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Law Enforcement News
Fugitive Roundup: 61 Homicide Suspects Among Nearly 200 People Arrested In L.A.
Nearly 200 people suspected of murders, sexual assaults and other serious crimes in Los Angeles are behind bars following a joint effort by police and U.S. Marshals to hunt down fugitives in 10 of the nation’s largest cities, officials said Thursday, July 7. Operation North Star resulted in the total arrest of 192 men and women between June 1 and June 30 in Los Angeles, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said during a news conference Thursday afternoon at the department’s headquarters downtown. Among them were 61 homicide suspects, 26 people wanted for sexual assault and two suspected of kidnapping. “These arrests might not bring back what was taken,” Moore said. “But they offer some measure of comfort to the victims, some measure of comfort to their families and a sense of closure.” Fugitives were found in all 11 subdivisions patrolled by the LAPD, and some had been on the lam anywhere between a period of several days to several months, Police Capt. Lillian Carranza said. Moore and David Singer, the head of the U.S. Marshal for the District of California, described many of those targeted by their operation as career criminals with the potential for more violence. One of the cases involved a sexual assault in the San Fernando Valley on April 2, Carranza said. A man went into a home through an unlocked back door in an area patrolled by the LAPD’s Foothill Division, and assaulted a 13-year-old girl while her family was asleep.
LA Daily News
Taxpayers On Hook As Gascon Brings In Nation's Highest-Paid Attorney In Legal Battle With His Own Prosecutors
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, whose own deputies sued him for permission to charge repeat offenders to the fullest extent of the law, has pulled out all the stops in his California Supreme Court appeal against them, retaining one of the nation’s top lawyers. Neal K. Katyal, a former Acting U.S. Solicitor General who represented Al Gore in the 2000 election dispute and has appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court dozens of times, is also reportedly one of the country’s highest-paid attorneys. Reuters reported in May that the Georgetown law professor and partner at Hogan Lovells was charging as much as $2,465 an hour to represent a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson in a bankruptcy case. At the time, that was more than the $2,295 an hour former Attorney General Eric Holder was billing. "That’s high, but appellate experts like him are in high demand," said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and Los Angeles-based trial attorney. Katyal is one of the most accomplished lawyers in the country. He has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court dozens of times, according to his Georgetown bio. He also faced a storm of criticism in late 2020 after defending two large corporations in a child slavery lawsuit that reached the Supreme Court. "When you hire the former Acting Solicitor General to handle an appeal, it’s a big deal," Rahmani told Fox News Digital. But the expenditure could amount to a waste of taxpayers' money if Gascon fails in front of the Supreme Court.
FOX News
7-Eleven Robberies: D.A. Spitzer Charges Man With 3 Murders, Calling Him ‘Stone-Cold Serial Killer’
Orange County’s district attorney has charged 20-year-old Malik Patt with three murders during a string of robberies at 7-Elevens across Southern California that left a clerk, a customer and a homeless man dead. Officials say they have linked Patt and an accomplice to 13 robberies. Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer said Patt is accused of two killings at 7-Elevens in Brea and Santa Ana on July 11 and the killing of a homeless man July 9 in L.A.’s North Hills. If convicted, Patt would be eligible for the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole, Spitzer said. Patt is also charged with two counts of attempted murder, three counts of robbery and a carjacking during a series of crimes from July 9 to 11. “Patt is a stone-cold serial killer,” Spitzer said at a news conference Monday. “There’s no other way to describe him.” Spitzer said that if investigators had not found Patt, the suspect would have continued killing. “To see somebody who could just kill people in cold blood like this, it’s just unfathomable. It’s scary,” he said. Spitzer said that because of a change in state law on natural and probable consequences, he cannot charge alleged accomplice Jason Payne, 44, with murder.
LA Times
Suspect who allegedly opened fire on deputies in Compton pleads not guilty
An ex-con who allegedly opened fire on Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies last week in Compton as they responded to a report of a shooting -- and then barricaded himself inside his apartment, which caught fire while he was inside -- pleaded not guilty Tuesday to attempted murder of a peace officer and other charges.
FOX 11
Multiple people detained after report of possible kidnapping in downtown L.A.
More than a dozen people were detained by Los Angeles police Tuesday night as officers breached a commercial building as part of a possible kidnapping investigation. Police first received reports of the possible kidnapping around 8:15 p.m. Officers quickly surrounded the commercial building which is located on the 100 block of E. 18th Street.
KTLA 5
Homicide Investigation Underway After Man Found Stabbed To Death In Boyle Heights
Authorities were investigating a reported homicide in Boyle Heights early Tuesday morning, after the body of a man was found in the street. Los Angeles Police Department officers were sent to the scene on 1st Street and N. Chicago Street at around 3:05 a.m., where they found a man, said to be in his 50s, suffering from multiple stab wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene. There was no suspect information immediately available, and authorities were unsure if the incident was gang-related. They were also investigating to determine if the victim was homeless.
CBS 2
Man Arrested On Suspicion Of At Least 2 Sexual Assaults In L.A.; Additional Victims Sought
A man being sought in connection with a South Los Angeles sexual assault last month was arrested after another unrelated attempted rape of a victim walking through Union Station, police said Monday. Eric Andre Hicks, 35, was taken into custody on July 11 and police are seeking additional victims. The first incident occurred about 4:30 p.m. June 20 when the victim was walking in the area of Somerset Drive and Coliseum Street, the Los Angeles Police Department said. The assailant allegedly followed the woman on foot from the Crenshaw/Expo train station where they both got off, tackled her into bushes in a residential area and sexually assaulted her, police said. “The victim repeatedly yelled for help, at which point a bicyclist passing by observed the attack and called the police,” LAPD explained. The assailant ran away from the scene. Then, about 11:50 p.m. July 7, a victim described only as a minor was walking through Union Station after getting off a Red Line train and was sexually battered on an escalator.
KTLA 5
$5,000 Reward Offered After Mistaken Release Of Suspect In Shooting Of Lady Gaga’s Dog Walker
Months after a 19-year-old suspected of shooting Lady Gaga’s dog walker in Los Angeles was mistakenly released from jail, federal authorities are offering a reward for information on his whereabouts. The U.S. Marshals Service announced Monday that it would provide up to $5,000 for information that leads to the arrest of James Howard Jackson — one of five people arrested in connection with the February 2021 incident. Jackson appeared for a court hearing April 5 and was released from custody the next day “due to a clerical error,” authorities said. Greg Risling, a Los Angeles County district attorney’s office spokesperson, told The Times in April that Jackson was found competent to stand trial and that prosecutors had indicted him April 6 “to speed up the legal process.” Jackson was arraigned under a new case number and was later released from custody by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Risling said. “We are unsure as to why they did so, however our office is working with the Sheriff’s Department to take Mr. Jackson back into custody,” he said at the time. On Tuesday, Risling referred questions on Jackson’s mistaken release to the Sheriff’s Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
LA Times
Maximiliano Monzon, 54, Reported Missing From Vermont Knolls
Police asked for the public's help Monday to locate 54-year-old Maximiliano Monzon who was last seen in the Vermont Knolls area of South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Monzon was last seen on March 18 at Vermont Avenue and West 76th Street, near Loren Miller Elementary School. Monzon is described as a Hispanic man who is 5-feet-8-inches tall and weighs 200 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information on his whereabouts was asked to contact the LAPD Missing Persons Unit during business hours at 213-996-1800. Calls made during non-business hours or on weekends can be directed to 877-527-3247. Anonymous tips can be called in to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or submitted online at lacrimestoppers.org.
CBS 2
Missouri Officer Shot, Killed During Traffic Stop
The police officer shot during a traffic stop Tuesday in North Kansas City has died, according to the police chief. The officer was identified as Daniel Vasquez, who had been on the force for two years, North Kansas City Police Chief Kevin Freeman said during a news conference. Earlier, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office announced that a person had been arrested in the shooting. Freeman said the suspect turned himself in to the Kansas City Police Department. Freeman said he did not know what type of gun was used in the shooting. Authorities said the officer was shot while trying to pull a driver over for having an expired temporary tag. Vasquez pulled the car over about 10:40 a.m. near 21st Avenue and Clay Street in North Kansas City, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The driver allegedly got out of the vehicle and began firing upon the officer. Moments after the stop, an emergency alert tone came across police radios, according to radio traffic captured by Broadcastify.
Kansas City Star
Public Safety News
Nearly 19,000 New COVID Cases Logged In LA County
Nearly 19,000 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in the latest data in LA County, dating back to Saturday, along with 29 new virus-related fatalities. According to the county Department of Public Health, 7,503 cases were confirmed Saturday, 7,403 on Sunday, and 3,943 on Monday, with weekend reporting, lags contributing to Monday's relatively low total. The 18,849 combined new cases lifted the county's cumulative total throughout the pandemic to 3,225,697. The actual number of infections in the county, however, is likely to be much higher thanks to the prevalence of residents using take-home COVID tests, the results of which are not generally reported to the county and added to the official total. The 29 new deaths reported from the weekend gave the county an overall virus-related death toll of 32,537. The average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus was 16% as of Monday. The county does not report COVID data on weekends. The number of COVID-positive patients in county hospitals was not immediately available, due to a delay in reporting from the state. As of Saturday, there were 1,252 virus-positive patients in hospitals, with 116 of them being treated in intensive care.
NBC 4
Los Angeles County Expands Monkeypox Vaccine Eligibility, But Stockpile Still ‘Extremely Limited’
With almost 10,000 new monkeypox vaccines in hand and an additional 7,000 promised, Los Angeles County has again expanded eligibility requirements for the shot — although the availability still falls far short of being able to inoculate everyone at risk or interested in the protection. “The supply of Jynneos vaccine from the federal government has been, and continues to be, extremely limited,” said Andrea Kim, the county’s director of vaccine-preventable disease control. She said the new eligibility requirements, which include people who recently attended or worked at a commercial sex venue along with gay or bisexual men and transgender people who have certain sexually transmitted disease diagnoses, still follow state and federal guidelines to “prioritize those at higher risk.” Kim said the outbreak in Los Angeles County continues to spread primarily among men who have sex with men and transgender people, mirroring how the virus is spreading in other cities and worldwide — though anyone can become infected.
LA Times
