-527-3247. Anonymous tips can be called in to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or submitted online at lacrimestoppers.org . MyNewsLA.com

Silver Alert Issued For Missing 84-Year-Old Man Last Seen In West Hollywood
A Silver Alert was issued Thursday for an 84-year- old man last seen in West Hollywood. Mark Kharkhurim was last seen at approximately 12:30 p.m. Thursday at the Trader Joe's at 7310 Santa Monica Blvd., between La Brea and Gardner avenues, according to the California Highway Patrol which issued the Silver Alert at the request of the Los Angeles Police Department. Kharkhurim is 5 feet, 10 inches tall, and weighs 182 pounds, with gray hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a hat, gray shirt, and khaki pants. Anyone who has seen Kharkhurim is asked to call 911. The Silver Alert program was established by the CHP to issue and coordinate alerts involving the unexplained or suspicious disappearance of elderly, developmentally disabled or cognitively impaired individuals. CBS 2

Harvey Weinstein Indicted Again On Previously Dropped Sexual Battery Charge
The Los Angeles District Attorney has again indicted producer Harvey Weinstein, reviving a sexual battery charge that was dismissed by a judge last week. This is the fourth time the Los Angeles D.A. has indicted Weinstein. Last week, Weinstein's lawyers were successful in getting one of the 11 charges he faced dismissed by judge Lisa B. Lench on grounds related to the statute of limitations. Prosecutors have now issued a new indictment tied to the same incident, which includes seven additional findings based on the disputed count. Weinstein now once again faces 11 charges of rape and sexual assault against five alleged victims. Earlier in July, Weinstein pleaded not guilty to the 11 charges after being extradited to Los Angeles. The reported incidents took place between 2004 and 2013. The previously disputed charge — Count 5 — stems from an accusation from May 11, 2010, in which Weinstein was accused of assaulting a woman in a Beverly Hills hotel room. Prosecutors first filed the charge in April of 2020, which would be just at the tail end of the 10-year statute of limitations. Weinstein is being held without bail in the Twin Towers jail in downtown Los Angeles. Yahoo! News

L.A. Judge Denies Woman Restraining Order Against Trevor Bauer
A Los Angeles judge sided with Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer on Thursday and denied a five-year restraining order requested by a woman who said he choked her into unconsciousness and punched her repeatedly during two sexual encounters. In denying the civil domestic violence restraining order after a four-day hearing, Judge Dianna Gould-Saltman said that according to the 27-year-old San Diego woman's testimony, Bauer honored her boundaries when she set them. And she said Bauer couldn't know the boundaries she didn't express to him. “We consider in a sexual encounter that when a woman says no she should be believed,” Gould-Saltman said, “so what should we do when she says yes?” The woman's attorney, Lisa Helfend Meyer, said in her closing arguments that Bauer was a “monster” who far exceeded what the woman consented to, especially in punching her in the face and vagina and leaving serious bruising that was captured in photographs. Bauer also did things that the woman couldn't consent to because she had been choked unconscious, including, according to her testimony, having anal sex with her while she was out, Meyer said. KTLA 5

Robert Durst Details Alleged Relationship With Prudence Farrow On Day 7 Of Explosive Murder Trial
On day seven of Robert Durst's contentious murder trial, the real estate scion detailed his alleged affair with Prudence Farrow, the sister of Mia Farrow and subject of the Beatles' song "Dear Prudence." Durst, 78, is on trial for the murder of his friend, Susan Berman, who was found dead from a gunshot wound in her Los Angeles apartment in December 2000. Prosecutors allege that Durst killed Berman because she was about to speak with authorities about the disappearance of Kathie Durst, the defendant's former wife who vanished in 1982. Durst said in court Thursday that he had been seeing Prudence and wanted to pursue a relationship with her in December 1981, but his wife, who disappeared a month later in January 1982, was not okay with it. "You wanted to pursue a relationship with Prudence by your own statement. Kathy did not want you to pursue a relationship with Prudence, and I'm asking you how did that get resolved?" Deputy District Attorney John Lewin asked. "Kathy disappeared," Durst responded. "Yes, that is how it got resolved, isn't it? … That is how it got resolved, Mr. Durst, isn't it?" Lewin asked. "Yes," Durst said. Yahoo! News

3 New Mexico Officers Shot, 1 Injured In Albuquerque
Three Albuquerque police officers were shot and another was injured while responding to a robbery, authorities said Thursday. Police Chief Harold Medina said one of the officers was hit in the chest above his bulletproof vest and was listed in critical condition. One officer was shot in the arm and another was saved when he was struck in the vest. The fourth officer was injured by shrapnel or glass. Multiple people have been detained and police were still looking for at least one more suspect, Medina said. Authorities closed surrounding roads and nearby schools were put on lockdown as officers swarmed an area near a coffee shop in a commercial district on the city's northeast side. Police confirmed early on that they were responding to a “critical incident" and described the scene as active as they scoured the neighborhood for the outstanding suspect. Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller called it a horrible scene and asked for residents to pull together for the officers and their families. “These officers put their lives at risk every single call and their families never want to get the calls they're getting today,” he said. “We're asking all of the community to have their back." Associated Press

Man Surrenders After Claiming To Have Bomb Near Capitol
The man who claimed to have bomb in a pickup truck near the U.S. Capitol has surrendered to law enforcement, ending an hourslong standoff on Thursday. The man, identified by law enforcement officials as Floyd Ray Roseberry, 49, of North Carolina, crawled out of the vehicle and was being taken into custody shortly before 2:30 p.m. He had pulled up outside the library earlier in the day and told police he had a bomb in his truck. An officer saw what appeared to be a detonator in the man's hand. The man had been negotiating with police during a standoff that lasted around five hours.  Associated Press

Public Safety News


Coronavirus: L.A. County Surpasses 25,000 Deaths With 3,239 New Cases And 35 New Deaths
Los Angeles County public health officials reported 3,239 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases to 1,362,848 as of Thursday, Aug. 19. The total number of cases represents 13.6% of Los Angeles County's population. Officials reported 35 new deaths linked to the coronavirus, for a total 25,002 deaths since tracking began. The total number of deaths represents 0.25% of Los Angeles County's population. There were 36 more hospitalizations reported since Wednesday, bringing the official count of hospitalizations to 1,790, with 23% in ICU. According to the California Department of Public Health's vaccines dashboard, 63% of Los Angeles County is fully vaccinated and more than 11,742,429 vaccine doses have been administered as of Aug. 19. Data posted each day is preliminary and subject to change, officials emphasize. More information may become available as individual case investigations are completed. Los Angeles Daily News

High Tides Threaten Homes, Beaches Across Los Angeles, Orange Counties
Beach communities in parts of Southern California were hit by big waves Thursday evening. Los Angeles County Fire's lifeguards shared a video of the big waves pounding Zuma Beach in Malibu. Down in San Pedro, a man and a woman were both stranded on a cliff in the Point Fermin area due to high tides. Both were safely rescued but a woman suffered a leg injury. According to the National Weather Service, elevated surf is expected to continue in parts of Orange County through Saturday night, with the highest tide possibly ranging from four to seven feet Friday night. Coastal flooding is also possible for beach communities in Newport Beach and Malibu, per NWS. FOX 11

Mask Mandate Takes Effect For Large Outdoor Events In LA County As Delta Variant Surges Across US
Everyone attending outdoor "mega-events" of more than 10,000 people -- such as open-air concerts and baseball, football and soccer games - will have to wear a face covering in Los Angeles County under a new COVID-19 health order that took effect late Thursday night. The health order -- which began at 11:59 p.m. Thursday -- requires mask-wearing in such outdoor settings except when people are "actively eating or drinking." The requirement applies to everyone, regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status. Outdoor events had previously been exempted from the county's mask-wearing mandate, which requires face coverings in all indoor settings, regardless of vaccination status. Masks are also required on public transit, at transit hubs such as airports and train stations, inside schools, at health care settings, homeless shelters and correctional facilities. The order applies to such events as music or food festivals, car shows, endurance events, marathons, parades, sporting events and concerts. Theme parks are not included. ABC 7

Delta Variant Likely To Bring A Fall And Winter Of Masks, Vaccine Mandates, Anxiety
The rise of the Delta variant has upended previous optimistic projections of herd immunity and a return to normal life, with many health experts believing mask mandates and tougher vaccine requirements will be needed in the coming months to avoid more serious coronavirus surges. While there are promising signs that California's fourth COVID-19 surge may be starting to flatten, the fall and winter will bring new challenges as people stay indoors more often and vaccine immunity begins to wane. The rapid spread of Delta among the unvaccinated — and the still relatively small number of “breakthrough” cases among the vaccinated — shows that significant increases in inoculations will help stop the spread. In fact, officials are now preparing to provide booster shots to those who already got their first series of vaccinations, saying the extra dose is needed to keep people protected. Still, “the vaccines themselves are not going to likely be sufficient. And during times of increased transmission, we'll need other tools available to protect all of us — and particularly those who, at this time, can't be vaccinated, like our children,” said UC San Francisco epidemiologist Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo. Los Angeles Times

California's Record-Setting Fire Season Offers Worrying Prediction: ‘Hotter, Bigger, More Fires'
Smoke from California's wildfires choked people on the East Coast. Flames wiped out a Gold Rush-era town. The acreage burned would dwarf the state of Rhode Island. Images of homes engulfed in flames and mountains glowing like lava would make it easy to conclude the Golden State is a charred black landscape. That's hardly the case, but the frightening reality is that the worst may be yet to come. California has already surpassed the acreage burned at this point last year, which ended up setting the record. Now it's entering a period when powerful winds have often driven the deadliest blazes. “Here we are — it's not the end of August and the size and distribution and the destruction of summer 2021 wildfires does not bode well for the next months,” said Bill Deverell, a University of Southern California history professor who teaches about fire in the West. “The suggestion of patterns across the last two decades in the West is deeply unsettling and worrisome: hotter, bigger, more fires.” More than a dozen large wildfires are burning in California grass, brush and forest that is exceptionally dry from two years of drought likely exacerbated by climate change. KTLA 5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~