Alleged DUI driver charged with murder for deadly North Hollywood crash that killed two pedestrians
Alleged DUI driver charged with murder for deadly North Hollywood crash that killed two pedestrians
The alleged drunk driver who killed two pedestrians in North Hollywood over the weekend was charged with murder on Tuesday by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office. The crash happened on Sunday at around 2:30 a.m. on Colfax Avenue, just north of Calvert Street, Los Angeles Police Department officers said at the time. Police said that the driver, 32-year-old Vidal Cruz Jr. of Pacoima, was traveling at an unsafe speed while driving northbound on Colfax when he collided with two people who had just gotten out of a car parked on the side of the street. Cruz collided with the victim's car and several other vehicles parked on the street before veering into a home and coming to a stop in the driveway, prosecutors said. The victims have since been identified as 35-year-old El Monte man Nefi Lopez Gutierrez and 50-year-old North Hollywood woman Azusena Gonzalez. He was arrested at the scene on suspicion of two counts of murder and police said that he was under the influence of alcohol when the crash happened.
Deadly shooting suspects take off on e-scooters in Koreatown, LAPD says
Police are searching for two men who fled the scene of a deadly shooting on e-scooters in Koreatown, they said on Monday. The shooting was reported at about 8:40 p.m. near the intersection of 8th Street and S. Ardmore Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. There, a man was found dead. A detailed description of the men wanted in the shooting was not immediately available, but LAPD said they took off on electronic scooters. The name of the victim was not released.
Toddler Reunites with Mother; Ex-Boyfriend Under Suspicion of Kidnapping
A 3-year-old boy reported missing after possibly being abducted by his mother’s ex-boyfriend was located Tuesday in Gardena. Messiah Evans had been the subject of an Amber Alert for Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties that also named 38-year-old Joshua Pendleton as his possible abductor, police said. The California Highway Patrol issued the Amber Alert on behalf of the Los Angeles Police Department, which reported getting word from the Gardena Police Department around 10:15 a.m. Tuesday that the suspect and child had been located. They were found in the 1000 block of West El Segundo Boulevard in Gardena, according to the LAPD, which had described Pendleton as the ex-boyfriend of the child’s mother. He is not the child’s biological father, police said.
7 catalytic converters found in stolen Prius at end of Westside chase
Seven catalytic converters and tools commonly used to remove them from vehicles were found Tuesday morning when officers searched a stolen Toyota Prius at the end of a chase on Los Angeles' Westside. Officers were just leaving the scene of another chase in the Mar Vista area at about 5 a.m. when their license plate reader located a Prius sought in a grand theft investigation. Officers attempted a traffic stop, but the driver took off, the LAPD told NBC4 Investigates. The chase ended on the 105 Freeway when officers used PIT maneuver to spin the car. Two men and a juvenile inside the Prius on suspicion to commit grand theft. Seven possibly stolen catalytic converters, saws and other tools were found inside the Prius. Police said there were no catalytic converters thefts reported early Tuesday, but that they expect calls soon in connection with the discovery. The police investigation will be sent to county prosecutors for consideration of criminal charges. Catalytic converters contain precious metals, making them targets for thieves looking to make money on the re-sale market.
Ex-UCLA campus gynecologist pleads guilty to 13 sex crimes, resentenced to 11 years in prison
A former UCLA campus gynecologist whose conviction on sex-related charges involving two women was reversed by an appeals court in February pleaded guilty Tuesday to 13 felony counts. James Mason Heaps, 69, was immediately sentenced to 11 years in prison, the same term he was serving before his conviction was overturned. The 13 felonies he admitted to on Tuesday involved a total of five victims. Heaps was originally was convicted in October 2022 of three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person. Jurors acquitted Heaps of charges involving two other patients, and deadlocked on the other nine counts that involved four alleged victims, including one of the women named in a count on which he was convicted. In February, however, a three-justice panel from California's 2nd District Court of Appeal ordered the case against Heaps to be sent back for retrial.
Cousins plead guilty to short-term rental scam in California and other states
Two cousins, one of whom is from Southern California, pleaded guilty to a double-booking, bait-and-switch rental scam to maximize their profits in short-term rentals, some of which were listed under fake addresses. The Department of Justice said Calabasas resident Shray Goel, 37, and his cousin, Denver resident Shaunik Raheja, 36, carried out the scheme in several states but had rental properties scattered around Los Angeles County's coastal neighborhoods in Marina Del Rey, Venice and Malibu. Goel pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Raheja pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. Prosecutors said the pair carried out the scheme between October 2017 and November 2019. The Justice Department said the cousins posted multiple listings with varying rates for the same property across several platforms.
Feds bust family-run drug business with links to Mexican cartel, prosecutors say
Four of five men charged in a drug trafficking operation across Southern California that authorities say has links to the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico were arrested Tuesday, federal prosecutors said. José Luis Salazar-Cruz, 44, Alfonso Salazar, 46, and José Manuel Salazar, 22, all of whom are from Lancaster; and Jorge Humberto Salazar, 43, of Hesperia, face a total of 29 criminal charges for allegedly trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and firearms, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Salazar-Cruz, Alfonso Salazar, and Jorge Humberto Salazar are brothers and José Manuel Salazar is Salazar-Cruz’s son. The three older men are Mexican citizens, according to prosecutors. Authorities are still searching for José Ángel López Paniagua, 23, of Littlerock, Calif., who is also charged in the case. The men could not be reached for comment Tuesday, and it is unclear whether they have attorneys.
Public Safety News
Cases of drug-resistant infection that causes diarrhea are rising. What to know
Cases of drug-resistant Shigella infections are increasing in the United States in a trend that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are calling a “public health threat.” Common antibiotics such as macrolide, quinolone and cephalosporins are ineffective against the bacteria, according to the University of Florida Emerging Pathogens Institute. The latest surveillance data shows that, out of 17,000 samples tested, the percentage found to have drug-resistant Shigella bacteria grew from 0% in 2011 to 8.5% in 2023. “Whereas earlier U.S. outbreaks involved drug-susceptible strains and primarily affected children, national surveillance data indicate that most [drug-resistant] cases occurred among men,” the CDC notes. “Approximately one third of patients were hospitalized.” The study was published April 9 in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Local Government News
LA Council Commissions Reports on Mansion Tax Impact
The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday commissioned reports to understand impacts of Measure ULA, amid ongoing efforts to update the so-called mansion tax over concerns it has harmed affordable housing production. On Tuesday, the council unanimously approved three separate but related motions instructing staff to produce data on various elements of Measure ULA. Council members instructed the Los Angeles Housing Department to detail outcomes of the measure’s tenant outreach and education program. Housing staff are expected to create an online dashboard and heat map using data to track how funding is distributed, geographic areas where outreach and services are being provided, and a breakdown of where such services are being provided in-person or virtually by council district. The council also OK’d a plan to contract with a consultant for public engagement services. The city is looking to receive feedback from residents and developers about the results of Measure ULA so far, in particular how it has affected development in the city.
