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Law Enforcement News

Gascón Halts DA Office Notifying Victims Of Assailant Parole Hearings
At a Tuesday meeting, a representative of Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón told prosecutors that a long-held policy in which the office notifies victims of crime (or next of kin) that a parole hearing is scheduled for the inmate that harmed them or their loved ones, has been repealed. This news was then dispersed through an email that was sent by a supervisor who’d attended the meeting of the Parole Division Bureau of Prosecution Support Operationsknown collegially as the “lifer” unit. According to the email, the DA feels it is “not appropriate” for prosecutors to notify victims of crime and next of kin of these upcoming hearings. In that email, the supervisor added that Gascón also directed staff to “wind down the Lifer Unit” in the months to come. Three deputy attorneys general have already been transferred out of the so-called lifer unit and are now assigned elsewhere, while two remaining deputies will continue to handle cases assigned to the unit through October, according to the email. “There will not be a November calendar issued, nor any additional forthcoming assignments,” the message read. This reversal in policy has yet to be publicly announced. A spokesman for the D.A.’s office told LAMag that victims also have a right not to be contacted about these hearings.
LA Magazine

Olympic Volleyball Silver Medalist Calls For Clean-Up Of Los Angeles Streets
Olympic silver-medalist Kim Glass assured her fans that she is recovering while also calling for reform on the streets of Los Angeles as well as hoping that her attacker gets the maximum 11 years that he’s facing. On Saturday, Glass was attacked in broad daylight and left with severe injuries to her eye after being attacked by a homeless man wielding a metal pole. Glass posted a six-minute long Instagram video two days after the attack. She said of her attacker: ‘Clearly he’s not mentally well and I do feel for him a lot. At the same time, feeling for somebody and holding them accountable doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive.’ She added: ‘He needs to be off the street and I hope that he gets the full 11 years and then some, and I hope that while he’s doing it, he gets help.’ Glass went on: ‘The more that we keep letting this issue go on and on and on, and they keep getting out and they are on the streets and we know that they are not healthy or mentally well and we’re putting our citizens, our healthcare workers, our cops, everyone in harm’s way. We’re letting our society down.’ Glass also said that she wants to stand up for the victims of these crimes and to ‘clean our streets.’ In her video, Glass wore a t-shirt reading: ‘Freedom over fear.’ Her calls for the maximum penalty in the case may be ignored by woke DA George Gascon.
WhatsNew2Day

$50,000 Reward Being Offered For Tips On Suspect In Fatal Stabbing At South LA Market
The family of a Los Angeles man who was stabbed to death earlier this year is begging the public for help in finding the person responsible, and police are now offering a $50,000 reward. Ignacio Silva, 43, was killed January 3 at a market in the 5500 block of South Normandie Avenue. Surveillance video released by the Los Angeles Police Department shows Silva getting something to drink. It also shows the moments after Silva and the suspect passed each other at the store entrance. "Mr. Ignacio Silva walks out of the store and is not even making eye contact, has no idea that the suspect is approaching him from the rear, and stabs him multiple times and runs away," said LAPD Capt. Adrian Gonzalez. Silva wasn't robbed, according to police. The suspect then got into a dark-colored sedan and drove off. He remains on the run. Silva's family, his wife and three children attended a news conference Wednesday announcing a $50,000 reward for information on the case. They didn't want to go before the cameras because they still fear for their safety. "We suspect he's still in the area," said Gonzalez. "Very few people come in, especially that area, 55 and Normandie, to commit a crime. It's rare. I'm not saying that's not the case, but it's rare. We're leaning more to the person living somewhere in South L.A. and just driving by and committing this senseless act."
ABC 7

7-Eleven Offers $100,000 Reward To Help Capture Gunman In Fatal Robbery, Shooting Spree
A $100,000 reward for information is being offered by 7-Eleven to help capture the man behind a fatal robbery and shooting spree at several of its Southern California stores. The same man is believed to be behind robberies-turned-shootings at 7-Eleven stores in Brea, La Habra, Ontario, Riverside, Santa Ana, and Upland, all in within just five hours Monday morning. Two people were killed in the shootings, and several others were left wounded. One victim woke up from a coma Tuesday. His daughter is thankful, saying that he has already collected the strength to pull himself up from his hospital bed. "Nobody should have to bury their child," said Selina Escamilla, the mother of Matthew Rule, who died defending a veteran at the robbery that happened in Santa Ana. The string of deadly crimes shook their surrounding communities, and several 7-Eleven stores in those areas took the advice of its corporate parent and closed their doors. The company also urged its stores in other areas to remain wary during their riskiest hours of operation.
CBS 2

Missing Man With Schizophrenia Possibly Headed To Venice Beach
A 37-year-old man who authorities said has been diagnosed with schizophrenia was reported missing today after last being seen in La Cañada Flintridge. Stephen Andres Lilly was last seen at around 5:50 p.m. Monday in the 4100 block of Chevy Chase Drive, said Deputy Tracy Koerner of the Sheriff's Information Bureau. Lilly has a possible destination of Venice Beach, Koerner said. Lilly is Asian, 5 feet, 9 inches tall, weighs 140 pounds, has brown eyes and brown shaved hair. He was last seen wearing a black hat, a black T- shirt, blue jeans and a black backpack. Anyone with information about Lilly or his whereabouts was asked to call the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau, Missing Persons Detail, at 323-568-4827. Anonymous tips can be called in to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or submitted online at lacrimestoppers.org.
WestSide Current

Man Found Dead In Culver City; Investigation Underway
A man was found dead in Culver City Tuesday, and authorities were investigating the circumstances surrounding his death. The man was found just after 7 a.m. in the 5900 block of Buckingham Parkway, according to the Culver City Police Department and the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was withheld pending notification of next of kin, but the coroner’s office noted he was in his 70s. The cause of the man’s death was under investigation.
MyNewsLA.com

2 Culver City Businesses, Less Than A Mile Apart, Robbed At Gunpoint In Back-to-Back Days
A pair of Culver City businesses were robbed at gunpoint on Friday and Saturday mornings, police said. The first robbery occurred about 9:25 a.m. Friday, when a man entered a Subway at 3817 Sepulveda Blvd. and ordered a sandwich, then pulled out a handgun and demanded cash from the register, the Culver City Police Department said in a press release. An employee of the sandwich store put $200 to $300 in cash in the robber’s sandwich bag before he fled north on Sepulveda Boulevard, police said. Police did not find the man on Friday, but they continue searching for the robber, who is of medium build and who was last seen wearing a black jacket, black pants and black ski mask, according to the CCPD. The second robbery, this time of a Rite Aid at 3802 Culver Center, occurred around 6 a.m. Saturday, police said in a release. In this robbery, which happened less than a mile from the site of Friday’s incident, a man approached the register, pulled out a handgun and demanded cash from the register, police said. The man, whom police described as having a heavy build and who was wearing a black jacket, blue jeans and a black hat, then fled north toward Venice Boulevard.
KTLA 5

Compton Man Who Used Grindr To Target Robbery Victims Pleads Guilty To Federal Charges
The men’s stories followed a similar pattern: They met a date found on the LGBTQ hookup app Grindr, he would ask to borrow their phones, then would erupt in threats and violence before robbing them, according to federal prosecutors. Derrick Patterson, 23, of Compton pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal criminal charges for robbing men he met over Grindr from June 2021 to March 2022. The victims said Patterson met them at their homes or hotel rooms for sexual encounters, then would ask to borrow their phones before threatening and robbing them. Patterson hit one victim in the back of the head and gashed the chest of another with a knife, prosecutors said in a criminal indictment. He used a homophobic slur during one robbery and, according to court records, told a victim, “You b— are all the same.” Patterson grabbed a knife from one man’s kitchen and during another robbery threatened a man with a stun gun, according to court records and FBI agents.
LA Times

Kentucky Man Indicted In Ambush Slaying Of 3 Police Officers
A Kentucky man charged with killing three officers in an ambush while police were serving a protective order has been indicted on 20 charges. Lance Storz, 49, was indicted by a grand jury Monday on three counts of murder of a police officer and six counts of attempted murder of an officer, according to media reports. Storz opened fire on a group of officers on June 30 at his home in Floyd County, a rural hilly county in Appalachia, according to police. Storz was also indicted on seven counts of wanton endangerment against a police officer, three counts of assault and one count of assaulting a service animal. A police dog was also killed in the ambush. The slaying of three officers was the deadliest for law enforcement in a single incident in Kentucky since a prison riot left three guards dead in 1923. Storz's wife had sought to get away from him, according to an emergency protective order, and he became irate and wouldn't let her leave, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
PoliceOne

Ohio Cop Shot In Head, In Critical Condition; Suspect Dead
A police officer is in critical condition and a suspect is dead after a shooting during a domestic incident Tuesday night in southwest Ohio, according to reports. The officer, a 14-year veteran of the Clearcreek Township Police Department, was taken to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton after the shooting, WCPO Channel 9 reports. The identity of the officer has not been released. Police say two officers responding to domestic call arrived at a home and found the suspect ramming his wife’s car with an ATV, WEWS Channel 5 reports. The suspect shot one of the responding officers in the head, leading to the other officer to shoot and kill the suspect, police say. Clearcreek Township Chief of Police John Terrill tells Fox 19 the wounded officer was in the hospital’s intensive care unit in “stable but critical condition.” “We’re not quite sure how this is going to turn out yet,” Terrill tells Fox 19. This is the first time an officer with Clearcreek has been shot while on duty, Terrill says. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating the shooting, according to reports.
PoliceOne

Video: Suspect Strikes Cincinnati Officer’s Face With Metal Pipe
On Tuesday, the Cincinnati Police Department released new bodycam video that shows the moment a robbery suspect swung a metal pipe at an officer’s face. Officer Johnny Harris was left with serious injuries that required facial reconstructive surgery, according to Local 12 News. The video shows the moments leading up to the assault, during which officers try to talk with the suspect, Charlando Peoples. Peoples is walking away from officers when he suddenly spins around and strikes Harris in the face with the pipe. The video shows officers discharging their TASERs multiple times, but it seems to have no effect on Peoples. Peoples then walks up to a parked car and smashes in the rear window with the pipe. The suspect starts running and comes across another group of officers who take Peoples into custody, the report said. Peoples was also accused of punching another officer in the face during the incident, according to Local 12 News. “He got me good. He got me in the face,” Harris is heard telling another officer in the video. “Are you alright?” an officer asks. “No, I’m bleeding,” Harris responds. FOP President Dan Hils praised officers for their response, yet says he worries the officers were afraid to use deadly force in a situation where it’s warranted.
PoliceOne

Public Safety News

Fire Damages House In Pico-Union Area
A fire damaged a house in the Pico-Union area Tuesday, but no one was hurt. Firefighter sent to the 2400 block of West 11th Street at about 12:40 p.m. extinguished the flames in 17 minutes, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported. The cause of the fire was under investigation.
MyNewsLA.com

2 Detained After Firefighters Knock Out Blaze At Former Hollywood Theater
A former Hollywood theater built in 1905 was destroyed in a fire Wednesday and two people were detained by police for questioning in connection to the blaze at the vacant building, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The LAFD did not reveal any additional information about the man and woman who were detained. There were no reported arrests, injuries, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation, according to authorities. Over the years, the theater on North Las Palmas south of Sunset Boulevard has been known as the Hollywood Playhouse, Actors Center and Hollywood Center Theatre. The fire was reported just before 9 a.m., and it took nearly two hours for more than 80 firefighters to put out the blaze. The theater’s structure was compromised by the fire and too dangerous for fire crews to enter the building, according to the LAFD. Firefighters spent most of their time on adjacent rooftops spraying the theater with water and making sure the fire did not spread to nearby structures. The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety is set to red-tag the building and deem it unsafe for occupants to enter due to the damage from the fire, the LAFD said.
LA Times

Return Of Indoor Mask Mandate Imminent In LA County As COVID Cases, Hospitalizations Rise
With the county teetering on the edge of the "high" COVID-19 activity level -- potentially leading to a new indoor mask-wearing mandate -- virus-related hospitalizations climbed slightly higher in Los Angeles County, while another 6,530 new infections were reported in the latest data. According to state figures, there were 1,170 COVID-positive patients in county hospitals as of Wednesday, up from 1,153 on Tuesday. Of those patients, 123 were being treated in intensive care units, up from 115 a day earlier. According to the county, roughly 40% of the patients were actually admitted for COVID illness, while about 60% were admitted for other reasons. Along with the 6,530 new infections, the county Department of Public Health on Wednesday reported 15 more virus-related deaths. After months of steadily low COVID fatality numbers, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer noted this week that the daily death figure has begun rising, hitting double- digits for all but one day in the past week. The 15 new deaths announced Wednesday lifted the county's virus-related death toll to 32,478. Health officials have said that a majority of the deaths occurred in people with at least one underlying health condition, mainly hypertension, diabetes and heart disease.
FOX 11