LAPD officer photos, names released, sparking anxiety

The union representing Los Angeles Police Department officers has drafted a misconduct complaint in response to a public records request that included the names and photos of the city’s officers. In its complaint, which is posted to the city’s website, the Los Angeles Police Department Protective League said a watchdog website created a database of the names and photos of officers, including undercover agents, using information obtained through a public records request.

NewsNation

Investigation into Leaked Names & photos of Undercover Officers

“We made a mistake, we made a big mistake.” LAPD Chief Michel Moore on the department releasing photos and names of undercover officers. Now, some anti-police websites are putting a target on LAPD officers. “This is not a mistake. This is reckless,” LAPD Detective Jamie McBride says the Los Angeles Police Protective League has filed a complaint against Chief Moore and the police

administrator for the release of that information. The league is also demanding

Twitter and Google take down the sites threatening police officers.

Fox 11 Video

Man Dead After South Los Angeles Hit-and-Run

A pedestrian is dead after a hit-and-run collision in the Vermont Vista neighborhood of South Los Angeles Thursday night. The pedestrian, a man believed to be about 50 years old, was struck while lying in the roadway of the 600 block of West Century Boulevard at about 9 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Police and Fire departments. He was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. Footage from the scene showed multiple fire trucks and ambulances around what appears to be the place the man was struck, the lane closest to vehicles parked on the street in a residential area. Investigators believe the vehicle was a dark-colored pickup truck. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact South Traffic Detectives at 323-421-2500.  

KTLA 5

Homeland Security Conducts Gang Takedown Not Far From USC That Had Explosions Before Arrests

A major gang takedown was carried out by several law enforcement agencies early Thursday morning not far from USC's campus. AIR7HD was live over the scene this morning east of USC's campus, near South Broadway and Main Street. Homeland Security and several other agencies detained over a dozen people from a building. Homeland Security was the agency that executed the warrant and the LAPD assisted, officials said. Multiple explosions were heard before police took people into custody, the LAPD said, but it is unclear what was involved in the raid.

ABC 7

Antisemitic Incidents In L.A., California Were Highest Ever In 2022, Report Says

Los Angeles set a troubling record for antisemitic incidents in 2022, according to an audit published Thursday by the Anti-Defamation League. The report listed 237 incidents of hate targeting the Jewish community in Los Angeles in 2022, a 30% increase from the year prior. The total number of incidents has been rising steadily in recent years. In L.A., Riverside, San Bernardino and Kern counties, which comprises the local ADL region, antisemitic incidents have tripled since 2017. “These record-setting figures make clear that there has not just been a surge of antisemitism, there is an unfortunate and unmistakable trendline that antisemitism is deeply embedded and growing in every part of society,” ADL Los Angeles Regional Director Jeffrey I. Abrams said in a news release. The ADL lists the appearance of antisemitic literature among its incident examples, as well as threatening phone calls and emails to local synagogues, and banners hung from freeway overpasses with antisemitic messaging.

KTLA 5

Pickup Truck Smashes Into Tujunga Store, $1M Worth Of Collectibles Stolen

If you love collectibles, you'll really feel for a Tujunga shop owner known for his Pokémon and sports trading card collections. In a brazen break-in, his store, Kaptain Fish Collectibles was burglarized. On Sunday, three men in a white truck plowed through the front of the store in reverse busting through a gate and a glass window storefront to steal high-end items. Sevan Mazakian is a co-owner of the shop that opened a little over a year ago. His gut feeling is that "someone had walked in the store before, they knew where to go." Among the items taken trading cards, comic books and cases of items worth $1 million. One of the stolen items include a high-end Tom Brady trading cards, worth about $20,000. The theft happened around 4 a.m. Sunday. He and his team have reached out to other collectible stores to alert them to be on the lookout for the items. On their Instagram page, they've listed some of the items taken. They're also scouring eBay to look for the stolen items.

FOX 11

Female Stolen Car Suspect Arrested In Sherman Oaks

A stolen car suspect is in custody Friday after leading police on a 30-plus mile chase that began in Ventura County and ended in Sherman Oaks. The chase began in the Moorpark area Thursday evening, with the woman then driving the Subaru east on the Ventura (101) Freeway through several San Fernando Valley communities including Tarzana, Encino and Sherman Oaks. When the suspect exited the freeway in Sherman Oaks, a California Highway Patrol unit employed a PIT maneuver to slow and turn the vehicle around. The woman exited the Subaru a little after 10 p.m. and initially refused commands by officers to surrender. A K-9 unit then attacked the suspect, with a dog ripping her sweater before officers took the woman into custody.

MyNewsLA

Rideshare Driver Shot And Killed By Passengers At Lynwood 7-Eleven

A rideshare driver was shot and killed in a Lynwood 7-Eleven parking lot early Friday by passengers who left the scene in his car. The driver was found dead at about 1:30 a.m. outside the store in the 2800 block of Imperial Highway. Deputies said there appeared to have been a struggle between the drivers and two passengers before the shooting. The driver picked up the two men and brought them to the 7-Eleven, deputies said. "At which point, he was shot, gunshot wounds to the upper body," said LA County Sheriff's Lt. Michael Modica. The attackers left in the Uber driver's car, which was found in a nearby neighborhood. No arrests were reported. Detailed descriptions of the attackers were not immediately available.

NBC 4

CHP Seeks Help Of The Public Catching Road Rage Shooter

California Highway Patrol investigators Thursday asked for the public's help identifying a suspect in a road-rage shooting on the 405 Freeway in Fountain Valley this week. Police were called at 4:55 p.m. Tuesday about the shooting in the northbound lanes at the Euclid Street exit, according to CHP Officer Mitch Smith. A victim in a white 2015 Hyundai Sonata sedan sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the shooting, Smith said. Police were working to identify the make and model of the suspect vehicle, Smith said. Investigators believe it is a black, early 2000s sedan. The driver was male and there was a male passenger as well, Smith added. Anyone with information helpful to police was asked to call 714-622- 3600. Investigators were looking for witnesses or anyone who has helpful dash- cam video.

CBS 2

Suspect In 2000 Triple Homicide In San Diego Returned To U.S. After Arrest In Mexico

A man suspected of killing three people including a sleeping toddler in a San Diego apartment more than 22 years ago was arrested in Mexico and returned to the United States, San Diego police said. Sergio Lopez Contreras, 44, was booked into San Diego Central Jail on Wednesday and is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in San Diego Superior Court. The victims were Michael Plummer, 20, his girlfriend Adah Pearson, 18, and his nephew Julio Rangel, 21 months. Police said the toddler’s parents were inside the apartment but were not hurt in the spray of bullets. San Diego police Lt. Jud Campbell said Thursday that investigators suspect the killings were drug related. Court records indicate prosecutors filed charges against Lopez Contreras in 2007, accusing him of three counts of murder with special-circumstance allegations of using a rifle in the killings and lying in wait. The shooting happened just after 11 p.m. on Sept. 4, 2000, in an apartment complex in the Normal Heights neighborhood.

Los Angeles Times

Oklahoma Officer Speaks Out For The 1st Time After Being Shot In The Head During 2020 Traffic Stop

The Tulsa Police officer who survived being shot in the head during a traffic stop in 2020 is talking about the incident, his miraculous recovery , and life with a traumatic brain injury. Officer Aurash Zarkeshan and Sergeant Craig Johnson were shot during a traffic stop on June 29, 2020. Johnson died from his injuries, NewsOn6 reported. Zarkeshan said he has no memory of shooting, which changed his life forever. "They say I am a walking miracle, but I am just a survivor, and I am happy to be one,” said Zarkeshan. "The challenge was not knowing what had happened and getting all of the information from other people,” said Zarkeshan. He didn't find out until a month later that his supervisor and friend, Craig Johnson, had died. Zarkeshan was eventually transferred to a hospital in Colorado, that specializes in neurorehabilitation. He spent three months there, where doctors repaired part of his skull using 3D printing. "Recovery from brain injuries can take months to years and the full scope of recovery isn't evident immediately,” said Dr. Yashar Kalani, a neurosurgeon at Ascension St. John, who initially operated on Zarkeshan to stop the bleeding. 

PoliceOne

Video: Suspect Fights And Pulls Gun On Dallas Officers During Arrest Struggle

The Dallas Police Department released body-camera footage Wednesday of a shooting that left a suspect in critical but stable condition Sunday night. At about 7 p.m. Sunday, Senior Cpl. Matthew McLain and Officer Kimberley Esquivel were patrolling the 1900 block of Bennett Avenue when they found Hernanl Gutierrez, 35, in the back parking lot of an apartment building, police said at a news conference Wednesday. Gutierrez was “known to them with prior criminal mischief and burglary of motor vehicle offenses,” police said. The bodycam video released by police shows McLain entering an apartment complex and walking out to the back of the building at 7:04 p.m. McLain is heard in the video asking if Gutierrez was breaking into a vehicle and ordering him to put his hands up. McLain called for backup, according to Chief of Police Eddie Garcia. Police said that Gutierrez was uncooperative, and the video shows a struggle ensued. He was ordered to get on the ground, and McLain used his Taser, but it was not effective, according to police.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Sun Valley Apartment Fire Leaves Two Critically-Injured

A fire broke out at a Sun Valley apartment building in the 7000 block of N. Lankershim Blvd. around 11:45 a.m. Thursday. A Los Angeles City Fire representative said the fire started in one apartment unit on the second floor of the four-story building. Firefighters worked to prevent the flames from moving to the third floor and fire representatives said the fire was under control around 12:15 p.m. Two people were hospitalized with "serious burn injuries" and remained in critical condition. LAFD said that the fire doors, which automatically close in the case of a fire helped contain the fire and prevent more injuries.

CBS 2

LA County Logs 767 New COVID Cases As Hospitalizations Dip Again

Los Angeles County reported 767 new COVID-19 cases and 12 more virus-related fatalities in its latest data. The new cases reported Thursday gave the county a cumulative total from throughout the pandemic of 3,722,478. Overall case reports from the county are considered to be undercounts of actual virus activity, due to the number of people who use at-home tests and don’t report the results, or those who don’t bother testing at all. With the new fatalities, the county’s overall virus-related death toll stood at 35,960 as of Thursday. A majority of people who die with COVID-19 are elderly or have an underlying health condition such as diabetes, heart disease or hypertension, health officials have said. The seven-day average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus was 4.3% as of Thursday, the same as Wednesday and generally on par with the past week.

MyNewsLA

About the LAPPL: Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents more than 9,200 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.