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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

February 15, 2022
Law Enforcement News

Billionaire mayoral candidate wants to add 1,500 to LAPD
Billionaire mayoral candidate Rick Caruso is planning to add 1,500 officers to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) if he is elected to lead the city. Caruso, a Democrat who formally joined the race for mayor last week, told the Los Angeles Times in an interview on Monday that he will bring 1,500 new officers into the LAPD if elected. “We cannot tolerate the homelessness, crime and corruption that the politicians have created for us,” Caruso wrote. “We can end homelessness. We can stop crime. We can end corruption.” The Hill

Some Super Bowl Celebrations Turn Ugly: One Shooting, One Arrest, Lots Of Vandalism
A night of celebration following the Los Angeles Rams' Super Bowl win over the Cincinnati Bengals ended with vandalism, shooting and at least one arrest, officials said. The shooting occurred around 9:30 p.m. during a victory gathering at Atlantic and Whittier boulevards in East Los Angeles, according to Lt. Shawn O'Donnell of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The victim, a man, was transported to a nearby hospital and is in stable condition, O'Donnell said Monday. No information about the shooter was available. A large crowd also gathered in downtown Los Angeles after the game, starting near 11th and Hope streets and later shifting toward 12th and Grand. Police issued several dispersal orders and shot projectiles after some revelers grew unruly. Fans shot fireworks, scaled street lights and climbed atop parked cars. “We are seeing violent and destructive behavior by large crowds in the heart of the Downtown LA area,” the LAPD tweeted around 10:30 p.m. LAPD Officer Rosario Cervantes said Monday that one person was arrested on suspicion of possessing an illegal firearm after police pulled over a car that was driving in circles and making doughnuts at 11th and Figueroa streets. The vehicle was occupied by two men, she said, and police recovered a loaded gun from the passenger compartment. No further details about the arrest were immediately available. Los Angeles Times

13-Year-Old Girl Hospitalized After Being Shot In Lake View Terrace
A 13-year-old girl is fighting for her life after being shot on a Lake View Terrace street, police said Monday. The shooting happened at about 8:30 p.m. Sunday in the 11700 block of Kagel Canyon Street, according to an officer at the Los Angeles Police Department's Operations Center. Police say the girl had approached a vehicle that slowed down on the street, and someone inside opened fire on her. The vehicle drove away from the scene after the shooting. The girl was taken by paramedics to a hospital where she had fatal vital signs, according to the officer. CBS 2

LAPD Announces Successful Efforts To Reduce Traffic Fatalities In 2021
Strategies used to curtail an upward trend in traffic fatalities resulted in a 27% reduction in deaths in 2021 compared with 2020, the Los Angeles Police Department reported Monday. The strategies employed by the LAPD included directed enforcement, public education campaigns and partnerships with the geographic commands throughout the department's jurisdiction. The department also researched traffic patterns and collision trends to determine where and when to deploy officers. The strategies used by the LAPD were developed after the department noted a 7% nationwide increase in fatal traffic collision in 2020. LAPD's Central Traffic Division will remain “committed to reducing deaths due to traffic collisions in 2022 with the continued tenacity and enthusiasm displayed daily by Los Angeles Police Department officers,” the department said in a statement. MyNewsLA.com

Suspect Sought In Venice Library Encampment Shooting
The Los Angeles Police Department is looking for a suspect who was involved in a shooting at the Venice Library homeless encampment. The shooting happened around 3:15 a.m. Monday. Police say a homeless man got into a verbal altercation with their neighbor at the encampment over a loud radio. The dispute escalated, and the suspect pulled out a handgun and shot the victim in the leg. The victim was transported to a local hospital in stable condition. Police say they made a crime broadcast and later stopped two men as possible suspects. When they searched the vehicle, they found two handguns --one being a ghost gun --but neither was used in the shooting. The two men were determined not to be suspects in that shooting. However, police say they learned during their investigation that one of the men was wanted for felony charges in Colorado. He is being held in jail until an extradition back to Colorado occurs. Police are still looking for the suspect in the library encampment shooting. The suspect is described as an Hispanic male, around 5'6" and 200 pounds. WestSide Current

Gang Members Get 12-Year Sentence For Beverly Hills Restaurant $500K Watch Robbery And Shooting
Two gang members were each sentenced Monday to 12 years behind bars for carrying out an armed robbery at a Beverly Hills restaurant, where one customer was struck by gunfire, and a $500,000 watch was stolen from another diner. Khai McGhee, 18, and Malik L. Powell, 21, pleaded guilty in September to federal charges of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, interference with commerce by robbery, and using and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. A third man, 41-year-old Marquise Anthony Gardon, also a documented gang member from South Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and using a firearm in a crime of violence, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. He is set to be sentenced Feb. 28. The robbery occurred around 2:10 p.m. March 4, 2021, at Il Pastaio, a celebrity hangout on North Canon Drive. Responding officers found a woman who had been wounded by gunfire. The victim, who was not the intended target, was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. During the robbery, a restaurant patron was held at gunpoint while he was robbed of his Richard Mille wrist watch, worth about $500,000. ABC 7

Los Angeles Man Faces Charges After Attempt To Open Exit Door On Flight Forces Emergency Landing In Kansas City, Mo.
A Los Angeles man was charged Monday after authorities say he was subdued by passengers and flight crew aboard an American Airlines flight that was forced to divert to Kansas City International Airport on Sunday. “American Airlines flight 1775 with service from Los Angeles (LAX) to Washington, D.C. (DCA) diverted to Kansas City (MCI) due to an unruly passenger,” the statement, provided to CNN, said. “The flight landed safely at MCI at 2:28 p.m. local time, and law enforcement was requested to meet the flight on arrival,” it added. “We're grateful to our crew members, who are consistently dedicated to the safety and care of our customers and who handled the circumstances with the utmost skill and professionalism.” Kansas City Aviation Department spokesperson Joe McBride told CNN there was a “passenger interfering with the flight crew,” adding the incident will be under the jurisdiction of the FBI. The FBI confirmed the incident in a statement to CNN, adding the individual in question had been taken into custody. He was later identified as 50-year-old Juan Remberto Rivas. He remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing. CBS 2

Former LA City Attorney Official Appears In Federal Court On Extortion Charge
A former senior official at the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office made an initial appearance in court Monday ahead of an expected guilty plea in a federal extortion case tied to the lawsuits that stemmed from the 2014 Department of Water and Power billing system debacle. Thomas H. Peters told a judge he understood the charges against him and was released on personal recognizance until the next court date. Peters' defense attorney, Jeff Rutherford, told the judge Peters has been assisting investigators with the ongoing probe into the handling of the lawsuits and alleged corrupt schemes connected with the former management of the DWP. "Mr. Peters is a cooperating witness to the government, and he has been cooperating for some time," Rutherford said during a discussion of whether his client would be released without restrictions or bail. Peters agreed in January to plead guilty to a single county of aiding or abetting extortion and he's expected to formally enter the plea in a different courtroom in the next few weeks. NBC 4

Homeless Man Shot To Death In North Long Beach, Another Arrested In L.A.
A shooting in North Long Beach left a homeless man dead and another in jail connected to his killing on Sunday. Long Beach police said 22-year-old Christian Santillan was shot once in his upper body and left bleeding in the 5400 block of Long Beach Boulevard at around 5:40 p.m. on Saturday. Fire fighters treated Santillan at the scene, but he died, police said in a statement. By the next morning, police had arrested a man they think shot Santillan: 54-year-old Quinton Anderson was taken into custody at 6:44 a.m. in the 900 block of East 109th Street in Los Angeles. Long Beach police said they booked Anderson on suspicion of murder. He was being held without bail. How detectives found Anderson wasn't clear Sunday morning, but officials said a man was seen leaving the area of the shooting in a silver van. Detectives spoke to witnesses in the area, and also “discovered evidence at the scene that enabled them to identify” Anderson, they said. The detectives said they tracked Anderson's van to L.A., where they found it parked. While in the area, they saw Anderson leaving a nearby residence and arrested him. Los Angeles Daily News

Man Shot To Death In South LA Area ID'd
The coroner's office Sunday released the name of a man gunned down in the south Los Angeles area. Alejandro Magana was 31-years-old, according to the coroner's office. His city of residence was not available. The shooting was reported about 6:20 a.m. Friday in the 1300 block of East 103rd Street, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reported. Magana died at the scene. No arrests were reported. Anyone with information on the case was urged to call the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS. MyNewsLA.com

Ex-Marine Who Traveled To Cambodia For Forced Child Sex Is Sentenced In L.A. To 210 Years: DOJ
A former U.S. Marine captain who was convicted of traveling to Cambodia to have sex with children was sentenced by a U.S. court Monday to 210 years in federal prison. Michael Pepe, 68, a former Oxnard resident, was sentenced in Los Angeles federal court in a retrial on new charges after his previous conviction and life sentence were overturned on appeal in 2018. At his retrial last year, eight women testified that Pepe sexually abused them when they were as young as 9 years old and some said they were drugged, tied up, beaten and raped, the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement. “What he did to those pre-teen girls … was torture,” the judge said. Pepe was living and teaching English in Cambodia when he was arrested in 2006. He had been in federal custody since 2007. Pepe was convicted in August of two counts each of travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and crossing state lines with the intent to engage in sexual acts with a person under the age of 12. KTLA 5

Feds Allege Record $25 Million In Claims From Jobless Scam Operated Out Of California Prison
An unemployment scam operated out of California prisons sought a record $25 million from the state and U.S. governments, netting more than $5 million that went for vehicles, furniture, handbags and jewelry, federal authorities said Friday. The $25 million is the largest known single intended haul in California, said former U.S. attorney McGregor Scott, who is working with the state Employment Development Department to coordinate investigations into fraud related to pandemic relief. Yet it and the $5 million actual loss remains a fraction of the more than $20 billion in unemployment benefits that authorities believe has been stolen since March 2020 as the state approved fraudulent payments in the names of death row inmates and even U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Inmates Daryol Richmond, 31, and Telvin Breaux, 30, both from Los Angeles County, falsely claimed that they and others including minor children had been selling clothing or working as handymen, mechanics or in other jobs until they became unemployed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new indictment alleges. Richmond is imprisoned at Kern Valley State Prison in Delano, serving a nearly 25-year sentence as a repeat offender for robbery and attempted robbery with various enhancements, according to corrections officials. Mercury News

Three Accused Of Stealing $16,000 Worth Of Women's Underwear From California Malls
Three suspects were busted in connection to a retail crime ring on Monday. The suspects were accused of stealing thousands of dollars in lingerie items. The California Highway Patrol recovered 329 lingerie items, valued at more than $16,000. The underwear were allegedly stolen from Victoria's Secret and Pink stores in malls across California. CHP identified the suspects as 20-year-old Shyonie Davis, of San Francisco; 21-year-old Ahjanae Woods, of Antioch; and 18-year-old Wessaun Johnson, of Antioch. All three were booked into San Diego County jails, according to CHP. According to CHP, the suspects rented a car and left the Bay Area Thursday evening and drove as far south as San Diego County – for the sole purpose of raiding the lingerie items. The suspects were spotted at the following shopping centers, according to CHP: Mission Valley Mall, Plaza Bonita Mall, UTC mall, Carlsbad Premium Outlets, and Carlsbad Forum mall. On Monday, police spotted the suspect vehicle near a mall in Carlsbad shortly after a "Be-On-The-Lookout" was issued across San Diego County. Officers eventually located the suspects and placed them in custody. Davis, Woods and Johnson were booked in connection to organized retail crime, according to CHP in a press release. FOX 11

Maryland Police: 2 Officers, Suspect Wounded In Shooting
Two officers and a suspect were shot Friday after police in Maryland were called to investigate a suspicious man with a gun in an intersection, authorities said. All three were flown to a hospital in Baltimore, said Frederick Police Chief Jason Lando. He identified the officers as Bryan Snyder, 43, who is in his second year on the force, and Kristen Kowalsky, 32, a nine-year veteran of the department. Both were shot in the torso, said Dr. Thomas Scalea of Shock Trauma in Baltimore, adding that their conditions are stable and they are awake. “It is such a tough time. These officers go out on the street every day,” Lando said. “They risk their lives, they want to do the best job they can for the community. So it's very disheartening as a police chief.” Lando told an afternoon news conference that at 12:43 p.m., the officers were dispatched to the call about a suspicious man with a gun. The chief said when the officers reached the scene, “an incident” took place that led to the shooting. He did not elaborate. The suspect was identified as Dominique Lamarr Lewis, 25. Lewis underwent surgery, Scalea said, after being shot in the torso. PoliceOne

‘Thankful I Could Help': Massachusetts Cop Awarded After Saving 2 Lives In 1 Month
“Johnny on the spot” is what Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early, Jr. called Westborough Police Officer John Sweeney Thursday afternoon as he awarded the officer who has saved two lives in his seven months with the department. Sweeney, a former Massachusetts State Trooper, joined the Westborough Police Department in the summer of 2021 and has saved two lives — a 48-year-old man and a roughly 6-month-old baby — in his short time with the department. On Jan. 5, 2022, Sweeney accompanied a Westborough Fire Department ambulance responding to a call at the Arrive Westborough Apartments on Route 9. While waiting outside as fire department personnel went inside the 297 Turnpike Road building, a 48-year-old man came out of the building and ran toward the ambulance, where Sweeney was standing, Early said in a press conference outside the Westborough Police Station. The man had nothing to do with the original call to the building and was unaware paramedics were already inside the apartment building, but was holding his neck and in clear need of help, Early said. Sweeney quickly realized the man was choking and began to perform the Heimlich maneuver on the man and dislodged food from the man's throat, the Worcester DA said. PoliceOne

Report Finds Mexico The ‘Dominant Source' For Fentanyl In The U.S.
A new government report released this week details how opioid trafficking in the United States has changed in recent years as Mexico is now a “dominant source” of the country's fentanyl supply and synthetic opioids. The report by the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking, a bipartisan congressional commission of U.S. lawmakers, experts, and officials from federal departments and agencies — is warning that if the U.S. fails to take action to combat the opioid crisis, more Americans will lose their lives. “Some 100,000 Americans overdosed and died — the majority due to a synthetic opioid, such as fentanyl or one of its analogs — over the most recent 12-month period for which we have data,” said Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Democratic Rep. David Trone of Maryland, the commission's co-chairs, in a letter included in the report. “These fatalities have increased steeply in the past few years, and early numbers suggest that deaths due to synthetic opioids will have hit the highest numbers in history in 2021. The overdose crisis in the United States claims more lives each year than firearms, suicide, homicide, or motor vehicle crashes.” KRON 4

Public Safety News

Female Hiker Rescued By Helicopter At Mount Hollywood
A woman who suffered an injury while hiking was rescued Saturday. Firefighters and paramedics at Mount Hollywood hoisted a woman to a rescue helicopter after she suffered a severe ankle injury while hiking in Griffith Park. It happened around 11 a.m. Saturday. The woman was then transported to an area hospital, the Los Angeles Fire Department reports. Her name has not been released by officials. CBS 2

Video: LAFD Firefighter Falls Through Roof Of Burned Garage As It Collapses In Sherman Oaks
A dramatic video of a firefight in Sherman Oaks shows the moment when a Los Angeles firefighter falls through the roof of a garage that had caught on fire. Remarkably that firefighter was not hurt, according to officials. The fire broke out at a home in the 4500 block of N. Sunnyslope Avenue just before 6 p.m. It took 26 firefighters about 14 minutes to put out the fire, the L.A. Fire Department said. Firefighters were seen working on the roof of the home's smoldering garage when it suddenly collapsed, and that firefighter rode the roof down into the interior of the garage. Fellow crew members rush inside to help. Moments later, they were all seen coming out unharmed. The fire was contained to the garage, and no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.  ABC 7
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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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