Police: Man Posed As A Teen, Sexually Targeted Middle School Students In Los Angeles

Police say they’re searching for more victims of a man who targeted middle school students in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers arrested 25-year-old Kenneth Tellez Ordonez on June 12 on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Investigations revealed that Ordonez was targeting young girls who attended a middle school in Koreatown. Ordonez, a Hispanic man who is 5-foot-3 and about 173 pounds, posed as a teenager when he made attempts to meet up with the girls in person, police said. LAPD says three victims of sexual assault have been identified. Authorities also obtained evidence that Ordonez contacted at least 13 other minors between March and May of this year. The age range of his victims is between 11 and 16, police said. Most of the assaults occurred inside vehicles, including a yellow Scion TC and an older blue Ford Mustang convertible. The earliest assault took place in February 2023, police said, and detectives believe there are more victims.

KTLA 5

LA Homeless Woman Admits To Killing Hollywood Social Justice Warrior In His Own Home

A homeless Los Angeles woman accused of stalking a movie director and shooting her friend, a Hollywood consultant and social justice activist, in his own home has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and other charges. Jameelah Elena Michl, 36, gunned down 33-year-old Michael Latt in November as she was on the hunt for his friend, the director A.V. Rockwell, according to authorities. Prosecutors have said she knocked on the door, forced her way inside when he answered and shot him in the head. At least one other person was in the home at the time, according to authorities – and Rockwell was not there. In an ominous letter to Rockwell before the shooting, she warned, "My Glock is loaded" and "One pull of the trigger, and I'll be free," according to court documents. Rockwell had sought a restraining order against Michl last year. The killer faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison. She is due back in court for sentencing on July 10, records show.

FOX 11

Man In Custody After Swinging Bat And Bike Chain Near Van Nuys High School

A man is in custody after causing a disturbance in the middle of the street in Van Nuys, which led to the neighboring high school to be placed on lockdown Thursday morning, as police contained the situation. Around 7:50 a.m., Los Angeles Police Department officers responded to a shirtless man at Gilmore Street and Kester Avenue with a bat and bike chain. According to police, the man was hitting vehicles. The man was not complying with police orders and video shows him with the bat in hand, standing in the middle of the street, with police working to get him safely into custody. Van Nuys High School was briefly placed on lockdown as the situation was underway. The man was taken into custody just before 8:50 a.m. 

CBS 2

LA Metro Moves Forward With Plan To Establish Own Police Force

More than a year after the LA Metro board approved a plan to explore creating its own transit police force, board members moved forward with a plan to make it a reality. During the LA Metro’s regularly scheduled board meeting Thursday, the board was presented with possible plans related to establishing a new in-house public safety department. After hours of public comment and statements from the leaders of the three law enforcement agencies currently contracted to provide public safety services on LA Metro trains and buses, the board decided it was best to begin the long process of building a new police force from the ground up and ending or modifying its existing contracts with regional law enforcement partners. The vote passed unanimously with 10 affirmatives; several members of the Metro board were absent. LA Metro will now move forward with a five-year phased transition to establish a “Transit Community Public Safety Department.” The next steps for establishing the TCPSD include creating a “transition team” comprised of experts in various public safety matters, including policing, mental health social services and human resources.

KTLA 5

Homeless Man Charged With Attempted Murder, Assault In Attacks On Women, Teen At Santa Monica Beach

A homeless man accused of attacking two women and a teenage girl on the beach in Santa Monica was charged Wednesday with attempted murder and other counts. Jawann Dwyane Garnett, 31, is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday morning at the Airport Courthouse in Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office. Garnett is charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count each of assault with a deadly weapon, assault with intent to rape, kidnapping and willful cruelty to a child, according to court records. Garnett was arrested around 9:45 a.m. Monday on the beach in the area of 1300 block of Ocean Front Walk, according to the Santa Monica Police Department. Santa Monica police Lt. Erika Aklufi said three victims were provided medical assistance at the scene, including an older woman and a 17-year-old, who was taken to a hospital with unspecified severe injuries that weren't deemed life-threatening.

ABC 7

Two Los Angeles County Men Charged For Selling Firearms On Instagram

Two men from Los Angeles County are accused of participating in a scheme to illegally sell dozens of guns on Instagram, some of which were untraceable. The two men, Azusa resident Ivan Quintos, 27, and Whittier resident Salvador Lopez, 24, were charged in a federal grand jury indictment alongside two men from Henderson, Nevada, according to the US Department of Justice. Prosecutors claimed the four men sold more than 60 firearms, including untraceable "ghost guns" and "Glock switches," which allow people to turn their handguns into fully automatic weapons. If convicted, Quintos faces a maximum sentence of 35 years in federal prison, while Lopez faces a max of 15 years. Quintos pleaded not guilty and is expected to appear in court again on Aug. 6. Lopez is expected to enter a plea during his arraignment on July 9. The two men worked with Henderson residents Mark Perez, 22, and Zachary Dry, 23, to sell the firearms through direct messages and public Instagram posts, according to the 11-count indictment. Federal prosecutors claimed that in addition to the ghost guns, the suspects sold guns with scratched-off serial numbers and others that were stolen. 

CBS 2

Over $15.3M Worth Of Illegal Cannabis Seized In LA County

The California Department of Cannabis Control recently seized a massive amount of illegal cannabis and firearms. During an enforcement operation in Los Angeles County, officials seized over $15.3 million worth of illegal cannabis and multiple illegal firearms. Over 9,300 pounds of illegal cannabis flower was also destroyed. Details on the operation were not released. In early June, DCC officials also seized $7.5 million worth of illegal cannabis and confiscated four illegal firearms in LA County. The department licenses and regulates the following cannabis products and procedures throughout the state: growing of cannabis plants; manufacture of cannabis products; transportation and tracking of cannabis goods; sale of cannabis goods; events where cannabis is sold or used; and labeling of goods sold at retail.

FOX 11

Californians Say Thieves Are Swiping Unemployment Benefits From Money Network Cards

Bertha Luna recently took time off to care for her sick mother. “She needed care that only I can provide since I'm her only child. And she needed my help,” she said. Luna was approved for family medical leave benefits through the state’s Employment Development Department (EDD). The agency recently started distributing its benefits on debit cards issued by Money Network. Luna said she activated the card when she received it, but before she could spend the money, it vanished – all $3,400. “I was devastated. I logged in several times when I noticed it said my account balance was zero. I didn’t even know what to think,” she said. Luna filed a claim with Money Network, but the company denied it. In the meantime, Money Network issued her a new card for her next payment. But most of that money was also gone. “It was devastating. It was really devastating. I didn't know if I was going to be able to pay my bills,” she said. Luna said she called both the state and Money Network about the problem, but no one would help. “They would leave me on hold for two-plus hours each time. I would spend my whole morning just waiting on hold and arguing with them,” she said.

NBC 4

Michigan Deputy Shot, Killed By Suspect

A Hillsdale County sheriff’s deputy has been killed in a shootout with a suspect Thursday afternoon, Michigan State Police said. The suspect was killed by troopers who found him after he evaded law enforcement for a few hours, according to the agency. Police were looking for Eric Michael Fiddler shortly after 4 p.m. in connection the shooting of the deputy, who later died from his injuries. Troopers found Fiddler in a field near Culbert Road and Osseo Road South around 6:15 p.m. , according to a post on X, and he opened fire on the officers when they told him to surrender. Fiddler allegedly shot the deputy in the area of Beecher Road and Lamb Road. The state police have not released the deputy’s identity, his age or the circumstances of the shooting, saying more information would come Friday. “Colonel Grady and the members of the MSP are heartbroken to learn of the on-duty death of a Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office deputy, the second police officer to be killed this week while serving the residents of Michigan,” MSP said on X on Thursday night. “We extend our sincere condolences to the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office and the family and friends of this slain deputy.”

Detroit News

Judge Sentences Man To Life In Prison For Killing St. Louis Police Officer

A man convicted of killing a St. Louis police officer in 2020 was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Thursday. Judge Elizabeth Hogan ordered Thomas Kinworthy Jr., 46, to serve two consecutive life sentences for first-degree murder and first-degree assault, adding dozens of years for burglary and other charges. A jury this month convicted Kinworthy in the August 2020 violence related to the death of Officer Tamarris Bohannon, 29, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The first-degree murder conviction brings mandatory life imprisonment. Bohannon was with the police department for 3 1/2 years, and had a wife and three young children. He responded to a call after an armed man ordered a family out of their home and barricaded himself inside, police said. Bohannon was shot in the head and a second officer in the leg as officers were looking for another person who was reportedly shot, police said. Bohannon’s loved ones, including his parents, sister, wife and children, read statements about the impact of his death on them. “He should still be here,” Elizabeth Bohannon said of her son. “He should be here to experience all that life had to offer him.” Tiffany Bautista said she learned her brother had been shot in the head shortly after she had given birth to her first child. She said she and her husband had to plead with a hospital CEO to let her leave her 12-hour-old son to see her brother.

Associated Press

Four People Injured In South LA Motel Fire

Firefighters rescued at least four victims from a blaze at a motel in South Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported. "I looked and smoke was everywhere," said one witness. "There were police and helicopters. It's crazy around here." The fire broke out around 8 p.m. Thursday at a two-story garden-style motel in the 10900 block South Broadway, with the fire burning on both floors. During an offensive attack of the greater alarm fire, LAFD discovered four people who had been injured with smoke inhalation and burns. "LAFD firefighters assisted in the evacuation and medical care of four civilians," LAFD spokesman Brian Humphrey said in a statement. He added that the four people were identified as a woman and a man in their 30s, along with two teenage girls. The woman and the two girls sustained smoke inhalation injuries, while the man also sustained smoke inhalation and burn injuries to his body.

CBS 2

Council President Nominates Reform Expert Robert Stern To LA Ethics Commission

Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian has nominated government reform expert Robert Stern to serve on the Ethics Commission, and the City Council will vote on the motion at its next meeting. Stern, a nationally recognized expert in the fields of campaign finance and government, was the first general counsel of the California Fair Political Practices Commission — the agency in charge of administering California’s campaign disclosure, ethics and lobbying laws. He previously served as a president of the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws, an organization of local, state and federal agencies in the U.S. and Canada that regulate campaign finance, ethics, lobby and election laws. “Bob Stern is one of the greatest champions of government reform in the history of California,” Krekorian said in a statement. “No one could be more qualified to serve on our city’s Ethics Commission, or better equipped to help us restore the people’s trust in our City government.” The City Council will vote on the nomination next Tuesday. For nearly 30 years, Stern served as president of the Center for Governmental Studies, a non-profit, nonpartisan organization founded in 1983 to provide policy research and to recommend improvements to political and government processes in California.

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.