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Law Enforcement News

Nurse In Deadly Windsor Hills Crash Could Be Charged As Soon As Monday
Charges could be filed as early as Monday against a registered nurse from Houston who is suspected of speeding a Mercedes through a Windsor Hills intersection, sparking a fiery crash that killed six people — including an infant and a pregnant woman. Nicole Lorraine Linton, 37, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. She’s hospitalized with moderate injuries at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, according to the California Highway Patrol. District Attorney George Gascon said Friday that his office would be “working with law enforcement throughout the weekend,” and the investigation could be presented to his office for consideration of charges “as early as Monday.” “Preliminary investigation indicates Nicole Lorraine Linton was driving a dark-colored Mercedes, traveling southbound on La Brea Avenue at a high rate of speed,” a CHP statement said. “While driving the Mercedes, Linton proceeded through a red light and collided into multiple vehicles traveling eastbound and westbound on Slauson Avenue. As a result of this collision, multiple parties were ejected and two vehicles were fully engulfed in flames. Following the collision, involved parties were transported to (Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center) by ambulance and six individuals were declared deceased on scene,” the CHP reported.
MyNewsLA.com

Woman Dies After Being Stabbed In Canoga Park; Victim's Vehicle Found, Suspect At Large
A woman died after being stabbed early Sunday morning in Canoga Park, and authorities were investigating whether the incident occurred during a possible carjacking attempt. Officers responded shortly before 5:30 a.m. to a report of a stabbing near the intersection of Bassett Street and Canoga Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Investigators learned that an altercation took place between the victim and the suspect, leading to the stabbing, an LAPD spokesperson said. Initial reports of an attempted carjacking were not immediately confirmed. The woman, identified only as being in her 40s, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her vehicle, a green Ford, was found at the location, which was cordoned off with yellow tape outside a mortuary. The assailant fled in a white minivan, police said. Detailed descriptions of the vehicle and the person being sought were not available. News video from the scene showed a canopy that was set up over the woman's body. Nearly a dozen evidence markers were seen on the sidewalk as homicide detectives conducted their investigation.
ABC 7

Pedestrian Killed On Lincoln Blvd After Walking In And Out Of Traffic
A pedestrian was fatally struck by a vehicle near the corner of Venice Blvd and Lincoln Blvd early this morning. The Los Angeles Police Dept confirmed that a 911 call from an unknown caller was made at 6:45 a.m. detailing the incident. The Los Angeles Fire Department was first to arrive on the scene followed by traffic control. A witness told the Westside Current that a person was weaving in and out of traffic before being hit. The person said one vehicle missed the pedestrian, but a car directly behind it struck the pedestrian. A white tent was set up where the pedestrian was killed with the Los Angeles Coroner's office arriving a few hours later to retrieve the unidentified body.
westSide Current

Charges Filed Against Man Accused Of Assaulting Woman In Hollywood Parking Garage
A Lancaster man is facing assault charges after violently attacking a woman in a Hollywood parking garage. The incident was caught on cellphone video, helping officials in their investigation. Dammion Adkins, 33, was arrested on Wednesday and was being held without bail, police said. According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Adkin is facing one felony count each of assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury and battery with serious bodily injury. Video shared with FOX 11 shows the woman lying on the ground unconscious, then kicked in the head by the suspect. In the video it appears three to four other women try to help move her after she was kicked. Another group of people were recording the video. One person can be heard saying, "it was her birthday too," in the background. "Fortunately, this incident was caught on video, providing crucial evidence that led to the arrest and prosecution of this suspect," District Attorney George Gascón said. "Violence not only harms individual victims but also disrupts our entire community’s sense of safety."
FOX 11

Longtime South LA Gang Leader Sentenced To 35 Years In Prison
A longtime senior leader of a South LA-based street gang was sentenced Friday to 35 years in federal prison for his conviction of conspiring to commit racketeering through various criminal acts including murder, extorting local businesses and the distribution of narcotics. Paul Gary Wallace, 56, of South LA, was found guilty April 18 of one count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Wallace was sentenced by U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr. in LA federal court. According to evidence presented at his 11-day trial, Wallace was a member of the East Coast Crips gang for more than 30 years and rose to become the leader and most influential member of a series of the gang's cliques responsible for control over territory in South LA. Wallace maintained his control over the gang through violence and intimidation. He murdered and conspired to commit murder to enhance the gang's reputation, to enhance his status within the gang, to retaliate against rivals, and to enforce discipline within the gang, according to evidence presented during the trial. As a gang leader, Wallace's other criminal conduct included selling drugs in gang territory, extorting local businesses, presiding over robberies, and engaging in other acts of violence, including intimidation, assaults and shootings against rivals.
NBC 4

Police Investigating Robbery On Lincoln
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating a robbery that took place in a parking lot this morning. Police say they got a call that a person was robbed in a parking lot on the corner of Lincoln Blvd and Vernon Ave around 11:00 a.m.. The 911 caller told police that a person carrying a wooden stick took unknown items from the victim. The suspect took off on foot going westbound on Lincoln.
WestSide Current

Police Continue Search For Armored-Truck Robbers At Hustler Casino In Gardena
Police continued their search Friday for the suspected shooters in an armed robbery of an armored cash-transit truck that left two security guards injured outside the Hustler Casino in Gardena. The suspects — armed with a rifle and handguns — engaged in a shootout with the two guards in the parking lot of the casino Thursday morning. One guard was struck in the leg, and the other endured minor injuries. Both were expected to survive. An unknown amount of cash was taken from the truck that was making a delivery to the casino, according to Gardena police Lt. Christopher Cuff. “Our investigators have been combing through footage from around the area to identify the suspects,” Cuff said Friday. Anyone with information on the robbery should contact Detective Ryan Sproles at 310-217-9618 or Detective Christopher Sanderson at 310-217-9625.
La Daily News

How Police Say They Tied 2 Men To A Deadly Southern California 7-Eleven Robbery Spree
Faced with more than a dozen robberies across Southern California that left three people dead, the glimpse of a Black BMW caught on surveillance footage gave police the break they needed to identify two men suspected of carrying out the increasingly violent spree. Newly filed documents in Orange County Superior Court reveal details about the surveillance of the pair believed to have been involved in a string of July robberies, killings and attempted killings at 7-Eleven, Subway and donut stores in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Malik Patt, 20, and Jason Payne, 44, are facing robbery charges related to the crimes, with Patt also charged with special circumstances murder for the killings of a clerk, a bystander and a homeless man. The court filing, attached to a search warrant, shows that investigators actually identified 16 robberies in the lead-up to their arrest. With the ongoing spree “getting more violent during the commission of each crime,” it was the flash of a dark vehicle near one of the robberies — followed by a license plate number and cell phone records — that led police to Patt and Payne, according to a sworn statement written by an officer on a violent crime task force.
LA Daily News

Slain Indiana Officer, 24, Remembered As Focused On Police Work
A young Indiana police officer who was killed during an early morning traffic stop was remembered Saturday as a man focused on a career in law enforcement. Noah Shahnavaz, 24, an officer with the Elwood Police Department 50 miles northeast of Indianapolis, was shot in the head just after 2 a.m. July 31, before he could even get out of his patrol car. “Noah destroyed any barriers that got in his way," his mother, Laurie Shahnavaz, said in her eulogy. "He was singularly focused on becoming a police officer and finally achieved that dream in 2021.” Dozens of law enforcement officers were among the more than 1,300 people who attended the officer's funeral at ITOWN Church in the officer's suburban Indianapolis hometown of Fishers, with some going to an overflow room, WRTV-TV reported. Following the funeral, a procession carried Shahnavaz's body past the Elwood Police Department headquarters en route to the Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis. Shahnavaz served in the U.S. Army for five years and was an Elwood police officer for 11 months before his slaying. State police arrested the accused gunman, Carl Boards II of Anderson, about 30 minutes after the killing. He has been charged with murder, resisting law enforcement and unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon.
Associated Press

Public Safety News

LA Man Among 3 Victims Killed In D.C. Lightning Strike
One of the victims killed by a lightning strike near the White House was from Los Angeles. The victim was 29-year-old Brooks A. Lambertson, who was there on business. Lambertson worked for City National Bank and even worked for the Clippers at one point in time. He was being remembered for his kindness and generosity. The lightning storm hit Thursday, killing three people, including a couple from Wisconsin. A 28-year-old woman from Newbury Park was also struck by lightning but did survive, according to the Ventura County Star. Her family told the publication that she is in stable condition in a D.C. area hospital.
CBS 2

L.A. County Reports 12th Pediatric COVID Death. How To Keep Kids Safe As School Begins
As summer vacation draws to a close, health officials are urging parents to get their children vaccinated against COVID-19, with some warning that the start of the school year could bring an increase in cases. Infections and hospitalizations are declining after a prolonged summer wave, but that progress could be challenged as schools reopen. This will be the first time during the pandemic that the traditional school year will begin in California without a statewide school mask mandate in place, and vaccination rates — though robust for the general public — are low among children. While COVID-19 deaths are rarer among youth than among adults, they do happen. Los Angeles County on Friday reported its 12th COVID-19 death in a person under age 18. “COVID-19 is here to stay, but we have learned methods and gained tools to decrease its impact on our health and wellbeing,” the state Department of Public Health wrote in its latest guidance for schools. “California’s schools can manage this disease in sustainable and adaptive manners.”
LA Times/a>

Local Government News

City Council Rejects Proposal To House Homeless Individuals Alongside Hotel Guests
In the face of strong opposition from small, family-owned businesses that make up the hotel industry, the Los Angeles City Council voted this morning to reject a proposal that would have required hotels to make vacant rooms available to unhoused individuals. The measure now heads to the voters in November to decide whether this proposal becomes law. The citizen-initiated petition, filed in June, collected over 126,000 signatures and was submitted to the council. The council voted unanimously Friday to place the ordinance on the March 2024 ballot rather than adopt it immediately. The petition arrives as Project Roomkey, a program created in response to the pandemic which provided shelters for more than 10,000 homeless individuals over the last two years, is being phased out. The ordinance will require a majority vote to pass. If it becomes law, the city's Housing Department would pay hotels a fair market rate to lodge each person after identifying hotels with vacant rooms. It would require hotels to report the number of vacant rooms to the city and prohibit them from refusing lodging to unhoused people seeking housing through the program.
WestSide Current/a>