2 LAPD officers, 90-year-old driver hurt in Encino crash
Law Enforcement News
2 LAPD officers, 90-year-old driver hurt in Encino crash
A 90-year-old man was hospitalized following a chain-reaction crash with police in the Encino area. It started with a crash between a sedan and a police cruiser at the intersections of Burbank and Balboa boulevards Monday night, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Two officers in that patrol car were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, and the driver of the sedan was arrested on suspicion of DUI. Shortly after, a 90-year-old driver crashed into the officers who were responding to the initial wreck. He was taken to the hospital in unknown condition.
Firefighters in downtown Los Angeles investigate "unknown substance" at police building
Crews from the Los Angeles Fire Department are investigating an "unknown substance" that was found at a police building in downtown on Tuesday morning. The LAFD said crews responded to the Los Angeles Police Department C. Erwin Piper Technical Center in the 500 block of Ramirez Street around 6:25 a.m. after receiving calls about a hazmat situation. An unknown substance was located in the building. The LAFD said two people were assessed but refused hospital transport. Aerial footage of the scene showed teams dressed in hazmat suits entering the building. The LA Department of Transportation is assisting with the cleanup of the scene. Details about the substance are not immediately known.
Two Plead Not Guilty in Northridge Killing of Latin Music Singer
Two men pleaded not guilty Monday to murder and robbery charges stemming from the ambush-style shooting of up-and-coming 22-year-old Latin music singer DELAROSA inside a parked vehicle in Northridge. Francisco Otilio Gaytan, 27, and Benny LiconGomez, 28, are charged along with co-defendant Eduardo Lopez, 22, all of Northridge, with one count each of murder and two counts of attempted second-degree robbery stemming from the early morning shooting last Nov. 22 of the 22-year-old singer, whose name is Maria De La Rosa. Gaytan and LiconGomez were arrested soon afterward, while Lopez is still being sought. According to police and prosecutors, the shooting occurred around 1:25 a.m. that day near Bryant Street and Tampa Avenue, where the three suspects allegedly approached a parked car, demanded money from the three people inside and then opened fire. De La Rosa died at Northridge Hospital Medical Center. Prosecutors said the other two victims suffered “critical” injuries but survived. “This was a ruthless and targeted attack that stole the life of a young woman and artist and inflicted profound lifelong trauma on her family and the two survivors,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said in a statement last November announcing the charges.
Los Angeles police seeking help finding hit-and-run driver who killed pedestrian in Koreatown
Los Angeles Police Department officers are seeking help from the public as they search for a hit-and-run driver who struck and killed a pedestrian in the Koreatown area early Friday morning. The crash was reported at around 3:45 a.m., when a white sedan driving north on Vermont Avenue struck a pedestrian who was crossing the street outside of a crosswalk near 8th Street, according to a news release from LAPD officials. The driver fled from the area instead of stopping to help the victim, who still has not been publicly identified as the investigation continues. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics, police said. Police said that a standing reward of up to $25,000 has been offered for anyone with information that leads to the identification, arrest and conviction of the driver through the L.A. Administrative Code's Hit-and-Run Reward Program Trust Fund. Anyone who knows more was asked to contact West Traffic Division detectives at (213) 473-0234.
Armed Man Taken into Custody After Standoff in Woodland Hills
A man was taken into custody Monday after allegedly threatening a person with a firearm then holding police at bay for about 90 minutes in the Woodland Hills area. Officers responded at about 1:55 p.m. to the 5600 block of Oso Avenue following reports of an armed barricaded suspect, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Details about what led to the suspect barricading himself remained limited. Police said the man was taken into custody at about 3:30 p.m.
Missing Los Angeles 11-year-old on electric scooter found
The Los Angeles Police Department says a missing 11-year-old boy who was last seen riding an electric scooter has been found. The missing child, Michael Bowers, was last seen riding a gray and black electric scooter on the 9300 block of Denker Avenue in Los Angeles at about 9:10 a.m. Sunday. On Monday morning, the LAPD issued a statement indicating that Bowers had been located and reunited with his family. Police released no further details surrounding his location.
Man Who Allegedly 'Groomed’ Northridge Teen Faces Arraignment
A Pennsylvania man is expected to be arraigned Tuesday in downtown Los Angeles on federal charges alleging he coerced a 13-year-old Northridge girl to send him sexually explicit material of herself and images of self-harm over the internet. Matthew Edward Pysher, 18, of Bangor, Pennsylvania, was arrested Feb. 20 in a Castaic motel where he was holed up with the girl, officials said. He is charged with two counts: travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity. According to documents filed in Los Angeles federal court, Pysher allegedly groomed and encouraged the victim to send him material of herself engaging in sexually explicit acts. He also encouraged the victim to cut herself and engage in other acts of self-harm, prosecutors contend. The case represents a “growing threat to American families,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said after the arrest.
Mother of Gabriel Fernandez denied re-sentencing in son's torture death
A Palmdale woman who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the torture death of her 8-year-old son was denied re-sentencing again Monday by a judge in Los Angeles. Pearl Sinthia Fernandez, 42, was sentenced in March 2018 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the May 2013 killing of her son, Gabriel Fernandez. She has since filed two resentencing petitions contending that she could not now be convicted of murder, citing recent changes in state law that affect defendants in some murder cases. On Monday, the latest petition filed in February was denied. Her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, now 45, was sentenced to death. His automatic appeal to the California Supreme Court is pending. Gabriel was routinely beaten, starved, forced to sleep in a closet and tortured until his death nearly 13 years ago, according to investigators. Some of the torture and injuries the young boy endured were brought up again in court. "We are here again, reliving and reopening wounds," said Emily Carranza, one of several family members at the court proceeding. In June 2021, Fernandez's first petition was denied by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge George G. Lomeli.
SoCal man accused of possession, distribution of child porn
A 28-year-old man from San Bernardino County was arrested in connection with a child-sexual-abuse-material investigation earlier this month. Investigators with the Fontana Police Department claimed Adolfo Santiz Giron was downloading and distributing the illicit materials over the internet. On March 18, members of the department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force executed a search warrant at Giron’s residence in the 9000 block of Frankfort Avenue in Fontana. “During the search warrant, Detectives seized multiple electronic devices,” Fontana police officials said in a post to Instagram. “Evidence relating to the downloading and distributing of child pornography was located.” Giron was taken into custody and booked at the West Valley Detention Center for possession of child pornography. Anyone with information about the investigation is asked to contact the Fontana Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force at [email protected].
Texas woman sentenced to life in prison for fatally striking LEO while driving under the influence
A jury in Tarrant County on Monday showed no leniency to a woman who, after drinking shots of tequila, recklessly drove a car into a Fort Worth police sergeant as he stood on an interstate ramp, killing the department mentor and husband of 35 years. In assessing a life prison term for DeAujalae Evans, the jury selected the most severe penalty for intoxication manslaughter causing the death of a peace officer, the offense to which Evan pleaded guilty as the jury began to hear evidence in the case of the death of Sgt. Billy Randolph. When it began deliberations, the jury was directed to arrive at a sentence of five to 99 years, or life. Evans, 26, will become eligible for parole after she has served 30 years, though a pending probation revocation motion in connection with a case in which she shot her girlfriend in the months before the crash could extend her time in prison. “I want you to know Ms. Evans, you just heard my husband’s voice,” Randolph’s wife, Lisa, told the defendant after the verdict, noting that it had been 569 days since she had heard it.
BWC: Man barricaded in home shoots Baltimore officer before fatal OIS
The Maryland Office of the Attorney General released body camera footage showing an officer-involved shooting of a man who barricaded himself and two women inside a home and shot an officer. The March 10 incident began when Baltimore officers responded to a reported burglary at a home where a man was allegedly holding two relatives at gunpoint, CBS Baltimore reports. “Back the f*** up, or I’m going to blow your f***ing head off,” a man can be heard saying on body camera video as officers stood in front of the home. A shot can be heard moments later. The man continued to fire gunshots as more officers arrived on the scene and blocked off the roadway. Police said one woman who was in the home with the shooter jumped from a balcony into the backyard. Video shows officers entering the backyard and helping the woman to her feet before carrying her to safety. Several officers remained at the rear of the building, ducked behind a vehicle. Minutes later, another shot was fired from inside the home, striking one of the officers in the leg. Other officers are shown rendering aid to their wounded colleague.
