Good Morning. Join us on Saturday, June 4th for LAPD's 19th Annual "Still Saving Lives" Car Show sponsored by Fusion Motor Company. The event will take place from 9am - 3pm at Warner Center Park in Woodland Hills. Click here for more information.
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Bass Asks TV Stations to Cease Airring Campaign Ad focused on her $95,000 scholarship to USC
Karen Bass’s mayoral campaign calls LAPPL campaign ad attacking her $95,000 free scholarship to USC defamatory and has demanded that TV stations take it down. Fox 11 has the details.
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Teenage Boy Accused Of Murder Along With Mother After Three Children Killed At Valley Home
The case of the killings of three children in a quiet Valley suburb over Mother’s Day weekend took a new turn Wednesday when Los Angeles County prosecutors charged a second suspect, a 16-year-old boy said to be a son of the woman already charged with the killings. The teen, who has not been identified, appeared in juvenile court and denied a petition accusing him of murder in one of the three deaths. Law enforcement sources have told The Times that the boy is the son of Angela Flores, 38, who police say admitted to killing her three youngest children. Their bodies were found Sunday morning inside a house in the 22500 block of Victory Boulevard on the border of the West Hills and Woodland Hills neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley. Flores made an initial appearance Wednesday on murder charges. She did not enter a plea and postponed her arraignment until Aug. 10. Flores was arrested Sunday, after LAPD officers discovered the bodies of Natalie Flores, 12; Kevin Yanez, 10; and Nathan Yanez, 8. Sources told The Times that Flores claimed to have believed that the children were possessed by demons and repeatedly jumped on them because she thought she could drive the demons out.
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DA Gascón Under Renewed Scrutiny After L.A. Sex Offender Charged With Murder In Kern County
A sex offender at the center of a firestorm of criticism against Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón pleaded not guilty to unrelated charges in Kern County for murder and robbery. Hannah Tubbs, 26, was ordered to be held on $1 million bail following her arraignment in the 2019 death of Michael Clark. A criminal complaint provided by the Kern County District Attorney’s office alleges Tubbs killed Clark on or about April 21, 2019. Clark’s body was found in the Kern River in August 2019. The College Place, Washington man was reported missing on May 2 by friends who visited the area with him. Tubbs, who previously identified as James Edward Tubbs before coming out as transgender, was previously convicted of sexual assault in Los Angeles County. The sentence in that case made national headlines due to Gascón’s staunch opinions regarding underage defendants. In 2019, Tubbs was linked through DNA evidence to a 2014 sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl in a Denny’s bathroom in Palmdale. Tubbs was 17 at the time. Gascón, continuing his policy of refusing to try juveniles as adults, did not file a motion to move Tubbs to adult court, rather pursuing the case at the juvenile level. In January, Tubbs pleaded guilty and received a two-year sentence in a juvenile facility.
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Suspect Arrested In Shooting Death Of Woman In Van Nuys
A suspect was arrested in the shooting death of a woman in Van Nuys early Wednesday. Around 1:30 a.m., officers were called to the area of Ranchito Avenue and Oxnard Street about a woman suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. She was identified as 24-year-old Alondra Flores, of Los Angeles. An investigation found that the victim’s injury was not consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot. A suspect had fled to a nearby residence and was arrested soon after, police said. A handgun was recovered during the arrest, and police said that the suspect had called authorities and said that Flores had killed herself. Los Angeles resident Ryan Vintch, 24, was arrested on suspicion of homicide and booked at the Van Nuys Jail. Anyone with additional information regarding the shooting can call LAPD’s Valley Bureau Homicide, at (818) 374-9550.
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Man Who Beat Homeless Men To Death In Series Of L.A. Attacks Sentenced To Life In Prison
A man who pleaded guilty to a series of Southern California attacks that left five men dead and seven others injured was sentenced Friday to life in prison without possibility of parole. Ramon Escobar, 50, received multiple life sentences after entering guilty pleas to murder with special circumstances and attempted murder. In a videoconference hearing, he also pleaded guilty to the 2018 killings of his aunt and uncle in Houston. He received additional life sentences for those slayings but will serve them consecutively in California. Prosecutors said Escobar fled Texas after killing his relatives and was homeless when he began attacking people in Los Angeles and Santa Monica over the course of about two weeks in September 2018. Prosecutors said Escobar bludgeoned victims with bolt cutters or a baseball bat as they lay sleeping on streets or the beach. All but one were homeless. In an interview with police, Escobar said he killed some of the victims because they “irritated him, they were disrespectful to law enforcement, or he robbed them because he needed money,” according to a prosecution sentencing memorandum. Surveillance video showed him ransacking the pockets and belongings of some victims in downtown Los Angeles.
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LAPD Investigating Triple Shooting In Canoga Park
An investigation is underway after three men were found shot in Canoga Park early Wednesday morning, officials said. Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department were called to the 6900 block of Loma Verde Avenue around 12:50 a.m. after receiving multiple calls of shots fired, said Los Angeles Police Department Officer Lizeth Lomeli. Two of the men were taken to a hospital with gunshot wounds by paramedics and the third victim drove himself to a hospital. No further information was immediately released and police said the victims were not cooperating with investigators. The investigation is ongoing.
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Person Found With Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound Near LAFD Station
A person was taken to a hospital after being found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in South Los Angeles. Los Angeles Police Department officers were called just before 3:10 p.m. to the 3600 block of Seventh Avenue, near Exposition Boulevard, after the person was found injured in a car near Los Angeles Fire Department Station 34, police said. Officer briefly locked down the area as the person was taken to a hospital in unknown condition, but later cleared the scene once it was determined the gunshot wound was self-inflicted. No further details were immediately available.
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Judge Refuses To Reduce Bail For Suspect In Dave Chappelle Attack
A judge refused to reduce bail Tuesday for the man accused of tackling Dave Chappelle during a comedy festival performance at the Hollywood Bowl. Isaiah Lee, 23, appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom for the bail review hearing with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Armenui Amy Ashvanian, who declined a request to have the suspect's bail reduced. Lee will remain jailed with bail set at $30,000. If Lee posts bonds and is released from custody, he will have to remain at least 100 yards away from Chappelle, the Hollywood Bowl and any venue where Chappelle is performing. He also was ordered last week to stay away from Chappelle's residences. Lee is due back in court May 20 for a pretrial hearing. Lee was charged last week by the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office with single misdemeanor counts of battery, possession of a weapon with intent to assault, unauthorized access to the stage area during a performance and commission of an act that delays an event or interferes with a performer. He pleaded not guilty during an initial court appearance last week. The LAPD initially booked Lee on suspicion of felony assault with a deadly weapon, but the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office declined to file felony charges and referred his case to the city attorney for the lesser charges.
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Over $3 Million Worth Of Methamphetamine And Fentanyl Seized By LASD In Huntington Park Drug Bust
Authorities said they seized over 150,000 counterfeit oxycodone M30 pills on Tuesday in Huntington Park, which are believed to contain fentanyl. A narcotics team with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department served a search warrant and recovered the pills. They also recovered 94 pounds of methamphetamine and two kilograms of powdered fentanyl, which authorities estimate totals to more than $3 million. Two men were arrested and booked for various narcotics-related charges. Anyone who sees activity that could be suspicious or criminal in nature should contact their local sheriff's station or call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS.
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Man, 35, With Schizophrenia, Reported Missing In Lynwood
Authorities Tuesday sought the public’s help to locate a 35-year-old man with schizophrenia who was last seen in Lynwood. Christopher Perry was last seen Monday in the 12000 block of Cornish Avenue, near the Century (105) Freeway, according Deputy David Yoo of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Perry is Black, 6-feet-2 inches tall and weighs 251 pounds, with brown eyes, brown hair, unspecified tattoos on his arms and piercings in his lip and left eyebrow. He was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, white sweatpants and a blue backpack. Anyone with information on Perry’s whereabouts was asked to contact the LASD Missing Persons Unit at 323-890-5500. Anonymous tips can be called in to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or submitted online at lacrimestoppers.org.
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CHP Motorcycle Officer Hit By Suspected DUI Driver In Riverside
A California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer was hit by a vehicle driven by a woman who is believed to have been under the influence of alcohol. Around 4:55 a.m. Monday, the CHP officer was hit while stopped at the intersection of Adams Street and Indiana Avenue in Riverside. The officer was thrown from the motorcycle and the driver of the vehicle, a 2005 Hyundai Elantra, took off and fled the scene. A witness followed the fleeing suspect and was able to relay their location to Riverside police officers who found the vehicle about two blocks away from the scene at the intersection of Lincoln and Tropicana avenues. The driver was arrested on scene on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and fleeing the scene of a crash. She’s been identified as Heather Fernandez, 26, of Riverside. Fernandez was booked into jail and held on $50,000 bail. Because the officer was injured, she could face felony charges for the crash. The CHP officer was transported to the hospital with moderate injuries. The officer’s condition is unclear at this time.
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California’s Under-21 Gun Sales Ban Is Unconstitutional, U.S. Appeals Court Rules
A U.S. appeals court ruled Wednesday that California’s ban on the sale of semiautomatic weapons to adults under 21 is unconstitutional. In a 2-1 ruling, a panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday the law violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms and a San Diego judge should have blocked what it called “an almost total ban on semiautomatic centerfire rifles” for young adults. “America would not exist without the heroism of the young adults who fought and died in our revolutionary army,” Judge Ryan Nelson wrote. “Today we reaffirm that our Constitution still protects the right that enabled their sacrifice: the right of young adults to keep and bear arms.” The Firearms Policy Coalition, which brought the case, said the ruling makes it optimistic age-based gun bans will be overturned in other courts. Adam Winkler, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, said the decision is a clear sign of how courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court which has a major gun case before it, are expanding gun rights. “Federal judges can read the tea leaves,” Winkler said. “In the coming years, the courts seem certain to strike down numerous gun safety measures in the name of the 2nd Amendment. This 9th Circuit ruling is a harbinger of things to come.”
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Students From Across California Share Experiences With Campus Gun Violence
Since the Columbine school shooting in 1999, more than 292,000 students have faced gun violence in their schools. As of April 2022, there have been 23 school shootings in the U.S. this year, according to Education Week’s school shooting tracker. With the recent introduction of California bills such as SB 906, requiring parents to disclose their possession of firearms at home, debates about whether states and schools are doing enough to keep their students and staff safe have only intensified. As California leads the nation in the number of mass shootings in the past 40 years, students, teachers and parents are seeking ways to ensure safety in schools. We asked students who have survived a school shooting or shooting threats about how those experiences have impacted them.
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Patient Extricated From Car That Fell Down Hillside In Hollywood Hills West: LAFD
A person is in critical condition after their car went down a hillside in Hollywood Hills West Wednesday evening. The driver had to be extricated from their vehicle, which crashed near the 7700 block of Mulholland Drive at about 7 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Search and rescue crews used a rope system to get down to the injured person and hoist them up the steep hillside. The patient, whose name, age and gender were not disclosed, was then airlifted to a nearby hospital for treatment, the department added.
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Fire Burns Half-Acre Of Grass, Trees In Boyle Heights; Westbound 60 Freeway Closed
A fire burned about a half-acre of grass and trees Wednesday in Boyle Heights. According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, the fire erupted around 12 p.m. near the 2800 block of East Seventh Street. Crews worked to extinguish the flames and keep embers from igniting "spot fires" in the area, the LAFD reported. About 70 firefighters were able to extinguish the fire by 1:47 p.m. All westbound lanes of the 60 Freeway were closed at Euclid.
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California Again Faces Rising Anxiety About Coronavirus Spread As Summer Approaches
California is approaching another summer amid growing anxiety over COVID-19 as outbreaks increase and officials try to determine when this new wave will crest. Although case rates are climbing, experts note they are doing so at a more modest pace than the first Omicron surge, which began spiking in December. California’s per capita COVID-19 hospitalization rate is also lower than some states on the East Coast. But with Memorial Day, graduations, proms and other seasonal events on the horizon, officials are concerned about the upward trend worsening. “We are seeing more activity, and so it is time to break out your mask and break out your tests and just be a bit more cautious than maybe you were a month ago,” said Dr. Sara Cody, public health director and health officer for Santa Clara County. “Even if you got Omicron during the Omicron surge, you can still get COVID again, unfortunately.” California is reporting about 8,000 daily coronavirus cases in the last week, up 18% over the previous week’s tally of 6,800 cases a day. The statewide test positivity rate has climbed to 4%; a week ago it was 3%.
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Homeless Crisis: LA City Approves Settlement; Will Spend Up To $3b On Housing, Beds
The Los Angeles City Council approved a settlement with the LA Alliance for Human Rights Wednesday in which the city will spend up to $3 billion over the next five years to develop as many as 16,000 beds or housing units for the homeless, enough to accommodate 60% of the homeless population in each of the 15 City Council districts. The settlement of the federal case does not include Los Angeles County, which is also a defendant in the lawsuit, but city officials said the county will be responsible for providing services and housing for homeless individuals with serious mental illness, substance use issues or chronic physical illnesses. City leaders said the county must provide services for that segment of the homeless population, since it has the medical and social-work facilities to do so — while the city does not. The actual number of housing units and beds the city will be required to build under the settlement remains uncertain, pending the results of the recently conducted "point-in-time" countywide homeless count.
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