LAPD receives $2.1 million donation to expand drone program, creates website to track use
Law Enforcement News
LAPD receives $2.1 million donation to expand drone program, creates website to track use
The Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners unanimously approved a $2.1 million donation to expand the Los Angeles Police Department's "Drone as First Responder" pilot program. The donation, which was from the LA Police Foundation, and a $1.8 million retail theft grant will cover a three-year contract with Skydio Inc. for equipment, warranty coverage and service, according to Assistant Chief Emada Tingirides. She added that the funding would be used to purchase two more drones and to install docking stations throughout the city. In total, the department proposed installing 23 drone docking stations at eight divisions, the Palisades Village, the Grove, Vineyards, Porter Ranch and Avenue of the Stars. Tingirides leads the Office of Operations, which oversees the drone initiative. Her team launched the program in June 2025, which uses drones to scout locations as officers respond to the scene. The department said it provides real-time information to assess the situation and the surrounding area before they arrive. Critics have called the program an expansion of the LAPD's surveillance of regular people and urged against its implementation. LAPD has created a website that logs every time a drone is used for the program and provides its flight path. The LA City Council will need to approve the donation before the department formally accepts it.
Truck crashes into LAPD vehicle in Hollywood
An LAPD cruiser was struck by a truck in Hollywood as the officers were responding to a call overnight. The crash happened around 11 p.m. Monday at the intersection of Wilton Place and Santa Monica Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The lights and sirens on the patrol car were on at the time. No one was seriously hurt, but two officers were taken to the hospital to be checked out. Nobody was taken into custody. Additional details about the crash were not available.
Man Allegedly Shoots Himself After Crash in El Sereno
A man accidentally fatally shot himself after a traffic collision in El Sereno, the Los Angeles Police Department said Wednesday. Officers from the LAPD’s Hollenbeck Division responded to a report of a shooting at 8:50 p.m. Tuesday following a vehicle collision with another vehicle at the intersection of Pueblo Avenue and Navarro Street, LAPD Officer Norma Eisenmann told City News Service. Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to the scene, where they pronounced the victim dead. The shooting is under investigation.
Hollywood fire that killed 2 sisters was caused by arson, is connected to nearby fires, LAPD says
A deadly house fire that killed two sisters in their Hollywood home last Wednesday is now being investigated as a crime. At a police commission meeting on Tuesday morning, Los Angeles police tied the fire to others that burned in the same area. "The fire was determined to be arson," officials said at the police commission meeting. "Further investigation revealed that multiple additional fires were reported in close proximity during the same early morning time period, as well as a similar fire reported in the area in late January." According to a GoFundMe created to help pay for funeral services and fire damage, the Feb. 4 blaze on North Vista Del Mar Avenue claimed the lives of two sisters -- 76-year-old Chelo and 82-year-old Yola. Family members told Eyewitness News they've lived in the home since the 1970s. "I mean, it's one thing having your property destroyed, but then it's murder," said Anna, a woman who owns the property next door to the home that burned. "Basically, you murdered those two women."
Man comes down from utility pole after staying up there for hours in Echo Park
A man was spotted perched on top of a utility pole in Echo Park Tuesday morning, refusing to come down for hours before finally climbing down and being taken into custody. Police were alerted about 3:15 a.m. that a man had climbed a pole in the 1400 block of Sunset Boulevard near the Vin Scully entrance of Dodger Stadium, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. He was seen climbing down a bit after spending over an hour at the top. Police continue to try and convince the man to come down. A stretch of Sunset Boulevard was closed as officers tried to get the man to climb down. He appeared to be dangerously close to exposed wires and power poles in neighborhoods are commonly 35-45 feet tall. The situation came to an end around 7:25 a.m. when the man climbed down from the wooden pole and was handcuffed.
New charges filed against LA soccer coach accused of teen's murder
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office filed more charges against a youth soccer coach accused of killing a 13-year-old boy. Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino, 43, faces nine new charges, all related to child sexual abuse that happened between September 2022 and July 2023. In 2025, prosecutors charged him with assaulting a 16-year-old boy and with murder after he allegedly killed one of his players, 13-year-old Oscar Omar Hernandez. "These cases are tragic, and the Hernandez family, you have our deepest sympathy for a loss that words cannot even begin to describe," LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in April 2025. Garcia-Aquino allegedly sexually abused Hernandez and killed him in March 2025. Hernandez's family said Garcia-Aquino owned the Huracan Valley Boys Soccer Club and invited the teenage boy to his home in Lancaster. "His soccer coach made soccer jerseys," older sister Alejandra Hernandez said in Spanish. "He had taken other soccer teammates to help him, and that's why my brother went." The teen never returned home. Investigators located his body near a Ventura County beach a few days after his family reported him missing. The Ventura County Medical Examiner classified Hernandez's death as a homicide, caused by acute ethanol intoxication.
She was found nude in a ditch. L.A. prosecutors say they’ve solved tragic 30-year mystery
A decades-old L.A. County homicide case has been cracked open after DNA evidence linked a 63-year-old man to the fatal stabbing of a young woman found in a drainage ditch. Prosecutors say Brian Walton of Los Angeles was a stranger to Claudia Guevara, but he’s accused of killing the woman, then 23. On Feb. 21, 1996, Guevara’s nude body was found in a ditch next to Encanto Parkway in Azusa. She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed in the neck. Her brother, whom she was living with in Temple City, had reported her missing the day before her remains were found. She was last seen by two co-workers who dropped her off at a bus stop in El Monte. “The victim’s family has waited for an agonizing 30 years to get that call to let them know their loved one’s killer had been found and charged,” said Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman in a statement. “While this was classified as a cold case, investigators and prosecutors never stopped in their relentless pursuit of justice, reaffirming our commitment to holding people accountable for the crimes they are accused of committing.” Walton is charged with one count of murder with the special circumstance allegations of murder during the commission of a rape and murder during the commission of sodomy. He was arraigned Tuesday at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles.
BWC: Man runs at Arizona officers with machete before fatal OIS
A man armed with a machete was fatally shot by a Coolidge police officer during a confrontation outside the city’s police station, AZ Family reported. The Feb. 5 incident began when an officer responded to a domestic disturbance in front of the station. Video shows an officer speaking to a woman inside a vehicle when a man appears walking toward the vehicle, wielding a machete. The man swung the blade around and hit it on the ground as he began to run toward the officers. Officers repeatedly instructed the man to drop the weapon, but he continued to charge at them. At least one officer fired, striking the suspect. He died from his injuries, according to the report. Surveillance footage released along with the body camera video shows the man leaving his house with the machete. News4Tucson reported that the man called a family member to say goodbye before driving to the scene. He was reportedly in the process of divorcing the woman in the vehicle.
Public Safety News
Man rescued from LA river in Elysian Valley
A man was rescued from the Los Angeles River overnight Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The 56-year-old man was seen on an “island” out of the water in the LA River near the 2200 block of N. Duvall Street shortly before 2 a.m., LAFD said. The water in the river has a flow rate of 30 mph and a depth of four feet. Firefighters hoisted the man out of the water and transported him to a local hospital for symptoms of hypothermia.
Local Government News
L.A. City Council approves ballot measure to boost hotel tax during Olympics
Los Angeles leaders, mired in budget woes, see a way to boost city tax revenue thanks to an Olympic-sized rush of tourism. The City Council has approved a June ballot measure that would raise the hotel tax. The 2028 Olympic Games create an opportunity, Councilmember Tim McOsker said, “to add some jet fuel to our visitor-serving community.” The ballot measure advanced on Tuesday suggests a temporary 2% increase to the city’s 14% transient occupancy tax — often called a bed or hotel tax — dropping to a permanent post-Games 1% increase starting in 2029. “Two [percent] is a pretty significant jump, but it’s a jump that’s justified by the Olympics,” McOsker said. The temporary 2% increase would yield $44 million per fiscal year in tax revenue, and the 1% increase would bring in half that after 2028, according to City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo. The money would be used for general city services such as emergency services, parks and sidewalk repairs, according to a draft ballot measure. The proposal comes after a push to increase the hotel worker minimum wage to $30 over time and ahead of a June ballot that could potentially leave voters tax fatigued amid the city’s budget struggles.
