Law Enforcement News

Man Found Fatally Wounded In South Los Angeles
A man was found mortally wounded in the Vermont Square area of Los Angeles, authorities said Monday. Officers responded at 11:23 p.m. Sunday to a report of a shooting at 48th and Hoover streets, according to a desk officer at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Operations Center. Paramedics took the man to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the officer said. No suspect information was available.
MyNewsLA.com

Man Shoots, Kills Valley Glen Neighbor Over Loud Music, Police Say
A 66-year-old man shot his neighbor to death early Saturday morning in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Valley Glen because his music was too loud, authorities said. Onik Derhovansian has been arrested on suspicion of murder in the slaying of 35-year-old Eduard Avetisyan. According to the LAPD, the shooting occurred at 2:40 a.m. Saturday at an apartment complex in the 6800 block of Coldwater Canyon Avenue. The victim lived above Derhovansian and the two men had been in a “heated” dispute over loud music, police reported in a news release. Derhovansian told Avetisyan to come down to his apartment, and when Avetisyan did, Derhovansian shot him several times, police said. Officers arrived to find Avetisyan dead at the scene. Derhovansian remained on scene and was arrested. The exact details of the dispute which lead up to the killing were unclear.
CBS 2

Interview With LAPD's Chief Michel Moore On Recruitment Efforts And Issues Facing The Department
LAPD Chief Michel Moore discusses how the department’s current recruitment process differs from years passed.
NBC 4 Video

Public’s Help Sought To ID Hit-and-Run Driver In ‘Speed Contest’ That Resulted In Death Of 59-Year-Old Pedestrian
Police are asking for the public’s help to find the driver of a Kia who fatally struck a pedestrian while allegedly racing at least two other cars in the Vermont Vista neighborhood of South Los Angeles on Sunday. The crash occurred around 8:25 a.m. when the driver of a 2021 dark gray Kia k5 was “engaged in a speed contest” with at least two other vehicles, the LAPD said in a news release. Police said the racing vehicles were traveling southbound on Figueroa Street at 89th Street when the driver of the Kia collided with a 59-year-old man who was walking eastbound in an unmarked crosswalk. The driver of the Kia k5 is accused of fleeing the scene without stopping to help the pedestrian. The drivers of the other two racing vehicles also fled the scene, police said. The man, whose name was not released pending notification to his family, was taken to Harbor UCLA Medical Center where he later died from his injuries. Anyone with any information is encouraged to contact Detective Keith Gonzales or Officer Carol Mitchell of the South Traffic Division at 323-421-2500.
KTLA 5

LAPD Chief Says Weight Miscalculation Likely Led To Massive Fireworks Blast in South LA
Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore issued an apology Monday for a fireworks explosion in a South L.A. neighborhood last month which injured 17 people and damaged several homes. He also revealed that bomb squad technicians likely miscalculated the weight of the explosives that were placed in the truck. Moore gave the apology Monday morning outside LAPD headquarters at a news conference held with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. “I want to personally express my apologies to every resident, business operator and customer that was traumatically impacted by this incident,” Moore said. The botched explosion occurred on the night of June 30 at East 27th and San Pedro streets. The LAPD had discovered about 32,000 pounds of illegal fireworks at a nearby home and arrested a 27-year-old man who lived there. Moore said the illegal fireworks included about 200 M-80 style explosives. Ten pounds of the illegal fireworks – which were deemed too dangerous to travel with — were placed in a specialized armored truck designed for controlled detonations. However, what was supposed to be a controlled detonation instead turned into a massive explosion. Ten LAPD officers, one ATF officer and six civilians were hurt.
CBS 2

Police Chase Suspect Takes Smoke Break Before Surrendering To LAPD
A chase suspect is in custody after leading police on a chase and a bizarre standoff in the Exposition Park area Monday night. The Los Angeles Police Department was chasing the suspect driver across Los Angeles before the pickup truck stopped at an intersection near USC. After a brief standoff, the driver was once again on the move, extending the police chase. The suspect eventually stopped the pickup truck for good in the Exposition Park area. But before surrendering himself to police, he took a quick smoke break with the driver's side door open. The pickup truck driver was initially wanted for robbery. Officials did not specify what robbery he was being connected to.
FOX 11

Van Nuys Man Gets 8 Months In Prison For Counterfeiting Driver’s Licenses, Passports And Other Documents
A San Fernando Valley man was sentenced Monday to eight months in federal prison for participating in a document-trafficking ring that created and sold counterfeit United States passport cards, Social Security cards, driver’s licenses and other documents. Nestor Perez, 32, of Van Nuys, pleaded guilty in April to one count each of conspiracy to produce, transfer and possess false identification documents, and producing false identification documents. Two co-defendants were sentenced last week in the case.Carlos A. Hernandez, 44, of Granada Hills, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison and Miguel J. Guerrero, 23, of Van Nuys, was sentenced to a year and eight months behind bars, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The three men admitted their roles in the five-year scheme in which they worked to produce false identification documents that appeared to have been issued by the United States government, and driver’s licenses purporting to be from multiple states, including California, Wyoming and Pennsylvania, according to prosecutors.
Los Angeles Daily News

Family Asks For Help In Finding Missing 24-Year-Old With Depression
The family of Jack Stein, a 24-year-old man from Minnesota, was asking for the public's help in finding him after he went missing on July 13 at about 7:45 p.m. Stein, who suffers from depression and bipolar disorder, was last seen on the 3700 block of Kanan Rd., in Agoura Hills. Stein was described by the authorities as a “male Caucasian, 6’03”, and 180 lbs with blue eyes and strawberry-blonde hair.” He was last seen wearing a navy blue hooded sweatshirt with the words “Tommy Hilfiger” down the arm, black shorts, and a gray t-shirt. According to the LA Sheriff's Department, he also has a sparrow bird tattoo on the right upper thigh and circle tattoos on his chest. Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Homicide Missing Person Unit, Detective S. Rincon at (323) 890-5500.
NBC 4

Bodies Found In Wrecked Car In Angeles National Forest Identified As Missing Teenage Couple
Two bodies found earlier this month in the wreckage of an SUV that plunged hundreds of feet off a cliff in the Angeles National Forest have been identified as a missing teenage couple, officials say. A coroner's report identified the bodies as those of Ethan Manzano and Sophie Rayanne Edwards, both 19. The crash site is about 20 miles from where the young couple was last seen on July 1. Sheriff's officials said the vehicle was spotted at about 5:20 p.m. on July 6 near mile marker 72 of the Angeles Crest Highway, near Dawson Saddle Trail. Chad Keel, a Wrightwood resident who was helping search for the missing couple, told reporters he was operating the drone that spotted the wreckage and volunteers contacted the sheriff's department. The couple were in a silver 2007 Isuzu Ascender driven by Manzano, sheriff's Deputy Shawn Du Busky said. Some of the couple's belongings were also spotted near the crashed vehicle, which was found about 1,300 to 1,500 feet below the roadway, partially obscured by brush.
ABC 7

29 Women Say San Pedro Suspect In Kristin Smart’s Death Abused Them
More than two dozen women described disturbing and dangerous encounters — including sexual assaults while they were semi-conscious and felt drugged — with the man charged with killing missing California college student Kristin Smart. Incidents with Paul Flores ranged from creepy stalking to unwanted touching to aggressive sexual behavior to, more recently, being drugged and raped after meeting him at bars, according to a document unsealed Wednesday in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court. Flores was referred to as “Chester the molester” and “psycho Paul,” former fellow college students said. The summary of the case by Deputy District Attorney Christopher Peuvrelle was part of a failed effort to add two rape counts to the criminal complaint charging Paul Flores, 44, with murder in Smart’s death. His father, Ruben Flores, is charged as an accessory after murder over allegedly helping dispose of her body. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Los Angeles Daily News

Chicago Man, Jerome Terry Jr., Pleads Guilty In LA Sex Trafficking Scheme
A Chicago man pleaded guilty on Monday to federal sex trafficking that led to Los Angeles. 45-year-old Jerome Terry Jr. admitted to luring young women to L.A. and elsewhere, saying that they would be able to promote their modeling careers but instead making them victims of sex trafficking. The alleged incidents happened around 2014. Terry was operating under the purported modeling management company CanadianGirlzRock Inc. to lure the women. He is charged with one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Terry has been in federal custody since his extradition from Canada in 2019. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 25 in Los Angeles federal court. If convicted as charged, he faces between seven and 15 years in prison.
CBS 2

TikTok Tips Help Catch Compton Murder Suspect In Mexico Resort Town
Susana Salas is broken. Her daughter, 19-year old Daisy De La O, was stabbed to death outside the family's Compton apartment in February. Salas says Daisy had broken up with her ex-boyfriend, 25-year old Victor Sosa, about a month before her murder, at least in part due to some alleged physical abuse. Salas says Sosa texted Daisy that February night and convinced her to come outside. "I'll be back, OK, I won't take long, I promise," Salas remembers Daisy saying. "Those were her last words my baby girl told me. She left, she never came back." The next day Salas got a call from homicide detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. She rushed home. Daisy's body was still at the scene. Victor Sosa was the immediate suspect, but he was in the wind. LASD detectives tracked every lead. Meanwhile, friends of Daisy launched their own campaign to find Sosa on TikTok and Instagram. The tip that cracked the case? Someone recognized Sosa from the friends' social media campaign and spotted him working at the Rosarito bar and nightclub Papas & Beer. Sosa was arrested on July 2 and was returned to Los Angeles to face charges. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.