Man Arrested After Fatal Stabbing Of Metro Passenger Near Universal City Station

A man was arrested Monday in the death of a woman who was fatally stabbed in the throat on a Metro train, Los Angeles police said. The passenger, a woman in her 50s, was found stabbed in the throat at the Universal City station shortly after 5 a.m. Monday, according to Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Drake Madison. The station serves the B Line (formerly Red Line) trains that run from Union Station to North Hollywood. Police said 45-year-old Elliot Tramel Nowden of Los Angeles attacked the woman while she was on the train. When the train reached the Universal City station, she exited onto the platform. The Los Angeles Fire Department received a call at 4:59 a.m. from a passerby who reported seeing a “person down,” department spokesperson Brian Humphrey said. As firefighters were on their way, dispatchers received several other calls from people who said they believed the victim was bleeding, but none of the callers was willing to get close enough to confirm anything about her condition, Humphrey said. The woman was taken to a hospital, where she died from her injuries, Madison said. In a statement, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the woman was stabbed as she was getting off the train and security personnel rendered aid until paramedics arrived. “Metro extends its condolences to her family and friends,” the statement said.

Los Angeles Times

1 Taken Into Custody After Reportedly Threatening Person With Gun

A person was taken into custody Monday in Marina Del Rey after reportedly threatening someone with a gun, the Los Angeles Police Department said. Just before 6 p.m. Monday, officers were sent to the 100 block of Via Marina after a 911 caller said a person threatened them with a gun, according to the LAPD. Police arrived, located one suspect, and took them into custody, according to the department. The incident was under further investigation, police said. 

Westside Current

2 Women Randomly Attacked On Ventura Boulevard In Sherman Oaks

Authorities are investigating after two women were randomly attacked in separate incidents Thursday in Sherman Oaks. Both victims were assaulted by the suspect in the same area of Ventura Boulevard, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson confirmed to KTLA. The first incident occurred around 9 a.m. on April 18 as the woman was exiting her car in a parking lot. The victim — who does not want to be identified for safety reasons — says she was forced to the ground by the man after she got out of her vehicle. “He threw me from behind, and I rolled a few times,” she told KTLA 5’s Rachel Menitoff. “I called the police and was so upset that nothing was done.” The second incident occurred around 2:30 p.m. on Ventura Boulevard near Beverly Glen Boulevard. Surveillance video from the area shows a man dressed in black randomly assaulting the woman, but she was able to get away and managed to take some pictures of her attacker. “I just kind of kept on my way going,” said the second victim, who also preferred to remain anonymous. “As I veered a little to the right to pass him, he just clobbered me.”

KTLA 5

Violent Crash Leaves 3 Hospitalized In Van Nuys

Three people were hospitalized after a violent crash in the front yard of a Van Nuys home late Friday evening. Police were called to the scene, located in the 15300 block of Saticoy Street near Sepulveda Boulevard, at around 10:35 p.m, according to Los Angeles Police Department. Video from the scene shows the moments that the car hurtles down the road before colliding with the front seating area of a Subway restaurant before slamming into multiple cars parked on the side of a road and finally the front yard of a home in the area. Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics say that the car burst into flames after the crash, which they were able to quickly extinguish. Three people were hospitalized with serious injuries, firefighters said. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. 

CBS 2

String Of Vehicle Vandalisms Hits Playa Del Rey, Police Investigating

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating a spree of vehicle vandalism in Playa del Rey after at least 15 vehicles were reported damaged early Sunday morning. The incident occurred on the 100 block of Sundridge Drive, where vehicle windows were smashed in what police are describing as a burglary of motor vehicles. According to local residents, this is not the first time the neighborhood has been targeted. An additional five break-ins were reported last Friday in the same area, with similar damage on the vehicles involved. The repeated incidents have raised concerns among the community. No suspects have been identified, and the LAPD is urging anyone with information about the vandalism or the earlier incidents to come forward to assist with the ongoing investigation.

Westside Current

Reseda Ex-Con With Extremist Ties Gets 57 Months In Prison For Possession Of Machine Guns, Ammo

An ex-con from Reseda who was associated with a racially motivated violent extremist group was sentenced Friday to 57 months in federal prison for being a convicted felon in possession of ammunition and possessing machine-gun conversion devices that allow semi-automatic firearms to function as machine guns. Ryan Scott Bradford, 35, pleaded guilty in January in downtown Los Angeles to single federal counts of felon in possession of ammunition and possession of machine guns. FBI, federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents and Los Angeles police officers recovered 116 rounds of ammunition, firearm parts and two 3D printers -- one of which had swastikas painted on it -- and temporarily shut down streets in the area following the discovery of an apparent improvised explosive device during a search on July 27 at Bradford's home, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The warrant was served in the vicinity of White Oak Avenue and Saticoy Street. In sentencing papers filed in Los Angeles federal court, prosecutors argued that Bradford "has been involved in manufacturing guns for years," and that the number of guns he "was manufacturing was not insubstantial and he was working to arm himself as well as others."

ABC 7

LA County Sheriff's Deputy Dies Months After Being Left Critically Injured In Training Accident

A Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy has died six months after an apparent explosion and fire on a training range at the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic. Alfredo "Freddy" Flores was left severely injured following the incident on Oct. 10, 2023, and was among two sheriff's deputies that were taken to a hospital in Valencia after equipment they were using malfunctioned, resulting in a massive fire and explosion, according to Joe A. Nunez, an attorney for the Flores family. Both, veterans of law enforcement, had been said to be in critical but stable condition immediately after the accident. Two others suffered minor injuries. Nunez, said that Flores died Saturday after he fought for his life after sustaining severe injuries in the line of duty. "It is with heavy hearts and profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Alfredo "Freddy" Flores who valiantly fought for his life after sustaining severe injuries in the line of duty. Freddy was an amazing and loving husband, father, son, and brother," said a statement issued by Nunez on Sunday. 

CBS 2

Southern California Man Gets 3 Years For Child Pornography Crimes

A registered sex offender who has been in custody for two years has been sentenced to three years and four months in state prison for the distribution of child sexual material, authorities announced earlier this month. A former Simi Valley resident, 66-year-old Ronald Kenneth Rosen pleaded guilty in March this year to a felony count of possession or control of child pornography while being a registered sex offender and two felony child pornography distribution counts. “Rosen also admitted to three special allegations, including that he had a large quantity of [child pornography] in his possession,” according to a news release from the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office. A tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in July 2021 led to an investigation of the 66-year-old, who had been arrested and convicted of similar offenses in 1997 and was ordered to register as a sex offender for life. Investigators found that he had been distributing child pornography going as far back as 2006, the release noted. Authorities say that between 2006 and 2021, the sex offender traded the illicit materials with others in an organized email group.  

KTLA 5

Chicago Police Officer Fatally Shot Overnight While Heading Home From Work

A 30-year-old Chicago police officer was shot and killed overnight on the city’s southwest side while heading home from work, police said Sunday. Superintendent Larry Snelling told reporters the officer was going home and still in uniform, but wearing something on top of the uniform to cover it as is customary for off-duty officers. The officer was shot multiple times early Sunday and pronounced dead at a Chicago hospital, Snelling said. The officer was identified as Luis M. Huesca by Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office. Police did not offer a motive. The officer’s vehicle was taken, but police would not confirm whether the shooting was part of a carjacking, citing a preliminary investigation. Police did not have a suspect in custody. “The officer was the victim of the type of crime that he was working against to keep people safe in this city,” Snelling said. “Another sad day for the Chicago Police Department.” In a statement, police said officers responded to a gunshot detection alert just before 3 a.m. on the city’s southwest side and found the off-duty officer outside with gunshot wounds. Huesca was a six-year veteran of the department and just two days shy of his 31st birthday.

Associated Press

L.A.’s Deadly Roads Are Seeing A Troubling Trend Continue Into 2024

Los Angeles saw a record number of traffic fatalities in 2023, and 2024 is off to a troubling start, according to data compiled by Crosstown L.A. Based on publicly available police reports, the nonprofit news outlet found there were 343 traffic deaths in 2023, the third consecutive year of increases, and 77 deaths through the first three months of 2024. The data includes fatal vehicle collisions and pedestrians. While this year’s pace is slightly behind last year, it is still substantially higher than in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic. Hit-and-run deaths in L.A. have nearly doubled in recent years, the data shows, from 56 in 2020 to 108 in 2023. Through April 6, there have been 31 fatal hit-and-runs in the city. “Los Angeles is not alone, as traffic deaths have increased in other cities and states,” Crosstown L.A. notes. “The rise has been attributed to multiple factors, including people driving larger, heavier vehicles, which inflict greater damage, particularly when a pedestrian is struck … Additionally, there have been more deaths of people not wearing seatbelts.”

KTLA 5

LAFD Rescues Female Hiker From Hollywood Hills

Firefighters hoisted into a relief helicopter a woman who suffered a lower body injury while hiking in a remote area of the Hollywood Hills Sunday. The 911 call was received at 8:36 a.m. Sunday, according to spokeswoman Lyndsey Lantz of the Los Angeles Fire Department. The woman was rescued near the Hollywood sign. The severity of her injury was not disclosed.

MyNewsLA

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.