LAPD Searching For Leads In Suspected Sex Worker Slayings, Including That Of Trans Woman

LAPD homicide detectives continued their search for leads in two fatal shootings this week of women who police say were engaged in sex work. The body of one victim, a transgender woman, was dumped onto a South Los Angeles street from a car that was seen fleeing the area. Police on Thursday said they had not made any arrests in either homicide. The most recent shooting happened early Thursday near the corner of West 70th and Figueroa streets, and the earlier incident occurred late Tuesday on Hoover Street, a block west of the Figueroa Corridor, an area of South L.A. with a long history of sex trade activity. Neither victim has been publicly identified. Police said officers found the first victim sometime after 8 p.m. after responding to reports of a body lying on Hoover, between Slauson Avenue and West 59th Street. Officers found the woman’s broken fingernail and a can of Mace nearby, suggesting a struggle occurred. The Times reviewed surveillance camera video from a sports bar across the street from where the body was found. The footage, which is obscured by the glare of a streetlight, shows a light-colored sedan with its lights off next to the parking lot of a high school. At some point, a figure emerges and appears to drag the body onto the pavement, before getting back into the car and driving off. The body lay in the road for several minutes in view of passing motorists, before the first police squads arrived on scene.

Los Angeles Times

LAPD Searching For ‘Serial Flasher' Accused Of Harassing Woman, Staring Through Her Window

Los Angeles police are searching for a "serial flasher" who's allegedly been harassing people around the city. According to LAPD, the suspect has been involved in a series of indecent exposures in the Mid-City and West L.A. areas. One of the incidents happened on Jan. 28 just after midnight. Police say the suspect started harassing residents in the 800 block of North Croft Avenue. He allegedly exposed himself and made "crude comments" to a woman who was on her way home, then returned several more times to stare through her windows. Another incident happened earlier this month on March 2. Police say he did the same thing in the 5700 block of West 6th Street in the early morning hours, then again in the 1200 block of Armacost Avenue shortly after. "Thankfully, he doesn't appear to be violent, but anyone who's going to do this obviously has an unbalanced thought process and gives us cause for concern," said Det. Brent Hopkins. "When you're at home, you should be able to relax. You shouldn't have this on your mind. You shouldn't have to worry about some creepy guy peering through your window, breathing heavily, and bothering."

ABC 7

Police Offering Reward For Help ID'ing Car Allegedly Used In Hollywood Hit-and-Run

Police Thursday sought the public's help in finding the hit-and-run motorist they believe is responsible for badly injuring a pedestrian in the Hollywood area in January. On Jan. 9, around 7:30 p.m. a black or dark gray Ford F-150 traveling westbound on Santa Monica Blvd. crashed into a pedestrian crossing in a crosswalk at St. Andrews Place, the Los Angeles Police Department said. According to police, the car did not stop, but fled the scene going westbound down Santa Monica Blvd. before turning northbound on Wilton Place. The Los Angeles Fire Department personnel responded to the scene and transported the pedestrian to a local hospital for medical treatment. The victim is a 44-year-old Los Angeles area resident and is currently recovering from severe injuries to their face, torso, and legs. Police have not released any further information on the victim. The investigation is ongoing.

FOX 11

SoCal Man Who Sexually Extorted Teen Girls Gets Almost 2 Decades In Prison

A 21-year-old Thousand Oaks man was sentenced to nearly two decades in state prison for sexually extorting two minors he met online. Connor Joseph Kerns was sentenced Tuesday to 19 years in prison after his Feb. 2 guilty plea to three felony charges: forcible rape, forcible oral copulation on a minor over 14 years old and forcible sexual acts on a minor under 14. The victim, a 16-year-old girl, and Kerns met through Snapchat in July 2021. Kerns and the victim had multiple conversations and Kerns, who “was aware she was underage,” “eventually coerced her into sending him sexually provocative pictures of herself,” the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. “Days later, another Snapchat user with the name Dexter—who in reality was Kerns—contacted the victim, saying he had hacked Kerns’ Snapchat account, and threatened to post the victim’s provocative pictures online unless she agreed to send him nude photos/videos of herself,” the release added. “Scared she would get in trouble, the victim complied.”

KTLA 5

$6.9M In Stolen Bitcoin Mining Computers Recovered In Southern California

Three men have been arrested and are facing charges of receiving stolen property after nearly $7 million in stolen Bitcoin mining computers were recovered, authorities announced Thursday. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, it was detectives from the Commercial Crimes Division’s Cargo Theft Unit who arrested the three suspects at an undisclosed location on March 19. The computers recovered during the arrest, according to a news release from LAPD, are valued at $6.9 million. While anyone can participate in the process of Bitcoin mining, the chances of winning any bitcoin rewards are extremely low without application-specific integrated circuit computers, also simply referred to as ASICs, according to the financial outlet Nerdwallet. “When Bitcoin started more than a decade ago, it was no big deal to mine with your personal computer," Nerdwallet reports. “But as Bitcoin’s value has grown, so has the competition for the rewards, sparking an arms race to deploy ever-faster, more powerful mining equipment. Mining has become a multibillion-dollar industry, and the miners with the best shot at rewards are now those with warehouses full of ASICs.”

Yahoo! News

MS-13 Leader, One Of FBI’s Most Wanted Fugitives, Arrested At California-Mexico Border

A senior leader of the MS-13 street gang who was one of the FBI’s most wanted gang fugitives was quietly arrested earlier this month at the California-Mexico border on narco-terrorism charges, authorities said. Freddy Ivan Jandres-Parada, 48, also known as Lucky De Park View, was taken into custody on March 7 by federal authorities at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego County, sources told The Times. Federal officials did not disclose any details about the arrest. Jandres-Parada’s apprehension, first reported by Court Watch, comes more than three years after his indictment in December 2020 on terrorism offenses relating to the direction of MS-13’s criminal activities in the U.S., El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico for nearly two decades, according to federal court documents. He is a member of MS-13 ’s leadership council, initially known as the Twelve Apostles of the Devil and later renamed Ranfla Nacional, which controls thousands of MS-13 members worldwide, authorities said. He and 13 other MS-13 leaders were indicted in the Eastern District of New York for their roles in dozens of killings, various other acts of violence, intimidation and material support of terrorists in El Salvador and throughout the United States, according to federal court documents.

Los Angeles Times

‘He’s Got My Gun, I’m Shot’: BWC Shows Suspect Taking Florida Officer’s Gun, Shooting Him

The Tallahassee Police Department has released body camera footage of a suspect shooting an officer with the officer’s service weapon. The March 8 incident began when officers ordered Willis Adams, 36, to leave a hotel, according to the video release. Video shows an officer giving Adams a card. “They already refunded you, I made sure they did that,” the officer told Adams. The officer then informed Adams that he needed to remove his belongings from the hotel room and assisted him for more than an hour, according to the release. Adams, shirtless and speaking erratically, continually insisted that “the charges were dropped” and that he would return to the hotel. The officer repeatedly warned Adams that if he returned, he would be arrested. He tells Adams to lock up the car with his possessions and leave the property. About 10 minutes later, one of the initial responding officers spotted Adams trying to enter the property on foot. He approached Adams, who informed the officer he was on the phone with 911 dispatch and dared him to deploy his TASER “for no reason,” video shows. As Adams continued to run away, the officer deployed his TASER, which did not appear to have any effect on Adams. Adams then hit the officer twice with a metal can, according to the release.

PoliceOne

Video: Florida Deputy Saves K-9 Partner After He Jumped Over Bridge Railing 75 Feet Over Water

The K-9 partner of a Florida sheriff’s deputy did something horrifying — and potentially deadly — at a crime scene when it jumped without warning from a high-rise bridge over the Indian River. It happened on the 528 Causeway in Brevard County, and dash camera video shows the deputy ended up in a tug of war as the dog dangled from its leash. Brevard County is east of Orlando, along Florida’s Atlantic Coast. “K-9 Deputy Lauren Donaldson got the scare of her life when her partner, K-9 ‘Zeppelin,’ decided to leap over the bridge’s guard rail and off the bridge that is approximately 75 feet above the surface of the water,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a March 21 Facebook post. “Thankfully, Lauren responded quickly to ‘Zeppelin’s’ actions by tightly holding on to his lead, immediately bracing her feet against the railing, and then somehow, reaching over the guard rail and pulling ‘Zeppelin’ back onto the bridge!” It happened as the partners were walking away from a felony arrest, and it appears the dog realized its mistake at the last second. Close inspection of the video shows Zeppelin desperately tried grabbing the top of the concrete wall before vanishing.

Charlotte Observer

City Announces $8 Million Project To Make Hollywood Boulevard Safer

An $8 million project aims to make Hollywood Boulevard safer for bicyclists and pedestrians while increasing road efficiency. "We're giving a makeover to Hollywood Boulevard," Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, who represents the district, said. The project, dubbed "Access to Hollywood," hopes to make the home of the iconic Walk of Fame an easier place for locals and tourists to traverse. It will help them get to places like East Hollywood and Thai Town safer and faster. "People every day are literally dying on our streets, which was proven by last year's statistics that more people died from traffic collisions than homicides," Soto-Martinez said. The new street design will include improvements, such as expanded sidewalks, crosswalks, bus lanes, and bike lanes. The bike lanes will be the first parking-protected lanes in Soto-Martinez's district. They will run from La Brea Avenue near West Hollywood to Fountain Avenue in Silver Lake. Bus lanes will be placed from Orange Drive to Gower Street, and a center turn lane will also be introduced along the majority of the stretch as part of the revitalization project. 

CBS 2

LA City Council To Weigh In On Proposed Dodgers Gondola Project

A proposed gondola project that would provide access to Dodger Stadium is set to come before the Los Angeles City Council Friday, as members will consider a motion seeking to halt approvals until further studies can be conducted on its potential impacts. The hotly debated gondola, known as the Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit Project, has drawn opposition from some people living near the proposed project. Opponents contend the project will exacerbate gentrification, create privacy issues, and negatively impact their community with construction, as well as increase noise and traffic. There are also environmental concerns with some advocates saying the project will result in the loss of green space, among other issues. However, the project has garnered strong support from Dodger fans, some businesses and residents. The project is billed as the "solution" to reduce traffic congestion and emissions with the reduction of 3,000 cars of the road on game days. Supporters also believe the project could revitalize Chinatown and bring in a "much-needed" economic boom.

FOX 11

City Council To Consider New Labor Contract With LAX Peace Officers

The Los Angeles City Council Friday will consider approving a new labor contract for LAX peace officers. Council members will consider labor contracts for workers represented by the Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers Association, the Los Angeles Airport Police Supervisors Association, Los Angeles Municipal Police Officers Representation Unit and Airport Peace Officers Representation Unit. The new labor contract is set to cover 2022-26. In September 2023, the LAAPOA announced its members approved a tentative labor contract with the city. According to the union, the contract ended in June 2022, with the last raise in 2021. The union reported the new deal would address overall parity with salaries and benefits of the contract with the union representing L.A. Police Department officers. LAAPOA noted the difference in the pay increase will not impact the city's general fund or city tax payers. The association represents rank-and-file airport police officers from the ranks of lieutenant and below. Funds that pay LAX officers' salaries and benefits are from airport revenues -- no general tax funds from the city are used.

Westside Current

About the LAPPL: Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents more than 8,900 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.