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Los Angeles
Police Protective League
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the union that represents the
rank and file LAPD officers
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Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch
Daily News Digest
from LA Police Protective League
October 18, 2021 |
Law Enforcement News
14-Year-Old Gang Member Accused Of Shooting At LAPD Detective In South LA
A 14-year-old faces an attempted murder charge after he was taken into custody on suspicion of firing shots at a Los Angeles Police Department detective who was on his way to work in South LA Thursday morning, officials said. The detective was taken to the hospital after suffering a graze wound but was released later in the day. Around 5 a.m., the police detective was driving to work in his personal vehicle along South Central Avenue when suddenly, his truck's windows were shattered and he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. He was able to drive himself to Los Angeles Fire Department Station No. 14, which is located directly across from the police station. LAPD Assistant Chief Robert Marino said in a press briefing that the detective ran outside his vehicle where firefighters provided medical aid and were able to stabilize him before he was taken to LAC+USC Medical Center. The detective was alert and conscious upon transport. He is expected to be OK and was surrounded by his family and fellow officers at the hospital, authorities said. Following the shooting, another police officer saw someone running in the area. LAPD officers later located the young suspect nearby on East 28th Street and Naomi Ave. He was in possession of a firearm and is a known gang member, LAPD said. The detective works in LAPD's Juvenile Division and investigators are working to determine if the suspect recognized him, even though the detective was not wearing his uniform and was not in a patrol vehicle at the time of the shooting. FOX 11 |
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LAPD Declares ‘Ghost Guns' An ‘Epidemic,' Citing 400% Increase In Seizures
The proliferation of homemade “ghost guns” has skyrocketed in Los Angeles, contributing to more than 100 violent crimes this year, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a report released Friday. Detectives have linked the untraceable weapons to 24 killings, eight attempted homicides and dozens of assaults and armed robberies since January, according to the report. And police expect the problem to get worse, the report said. During the first half of this year, the department confiscated 863 ghost guns, a nearly 300% increase over the 217 it seized during the same period last year, according to the report. Since 2017, the report said, the department has seen a 400% increase in seizures. That sharp jump suggests the number of ghost guns on the streets and such seizures “will continue to grow exponentially,” the authors of the report wrote. “Ghost guns are an epidemic not only in Los Angeles but nationwide,” the department said. The weapons typically are made of polymer parts created with 3-D printing technology and can be assembled using kits at home. They often are relatively inexpensive. Because they are not made by licensed manufacturers, they lack serial numbers, making them impossible to track. Felons who are banned from possessing firearms because of previous offenses increasingly are turning to ghost guns, LAPD officials have said. Los Angeles Times |
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Toddler Dies At Hospital After Hit-and-Run Pedestrian Crash In North Hills
A toddler has died in the hospital, after a hit-and-run pedestrian crash in North Hills on Sunday left him in grave condition. A woman was also injured and hospitalized. The crash occurred at the corner of west Nordhoff Street and Langdon Avenue, near the "Our Lady of Peace" church. “I feel like this is a nightmare that I just woke up from,” Ana Morales, the toddler's mother said. Witnesses said two vehicles collided and at least one of the vehicles "bounced" into a wall, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported. Firefighters and paramedics were dispatched at 7:35 a.m. to the scene. According to one witness, whose account was confirmed by the Los Angeles Police Department, a silver Honda was making a left turn from Nordhoff onto Langdon when it was struck by a black BMW. The Honda driver's foot became stuck on the accelerator during the collision, and it hit the wall, hitting a tamale stand on the corner of the intersection and pinning the 18-month-old toddler, the witness said. The BMW then reversed, allowing the Honda to reverse as well. The BMW's driver rendered aid and waited for the LAFD to arrive before fleeing the scene. NBC 4 |
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Motorcyclist Killed In Pacoima Crash; 1 Motorist Flees Scene
The LAPD's Valley Traffic Division asked for the public's help Sunday to identify the driver of a white four-door sedan that killed a 53-year-old motorcyclist who was ejected from his bike after he collided with a Toyota Corolla. The crash happened around 8:35 p.m. Saturday on Laurel Canyon Boulevard at Judd Street, according to the LAPD. The motorcyclist riding a 2012 Kawasaki was northbound on Laurel Canyon when it merged into a two-way left turn lane and collided head-on with a gray 2015 Corolla, police said. He was then hit by the white sedan, which was southbound. That driver then fled the scene. The driver of the vehicle into which the motorcycle crashed remained at the scene and cooperated with police. The motorcyclist was taken to a hospital by paramedics where he was pronounced dead, police said. His name was withheld pending notification of next of kin. A reward of up to $50,000 is available to anyone who can provide information that leads to the identification of the hit-and-run driver, their arrest and conviction through the city's hit-and-run reward program trust fund. Los Angeles Daily News |
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Monique Munoz Case: Victim's Family Urges Max Sentence For Teen Lamborghini Driver Involved In Fatal Crash
Family members and friends of a woman who was killed in a West Los Angeles crash urged a judge Friday to impose the maximum punishment against the teenage boy who was speeding in a Lamborghini SUV that slammed into her car. One of Monique Munoz's cousins, Shawna Rodriguez, called the 32-year-old woman "my best friend" and said "nothing will ever be the same." Rodriguez told Juvenile Court Judge Sabina A. Helton that the teenager "deserves the maximum sentence." The teen -- who was 17 at the time of the Feb. 17 crash and is now 18 - - admitted a Juvenile Court petition charging him with vehicular manslaughter at an April 23 court hearing. He is due back in court next Thursday, when the judge could make a determination on what he will face. Deputy District Attorney Kelly Kraetsch told the judge when the hearing began Wednesday that the young man should be sent to a juvenile camp, while his defense attorney, Mark Werksman, countered that his client should be placed in a private program. Los Angeles Police Department Officer Daniel Whitmore, who analyzed the event data recorder from the Lamborghini SUV after the crash, testified earlier this week that the vehicle's speed was recorded at 86 mph five seconds before the impact, with the driver's foot "completely on the gas pedal 100%" and the vehicle's speed reaching 106 mph less than two seconds before the collision. FOX 11 |
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LAPD Seeks Public's Help After Woman Killed In South L.A. Hit-and-Run
A hit-and-run driver in South Los Angeles left a woman dead Saturday night, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The fatal encounter began with a minor crash between two vehicles at about 11:20 p.m. at Manchester and Normandie avenues. One of the drivers involved in the collision fled the scene and headed north on Normandie Avenue “at a high rate of speed,” police said in a release. During the attempted escape, that driver struck a woman who was walking in a crosswalk at Normandie Avenue at 83rd Street, police said. The driver kept going, though their vehicle became disabled at 79th Street and they fled on foot, heading west down 79th Street, police said. The Los Angeles Fire Department pronounced the woman dead at the scene; her identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. Anyone with information is asked to contact South Traffic Division Detective Flannery or Officer Pollard at 323-421-2500. KTLA 5 |
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2 Shot In Northridge Parking Lot Following Fight
A fight led to a double shooting in a Northridge strip mall parking lot late Friday night, the Los Angeles Police Department said. The shooting broke out after two pairs of men started fighting in the parking lot of the strip mall in the 17600 block of Lassen Street at around 10:45 p.m., an LAPD spokesman said. During the fight, one man “produced a hand gun and fired multiple times, striking both victims,” said Officer Mike Lopez. The man with the gun and the other man he was with fled the area in a vehicle immediately after the shooting. The two victims were left in the parking lot until police and paramedics arrived. They were treated at the scene then taken to nearby hospitals. Despite both being shot, neither victim had life-threatening wounds. Police didn't know what started the fight. Los Angeles Daily News |
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Man Wounded In Vermont Knolls Shooting
One man suffered a thigh wound when he and another person were fired upon in the Vermont Knolls area of Los Angeles. The shooting was reported about 6 p.m. at Hoover and 78th streets, according to Lt. Angela McGee of the Los Angeles Police Department's 77th Street Station. The second victim was not hit, McGee said. The victims were uncooperative and did not provide officers with information about the shooting or the suspects, she said. It was not immediately clear if the shooting was gang-related. MyNewsLA.com |
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Suspect Arrested in Hit-And-Run Crash That Left Scooter Rider In Critical Condition
At around 1:50PM Friday afternoon, authorities arrested 30-year old Karen Camacho in response to Thursday's hit-and-run. Accompanied by an attorney, Camacho turned herself in at LAPD Central Station. The pedestrian injured in the hit-and-run remains hospitalized and in critical condition. Police asked for help Friday to track down a woman who hit a scooter rider in the Central Alameda area and took off without trying to help him. A 55-year-old man was riding a scooter Thursday at about 10:38 a.m. on northbound Hooper, just before 48th Place, when police say Honda Civic made an unsafe left turn onto eastbound 48th Place and hit him. The scooter rider hit the car's rear bumper and ended up on the pavement, according to the LAPD. Investigators say the Civic's driver paused, then left the scene without trying to help or identify herself. The scooter rider was taken to a local hospital, where he was admitted to the ICU with severe injuries, police said. He remains in critical condition and was not identified by police. CBS 2 |
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Woman's Car Cets Stolen With Her Dog Inside At Gas Station In Downtown LA
A woman left heartbroken is pleading for help from the community after someone stole her car with her dog inside, and she's even offering a reward. It happened at a Shell gas station on Olympic Boulevard Tuesday afternoon near her downtown L.A. home. Brittany Valentine says she left her dog Roxy, who's a cross between a Boxer and a Pit Bull, in her 2020 black Nissan Versa and thought she locked the door before going inside. When she came out, Valentine says she saw a man driving away in her car. She said she tried to chase the driver down and even got as far as grabbing the door handle. Since then, Valentine has posted dozens of flyers in the downtown area, hoping someone will recognize her beloved pet. Valentine is offering a $600 reward and said she doesn't care about the return of the vehicle. She simply wants Roxy. ABC 7 |
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VIDEO: Pair Of Thieves Burglarize Mailroom Of Woodland Hills Apartment Building Multiple Times
A pair of thieves were caught on surveillance video burglarizing the mailroom of an apartment complex in Woodland Hills. Cameras caught the thieves on October 7 and again on October 13. According to the president of the Warner Village Homeowners' Association, the mailroom was burglarized several times over the last two months. Video shows two suspect using a metal tool to pry open the locked boxes and steal mail, containing the personal information of residents. Bank and personal information have been compromised. In one of the videos a woman's face is clearly seen as she takes stacks of mail and stuffs it into a box. Mail theft is a federal crime. Anyone with information is urged to call the Los Angeles Police Department. FOX 11 |
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Snapchat Takes Steps To Combat Sale Of Lethal “Fentapills” On Their Platform
On the evening of Feb. 7 Santa Monica teen Sammy Berman Chapman asked his dad for a cheeseburger and went to his bedroom. An hour later his mother found him dead on the floor. Sammy was killed by a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, which is a synthetic opioid 50 times as powerful as heroin. The culprit: a drug dealer on Snapchat and, from the parents' perspective, the company Snap itself, which they said was not doing enough to protect young users like Sammy. His story is not an outlier. According to the CDC, synthetic opioids were responsible for over 57,000 thousand deaths in 2020. Many of these deaths came from counterfeit painkillers known as “fentapills” that individuals were unaware they were taking. On June 4. Sammy's parents protested outside of Snap Inc.'s Santa Monica headquarters, alongside several other families who lost loved ones to fentapills sold on the platform, and demanded the company take a tougher stance against drug dealers. Among the protesters were the parents and sister of Orange County teen Alexander Neville, who died from a fentanyl-laced Oxycontin pill in June 2020 at just 14 years old. At the time Snapchat said it was wholeheartedly committed to addressing this issue and on Oct. 7 released a statement outlining the steps it is taking to prevent illegal drug sales on its platform. Snap is attacking the problem in three directions. The company has launched an outreach campaign to educate users on the dangers of fentanyl; improved detection and removal of drug dealers on its platform; and expanded its team that works with law enforcement. WestSide Current |
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Tijuana Duo Indicted In Hostage-Taking Death Of San Diego Teen
In a case prosecutors and defense attorneys agree “covers novel questions of fact and law,” two Tijuana men have been indicted on drug-trafficking and hostage-taking charges in connection with the killing of a San Diego teenager in Mexico. According to prosecutors, the 19-year-old victim, who was identified only by his initials, stole drugs that he was supposed to smuggle from Mexico into the United States. In response, the alleged drug traffickers kidnapped the teen from a Tijuana hotel at gunpoint and took him hostage in an effort to extort his parents. Shortly thereafter, the alleged kidnappers cut off contact with the family. The victim has not been seen or heard from since May 30, 2020, and is presumed dead. A federal grand jury handed down an indictment against the Tijuana residents, 21-year-old Wyatt Valencia-Pacheco and 22-year-old Jonathan Emmanuel Montellano-Mora, in June. The indictment was unsealed last week. Los Angeles Times |
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Police: 1 Deputy Killed, 2 Wounded In Ambush At Houston Bar
A man with an AR-15-style rifle ambushed three constable deputies outside a Houston bar early Saturday, killing one and leaving two others wounded, authorities in Texas said. Authorities detained one person near the scene but he is not believed to be the shooter, according to the Houston Police Department which is investigating the shooting. The constable deputies were working extra security jobs at the 45 Norte Sports Bar when two of them responded to a witness' report of a suspected robbery outside the business around 2:15 a.m., according to Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman. The two deputies were trying to arrest someone when another person ambushed them, Herman's office said in a statement posted on Facebook. That man had an AR-15-style rifle and opened fire on them from behind, according to authorities. The third deputy was shot when he came to help. One of the first deputies who was shot, Kareem Atkins, died from his wounds, according to the constable's office. Atkins, 30, recently returned to work after parental leave and leaves behind a wife and 2-month-old baby, the statement said. Associated Press |
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Father Beats, Kills Son, Slashes Arkansas Officer's Neck Before He's Shot
Two people in Arkansas were found fatally stabbed and a third person was shot and killed by an officer whose neck was slashed after he found a man beating one of the stabbing victims with a rock, authorities said Sunday. It happened around 6:20 a.m., when Fort Smith police received a 911 call about a man assaulting a person who was on the ground. The responding officer discovered Christofer Conner beating a 15-year-old boy in the face and head with a rock, said Fort Smith Police Chief Danny Baker. Police in Fort Smith, located about 160 miles (260 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, later determined the boy was Conner's son. As the officer tried to place Conner, 40, in restraints, the suspect pulled out an edged weapon and sliced the officer's throat and neck, Baker said. The officer then fired two shots at Conner, killing him. The officer was rushed into emergency surgery, and was in stable condition on Sunday afternoon, Baker said. His name was not immediately released. The boy was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He had sustained multiple stab wounds and other injuries, Baker said. Associated Press |
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Public Safety News
L.A. County Health Inspectors Enforce New Vaccine Mandates With Training, Not Tickets
During the first weekend that Los Angeles County required some indoor businesses to verify the COVID-19 vaccination status of their patrons, health inspectors didn't issue a single citation for noncompliance, but they did have to provide additional training to staff members at nearly one-fifth of the sites they visited. Officials said the checks performed Oct. 8 to Oct. 10 were focused primarily on education rather than strict enforcement — a long-standing practice of the Public Health Department, particularly when rules have only recently gone into effect. Getting a vaccination-verification system up and running “creates operational challenges, so our first priority was to assist and educate, rather than penalize the county's business operators,” the department wrote in response to an inquiry from The Times. “Public health will continue to focus in the first couple of weeks on providing assistance so that business operators can be in full compliance as soon as possible.” The county now requires proof of COVID-19 vaccination at indoor bars, wineries, breweries, distilleries, nightclubs and lounges. Patrons and employees need to show they have had at least one vaccine dose, and starting Nov. 4 they must be fully vaccinated. Los Angeles Times |
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LA County Preparing To Administer More COVID-19 Booster Shots
The number of coronavirus patients in Los Angeles County hospitals increased by 20 people Saturday to 658, while the number of those patients in intensive care ticked up from 180 to 182, according to state figures. The county's number of COVID patients has fluctuated in recent days after weeks of steady decline, rising for three straight days, then dropping for two straight days before Saturday's increase. Local health officials reported 1,229 new cases of COVID-19 and 24 additional deaths related to the virus Friday, bringing the county's cumulative totals to 1,475,69 cases and 26,395 deaths since the pandemic began. The rolling average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus remained low, at 1%, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. County health officials are gearing up to offer more COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, with federal approval moving closer for additional doses of the Johnson & Johnson and Moderna vaccinations. FOX 11 |
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LA County Urges Public To Avoid High-Risk Halloween Activities
The number of coronavirus patients in Los Angeles County hospitals dropped by 20 on Sunday to 638, one day after increasing by 20 people. The number of those patients in intensive care ticked up from 182 to 184, according to state figures. The county's number of COVID patients has fluctuated in recent days after weeks of steady decline, rising for three straight days, then dropping for two straight days before Saturday's increase. Local health officials reported 898 new cases of COVID-19 and four additional deaths Sunday, bringing the county's cumulative totals to 1,477,686 cases and 26,414 deaths since the pandemic began. The number of cases and deaths announced Sunday likely reflect reporting delays over the weekend. The highly transmissible Delta variant continues to account for 100% of COVID-19 strains seen among samples sequenced in the area, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said Saturday. Health officials are urging residents to plan for a safe Halloween. NBC 4 |
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Local Government News
MacArthur Park Closure Proceeds Calmly, Despite Fears Of Repeat Of Echo Park Violence
Despite weeks of fears over violent confrontations and resistance, nightfall came quietly to MacArthur Park on Friday. The park, just west of downtown Los Angeles, closed for 10 weeks beginning at 10:30 p.m. — the culmination of a 10-month project to guide homeless people living in tents around the park toward housing and supportive services. Encircled by a chain-link fence, the park's southern half was clear of the tents that had once crowded its eastern edge. Within the fencing, a few people slept on stone benches. Signs affixed to the barrier stated that the park was temporarily closed for renovation. As night fell, a handful of activists showed up for a planned demonstration that failed to materialize. Police were nowhere to be seen. In MacArthur's unfenced northern half, life unfolded as it did on most other Friday evenings — groups of children and young men kicked soccer balls, a group of older men played a game of sidewalk craps, and vendors sold hotdogs, corn and ice cream from pushcarts. About 10 tents were pitched in the park north of Wilshire Boulevard — far fewer than in previous weeks, when the corner of South Alvarado Street and Wilshire was crowded with tents and other makeshift dwellings. Los Angeles Times |
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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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